20:85 Taa-Haa (Taa-Haa)

{ فَإِنَّا قَدْ فَتَنَّا قَوْمَكَ مِنْ بَعْدِكَ } أي: بعبادتهم للعجل، ابتليناهم، واختبرناهم، فلم يصبروا، وحين وصلت إليهم المحنة، كفروا { وَأَضَلَّهُمُ السَّامِرِيُّ } { فَأَخْرَجَ لَهُمْ عِجْلًا جَسَدًا } وصاغه فصار { لَهُ خُوَارٌ فَقَالُوا } لهم { هَذَا إِلَهُكُمْ وَإِلَهُ مُوسَى } فنسيه موسى، فافتتن به بنو إسرائيل، فعبدوه، ونهاهم هارون فلم ينتهوا.

"قال فإنا قد فتنا قومك من بعدك وأضلهم السامري "أخبر تعالى نبيه موسى بما كان بعده من الحدث في بني إسرائيل وعبادتهم العجل الذي عمله لهم ذلك السامري. وفي الكتب الإسرائيلية أنه كان اسمه هارون أيضا وكتب الله تعالى له في هذه المدة الألواح المتضمنة للتوراة كما قال تعالى وكتبنا له في الألواح من كل شيء موعظة وتفصيلا لكل شيء فخذها بقوة وأمر قومك يأخذوا بأحسنها سأريكم دار الفاسقين" أي عاقبة الخارجين عن طاعتي المخالفين لأمري.

Musa goes to the Appointment with Allah and the Children of Israel succumb to worship the Calf

Allah relates what happened when Musa traveled with the Children of Israel after Fir`awn's destruction.

فَأَتَوْاْ عَلَى قَوْمٍ يَعْكُفُونَ عَلَى أَصْنَامٍ لَّهُمْ قَالُواْ يَمُوسَى اجْعَلْ لَّنَآ إِلَـهًا كَمَا لَهُمْ ءَالِهَةٌ قَالَ إِنَّكُمْ قَوْمٌ تَجْهَلُونَ

إِنَّ هَـؤُلآء مُتَبَّرٌ مَّا هُمْ فِيهِ وَبَـطِلٌ مَّا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ-

(And they came upon a people devoted to some of idols. They said: "O Musa! Make for us god as they have gods." He said: "Verily, you are a people who know not. Verily, these people will be destroyed for that which they are engaged in. And all that they are doing is in vain.") 7:138-139 Then, Allah made a covenant with Musa of thirty nights after which He added to them ten more nights. Thus, they were forty nights in all. The covenant was that he was to fast these number of days, during both the day and night. Thus, Musa made haste to go to the Mountain and he left his brother, Harun, in charge over the Children of Israel. This is why Allah says,

وَمَآ أَعْجَلَكَ عَن قَومِكَ يمُوسَى

قَالَ هُمْ أُوْلآء عَلَى أَثَرِى

("And what made you hasten from your people, O Musa" He said: "They are close on my footsteps.") These means that they have arrived and are settled near the Mountain.

وَعَجِلْتُ إِلَيْكَ رَبِّ لِتَرْضَى

(and I hastened to You, O my Lord, that You might be pleased.) meaning, "So You will be more pleased with me."

قَالَ فَإِنَّا قَدْ فَتَنَّا قَوْمَكَ مِن بَعْدِكَ وَأَضَلَّهُمُ السَّامِرِىُّ

((Allah) said: "Verily, We have tried your people in your absence, and As-Samiri has led them astray.") Allah informs His Prophet, Musa, of what happened to the Children of Israel after he left them, and their deification of the calf that As-Samiri had made for them. During this time period, Allah wrote for Musa the Tablets, which contained the Tawrah. Allah said,

وَكَتَبْنَا لَهُ فِى الاٌّلْوَاحِ مِن كُلِّ شَىْءٍ مَّوْعِظَةً وَتَفْصِيلاً لِّكُلِّ شَىْءٍ فَخُذْهَا بِقُوَّةٍ وَأْمُرْ قَوْمَكَ يَأْخُذُواْ بِأَحْسَنِهَا سَأُوْرِيكُمْ دَارَ الْفَـسِقِينَ

(And We wrote for him on the Tablets the lesson to be drawn from all things and the explanation for all things (and said): "Hold unto these with firmness, and enjoin your people to take the better therein. I shall show you the home of evildoers.") 7:145 This means, "I will show you the final outcome of what will happen to those who abandon My obedience and oppose My command." Concerning Allah's statement,

فَرَجَعَ مُوسَى إِلَى قَوْمِهِ غَضْبَـنَ أَسِفاً

(Then Musa returned to his people in a state of anger and sorrow Asif.) This means that after Allah informed him of what they were doing, he became extremely angry and upset with them. He was very worried for them. During this time he received the Tawrah, which contained their Shari`ah (Law), this was a great honor for them. For they were a people who used to worship other than Allah. Every person with sound reason and good sense could see that what they were doing was false and foolish. This is why Allah said that he (Musa) returned to them in a state of anger and sorrow. The word for sorrow used here is Asif, which is used to emphasize to the severity of his anger. Mujahid said, "In a state of anger and sorrow means worried." Qatadah and As-Suddi said, "Asif here means in a state of sadness because of what his people had done after him."

قَالَ يَقَوْمِ أَلَمْ يَعِدْكُمْ رَبُّكُمْ وَعْداً حَسَناً

(He (Musa) said: "O my people! Did not your Lord promise you a fair promise...") This means, "Did He not promise you in that which I have spoken to you, every good in this life and in the Hereafter, and the good end in the final outcome of things You have already witnessed how He helped you defeat your enemy (Fir`awn) and He made you victorious over him and He blessed you with other bounties as well through His help."

