The Golden Calf of the Children of Israel: How True Faith Shapes Wisdom and Patience, and Why We Must Not Fall Behind the Ranks

Occasion: Transcription of a Fajr khatira delivered on 6 May 2026 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

Dr. Ahmed began with a supplication: O Allah, set right for us our religion, our worldly life and our Hereafter, prepare for us right guidance in our affair, bless us in what You have provided us, protect us from the punishment of the Fire, turn away from us the causes of punishment in this world and the next, accept our repentance, forgive us, have mercy on our weakness, mend our brokenness, ease our affairs, do not disgrace us in this world or the next, and do not empower over us, because of our sins, those who do not fear You regarding us and do not have mercy on us. Then he paused at verses that were recited in the Fajr prayer.

A Crime That Seems a Small Part of the Story

﴿وَاتَّخَذَ قَوْمُ مُوسَىٰ مِن بَعْدِهِ مِنْ حُلِيِّهِمْ عِجْلًا جَسَدًا لَّهُ خُوَارٌ أَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّهُ لَا يُكَلِّمُهُمْ وَلَا يَهْدِيهِمْ سَبِيلًا ۘ اتَّخَذُوهُ وَكَانُوا ظَالِمِينَ * وَلَمَّا سُقِطَ فِي أَيْدِيهِمْ وَرَأَوْا أَنَّهُمْ قَدْ ضَلُّوا قَالُوا لَئِن لَّمْ يَرْحَمْنَا رَبُّنَا وَيَغْفِرْ لَنَا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ﴾ (And the people of Moses, after him, took from their ornaments a calf, a bodily form that lowed. Did they not see that it neither spoke to them nor guided them to a way? They took it, and they were wrongdoers. And when they regretted and saw that they had gone astray, they said, "If our Lord does not have mercy upon us and forgive us, we will surely be among the losers.")^[2]

When I stand at a text like this, which comes in the context of the story as if it were a small part of it, I realize that it is a creedal crime by which the people disowned all the efforts Moses, peace be upon him, had made with them; they disowned everything. Imagine that they did that at the very time Moses went out to receive the Tablets from his Lord, leaving them for a few days and then returning, and they suddenly deviated to this level of corruption, to the point of taking a god alongside Allah, Glorified is He, and this god had standing with them only because it was a bodily calf made from their ornaments, from their gold.

So you ask: to what level can the folly of creatures reach if they transgress the bounds of the Lord of the worlds? And you hear of a man who in principle prays, then suddenly kills his children, and you say: how did he do that? Or of a woman who devised a plot against her husband until she brought about his death, we seek refuge in Allah, how did she do that? You are astonished because you expect that faith will govern the movement of these creatures. But Satan is given sway, and counterfeit faith does not make a good person.

True Faith and Counterfeit Faith

And it is as though my Lord, Glorified is He, shows us models of true faith and counterfeit faith. This is Aaron saying to his brother: ﴿لَا تَأْخُذْ بِلِحْيَتِي وَلَا بِرَأْسِي ۖ إِنِّي خَشِيتُ أَن تَقُولَ فَرَّقْتَ بَيْنَ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ وَلَمْ تَرْقُبْ قَوْلِي﴾ (Do not seize me by my beard or by my head. Indeed, I feared that you would say, "You caused a division among the Children of Israel and did not observe my word.")^[3] A man who has wisdom, reason, logic and balance, who has a view to the horizon and farsightedness, a reading of the future and a deduction of what is expected; this is what faith made, this is the movement of creed, and this is concern for the unity of society. He insisted on having a goal in these people, on investing in them, even if they came to him with, or gave him, a doubling of the effort expended.

And those fools, what did they do? They took from their ornaments a bodily calf that lowed, into which he blows and it lows. What silliness is this, and what madness! Measure this silliness against the seven colors that are now cited as a byword for deviation, we seek refuge in Allah, and against the use of artificial intelligence in making evil, and against the random acts that issue from people at night, and you realize that Allah, Blessed and Exalted, looked upon this corruption in its forms and colors, and then His patience, Mighty and Majestic, with these people was so that they would return once again.

