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اَفَتَطۡمَعُوۡنَ اَنۡ يُّؤۡمِنُوۡا لَـكُمۡ وَقَدۡ كَانَ فَرِيۡقٌ مِّنۡهُمۡ يَسۡمَعُوۡنَ کَلَامَ اللّٰهِ ثُمَّ يُحَرِّفُوۡنَهٗ مِنۡۢ بَعۡدِ مَا عَقَلُوۡهُ وَهُمۡ يَعۡلَمُوۡنَ‏ ﴿2:75﴾ وَاِذَا لَـقُوۡا الَّذِيۡنَ اٰمَنُوۡا قَالُوۡآ اٰمَنَّا  ۖۚ وَاِذَا خَلَا بَعۡضُهُمۡ اِلٰى بَعۡضٍ قَالُوۡآ اَ تُحَدِّثُوۡنَهُمۡ بِمَا فَتَحَ اللّٰهُ عَلَيۡكُمۡ لِيُحَآجُّوۡكُمۡ بِهٖ عِنۡدَ رَبِّكُمۡ​ؕ اَفَلَا تَعۡقِلُوۡنَ‏﴿2:76﴾ اَوَلَا يَعۡلَمُوۡنَ اَنَّ اللّٰهَ يَعۡلَمُ مَا يُسِرُّوۡنَ وَمَا يُعۡلِنُوۡنَ‏  ﴿2:77﴾

(2:75) Do you hope that these people will believe in the Message you are preaching,⁸⁶even though a party of them has been wont to listen to the Word of Allah and after they had fully grasped it, knowingly distorted it?⁸⁷ (2:76) And when they meet those who believe (in Muhammad) they say: “We too believe in him.” But in their intimate meetings they say to one another: “How foolish! Why should you intimate to them what Allah has revealed to you, for they will use it as argument against you before your Lord?”⁸⁸ (2:77) Are they unaware that Allah knows all that they hide and all that they disclose? 

Notes

86. This is addressed to the converts of Madina, who had then lately embraced the faith of the Arabian Prophet. These people had some vague notions about Prophethood, Heavenly Scriptures, Angels, the After-life, Divine Law and so on, and for this they were indebted to their Jewish neighbours. It was from these same Jewish neighbours that they had heard that another Prophet was about to appear, and that his followers would prevail over the rest of the world.

It was partly because of this background that when the people of Madina heard about the Prophet, they readily turned towards him and embraced Islam in large numbers. They naturally expected that those who already followed Prophets and Divine Scriptures, and who, by introducing them to these ideas had contributed to their embracing the true faith, would not only join the ranks of the true believers, but would even be amongst their vanguard. As a result of these expectations the enthusiastic Muslim converts approached their Jewish friends and neighbours and invited them to embrace Islam. When the Jews flatly declined to do so, this negative reply was exploited by the hypocrites and other enemies of Islam as an argument for creating doubts about the truth of Islam. 

If Muhammad was the true Prophet, they argued, how was it conceivable that the Jewish scholars and divines would deliberately turn away from him since, if he was a true Prophet, such a behaviour would be tantamount to ruining their After-life? Here the simple-hearted Muslims learn of the historical record of the Jews, a record which is replete with perversion and corruption. This was designed to make them realize that they ought not to expect too much of a people with so dark a past, for if they were not realistic in their expectations about them they would be utterly disappointed when their call failed to penetrate their hardened and stony hearts. Their chronic decadence had a history of several centuries. For a long time they had treated those verses of the Scriptures which made sincere believers tremble in awe as objects of jest and play. They had tailored religion to suit their base desires and it was around such a perverted view of religion that all their hopes of salvation were centred. It was futile to hope that such people would flock to the call of Truth the moment it was proclaimed. 

87. ‘A party of them’ refers to the scholars and religious doctors of the Jewish community. The’ Word of God’ here signifies the Torah, the Psalms (Zabur) and other Scriptures which the Jews had received through the Prophets. ‘Distortion’ denotes the attempt to twist a text in such a manner as to make it signify something different from its real meaning, and may also denote tampering with the text of the Scriptures. The Israelite scholars had subjected the Scriptures to distortions of both kinds. 

88. When the Jews talked among themselves they asked their co-religionists to disclose to the Muslims neither the prophesies about the Prophet, nor those verses of the Scriptures on the basis of which they could be reproached for their evil conduct; they thought that the Muslims would make use of scriptural arguments against them before God, and would thus have them pronounced guilty. These were the depths to which Jewish religious decadence had sunk. They were convinced that if they could succeed in concealing their guilt in this world, they would be saved from censure in the Next. For this reason they were asked if they considered God to be unaware of their deeds, either apparent or hidden.

