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Tafsir

Scholarly commentary explaining a verse — its context, its meaning and how the scholars have understood it.

Al-Baqarah 2:73

Word by word

فَقُلْنَا ٱضْرِبُوهُ بِبَعْضِهَا ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ يُحْىِ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْمَوْتَىٰ وَيُرِيكُمْ ءَايَـٰتِهِۦ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ

So We said, "Strike him [i.e., the slain man] with part of it." Thus does Allāh bring the dead to life, and He shows you His signs that you might reason.

Ibn Kathir (Abridged) English Ma'arif al-Qur'an English Tafsir Muyassar Arabic Tafsir Ibn Kathir Arabic All sources

Ibn Kathir (Abridged)

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

Bringing the murdered Man back to Life

Al-Bukhari said that, فَادَرَأْتُمْ فِيهَا(And disagreed among yourselves as to the crime) means, "Disputed." This is also the Tafsir of Mujahid. `Ata' Al-Khurasani and Ad-Dahhak said, "Disputed about this matter." Also, Ibn Jurayj said that, وَإِذْ قَتَلْتُمْ نَفْسًا فَادَرَأْتُمْ فِيهَا(And (remember) when you killed a man and disagreed among yourselves as to the crime) means, some of them said, "You killed him," while the others said, "No you killed him." This is also the Tafsir of `Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam. Mujahid said that, وَاللَّهُ مُخْرِجٌ مَّا كُنتُمْ تَكْتُمُونَ(But Allah brought forth that which you were Taktumun) means, "what you were hiding." Allah said, فَقُلْنَا اضْرِبُوهُ بِبَعْضِهَا(So We said: "Strike him (the dead man) with a piece of it (the cow)") meaning, "any part of the cow will produce the miracle (if they struck the dead man with it)." We were not told which part of the cow they used, as this matter does not benefit us either in matters of life or religion. Otherwise, Allah would have made it clear for us.

Instead, Allah made this matter vague, so this is why we should leave it vague. Allah's statement, كَذَلِكَ يُحْىِ اللَّهُ الْمَوْتَى(Thus Allah brings the dead to life) means, "They struck him with it, and he came back to life." This Ayah demonstrates Allah's ability in bringing the dead back to life. Allah made this incident proof against the Jews that the Resurrection shall occur, and ended their disputing and stubbornness over the dead person. Allah mentioned His bringing the dead back to life in five instances in Surat Al-Baqarah. First Allah said, ثُمَّ بَعَثْنَـكُم مِّن بَعْدِ مَوْتِكُمْ(Then We raised you up after your death). He then mentioned the story about the cow. Allah also mentioned the story of those who escaped death in their land, while they were numbering in the thousands. He also mentioned the story of the Prophet who passed by a village that was destroyed, the story of Abraham and the four birds, and the land that comes back to life after it has died.

All these incidents and stories alert us to the fact that bodies shall again become whole, after they were rotten. The proof of Resurrection is also reiterated in Allah's statement, وَءَايَةٌ لَّهُمُ الاٌّرْضُ الْمَيْتَةُ أَحْيَيْنَـهَا وَأَخْرَجْنَا مِنْهَا حَبّاً فَمِنْهُ يَأْكُلُونَ - وَجَعَلْنَا فِيهَا جَنَّـتٍ مِّن نَّخِيلٍ وَأَعْنَـبٍ وَفَجَّرْنَا فِيهَا مِنَ الْعُيُونِ - لِيَأْكُلُواْ مِن ثَمَرِهِ وَمَا عَمِلَتْهُ أَيْدِيهِمْ أَفَلاَ يَشْكُرُونَ (And a sign for them is the dead land. We give it life, and We bring forth from it grains, so that they eat thereof. And We have made therein gardens of date palms and grapes, and We have caused springs of water to gush forth therein. So that they may eat of the fruit thereof ـ and their hands made it not. Will they not then give thanks) (36:33-35).

Ma'arif al-Qur'an

Mufti Muhammad Shafi

The murderer had his supporters who wanted to hide his crime, and hence began accusing different people. But Allah willed that the criminal should be brought to book, and appointed a miraculous way of identifying him -- that is, the dead body of the murdered man should be touched with a part of the flesh of the sacrificial cow. When this was done, the dead man came back to life, announced the name of his murderer, and died again.

