Surah Ta Ha (Ta Ha) 20 : 87

Overview (Verses 86 - 94)

Justifying Deliberate Error
 
Enraged and full of sorrow, Moses asked his people: “Did not your Lord hold out a goodly promise to you?” (Verse 86) God had promised them victory and to enter the Holy Land as a community believing in His oneness. Only very recently had they witnessed the initial steps towards the complete fulfilment of this promise. Hence, he remonstrated with them: “Did, then, [the fulfilment of] this promise seem to you too long in coming? Or are you determined to see your Lord’s condemnation fall upon you?” (Verse 86) Their action was akin to that perpetrated by one who wants to bring God’s condemnation on his head, so he wilfully and deliberately does what incurs it. Moses asked them if this was why they broke their promise to him to maintain the path he had shown them until his return.
 
They gave him a singular excuse which exposed the effects on their mentality of their long time living in subservience. It is a ludicrous excuse: “We did not break our promise to you of our own free-will.” (Verse 87) It was beyond our ability and control. “But we were loaded with the burdens of the [Egyptian] people’s ornaments, and so we threw them [into the fire].” (Verse 87) They had carried with them loads of jewellery borrowed from Egyptian women. Now they say they wanted to get rid of all these because they were taken unlawfully. The Sāmiriy took these gold articles and made of them the golden calf. The Sāmiriy was either a man from Samaria accompanying them or one of them known by this appellation. When he made the calf, he purposely placed some holes in it, so that when the wind blew, it produced a lowing sound, despite the fact that it had no life or soul. It was merely an inanimate object. But no sooner did they see such a golden calf making such a noise than they forgot their true Lord who had saved them from their humiliation. Most stupidly and inexcusably they started to worship the calf, repeating the ludicrous statement that Moses had been misled when he went to the mountain looking for his deity, while the deity was there with them, as they claimed. They said: “This is your deity and the deity of Moses; but he has forgotten.” (Verse 88)
 
Their stupid remarks also detract from the position of their prophet, Moses, who was the one to accomplish their salvation under God’s guidance. What they said about the calf alleged that Moses had no guiding relationship with his Lord. Hence, he did not know how to find Him, taking the wrong path and looking for him in the wrong place.
 
Yet they were fooled by a simple trick, which they should have easily recognized for what it was. “Why! Did they not see that it could not give them any response, and that it could neither harm nor benefit them?” (Verse 89) It was not even a living calf that could hear them and respond in the way that cows and calves respond. It could not aspire to the status of an ordinary animal. It could not bring them the least harm or benefit, not even fighting with its horns or drawing water from a stream.
 
Moreover, Aaron, their other prophet who deputized for his brother Moses, their saviour, had given them honest and sincere advice, pointing out to them that it was all a test: “And, indeed, Aaron had said to them earlier: My people! You are but being tempted to evil by this calf. Your only Lord is the Most Merciful! Follow me, then, and do as I bid you.” (Verse 90) He assured them that the proper course for them to take was to follow him as they had promised Moses. He told them that Moses was certain to return when his Lord had finished His business with him. Rather than follow his advice, they evaded their responsibility and abandoned their commitment to obey their prophets, saying: “By no means shall we cease worshipping it until Moses comes back to us.” (Verse 91) Thus Moses returned, sorrowful and angry. He listened to his people’s excuses which revealed the extent of their twisted logic. In his anger, he turned to his brother dragging him by his head and beard, crying in his anger: “Aaron, what has prevented you, when you saw that they had gone astray, from following me? Why have you disobeyed me?” (Verses 92-93) He scolded him for allowing them to worship the calf without taking effective action to prevent them. But Aaron was merely obeying his brother’s orders when he had told him not to do anything serious until he returned. Did Aaron, then, disobey his brother by doing so?
 
The sūrah has already stated Aaron’s attitude. Now he explains to his brother what he did, trying to calm his fury and awaken his compassion. He reminds him of their close relationship: “‘Son of my mother,’ he replied, do not seize me by my beard, or by my head! I was afraid that you might say: You have caused a split among the Israelites and did not wait for my orders.” (Verse 94)
 
Here we find Aaron to be far more in control of his emotions. He touches on a tender point in Moses’ feelings, reminding him of their being siblings. He also explains to him that he simply wished to do what his brother had bid him. He feared that should he adopt strong measures the Children of Israel might split into factions, some worshipping the calf, and others following his advice. Since his brother wanted him to take care of them all, keeping them together, he felt that his attitude was simply one of following the orders he had been given.