Tafsir of Al-Baqarah 2:108

Surah Al-Baqarah (The Cow): Verse 108

{أَمْ تُرِيدُونَ أَن تَسْأَلُوا رَسُولَكُمْ كَمَا سُئِلَ مُوسَىٰ مِن قَبْلُ ۗ وَمَن يَتَبَدَّلِ الْكُفْرَ بِالْإِيمَانِ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ سَوَاءَ السَّبِيلِ}

(Or do you intend to ask your Messenger as Moses was asked before? And whoever exchanges faith for disbelief has certainly strayed from the right path.)

The particle (أَمْ - Am) has two types:

1. Connected (Muttasilah): This type is equivalent to the separated letter (أ - Alif) used for choice, similar to how (أَوْ - Aw) is used for choice.
   • Example: "Strike one of them, Zayd or 'Amr" (If you say: "Strike one of them," you would say: "Strike Zayd or 'Amr").
2. Disconnected (Munqati'ah): This type only occurs after a complete statement and means "But" (Bal) plus the letter (أ - Alif).
   • Example from the Arabs: "Indeed, they are camels, but they are sheep," meaning, "Rather, they are sheep."
   • Example from the Quran: {أَمْ يَقُولُونَ افْتَرَاهُ} (Al-Ahqaf: 8) — meaning, "But they say, 'He has fabricated it.'"
   • Poetic Example (Al-Akhtal):

     Your eye lied to you, or did you see in the darkness of night a phantom of the Rubab? (Here, Am functions as Bal + Alif).

There are several opinions regarding whom this address is directed:

1. The Muslims: This is the view of Al-Asamm, Al-Jubba'i, and Abu Muslim. Their evidence includes:
   • The end of the verse states: {وَمَن يَتَبَدَّلِ الْكُفْرَ بِالْإِيمَانِ} (And whoever exchanges faith for disbelief), which is only applicable to believers.
   • The phrase {أَمْ تُرِيدُونَ} (Or do you intend) implies something preceding it, which is the command in {لَا تَقُولُوا رَاعِنَا} (Al-Baqarah: 104). It is as if the meaning is: "Say, 'Listen to us' and 'Hear us,' so are you doing that which you were commanded, or do you intend to ask your Messenger?"
   • Muslims were asking the Prophet (PBUH) about matters that were not beneficial for them to investigate, similar to how the Children of Israel asked Moses (peace be upon him) about things that held no benefit for them.
   • A group of Muslims asked the Prophet (PBUH) to make for them a Dhat Anwat (a tree upon which they would hang offerings, similar to what the polytheists did), just as they asked Moses to make them a god when they had gods.

2. The People of Mecca (The Disbelievers): This is the view of Ibn Abbas and Mujahid.
   • Ibn Abbas narrated that 'Abdullah ibn Umayyah al-Makhzumi approached the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) with a group from Quraysh and said: "O Muhammad, by Allah, I will not believe in you until you cause a spring to gush forth from the earth for us, or you have a garden of date palms and grapes, or you ascend into the sky, and we will not believe your ascent until you send down to us a book from Allah addressed to 'Abdullah ibn Umayyah stating that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, so follow him."
   • The rest of the group said: "If you cannot do that, then bring us a book from Allah all at once containing the lawful and unlawful, the prescribed punishments, and the obligations, just as Moses brought the tablets from Allah containing all of that, then we will believe you."
   • Allah then revealed: {أَمْ تُرِيدُونَ أَن تَسْأَلُوا رَسُولَكُمْ كَمَا سُئِلَ مُوسَىٰ مِن قَبْلُ} (Or do you intend to ask your Messenger as Moses was asked before?), referring to when they asked to see Allah openly.
   • Mujahid also narrated that Quraysh asked the Prophet (PBUH) to turn the hill of Safa into gold and silver. He replied: "Yes, it will be for you like the Table Spread for the Children of Israel, but they refused and turned away."

3. The Jews: This view is considered the soundest (Asah).
   • This Surah, starting from {يَا بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ اذْكُرُوا نِعْمَتِي} (Al-Baqarah: 40, 47), is a recounting and argumentation directed at them.
   • The verse is Medinan.
   • The Jews are mentioned previously, while others are not.
   • A true believer rarely asks such questions; if he does, it is like exchanging faith for disbelief.

The apparent wording {أَمْ تُرِيدُونَ أَن تَسْأَلُوا رَسُولَكُمْ كَمَا سُئِلَ مُوسَىٰ مِن قَبْلُ} does not explicitly state that they actually brought forth the question, nor the manner of the questioning. Reference must be made to the narrations mentioned above (Allah knows best).

If the questioning mentioned was a request for miracles, how can it be deemed disbelief? Seeking proof for something is not disbelief. If it was a request for the detailed wisdom behind the abrogation of rulings, this is also not disbelief, as the angels requested detailed wisdom regarding the creation of mankind without it being disbelief.

Therefore, the preferred interpretation is that they requested the Prophet (PBUH) to make a god for them, as they had gods.

However, if they requested miracles, they did so out of obstinacy and contention (Ta'annut wa Lujaj), and it is because of this manner of questioning that they incurred disbelief.

Several views exist regarding the connection of this verse to what precedes it:

1. Since Allah permitted the abrogation of previous laws, perhaps they were demanding the details of that ruling. Allah forbade them from engaging in such inquiries, just as the people of Moses were forbidden from raising their corrupt questions.
2. Regarding the preceding commands and prohibitions, Allah says: If you do not accept what I command and rebel against obedience, you will be like those who asked Moses what they had no right to ask (according to Abu Muslim).
3. After commanding and forbidding, Allah asks: Are you going to do what you are commanded, or are you going to act as those before you, the people of Moses, did?

{سَوَاءَ السَّبِيلِ} means its middle/center. Allah says: {فَأَرَاهُ فِيهِ سَوَاءَ الْجَحِيمِ} (Then he showed him the very midst of the Hellfire).

The purpose here is analogy/resemblance (Tashbih), not the literal reality. The analogy is that whoever follows the path of faith is proceeding on the straight path leading to success, reward, and bliss. Whoever exchanges this for disbelief deviates from the straight path, so it is said of him that he has strayed from the right path (Sawa' al-Sabil).

{وَدَّ كَثِيرٌ مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ لَوْ يَرُدُّونَكُم مِّن بَعْدِ إِيمَانِكُمْ كُفَّارًا حَسَدًا مِّنْ عِندِ أَنفُسِهِم مِّن بَعْدِ مَا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الْحَقُّ ۖ فَاعْفُوا وَاصْفَحُوا حَتَّىٰ يَأْتِيَ اللَّهُ بِأَمْرِهِ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ}

(Many of the People of the Scripture wish that they could turn you back into disbelievers out of envy from themselves, after the truth has become clear to them. So pardon and overlook until Allah brings His command. Indeed, Allah is over all things competent.)