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tilka ʾummatun qad khalat lahā mā kasabat wa-lakum mā kasabtum wa-lā tusʾalūna ʿammā kānū yaʿmalūna
That was a nation that has passed: for it there will be what it has earned, and for you there will be what you have earned, and you will not be questioned about what they used to do.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Al-Baqarah, Verses 133-134
Nay, were you witnesses when death approached Jacob? When he said to his sons: ‘What will you worship after me?’. They said: ‘We will worship your God and the God of your forefathers Abraham, Ismail and Isaac, the One (true) God (alone) and to Him we do submit.’ (2:133)
That is a nation that has passed away; theirs is that, which they have earned, and yours is what you have earned; you shall not be questioned for what they had been doing. (2:134)
Occasion of Revelation
A group of the Jews believed that when Jacob (‘a) was on his deathbed, he enjoined on his children the same religion which the Jews currently believe in (with all its corruption of the scriptures). For the nullification of their belief, Allah sent down this verse.1
Everyone Is Responsible for His Own Deeds
As it is also understood from the apparent meaning of the verse, there were some rejecters of Islam who falsely charged Jacob (‘a), the prophet of Allah, regarding this matter. (The matter was mentioned in the description of the occasion of revelation.) To reject this false claim, the Qur’an says:
Nay, were you witnesses when death approached Jacob?... (2:133)
Were you there when he frankly questioned his children the way he did? Yes, that which you (Jews) charge Jacob (‘a) with is not true. The factual account which occurred was that:
…When he said to his sons: ‘what will you worship after me?’. They said: ‘We will worship your God and the God of your forefathers Abraham, Ismail and Isaac, the One (true) God (alone) and to Him we do submit’. (2:133)
“Yes, he did not enjoin them with anything but to believe in monotheism and to submit to the command of Allah, which is the root of submission to all the Divine ordinances. It can be deduced from this verse that when Jacob was on his deathbed, a feeling of anxiety and worry existed in him about the future of his children. Finally, he expressed his anxiety and asked his sons what they would worship after him. He especially asked ‘what (thing) ‘and he did not ask ‘whom’, because there were some idol-worshippers in the locale who used to prostrate before some particular ‘things’. Jacob wanted to know whether there was any tendency towards those beliefs in the depths of their hearts. But when he heard his children’s answer, he found, again, his peace of mind.
This is also noteworthy that Ismail (‘a) was not Jacob’s father or forefather, but he was Jacob’s uncle, whereas in the verse under discussion, the term / aba’ / which is the plural of the word / ‘ab / (father) has been applied. This makes it clear that, in the Arabic language, this word was sometimes used for ‘uncle’. Hence, we say that if this word has been used regarding ‘Azar in the Qur’an, it does not negate the fact that ‘Azar was Abraham’s uncle, not his father.
The last of the above verses mentioned is an answer to one of the delusions of the Jews. They emphasized very much on their ancestors and the honour and glory they ascribed themselves in relation to Allah. They imagined that even when they tainted themselves with sin, they could be rescued under the comforting shade of such ancestors. Then, the Qur’an says:
That is a nation that has passed away; theirs is that which they have earned, and yours is what you have earned... (2:134)
And, in the same way that they are not responsible for your deeds, also,
...you shall not be questioned for what they had been doing. (2:134)
Therefore, instead of expending all your energy trying to prove that you, by right of ancestry, deserve the honour and high position that your pure ancestors enjoyed, you should try to improve your own Faith and deeds. The addressees in this verse are apparently the Jews and ‘the People of the Book’, but it is evident that this statement is not specifically referring to them alone, in that this basic principle pertains to us Muslims, too.
Footnotes