Surah Al-Isra 17:8

It was mentioned in the Tawrah that the Jews would spread Mischief twice

Allah tells us that He made a declaration to the Children of Israel in the Scripture, meaning that He had already told them in the Book which He revealed to them, that they would cause mischief on the earth twice, and would become tyrants and extremely arrogant, meaning they would become shameless oppressors of people, Allah says:

وَقَضَيْنَآ إِلَيْهِ ذَلِكَ الاٌّمْرَ أَنَّ دَابِرَ هَـؤُلآْءِ مَقْطُوعٌ مُّصْبِحِينَ

(And We made known this decree to him, that the root of those (sinners) was to be cut off in the early morning.)(15:66), meaning, We already told him about that and informed him of it.

The First Episode of Mischief caused by the Jews, and their Punishment for it

فَإِذَا جَآءَ وَعْدُ أُولَـهُمَا

(So, when the promise came for the first of the two) meaning the first of the two episodes of mischief.

بَعَثْنَا عَلَيْكُمْ عِبَادًا لَّنَآ أُوْلِى بَأْسٍ شَدِيدٍ

(We sent against you servants of Ours given to terrible warfare.) means, `We unleashed soldiers against you from among Our creatures who were given to terrible warfare,' i.e., they had great strength and weapons and power. They entered the very innermost parts of your homes, meaning they took possession of your land and invaded the very innermost parts of your homes, going between and through your houses, coming and going freely with no fear of anyone. This was the promise (completely) fulfilled. The earlier and later commentators differed over the identity of these invaders. Many Isra'iliyyat (reports from Jewish sources) were narrated about this, but I did not want to make this book too long by mentioning them, because some of them are fabricated, concocted by their heretics, and others may be true, but we have no need of them, praise be to Allah. What Allah has told us in His Book (the Qur'an) is sufficient and we have no need of what is in the other books that came before. Neither Allah nor His Messenger required us to refer to them. Allah told His Messenger that when (the Jews) committed transgression and aggression, Allah gave their enemies power over them to destroy their country and enter the innermost parts of their homes. Their humiliation and subjugation was a befitting punishment, and your Lord is never unfair or unjust to His servants. They had rebelled and killed many of the Prophets and scholars. Ibn Jarir recorded that Yahya bin Sa`id said: "I heard Sa`id bin Al-Musayyib saying: `Nebuchadnezzar conquered Ash-Sham (Greater Syria, including Palestine), destroying Jerusalem and killing them, then he came to Damascus and found blood boiling in a censer. He asked them: What is this blood They said: We found our forefathers doing this. Because of that blood, he killed seventy thousand of the believers and others, then the blood stopped boiling. This report is Sahih from Sa`id bin Al-Musayyib, and this event is well-known, as he (Nebuchadnezzar) killed their nobles and scholars, and did not leave alive anyone who knew the Tawrah by heart. He took many prisoners from the sons of the Prophets and others, and did many other things that would take too long to mention here. If we had found anything that was correct or close enough, we could have written it and reported it here. And Allah knows best. Then Allah says:

إِنْ أَحْسَنتُمْ أَحْسَنتُمْ لاًّنفُسِكُمْ وَإِنْ أَسَأْتُمْ فَلَهَا

((And We said): "If you do good, you do good for your own selves, and if you do evil (you do it) against yourselves.") As Allah says elsewhere:

مَّنْ عَمِلَ صَـلِحاً فَلِنَفْسِهِ وَمَنْ أَسَآءَ فَعَلَيْهَا

(Whosoever does a righteous good deed, it is for (the benefit of) himself; and whosoever does evil, it is against himself.) 45:15

The Second Episode of Mischief

Then Allah says:

فَإِذَا جَآءَ وَعْدُ الاٌّخِرَةِ

(Then, when the second promise came to pass,) meaning, the second episode of mischief, when your enemies came again,

لِيَسُوءُواْ وُجُوهَكُمْ

((We permitted your enemies) to disgrace your faces) meaning, to humiliate you and subdue you,

وَلِيَدْخُلُواْ الْمَسْجِدَ

(and to enter the Masjid) meaning, Bayt Al-Maqdis (Jerusalem).

كَمَا دَخَلُوهُ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ

(as they had entered it before,) when they entered the very innermost parts of your homes.

وَلِيُتَبِّرُواْ

(and to destroy) wrecking and inflicting ruin upon it.

مَا عَلَوْاْ

(all that fell in their hands.) everything they could get their hands on.

تَتْبِيرًاعَسَى رَبُّكُمْ أَن يَرْحَمَكُمْ

(with utter destruction. It may be that your Lord may show mercy unto you) meaning that He may rid you of them.

وَإِنْ عُدتُّمْ عُدْنَا

(but if you return (to sins), We shall return (to Our punishment).) meaning, if you return to causing mischief,

عُدْنَا

(We shall return) means, We `will once again punish you in this world, along with the punishment and torment We save for you in the Hereafter.'

