The Story of Moses and Aaron (Musa and Haroon, Part-5:5) Then Moses returned to his people in a state of anger and sorrow. He said: O my people! Did not your Lord promise you a fair promise? Did then the promise seem to you long in coming? Or did you desire the Wrath should descend from your Lord on you, so you broke your promise to me (disbelieving in Allah and worshipping the calf)? [Ch 20: 83-86 Quran] Allah the Exalted revealed what happened further on Mosess return. Moses said: O Aaron! What stopped you when you saw them going astray, that you followed me not (according to my advice to you)? Have you then disobeyed my order? He (Aaron) said; O my son of my mother! Seize me not by my beard, nor by my head! Verily, I feared lest you should say: You have caused a division among the children of Israel, and you have not respected my word! (Moses) said: And what is the matter with you, O Samiri? (why did you do so?) Samiri said: I saw what you saw not, so I took a handful of dust from the hoof print of the Messenger (Gabriels horse) and threw it (into the fire in which were put the ornaments of the Pharaohs people, or into the calf). Thus my inner-self suggested to me. Moses said: Then go away! And verily, your punishment in this life will be that you will say: Touch me not (you will live alone exiled away from mankind); and verily (for a future torment), you have a promise that will not fail. And look at your ilah (god), to which you have been devoted. We will certainly burn it, and scatter its particles in the sea. [Ch 20:83-98 Quran] However, the punishment which was imposed upon the calf worshippers was severe, death. Remember when Moses said to his people: O my people! Verily, you have wronged yourselves by worshipping the calf. So turn in repentance to your Creator and kill yourselves (the innocent kill the wrong doers among you), that will be better for you in the Sight of your Creator. Then He accepted your repentance. Truly, He is the One Who accepts repentance, the Most Merciful. [Ch 2:54 Quran] Therefore, the crime of worshipping the calf did not pass unpunished. Moses commanded the elite of the children of Israel to pray to Allah for forgiveness and demonstrate their repentance. He chose seventy men out of them and ordered them: Rush towards Allah and repent for what you did and ask His forgiveness for what you left. Moses returned to Mount Sinai with the seventy elders and there he communicated with Allah. The elders heard Moses speaking with his Lord. (Allah spoke to Moses directly.) This was, perhaps, the last miracle that they would see, and it was hoped that it would be sufficient enough to convey the religion to their hearts forever. However, the seventy elite who heard the miracles were dissatisfied. They said to Moses: O Moses! We shall never believe in you till we see Allah plainly. [Ch 2:35 Quran] This was a tragedy that amazes one. It was a tragedy that indicated those who were hard-hearted and who continued to hold onto sensual and material concerns. Their stubborn demand was rewarded with punishing lightning bolts and a violent quaking that stupefied their souls and bodies at once, leaving them dead. Moses knew what had happened to the seventy elite and was filled with sorrow. He prayed to his Lord, entreating Him to forgive them, for they were fools. Foolishness is only expiated by death. Allah forgave the elders and revived them after their death. Allah the Exalted declared: Moses chose out of his people seventy of the best men for Our appointed time and place of meeting, and when they were seized with a violent earthquake, he said: O my Lord, if it had been Your Will, You could have destroyed them and me before; would You destroy us for the deeds of the foolish ones among us? It is only Your Trial by which You lead astray whom You will, and keep guided whom You will. You are our Wali (Protector), so forgive us and have Mercy on us, for You are the Best of Those who forgive. And ordain for us good in this world, and in the Hereafter. Certainly we have turned unto You. He said (as to ) My Punishment I afflict therewith whom I will and My Mercy embraces all things. That (Mercy) I shall ordain for those who are the Muttaqun and give Zakat; and those who believe in our Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.); Those who follow the Messenger, the Prophet who can neither read nor write (Muhammad) whom they find written with them in the Torah and the Gospel, [Ch 7:155-157 Quran , Deut. 18:18; Psl. 118:22-23; Isa 42:1-13; Hab, 3:3-4, Matt 21:42-43, Jn 14:16-17, 26-28, 16:7-14) he commands them for Al Maruf (Islamic Monotheism and all that Islam has ordained); and forbids them from Al Munkar (disbelief, polytheism, of all kinds, and all that Islam has forbidden); he allows them as lawful At Tayyibat (all good and lawful) as regards things, deeds beliefs, persons, food, etc. and prohibits them as unlawful