Islamic Prophecies: The tribe of Israel will become very haughty

From WikiIslam, the online resource on Islam
Jump to: navigation, search
WikiIslam Archive,
Archives of the first iteration of WikiIslam, prior to acquisition and revamp by Ex-Muslims of North America
Islamic Prophecies
Fingerprints
Pollution
Establishment of Israel
The tribe of Israel will become very haughty
The preservation of Pharaoh's body
Genetic engineering
Roads in mountains
New transport systems
Zoos
Oceans linked
Modern communications systems
The army ant in technology
The use of electricity
Electric light bulbs
Formation of petroleum/gasoline
Atomic energy and fission
Artesian wells
Image transmission
Smell transference
Rapid transfer of things
Women's rights
Books published and spread
Extra-Terrestrial life
Air-Traffic system
The exploration of space
Voyage to the moon
Moon landing
Preservation of the Quran
Islam will prevail
"We decreed in the Book for the tribe of Israel: "You will twice cause corruption on Earth and you will reach [a degree of] great haughtiness. When the promised first time came, We sent against you servants of Ours possessing great force, and they ransacked your houses, rampaging right through them. It was a promise that was fulfilled. Then once again We gave you the upper hand over them, supplied you with more wealth and children, and made you the most numerous group." (17:4-6)


As these verses reveal, the Children of Israel were to cause two corruptions over the world. After the first one, during which they adopted a very high level of haughtiness, Allah sent a powerful army against them. Indeed, when the Jews killed Prophet Yahya (as) and set a trap to kill Prophet 'Isa (as) ("reaching to a degree of great haughtiness"), they were exiled shortly afterwards from Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 and wandered all over the world.

When that verse was revealed to the Prophet (saas), the Jews were living under very difficult conditions in various countries and had no state of their own. Yet, Allah told the Children of Israel that one day they would recover their strength. At that time, however, there seemed to be almost no chance that this would really happen. Many centuries later, however, the Jews returned to Palestine and established the State of Israel in 1948. Today, Israel possesses military and political power and keeps the Middle East in great turmoil because of its Zionist ideology and harsh treatment of Palestinian Muslims and Christians.

This is a sign of the Children of Israel's second "corruption." However, this wicked behavior clearly does not apply to the entire Jewish people, among whom there are many individuals of good conscience and common sense who do not agree with Israel's Zionist and anti-Arab policies. In this and other verses, we notice that almost no one could believe that such things would ever come about. But Allah willed their fulfillment, and thereby provided believers with more proof that the Qur'an is a miraculous book revealed by Him for their benefit.


Rebuttal

This verse has nothing to do with the establishment of Israel, or the fact that Muslims are in the middle of a conflict with them. When this verse was revealed, the two “cases of mischief” and their consequences had already come to pass. From the tafsirs:


[وَقَضَيْنَآ إِلَى بَنِى إِسْرَءِيلَ فِى الْكِتَـبِ لَتُفْسِدُنَّ فِى الاٌّرْضِ مَرَّتَيْنِ وَلَتَعْلُنَّ عُلُوّاً كَبِيراً - فَإِذَا جَآءَ وَعْدُ أُولَـهُمَا بَعَثْنَا عَلَيْكُمْ عِبَادًا لَّنَآ أُوْلِى بَأْسٍ شَدِيدٍ فَجَاسُواْ خِلَـلَ الدِّيَارِ وَكَانَ وَعْدًا مَّفْعُولاً - ثُمَّ رَدَدْنَا لَكُمُ الْكَرَّةَ عَلَيْهِمْ وَأَمْدَدْنَـكُم بِأَمْوَلٍ وَبَنِينَ وَجَعَلْنَـكُمْ أَكْثَرَ نَفِيرًا - إِنْ أَحْسَنتُمْ أَحْسَنتُمْ لاًّنفُسِكُمْ وَإِنْ أَسَأْتُمْ فَلَهَا فَإِذَا جَآءَ وَعْدُ الاٌّخِرَةِ لِيَسُوءُواْ وُجُوهَكُمْ وَلِيَدْخُلُواْ الْمَسْجِدَ كَمَا دَخَلُوهُ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ وَلِيُتَبِّرُواْ مَا عَلَوْاْ تَتْبِيرًا - عَسَى رَبُّكُمْ أَن يَرْحَمَكُمْ وَإِنْ عُدتُّمْ عُدْنَا وَجَعَلْنَا جَهَنَّمَ لِلْكَـفِرِينَ حَصِيرًا ]

