12-26-2012, 07:49 AM
Bismillah
Praise be to Allah King of the Kings and Owner of the universe and prayer and peace be upon His Messenger Mohamed Ibn Abdullah, his household and companions.
"Say to (them): "If the home of the Hereafter with Allah is indeed for you specially and not for others, of mankind, then long for death if you are truthful." (Quran 2:94)
In this Ayah Allah Is challenging the Jews in Particular as clearly indicated in the preceding two Ayahs saying:" And indeed Musa (Moses) came to you with clear proofs, yet you worshipped the calf after he left, and you were Zalimun (polytheists and wrong-doers).* And (remember) when We took your covenant and We raised above you the Mount (saying), "Hold firmly to what We have given you and hear (Our Word). They said, "We have heard and disobeyed." And their hearts absorbed (the worship of) the calf because of their disbelief. Say: "Worst indeed is that which your faith enjoins on you if you are believers." (Quran 2: 92-93).
The Ayah is a response to their claim of being Allah's favorite people who are the only creation considered as human beings. They also claimed that apart from them, other nations are all animals. Due to this, they will be the only nation admitted to Jannah. This is one of the claims in addition to the rest of the list Allah mentioned in Quran.
Another Ayah of challenge is when Allah Is Saying:"And they say, "None shall enter Paradise unless he be a Jew or a Christian." These are their own desires. Say (O Muhammad ﻢﻠﺳﻭ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ ﻪﻠﻟﺍ ﻰﻠﺻ), "Produce your proof if you are truthful." (Quran 2:111). Look at the response in saying:" Produce your proof if you are truthful". The response is very clear and direct if what you are saying is true, bring an evidence to prove it. Certainly they will not be able to do so.
In another position they claim being:" And (both) the Jews and the Christians say: "We are the children of Allah and His loved ones" (Quran 5:18) that is when Allah Replied to them:" Say: "Why then does He punish you for your sins? Nay, you are but human beings, of those He has created, He forgives whom He wills and He punishes whom He wills" (Quran 5:18).
Summing up all the previous claims, Allah Gave a strong challenging response in Saying: " Say to (them): "If the home of the Hereafter with Allah is indeed for you specially and not for others, of mankind, then long for death if you are truthful". Narrated under the authority of Ibn Abbas may Allah Be Pleased with both of them that he said:" long for death" actually means make dua to Allah for the death of the lying party between us and you. Of course they didn’t make the dua. While others explained this sentence as the common sense of wishing such as saying I wish I die.
The Messenger Salla Allah a`lyhee wa sallam said: if the Jews did wish for death, they would have died and watched their positions in Hell.
Ibn Abbas may Allah be Pleased with him said:" If they wished it on the day Allah Told them to do so, not a single Jew would have remained alive on earth".
However, Allah may He be Glorified did not wait for the response to this challenge, but rather Said: " But they will never long for it because of what their hands have sent before them (i.e. what they have done). And Allah is All-Aware of the Zalimun (polytheists and wrong-doers)." (Quran 2:95). Looking carefully at this Ayah, one can see Allah Is defying the reader of Quran. Matter of fact we can safely say that the whole Quran is a defying text. Allah with this Ayah placed the issue of Islam in the hands of the Jews. Matter of fact if they wished to destroy the call to Islam, they could have easily accepted the challenge, went to the Messenger while among his companions and made dua for death against the lying party. Or, being confident that Jannah is strictly dedicated to them apart from other people, just declare that they wish or long for death. But they didn’t. Not even out of arrogance or stubbornness. Allah Sobhanhu wa Ta`la made a final judgment regarding a matter that is related to a choice that must be made by an enemy of Islam. Allah Said they will not wish for it. In other words, Allah Made the challenge and foretold that they will not be able to stand the challenge. While the Jews if they wanted to hit the base of Islam bringing it to a full end, they could’ve easily just went and made Dua for death or wished to die. But because Quran is the word of Allah, they didn’t just exactly as Allah foretold in Quran. Truth Sayer Is Allah. Destruction of Islam is the goal the Jews are striving to achieve till our present time. Just by saying one word at the time of revelation of this Ayah, this goal could have been achieved. As such, if the Quran was authored by the Messenger salla Allah a`lyhee wa sallam, he would have never put himself in such a threatening position.
Allah Sobhanhu wa Ta`la indicated the reason as why they would never wish for death. It is due to what their hands committed. In other words, what they committed of sins and evil deeds, the most grave of which, is calling the Messenger salla Allah a`lyhee wa sallam a liar regardless of their knowledge that he is not.
They also rejected Islam, when they are confident it is the truth. Now we can move to saying, if they were confident that Jannah shall be strictly dedicated to them regardless of what they committed of sins, they can wish for death in order to enjoy the permanent arcadia. Thinking about this point, we all fear death out of the major concern about our sins which we are not sure whether or not Allah Forgave them. We are also never sure if our righteous deeds are accepted by Allah. In case one is sure that he/she is destined to Jannah, one would hasten to die just like the pioneer Muslims who used to hasten to attain martyrdom during the battles. They were sure that attaining martyrdom would make them alive and sustained at the Host of Allah. This Ayahs has a similar one in Suratu Jumma`a:" Say (O Muhammad ﻢﻠﺳﻭ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ ﻪﻠﻟﺍﻰﻠﺻ): "O you Jews! If you pretend that you are friends of Allah, to the exclusion of (all) other mankind, then long for death if you are truthful.* But they will never long for it (death), because of what (deeds) their hands have sent before them! And Allah knows well the Zalimun (polytheists, wrong-doers, disbelievers, etc.)." (Quran 62:6-7).
Both Ayahs bear the same meaning, however, in Arabic the Ayahs in Surat Baqara say lan yatamnouh while the one in Surt Jumma`a say la yatamanounuh. The difference is that the lan is stronger particle of negation than la. Therefore, Allah in Surat Baqarah Didn’t confirm the verb through the conjugation.
Here we conclude by what Allah Say:" Say (to them): "Verily, the death from which you flee will surely meet you, then you will be sent back to (Allah), the All-Knower of the unseen and the seen, and He will tell you what you used to do." (Quran 62:8).