Transliteration:( Wa jaawaznaa bi Banneee Israaa'eelal bahra fa ataw 'alaa qawminy ya'kufoona 'alaaa asnaamil lahum; qaaloo yaa Moosaj'al lanaa ilaahan kamaa lahum aalihah; qaala innakum qawmun tajhaloon )
293 By sea is meant Red Sea and not River Nile Qulzoom is a city situated between Makkah Muazzama and Egypt, very near Sinai. This sea flows through this city Hence, its name. The Israelites crossed the sea on Friday, the tenth Muharram, as a result of which fasting on this day is Sunnat.
294. These people were the descendants of Kan'aan and from the tribe of AMALIQAH. Hazrat Musa (On him be peace) was ordered to wage war against these people. These idols were in the shape of cows which really created in the hearts of the Israelites the desire for calf-worship which later gave rise to cow- worship.
295. This was not said by the entire Israelites because amongst them were Hazrat Harun (On him be peace) and other pious servants of Allah Almighty, but by those masses who as yet had not declared faith. From this we learn that mere thought and suspicion about infidelity is not infidelity. Yes, the desire for infidelity is infidelity. Hazrat Musa (On him be peace) on hearing these masses did not declare them as apostates, nor were they entitled to be punished, or asked them to repent from their infidelity which was the least he could have done.
296. After having seen so many miracles you have not as yet realised that Allah Almighty is the only Being worthy of worship. This tells us that man is very forgetful
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138. And We brought the Children of Israel (with safety) across the sea, and they came upon a people devoted to some of their idols (in worship). They said: “O Musa! Make for us a god as they have gods.†He said: “Verily, you are an ignorant people.†139. ï´¿Musa added:ï´¾ “Verily, these people will be destroyed for that which they are engaged in (idols’ worship). And all that they are doing is in vain.â€
Allah mentions the words that the ignorant ones among the Children of Israel uttered to Musa after they crossed the sea and witnessed Allah’s Ayat and great power.
(And they came upon a people devoted to some of their idols (in worship).) Some scholars of Tafsir said that the people mentioned here were from Canaan, or from the tribe of Lakhm. Ibn Jarir commented, “They were worshipping idols that they made in the shape of cows, and this influenced the Children of Israel later when they worshipped the calf. They said here,
(“O Musa! Make for us a god as they have gods.†He said: “Verily, you are an ignorant people.â€) Musa replied, you are ignorant of Allah’s greatness and majesty and His purity from any partners or anything resembling Him.
(“Verily, these people will be destroyed for that which they are engaged in) they will perish,
(“and all that they are doing is in vain.â€) Commenting on this Ayah, Imam Abu Ja`far bin Jarir reported from Abu Waqid Al-Laythi that they (the Companions) went out from Makkah with the Messenger of Allah for (the battle of) Hunayn. Abu Waqid said, “Some of the disbelievers had a lote tree whose vicinity they used to remain in, and upon which they would hang their weapons on. That tree was called `Dhat Al-Anwat’. So when we passed by a huge, green lote tree, we said, `O Messenger of Allah! Appoint for us a Dhat Al-Anwat as they have.’ He said,
(by He in Whose Hand is my soul! You said just as what the people of Musa said to him:
( (“Make for us a god as they have gods.†He said: “Verily, you are an ignorant people. Verily, these people will be destroyed for that which they are engaged in, and all that they are doing is in vain.â€))â€
98. The point at which the Israelites probably crossed the Red Sea lies somewhere between the present Suez and Ismailia. After that they headed towards the south of the Sinai peninsula along the coastal route. The western and northern regions of the Sinai peninsula were then included in the Egyptian empire. In the southern part of the peninsula, in the area lying between the present towns of Tur and Abu Zanimah, there were copper and turquoise mines. Since these were of immense value to the Egyptians, a number of garrisons had been set up to ensure their security’. One such garrison was located at a place known as Mafqah, which also housed a big temple. The ruins of this temple can still be found in the south-western part of the peninsula. In its vicinity there was an ancient temple, dedicated to the moon-god of the Semites. Passing by these places the people of Israel, who had been subservient to the Egyptians for a long time and were thus considerably Egyptianized in their outlook, felt the desire to indulge in idol-worship.
The extent to which the Israelites had become degenerated as a result of their slavery may be gauged by Joshua’s last address to the Israelites delivered seventy years after their exodus from Epypt:
Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24: 14-15).
This shows that even though the Israelites had been taught and trained by Moses for forty Years and by Joshua for twenty-eight years, they had still been unable to purge their minds of those influences which had warped their outlook and mentality during their period of bondage under Pharaoh. These Muslims had begun to look upon idol-worship as natural. Even after their exodus, the sight of a temple would incline them to indulge in the idolatrous practices which they had observed among their former masters.
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