(4. And We decreed for the Children of Israel in the Scripture: "Indeed you would do mischief in the land twice and you will become tyrants and extremely arrogant!) (5. So, when the promise came for the first of the two, We sent against you servants of Ours given to terrible warfare. They entered the very innermost parts of your homes. And it was a promise (completely) fulfilled.) (6. Then We gave you a return of victory over them. And We helped you with wealth and children and made you more numerous in manpower.) (7. (And We said): "If you do good, you do good for your own selves, and if you do evil (you do it) against yourselves. Then, when the second promise came to pass, (We permitted your enemies) to disgrace your faces and to enter the Masjid as they had entered it before, and to destroy with utter destruction all that fell in their hands.) (8. It may be that your Lord may show mercy unto you, but if you return (to sins), We shall return (to Our punishment). And We have made Hell a prison for the disbelievers.)

Allah tells us that He made a declaration to the Children of Israel in the Scripture, meaning that He had already told them in the Book which He revealed to them, that they would cause mischief on the earth twice, and would become tyrants and extremely arrogant, meaning they would become shameless oppressors of people, Allah says:

[وَقَضَيْنَآ إِلَيْهِ ذَلِكَ الاٌّمْرَ أَنَّ دَابِرَ هَـؤُلآْءِ مَقْطُوعٌ مُّصْبِحِينَ ]

(And We made known this decree to him, that the root of those (sinners) was to be cut off in the early morning.)(15:66), meaning, We already told him about that and informed him of it.

[فَإِذَا جَآءَ وَعْدُ أُولَـهُمَا]

(So, when the promise came for the first of the two) meaning the first of the two episodes of mischief.

[بَعَثْنَا عَلَيْكُمْ عِبَادًا لَّنَآ أُوْلِى بَأْسٍ شَدِيدٍ]

(We sent against you servants of Ours given to terrible warfare.) means, `We unleashed soldiers against you from among Our creatures who were given to terrible warfare,' i.e., they had great strength and weapons and power. They entered the very innermost parts of your homes, meaning they took possession of your land and invaded the very innermost parts of your homes, going between and through your houses, coming and going freely with no fear of anyone. This was the promise (completely) fulfilled. The earlier and later commentators differed over the identity of these invaders. Many Isra'iliyyat (reports from Jewish sources) were narrated about this, but I did not want to make this book too long by mentioning them, because some of them are fabricated, concocted by their heretics, and others may be true, but we have no need of them, praise be to Allah. What Allah has told us in His Book (the Qur'an) is sufficient and we have no need of what is in the other books that came before. Neither Allah nor His Messenger required us to refer to them. Allah told His Messenger that when (the Jews) committed transgression and aggression, Allah gave their enemies power over them to destroy their country and enter the innermost parts of their homes. Their humiliation and subjugation was a befitting punishment, and your Lord is never unfair or unjust to His servants. They had rebelled and killed many of the Prophets and scholars. Ibn Jarir recorded that Yahya bin Sa`id said: "I heard Sa`id bin Al-Musayyib saying: `Nebuchadnezzar conquered Ash-Sham (Greater Syria, including Palestine), destroying Jerusalem and killing them, then he came to Damascus and found blood boiling in a censer. He asked them: What is this blood They said: We found our forefathers doing this. Because of that blood, he killed seventy thousand of the believers and others, then the blood stopped boiling. This report is Sahih from Sa`id bin Al-Musayyib, and this event is well-known, as he (Nebuchadnezzar) killed their nobles and scholars, and did not leave alive anyone who knew the Tawrah by heart. He took many prisoners from the sons of the Prophets and others, and did many other things that would take too long to mention here. If we had found anything that was correct or close enough, we could have written it and reported it here. And Allah knows best. Then Allah says:

[إِنْ أَحْسَنتُمْ أَحْسَنتُمْ لاًّنفُسِكُمْ وَإِنْ أَسَأْتُمْ فَلَهَا]

((And We said): "If you do good, you do good for your own selves, and if you do evil (you do it) against yourselves.) As Allah says elsewhere:

[مَّنْ عَمِلَ صَـلِحاً فَلِنَفْسِهِ وَمَنْ أَسَآءَ فَعَلَيْهَا]

