﴿ وَٱخْتَارَ مُوسَىٰ قَوْمَهُۥ سَبْعِينَ رَجُلًۭا لِّمِيقَٰتِنَا ۖ فَلَمَّآ أَخَذَتْهُمُ ٱلرَّجْفَةُ قَالَ رَبِّ لَوْ شِئْتَ أَهْلَكْتَهُم مِّن قَبْلُ وَإِيَّٰىَ ۖ أَتُهْلِكُنَا بِمَا فَعَلَ ٱلسُّفَهَآءُ مِنَّآ ۖ إِنْ هِىَ إِلَّا فِتْنَتُكَ تُضِلُّ بِهَا مَن تَشَآءُ وَتَهْدِى مَن تَشَآءُ ۖ أَنتَ وَلِيُّنَا فَٱغْفِرْ لَنَا وَٱرْحَمْنَا ۖ وَأَنتَ خَيْرُ ٱلْغَٰفِرِينَ ﴾

“And Moses chose out of his people seventy men to come [and pray for forgiveness] at a time set by Us. Then, when violent trembling seized them, he prayed: "O my Sustainer! Hadst Thou so willed, Thou wouldst have destroyed them ere this, and me [with them]. Wilt Thou destroy us for what the weak-minded among us have done? (All] this is but a trial from Thee, whereby Thou allowest to go astray whom Thou willest, and guidest aright whom Thou willest. Thou art near unto us: grant us, then, forgiveness and have mercy on us - for Thou art the best of all forgivers!”

The making of a calf by the Israelites for the purposes of worship revealed that they did not have that conviction and faith in God that they should have had. So they were called by God to Mount Sinai to which Moses, along with seventy representatives of the Children of Israel, once again went at the appointed time. There God created conditions by means of thunder, lightning and earthquakes such as made them turn to God in total submission. The Children of Israel cried and wailed before God and repented collectively. They vowed that they would truly carry out the commandments of the Torah. On this occasion, Moses prayed, ‘O, my Lord, ordain for us good in this world and in the Hereafter.’ God said, ‘I inflict My punishment on whomsoever I will and My mercy embraces all things.’ Moses’ prayer was for his entire community, in general, but in His reply God made it clear that salvation and success did not depend on belonging to any particular community. This would be decided in respect of every individual on the basis of his deeds. God is the most merciful, yet one who does not perform righteous deeds cannot escape God’s chastisement, irrespective of his belonging to any special group