Transliteration:( Wa iz waa'adnaa Moosaaa arba'eena lailatan summattakhaztumul 'ijla mim ba'dihee wa antum zaalimoon )
95. This verse is a clear proof of keeping 40 day seclusion. Thus, obtaining Allah's bounties through 40 days of I'tikaaf, Fasting etc. is a way of the Prophets. Our Holy Prophet too would sit in meditation in the Cave of Hira prior to the commencement of Revelation.
96. This verse expounds the prohibition of making idols whether from sand, metal or through photography. Allah Almighty had referred to the idolising of the calf as an oppressive act.
51. And (remember) when We appointed for Musa (Moses) forty nights, and (in his absence) you took the calf (for worship), and you were Zalimun (polytheists and wrongdoers). 52. Then after that We forgave you so that you might be grateful. 53. And (remember) when We gave Musa the Scripture (the Tawrah)) and the criterion (of right and wrong) so that you may be guided aright.
Allah then said, “Remember My favor on you when I forgave you for worshipping the calf.” This happened after Musa went to the meeting place with his Lord at the end of that period which was forty days. These forty days were mentioned in Surat Al-A`raf, when Allah said,
(And We appointed for Musa thirty nights and added (to the period) ten (more)) (7:142).
It was said that these days were during the month of Dhul-Qa`dah plus the first ten days in Dhul-Hijjah, after the Children of Israel were delivered from Fir`awn and they safely crossed the sea. Allah’s statement,
(And (remember) when We gave Musa the Scripture) means, the Tawrah,
(And the criterion) that is that which differentiates between truth and falsehood, guidance and deviation.
(So that you may be guided aright), after escaping the sea, as another Ayah in Surat Al-A`raf clearly stated,
(And indeed We gave Musa ـ after We had destroyed the generations of old ـ the Scripture (the Tawrah) as an enlightenment for mankind, and a guidance and a mercy, that they might remember (or receive admonition)) (28:43).
67. When the Israelites reached the Sinai peninsula after their exodus from Egypt, God summoned Moses to the mountain for forty days and nights so that the nation which had now achieved independence could be taught law and morality. (See Exodus 24-3l.)
68. The cult of cow-worship was widespread among Israel’s neighbours. It was particularly common in Egypt and Canaan. After the time of Joseph, when the Israelites fell prey to degeneracy and became the slaves of the Copts, they were contaminated by many of the corrupt practices prevalent among their rulers. Cow-worship was one of them. (There is a detailed account of the episode of calf-worship in Exodus 32.)
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