Surah 2. Al-Baqara

[Moses] answered: "Behold, He says it is to be a cow not broken-in to plough the earth or to water the crops, free of fault, without markings of any other colour." Said they: "At last thou hast brought out the truth!" - and thereupon they sacrificed her, although they had almost left it undone.⁵⁵

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., their obstinate desire to obtain closer and closer definitions of the simple commandment revealed to them through Moses had made it almost impossible for them to fulfil it. In his commentary on this passage, Tabari quotes the following remark of Ibn 'Abbas: "If [in the first instance] they had sacrificed any cow chosen by themselves, they would have fulfilled their duty; but they made it complicated for themselves, and so God made it complicated for them." A similar view has been expressed, in the same context, by Zamakhshari. It would appear that the moral of this story points to an important problem of all (and, therefore, also of Islamic) religious jurisprudence: namely, the inadvisability of trying to elicit additional details in respect of any religious law that had originally been given in general terms - for, the more numerous and multiform such details become, the more complicated and rigid becomes the law. This point has been acutely grasped by Rashid Rida', who says in his commentary on the above Qur'anic passage (see Manar I, 345 f.): "Its lesson is that one should not pursue one's [legal] inquiries in such a way as to make laws more complicated.... This was how the early generations [of Muslims] visualized the problem. They did not make things complicated for themselves - and so, for them, the religious law (din) was natural, simple and liberal in its straightforwardness. But those who came later added to it [certain other] injunctions which they had deduced by means of their own reasoning (ijtihad); and they multiplied those [additional] injunctions to such an extent that the religious law became a heavy burden on the community." For the sociological reason why the genuine ordinances of Islamic Law - that is, those which have been prima facie laid down as such in the Qur'an and the teachings of the Prophet - are almost always devoid of details, I would refer the reader to my book State and Government in Islam (pp. 11 ff. and passim). The importance of this problem, illustrated in the above story of the cow - and correctly grasped by the Prophet's Companions - explains why this surah has been entitled "The Cow". (See also 5:101 and the corresponding notes [120-123].)

Musa replied: "Allah says, the said cow should have neither been used to till the soil nor water the fields; a healthy one free from any blemish." "Now you have brought us the accurate description," they said. Then they slaughtered her, after they had nearly declined.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

(Moses) answered: Lo! He saith: Verily she is a cow unyoked; she plougheth not the soil nor watereth the tilth; whole and without mark. They said: Now thou bringest the truth. So they sacrificed her, though almost they did not.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

For, O children of Israel, because you had slain a human being and then cast the blame for this [crime] upon one another - although God will bring to light what you would conceal⁵⁶ -

  - Mohammad Asad

See note [53] above. The use of the plural "you" implies the principle of collective, communal responsibility stipulated by Mosaic Law in cases of murder by a person or persons unknown. God's bringing the guilt to light obviously refers to the Day of Judgment.

And remember another incident when you killed a man and started disputing as to who killed him, Allah made it known what you concealed.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And (remember) when ye slew a man and disagreed concerning it and Allah brought forth that which ye were hiding.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

We said: "Apply this [principle] to some of those [cases of unresolved murder]:⁵⁷ in this way God saves lives from death and shows you His will, so that you might [learn to] use your reason."⁵⁸

