Surah 2. Al-Baqara, Ayah 67
| وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِقَوْمِهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُكُمْ أَنْ تَذْبَحُوا بَقَرَةً ۖ قَالُوا أَتَتَّخِذُنَا هُزُوًا ۖ قَالَ أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ أَنْ أَكُونَ مِنَ الْجَاهِلِينَ |
| Asad | : | AND LO! Moses said unto his people: "Behold, God bids you to sacrifice a cow."53 They said: "Dost thou mock at us?" He answered: "I seek refuge with God against being so ignorant!"54 |
| Malik | : | Remember the incident when Musa (Moses) said to his people: "Allah commands you to sacrifice a cow," they replied, "do you ridicule us?" Musa answered, "I seek the protection of Allah from being one of the ignorant." |
| Pickthall | : | And when Moses said unto his people: Lo! Allah commandeth you that ye sacrifice a cow, they said: Dost thou make game of us? He answered: Allah forbid that I should be among the foolish! |
| Yusuf Ali | : | And remember Moses said to his people: "Allah commands that ye sacrifice a heifer." They said: "Makest thou a laughing-stock of us?" He said: "Allah save me from being an ignorant (fool)!" 80 |
| Transliteration | : | Waith qala moosa liqawmihi inna Allaha yamurukum an tathbahoo baqaratan qaloo atattakhithuna huzuwan qala aAAoothu biAllahi an akoona mina aljahileena |
Note - 53As is evident from verse {72}, the story related in this
and the subsequent passages almost certainly refers to
the Mosaic law which ordains that in certain cases of
unresolved murder a cow should be sacrificed, and the
elders of the town or village nearest to the place of the
murder should wash their hands over it and declare, "Our
hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes
seen it" - whereupon the community would be absolved of
collective responsibility. For the details of this Old
Testament ordinance, see Deuteronomy xxi, 1-9.
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Note - 54Lit., "lest I be one of the ignorant". The imputation of
mockery was obviously due to the fact that Moses
promulgated the above ordinance in very general terms,
without specifying any details.
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Note - 80This story or parable of the heifer in ii. 67-71 should
be read with the parable of the dead man brought to life
in ii. 72-73. The stories were accepted in Jewish
traditions, which are themselves based on certain
sacrificial directions in the Old Testament. The heifer
story of Jewish tradition is based on Num. xix. 1-10, in
which Moses and Aaron ordered the Israelites to sacrifice
a red heifer without spot or blemish; her body was to be
burnt and the ashes were to be kept for the purification
of the congregation from sin. The parable of the dead
man we shall refer to later. The lesson of the heifer
parable is plain. Moses announced the sacrifice the the
Israelites, and they treated it as a jest. When Moses
continued solemnly to ask fo the sacrifice, they put him
off on one pretext and another, asking a number of
questions which they could have answered themeselves if
they had listened to Moses's directions. Their questions
were carping criticisms rather than the result of a
desire for information. It was a mere thin pretence that
they were genuinely seeking for guidance. When at last
they were driven into a corner, they made the sacrifice,
but the will was wanting, which would have made the
sacrifice efficacious for purification from sin. The real
reason for their prevarications was their guilty
conscience, as we see in the parable of the dead man (ii.
72-73).
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As is evident from verse {72}, the story related in this and the subsequent passages almost certainly refers to the Mosaic law which ordains that in certain cases of unresolved murder a cow should be sacrificed, and the elders of the town or village nearest to the place of the murder should wash their hands over it and declare, "Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it" - whereupon the community would be absolved of collective responsibility. For the details of this Old Testament ordinance, see Deuteronomy xxi, 1-9. |
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This story or parable of the heifer in ii. 67-71 should be read with the parable of the dead man brought to life in ii. 72-73. The stories were accepted in Jewish traditions, which are themselves based on certain sacrificial directions in the Old Testament. The heifer story of Jewish tradition is based on Num. xix. 1-10, in which Moses and Aaron ordered the Israelites to sacrifice a red heifer without spot or blemish; her body was to be burnt and the ashes were to be kept for the purification of the congregation from sin. The parable of the dead man we shall refer to later. The lesson of the heifer parable is plain. Moses announced the sacrifice the the Israelites, and they treated it as a jest. When Moses continued solemnly to ask fo the sacrifice, they put him off on one pretext and another, asking a number of questions which they could have answered themeselves if they had listened to Moses's directions. Their questions were carping criticisms rather than the result of a desire for information. It was a mere thin pretence that they were genuinely seeking for guidance. When at last they were driven into a corner, they made the sacrifice, but the will was wanting, which would have made the sacrifice efficacious for purification from sin. The real reason for their prevarications was their guilty conscience, as we see in the parable of the dead man (ii. 72-73). |
