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The Sabbath Breakers
`Abdullah
Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, `Ikrimah, Qatadah, As-Sadiy and others said
that they were the people of Aylah. Ibn `Abbas (may Allah be
pleased with him) added that it was located between Madyan and
At-Tur.
According
to the above, the people of Aylah were adhering attentively to the
teachings of the Torah and the prohibition of fishing on the
Sabbath at that time. Amazingly, the fish used to appear openly on
Saturdays and disappear on the other days of the week. {…when
their fish came to them openly on the Sabbath day, and did not come
to them on the day they had no Sabbath}. Almighty Allah says {Thus
We made a trial of them for they used to rebel against Allah’s
Command (disobey Allah)}. That is, We test them by sending great
numbers of fish on the Sabbath because of their disobedience and
rebellion.
When
the people saw this, they made a trick to catch the fish on the
Sabbath. They fixed their fishing nets and ropes and dug streams
that would allow the seawater to run through and the fish to enter
but never go back to the sea. They made all this on Friday, in
preparation for the coming of the fish on Saturday. And thus, the
fish came on the supposedly peaceful day, not knowing what had been
prepared against them. They were caught in the nets, ropes and
artificial streams.
When
the Saturday came to an end, the people of Aylah were present to
take their fat catch. Consequently, Allah the Almighty was angry
with them, and He cursed them for their trickery and deception.
When this was done by a group of them, the rest who had not
participated in their sinful actions were divided into two groups.
One group rejected their actions and trickery against the Law and
Command of Allah the Almighty at that time. The second group did
not reject or forbid them; rather they disapproved of the reaction
of the first group that forbade the sinful ones, saying: {Why do
you preach to a people whom Allah is about to destroy or to punish
with a severe torment?}. In other words, what is the gain in
preaching to a people who will inevitably be punished by Allah the
Almighty?
But
the first group, the preachers, replied: {In order to be free from
guilt before your Lord (Allah). And perhaps they may fear Allah}.
That is, we are commanded by Him to enjoin what is good and forbid
what is evil. Thus, we do this out of our fear of His Torment. And
perhaps those who committed these sins may repent to Allah and
regret what they have done and thus be saved from the punishment of
Allah and He will forgive them all.
Allah
the Almighty says: {So when they forgot the remindings that had
been given to them We rescued those who forbade evil}. That is,
when they were heedless towards the godly preachers, We rescued the
preaching group. But {We seized those who did wrong with a severe
torment}. That is, We seized the doers of the sinful deed with a
painful punishment {because they used to rebel against Allah’s
Command (disobey Allah)}. Then, Allah explains the torment that
befell them: {So when they exceeded the limits of what they were
prohibited, We said to them: “Be you monkeys, despised and
rejected.”}
Here,
the point is that Allah the Almighty informs us that He destroyed
the wrong-doers, saved the preaching believers, and left the
believers who did not enjoin the good and forbid the evil. Scholars
disputed regarding the third group. Some said they were rescued
from harm. Others said that they were destroyed with the
wrong-doers.
But
the first view is the one accepted by the well-versed scholars,
including Ibn `Abbas, head of the interpreters, who referred to
this opinion in a debate with `Ikrimah. The latter, upon the
victory of Ibn `Abbas, granted him a valuable garment as a reward.
It
should be noted here that the second group of non-sinners were not
mentioned with those rescued, even though they despised the sinful
deed with their hearts. This is because they should have compelled
their organs (hand or tongue) to act and declare their rejection of
the wrong-doers’ act. So, they were saved with the preachers
because they themselves did not commit the sinful deed, but rather
rejected it with their hearts.
`Abdur
Razzaq narrated after Juraij after a man (whose name is not known)
after `Ikrimah after Ibn `Abbas; and Malik transmitted from Ibn
Ruman, Shaiban, Qatadah and `Ata’ Al-Kharasani: Those who
committed the sinful deed were abandoned by the rest of the people
of the town. Some of them, the preachers, declared their rejection
and denial of their deed. The sinners did not listen to them.
Afterwards, they used to stay the night apart from the rest of the
people of the town, and there were doors or barriers between them
and the rest of the people, who were anticipating the punishment to
befall them. One day, their doors did not open till the noon. The
people became anxious and sent someone to look over the barrier to
see what had happened to the sinners. When he looked, he found them
turned into monkeys with tails, shouting. They opened the doors of
the barrier, and the monkeys recognized their relatives while their
relatives could not recognize them. At that the preachers said,
“Did not we forbid you from doing this?” The monkeys made a
sign with their heads denoting yes.
Then,
`Abdullah Ibn `Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) wept and said:
Verily, we see many wrongdoings which we do not reject or deny or
even make a comment!
Al-`Ufi
narrated after Ibn `Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him): The
young men of the town were turned into monkeys, while the old men
into pigs. Moreover, Ibn Abu Hatim narrated from Mujahid after Ibn
`Abbas his saying: They did not live long and they left no
offspring. Also, Ad-Dahhaq narrated from Ibn `Abbas (may Allah be
pleased with him): No monster lived more than three days. In
addition, they did not eat, drink or leave offspring.
Ibn
Abu Hatim and Ibn Jarir narrated after Ibn Abu Nujaih from Mujahid
his saying: Only their hearts and not their figures were turned
into monkeys and pigs. This is just like His Statement that reads:
{The likeness of those who were entrusted with the (obligation of
the) Taurat (Torah) (i.e. to obey its commandments and practice its
laws), but who subsequently failed in those (obligations), is as
the likeness of a donkey which carries huge burdens of books (but
understands nothing from them)} (Al-Jumu`ah 5). But this view seems
to be very strange, and it contradicts the apparent meaning of the
Glorious Qur’an. Allah knows best!
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