Surah Al-Tîn 95:2

وَطُورِ سِينِينَ

95:2 Mount Sinai is the place where Moses received the Divine Law. In the first phase, the foundation of human civilization was laid. Noah was the founder of Sharî‘a (Divine Law). With the advent of Moses, the details of the Sharî‘a were revealed. Finally, through the Holy Prophet (pbuh) the Divine Law came to its perfection (cf. 5:3).

From another perspective, the Fig may also be symbolic of the Mosaic Dispensation and the Olive of the Islamic Dispensation. This analogy has been further expressed in more concrete form by the words Mount Sinai and this Town of Security. That the Fig stands for the Jewish Dispensation is provided by certain Biblical references. It is said that coming from Bethany early in the morning, Jesus drew near to a fig tree so that he might pluck some figs to satisfy his hunger and that, seeing nothing on it but leaves, he cursed the tree, and in cursing it, it immediately withered to the root. Another biblical reference mentions two baskets with figs. One of the baskets contained good fresh figs and the other basket was full of vile figs, with the interpretation that the good figs represented the righteous among the Jews and the vile figs the wicked ones (Jeremiah 24). Jesus’ cursing of the fig tree, which had only leaves and no fruit, evidently signified the rejection of the Jews.

About the “olive tree”, the Holy Qur’ân compares it to the Law of Islam: “Allâh is the Extensive Light of the heavens and the earth. His light can be compared to a (lustrous) pillar on which a lamp is put. The lamp is inside a crystal globe. The globe of glass is, as it were, a glittering star. It ( - the lamp) is lit (by the oil) of a blessed Olive Treewhich belongs neither to the east nor to the west (rather welds the whole world in its fold). Its oil is likely to glow forth of itself even if no fire has touched it. This (lamp) is a combination of many lights repeatedly. Allâh guides towards His Light whoever desires (to be enlightened). And Allâh sets forth excellent parables for people” (24:35). Thus the light lit from the blessed Olive Tree belongs neither to the east nor to the west but is meant for all people in all ages and in all parts of the world. When the Lord of Moses revealed His glory to the mountain, He caused it to crumble to dust and Moses fell down in a swoon (7:143). What Moses wanted to see was the great manifestation of Divine glory, which was reserved for the Holy Prophet (pbuh) of Islam. In fact, both Moses and Jesus were not equal to the task, which was reserved for the Holy Prophet (pbuh). Jesus himself said that he could not teach his followers all things but that when the Paraclete will make his appearance, he would guide them into all truth. Moses was also unequal to the task, when his Lord manifested His glory to the mountain He made the Mount Sinai crumble unto dust. This foretells that at some time, the Mosaic Law will pass away and the Islamic Dispensation will set in.