Wavering Faith

In spite of Phir'oun's death, he left a bad influence on the souls of the children of Isra'eel. He had made them used to submitting to someone other than Allah.Phir'oun had oppressed their souls and spoiled their nature so much that they began to disobey Musa.

Prophet Musa Leads the Children of Isra'eel to Palestine

Allah had directed Prophet Musa to lead the Children of Isra'eel to the Promised Land (Palestine)through the Sinai Peninsula.

While they were traveling, the children of Isra'eel did not show complete obedience to their Lord.Despite all of Allah's favors, they could not stay away from evil and continued to reject Allah's laws.Although Phir'oun was dead, his influence upon their souls still remained. Their recovery needed along period of time. Prophet Musa returned to his Lord, telling Him that he was responsible only for the actions of himself and his brother Haroon. He complained that he did not even enough control over his people's attitudes. He also prayed to his Lord to judge between his people and himself.

Allah issued His judgment against that generation of the children of Isra'eel who were corrupted by the Egyptians. They must wander in the wilderness of Sinai until that generation had produced another generation. The new generation could be more righteous and Godfearing.

The Wandering in Sinai Desert

The days of restless wandering began. The Children of Isra'eel entered Sinai and could not findt heir way out of it to Palestine.They started walking to no destination, day and night, morning andevening. As they traveled, each day they would end at the point where they began. As they chose to be confused in terms of their faith in God, Allah punished them by making them get lost and confused in the Sinai Desert.

Prophet Musa Speaks to God

Musa came to the same place where he had spoke to Allah for the first time. Allah instructed him to purify himself by fasting for thirty days, after which he was to go to Mount Sinai, where he would be given the divine law.

Musa fasted thirty days. Due to fasting, the odor of his breath became unpleasant. He disliked speaking to his Lord while he had the unpleasant smell of his mouth.Therefore, he ate a plant of the Earth and then his Lord said to him: "Why did you break your fast?" Musa said: "O my Lord, I disliked to speak to You with my mouth not having a pleasant smell." Allah said: "Do you not know, Musa, the odor of the faster's mouth is better scented to Me than the rose. Go back and fast ten days; then come back to Me." Musa did what Allah commanded.

Special Places

Mount Sinai is the mountain where God spoke to Prophet Musa. That is, at least, what people in that area believe. This belief itself has drawn visitors for over a thousand years. Although no archeological evidence of Musa' presence on the mountain exists, there are many relics of faith through out the eons. Nearing the summit, one can see an amphi theater where, locals believe,the 70 wise men waited while God spoke with Musa, then finally a small chapel and mosque are located at the top. It takes about 3 hours to climb the,498-foot peak following the Path of Musa, a stairway of nearly 4,000 steps.

The Children of Isra'eel Turn to Idol Worshipping

Prophet Musa had been gone for forty days and his people were becoming restless. They did not know that Allah had added ten extra days to Musa's stay. As- Samiriy, or Samaritan, an evil man,suggested the children of Isra'eel that they needed another guide. Musa, he claimed, had broken his promise. He said to them:"In order to find true guidance, you need a god, and I shall provide one for you."

So he collected all their gold jewelry, dug a hole in which heplaced the gold in it, and lit a huge fire to melt it down. From the melted gold he made a golden calf. Some of Children of Isra' accepted the golden calf as their god. Prophet Haroon, Musa's brother, who acted as their leader in Musa' s absence, felt very sad and spoke up:

"O my people! You have been deceived. Your Lord is the Most Beneficent. Follow and obey me."

They replied: "We shall stop worshipping this god only if Musa returns."

Those who had remained stead fast in belief separated themselves from the idol worshippers.

The Return of Prophet Musa

After forty days, Musa returned to his people carrying tablets of Allah's revelations and guidance, the Tawrat. Upon his return, Musa saw his people worshipping the idol they made with their hands. They were also singing and dancing around that golden calf. Musa was shocked and angered by what he saw. He threw down the tablets of the law which he was carrying for them. He tugged Haroon's beard and his hair, crying:"What held you back when you saw them going astray? Why did you notstop this corruption?"

Haroon replied:

"O son of my mother, let go of my beard! The fold considered me weak and were about to kill me. So make not the enemies rejoice over me, nor put me among the people who are wrong-doers."

When Musa understood Haroon's helplessness, he began to handle the situation calmly and wisely. At least seventy people, along with Haroon, refused to worship the idol, but they did not supportHaroon and nor did they exert enough effort to stop others from doing the awful act of idol worshipping.

Allah then ordered Musa to punish those who worshipped the idol.They were to line up and get killed by those who did not worship the idol. Then Allah forgave them all.

Some historians say that even those who did not worship the idol, but did nothing to stop it were to be killed too as a punishment for their passive attitudes.

Musa asked the Children of Isra'to pray to Allah for forgiveness and repent for their sins. He chose seventy elders, all of whom did not worship the idol, to accompany him on a trip to Mount Sinai to seek Allah's forgiveness on be half of all the Children of Isra'. Heordered them:
"Rush towards Allah and repent for what you did and ask His forgiveness for your shortcomings."

