2:93 Al-Baqara (The Cow)

{ وَإِذْ أَخَذْنَا مِيثَاقَكُمْ وَرَفَعْنَا فَوْقَكُمُ الطُّورَ خُذُوا مَا آتَيْنَاكُمْ بِقُوَّةٍ وَاسْمَعُوا } أي: سماع قبول وطاعة واستجابة، { قَالُوا سَمِعْنَا وَعَصَيْنَا } أي: صارت هذه حالتهم { وَأُشْرِبُوا فِي قُلُوبِهِمُ الْعِجْلَ } بسبب كفرهم. { قُلْ بِئْسَمَا يَأْمُرُكُمْ بِهِ إِيمَانُكُمْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ } أي: أنتم تدعون الإيمان وتتمدحون بالدين الحق, وأنتم قتلتم أنبياء الله, واتخذتم العجل إلها من دون الله, لما غاب عنكم موسى, نبي الله, ولم تقبلوا أوامره ونواهيه إلا بعد التهديد ورفع الطور فوقكم, فالتزمتم بالقول, ونقضتم بالفعل، فما هذا الإيمان الذي ادعيتم, وما هذا الدين؟. فإن كان هذا إيمانا على زعمكم, فبئس الإيمان الداعي صاحبه إلى الطغيان, والكفر برسل الله, وكثرة العصيان، وقد عهد أن الإيمان الصحيح, يأمر صاحبه بكل خير, وينهاه عن كل شر، فوضح بهذا كذبهم, وتبين تناقضهم.

يعدد سبحانه وتعالى عليهم خطأهم ومخالفتهم للميثاق وعتوهم وإعراضهم عنه حتى رفع الطور عليهم حتى قبلوه ثم خالفوه ولهذا قالوا "سمعنا وعصينا" وقد تقدم تفسير ذلك "وأشربوا في قلوبهم العجل بكفرهم" قال عبدالرزاق عن قتادة "وأشربوا في قلوبهم العجل بكفرهم" قال أشربوا حبه حتى خلص ذلك إلى قلوبهم. وكذا قال أبو العالية والربيع بن أنس وقال الإمام أحمد حدثنا عصام بن خالد حدثني أبو بكر بن عبدالله بن أبي مريم الغساني عن خالد بن محمد الثقفي عن بلال بن أبي الدرداء عن أبي الدرداء عن النبي - صلى الله عليه وسلم -: قال "حبك الشيء يعمي ويصم" ورواه أبو داود عن حيوة بن شريح عن بقية بن أبي بكر بن عبدالله بن أبي مريم به وقال السدي أخذ موسى عليه السلام العجل فذبحه بالمبرد ثم ذراه في البحر ثم لم يبق بحر يجري يومئذ إلا وقع فيه شيء ثم قال لهم موسى: اشربوا منه فشربوا فمن كان يحبه خرج على شاربيه الذهب فذلك حين يقول الله تعالى "وأشربوا في قلوبهم العجل" وقال ابن أبي حاتم: حدثنا أبي حدثنا عبدالله بن رجاء حدثنا إسرائيل عن أبي إسحق عن عمارة بن عمير وأبي عبدالرحمن السلمي عن علي - رضي الله عنه - قال: عمد موسى إلى العجل فوضع عليه المبارد فبرده بها وهو على شاطئ نهر فما شرب أحد من ذلك الماء ممن كان يعبد العجل إلا اصفر وجهه مثل الذهب وقال سعيد بن جبير "وأشربوا في قلوبهم العجل" قال لما أحرق العجل برد ثم نسف فحسوا الماء حتى عادت وجوههم كالزعفران وحكى القرطبي عن كتاب القشيري أنه ما شرب أحد منه ممن عبد العجل إلا جن ثم قال القرطبي: وهذا شيء غير ما ههنا لأن المقصود من هذا السياق أنه ظهر على شفاههم ووجوههم والمذكور ههنا أنهم أشربوا في قلوبهم العجل يعني في حال عبادتهم له ثم أنشد قول النابغة في زوجته عثمة: غلغل حب عثمة في فؤادي فباديه مع الخافي يسير غلغل حيث لم يبلغ شراب ولا حزن ولم يبلغ سرور كاد إذا ذكرت العهد منها أطير لو أن إنسـانا يطير وقوله "قل بئسما يأمركم به إيمانكم إن كنتم مؤمنين" أي بئسما تعتمدونه في قديم الدهر وحديثه من كفركم بآيات الله ومخالفتكم الأنبياء ثم اعتمادكم في كفركم بمحمد - صلى الله عليه وسلم - وهذا أكبر ذنوبكم وأشد الأمور عليكم إذ كفرتم بخاتم الرسل وسيد الأنبياء والمرسلين المبعوث إلى الناس أجمعين فكيف تدعون لأنفسكم الإيمان وقد فعلتم هذه الأفاعيل القبيحة من نقضكم المواثيق وكفركم بآيات الله وعبادتكم العجل من دون الله.

