`Abdullah Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, `Ikrimah, Qatadah, As-Sadiy and others said that they were the people of Aylah. Ibn `Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) added that it was located between Madyan and At-Tur.

According to the above, the people of Aylah were adhering attentively to the teachings of the Torah and the prohibition of fishing on the Sabbath at that time. Amazingly, the fish used to appear openly on Saturdays and disappear on the other days of the week. {…when their fish came to them openly on the Sabbath day, and did not come to them on the day they had no Sabbath}. Almighty Allah says {Thus We made a trial of them for they used to rebel against Allah’s Command (disobey Allah)}. That is, We test them by sending great numbers of fish on the Sabbath because of their disobedience and rebellion.

When the people saw this, they made a trick to catch the fish on the Sabbath. They fixed their fishing nets and ropes and dug streams that would allow the seawater to run through and the fish to enter but never go back to the sea. They made all this on Friday, in preparation for the coming of the fish on Saturday. And thus, the fish came on the supposedly peaceful day, not knowing what had been prepared against them. They were caught in the nets, ropes and artificial streams.

When the Saturday came to an end, the people of Aylah were present to take their fat catch. Consequently, Allah the Almighty was angry with them, and He cursed them for their trickery and deception. When this was done by a group of them, the rest who had not participated in their sinful actions were divided into two groups. One group rejected their actions and trickery against the Law and Command of Allah the Almighty at that time. The second group did not reject or forbid them; rather they disapproved of the reaction of the first group that forbade the sinful ones, saying: {Why do you preach to a people whom Allah is about to destroy or to punish with a severe torment?}. In other words, what is the gain in preaching to a people who will inevitably be punished by Allah the Almighty?

But the first group, the preachers, replied: {In order to be free from guilt before your Lord (Allah). And perhaps they may fear Allah}. That is, we are commanded by Him to enjoin what is good and forbid what is evil. Thus, we do this out of our fear of His Torment. And perhaps those who committed these sins may repent to Allah and regret what they have done and thus be saved from the punishment of Allah and He will forgive them all.

Allah the Almighty says: {So when they forgot the remindings that had been given to them We rescued those who forbade evil}. That is, when they were heedless towards the godly preachers, We rescued the preaching group. But {We seized those who did wrong with a severe torment}. That is, We seized the doers of the sinful deed with a painful punishment {because they used to rebel against Allah’s Command (disobey Allah)}. Then, Allah explains the torment that befell them: {So when they exceeded the limits of what they were prohibited, We said to them: “Be you monkeys, despised and rejected.”}

Here, the point is that Allah the Almighty informs us that He destroyed the wrong-doers, saved the preaching believers, and left the believers who did not enjoin the good and forbid the evil. Scholars disputed regarding the third group. Some said they were rescued from harm. Others said that they were destroyed with the wrong-doers.

But the first view is the one accepted by the well-versed scholars, including Ibn `Abbas, head of the interpreters, who referred to this opinion in a debate with `Ikrimah. The latter, upon the victory of Ibn `Abbas, granted him a valuable garment as a reward.

It should be noted here that the second group of non-sinners were not mentioned with those rescued, even though they despised the sinful deed with their hearts. This is because they should have compelled their organs (hand or tongue) to act and declare their rejection of the wrong-doers’ act. So, they were saved with the preachers because they themselves did not commit the sinful deed, but rather rejected it with their hearts.

`Abdur Razzaq narrated after Juraij after a man (whose name is not known) after `Ikrimah after Ibn `Abbas; and Malik transmitted from Ibn Ruman, Shaiban, Qatadah and `Ata’ Al-Kharasani: Those who committed the sinful deed were abandoned by the rest of the people of the town. Some of them, the preachers, declared their rejection and denial of their deed. The sinners did not listen to them. Afterwards, they used to stay the night apart from the rest of the people of the town, and there were doors or barriers between them and the rest of the people, who were anticipating the punishment to befall them. One day, their doors did not open till the noon. The people became anxious and sent someone to look over the barrier to see what had happened to the sinners. When he looked, he found them turned into monkeys with tails, shouting. They opened the doors of the barrier, and the monkeys recognized their relatives while their relatives could not recognize them. At that the preachers said, “Did not we forbid you from doing this?” The monkeys made a sign with their heads denoting yes.

Then, `Abdullah Ibn `Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) wept and said: Verily, we see many wrongdoings which we do not reject or deny or even make a comment!

Al-`Ufi narrated after Ibn `Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him): The young men of the town were turned into monkeys, while the old men into pigs. Moreover, Ibn Abu Hatim narrated from Mujahid after Ibn `Abbas his saying: They did not live long and they left no offspring. Also, Ad-Dahhaq narrated from Ibn `Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him): No monster lived more than three days. In addition, they did not eat, drink or leave offspring.

Ibn Abu Hatim and Ibn Jarir narrated after Ibn Abu Nujaih from Mujahid his saying: Only their hearts and not their figures were turned into monkeys and pigs. This is just like His Statement that reads: {The likeness of those who were entrusted with the (obligation of the) Taurat (Torah) (i.e. to obey its commandments and practice its laws), but who subsequently failed in those (obligations), is as the likeness of a donkey which carries huge burdens of books (but understands nothing from them)} (Al-Jumu`ah 5). But this view seems to be very strange, and it contradicts the apparent meaning of the Glorious Qur’an. Allah knows best!