People of the Sabbath: Difference between revisions

'''People of the Sabbath''' (Arabic: {{ia|أَصْحَابَ السَّبْت}}) were a group of [[Banu Israel]] whom, according to the [[Qur'an]], were afflicted with [[divine punishment]] because of disobeying [[God]] and fishing on Saturdays. Most [[narrations]] have mentioned the story of the people of Sabt to have happened at the time of [[prophet David (a)]] in the city of Ayla.

Eventually, the people of Sabt were afflicted with divine punishment and were transformed, "We said to them, 'Be you spurned apes." ([[Qur'an 2]]:65) According to some hadiths, those transformed people perished after three days.

Some [[exegetes]] referred to some verses regarding the people of Sabt and said that only those who prohibited them from [[evil]] survived the punishment; but, the other two groups (wrongdoers and silent ones) were afflicted with divine punishment.

It is narrated from few exegetes such as Mujahid and Muhammad 'Abduh that transformation of the people of Sabt was an [[allegory]] and only their hearts were transformed. They rejected apparent and physical transformation of those people. This belief has been criticized by many exegetes: [[al-Tabrisi]] considered this view against the appearance of the verses and the opinion of most exegetes.

According to verses of the Qur'an, people of Sabt lived by the sea. Some sources considered Ayla as their place. In a [[hadith]] from [[Imam al-Baqir (a)]], Ayla is mentioned as the city of the people of Sabt. According to [['Allama Tabataba'i]], Madyan and Tabariyya have also been mentioned as the place where people of Sabt lived.

Most hadiths have mentioned that the people of Sabt lived at the time of [[prophet David (a)]].