Al Baqarah

وَلَقَدْ عَلِمْتُمُ الَّذِينَ اعْتَدَواْ مِنكُمْ فِي السَّبْتِ فَقُلْنَا لَهُمْ كُونُواْ قِرَدَةً خَاسِئِينَ

And certainly you have known those among you who exceeded the limits on the Sabbath, so We said to them, ‘Be you (as) apes despised and rejected’. (2:65)

فَجَعَلْنَاهَا نَكَالاً لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهَا وَمَا خَلْفَهَا وَمَوْعِظَةً لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ

So We made it an exemplary punishment to those who witnessed it and to their posterity and an admonishment to the pious ones. (2:66)

Those Who Exceeded on The Sabbath!

These two verses, like the previous verses, point out the disobedience and transgression dominating the souls of the Jews, and their intensive interest in economic gain. At first, it says:

And certainly you have known those among you who exceeded the limits on the Sabbath... (2:65)

And, also, you have known that:

…so We said to them: ‘Be you (as) apes, despised and rejected’. (2:65)

Some may think that the present state of the Israelites and their apparent progress, after the first and the second World Wars or after their unlawful occupation of the Holy Land does not tally with this but yet they are hated by most nations and they have no rest in the real sense of the term, and the term ‘a Jew’ has passed into a proverb for a niggardly, miserly person -this is due to their own vanities and their hatred towards the others which, for example, they have shown in many places such as Palestine and Lebanon, both openly and hiddenly, during these recent years.

So We made it an exemplary punishment to those who witnessed it and to their posterity and an admonishment to the pious ones. (2:66)

It is worthy to note that Imam al-Baqir (‘a) and Imam as-Sadiq (‘a) are narrated from, who, on the meaning of this verse, have said: “The purpose of the phrase / ma bayna yadayha / ‘those who witnessed it ‘if the generation of that time, and the objective of the phrase / ma xalfaha / ‘their posterity, is about us Muslims.”¹. That is, that exemplary lesson was not exclusive to the Israelites alone, but it was meant for all of us, the Muslims, too; or all who come after them until the Day of Judgement and who do the same as they did.

Explanation: Divine Miracles of Moses (‘A)

Whenever an apostle of Allah wanted to introduce himself to his people as a true, authentic Messenger of Allah, he would prove his claim by performing some miracles given by Him. Here, it must be remembered that the following wonderful events wrought by divine and supernatural phenomena are counted in the Holy Qur’an as the miracles given to Moses (‘a) as the proof of his prophethood; each of which will be discussed in its appropriate place. They are as follows:

1. The Rod of Moses (‘a) becoming a serpent. (7:107, 26:32)

2. The Palm of Moses (‘a) shining brightly. (7:108, 26:33)

3. The dividing of the sea. (2:50)

4. The gushing of water from the rock. (2:60, 2:74)

5. The shower of manna and quails from heaven. (2:57)

6. The shadowing of the cloud over the Israelites’ heads. (2:57, 2:93)

7. The raising of the dead to life. (2:56, 2:73)

8. The suspension of the mount above the heads of the people. (2:63)

9. The transformation of the transgressors into despised apes. (2:65, 7:166).

Footnotes

1. 1. Majma’ al-Bayan, Vol. 1, p. 130.