Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:70
They said, "Call upon your Lord to make clear to us what it is. Indeed, [all] cows look alike to us. And indeed we, if Allah wills, will be guided."
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The statement concerning the explanation of His saying, the Exalted: قَالُوا ادْعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ يُبَيِّنْ لَنَا مَا هِيَ إِنَّ الْبَقَرَ تَشَابَهَ عَلَيْنَا وَإِنَّا إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ لَمُهْتَدُونَ (70)
(They said: "Call upon your Lord for us, that He may make clear to us what she is. Indeed, the cows look alike to us, and we shall, if Allah wills, surely be rightly guided.")
Abū Jaʿfar said: By His saying "They said" is meant: the people of Mūsā — those who were commanded to slaughter the cow — said to Mūsā. The mention of Mūsā is omitted, while the referring pronoun that points back to him is mentioned, because it was sufficient to rely on what the outward meaning of the words indicated. For the meaning of the words is: they said to him: "Call upon your Lord." The word "to him" is not mentioned, for the reason we have described.
And His saying "that He may make clear to us what she is" is an announcement from Allah about the people, concerning a third instance of ignorance on their part. For if, when they were commanded to slaughter the cow, they had simply slaughtered any cow at all to which the designation "cow" applies, that would have sufficed for them and nothing else would have been required of them, because they were not enjoined to take a cow with a particular attribute over another attribute. But when they asked for a clarification of what attribute she must possess, it was made clear to them that she must be of a particular age among the ages, and not of the remaining ages. It was said to them: she is of middle age, between the old (al-fāriḍ) and the young that has not yet calved (al-bikr) and the slender (al-ḍarʿ). So when her age had been clarified to them, and if they had then slaughtered the least cow of the age clarified to them, that would have sufficed for them, because nothing else was enjoined upon them than the age that was fixed for them, nor were they restricted to one color over another color. But when they refused unless she be recognizable to them by her marks, clarified by her distinctions that distinguish her from the rest of the animals of the earth, and so they made it hard upon themselves — then Allah made it hard upon them, on account of the multitude of their questions to their prophet and their dissension toward him. And that is why our Prophet ﷺ said to his community:
1234 — "Leave me as I leave you, for those who were before you were destroyed only on account of the multitude of their questions and their dissension toward their prophets. So when I command you with something, carry it out, and when I forbid you something, refrain from it as much as you can."
Abū Jaʿfar said: But when the people continually caused their prophet Mūsā ﷺ more vexation and obstinacy, Allah increased for them the chastisement and the burdening, as in:
1235 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿAthhām ibn ʿAlī related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of al-Minhāl ibn ʿAmr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: Had they taken the least cow, it would have been enough for them, but they made it hard, and so Allah made it hard upon them.
1236 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: al-Muʿtamir related to us, saying: I heard Ayyūb, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn, on the authority of ʿAbīda, who said: Had they taken the least cow, it would have sufficed for them.
1237 — al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us on the authority of Ayyūb —
1238 — and al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Ādam related to us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of Hishām ibn Ḥassān, both together, on the authority of Ibn Sīrīn, on the authority of ʿAbīda al-Salmānī, who said: They asked and made it hard, and so Allah made it hard upon them.
1239 — al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Ibn ʿUyayna informed us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, on the authority of ʿIkrima, who said: Had the children of Israel taken just any cow, it would have sufficed for them. And were it not for their saying "and we shall, if Allah wills, surely be rightly guided," they would never have found her.
1240 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the saying of Allah: وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَى لِقَوْمِهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُكُمْ أَنْ تَذْبَحُوا بَقَرَةً (And when Mūsā said to his people: "Indeed, Allah commands you to slaughter a cow") — had they taken any cow at all, it would have sufficed for them. قَالُوا ادْعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ يُبَيِّنْ لَنَا مَا هِيَ قَالَ إِنَّهُ يَقُولُ إِنَّهَا بَقَرَةٌ لا فَارِضٌ وَلا بِكْرٌ (They said: "Call upon your Lord for us, that He may make clear to us what she is." He said: "Indeed, He says: she is a cow, neither old nor young"), he said: had they taken a cow of this description, it would have sufficed for them. قَالُوا ادْعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ يُبَيِّنْ لَنَا مَا لَوْنُهَا قَالَ إِنَّهُ يَقُولُ إِنَّهَا بَقَرَةٌ صَفْرَاءُ فَاقِعٌ لَوْنُهَا تَسُرُّ النَّاظِرِينَ (They said: "Call upon your Lord for us, that He may make clear to us what her color is." He said: "Indeed, He says: she is a yellow cow, bright in color, pleasing to the beholders"), he said: had they taken a yellow cow, it would have sufficed for them. (They said: "Call upon your Lord for us, that He may make clear to us what she is"), قَالَ إِنَّهُ يَقُولُ إِنَّهَا بَقَرَةٌ لا ذَلُولٌ تُثِيرُ الأَرْضَ وَلا تَسْقِي الْحَرْثَ (He said: "Indeed, He says: she is a cow, not trained to plow the earth, nor to water the tillage") — the rest of the verse.
