I hope some other Muslims will make a few comments on this issue as well. Are there any orthodox ones out there who agree with this rationalistic interpretation? An Ahmadiyya Muslim wrote The Qur'an does not say that the Jews did actually turn into monkeys. A monkey is a symbol for mindless imitation of behaviour. So when the spirit behind worship departs, and mere ritual is left behind, one becomes like a monkey. Hence a monkey represents hypocrisy and insincerity. And if I say that someone is a *swine* or an *ass*, does this make literally turn him into a *swine* or an *ass*? Do I always have to state that he is *like* a swine or an ass? No, everyone (should, at least) understand/s that this is a metaphor likening a persons behaviour to the typical behaviour of the animal concerned. You are "monkeying" around here, I would say. Well, I asked this question about the apes a few weeks ago to a very well educated Arab Muslim and he says there is absolutely no indication either in the text or in any hadith that the monkeys are figurative. The obvious sense is the literal sense. Allah can do that. No problem. He is the Allmighty. But Ahm. does seems not to have as high a view of God's power. Why is it that Ahmadiyya rationalize away nearly all supernatural? I find that a strange feature. Anyway, let's look at the monkey thing. This is what I gleaned from the web: Translation: Yusufali [al-Baqarah 2:65] 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-A`raf 7:166-167] When in their insolence they transgressed (all) prohibitions, We said to them: "Be ye apes, despised and rejected." Behold! thy Lord did declare that He would send against them, to the Day of Judgment, those who would afflict them with grievous penalty. Thy Lord is quick in retribution, but He is also Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful. [al-Ma'idah 5:60] Say: "Shall I point out to you something much worse than this, (as judged) by the treatment it received from God? those who incurred the curse of God and His wrath, those of whom some He transformed into apes and swine, those who worshipped evil;- these are (many times) worse in rank, and far more astray from the even path!" This is not a description of what they already are (by their own nature) but a COMMAND [2:65, 7:166] to become what they not yet are. What is the point to command something they are? God did't say: You ARE monkeys/pigs (that could be figurative) But he said "BE you apes", that is an imperative, a command. We always say: You are (like) a pig. We never say "be a pig" if we mean he already is. In fact, when we say "you are a pig" then the request is implicit to STOP be such a pig, not to become one. Furthermore, the passages are speaking of a horrible judgment of God upon them. A punishment. What punishment is it to say: "you are acting like apes"? Does that do anything to them? Turning into apes, that would be punishment. Is God so impotent that his judgment is only an insult to them, but nothing else actually happened? You are making a mockery of Allah's power, which is one of the main attributes of God according to the Qur'an. Anyway, I sent your comment to another Arab just to make sure. Here is his response: What he is saying is .... ! (I had to censor this part. It was not friendly.) In Arabic it says (5:63): He made (from make) of them the monkeys and the pigs. Tafsir Al-Jalalein explains how He made them that way, by stating: bil-miskh. bil: means "by the". and "miskh" is derived from the verb masakha, which means: to metamorphose, transform, change into a different form, - to disfigure, to deform.. I hope that helps clarify a bit. But no doubt, Ahm. will think of al-Jalalein even less than he might have thought of it before. I can't help it. :-)
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