Al Khabaith (all evil and unlawful as regards things, deeds, beliefs, persons, food, etc.), he releases them from their heavy burdens (of Allahs Covenant), and from the fetters (bindings) that were upon them. So those who believe in him (Muhammad), honor him, help him, and follow the light (the Quran] which has been sent down with him, it is they who will be successful. [Ch 7:155-157 Quran] Moses (pbuh) stayed among his people calling them to Allah. It seems their souls were uneasy in a way that the observant eye could not mistake. Their obstinacy and chattering about what has become known as The Story of the Cow was unwarranted. This topic did not need so many negotiations between Moses and the people, nor did it need all their bias. It was said that among the children of Israel there lived a pious man. He was poor but very careful about how he earned the living; it had to be honestly earned. Everything that he did was done for the sake of Allah, never for selfish gain. On his deathbed his last words were: O Allah, I place my wife, my little son, and my only possession, a calf, in Your care. Strangely, he asked his wife to lead the calf to the forest and leave it there. He did this because he did not trust the children of Israel, for they were a selfish and greedy folk. After a few years when the boy had grown up, his mother told him: Your father has left you a calf in the trust of Allah. It must have grown into a cow by now. The son was surprised. He did not know of any calf all these years and asked his mother where it was. She replied: Be like your father and say: I trust in Allah, then go look for it. With a rope in his hand, he went to the forest and prostrated himself before Allah: O Allah, Lord of Abraham and Jacob and Job, return to me my fathers trust. As he raised his head, he saw a cow coming towards him. It stopped submissively beside him. He tied the rope around its neck and led it to his house. The cow would not allow anyone else come near it except the young man. The youth was as pious as his father. He earned his living by cutting wood. Whatever he earned he divided into three equal portions; one he gave to his mother, one he used for his needs, and the last he gave as charity. His nights, too, were divided into three parts; during the early part of the night he helped his mother, the middle part he devoted to the worship of Allah, and during the last part he rested. About this a wealthy man died, leaving behind an only son, who inherited his fathers wealth. His cousins envied his good fortune, and secretly killed him so that they could inherit it. The dead boys other relatives came to the Prophet Moses (pbuh) and asked his help in tracing the boys murderer. Moses instructed them to slaughter a cow, remove its tongue and place it on the corpse. This would reveal the murderer, he told them. They accused Moses of joking. He replied: Allah forbid that I be foolish! They questioned him about the type of cow they should slaughter, and he said: This cow is neither young nor mature, but in between the two conditions, so do as you have been commanded. Instead of following his direction, they asked him more questions. What color must it be? He replied: Verily, it is yellow in color. They still were not satisfied with his answer and asked for more details. Moses replied: It is an unyoked cow; it does not plow the soil nor water the tilth, and is entirely without marks. They went out in search of such a cow. The only one that matched the description was the one owned by the orphaned youth. They met him on the way and asked the price for which he would sell his cow. He told them he would have to consult his mother first, so they accompanied him to his house and offered her three gold coins. She refused their offer, saying that the cow was worth much more. They were on increasing their offer and the mother kept on refusing. Finally the urged the son to speak to his mother to be reasonable. He told them: I will not sell the cow without my mothers approval, even if you offered me its skin filled with gold! On hearing this, his mother smiled and said: Let that be the price: its skin filled with gold. They realized that no other cow would do; they had to have it at any price. They agreed to buy the cow and paid with its skin filled with gold. Allah the Almighty narrated: And remember when Moses said to his people: Verily, Allah commands you that you slaughter a cow. They said: Do you make fun of us? He said: I take Allahs Refuge from being among Al-Jahileen (the ignorants or the foolish). They said: Call upon your Lord for us that He may make plain to us what it is! He said: He says, Verily, it is a cow neither too old nor too young, but it is between the two conditions, so do what you are commanded. They said; Call upon your Lord for us to make plai
Posted on: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 04:15:41 +0000