Sahih International: And you had already known about those who transgressed among you concerning the sabbath, and We said to them, "Be apes, despised."
Sahih International: And We made it a deterrent punishment for those who were present and those who succeeded [them] and a lesson for those who fear Allah.
Quran tells a story that is not retained in the Biblical account. Jews violated Allah's laws in the matter of the sabbath. Allah turned them into apes. Khaashieen means that they turned into the kind of animals that people want to turn away from(despised).They used to violate the matters of sabbath. it is sabt in urdu. It comes from the word subaat which means to cut. When we sleep we are cut off from all activity (so it is said in the quran we made your sleep into a subaat). This day sabt is called sabt because they were supposed to discontinue all financial activity on this day and just worship Allah azza wa jal. It is similar to the concept (Cut yourself off from everything else and turn to Allah exclusively) which was said to Prophet SAWW to pray Tahajjud/ do zika etc.
The primary economy of jews was fishing so it was important for them. The Sabbath was for jews just as the time of jumah is for us ( in which Allah SWT asks us to leave trade behind). Some people pray only jumah or EID prayer and gradually lose contact with deen. They didn't think it was a big deal to fish on sabbath. The fish would literally be jumping out of the water on the day of sabbath just to tempt them. There was not enough fish on other days. This was a trial for them. Allah made Saturday the juiciest for them to test them. They were corrupt since a long time so that is why Allah gave them such difficult tests. Whoever wants to be corrupt, Allah increases them in corruption by opening doors for them. Allah only does this to those who are always addicted to sins.
And ask them about the town that was by the sea - when they transgressed in [the matter of] the sabbath - when their fish came to them openly on their sabbath day, and the day they had no sabbath they did not come to them. Thus did We give them trial because they were defiantly disobedient.
And when a community among them said, "Why do you advise [or warn] a people whom Allah is [about] to destroy or to punish with a severe punishment?" they [the advisors] said, "To be absolved before your Lord and perhaps they may fear Him."
And when they forgot that by which they had been reminded, We saved those who had forbidden evil and seized those who wronged, with a wretched punishment, because they were defiantly disobeying.
So when they were insolent about that which they had been forbidden, We said to them, "Be apes, despised."
(Surah aria 163 onwards)
There were 3 groups of Jews. One who were involved in this sin. One who didn't care. One who were trying to stop the jews from this disobedience. A group from them said that why do you even give advice to them, they are a lost cause do don't bother about them as Allah has destined punishment for them. The people who gave advice said at least we will have some excuse before your RABB. A similar attitude is found in muslims who sometimes give up on people and don't bother enjoining good and forbidding evil. Our job is to advise people but we don't have to force anyone as a reminder is enough. WE HAVE NO right to lose people who are sinning. We never know when they make taubah. We should NOT be judgemental. The people who sinned were reminded that they were sinning and the people who didn't care were reminded that they should care. Allah only rescued that group who used to speak out against people. The one who sees sin and remains silent is part of the group who is on the wrong path. Passive attitude is not acceptable in our deen as we are supposed to think and care about everyone. They became like apes because apes have no shame and they have no control over their appetite and they apparently stand like humans but are very wild.The people who invite people to good should not do it out of a superiority complex and they should not talk down to people. They should take this as a heavy responsibility and they should do it because they know they will be held answerable for it. We shouldn't tell people to do things we are not doing ourselves. But we should invite people to that which we are trying to do ourselves and we should clarify that we are not perfect ourselves. We are just trying to be better collectively. Don't wait till you are perfect to give advice. That day will never come. Religion is all about struggling to do what's right and trying your best.
Some tafaseer say they were literally transformed into apes and that's more authentic. Some mufassir said that it is an expression to describe that they became wild. Just like we say gadhay,bandy etc.
Sahih International
And [recall] when Moses said to his people, "Indeed, Allah commands you to slaughter a cow." They said, "Do you take us in ridicule?" He said, "I seek refuge in Allah from being among the ignorant."
Sahih International
They said, "Call upon your Lord to make clear to us what it is." [Moses] said, "[ Allah ] says, 'It is a cow which is neither old nor virgin, but median between that,' so do what you are commanded."
Sahih International
They said, "Call upon your Lord to show us what is her color." He said, "He says, 'It is a yellow cow, bright in color - pleasing to the observers.' "
Sahih International
They said, "Call upon your Lord to make clear to us what it is. Indeed, [all] cows look alike to us. And indeed we, if Allah wills, will be guided."