The Moment of Awaiting Repentance

And our Lord relates the story to us in utmost simplicity: ﴿وَلَمَّا سُقِطَ فِي أَيْدِيهِمْ وَرَأَوْا أَنَّهُمْ قَدْ ضَلُّوا﴾ (And when they regretted and saw that they had gone astray), so they returned and said: ﴿لَئِن لَّمْ يَرْحَمْنَا رَبُّنَا وَيَغْفِرْ لَنَا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ﴾ (If our Lord does not have mercy upon us and forgive us, we will surely be among the losers).^[4] As though He is teaching us the moment of awaiting the repentance and return of these societies, and teaching us that our effort will not be lost in vain, that our work will not go for nothing, and that the moment is coming even if it is delayed. These people reached such corruption that they took a calf to worship besides the Lord of the worlds, and among them was a prophet of the prophets of Allah and a messenger of His messengers, but their desires went astray.

So what should be done? Do not hold back from exerting more effort even if those were the last moments of your life, and do not fall behind the ranks, for Allah looks at your striving, not at people's superstitions and silliness. And do not withhold effort on the pretext that no further effort will set the people right; for the time of righteousness and reform among creatures is not in your hand, and you are not a judge, rather it is in the hand of Allah, Blessed and Exalted. Our Lord shows us the moment of people's deviation and the patience of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, with them, and the moment of return, repentance and regret when minds awaken, consciences are illumined and aspirations stir toward returning to Allah. So when will people repent and return to Allah? This decision is not in your hand; what is in your hand is that you work and proceed on the path, not hesitating, not falling behind, not slackening. Your task is to listen to calls such as these from the Most Merciful, not to what Satan lays down for you to turn you away from completing your task.

Do the Believers Have a Mission on Earth?

And the wondrous matter remains: do the believers have a mission on earth, or do they truly sense responsibility? Do souls stir within them wanting to give something more, or are we sitting still? Moses moved, and Aaron was patient with the people, but we did not move and did not exercise patience; rather we had another matter: that we are content with what is in our hands.

And had the Prophet ﷺ been content that he and his Companions around him worship Allah, praying and nothing more, they would not have left Makkah at all, nor would they have been secure in their homes; because it would have been a sluggish religion that does not seek reform of humankind. And when they raised the slogans of reform in Makkah they were expelled, persecuted, and tortured in its desert and heat with every kind of torture, we seek refuge in Allah, until the Prophet ﷺ left content and at ease.^[1] Why? Because his greatest homeland is the homeland of the call, the homeland of movement, the homeland of tranquility; because he exerts an effort with which he meets Allah, Blessed and Exalted.

I ask Allah, the Most High, the All-Powerful, to give us insight into the indications of this great Book, to grant us sincerity to this religion, to keep our striving rewarded and appreciated before Him, not to seat for us any aspiration, and not to scatter our unity. O Allah, amen.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: The speaker referred to the Prophet's ﷺ words to Makkah when he left it, in wording close to «لولا أن أهلك أخرجوني منك ما خرجت» ("Had my people not driven me out of you, I would not have left"); what is known in the ḥadīth (in al-Tirmidhī, from the ḥadīth of Ibn ʿAbbās, may Allah be pleased with them both) is: «ما أطيبك من بلد وأحبّك إليّ، ولولا أن قومي أخرجوني منك ما سكنتُ غيرك» ("How good you are as a city and how dear to me; had my people not driven me out of you, I would not have settled elsewhere"); so it is recorded here by meaning without presenting the quoted wording as a Prophetic text. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Aʿrāf, verses 148–149. ^[3]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat Ṭāhā, verse 94. ^[4]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Aʿrāf, verse 149.