Page 227 - The Profound Darkness of the Hypocrite

A D N A N O K TA R ( H A R U N Y A H Y A )

statues a 'realistic and metaphysical appearance'. Since Israelites were mainly
making their living with 'slavery, agriculture and animal husbandry', these golden
calves of Samiri and his craftsmanship were almost breathtaking in their complexity.
They were greatly baffled and amazed by his talent.
At the time, 'calf statues' were irreplaceable elements of the Egyptian culture.
The idol of these calves which were considered to be holy in Egypt was called 'Apis'
-surely God is beyond this. Scores of calf statues that represented Pharaoh's idolatrous
religion were on Egypt's main streets and squares. They were also placed on both
sides of the road which was ascending towards Pharaoh's palace. In Egyptian belief,
a 'calf was a symbol for possessing power, state and wealth'.
In the era of the Pharaoh, gold was also a crucial material and it was con-
sidered to be the symbol of power. In that period, there was great admiration for
gold among Israelites. In fact, every person has a liking for gold that actually is a
blessing of heaven. Samiri who had an evil intelligence and talent, made an evil
robbery plan by using this love of gold people subconsciously have.
Egyptians among whom there were also Israelites at the time, were about to
leave Egypt with the Prophet Moses (pbuh) in order to settle in new lands in which
they would live freely, saved from the Pharaoh's persecution and slavery. Right
about this time, Samiri and his gang heard that the Israelites were about to
in failure, unrest depart. They insidiously made a plan to commit an extensive theft in Egypt.
a
Organizing the hypocrites around him, Samiri had them rob the palaces, homes,
graves and treasures of the Pharaoh and his inner circle; then, along with this
gang of thieves, they set off from Egypt for the Sinai Desert loading hundreds
of kilograms of gold they had stolen on their animals.
During that time, the Prophet Moses (pbuh) headed for 'Mount Tur' to receive

revelation, leaving his tribe and he left his brother the Prophet Aaron (pbuh) as his

deputy. While Samiri and his hypocrite crew were taking the gold they had stolen

away, the Prophet Aaron (pbuh) saw them. As he saw the amount of gold they car-

ried, he suspected that they were up to something and stopped them. When he saw

'hundreds of kilograms of gold' they had, he understood that 'they had probably

obtained these with robbery'. But when he asked, Samiri lied and tried to cover

his theft saying "These are all mine, I've collected them in the course of time'.
Likewise other hypocrites around him said "Yes, all of them belong to us," and
supported Samiri. However it was very clear that such an amount of gold could not
be theirs and that they got hold of that much gold by stealing. Indeed in the Torah,
it is explained that Samiri got hold of all that gold by means of theft; "The Lord had
made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what
they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians." (Torah; Exodus 12:36)

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