(Whosoever does a righteous good deed, it is for (the benefit of) himself; and whosoever does evil, it is against himself.) [45:15]

Then Allah says:

[فَإِذَا جَآءَ وَعْدُ الاٌّخِرَةِ]

(Then, when the second promise came to pass,) meaning, the second episode of mischief, when your enemies came again,

[لِيَسُوءُواْ وُجُوهَكُمْ]

((We permitted your enemies) to disgrace your faces) meaning, to humiliate you and subdue you,

[وَلِيَدْخُلُواْ الْمَسْجِدَ]

(and to enter the Masjid) meaning, Bayt Al-Maqdis (Jerusalem).

[كَمَا دَخَلُوهُ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ]

(as they had entered it before,) when they entered the very innermost parts of your homes.

[وَلِيُتَبِّرُواْ]

(and to destroy) wrecking and inflicting ruin upon it.

[مَا عَلَوْاْ]

(all that fell in their hands.) everything they could get their hands on.

[تَتْبِيرًاعَسَى رَبُّكُمْ أَن يَرْحَمَكُمْ]

(with utter destruction. It may be that your Lord may show mercy unto you) meaning that He may rid you of them.

[وَإِنْ عُدتُّمْ عُدْنَا]

(but if you return (to sins), We shall return (to Our punishment).) meaning, if you return to causing mischief,

[عُدْنَا]

(We shall return) means, We `will once again punish you in this world, along with the punishment and torment We save for you in the Hereafter.'

[وَجَعَلْنَا جَهَنَّمَ لِلْكَـفِرِينَ حَصِيرًا]

(And We have made Hell a prison [Hasir] for the disbelievers.) meaning, a place of permanent detention, a prison which cannot be avoided or escaped. Ibn `Abbas said, "Hasir here means a jail. Mujahid said, "They will be detained in it. Others said like- wise. Al-Hasan said, "Hasir means a bed of Fire." Qatadah said: "The Children of Israel returned to aggres- sion, so Allah sent this group against them, Muhammad and his companions, who made them pay the Jizyah, with willing submission, and feeling themselves subdued.
'{ وَقَضَيْنَآ إِلَىٰ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ فِي ٱلْكِتَابِ لَتُفْسِدُنَّ فِي ٱلأَرْضِ مَرَّتَيْنِ وَلَتَعْلُنَّ عُلُوّاً كَبِيراً }

And We decreed, We revealed, to the Children of Israel in the Scripture, the Torah: ‘You shall indeed work corruption in the land, the land of Syria, through acts of disobedience, twice and you shall indeed become great tyrants’, you shall perpetrate grave injustice.'


{ فَإِذَا جَآءَ وَعْدُ أُولاهُمَا بَعَثْنَا عَلَيْكُمْ عِبَاداً لَّنَآ أُوْلِي بَأْسٍ شَدِيدٍ فَجَاسُواْ خِلاَلَ ٱلدِّيَارِ وَكَانَ وَعْداً مَّفْعُولاً }

'So when the time for the first of the two [prophecies], the first of the two occasions for corruption', came, We roused against you servants of Ours of great might, men who are strong in war and assault, who ransacked, who came and went, seeking you out [through], [your] habitations, in the [very] midst of your homes, in order to slay you and take [others among] you captive, 'and it was a promise fulfilled. Their first act of corruption was their slaying of [the prophet] Zachariah.' So Goliath and his army were roused against them, and they slew them and took their children captive and destroyed the Holy House [of Jerusalem].


{ ثُمَّ رَدَدْنَا لَكُمُ ٱلْكَرَّةَ عَلَيْهِمْ وَأَمْدَدْنَاكُم بِأَمْوَالٍ وَبَنِينَ وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ أَكْثَرَ نَفِيراً }

Then We gave you back the turn, the [rule of the] state and victory, [to prevail] over them, one hundred years later, by having Goliath slain, and We aided you with children and wealth, and made you greater in number, in clan.


