Surah Al-Baqara (2) — Ayah 67

(Ayah 67 to 71) ➊ During the period of slavery in Egypt, the belief in the sanctity of the cow infiltrated the Israelites under the influence of the dominant nation. This was also manifested when Musa (peace be upon him) went to Mount Tur to receive the Torah, and they made a calf and began to worship it. Now, by Allah’s command, Musa (peace be upon him) ordered the slaughter of a cow to uproot this belief from its roots. They took it as a joke, saying, “Can a cow even be slaughtered?” They said, “Are you making fun of us?” This is similar to when Ibrahim (peace be upon him) clearly told his people regarding idol worship, “Surely you and your forefathers are in clear error,” but they could not believe that anyone could call idol worship misguidance, and said: «{ اَجِئْتَنَا بِالْحَقِّ اَمْ اَنْتَ مِنَ اللّٰعِبِيْنَ }» [ الأنبیاء : ۵۵ ] “Have you brought us the truth, or are you among those who jest?” In short, Musa (peace be upon him) said to his people: “I seek refuge with Allah from being among the ignorant.” It is clear that mockery and ridicule are the acts of the ignorant, whereas humor and good-naturedness are different; in them, nothing is contrary to reality, nor is there any insult or belittlement, rather, the one with whom good-naturedness is shown also feels happy. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) also used to joke.

➋ { بَقَرَةً:} Its tanween indicates that any cow would have sufficed if they had slaughtered it, but they were not willing to slaughter a cow at all. On the other hand, they could not disobey the command of Musa (peace be upon him), so they kept asking question after question, with the sole purpose of somehow escaping the obligation. But the more questions they asked, the more entangled they became, until it came down to the bright yellow cow, which was considered ideal for worship. Nowadays, some Muslims do not venerate cows, but they do show excessive reverence for certain types of horses.

➌ Ikrimah said that if they had not said “in sha Allah,” they would never have found that cow. (Tabari, chain Hasan) It is clear that they were saved from the impurity of cow worship by the blessing of Allah’s pure name.

➍ In { ”بَقَرَةً“ }, the “taa” is for singularity, {”بَقَرٌ“} is a generic term, just as { ”تَمْرٌ“ } and {”نَمْلٌ“} are generic terms, and {’’ تَمْرَةٌ ‘‘} and {’’ نَمْلَةٌ ‘‘} refer to a single date and a single ant. This has nothing to do with masculine or feminine; it could be a cow or an ox, as plowing and drawing water are attributes of an ox. It is quite possible that they were commanded to slaughter an ox, and it is also possible that in Egypt, both oxen and cows were used for farming.

➎ This incident also shows the reprehensibility of unnecessary questioning. A person who is ready to act does not ask many questions. It is said: «{ لَا تَسْئَلُوْا عَنْ اَشْيَآءَ اِنْ تُبْدَ لَكُمْ تَسُؤْكُمْ }» [ المائدۃ : ۱۰۱ ] “Do not ask about things which, if made plain to you, may trouble you.”