Qur’an 5:44 on Islam and Jewish Chosen For?

The Qur’an in 5:44 states: “Indeed, We (God) revealed the Torah, containing guidance and light, by which the prophets, who submitted themselves to Allah, made judgments for Jews. So too did the rabbis and scholars judge according to Allah’s Book, with which they were entrusted and of which they were made keepers. So do not fear people; fear Me! Nor trade my revelations for a fleeting gain. And those who do not judge by what Allah has revealed are disbelievers.”

Commentary: Rabbaniyun may be rightly translated by the Jewish title of Rabbi, for their learned men. Jewish learning is identified with Rabbinical literature. Ahbar is the plural of hibr or habr, by which we may understand Jewish Doctors of Law. Is the word connected with the same root as “Hebrew”, or “Eber”, (Genesis 10:21 and Genesis 14:13), were Hebrew ancestors. Yes!  They were living witnesses to the truth of Scripture, and could testify that they had made it known to people.

Some charges are made against the Jews; that even the books which they had, they twisted in meaning, to suit their own purposes, because they feared men rather than Allah: or that what they had was but fragments of the original Law given to Moses, mixed with semi-historical matter, and some fine poetr (Psalms). The Torah mentioned in the Qur’an is not the Old Testament as we have it: nor is it even the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament, containing the Law embedded in a great deal of semi-historical narrative).

“Verily, it is We who bestowed from on high the Torah, wherein there was guidance and light. On `its strength did the prophets, who had surrendered themselves unto God, deliver judgment unto those who followed the Jewish faith; and so did the [early] men of God and the rabbis, inasmuch as most of God’s writ had been entrusted to their care; and they [all] bore witness to its truth.

Therefore, [O children of Israel,] hold not men in awe, but stand in awe of Me; and do not barter away My messages for a trifling gain: for they who do not judge in accordance with what God has bestowed from on high are, indeed, deniers of the truth!

Commentary: Implying that the Law of Moses (the Torah) was intended only for the children of Israel, and were never meant to have universal validity.

The expression “some of God’s writ (kitab)” implies that the Torah did not exhaust the whole of God’s revelation, and that more was yet to be revealed. For the illusory feeling of superiority based on the belief that the children of Israel are “God’s chosen people” and thus the sole recipients of God’s grace and revelation. The Chosen People referred to in this sentence relate to the Qur’an as well as to the Biblical prophecies concerning the advent of Muhammad. (Qur’an 5:44)

1. Why the Jews? Because God loved their ancestors.
“The Lord cared for your ancestors loving them and chose their descendants after them from all nations, as you are this day.” (Deuteronomy 10:15)

2. “I will fulfill my covenant between myself and you (Abraham) and your descendants after you, generation after generation, an everlasting covenant, to be your God, yours and your descendants after you.” (Genesis 17:7)” “All the families of the earth shall be blessed through you (Jacob) and your descendants.” (Genesis 28:14)

3. Why the Jews? Divine love isn’t based on popularity or large numbers.
“It was not because you were more numerous than any other nation that the Lord cared about you and chose you, for you are the smallest of nations; it was because of the Lord’s love for you, and his oath to your ancestors.” (Deuteronomy 7:7-8)

4. Is being chosen and special make you better? No.
A committed loving relationship results in more giving (Mitsvot), more receiving (Torah, Prophets and sages) and more grief (because each cares about the other). “For you alone have I cared among all the nations of the world, therefore I will castigate you for all your iniquities.”
(Amos 3:2)

5. Israel can’t adore any other God, but God can and does redeem other nations.

“Are not Israelites like Ethiopians to me? says the Lord. Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt, the Philistines from Crete and the Aramaeans from Kir?” (Amos 9:7)

6. Jews are not THE chosen people; they are A chosen people, the first of three ongoing monotheistic religions. A parent can have many children but only one is the firstborn. “These are the words of the Lord, Israel is my first-born son.” (Exodus 4:22) The Jewish people was the first community to enter into a sacred relationship with the one God but they are not the only ones to do so. In later centuries other communities were formed to spread monotheism worldwide.

That process will continue until all nations have a sacred relationship to the one God of Israel. “Each nation will walk in the name of its God, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever.” (Micah 4:5) Even in the Messianic Age the other nations will be free to faithfully follow their vision of the One God.

As the Qur’an states: “For every nation there is a direction to which they face (in prayer). So hasten towards all that is good. Wheresoever you may be, Allâh will bring you together. Truly, Allâh is able to do all things.” (2:148) The commentary/Tafsir of al-Jalalayn states: “Every person, of every community, has his direction/qibla, to which he turns in prayer, so compete with one another in good works; strive with acts of obedience and acceptance of these. Wherever you may be, God will bring you all together, gathering you on the Day of Resurrection and requiting you for your deeds; surely God has power over all things.”

And as Prophet Isaiah states: “In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt, and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel  will join a three-party alliance with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing upon the heart. The LORD of Hosts will bless them saying, “Blessed be Egypt My people, Assyria My handiwork, and Israel My inheritance.”…(Isaiah 19:23-5)

7. What is Israel chosen for? To be an agent of holiness and enlightenment.
“You are the children of the Lord your God…You are a people holy to the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 19). “The Lord has chosen you out of all the nations on earth to be his special possession.” (Deuteronomy 14:1-2) “I will make you a light for the nations” (Isaiah 49:6) Thus, other nations will also be blessed through their own religions that were connected by Israel’s covenant with God at Sinai, thus fulfilling the promise to be a blessing to all the nations of the earth.