The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 1) — Page 176
CH. 2 R. 10. AL-BAQARAH PT. 1 worship nothing but Allah and show kindness to parents and to وَإِذْ أَخَذْنَا مِيثَاقَ بَنِي إِسْرَاعِيلَ لَا And remember the time. 84 when "We took a covenant from تَعْبُدُونَ إِلَّا الله " وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ إِحْسَانًا the children of Israel: You shall وَذِي الْقُرْبَى وَالْيَتَى وَالْمَسْكِينِ وَقُولُوا لِلنَّاسِ حُسْنًا وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلوةَ kindred and orphans and the وَأتُوا الزَّكُوةَ ثُمَّ تَوَلَّيْتُمْ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا and observe Prayer, and pay مِنْكُمْ وَأَنْتُمْ مُّعْرِضُونَ ) poor, and speak to men kindly b the Zakāh'; then you turned away in aversion, except a few of you. ⁹0 4:155; 5:13. 2:44; 4:78; 6:73; 22:79; 24:57; 30:32. of Heaven are meant to last long, it is only the reward of Heaven which is everlasting (11:107-109). 90. Important Words: (a covenant). See 2:64. Commentary: After setting forth the attitude of the Israelites of the Holy Prophet's time towards the Prophets of God and their own Scriptures, the Quran draws their attention to the teachings which they had been required to follow but which they ignored. The verse under comment does not refer to any particular covenant, but to the vices which were rife among the Jews at the time and which were forbidden them in the Bible. Worship of any object other than God is repeatedly forbidden in the Jewish scriptures (Exod. 20:3-6). Again, kindness to parents is also among the injunctions (Exod. 20:12). Similarly, for the kind treatment of kinsmen, clear injunctions have been given 176 (Lev. 19:17, 18; Exod. 21:9, and Prov. 3:27, 28). For care of orphans, an injunction is to be met with in Deut. 14:29. Sympathy for the poor is enjoined in Deut. 15:11. The injunction to deal gently with mankind is found in Prov. 3:30. The commandment to observe Prayer is given in Deut. 6:13. The injunction for alms-giving may be seen in Exod. 23:10, 11. The Jews openly disregarded these clear injunctions. They set up equals to God, some believing in Ezra as the son of God, others taking the word of their divines as revelation and setting aside the dictates of the Holy Writ. Their treatment of their own kinsmen and others was cruel. Their attitude towards orphans and the indigent was unsympathetic. They were quite devoid of fellow feeling and were lax in worship and alms-giving. It should, however, be noted that God has not condemned the whole Jewish nation, but has made an exception in the case