Prophet Musa a.s. (Moses)
Prophet Moses was a descendant of Hazrat Ibrahim (Abraham). His mother was also pious and a recipient of divine revelation. Since it was well known that the tyrant Pharaoh had ordered all male infants of Bani Israel to be put to death — thus, attempting to safeguard his throne and legacy against a future Israelite adventurer — Allah the All-Knowing planned to save the infant Moses from execution by enabling the royal court managers to bring up Moses with all the necessary care under the nose of Pharaoh. According to the Holy Qur’an (20:40-41), Allah reveled His saving plan to the mother of baby Moses, “… ‘Put him in the ark, and throw it into the river, then the river will cast it on to the bank, and one who is an enemy to Me and also an enemy to him will take him up.’ And I wrapped thee with love from Me; and this I did that you might be reared before My eye. “When thy sister walked along and said, ‘Shall I guide you to one who will take charge of him?’ So, We restored thee to thy mother that her eye might be cooled and she might not grieve. And thou didst kill a man, but We delivered thee from sorrow. Then We proved thee in various ways. And thou didst tarry several years among the people of Midian. Then thou came up to the standard, O Moses.”
So, this is how due to Allah’s ingenious plan Pharaoh — the enemy of baby Moses — ended up ensuring his safe and comfortable upbringing. But how was Moses rescued from the river where he was afloat?
The Holy Qur’an (28:8-9) tells us the rest of the episode, “And We revealed to the mother of Moses saying, ‘Breastfeed him; and when you have fear for him, then cast him into the river and fear not, nor grieve; for We shall restore him to thee, and shall make him one of the Messengers.’ … Pharaoh’s wife was childless and wanted to adopt baby Moses and bring him up as her own child, according to the Holy Qur’an (28: 10).
Involvement in an Unintentional homicide
Moses accidentally killed an Egyptian during a confrontation when he was helping a fellow Hebrew man fight an Egyptian. He struck the Egyptian and apparently hit him at some sensitive pressure-point on his body, which resulted in his death, Subsequently, Moses repented for his actions and prayed to God for forgiveness. This incident is recorded in the Bible (Exodus 2:12-15). In addition, the Holy Qur’an (28:16) alludes to the same incident. In addition, (20:41) states, “And thou didst kill a man, but We delivered thee from sorrow.”
A man from the party of Moses asked him for help against his foe, so Moses struck him with his fist and ended up killed him. He [prayed in repentance] and said: “This is of Satan’s doing, verily, he is a plain misleading enemy.”
Next day, the same man who had earlier asked for help from Moses tried to scandalize Moses and exploit him. But God protected Moses from that man’s mischief. Le learning lesson for us in this is that one should try not to react emotionally while coming to the help of one’s own.
Call to Prophethood
Moses was called to Prophethood, along with his assistant Prophet Aaron (Haroon). Their first assignment was to go to King Pharaoh and preach the Oneness of Allah to him in his court when he was arrogantly seated among his influential chiefs.
Moses was conscious of his personal limitations, e.g., his nervous state and fear that he would get killed, and his stammer — fearing that, due to his stuttering at times, he would not be taken seriously at the King’s court. So, he laid out his weaknesses to Allah the All-Knowing, “And my breast straitens, and my tongue is not eloquent, therefore sent for Aaron (to help me). “And they have a crime against me, therefore I fear that they may slay me.” But Allah reassured him of miraculous help in his mission. “Said (Allah): ‘By no means, so go you both with Our signs, surely, We are with you, hearing’.”
Prophet Musa (Moses) set out for his difficult mission, with Prophet Aaron, and his most important preparation was his call for divine help, recorded by the Holy Qur’an (20:26) as follows, “(Moses) said: ‘My Lord expand me my breast!; and make easy for me my task, and loose a knot from my tongue (so that) they may understand my saying” In response, the reassurance from Allah, the Almighty, was crisp, terse, and strengthening, ‘We are with you’.
Status of Prophet Moses as the Law-bearing Prophet
The Holy Qur’an (73:16) brings out the striking resemblance between Moses and the His resemblance with the Holy Prophet s.a.s. For one thing, the Holy Prophet was the only law-bearing Prophet (who brought the Holy Qur’an) after Prophet Moses. The Holy Qur’an tell us that Allah gave Moses Torah, by which he could tell the truth from the untruth in any given situation (furqan, or the discriminant).
A spiritual vision of Prophet Moses
According to the Holy Qur’an (28:30) Moses had a spiritual vision where he saw a glimpse of divine light on Mount Sinai, “And when Moses had fulfilled the term, and journeyed with his family, he perceived a fire in the direction of the Mount. He said to his family, ‘Wait, I perceive a fire; haply I may bring you some useful information therefrom, or a burning brand from the fire that you may warm yourselves.’ …”
What was the reality of that red glint of fire high up on the mountain? The Holy Qur’an (20:13) says, “And when he came to it, he was called by a voice, ‘O Moses, ‘Verily, I am thy Lord. So, take off thy shoes; for thou art in the sacred Valley of Tuwa. ‘And I have chosen thee; so, hearken to what is revealed. ‘Verily, I am Allah; there is no God beside Me. So, serve Me, and observe Prayer for My remembrance.”
Miracles divinely granted to Moses
The followers of King Pharaoh were a superstitious people, so Allah gave some Signs to prophet Moses to dazzle them with, and so that they do not regard him as a common man, unaided by God Almighty. These two Signs are described by the Holy Qur’an (20:18-20) as under, “And what is that in thy right hand, O Moses?’ He replied, ‘This is my rod, I lean on it, and beat down therewith leaves for my sheep, and I have also other uses for it.’ He said, ‘Cast it down, O Moses.’ …” Why did Allah ask Moses to throw down his staff, or rod? The Holy Qur’an tells us of the reason behind this divine instruction. This was the revelation of the first Sigh of God given to him.
