Intermediate
Nations
Surah: Al-Baqarah (67)
The Cow of the Israelites — Self-Imposed Complication on the Path of Obedience
Quranic context: Al-Baqarah, verses 67-74
Context: Allah commanded slaughtering a cow to reveal a murderer. The command was simple: slaughter any cow. But the Israelites asked: what color? what age? what exact description? "They slaughtered it, though they were hardly going to do it" — the complications nearly prevented them!
Musa's response to the first question:
"He says it is a cow neither old nor young" — had they slaughtered any cow at the start, it would have sufficed. But excessive questioning narrowed their options until they found only an orphan's cow at a very high price.
The jurisprudential principle:
Ibn al-Qayyim: among self-imposed hardship is asking questions one was not asked, narrowing what Allah left wide. "Do not ask about things that, if disclosed to you, would trouble you." (5:101)
Lesson: Faster obedience is better and easier — and self-imposed complication in Allah's commands leads to hardship and closes the door of ease.
Context: Allah commanded slaughtering a cow to reveal a murderer. The command was simple: slaughter any cow. But the Israelites asked: what color? what age? what exact description? "They slaughtered it, though they were hardly going to do it" — the complications nearly prevented them!
Musa's response to the first question:
"He says it is a cow neither old nor young" — had they slaughtered any cow at the start, it would have sufficed. But excessive questioning narrowed their options until they found only an orphan's cow at a very high price.
The jurisprudential principle:
Ibn al-Qayyim: among self-imposed hardship is asking questions one was not asked, narrowing what Allah left wide. "Do not ask about things that, if disclosed to you, would trouble you." (5:101)
Lesson: Faster obedience is better and easier — and self-imposed complication in Allah's commands leads to hardship and closes the door of ease.
Source: Ibn Kathir Tafsir (1/239); Ibn al-Qayyim in I'lam al-Muwaqqi'een; Al-Qurtubi (1/463)
Test Yourself
What mistake did the Israelites make in the command to slaughter the cow?
Show Answer