These verses make a definitive statement of the Jewish Prophets’ attitude towards the unbelievers from among the Children of Israel. It is represented by the attitude of the Prophets David and Jesus (peace be upon them). Both of them cursed the unbelievers among the Children of Israel and their prayers were answered because of the aggression of those unbelievers, the spread of immorality among them, their turning a blind eye to the spread of evil among themselves, and their patronising of other unbelievers. The outcome of all this was that they incurred God’s displeasure and were cursed. Their punishment will be everlasting.
Those of the Children of Israel who disbelieved were cursed by David and Jesus, son of Mary. That was because they rebelled and persisted in their transgression. They would never restrain one another from wrongdoing. Vile indeed were the things they did.
Now you can see many of them allying themselves with unbelievers. So evil is that which their souls make them do. They have incurred God’s wrath and in suffering they shall abide. Had they truly believed in God and the Prophet and all that which was revealed to them, they would not have taken them for allies, but many of them are evildoers. (Verses 78-81)
When we remember that it was Jesus and David who cursed the Children of Israel, we realise that theirs is a long history of unbelief, disobedience and rejection of the truth. Prophets who were sent to guide and save them were the ones who eventually condemned them so that they might not be guided to the truth. God answered their prayers and destined the Israelites to a perpetual curse.
The unbelievers among the Children of Israel were the ones who distorted their revealed Scriptures and refused to abide by the rulings of the Divine Code, as we are told in several Qur’ānic sūrahs. They violated their covenant with God in which they pledged themselves to support and follow every messenger He sent: “That was because they rebelled and persisted in their transgression.” (Verse 78)
Jewish history is full of examples of such rebellion and aggression. These were not mere individual actions in the Jewish community. Indeed, they were so frequent they became characteristic of the whole community, and even those who did not perpetrate such crimes either turned a blind eye to them or did not speak out against them: “They would never restrain one another from wrongdoing. Vile indeed were the things they did.” (Verse 79)
Rebellion and transgression can occur in any community by those who are corrupt and deviant. The world is never free from evil and communities will always contain people who transgress. But a good community, by nature, does not allow evil and transgression to become commonplace. When wrongdoing becomes more difficult than doing good in a community, and when deterrent punishments are prescribed and the whole community stands against evil and enforces such punishments, then evil shrinks and the motivation to commit it weakens. This gives the community stronger ties so that it is more closely knit together. Corruption becomes confined to a few individuals or groups who are rejected by the rest of the community and, hence, they hold no sway over it.
As the Qur’ān depicts this phenomenon of Israelite society, condemning it and showing it in a bad light, it wants for the Muslim community a solid structure which repels every aspect of rebellion and transgression. It wants the Muslim community to solidly defend the truth and to be sensitive to any aggression against it. It wants those who advocate the implementation of faith to discharge their responsibility by standing firm against evil, corruption, tyranny and transgression. The Muslims should pay no heed to anyone who blames them for their attitude. They maintain their opposition to evil whether it is practised by powerful rulers, influential men of wealth, evil people with physical power or the masses swayed by vain desires. God’s system remains the true system and those who deviate from it are all alike, be they people of high or low position. Islam strongly emphasises the need to fulfil God’s trust, and threatens a common punishment to the whole community if it allows evil to spread within it. The responsibility is shared by every individual and by the community as a whole.
`Abdullāh ibn Mas`ūd quotes the Prophet as saying: “When the Children of Israel began to commit sin, their scholars counselled them to desist, but they continued in their erring ways. Their scholars, nevertheless, continued to mix socially with them, and to eat and drink with them. God caused one group of them to stand against another and they were cursed by David and Jesus, son of Mary.” “That was because they rebelled and persisted in their transgression.” (Verse 78) The Prophet was reclining when he said this and at this point he sat up and said: “No! By Him who holds my soul in His hand, you must push them to follow the truth.” (Related by Ahmad.)
`Abdullāh ibn Mas`ūd quotes the following statement by the Prophet :
The first defect which occurred in the community of the Israelites was that a man would see another and say to him: “Fear God and abandon what you have been doing because it is not permissible for you.” However, he meets him the following day but still the man persists in his erring ways, but this does not prevent the other from eating and mixing socially with him. When they did this, God caused division and conflict to occur among them.
The Prophet then read the Qur’ānic verses: “Those of the Children of Israel who disbelieved were cursed by David and Jesus, son of Mary. That was because they rebelled and persisted in their transgression. They would never restrain one another from wrongdoing. Vile indeed were the things they did. Now you can see many of them allying themselves with unbelievers. So evil is that which their souls make them do. They have incurred Gods wrath and in suffering they shall abide. Had they truly believed in God and the Prophet and all that which was revealed to them, they would not have taken them for allies, but many of them are evildoers.” (Verses 78-81)
The Prophet then said: “No! By God, you shall enjoin what is right, forbid what is wrong, stand up to those who are unjust and force them to follow the truth.” ‘(Related by Abū Dāwūd.)
The matter is not then one of mere words which enjoin good actions and speak against bad ones. It cannot stop at this. It must hammer the point home, boycott the evildoer and check evil, corruption, and transgression, with force if need be. The Prophet is quoted as saying: “He of you who sees an evil action being committed should change it with his own hands. If he cannot, then with his tongue. If he still cannot, then with his heart. This last one is the weakest degree of faith.” (Related by Muslim.)
Ahmad relates a ĥadīth which quotes the Prophet as saying: “God does not punish the whole community for the actions of a section of it, until the community sees evil committed within its ranks and does not speak out against it when its people are able to do so. If the case reaches that stage, God punishes the whole community and the evildoers as well.” The Prophet is also quoted as saying: “The best type of jihād is to say a word of truth in front of a despotic ruler.” (Related by Abū Dāwūd and al-Tirmidhī.)
There are plenty of Qur’ānic verses and aĥādīth which confirm this concept. It is necessary to establish a sense of common responsibility within the community so that none of its members turn a blind eye when they see evil being committed. No one just sits idle knowing that society is becoming corrupt and justifies their inaction by trying to avoid what may happen. Within the Muslim community, everyone is responsible for protecting and maintaining the bonds established by God.
All this requires the formulation of a proper concept of faith and knowledge of what believing entails. It also requires that we know the Divine system we are called upon to implement and that it encompasses all aspects of life. We further need to take our faith seriously and work hard to establish the Divine system in the life of our community. It is only a Muslim community which conducts its affairs on the basis of the Divine system and implements God’s law that allows a Muslim individual to put into proper practice the principle of enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong. This principle no longer remains the action of an individual which has little impact, as is the case in all jāhiliyyah societies we see today. These societies have established social traditions of their own which condemn interference in other people’s business and consider transgression and disobedience as personal matters. They further allow injustice and tyranny to suppress all opinions and voices and punish very severely everyone who declares the word of truth in the presence of a tyrant.
All efforts and sacrifices should be directed first of all to the establishment of a good and noble society which implements God’s system. Efforts must not be wasted in attempting marginal improvements, which are largely individual in outlook, through enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong.