Quran 2:246 — Surah Al-Baqara Ayah 246 | Arabic, Translation & Tafsir

مَّن ذَا ٱلَّذِى يُقْرِضُ ٱللَّهَ قَرْضًا حَسَنًۭا...

2:246

Al-Baqara

وَقَالَ لَهُمْ نَبِيُّهُمْ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ قَدْ بَعَ...

أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى ٱلْمَلَإِ مِنۢ بَنِىٓ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ مِنۢ بَعْدِ مُوسَىٰٓ إِذْ قَالُوا۟ لِنَبِىٍّۢ لَّهُمُ ٱبْعَثْ لَنَا مَلِكًۭا نُّقَٰتِلْ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ ۖ قَالَ هَلْ عَسَيْتُمْ إِن كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلْقِتَالُ أَلَّا تُقَٰتِلُوا۟ ۖ قَالُوا۟ وَمَا لَنَآ أَلَّا نُقَٰتِلَ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ وَقَدْ أُخْرِجْنَا مِن دِيَٰرِنَا وَأَبْنَآئِنَا ۖ فَلَمَّا كُتِبَ عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلْقِتَالُ تَوَلَّوْا۟ إِلَّا قَلِيلًۭا مِّنْهُمْ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَلِيمٌۢ بِٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ

Alam tara ilal malai mim Baneee Israaa'eela mim ba'di Moosaaa iz qaaloo li Nabiyyil lahumub 'as lanaa malikan nuqaatil fee sabeelillaahi qaala hal 'asaitum in kutiba 'alaikumul qitaalu allaa tuqaatiloo qaaloo wa maa lanaaa allaa nuqaatila fee sabeelil laahi wa qad ukhrijnaa min diyaarinaa wa abnaaa'inaa falammaa kutiba 'alaihimul qitaalu tawallaw illaa qaleelam minhum; wallaahu 'aleemum bizzaalimeen

Have you not considered the assembly of the Children of Israel after [the time of] Moses when they said to a prophet of theirs, "Send to us a king, and we will fight in the way of Allah "? He said, "Would you perhaps refrain from fighting if fighting was prescribed for you?" They said, "And why should we not fight in the cause of Allah when we have been driven out from our homes and from our children?" But when fighting was prescribed for them, they turned away, except for a few of them. And Allah is Knowing of the wrongdoers.

Related Tafsir

Ibn Kathir

The Story of the Jews Who sought a King to be appointed over Them

Mujahid said that the Prophet (mentioned in the Ayah 2:246 above) is Shamwil (Samuel). Wahb bin Munabbih said: The Children of Israel remained on the straight path for a period of time after Moses. They then innovated in the religion and some of them even worshipped the idols. Yet, there were always Prophets sent among them who would command them to work righteous deeds, refrain from doing evil and who would rule them according to the commands of the Torah. When they (Israelites) committed the evil that they committed, Allah caused their enemies to overwhelm them, and many fatalities fell among them as a consequence. Their enemies also captured a great number of them, and took over large areas of their land. Earlier, anyone who would fight the Israelites would lose, because they had the Torah and the Tabut, which they inherited generation after generation ever since the time of Moses, who spoke to Allah directly. Yet, the Israelites kept indulging in misguidance until some king took the Tabut from them during a battle. That king also took possession of the Torah, and only a few of the Israelites who memorized it remained. The prophethood halted among their various tribes and only a pregnant woman remained of the offspring of Lavi (Levi), in whom the prophethood still appeared. Her husband had been killed, so the Israelites kept her in a house so that Allah may give her a boy, who would be their Prophet. The woman also kept invoking Allah to grant her a boy. Allah heard her pleas and gave her a boy whom she called `Shamwil' meaning `Allah has heard my pleas.' Some people said that the boy's name was Sham`un (Simeon), which also has a similar meaning.

As that boy grew, Allah raised him to be a righteous person. When he reached the age of prophethood, Allah revealed to him and commanded him to call (his people) to Him and to His Tawhid (Oneness). Shamwil called the Children of Israel (to Allah) and they asked him to appoint a king over them so that they could fight their enemies under his command. The kingship had also ended among them. Their Prophet said to them, "What if Allah appoints a king over you, would you fulfill your vow to fight under his command"

قَالُواْ وَمَا لَنَآ أَلاَّ نُقَـتِلَ فِى سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَقَدْ أُخْرِجْنَا مِن دِيَـرِنَا وَأَبْنَآئِنَا

(They said, "Why should we not fight in Allah's way while we have been driven out of our homes and our children") meaning, `After our land had been confiscated and our children had been taken from us' Allah said:

فَلَمَّا كُتِبَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْقِتَالُ تَوَلَّوْاْ إِلاَّ قَلِيلاً مِّنْهُمْ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِالظَّـلِمِينَ

(But when fighting was ordered for them, they turned away, all except a few of them. And Allah is All-Aware of the wrongdoers) meaning, only a few of them kept their promise, but the majority abandoned Jihad and Allah has full knowledge of them.

