Stories in the Quran 4 min read
The Quran tells of a town by the sea whose people were tested in the matter of the Sabbath and failed. The story is in Surah al-A'raf and is referred to in Surah al-Baqarah, and it is a warning about disobeying Allah's limits and about the duty of calling to good.
The main account is in Surah al-A'raf, Quran 7:163-166. Allah tells the Prophet ﷺ to ask the Children of Israel about the town that was by the sea. It is also mentioned briefly in Quran 2:65-66, and in 4:47 and 5:60.
The Sabbath was a day the Children of Israel were commanded to keep, and the Quran also mentions a command given to them not to transgress in it (4:154). The Quran describes this story as a lesson for those who heard it then and for those who came after.
The meaning of Quran 7:163 is that the people of the town transgressed in the matter of the Sabbath. Their fish came to them openly on the day of their Sabbath, and on the days they did not keep the Sabbath, the fish did not come. Allah says that He tested them in this way because they were defiantly disobedient.
The test was real and hard for them. What was forbidden was in front of them, and on other days it was out of reach. The verse says they transgressed, but it does not describe how they did it.
The people of the town did not all respond in the same way. The verses point to three groups:
The advisers answered that they spoke to be excused before their Lord and in the hope that the people might fear Him (7:164). They did not give up the duty of advising, even when others told them it was pointless.
Then the people forgot what they had been reminded of. Allah saved those who had forbidden evil and seized those who did wrong with a severe punishment, because of their disobedience (7:165).
Allah then says that when they were insolent about what they had been forbidden, He said to them, "Be apes, despised" (7:166). In Surah al-Baqarah, the Children of Israel are reminded that they already knew of those among them who transgressed concerning the Sabbath, and Allah made the event a deterrent for those present and for those after them, and a lesson for those who fear Allah (2:65-66).
Most commentators understood the verses literally: those people were physically transformed. A view attributed to Mujahid, one of the early scholars among the Successors, is that the verses describe a transformation of their hearts and character, so that they resembled apes in their behaviour. This difference is about how the transformation happened. All scholars accept that it was a punishment and a warning.
Quran 5:60 speaks of those whom Allah cursed and with whom He became angry, and made some of them apes and pigs. It does not mention the Sabbath by name, and many commentators connect it with the same event. Quran 4:47 also warns about being cursed as the Sabbath-breakers were cursed.
The verses say nothing about what became of the middle group, those who stayed silent or objected to the advice. Scholars have discussed this, but the Quran does not say, so it is better not to state it as fact.
The Quran does not name the town. Some commentators say it was Ayla, on the coast of the Red Sea, but this is not stated in the Quran. It also does not give the time, the number of people, how many were saved, or how exactly the people broke the Sabbath.
Stories about the details of the trick are found in books of commentary, not in the verses, so we do not rely on them. What the verses do say is enough for the lesson.
General information for learning, not a fatwa. For your own situation, ask a qualified scholar.
Updated 6 October 2026
It is the story of a town by the sea whose people were tested with fish that came on the Sabbath and not on other days. They transgressed, were warned by some of their own people, and were punished (Quran 7:163-166).
The verses say Allah told them, "Be apes, despised" (7:166; 2:65). Most commentators took this literally. A view attributed to Mujahid takes it as a transformation of their hearts. All agree it was a punishment and a warning.
The Quran does not name it. Some commentators say it was Ayla, but this is not stated in the Quran or in an authentic hadith.
