The Sabbath

65  And well ye knew those amongst you who transgressed in the matter of the Sabbath: We said to them: “Be ye apes, despised and rejected.”

66  So We made it an example to their own time and to their posterity, and a lesson to those who fear Allah.  (Al-Baqarah)

Saturday is for Yahud, and Friday is for us. But in our case, we are to stop everything: work, business, engagements, etc, when the call to Friday Prayers is made until the Salah is over. To Yahud, they must avoid every form of work throughout that day.

9. O ye who believe! When the call is heard for the prayer of the day of congregation, haste unto remembrance of Allah and leave your trading. That is better for you if ye did but know.
10. And when the prayer is ended, then disperse in the land and seek of Allah’s bounty, and remember Allah much, that ye may be successful. (Jumu’ah)

The spiritual and mundane come together in two instructions: when the call to prayer is made, forsake everything and go to the mosque; when prayers are over, return to your businesses. Don’t linger on your stay in the mosque and leave your businesses unattended. Leave the mosque after the prayers and move out in search of your means of livelihood.

The Qur’an names only Al-Jumu’ah (Friday) and As-Sabt (Saturday). The remaining five days are assigned numbers from Al-Ahad (Sunday) to Al-Khamees (Thursday), but not Al-Jumu’ah and As-Sabt.

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As-Sabt ceasing from work. The creation of the heavens and earth was concluded in six days as we read:

4. He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in six Days; then He mounted the Throne. He knoweth all that entereth the earth and all that emergeth therefrom and all that cometh down from the sky and all that ascendeth therein; and He is with you wheresoever ye may be. And Allah is Seer of what ye do. (Hadeed)

On the seventh day, the As-Sabt, everything was done and dusted regarding the creation of the universe. When the Yahud wanted a day for rest, Allah gave them As-Sabt to test them. This day is for resting, not for doing any form of work.

163. Ask them (O Muhammad) of the township that was by the sea, how they did break the Sabbath, how their big fish came unto them visibly upon their sabbath day and on a day when they did not keep Sabbath came they not unto them. Thus did We try them for that they were evil livers. (Al-A’raaf).

They were a fishing community and were tested by Allah in their trade. Fish were prevalent on the Sabbath; so plentiful, very close, and tempting; you could touch fish with your hands. They devised a way of circumventing the Sabbath by creating fishponds with direct links to the sea. The fish would be guided to the ponds on the Sabbath. When the ponds are filled with fish, they block the link so the fish can be trapped. There is no way of escaping or returning to the sea. So, they will come and catch the trapped fish on Sunday. Playing pranks with Allah.

The good among them warned them against this evil, but they persisted in transgressing the Sabbath. Those who abstained from this transgression separated themselves from those who indulged in the act by building a wall to demarcate between the obedient servants of Allah and the sinners. They took heed of what happened aforetime when some of them took the calf for worship in Musa’s absence, and when the punishment came, it engulfed both the guilty and the pious because those who refused to worship the calf did not warn those who did. So, to avoid a repeat of that sad event, they now tried to stop them from transgressing the Sabbath. When the wrongdoers became obstinate, the righteous forsook them entirely. They even went a step further and erected a barrier, an iron curtain, if you please, cutting off all relations between the good and the bad.

One day, the righteous noticed an unusual silence from the other side of the iron curtain, as if the territory was empty. They climbed to the top only to see that the sinners had been turned and transmuted into apes and pigs. When they descended to the other part of the wall, the apes and pigs recognised and clung to their relatives among the righteous, weeping. Allah destroyed only the guilty this time around.

65  And well ye knew those amongst you who transgressed in the matter of the Sabbath: We said to them: “Be ye apes, despised and rejected.” (Al-Baqarah).

Another position among the scholars is that their hearts and not their physical appearances were transmuted to those of apes and pigs. An example of this is when Allah said:

5. The likeness of those who are entrusted with the Law of Moses, yet apply it not, is as the likeness of the ass carrying books. Wretched is the likeness of folk who deny the revelations of Allah. And Allah guideth not wrongdoing folk. (Al-Jumu’ah)

But the most authentic position is that they were turned into apes and pigs in the actual sense.

60. Shall I tell thee of a worse (case) than theirs for retribution with Allah? Worse (is the case of him) whom Allah hath cursed, him on whom His wrath hath fallen! Worse is he of whose sort Allah hath turned some to apes and swine, and who serveth idols. Such are in worse plight and further astray from the plain road. (Al-Maa’idah).

One question remains: Is there any relation between the apes and pigs in our midst today and those of the Yahud who were turned into apes and pigs? Are these from those?

Some people said yes, they are. They continue to reproduce to this day. But others said not at all. Whoever is transmuted from one form of creation to another shall not be able to eat or drink or even procreate for three days, after which they will be destroyed; they will die.

This is the most authentic position. Every transmutation in past nations was, at most, three days. They were left for such a period to serve as a lesson and deterrent for others. That is why Allah said,

66  So We made it an example to their own time and to their posterity, and a lesson to those who fear Allah.