2:253 Al-Baqara (The Cow)

يخبر تعالى أنه فضل بعض الرسل على بعض بما خصهم من بين سائر الناس بإيحائه وإرسالهم إلى الناس، ودعائهم الخلق إلى الله، ثم فضل بعضهم على بعض بما أودع فيهم من الأوصاف الحميدة والأفعال السديدة والنفع العام، فمنهم من كلمه الله كموسى بن عمران خصه بالكلام، ومنهم من رفعه على سائرهم درجات كنبينا صلى الله عليه وسلم الذي اجتمع فيه من الفضائل ما تفرق في غيره، وجمع الله له من المناقب ما فاق به الأولين والآخرين { وآتينا عيسى ابن مريم البينات } الدالات على نبوته وأنه عبد الله ورسوله وكلمته ألقاها إلى مريم وروح منه { وأيدناه بروح القدس } أي: بالإيمان واليقين الذي أيده به الله وقواه على ما أمر به، وقيل أيده بجبريل عليه السلام يلازمه في أحواله { ولو شاء الله ما اقتتل الذين من بعدهم من بعد ما جاءتهم البينات } الموجبة للاجتماع على الإيمان { ولكن اختلفوا فمنهم من آمن ومنهم من كفر } فكان موجب هذا الاختلاف التفرق والمعاداة والمقاتلة، ومع هذا فلو شاء الله بعد هذا الاختلاف ما اقتتلوا، فدل ذلك على أن مشيئة الله نافذة غالبة للأسباب، وإنما تنفع الأسباب مع عدم معارضة المشيئة، فإذا وجدت اضمحل كل سبب، وزال كل موجب، فلهذا قال { ولكن الله يفعل ما يريد } فإرادته غالبة ومشيئته نافذة، وفي هذا ونحوه دلالة على أن الله تعالى لم يزل يفعل ما اقتضته مشيئته وحكمته، ومن جملة ما يفعله ما أخبر به عن نفسه وأخبر به عنه رسوله صلى الله عليه وسلم من الاستواء والنزول والأقوال، والأفعال التي يعبرون عنها بالأفعال الاختيارية. فائدة: كما يجب على المكلف معرفته بربه، فيجب عليه معرفته برسله، ما يجب لهم ويمتنع عليهم ويجوز في حقهم، ويؤخذ جميع ذلك مما وصفهم الله به في آيات متعددة، منها: أنهم رجال لا نساء، من أهل القرى لا من أهل البوادي، وأنهم مصطفون مختارون، جمع الله لهم من الصفات الحميدة ما به الاصطفاء والاختيار، وأنهم سالمون من كل ما يقدح في رسالتهم من كذب وخيانة وكتمان وعيوب مزرية، وأنهم لا يقرون على خطأ فيما يتعلق بالرسالة والتكليف، وأن الله تعالى خصهم بوحيه، فلهذا وجب الإيمان بهم وطاعتهم ومن لم يؤمن بهم فهو كافر، ومن قدح في واحد منهم أو سبه فهو كافر يتحتم قتله، ودلائل هذه الجمل كثيرة، من تدبر القرآن تبين له الحق

يخبر تعالى أنه فضل بعض الرسل على بعض كما قال تعالى "ولقد فضلنا بعض النبيين على بعض وآتينا داود زبورا" وقال ههنا "تلك الرسل فضلنا بعضهم على بعض منهم من كلم الله" يعني موسى ومحمدا - صلى الله عليه وسلم - وكذلك آدم كما ورد به الحديث المروي في صحيح ابن حبان عن أبي ذر - رضي الله عنه - "ورفع بعضهم درجات" كما ثبت في حديث الإسراء حين رأى النبي - صلى الله عليه وسلم - الأنبياء في السموات بحسب تفاوت منازلهم عند الله عز وجل "فإن قيل" فما الجمع بين هذه الآية وبين الحديث الثابت في الصحيحين عن أبي هريرة قال: استب رجل من المسلمين ورجل من اليهود فقال اليهودي في قسم يقسمه: لا والذي اصطفى موسى على العالمين فرفع المسلم يده فلطم بها وجهه اليهودي فقال: أي خبيث؟ وعلى محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم؟ فجاء اليهودي إلى النبي - صلى الله عليه وسلم - فاشتكى على المسلم فقال رسول الله - صلى الله عليه وسلم - لا تفضلوني على الأنبياء فإن الناس يصعقون يوم القيامة فأكون أول من يفيق فأجد موسى باطشا بقائمة العرش فلا أدري أفاق قبلي أم جوزي بصعقة الطور؟ فلا تفضلوني على الأنبياء" وفي رواية "لا تفضلوا بين الأنبياء" فالجواب من وجوه "أحدها" أن هذا كان قبل أن يعلم بالتفضيل وفي هذا نظر "الثاني" أن هذا قاله من باب الهضم والتواضع "الثالث" أن هذا نهي عن التفضيل في مثل هذه الحال التي تحاكموا فيها عند التخاصم والتشاجر "الرابع" لا تفضلوا بمجرد الآراء والعصبية "الخامس" ليس مقام التفضيل إليكم وإنما هو إلى الله عز وجل وعليكم الانقياد والتسليم له والإيمان به. وقوله "وآتينا عيسى ابن مريم البينات" أي الحجج والدلائل القاطعات على صحة ما جاء بني إسرائيل به من أنه عبدالله ورسوله إليهم "وأيدناه بروح القدس" يعني أن الله أيده بجبريل عليه السلام ثم قال تعالى "ولو شاء الله ما اقتتل الذين من بعدهم من بعد ما جاءتهم البينات ولكن اختلفوا فمنهم من آمن ومنهم من كفر ولو شاء الله ما اقتتلوا" أي كل ذلك عن قضاء الله وقدره ولهذا قال "ولكن الله يفعل ما يريد".

