Araf 148

Araf 148 

148- AND THE PEOPLE OF MOSES MADE OUT OF THEIR ORNAMENTS AN OX BODY THAT LOWED, DO THEY NOT SEE THAT IT DOES NOT SPEAK TO THEM NOR GUIDE THEM TO THE RIGHT PATH.  THEY TOOK IT FOR WORSHIPING AND FOR THAT THEY WERE TRANSGRESSORS.

They Children of Israel were weak and meek in Egypt.  They had jewellery which they took with them from Egypt; some say that they took it from their Egyptian masters.  When Moses, peace upon him left them for his 40 days appointment with Allah the Highest, they decided to make a golden calf out of their gold jewellery in order to worship it as a god.  They made the golden calf and started to worship it before the end of the forty days, for Moses returned to find them worshipping the golden calf.   

I should note, that the calf was worshiped in Pharaonic Egypt, where the Children of Israel lived for many years.  The statues of the idol calves there, were normally made of stone not of gold.  However the children of Israel wanted a magnificent god.

The forty days during which Moses, peace upon him, was away at his meeting with Allah the Highest, was all the time it took for the Children of Israel to, discuss worshipping the calf, deciding, collecting the Jewellery, make the mould, melt the gold and make the calf and to start worshipping it.  It was a feat to have that done in such a short time, and they must have started the minute Moses turned his back on them.  

Allah the Highest is rebuking them in saying: “DO THEY NOT SEE THAT IT DOES NOT SPEAK TO THEM NOR GUIDE THEM TO THE RIGHT PATH”.

The transgression and sin they committed was not like any other disbelievers,  it was much worse because:-

1. They disbelieved after having believed.
2. They disbelieved while Allah’s prophets were still with them.  They knew that Moses was just going away for 40 days, and in the meantime, Aaron who was also a prophet remained with them.
3. They disbelieved after just witnessing with their own eyes, many great miracles which Allah the Highest performed to support and save them as well as feed and water them in the desert.

All of the above made their idol worshipping and disbelieve even the more sinful.