{ إِنْ أَحْسَنْتُمْ أَحْسَنْتُمْ لأَنْفُسِكُمْ وَإِنْ أَسَأْتُمْ فَلَهَا فَإِذَا جَآءَ وَعْدُ ٱلآخِرَةِ لِيَسُوءُواْ وُجُوهَكُمْ وَلِيَدْخُلُواْ ٱلْمَسْجِدَ كَمَا دَخَلُوهُ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ وَلِيُتَبِّرُواْ مَا عَلَوْاْ تَتْبِيراً }

And We said: ‘If you are virtuous, through [acts of] obedience, you are being virtuous to your own souls, since the reward thereof is for them [your souls]; and if you do evil, by way of [working] corruption, it is for them’, your evildoing. 'So when the time, the occasion, for the other [prophecy] comes', We will raise them forth, that they might ravage you, make you grieve through [their] slaying and taking captive [of you], a grief that will be manifest on your faces, and that they might enter the Temple, the Holy House [of Jerusalem], and destroy it, just as they entered it, and destroyed it, the first time, and that they might destroy, lay waste, all that they conquered, [all that] they gained ascendancy over, utterly, with an utter wasting. They indeed wrought corruption a second time when they slew [the prophet] John. Thus Nebuchadnezzar was roused against them, and so he slew thousands of them and took their children captive and destroyed the Holy House [of Jerusalem].


{ عَسَىٰ رَبُّكُمْ أَن يَرْحَمَكُمْ وَإِنْ عُدتُّمْ عُدْنَا وَجَعَلْنَا جَهَنَّمَ لِلْكَافِرِينَ حَصِيراً }

And We said in the Scripture: It may be that your Lord will have mercy upon you, after the second time, if you were to repent; but if you revert, to [working] corruption, We [too] will revert, to punishment. 'And assuredly they did revert by denying the Prophet (s), and so he was given power over them, through the slaying of the [Banū] Qurayza, the expulsion of the [Banū] Nadīr and the exacting of the jizya-tax from them'; and We have made Hell a dungeon for the disbelievers, a place of detention and a prison [for them].
{ وَقَضَيْنَآ إِلَىٰ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ فِي ٱلْكِتَابِ لَتُفْسِدُنَّ فِي ٱلأَرْضِ مَرَّتَيْنِ وَلَتَعْلُنَّ عُلُوّاً كَبِيراً }

'(And We decreed) in the Torah (for the Children of Israel in the Scripture: Ye verily will work corruption) you will indeed commit acts of disobedience (in the earth twice', and ye will become great tyrants) it is also said that this means: you will be mightily overpowered.


{ فَإِذَا جَآءَ وَعْدُ أُولاهُمَا بَعَثْنَا عَلَيْكُمْ عِبَاداً لَّنَآ أُوْلِي بَأْسٍ شَدِيدٍ فَجَاسُواْ خِلاَلَ ٱلدِّيَارِ وَكَانَ وَعْداً مَّفْعُولاً }

(So when the time for the first of the two) the first of the two punishments; it is also said that this means: 'the first of the two corruptions (came, We roused against you slaves of Ours) Nebuchadnezzar and the host of the king of Babylon' (of great might) of tremendous fighting skills (who ravaged (your) country) who killed you in the streets in the middle of your country, (and it was a threat performed) a decreed threat that surely takes place, that if you do such-and-such I will do this to you. Thus they stayed in captivity of Nebuchadnezzar for 90 years until Allah helped them with Koresh from Hamadan [Persia].


{ ثُمَّ رَدَدْنَا لَكُمُ ٱلْكَرَّةَ عَلَيْهِمْ وَأَمْدَدْنَاكُم بِأَمْوَالٍ وَبَنِينَ وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ أَكْثَرَ نَفِيراً }

(Then we gave you once again your turn against them) through Koresh's defeat of Nebuchadnezzar; it is also said that this means: and We had pity on you and thus gave you once again your turn against them, (and We aided you with wealth and children and made you more in soldiery) We made you more in men and numbers,


{ إِنْ أَحْسَنْتُمْ أَحْسَنْتُمْ لأَنْفُسِكُمْ وَإِنْ أَسَأْتُمْ فَلَهَا فَإِذَا جَآءَ وَعْدُ ٱلآخِرَةِ لِيَسُوءُواْ وُجُوهَكُمْ وَلِيَدْخُلُواْ ٱلْمَسْجِدَ كَمَا دَخَلُوهُ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ وَلِيُتَبِّرُواْ مَا عَلَوْاْ تَتْبِيراً }

((Saying): If ye do good) if you confess Allah's Oneness, (ye do good for your own souls) the reward for that is Paradise, (and If ye do evil) and if you associate partners with Allah, (it is for them (in like manner)) the punishment for that is upon them. They remained in comfort, merriness, abundance of men and numbers, and triumph over the enemy for 220 years until Allah roused against them Titus. '(So, when the time for the second (of the judgements) came) the second of the two punishment or the second of the two corruptions ((We roused against you others of Our slaves) to ravage you)' by killing you and taking you as captives, i.e. Titus the son of Espianos the Roman, (and to enter the Temple) Jerusalem (even as they entered it the first time) even as Nebuchadnezzar and his host entered it the first time, (and to lay waste all that they conquered with an utter wasting).


