Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 7 Al-A'raf, Ayat 148-151

وَاتَّخَذَ قَوۡمُ مُوۡسٰى مِنۡۢ بَعۡدِهٖ مِنۡ حُلِيِّهِمۡ عِجۡلًا جَسَدًا لَّهٗ خُوَارٌ​ ؕ اَلَمۡ يَرَوۡا اَنَّهٗ لَا يُكَلِّمُهُمۡ وَلَا يَهۡدِيۡهِمۡ سَبِيۡلًا ۘ اِتَّخَذُوۡهُ وَكَانُوۡا ظٰلِمِيۡنَ‏ ﴿7:148﴾ وَلَـمَّا سُقِطَ فِىۡۤ اَيۡدِيۡهِمۡ وَرَاَوۡا اَنَّهُمۡ قَدۡ ضَلُّوۡا ۙ قَالُوۡا لَـئِنۡ لَّمۡ يَرۡحَمۡنَا رَبُّنَا وَيَغۡفِرۡ لَـنَا لَنَكُوۡنَنَّ مِنَ الۡخٰسِرِيۡنَ‏  ﴿7:149﴾ وَلَمَّا رَجَعَ مُوۡسٰٓى اِلٰى قَوۡمِهٖ غَضۡبَانَ اَسِفًا ۙ قَالَ بِئۡسَمَا خَلَفۡتُمُوۡنِىۡ مِنۡۢ بَعۡدِىۡ ۚ اَعَجِلۡتُمۡ اَمۡرَ رَبِّكُمۡ​ ۚ وَاَلۡقَى الۡاَلۡوَاحَ وَاَخَذَ بِرَاۡسِ اَخِيۡهِ يَجُرُّهٗۤ اِلَيۡهِ​ؕ قَالَ ابۡنَ اُمَّ اِنَّ الۡـقَوۡمَ اسۡتَضۡعَفُوۡنِىۡ وَكَادُوۡا يَقۡتُلُوۡنَنِىۡ ​ۖ  فَلَا تُشۡمِتۡ بِىَ الۡاَعۡدَآءَ وَ لَا تَجۡعَلۡنِىۡ مَعَ الۡقَوۡمِ الظّٰلِمِيۡنَ‏ ﴿7:150﴾ قَالَ رَبِّ اغۡفِرۡ لِىۡ وَلِاَخِىۡ وَ اَدۡخِلۡنَا فِىۡ رَحۡمَتِكَ ​ۖ  وَاَنۡتَ اَرۡحَمُ الرّٰحِمِيۡنَ‏ ﴿7:151﴾

(7:148) And in the absence of Moses106 his people made the image of a calf from their ornaments, which lowed. Did they not observe that it could neither speak nor give them any guidance? And still they made it an object of worship. They were indeed wrong-doing. 107 (7:149) And when they were afflicted with remorse and realized that they had fallen into error, they said: 'If our Lord does not have mercy on us and does not pardon us, we shall be among the losers.' (7:150) And when Moses returned to his people, full of wrath and sorrow, he said: 'Vile is the course you have followed in my absence. Could you not patiently wait for the decree of your Lord?' And he threw down the Tablets [of the Law] and took hold of his brother's head, dragging him to himself. Aaron said: 'My mother's son, the people overpowered me and almost killed me. So let not my enemies gloat over me, and do not number me among the wrong-doing folk.'108 (7:151) Thereupon Moses said: 'O Lord! Grant forgiveness upon me and my brother and admit us to Your Mercy, for You are most merciful of the merciful.'

Notes

106. Here reference is made to the forty days which Moses spent on Mount Sinai in compliance with God's command when his people remained in the plain at the foot of the mountain called Maydan al-Rahah.

107. Their cow-worship was another manifestation of the Israelites' slavish attachment to the Egyptian traditions at the time of the Exodus. It is well-known that cow-worship was widespread in Egypt and it was during their stay there that the Israelites developed this strange infatuation. The Qur'an also refers to their inclination to cow-worship: 'Their hearts were overflowing with love for the calf because of their unbelief' (al-Baqarah 2: 93). What is more surprising about their turn to idolatry is that it took place just three months after their escape from Egypt. During that time they had witnessed the parting of the sea, the drowning of Pharaoh, and their own deliverance from what otherwise seemed inescapable slavery, to the Egyptians. They knew well that all those events had taken place owing to the unmistakable and direct interference of the all-powerful God. Yet they had the audacity to demand that their Prophet should make for them a false god that they might worship. Not only that, soon after Moses left them for Mount Sinai, they themselves contrived a false god. Disgusted with such conduct on the part of the Israelites, some Prophets have likened their people to a nymphomaniac who loves all save her husband and who is unfaithful to him even on their nuptial night.

108. The above Qur'anic verse absolves Aaron of the charge levelled against him by the Jews. According to the Biblical version of the story of calf-worship, however, it was Aaron who had made the golden calf for the people of Israel. To quote:

When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, 'Up, make up gods who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.' And Aaron said to them, 'Take off the rings of gold which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.' So all the people took off the rings of gold which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made a molten calf; and they said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.' When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, 'Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.' And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play (Exodus 32: 1--6).

The Qur'an, however, refutes the above account at many places and points out that it was Samiri the rebel of God rather than Aaron the Prophet who committed that heinous sin. For details see (Ta Ha 20: 90 ff.)

Strange though it may appear, the Israelites maligned the characters of those very people whom they believed to be the Messengers of God. The accusations they hurled at them included such heinous sins as polytheism, sorcery, fornication, deceit and treachery. Needless to say, indulgence in any of these sins is disgraceful for even an ordinary believer and decent human being, let alone Prophets. In the light of the history of Israeli morals, however, it is quite understandable why they maligned their own Prophets. In times of religious and moral degeneration when both the clergy and laity were steeped in sin and immorality, they tried to seek justification for their misdeeds. In order to sedate their own consciences they ascribed the very sins of which they were guilty to their Prophets and then their own inability to refrain from sins on the grounds that not even the Prophets could refrain.

The same characteristic is evident in Hinduism. When the Hindus reached the lowest point in their moral degeneration, they produced a literature which presents a very perverted image of Hindu ideals. This literature portrayed their gods, hermits and monks as crass sinners. In doing so, they suggested that since such noble people could not refrain from indulging in grave sins, ordinary mortals are inevitably bound to commit them. Moreover, a person's indulgence in immoral acts should not make him remorseful for the same acts were committed earlier by their monks and hermits.