The story of Musa (peace be upon him) with the Children of Israel when Allah the Exalted asked them to slaughter a cow.

The Shaykh : And here is an example brought by the Qur'an as a verification of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding this. The Children of Israel disagreed over a murder victim who was killed among them, and every tribe claimed that the other tribe was the one who killed him. They disputed and contested it and brought the matter to Musa (peace be upon him), their Prophet. He said to them: Slaughter a cow and take a piece from its parts and strike the victim with it, and the victim will tell you who killed him. Glory be to Allah! He commanded them to slaughter a cow, take a piece from its parts, and strike the victim who was killed with it, and then the victim would tell them who killed him. They said to him: meaning, are you mocking us? What is the connection between the cow and the victim? And how can the victim live after his death? This was due to the arrogance of the Children of Israel, their stubbornness, and their turning to reason instead of the text. They turned to reason instead of the text; they turned to their illusory reason instead of the text. Had they taken the text, they would have been saved from this. For the one who mocks people is ignorant toward them and transgresses against them, and ignorance here means transgression. When they saw that he was truthful, and he was truthful (peace be upon him), had they taken any cow from the market and slaughtered it, the objective would have been achieved. But they were obstinate and strict, so Allah made it difficult for them. Not a milch cow: meaning not one that is old in age, and not a young cow: one that is young. He commanded them to do this, and this is a confirmation of the previous command. But they refused. What is the color? We knew the age, so tell us what the color is? He made it difficult for them a second time. If they had slaughtered any cow that was not a milch cow and not a young cow, a cow in between that would have been sufficient. But they were strict, so He made it difficult for them. Who would find a yellow cow, its color intense, pleasing to the beholders, beautiful, its color beautiful, clear and distinct? And yet they did not comply. Meaning, what is its work? It has no defect. Look, I seek refuge in Allah, judging by reason over the texts. Now you have come with the truth, and before you came with the truth?! The truth had come before, but their desires and their reason denied it. Meaning, they did not come close to doing it, but through persistence and questioning, they did it. Then they took a part of it. And they struck the victim with this part, so Allah gave him life, and he said: So-and-so killed me, and the problem ended. The important point is that excessive questioning of the Prophets (peace be upon them) may cause the command to become difficult for the community. Among this is what happened to the Prophet (peace be upon him) in the story of al-Aqra' ibn Habis. Al-Aqra' ibn Habis was from the Banu Tamim. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: How many times is Hajj obligatory? Once, as long as we are not asked to repeat it, once is sufficient. Then al-Aqra' said: Look, this question is out of place. He said: This is also part of the difficulty.