The status of the
people of the Book before Islaam:
1) Allaah said: { And
surely, Allah took the covenant from the Children of Israel (Jews), and
We appointed twelve leaders among them. And Allah said: "I am with you if you
perform the prayer, give the Zakaah (obligatory charity), believe in My
Messengers and honor them, and give a good loan to Allah. Verily, (if you
do this) I will remit your sins and admit you to Gardens under which rivers
flow (in Paradise). But if any of you, after this, disbelieved, he has
indeed gone astray from the Straight Path.” <12> So, because of their
breach of their covenant, We cursed them, and made their hearts become hard.
They change the words (of Allaah) from their (right) places and
have abandoned a good part of the Message that was sent to them. And you will
not cease to discover deceit in them, except a few of them. But forgive them,
and overlook (their misdeeds). Verily, Allah loves the good-doers }
[Surat Al-Maai’dah (12-13)]
Allaah tells us in
these two verses about the covenant he took from the Jews. He describes how He took the covenant from
them, and mentions His promise to them if they uphold it and His warning to
them if they do not.
He said: { And
surely, Allah took the covenant from the Children of Israel }, meaning: the
pact they agreed to, { and We appointed twelve leaders amongst them },
one from each tribe, to represent his tribe and to make sure that they uphold
the covenant they gave to Allaah.
This is similar to
when the prophet (SAAWS) took the covenant from the people of Madinah to
believe in him and support him. There
were twelve of them; each representing a group of the people of Madinah.
Then Allaah tells
those twelve leaders: { I am with you }, meaning: with His help and
support.
And then, He
mentioned the terms of the covenant that are binding on the Children of
Israel.
He said: { if you
perform the prayer }, meaning: to continuously perform it in the correct
manner.
{ give the Zakaah
}; the obligatory charity, taken from the rich and given to the poor.
{ believe in My
Messengers }, meaning: in all of the Messengers, including Prophet Muhammad
(SAAWS).
{ and honor them
}; pay them their due respect, by obeying them and following in their path.
{ and give a good
loan to Allah }, which is the sincere general charity and goodness to
people.
So, what do they get
if they fulfill their part?
Allaah said that (if
they did those things): { I will remit your sins and admit you to Gardens
under which rivers flow (in Paradise) }. Allaah gathered for them two things: (1)
removing the harm by forgiving their sins and not holding them accountable for
them, and (2) giving them what they want by admitting them to Paradise.
And then Allaah gave
the warning: { if any of you, after this }, meaning: after this covenant
that they swore to abide by, {disbelieved, then he has indeed gone astray
from the Straight Path }, meaning: he has deviated willingly and knowingly,
so he deserves the punishment he is going to get.
So what did they do
with this covenant?
To
be continued, if Allaah wills.