Later, Prophet Musa ordered the Children of Isra' to obey God and practice the Tawrat that was revealed to him. They told Musa that they would do that only if the required worship and laws were easy to do.

The Elders Accompany Musa to Mount Sinai

Musa returned to Mount Sinai with the seventy elders and there he communicated with Allah. He hoped that they would become strong believers when they heard him speak with Allah. The elders heard Musa speaking with his Lord. This was probably the last miracle that they would see.However, the seventy elders who heard the miracles were not yet satisfied. They said to Musa:
"O Musa! We shall never believein you until we see Allah plainly."[Surat-ul-Baqarah 2:350]Their stubborn demand was rewarded with punishing lightning bolts and a violent quake which resulted in their deaths.

Musa knew what had happened to the seventy elite and was filled with sadness. He prayed to his Lord, asking Him to forgive them, because they were unwise and rude. Allah forgave the elders and brought them back to life. Additionally, Allah raised one of the mountains above their head causing the Earth to shake under their feet. They all became frightened that the mountain would fall on them. Allah then ordered them to follow the Tawrat "strongly" and fully obey their Lord.They fell in prostration and promised God to do just that.

Wavering Faith

Even after all of that, most of Bani Isra'eel kept on showing unacceptable behavior with God. Allah granted them great food like "al-mann" المن and"as-salwa." السلوى "almann" was a sweet and nutritious food falling on them every morning like the falling of the snow in the winter time. "As-salwa," on the other hand was a kind of bird like the dove but was easy to catch.When the Children of Isra'eel became thirsty and lacked drinkable water, Allah ordered Musa to strike a rock with his staff.
Miraculously, water gushed out from twelve places in the ground. Despite all these favors and blessings that Allah granted to the Children of Isra'eel, most of them refused to show gratitude and sincere obedience to their Lord.

Haroon and Musa Die

Prophet Haroon عليه السلام died shortly before Prophet Musa عليه السلام . His people were still wandering in the wilderness when he died.

Abu Hurayrah narrated: "The Angel of Death was sent to Prophet Musa . Prophet Musa did not want to die until he felt that he had done his job with Bani Isra'eel. The angel returned to his Lord and said:You have sent me to a slave who does not want to die.' Allah said:'Return to him and tell him to put his hand on the back of an ox and for every hair that will come under it, he will be granted one extra year of life.' Prophet Musa said: 'O Lord! What will happen after that?

Allah replied: 'then death.' Musa said: 'Let it come now then!' Musa,however, requested Allah to let him die close to the Holy Land so that he would be at a distance of a stone's throw from it." Abu Hurayrah added: "Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: 'If I werethere, I would show you his grave below the red sand hill on the side of the road." This story is reported in Saheeh-ul-Bukhari.

Musa عليه السلام , prophet of Allah,and the one to whom Allah spoke to directly, met his death with a happy soul. His faithful heart looked forward to the final return to his Lord.

Lessons Learned

Gratefulness to Allah

Allah blessed Bani Isra'eel with many great favors and gifts. Yet, many of them failed to show their gratefulness to Allah. They listened to the bad people among them and disobeyed Prophets Musa and Haroon. They also followed their desires and committed the sins that Allah warned them about.Sincere Muslims should obey Allah and thank Him for every blessing Allah grants them. They worship, remember and obey Allah everyday. This is a thankful attitude which leads to Jannah. This attitude blesses what we have in dunya too. Allah says: "Your Lord declares to you that if you thank[Allah], I will bless you more." [Surat Ibraheem 14:7]

Worshipping other than God

Rather than worshipping their creator alone, the Children of Isra'eel accepted the idea of worshipping golden idol. This shows that many them at that time glorified gold, jewelry and money. They elevated these worldly values and worshipped them as god. Many people now make the same mistake. Rather than obeying and glorifying Allah, who created them and gave them everything, they glorify, live and die for dunya and money. They also glorify rich and famous people and follow them even if they are evil.Some even call them idols. They worship gold, money, fancy homes and cars, and rich and famous people. They work hard to enjoy their lives and own more money. They follow the life style of rich and famous people while they disobey Allah and refrain from worshipping Him. Their hearts are connected to dunya much more than to their creator. They love money, cars, actors,and actresses, more than masajid, Qur'an, prayers, prophets and righteous people. This is dangerous lifestyle and it leads to displeasure of Allah and punishment in this life and Jahannam.

Protecting Ourselves from Hypocrites

Hypocrites can be found among believers. For example, Samiritan or As-Samiri was among the Children of Isra'eel. He was one of the reasons behind the deviation of the Children of Isra'eel. Hypocrites never openly express unbelief in their religion or in God. They usually pretend to be faithful, knowledgeable and smart. This way they keep their presence and positions in the society. This way they continue to influence people of weak faith and cause them to disobey Allah and lead a non-Muslim lifestyle. They are capable of affecting many naïve people. We should do our best to protect ourselves from insincere people and hypocrites, because their only mission is to lead people astray.