Topic: Holy Land

2:244.

Important Words:

یتیھون (they shall wander in distraction) is derived from تاه meaning: (1) he lost his way in the desert; (2) he was or became confounded or perplexed; (3) he went away in the land confounded or perplexed and was unable to see his right course; (4) his intellect or mind was or became disordered and confused and he perished; (5) he magnified himself or behaved proudly or insolently (Aqrab & Lane).

Commentary:

When the Israelites behaved in a cowardly manner, God decreed that they should remain in the desert for a period of 40 years so that the life of the desert should invigorate them and strengthen their morals. In the mean-time, the old generation became practically extinct and the younger generation grew brave and strong enough to conquer the Promised Land. See also note on 5:24 above. For the relevant portion of the Bible see Num. ch. 14.

10:14, 15.

Commentary:

It appears from the Bible that, like the followers of other Prophets of God, the followers of Moses were made to bear additional burdens of which they complained to Moses (Exod. 5:21). To that complaint a reference is made in this verse.

The word "land" mentioned in the verse refer not to Egypt but to the Holy Land which had been promised to the Israelites and which they inherited in accordance with the promise. The word may also mean "the earth" generally.

Though primarily the address in the words, that He may then see how you act, is to the Israelites of the time of Moses, the words possess a much wider application. They apply with equal force to succeeding generations as well.

It is noteworthy that similar words have been used with regard to Muslims also (10:15) and, like the Israelites, they have been told that God would make them successors in the land and would bestow upon them Khilafat and dominion, and then He would see whether they acted righteously in the earth. This resemblance also shows that Muslim dispensation is a counterpart of the Mosaic dispensation and that a time was to come when Muslims also were to become corrupt like the Jews. It is to this tragic fact that a reference has been made in the prayer, "Make us not of those upon whom Thy wrath has descended" (see note on 1:7).

28:6.

32:25.

Important Words:

یعرشون (they erect) is formed from عرش i.e. he constructed or erected a structure for grapevines to rise and spread upon; or he erected or built a shed or an enclosure or a house, etc. (Lane). See also 2:260; 6:142.

Commentary:

The words, the eastern parts of the land and the western parts thereof, signify, according to Arabic idiom, the entire country.

The words, which We blessed, refer to the Holy Land which had been promised to the descendants of Abraham and Jacob (5:22). It was blessed because it was the land where the Israelites were to thrive and prosper and grow into a great nation. The words, And the gracious Word of thy Lord was fulfilled, mean that the promise which God had made to Abraham and Jacob came to pass.

The words, We destroyed all that Pharaoh and his people had built, mean that the great buildings and memorials erected by Pharaoh by unjustly exacting hard labour from the Children of Israel fell into ruin in the time of the dynasty that ruled Egypt after him.

7:138.

Important Words:

لفیفا (together) is derived from لف i.e. he folded up or wrapped up a thing in another thing. لف العدو means, he involved the enemy in difficulty. لف و نشر in rhetoric means, involution and evolution or complication and explication. لفیفا means, wrapped up under an envelope; mixed; mixed crowd; intimate friend (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The words "the land" do not refer to Egypt, where the Israelites never dwelt after Pharaoh had been drowned. They refer to Canaan, the land which was promised to them.

It is worthy of note that whereas Moses could never settle the Israelites in Egypt where he was born and brought up and got only Canaan as a substitute for it, the Holy Prophet not only regained Mecca, the land of his birth and the cradle of his Faith, but many other countries also fell into the hands of his followers.

The present verse read along with verses 17:6-8 & 1:6-7 may be explained as follows:

After the destruction of Pharaoh Jews would go and dwell in Canaan from where after sometime they would be driven away but would later return to it. In consequence, however, of their misdeeds they would again be visited with Divine punishment and be banished from their hearths and homes and would live in exile till the time when the second of the two punishments would overtake another people (Muslims) who would succeed them (the Jews) as their counterparts. It is then that they (the Jews) will be gathered from the ends of the earth and brought back to their Holy Land. But with the regeneration of Muslims through the Promised Messiah the latter would again come into their own.

