Surah Taa-Haa (20) — Ayah 97

(Ayah 97) ➊ {قَالَ فَاذْهَبْ فَاِنَّ لَكَ فِي الْحَيٰوةِ …:’’ مِسَاسَ ‘‘ ’’ قَاتَلَ يُقَاتِلُ مَقَاتَلَةً وَ قِتَالًا ‘‘} is also a verbal noun of the form "mufa‘alah," in which mutual participation is found, meaning to touch each other, to lay hands on. From Allah, he was afflicted for life with such a disease and punishment that if he touched someone or someone touched him, in both cases he would suffer severe pain, the reality of which Allah knows best. To avoid this, he himself would go around saying, "Neither do I touch you, nor should you touch me." Some of the Tabi‘in have said that in the case of touching, both Samiri and the other person would get a fever, but they did not mention the source of this report. While still alive, all human relations were cut off from him, and he was afflicted with the worst torment of loneliness. The scholars have explained the appropriateness of the punishment for his action as follows: by making a calf with the sound of a cow and presenting it as a deity, his purpose was fame and the desire to gather people around himself; Allah gave him such a punishment that he could not meet even a single person.
➋ {وَ اِنَّ لَكَ مَوْعِدًا لَّنْ تُخْلَفَهٗ : } refers to the punishment of death, the grave, and the Hereafter.
➌ {وَ انْظُرْ اِلٰۤى اِلٰهِكَ الَّذِيْ … : ’’ ظَلْتَ ‘‘ ’’ظَلَّ يَظَلُّ‘‘} (‘) is the singular masculine second person, which was originally {’’ظَلِلْتَ‘‘} (with a kasrah under the first "lam"); to remove difficulty in pronunciation, the first "lam" was omitted. Instead of the pattern {’’فَعِلْتَ‘‘ }, it remained as {’’فَلْتَ‘‘}. The form {’’لَنُحَرِّقَنَّهٗ‘‘} is used in the intensive form to express severity in burning. {’’نَسَفَ يَنْسِفُ نَسْفًا‘‘} (ḍ) means to scatter, to disperse. {’’الْيَمِّ ‘‘} is used for both salty sea and fresh river. Here, a question arises: by burning a calf of gold or silver in fire, the metal does not become capable of being scattered or dispersed; rather, it becomes more pure and strong. Some commentators have answered that it became a calf of flesh and blood, and the purpose was that we would slaughter it, burn it thoroughly, and scatter it in the river or sea, but the idea of it becoming a calf of flesh and blood is completely baseless. The second answer given is that we will heat it well so that it becomes soft, then with a file we will grind it into particles and scatter it in the river, but there is no mention of sand in the Qur'an. Therefore, some commentators have said that {’’حَرَقَ يَحْرُقُ‘‘} also means to grind, and in the intensive form, the exaggeration is increased. This answer is also forced, because {’’ تَحْرِيْقٌ ‘‘} means only to burn. By Allah's special grace, I have found a completely clear answer: Physicians can make "kushta" (calcined ash) of any metal they wish, which becomes so fine in the form of ash that it can be blown away with a puff. Physicians have no comparison to the perfection of the Prophets, so for them, turning metal into ash is no difficulty.
➍ The action of Musa (peace be upon him) is evidence that whatever is used for the worship of other than Allah must be demolished, burned, and its trace erased, whether it is an idol, a tree, or a grave. Abu al-Hayyaj al-Asadi (the son-in-law of Ali, may Allah be pleased with him) says that Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, said to me: [ أَلَا أَبْعَثُكَ عَلٰی مَا بَعَثَنِيْ عَلَيْهِ رَسُوْلُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَنْ لاَّ تَدَعَ تِمْثَالاً إِلَّا طَمَسْتَهٗ وَلَا قَبْرًا مُشْرِفًا إِلاَّ سَوَّيْتَهٗ ] [ مسلم، الجنائز، باب الأمر بتسویۃ القبر : ۹۶۹ ] "Shall I not send you on the same mission as the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent me? That is, do not leave any statue without obliterating it, and do not leave any elevated grave without leveling it." See the glory of Allah: Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) was appointed to level elevated graves, whom all grave-worshipers consider their leader. The reality is that the cause of the worldly and otherworldly humiliation and disgrace of Muslims is falling into grave-worship and other forms of shirk in imitation of the People of the Book, and turning away from tawhid. May Allah grant the Muslim Ummah the ability to return to His tawhid. (Amin) In {’’ لَنُحَرِّقَنَّهٗ‘‘} and {’’ لَنَنْسِفَنَّهٗ ‘‘}, with the lam of emphasis and the heavy nun, and then with {’’ نَسْفًا ‘‘} as the absolute object for further emphasis, the meaning is that we will certainly burn it and certainly scatter it in the river. In no way will we refrain from doing so, whether someone comes to oppose, or pleads, or tries to frighten us with the wrath and anger of this deity; this action will definitely be carried out.

97. 1. That is, for the rest of his life he would keep saying, "Stay away from me, do not touch me," because as soon as someone touched him, both the one who touched and this Samiri would be afflicted with fever. Therefore, whenever he saw a human being, he would immediately scream. It is said that then he left the human settlement and went into the wilderness, where he lived among animals, and thus remained a lesson for others. In other words, the more a person uses tricks, cunning, and deceit to mislead people, the more severe and exemplary his punishment will be in this world and the Hereafter.

Moses said to him, "Go! For you, throughout your life, the punishment is that you will keep saying, 'Do not touch me.' And for you there is an appointed time of torment that will never be averted from you. And look at your god to which you remained devoted; We will surely burn it, then scatter its ashes into the river."

[67]
Samiri’s Punishment in This World:

That is, Musa ؑ declared him an outcast so that no one should have any kind of relationship with him. Then, an additional punishment for him was that he himself would say to others: “Stay away from me, beware of me, do not touch me, I am impure, so do not touch me.” Some commentators say that if anyone touched Samiri or came into contact with him, both Samiri and the one who touched him would develop a fever. Therefore, Samiri was compelled to tell others not to touch him. At the same time, Musa ؑ also informed him that he should not think that the punishment for his crime was complete, rather, the torment that awaits him in the Hereafter will never be averted.
[68] This is your fate, and now as for your deity, to which you devoted yourself day and night, this is what we are going to do: we will first break this idol of gold and clay into pieces, then burn it and turn it into ashes. Then we will throw these ashes into the river so that you and your followers all know that a god who cannot even protect itself, how can it benefit or harm anyone else?