“So, he cast it down, and behold! it was a serpent running. God said, ‘Catch hold of it, and fear not. We shall restore it to its former condition. Now Allah revealed the second Sign to him, “… ‘And draw thy hand close under thy armpit. It shall come forth white, without any disease — another Sign, ‘That We may show thee some of Our greater Signs.’
Thus, equipped with these two miraculous capabilities, Moses and Aaron left for the kingly palace of Pharaoh. When they reached Pharaoh and preached to him about the Oneness of God, he challenged that message and questioned (20:50-57) the nature of God they believed in. Moses summarily replied, “He said, ‘Our Lord is He Who gave unto everything its proper form and then guided it to its proper function.’ …” Now, a dialogue ensued between the two. “Pharaoh said, ‘What then will be the fate of the former generations?’ He said, ‘The knowledge thereof is with my Lord recorded in a Book. My Lord neither errs nor forgets.’ It is He Who has made the earth for you a cradle, and has caused pathways for you to run through it; and Who sends down rain from the sky, and thereby We bring forth various kinds of vegetation. … And We did show him (Pharaoh) Our Signs, all of them; but he rejected them and refused to believe.”
Now the conversation with Pharaoh turned to an open competition in terms of magic (which was their only “science” in those ancient times). He said, ‘Hast thou come to us, O Moses, to drive us out of our land by thy magic? The King further said, ‘But we shall assuredly bring thee magic the like thereof; so, make an appointment between us and thyself which we shall not fail to keep — neither we nor thou — at a place alike for us both.’
“Moses said, ‘Your appointment shall be for the day of the festival, and let the people be assembled when the sun is risen high.’ Then Pharaoh withdrew and concerted his plan and then came to the place of appointment. … Then they argued their affair among themselves and conferred in secret.
In fact, the King and his courtiers were afraid of Moses being a super-magician. “They said, ‘Certainly these two are magicians, who desire to drive you out from your land by their magic and to destroy your best traditions. The King offered Moses to show his especially impressive achievement first, but Moses replied by saying, ‘No, you go first.’ Elsewhere in the Holy Qur’an it is stated, “They said, ‘O Moses, either throw thou first, or we shall be the first throwers.’ He replied, ‘Throw ye.’ And when they threw, they enchanted the eyes of the people, and struck them with awe and brought forth a great magic. (7:116-117). This was a wise strategy under divine direction, because, in such a situation, one should let one’s enemy, or competitor, go first so that one can then more than match it. But was not even a smart move that can be attributed to Moses as a wise individual. The Holy Qur’an (7:118) states, “And We inspired Moses, saying, ‘Throw thy rod,’ and lo! it swallowed up whatever they feigned.”
Two insights from the narrative regarding Prophet Moses a.s. in the Holy Qur’an
First Insight
The magicians knew that their powerful method of magnetically spellbinding a person could not be one-sidedly nullified. So, after casting whatever spell they cast on Moses, they were very confident that he will not be able to emerge out of the trance they thought they had put on him. In their experience, such a subject would see only what they wanted him to see. Their magical trickery had mesmerized everyone at the royal court to see. We learn about Moses having thrown his rod as Allah commanded him, from the Holy Qur’an (7:108) So, he flung down his rod, and behold! it was a serpent plainly visible. … [and, instantly, everyone could see it moving] “So he cast it down, and behold! it was a serpent running. God said, ‘Catch hold of it, and fear not. We shall restore it to its former condition.
How did the courtiers take it? They were outwitted by the quality of, what they were still thinking as, a much superior magic brought by Moses. They were still in no mood to consider the possibility of there being an Almighty God who did this for Moses being His true Prophet sent to them etc.
(7:110) “The chiefs of Pharaoh’s people said, ‘This is most surely a skillful magician.” One can only smile at their ancient mindset that they ‘accepted’ Moses only as a much better magician.
Notice, Allah does not say that they magically created live serpents. The Holy Qur’an merely says, “they enchanted the eyes of the people, and struck them with awe …” So, far from their putting out a live serpent, the magicians only exercised their mesmerizing technique and spellbound everyone. Who was the first to come out of that powerful magic spell? Did anyone; and how did this spectacle end? The Holy Qur’an (7:119) tells us about their public humiliation, “Thus were they vanquished there, and they returned humiliated.”
The Holy Qur’an (7:118) states, “And We inspired Moses, saying, ‘Throw thy rod,’ and lo! it swallowed up whatever they feigned. Take note that it was just a spell (whatever they feigned) and Moses’ act of throwing his rod, under Allah’s command, nullified (i.e., “swallowed up”) their ‘make-belief’ serpents, signaling to everyone that the magic spell had been broken! But who could have broken it?
Second Insight
Now, the next dazzling Sign of God was to be unleashed by Moses under Allah’s command. The Holy Qur’an (20:21) records this command of Allah delivered instantly to Prophet Moses, “And draw thy hand close under thy armpit. It shall come forth white, without any disease — another Sign, ‘That We may show thee some of Our greater Signs.” This Sign is also mentioned in the context of (7:109), “And he drew forth his hand, and lo! it was white for the beholders.”
Obviously, they were routed on the first basis, so this second spectacle from Moses, which Allah had granted him, was unmatchable for them.
Eventually, when under divine direction, Moses left with his followers to cross the river Nile, Allah the Almighty enabled them to cross it safely, while the King and his army watched in frustration because the oncoming high- tide had returned and it drowned them.
