Dialogue with the people of the Book (5)

Doctrines >Dialogue with the people of the Book (5)

^{The Qur’an responds to the Jews with gentle counsel

In other verses, the Qur’an takes a calm position on the issue of
belief and unbelief of the Jews. It expresses disappointment with them,
in that they should have been at the forefront of those wanting to
embrace the new religion, instead of being its arch-enemy, not least
because it had confirmed their Scripture with clear proofs, in which
case, it should have made the issue of following him a case of submitting
to God, worshipping Him, and giving thanks to Him for all the graces He
showed to them.
This style, although it blends rebuke with a feeling of
disappointment, yet it is still imbued with preaching and good
counseling, with a view to manipulating a whole range of factors that
could animate their conscience and stimulate their brains. This
had been a way to try to overcome the psychological barrier that led them
to reject the Faith. A way that had linked the present with both the past
and the future in this world – what they preach and what they practice –
and standing before God on the Day of Judgment to answer for their
malpractices. That is, treating religion in the same way that they barter
goods, with all the haggling it involves, and leaving God behind them.
Let us spend some time with the following Quranic verses, where God
addresses the Israelites:

O Children of Israel! Call to mind the (special) favor I bestowed
upon you, and fulfill your covenant with Me and I shall fulfill My
covenant with you, and fear none but Me. And believe in what I
reveal, confirming the revelation which is with you, and be not the
first to reject Faith therein, nor sell My sings for a small price;
and fear Me, and Me alone. And cover not Truth with falsehood, nor
conceal the Truth when ye know (what it is). And be steadfast in
prayer: Give Zakat [the poor rate], and bow down your heads
with those who bow down (in worship). Do ye enjoin right conduct on
the people, and forget (to practice it) yourselves, and yet ye study
the Scripture? Will ye not understand? Nay, seek (Allah’s) help with
patient perseverance and prayer: It is indeed hard, except to those
who are humble. Who bear in mind the certainty that they are to meet
their Lord, and they are to return to Him. O Children of Israel! Call
to mind the (special) favor which I bestowed upon you, and that I
preferred you to all others; then guard yourselves against a day when
one soul shall not avail another, nor shall intercession be accepted
for her, nor shall compensation be taken from her; nor shall any one
be helped (from outside).

(2: 40–48)

_{This is a style that combines leniency with toughness, and counseling
with warning, in order to moderate any psychological complex that may
form a barrier between man and the right path, should there be any room
for guidance to that path. The Qur’an had sought, from these verses, to
create the right conditions, i.e. calm and tranquility that might prove
conducive to conducting a meaningful dialogue as a way of life. That is,
when the confrontational ponder on the matter they might, perchance, feel
the need to think straight and be practical, after the reasons for doubt
and the fabrications have been removed, only for the truth to look them
in the eye.
Let us carefully examine the components of this approach of reasoning.
To start with, God reminded them of the favors He had done them, to the
exclusion of other people. He then asked them to honor their covenant
with Him, so that He can honor His side of the deal in this world and the
hereafter. The Quranic verses ended with a stern warning, should they not
be mindful of their duty towards Him. In such a situation, God put them
face to face with the new religious call, for responding to it positively
would be the natural outcome to thanksgiving for the favors bestowed,
keeping the covenant, and fearing God.
Then God Almighty turned His attention to their corrupt practices,
which were manifested in confusing falsehood with the truth, concealing
the truth, and neither performing prayers nor giving the poor tax, in
spite of the fact that they knew that this was unlawful. God did not
conceal His displeasure and bitterness with them for enjoining people to
do good deeds, while they themselves did not practice the same. By way of
helping them to mend their ways, He commended them to get help through
fasting and prayer, which are the ways for the soul to ascend, in
submission and peace, to loftier levels. That is, when the soul finds
solace and strength in the feeling that it is going to meet with God.
The appeal closed as it had started: counting the favors God had
bestowed on them, admonishing them to fear Him and be pious, because a
day will come when nothing can avail, apart from man’s good works, so
that work should be man’s slogan for success in this world and happiness
in the hereafter. This brilliant style paints a picture of how man can
have audience with God, giving account of all his deeds and aspirations,
past, present, and future, in this world and the hereafter, all in a bid
to shoulder responsibility with clarity of vision.}_{Espousing the approach is worthy of bearing fruit

It is desirable to use this approach in facing up to the entrenched
position of those who are bent on confrontation. Perhaps creating the
conditions for such an atmosphere would pay off, not least because the
factors of concentration and excitement would be available to man to
explore matters in depth and come up with a position.
It should be borne in mind, however, that the place for giving good
counsel should not be overlooked, because it is capable of transporting
the soul to an impending audience with God, when every soul will stand
accountable to Him. The soul may yield when preached, especially at times
of spiritual transparency that may take it to the realm of God’s spirit.

