قردة
Qirada
Topic
The Quran says that a group who broke the Sabbath became “apes, despised” (2:65, 7:166); early commentators differed on whether this is literal.
What it means
The Quran refers to “those among you who transgressed the Sabbath, and We said to them: ‘Be apes, despised’” (2:65; also 7:166). It is told as a lesson for the Children of Israel and not as a statement about Jews as a people.
What the sources say
The earliest commentator, Mujahid ibn Jabr (d. about 722), said that their hearts were changed and not their bodies, and that the verse is a parable. Others took it as a physical change. Both views are recorded by al-Tabari. The Quran also says that the same punishment of being turned to apes and pigs applied to “those on whom God’s wrath fell” (5:60), and neither passage names Jews of any later time.