to a human being; and their vile deed likewise outwardly resembled what is lawful, for it was nothing but a stratagem. Anyone looking on would say, “They did not fish on Saturday; they merely set the nets on Friday and hauled them in on Sunday.” In form it looked permissible, yet in reality it was forbidden, so the punishment matched the deed exactly.

From this Allah lays down a principle in His Book: recompense is of the same kind as the act. He says, “So each of them We seized for his sin” (al-ʿAnkabūt 40). Every person is dealt with in a way that corresponds to his crime. Thus these people were told, “Be despised apes!” and they became apes, howling—may Allah protect us—in the marketplaces.

On the other hand, Allah says, “We delivered those who forbade evil” (al-Aʿrāf 165). The townsfolk therefore divided into three groups: a group that employed the stratagem, a group that kept silent, and a group that actively forbade it. The silent ones said to the reprovers, “Why do you admonish a people whom Allah will destroy or punish with a severe torment?” (al-Aʿrāf 164)—meaning: leave them alone, they are doomed, exhortation will do them no good. The admonishers replied, “So that we may be absolved before your Lord, and perhaps they will become God-fearing” (al-Aʿrāf 164). In other words, let us gain two benefits: an excuse before Allah, and the hope that they might repent. Allah said something similar concerning Pharaoh: “Both of you speak to him gently, that he might take heed or become fearful” (Tāhā 44). Here likewise He says, “perhaps they will become God-fearing.” Yet Allah, exalted is He, remained silent about this third group.

Allah, exalted is He, also says: “We delivered those who forbade evil, and We seized the wrongdoers with a wretched punishment because of their defiance” (al-Aʿrāf 165). The scholars have differed: was the silent group included in the punishment, or were they spared? What is incumbent upon us is to remain silent just as