Surah Al-A'raaf (7) — Ayah 137

(Ayah 138,137) ➊ { وَ اَوْرَثْنَا الْقَوْمَ الَّذِيْنَ كَانُوْا يُسْتَضْعَفُوْنَ:} Musa (peace be upon him) made two promises to his people: the destruction of the enemy and the inheritance and leadership of the land. Thus, after the fulfillment of the first promise, here is the mention of the fulfillment of the second promise. Here, the blessed land refers to the land of Sham (Greater Syria), and this promise began to be fulfilled after the death of Musa (peace be upon him), during the time of Yusha (peace be upon him), when he fought against the Amalekites and took control of some areas, but the entire land of Sham came under control during the time of Dawud and Sulaiman (peace be upon them).

➋ {مَشَارِقَ الْاَرْضِ وَ مَغَارِبَهَا الَّتِيْ بٰرَكْنَا فِيْهَا: ’’ مَشَارِقَ الْاَرْضِ ‘‘} This is not the object of {’’ يُسْتَضْعَفُوْنَ‘‘}, but rather the object of {’’ اَوْرَثْنَا ‘‘}. Because the Israelites were made as weak and helpless as possible in Egypt, not in Sham. In the Quran, the blessed land generally refers to the land of Sham. See Surah Bani Isra'il (1), Anbiya (71, 81), and Saba (18). The purpose of mentioning the east and west collectively is that their rule extended over all the eastern and western regions of the land of Sham, because every day the time and place of sunrise and sunset change in every part of the earth. Some scholars have taken both Egypt and Sham as intended and have written that after the destruction of Pharaoh, the Israelites ruled Egypt for a long time. Some verses of the Noble Quran confirm this. See Surah Dukhan (28), Shu'ara (59), and Qasas (5). In this case, {’’ بٰرَكْنَا فِيْهَا ‘‘} would mean the extreme fertility and prosperity of the lands of Egypt and Sham.

➌ {وَ تَمَّتْ كَلِمَتُ رَبِّكَ الْحُسْنٰى … : ’’ الْحُسْنٰى ‘‘} This is the feminine form of {’’اَلْاَحْسَنُ‘‘}, which is a comparative form. The best word refers to Allah's promise that "We will destroy your enemies and grant you the inheritance and rule of this land." Allah mentioned their patience as the reason for fulfilling the promise to the Israelites: despite such hardships, they did not accept Pharaoh as Lord, remained steadfast in their Islam, although due to slavery and subjugation, many flaws had developed in their temperament and religious state, but they did not let go of Islam.

➍ {وَ دَمَّرْنَا مَا كَانَ يَصْنَعُ فِرْعَوْنُ وَ قَوْمُهٗ: ’’ يَصْنَعُ ‘‘} refers to their products, factories, buildings, and weapons, etc., and although the meaning of {’’ يَعْرِشُوْنَ ‘‘} is also to make trellises for grapes, etc., since trellised grapes were not common in Egypt, it refers to the tall buildings they used to construct.

➎ {وَ جٰوَزْنَا بِبَنِيْۤ اِسْرَآءِيْلَ الْبَحْرَ:} The blessed day of crossing the sea after being saved from Pharaoh was Ashura (the 10th of Muharram). Musa (peace be upon him) fasted on this day to give thanks, and the Jews also used to fast on this day. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to Madinah, he asked the Jews about the reason for the fast and said: "We have more right to Musa (peace be upon him) than you." So he himself fasted and ordered all Muslims to fast as well. The following year, when the fasts of Ramadan were made obligatory, the fast of Ashura became voluntary; whoever wished could fast, and whoever wished could leave it. [ بخاری، التفسیر، باب « و لقد أوحینا إلی موسیٰ … » :۴۷۳۷، ۱۵۹۲، عن ابن عباس وعائشۃ رضی اللہ عنھم ]

The people of Makkah also used to fast on this day in the time of ignorance, and on this day a new covering was placed on the Ka'bah. [ بخاری، الحج، باب قول اللہ تعالٰی : « جعل اللہ الکعبۃ…» : ۱۵۹۲، عن عائشۃ رضی اللہ عنھا ] In the last part of his life, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), in order to attain the virtue of this fast and to oppose the Jews, said: [ لَئِنْ بَقِيْتُ اِلٰی قَابِلٍ لَاَصُوْمَنَّ التَّاسِعَ ] "If I live until next year, I will fast on the 9th." But before the next year came, he passed away. [ مسلم، الصیام، باب أي یوم یصام فی عاشوراء : 1134/134، عن ابن عباس رضی اللہ عنھما ] The martyrdom of Husayn (may Allah be pleased with him) also occurred on this day, but the religion had already been completed before that; therefore, any addition to the religion because of his martyrdom, such as mourning, processions, or setting up stalls, etc., would be an innovation.

