Tafsir of Surah Ta-Ha - Verse 87

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."

قَالُوا مَا أَخْلَفْنَا مَوْعِدَكَ بِمَلْكِنَا (They said, "We did not back out of our own volition, of the promise made to you". - 20:87) The excuse which the Bani Isra'il offered for adopting the worship of the calf was that they did not do so of their own choice but merely followed Sas example.

وَلَـٰكِنَّا حُمِّلْنَا أَوْزَارً‌ا مِّن زِينَةِ الْقَوْمِ (But we were burdened with loads from the ornaments of the people. - 20:87) The word أَوْزَارً‌ا (awzar) is the plural of وزر (wizr) which means "burden". On the Day of Judgment everybody will carry his bundle of sins on his shoulders just as one carries a load; therefore the sin is also termed as 'wizr' (load). The word زینہ means ornament and قوم (the people) refers to the Egyptians from whom Bani Isra'il had borrowed the ornaments on the pretext of wearing them on their festival day, but which they did not return to their owners and carried with them on their flight from Egypt. These ornaments have been described as اوزار in the sense of "sins" because these were borrowed articles and by not returning them to their lawful owners the Bani Isra'il had committed a sin. From the hadith ul-futun which has been reproduced in detail in the earlier pages it would appear that Sayyidna Harun علیہ السلام warned them about their guilt and directed them to throw all the ornaments in a pit. According to some other versions it was Samiri who told them that by holding on to something which did not belong to them they were committing a sin and advised them to throw all the ornaments in a pit, which they did.

When does the property of infidels become lawful for the Muslims?

The non-Muslims who live in a Muslim state and abide by its laws they are known as Dhimmis. Such people as well as those infidels who have entered into a treaty with the Muslims remain in full control of their properties and it is not lawful for the Muslims to deprive them of any part of it. However, the properties of those infidels who are neither Dhimmis nor have any treaty with the Muslims, and who are described by the jurists as (an infidel belonging to enemy country) are lawful for the Muslims.

That being so why did Sayyidna Harun (علیہ السلام) describe the ornaments borrowed by the Bani Isra'il from the Egyptians as a burden, meaning sin, and ordered them to throw everything in a pit? One explanation, which a majority of commentators have given is that the properties of infidels of an enemy state carried the same status as that of spoils of war. The law governing the spoils of war before the promulgation of the Islamic code was that while the Muslims could forcibly dispossess the infidels of their properties, they were forbidden to use them for their personal benefits. All the spoils of war (مالِ غنِمَت) thus acquired were collected and placed on a mound as offering where a fire from the sky - such as lightning - consumed them and this was a sign that Allah approved their war against the unbelievers. On the other hand if the fire did not consume offering (the spoils of war) it was considered that Allah did not approve their war so that the spoils were regarded as inauspicious and nobody ever approached them. Under the Islamic Shari'ah some of the old laws were relaxed and as a result Muslims were permitted to use the spoils of war for their own benefit. A Hadith on this issue appears in Sahih of Muslim. According to the laws, in force then, even if the ornaments borrowed by the Bani Isra'il from the Egyptians were considered as spoils of war, those could not have been allowed for the personal benefit of Bani Isra'il. That is why everything was thrown into the pit under the orders of Sayyidna Harun (علیہ السلام) .

The research conducted by Imam Muhammad (رح) on this issue from a Juristic point of view is given in his book,: and its commentary by Sarakhsi. His conclusions are very weighty and closest to the truth, namely that the property of a harbi (infidel belonging to an enemy country) cannot be treated as spoils of war in every case. In order to be so treated, and thereby become lawful for the Muslims, it must have been acquired by sword in the course of a proper religious war (jihad). On the other hand the property of a harbi (a citizen of an enemy state) which has been acquired otherwise than in a religious war cannot be treated as spoils of war. Such properties are however termed as فَییء (fai' ) which can be used lawfully by the Muslims only with the consent of the owner. Taxes imposed by an Islamic state and paid by the infidels voluntarily fall in the definition of fai' and their use is permissible even though they have not been acquired in the course of a religious war.

