Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:134
That was a nation which has passed on. It will have [the consequence of] what it earned, and you will have what you have earned. And you will not be asked about what they used to do.
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.
تِلْكَ أُمَّةٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَلَكُمْ مَا كَسَبْتُمْ وَلَا تُسْأَلُونَ عَمَّا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ
(That was a community which has passed away; to it belongs what it earned, and to you belongs what you have earned, and you will not be questioned about what they used to do.) (2:134)
The exposition of the interpretation of the saying of the Exalted: تِلْكَ أُمَّةٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَلَكُمْ مَا كَسَبْتُمْ وَلَا تُسْأَلُونَ عَمَّا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ (That was a community which has passed away; to it belongs what it earned, and to you belongs what you have earned, and you will not be questioned about what they used to do).
The Exalted in remembrance means by His saying: تِلْكَ أُمَّةٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ (That was a community which has passed away): Ibrāhīm, Ismāʿīl, Isḥāq, and Yaʿqūb and their offspring. He says to the Jews and the Christians: O assembly of Jews and Christians, refrain from attributing to Ibrāhīm, Ismāʿīl, Isḥāq, and Yaʿqūb and the Muslims among their descendants anything that does not belong to them and of which they are not bearers, and do not ascribe to them the unbelief (kufr) of Judaism and Christianity, so that you would attach that to them. For they are a community (umma) — and He means by "umma" in this place: the group, the generation of people — قَدْ خَلَتْ (which has passed away): it has gone its way.
And it is only said of one who has died and passed away: قَدْ خَلَا (he has passed away), because of his separation from the world and his being alone, apart from the intimate companionship that he had with his family and his companions in his world. The origin of it lies in their saying: "خَلَا الرَّجُل" (the man secluded himself), when he finds himself in a place where he has no intimate companion and has secluded himself from the people. This was then applied to one who dies in that manner.
Then the Exalted in remembrance said to the Jews and the Christians: Indeed, to those of My prophets and messengers to whom you have, through your error and your unbelief in which you persist, attributed something, belongs what they earned. The hāʾ and the alif in His saying: لَهَا (to it) refer, if you wish, to "تِلْكَ" (that), and if you wish, to "الْأُمَّة" (the community). And He means by His saying: لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ (to it belongs what it earned), that is: the good it performed; and you, O assembly of Jews and Christians, are entitled to the like of that: what you have performed.
And you, O you who attribute to them the doctrines of belief, will not be called to account for what you have falsely ascribed to them of religions. So ask about what Ibrāhīm, Ismāʿīl, Isḥāq, and Yaʿqūb and their offspring used to do, and what good and evil they earned; for to every soul belongs what it earned, and upon it rests what it has appropriated for itself. So refrain from attributing yourselves to them and appropriating their doctrines of belief, for the claims will avail you nothing with Allah. What truly avails you with Him is only what has preceded you of good deeds, if you have performed them and sent them forward.