1241 — al-Muthannā ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, in similar fashion, and he added: but they made it hard, and so it was made hard upon them.
1242 — al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, saying: Ibn Jurayj said: Mujāhid said: "Had they taken any cow at all, it would have sufficed for them." Ibn Jurayj said: ʿAṭāʾ said to me: had they taken the least cow, it would have been enough for them. Ibn Jurayj said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "They were only commanded the least cow, but when they made it hard upon themselves, Allah made it hard upon them. And by Allah, had they not made a reservation, it would never have been made clear to them, until the end of time."
1243 — al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Ādam related to us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya, who said: Had the people, when they were commanded to slaughter a cow, taken just any cow and slaughtered it, then that would have been it; but they made it hard upon themselves, and so Allah made it hard upon them. And were it not that the people made a reservation and said "and we shall, if Allah wills, surely be rightly guided," they would never have been led to her.
1244 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: We were told that the prophet of Allah ﷺ used to say: "The people were only commanded the least cow, but when they made it hard upon themselves, it was made hard upon them. By Him in Whose hand is the soul of Muḥammad, had they not made a reservation, it would never have been made clear to them, until the end of time."
1245 — Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, in a report he mentioned, on the authority of Abū Mālik, and on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: Had they taken just any cow and slaughtered it, it would have sufficed for them, but they made it hard and treated Mūsā obstinately, and so Allah made it hard upon them.
1246 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: Had the people — he means the children of Israel — looked to the least cow, it would have sufficed for them, but they made it hard, and so it was made hard upon them, until in the end they bought her for her hide full of dinars.
1247 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: Had they taken a cow as Allah commanded them, that would have been enough for them, but the trial lay in these questions. For they said: ادْعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ يُبَيِّنْ لَنَا مَا هِيَ ("Call upon your Lord for us, that He may make clear to us what she is"), and thereupon it was made hard upon them, and He said: إِنَّهُ يَقُولُ إِنَّهَا بَقَرَةٌ لا فَارِضٌ وَلا بِكْرٌ عَوَانٌ بَيْنَ ذَلِكَ ("Indeed, He says: she is a cow, neither old nor young, of middle age between that"). Then they said: ادْعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ يُبَيِّنْ لَنَا مَا لَوْنُهَا قَالَ إِنَّهُ يَقُولُ إِنَّهَا بَقَرَةٌ صَفْرَاءُ فَاقِعٌ لَوْنُهَا تَسُرُّ النَّاظِرِينَ ("Call upon your Lord for us, that He may make clear to us what her color is." He said: "Indeed, He says: she is a yellow cow, bright in color, pleasing to the beholders"). He said: and it was made harder upon them than the first time. And he recited on until he reached: مُسَلَّمَةٌ لا شِيَةَ فِيهَا ("flawless, with no blemish in her"). But they again refused and said: ("Call upon your Lord for us, that He may make clear to us what she is. Indeed, the cows look alike to us, and we shall, if Allah wills, surely be rightly guided"), and thereupon it was made hard upon them, and He said: إِنَّهُ يَقُولُ إِنَّهَا بَقَرَةٌ لا ذَلُولٌ تُثِيرُ الأَرْضَ وَلا تَسْقِي الْحَرْثَ مُسَلَّمَةٌ لا شِيَةَ فِيهَا ("Indeed, He says: she is a cow, not trained to plow the earth, nor to water the tillage, flawless, with no blemish in her"). He said: so they were compelled to one cow, of whose description no other was known, and she was yellow, with no black or white in her.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: These statements which we have mentioned, from those whom we have named — from the Companions (ṣaḥāba) and the Successors (tābiʿūn) and their followers thereafter — namely their statement that the children of Israel, had they taken the least cow and slaughtered it, would have satisfied the requirement thereby, but that they made it hard and Allah therefore made it hard upon them — these are among the clearest indications that the people held the view that the ruling of Allah, in what He commanded and forbade in His Book and by the tongue of His Messenger ﷺ, applies according to the general, outward import, and not according to a hidden, specific restriction — unless a text from Allah or from the Messenger of Allah specifies something of what the outward revelation generally encompasses. And that, if the revelation or the Messenger specifies a portion of what the outward revelation generally encompasses with a ruling that diverges from what the outward meaning indicates, then that which is specified of it falls outside the ruling of the verse that encompassed that category in general, while the remaining ruling of the verse continues to apply according to the general import; in the manner that we have set forth in our book (Kitāb al-Risāla), in the chapter (The subtle exposition on the foundations of the rulings) — in our statement concerning the general and the specific, and the agreement of their statement herein with our statement, and that their method is our method, and their rejection of the statement of those who argue for specificity in the rulings, and their testimony against the falsity of the statement of whoever says: the ruling of a verse that comes in general terms applies according to the general import, so long as no portion of it has been specified from what the verse encompassed generally. And if a portion of it is specified, then the ruling of the verse at that point applies according to the specific import.