The Qur’an continues the dialogue in order to expose the positions

The Qur’an continues the dialogue and creates the right conditions for
it, so that it could reveal their changing positions, and insulates
people against their influence after it had given up on the possibility
of their coming back to the right path. God had made this abundantly
clear to His Prophet, Muhammad (p.):

Even if thou were to bring to the People of the Book all the signs
(together), they would not follow thy Qiblah [way]; nor art thou
going to follow their Qiblah; nor indeed will they follow each
other’s Qiblah. If thou after the knowledge hath reached thee, were
to follow their (vain) desires, then were thou indeed (clearly) in
the wrong; the People of the Book know this as they know their own
sons; but some of them conceal the truth which they themselves know.
(2: 145–46)

Can ye (O ye men of Faith) entertain the hope that they will
believe in you? – Seeing that a party of them heard the Word of
Allah, and perverted it knowingly after they understood it.
(2: 75)

Thus, God’s messages to His Prophet Muhammad (p.) began in earnest,
requesting him to deal with the issues Islam wanted to discuss with them
[the Jews]. That is, they either respond to the call or start the debate
or Islam takes the initiative to explore what they are up to, or they
should shut up. This was what they did, in which case they had no escape
from those issues, which came to haunt them and expose their real
positions in the end.
The Qur’an made a point of addressing them with the description that
connected them to the Scripture, suggesting that they were far removed
from it and its injunctions. This is particularly so, when comparison is
made between what people preach and what they practice.
We are not trying here to trace all the Quranic verses revealed in
this regard; rather, to refer to some that reveal the general trends and
common threads that run throughout the Islamic approach to dialogue: “Say:
‘O People of the Book! Do ye disapprove of us for no other reason than
that we believe in Allah, and the revelation that hath com to us and that
which came before (us), and (perhaps) that most of you are rebellious and
disobedient?’”
(5: 59).

With amazement and bitterness it raises the question as to why they
were revengeful and averse to the Prophet (p.) and his followers. Was it
because they believed in God, His messengers and His Books, which were
revealed to him and the other messengers, in whom the People of the Book
believe? If that was the reason, how could this correspond to their
adherence to the line of belief and their fight against the way of
unbelief? Is this not a contradiction between what they call for and what
they practice in reality? The Holy Qur’an dwells on the matter, leaving
the questions begging for answers:

No just estimate of Allah do they make when they say: “Nothing
doth Allah send down to man (by way of revelation)”: Say: “Who then
sent down the Book which Moses brought: a light and guidance to man:
but ye make it into (separate) sheets for show, while ye conceal much
(of its contents): therein were ye taught that which ye knew not –
neither ye nor your fathers;” Say: Allah (sent it down)”: Then leave
them to plunge in vain discourse and trifling.
(6: 91)

The approach exposes the Jews’ historical complex

The style of these Quranic verses suggests that it intends to lay the
Jews bare and discredit their stand by unfolding their past history and
its relationship to their contemporary one, i.e. at the time of Prophet
Muhammad (p.). This is in order to familiarize the people with the nature
of the complex they suffer from and which dictates the type of positions
they take. The aim of this is to present the people with the conclusive
evidence that they do not have anything in their doctrine to fall back on
for that which they reject. Rather, they are driven by self-centered
interest, with the aim of preserving their concessions, be they material
or social.
It then seeks to make people aware of their crooked ways in
deliberately confusing the truth with falsehood, falsifying truths,
concealing the truth, and preaching what they do not practice. This is
bound to put them on trial at all times and places. It is also bound to
make them lose the trust that they endeavor to gain in order to carry out
what they aspire to. The end result would be that people would be mindful
of their deeds and words, lest they should be deceived by them.
The Quranic verses then divulge the intractability and unity of the
Jews’ position throughout history for they all sing from the same sheet.
The later generation condones what the former one has done; thus, the
moral responsibility is a joint one, because the present suggests the
past. Imam Ali (a.s.) said, “What brings people together is pleasure or
displeasure. It was one person who touched the she-camel of Prophet Saleh
with evil; yet the entire people were subjected to God’s torment, for
they did not show displeasure for his heinous act”. This means that
society is held responsible for what some of its members do, when the
rest of its members condone the vile deeds of the few.
They do not want to accept that God sends down something to one of His
creation, for this, to their mind, is not in keeping with the magnitude
of the Message, or maybe they cannot comprehend it.
If this is the case, how can they justify the sending down of the
Torah to Moses (a.s.)? Was he not a human being like Muhammad (p.)? Who
sent it down? Was it not God? The answer has to be in the affirmative for
they deal with the Torah, in the name of God, as though it were
merchandise. Thus, they show what profits their business and conceal
whatever may uncover their deception and disingenuous practices.
In the light of this answer the issue is in its natural context, in
that it is possible that God sent down revelations to a human and that
the human in question was Mohammad, the Prophet of God, to whom He
revealed the Qur’an. Thus, the Qur’an leaves the issue to simmer, without
trying to provide an answer, a silence that speaks louder than words, if
they would discern it. God has said:

