وَٱتَّخَذَ قَوْمُ مُوسَىٰ مِنۢ بَعْدِهِۦ مِنْ حُلِيِّهِمْ عِجْلًا جَسَدًا لَّهُۥ خُوَارٌ ۚ أَلَمْ يَرَوْا۟ أَنَّهُۥ لَا يُكَلِّمُهُمْ وَلَا يَهْدِيهِمْ سَبِيلًا ۘ ٱتَّخَذُوهُ وَكَانُوا۟ ظَـٰلِمِينَ 148
Translations
And the people of Moses made, after [his departure], from their ornaments a calf - an image having a lowing sound. Did they not see that it could neither speak to them nor guide them to a way? They took it [for worship], and they were wrongdoers.
Transliteration
Wa-ttakhaza qawmu Musa min ba'dihi min huliyyihim 'ijlan jasadan lahu khuar. Alam yaraw annahu la yukallimuhum wa la yahdihim sabila. Ittakhazuhu wa kanu zalimin.
Tafsir (Explanation)
After Moses departed to receive the Torah, his people fashioned a golden calf from their ornaments as an object of worship, and it produced a lowing sound. The ayah sarcastically challenges them: did they not see that this calf could neither speak to them nor guide them to any path? Ibn Kathir explains that this act was a grave transgression—they knowingly chose idolatry despite witnessing Allah's miracles, demonstrating the weakness of human resolve when separated from divine guidance.
Revelation Context
This ayah is part of the narrative recounting the incident of the golden calf (al-'ijl al-dhahab), which occurred during Prophet Musa's absence of forty days on Mount Sinai. This Meccan surah presents this story to warn the Quraysh against similar idolatry and to illustrate the consequences of abandoning monotheism. The broader context emphasizes that despite witnessing Allah's signs, people can still fall into shirk if they lack sincere faith.
Related Hadiths
The incident of the golden calf is extensively referenced in Sahih Bukhari (Hadith 3397) where the Prophet Muhammad discusses how Samiri deceived the Israelites. Additionally, in Sahih Muslim, there are hadiths about the punishment the Israelites faced for this transgression, reinforcing the severity of idolatry.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches that intellectual recognition of truth is insufficient without steadfast adherence to it; when believers are tested by the absence of visible leadership or divine signs, they must hold firm to their principles rather than succumb to desires and peer pressure. For modern readers, it serves as a cautionary reminder that material prosperity and borrowed practices can easily lead communities astray from monotheism and truth.
Related Ayahs
قُلْ إِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ رَبِّىَ ٱلْفَوَٰحِشَ مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا وَمَا بَطَنَ وَٱلْإِثْمَ وَٱلْبَغْىَ بِغَيْرِ ٱلْحَقِّ وَأَن تُشْرِكُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ مَا لَمْ يُنَزِّلْ بِهِۦ سُلْطَـٰنًا وَأَن تَقُولُوا۟ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ
Say, "My Lord has only forbidden immoralities - what is apparent of them and what is concealed - and sin, and oppression without right, and that you associate with Allāh that for which He has not sent down authority, and that you say about Allāh that which you do not know."
فَوَسْوَسَ لَهُمَا ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنُ لِيُبْدِىَ لَهُمَا مَا وُۥرِىَ عَنْهُمَا مِن سَوْءَٰتِهِمَا وَقَالَ مَا نَهَىٰكُمَا رَبُّكُمَا عَنْ هَـٰذِهِ ٱلشَّجَرَةِ إِلَّآ أَن تَكُونَا مَلَكَيْنِ أَوْ تَكُونَا مِنَ ٱلْخَـٰلِدِينَ
But Satan whispered to them to make apparent to them that which was concealed from them of their private parts. He said, "Your Lord did not forbid you this tree except that you become angels or become of the immortal."
فَبَدَّلَ ٱلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا۟ مِنْهُمْ قَوْلًا غَيْرَ ٱلَّذِى قِيلَ لَهُمْ فَأَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ رِجْزًا مِّنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ بِمَا كَانُوا۟ يَظْلِمُونَ
But those who wronged among them changed [the words] to a statement other than that which had been said to them. So We sent upon them a punishment from the sky for the wrong that they were doing.
يُرِيدُ أَن يُخْرِجَكُم مِّنْ أَرْضِكُمْ ۖ فَمَاذَا تَأْمُرُونَ
Who wants to expel you from your land [through magic], so what do you instruct?"