Al-Isra: (4-6) And We decreed to the Children...

Introduction

After mentioning His favors upon the Children of Israel, such as sending down the Torah and making it guidance for them, the Almighty clarifies that they did not follow that guidance but instead engaged in corruption. He states: {And We decreed to the Children of Israel in the Book that you would surely cause corruption in the land twice} (17:4).

There are several points regarding this verse:

The word Qadā' (decreed/judged) linguistically means to cut off things with precision. Examples include His saying: {Then He decreed them as seven heavens} (Fussilat: 12) and the poet's line:

And upon them are two coats of mail, fashioned by David.

Thus, {And We decreed} (Wa qadāyna) means We informed them, announced to them, and revealed this to them. The preposition ilā (to) is used because the meaning of qadāyna here is akin to "We revealed to them thus."

{That you would surely cause corruption} (li-tafsudna) refers to sins and opposing the rulings of the Torah.

{in the land} (fi al-arḍ) means the land of Egypt.

{and that you would surely commit a great transgression} (wa-li-taʿluwwan kabīran) means your exaltation over people will be unjust and immense, as every tyrant is described as having "ascended" or become great.

Then He says: {So when the time for the first of the two [transgressions] came} (fa-idhā jā’a waʿdu ūlāhumā), meaning the first of the two times: {We sent against you servants of Ours possessing severe might} (baʿathnā ʿalaykum ʿibādan lanā ūlī ba’sin shadīd). This means when the appointed time for the first corruption arrived, We sent against you people of severe might, valor, and harshness. Ba’s means fighting, as in His saying: {and at the time of war} (Al-Baqarah: 177).

The meaning of {We sent against you} (baʿathnā ʿalaykum) is that We dispatched them against you and left you to them, abandoning you.

There are differing opinions on who these servants were:

1. Opinion 1: The Children of Israel became arrogant, transgressed limits, killed the Prophets, and shed blood. This was the first corruption. So, God subjected them to Nebuchadnezzar (Bakhtanasr), who killed forty thousand of those who studied the Torah and took the rest to his own land, where they remained in humiliation. Later, God raised up another king who conquered the people of Babylon. This king happened to marry a woman from the Children of Israel, who requested that the king return the Children of Israel to Jerusalem, which he did. After a period, Prophets arose among them, and they returned to a better state, which is covered by {Then We returned to you the victory over them} (thumma radadnā lakum al-karra ʿalayhim).

2. Opinion 2: What is meant by {We sent against you servants of Ours} is that God subjected Goliath (Jālūt) to them until he destroyed and annihilated them. {Then We returned to you the victory} (thumma radadnā lakum al-karra) means God strengthened Saul (Tālūt) until he fought Goliath, and David (Dāwūd) was victorious in killing Goliath—that was the return of victory.

3. Opinion 3: {We sent against you servants of Ours} means God cast terror of the Children of Israel into the hearts of the Magians (al-Majus). When corruption increased among them, God removed that terror from the hearts of the Magians, who then attacked them, striving to kill, annihilate, and destroy them.

It is important to note that the specific identity of these peoples is not the primary concern. The objective is that when they multiplied their sins, God subjected peoples to them who killed and annihilated them.

Then the Almighty says: {and they roamed through the dwellings} (fa-jāsū khilāl ad-diyār). Al-Layth said that al-Jaws and al-Jawasān mean roaming through the dwellings and houses in corruption. Khilāl means the space between two things, and ad-diyār refers to the dwellings of Jerusalem.

The commentators differed on the meaning of jāsū:

• Ibn Abbas: They searched.
• Abu Ubaydah: They sought out those within.
• Ibn Qutaybah: They ravaged and caused corruption.
• Al-Zajjāj: They circled the dwellings to see if anyone remained whom they had not killed.
• Al-Wāhidi: Al-Jaws is roaming and seeking, which encompasses all the above interpretations.

