Moses in Qur'an and Bible

(5) Selfish Rabbies and Doctors of Law

The Israelite doctors of law had for their own selfish gains usurped the place of God and were obeyed and followed implicitly by their people against the injunctions of their scriptures. The Qur'an points out this weakness of theirs in these words:

"They have taken their doctors of law and -their priests for lords besides God." (9:31)

They had forgotten their own responsibilities and lived for their own selfish ends, and their ignorant followers relied implicitly on their exposition of their religious responsibilities.

"Why do their learned men and the doctors of law not prohibit them from their speaking of what is sinful and their eating of unlawfully acquired things? Certainly evil be that which they do." (5:83)

Their story does not end with this but they had totally neglected to forbid evil and were obsessed in promoting their own selfish interests and, if, on any occasion they had any impulse to admonish others, they would do so forgetting to set themselves aright. The Qur'an asks them:

"Will you enjoin righteousness on others and neglect to practice the same yourselves and yet you profess to follow the Book." (2:44)

(6} Indifference towards the Law:

In every affair of theirs whether it be temporal or spiritual, the rule of the devil was the order of the day. Even the few injunctions which had escaped their interference were only given lip profession and were never put into practice. They were no doubt bearers of the Torah but no corner of their life's activities was illuminated with its light. The Qur'an refers to this in these words:

"The likeness of those who were charged with the Torah then did not observe it is the likeness of an ass bearing a load of books." (62:5)

They threw aside the Book of God and thereby invoked the curse of God. To them Qur'an says:

"Say (to them O Prophet}: O people of the Book! you follow no good till you keep up the Torah and the Gospel and that which is revealed to thee from thy Lord." (5:68)

(7} Mutual Enmities:

The Qur'an says that on account of interpolations in the word of God and breaking the covenants and neglecting the law, they are made to suffer the curse of mutual enmities. It says:

"On account of breaking the covenant We cursed them and made their hearts hard; they altered the words from their places and they neglected a portion of what they were reminded of and thou shalt always discover treachery in them excepting a few of them and with those who say we are Christians, We made a covenant but they neglected a portion of what they were reminded of; therefore We excited among them enmity and hatred to the day of resurrection." (5:13-14)

(8) Devouring the Unlawful:

Love of wealth is the proverbial weakness of a Jew. Even Shakespeare had to expose this weakness in the notorious character of Shylock. The Qur'an throws light upon this trait of their character in these words:

"They are listeners of lies and devourers of what is forbidden." (5:42)

Or:

"Ye who believe! Most surely many of the doctors of law and the monks eat away the property of men falsely and turn them from Allah's way." (9:34)

(9) Cooperation with the Unbelievers and idol-worshippers:

When the Jews, forsaking the path of God, formed themselves into different schisms and when after materialistic attainments, their standard of antagonism eventually underwent a change. On the one hand they claimed to be the chosen people of God and on the other they made friends with the enemies of God and the enemies of the believers. The Qur'an has pointed out their double-sidedness in these words:

"Thou wilt see many of them befriending those who disbelieve." (5:80)

When the mind is darkened by animal passions, one loses the talent of distinguishing good from evil. The Qur'an declares in this connection that:

"Thou shalt not find a people who believe in Allah and the latter day be mending those who act in opposition to Allah and His apostle even though they were their own fathers or their sons or their brothers or their kinsfolk." (58:22)

But the Jews who professed to believe in God and the Hereafter were foremost in making alliances with the polytheists against the Muslims.

(10) Seeking Pretexts:

When man gets overpowered with the influx of passions and loses the fear of God, he sacrifices the injunctions of God on the altar of his worldliness. He beings to seek pretexts to avoid correct performance of his duties forgetting that there is an omnipresent and omniscient God who knows the secrets of his heart. The Sabbath day was declared by the law of Moses as a sacred day and the Jews were forbidden to work for their livelihood on that day. But their covetous and greedy temperament could not keep them at home. They transgressed the law under various pretexts to hoodwink God Himself.14 The Qur'an refers to it in these words:

"And certainly you have known those among you who exceeded the limits of the Sabbath. We said to them: Be as apes despised and hated." (2:65)