{"collection":"Texts of Islam","full_text_available":false,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/sacred_texts_v1_isl_002_htm/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/sacred_texts_v1_isl_002_htm","id":"sacred_texts_v1_isl_002_htm","license":"unknown_pending_legal_review","rights_basis":"sacred_texts_v1_preview_gate_primary_text_only; acquisition-method/ToS and compilation-copyright questions still open, not resolved by this gate","source":"sacred_texts_v1","source_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/isl/002.htm","summary":"This is an excerpt from Surah Al-Baqarah (\"The Chapter of the Heifer\"), the second and longest chapter of the Quran, here in a classical English translation. The passage establishes core Islamic theological distinctions between true believers, hypocrites (\"those who say we believe but do not\"), and outright disbelievers, using extended metaphors \u2014 a kindled fire that goes dark, a storm with blinding lightning \u2014 to characterize the spiritually blind. It then recounts several episodes from Israelite history addressed directly to the \"children of Israel\": the Exodus and parting of the sea, Moses receiving the Torah, the golden calf apostasy, miraculous provision in the wilderness, and the Israelites' complaints about food, each framed as a demonstration of divine favor met with ingratitude and rebellion. The chapter's titular episode involves Moses commanding his people to slaughter a specific cow after prolonged, evasive questioning, followed by a miracle using part of the animal to resurrect a murdered man and reveal his killer. A notably pluralist verse appears amid the polemic: it states that Jews, Christians, Sabaeans, and Muslims alike will be rewarded if they believe in God and the Last Day and act righteously. The overall rhetorical aim is to position the Quran as the culmination of prior revelation, warn against hypocrisy and scriptural distortion, and call the audience to sincere monotheistic practice.","tags":[],"text":null,"title":"002","tradition":"Texts of Islam","translated_text":null,"word_count":11485}