That is because all those whose statement we have just mentioned — from those who held the children of Israel's questioning of their prophet ﷺ to be blameworthy, concerning the attribute of the cow they were commanded to slaughter, and her age and her outward marks — held the view that they were in error in their questioning of the Messenger of Allah, Mūsā, regarding that, and that, had they taken the least cow among the cows at random — when they were commanded to slaughter her by His saying إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُكُمْ أَنْ تَذْبَحُوا بَقَرَةً ("Indeed, Allah commands you to slaughter a cow") — and slaughtered her, then they would have fulfilled what was obligatory upon them of the command of Allah regarding that, and would have been obedient to what was due, since the people were not restricted to one kind of cow over another kind, or one age over another age.
And they were, moreover, of the view that they — when they asked Mūsā about her age, whereupon he informed them about it and restricted them to one age over another age, and one kind over another kind, and specified out of all the kinds of cows one particular kind — were, in their questioning of him in this second matter, after that which had been specified for them out of the kinds of cows, in the same error as the error they were in at their first questioning of him.
And likewise they were of the view that in the third matter they were in the same condition as that which they were in in the first and the second, and that it was obligatory upon them in the first situation to apply the outward import of the command and to slaughter any animal they wished to which the designation "cow" applies.
And likewise they were of the view that it was obligatory upon them in the second situation to apply the outward import of the command and to slaughter any animal they wished to which the designation "cow of middle age, neither old nor young" applies. And they were not of the view that their ruling — when in the second situation a portion of the cows was specified over another portion — passed over from that which was obligatory upon them in the first situation, namely the application of the outward import of the command, to the specific. In the unanimous consensus (ijmāʿ) of them all concerning what we have transmitted from them about that — together with the report that we have transmitted from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, in agreement with their statement — there lies, then, a clear proof of the correctness of our statement concerning the general and the specific, and that the rulings of Allah, exalted be His praise, in the verses of His Book — in what He commanded and forbade — apply according to the general import, so long as that is not specified by that to which one must submit. And that, when something of it is specified, that which is specified of it, with its ruling, falls outside the ruling of the general, outward verse, while the remaining ruling of the verse applies according to its general, outward import — and this confirms the truth of what we have said about it, and is a just witness against the falsity of the statement of whoever contradicts our statement therein.
And some, whose ignorance was great and whose confusion was severe, have claimed that the people only asked Mūsā what they asked after Allah had commanded them to slaughter a cow among the cows, because they supposed that they had been commanded to slaughter a particular, specifically designated cow — as the staff of Mūsā was specific in its meaning — and that they therefore asked him to describe her to them so that they might recognize her.
But had the ignorant one pondered this statement of his, then that which appeared difficult to him as a statement would have become easy for him. For he found it astonishing of the people that they asked their prophet what they asked, out of strictness with themselves in their religion, and then he ascribed to them a matter that is even worse than that which he disapproved of being from them. For he claimed that they held the view that it is permissible for Allah to impose an obligation upon them and to oblige them to an act of worship, and then not make clear to them what He imposes upon them and to what He obliges them, until they ask for its clarification! Thus he ascribed to Allah, exalted be His mention, what may not be ascribed to Him, and involved the people in an ignorance in which not even madmen are involved, for he claimed that they asked their Lord to impose the obligations upon them. We therefore seek refuge with Allah from confusion, and we ask Him for support and guidance.
