The children of Israel were much repeated in the Quran

28-3-2006 | IslamWeb

Question:

Why were the children of Israel so often repeated in the Quran?

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.

 

Allaah mentioned so many people and nations in the Quran other than the children of Israel. The story of the people of Nooh (Noah), ‘Aad, Thamood, Saalah, Yoonus (Jonah), Loot, Ibraaheem (Abraham), may Allaah exalt their mention, were mentioned in the Quran, and all these people lived before the children of Israel. The stories of these people were mentioned so that we may take heed and learn a lesson from the punishment that befell them when they refused to accept the belief in the Oneness of Allaah and the legislations which their Prophets, may Allaah exalt their mention, brought to them. Hence they deserved Allaah's punishment for their disobedience.

There is no doubt that the one who contemplates the Quran will discover that the mention of the children of Israel was more than that of other people; this is due to the two following reasons:

1)     Most of the Prophets, may Allaah exalt their mention, that are mentioned in the Quran were from the children of Israel, and this necessitates elaborating about them in details.

2)     Some of the children of Israel were living in the Arabian Peninsula, and they opposed the new Islamic religion. Given that a divine book was already revealed to them before, the Quran mentioned the stories of their people with the Prophets, may Allaah exalt their mention, in order to prove to them that what the Prophet is saying is the truth, so that he will establish the evidence against them in this regard. In addition to this, their stories were so often mentioned in order to draw the attention of the Muslims to the news of these people, and that they are liars and hate other races. This is not strange for a people who killed their Prophets, may Allaah exalt their mention, and described Allaah with things that did not befit His Majesty, High above is He from what they associate to Him. It is for this reason that the Quran did not leave any plot or any vile act of theirs except that it mentioned it so that the Muslims would be cautious and heedful about them. For instance they used to consume Ribaa (usury and interest) and breach the covenants and pacts, and so forth.

The worst kinds of these characteristics which are very much prevalent in these people nowadays are the following:

1)     The first one is mentioned in a verse, Allaah Says (what means): {Is it not [true] that every time they took a covenant a party of them threw it away?}[Quran 2:100]. It is as if this verse is revealed today.

2)      The Jews do mischief and corruption in the land, and Allaah does not like those who do mischief and follow their desires. Allaah Says about them (what means): {…but those who follow [their] passions want you to digress [into] a great deviation.}[Quran 4:27]. Today there is no corruption or mischief in the land except that the Jews are its cause, may Allaah curse them. It is them who corrupted the morals of mankind to an extent that a human is committing what even the worst animals are not doing.

Allaah Knows best.