# Why did the Israelites ask Moses for an idol after leaving Egypt?

*The Israelites asking Moses for an idol, Surah al-A'raf 7:138*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/gdlcbtkyhgm/s/3/
- Date: 2019-12-29 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Who is Uzair in the Quran? Ezra or Osiris? | Mufti Abu Layth (11:26–14:29)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdlCbTkYHgM&t=686s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/gdlcbtkyhgm/

**Topics:** Moses; Contested verses; The ancient Near East and scripture

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Mufti Abu Layth says the Israelites' request for an idol in 7:138 shows the Egyptian culture they carried, which explains them calling Osiris a son of God.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says the Israelites emerging from Egypt carried a huge cultural baggage.

**Evidence, his words at 12:37:** “this was the Israelites as they were emerging from Egypt they had a huge baggage a huge culture” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdlCbTkYHgM&t=757s)

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth reads Surah al-A'raf 7:138, where the Israelites, after crossing the sea, see a people devoted to idols and ask Moses to make them a god like theirs, and Moses calls them an ignorant people. Mufti says this shows the Israelites emerging from Egypt carried a huge cultural baggage. Mufti says that, even while accepting God and Moses, they would have revered Osiris as a divine figurehead, comparing this to converts from Hinduism who keep a reverence for Ram. Mufti says that is how the early Jews could have called Osiris a son of God.

## Sources and names cited

- Quran 7:138: https://quran.com/7/138
- Quran 9:30: https://quran.com/9/30
- Musa (Moses)
- the Exodus
- Osiris
- Hinduism

## Transcript (machine tier, 11:26–14:29)

[10:53] hero who kind of deposes rah and he kind of sets things up for mankind and he does all these great things for mankind now these people you see the Jewish people in early the in the time of Moses they would have been heavily influenced with the figurehead with this personality of Osiris just as all Christians were now you see an example of this is I'd like

[11:25] to take our attention to a verse in surat al-a'raf you've got rights oh oh

[11:58] right here is so verse 138 where Allah says what job was not see once Moses the Exodus now look at this verse what job was now be Bernice our our ll Baha so Allah says we traversed we took them across the sea the Israelites fat oh Allah oming Yakko foon alas now so they came across a people who were worshipping some idols this is who this is the Jews because at that time the Israelites were the Jews okay so I tore that oh me ya Corfu now that asana mean l'homme so they had

[12:37] these idol Alleluia Musa so they cried out to Moses a Jelena Allah and Kamala whom alia why do you make a figurehead of a God for us the way they've got these gods parlor in nakum almond touch alone he said that indeed your people so deep in your ignorance now you see this was the Israelites as they were emerging from Egypt they had a huge baggage a huge culture the piranhas quoting that they you see they would have seen

[13:15] even though God is obviously God and they're accepting Moses but they would have seen Hussein or in Arabic or Zaid as as a divine figurehead like a semi the way people in India for example imagine they embrace Islam but they would still have a reverence for like Ron trade up they would think that you know at all Shriram was an amazing person and he had divine like a kind of a divinity not in the way you might think of God but a kind of divinity to him that he was the chosen or he was a son of God one might say especially in

[13:53] the time in their language so hence were are literally a hoot or zero nip number so the early Jews had said that about Osiris and speaking on how much this culture of Osiris was embedded in Egyptian surroundings and Egyptian understanding is I speaking of the staff thing this the stick I want to take our attention to I know many people may disagree with me on this interpretation yeah but I want to take our attention to

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment GdlCbTkYHgM/s/3. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/gdlcbtkyhgm/s/3/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.