al-Baqara 2:84-85 — Believing in part of the Book

"We took a covenant from you that you would not shed one another's blood nor drive one another from your homes… Then you kill one another and drive a part of you from their homes… And when they come to you as captives you ransom them — though it was already forbidden you to drive them out."

The verse stages an extremely concrete inconsistency. The same community, at the same time:

• Drives someone from his home — this was forbidden.
• Then, when that person falls captive, ransoms and frees him — this was obligatory.

One of two rulings is kept, the other broken. And the ruling kept is the one whose keeping is costless or brings prestige; the one broken is the one that runs against interest.

The answer is in the nature of a summary of the whole section:

أَفَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِبَعْضِ ٱلْكِتَٰبِ وَتَكْفُرُونَ بِبَعْضٍ "Do you believe in part of the Book and reject part of it?"

This sentence names all the patterns treated so far in this commentary. Changing the word (2/59), going round the prohibition (2/65), wearing the command down with questions (2/67-71), bending the text from its edge (2/75) — all did the same work: taking the part of the text that suits.

And note: this attitude is not leaving religion. On the contrary, it requires staying inside religion — because only someone who stays inside can believe in "part of it". The person the verse describes is a person who counts himself religious. And the measure of the selection is not the text but the person's own interest; the text is used only as an endorsement.

This is a permanently open door for everyone who possesses religious knowledge. The only practical sign of believing in the whole of the Book is keeping the ruling that goes against you too — because keeping the ruling that favours you requires no faith.