| THE
PROPHET MUSA (AS)
God's Discourse With Musa(As)
When Musa went up to the fire on the mountain,
he was greeted by a marvellous event. He was addressed by God from
a bush. There, he received the first revelations, stated in the
Qur'an as follows:
But when he reached it a voice called
out to him from the right hand side of the valley in the part which
was full of blessing, from out of the bush: "Musa, I am God, the
Lord of all the worlds." (Qur'an, 28: 30)
Then when he reached it, a voice called
out, "Musa! I am your Lord. Take off your sandals. You are in the
holy valley of Tuwa. I have chosen you, so listen well to what is
revealed. I am God. There is no god but Me, so worship Me and establish
prayer to remember Me." (Qur'an, 20: 11-14)
This was the first revelation Musa received, honouring
him as God's messenger, the highest rank that a human can attain
in this world.
An important point deserves attention here; God
addresses Musa... God had called onto Musa from a tree. God was
close enough to Musa as to address him directly. The truth however
is, God is always close enough to address anybody. For instance,
as you read these lines, God is close to you. He is close enough
to speak to you, to hear your voice and make you hear His voice.
Even, as explained in the words of the Qur'an,
"God is closer to the human than his own jugular vein." (Qur'an,
50: 16) Though we cannot hear God, because He does not speak
to us directly, He is always close enough to hear our every word.
He can hear us even if we whisper.
After telling Musa that the voice he hears belongs
to his Lord, God asked him about his staff:
"What is that in your right hand, Musa?"
He said, "It is my staff. I lean on it and beat down leaves for
my sheep with it and have other uses for it." (Qur'an, 20: 17-18)
No doubt God had known what Musa held in his hand.
However, to edify Musa and make known His wisdom to him, God asked
him to throw down his staff:
"Throw down your staff." Then when he
saw it slithering like a snake he turned and fled and did not turn
back again... (Qur'an, 27: 10)
When Musa saw his familiar staff turned into a
snake, he was seized with fear. However, this event was designed
to be a lesson by which God taught Musa to feel no fear except for
Him, and to submit to no one other than Him:
…"Have no fear, Musa. In My Presence
the Messengers have no fear." (Qur'an, 27: 10)
He said, "Take hold of it and have no
fear. We will return it to its original form." (Qur'an, 20: 21)
In compliance with the command, Musa picked up
his staff. This staff would later become a miracle used against
Pharaoh. Thereafter, God gave Musa a second miracle:
Put your hand inside your shirt front.
It will emerge pure white yet quite unharmed… (Qur'an, 28: 32)
As the above verse informs us, Musa's hand emerged
pure white, as a miracle from God. Musa became excited and felt
frightened by these things. However God commanded him to pull himself
together and go forth with these miracles to Pharaoh:
…And hug your arms to your sides to
still your fear. These are two proofs from your Lord for Pharaoh
and his ruling circle. They are a deviant people. (Qur'an, 28:32)
Musa (As) Requests
Harun (As) As A Companion
Musa's answers to the revelations from God are
replete with numerous examples of his sincerity. Musa told God frankly
that he was afraid, hesitant, and insecure, and asked for his Lord's
guidance. For instance, he expressed his concern that he might be
killed by an Egyptian seeking vengeance, for having killed another
Egyptian. He also stated that he was concerned of his inability
to express himself fluently, fearing not being able to address Pharaoh
properly. That is why he asked for his brother Harun, who was better
at speaking, to accompany him:
He said, "My Lord, I killed one of them
and I am afraid they will kill me; and my brother Harun is more
eloquent than me so send him with me to support me and back me up.
I am afraid they will call me a liar." (Qur'an, 28: 33-34)
"My brother Harun. Strengthen my back
by him and let him share in my task, so that we can glorify You
much and remember You much."(Qur'an, 20: 30-34)
Therefore, we should understand that the other
reason why Musa asked for Harun as companion was to help him better
remember God. He thought the company of another person would make
him glorify Him more. Indeed, the company of other believers and
their mutual spiritual encouragement are essential in warding off
heedlessness, for which reason, in many verses of the Qur'an, God
admonishes the believers to remain together. This is another lesson
believers must draw from the story of Musa.
Musa's requests were granted by God. God declared
that Harun had been allowed to accompany Musa in order to support
him in his mission to Pharaoh as well as to give him strength:
He (God) said, "We will reinforce you
with your brother and by Our Signs will give you both authority,
so that they will not be able to lay a hand on you. You and those
who follow you will be the victors." (Qur'an, 28: 35)
Another verse conveys the same event as follows:
He said, "O Lord, expand my breast for
me and make my task easy for me. Loosen the knot in my tongue so
that they will understand my words. Assign me a helper from my family."
(Qur'an, 20: 25-29)
(Moses said) "For You are watching us."
He (God) said, "Your request has been granted, Musa." (Qur'an, 20:
35-36)
When we consider Musa's requests, we see that he
disclosed all his personal weaknesses candidly to God, and that
he prayed and pleaded for God's guidance. The sincerity of his prayer
is an example for all people. A human should pray humbly to God
with sincerity, aware that he is weak and destitute before the presence
of God, Who holds everything under His total control. God knows
everything and witnesses every deed a human engages in. Further,
He knows inner thoughts of man. This being the case, there is no
need to conceal anything from one's Lord.
