The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 1)

The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 1) — Page 392

CH. 2 AL-BAQARAH PT. 2 آنْ وَقَالَ لَهُمْ نَبِيُّهُمْ إِنَّ ايَةَ مُلْكِ ان And their Prophet said to. 249 them: 'The sign of his يَأْتِيَكُمُ التَّابُوْتُ فِيهِ سَكِيْنَةٌ مِنْ رَّبِّكُمْ sovereignty is that there shall be وَبَقِيَّةٌ مِمَّا تَرَكَ الُ مُوسَى وَالُ هُرُونَ تَحْمِلُهُ الْمَلَيْكَةُ إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَآيَةً لَّكُمْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُّؤْمِنِينَ EQJE given you a heart wherein there will be tranquillity from your Lord and a legacy of good left by the family of Moses and the family of Aaron the angels bearing it. Surely, in this there is a Sign for you if you are believers. '255 remained with Gideon only 300 men. wealth, indicates that the people It is interesting to note that a raised two objections against Ṭālūt or Companion of the Holy Prophet is Gideon: (1) that he did not belong to reported to have said, "We were 313 a highly placed family and was men in the Battle of Badr, and this therefore not entitled to kingship, and number corresponds to the number of (2) that he did not possess the men who followed Ṭālūt" (Tirmidhi, requisite wealth for exercising ch. on Siyar). Thus this tradition also influence. Both of these are plausible lends support to the conclusion that objections that are usually made by Talūt was no other than Gideon. ordinary people of the world; but a chosen people guided by the will of What further confirms the identity of Talut with Gideon is that the Hebrew word Gideon is identical in meaning with the Arabic word Ṭālūt. The former is derived from a root which in Hebrew means "to fell" (Enc. Bib. ) or "to hew" (Jew. Enc. ). Thus, Gideon means "one who cuts down his adversary and fells him to the ground" and the Bible itself speaks of Gideon as a "mighty man of valour" (Judg. 6:12), and we have already noted that in Arabic Ṭala means one who is tall and towers above others (see Important Words above). The clause, how can he have sovereignty over us while we are better entitled to sovereignty than he, and he is not given abundance of | 392 the Just and Wise God must think otherwise. With them the real title to sovereignty is neither family status nor wealth but the personal qualities of a man; hence the clause, surely Allah has chosen him above you and has increased him abundantly in knowledge and body. The superiority of a man in physical and mental faculties coupled with knowledge and title to rulership. And in the case of prowess must remain the basis for all Talut the title had the additional strength of coinciding with the choice of God Who is the best and, in fact, the only true Judge of all titles. 255. Important Words:. i. e تاب heart is derived from) التابوت