2-83 And when We made a covenant with the Children of Israel: You shall serve none but Allah. And do good to (your) parents, and to the near of kin and to orphans and the needy, and speak good (words) to (all) men, and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate. Then you turned back except a few of you, and you are averse.a
وَإِذۡ أَخَذۡنَا مِيثَـٰقَ بَنِىٓ إِسۡرَٲٓءِيلَ لَا تَعۡبُدُونَ إِلَّا ٱللَّهَ وَبِٱلۡوَٲلِدَيۡنِ إِحۡسَانً۬ا وَذِى ٱلۡقُرۡبَىٰ وَٱلۡيَتَـٰمَىٰ وَٱلۡمَسَـٰڪِينِ وَقُولُواْ لِلنَّاسِ حُسۡنً۬ا وَأَقِيمُواْ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَءَاتُواْ ٱلزَّڪَوٰةَ ثُمَّ تَوَلَّيۡتُمۡ إِلَّا قَلِيلاً۬ مِّنڪُمۡ وَأَنتُم مُّعۡرِضُونَ (٨٣)
2:83a احسان – حُسن is that which causes happiness or that which one is inclined to by rationality, desire or senses. In the Quran, it is mostly used to indicate that which is intellectually likable (R). By حسن here is meant a good word. And احسان can describe actions as in good knowledge and good deeds. In a hadith احسان is described as worshipping Allah as if you are seeing Him, or at least as if He is seeing you. Its most common use is doing good to another; that is a person’s goodness becomes transitive.
ذِى ٱلۡقُرۡبَىٰ – قرب (nearness; closeness) may be in several ways – through relationship, as implied here, as through a parent, closeness in terms of time or place, closeness of status, as in من المقربین , closeness because of a favor, that is, care as in إِنَّ رَحۡمَتَ ٱللَّهِ قَرِيبٌ۬ مِّنَ ٱلۡمُحۡسِنِينَ (Surely the mercy of Allah is nigh to the doers of good. (7:56)), and closeness of divine power as in نَحۡنُ أَقۡرَبُ إِلَيۡهِ مِنۡ حَبۡلِ ٱلۡوَرِيدِ (We are nearer to him than his life vein (50:16)) (R). However, closeness can also be in terms of knowledge.
ٱلۡيَتَـٰمَىٰ – is the plural of یتیم (orphan) and the meaning of یُتۡم is separation, that is to cut. An یتیم (orphan) in the Arabic culture is a person whose father dies before they are mature (R). Unique things are also called یتیم , as in دُرَّة یتیمة (unique pearl).
تَوَلَّيۡتُمۡ – The root of تولّٰی is ولی meaning nearness. When its relative pronoun is عن , whether explicit or implicit, as here, then its meaning is to shrink from or to become distant (R).
مُّعۡرِضُونَ – اعرض is derived from عرض which is the opposite of long and its use extends to things that are not part of the body, as in: فَذُو دُعَآءٍ عَرِيضٍ۬ (…he is full of lengthy supplications) (41:51). The meaning of اعرض منه is, he turned away from it. The distinction made between تولّٰی and اعرض is that تولّٰی means went back to where he came from, that is, turned his back, and اعرض means left the path and went off in the direction of its width, that is, not only leaving the truth but adopting falsehood.
Commandments of the Torah: When the taking of covenant was first mentioned, details were left out. Some details are provided here with regards to commandments given. These commandments are core principles. The worship of One true God and the doing of good to God’s creation. The Torah laid great stress on the Oneness of Allah and to reinforce this message, a notification style is adopted. After this, stress is laid on goodness to parents, then relatives, then orphans, then the needy and then people at large. Two practical ways of fulfilling these commandments are then given – prayer and charity. These directives are all found in the Torah. For the worship of One God see Exodus 20:3, for respecting parents see 20:12, for near of kin see Deuteronomy 15:11, for orphans see Deuteronomy 26:12, for the needy see Deuteronomy 15:11, for people at large see the beginning of Exodus chapter 23, for prayer see Deuteronomy 13:4, for charity see Exodus 23:10-11, and Leviticus 25:6-11.
