The History and Meaning of the Term "Jew" | Its Significance in Religious History | The Exodus of Bani Israel from Egypt: Historical Facts and Controversies

Researching The Word "Jew"

The word "Jews" is disputed whether it is an Arabic derivative or non-Arabic. Some have said that it is an Arabic word and is derived from "Al Hud" which means repentance and turning. Referring to the prayer of Hazrat Musa (peace be upon him), Allah (swt) said, "We turned to you. (Al Araaf Verse No, 156)

And some have said that it is a non-Arabic word and refers to "Judah" who is a descendant of Bani Israel and it is attributed to the Kingdom of Judah which was in Palestine after Hazrat Sulaiman (peace be upon him). In this regard, this is more of a conjecture. Because the name "Al-Judah" was not mentioned by the Jews in their books, except for the journey of Ezra, in which the people of the Kingdom of Judah were captured and taken to Babylon. It also showed that their adoption of the title of Jews predated the fall of Persia after the fall of Babylon and its domination over them. In the term, Jews are those who claim that we are the followers of Hazrat Musa (peace be upon him). In the Holy Qur'an, they are mentioned as the people of Moses, Bani Israel attributed to Yaqoob (peace be upon him), People of the Book, and "Jews", but it is also considered that they are mentioned in the place of condemnation as Jews.

As Allah the Exalted said:

The Jews said that Allah's hands are tied. His hands should be closed and cursed for saying this, but his hands are open. (Al Maida Verse No, 64)

He further said:

And they say that we Jews and Christians are sons and beloved of Allah. (Al Maida Verse No, 18)

And he said:

Jews say that Aziz is the son of Allah. (Al Tooba Verse No, 30)

And he said:

Hazrat Ibrahim (peace be upon him) was a Jew and not a Christian. (Al-e-Imran Verse No, 67)

From these verses, it is known that they were given the title of Jew when their religious condition deteriorated and they deviated from the religion of Allah.

A Brief Introduction to the Jews

It is a certain fact that Israel is Hazrat Yaqub bin Ishaq bin Ibrahim Khalilullah (peace be upon him) and the lineage of Bani Israel is towards Hazrat Yaqub (peace be upon him). He had settled in Palestine after moving from different places. After Hazrat Ibrahim Khalilullah (peace be upon him), Hazrat Yaqub (peace be upon him) and his sons made Palestine their abode and started living a rural life there.

Allah Kareem while narrating the words of Hazrat Yusuf (peace be upon him) said:

And said, O father, this is the description of my first dream, my Lord made it come true and He rewarded me when He took me out of the box and brought you from the village. (Al Yousuf Verse No, 100)

Ibn Jarih wrote that they were village dwellers and cattle breeders.

Hazrat Yaqub (peace be upon him) moved to Egypt

On this basis, we begin the history of the Jews with Sayyidna Hazrat Yaqub (peace be upon him). The first stage of this is the migration of Hazrat Yaqub (peace be upon him) from Palestine to Egypt. When Allah Ta'ala gave Yusuf (peace be upon him) power over the land of Egypt and he became responsible for its treasures, he sent a message to his father and all the family members to come to Egypt. Hazrat Yaqub (peace be upon him) moved to Egypt along with his children and family and made Egypt his homeland. Jude mentioned in his book that when the Israelites entered Egypt, this caravan consisted of seventy people and it was a believing tribe. Among the idolaters, the Pharaoh of Egypt gave them a portion of land on a bank where they settled. During the time of Yusuf (peace be upon him), he lived a pure life of great luxury. After a long period after the death of Hazrat Yusuf (peace be upon him), the situation turned upside down on the Bani Israel and the pharaohs came down on them with rebellion and cruelty and made them weak and humiliated and made them slaves.

The situation went to such an extent that Allah Ta'ala said:

Pharaoh was walking in the country and was dividing the people there into many sects, he had weakened one sect among them. He used to slaughter their sons and keep their women alive. Indeed, he was a mischief-maker and we want you to be kind to those who were weak in the country and make them leaders and establish them in the country. And show Pharaoh Haman and his armies what they were in danger of at their hands. (Al Qasas Verse No, 4-6)

Pharaohs of Egypt used to slaughter their sons and keep their women alive. This suffering and hardship was on the Israelites for a long time. Even Allah sent Hazrat Musa (peace be upon him) as a messenger. He invited Pharaoh to faith and not to invite people to his worship and to stop persecuting and oppressing the Israelites and to allow them to leave Egypt. Pharaoh arrogantly rejected this and continued to persecute the Israelites.