The Jews rebel after Allah took Their Covenant and raised the Mountain above Their Heads

Allah reminded the Jews of their errors, breaking His covenant, transgression and defiance, when He raised Mount Tur above them so that they would believe and agree to the terms of the covenant. Yet, they broke it soon afterwards,

قَالُواْ سَمِعْنَا وَعَصَيْنَا

(They said, "We have heard and disobeyed.") We have mentioned the Tafsir of this subject before. `Abdur-Razzaq said that Ma`mar narrated that Qatadah said that,

وَأُشْرِبُواْ فِى قُلُوبِهِمُ الْعِجْلَ بِكُفْرِهِمْ

(And their hearts absorbed (the worship of) the calf) means, "They absorbed its love, until its love resided in their hearts." This is also the opinion of Abu Al-`Aliyah and Ar-Rabi` bin Anas. Allah's statement,

قُلْ بِئْسَمَا يَأْمُرُكُم بِهِ إِيمَـنُكُمْ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ

(Say: "Worst indeed is that which your faith enjoins on you if you are believers.") means, "Worse yet is the manner in which you behaved in the past and even now, disbelieving in Allah's Ayat and defying the Prophets. You also disbelieved in Muhammad , which is the worst of your deeds and the harshest sin that you committed. You disbelieved in the Final Messenger and the master of all Prophets and Messengers, the one who was sent to all mankind. How can you then claim that you believe, while committing the evil of breaking Allah's covenant, disbelieving in Allah's Ayat and worshipping the calf instead of Allah"

And when We made a covenant with you to act according to what is in the Torah and raised over you the Mount to drop it on you when you had refused to accept it; We said ‘Take forcefully seriously and with effort what We have given you and listen’ to what you have been commanded and be prepared to accept it They said ‘We hear your words and disobey’ your command; and they were made to drink the calf in their hearts that is to say the love of it the golden calf intoxicated their hearts in the way that wine does on account of their unbelief. Say to them ‘Evil is that thing which your belief in the Torah enjoins on you in the way of the worship of the golden calf if you are believers’ in it as you claim; meaning you are not believers for faith does not command that you worship the calf — their forefathers are meant here. Likewise you do not believe in the Torah because you have denied the prophethood of Muhammad (s) whereas faith in it does not command you to reject him.

In refuting the claim of the Jews to be authentic and true already referred to in Verse 63. When the Israelites succeeded, with the help of Allah, in escaping from Egypt and crossing the sea, they came upon a people who used to worship idols. They found this cult so attractive that they requested Sayyidna Musa (Moses علیہ السلام) to fabricate a visible and concrete god for them too. When he reprimanded them, they realized their error, and offered' repentance. But repentance has many degrees. Since their repentance was not of a very high order, the darkness of their error did not altogether leave their hearts, but continued to grow, and finally manifested itself in the worship of the golden calf. As an act, of penance, some of them had to be slain, and others, as some commentators report, were forgiven and not slain. Possibly the repentance of these latter was again of a low order. As for those who had not indulged in the worship of the calf, they did not hate the action of the worshippers of the calf as much as they should have. So, their hearts too carried a trace of the sin of association (shirk شرک). So, either through the feebleness of their repentance or through a want of proper hatred for infidelity, their hearts became indolent in religious matters, so much so that when Allah asked them to take a pledge to follow the injunctions of the Torah steadfastly, Mount Tur طور (Sinai) was suspended over their heads to threaten them.

This verse reports the Jews as having replied that they had heard the Command of Allah, but they would not obey, or would not be able to obey. It means that out of sheer fright they said (only with their tongues) that they had heard (that is to say, accepted) the Command of Allah. But there was no real consent in their hearts, and their posture and attitude was such as if they were saying that they would not or could not obey.

Having referred to such example of their perversity and rebellion, the Holy Qur'an asks the Jews to have a look at themselves and also at their claim to genuine faith. Could a true faith ever inspire men to such deeds? If it is their brand of "faith" which leads them into such grave sins, then it cannot be a true faith. Hence their claim to be true believers is evidently false.