  - Mohammad Asad

The phrase idribuhu bi-ba'diha can be literally translated as "strike him [or "it"] with something of her [or "it"]" - and this possibility has given rise to the fanciful assertion by many commentators that the children of Israel were commanded to strike the corpse of the murdered man with some of the flesh of the sacrificed cow, whereupon he was miraculously restored to life and pointed out his murderer! Neither the Qur'an, nor any saying of the Prophet, nor even the Bible offers the slightest warrant for this highly imaginative explanation, which must, therefore, be rejected - quite apart from the fact that the pronoun hu in idribuhu has a masculine gender, while the noun nafs (here translated as "human being") is feminine in gender: from which it follows that the imperative idribuhu cannot possibly refer to nafs. On the other hand, the verb daraba (lit., "he struck") is very often used in a figurative or metonymic sense, as, for instance, in the expression daraba fi 'l-ard ("he journeyed on earth"), or daraba 'sh-shay' bi'sh-shay' ("he mixed one thing with another thing"), or daraba mathal ("he coined a similitude" or "propounded a parable" or "gave an illustration"), or 'ala darb wahid ("similarly applied" or "in the same manner"), or duribat 'alayhim adh-dhillah ("humiliation was imposed on them" or "applied to them"), and so forth. Taking all this into account, I am of the opinion that the imperative idribuhu occurring in the above Qur'anic passage must be translated as "apply it" or "this" (referring, in this context, to the principle of communal responsibility). As for the feminine pronoun ha in ba'diha ("some of it"), it must necessarily relate to the nearest preceding feminine noun - that is, to the nafs that has been murdered, or the act of murder itself about which (fiha) the community disagreed. Thus, the phrase idribuhu bi-ba'diha may be suitably rendered as "apply this [principle] to some of those [cases of unresolved murder]": for it is obvious that the principle of communal responsibility for murder by a person or persons unknown can be applied only to some and not to all such cases.

Lit., "God gives life to the dead and shows you His messages" (i.e., He shows His will by means of such messages or ordinances). The figurative expression "He gives life to the dead" denotes the saving of lives, and is analogous to that in 5:32 . In this context it refers to the prevention of bloodshed and the killing of innocent persons (Manar I, 351), be it through individual acts of revenge, or in result of an erroneous judicial process based on no more than vague suspicion and possibly misleading circumstantial evidence.

So We said: "Strike the dead body with a piece of the slaughtered cow." That's how Allah brought the dead to life to show you His Signs so that you may understand His power to restore life.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And We said: Smite him with some of it. Thus Allah bringeth the dead to life and showeth you His portents so that ye may understand.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And yet, after all this, your hearts hardened and became like rocks, or even harder: for, behold, there are rocks from which streams gush forth; and, behold, there are some from which, when they are cleft, water issues; and, behold, there are some that fall down for awe of God⁵⁹ And God is not unmindful of what you do!

  - Mohammad Asad

For an explanation of this allusion, see 7:143 . The simile of "the rocks from which streams gush forth" or "from which water issues" serves to illustrate its opposite, namely, dryness and lack of life, and is thus an allusion to the spiritual barrenness with which the Qur'an charges the children of Israel.

But even after seeing that your hearts became hard like a rock or even harder, for there are some rocks from which rivers gush out, and there are some which break asunder and water comes out of them, and there are some which fall down with the fear of Allah. And Allah is not unaware of what you do.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Then, even after that, your hearts were hardened and became as rocks, or worse than rocks, for hardness. For indeed there are rocks from out which rivers gush, and indeed there are rocks which split asunder so that water floweth from them. And indeed there are rocks which fall down for the fear of Allah. Allah is not unaware of what ye do.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

CAN YOU, then, hope that they will believe in what you are preaching⁶⁰ - seeing that a good many of them were wont to listen to the word of God and then, after having understood it, to pervert it knowingly?⁶¹

  - Mohammad Asad

Here the Muslims are addressed. In the early period of Islam - and especially after their exodus to Medina, where many Jews were then living - the Muslims expected that the Jews, with their monotheistic beliefs, would be the first to rally to the message of the Qur'an: a hope that was disappointed because the Jews regarded their own religion as a kind of national heritage reserved to the children of Israel alone, and did not believe in the necessity - or possibility - of a new revelation.

Cf. Jeremiah xxiii, 26- "Ye have perverted the words of the living God".

Do you, O Believers, still hope that they will believe in what you say, when some of them have already heard the word of Allah and perverted it knowingly after they understood it?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Have ye any hope that they will be true to you when a party of them used to listen to the Word of Allah, then used to change it, after they had understood it knowingly?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

For, when they meet those who have attained to faith, they say, "We believe [as you believe]" - but when they find themselves alone with one another, they say, "Do you inform them of what God has disclosed to you, so that they might use it in argument against you, quoting the words of your Sustainer?⁶² Will you not, then, use your reason?"