To conclude, every one needs to turn to God, with
the sincerity and candour that he would otherwise not show to other
human beings.
The Story Of Musa
(As) And The Mystery Of Destiny
On Mount Sinai, God gave Musa the good tidings
that He would grant him his brother Harun as a companion. Then,
God reminded Musa the blessings He previously granted to him:
We were gracious to you another time
when We revealed to your mother: "Place him into the chest and throw
it into the sea and the sea will wash it up on the shore, where
an enemy of Mine and his will pick it up." I showered you with love
from Me so that you would be brought up under My supervision. When
your sister went and said, "Shall I direct you to someone who will
take care of him?" that was how We returned you to your mother so
that she might delight her eyes and not be grieved. You killed a
man and We rescued you from trouble and tested you with many trials.
You stayed some years among the people of Midian. Then you arrived
at the pre-ordained time, Musa! I have chosen you for Myself. (Qur'an,
20: 37-41)
These verses reveal the mystery of destiny, of
which many a people are unaware or hardly understand. From his babyhood
to the time he was chosen as a messenger, Musa spent every moment
of his life in line with what was predestined for him in the eternal
past. Within this destiny is nothing but the fulfilment of the will
of God. For instance, as stated earlier, thousands of minute details
ordained by God in Musa's destiny rendered possible the arrival
of the chest to the family of Pharaoh.
It is also possible to see the extent to which
the latter stages of Musa's life were within the confines of his
destiny. Musa became involved in a fight and fled from the city
to Midian, where he encountered two women. These women could not
water their flocks because they avoided shepherds. Upon this situation,
Musa offered help. Musa earned the trust of these women, and in
return for his kindness, started a new life in Midian upon the proposal
of their old father. When the appointed time came, Musa left Midian
with his family. On his way back, he saw a fire where he was addressed
by God and chosen to be God's Messenger.
The chest carrying the baby Musa floating randomly
down the Nile, his being picked up by Pharaoh's family, his being
raised in the palace, the unintentional murder he committed, his
flight from Egypt, his encounter with the two women, the many years
spent with the old man, the way he started a family, the journey
back to Egypt, God's address to him, and countless other details
which are not referred to in the Qur'an, all happened according
to Musa's destiny, already ordained before his birth. Not a single
one of these events could have been omitted or have occurred differently.
Because, our lives are similar to a film recorded in a video-cassette;
it is impossible to remove even a single scene in one's destiny,
just as how it cannot be done with a scene on a filmstrip. The destiny
of a man, with each and every moment in it, is an intact whole.
Also in the verses quoted above, there is mention
of the fact that Musa's journey to the holy valley of Tuwa was in
conformity with his destiny:
…Then you arrived at the pre-ordained
time, Musa! (Qur'an, 20: 40)
This matter needs to be given special attention.
The destiny referred here is not peculiar to Musa only. Giving birth
to Musa was part of the destiny of Musa's mother. That she would
give birth to Musa at a certain day, and even at a certain hour,
was also part of her destiny. But the mother of Musa had parents
as well. It was the destiny of the mother of Musa's mother to give
birth to her. This line of thought also holds true for Musa's father
and for the rest of his family.
The carpenter who made the chest which carried
Musa down the river also constructed it because he was predestined
so in his destiny. His building of that chest was predestined for
him even before he was born. The parents of this carpenter also
led their lives in compliance with a certain destiny.
Let us consider the fight Musa was involved in.
This fight took place on just the moment Musa happened to be there.
From a simplistic point of view, one could say, "if it was to happen
at a different time Musa would not have been there and events could
have taken a much different course." However this would be an incorrect
evaluation. The fight took place just at the moment it was supposed
to occur and evolved in the way it had to evolve. The reason being,
this fight was also predestined by God. The same rule of destiny
also holds true for the other parties involved in the fight, the
reasons which led to the fight, as well as the man who advised Musa
to flee from the city, advising him that people were conspiring
against him. Ultimately, the shepherds near the Midian river, as
well as the two women Musa encountered, had all constituted indispensable
parts of this destiny.
It is God's prophets who best understood the fact
that everything takes place within the decree predetermined by God.
The Prophet Muhammad (saas), in whom there is an excellent example
for all believers, said:
If any adversity comes to you, do not say: "If
I had only acted in such-and-such a way, it would have been such-and-such;"
but instead, say: "God has decreed (it) and what He willed, He has
done," for verily, (the word) (if) opens the way for the work of
Satan." (Muslim)
When all these points are considered together,
it becomes clear that, not only Musa, but also everything about
his life, formed part of his destiny. A deeper and more detailed
consideration would allow us to understand that we are all parts
of the same destiny. In our own lives, we are also exposed to events
predetermined in the eternal past by the all-mighty God. We were
all bound by a destiny ordained for us. The moment of our death
will also be a part of the same destiny. Destiny is, in reality,
a divine knowledge encompassing the whole of existence. Just as
how all the details of Musa's life, including his becoming a messenger,
were predestined for him, all the details pertaining to the lives
of all mankind, as well as your own lives, are all predestined.
Furthermore, that you would read this book and become knowledgeable
about the life of Musa were all predestined for you long before
Musa was born. Destiny is an entirety in itself and covers everything.
Immune to the will of any being other than of God, destiny is only
determined by Him. (For more information please refer to Timelessness
and the Reality of Fate and Eternity Has Already Begun by the same
author).
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