2-84 And when We made a covenant with you: You shall not shed your blood, nor turn your people out of your cities; then you promised and you bear witness.a
وَإِذۡ أَخَذۡنَا مِيثَـٰقَكُمۡ لَا تَسۡفِكُونَ دِمَآءَكُمۡ وَلَا تُخۡرِجُونَ أَنفُسَكُم مِّن دِيَـٰرِكُمۡ ثُمَّ أَقۡرَرۡتُمۡ وَأَنتُمۡ تَشۡہَدُونَ (٨٤)
2:84a The command not to wage war against their own nation: The Arabian Jews are directly addressed here because this matter is specifically pertinent to them. Mention is made of one significant violation of their covenant. The intent is also to particularly draw the attention of Muslims to this. By “not shed your blood” is meant not to wage war against your own nation. This command is in Exodus 20:13. By “turn your people out of your cities” is meant either not to covet gaining possession of their brethren’s houses, for which see Exodus 20:17 or internecine warfare, the natural consequence of which would be that some people would have to leave their houses.
2-85 Yet you it is who would slay your people and turn a party from among you out of their homes, backing each other up against them unlawfully and exceeding the limits. And if they should come to you as captives you would ransom them, whereas their turning out itself was unlawful for you. Do you then believe in a part of the Book and disbelieve in the other? What then is the reward of such among you as do this but disgrace in the life of this world, and on the day of Resurrection they shall be sent back to the most grievous chastisement. And Allah is not heedless of what you do.a
ثُمَّ أَنتُمۡ هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ تَقۡتُلُونَ أَنفُسَكُمۡ وَتُخۡرِجُونَ فَرِيقً۬ا مِّنكُم مِّن دِيَـٰرِهِمۡ تَظَـٰهَرُونَ عَلَيۡهِم بِٱلۡإِثۡمِ وَٱلۡعُدۡوَٲنِ وَإِن يَأۡتُوكُمۡ أُسَـٰرَىٰ تُفَـٰدُوهُمۡ وَهُوَ مُحَرَّمٌ عَلَيۡڪُمۡ إِخۡرَاجُهُمۡۚ أَفَتُؤۡمِنُونَ بِبَعۡضِ ٱلۡكِتَـٰبِ وَتَكۡفُرُونَ بِبَعۡضٍ۬ۚ فَمَا جَزَآءُ مَن يَفۡعَلُ ذَٲلِكَ مِنڪُمۡ إِلَّا خِزۡىٌ۬ فِى ٱلۡحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنۡيَاۖ وَيَوۡمَ ٱلۡقِيَـٰمَةِ يُرَدُّونَ إِلَىٰٓ أَشَدِّ ٱلۡعَذَابِۗ وَمَا ٱللَّهُ بِغَـٰفِلٍ عَمَّا تَعۡمَلُونَ (٨٥)
2:85a تَظَـٰهَرُونَ – تظاھُر is helping each other and is derived from ظَھر meaning back. Thus, mutual helpers are such that each has the other’s back.
اثم – اِثم and اَثَام are those acts that hold back one from doing acts of goodness. There is an element of procrastination in its real meaning (R). There is praise for اِثم in the Hadith: ما حاك فی صدرك , that is, a thing that leaves an impression and is firmly established internally, and it is added with it: وکرھتان یطلع الناس علیه (and you disapprove that others should learn about it).
عُدۡوَٲنِ – is from عدو meaning to transgress. Sometime this transgression is by the heart and is called عداوت or معاودت Sometimes it is in walking and is called عَدۡو , that is brisk walking, and sometimes it is in an affair as a result of not following a middle course and is called عُدوان. The difference between اِثم and عُدۡوَٲنِ is that اِثم is an action where the effect is confined to the individual himself while عُدۡوَٲنِ is being unjust to another. The behavior of the Jews by virtue of disobedience to the commands of God is اِثم and by virtue of being unjust to their brothers is عُدۡوَٲنِ.
اساری – is the plural of اسیر or the plural of اَسریٰ which is the plural of اسیر .The meaning of اسیر is to tie with a chain, and any person who is caught, whether bound by chain or not is اسیر .