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "before [or "in the sight of"] your Sustainer". Most of the commentators (e.g., Zamakhshari, Baghawi, Razi) agree in that the expression "your Sustainer" stands here for "that which your Sustainer has revealed", namely, the Biblical prophecy relating to the coming of a prophet "from among the brethren" of the children of Israel, and that, therefore, the above phrase implies an argument on the basis of the Jews' own scriptures. (See also note [33] above.)

When they meet the believers (Muslims) they say: "We too are believers," but when they (people of the Book) meet each other in private they say: "Would you disclose to the believers (Muslims) what Allah has revealed to you? So that they (Muslims) may use it as an argument against you in the court of your Rabb? Have you no sense?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And when they fall in with those who believe, they say: We believe. But when they go apart one with another they say: Prate ye to them of that which Allah hath disclosed to you that they may contend with you before your Lord concerning it? Have ye then no sense?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Do they not know, then, that God is aware of all that they would conceal as well as of all that they bring into the open?

  - Mohammad Asad

Do they not really know that Allah knows what they conceal and what they reveal?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Are they then unaware that Allah knoweth that which they keep hidden and that which they proclaim?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And there are among them unlettered people who have no real knowledge of the divine writ,⁶³ [following] only wishful beliefs and depending on nothing but conjecture.

  - Mohammad Asad

In this case, the Old Testament.

Among them there are some illiterates who do not know their Holy Book; they follow their own desires and do nothing but conjecture.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Among them are unlettered folk who know the scripture not except from hearsay. They but guess.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Woe, then, unto those who write down, with their own hands, [something which they claim to be] divine writ, and then say, "This is from God," in order to acquire a trifling gain thereby;⁶⁴ woe, then, unto them for what their hands have written, and woe unto them for all that they may have gained!

  - Mohammad Asad

The reference here is to the scholars responsible for corrupting the text of the Bible and thus misleading their ignorant followers. The "trifling gain" is their feeling of pre-eminence as the alleged "chosen people".

Woe to those who write the Book with their own hands and then say: "This is from Allah," so that they may sell it for a petty price! Woe to them for what their hands have written and woe to them for what they have earned.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Therefore woe be unto those who write the Scripture with their hands and then say, "This is from Allah," that they may purchase a small gain therewith. Woe unto them for that their hands have written, and woe unto them for that they earn thereby.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And they say, "The fire will most certainly not touch us for more than a limited number of days."⁶⁵ Say [unto them]: "Have you received a promise from God - for God never breaks His promise - or do you attribute to God something which you cannot know?"

  - Mohammad Asad

According to popular Jewish belief, even the sinners from among the children of Israel will suffer only very limited punishment in the life to come, and will be quickly reprieved by virtue of their belonging to "the chosen people": a belief which the Qur'an rejects.

The Jews say: "The fire shall not touch us except for a few days." O Muhammad, say: "Have you obtained such a promise from Allah which He would not break ? Or do you assert against Allah what you do not know?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And they say: The fire (of punishment) will not touch us save for a certain number of days. Say: Have ye received a covenant from Allah--truly Allah will not break His covenant--or tell ye concerning Allah that which ye know not?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Yea! Those who earn evil and by their sinfulness are engulfed - they are destined for the fire, therein to abide;

  - Mohammad Asad

Yea! Those who commit evil and become encircled in sin are the inmates of Hellfire; they shall live there forever.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Nay, but whosoever hath done evil and his sin surroundeth him; such are rightful owners of the Fire; they will abide therein.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

whereas those who attain to faith and do righteous deeds - they are destined for paradise, therein to abide.

