Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:132
And Abraham instructed his sons [to do the same] and [so did] Jacob, [saying], "O my sons, indeed Allah has chosen for you this religion, so do not die except while you are Muslims."
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
** وَوَصَّى بِهَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ بَنِيهِ وَيَعْقُوبُ **
The statement concerning the interpretation of the words of the Exalted: وَوَصَّى بِهَا إبْرَاهِيم بَنِيهِ وَيَعْقُوب (And Ibrāhīm enjoined this upon his sons, and so did Yaʿqūb).
The Exalted, whose remembrance is sublime, means by His words: وَوَصَّى بِهَا (And he enjoined this): and he enjoined this word — and by "the word" I mean His statement: أَسْلَمْت لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ (I have submitted myself to the Lord of the worlds). And that is the islām (submission) which He commanded His Prophet ﷺ, and that is the sincere devotion of worship and the affirmation of the oneness of Allah (tawḥīd), and the submission of the heart and the limbs to Him.
And He means by His words: وَوَصَّى بِهَا إبْرَاهِيم بَنِيهِ (And Ibrāhīm enjoined this upon his sons): he made it incumbent upon them and commanded it of them. As for His words: وَيَعْقُوب (and Yaʿqūb), He means: and Yaʿqūb too enjoined that upon his sons. As in the following:
1722 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His words: وَوَصَّى بِهَا إبْرَاهِيم بَنِيهِ وَيَعْقُوب (And Ibrāhīm enjoined this upon his sons, and so did Yaʿqūb). He says: and Yaʿqūb enjoined this upon his sons, after Ibrāhīm.
1723 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: وَوَصَّى بِهَا إبْرَاهِيم بَنِيهِ (And Ibrāhīm enjoined this upon his sons): he enjoined upon them the islām, and Yaʿqūb enjoined the like of it.
And some of them said: His statement وَوَصَّى بِهَا إبْرَاهِيم بَنِيهِ (And Ibrāhīm enjoined this upon his sons) is a complete statement, and His statement وَيَعْقُوب (and Yaʿqūb) is the beginning of a new statement, for He said: and Ibrāhīm enjoined this upon his sons, namely that they should say: "We have submitted ourselves to the Lord of the worlds," and Yaʿqūb enjoined upon his sons that: يَا بَنِيَّ إنَّ اللَّه اصْطَفَى لَكُمْ الدِّين فَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ (O my sons, verily Allah has chosen for you the religion, so do not die except as those who have submitted).
But there is no valid meaning in the statement of whoever has claimed that; and this is because what Yaʿqūb enjoined upon his sons is of the same kind as what Ibrāhīm enjoined upon his sons, namely the exhortation to obedience to Allah, submission to Him, and surrender (islām).
If someone were to say: If the matter is as you have described, namely that its meaning is: "And Ibrāhīm enjoined this upon his sons, and so did Yaʿqūb, that: O my sons…," then why has "anna" (that) been omitted from the sentence? — then it is answered: because the waṣiyya (the enjoining) is a form of speech, and so it was treated according to its meaning. For if that had come in the wording of a speech-statement, "anna" would not be fitting with it; for one would then say: "And Ibrāhīm said to his sons, and so did Yaʿqūb: 'O my sons.'" But since the waṣiyya was a form of speech, it was treated according to its meaning and not according to its wording, and "anna," with which it would be fitting, was omitted. As the Exalted, whose remembrance is sublime, said: يُوصِيكُمْ اللَّه فِي أَوْلَادكُمْ لِلذَّكَرِ مِثْل حَظّ الْأُنْثَيَيْنِ (Allah enjoins you concerning your children: for the male the portion of two females) (4:11), and as the poet said:
"Verily, I shall disclose to you — among what I disclose — two cares: a care in Najd and a care that I have in the land of Sind."
Here "anna" has been omitted, because disclosing with the tongue is, in meaning, a form of speech, and so he treated it according to its meaning and not according to its wording.
And some of the scholars of the Arabic language have said: "anna" has been omitted from His words وَوَصَّى بِهَا إبْرَاهِيم بَنِيهِ وَيَعْقُوب (And Ibrāhīm enjoined this upon his sons, and so did Yaʿqūb) because the call suffices — and by "the call" they mean His statement: "O my sons." And it was claimed that the reason for this is that it is among the custom of the Arabs to suffice with the particles in place of "anna," as in their statement: "I called: have you stood?" and "I called: where is Zayd?" He said: and sometimes they would insert it together with the particles, and would say: "I called that: have you stood?" And it has been read: "He made it incumbent upon them with obligation after obligation, and enjoined with injunction after injunction."
** يَا بَنِيَّ إِنَّ اللَّهَ اصْطَفَى لَكُمُ **
The statement concerning the interpretation of the words of the Exalted: يَا بَنِيَّ إنَّ اللَّه اصْطَفَى لَكُمْ الدِّين (O my sons, verily Allah has chosen for you the religion).
The Exalted, whose remembrance is sublime, means by His words: إنَّ اللَّه اصْطَفَى لَكُمْ الدِّين (Verily Allah has chosen for you the religion): verily Allah has selected for you this religion, which He has enjoined upon you, and He has chosen it for you. And He inserted the alif and the lām (the definite article) in "al-dīn" (the religion) only because those of the offspring and sons of the two of them who were addressed by this had already known it through the enjoining of it upon them by the two of them and their making it incumbent upon them concerning it. Then the two of them said to them, after they had made it known to them: verily Allah has chosen for you this religion, which He has already enjoined upon you, so fear Allah, that you do not die except while you are adherents of it.
** الدِّينَ فَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ **
The statement concerning the interpretation of the words of the Exalted: فَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ (So do not die except as those who have submitted).
If someone were to say to us: Do death and life belong to the children of Ādam, such that one of them would be forbidden to die except in one state and not in another? — then he is answered: The meaning of this is other than what you have supposed. Its meaning is only: فَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ (So do not die except as those who have submitted), that is to say: do not abandon this religion — and that is the islām — throughout the days of your life. For no one knows when his death will come to him, and so the two of them said to them: فَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ (So do not die except as those who have submitted), because you do not know when your hours of death will come to you, by night or by day. So do not abandon the islām, lest your hours of death come to you while you adhere to a religion other than that which your Lord has chosen for you, and you then die while your Lord is angry with you, and you then perish.