Allah Honored Some Prophets Above Others

Allah states that He has honored some Prophets to others. For instance, Allah said,

وَلَقَدْ فَضَّلْنَا بَعْضَ النَّبِيِّينَ عَلَى بَعْضٍ وَءَاتَيْنَا دَاوُودَ زَبُورًا

(And indeed, We have preferred some of the Prophets above others, and to Dawud We gave the Zabur (Psalms)) 17:55.

In the Ayah above, Allah said,

تِلْكَ الرُّسُلُ فَضَّلْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ عَلَى بَعْضٍ مِّنْهُمْ مَّن كَلَّمَ اللَّهُ

(Those Messengers! We preferred some of them to others; to some of them Allah spoke (directly)) meaning, Musa and Muhammad , and also Adam according to a Hadith recorded in Sahih Ibn Hibban from Abu Dharr.

وَرَفَعَ بَعْضَهُمْ دَرَجَـتٍ

(Others He raised to degrees (of honor)) as is evident in the Hadith about the Isra' journey, when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saw the Prophets in the various heavens according to their rank with Allah.

If somebody asks about the collective meaning of this Ayah and the Hadith that the Two Sahihs collected from Abu Hurayrah which states, "Once, a Muslim man and a Jew had an argument and the Jew said, `No, by Him Who gave Musa superiority over all human beings!' Hearing him, the Muslim man raised his hand and slapped the Jew on his face and said, `Over Muhammad too, O evil one!' The Jew went to the Prophet and complained to him and the Prophet said,

«لَا تُفَضِّلُونِي عَلَى الْأَنْبِيَاءِ، فَإِنَّ النَّاسَ يَصْعَقُونَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ فَأَكُونُ أَوَّلَ مَنْ يُفِيقُ، فَأَجِدُ مُوسَى بَاطِشًا بِقَائِمَةِ الْعَرْشِ، فَلَا أَدْرِي أَفَاقَ قَبْلِي أَمْ جُوزِيَ بِصَعْقَةِ الطُّورِ؟ فَلَا تُفَضِّلُونِي عَلَى الْأَنْبِيَاء»

(Don't give me superiority above the Prophets, for the people will become unconscious on the Day of Resurrection, and I will be the first to be resurrected to see Musa holding on to the pillar of Allah's Throne. I will not know whether the unconsciousness Musa suffered on the Day of the Trumpet sufficed for him, or if he got up before me. So, do not give me superiority above the Prophets.) In another narration, the Prophet said, (Do not give superiority to some Prophets above others.)

The answer to this question is that this Hadith prohibits preferring some Prophets above others in cases of dispute and argument, such as the incident mentioned in the Hadith. The Hadith indicates that it is not up to creation to decide which Prophet is better, for this is Allah's decision. The creation is only required to submit to, obey and believe in Allah's decision.

Allah's statement,

وَءَاتَيْنَا عِيسَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ الْبَيِّنَـتِ

(And We gave `Isa, the son of Maryam, clear signs) refers to the proofs and unequivocal evidences that testify to the truth that `Isa delivered to the Children of Israel, thus testifying that he was Allah's servant and His Messenger to them.

