# Was the murdered man in the story of the cow brought back to life?

*The heifer of the Israelites and 'in retaliation there is life'*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/zz85auzek5w/s/35/
- Date: 2021-04-06 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #209 | Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (3:33:04–3:36:01)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZ85AUzeK5w&t=12784s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/zz85auzek5w/

**Topics:** Moses; How to read the Quran; Hudud and punishments

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** The verse of the heifer does not say the dead man was revived; like 'in retaliation there is life', it refers to lives saved when a ritual of justice averted tribal war.

## Longer summary

Skimming further points, Mufti Abu Layth takes the verse of the heifer: he says it does not state that the dead man was brought back to life, though God says this is how He gives life. He links it to the verse saying that in retaliation there is life, explained as lives saved because executing a murderer prevented tribal bloodshed, adding that later Maliki scholars such as al-Burzuli held that capital punishment changed with the age. In the same way, he says, when the tribes of Israel found a dead body and were about to fight, a ritual resolved the matter, and that ritual is recorded in Jewish literature, which the critics do not engage.

## Sources and names cited

- Quran 2:73 (thus Allah gives life to the dead): https://quran.com/2/73
- Quran 2:179 (in retaliation there is life for you): https://quran.com/2/179
- qisas (retaliation)
- al-Burzuli [?]

## Transcript (machine tier, 3:33:04–3:36:01)

[3:32:55] Right. That's the same trick. It's the same trick. Yeah. Nothing new. Like if I was the magician that there if I was the magician Yeah. you'd be like, "Oh, oh man. Like he he freaking got the Mercury." That's what Oh, man. He got the Mercury. No, man. If I if I was the You see, but that just proves my point that that's exactly what I'm saying that if he just pops one on them, it would just be the same magic.

[3:33:20] Been there, done that. That where they go off takes place whilst they're asleep. And this was about the dream. I'll kind of skim through some of this. He mentions about the dream of Moses. They find that and that is how Allah brings things to and this was an example where they mention about um the the verse in surah Bakar which I've highlighted I've got an whole explanation about when they asked to go sacrifice a certain cow that the verse does not say that the dead person was brought back to life but Allah does say

[3:33:56] that this is how he grants life. Now I said that and I've got a detailed video saying this is where people misunderstood the verse. I also do mention the verse of which is about that you take life for life and I mentioned and Allah says that in it is life that there is life for you. Now one would say well how is there life in killing and Allah the the explanation was that you see in that justice you would save lives because otherwise there would be bloodshed because people would start fighting each other.

[3:34:33] So in this in this justice as it's explained uh where it was retaliation where a person with a with a killer the murderer is executed it was mentioned that that actually saved lives obviously I've highlighted in my other clips of um Buruli and the Maliki scholars that with the day and age the rulings changed there is no capital punishment uh in later times but in those times this would have prevented uh tribal warfare.

[3:35:05] So when Allah says, "Oh, and the that he gives life, he brings the dead to life, whe whether that's going to be inas, whether that's going to be in things like um you know, the barren land or whether that's going to be here in this example of the Israelites where they were going to because they found a dead body and they weren't sure." And so they were going to kind of the the the the kind of tribal uh the different tribes were going to go to war with each other that there was a ritual by which it was resolved and this ritual is actually mentioned in the Jewish Bible and the Jewish literature.

[3:35:43] So, I don't know why they didn't just tackle the actual point of refuting the actual Jewish literature on this issue of like getting the dead meat and tapping a dead body and doing it's actually in the Jewish literature and they don't mention about things like they come back to life and stuff. So, yes, you could say, you know, the the Jewish rituals, they are like you could find some strange rituals, but why not refute the actual point?

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment zZ85AUzeK5w/s/35. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/zz85auzek5w/s/35/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.