God makes things simple, humans make it complicated

Sura 2, Baqara, Medina 87

The Quranic text and Ali’s version

وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَى لِقَوْمِهِ إِنَّ اللّهَ يَأْمُرُكُمْ أَنْ تَذْبَحُواْ بَقَرَةً ...

2:67. And remember Moses said to his people: "Allah commands that ye sacrifice a heifer."

C80. This story or parable of the heifer in 2:67-71 should be read with the parable of the dead man brought to life in 2:72-73.

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. 19:1-10, 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 to the Israelites, and they treated it as 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' directions.

Their questions were carping criticisms rather than the result of a desire for information. It was a mere thin presence 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 (2:72-73).

... قَالُواْ أَتَتَّخِذُنَا هُزُواً...

They said: "Makest thou a laughing-stock of us?"

... قَالَ أَعُوذُ بِاللّهِ أَنْ أَكُونَ مِنَ الْجَاهِلِينَ ﴿٦٧﴾

He said: "God save me from being an ignorant (fool)!"

قَالُواْ ادْعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ يُبَيِّن لّنَا مَا هِيَ ...

2:68. They said: "Beseech on our behalf thy Lord to make plain to us what (heifer) it is!

... قَالَ إِنَّهُ يَقُولُ إِنَّهَا بَقَرَةٌ لاَّ فَارِضٌ وَلاَ بِكْرٌ عَوَانٌ بَيْنَ ذَلِكَ...

He said: "He says: The heifer should be neither too old nor too young, but of middling age;

... فَافْعَلُواْ مَا تُؤْمَرونَ ﴿٦٨﴾

now do what ye are commanded!

قَالُواْ ادْعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ يُبَيِّن لَّنَا مَا لَوْنُهَا...

2:69. They said: "Beseech on our behalf thy Lord to make plain to us her color."

... قَالَ إِنَّهُ يَقُولُ إِنّهَا بَقَرَةٌ صَفْرَاء فَاقِـعٌ لَّوْنُهَا تَسُرُّ النَّاظِرِينَ ﴿٦٩﴾

He said: "He says, a fawn-colored heifer, pure and rich in tone, the admiration of beholders!"

قَالُواْ ادْعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ يُبَيِّن لَّنَا مَا هِيَ إِنَّ البَقَرَ تَشَابَهَ عَلَيْنَا...

2:70. They said, "Beseech on our behalf thy Lord to make plain to us what she is, to us are all heifers alike;

... وَإِنَّآ إِن شَاء اللَّهُ لَمُهْتَدُونَ ﴿٧٠﴾

we wish indeed for guidance, if Allah wills."

قَالَ إِنَّهُ يَقُولُ إِنَّهَا بَقَرَةٌ لاَّ ذَلُولٌ تُثِيرُ الأَرْضَ وَلاَ تَسْقِي الْحَرْثَ...

71. He said: "He says, a heifer not trained to till the soil or water the fields;

... مُسَلَّمَةٌ لاَّ شِيَةَ فِيهَا...

sound and without blemish."

... قَالُواْ الآنَ جِئْتَ بِالْحَقِّ ...

They said: "Now hast thou brought the truth."

... فَذَبَحُوهَا وَمَا كَادُواْ يَفْعَلُونَ ﴿٧١﴾

Then they offered her in sacrifice, but not with goodwill.

Other versions

2: 67

Asad And Lo! Moses said unto his people : :Behold, God bids you to sacrifice a cow.” (note 53)

They said: “Do you mock at us?” He answered: “I seek refuge with God against being so ignorant!” (note 54)

Yusuf Ali And remember Moses said to his people: "Allah commands that ye sacrifice a heifer." They said: "Make you a laughing-stock of us?" He said: "Allah save me from being an ignorant (fool)!"

Pickthall And when Moses said unto his people: Lo! Allah command 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!

Transliteration Wa iz qa_la mu_sa_ li qaumihi innalla_ha ya'murukum an tazbahu_ baqarah(tan), qa_lu_ atattakhizuna_ huzuwa_(n), qa_la a'u_zu billa_hi an aku_na minal ja_hilin(a).

2: 68

Asad Said they: “Pray on our behalf unto your Sustainer that He make clear to us what she is to be like.” [Moses] replied: “Behold, He says it is to be a cow neither old not immature, but of an age in-between.”

Yusuf Ali They said: "Beseech on our behalf thy Lord to make plain to us what (heifer) it is! He said: "He says: The heifer should be neither too old nor too young but of middling age; now do what you are commanded!.

Pickthall They said: Pray for us unto thy Lord that He make clear to us what (cow) she is. (Moses) answered: Lo! He said, Verily she is a cow neither with calf nor immature; (she is) between the two conditions; so do that which ye are commanded.

