The subject of the Israelites is the longest section of Surah Al-Baqarah starting with Ayah 40 and ending at Ayah 121. These ayahs are one long continuous subject about some of the history of the Children of Israel.
The first thing to note in these ayahs is that when Allah says the Children of Israel, He is addressing them directly. This is the sunnah of Allah in the Quran that it talks to the People of the Book directly. Allah does not say in these ayahs that, ‘tell them or say to them.’ He is talking to them directly in the Quran.
This is very important for the Muslim community because as long as we believe in the Quran, we also believe in open dialogue and conversation with the People of the Book, the Jews and Christians. We must not isolate them and not be isolated from them. We must engage in with them and talk to them in conversation as Allah Himself has done.
The second thing to note is that we must understand the word ‘Israel.’ Over time people, languages and thought processes change. So today ‘Israel’ is an apartheid entity, a fake imposter state. But in the study of the Quran, when you hear the word ‘Israel,’ it is not meant to cause anger, it is actually a noble word, it is the name of a great prophet. To the Muslims, his name is Yaqoob (AS) and to the Jews and Christians, his name is Jacob. We all must understand this going forward in the study of these ayahs.
This word is mentioned many times in the Quran predominantly him bring a role model father. His role as a father is highlighted again and again in the Quran in this surah and in surah Yusuf. This is important because the majority of the prophets that are mentioned in the Quran are from the Israelites and at the time these people were chosen by Allah, and they were blessed. They were Muslims of that time, and we have a lot more in common with them.
In the early days of Madinah during the Prophet’s time, we shared a lot of the holidays and fasting with the Jews. Another thing is that Musa (AS), Moses in the closest to the Prophet Muhammad (SWAS) in mission. There are so many parallels between them and that is why he is the most mentioned messenger.
When the Prophet was sad, Allah reminded that his mission was very close to Musa (AS) and how he received the Torah.
The third thing to note is that Allah chose the Children of Israel above everyone else at that time, many prophets were sent to them, they were saved from the Pharoah, and they had many favors in the desert with Prophet Musa (AS).
So, Allah favored the Jews and He gave them His blessing, but they kept sinning and killing prophets. Allah did this because He wanted them to come back to Him.
These days, the only thing that connects the Jews to the past is Yaqoob (AS), so the sins of the Israelites of the past should not be put on good Jews today. What we should do today is what we did in the past, we should talk to the Jews and Christians and come to common ground between them, like the Quran and Allah wants.