Surah Al-A'raaf (7) — Ayah 155

(Ayah 155) ➊ {وَ اخْتَارَ مُوْسٰى قَوْمَهٗ …: } At the appointed time set by Allah, Musa (peace be upon him) selected seventy men from his people to take with him. Obviously, Musa (peace be upon him) must have chosen the best men among them, but when they arrived there, such wrath from Allah befell them that all of them died due to an earthquake. What was the cause of this punishment? The commentators have mentioned various reasons, among which the most preferred is the one mentioned in Surah Al-Baqarah (55): they had said, "O Musa! We will never believe you until we see Allah openly." For this insolence, a thunderbolt struck them, and they all died. Here, {’’ الرَّجْفَةُ ‘‘} (earthquake) is mentioned. It is evident that with the thunderclap, especially when it comes as a punishment, an earthquake is a usual occurrence.

➋ { قَالَ رَبِّ لَوْ شِئْتَ اَهْلَكْتَهُمْ مِّنْ قَبْلُ وَ اِيَّايَ:} That is, if You had willed, You could have destroyed these seventy men before they left the Children of Israel, so that the Children of Israel would have seen their destruction with their own eyes and could not have blamed me for killing them. And if You had willed, You could have destroyed me as well for the insolence of my people. Since You did not do so at that time out of mercy for us, then forgive us now, have mercy on us, and do not destroy them.

➌ { اَتُهْلِكُنَا بِمَا فَعَلَ السُّفَهَآءُ مِنَّا:} The act of the fools may refer to the worship of the calf, but the more apparent foolishness is the demand and condition made to Musa (peace be upon him) to show Allah openly, saying that without this, they would not believe his word.

➍ {بِمَا فَعَلَ السُّفَهَآءُ مِنَّا:} It is understood that neither did all the Children of Israel worship the calf, nor did all seventy make the demand to see Allah. This was the act of their ignorant and foolish people. Musa (peace be upon him) said, "O Lord! Will You destroy all of us because of the actions of the foolish among us?"

➎ { اِنْ هِيَ اِلَّا فِتْنَتُكَ:} That is, those who worshipped the calf or demanded to see You with their eyes, in reality, all these acts were a test from You. You test as You will, then through it, You misguide whom You will and guide whom You will. (Ibn Kathir) After this supplication, Allah brought them back to life. See Surah Al-Baqarah (56).

155. 1 The details of these seventy men are coming in the next footnote. Here it is mentioned that Prophet Musa (Moses) ﷺ selected seventy men from his people and took them to Mount Tur, where, as a punishment, they were destroyed, upon which Prophet Musa ﷺ said.

155. 2 Who were these seventy men of Bani Israel? There is a difference of opinion among the commentators regarding this. One opinion is that when Prophet Musa ﷺ recited the commandments of the Torah to them, they said, "How can we be sure that this book is indeed revealed from Allah?" They said, "We will not believe until we hear Allah speaking ourselves." So, they selected seventy chosen men and took them to Mount Tur. There, Allah spoke to Prophet Musa ﷺ, which those people also heard. But there, they made a new demand that, "We will not believe until we see Allah with our own eyes."

The second opinion is that these seventy men are those who, on behalf of the whole nation, were taken to Mount Tur to repent and apologize for the grave sin of worshipping the calf, and there they expressed the desire to see Allah.

The third opinion is that these seventy men are those who saw the Israelites worshipping the calf but did not stop them.

A fourth opinion is that these seventy men were those who were chosen by Allah's command to be taken to Mount Tur, and there they made supplications to Allah, among which one supplication was, "O Allah, grant us something that You have never granted anyone before, nor will You grant anyone in the future." Allah did not like this supplication, so they were destroyed by an earthquake.

Most commentators hold the second opinion and consider it to be the same incident mentioned in Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 56, where it is mentioned that death was brought upon them by a thunderbolt (lightning). And here, death is mentioned by a tremor (earthquake). In explanation, it is said that perhaps both punishments came: a thunderbolt from above and an earthquake from below. In any case, after the supplication and plea of Prophet Musa ﷺ that if they were to be destroyed, You would have destroyed them earlier when they were engaged in the worship of the calf, Allah brought them back to life.

155. And for Our appointed meeting, Moses chose seventy men from his people. Then, when the earthquake seized them [152], Moses said: "My Lord! If You had willed, You could have destroyed them and me before this. Will You destroy us for what the foolish among us have done? This is nothing but Your trial, by which You let whom You will go astray and guide whom You will. You are our Protector, so forgive us and have mercy on us, for You are the best of those who forgive."

[152]
The Demand of the Seventy Chosen Men to See Allah and Their Death:

When these tablets were given to them to make them a way of life, these people also expressed distrust towards Sayyiduna Musa ؑ and said, "How do we know that these are truly revealed from Allah?" Musa ؑ presented this question of his people before Allah, so Allah said, "Alright, select seventy men from among them and bring them to Mount Tur at such and such time." Musa ؑ selected six men from each tribe, making a total of seventy-two (72). He said that the two men who voluntarily stay behind will receive the same reward as those who go. Thus, two men voluntarily separated, and the remaining seventy (70) men set out towards Mount Tur with Sayyiduna Musa ؑ. When they arrived there, in the presence of all these people, Allah spoke to Sayyiduna Musa ؑ, so these people raised the objection, "How do we know that the One speaking to you (O Musa) is Allah? Unless we clearly see the One speaking, that is, Allah, how can we believe?" Their demand was impossible to fulfill. When Musa ؑ himself could not bear the manifestation of Allah, then what were these poor souls in comparison? Moreover, their stubbornness had reached its peak, and these were not people who would be convinced by words. Thus, Allah's wrath descended upon them. From above came the thunderbolt (as mentioned in Surah Al-Baqarah), and from below came the earthquake (as mentioned here), and all seventy of these men perished right there.

The Revival of These Seventy Men by the Prayer of Sayyiduna Musa ؑ:

Now Musa ؑ stood bewildered and perplexed, not knowing what to do; it was a situation of neither being able to go forward nor to stay. If he returned to his people, their first question would be, "Where are the men who went with you?" And there was no benefit in staying with the dead either. Finally, he pleaded to Allah, "O Allah, if You had to destroy them, or even me, then You should have done so in front of their people, so that no blame would fall upon me. Now, the demand for an open vision of You was made by a few ignorant ones, yet You destroyed all of them as a consequence. This entire incident was a trial in which some people went astray and others remained steadfast on the right path, so have mercy on us and forgive us." Thus, by his prayer, the sin of those who had perished was forgiven, and they were given life again, as mentioned in Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 56.