Surah As-Saff (61) — Ayah 5

(Ayah 5) ➊ {وَ اِذْ قَالَ مُوْسٰى لِقَوْمِهٖ يٰقَوْمِ لِمَ تُؤْذُوْنَنِيْ … :} After mentioning the virtue of fighting in the way of Allah and reproaching those who avoid it, Allah Almighty mentioned the address of Musa (peace be upon him) to his people, in which he complained about and reproached them for the harm they caused him. When they knew and accepted him as Allah’s Messenger for themselves, it was obligatory upon them to honor him, obey him, and join him in striving against the enemies of Islam. But they caused him distress in their general behavior, in obeying his commands, and in the matter of going out for jihad—in short, in every way. Here, the particular harm being referred to, and for which they were given the title {’’ الْقَوْمَ الْفٰسِقِيْنَ ‘‘} from Musa (peace be upon him) and Allah Almighty, is their outright refusal to go out for jihad. The purpose is to instruct Muslims to avoid adopting their way. For details of their harm in the matter of honor and obedience, see the commentary of Surah Al-Ahzab (69), and for details of their outright refusal to go out for jihad, see the commentary of Surah Al-Ma’idah (20 to 26).

➋ {فَلَمَّا زَاغُوْۤا اَزَاغَ اللّٰهُ قُلُوْبَهُمْ: ’’ زَاغُوْا‘‘ ’’زَاغَ يَزِيْغُ زَيْغًا‘‘} (ض) To be crooked. {’’ اَزَاغَ ‘‘} is from the form “af‘ala,” meaning “He made crooked.” That is, when they persisted in crookedness instead of obedience, Allah Almighty set them upon that path, because He does not forcibly guide those who choose the crooked path to the straight path, as that would nullify the purpose of the test, as He said: « نُوَلِّهٖ مَا تَوَلّٰى » [ النساء : ۱۱۵ ] “We will turn him to the direction he turns to.”

➌ { وَ اللّٰهُ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الْفٰسِقِيْنَ:} Because of their refusal of jihad, in Surah Al-Ma’idah verse (25), Musa (peace be upon him) addressed his people as {’’ الْقَوْمَ الْفٰسِقِيْنَ ‘‘}, and in verse (26) of the same Surah, Allah Almighty addressed the people of Musa likewise.

➍ The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) also suffered much harm from the hypocrites who claimed faith, in addition to the disbelievers. Besides verbal harm, they betrayed several times at the occasions of jihad. At the battle of Uhud, Abdullah bin Ubayy took away three hundred (300) men, about a third of the army, right from the battlefield. In the battle of Khandaq, they left no stone unturned in conspiring with the disbelievers and discouraging the Muslims. Allah Almighty has mentioned this in detail in Surah Al-Imran (154 to 168) and Surah Al-Ahzab (9 to 20). For verbal harm, see Surah At-Tawbah (74, 61, 58), Al-Ahzab (57), and Al-Munafiqun (8). Although the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) suffered continuous and immense harm from the disbelievers since the declaration of prophethood, the pain from those included in his own group is felt more, so Allah Almighty comforted him in these verses that if some hypocrite-type people cause you harm and hesitate to go out for jihad, do not grieve, for you still have a great group of those who strive and sacrifice their lives and wealth with you. Musa (peace be upon him) was harmed even more by his own people; his people outright refused to go out for jihad. Abdullah bin Mas‘ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said that once the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) distributed some things, and a man said: “This is a distribution in which the Face of Allah was not intended.” I informed the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) of this, and he became angry until I saw the signs of anger on his blessed face. He said: [ يَرْحَمُ اللّٰهُ مُوْسٰی لَقَدْ أُوْذِيَ بِأَكْثَرَ مِنْ هٰذَا فَصَبَرَ ] [ بخاري، الدعوات، باب قول اللّٰہ تبارک و تعالٰی : «وصل علیھم » … : ۶۳۳۶ ] “May Allah have mercy on Musa (peace be upon him); he was harmed even more than this, but he was patient.” Here, Allah Almighty also mentioned Isa (peace be upon him) along with Musa (peace be upon him), because the Children of Israel treated him similarly, except for a few people.

5. 1 Even though they knew that Hazrat Musa (Moses) ؑ was a true Messenger of Allah, the Children of Israel used to hurt him with their words, to the extent that they attributed certain physical defects to him, even though he did not have that illness.

5. 2 That is, despite having knowledge, they turned away from the truth and, in opposition to the truth, chose falsehood over truth, evil over good, and disbelief over faith. So, as a punishment, Allah turned their hearts permanently away from guidance. Because this is the established way of Allah. Persistence and continuity in disbelief and misguidance itself becomes the cause for the sealing of hearts, then sin, disbelief, and oppression become their nature and habit, which no one is able to change. That is why it is further stated that Allah does not guide the disobedient. Because Allah, according to His way, has led such people astray—now who can guide the one whom Allah has led astray in this manner?

5. And (remember) when Musa said to his people: "O my people! Why do you hurt [4] me when you know that I am indeed Allah's Messenger sent to you?" Then when they deviated [5], Allah caused their hearts to deviate, and Allah does not guide the defiantly disobedient people.

[4]
The Children of Israel Causing Distress to Their Prophet, Sayyiduna Musa:

All the prophets have always suffered pain and hardships from their opponents and enemies, and what is even more regrettable is when their own people begin to cause them distress. In this regard, the way the people of Sayyiduna Musaؑ troubled and hurt him, perhaps no other nation has done so. Even though they knew well, rather were certain, that he was a messenger sent by Allah. When Sayyiduna Musaؑ, according to Allah’s command, ordered them to slaughter a cow, they troubled him with all sorts of unnecessary arguments and questions. When they were saved from Pharaoh and had just set out, upon seeing a nation worshipping idols, they said: “Musa! Make for us an idol like they have, so that we may worship it.” In the wilderness of Tih, when they were receiving manna and quails without any effort, they said: “Musa! We are tired of eating this food and have had enough. Now we want to eat vegetables and lentils.” When Sayyiduna Musaؑ went to Mount Tur to receive the Torah, they later made a calf and began to worship it, saying that Musaؑ had gone to Tur by mistake. “Our and his deity is this (calf); what did he go there for?” When Sayyiduna Musaؑ brought the Book of Torah, they said: “How do we know that this is really a book revealed from Allah? We will not accept this book until we see Allah clearly.” When Sayyiduna Musaؑ told them to wage jihad in the land of Sham, they said: “Musa! There are very powerful people living there; how can we fight them? If jihad is so necessary, then you and your Lord go and fight them; we will stay right here.” Troubled by such words from his people, Sayyiduna Musaؑ prayed to Allah: “My Lord! I have power only over myself and my brother, so separate us from this disobedient people.” [5: 25]
The prophets have always prayed like this against their enemy nations, but perhaps no prophet has ever prayed like this regarding his own people.

[5] By repeatedly disrespecting and hurting their prophet, their nature became so crooked that they were never ready to accept any command like true believers. Rather, they would find faults in it and interpret it in a twisted way. Then, when they chose the path of deviation, Allah also set them upon that path, because it is not Allah’s way to forcibly put those who choose a crooked path onto the straight path. For if He did so, the very purpose of human trial in this world would be nullified.