The ornaments borrowed by the Bani Isra'il did not fall in either of these two categories. They could not be described as fai' because they were borrowed from the Egyptians who did not transfer their ownership to Bani Isra'il, nor could they be considered as spoils of war because they were not taken in the course of a religious war. Thus according to the Islamic Shari'ah the Bani Isra'il could not have lawfully used the ornaments for their personal benefit.

It is well-known that when the Holy Prophet ﷺ decided to migrate to Madinah, he had with him many valuables which the infidels of Arabia had entrusted to him for safe custody because they had full faith in his honesty and integrity and had, in recognition of these qualities, bestowed upon him the title of Amin ( اَمِین۔ honest). He was so solicitous about these deposits that he placed them in the hands of Sayyidna ` Ali ؓ and specifically directed him to restore them to their rightful owners before migrating to Madinah. This clearly shows that it is not lawful for Muslims to appropriate, for their personal use, the valuables belonging to non-Muslims.

The word فَقَذَفنٰھَا - means, "we cast away the ornaments". According to the hadtth-ul-futun (narrated earlier in detail) this was done under the orders of Sayyidna Harun (علیہ السلام) while some other versions say that Samiri cajoled the Bani Isra'il into throwing the ornaments in the pit. It is quite possible that both these versions are true (as appears below).

فَكَذَٰلِكَ أَلْقَى السَّامِرِ‌يُّ (So did throw Samiri - 20:87) It appears from the hadith-ul-futun related by Sayyidna ` Abdullah Ibn ` Abbas ؓ (reported in earlier pages) that after the Bani Isra'il had thrown away all the ornaments, Sayyidna Harun (علیہ السلام) ordered a big fire to be lit in the pit which melted them and left them in one solid piece. The decision as to the disposal of this precious metal was deferred till the return of Sayyidna Musa' (علیہ السلام) . After all this had happened Samiri approached Sayyidna Harun (علیہ السلام) . He had something in his closed fists and sought permission to throw it in the pit. Sayyidna Harun (علیہ السلام) thinking that he held some ornaments in his fists permitted him to cast them in the pit. Then Samiri said, "I will certainly throw it, but first I want you to pray to God that a wish which I have may be granted." Sayyidna Harun (علیہ السلام) ، unaware of the evil which he planned, prayed to Allah in his behalf, and Samiri opened his hands and threw what he held in the pit. It was not ornaments but only dust from under the hoof marks of the horse of Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) which Samiri had collected after he observed that signs of life appeared in the dust under the hoof marks of the horse. Aided by Shaitan he now wished to put life into a calf by means of this dust. Nevertheless, whether it was the result of the miraculous property of the dust or whether it was a consequence of the prayer of Sayyidna Harun (علیہ السلام) in behalf of Samiri, the molten lump of gold and silver assumed the form of a calf and started making bovine sounds. There are other traditions also which relate that it was Samiri himself who persuaded the Bani Isra'il to throw the ornaments in the pit after which he carved the molten metal in the shape of a calf which had no life. He then sprinkled on it the dust from the hoof marks of the mount of Sayyidna Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) and it became a living calf. All these and similar stories which are based on Isra'ilite traditions have been related by Qurtubi in his commentary and by other writers as well. These traditions cannot be wholly relied upon, yet at the same time we do not possess sufficient ground to disprove them either.

According to ancient custom, the Israelite women were probably laden with heavy jewelry. During the journey when the community halted to set up camp, the women removed their jewels and put them all together in one place. Among the Israelites, there was one al-Samiri (the Samaritan) who was experienced in the old Egyptian art of making likenesses of deities. He melted these jewels down and made from them a calf-shaped statue. This calf was hollow from inside and shaped so skillfully that when the breeze passed through it, it gave out a sound like the lowing of a bull. Then al-Samiri said to the ignorant Israelite community, ‘See, here is your real God, and Moses has gone in search of God, to which mountains nobody knows.’ The ‘Samiris’ of every age fool the people in exactly the same way. They make a fetish of some tangible thing, then try to prove that it is the greatest reality. Being duped by their glib talk, large crowds of gullible people gather around them. Worship of material objects has been the greatest weakness of man from time immemorial till the present day.