Transliteration:( Qaala fazhab fa inna laka fil hayaati an taqoola laa misaasa wa inna laka maw'idal lan tukhlafahoo wanzur ilaaa ilaahikal lazee zalta 'alaihi 'aakifaa; la nuharriqannahoo thumma la nansifannahoo fil yammi nasfaa )
Musa said, “Then go away! Your punishment in this life is that you shall say: ‘Touch me not.’ [137] And indeed, there is an appointment for you which shall never be missed. [138] And look at your god to whom you remained devoted. We shall certainly burn it, then scatter it completely in the river.” [139]
Hazrat Musa (peace be upon him) declared a worldly punishment upon Samiri:
He would be afflicted with a condition where any physical contact would cause harm—a contagious fever.
Thus, Samiri himself would say “Touch me not,” and live in complete isolation, abandoned like an outcast.
This demonstrates how the words of a Prophet carry divine force—they manifest by Allah’s will.
Samiri’s worldly punishment was not the end. Hazrat Musa foretold of a certain and unavoidable punishment in the Hereafter.
This makes clear that Samiri died as an unbeliever and never repented, sealing his fate in both worlds.
It also reflects the Prophet’s awareness of divine decree, informed by revelation.
Hazrat Musa ordered the burning of the golden calf, then crushed it into pieces, and cast it into the river.
This teaches that:
No sanctity or ownership is attached to idols or instruments of sin.
One can destroy objects used for evil—like idols, alcohol, or tools of immorality—without compensation, as their value is not recognised in Shariah.
This act was not theft or destruction of property—it was commanded religious reform and an example of active denunciation of shirk.
This verse confirms that false gods are to be discredited not just ideologically, but physically, to demonstrate the absolute supremacy of tawheed.
The tafsir of Surah Ta-Ha verse 97 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Taha ayat 95 which provides the complete commentary from verse 95 through 98.
(20:97) Moses said: “Be gone, then. All your life you shall cry: ‘Untouchable.’[74] There awaits a term for your reckoning that you cannot fail to keep. Now look at your god that you devotedly adored: We shall burn it and scatter its remains in the sea.
74. The words show that he was not only made an outcast for life but was made to inform the people himself that he was an outcast, as given in Leviticus:
And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, unclean, unclean. All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be. (13: 45-46).
We conclude from this that either he was inflicted with leprosy as a scourge by Allah or the punishment inflicted on him was that, being a moral “leper”, he should be made an outcast and should himself proclaim to be an unclean and impure person, saying: Touch me not. 9
[852]- i.e., Do not touch me. As chastisement, he was to be completely shunned by all people.
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