First: There was a man among the Children of Israel called Moses bin Zafar from the Samaria tribe. He tempted the Children of Israel by deviating them from following Moses and walking behind him, peace be upon him, to Mount Al-Tur. (The Samaria tribe is one of the tribes the Children of Israel belonged to, but it was also said: It is not one of the tribes of the Children of Israel, and Allah knows best).
Second: The Sâmiri fascinated them with gold and ornaments, because when they were leaving Egypt, their women borrowed jewelry from the Coptic women on the pretext of having a feast, but they went out with those pieces of jewelry, and they could not return them to their owners.
Third: He said to the women of the Children of Israel, “These pieces of jewelry that you have are not permissible for you to take, because they are deposits.” So he dug a pit for them and said, “Throw them in it”, and he set fire on them to burn, so no one would benefit from them.
Fourth: The Sâmiri had taken dust from under the hoof of Angel Gabriel’s horse, where he was on the seashore on the day Allah the Almighty saved Moses and drowned Pharaoh.
Fifth: Just as the Children of Israel threw jewelry into the pit, the Sâmiri threw the dust he had that he had taken from under the hoof of Gabriel’s horse. So, the Sâmiri made a calf from those pieces of melted gold and ornaments, and he made a cavity inside the calf, so that when he blew inside it through a hidden tube, it made a sound like that of a cow.
Sixth: Some of them said to each other: “This is your god and the god of Moses whom he went to meet on his appointment, but Moses forgot that, and he lost the way to his God, so worship him until Moses comes back.”
There is no doubt that what they did manifested their ill way of thinking; how did they worship a god which did not respond to them when they spoke to it, and which could not benefit them or do harm to them? Is it reasonable that it is the one that helped them against the greatest tyrant on earth?
Harun called them, saying: “O my people, the calf is neither your god nor the god of Moses, but it is a trial with which you have been tempted by, “for indeed your ˹one true˺ Lord is the Most Compassionate.” the effects of Whose Mercy you have witnessed all of your lives, so remember it and know it.” However, they insisted on their disbelief in Allah the Almighty.
˹Allah asked,˺ “Why have you come with such haste ahead of your people, O Moses?”* “He replied, “They are close on my tracks. And I have hastened to You, my Lord, so You will be pleased.” Allah responded, “We have indeed tested your people in your absence, and the Sâmiri has led them astray.”* So Moses returned to his people, furious and sorrowful. He said, “O my people! Had your Lord not made you a good promise? Has my absence been too long for you? Or have you wished for wrath from your Lord to befall you, so you broke your promise to me?”* They argued, “We did not break our promise to you of our own free will, but we were made to carry the burden of the people’s ˹golden˺ jewellery, then we threw it ˹into the fire˺, and so did the Sâmiri* Then he moulded for them an idol of a calf that made a lowing sound. They said, “This is your god and the god of Moses, but Moses forgot ˹where it was˺!”) (Ta-ha 20:83-88)
أولاً: كان في بني إسرائيل رجل يقال له موسى بن ظفر من قبيلة سامرة، فتن بني إسرائيل عن متابعة موسى والسير إلى جبل الطور خلف نبيهم موسى-عليه السلام-
(قبيلة سامرة تنتسب القبيلة إلى بني إسرائيل، وقيل: هي ليست من قبائل بني إسرائيل والله أعلم به-)
ثانيًا: فتنهم السامري بالذهب والحلي، وذلك أنهم لما كانوا خارجين من مصر استعار نساؤهم حلياً من نساء القبط بدعوى عيد لهم، فخرجوا ومعهم تلك المجوهرات التي لم يتمكنوا من إعادتها إلى أصحابها
ثالثًا: قال لنساء بني إسرائيل هذا الحلى الذي عندكن لا يحل لَكُنَّ أخذه إذ هي ودائع، فحفر لهم حفرة وقال ألقوها فيها، وأوقد فيها النار لتحترق فلا ينتفع بها أحد بعد ذلك
رابعًا: كان السامري قد أخذ ترابا من تحت حافر فرس جبريل حيث كان على شاطئ البحر يوم أن نجى الله موسى وأغرق فرعون
خامسًا: كما ألقى بنو إسرائيل الحلي في الحفرة ألقى السامري ما معه من التراب الذي أخذه من تحت حافر فرس جبريل، فصنع السامري العجل من هذا الذهب وتلك الحلي، وقد جعل صانع العجل في باطنه تجويفا فيه نوع من الضيق، واتخذ له آلة نافخة خفية، فإذا حركت آلة النفخ انضغط الهواء في باطنه، وخرج من المضيق، فكان له صوت كصوت البقر.
سادسًا: قال بعضهم لبعض هذا إلهكم وإله موسى الذي ذهب موسى إلى موعده، وقد نسي موسى وضل الطريق إلى إلهه، فاعبدوه حتى يأتي موسى
لا شك أن هذا من ضعف عقولهم، إذ كيف يعبدون إلهًا لا يرد لهم قولاً إذا كلموه، ولا يمكنه أن ينفعهم ولا يقوى على مضرتهم، أيعقل أنه هو الإله الذي نصرهم على أطغى طغاة الأرض
ناداهم هارون قائلاً: يا قوم إن العجل ليس إلهكم ولا إله موسى، وإنما هو فتنة فتنتم بها، وإنما “ربكم الرحمن” الذي شاهدتم آثار رحمته في حياتكم كلها فاذكروها واعلموها، ولكنهم أصروا على ما هم عليه من الكفر بالله العظيم
( وَمَا أَعْجَلَكَ عَن قَوْمِكَ يَا مُوسَىٰ ﴿٨٣﴾ قَالَ هُمْ أُولَاءِ عَلَىٰ أَثَرِي وَعَجِلْتُ إِلَيْكَ رَبِّ لِتَرْضَىٰ ﴿٨٤﴾ قَالَ فَإِنَّا قَدْ فَتَنَّا قَوْمَكَ مِن بَعْدِكَ وَأَضَلَّهُمُ السَّامِرِيُّ ﴿٨٥﴾ فَرَجَعَ مُوسَىٰ إِلَىٰ قَوْمِهِ غَضْبَانَ أَسِفًا ۚ قَالَ يَا قَوْمِ أَلَمْ يَعِدْكُمْ رَبُّكُمْ وَعْدًا حَسَنًا ۚ أَفَطَالَ عَلَيْكُمُ الْعَهْدُ أَمْ أَرَدتُّمْ أَن يَحِلَّ عَلَيْكُمْ غَضَبٌ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ فَأَخْلَفْتُم مَّوْعِدِي ﴿٨٦﴾ قَالُوا مَا أَخْلَفْنَا مَوْعِدَكَ بِمَلْكِنَا وَلَـٰكِنَّا حُمِّلْنَا أَوْزَارًا مِّن زِينَةِ الْقَوْمِ فَقَذَفْنَاهَا فَكَذَٰلِكَ أَلْقَى السَّامِرِيُّ﴿ ﴾ فَأَخْرَجَ لَهُمْ عِجْلًا جَسَدًا لَّهُ خُوَارٌ فَقَالُوا هَـٰذَا إِلَـٰهُكُمْ وَإِلَـٰهُ مُوسَىٰ فَنَسِيَ ﴿٨٨﴾ )
طه 20: 83-88