The Holy Quran 2:85 — Surah Al-Baqarah

Arabic text

ثُمَّ أَنتُمْ هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ تَقْتُلُونَ أَنفُسَكُمْ وَتُخْرِجُونَ فَرِيقًا مِّنكُم مِّن دِيَـٰرِهِمْ تَظَـٰهَرُونَ عَلَيْهِم بِٱلْإِثْمِ وَٱلْعُدْوَٰنِ وَإِن يَأْتُوكُمْ أُسَـٰرَىٰ تُفَـٰدُوهُمْ وَهُوَ مُحَرَّمٌ عَلَيْكُمْ إِخْرَاجُهُمْ ۚ أَفَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِبَعْضِ ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ وَتَكْفُرُونَ بِبَعْضٍ ۚ فَمَا جَزَآءُ مَن يَفْعَلُ ذَٰلِكَ مِنكُمْ إِلَّا خِزْىٌ فِى ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا ۖ وَيَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ يُرَدُّونَ إِلَىٰٓ أَشَدِّ ٱلْعَذَابِ ۗ وَمَا ٱللَّهُ بِغَـٰفِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ

Translation

Then you (O Jews) were the ones who killed yourselves (each other) and expelled a group of your people from their homes, sinfully and unjustly assisting (others to fight) against them. If they (your own people whom you fought) come to you as prisoners, you would ransom them (claiming that your religion commands you to set prisoners free on ransom), whereas expelling them was forbidden for you (in the first place, but you failed to heed this command). Do you believe in a part of the Book (the part concerning the ransoming of prisoners) and reject a part (the part concerning fighting your people, exiling them and assisting others to fight them)? What else can be the punishment for those of you who perpetrate (do) this besides disgrace in this worldly life and being subjected to (given) the severest of punishment on the Day of Qiyaamah? Allaah is not unaware of what you do. (Although the message of this verse is universal in nature, the verse refers specifically to the Jewish Bani Qurayza tribe of Madinah who were allies of the Arab Aus tribe and the Jewish Banu Nadheer tribe who were allies of the Arab Khazraj tribe. Because these Jewish tribes had aligned themselves to the Arab tribes of Madinah, they had to side with their allies when these two Arab tribes fought each other. As a result, they broke the explicit commands of the Torah which forbade them from fighting each other and from exiling each other. While priding themselves for fulfilling the command of accepting ransom for prisoners, they foolishly disobeyed the other commands of their scripture. The disgrace that the verse refers to occurred when the Banu Qurayza were executed and the Banu Nadheer were exiled from Madinah and taxed.)

Tafsir (excerpt) — التفسير الميسر

ثم أنتم يا هؤلاء يقتل بعضكم بعضًا، ويُخرج بعضكم بعضًا من ديارهم، ويَتَقَوَّى كل فريق منكم على إخوانه بالأعداء بغيًا وعدوانًا. وأن يأتوكم أسارى في يد الأعداء سعيتم في تحريرهم من الأسر، بدفع الفدية، مع أنه محرم عليكم إخراجهم من ديارهم. ما أقبح ما تفعلون حين تؤمنون ببعض أحكام التوراة وتكفرون ببعضها! فليس جزاء مَن يفعل ذلك منكم إلا ذُلا وفضيحة في الدنيا.

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