The status of the people of the Book before Islaam – 2:

So what did the Children of Israel do with this covenant?

Allaah shows that they transgressed; {So, because of their breach of their covenant }, they were punished by several punishments:

1-   { We cursed them }, meaning: kicked them out from the Mercy of Allaah.  This was their own choice; they willingly and knowingly transgressed.

2-   { made their hearts become hard }, meaning: their hearts became  unresponsive to the verses and the reminders of Allaah.  Verses that describe Paradise do not make their hearts long to Paradise.  Verses that describe the punishment of the fire do not trouble their hearts to make them stop doing the evil deeds.  This is one of the worst types of punishment; having a heart that does not respond to guidance. 

3- { They change the words (of Allaah) from their (right) places }.  They were afflicted with changing and replacing the words of Allaah, both by corrupting their books and by corrupting the meanings of Allaah’s words.

4-   { (they) have abandoned a good part of the Message that was sent to them }.  They were given the Torah and what Allaah revealed to prophet Musa (SAAWS).  But they abandoned all that, both by losing parts of the text and by abandoning acting upon the text.  They were not guided to perform what they were ordered to do.

5- The continuous betrayal: { And you will not cease to discover deceit in them }.  And the worst type of deception is concealing the truth and disbelieving in what Allaah sent to His Messengers (SAAWS).

Note: This verse (and other similar ones) tells us the story of what happened with the Children of Israel.  The main purpose of this is not to show us how bad they were, but rather to warn us about following their path.  It is not: look what happened to them; rather it is: look what is going to happen to you if you follow that path.

Those characteristics mentioned in the verse are the characteristics of anyone who does not uphold his covenant with Allaah. Anyone who does not obey Allaah will have his share of the curse, the hard-heartedness, the affliction of changing the words of Allaah and not being guided to the truth, the abandoning of parts of the Message, and the affliction of betrayal and deception.  We ask Allaah to protect us from that.

Allaah has taken a covenant from us as well, as we will see later (if Allaah wills).  But, sadly, many Muslims these days think that those verses are only talking about something that happened.  They think it is just a story, while they continue to transgress and take the path that we are warned about in the verse.  Then they say: why are we in such a state?  The answer is: { It is from yourselves (because of your evil deeds) } [Surat Aal-Imraan (165)].

Allaah’s saying: { except a few of them }, meaning: a small percentage of them were truthful to what they promised Allaah (to uphold the covenant).  So Allaah guided them to the straight path.

Allaah then advises His Messenger (SAAWS) about dealing with those transgressors.  He says: { But forgive them } for the harm they cause you, { and overlook (their misdeeds) }, as this is a sign of righteousness, because { Surely, Allah loves the good-doers }.

To be continued, if Allaah wills.