Parables of the Qur’an – Part II

Episode 13

In the name of Allah[1], The All-Merciful, The Ever-Merciful.  All Prayers and Blessings of Allah be upon our master, the most noble Prophet, Muhammad (SAWS)[2].

Welcome to our new episode.  Let us revise the sequence in the story of Musa (AS)[3] (Moses).  Musa (AS) returned from Madian, Allah (SWT) spoke to him at Mount Tor, and assigned him the following tasks; confronting the Pharaoh, eliminating injustice, and taking the people of Israel out of Egypt.  

Today’s episode begins with a serious incident: earth’s swallowing up of Qarun.  He was one of Musa’s (AS) people.  Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, “Indeed, Qarun was from the people of Moses, but he tyrannized them” (TMQ, 28:76).[4]   Qarun betrayed his people and spied on them.  He did this for more wealth and to help the Pharaoh persecute and dominate Musa (AS) and the people of Israel.  After Qarun’s death, the Pharaoh lost most of the financial and economic powers that supported him. 

All the above-mentioned events took place in Egypt and lasted for 15 years, beginning with Musa confronting the Pharaoh and ending with Musa going out of Egypt.  The message was revealed to Musa when he was 40 and he remained for 15 years calling people to worship Allah (SWT).  Like Musa, Prophet Muhammed (SAWS) received the message at the age of 40 and after 15 years, he fought the disbelievers in the battle of Badr.  During this period, Allah revealed to Muhammed (SAWS) verses from the Qur’an relaying the story of Musa (AS).    

Allah (SWT) sent the Pharaoh many opportunities to repent, but he insisted on rejecting faith because of pride and vanity.  Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, “And they rejected them, while their [inner] selves were convinced thereof, out of injustice and haughtiness” (TMQ, 27:14).  Gradually, Allah (SWT) stripped him of his powers.  First, Allah (SWT) deprived him of reason and logical proof in the first confrontation between him and Musa (AS).  Second, Allah (SWT) stripped the Pharaoh of his powers when Musa (AS) threw down his staff and his hand came out white.  Third, he was defeated when Asia (his wife) embraced Musa’s faith.  Fourth, he was defeated when another believer appeared within his family.  Fifth, after killing the sorcerers, he was defeated by the media.  Sixth, when Qarun and his fortunes were swallowed by the earth, the Pharaoh was overcome economically. 

Musa (AS) also found out that because of the Pharaoh’s persecution of the people of Israel, they were transformed from a noble people to a downtrodden people.  The people of Israel said to Musa, “’We have been harmed before you came to us and after you have come to us.’ He said, ‘Perhaps your Lord will destroy your enemy and grant you succession in the land and see how you will do’” (TMQ, 7:129).   Musa (AS) was subjected to great distress from the Pharaoh and from the people of Israel whom he struggled and sacrificed a lot for.  Similarly, when Prophet Muhammed (SAWS) was harmed, he was heard to have said that may Allah have mercy upon Musa (AS), for he was subjected to great distress but he was patient.  Musa (AS) wanted the people of Israel to have strong belief in Allah (SWT) and to work hard so that if Allah gave them the responsibility of reforming earth, they would qualify.  We all see the condition of Muslims today, but instead of blaming fate, we have to get ourselves and our children prepared to be of benefit to Muslims and to serve Islam. 

Oppression begets servility and servility begets nervous breakdowns. Inner selves become distorted and minds are retarded due to servility, likewise drugs cause retardation.  Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, “But no one believed Moses, except [some] youths among his people, for fear of Pharaoh and his establishment that they would persecute them . . .” (TMQ, 10:83).  That is why Musa (AS) focused on the youth.  The greatest treasure in our Arab world today is our youth but unfortunately, no one concerns themselves with them.  Prophet Muhammed (SAWS) was once heard to have said that when he started calling for Islam, it was youth that believed in him first not the elders.  Similarly, when Ibrahim (AS) (Abraham) broke the idols, he was a young man.  Likewise, in the case of Yahya (AS) (John), Allah (SWT) says what can be translated, “. . . And We gave him judgment [while yet] a boy” (TMQ, 19:12).  Lady Maryam was a young woman and so was Maryam (Musa’s sister) who saved him.  We have to consider youth a hope and youth have to trust in themselves.  “And Moses said, ‘O my people, if you have believed in Allah , then rely upon Him, if you should be Muslims’” (TMQ, 10:84).

The value you should learn from today’s story is that you should pay attention when Allah (SWT) sends warning signs to you. You should not neglect His warning signs thinking that Allah (SWT) has left you because once He (SWT) punishes you; He (SWT) will do it severely. Do not insist on oppressing others or committing a sin because of stubbornness and pride. 

