سُوْرَةُ البَقَرَةِ
Surah Al-Baqara (2) — Ayah 51
وَإِذْ وَٰعَدْنَا مُوسَىٰٓ أَرْبَعِينَ لَيْلَةً ثُمَّ ٱتَّخَذْتُمُ ٱلْعِجْلَ مِنۢ بَعْدِهِۦ وَأَنتُمْ ظَـٰلِمُونَ ﴿51﴾
Translation by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan & Dr. Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali
And (remember) when We appointed for Mûsâ (Moses) forty nights, and (in his absence) you took the calf (for worship), and you were Zâlimûn (polytheists and wrong-doers).
Word by Word — Arabic, Transliteration & Meaning
وَإِذْ
wa-idh
And when
وَٰعَدْنَا
wāʿadnā
We appointed
مُوسَىٰٓ
mūsā
(for) Musa
أَرْبَعِينَ
arbaʿīna
forty
لَيْلَةًۭ
laylatan
nights
ثُمَّ
thumma
Then
ٱتَّخَذْتُمُ
ittakhadhtumu
you took
ٱلْعِجْلَ
l-ʿij'la
the calf
مِنۢ
min
from
بَعْدِهِۦ
baʿdihi
after him
وَأَنتُمْ
wa-antum
and you
ظَـٰلِمُونَ
ẓālimūna
(were) wrongdoers
Tafsir Ahsan al-Bayan — Hafiz Salahuddin Yusuf
Tafsir Ahsan al-Bayan is a well-known Quran commentary by Hafiz Salahuddin Yusuf, a renowned Salafi (Ahl al-Hadith) scholar from Pakistan. This tafsir explains the meanings of the Quran in accordance with the methodology of the Salaf (early righteous generations), relying on authentic sources and straightforward language. Due to its reliability and adherence to sound Islamic scholarship, the Saudi government publishes and distributes this tafsir among the Hujjaj (pilgrims) visiting the Haramain. The tafsir is originally written in Urdu, translated to English by tohed.com.
51. 1. This incident of calf worship occurred when, after being saved from the Pharaohs, the Children of Israel reached the Sinai Peninsula. There, Allah called Prophet Musa (Moses) (AS) to Mount Tur for forty nights to give him the Torah. After Prophet Musa (AS) left, the Children of Israel, following Samiri, began worshipping the calf. How superficial man is, that despite witnessing great signs of Allah's power and even in the presence of prophets (Harun and Musa, peace be upon them), they considered the calf their deity. Today's Muslim is also deeply involved in polytheistic beliefs and actions, but he thinks, "How can a Muslim be a polytheist?" These polytheistic Muslims have restricted shirk only to those who worship stone idols, claiming that only they are polytheists. Whereas these so-called Muslims do the same at graves with domes as the idol worshippers do with their idols. May Allah protect us from this.