Transliteration Qa_lud'u lana_ rabbaka yubayyil lana_ ma_ hiy(a), qa_la innahu_ yaqu_lu innaha_ baqaratul la_ fa_riduw wala_ bikr(un), 'awa_num baina za_lik(a), faf'alu_ ma_ tu'maru_n(a).

2: 69

Asad Said they: “Pray on our behalf unto your Sustainer that He make clear to us what her colors should be.” [Moses] answered: Behold, He says it is t o be a yellow cow, bright of hue, pleasing to the beholder.”

Yusuf Ali They said: "Beseech on our behalf thy Lord to make plain to us her color." He said: " He says a fawn-colored heifer pure and rich in tone the admiration of beholders!"

Pickthall They said: Pray for us unto thy Lord that He make clear to us of what color she is. (Moses) answered: Lo! He saith: Verily she is a yellow cow. Bright is her color, gladdening beholders.

Transliteration Qa_lud'u lana_ rabbaka yubayyil lana_ ma_ launuha_, qa_la innahu_ yaqu_lu innaha_ baqaratun safru_'u fa_qi'ul launuha_ tasurrun na_zirin(a).

2: 70

Asad Said they: “Pray on our behalf unto your Sustainer that He make clear to us what she is to be like, for to us all cows resemble one another; and then, if God so will, we shall truly be guided aright!”

Yusuf Ali They said "Beseech on our behalf thy Lord to make plain to us what she is to us are all heifers alike; we wish indeed for guidance if Allah wills."

Pickthall They said: Pray for us unto thy Lord that He make clear to us what (cow) she is. Lo! cows are much alike to us; and lo! if Allah wills, we may be led aright.

Transliteration Qa_lud'u lana_ rabbaka yubayyil lana_ ma_ hiy(a), innal baqara tasya_baha 'alaina_ wa inna_ insya_'alla_hu lamuhtadu_n(a).

2: 71

Asad [Moses] answered: “Behold, HE says it is to be a cow not broken-in to plough the earth or to water the corps, free of fault, without markings of any other color.” Said they: “At last you have brought out the truth!” – and thereupon they sacrificed her, although they had almost left it undone. (note 55)

Yusuf Ali He said: "He says a heifer not trained to till the soil or water the fields; sound and without blemish." They said: "Now hast thou brought the truth." Then they offered her in sacrifice but not with good-will.

Pickthall (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.

Transliteration Qa_la innahu_ yaqu_lu innaha_ baqaratul la_ zala_lun tusirul arda wa la_ tasqil hars(a), musallamatul la_ syiyata fiha_, qa_lul a_na ji'ta bil haqqi fa zabahu_ha_ wa ma_ ka_du_ yaf'alu_n(a).

[ Ruby’s note: I think there are two objectives here : one is informing that something about the rock and water situation that may be understood later. 2. It is conveying an idea of the stubbornness of the rejecters, and it is implying that even a rock has exceptional condition when it changes and yields to the better situation, but the rejecters attitude is worse and they would reject the truth no matter what. ]

[ ASAD’S NTOES on verses from 2:67 – 74:

53. 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 ]

53. Lit., “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.

53. I.e., their obstinate desire to obtain closer and closer and closer definitions of the simple commandment revealed to them through Moses had made it almost impossible for them to fulfill it. In his commentary on this passage, Tabari quotes the followings 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 make it complicated for themselves, and so God made it complicated for them.”…………………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 had been acutely grasped by Rashid Rida, who says in his commentary on the above Quranic passage (see Manar I, 345f.): “ 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 it 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 extend that the religious law became a heavy burden on the community.”

The importance of this, ……explains why this surah has been entitled “The Cow”………..]

[Ruby’s Comment: I agree with what Asad and others point out above about the importance of this issue: attempting to make a religious or constitutional law complicated and cumbersome with details may render the result opposite to what it is originally meant for. The reality may pose enormous complications and diverse situations depending on the time and culture of a community and case, and it fail to achieve justice and a fair resolution if the law is made too detail and specific. Any given time and place, a human agent and a human judgment with common sense is called for to deliver justice understanding the generality of the law and the complexity of the case in point. A human common sense and sincerity to do good and to delver justice are then always the dictating factors.

Detailing of one generation is further added with succeeding generations, because an older or legendary scholar or personality is not often questioned enough about his/her stand and legitimacy of that stand, and thus cumbersomeness perpetuates endlessly by the followers until and unless someone comes along to address this serious problem. This is what has happened with the Sharia Law.

When a prophet is present among a community, it is not a problem, the prophet resolves it under divine guidance. However, for other times and other places, it is a serious problem: there is an ever present danger of making things too far stretched and too complicated and then making these detail binding on the society, this process could help deliver wrong results and defeat the purpose of the original idea itself.

The original idea here was to sacrifice an animal life to resolve a crime through a symbolic social gesture that is not resolvable through a due process. And move forward. The color, the age of the animal, etc. do not ad or enhance compliance to the spirit of this injunction, these just make it unnecessarily difficult and complicated..

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