In the Name of God

First phase of the Truth Project:Quran and interpretive narratives of the ayahs

8th pack:Surat Al-Baqarah: Ayah 47 to 54

Aal e Yaasin Scientific Jihad

O Children of Israel: remember My favour wherewith I favoured you, and that verily I preferred you over the world.(47)And fear a Day whereon not in aught shall a soul satisfy for a soul, nor shall intercession be accepted thereof, shall compensation be received therefor, nor shall they be succoured.(48)And recall what time We delivered you from the house of Fir'awn imposing upon you evil torment, slaughtering your sons and letting your women live; and therein was a trial, from your Lord, Mighty.(49)And recall what time We separated the sea for you and delivered you and drowned Fir'awn's house while ye looked on.(50)And recall what time We treated with Musa forty nights, then ye betook the calf after him, and ye were wrong-doers.(51)Then We pardoned you thereafter, that haply ye may return thanks.(52)And recall what time We vouchsafed unto Musa the Book and the distinction that haply ye may be guided.(53)And recall what time Musa said unto his people: my people! verily ye have wronged your souls by your taking the calf, wherefore repent unto your Maker, and slay yourselves: that were best for you with your Maker. Then He relented toward you; verily He! He is the Relentant, the Merciful (54)

1) Ja'far al-Sadiq said: When you intend to do something good, do not postpone it. Because the servant fasts in intention of the good in a hot day and this will cause him to be saved from fire of Hell. Do not minimize what makes you closed to God, even if it was a date palm (to be donated in Gods path).

2) About the interpretation of O Children of Israel: remember My favour wherewith I favoured you, and that verily I preferred you over the world Hasan ibn Ali Al Askari said: From sufferings that Pharaoh imposed on children of Israel these could be mentioned: He would chain their feet while working in a building and they had to walk up so many steps in these chains. Many of them would fall and die and many would become paralyzed and disabled till death. God saw their suffering and ordered Moses to tell them to start their work by salute and Salavat to Muhammad and People of the House. They took this advice and their suffering decreased. When Pharaoh started to kill newborn boys, a woman from children of Israel wanted Egyptian midwives by bribe and trick not to disclose the news of her newborn. Then she put him in cave and said ten times Salavat to Muhammad and the People of the House. God ordered an angel to care this newborn. One the fingers of that child would give him milk and the other finger food. Male newborns of children of Israel grew up like this and the number of the killed ones was lesser than the ones who survived secretly. slaughtering your sons and letting your women live. Children of Israel brought complaint to Moses about their women who would be sexually abused. God said to Moses to tell them to say Salavat when looked with bad intention. They listened to this advice and no one abused them from that day on. (Ghisas-ul-Anbia Nematullah Jazaeri Azizis translation p 356)

3) About the interpretation of And recall what time We treated with Musa forty nights, then ye betook the calf after him, and ye were wrong-doers Hasan ibn Ali Al Askari said: God had told the children of Israel that after killing their enemies and giving them what promised, he would give them a book which consists of orders, injunctions, advices and examples. So when the triumph came, God ordered Moses to be in his presence, fast for 30 days and pray in the mountain. Moses thought that the book would come after 30 days. So he fasted 30 days. In the last night he was washing his mouth and teeth when God told him: Moses! You know that I like the smell of the mouth of the one who fasts more than any other smell. So fast 10 other days and do not wash your mouth. Moses did so and God gave him the book after 40 days. When Moses did not return to his tribe after 30 days, Samiri went to the uninformed and the weak of the children of Israel and told them: Moses promised you to return after 30 days. This period passed and he has not returned. He has certainly disobeyed God and God has willed to show you that he himself can invite you to his religion and Moses is not needed. Then he showed them a calf which he had created. They said: How could this calf be our god? Samiri said: This calf will talk to you as it talked to Moses beyond the tree. When they heard this, said: Our god is in this calf as he was in the tree. So they became astray and made others astray too. When Moses returned found the calf and when people were present told it: O calf! Is God in you as these people think? The calf answered: I swear to God that he is blameless. Nothing like a calf or a tree can surround him. Though Samiri put the calf near the wall and hided his followers somewhere else. They put their hand in the mouth of the calf and talked in its place: This is your god and Mosess god. The calf continued: O Moses! They became astray only because they neglected to say Salavat to Muhammad and his children. They rejected his friendship and chose me as a god. God made them worship a calf because of neglecting Salavat to Muhammad and the People of the House. How do not you fear to be Muhammad and Alis enemy while you have seen their overt signs and reasons? (Ghisas-ul-Anbia Nematullah Jazaeri Fatimah Mashayekhs translation p406)

4) About the Interpretation of Then We pardoned you thereafter, that haply ye may return thanks Hasan ibn Ali Al Askari said: It refers to children of Israel who lived in Muhammad era. God says: We forgave your forefathers sin about worshipping that calf so that you might thank your existence in Islam age. Gods mercy included you (contemporary Israelites) because they (their forfathers) called God with intermediary of Muhammad and his children and they renewed the leadership of Ali Ibn Abu Talib and Muhammad. That was the very time when God forgave them. Imam continued: God ordered Moses to kill all who worshipped the calf but most of them denied what they had done and said: We did not worship it. Then God ordered Moses to brand the calf with hot iron and throw it in water. They should drink the water. If they had worshipped the calf, their clothes and nose would have become dark. If no it would have remained without change. Therefore the calf worshippers became infamous. Then God ordered twelve thousand Israelites to fight with swords against worshippers and Moses said: God damns anyone who helps them with hand or tongue. God damns anyone who refuses to kill one them if of his family and kills a stranger. Some were killed and some remained alive. The ones who remained alive said: Our sorrow is more horrible than the killed ones because we were obliged to kill our fathers, mothers, brothers and the close though we had not worshipped the calf. Why did this sorrow happen to us? God said to Moses: I tested them because when they saw the worshippers they did not oppose them. Tell them that calling God with intermediary of Muhammad and Ali Ibn Abu Talib and his children would cease this suffering. They did so and killing calf-worshippers became easy. So they continued and six hundred thousand were killed. So God inspired these twelve thousand ones who had not worshipped the calf and they told themselves: God never disappoints anyone who demands Muhammad and his children to help him, does he? So why do not we ask them to liberate us from this responsibility? So they gathered and cried and prayed: God! We demand you to liberate us from killing with intermediary of Muhammad the great, Ali the great, Fatimah the possessor of purity, Hassan and Husayn the masters of the heavenly youth and their pure children. At this very time God told Moses: Stop killing. Because this tribe demanded me in a way that I would have certainly survive Satan, Nimrod or Pharaoh if they had asked me in that way. So God took this commandment and they regretted why they had not wanted this sooner in order to be safe from this suffering. (Ghisas-ul-Anbia Nematullah Jazaeri Fatimah Mashayekhs translation p407)