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As for His saying "indeed, the cows look alike to us (inna al-baqara tashābaha ʿalaynā)": "al-baqar" is the plural of "baqara" (cow).
Some have read: "inna al-bāqira," and that — although it is linguistically permissible, because it occurs in the speech of the Arabs and their poetry, as Maymūn ibn Qays said:
And what is his fault if the cow disdains the water, and the cow disdains the water only that he may be beaten —
and as Umayya said:
And they drive the cattle of the plain to the mountain, emaciated, out of fear that they perish —
— nevertheless it is impermissible to recite with it, because it diverges from the reading that has been transmitted as conclusive proof, by transmission from those concerning whom, in what they have unanimously transmitted, error, mistake, and falsehood are impossible.
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As for the explanation of "tashābaha ʿalaynā": by it is meant: she has become confused for us. And the reciters differ in its recitation. Some recited it as "tashābaha ʿalaynā," with lightening of the shīn and the fatḥa upon the hāʾ, on the pattern of "tafāʿala," whereby the verb is put in the masculine, even though "al-baqar" is a plural. For it is the custom of the Arabs to put in the masculine every verb whose singular form ends in a hāʾ and whose plural is formed by the dropping of the hāʾ — and also to put it in the feminine — as Allah, the Exalted, said in a comparable case in the masculine: كَأَنَّهُمْ أَعْجَازُ نَخْلٍ مُنْقَعِرٍ (As though they were uprooted palm trunks) [al-Qamar: 20], where He put "munqaʿir" (uprooted) in the masculine, although it is an attribute of the palm trees, on account of the masculine word "al-nakhl" — and in another place He said: كَأَنَّهُمْ أَعْجَازُ نَخْلٍ خَاوِيَةٍ (As though they were fallen palm trunks) [al-Ḥāqqa: 7], where He put "khāwiya" (fallen) in the feminine, although it is an attribute of "al-nakhl" — in the meaning of "the palm trees." For although it is in the form of a masculine singular — as we described earlier — it is nonetheless the plural of "nakhla" (palm tree).
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And some recited it as "inna al-baqara tashshābahu ʿalaynā," with strengthening of the shīn and the ḍamma upon the hāʾ, whereby the verb is put in the feminine on account of the feminine of "al-baqar," as He said: أَعْجَازُ نَخْلٍ خَاوِيَةٍ. In this, at the beginning of "tashābaha" a tāʾ is added that indicates its femininity, and then the second tāʾ is assimilated into the shīn of "tashābaha," on account of the closeness of its place of articulation and that of the shīn, so that it becomes a strengthened shīn, and the hāʾ is put in the ḍamma owing to the future tense and its being free of apocopating and accusative particles.
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And some recited it as "inna al-baqara yashshābahu ʿalaynā," whereby "yashābahu" takes the form of the announcement about the masculine, for the reason we mentioned in the reading of whoever reads that as "tashābaha" with lightening and the fatḥa upon the hāʾ, except that he puts it in the ḍamma with the yāʾ that he inserts at the beginning of "tashābaha" and that takes the meaning of the future tense, and the tāʾ is assimilated into the shīn, as the reciter did with "tashābaha" with the tāʾ and the strengthening.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct view regarding that concerning the reading is, according to us: "inna al-baqara tashābaha ʿalaynā," with lightening of the shīn of "tashābaha" and the fatḥa upon the hāʾ, in the meaning of "tafāʿala," on account of the consensus of the conclusive proof of the reciters concerning its correctness, and their rejection of the remaining readings. And the conclusive proof is not contradicted by the statement of one who, in the field of what he transmits, is liable to mistake, heedlessness, and error.
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As for His saying "and we shall, if Allah wills, surely be rightly guided (wa-innā in shāʾa Allāhu la-muhtadūn)": by it they meant: and we shall, if Allah wills, surely come to perceive what has become confused and alike to us concerning the matter of the cow that we were commanded to slaughter. And the meaning of "their guidance" in this place is the meaning of "their attaining perception" of which cow it is that they were obligated to slaughter, over the remaining kinds of cows.
