The Quran says: [Children of Israel] I favoured you above all other people. The Quran itself mentions this. The Children of Israel took this as their eternal title. Just as God had favoured the Jews upon others, He made Muslims the best of nations. Muslims also took this as their title, one which continues generation after generation. Jews believed that every Jew who takes birth until the Day of Judgment is superior. God said that this notion was completely wrong. This was not a community title. A group gets superior status when it acts according to the status. God made the Jews superior in the sense that He gave them the responsibility to convey God's message to all humanity. Before the Muslim community, the Jews were assigned the task of conveying God's message to the whole world.
One portion of the Quran explains the other. If you cannot understand a verse of the Quran, reflect on other verses. You will find the answer. Keep this principle in mind and try to understand the meaning of khair-e-ummat in the Quran كُنْتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ (3:110) You are indeed the best community that has ever been brought forth for [the good of] mankind.
There is a line in Musaddas Hali: The title for Muslim community is khair al-umam. Khair al-umam means best of nations. Do other verses of the Quran verify that this is the title for Muslims? This is definitely not a title for Muslims. It is a fallacy to consider this as a title for Muslim community.
Laqab means title. In Britain, people are honoured with the title 'Sir'. This is also called conferring knighthood on a person. If someone is given the title Sir, he is addressed in this manner. It is believed that Muslims have been conferred the title of khayr al-umam. This is completely wrong. When we read other portions of the Quran, we will understand this better. The Quran says: لَيْسَ بِأَمَانِيِّكُمْ وَلَا أَمَانِيِّ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ مَنْ يَعْمَلْ سُوءًا يُجْزَ بِهِ (4:123) In this verse, Muslims have been bracketed with the Jews. This is indeed strange. لَيْسَ بِأَمَانِيِّكُمْ وَلَا أَمَانِيِّ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ مَنْ يَعْمَلْ سُوءًا يُجْزَ بِهِ “It is not your desires, nor the desires of the People of the Book, that shall prevail. Anyone who commits evil will be rewarded accordingly.”
One who commits evil will be rewarded for that evil. The Jews of the later period believed that they were God's chosen people. A group which is superior to others. This is not baseless, because the Quran affirms: فضلناكم على العالمين. (2:47) The Quran says: [Children of Israel] I favoured you above all other people. The Quran itself mentions this. The Children of Israel took this as their eternal title. Just as God had favoured the Jews upon others, He made Muslims the best of nations. Muslims also took this as their title, one which continues generation after generation. Jews believed that every Jew who takes birth until the Day of Judgment is superior. God said that this notion was completely wrong. This was not a community title.
A group gets superior status when it acts according to the status. God made the Jews superior in the sense that He gave them the responsibilty to convey God's message to all humanity. Before the Muslim community, the Jews were assigned the task of conveying God's message to the whole world.