When Musa asked the Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out with him the Pharaoh refused.  He did this for three reasons.  The first reason was a military one; the people of Israel had been the subjects of his persecution; therefore he was anxious that they may form a strong state of 500,000 and threaten him.  Similarly, this was the reason why Quraysh rejected the Prophet’s (SAWS) going out of Makkah to Madinah.[5]  

The second reason was a political one.  Had the Pharaoh let them go, the strength of his state would have weakened and the Pharaoh would have fallen.  Consequently, he felt forced to continue oppressing them and as a result Allah (SWT) tightened the circle around him.  The Pharaoh could not solve this dilemma because of his excessive injustice; he was forced to find justifications for his oppression. The third reason was a personal reason and this was his stubbornness and pride.  The Pharaoh did not accept that Musa (AS) opposed his objections against him going out with the people of Israel.

Consequently, seven warning signs were sent to the Pharaoh.  The first warning sign was an extreme famine.  This famine reminded them of Yusuf (AS) (Joseph), as if Allah (SWT) wanted to remind them of  Musas’s (AS) grandfather who dealt with this problem in the past.  Had people believed in Musa (AS), he would have solved their problem because these signs were evidently sent by Allah (SWT).  However, they rejected out of injustice and haughtiness.  The Pharaoh ascribed the famine to Musa’s (AS) deeds instead of reconsidering his actions.  When Musa (AS) told the Pharaoh that this sign was from Allah (SWT), he replied, “And they said, ‘No matter what sign you bring us with which to bewitch us, we will not be believers in you’” (TMQ, 7:132).  

The second warning sign was the flood that ruined the cultivated lands.  When the flood subsided, a third sign appeared which was the swarms of locust that destroyed crops.  All these signs targeted Egypt’s economy which was based on agriculture.  After the locusts disappeared, the fourth warning sign was the appearance of a certain kind of insect.  This insect damaged crops and destroyed them before they grew.  As a result, people barely had anything to eat. The fifth sign was the appearance of frogs that spread in the fields and the Nile river.  The sixth warning sign was blood.  The color of the Nile turned to red like blood for a few days.  People wanted to drink from wells but the color of the water was like blood.  Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, “So We sent upon them the flood and locusts and lice and frogs and blood. . .” (TMQ, 7:133).  The last sign was the punishment represented in the plague.        

These warning signs were proofs that Allah (SWT) is The Ever-Forbearing who gives people opportunities before punishing them.  His mercy makes you too ashamed to disobey Him (SWT).  However, if you  do not take advantage of these opportunities, He  will punish you.

Today we have many signs such as the spread of disease around the world and global economic crisis, so pay attention to Allah’s (SWT) warnings.  I do not want you to leave hard work and labour, but you have to balance between the two concepts.  When the Prophet (SAWS) returned from at-Ta’ef after being beaten by its people, he asked Allah (SWT) whether this was a warning sign that he should heed.  When you go through this experience, you have to reconsider your deeds because the experience could be a form of distress that will win you a higher degree in paradise if you are patient and persevere or it could be a warning alert.  If you use your power to be unjust to others, remember that Allah (SWT) is The Omnipotent. 

Musa (AS) supplicated to Allah (SWT) as he was sincere and devoted himself to his message.  When the Prophet (SAWS) had conquered Makkah, he set people of Makkah free, after 20 years of harming Muslims.  A true believer does not hold a grudge against painful memories. “But when We removed the punishment from them until a term which they were to reach, then at once they broke their word” (TMQ, 7:135). 

Allah says what can be translated as, “And when the punishment descended upon them, they said, ‘O Moses, invoke for us your Lord by what He has promised you. If you [can] remove the punishment from us, we will surely believe you, and we will send with you the Children of Israel’ (TMQ, 7:134).  After they had believed and the punishment had been removed, they broke their word, “So We took retribution from them, and We drowned them in the sea because they denied Our signs and were heedless of them (TMQ, 7:136).  Allah (SWT) says what can be translated, “And We had certainly given Moses nine evident signs, so ask the Children of Israel [about] when he came to them and Pharaoh said to him, ‘Indeed I think, O Moses, that you are affected by magic.’ [Moses] said, ‘You have already known that none has sent down these [signs] except the Lord of the heavens and the earth as evidence, and indeed I think, O Pharaoh, that you are destroyed.’ So he intended to drive them from the land, but We drowned him and those with him all together” (TMQ, 17:101-103).

The Pharaoh gave his last speech, “And Pharaoh called out among his people; he said, ‘O my people, does not the kingdom of Egypt belong to me, and these rivers flowing beneath me; then do you not see?  Or am I [not] better than this one who is insignificant and hardly makes himself clear?  Then why have there not been placed upon him bracelets of gold or come with him the angels in conjunction?’” (TMQ, 43:51-53).  Musa (AS) took the initiative and prepared to get out of Egypt with the people of Israel at night before the Pharaoh’s army destroyed them.   

Translated by: The English Convoy – Dar al-Tarjama

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