Dangers of following the crowd; staying loyal to truth
Tonight's story is one of the most painful in the Quran. It is the story of a people who witnessed miracle after miracle, who were saved from slavery, who saw the sea split before their eyes, and who, just weeks later, built an idol and bowed down to it. It is the story of the golden calf, and it carries a warning that every generation needs to hear.
We have heard about Prophet Musa (AS) in several of our stories. We saw him parting the sea, speaking to Allah on the mountain, and journeying with Khidr. Tonight, we return to a moment right after Musa (AS) went up Mount Sinai to receive the divine tablets.
Before ascending the mountain, Musa (AS) had appointed his brother, Prophet Harun (AS), as his deputy. "Be my successor among my people," Musa told him. "Act rightly, and do not follow the way of the corrupters." This appointment was clear: Harun (AS) was to lead the people in Musa's absence.
But Musa (AS) was gone longer than expected. The forty days stretched on, and the people grew restless. They had been freed from Pharaoh's slavery not long ago, and despite all the miracles they had witnessed, their hearts were still weak. They were used to having a visible leader, someone they could see and touch.
Among them was a man named Samiri. He was clever and persuasive, but his heart was corrupt. He saw the people's anxiety and decided to exploit it. He gathered gold, jewelry and ornaments that the people had brought from Egypt, and he melted them down. Using his skill, he crafted a golden calf, a statue in the shape of a young cow. And through some trick or illusion, he made it produce a hollow, mooing sound.
Then Samiri made his terrible declaration: "This is your god and the god of Musa, but he forgot."
The people, who should have known better, who had seen Allah's power at the sea and in the plagues, who had heard Musa (AS) tell them a thousand times that there is no god but Allah, looked at this golden statue and said: "Yes! This is what we will worship!"
Not all of them fell for the deception. Harun (AS), loyal and true, stood against the tide. He called out to them: "O my people, you are only being tested by this. Indeed, your Lord is the Most Merciful, so follow me and obey my command!"
But they did not listen. The crowd swept past him like a flood. Some grabbed him roughly. They threatened him. They surrounded him with hostility. Harun (AS), a prophet of Allah, was pushed aside by his own people because he stood between them and their idol.
This moment is crucial for understanding what happened. Harun (AS) did not stay silent out of agreement. He did not join them out of fear. He opposed them clearly and was overwhelmed. He chose to maintain what unity he could rather than cause bloodshed among the people, hoping that Musa's return would set things right.
And return Musa did, carrying the divine tablets. When he came down from the mountain and saw his people dancing around a golden calf, his anger was so intense that the Quran says he threw down the tablets. He grabbed his brother by the head, pulling him close, and demanded: "O Harun, what prevented you, when you saw them going astray, from following my instructions? Did you then disobey my order?"
Harun's response is heartbreaking: "O son of my mother, do not seize me by my beard or by my head. Indeed, I feared that you would say, 'You caused division among the Children of Israel, and you did not observe my word.'"
Harun (AS) had been in an impossible position. If he fought the people with force, they would have split into warring factions, and he would be blamed for dividing them. If he waited for Musa (AS), he risked being blamed for not stopping the worship. He chose the path that preserved the most unity while still speaking the truth. And Musa (AS), once he understood the full situation, accepted his brother's reasoning.
Then Musa (AS) turned to the people. His words were fierce: "What was your affair, O Samiri?"
Samiri tried to justify himself, but Musa (AS) pronounced his punishment: "Then go. And indeed, it is decreed for you in this life to say, 'No contact.' And indeed, you have an appointment in the Hereafter which you will not fail to keep. And look at your god to which you remained devoted. We will surely burn it and scatter it into the sea with a scattering."
The golden calf was burned and its remains were cast into the sea. The false god that had dazzled them was reduced to nothing.
Then Musa (AS) declared the truth that rings through all of history: "Your god is only Allah, other than whom there is no deity. He has encompassed all things in knowledge."
The people wept with regret. Those who had worshipped the calf were punished, and they had to sincerely repent to be forgiven. The incident left a deep scar on the community, a reminder of how quickly people can abandon truth when their leader is away.
In the Shia tradition, this story holds particular significance because of the parallel between Harun and Imam Ali (AS). The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said to Ali (AS): "You are to me as Harun was to Musa, except that there is no prophet after me." This is the famous Hadith al-Manzilah.
Just as Harun (AS) was appointed as Musa's successor and then pushed aside by people who chose to follow a different path, Ali (AS) was appointed by the Prophet as his successor at Ghadir Khumm, yet after the Prophet's death, the community chose differently. The Shia see in the golden calf story a warning that people can turn away from the appointed leader even after the clearest instruction.
Imam Ali (AS) himself faced this parallel directly. He said: "I remained patient even though there was a thorn in my eye and a bone stuck in my throat." Like Harun (AS), he chose patience and unity over civil war, even as his right was set aside.
The lesson for us is vital: truth does not depend on popularity. The golden calf was shiny and made noise, and almost everyone followed it. But it was still just gold. It could not hear, could not help, could not save. The truth, standing in the person of Harun (AS), was alone and ignored, but it was still the truth.
In your life, there will be golden calves, things that glitter and attract crowds: popularity, trends, peer pressure, things that everyone seems to follow. And there will be moments when the truth stands alone, when doing the right thing means standing against the crowd. In those moments, remember Harun (AS). Remember that the crowd was wrong, and the lone voice of truth was right. Be the person who follows truth, not noise.
"Qala ya qawmi innama futintum bih, wa inna Rabbakumur-Rahman, fattabi'uni wa ati'u amri" "He (Harun) said, 'O my people, you are only being tested by this. Indeed, your Lord is the Most Merciful, so follow me and obey my command.'" -- Taha (20:90)