Then He caused to be the reason for their saying His saying: ﴿They hamstrung the she-camel﴾, meaning: the one which Allah made for them a sign. He expressed by hamstringing rather than slaughtering because it includes every reason for killing it. This is because Ibn Ishaq mentioned that a group of people gathered for it. One of them shot it with an arrow, another struck its legs with a sword, and another slaughtered it. Thus, the name of the cause was applied to the caused. However, His saying, ﴿So they called their companion, and he took [a sword] and hamstrung [it]﴾ [Al-Qamar: 29] and His saying, ﴿When the most wretched of them was sent forth﴾ [Ash-Shams: 12] and the saying of the Prophet ﷺ: "(A man who was mighty, strong, and respected among his people was sent forth for it)". They said: He is Qadar ibn Salif. A woman from his people offered him her daughter if he hamstrung it. So he did, and he became the most wretched of the first and the most wretched of the last: Abdul Rahman ibn Muljim Al-Muradi, the killer of Ali ibn Abi Talib - may Allah be pleased with him - (p-448). A woman from Banu Ijl, beautiful, offered herself to him if he killed him. The connection between them is that each of them threw himself into the greatest sin for the sake of the desire of his private parts in marrying a woman. And the saying of the Prophet ﷺ: "(The most wretched of the first is the hamstrung of the she-camel)" indicates that the hamstrung one is a single man. At that time, the intended meaning is the cutting of the legs. Where he gathered, he intended both the reality and the metaphor together, and where he singled out, he intended the reality only. The expression by it is because it is the origin and the greatest cause in slaughtering camels. Al-Baghawi said: Al-Azhari said: Hamstringing is the cutting of the tendon of the camel. Then slaughtering was made hamstringing because the one who slaughters the camel hamstrings it and then slaughters it. This has ended. And it seems that this is an indication that what is meant by hamstringing in his words is slaughtering. There is no doubt that the origin of hamstringing in the language is cutting, and its substance revolves around that. He hamstrung the palm tree. If he cut its head, it would dry up, and the horse: he struck its legs with a sword. Most often, hamstringing is used in corruption, while slaughtering is usually used in benefiting from the slaughtered [animal] for meat, skin, and others. Perhaps the expression by it rather than slaughtering indicates that they did not intend by slaughtering it except to destroy it out of arrogance against Allah and stubbornness and as an act of evil in opposition to the prohibition of Salih - peace be upon him. This is not contradicted by what has been reported that they divided its meat; because it has not been claimed that hamstringing necessitates the lack of benefit from the slaughtered [animal]. And on a lesser level, they did not intend by that to benefit from the meat, but rather they intended - since they could not all participate in the hamstringing - to share in what resulted from it, implying their approval of it and their participation in it in whatever they could. ﴿And they were insolent﴾, meaning: they exceeded the limit in severity and arrogance ﴿against the command﴾, meaning: in obeying the command ﴿of their Lord﴾, meaning: the One who is gracious to them, who came to them through the tongue of His Messenger with the command to leave it ﴿And they said﴾, adding to their arrogance ﴿O Salih, bring us﴾.

And when they descended upon him their warning - where they did not believe in him - the status of the promise and the glad tidings, they said: "By what you promise us" in mockery from them and exaggeration in denial. [As if they were saying: We are certain that you cannot bring us anything of that, and if you are] truthful, then do it and do not delay it out of kindness to us and compassion for us. For we are not harmed by that; rather, we enjoy it like one who receives a good promise. The essence of it is their mockery of him and their indication of his inability. They confirmed that with their saying using the tool of doubt: "If you are among the messengers," meaning: those whose news we have heard in the past.