Indeed, those who believed and those who were Jews or Christians or Sabeans [before Prophet Muhammad] - those [among them] who believed in Allah and the Last Day and did righteousness - will have their reward with their Lord, and no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve. 62 And [recall] when We took your covenant, [O Children of Israel, to abide by the Torah] and We raised over you the mount, [saying], "Take what We have given you with determination and remember what is in it that perhaps you may become righteous." 63 And you turned away after that! And had it not been for God's favour upon you and His grace, you would surely have found yourselves among the lost; 64 You are aware of those who transgressed in the matter of the Sabbath, whereupon We said to them, "Be as apes, despised!" 65 So We made this punishment an example to their own and to succeeding generations and a lesson to those who are Al-Muttaqun (the pious - see V. 2:2). 66 When Moses said to his people, "God commands you to sacrifice a cow," they asked, "Are you mocking us?" "God forbid, how would I be so ignorant," said Moses. 67 They said, "Call upon your Lord for us that He may make plain to us what it is!" He said, "He says, 'Verily, it is a cow neither too old nor too young, but (it is) between the two conditions', so do what you are commanded." 68 They said, “Pray to your Lord that He may reveal its colour to us”; answered Moosa, “Indeed He says it is a yellow cow, of bright colour, pleasing to the beholders.” 69 They said, "Ask your Lord to make it clear to us the exact type of heifer she should be, for to us all heifers look alike. If God wills, we shall be rightly guided." 70 He said, "He says, 'It is a cow neither trained to plow the earth nor to irrigate the field, one free from fault with no spot upon her.' " They said, "Now you have come with the truth." So they slaughtered her, but they could hardly do it. 71