أَفَطَالَ عَلَيْكُمُ الْعَهْدُ

(Did then the promise seem to you long in coming) meaning, `in waiting for what Allah had promised you and forgetting His previous favors and the covenant that He made with you before.'

أَمْ أَرَدتُّمْ أَن يَحِلَّ عَلَيْكُمْ غَضَبٌ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ

(Or did you desire that wrath should descend from your Lord on you, ) The word `Or' here means `Nay, but.' It is used here to separate between a previous item and a coming item. It is as if it is saying, "Nay, but you want to make permissible the anger of your Lord upon you by what you have done. Therefore, you have broken your promise to me." The Children of Israel said in reply to Musa's blame and rebuke,

مَآ أَخْلَفْنَا مَوْعِدَكَ بِمَلْكِنَا

(We broke not our promise to you of our own will,) Meaning by our power and our choice. Then, they began making lame excuses and they told him how they got rid of that which they were carrying of Coptic jewelry that they had borrowed from them (the Egyptian Copts) when they left Egypt. Therefore they cast it, meaning that they threw it away. Thus, it became a calf that made a moaning sound that would gradually rise in pitch. This calf was an ordeal, a hindrance and test. This is why Allah said,

فَكَذَلِكَ أَلْقَى السَّامِرِىُّفَأَخْرَجَ لَهُمْ عِجْلاً جَسَداً لَّهُ خُوَارٌ

("...that was what As-Samiri suggested." Then he took out (of the fire) for them (a statue of) a calf which was mooing.) Muhammad bin Ishaq reported that Ibn `Abbas said,

هَـذَآ إِلَـهُكُمْ وَإِلَـهُ مُوسَى

(This is your god, and the god of Musa.) "So they became religiously devoted to it (the calf) and they loved it with a love that they had never loved anything else with before. " Allah then says,

فَنَسِىَ

(but he had forgotten.) This means that he abandoned what he was following of the religion of Islam. This is referring to As-Samiri. Allah says in refuting them and rebuking them, and also explaining to them their folly and foolishness in that which they had done,

أَفَلاَ يَرَوْنَ أَلاَّ يَرْجِعُ إِلَيْهِمْ قَوْلاً وَلاَ يَمْلِكُ لَهُمْ ضَرّاً وَلاَ نَفْعاً

(Did they not see that it could not return them a word (for answer), and that it had no power either to harm them or to do them good) This is about the calf. `Do they not see that it does not respond to them when they ask it and when they speak to it'

وَلاَ يَمْلِكُ لَهُمْ ضَرّاً وَلاَ نَفْعاً

(and that it had no power either to harm them or to do them good) Meaning in their worldly affairs and matters of the Hereafter. Ibn `Abbas said, "Nay, by Allah, the moaning sound of the calf was nothing but wind that would enter into its behind and come out of its mouth, thus causing it to make a sound." In a Hadith of Al-Fitun recorded from Al-Hasan Al-Basri, it is mentioned that this calf's name was Bahmut. In reference to the excuse of these ignorant people, they claimed that they were merely ridding themselves of the jewelry of the Copts. In the process of doing so, they cast the jewelry (into the pit of fire) and ended up worshipping the calf. Thus, they were seeking to rid themselves of something detestable, but wound up doing something even worse. This is similar to an authentic narration reported from `Abdullah bin `Umar. A man from `Iraq asked him about the ruling of mosquitoes' blood if it get on one's garment. The man wanted to know if it is permissible to pray in such a garment or not. Ibn `Umar replied by saying, "Look at the people of `Iraq. They killed the grandson of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, Al-Husayn, and yet they're asking about the blood of the mosquito."

But those he supposed to be following him had remained behind for He exalted be He said ‘Indeed We tried your people after you that is after your departure from them and the Samaritan led them astray’ so they took to worshipping the golden calf.

Who was Samiri?

Some people have said that Samiri was an Egyptian Copt who lived next door to Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) and had accepted the True Faith. When Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) took the Bani Isra'i out of Egypt he also joined the exodus. Others have said that he was the chief of one of the clans of Bani Isra'il called Samira which is still well-known in Syria. According to Sayyidna Said Ibn Jubair ؓ he was a Persian from the Kirman province. Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ says that he belonged to a nation of cow-worshippers who somehow reached Egypt and pretended to join the religion of Bani Isra'il whereas in actual fact he was an hypocrite (Qurtubi). Another version is that he was a Hindu from India who worshipped cows, adopted the religion of Sayyidna Musa Ali truly, and later returned to his infidel faith, or had accepted the true faith in hypocrisy. Samiri's name, as generally believed, was Musa Ibn Zafar. Ibn Jarir has related from Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ that Samiri was born in the year when under the orders of the Pharaoh all male Isra'ili children were to be killed. His mother, fearing the worst, put him in the hallow of a cave and covered its mouth. She would visit him from time to time and feed him as best as she could. On the other hand Allah appointed Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) to look after the child and provide him nourishment. Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) brought honey on one finger, butter on the second finger and milk on the third finger which he fed to the child. He lived in the cave until he grew to manhood and, as has already been narrated above, became an unbeliever, involved the Bani Isra'il in a great disaster and himself suffered a terrible fate as a punishment from Allah. A poet has made a reference to this story in the following two couplets:

اذا المرء لم یخلق سعیدا تحیَّت عقول مربّیہ و خاب المؤمل

فموسی الذی ربّاہ جبریل کافر و موسیٰ الذی ربّاہ فرعون مرسل

If a person is not fortunate in his birth then the minds of those who bring him up are bewildered and those who attach high hopes on him are disillusioned. Lo! The Musa whom Jibra'il brought up became an infidel and the Musa who was raised by the Pharaoh became the Prophet of Allah.