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وَ اِذۡ قَتَلۡتُمۡ نَفۡسًا فَادّٰرَءۡتُمۡ فِيۡهَا ​ؕ وَاللّٰهُ مُخۡرِجٌ مَّا كُنۡتُمۡ تَكۡتُمُوۡنَۚ‏ ﴿2:72﴾ فَقُلۡنَا اضۡرِبُوۡهُ بِبَعۡضِهَا ​ؕ كَذٰلِكَ يُحۡىِ اللّٰهُ الۡمَوۡتٰى ۙ وَيُرِيۡکُمۡ اٰيٰتِهٖ لَعَلَّكُمۡ تَعۡقِلُوۡنَ‏﴿2:73﴾ ثُمَّ قَسَتۡ قُلُوۡبُكُمۡ مِّنۡۢ بَعۡدِ ذٰلِكَ فَهِىَ كَالۡحِجَارَةِ اَوۡ اَشَدُّ قَسۡوَةً ​ ؕ وَاِنَّ مِنَ الۡحِجَارَةِ لَمَا يَتَفَجَّرُ مِنۡهُ الۡاَنۡهٰرُ​ؕ وَاِنَّ مِنۡهَا لَمَا يَشَّقَّقُ فَيَخۡرُجُ مِنۡهُ الۡمَآءُ​ؕ وَاِنَّ مِنۡهَا لَمَا يَهۡبِطُ مِنۡ خَشۡيَةِ اللّٰهِ​ؕ وَمَا اللّٰهُ بِغَافِلٍ عَمَّا تَعۡمَلُوۡنَ‏ ﴿2:74﴾

(2:72) And recall when you killed a man and then began to remonstrate and cast the blame (of killing) upon one another even though Allah was determined to bring to light what you were hiding. (2:73) Then We ordered: “Smite the corpse with a part of it.” Thus does Allah bring the dead to life and thus does He show His Signs that you might understand.⁸⁵ (2:74) Then (even after observing this) your hearts hardened and became like stones, or even harder. For surely there are some stones from which streams burst forth and some that split asunder and water issues out, and some that crash down for fear of Allah. Allah is not heedless of the things you do.

Notes

85. At least one thing becomes clear from this statement: that the slain person was restored to life at least long enough to indicate his assassins. But the actual words in which the order ‘smite the corpse with a part of it’ is couched tend to create a measure of ambiguity. Nevertheless, the meaning inferred by the early Qur’anic commentators – that the order was to smite the slain man’s body with some part of the slaughtered cow – seems to me plausible. Two birds were thus killed with one stone: first, they were made to behold a sign of God’s power; and second, the notion that the cow possessed any holiness or sanctity was shattered. For if the of the object of their worship – the cow – had any supernatural power, some calamity should have visited them as a consequence of slaughtering it. But no calamity took place. On the contrary, killing the cow seemed to be beneficial insofar as striking a dead man with a part of it brought him back to life.

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وَاِذۡ قَالَ مُوۡسٰى لِقَوۡمِهٖۤ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ يَاۡمُرُكُمۡ اَنۡ تَذۡبَحُوۡا بَقَرَةً ​ ؕ قَالُوۡآ اَتَتَّخِذُنَا هُزُوًۡا ​ؕ قَالَ اَعُوۡذُ بِاللّٰهِ اَنۡ اَكُوۡنَ مِنَ الۡجٰـهِلِيۡنَ‏﴿2:67﴾ قَالُوا ادۡعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ يُبَيِّنۡ لَّنَا مَا هِىَ​ؕ قَالَ اِنَّهٗ يَقُوۡلُ اِنَّهَا بَقَرَةٌ لَّا فَارِضٌ وَّلَا بِكۡرٌؕ عَوَانٌۢ بَيۡنَ ذٰلِكَ​ؕ فَافۡعَلُوۡا مَا تُؤۡمَرُوۡنَ‏ ﴿2:68﴾ قَالُوا ادۡعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ يُبَيِّنۡ لَّنَا مَا لَوۡنُهَا ​ؕ قَالَ اِنَّهٗ يَقُوۡلُ اِنَّهَا بَقَرَةٌ صَفۡرَآءُۙ فَاقِعٌ لَّوۡنُهَا تَسُرُّ النّٰظِرِيۡنَ‏  ﴿2:69﴾قَالُوا ادۡعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ يُبَيِّنۡ لَّنَا مَا هِىَۙ اِنَّ الۡبَقَرَ تَشٰبَهَ عَلَيۡنَا ؕ وَاِنَّـآ اِنۡ شَآءَ اللّٰهُ لَمُهۡتَدُوۡنَ‏ ﴿2:70﴾ قَالَ اِنَّهٗ يَقُوۡلُ اِنَّهَا بَقَرَةٌ لَّا ذَلُوۡلٌ تُثِيۡرُ الۡاَرۡضَ وَلَا تَسۡقِى الۡحَـرۡثَ ​ۚ مُسَلَّمَةٌ لَّا شِيَةَ فِيۡهَا ​ؕ قَالُوا الۡـٰٔـنَ جِئۡتَ بِالۡحَـقِّ​ؕ فَذَبَحُوۡهَا وَمَا كَادُوۡا يَفۡعَلُوۡنَ‏ ﴿2:71﴾

