Moses in Islam Mercy. Meanwhile, in his absence, a man named Samiri had created a Golden Calf, proclaiming it to be the God of Moses. The people began to worship it. Aaron attempted to guide them away from the Golden Calf, but the Israelites refused to do so until Moses had returned. Moses, having thus received the scriptures for his people, was informed by God that the Israelites had been tested in his absence and they had gone astray by worshiping the Golden Calf. Moses came down from the mountain and returned to his people. The Quran states that Moses, in his anger,
Biblical Mount Sinai Jebel Musa as Mount Sinai and this identification was later adopted by the Christian pilgrims. R. K. Harrison states that, “Jebel Musa . . . seems to have enjoyed special sanctity long before Christian times, culminating in its identification with Mt. Sinai." In the second and third centuries BCE Nabataeans were making pilgrimages there, which is indicated in part by inscriptions discovered in the area. Josephus wrote that "Moses went up to a mountain that lay between Egypt and Arabia, which was called Sinai." Josephus says that Sinai is "the highest of all the mountains thereabout," and is "the highest