{ عَسَىٰ رَبُّكُمْ أَن يَرْحَمَكُمْ وَإِنْ عُدتُّمْ عُدْنَا وَجَعَلْنَا جَهَنَّمَ لِلْكَافِرِينَ حَصِيراً }

(It may be that your Lord will have mercy on you) after that, (but if ye repeat (the crime) We shall repeat (the punishment)) it is also said that this means: if you return to doing good, We will return to bestowing mercy on you, (and We have appointed hell a dungeon) a prison and jail (for the disbelievers).
وَقَضَيْنَا إِلَى بَنِي إسْرائِيلَ فِي الْكِتَابِ لَتُفْسِدُنَّ فِي الْأَرْضِ مَرَّتَيْنِ وَلَتَعْلُنَّ عُلُوًّا كَبِيرًا ﴿17:4﴾

17:4) Besides this, We forewarned the Israelites in the Scriptures : You will work great mischief twice in the land and will become over-bearingly arrogant. The original Arabic word "Al-kitab"does not stand here for the Torah but for alI the Divine Books. Such warnings have been given in different Books of the Bible. As regards their first mischief and its evil consequences, the Israelites were warned in the Psalms, lsaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel and the warnings about their second mischief and its severe punishments are found in Matthew and Luke. Below are given extracts to confirm this statement of the Qur'an.

Prophet David was the first to warn the Israelites in his Psalms of their first mischief: "They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the Lord commanded them: But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works. And they served their idols which were a snare unto them. Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters ....Therefore, was the. wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance. And he gave them into the hand of the heathen ;" Psalms: Chapter 106, vv. 34-38, 40; 41. The above events have been described in the past tense as if they had already actually happened. The Scriptures employ this mode of expression to emphasize the importance of the prophesies. When this mischief actually carne to pass,

.....

فَإِذَا جَاءَ وَعْدُ أُولَاهُمَا بَعَثْنَا عَلَيْكُمْ عِبَادًا لَنَا أُولِي بَأْسٍ شَدِيدٍ فَجَاسُوا خِلَالَ الدِّيَارِ وَكَانَ وَعْدًا مَفْعُولًا ﴿17:5﴾

17:5) When the occasion of the first of the two mischiefs came, O Israelites, We raised against you such of Our servants who were very mighty and formidable; so they penetrated through all parts of your country. This was a warning that was bound to be fulfilled. This refers to the terrible destruction that the Israelites suffered at the hands of the Assyrians and Babylonians. One cannot fully appreciate the historical background of this merely from the extracts that have been reproduced above from the Books of the Prophets. A brief history of the Israelites is also needed so that a student may become acquainted with all the causes and circumstances on account of which AIIah removed this nation, that professed to believe in a revealed Book, from the leadership of mankind and turned it into a humiliated, condemned and backward community.

.....

The second consequence suffered by the Israelites was that the communities whose city-states they had left unconquered and the Philistines whose land they had not at all touched set up a united front against them and drove them out of a major part of Palestine by incessant attacks, so much so that they deprived them of the Holy Ark of their Lord. At last, the Israelites felt the need of Establishing a united kingdom of their own under one ruler, and on their request Prophet Samuel appointed Saul as their king in 1020 B.C. (For details see vv. 246-48 and E.N.'s. 268-270 of AI-Baqarah.)


Conclusion

Not prophetic, as both incidents of “mischief” (oppression) and their punishments had already come to pass when this portion of the Quran was revealed. The alleged 'prophecy' here is that the Quran alleges that the Torah contains a warning to the Jews that they would oppress people, and that the Quran shows its fulfillment. It has nothing to do with the establishment of Israel or the Islamically perceived “downfall”.


External Links

Muslim websites:


Previous Previous - Establishment of Israel            The preservation of Pharaoh's body - Next Next