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people are doing is destined for destruction. What they are doing is
purposeless.” (Surat al-A‘raf: 138-139)

Some of the Israelites acted in ignorance and requested a sup-
posed deity they could see with their own eyes, before which they
could prostrate themselves or could perform heretical rituals. This sit-
uation reveals the level of their ignorance and that they did not appre-
ciate or comprehend Allah’s providence. Despite the fact that the
Prophet Moses (pbuh) explained the truth to them they acquired an
idol as soon as he left them, which was a grave sin. They eventually re-

pented as revealed in the Qur’an:
After he left, Moses’s people took the Calf (for worship) made from
their ornaments, a form which made a lowing sound. Did they not
see that it could not speak to them or guide them to any way? They
adopted it and so they were wrongdoers. When they took full stock
of what they had done and saw they had been misled, they said, “If
our Lord does not have mercy on us and forgive us, we will cer-
tainly be among the lost.” (Surat al-A‘raf: 148-149)

However, Allah responds to those who take the Calf as deities and
do not repent:
As for those who adopted the Calf, anger from their Lord will over-
take them together with abasement in the life of this world. That is
how we repay the purveyors of falsehood. (Surat al-A‘raf: 152)
It is revealed in the above verses that Allah can choose to forgive
those who ascribe partners to Him as they are in reality falling for a lie.
Whereas Allah is clearly the one and only God, they adopted false idols

for worship. To prostrate before them is a grave sin. The Taoists’ situa-
tion is like that of all pagan people throughout history; They are also a
people who are numbed with superstitious nonsense and teachings,
and unable to see the perversion in which they found themselves. They

Islam And Far Eastern Religions