Story of the Cow V67-74

The story of the cow is one where Musa AS asks his people to sacrifice a cow by the order of Allah. This is because a rich man was killed by his nephew, whom was his only heir. The body was thrown in front of the door of an innocent man. After investigation, no one was identified as the killer. Musa AS asked Allah for guidance and was told to sacrfice a cow and strike the victim with a piece of it. The outcome of this was that the victim came back from the dead and spoke miraculously and said who the killer was. He then went back to his original state of being dead.

When Musa AS commanded his people to sacrifice a cow they responded with "Are you mocking us?" Musa AS responds with "I seek refuge from Allah from acting foolishly!" Musa AS response is that of a wiseman and the peoples response was that of ignorance. One of the greatest shameful acts is to undermine ones religious commitments. You should never light heartedly joke about your religion. Musa AS response was sufficient for them to now believe that this was a direct order from Allah, however it wasn't sufficient enough for them to do it straight away. They asked questions and Musa responded (paraphrasing):

-What type of cow? Neither old or young but in between. Do as your commanded!

-Specify its colour? Bright yellow.

-All cows look the same, guide us to which exact one and inshaAllah we will find it? Shouldn't be worked, nor any blemishes.

Allah asked for a simple task to be done, in order to find out the outcome of what is going on. Any cow from the fields would've been an adequate sacrifice. The unnecessary questioning had made their task harder than it should have been. They asked too many questions so Allah made the task difficult. Also if they had not said inshaAllah in V70 they wouldn't have been finally been guided in the matter. Do not make life more difficult than it is. Islam is simple, so keep it simple.

We can take the recurring lesson of how Allah can simply give life to the dead. This is a reminder of the power Allah holds and how we shouldn't limit Allahs powers due to our limited concepts that our brains can fathom. Also it is a simple reminder of how simple your religion really is. Don't make that which is not complicated, complicated. Allah showed these to people of Musa AS and yet some of their hearts became hardened. It is likened to a rock as even fire cannot melt a rock. It goes on to say "even harder" meaning that the heart is even worse than the rock. Why? Because a rock has its uses unlike a dead heart. What use is a dead heart if it can no longer hear or feel the word of Islam? Similarly, we should fall into remembrance of Allah and the signs that are around us, otherwise are we any different? Submit to your Lord and keep our hearts yearning for the one true call.

May Allah allow us see his signs and submit ourselves to him, Ameen.