Then He says: {And it was a decree that was to be done} (wa-kāna waʿdan mafʿūlan). This means God's decree concerning this was firm and absolute, admitting no repeal or abrogation.

Then He says: {Then We returned to you the victory over them} (thumma radadnā lakum al-karra), meaning We destroyed your enemies and returned the dominion and power to you, {and We increased you in number [of men]} (wa-jaʿalnākum akthara nafīran). Nafīr refers to the number of men, originally derived from a man gathering his kin and people. Nafīr and nāfir are synonymous, like qadīr and qādir. We previously mentioned the meaning of nafar in relation to His saying: {Why did not a party from every division go forth} (At-Tawbah: 122) and {March forth light or heavy} (At-Tawbah: 41).

Our scholars use this verse as proof for their position on Divine Decree and Predestination in several ways:

First: The Almighty said: {And We decreed to the Children of Israel in the Book that you would surely cause corruption in the land twice, and that you would surely commit a great transgression} (17:4). The minimum implication of this decree (Qadā’) is a firm judgment and an inescapable announcement. Thus, it is established that God informed them with a definitive announcement, which cannot be abrogated, that they would commit corruption and sins, because Qadā’ means a firm judgment, as explained earlier. Furthermore, God emphasized this decree with further confirmation: {And it was a decree that was to be done} (wa-kāna waʿdan mafʿūlan).

If this is established, then the non-occurrence of this corruption on their part would imply that God's truthful announcement turned into a lie, His firm judgment became void, and His true knowledge became ignorance—all of which are impossible. Therefore, their abstaining from that corruption was impossible; rather, their committing it was a necessary obligation that could not be revoked or lifted. Yet, they were commanded to refrain from it and cursed for doing it. This demonstrates our position: God may command something while simultaneously preventing it, or forbid something while decreeing its occurrence. This is one way to derive proof from this verse.

Second: The second way to derive proof is His saying: {We sent against you servants of Ours possessing severe might} (baʿathnā ʿalaykum ʿibādan lanā ūlī ba’sin shadīd). This refers to those who were empowered over the Children of Israel through killing, plundering, and taking captives. God clarifies that He is the one who sent them against the Children of Israel. There is no doubt that the killing of the Children of Israel, the plundering of their wealth, and the captivity of their children involved immense injustice and great sins. Yet, God attributed all of this to Himself by saying: {Then We sent against you} (thumma baʿathnā ʿalaykum). This indicates that good and evil, obedience and disobedience, originate from God.

The Mu'tazilite (Al-Juba'i) Response: He responded in two ways:

1. The meaning of {We sent against you} is that God commanded those people to invade the Children of Israel due to the corruption that appeared among them. Thus, the action is attributed to God based on the command.
2. The meaning is that We left them to the Children of Israel, and We did not cast fear away from the hearts of the Children of Israel. The essence of this "sending" is leaving them alone and not preventing the enemy.

Refutation: The first response is weak because those who intended to destroy the Temple, burn the Torah, and kill its memorizers cannot be said to have done so by God's command. The second response is also weak because "sending someone to do an action" implies strengthening them for it and casting strong motives into the heart. "Leaving them alone" (takhliyah) means non-prevention. The first is an action, while the second is an omission (a lack of action). Interpreting "sending" (baʿth) as "leaving alone" (takhliyah) is interpreting one opposite by another, which is impermissible. Therefore, what we stated is proven correct. And God knows best.

Verse 5-7

{If you do good, you do good for yourselves; and if you do evil, it is against yourselves. Then when the time for the second [transgression] came, [We sent others] to grieve your faces, and to enter the Temple as they entered it the first time, and to utterly destroy what they conquered.} (17:5)

{Perhaps your Lord will have mercy upon you. But if you return [to sin], We will return [with punishment], and We have made Hell a prison for the disbelievers.} (17:6)

(Note: The provided excerpt ends with the beginning of verse 7, which is included here for completeness based on the structure of the source text.)