View Full Tafsir: The Story of the Jews Who sought a King to be appointed over ThemAyahs 246–246

One of the Prophets made a holy war. He said to his followers: One who has married a woman and wants to consummate to his marriage but has not yet done so; another who has built a house but has not yet erected its roof; and another who has bought goats and pregnantshe-camels and is waiting for their offspring-will not accommpany me. So he marched on and approached a village at or about the time of the Asr prayers. He said to the sun: Thou art subserviant (to Allah) and so am I. O Allah, stop it for me a little. It was stopped for him until Allah granted him victory. The people gathered the spoils of war (at one place). A fire approached the spoils to devour them, but it did not devour them. He (the Holy Prophet) said: Some of you have been guilty of misappropriation. So one man from each tribe should swear fealty to me. The did so (putting their hands into his). The hand of one man stuck to his hand and the Prophet (ﷺ) said: Your tribe is guilty of misappropriation. Let all the members of your tribe swear fealty to me one by one. They did so, when the hands of two or three persons got stuck with his hand. He said: You have misappropriated. So they took out gold equal in volume to the head of a cow. They-placed it among the spoils on the earth. Then the fire approached the spoils and devoured them. The spoils of war were not made lawful for any people before us, This is because Allah saw our weakness and humility and made them lawful for us.

Jami` at-Tirmidhi #1663Narrated Sulaiman bin Buraidah:

From his father who said: "When the Messenger of Allah (sawS) sent a commander of an army, he would exhort him concerning himself to have Taqwa of Allah, and he would exhort him to be good to those who are with him among the Muslims. He would say: 'Fight in the Name of Allah, in the cause of Allah. Fight those who disbelieve in Allah, and do not steal from the spoils of war or be treacherous, nor mutilate, and do not kill a child. When you meet your enemy among the idolaters, then call them to one of the three options or choices, whichever of them they respond to then accept it from them, and refrain from them. Call them to Islam, and to relocate from their land to the land of Emigrants. Inform them that if they do that, then they will have similar to what those who emigrated have, and from them will be required similar to what is required from those who have emigrated. And if they refuse to relocate, then inform them that they will be like the Bedouins among the Muslim, and they will be treated the same as Bedouins are treated. There is no war spoils or Fay' for them, unless they fight along with the Muslims. If they refuse then seek aid from Allah against them and fight them. And if you lay siege to a fortress and they want you to grant them covenant from Allah and a covenant of His Prophet, then do not grant them the covenant of Allah nor the covenant of His Prophet. Rather grant them your own covenant and the covenant of your companions, it will be better than breaking Allah's covenant and the covenant of His Messenger. And if you lay siege to the people of a fortress and they want you to lift the siege for negotiating upon the judgement of Allah, then do not stop, but rather make them surrender to your judgement, for you do not know if you will come upon the judgement of Allah regarding them or not.' Or similar to that." There is something on this topic from An-Nu'man bin Muqarrin, and the Hadith of Buraidah is a Hasan Sahih Hadith

Sunan Abu Dawud #2628Narrated Uqbah ibn Malik:

The Prophet (ﷺ) sent a detachment. I gave a sword to a man from among them. When he came back, he said: Would that you saw us how the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) rebuked us, saying: When I sent out a man who does not fulfil my command, are you unable to appoint in his place one who will fulfil my command.

Jami` at-Tirmidhi #3306Narrated Farwah bin Musaik Al-Muradi:

"I went to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said: 'O Messenger of Allah! Shall I not fight those who turn away among my people, along with those who believe? So he permitted me to fight them and made me their commander.' When I left him, he asked me, saying: 'What has Al-Ghutaifi done?' He was informed that I set off on my journey." He said: "So he sent a message on my route that I should return. I went to him and he was with a group of his Companions. He said: 'Invite your people. Whoever accepts Islam among them then accept it from him. And whoever does not accept Islam, then do not be hasty until new news reaches you.'" He said: "And what was revealed about Saba was revealed, so a man said: 'O Messenger of Allah! What is Saba; is it a land or a woman?' He said: 'It is neither a land nor a woman, but it is a man who had ten sons among the Arabs. Six of them went south (in Yemen) and four of them went north (toward Ash-Sham). As for those who went north, they are Lakhm, Judham, Ghassan and 'Amilah. As for those who sent south, they are Azad, Al-'Ash'ariyyun, Himyar, Kindah, Madhhij, and Anmar.' A man said: 'O Messenger of Allah! Who are Anmar?' He said: 'Those among whom are Khath'am and Bajilah.'" .

Sahih al-Bukhari #4637Narrated Habib bin Abi Thabit:

I went to Abu Wail to ask him (about those who had rebelled against `Ali). On that Abu Wail said, "We were at Siffin (a city on the bank of the Euphrates, the place where me battle took place between `Ali and Muawiya) A man said, "Will you be on the side of those who are called to consult Allah's Book (to settle the dispute)?" `Ali said, 'Yes (I agree that we should settle the matter in the light of the Qur'an)." ' Some people objected to `Ali's agreement and wanted to fight. On that Sahl bin Hunaif said, 'Blame yourselves! I remember how, on the day of Al-Hudaibiya (i.e. the peace treaty between the Prophet (ﷺ) and the Quraish pagans), if we had been allowed to choose fighting, we would have fought (the pagans). At that time `Umar came (to the Prophet) and said, "Aren't we on the right (path) and they (pagans) in the wrong? Won't our killed persons go to Paradise, and theirs in the Fire?" The Prophet replied, "Yes." `Umar further said, "Then why should we let our religion be degraded and return before Allah has settled the matter between us?" The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "O the son of Al-Khattab! No doubt, I am Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and Allah will never neglect me." So `Umar left the place angrily and he was so impatient that he went to Abu Bakr and said, "O Abu Bakr! Aren't we on the right (path) and they (pagans) on the wrong?" Abu Bakr said, "O the son of Al-Khattab! He is Allah's Messenger (ﷺ), and Allah will never neglect him." Then Sura Al-Fath (The Victory) was revealed."