Prophet Mūsā: Part 5 — The Calf, the Seventy and the Cow
Section 3 of 23 · Lives of the Prophets
It Could Not Return a Word
أَفَلَا يَرَوْنَ أَلَّا يَرْجِعُ إِلَيْهِمْ قَوْلًا وَلَا يَمْلِكُ لَهُمْ ضَرًّا وَلَا نَفْعًا وَلَقَدْ قَالَ لَهُمْ هَـٰرُونُ مِن قَبْلُ يَـٰقَوْمِ إِنَّمَا فُتِنتُم بِهِۦ ۖ وَإِنَّ رَبَّكُمُ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنُ فَٱتَّبِعُونِى وَأَطِيعُوٓا۟ أَمْرِى
“Have they not been seeing that it did not respond to them (even) with a word, nor did it have power to harm or benefit them? Hārūn had already said to them, “O my people, you have only been led astray with it, and your Lord is the RaHmān (All-Merciful). So follow me and obey my command.”” (20:89–90)
Allah (swt) says: did they not see that it could not return them a word, and that it had no power either to harm them or to do them any good? And Hārūn (peace be upon him) advised them. And Hārūn had indeed said to them beforehand: O my people, you are being tried by this, and verily your Lord is the Most Gracious, so follow me and obey my order.
Hārūn (peace be upon him) had been appointed to be the leader over Banū Isrāʾīl in the absence of Mūsā. And Hārūn had indeed said to his people beforehand: O my people, you are being tried by this — this is a fitnah; it is a test from Allah (swt) — and verily your Lord is Allah, the Most Gracious, so follow me and obey my order. Hārūn (peace be upon him) is telling them: Allah is your Lord, so obey me and follow my order. I am the amīr; I am the khalīfah over you. Because Mūsā had told Hārūn: ukhlufnī fī qawmī — be the successor, be the leader over the people, in my absence. So he appointed Hārūn, and Hārūn told the people: you have to obey me — fa-ttabiʿūnī wa aṭīʿū amrī.
But Banū Isrāʾīl were already set in their stubbornness to worship the calf. Subḥān Allāh, this calf was so attractive to them. Allah (swt) says: wa ushribū fī qulūbihimu al-ʿijl — their hearts absorbed it. Even long afterwards, the residue of that ʿijl was still in their hearts; this is from long after. Allah (swt) says: wa ushribū fī qulūbihimu al-ʿijla bi-kufrihim — they absorbed the love of the calf into their hearts because of their kufr. And Allah knows best: were they loving the calf because of the sounds it was making, or was it because the ʿijl was made of gold?
قَالُوا۟ لَن نَّبْرَحَ عَلَيْهِ عَـٰكِفِينَ حَتَّىٰ يَرْجِعَ إِلَيْنَا مُوسَىٰ
“They said, “We will never cease to stay with it in devotion, until Mūsā returns to us.”” (20:91)
What was their response to Hārūn? They said: we will not stop worshipping the calf until Mūsā comes back to us. Do whatever you want; we are not going to stop worshipping the calf.