28:43 Al-Qasas (The Stories)

ولقد آتينا موسى التوراة من بعد ما أهلكنا الأمم التي كانت من قبله -كقوم نوح وعاد وثمود وقوم لوط وأصحاب "مدين"- فيها بصائر لبني إسرائيل، يبصرون بها ما ينفعهم وما يضرهم، وفيها رحمة لمن عمل بها منهم؛ لعلهم يتذكرون نِعَم الله عليهم، فيشكروه عليها، ولا يكفروه.

{ وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَا مُوسَى الْكِتَابَ } وهو التوراة { مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا أَهْلَكْنَا الْقُرُونَ الْأُولَى } الذين كان خاتمتهم في الإهلاك العام، فرعون وجنوده. وهذا دليل على أنه بعد نزول التوراة، انقطع الهلاك العام، وشرع جهاد الكفار بالسيف.{ بَصَائِرَ لِلنَّاسِ } أي: كتاب اللّه، الذي أنزله على موسى، فيه بصائر للناس، أي: أمور يبصرون بها ما ينفعهم، وما يضرهم، فتقوم الحجة على العاصي، وينتفع بها المؤمن، فتكون رحمة في حقه، وهداية له إلى الصراط المستقيم، ولهذا قال: { وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةً لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَذَكَّرُونَ }

يخبر تعالى عما أنعم به على عبده ورسوله موسى الكليم عليه من ربه أفضل الصلاة والتسليم من إنزال التوراة عليه بعدما أهلك فرعون وملأه. وقوله تعالى: "من بعد ما أهلكنا القرون الأولى" يعني أنه بعد إنزال التوراة لم يعذب أمة بعامة بل أمر المؤمنين أن يقاتلوا أعداء الله من المشركين كما قال تعالى: "وجاء فرعون ومن قبله والمؤتفكات بالخاطئة فعصوا رسول ربهم فأخذهم أخذة رابية" وقال ابن جرير حدثنا ابن بشار حدثنا محمد بن عبدالوهاب قالا حدثنا عوف عن أبي نضرة عن أبي سعيد الخدري قال ما أهلك الله قوما بعذاب من السماء لا من الأرض بعدما أنزلت التوراة على وجه الأرض غير أهل القرية الذين مسخوا قردة بعد موسى ثم قرأ "ولقد آتينا موسى الكتاب من بعد ما أهلكنا القرون الأولى" الآية ورواه ابن أبي حاتم من حديث عوف بن أبي حبيبة الأعرابي بنحوه وهكذا رواه أبو بكر البزار في مسنده عن عمرو بن علي الفلاس عن يحيى القطان عن عوف عن أبي نضرة عن أبي سعيد موقوفا ثم رواه عن نصر بن علي عن عبدالأعلى عن عوف عن أبي نضرة عن أبي سعيد رفعه إلى النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: "ما أهلك الله قوما بعذاب من السماء ولا من الأرض إلا قبل موسى" ثم قرأ: "ولقد آتينا موسى الكتاب من بعد ما أهلكنا القرون الأولى" الآية. وقوله: "بصائر للناس وهدى ورحمة" أي من العمى والغي وهدى إلى الحق ورحمة أي إرشادا إلى العمل الصالح "لعلهم يتذكرون" أي لعل الناس يتذكرون به ويهتدون بسببه.

And verily We gave Moses the Scripture the Torah after We had destroyed the former generations the people of Noah ‘Ād Thamūd and others containing eye-openers for mankind basā’ira is a circumstantial qualifier referring to al-kitāb ‘the Scripture’ the plural of basīra which is the perceptive light of the heart in other words illumination for the hearts of mankind and as guidance from error for those who implement it and mercy for those who believe therein that perhaps they might remember that they might be admonished by the admonitions it the Scripture contains.

Commentary

وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَا مُوسَى الْكِتَابَ مِن بَعْدِ مَا أَهْلَكْنَا الْقُرُ‌ونَ الْأُولَىٰ بَصَائِرَ‌ لِلنَّاسِ (And We gave Musa, after We destroyed the earlier generations, the Book having insights for people - 28:43). The words "earlier generations" refer to the people of Nuh, Hud, Salilh, and Lut (علیہم السلام) ، who were destroyed before the time of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) because of their denial of truth. بَصَائِرَ‌ Basair is the plural of Basirah بَصِیرَہ whose literal meaning is sagacity, insight and discernment. Here it is purported for that light or refulgence which Allah Ta’ ala bestows in the hearts of people with which they find out the truth and discern the distinction between right and wrong. (Mazhari)

If the word Nas ناس (people) is used in the phrase بَصَائِرَ‌ لِلنَّاسِ ( (28:43) (insights for people) for the people of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) then the meaning of the verse is quite clear. No doubt for the people of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) Torah was the book of wisdom. But if the word is used for all people in whom the Ummah of Muhammad ﷺ is also included, then the question would arise that the Torah, which is available to the Ummah of Muhammad ﷺ ، is not the original one. In this Torah many changes have taken place. So, how could this Torah be regarded as a book of wisdom for them? Moreover, it will mean that the Muslims too should benefit from the Torah, while there is a well-known hadith that Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ once sought permission from the Holy Prophet ﷺ for reading Torah, so that he could improve his knowledge and benefit from the injunctions contained in it. On this the Holy Prophet ﷺ got angry and said that if Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) was alive, he too would have been required to follow him. (The essence of this retort is that he [ Sayyidna 'Umar ؓ ] should concentrate only on his teachings, and that he was not required to look into the teachings of Torah or Injil). It is worth reminding here that it was the time when revelation of Qur'an was still continuing, and in order to eliminate any possibility of mingling of hadith with the Qur'anic text, the Holy Prophet ﷺ had advised some of his companions to stop writing even the hadith. Under such a situation it is obvious that reading of a cancelled divine book was not expedient. It, therefore, does not necessarily follow that reading of Torah and Injil is banned for all times. On the contrary, reading and quoting by the companions of that part of these books in which coming of the Holy Prophet ﷺ was predicted is well established. Sayyidna ` Abdullah Ibn Salam and Ka'b Al-Ahbar ؓ are quite well known for this. Other companions also did not raise a finger against it. The bottom line of this discussion is that it is allowed to benefit from the unaltered part of these books, which no doubt contains wisdom. But only those could draw any benefit from this who can distinguish between the altered and unaltered parts of the books; and they are the expert scholars. A common man should avoid such an exercise, lest he gets entangled in a quandary. The same ruling is applicable to all those books that are a mixture of right and wrong.