Children’s Column
The Qur’an for Young Hearts – 68
Important Notes
1:The translation of the Qur’an being presented here is interpretative. It is meant for children. Those who can understand other translations should better consult them.
2. Parents are advised to hold sessions at home and teach the verses and explanation as given here, and, if they can, add more from Qur’anic commentaries.
3. Answers to exercise below may be attempted. Parents may evaluate them and reward the children suitably.
4. Schools could also include this in their Islamic curriculum.
5. The underlined words have been explained in the Dictionary given below.
Verses from Surah no. 2, Al-Baqarah
[252] These are the revelations of Allah that We recite to you with Truth and surely, you are of the Messengers.
[253] Those (were) Messengers some of whom We preferred above others: to some Allah spoke (directly) while He raised others in rank. And We gave ‘Isa, son of Maryam, clear proofs, and strengthened him with Al-Rooh (the Holy Spirit). And, had Allah willed, those who succeeded them would not have fought one against the other ‑ after the proofs had come to them ‑ but they differed among themselves, so that some of them believed and some of them disbelieved. Yet, had Allah willed they would not have fought one against the other, but Allah does what He will.
Understanding these verses:
The Qur’an now asks us to think. How did the Prophet come to know of Daud’sstory? He was after all, a minor king in the history of Israel. Perhaps, he did not control a territory bigger than the size of Bahrain. Why was he of any interest to the Arabs? If at all the Prophet wished to hear stories, the Prophet should have taken them from the Syrians, to which lands he had traveled several times. That land was ruled by the Romans, whose empire was a million times larger than the land ruled by Da’ud (asws). And they had hundreds of stories of great Roman conquerors. To add to mystery, there were no Jews in Syria. And, perhaps, the Syrian public had not heard the word Jew. Nor were the Makkans have any wish to know and hear about the Jews. Their own poets never mentioned a single story of the Jews. In fact, they never mentioned the word Jew in their poetry.
So, if the Qur’an was written by the Prophet, why did he mention Da’ud’s story, and how did he come to know of him?
He could not have taken his story from the Torah, a copy of which he hadn’t seen. In fact, there were no books in Arabia of that time. And, if the Prophet had heard about him from the Jews, then, Da’ud’s personality, as presented by the Jews, said that he was a scheming man who got someone murdered. But in the story as presented by the Qur’an, he turned out to be a noble man, worthy of imitation and emulation.
There is no answer to the questions above except that the Prophet could not have taken the story from anywhere, anyone. It was revealed to him, and revealed to Him with such details that the Jews should ever be grateful because their Prophet’s life has been cleared of all wrongs and he has become a model for every young fighter defending his religion and homeland. These details go to prove that Muhammad was a Prophet.
But, Muhammad was not any Prophet. He seems to enjoy an important place in the list of Prophets. For example, there were two Prophets before him to whom Allah spoke. He was the third after Adam and Musa. And yet, the Arabs, Jews or non-Jews, were rejecting him. How unfortunate of them. But, to be sure, as far as the Jews are concerned, this rejection was nothing new; before him Jesus Christ was sent to them, with mighty signs. One of them was that an important angel called “Al-Rooh” came to his help to save him from the attacks of the Jews and Romans who tried to arrest him but failed. The “Al-Rooh” was protecting him. Apart from that, the Jews saw many signs in him; but still rejected him. So, no surprise they rejected Muhammad, and follow a religion that they do not like to present to any non-Jew.
At this point you must remember that the “Al-Rooh” of the Qur’an is not the same as the Holy Ghost of the Christians.
Also, you must remember that Allah protects his servants in the manner in which “Al-Rooh” protected `Isa ibn Maryam (asws). During riots, as well as at other times, when non-Muslims attacked, many Muslims have been saved in this way. During their occupation of India, British soldiers came after Sheikh Hussain Ahmad Madani, who was working for India’s freedom. He was hiding in the stable of a garden. He was in prayer, but the soldiers could not see him, and left surprised because they had seen him entering the garden.
So, how did the Jews behave with Jesus? Well, they rejected him. More than that, they went after his life. That resulted in hatred between Jews and Christians. They fought against each other and killed each other, until they have now decided on a common enemy.
And why did they differ between themselves? It was because they had decided to disbelieve, no matter what the signs said.
Of course, if Allah willed, He could stop the fighting between them. He should have, because He is all-Kind and should control the evil ones in mankind. But He did not, for some reason. Therefore, He said in the above verse that if He willed, they would not have fought.
Summary:
If you think those who reject the Prophet of Islam, it is because they have some good reasons, you are mistaken. The Qur’an, and books on the Prophet’s life are in every library. They are available in every bookstore in every town, and every country. If they were not selling, you would not find them in bookstores. Books that don’t move are not kept in bookstores. But information is not the problem. The problem is that the people do not wish to believe. They are already decided that they will not accept Islam. So, any number of signs, proofs and evidences which are spread all over the Qur’an and in the biographies of the Prophet, are of no use to them.
Even when the Qur’an clears the character of Prophet after Prophet, who had been given bad figures in their religious literature, they are not thankful, and not ready to accept that their books insult their Prophets, while the Qur’an honors them. When they meet you, they don’t like to discuss religion, and if they discuss, they pretend as if they have neither read the Qur’an nor their own religious literature. Yet they will argue with you endlessly if you force them into a conversation.
This is the result of their decision not to believe.
Test of understanding
Answer the following:
- Explain why Allah said in verse 242, “These are the revelations of Allah.”
- Do you know of any case where Allah’s help saved a Muslim’s life? If yes, narrate it.
- What makes the Jews and Christians so sure that the Prophet took stories from others and put them in the Qur’an?
- How big a country Israel was during the time of Da’ud (asws)?
- What was the reason Jews and Christians fought against each other?
- Why do the people read the Qur’an and the Prophet’s biography, but do not believe?
- Could the Prophet have written the story of David if he knew how to read and write? Give reasons.
(To be continued)
