Tafsir

Commentary

A True Believer Should Not Demand Miracles

When the disciples of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) asked him to make ` Ma'idah' (food-spread) come down from the heavens, he replied by saying: قَالَ اتَّقُوا اللَّـهَ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِين (Fear Allah if you are believers). This tells us that it does not behove a faith-bearing servant of Allah that he should test Him by making such requests. Rather than demand what is supernatural, he should seek things, like sustenance, through sources naturally appointed for him.

The Better the Blessing, the Worse the Curse of Ingratitude

From the words of the verse 115: فَإِنِّي أُعَذِّبُهُ عَذَابًا لَّا أُعَذِّبُهُ أَحَدًا مِّنَ الْعَالَمِينَ (I shall give him a punishment I shall not give to anyone in the worlds), we learn that in situations when the blessing of Allah is extra-ordinary and unique, the emphasis on the gratitude for it should be far above the ordinary.' As for the punishment of ingratitude, that too will be extra-ordinary and unique.

Whether or not the ` Ma'idah' (food-spread) came down from the heaven is something commentators differ in. The majority of them hold that it did. Accordingly, it has been reported from Sayyidna ` Ammar ibn Yasir ؓ as in a Hadith of Tirmidhi, that ` Ma'idah' did come from the heavens which included bread and meat. It also appears in this Hadith that some of those people committed a breach of trust, and put it off for the next day as well. As a result, they were transformed into monkeys and swines. (May Allah keep us protected from His wrath). This very Hadith also tells us that they ate from it as they wanted to do as mentioned in the word, ` na'kulu' (we eat) - however, storing it for future use was prohibited. (Mayan al-Qur'an)