Prophet Mūsā: Part 1 — His Birth, the Palace and the Flight to Madyan
Section 6 of 30 · Lives of the Prophets
What Fine Cousins
In Sūrat al-Māʾidah, there are ayat in which Allah (swt) says:
إِنَّآ أَنزَلْنَا ٱلتَّوْرَىٰةَ فِيهَا هُدًى وَنُورٌ ۚ يَحْكُمُ بِهَا ٱلنَّبِيُّونَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَسْلَمُوا۟ لِلَّذِينَ هَادُوا۟ وَٱلرَّبَّـٰنِيُّونَ وَٱلْأَحْبَارُ بِمَا ٱسْتُحْفِظُوا۟ مِن كِتَـٰبِ ٱللَّهِ وَكَانُوا۟ عَلَيْهِ شُهَدَآءَ ۚ فَلَا تَخْشَوُا۟ ٱلنَّاسَ وَٱخْشَوْنِ وَلَا تَشْتَرُوا۟ بِـَٔايَـٰتِى ثَمَنًا قَلِيلًا ۚ وَمَن لَّمْ يَحْكُم بِمَآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ فَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْكَـٰفِرُونَ
“Surely We have sent down the Torah, in which there was guidance and light by which the prophets, who submitted themselves to Allah, used to judge for the Jews, and (so did) the Men of Allah and the Men of knowledge, because they were ordained to protect the Book of Allah, and they stood guard over it. So, (O Jews of today,) do not fear people. Fear Me, and do not take a paltry price for My verses. Those who do not judge according to what Allah has sent down are the disbelievers.” (5:44)
Those who do not rule according to the Book of Allah are the disbelievers; in another place Allah says, the corrupt; and in another, the wrongdoers. Ḥudhayfah ibn al-Yamān heard some of the tābiʿūn speaking about these ayat, and they said that these ayat were revealed about Banū Isrāʾīl. He said: Allāhu akbar, what fine cousins to you the children of Isrāʾīl are! Whenever there is something bad in the Qur'an, you say it is speaking about them, and whenever there is something good in the Qur'an, you say it is speaking about you.
He wanted to teach them a lesson: that even though these ayat speak about Banū Isrāʾīl, whoever from this ummah resembles them will receive the same. That is why Allah mentioned it in the Qur'an. If you do not rule by the Book of Allah — whether you are from Banū Isrāʾīl or from any other nation — that is considered kufr, and it is considered fisq.