تُفَـٰدُوا – The meaning of فداء and فِدَی is to spend some money to get out of a troublesome situation (R).
ٱلدُّنۡيَا – is derived from دنوّ which means near, and دنیا is the near life or near profit in contrast with the Hereafter.
ٱلۡقِيَـٰمَةِ – قیام – is derived from قام یقوم . It becomes قیامة by the addition of ھا , and its meaning is for a person to stand up only once and for this to happen all of a sudden, an element of sorrow and warning are added to it (R). And قیامة is the day of resurrection when people will stand before the Ever-Living Sustaining One (T).
Three Doomsdays – کبریٰ (Great), وسطیٰ (Middle) and صغریٰ (Small). It is stated under the word ساعتہ (Hour) in Al-Mufradat that there are three Hours which spell the Doom: کبریٰ the raising of people for requital, وسطیٰ the passing of a generation, as in the hadith where the Holy Prophet said to Abdullah bin Anees on seeing him: ان یَطُلۡ عُمُر ھذا الغلام لم یَمُتۡ حتی تقوم الساعُتہ (If the life of this boy is long, he will not die till Doomsday); accordingly, it is narrated that he was the last of the Companions to die, and صغریٰ that occurs with the death of each individual.
Participation of Jews in the tribal fights of Aws and Khazraj: There were two major tribes in Madinah – Aws and Khazraj, and the two were in a state of perpetual conflict with each other. Two major tribes of the Jews, Bani Nazir and Bani Quraizah, aligned themselves on opposite sides in this conflict, the former with Aws and the latter with Khazraj. Thus, united with their ally, they killed their own brethren and forced them from their houses. When one of the sides in the conflict captured prisoners of war from the other side, the two tribes would jointly contribute to ransom the prisoners. The Quran accuses them of this, and states that the result of fighting their own people, creating mischief, and evicting their own brethren would be that they would become disgraced in the world. Further, they should not hope for paradise in the next world for they would be punished even more severely than they had been on earth.
The example of the Jews was a warning to the Muslims not to indulge in internecine wars: The narration of the Jews is meant as a warning for the Muslims, but the Muslims followed in the footsteps of the Jews. The events described here became a prophecy for the events of the Muslims. If Muslims in one part of the world are injured in a war, Muslims in the other parts contribute to help them. On the other hand, Muslim countries often plan to destroy other Muslim countries, sometimes in alliance with others and sometimes on their own. On the one hand, Muslims in collaboration with the Christians destroyed the Islamic caliphate, and on the other they demonstrated and appealed for its establishment.
The description of a Muslim: This narration about the Jews underscores that regardless of what the conditions are, it is not permissible for Muslims to wage war against each other, to shed Muslim blood and capture other Muslim kingdoms. A Hadith states: المسلم من سلّم المسلمون من لسانه و یدہ . A Muslim is one who does not hurt another Muslim either by his hand or by his tongue. Hurting by hand includes murder, looting wealth and seizing the countries of other Muslims. Hurting by tongue includes defaming, abusing, and calling other Muslims unbelievers. Through internecine wars, and rebellions, Muslims have dishonored themselves and continue on a path of destruction.
Decrees of excommunication wrecking the nation: When Muslim nations lost their sovereignty, they kept on the path of destruction by excommunicating each other. Even now, religious scholars and leaders are not concerned with spreading Islam or appropriately responding to criticisms levelled against Islam. Instead their favorite pastime remains declaring other Muslims unbelievers.
2-86 These are they who buy the life of this world for the Hereafter, so their chastisement shall not be lightened, nor shall they be helped.a
أُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱشۡتَرَوُاْ ٱلۡحَيَوٰةَ ٱلدُّنۡيَا بِٱلۡأَخِرَةِۖ فَلَا يُخَفَّفُ عَنۡہُمُ ٱلۡعَذَابُ وَلَا هُمۡ يُنصَرُونَ (٨٦)
2:86 a The narration now turns to the people who violated the covenant. A new revelation came for their guidance and if they had accepted this guidance, then their punishment would be averted and they would be helped, but since they rejected it for the sake of this worldly life, this will not happen now.
Bayan-ul-Quran 