RENAISSANCE FEBRUARY 2020

Qur’ ā nic Exegesis 8 Monthly Renaissance February 2020 ﴿ۙ َۡ ﻤَﺔً وَ ﻧَﺠۡﻌَﻠَﻬﻢ ﻟۡﻮٰرﺛ Bَ ۡ ﻵۡﻹَرۡضوَ ﻧَﺠۡﻌَﻠَﻬﻢ MN ٥﴾ َ وَ ﻧﻤَﻜﻦ ﻵۡﻹَرۡضوَ ﻧﺮيَ -,ۡﻋَﻮۡنَ وَ MN ۡ ﻟَﻬﻢ َﺎﻧﻮۡ ﻳَﺤۡﺬَروۡنَ ﴿ U ﻫَﺎﻣٰﻦَ وَ ﺟﻨﻮۡدَﻫﻤَﺎﻣﻨۡﻬﻢۡ ﻣَﺎ ٦﴾ for their sons to slaughter them and let their women live. 6 Indeed, he was from among those who spread disorder. And, on the other hand, We had decided to look upon those with favour who had been oppressed in this country 7 and grant them leadership 8 and make them the inheritors of the country and grant them the political authority of that land 9 and make the Pharaoh and H ā m ā n 10 and their armies see from them precisely what they feared. 11 (4-6) 6. This obviously is the height of tyranny that a ruler can show. This scheme was made by the Pharaoh and his nobles because they feared an increase in number of the Israelites and thought they would become a strong power and overpower them. Details of this can be seen both in the Bible and the Talmud. 7. This is a mention of the decision of God in accordance with which after the advent of Moses (sws) the Almighty chose the Israelites to bear witness to his religion at the global level. This selection is of the same nature in which prophets of God have been selected from among human beings for preaching and bearing witness to the truth. Thus the meaning conveyed here by the word ﻧَﻤﻦ is the same as is conveyed by the words ْ ْﻌَﻤْﺖﻋَﻠَﻴْﻜﻢ cَ /أ eَ /َ ﻟ eَ ﻌْﻤ c at other instances in the Qur’ ā n. 8. Ie., make them the leaders of religion. This is a consequence of the decision made by the Almighty for Abraham (sws) as mentioned in the words ۡ Mf ﺟَﺎﻋﻠﻚَ ﻟﻠﻨَﺎس ﻣَﺎﻣًﺎ of verse 124 of S ū rah al-Baqarah 9. The land of Palestine was selected for this and by specifying it as the centre of communication for His message, God consigned it to the Israelites. Thus it was ordered that this land be vacated and by making all nearby governments its tributaries, the rule of God be established in it under the leadership of His prophets. It is for this reason that the Bible calls it the land of inheritance. It has been stated earlier that this was God’s verdict and does not relate to any other territory of the world. 10. The way he is mentioned here shows that he probably was the prime minister of the Pharaoh and as his right hand fully shared all his acts of oppression. 11. It has been stated earlier that the people of the Pharaoh feared that if the number and influence of the Israelites continued to increase thus, they would dominate them one day. It is this fear that is mentioned here. It is stated that this is precisely what will happen and