وَجَعَلْنَا جَهَنَّمَ لِلْكَـفِرِينَ حَصِيرًا

(And We have made Hell a prison Hasir for the disbelievers.) meaning, a place of permanent detention, a prison which cannot be avoided or escaped. Ibn `Abbas said, "Hasir here means a jail." Mujahid said, "They will be detained in it." Others said like- wise. Al-Hasan said, "Hasir means a bed of Fire." Qatadah said: "The Children of Israel returned to aggres- sion, so Allah sent this group against them, Muhammad ﷺ and his companions, who made them pay the Jizyah, with willing submission, and feeling themselves subdued."

Kemudian Allah swt memerintahkan agar mereka benar-benar sadar, bertobat, dan berpegang pada ajaran Taurat serta menjauhi perbuatan maksiat. Dengan demikian, Allah akan melimpahkan rahmat-Nya kepada mereka. Janji Allah seperti ini tentu akan terlaksana dan pasti mereka rasakan.

Tersebut dalam sejarah bahwa pada tahun 614 M yakni sesudah 483 tahun dari peristiwa penghancuran Yerusalem oleh Hadrianus, bangsa Persia di bawah pimpinan Kisra Barwiz merebut kota-kota di Palestina dari tangan bangsa Romawi. Mereka melawan orang Romawi menindas orang Yahudi, dan membatalkan kebiasaan orang-orang Nasrani membuang sampah ke Kuil Sulaeman. Mereka juga menjual orang-orang Nasrani yang berdiam di Yerusalem ke kota orang-orang Yahudi, dan membakar gereja-gereja mereka.

Kemudian pada tahun 624 M, bangsa Romawi di bawah pimpinan Kaisar Heraclius I dapat merebut Palestina kembali dari tangan bangsa Persia. Bahkan, Heraclius dapat memasuki pedalaman kerajaan Persia, dan memadamkan api yang disembah Persia.

Kemenangan bangsa Romawi ini bertepatan dengan kemenangan kaum Muslimin dalam perang Badar melawan kaum musyrikin Mekah (Ramadan tahun 2 H) atau Januari 624 M, kurang lebih 9 tahun sesudah bangsa Romawi dikalahkan oleh bangsa Persia. Akan tetapi, perdamaian antara bangsa Romawi dan Persia baru terjadi pada tahun 928 M, sesudah Kisra Evermiz dibunuh oleh perwiranya sendiri. Pada tahun tersebut, seluruh Palestina kembali berada di bawah kekuasaan Romawi dan palang salib pun dikembalikan ke Yerusalem.

Nabi Muhammad saw, yang diutus sejak tahun 610 M sebagai nabi pembawa rahmat bagi seluruh alam, pada tahun 622 M hijrah ke Medinah. Setibanya di Medinah, beliau mengadakan perjanjian dengan orang-orang Yahudi yang ada di kota itu. Perjanjian itu yang dikenal dengan Piagam Medinah. Isinya menyebutkan bahwa orang-orang Yahudi adalah warga kota Medinah di samping kaum Ansar dan Muhajirin. Mereka dibiarkan tetap menganut agama mereka. Akan tetapi, mereka berkhianat dan mengadakan makar untuk membunuh Rasulullah. Mereka lalu diperangi oleh Rasulullah, dan di antaranya ada yang diusir dari Medinah, yaitu Bani Nadhir.

Setelah Umar bin Khaththab menjadi khalifah, beliau menaklukkan negeri Syam (Suria) pada tahun 636 Masehi. Penduduk Yerusalem (Baitul Makdis) di bawah pimpinan Patrip Suverianus menyerahkan kota itu kepadanya, dan piagam perdamaian disepakati dan ditandatangani oleh kedua belah pihak. Umar bin Khaththab lalu mendirikan masjid di tempat Kiblat Masjidil Aqsa (Kuil Sulaeman), dan membersihkan kota Yerusalem. Maka kota Yerusalem yang sudah hilang selama ini muncul kembali dengan megah.

Setelah negeri Syam seluruhnya termasuk Palestina jatuh ke tangan kaum Muslimin, Kaisar Romawi Heraclius I naik ke suatu bukit dan menghadap ke Suria. Lalu ia melambaikan tangannya dengan mengucapkan, "Selamat tinggal Suria untuk selama-lamanya."

Dengan demikian, bangsa Yahudi lepas dari cengkeraman, aniaya, dan penindasan bangsa Romawi. Mereka kembali bebas beribadah di sekeliling Kuil Sulaiman (Masjidil Aqsa). Inilah rahmat dari Allah swt yang Maha Besar.

Demikianlah keterangan yang disebutkan dalam buku-buku sejarah. Adapun dalam Al-Qur'an, tidak diterangkan dengan rinci, karena Al-Qur'an bukan buku sejarah.

Sementara itu Allah swt tetap mengingatkan bahwa apabila mereka kembali mengulangi kedurhakaan mereka, seperti yang pernah dilakukan oleh nenek moyang mereka, niscaya Allah swt akan menurunkan azab-Nya kembali dengan yang lebih pedih.

Di samping itu, Allah menyediakan azab api neraka Jahanam sebagai penjara yang abadi bagi mereka di akhirat, karena hukuman itulah yang pantas dijatuhkan terhadap orang-orang yang tidak mau beriman.