The verse also implies that, like Jews, the Muslims would suffer- national disaster twice. As mentioned in vv. 6-8 Divine punishment befell the Jews twice. They suffered terribly first at the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, when they were carried away into captivity, and then a second time at the hands of the Emperor Titus of Rome. On both these occasions the Jews were driven away from their native land and were scattered all over the world. In the present verse a promise has been held out to them that they will be gathered in the Holy Land at the time of the fulfilment of "the promise of the latter days" (وعدالاخرة). This fulfilment of "the promise of the latter days" must have reference to some other incident than the twofold national disaster that overtook the Jews. Elsewhere (73:16) the Quran has compared the Holy Prophet to Moses and 1:7 implies that a section of Muslims would follow in the footsteps of Jews. It can therefore be reasonably concluded that, like Jews, Muslims also were destined to be smitten twice with national disaster. The first of these two disasters befell Muslims at the time of the Crusades when for a time the Holy Land was lost to them and later when Baghdad fell to the arms of the Tartars under Hulagu Khan. They were to be visited with Divine punishment for the second time in the time of the Promised Messiah just as the Jews were punished in that of the first Messiah—Jesus. In the present verse we are told that when Muslims are punished for the second time which means the fulfilment of "the promise of the latter days" the Jews would be brought back to their Holy Land from all parts of the world. This is what is happening now in Palestine.

According to Fat’hul-Bayan some very prominent Muslim religious scholars hold the view that وعدالاخرة (the promise of the latter days) applies to the time of the Promised Messiah. This interpretation supports our view.

Commentary:

By الارض (the land) is meant Palestine. It is worthy of note that Christian commentators themselves have interpreted the phrase 'inherit the land' or 'inherit the earth' in the Psalms as meaning, 'inherit Canaan, the pledge of God’s covenant.' ("Commentary on the Old Testament," published by The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London, notes on Ps. 37:3, 9). The reference in the words, "in the Book of David" is to Psalms 37: 9,11,18,22 & 29, where it is stated:

For evildoers shall be cut off; but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. The Lord knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be forever... For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut; The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein forever.

The word الذکر may also refer to Torah, the Book of Moses. There is a prophecy in Deuteronomy (28: 11 & 34: 4) that Palestine was to be given to the Israelites:

For when I shall have brought them into the land which I swore unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant .... And the Lord said unto him, this is the land which I swore unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed.

The Israelites rose to great power after Moses and in the time of David and Solomon their rule extended far and wide till it embraced in its orbit far-off lands. Then they fell on evil days. They sinned and transgressed and killed God’s Prophets with the result that Divine nemesis overtook them. First Samaria was conquered and ravaged by the Assyrians about 733 B.C. and the whole country north of Israel was annexed by them. Then under Pharaoh Necho, the Egyptians ravaged Judah in 608 B.C. and last of all the greatest blow fell on Israel when Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king, laid waste Judah, killed in cold blood the inhabitants of Jerusalem and burned and razed the holy Temple of Solomon to the ground and carried away in captivity the members of the royal family and their Prophets. After wandering in wilderness for about a century the Israelites were restored to Jerusalem and to some of their lost glory through the instrumentality of Cyrus, the Persian king and his successors. To this restoration the following passage of the Bible makes a prophetic reference from the mouth of Moses:

And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee—thou shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; that then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee.... And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and He will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers (Deut. 30:1-5).

Again the Israelites relapsed into sin and iniquity. They opposed and persecuted God’s Messengers and the cup of their wickedness became full to the brim when they hung on the cross Jesus, their last great Prophet. Then God’s wrath fell upon them. The Roman hordes under Titus attacked them in 70 A.D. and amid circumstances of unparalleled horror Jerusalem was destroyed and the Temple of Solomon was burnt down for the second time (Enc. Bib. & Jew. Enc. under "Jerusalem"). To this double disaster of the Israelites vv. 17:5-8 of the Quran make a pointed reference.

Palestine, the Holy Land, remained in the hands of Christians till Muslims conquered it in the Caliphate of ‘Umar, the Second Successor of the Holy Prophet, and unlike Nebuchadnezzar and Titus he accorded such benign and kind treatment to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and showed such respect and reverence to the Temple of Solomon as are unparalleled in the whole annals of foreign conquest. It is to this conquest of Palestine by Muslim arms that the prophecy embodied in the verse under comment particularly refers. Palestine remained under Muslim possession for about 1350 years with the exception of a brief space of 92 years when during the Crusades it changed hands, till in our own time through the evil designs of some so-called democratic Christian powers, the country of the name of Palestine has altogether ceased to exist and on its ruins the State of Israel has been built. The Jews have come to their own after wandering in wilderness for about 2000 years. But this great historical event, too, has taken place in fulfilment of a Quranic prophecy. The Muslims were told that in the time of the Promised Messiah, the Jews will be made to come back to their Holy Land from the ends of the earth (17:105). But this is only a temporary phase. The Muslims are destined to win it back. Let the whole world know that sooner or later—sooner rather than later—Palestine will revert to Muslim possession. This is a Divine decree and nobody can alter God’s decree.