Page 09 Notes

02 Surah Al-Baqarah (continued)

Page 09 Grammar 

Page 09 - Related Hadith/Sunnah

2:58

2:59

2:60

2:61

Translation of the meaning by Sahih International.

Page 9 - Related Hadiths and Sunnah

In the standard Medina / King Fahd complex layout of the Qur’an, Page 9 spans Surah Al-Baqarah (Chapter 2), Verses 58 through 61.

This page continues the historical critique and trials of the Children of Israel (Bani Isra'il) in the wilderness. It documents their entry into a bountiful city where they altered a divine command of humility (Verses 58–59), the miraculous gushing of twelve springs from a rock struck by Prophet Musa's staff (Verse 60), and their infamous complaints regarding the heavenly diet of Manna and Quails, demanding regular earth-grown crops instead (Verse 61).

The Sunnah and canonical Hadith literature provide direct linguistic explanations, historical contexts, and deep theological lessons for these specific passages.

1. Altering the Words of Humility (Verses 58–59)

"And [remember] when We said, 'Enter this city and eat from it wherever you will in [ease and] abundance, and enter the gate bowing humbly and say, 'Relieve us of our burdens' [Hittatun]... But those who wronged changed [those words] to a statement other than that which had been said to them, so We sent down upon those who wronged a punishment from the sky..." (Qur'an 2:58-59)

The Prophetic Lexicon of Their Defiance

The exact manner in which the command was altered is preserved explicitly by the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Instead of entering the gate with physical humility and uttering a word of repentance (Hittah, meaning "unload our sins"), they chose to mock the command.

• The Hadith: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ explained:
  "It was said to the Children of Israel, 'Enter the gate bowing humbly and say: Hittatun (repentance).' But they crawled on their behinds, entered the gate with their heads held high, and changed the word, saying: 'Habbatun fi sha'iratun' (A grain of wheat in a stalk of barley!)" (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 4641; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 3015).

• Application to Page 9: This Hadith provides the direct, literal commentary for Verse 59. Their defiance was twofold: they traded physical humility for arrogance (crawling proudly) and swapped spiritual repentance for materialistic mockery (demanding grain).

2. Twelve Springs from a Struck Rock (Verse 60)

"And [remember] when Moses asked for water for his people, so We said, 'Strike with your staff the stone.' And there gushed forth from it twelve springs. Each people [i.e., tribe] knew its watering place..." (Qur'an 2:60)

Prophetic Miracles Mirroring the Twelve Springs

The striking of the rock to sustain twelve separate tribes without civil conflict is a monumental sign. While this was a unique miracle given to Prophet Musa, the Sunnah documents multiple occasions where the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was granted a structurally similar water miracle to sustain his army during severe droughts.

• The Prophetic Mirror: Jabir ibn Abdullah narrated an event during the Treaty of Al-Hudaybiyah when the companions ran out of water:
  "...The Prophet ﷺ placed his hand into the vessel and water started gushing forth from between his fingers like flowing springs. So we drank and performed ablution." I asked Jabir, "How many were you?" He replied, "Even if we had been a hundred thousand, it would have sufficed us, but we were fifteen hundred." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3576; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1856).

3. Disdaining Heavenly Food for Earthly Crops (Verse 61)

"And [remember] when you said, 'O Moses, we can never endure one [kind of] food. So call upon your Lord to bring forth for us from what the earth grows of its herbs, its cucumbers, its garlic, its lentils and its onions.' [Moses] said, 'Would you exchange what is better for what is less?'..." (Qur'an 2:61)

Prophetic Warnings Against Changing Blessed Provisions

The core spiritual failure of the wanderers in Verse 61 was trading effortless, divinely sent provisions (Manna and Quails) for labor-intensive, common agriculture. The Sunnah features sharp warnings against this specific human tendency to grow bored of pure, safe blessings and pursue lesser things.

• The Hadith on Contentment: The Prophet ﷺ drew a clear boundary against this type of short-sighted materialism, noting that true wealth is psychological independence from greed:
  "Richness does not lie in the abundance of worldly goods, but true richness is the richness of the soul (contentment)." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6446; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1051).

4. Humiliation and the Killing of the Prophets (Verse 61)

"...And they were struck with humiliation and poverty and returned with anger from Allah. That was because they repeatedly disbelieved in the signs of Allah and killed the prophets without right. That was because they disobeyed and [habitually] transgressed." (Qur'an 2:61)

Who Counts as the Worst People Before Allah?

Verse 61 concludes with a devastating verdict: their historical trajectory led to the ultimate crime—slaying the messengers of God. The Sunnah classifies this specific action at the absolute apex of human criminality on the Day of Judgment.

• The Hadith: The Prophet ﷺ declared:
  "The people who will receive the most severe punishment from Allah on the Day of Resurrection are: a man who was killed by a Prophet, or a man who killed a Prophet, an icon-making artist, and a misguiding leader who leads people astray." (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 3868; Classified as Sahih by Ahmad Shakir).

Summary Matrix of Page 9 Concepts & Hadith Sources