(2:67) And then recall when Moses said to his people: “Behold, Allah commands you to slaughter a cow.” They said: “Are you jesting with us?” Moses answered: “I seek refuge in Allah that I should behave in the manner of the ignorant.” (2:68) They said: “Pray to your Lord that He make clear to us what she is like.” Moses answered: “He says, she is a cow, neither old nor immature, but of an age in between the two. Do, then, what you have been commanded.” (2:69) They said: “Pray to your Lord that He make clear to us of what colour she is.” Moses answered: “He says, she is a yellow cow, with a bright colour which is pleasing to those who see!” (2:70) They said: “Pray to your Lord that He make clear to us what cow she is. Cows seem much alike to us, and if Allah wills, we shall be guided.”⁸⁴ (2:71) Moses answered: “Lo! He says, she is a cow unyoked to plough the earth or to water the tillage, one that has been kept secure, with no blemish on her!” Thereupon they cried out: “Now you have come forth with the information that will direct us aright.” And they slaughtered her although they scarcely seemed to do so. 

Notes

84. Through contact with neighbouring peoples, the Israelites had become infested with the attitude of sanctifying the cow, in fact they had even become accustomed to cow-worship. In order to disabuse the Jews of this, they were ordered to slaughter the cow. Their professed belief that God alone was worthy of worship could be tested only by making them slaughter with their own hands what they had formerly worshipped. This test was indeed a hard one since their hearts were not fully imbued with faith. Hence, they tried to shelve the issue by resorting to enquiries about the kind of animal they were required to slaughter. But the more they enquired, the narrower the strait became for them, until the indications were as obvious as if someone had put his finger precisely on the particular animal they were required to slaughter – the animal which had for so long been an object of their worship. The Old Testament also mentions the incident, but there is no reference to the manner in which the Jews tried to evade the matter. (See Numbers 19: 1-10.)

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وَلَقَدۡ عَلِمۡتُمُ الَّذِيۡنَ اعۡتَدَوۡا مِنۡكُمۡ فِىۡ السَّبۡتِ فَقُلۡنَا لَهُمۡ كُوۡنُوۡا قِرَدَةً خَاسِـِٔـيۡنَ ​ۚ‏ ﴿2:65﴾ فَجَعَلۡنٰهَا نَكٰلاً لِّمَا بَيۡنَ يَدَيۡهَا وَمَا خَلۡفَهَا وَمَوۡعِظَةً لِّلۡمُتَّقِيۡنَ‏ ﴿2:66﴾

(2:65) And you know the case of those of you who broke the Sabbath,⁸² how We said to them: “Become apes, despised and hated.”⁸³ (2:66) And thus We made their end a warning for the people of their own time and for the succeeding generations, and an admonition to the God-fearing.

Notes

82. Sabbath, i.e., Saturday . It was laid down that the Israelite should consecrate that day for rest and worship. They were required to from abstain from all worldly acts, including cooking (which they might neither do themselves, nor have their servants do for them). The injunctions, in this connection were so strict that violation of the Sabbath was to be punished with death. (See Exodus 31:12-17. ) When religious and moral decadence, however, spread among the Israelites they indulged in open desecration of the Sabbath, so much so that in Jewish towns trade and commerce were carried out in broad daylight. 

83. The details of this incident are mentioned later in (Surah 7, vv. 163) ff. The exact manner in which their transformation into apes took place is disputed. Some scholars are of the opinion that the transformation was a physical one, while others hold that they were invested with the attributes characteristic of apes. But both the words and the manner in which this incident is recounted in the Qur’an seem to suggest that what took place was a physical transformation of certain persons into apes rather than just a moral metamorphosis. What seems plausible to me is that while their minds were allowed to remain intact, their bodies were changed into those of apes.