This miraculous event is a manifestation of the omnipotence of Allah, and Holy Qur'an presents it as an argument against those who deny the Resurrection of the dead for the Last Judgment. Verse 73 says that this precedent should induce people to make use of their reason, and see that what has happened in a past instance can as easily happen in a future instance.

With regard to this event one may ask as to why Allah made the resurrection of the dead man depend upon his being touched with a part of flesh when he had the power to bring the man back to life without the intervention of any such device; or, one may ask as to why the dead man should have been brought back to life when the name of the murderer could have been revealed even otherwise. In answer to this, we shall say that Allah is omnipotent, and does not act under any kind of compulsion, but that all His actions proceed from His all-embracing wisdom. Moreover, it is He alone who knows, and can know, the raison d'etre of what He does. The Shari'ah does not oblige us to discover the raison d'etre of each and every divine act, nor is it necessary or possible that we should be able to comprehend the raison d'etre in each case. The best way in such a case is to accept what Allah or the Holy Prophet ﷺ has said, and to keep quiet.

Let us say a word about the arrangement and sequence of the events. Verse 72 relates how a man was murdered, and how people started accusing each other. This is the beginning of the story which has been related earlier in Verses 67-71. This chronological order has not been preserved in the narration, but inverted, and this re-arrangement has a subtle significance. This long section of the Surah (Chapter) has been dealing with the transgressions of the Israelites, and this is just what the Holy Qur'an intends to bring out in narrating different stories, the narrating of stories not being an object in itself here. The present story is meant to show two misdeeds - firstly, committing a murder and then trying to hide it; secondly, raising uncalled-for objections to divine commandments. If the chronological order had been kept up, the readers would have supposed that it was only the first of these that was really intended, while the second was added only by way of completing the story. The present arrangement clearly shows that both the misdeeds have been equally emphasized.

Injunctions and related consideration

In this incident the statement of the murdered man was considered evidence for condemning the murderer, because Allah had informed Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) through revelation that the man would, on coming back to life, speak the truth. Otherwise, one cannot be declared as being guilty of murder without proper evidence, the rules of which have been laid down by the Shari'ah.

Tafsir Muyassar

Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Saudi Arabia

فقلنا: اضربوا القتيل بجزء من هذه البقرة المذبوحة، فإن الله سيبعثه حيًا، ويخبركم عن قاتله. فضربوه ببعضها فأحياه الله وأخبر بقاتله. كذلك يُحيي الله الموتى يوم القيامة، ويريكم -يا بني إسرائيل- معجزاته الدالة على كمال قدرته تعالى; لكي تتفكروا بعقولكم، فتمتنعوا عن معاصيه.

Tafsir Ibn Kathir

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

( فقلنا اضربوه ببعضها ) هذا البعض أي شيء كان من أعضاء هذه البقرة فالمعجزة حاصلة به .وخرق العادة به كائن ، وقد كان معينا في نفس الأمر ، فلو كان في تعيينه لنا فائدة تعود علينا في أمر الدين أو الدنيا لبينه الله تعالى لنا ، ولكن أبهمه ، ولم يجئ من طريق صحيح عن معصوم بيانه فنحن نبهمه كما أبهمه الله .ولهذا قال ابن أبي حاتم : حدثنا أحمد بن سنان ، حدثنا عفان بن مسلم ، حدثنا عبد الواحد بن زياد حدثنا الأعمش ، عن المنهال بن عمرو ، عن سعيد بن جبير ، عن ابن عباس ، قال : إن أصحاب بقرة بني إسرائيل طلبوها أربعين سنة حتى وجدوها عند رجل في بقر له ، وكانت بقرة تعجبه ، قال : فجعلوا يعطونه بها فيأبى ، حتى أعطوه ملء مسكها دنانير ، فذبحوها ، فضربوه يعني القتيل بعضو منها ، فقام تشخب أوداجه دما [ فسألوه ] فقالوا له : من قتلك ؟ قال : قتلني فلان .وكذا قال الحسن ، وعبد الرحمن بن زيد بن أسلم : إنه ضرب ببعضها .وفي رواية عن ابن عباس : إنهم ضربوه بالعظم الذي يلي الغضروف .وقال عبد الرزاق : أنبأنا معمر ، قال : قال أيوب ، عن ابن سيرين ، عن عبيدة : ضربوا القتيل ببعض لحمها .

