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Draft:Verse 94 of Surah al-Baqara

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Verse 94 of Surah al-Baqara
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Qur'an 2:94 instructs Prophet Muhammad (s) to challenge the Jews[1] regarding their belief that Paradise is exclusively reserved for them and to urge them to wish for death if their claim is indeed true.[2] The underlying logic of this challenge is that one who is certain of admission to Paradise would naturally long for it and desire to hasten their entry.[3] The subsequent verse, however, asserts that they will never express such a wish.[4]

This verse functions as both a rebuke and critical argument against Jewish exceptionalism.[5] It begins by citing the Jewish assumption that the Hereafter is their exclusive domain. Exegetes explain that the Jews believed Paradise was solely for them and excluded others, including the Prophet of Islam (s) and Muslims,[6] from salvation.[7] Some interpretations suggest that the Jews believed they would enter Paradise without undergoing divine reckoning, in contrast to others who would be held accountable for all their minor and major deeds.[8]

Certain exegetes note that the Jews considered themselves a superior race, believing Paradise was created specifically for them and that the fire of Hell would not touch them, as they regarded themselves as the children and special friends of God.[9]

The Qur'an counters this belief with a logical challenge: if they truly hold such a belief, they should desire death to expedite their entry into the promised Paradise. The following verse Qur'an 2:95 declares that they will never do so.[10] A narration from the Prophet of Islam (s) states that had they actually wished for death, they would have died instantly and witnessed their place in Hell.[11]

A similar address is found in Qur'an 62:6, where the Jews are told: if you claim to be the exclusive friends of God to the exclusion of other people, then wish for death.[12] The subsequent verse in that Sura likewise affirms that they will never desire it.[13]

Notes

  1. ↑ Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-bayān, 1412 AH, vol. 1, p. 336.
  2. ↑ Al-Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, 1372 Sh, vol. 1, p. 319.
  3. ↑ Al-Ṭabrisī, Tafsīr jawāmiʿ al-jāmiʿ, 1377 Sh, vol. 1, p. 64.
  4. ↑ Ḥusaynī Shīrāzī, Tabyīn al-Qurʾān, 1423 AH, p. 25.
  5. ↑ Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-bayān, 1412 AH, vol. 1, p. 336; Al-Ṭūsī, Al-Tibyān, vol. 1, p. 357.
  6. ↑ Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, Tafsīr al-ṣāfī, 1415 AH, vol. 1, p. 165.
  7. ↑ Ḥusaynī Shīrāzī, Tabyīn al-Qurʾān, 1423 AH, p. 25.
  8. ↑ Faḍl Allāh, Tafsīr min waḥy al-Qurʾān, 1419 AH, vol. 2, p. 129.
  9. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, 1374 Sh, vol. 1, p. 355.
  10. ↑ Qurashī Bunābī, Tafsīr-i aḥsan al-ḥadīth, 1377 Sh, vol. 1, p. 193.
  11. ↑ Qummī Mashhadī, Tafsīr kanz al-daqāʾiq, 1368 Sh, vol. 2, p. 89.
  12. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, 1374 Sh, vol. 24, p. 116.
  13. ↑ Qur'an 62:7.

References

  • Faḍl Allāh, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Tafsīr min waḥy al-Qurʾān. Beirut: Dār al-Malāk, 2nd ed., 1419 AH.
  • Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, Mullā Muḥsin. Tafsīr al-ṣāfī. Edited by Ḥusayn Aʿlamī. Tehran: Intishārāt-i Al-Ṣadr, 2nd ed., 1415 AH.
  • Ḥusaynī Shīrāzī, Sayyid Muḥammad. Tabyīn al-Qurʾān. Beirut: Dār al-ʿUlūm, 2nd ed., 1423 AH.
  • Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tafsīr-i nimūna. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1st ed., 1374 Sh.
  • Qummī Mashhadī, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad Riḍā. Tafsīr kanz al-daqāʾiq wa baḥr al-gharāʾib. Edited by Ḥusayn Dargāhī. Tehran: Sāzmān-i Chāp wa Intishārāt-i Wizārat-i Irshād-i Islāmī, 1st ed., 1368 Sh.
  • Qurashī Bunābī, Sayyid ʿAlī Akbar. Tafsīr-i aḥsan al-ḥadīth. Tehran: Bunyād-i Biʿthat, 3rd ed., 1377 Sh.
  • Ṭabarī, Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-. Jāmiʿ al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut: Dār al-Maʿrifa, 1st ed., 1412 AH.
  • Ṭabrisī, Faḍl b. al-Ḥasan al-. Majmaʿ al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Introduction by Muḥammad Jawād Balāghī. Tehran: Nāṣir Khusraw, 3rd ed., 1372 Sh.
  • Ṭabrisī, Faḍl b. al-Ḥasan al-. Tafsīr jawāmiʿ al-jāmiʿ. Tehran: Intishārāt-i Dānishgāh-i Tihrān & Mudīriyyat-i Ḥawza-yi ʿIlmiyya-yi Qum, 1st ed., 1377 Sh.
  • Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Al-Tibyān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Introduction by Āghā Buzurg Tihrānī. Edited by Aḥmad Qaṣīr al-ʿĀmilī. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, n.d.
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