Today's Reflection [Ayah 48 - Surah Al-Baqarah]

 وَاتَّقُوا يَوْمًا لَا تَجْزِي نَفْسٌ عَنْ نَفْسٍ شَيْئًا وَلَا يُقْبَلُ مِنْهَا شَفَاعَةٌ وَلَا يُؤْخَذُ مِنْهَا عَدْلٌ وَلَا هُمْ يُنْصَرُونَ.

And beware of a Day when no soul will avail another in the least, nor will any intercession be accepted on its behalf, nor will any ransom be taken from it, nor will they be helped.  (Quran 2:48) 

A major reason for the degeneration of the Israelites was the corruption of their beliefs about the hereafter that since they were related to those venerable saints and pious men who had dedicated themselves entirely to the service of God in the past, they would be forgiven by the grace of those great men. They believed that once they had bound themselves firmly to those pious men, it would become impossible for Allah to punish them. Such false reliance made them negligent of true religious piety and enmeshed them in a life of sin and wickedness. Hence, as well as reminding the children of Israel of Allah's favour upon them, it was necessary to refute all the false ideas which they cherished. 

After Allah reminded the Children of Israel of the favors that He has granted them, He warned them about the duration of the torment which He will punish them with on the Day of Resurrection. When a person shall not avail another meaning, on the day of judgement, no person shall be of any help to another. Allah stated that if the people do not believe in His Messenger and follow what He sent him with, then when they meet Him on the Day of Resurrection, after remaining on the path of disbelief, their family lineage and/or the intercession of their masters will not help them at all. It will not be accepted of them, even if they paid the earth's fill of gold as ransom. 

They shall neither be helped by any helper, nor shall anyone intercede on their behalf. As for no one being able to suffice another on that day, the phrase should be understood in the sense of one man paying the dues on behalf of another man. For example, suppose that a man is found deficient in the performance of obligatory acts of worship like Salah and Sawm (fasting), and another man makes a suggestion that his own prayers and fasts may be transferred to the account of the former in order to make up the deficiency. Such a transaction shall not be possible on that day. Ransom, means the money paid for securing the release of a criminal - this too shall be out of the question. No repeal or ransom will be accepted for them, all courtesy towards them will have ceased, along with any helpful intercession. No type of help or cooperation will be available for them on that Day. The judgment will, on that Day, be up to the Most Great, the Most Just, against whom no intercessor or helper can ever assist. He will then award the evil deed its kind and will multiply the good deeds. Hence this is ayah is a reminder for all of us to stay away from Bidaah, from venerating saints or worshiping scholars or devoutly following leaders as all of them will wipe their hands clean on the day of judgement and will not be able to intercede for us in anyway whatsoever.