➏ {فَاَتَوْا عَلٰى قَوْمٍ يَّعْكُفُوْنَ عَلٰۤى اَصْنَامٍ لَّهُمْ:} In the previous verse, Allah praised the patience of the Israelites in the face of Pharaoh's oppression and, because of it, mentioned His further favors upon them. Now, from here, the mention of their trial during the period of prosperity begins. Earlier in this Surah, the trial of every nation with hardship and ease was mentioned. (See A'raf: 94) And also that We did not find most of them true to their covenant, and We found most of them defiantly disobedient. See Surah A'raf (102). The mention of the Israelites' breach of covenant and disobedience after gaining freedom, and the punishment they received as a result, was made to invite the Israelites to believe in the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and to advise them to refrain from opposing him. There is also a lesson in this for the Ummah of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) that you should not follow in their footsteps.

Allah made them cross the sea, so they turned towards Bayt al-Maqdis, the land of Sham, to the east. As they were traveling, they passed by a people who were devoted to some idols, i.e., they were worshipping them. These idols were either of elders or of cows, etc.; the Quran does not mention it, nor is it mentioned in the hadith. See the ignorance and disbelief of the Israelites: after witnessing such clear miracles of Musa (peace be upon him) and the favors of Allah, they brazenly, addressing him by name, demanded, "O Musa, make for us a god like they have gods." The reason for this was that, due to long years of slavery, the polytheistic beliefs of the people of Egypt had become ingrained in their minds.

Some scholars of tafsir have written that since the Israelites were monotheists, their demand for an idol was not with the intention of committing shirk, but rather they meant that by honoring this idol, they would seek nearness to Allah; they thought this was not shirk, whereas its being shirk is a matter of consensus among the Prophets (peace be upon them), because if this were not shirk, then the polytheists of Makkah and many other polytheists would also remain monotheists. Allah has mentioned in the Noble Quran: «{ وَ يَعْبُدُوْنَ مِنْ دُوْنِ اللّٰهِ مَا لَا يَضُرُّهُمْ وَ لَا يَنْفَعُهُمْ وَ يَقُوْلُوْنَ هٰۤؤُلَآءِ شُفَعَآؤُنَا عِنْدَ اللّٰهِ قُلْ اَتُنَبِّـُٔوْنَ اللّٰهَ بِمَا لَا يَعْلَمُ فِي السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ لَا فِي الْاَرْضِ سُبْحٰنَهٗ وَ تَعٰلٰى عَمَّا يُشْرِكُوْنَ }» [ یونس : ۱۸ ] "And they worship besides Allah things that neither harm them nor benefit them, and they say, 'These are our intercessors with Allah.' Say, 'Do you inform Allah of something He does not know in the heavens or in the earth?' Exalted is He and high above what they associate with Him." And in another verse: «{ وَ الَّذِيْنَ اتَّخَذُوْا مِنْ دُوْنِهٖۤ اَوْلِيَآءَ مَا نَعْبُدُهُمْ اِلَّا لِيُقَرِّبُوْنَاۤ اِلَى اللّٰهِ زُلْفٰى }» [ الزمر :۳ ] "And those who take protectors besides Him (say), 'We only worship them so that they may bring us nearer to Allah in position.'"

➐ { اِنَّكُمْ قَوْمٌ تَجْهَلُوْنَ:} That is, alas, you do not recognize the majesty of Allah; Allah is such that neither can any image be made of Him, nor can anyone be associated with Him in worship. So this demand is entirely ignorant and polytheistic. Shah Abdul Qadir (may Allah have mercy on him) says: "An ignorant person does not find satisfaction in worshipping an unseen Lord until there is a form in front of him. When the Israelites saw that people were worshipping the form of a cow, they too desired this, and eventually made a golden calf and worshipped it." (Mawaddih) The verse does not explicitly mention the form of a cow.

The reality is that the foundation of faith in Allah is to believe in the unseen Lord, as in Surah Baqarah (3): «{ يُؤْمِنُوْنَ بِالْغَيْبِ }». Even the delight of speaking with Allah compelled Musa (peace be upon him) to request to see his Lord, so Allah made it clear by demonstration that no one in this world has the strength to see Allah. Now, look at the Prophet's faith in the unseen Lord and the people's demand for a visible god! In fact, the very foundation of shirk is that the deity must be visible to the eyes. Iqbal has beautifully said:

"The desire for presence in the world laid the foundation for idol-making;
Love deceives the hopeful soul."

