Become Humiliated Monkeys! (2:65)

 بِسۡمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِیۡمِ

Concerning the violators of the Sabbath among the Israelites, Allāh سبحانه وتعالى says:

وَلَقَدۡ عَلِمۡتُمُ الَّذِیۡنَ اعۡتَدَوۡا مِنۡکُمۡ فِی السَّبۡتِ فَقُلۡنَا لَہُمۡ کُوۡنُوۡا قِرَدَۃً خٰسِئِیۡنَ ﴿ۚ

And surely, you have known the end of those among you, who transgressed in the matter of the Sabbath. So We said to them: Be ye apes, despised

(Juz 1, Sūrah 2, Āyah 65)

Many people believe that Allāh literally transformed a party of Israelites into apes. While this appears to be the most widespread interpretation of the Āyah, and others like it which mention مسخ (metamorphosis), a figurative interpretation of some evil humans becoming swine and apes seems more reasonable and profound. Hence, the great mufassir Mujāhid bin Jabr (d.104 H) from among the Tābi’īn, commented on this Āyah, saying:

‌مُسِخَتْ ‌قُلُوبُهُمْ وَلَمْ يُمْسَخُوا قِرَدَةً وَخَنَازِيرَ وَإِنَّمَا هُوَ مَثَلٌ ضَرَبَهُ اللَّهُ لَهُمْ مِثْلَ الْحِمَارِ يَحْمِلُ أَسْفَارًا

Their hearts were transformed, not that they were [actually] transformed into monkeys and pigs. Indeed, it is a similitude that Allāh presented for them, like the donkey carrying volumes of books (Tafsīr Ibn Abī Hātim, v.1, p.133, #672)

Here sayyidinā Mujāhid رحمه الله referred to the parable mentioned in Sūrat al-Jumu’ah:

مَثَلُ الَّذِیۡنَ حُمِّلُوا التَّوۡرٰٮۃَ ثُمَّ لَمۡ یَحۡمِلُوۡہَا کَمَثَلِ الۡحِمَارِ یَحۡمِلُ اَسۡفَارًا

The likeness of those who were made to bear the Torah, but would not bear it, is as the likeness of an ass carrying a load of books

(Juz 28, Sūrah 62, Āyah 5)

In other words, the transformation of some evil humans into pigs and monkeys means a transformation of their internal characteristics and behavior. Their hearts became like the hearts of apes and swine, as Mujāhid رحمه الله explained. In Arabic linguistics, the word ‘monkey’ derived from the trilateral root ق ر د carries the meaning of ‘to deceive; to subdue, to humiliate’. Thus, the transformation of evil humans into monkeys signifies their becoming subdued and humiliated. Likewise, the word ‘pig’, derived from the quadrilateral root خ ن ز ر carries the meaning of ‘to be rough and crude’, so those among them who were transformed into pigs signifies their roughness and crudeness. This is found in many cultures and almost universally understood that calling someone a pig means he is obscene, shameless, gluttonous, perverted and disgusting. Calling someone a monkey means he is disgraced, humiliated, or ugly.

This interpretation is made clearer in certain Ahādīth of the holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم

أَمَا يَخْشَى أَحَدُكُمْ أَوْ لاَ يَخْشَى أَحَدُكُمْ إِذَا رَفَعَ رَأْسَهُ قَبْلَ الإِمَامِ أَنْ يَجْعَلَ اللَّهُ رَأْسَهُ رَأْسَ حِمَارٍ أَوْ يَجْعَلَ اللَّهُ صُورَتَهُ صُورَةَ حِمَارٍ

Is not the one who raises his head [from prostration and bowing] before the Imām afraid that Allāh will make his head the head of a donkey or that Allāh will make his form the form of a donkey! (Sahīh al-Bukhārī)

To date, there has been no recorded instance of someone’s head or body being literally transformed into that of a donkey’s, indicating that it is a figurative phenomenon, as sadly the phenomenon of ignorant and heedless people raising their head from bowing or prostration before the Imām in Salāh is not uncommon, especially among the astray Shī’ah. In Arabic linguistics, the word donkey is derived from the trilateral root ح م ر which carries the meaning of ‘to be difficult’. In other words, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم described those who raise their heads in Salāh before the Imām as obstinate people.

In another tradition, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم predicted that a party of his Ummah shall consider silk, wine and musical instruments permissible, and that Allāh will transform them into monkeys and pigs:

وَيَمْسَخُ آخَرِينَ قِرَدَةً وَخَنَازِيرَ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ

(Sahīh al-Bukhārī)

يَخْسِفُ اللَّهُ بِهِمُ الأَرْضَ وَيَجْعَلُ مِنْهُمُ الْقِرَدَةَ وَالْخَنَازِيرَ ‏

(Sunan Ibn Mājah)

There have already appeared many Muslims, including those who identify as scholars clothed in the garb of knowledge, who declare music permissible, and who change the name of alcoholic beverages and other intoxicants saying they do not fall in the category of the prohibited khamr. Yet we know of no instance in history in which such people were literally transformed into apes and swine.

Concerning the Qadariyyah, meaning those who deny Qadar (that Allāh has decreed and determined human destiny, and is the Creator of our deeds), they are a sect that appeared quite early on in the history of the Ummah, and it is reported that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said about them:

يَكُونُ فِي هَذِهِ الأُمَّةِ خَسْفٌ أَوْ مَسْخٌ أَوْ قَذْفٌ فِي أَهْلِ الْقَدَرِ

From this Ummah the people of Qadar shall be transformed, swallowed by the Earth, and pelted with stones (Jāmi’ at-Tirmidhī)

Yet there has been no recorded instance in history of innovators from the Qadariyyah, Mu’tazilah, Shī’ah and other sects which deny Qadar being literally transformed into animals.

As a matter of fact, the holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم himself seems to have indicated that the incident of some people being transformed into apes and swine, as mentioned in the holy Qurān, was not literal. It is mentioned that someone asked the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم about those transformations:

فَقَالَ رَجُلٌ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ الْقِرَدَةُ وَالْخَنَازِيرُ هِيَ مِمَّا مُسِخَ

A man asked: ‘O Messenger of Allāh, what about the monkeys and pigs which were transformed?’

فَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏‏ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ لَمْ يُهْلِكْ قَوْمًا أَوْ يُعَذِّبْ قَوْمًا فَيَجْعَلَ لَهُمْ نَسْلاً وَإِنَّ الْقِرَدَةَ وَالْخَنَازِيرَ كَانُوا قَبْلَ ذَلِكَ

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم answered: ‘Indeed, Allāh عزّ وجلّ does not destroy a people or punish a people then grant for them progeny. Indeed, monkeys and pigs existed before that.’

(Sahīh Muslim)

The statement that monkeys and pigs existed before the instances of maskh (metamorphosis) mentioned in the holy Qurān is a strong indication that the literal monkeys and pigs from the animal kingdom are a separate category, and those evil people described as monkeys and pigs in the holy Qurān are another category. And Allāh knows best.

In a Hadīth attributed to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, though its authenticity is not established:

عَن أبي أُمَامَة رَضِي الله عَنهُ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُول الله صلى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسلم تكون فِي أمتِي فزعة فَيصير النَّاس ‌إِلَى ‌عُلَمَائهمْ ‌فَإِذا ‌هم ‌قردة ‌وَخَنَازِير

There will be terror and dismay in my Ummah, so when the people turn to their Ulamā’ [they will find] them monkeys and pigs (Nawādir al-Usūl, v.2, p.196)