Al-Baqarah · Madani · ayah 101 of 286

Al-Baqarah 2:101

وَلَمَّا جَآءَهُمْ رَسُولٌ مِّنْ عِندِ ٱللَّهِ مُصَدِّقٌ لِّمَا مَعَهُمْ نَبَذَ فَرِيقٌ مِّنَ ٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُوا۟ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ كِتَـٰبَ ٱللَّهِ وَرَآءَ ظُهُورِهِمْ كَأَنَّهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ

“And when a messenger from Allāh came to them confirming that which was with them, a party of those who had been given the Scripture threw the Scripture of Allāh [i.e., the Torah] behind their backs as if they did not know [what it contained].”

Saheeh International

Essence

A messenger came confirming their own scripture, and some threw the Book of Allah behind their backs, acting as if they had never known it.

A reflection

Wrapped in silk, never opened

In many homes the Quran sits on the highest shelf in the living room. It has a zipped velvet cover, embroidered in gold thread. Nobody would put a cup on it or leave it on the floor. It comes down for a death, a wedding, the first night of Ramadan. Then it goes back up, unopened until the next time.

This ayah describes people who had been given the Book of Allah and threw it behind their backs. The natural first picture is of burning it, or mocking it. Two early scholars read it differently. One said the Book was right in front of them and they read it; what they threw away was acting on it. The other put it more sharply. They wrapped it in silk and brocade and adorned it with gold and silver. But they did not treat what it allowed as allowed, or what it forbade as forbidden. That, he said, is the throwing away.

A classical theologian adds a detail that should make a Muslim reader sit up. 'Those who were given the Book' can mean its scholars, who study and memorise it. Or it can mean anyone who claims to hold to a Book. His example is pointed: Muslims are called 'the people of the Quran'. That name does not mean experts. It means those who believe in it and hold to what it requires.

So the ayah's words reach further than one community in Madinah. The Prophet ﷺ said that the Quran is a proof for you or against you (Sahih Muslim). There is no third option in which it simply sits on the shelf, neutral.

None of this makes the velvet cover wrong. Honouring the copy is a good instinct. The trouble begins when the honour stops at the cloth. A Book can be kissed every Eid and thrown behind the back on every other day of the year.

Take it down this week, and not for an occasion. Open it where the bookmark has sat for months, and do one thing it asks.

The full entry has 4 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.