Hosea echoed his disapproval of the northern temple in the following terms. Throw out your calf-idol, O Samaria! My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of purity? They are from Israel! This calf – a craftsman has made it; it is not God. It will be broken in pieces, that calf of Samaria. — Hosea 8:5-6 This is a warning to the Jews of 700 B.C. living in Samaria. It has nothing to do with the story of Moses and the Golden calf. Muhammad must have heard these two stories. But he confused the two and placed the Samaritans in a wrong context. The Quran continues: “Moses said: “Get thee gone! but thy (punishment) in this life will be that thou wilt say, ‘touch me not'; and moreover (for a future penalty) thou hast a promise that will not fail: Now look at thy god, of whom thou hast become a devoted worshipper: We will certainly (melt) it in a blazing fire and scatter it broadcast” (Qur’an 20:97) It is interesting to note that in this verse the Quran alludes to the fact that the Samaritans were regarded as untouchables (thou wilt say, ‘touch me not’). In fact the Israelites looked down at Samarians and considered them “untouchable” (Najis) because of their idolatry. However, this stigma was not placed on them by Moses. There were no Samaritans in the time of Moses. They earned this designation by the Jews centuries later.