#الأربعون_في_ذكر_الأربعين

3. Allah Appointed Musa For Forty Nights Allah جل وعلا said: {وَإِذۡ وَ ٰ⁠عَدۡنَا مُوسَىٰۤ أَرۡبَعِینَ لَیۡلَةࣰ ثُمَّ ٱتَّخَذۡتُمُ ٱلۡعِجۡلَ مِنۢ بَعۡدِهِۦ وَأَنتُمۡ ظَـٰلِمُونَ} "And [recall] when We made an appointment with Musa for forty nights. Then you took [for worship] the calf after him [i.e., his departure], while you were wrongdoers." [Surah Al-Baqarah: 51] Commentary: Al-Baghawi rahimahullah explains in his Tafsir of this Ayah: "This is because when the Children of Israel felt secure from their enemies and entered Egypt, they had no scripture or law to guide them. So Allah promised Musa (peace be upon him) that He would send down the Torah. Musa told his people: “I am going to the appointed place with your Lord. I will bring you a book that explains what you should do and what you should leave.” Allah appointed Musa for forty nights—thirty in Dhul-Qi‘dah and ten in Dhul-Hijjah—and left his brother Harun (peace be upon him) in charge of the people during his absence. When the appointed time came, the angel Jibril appeared on a special horse called the “Horse of Life,” which could travel without touching the ground. The Samaritan, a man who was a goldsmith from the people of Bajarmah named Mikha (some say from Kerman, and Ibn ‘Abbas says his full name was Musa ibn Mudhaffar; Qatadah says he was from a tribe of Israel called Samirah), saw Jibril and the horse. He was a hypocrite who pretended to be a believer, and he came from a people who worshipped the calf. When he saw Jibril’s horse and the green marks left by its hooves, he realised it was something extraordinary. So he took a handful of the dust from the horse’s hooves. Ikramah said that he believed this dust had the power to change anything it was thrown into. At that time, the Children of Israel had borrowed a large amount of jewellery from the people of Pharaoh to wear for a wedding. When Pharaoh was destroyed, the jewellery remained in the hands of the Children of Israel. The Samaritan told them: “The jewellery you borrowed from Pharaoh’s people is not lawful for you. Dig a hole and bury it there until Musa returns so he can decide what to do.” According to As-Suddi, Harun (peace be upon him) instructed them to bury it, and they obeyed. Then the Samaritan fashioned a calf from the jewellery in just three days. He added the handful of dust he had taken from Jibril’s horse, and a golden calf appeared, decorated with jewels and perfectly formed. It even moved and walked. As-Suddi said it bleated and walked, and the Samaritan said: “This is your God and the God of Musa—but he forgot.” In other words, he left it there while he went to search for Musa. The Children of Israel had broken their promise. They counted the days from night to night as two, and when twenty days had passed and Musa had not returned, they fell into temptation. Some scholars say that Musa had promised them thirty nights, then the ten extra nights were added. Their temptation happened during these ten nights. When the thirty nights passed and Musa did not return, they thought he had died. They saw the calf and heard the Samaritan’s words. Around 8,000 men worshipped the calf, though some reports say all of them did except Harun and twelve thousand others. The most correct report says that all worshipped it except Harun and twelve thousand. Al-Hasan said that all of them worshipped it except Harun alone." [End of quote] Notes: 1⃣. I will suffice with this Ayah and refrain from repeating the Ayah in Surah Al-Aʿrāf:142, although it also contains the number forty. 2⃣. Jamā‘ah Tablīgh use these Ayahs to support their innovated forty-day trips. However, Sheikh Al-Islam rahimahullah refutes this, saying: "وطائفة يجعلون الخلوة أربعين يوما، ويعظمون أمر الأربعينية، ويحتجون فيها بأن الله تعالى واعد موسى عليه السلام ثلاثين ليلة وأتمها بعشر، وقد روي أن موسى عليه السلام صامها وصام المسيح أيضا أربعين لله تعالى ، وخوطب بعدها. فيقولون يحصل بعدها الخطاب والتنزل كما يقولون في غار حراء حصل بعده نزول الوحي.