Tafseer Surah Baqarah Verse 61 | Surah Baqarah explanation in English | Surah Baqarah explained | Surah Baqarah Ayat 61

Tafseer Surah Baqarah Verse 61 | Surah Baqarah explanation in English | Surah Baqarah explained | Surah Baqarah Ayat 61 Translation

Surah Al-Baqarah

Verse 61

2:61 Al-Baqara

وَإِذْ قُلْتُمْ يَا مُوسَىٰ لَنْ نَصْبِرَ عَلَىٰ طَعَامٍ وَاحِدٍ فَادْعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ يُخْرِجْ لَنَا مِمَّا تُنْبِتُ الْأَرْضُ مِنْ بَقْلِهَا وَقِثَّائِهَا وَفُومِهَا وَعَدَسِهَا وَبَصَلِهَا ۖ قَالَ أَتَسْتَبْدِلُونَ الَّذِي هُوَ أَدْنَىٰ بِالَّذِي هُوَ خَيْرٌ ۚ اهْبِطُوا مِصْرًا فَإِنَّ لَكُمْ مَا سَأَلْتُمْ ۗ وَضُرِبَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ الذِّلَّةُ وَالْمَسْكَنَةُ وَبَاءُوا بِغَضَبٍ مِنَ اللَّهِ ۗ ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَانُوا يَكْفُرُونَ بِآيَاتِ اللَّهِ وَيَقْتُلُونَ النَّبِيِّينَ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ ۗ ذَٰلِكَ بِمَا عَصَوْا وَكَانُوا يَعْتَدُونَ

And (remember) when you said, "O Musa (Moses)! We cannot endure one kind of food. So invoke your Lord for us to bring forth for us of what the earth grows, its herbs, its cucumbers, its Fum (wheat or garlic), its lentils and its onions." He said, "Would you exchange that which is better for that which is lower? Go you down to any town and you shall find what you want!" And they were covered with humiliation and misery, and they drew on themselves the Wrath of Allah. That was because they used to disbelieve the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) of Allah and killed the Prophets wrongfully. That was because they disobeyed and used to transgress the bounds (in their disobedience to Allah, i.e. commit crimes and sins).

Tafseer Surah Baqarah Verse 61

☘️Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala reminds the Children of Israel of His favors upon them. He sent down the manna and quails which was a good, pure, beneficial easily acquired food and yet, they were ungrateful. They demanded that the fresh food being sent from the heavens be replaced with that which the earth grew. Living on same kind of food every day was not possible for them. They missed their old lifestyle and demanded variety.

☘️The Children of Israel provided a long list of items that they desired. A person who has no purpose in life searches for variety. He is someone who easily gets bored with what he has and desires change. Not only is this being ungrateful for what one has but such desires keep one restless and unfulfilled.

☘️Prophet Musa’s reply is interesting. He asks, “Would you exchange what is better for what is less?” Clearly, the food being sent from the heavens was much better than what the earth grows. They did not have to work to earn a living and buy food. They did have to fetch or cook food. They did not have to plan what to cook today. Ask the ladies, who spend considerable amount of time fidgeting over this thought. Despite being blessed, the Children of Israel were ungrateful. And so are we! When we forget what we have or become discontent with it we are being ungrateful of the many favors of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala upon us. By consistently being in search for change or variety, we waste many precious hours and hard-earned money going after that which pleases our heart. We forget whatever this world has to offer is temporary pleasure and what is in the Hereafter is better and lasting.

☘️Alteration was in the blood of the Children of Israel. They changed the Words of Allah, His commands, His religion and now blessings too. A person who is always seeking change is inconsistent, lacks steadfastness and is unpredictable. This person has no purpose in life. The main thing that the Prophet ﷺ taught the Companions radhiAllahi ‘anhum was steadfastness and to be men of principles. They were not slaves to their moods or desires. They remained consistent in the worship of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala and in striving in His cause. They did not come with excuses such as, “Today, I am not feeling well. Let me skip my prayer, my class or going out in the Cause of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala.”

☘️On the other hand, when we look at ourselves, we cannot quote many instances when we have been consistent. We lack consistency in worship and striving in the Cause of Allah. We lack commitment to religion, yet, we are so dearly committed to the charms of this world.

☘️We give ourselves many excuses for not doing much in the Cause of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala but have we also ever provided ourselves excuses for not doing well in the dunya? We want the exceptional for our dunya and will exert ourselves in achieving that. Yet, we callously throw our Hereafter behind our backs because we lack time or required skill. It is not that we lack ‘time’ rather it is the ‘commitment’ and steadfastness that we lack. Let us ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala to make us strong, productive and committed Muslims. Let us not throw our Hereafter out of our sights. It IS what we have to strive for.

☘️Prophet Musa ‘alayhi salaam helps us find the root cause of our slacking in the Deen. We exchange what is better with that which is inferior. Clearly, the Hereafter is better than this inferior world. But because the world means so much to us that we compromise on our worship and learning Deen. Let us commit to change ourselves and gradually distance ourselves from the delusional life of this world. Let us take out the laghw (the unnecessary and non-beneficial) from our lives to give more time to Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala and His Deen.

☘️Another example of preferring the inferior over better is sleeping late, watching television, spending time on social media, or attending a late night wedding and then missing Fajr at its appointed time.

☘️Don’t miss out on the lasting rewards of the Hereafter over temporary delights of this world. Put the Hereafter before this world.

☘️After such a demand, the Children of Israel were instructed to go down to any city and they will find in abundance what they had been asking for. Prophet Musa refused to supplicate to Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala for them because it was an inferior choice that they made. Ibn Katheer writes since their request was the result of boredom and arrogance and since fulfilling it was unnecessary, their request was denied.

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