And We took the Children of Israel across the sea; then they came upon a people intent in devotion to [some] idols of theirs. They [the Children of Israel] said, "O Moses, make for us a god just as they have gods." He said, "Indeed, you are a people behaving ignorantly.
And I made the Children of Israel cross the sea when Moses hit it with his stick and it parted. They passed a people who were worshipping idols, which they worshipped instead of Allah. The Children of Israel said to Moses (peace be upon him): 'O Moses, make us an idol to worship as these people have idols to worship.' Moses said: 'You are a people who are ignorant of the rights that are due to Allah alone concerning the belief in His Oneness and what is due to Him of reverence, and what is inappropriate to ascribe to Him of polytheism and the like.'