وقال معمر : قال قتادة : فضربوه بلحم فخذها فعاش ، فقال : قتلني فلان .وقال أبو أسامة ، عن النضر بن عربي ، عن عكرمة : ( فقلنا اضربوه ببعضها ) [ قال ] فضرببفخذها فقام ، فقال : قتلني فلان .قال ابن أبي حاتم : وروي عن مجاهد ، وقتادة ، نحو ذلك .وقال السدي : فضربوه بالبضعة التي بين الكتفين فعاش ، فسألوه ، فقال : قتلني ابن أخي .وقال أبو العالية : أمرهم موسى ، عليه السلام ، أن يأخذوا عظما من عظامها ، فيضربوا به القتيل ، ففعلوا ، فرجع إليه روحه ، فسمى لهم قاتله ثم عاد ميتا كما كان .وقال عبد الرحمن بن زيد بن أسلم : فضربوه ببعض آرابها [ وقيل : بلسانها ، وقيل : بعجب ذنبها ] .وقوله : ( كذلك يحيي الله الموتى ) أي : فضربوه فحيي . ونبه تعالى على قدرته وإحيائه الموتى بما شاهدوه من أمر القتيل : جعل تبارك وتعالى ذلك الصنع حجة لهم على المعاد ، وفاصلا ما كان بينهم من الخصومة والفساد ، والله تعالى قد ذكر في هذه السورة ما خلقه في إحياء الموتى ، في خمسة مواضع : ( ثم بعثناكم من بعد موتكم ) [ البقرة : 56 ] .

وهذه القصة ، وقصة الذين خرجوا من ديارهم وهم ألوف حذر الموت ، وقصة الذي مر على قرية وهي خاوية على عروشها ، وقصة إبراهيم والطيور الأربعة .ونبه تعالى بإحياء الأرض بعد موتها على إعادة الأجسام بعد صيرورتها رميما ، كما قال أبو داود الطيالسي : حدثنا شعبة ، أخبرني يعلى بن عطاء ، قال : سمعت وكيع بن عدس ، يحدث عن أبي رزين العقيلي ، قال : قلت : يا رسول الله ، كيف يحيي الله الموتى ؟ قال : " أما مررت بواد ممحل ، ثم مررت به خضرا ؟ " قال : بلى . قال : " كذلك النشور " . أو قال : " كذلك يحيي الله الموتى " . وشاهد هذا قوله تعالى : ( وآية لهم الأرض الميتة أحييناها وأخرجنا منها حبا فمنه يأكلون وجعلنا فيها جنات من نخيل وأعناب وفجرنا فيها من العيون ليأكلوا من ثمره وما عملته أيديهم أفلا يشكرون ) [ يس : 35 ] .مسألة : استدل لمذهب مالك في كون قول الجريح : فلان قتلني لوثا بهذه القصة ; لأن القتيل لما حيي سئل عمن قتله فقال : قتلني فلان ، فكان ذلك مقبولا منه ; لأنه لا يخبر حينئذ إلا بالحق ، ولا يتهم والحالة هذه ، ورجحوا ذلك بحديث أنس : أن يهوديا قتل جارية على أوضاح لها ، فرضخ رأسها بين حجرين فقيل : من فعل بك هذا ؟ أفلان ؟ أفلان ؟

حتى ذكر اليهودي ، فأومأت برأسها ، فأخذ اليهودي ، فلم يزل به حتى اعترف ، فأمر رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أن يرد رأسه بين حجرين وعند مالك : إذا كان لوثا حلف أولياء القتيل قسامة ، وخالف الجمهور في ذلك ولم يجعلوا قول القتيل فيذلك لوثا .

Tafsir is provided for educational reference. Paragraph breaks are added for readability — the wording of each commentary is unchanged. For religious guidance, consult a qualified scholar.