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
۞ وَوَٰعَدْنَا مُوسَىٰ ثَلَـٰثِينَ لَيْلَةً وَأَتْمَمْنَـٰهَا بِعَشْرٍ فَتَمَّ مِيقَـٰتُ رَبِّهِۦٓ أَرْبَعِينَ لَيْلَةً ۚ وَقَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِأَخِيهِ هَـٰرُونَ ٱخْلُفْنِى فِى قَوْمِى وَأَصْلِحْ وَلَا تَتَّبِعْ سَبِيلَ ٱلْمُفْسِدِينَ
And We made an appointment with Moses for thirty nights and perfected them by [the addition of] ten; so the term of his Lord was completed as forty nights. And Moses said to his brother Aaron, "Take my place among my people, do right [by them], and do not follow the way of the corrupters."
إِنَّ هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ مُتَبَّرٌ مَّا هُمْ فِيهِ وَبَـٰطِلٌ مَّا كَانُوا۟ يَعْمَلُونَ
Indeed, those [worshippers] - destroyed is that in which they are [engaged], and worthless is whatever they were doing."
وَٱلْبَلَدُ ٱلطَّيِّبُ يَخْرُجُ نَبَاتُهُۥ بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِۦ ۖ وَٱلَّذِى خَبُثَ لَا يَخْرُجُ إِلَّا نَكِدًا ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ نُصَرِّفُ ٱلْـَٔايَـٰتِ لِقَوْمٍ يَشْكُرُونَ
And the good land - its vegetation emerges by permission of its Lord; but that which is bad - nothing emerges except sparsely, with difficulty. Thus do We diversify the signs for a people who are grateful.
خُذِ ٱلْعَفْوَ وَأْمُرْ بِٱلْعُرْفِ وَأَعْرِضْ عَنِ ٱلْجَـٰهِلِينَ
Take what is given freely, enjoin what is good, and turn away from the ignorant.