Sahih International
He said, "He says, 'It is a cow neither trained to plow the earth nor to irrigate the field, one free from fault with no spot upon her.' " They said, "Now you have come with the truth." So they slaughtered her, but they could hardly do it.
Sahih International
And [recall] when you slew a man and disputed over it, but Allah was to bring out that which you were concealing.It is for sure Allah who commands you that you should slaughter a cow,this is to make it obvious that the messenger does not ask anything on his own,it is a command from Allah
among the israelities there was a dispute and someone was killed and nobody knew for sure who the murderer was and this issue was becoming so big that there was going to be a civil outbreak,then they went to hazrat musa AS for a solution and hazrat musa AS was told by Allah to slaughter a cow,thats why they said are you making a mockery of us?messengers dont make jokes in matters related to commandments and this question was actually questioning Allah Himself,thats why hazrat Musa was overwhelmed and said that I seek refuge that I become Jahill/ignorant(Jahil means someone who has no control over their emotions and no self restraint, and it also means someone who has no knowledge, this is the opposite of Aaqil).
Now we have started to make jokes about things that are essential in religion,if we can joke about something then it means we have started to take it non seriously,we should not encourage such jokes which are a mockery of deen. We are not supposed to ask the rationale behind every revelation God gave. We can ask questions regarding why to believe n Quran, Allah, Messenger SAWW. We are not supposed to question everything e.g. why are there 3 rajah in maghreb and not 4. We are not supposed to try to question Allah's decisions. We are supposed to SAMINA WA ATANA. We can only ask how to do something.
Allah simply asked them to slaughter a cow,but they just tried to make a joke out of it, and they didnt even want to do it,just ask a lot of questions and then he will say forget it i will do it myself,or they wanted to have fun by mocking it. They found it funny so that is why they asked such questions.
He went back to Allah and ALLAH said that it should not be too young ,not too old, everytime they asked a question Musa AS had to go to toor and have a conversation with Allah and ask. Allah just let Musa AS play along and increase them in misguidance. Too old cow does not have enough milk and vigour. Too young a cow cannot really plough the fields. If Allah has kept something simple, we should not complicate it for ourselves by asking stupid questions in deen. Such a cow was more expensive and harder to find.
FAIL means something you dont think about,you just do it..Musa AS used this word here that stop asking questions,stop overthinking and just do as you are told
AMAL is something that you first think about and you consciously do it e.g. when you are driving
Allah tells that the cow should be yellow in colour,which is not a very common colour
The more questions you ask about something that was meant to be simple,the more you end up complicating it,and secondly the questions were not asked with the niyyah of understanding it,you arent asking the messenger,rather you are questioning the messenger,the question tellls about the psychology of the questioner,it is questioning the integrity of our prophet SAWW
it is especially brilliant and pleases those who look at it for a long time,meaning it catches the attention of people for a long time,eye catching
now they ask how should it be?it is becoming confusing for us,we need more guidance so that we can get to the cow, now they have some speck of sincerity because now they actually want the answer thats why Allah eventually let them get to the cow
Allah says its a cow that hasnt been milked,not put to work ,not tilledd the soil,it should also be spotless. Why would such a cow never be put to use? Allah made it more and more difficult for them.
they eventually found this cow with a boy who had gotten it in inheritance,he refused to give it and then they had to pay a lot of gold to get it,so it cost them so much more than it would have had they not questioned
they were almost not going to slaughter but then they actually had to do it because the situation was so bad
Now Allah says when all of you killed the man,why did Allah say ALL of you?because all of them were involved in the injustice,the whole society was responsible,they were going to fight over it and even end up killing one another,so Allah says that he solved it,and cleared what they were hiding
Allah says that the things you have been hiding,Allah continues to reveal them and bring them out,this shows that Allah didnt just do it in this particular case but he continues to do it in the future,it is also a warning for us
Sahih International: So, We said, "Strike the slain man with part of it." Thus does Allah bring the dead to life, and He shows you His signs that you might reason.
Sahih International: Then your hearts became hardened after that, being like stones or even harder. For indeed, there are stones from which rivers burst forth, and there are some of them that split open and water comes out, and there are some of them that fall down for fear of Allah. And Allah is not unaware of what you do.
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