Tafsir of Surah Ta-Ha - Verse 97

How As-Samiri made the Calf

Musa said to As-Samiri, "What caused you to do what you did What presented such an idea to you causing you to do this" Muhammad bin Ishaq reported from Ibn `Abbas that he said, "As-Samiri was a man from the people of Bajarma, a people who worshipped cows. He still had the love of cow worshipping in his soul. However, he acted as though he had accepted Islam with the Children of Israel. His name was Musa bin Zafar." Qatadah said, "He was from the village of Samarra."

قَالَ بَصُرْتُ بِمَا لَمْ يَبْصُرُواْ بِهِ

((Samiri) said: "I saw what they saw not.") This means, "I saw Jibril when he came to destroy Fir`awn."

فَقَبَضْتُ قَبْضَةً مِّنْ أَثَرِ الرَّسُولِ

(so I took a handful (Qabdah) from the print of the messenger) This means from the hoof print of his (Jibril's) horse. This is what is well-known with many of the scholars of Tafsir, rather most of them. Mujahid said,

فَقَبَضْتُ قَبْضَةً مِّنْ أَثَرِ الرَّسُولِ

(so I took a handful (Qabdah) from the print of the messenger) "From under the hoof of Jibril's horse." He also said, "The word Qabdah means a palmful, and it is also that which is grasped by the tips of the fingers." Mujahid said, "As-Samiri threw what was in his hand onto the jewelry of the Children of Israel and it became molded into the body of a calf, which made a light moaning sound. The wind that blew into it was the cause of its sound." Thus, he said,

فَنَبَذْتُهَا

(and I threw it.) This means, "I threw it along with those who were throwing (jewelry)."

وَكَذلِكَ سَوَّلَتْ لِى نَفْسِى

(Thus my inner self suggested to me.) This means that his soul considered it something good and it was pleasing to his self.

The Punishment of As-Samiri and the burning of the Calf Thereupon,

قَالَ فَاذْهَبْ فَإِنَّ لَكَ فِى الْحَيَوةِ أَن تَقُولَ لاَ مِسَاسَ

((Musa) said: "Then go away! And verily, your (punishment) in this life will be that you will say: `Touch me not."') This means, "Just as you took and touched what was not your right to take and touch of the messenger's foot print, such is your punishment in this life, that you will say, `Do not touch (me)."' This means, "You will not touch the people and they will not touch you."

وَإِنَّ لَكَ مَوْعِداً

(and verily, you have a promise) This means on the Day of Resurrection.

لَّن تُخْلَفَهُ

(that will not fail.) you will have no way to escape it. Qatadah said,

أَن تَقُولَ لاَ مِسَاسَ

(that you will say: `Touch me not.') "This is referring to a punishment for them and their remnants (i.e. those who have their disease) today still say `Do not touch."' Concerning Allah's statement,

وَإِنَّ لَكَ مَوْعِداً لَّن تُخْلَفَهُ

(and verily, you have a promise that will not fail.) Al-Hasan, Qatadah and Abu Nahik said, "You will not be absent from it."

وَانظُرْ إِلَى إِلَـهِكَ

(And look at your god) that which you worshipped,

الَّذِى ظَلْتَ عَلَيْهِ عَاكِفاً

(to which you have been devoted.) that which you established worship of, which was the calf.

إِنَّمَآ إِلَـهُكُمُ اللَّهُ الَّذِى لا إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ وَسِعَ كُلَّ شَىْءٍ عِلْماً

(Your God is only Allah, there is no God but Him. He has full knowledge of all things.) Musa was saying to them, "This is not your god. Your God is only Allah, the One Whom there is no true God except Him. Worship is not befitting to anyone except Him. For everything is in need of Him and everything is His servant. Concerning the statement,

وَسِعَ كُلَّ شَىْءٍ عِلْماً

(He has full knowledge of all things.) The word `Ilm (knowledge) is in the accusative case for distinction. It means that He is the All-Knower of everything.

