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wa-ʾidh ʾakhadhnā mīthāqakum wa-rafaʿnā fawqakumu ṭ-ṭūra khudhū mā ʾātaynākum bi-quwwatin wa-dhkurū mā fīhi laʿallakum tattaqūna
And when We took a pledge from you, and raised the Mount above you, [declaring], ‘Hold on with power to what We have given you and remember that which is in it so that you may be Godwary.’
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Al-Baqarah, Verses 63-64
And (remember) when We made a covenant with you, and raised the Tur (Mountain) above you (saying): ‘Hold you fast that which We have given you with the strength, and remember all that is therein (to do accordingly); haply you shall guard yourselves (against evil)’ (2:63)
Thereafter, you turned back, and had it not been for the Grace and Mercy of Allah on you, you had certainly been among the losers (2:64)
Hold The Signs of Allah Firmly!
In these verses, the subject of taking a covenant from the Children of Israel for the practicing of the contents of the Torah and, then, breaching that covenant, is pointed out, at first it says:
And (remember) when We made a covenant with you, and raised the Tur (Mountain) above you (saying): ‘Hold you fast that which We have given you with the strength, and remember all that is therein (to do accordingly); haply you shall guard yourselves (against evil)’ (2:63)
But you people neglected your covenant.
Thereafter, you turned back, and had it not been for the Grace and Mercy of Allah on you, you had certainly been among the losers (2:64)
The objective of the covenant, here, is the same that has been mentioned in verse 40 of the current Surah and what is in verse 83 and 84, which will be discussed later. The items of that covenant are: worshipping only Allah; treating parents, relations, orphans, and those in need with kindness; speaking to and treating people fairly; attending and being steadfast in ritual prayers, paying alms, avoiding shedding blood, the like of which had been mentioned in the Torah, too.
Surah Al-Ma’idah 5:12, also denotes that Allah had taken a covenant from the Children of Israel to believe in all of the Divine prophets and help them, and practice regular charity in the way of Allah. Then, at the end of the same verse, Allah promises that if they keep this covenant and actually do it, they will be allowed to abide in Paradise.
How Was the Mountain Raised Over the Israelites’ Heads?
The leading famous commentator, the Late Tabors, has narrated from ‘Abuzeyd’ that when Moses (‘a) returned from Mount Sinai and brought the Torah with him, he told his people that he had brought a Divine Book consisting of some religious instructions and rules about lawful and unlawful things. He told them to take the instructions that Allah had ordained and practically observe them in their lives.2 But the Jews, with the excuse that he (‘a) had brought them difficult duties to perform, disobeyed and exceeded the limits. The Lord commanded the angels to raise a great big rock from Tur Mountain above them.
At that moment Moses (‘a) announced that if they promised to perform the orders of Allah and repented for their disobedience, that punishment would be removed from over them, else they would be destroyed. The Jews, who expected that the Mountain would fall on them at any moment, submitted and accepted the Torah and prostrated for Allah. Then, finally, that chastisement was warded off because of their repentance. This very occurrence, with a little difference, is mentioned in verse 93 of the current Surah, 2:93; in Surah An-‘Nisa, 4:104 and in Surah Al-A’raf, 7:171.
It is necessary to note, here, that as for the suspending mountain and as to how it could stand high above as a covering overhead for the Israelites, some commentators believe that it was by the command of Allah that Tur Mount was shaken and taken up from its place and, then, suspended above them as a canopy.3 A more detailed explanation will be referred to when commenting on Surah Al-‘A’raf, 7:171. The above-mentioned event as described in the Qur’an was quite known by the Jews, who had these original statements in the Torah about it with them. Besides that, this event is also recorded in Talmud Aboda Sara 1/2 which says: ‘I will cover you with the mountain like a roof’, Talmud.
Footnotes