." Obviously the order given to sacrifice a cow with...

." Obviously the order given to sacrifice a cow with subsequent description of its various characteristics and qualities, contained in these five verses (67 -71) , is like a parenthetic statement which clarifies the meaning of the next two verses (72 -73), addressed to the Israelites: "And when you killed a man, then you disagreed with respect to that, and Allâh was to bring forth that which you were going to hide.

So We said: `Strike the (dead body) with part of the (sacrificed cow),' thus Allâh brings the dead to life, and He shows you His signs that you may understand. " The five verses (67 -71) also show how ill-mannered the Israelites were; how offensive their behaviour was towards their prophet.

See how off-handedly they accused their prophet of speaking idle words, how arrogantly they made demand after demand of the Lord to make His command clear and plain, as though there was any ambiguity in the divine command or the prophetic utterance. Add to it their insulting mode of referring to God: Musâ