seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Quran 5:44. We have revealed the Torah, wherein is guidance and light. The submissive prophets ruled the Jews according to it, so did the rabbis and the scholars, as they were required to protect God’s Book, and were witnesses to it. So do not fear people, but fear Me. And do not sell My revelations for a cheap price. Those who do not rule according to what God revealed are the unbelievers.
45. And We wrote for them in it: a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a nose for a nose, an ear for an ear, a tooth for a tooth, and an equal wound for a wound; but whoever forgoes it in charity, it will serve as atonement for him. Those who do not rule according to what God revealed are the evildoers.
46. In their footsteps, We sent Jesus son of Mary, fulfilling the Torah that preceded him; and We gave him the Gospel, wherein is guidance and light, and confirming the Torah that preceded him, and guidance and counsel for the righteous.
47. So let the people of the Gospel rule according to what God revealed in it. Those who do not rule according to what God revealed are the sinners.
48. And We revealed to you the Book, with truth, confirming the Scripture that preceded it, and superseding it. So judge between them according to what God revealed, and do not follow their desires if they differ from the truth that has come to you. For each of you We have assigned a law and a method. Had God willed, He could have made you a single nation, but He tests you through what He has given you. So compete in righteousness. To God is your return, all of you; then He will inform you of what you had disputed.
49. And judge between them according to what God revealed, and do not follow their desires. And beware of them, lest they lure you away from some of what God has revealed to you. But if they turn away, know that God intends to strike them with some of their sins. In fact, a great many people are corrupt.
50. Is it the laws of the time of ignorance that they desire? Who is better than God in judgment for people who are certain?
51. O you who believe! Do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies; some of them are allies of one another. Whoever of you allies himself with them is one of them. God does not guide the wrongdoing people.
52. You will see those in whose hearts is sickness racing towards them. They say, “We fear the wheel of fate may turn against us.” But perhaps God will bring about victory, or some event of His making; thereupon they will regret what they concealed within themselves.
53. Those who believe will say, “Are these the ones who swore by God with their strongest oaths that they are with you?” Their works have failed, so they became losers.
54. O you who believe! Whoever of you goes back on his religion—God will bring a people whom He loves and who love Him, kind towards the believers, stern with the disbelievers. They strive in the way of God, and do not fear the blame of the critic. That is the grace of God; He bestows it upon whomever He wills. God is Embracing and Knowing.
55. Your allies are God, and His Messenger, and those who believe—those who pray regularly, and give charity, while bowing down.
56. Whoever allies himself with God, and His Messenger, and those who believe—surely the Party of God is the victorious.
This is from the commentary.
This is one significance. Man is placed above the whole of creation in that he has been granted discretionary powers so that he can choose to follow one path or another, as against the rest of creation, which must necessarily follow the laws to which it is subject. Hence, led by that discretion, men follow different ways, adopting different sects, whereas if man’s very nature had been so made as to make him unable to use his discretionary powers, all men would have been a single people, but then man’s better qualities, which give him preference over the rest of creation, would not have been manifested. The words may, however, also mean, if Allåh pleases He will make you a single people. This would be a reference to the ultimate destiny of the human race. In fact all people are now growing to the consciousness that they are all but one nation.
All non-believers, whatever their own differences, had made common cause against Islåm; this is what is meant by their being friends of each other. The Muslims are warned that they should not expect help or friendship from any party of them, whether Jews, Christians, or idolaters. It would have been weakness of faith in the ultimate triumph of Islåm if, from fear of a powerful enemy, they had sought help and friendship here and there among a hostile people, as the next verse shows. When two nations are at war, an individual of one nation having friendly relations with the enemy nation is treated as an enemy; that is exactly what the Qur’ån says here.
By hastening towards them is meant hastening to make friendship with them or seeking their help. The hypocrites did this, fearing a Muslim reverse.
This was a prophecy that what the hypocrites were doing in opposition to the Prophet would prove of no effect. They would not be able to achieve the end which they had in view, and instead of bringing any loss to the Prophet they themselves would be the losers.
After warning the weak-hearted against taking their enemies for friends, the Holy Qur’ån now tells them who is their real friend who can help them in their distresses and difficulties. Allåh is really the only Friend of a believer; only He can come to his help in time of need. But there was God’s Messenger among them and if God was a believer’s true Friend, so was His Messenger, whose heart was full of sincerest sympathy for the true believers.
I really wish the members of the active military were not called "losers" by that man. I really wish that hadn't aired in my home. That's what has jumped into my mind every time I read the word "loser" in the Quran. That man held up a Bible in front of a church, he sent his son-in-law, a practicing Jewish man, to negotiate peace agreements between Israel and her neighbors. He banned Muslims until he could "figure out what's going on". All of that comes to mind when I read the word "losers" in the Quran.
Humans have always been drawn to shiny objects like magpies. God used Moses to give humans the rules of civility. Humans took those rules and "tweaked" them to include rules about divorce and abortion. Then, I believe, God came to earth as a human, Jesus. As a human, God experienced what it's like to be human. He experienced what it's like to be a human male in a world with human males and females. I believe He allowed those humans to hand Him over to the Cross, because He had to live through Death at the hands of a "good man everyone respects". That "good man everyone respects" was a leader of a church, or a synagogue, or the leader of an conquering government.
I believe in God..... who knows what humans go through.
I've often wondered.... how does a rich man wisely rule over a poor man. How does the rich man point out the wrong in a poor man's life, when he has no clue what it's like to be hungry, homeless, and supporting a family. What does the rich man know about the rising price of bread, milk, or honey?
The Quran is talking about Nations. There is a common thread running through all the Nations on the earth.... that common thread is the humans who Believe that God is running everything. He lets us make our own decisions..... but He's there to guide us if we will listen. Unbelievers and Disbelievers won't ask for His guidance. Believers will hit their knees, or place their mat facing with the other Believers, or run into a closet where they can be alone in intimate prayer.
I guess I'm a true Christian. I Believe Jesus was God Incarnate. I choose the Party of God.
