The Golden Calf
_-_People_Turn_away_from_God_001.jpg) When Moses arrived at the Camp with the tablets in his
hand, he was confronted with a sight he never hoped to see. A large portion of
the Israelites were singing and dancing around, and prostrating to, a statue of
a calf made out of precious metals. Although he had been warned by God that
this was the case, the actual sight was more than he could bear. Furious, he
threw down the tablets he was carrying, upon which the scripture and criterion had
been written.
The statue, perhaps due to some instrumental
property which utilized any breeze that swept it, made a lowing sound. Not
that this was an excuse for taking it to be miraculously alive, God said:
“…Could they not see that it was able neither to speak
nor to guide them to a way? They took it for worship, and they were wrongdoers.”
(Quran 7:148)
He stormed into the middle of the crowd,
aggrieved at the impatience of the people. Did the promise God gave them seem
too long in coming? Did they want God to bring His wrath down on them? Was
that why they broke their promise to him?
“They said: ‘We didn’t break our promise of our own
free will. But we have been made to carry the weight of the ornaments of the
people, so we cast them into the fire as Samiri suggested.’” (Quran 20:87)
Samiri had a reason for inciting the people to
throw the ornaments that had taken from the Egyptians as loot. When Moses
asked him what it was, Samiri said that he had seen what no other had, the
angel Gabriel at the crossing, and had taken some dust from his horse’s hoof
print. His inner soul had prompted him, he said, to throw that dust into the
kiln along with the precious metals and jewelry. Then he had taken the cast
out and suggested that it was their God, except that Moses had forgotten it.
So Moses made his judgment:
“Then you are exiled! And verily, your (punishment) in
this life is that you must say: “Touch me not!” and verily, you have a promise (of
torment in the Hereafter) that will not fail…” (Quran 20:97)
Then he tuned on his brother, grabbing him by
the head: ‘What stopped you from coming after me, as I instructed, when you
saw the people going astray?’
Aaron answered with conciliating words: ‘O
son of my mother,’ he said, reminding him of his fraternal relationship, ‘Verily,
I feared lest you should say: “You have caused a division among the Children of
Israel, and you have not respected my word!”’ (Quran 20:94)
He further told him that the people had been
threatening to kill him.
Moved, Moses prayed:
“O Lord, forgive me and my brother and admit us unto
Your Mercy; for You are the most Merciful of the merciful.” (Quran 7:151)
After that, he destroyed the statue and
scattered its particles. His next job was to deal with the hardcore of the
miscreants. Some of the participants in the misdeed repented that they had
weakly gone astray, and then staunchly returned to obedience. The ones,
however, who had stopped hypocritically because they were forced had to be
dealt with. Moses said:
“O my people, you have indeed wronged yourself by
taking the golden calf for worship. So [those who believe] repent to your
Creator and [let the righteous among you] kill
[the unrighteous souls among you].
That is the best for all of you in the sight of your Creator.” (Quran 2:54)
The Elders Refuse to Obey Moses
When Moses recovered his temper, he picked up
the tablets. He then
called out seventy men from the tribes. They were
to go with him to the mountain and make their repentance to God there. He told
them that the tablets had God’s Book written on them informing His people what
He commands and what he forbids, ‘as a Guidance and a Mercy’.
They wanted more from Moses than just hearsay.
They asked God to give them a Book to which they would adhere, openly in
person, and claimed they would not believe what he told them until they saw God
himself. In one narration, they asked ‘Why does he not talk to us as He talks
to you, Moses?’
So the Wrath of God fell upon them and a
thunderbolt struck them, and they all died.
When they fell down dead, Moses prayed to God. He
asked God what he should say to the rest of Israelites about the destruction of
‘the best of them’. He said:
“…Would you destroy us (all) for what the foolish
among us have done? This is not but your trial by which You will send astray
whom You will and guide whom You will. You are our protector, so forgive us
and have mercy on us. And You are the best of forgivers. And decree for us in
this world that which is good, and also in the Hereafter; indeed we have turned
back to You…” (Quran 7:155-156)
In Moses observing that their deaths were a
trial, he recognized that God did not mean to kill the elders permanently, but
to teach them a lesson they would never forget. When he asked God for good,
this was his hope and real request. Some scholars say that God accepted the
repentance they would
manifest on returning to life, as the words, “Indeed He is the Acceptor of
Repentance, the Most Merciful.” (Quran 2:54) and “We raised you up after
your death so you may be grateful.” (Quran 2:56) indicate. For if ‘raising
up’ meant on the Day of Judgment, they would not be grateful for what they
would be due, having died in a state of rebellion without having repented. And
so He brought them back to life.
It may be that among these elders were those who
would help Moses and Aaron in he future to guide the people to doing good and
shunning evil. Their resurrection would then be of benefit, not only to
themselves, but to the people of Israel. This might also be why they had been
excluded from the killing of the unrighteous mentioned earlier, as they would
have returned to righteousness after this experience.
Whatever the reason may be, it is clear that
Gods Mercy extends even to the stubborn who try to make conditions on God. For,
if they can be guided, God will guide them, even if not by the means originally
sought by them. The concomitant reality is that those who do not desire to be
guided will not be guided by any means. So, whether they die sooner or later,
or even if they died and then were returned to the world, they would still be
disbelievers on the Day of Judgment and therefore never gain the reward of Paradise in the Hereafter. Rather, their promised destination would be Hell.
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