Surah Al-Baqarah 2:67

The Story of the murdered Israeli Man and the Cow

Allah said, `O Children of Israel! Remember how I blessed you with miracle of the cow that was the means for discovering the identity of the murderer, when the murdered man was brought back to life.'

Ibn Abi Hatim recorded `Ubaydah As-Salmani saying, "There was a man from among the Children of Israel who was impotent. He had substantial wealth, and only a nephew who would inherit from him. So his nephew killed him and moved his body at night, placing it at the doorstep of a certain man. The next morning, the nephew cried out for revenge, and the people took up their weapons and almost fought each other. The wise men among them said, `Why would you kill each other, while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ is still among you' So they went to Musa and mentioned the matter to him and Musa said,

إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُكُمْ أَن تَذْبَحُواْ بَقَرَةً قَالُواْ أَتَتَّخِذُنَا هُزُوًا قَالَ أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ أَنْ أَكُونَ مِنَ الْجَـهِلِينَ

("Verily, Allah commands you that you slaughter a cow." They said, "Do you make fun of us" He said, "I take Allah's refuge from being among Al-Jahilin (the ignorant or the foolish))." "Had they not disputed, it would have been sufficient for them to slaughter any cow. However, they disputed, and the matter was made more difficult for them, until they ended up looking for the specific cow that they were later ordered to slaughter. They found the designated cow with a man, only who owned that cow. He said, `By Allah! I will only sell it for its skin's fill of gold.' So they paid the cow's fill of its skin in gold, slaughtered it and touched the dead man with a part of it. He stood up, and they asked him, `Who killed you' He said, `That man,' and pointed to his nephew. He died again, and his nephew was not allowed to inherit him. Thereafter, whoever committed murder for the purpose of gaining inheritance was not allowed to inherit." Ibn Jarir reported something similar to that. Allah knows best.

Ketika Nabi Musa memerintahkan Bani Israil untuk menyembelih sapi, mereka berkata kepada Nabi Musa, "Apakah kamu mempermainkan kami? Kami bertanya kepadamu tentang perkara pembunuhan, lalu kamu menyuruh kami menyembelih seekor sapi. Ini ganjil sekali dan jauh daripada yang kami maksudkan." Seharusnya Bani Israil menjalankan perintah Nabi Musa itu dan menyambutnya dengan patuh dan taat, kemudian mereka menunggu apa yang akan terjadi sesudah itu, tetapi mereka berbuat sebaliknya.

Perkataan mereka itu sebagai bukti bahwa mereka sangat kasar tabiatnya dan tidak mengakui kekuasaan Allah. Nabi Musa menjawab, "Saya berlindung kepada Allah dari memperolok-olokkan manusia karena perbuatan itu termasuk perbuatan orang jahil, lebih-lebih bagi seorang rasul yang akan menyampaikan risalah dan hukum-hukum Allah kepada manusia."