وَأَيَّدْنَـهُ بِرُوحِ الْقُدُسِ

(And supported him with Ruh-il-Qudus) meaning Allah aided `Isa with Jibil, peace be upon him. Allah then said,

وَلَوْ شَآءَ اللَّهُ مَا اقْتَتَلَ الَّذِينَ مِن بَعْدِهِم مِّن بَعْدِ مَا جَآءَتْهُمُ الْبَيِّنَـتُ وَلَـكِنِ اخْتَلَفُواْ فَمِنْهُمْ مَّنْ ءَامَنَ وَمِنْهُم مَّن كَفَرَ وَلَوْ شَآءَ اللَّهُ مَا اقْتَتَلُواْ

(If Allah had willed, succeeding generations would not have fought against each other, after clear Verses of Allah had come to them, but they differed ـ some of them believed and others disbelieved. If Allah had willed, they would not have fought against one another.) meaning all this happened by Allah's decree, and this is why He said next,

وَلَـكِنَّ اللَّهَ يَفْعَلُ مَا يُرِيدُ

(But Allah does what He wills.)

Those tilka is the subject messengers al-rusul is either an adjective or the predicate some We have preferred above others by assigning a particular trait to one not found in the other; some there are to whom God spoke such as Moses and some He raised in rank namely Muhammad (s) on account of his call being to all peoples his being the Seal of the Prophets on account of the superiority of his community to all others the sundry miracles and the many special qualities. And We gave Jesus son of Mary the clear proofs and confirmed him strengthened him with the Holy Spirit namely Gabriel who would accompany him wherever he went. And had God willed that all people be guided those who came after them after the messengers that is their communities would not have fought against one another after the clear proofs had come to them because of their disagreement and their leading one another astray; but they fell into variance as He willed and some of them believed and adhered firmly to his faith and some disbelieved as the Christians did after Jesus al-Masīh and had God willed they would not have fought against one another repeated here for emphasis but God does whatever He desires giving success to whomever He will and disappointment to whomever He will.

Commentary

1. In Verse 253, beginning with تِلْكَ الرُّ‌سُلُ ('those are the Messenger’), the purpose is to give solace and comfort to the noble Prophet ﷺ since the deniers refused to recognize his prophethood, inspite of the fact that it was conclusively proved, as has been stated in the verse 252: وَإِنَّكَ لَمِنَ الْمُرْ‌سَلِي (And certainly you are among the Messengers.) as well. This situation caused him pain. Therefore, Allah Almighty made him aware of the coming of other prophets too, in varying degrees of station, but universal belief was not witnessed in any of their communities -- some supported while some others opposed. However, this too has its wise considerations which may not necessarily be visible to everyone, but this much is important that one should generally believe that there is definitely a certain wisdom behind this.

2. Since the words تِلْكَ الرُّ‌سُلُ فَضَّلْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ (Those are the Messengers some of whom We have given excellence over others) in this verse clearly indicate that some prophets are given higher status than others, we have a difficulty on our hands when we compare this with a hadith, where the Holy Prophet ﷺ has said:

لا تفضلوا بین انبیاء اللہ

Do not seek preference among prophets.

لا تخیرونی علی موسٰی

Do not give me precedence over Musa.

لا اقول ان احدا افضل من یونس بن متی

I cannot say if anyone is better than Yunus ibn Matta.

These ahadith so obviously forbid the giving of preference to some prophets over some other prophets.

The reply is: These ahadith mean to tell us not to give preference to some prophets over some others, without any proof, out of our own opinion. This is because a prophet's having higher status means that he has a high station in the sight of Allah. Obviously, this knowledge cannot be acquired through conjectures and surmises but should such a proof come from the Qur'an and Sunnah, establishing the precedence of some prophets over some others, then it will be necessary to believe in it.

Now, as to his saying: لا اقول ان احدا افضل من یونس بن متی (I cannot say if

anyone is better than Yunus ibn Matta) and لا تخیرونی علی موسٰی (Do not give me precedence over Musa), this is related to the time when he was not given the knowledge that he has precedence over all other prophets. This was disclosed to him later on through revelation and he did tell the noble Companions about it. (Mazhari)

3. As regards the statement' مِّنْهُم مَّن كَلَّمَ اللَّـهُ (Among them there is he whom Allah spoke to), it may be noted that the conversation with Musa (علیہ السلام) may be without an angel as intermediary, but it certainly was not without hijab (obstruction of view). So, there remains no conflict of meaning with what has been stated in the verse: وَمَا كَانَ لِبَشَرٍ‌ أَن يُكَلِّمَهُ اللَّـهُ (It belongs not to any mortal that God should speak to him) (42:51), in which conversation without hijab has been negated. However, post-death conversation without hijab is possible, so this verse from Sarah al-Shura relates to the life in this world.