As Allah Ta'ala said:

And the leaders of Pharaoh's people said, "Why do you leave Moses and his people to make noise in the land and stop you and your idols, He said, "Now we will kill their sons, keep their women alive, and we are strong against them."(Al Araaf Verse No, 127)

Allah Ta'ala caused Pharaoh and his people to suffer famine, and destruction of crops and sent storms, locusts, crickets, frogs, and blood on them as punishment but they were still arrogant and refused. That is why Allah, the Exalted, commanded Musa (peace be upon him) to take the Israelites away.

Journey of the Israelites from Egypt

Hazrat Musa (peace be upon him) took the Bani Israel by the command of Allah Kareem through the night. Allah saved Hazrat Musa (peace be upon him) and his companions. Killed Pharaoh and his army. The Jews mentioned in their books that their stay in Egypt was 430 years. (Safr ul Khurooj) And most of his scholars call this period wrong. According to them, the total period is 215 years. And when they left Egypt, their number was six hundred thousand besides the Levites. They did not count the Levites among the Israelites.

This number is greatly exaggerated. Because this means that they numbered about two million women and children when they left Egypt. This claim cannot be verified. This may happen when their number is considered to have increased by thirty thousand during their stay in Egypt. Because when they entered Egypt, their number consisted of 70 thousand people. Allah Ta'ala has quoted Pharaoh's saying, "These people are a small group." And it is not possible to interpret two million people as small and the movement of two million people in one night is also impossible. While we also know that there were women, children, and old people among them.

What happened to the Bani Israel after leaving Egypt?

After leaving Egypt, the children of Israel faced many misfortunes. One of these incidents is that they asked Hazrat Musa (peace be upon him) to turn an idol into a deity. There is no doubt that such a demand on the part of the Israelites was surprising as well as ridiculous, While he had witnessed such signs and miracles that the wise and insightful had no choice but to be satisfied with them.

One incident is the worship of the calf. This incident happened when Musa (peace be upon him) went to meet Allah for the honor he had promised, So the Samaritans led the Israelites astray. He melted gold and made a calf for them, which was the gold that the Israelites had asked for when they left the Egyptians The Samaritan invited them to worship him. They worshiped Moses in his absence. Hazrat Haroon (peace be upon him) also forbade and warned them.

When Hazrat Musa (peace be upon him) returned to the people in a pitiful condition, he reprimanded them and burnt the calf, and threw its ashes into the river. He ordered the worshipers of the calf to kill themselves so that Allah would accept their repentance. Their situation is described in such a way that some people stood up with knives and idolaters sat down. In the meantime, when it got dark, they started stabbing the people who were sitting with knives. So the repentance of those who died and the repentance of those who remained were accepted.

Another incident is the denial of Jababra's murder. Hazrat Musa (peace be upon him) invited his people to fight with Jabareen. The Jabarites were the Habsanites, the Fitzrites, and the Canaanites. They were living in the Holy Land, so some people said about the delimitation of the Holy Land that it is Jericho. Some said that it is from Toor and around it. Some say Syria and some say Damascus, Palestine, and some part of Jordan and some say Bait al-Maqdis is the holy land. The Bani Israel refused to fight Jabareen and separated themselves from him and said to Musa (peace be upon him) what Allah the Almighty mentioned: 

They said, O Musa, we will never enter it as long as they are in it, you and your Lord go and fight them, we will sit here. (Al Maida Verse No, 24)

At that time Musa (peace be upon him) prayed to Allah.

He said, "My Lord, I have no authority over anyone except myself and my brother." So, the separation between us and this disobedient nation. (Al Maida Verse No, 25)

At that time Allah ordered them to wander and said:

He said, this land has been forbidden to them, they will go around beating their heads for forty years. There is no regret in the country nor a decree on the nation.

It did not wander during the period that Allah Almighty had fixed. During this period, Hazrat Musa (peace be upon him) died and Hazrat Haroon (peace be upon him) died before him. The Jews write in their book Torah that anyone who was an adult at the time of rejection died with the help of this wandering. None of them could enter except Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Yoqna.!?