Say: “O ye that stand on Judaism! If ye think that ye are friends
to God, to the exclusion of (other) men, then express your desire for
Death, if ye are truthful!” But never will they express their desire
(for Death), because of the (deeds) their hands have sent on before
them! And God knows well those that do wrong! Say: “The Death from
which ye flee will truly overtake you: then will ye be sent back to
the Knower of things secret and open: and He will tell you (the truth
of) the things that ye did!” (62: 6–8)

Say: “If the last home, with God, be for you specially, and not
for anyone else, then seek ye for death, if ye are sincere.” But they
will never seek for death, on account of the (sins), which their
hands have sent on before them. And God is well acquainted with the
wrongdoers. Thou wilt indeed find them, of all people, most greedy of
life, even more than the idolaters: Each one of them wishes He could
be given a life of a thousand years: But the grant of such life will
not save him from (due) punishment. For God sees well all that they
do. (2: 94–96)

They allege that they are God’s friends, that they are His chosen
people that they are the most favored by God among all peoples, and that
Heaven is theirs alone and Hell is others’ destiny.
If this is so, the Qur’an asks them to sincerely seek death because
true believers love the life of this world insomuch as it benefits them
to be closer to God, i.e. by doing more good deeds and asking forgiveness
for the wrongdoings they have committed. So, if a person is absolutely
sure of success in the hereafter, what are they waiting for here? Why do
not they go to Heaven?
Yet, they remain speechless. Since this is been the case, the Qur’an
takes up the responsibility of answering on their behalf. They do not
wish to die, for they will be held accountable for the crimes they
committed – they unjustly killed the prophets, devoured illicit gains,
branded the prophets liars, distorted the Words of God, and concealed His
Book, etc. These vile deeds would turn their final abode into a
nightmare; thus they hate death as much as they hate hellfire.

Asking for the evidence

Nevertheless, the Qur’an does not leave this point at rest. It demands
that they provide evidence for their claim, on the one hand, and to
reiterate the criteria God has set for proximity, or lack of it, to Him
and consequently earning His pleasure or wrath, on the other hand. The
criterion is acting upon what He commanded and leaving out what He
forbade, irrespective of whether you are Jew, Christian, or other. God
has no special relationship with any of His creation. They are all the
same in servitude before Him. The distinction between one and another is
piety and good deeds, regardless of their status or lineage. This is
brilliantly captured in the following verses:

And they say: “None shall enter Paradise unless he be a Jew or a
Christian.” Those are their (vain) desires. Say: “Produce your proof
if ye are truthful.” (2: 111)}(Both) the Jews and the Christians say: “We are sons of God, and
His beloved.” Say: “Why then doth He punish you for your sins? Nay,
ye are but men, of the men He hath created: He forgives whom He
pleases, and He punishes whom He pleases: and to God belongs the
dominion of the heavens and the earth, and all that is between: and
unto Him is the final goal (of all).”
(5: 18)

The Qur’an is commenting on their claims, in that it is just wishful
thinking, in the same way people make wishes in this world; yet, it is
not necessary that such wishes come to fruition. This is because turning
wishes and dreams into reality requires proof, which they do not have. It
then follows that they are lying in what they are claiming.
As for the second verse, it is dismissive of their claim by posing the
question as to why God punishes them for their sins, knowing that He does
not punish His friends and those He loves. Then God outlined the
criterion for judging all people, which leaves no doubt that all are
equal before Him in piety or impiety, and punishment or reward. God is
the absolute arbiter in who is going to be punished and who is going to
be rewarded, and none will have any concession outside the remit of His
Will and Wisdom. To this general principle, the Qur’an, in its appeal to
Muslims, has alluded:

Not your desires, nor those of the People of the Book (can
prevail): whoever works evil, will be requited accordingly. Nor will
he find, besides God, any protector or helper. If any do deeds of
righteousness, be they male or female, and have faith, they will
enter Heaven, and not the least injustice will be done to them.
(4: 123–24)
^{So, what will become of us in the hereafter is tied in with what we
have done in this world, be it evil, which would keep the doer far away
from God, or good, which would earn them a place near to Him. Thus,
neither a helper nor a friend shall avail, regardless of their
description or their importance, be they Muslim, Jew, or Christian. This
is the fact and anything else is a mere dream that has no basis in
reality or the truth.}}