أَحَاطَ بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ عِلْمَا

((Allah) surrounds all things in (His) knowledge. ) 65:12 And He says,

وَأَحْصَى كُلَّ شَىْءٍ عَدَداً

(And (He) keeps count of all things.) 72:28 Therefore,

لاَ يَعْزُبُ عَنْهُ مِثْقَالُ ذَرَّةٍ

(Not even the weight of a speck of dust escapes His knowledge.) 34:3 He also says,

وَمَا تَسْقُطُ مِن وَرَقَةٍ إِلاَّحَبَّةٍ فِى ظُلُمَـتِ الاٌّرْضِ وَلاَ رَطْبٍ وَلاَ يَابِسٍ إِلاَّ فِى كِتَـبٍ مُّبِينٍ

(Not a leaf falls, but He knows it. There is not a grain in the darkness of the earth nor anything fresh or dry, but is written in a Clear Record.) 6:59 And He says,

وَمَا مِن دَآبَّةٍ فِي الاٌّرْضِ إِلاَّ عَلَى اللَّهِ رِزْقُهَا وَيَعْلَمُ مُسْتَقَرَّهَا وَمُسْتَوْدَعَهَا كُلٌّ فِى كِتَابٍ مُّبِينٍ

(And no moving creature is there on earth but its provision is due from Allah. And He knows its dwelling place and its deposit. All is in a Clear Book.) 11:6 The Ayat that mention this are numerous.

لَكَ فِي الْحَيَاةِ أَن تَقُولَ لَا مِسَاسَ

For your fate in this life is to say: 'Do not touch me'.- 20:97

The punishment proposed by Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) for Samiri in this world was that everyone should sever all contacts with him and not to come near him, and he too was commanded not to touch anyone. Thus he was condemned to spend the rest of his life away from all social contacts - like a wild animal. Whether this punishment was awarded to him by Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) by means of a law which was binding on Samiri as well as on the Bani Isra'il, or whether Samiri was smitten by some peculiar affliction which deterred people from making any physical contact with him, is not known. Some traditions have it that Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) had laid a curse on Samiri so that if anyone touched him then both the parties came down with fever (Ma` alim). Thus he spent all his life hiding from people and whenever he saw someone approaching him, he would call out لَامِسَاسَ (Don't touch me). It is mentioned in Ruh ul-Ma` ani on the authority of Al-Bahr ul-Muhit that initially Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) had intended to execute Samiri but Allah stopped him because Samiri was a very generous person and helped people who were in distress.

The word لَنُحَرِّقَنَّہ، means "we will certainly burn it". Here the question arises: how could the calf which was carved from gold and silver be burnt, because these metals when subjected to extreme heat are melted but are not reduced to ashes. Several possibilities have been advanced. The first is that after signs of life appeared in it, the calf ceased to be a figure of gold and silver and became an animal of flesh and blood in which case it could be slaughtered and burnt. The second explanation is that it could be filed with a rasp into very minute particles of dust (Ad-Dur al-Manthur). A third explanation is that it could be burnt by means of some chemical device (Rub u1-Ma` ani). There is yet a fourth explanation, namely that the calf could be burnt by some miracle (Bayanul-Qur’ an).

When Moses came to know that Samiri was the leader behind this episode, he made enquiries of him. Samiri cunningly made excuses and said that whatever he had done was done under the influence of divine inspiration (kashf) and that some earth taken from the footprint of the Prophet Moses himself had been included in the idol as being auspicious. Samiri’s attempt to deceive Moses and at the same time win cheap popularity in his community cast a more serious light upon his crime. For his sins, God punished him (according to the Bible) with the disease of leucoderma, with additional punishment to be meted out to him in the life hereafter. His body became so obnoxious that people used to shun him. He became the most hated person in his community. In order to cleanse the Israelites’ minds of the false impression they had formed of the greatness of the calf deity, Moses burnt it before their eyes and floated the ashes in the sea.