Dear Wanderer,
As respected sister Nura has in my view correctly shared, let me also kindly reiterate / assure you that worshipping a calf
was never a small matter particularly in the context in which the Quran was narrating the story amidst a prophet of God and their particular circumstances. As I trust that you will appreciate, we simply cannot interpret this with our 21st century lenses applying it today’s circumstances when there is no prophet of God in our times.
They were honoured to have 2 mighty prophets in their midst. They had already witnessed great portents. We learn from
verse 4:153 the timeline that in fact the taking of the calf was
after all the portents had been previously shown to them. This is not just the parting of the seas and the numerous other portents, but also after when lightening had seized them and they had been resurrected. (
2:55-56)The matter was so serious that even the first and second commandment read
"Thou shalt have no other gods before me" and
"You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth...". This is how grave the matter was.
Even the Shema Yisrael to this day, a central prayer for the Jews captures the essence of Jewish belief:
"Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one"This is no different from the concept of Tawhid in Islam.
I also kindly shared that rebellion and corruption had most likely arisen amidst the prophet. The Quran does not deem it necessary to detail this. However again, this is no small matter as the punishment for such obstinate behaviour is referred to by the Quran in many verses. I have already cited verse 5:33. The Quran refers to their doing as evil (2:93 -
bi'sama). Indeed, exile would have also been an option and the Quran does cite the case of As-Simiri, where that option was exercised (20:95).
The cry of the prophet is also captured in another verse where the rebellious nature of his people is cited with such emotion:
061.005 "And when Moses said to his people: "O my people! why do you hurt / persecute me? when certainly know indeed that I am God's messenger to you." Then when they deviated, God made their hearts turn aside, and God does not guide the transgressing / defiant people."Finally,
'kill yourselves' does not simply refer to suicide. I discussed this in the following thread
[1] below as thus:
"...the usage of the term 'anfusakum - yourselves' (plural) in verse 4:29 which in the theme of the verse is not only a reference to killing oneself, but also killing others whether singularly or as groups." I trust this clarifies, at least my humble perspective, God willing
Joseph
REFERENCE:[1] Committing Suicidehttp://quransmessage.com/forum/index.php?topic=94.0