The Cow

     Quran commentators narrate the following:

An old man from among the Children of Israel was very rich, and he had some nephews who wished he would die soon to inherit him. One day, one of them on purpose murdered him at night and threw him on the road -or at the door of one of his own brothers. In the morning, the people found the dead body and they disputed over him. His nephew -the murderer -came and began to weep and cry. Some people said:

Why do you dispute over him? Why do not you go to Allah's Prophet (Peace be upon him)? His nephew came and complained to Musa (Moses (Peace be upon him». Musa (Peace be upon him) said: by Allah! Anyone who knows anything about this murdered man, he should let us know. But, no one knew anything about it. Thereupon, they asked Musa (Peace be upon him) to ask his Lord concerning this issue. Musa (Peace be upon him) asked his Lord and he was commanded to order them to slaughter a cow.

Moreover they say that: If those people were to slaughter any cow, they would fulfill the purpose thereof. But, they made it difficult for themselves (by asking so many questions thereof), and thus Allah the Almighty made it difficult for them (by stipulating so many conditions for the desired cow). They asked about its description, color and age; and they were answered with what was scarce and dear (in a way to make it hard for them to find it). The point is that they were commanded to slaughter neither a too old cow, nor a too young, but (it is) between the two conditions.

It is said that they could not find a cow with all these descriptions but with a man who was righteous and good to his father. They asked him to submit it to them, but he refused. They offered him what equals its weight in gold. But, he refused. Then, they offered him an amount of gold that equals its weight ten-times. Finally, he accepted their offer and submitted it to them. Then, Musa (Peace be upon him) commanded them to slaughter it. Then, Musa (Peace be upon him) instructed them with the Command of Allah to strike the dead man with a piece of the cow. When they stroke him with part thereof, he was resurrected by Allah the Almighty. Musa (Peace be upon him) asked him: who's your murderer? He said: it was my nephew who killed me. Then, he died again.

Allah the Almighty can bring all the dead people to life when He wishes to. He, Almighty, says {the creation of you all and the resurrection of you all are only as (the creation and resurrection of) a single person. Verily, Allah is All-Hearer, All-Seer} [Luqman: 28]

The Quran narrates the story

Allah the Almighty says:

{And [recall] when Moses said to his people, "Indeed, Allah commands you to slaughter a cow." They said, "Do you take us in ridicule?" He said, "I seek refuge in Allah from being among the ignorant."

They said, "Call upon your Lord to make clear to us what it is." [Moses] said, "[Allah] says, 'It is a cow which is neither old nor virgin, but median between that,' so do what you are commanded."

They said, "Call upon your Lord to show us what is her color." He said, "He says, 'It is a yellow cow, bright in color –pleasing to the observers.' "

They said, "Call upon your Lord to make clear to us what it is. Indeed, [all] cows look alike to us. And indeed we, if Allah wills, will be guided."

He said, "He says, 'It is a cow neither trained to plow the earth nor to irrigate the field, one free from fault with no spot upon her.' "They said, "Now you have come with the truth." So they slaughtered her, but they could hardly do it.

And [recall] when you slew a man and disputed over it, but Allah was to bring out that which you were concealing.

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

Then your hearts became hardened after that, being like stones or even harder. For indeed, there are stones from which rivers burst forth, and there are some of them that split open and water comes out, and there are some of them that fall down for fear of Allah. And Allah is not unaware of what you do.} [Al-Baqara: 67: 74]  

It is worth mentioning that the Quranic surah that narrates this story was named al-Baqra (the Cow).