Today's Reflection - (Ayah 55-57 , Surah Al- Baqarah)

 وَإِذْ قُلْتُمْ يَا مُوسَىٰ لَنْ نُؤْمِنَ لَكَ حَتَّىٰ نَرَى اللَّهَ جَهْرَةً فَأَخَذَتْكُمُ الصَّاعِقَةُ وَأَنْتُمْ تَنْظُرُونَ

And recall that you said, “O Moses, we will not believe in you unless we see God plainly.” Thereupon the thunderbolt struck you, as you looked on. (2:55)

ثُمَّ بَعَثْنَاكُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَوْتِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ

 Then We revived you after your death, so that you may be appreciative.(2:56)

وَظَلَّلْنَا عَلَيْكُمُ الْغَمَامَ وَأَنْزَلْنَا عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَنَّ وَالسَّلْوَىٰ ۖ كُلُوا مِنْ طَيِّبَاتِ مَا رَزَقْنَاكُمْ ۖ وَمَا ظَلَمُونَا وَلَٰكِنْ كَانُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ يَظْلِمُونَ

And We shaded you with clouds, and We sent down to you manna and quails: “Eat of the good things We have provided for you.” They did not wrong Us, but they used to wrong their own souls.(2:57)

 

Then Musa A.S brought the Torah from Mount Tur (Sinai) and presented it to the Israelites as the book of Allah, some of them were insolent enough to say that they could not believe it until and unless Allah Himself told them in so many words. With the permission of Allah, Musa A.S replied that even this condition would be fulfilled, if they went with him to Mount Tur. The Israelites chose seventy men for this purpose. Arriving there, they heard the words of Allah with their own ears. Now, in their perversity, they invented a new technique. It was not enough, they said, to hear the speech, for they could not be sure whether it was Allah Himself who had spoken to them or someone else. But they promised that they would be finally convinced if they could see Allah with their own eyes. Since it is beyond the power of a living being to be able to see Allah in the physical world, they had to pay for their impertinence, and were killed by a thunderbolt -- the next verse talks about their death. 

Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam commented on this Ayah, "Musa returned from meeting with his Lord carrying the Tablets on which He wrote the Tawrah. He found that they had worshiped the calf in his absence. Consequently, he commanded them to kill themselves, and they complied, and Allah forgave them. He said to them, `These Tablets have Allah's Book, containing what He commanded you and what He forbade for you.' They said, "Should we believe this statement because you said it By Allah, we will not believe until we see Allah in the open, until He shows us Himself and says: This is My Book, therefore, adhere to it."

The next verse refers to death, which suggests that the thunderbolt had killed them. Since the Israelites had always been mistrusting Musa A.S and he feared that they would suspect him of having taken the men to a solitary place and killing them ,Musa A.S stood up crying and supplicating to Allah, `O Lord! What should I say to the Children of Israel when I go back to them after You destroyed the best of them,he prayed to Allah to save him from such an accusation. Allah granted his prayer, and gave those people a new life. 

 

After Allah mentioned the calamities that He saved the Children of Israel from, He mentioned the favors that He granted them.There was no food to eat, and no clothes to wear because the children of israel got stuck in wilderness wandering in the desert in scorching heat.  But in answer to the prayer of Musa A.S, Allah made a miraculous provision for all their needs. When they could not bear the scorching sun, Allah sent them the shade of a thin, white cloud. When they began to starve, Allah blessed them with Mann (manna) and Salwa. Some say , Allah produced honeydew in abundance which they could easily gather. Hence it has been designated as mann which signifies "a gift or favour". Then, quails would not flee but come around them, so that they could catch the birds with little effort. The two things being unusual, the Quran says that Allah made them "descend" for the benefit of the Israelites. Similarly, when they were thirsty, Allah commanded  Musa A.S to strike a rock with his staff, which made twelve streams gush forth, as the Quran narrates in another place. When they complained of the thick darkness of the night, Allah produced for them a constant pillar of light.