6- Moses in the Quran
` Having talked about Jesus in the previous weeks, it is imperative to talk now about Moses. What is unique about Moses is that he is mentioned in the Quran more than all of the other prophets combined. This makes for a difficult choice of where, to begin with the story, so I picked one of the earlier ones of Moses growing up in Egypt till the time he was anointed as a prophet and a messenger of God. And as is normal for Muslims, I invoke God’s blessings upon Moses and all other prophets. From the Quran, chapter 28, verses 7–18:
“And We inspired the mother of Moses, nurse him then when you fear for him, cast him in the river, and don’t be afraid or aggrieve. For We will return him to you, and We will anoint him a messenger.
Then Pharaoh’s people picked him up, To be an opponent and a source of sorrow for them. For Pharaoh, Haman [1], and their troops were sinners.
The wife of Pharaoh said, ‘This is a joy for me and you, Don’t kill[2] him Perhaps he will be useful to us or may adopt him as a son’ They were simply totally in the dark (of what was going to happen).
But the heart of Moses’s mother became empty She almost revealed his identity and would have, Had We not strengthened her heart, for she is one of the faithful.
She said to his sister, ‘Trail him’ So, she watched him from a distance, unbeknown to them. And We forbade him the breastfeed at first; So, then she (the sister) said, ‘shall I show you, a household Who will feed him for you and be counsel to him? Thus, We returned him to his mother, That she might be comforted and not grieve And know that the promise of God is true; And yet most of them remain unaware…
When he reaches maturity and is well developed, We inculcate him with wisdom and knowledge thus, We reward the virtuous.
One time, he entered the city unnoticed When he found two people fighting, One of his sect and the other, one of their enemies. His fellow called on Moses for help. and Moses punched the guy and finished him.
He said, ‘This is the work of the devil Who is an enemy that misleads’ He said, ‘My lord, I have wronged my soul, Forgive me.’ And God forgave him, For God is the epitome of forgiveness and mercy. He said, ‘My Lord, because of your gracious blessings on me I will never be a party to those guilty of sin.’
The story continues after Moses flees his town heading toward Midian and asks his Lord to guide him to the right way. We pick up the story in the Quran chapter 28, verses 22–32
“And when he arrived at the oasis of Midian, he found a group of people Watering their flocks And he found apart from them, two women keeping back (their flock) He said to them what is the matter with you? They said, ‘We can’t water our flock until the shepherds leave, Our father is an elderly man.’ So, he watered their flock for them, then turned back to the shade and said, ‘My Lord, I am in dire need of anything good you send me.’
Then, one of the two women came back, walking shyly. She said, ‘My father bids you come so he could reward you For watering our flock for us’. So, he went to meet him, and he told him his story. He said, ‘Don’t fear you have escaped the oppressors.’
One of the women said: ‘O father! Hire him for the best to hire is the strong and is trustworthy’. He said, ‘In fact, I want to give you one of my daughters in marriage On condition that you work for me for eight years, and it would be up to you to complete them up to ten Because I don’t want to impose a hardship on you, For you will find me, God willing, of the righteous.’ He said, ‘That is between you and me Whichever of the two terms I fulfill, There will be no blame on me, and God is our witness.’
When Moses fulfilled the term, and departed with his family, he perceived a fire by side of the mount, and he said to his family ‘stay here, for I perceive a fire, Maybe I could bring some information from there or bring an ember from the fire to warm yourselves’. When he got there, he was called from the right side of the valley at the blessed spot, from the bush:
‘Moses, it is I God, Lord of the universe’ Throw your staff and when he saw it wriggling as if it was a serpent, He retreated without looking back. ‘O’ Moses come back and don’t fear you are of those who are secure. Put your hand inside your pocket, it will come out white (as in leprous) But without blemish. Press your arms to your side free of fear. These are two signs from your Lord To Pharaoh and his grandees. For they are impious people.’”
Thus, Moses was designated as a messenger to face the tyrant Pharaoh and save his Israelite people from his subjection. God, in addition, granted Moses’s wish to give him additional support by designating Aaron, his brother, as his assistant. Many more stories about Moses will come up from time to time and will be duly mentioned.
[1] Haman was a military leader of Pharaoh’s army.
[2] Pharaoh has issued an order to kill the first-born boy of all Israelite women.