﷽
*Surah Al-Baqara, Verse 67:*
وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِقَوْمِهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُكُمْ أَن تَذْبَحُوا بَقَرَةً قَالُوا أَتَتَّخِذُنَا هُزُوًا قَالَ أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ أَنْ أَكُونَ مِنَ الْجَاهِلِينَ
And (remember) when Musa (Moses) said to his people: "Verily, Allāh commands you that you sacrifice a heifer." They said, "Do you make fun of us?" He said, "I take Allāh's Refuge from being among Al-Jāhilīn (the ignorants or the foolish)."
*COMMENTARY*
This story or parable of the heifer in verses 67-71 (Sūra Al-Baqarah) should be read with the parable of the dead man brought to life in verses 72-73 (Sūra Al-Baqarah). The stories were accepted I. Jewish traditions, which are themselves based on certain sacrificial directions in the Old Testament. The heifer story of Jewish tradition is based on The Book of Numbers, Old Testament, chapter xix, verse 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 pain. Moses announced the sacrifice to the Israelites, and they treated it as a jest. When Moses continued solemnly to ask for the sacrifice, they put him off on one pretext and another, asking a number of questions which they could have answered themselves if they had listened to Moses's directions. Their questions were carping criticism 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 verses 72-73) (Sūra Al-Baqarah).
﷽
*Surah Al-Baqara, Verse 68:*
قَالُوا ادْعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ يُبَيِّن لَّنَا مَا هِيَ قَالَ إِنَّهُ يَقُولُ إِنَّهَا بَقَرَةٌ لَّا فَارِضٌ وَلَا بِكْرٌ عَوَانٌ بَيْنَ ذَٰلِكَ فَافْعَلُوا مَا تُؤْمَرُونَ
They said, "Call upon your Lord for us that He may make plain to us what it is!" He said, "He says, 'Verily, it is a cow neither too old nor too young, but (it is) between the two conditions', so do what you are commanded."
*Surah Al-Baqara, Verse 67:*
وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِقَوْمِهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُكُمْ أَن تَذْبَحُوا بَقَرَةً قَالُوا أَتَتَّخِذُنَا هُزُوًا قَالَ أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ أَنْ أَكُونَ مِنَ الْجَاهِلِينَ
And (remember) when Musa (Moses) said to his people: "Verily, Allāh commands you that you sacrifice a heifer." They said, "Do you make fun of us?" He said, "I take Allāh's Refuge from being among Al-Jāhilīn (the ignorants or the foolish)."
*COMMENTARY*
This story or parable of the heifer in verses 67-71 (Sūra Al-Baqarah) should be read with the parable of the dead man brought to life in verses 72-73 (Sūra Al-Baqarah). The stories were accepted I. Jewish traditions, which are themselves based on certain sacrificial directions in the Old Testament. The heifer story of Jewish tradition is based on The Book of Numbers, Old Testament, chapter xix, verse 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 pain. Moses announced the sacrifice to the Israelites, and they treated it as a jest. When Moses continued solemnly to ask for the sacrifice, they put him off on one pretext and another, asking a number of questions which they could have answered themselves if they had listened to Moses's directions. Their questions were carping criticism 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 verses 72-73) (Sūra Al-Baqarah).
﷽
*Surah Al-Baqara, Verse 68:*
قَالُوا ادْعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ يُبَيِّن لَّنَا مَا هِيَ قَالَ إِنَّهُ يَقُولُ إِنَّهَا بَقَرَةٌ لَّا فَارِضٌ وَلَا بِكْرٌ عَوَانٌ بَيْنَ ذَٰلِكَ فَافْعَلُوا مَا تُؤْمَرُونَ
They said, "Call upon your Lord for us that He may make plain to us what it is!" He said, "He says, 'Verily, it is a cow neither too old nor too young, but (it is) between the two conditions', so do what you are commanded."
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