That is, the desire to see the deity present before oneself laid the foundation for the practice of idol-making in the world, because love deceives the hopeful soul. Alas, following in the footsteps of the Israelites, some Muslims fulfilled this desire by building solid graves and becoming custodians over them, and most people, in the name of gnosis, kept the image of their shaykh constantly before their eyes, so that even in his absence, he appeared before them, and they began to consult him in every matter. They called this "annihilation in the shaykh." Then some went further and declared this image to be the Messenger, seeing him with their eyes, speaking to him, and taking guidance from him, calling it "annihilation in the Messenger." Then some went even further and declared this image to be the Lord, keeping it before their eyes at all times, and called it "annihilation in Allah," claiming the shaykh's image to be God, seeing Him at all times, and conversing with Him. The extremity reached the point where they claimed to have become one with Allah. Someone said {’’ أَنَا الْحَقُّ ‘‘ } "I am God." Someone said {’’ سُبْحَانِيْ مَا أَعْظَمُ شَأْنِيْ‘‘} "I am Subhan, how great is my majesty," and someone said:

"I became you, you became me,
I became the soul, you became the body,
So that after this, no one may say,
I am someone else and you are another."

All this trickery of shirk and the polytheists is a mental disorder and based on delusion and imagination, and all their spiritual exercises are to corrupt the mind, which have been taken from Hindu yogis and Christian monks. As a result, something begins to appear to the eyes which is merely a product of imagination and has nothing to do with reality. By inventing the terminology of abandoning the animal foods of majesty and beauty, they gave up many blessings of Allah, such as meat, milk, yogurt, ghee, and honey, which caused further dryness and disorder in the mind, so that even unseen things began to appear to them. All idolaters, following this idea and desire of the self, worship imaginary gods—some by placing a stone image before them, and some by keeping its image in their minds—whereas in the guidance sent by Allah, the Quran and Hadith, there is no mention of these spiritual exercises, orders, or means for nearness to Allah. Rather, Allah has called it following delusion and desire of the self and declared it idol-worship. See Surah Najm (19–25). If this were the way to attain nearness and vision of Allah, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would certainly have told us. When even a great Prophet like Musa (peace be upon him) could not bear to see the Lord in this world, then how could anyone else dare?

137. 1 That is, the Children of Israel whom Pharaoh had enslaved and upon whom he had inflicted oppression, on this basis they were indeed considered weak in Egypt because they were subdued and enslaved. But when Allah willed, He made this very subdued and enslaved nation the inheritors of the land. (2) By "land" is meant the region of Sham, Palestine, where Allah granted dominance to the Children of Israel after the Amalekites. The Children of Israel entered Sham after the death of Musa (peace be upon him) and Harun (peace be upon him), when Yusha bin Nun defeated the Amalekites and paved the way for the Children of Israel. And He placed blessings in those parts of the land, that is, in the region of Sham, which has been the abode and burial place of many prophets and is also distinguished in apparent prosperity and well-being. That is, this land has been enriched with both apparent and hidden blessings. "Mashariq" is the plural of east, and "magharib" is the plural of west, although east and west are each singular. By using the plural, it refers to the eastern and western parts of this blessed land, that is, the directions of east and west.

137. 2 This is also the promise that was previously mentioned through the words of Musa (peace be upon him) in verse numbers 128, 129, and also in Surah Qasas.

137. 3 By "masnu‘at" are meant factories, buildings, and weapons, etc. (which they used to build high). This can refer to tall buildings; weapons and other equipment were also destroyed, along with their gardens.

And We made those people who had been oppressed [132] inherit the eastern and western lands which We had blessed [133]. Thus, the good word of your Lord was fulfilled for the Children of Israel because they had been patient. And We destroyed all that Pharaoh and his people had built and all that they had raised up.

[132] Here, the weak people refer to the very Bani Israel who were being crushed under the slavery of Pharaoh's people, and despite their many promises, they were not prepared to set them free. It appears that not all of the Bani Israel went with Sayyiduna Musa ؑ, but some remained in Egypt, and after the destruction of Pharaoh and his armies, they also took possession of this land, as is supported by verse number 129 of this very surah and some other verses as well. And Allah knows best what is correct. Later, Sayyiduna Dawud ؑ and Sayyiduna Sulaiman ؑ established a stable government in this region.
[133]
The Blessed Land?

By this land is meant the country of Shaam (Greater Syria). Its apparent blessings are that this region is extremely lush, beautiful, and fertile, and its inner blessings are that this country is the abode and resting place of many prophets. After crossing the Red Sea, the Bani Israel wandered for forty years in the desert of Tih, the full details of which have already been mentioned in Surah Baqarah. In this very desert, Sayyiduna Musa ؑ passed away. After that, the Bani Israel, along with Sayyiduna Yusha bin Nun ؑ, fought jihad against the Amalekites, in which they were victorious, and Allah fulfilled His promise, and the Bani Israel became the inheritors of their ancestral homeland, the country of Shaam.