Moses, the children of Israel, and cows

I can't believe I didn't see this til now! The story of the cow in the second Surah of the Qur'an (Verses 67 to 73). In brief: Moses instructs his people that God commands them to slaughter a cow, and they are reluctant, going off and coming back each time asking for specifics - what type of cow? what colour cow? what size cow? and so on and so forth. I passed this off, as I'm sure most people do, as his people simply being petty, slightly rebellious in nature perhaps.

However! This story and its real significance takes on a whole new meaning when understood in the context of other stories involving Moses, his people and cows! When Moses leaves his people to meet the covenant of God (at a time later to the above-mentioned story), what did his people do? Construct an idol, right? And what shape did that idol take? Exactly! That of a cow. You'll see that Moses' people had been freed from Pharaoh in person but they had yet to be freed from Pharaoh intellectually. A part of them still held those things deified by Pharaoh and his leadership as sacred. Another example of this of course is, after leaving Pharaoh and passing a group of people worshipping idols, they asked Moses to make for them a "God" like these people had "Gods".

So! Going back to the story under discussion: The coming back-and-forth of Moses' people and their questioning for specifics was not simply down to pettiness, or a rebellious nature. It was to buy time. In hope perhaps that Moses, or his God maybe, would change his mind! And, likewise, the command from God for Moses' people to slaughter a cow was not random. It was to be for them a step towards liberation.

Be, like the world around you

Generous, like the river from which you drink.
Bountiful, like the sun by which you see.
Hospitable, like the earth on which you tread.

(Play on words of something I saw in Maulana Muhammad Mian's 'The Prisoners of Malta')

Jesus

He ate.

He slept.

He prayed.

He was, a man.