  - Mohammad Asad

As for those who believe and do good deeds, they will be the residents of Paradise and live there forever.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And those who believe and do good works: such are rightful owners of the Garden. They will abide therein.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

AND LO! We accepted this solemn pledge from [you,] the children of Israel:⁶⁶ "You shall worship none but God; and you shall do good unto your parents and kinsfolk, and the orphans, and the poor; and you shall speak unto all people in a kindly way; and you shall be constant in prayer; and you shall spend in charity."⁶⁷ And yet, save for a few of you, you turned away: for you are obstinate folk!⁶⁸

  - Mohammad Asad

In the preceding passages, the children of Israel have been reminded of the favours that were bestowed on them. Now, however, the Qur'an reminds them of the fact that the way of righteousness has indeed been shown to them by means of explicit social and moral injunctions: and this reminder flows directly from the statement that the human condition in the life to come depends exclusively on the manner of one's life in this world, and not on one's descent.

See note [34] above.

The Old Testament contains many allusions to the waywardness and stubborn rebelliousness of the children of Israel - e.g., Exodus xxxii, 9, xxxiii, 3, xxxiv, 9; Deuteronomy ix, 6-8,23-24,27.

Remember, We took a covenant (firm commitment) from the children of Israel: "You shall worship none but Allah; be good to your parents, relatives, orphans and destitute, speak fair to the people, establish 'Salah', and pay 'Zakah.'" But you broke the covenant, except a few of you, and you paid no heed.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And (remember) when We made a covenant with the Children of Israel, (saying): Worship none save Allah (only), and be good to parents and to kindred and to orphans and the needy, and speak kindly to mankind; and establish worship and pay the poor due. Then, after that, ye slid back, save a few of you, being averse.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And lo! We accepted your solemn pledge that you would not shed one another's blood, and would not drive one another from your homelands - whereupon you acknowledged it; and thereto you bear witness [even now].

  - Mohammad Asad

Also remember another covenant which We took from you: That you shall not shed blood among yourselves and you shall not expel your own people from your homes; you confirmed it and you are witness to it.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And when We made with you a covenant (saying): Shed not the blood of your people nor turn (a party of) your people out of your dwellings. Then ye ratified (Our covenant) and ye were witnesses (thereto).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And yet, it is you who slay one another and drive some of your own people from their homelands, aiding one another against them in sin and hatred; but if they come to you as captives, you ransom them - although the very [act of] driving them away has been made unlawful to you!⁶⁹ Do you, then, believe in some parts of the divine writ and deny the truth of other parts? What, then, could be the reward of those among you who do such things but ignominy in the life of this world and, on the Day of Resurrection, commitment to most grievous suffering? For God is not unmindful of what you do.

  - Mohammad Asad

This is a reference to the conditions prevailing at Medina at the time of the Prophet's hijrah. The two Arab tribes of Medina - Al-Aws and Khazraj - were in pre-Islamic times permanently at war with one another; and out of the three Jewish tribes living there - the Banu Qaynuqa', Banu 'n-Nadir and Banu Qurayzah - the first-named two were allied with Khazraj, while the third was allied with Al-Aws. Thus, in the course of their warfare, Jew would kill Jew in alliance with pagans ("aiding one another in sin and hatred"): a twofold crime from the viewpoint of Mosaic Law. Nevertheless, they would subsequently ransom their mutual captives in obedience to that very same Law - and it is this glaring inconsistency to which the Qur'an alludes in the next sentence.

Yet there you are, killing your own people, expelling a group amongst you from their homes, backing each other with sin and aggression; and if they come to you as captives, you trade them for ransoms whereas their expulsion was unlawful for you to begin with. Do you believe in a part of your Holy Book and reject the rest? So what other punishment do such people among you, who behave like this, deserve, than disgrace in this world and to be driven to grievous punishment on the Day of Judgment? Allah is not unaware of what you do.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Yet ye it is who slay each other and drive out a party of your people from their homes, supporting one another against them by sin and transgression, and if they came to you as captives ye would ransom them, whereas their expulsion was itself unlawful for you. Believe ye in part of the Scripture and disbelieve ye in part thereof? And what is the reward of those who do so save ignominy in the life of the world, and on the Day of Resurrection they will be consigned to the most grievous doom. For Allah is not unaware of what ye do.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall