Ash-Shu'ara

The call for Truth reveals itself with total clarity. The sign of a call being Divine is that everything is clear and based on clear arguments. One may deny it, but nobody would be in a position to say that he has not grasped its message. ‘It may be that you will destroy yourself.’ These words show the very strong feelings of well-wishing that a preacher has towards his addressees. The desire to spread the word of God gushes forth from such pure feelings. So, when God’s envoy observes that an addressee does not accept his message, he worries about him as a mother would worry about the welfare of her child. This sentence of the Quran is the confirmation of the benevalent feelings of the preacher and does not indicate criticism of his addressee. The call for Truth is the call of God. God is that Being who is all-powerful but who nevertheless may be denied or rebelled against. But, this present position is in accordance with God’s own plan. God wants such human beings to settle in paradise as are able to recognise the Truth in this world full of deception, and who bow down before Him without any compulsion. The selection of such individuals may be made only under conditions where everyone enjoys complete freedom of thought and action.

The sprouting of a green and flourishing tree from the earth is as wonderful an event as the sudden emergence of a camel from the earth and its starting to walk on its surface. People are wonder-struck by the second type of incident, though the more wonderful incidents are always happening on the earth without their learning any lesson from it. Almighty God wants man to notice the extraordinary but hidden aspects of ordinary events. In the events happening in the chain of cause and effect, he should be able to observe the direct role of God. Those who display this high degree of insight are the ones who will be treated as having faith in God and the ones who will be blessed with the eternal grace of God.

Moses was required to preach monotheism to Pharaoh of Egypt, the king of the greatest and most civilized empire of his times. Moses on the contrary, belonged to the Children of Israel, whose status in Egypt was like that of slaves and labourers. Another factor in his disfavour was that one of the Pharaoh’s community had died accidentally at his hands. Moses had the feeling too that he was lacking in the necessary power of expression. Almighty God nevertheless chose Moses to carry out the mission of conveying His message. The fact is that God looks at the inner self of a man rather than at his visible condition. If someone has inner strength, God chooses him on the basis of that to carry out the tasks of His religion. But man has first to reveal his inner capabilities himself. Thereafter, if there are any outward shortcomings, they are compensated for by God.

One chosen by God to represent Him is in every way under His protection. Moreover, he is given some special signs which indicate clearly that his mission is an affair of God. But, in spite of that, man has gone so far in transgression as not to admit this. The Quran does not specify the details of the demand made by Moses on Pharaoh with regard to the Children of Israel. But the Torah elaborates upon the subject in the following sections: Exodus 4/18, 5/1 , 8/25-27 . According to the description in the Bible, it appears that this journey of Moses was not for the purpose of migration but for instruction. In Egypt, the cow was considered holy. Due to this centuries-old tradition, even the the Children of Israel had been influenced by this belief. Now, Moses wanted to take the Children of Israel out of the polytheistic atmosphere of Egypt for a few days, keep them in a pure atmosphere and re-educate them.

Moses called for the acceptance of Monotheism in Pharaoh’s presence and showed him the miracles of his rod and the shining bright hand. Then, in order to belittle Moses’s importance, Pharaoh reminded him of two facts about his earlier life—one, that Moses had been brought up in Pharaoh’s house in his childhood and the other that he was responsible for the killing of a Copt. In reply, Moses said that his (Moses’s) being brought up in Pharaoh’s palace had occurred due to his own (Pharaoh’s) oppressive action. Since the latter had ordered the killing of the Children of Israel’s offspring, Moses’s mother put him in a basket and floated it down the river. It was Pharaoh’s wife—the queen—who then retrieved Moses from the river and brought him up in her palace. As for the killing of the Copt, Moses said that he had not done it purposely. He had been defending his Israelite brother from the violent aggression of the Copt when the latter died accidentally. After this incident, Moses left Egypt and went to Madyan where he lived for many years. Perhaps it was necessary for Moses’s training to leave the artificial atmosphere of the city and to spend a few years in the free atmosphere of a village. When he was on his way back from Madyan to Egypt, Almighty God conferred prophethood upon him.

‘What is this: Lord of the Worlds?’ This utterance of Pharaoh was meant to convey ridicule rather than ask a question. But Moses, without being irritated, replied to him in a normal manner. Again Pharaoh sought to show his disapproval of Moses by asking his courtiers, ‘Did you hear?’ Moses ignored this also and continued with what he had to say.

Moses continued the argument in favour of Monotheism with Pharaoh. Pharaoh then became irritated and called Moses a madman. But, even then, Moses did not lose his temper. Pharaoh then threatened him with imprisonment. Then, by way of argument, Moses demonstrated his final miracle. Now, Pharaoh had no scope to say anything further. Even then, he did not accept defeat. In order to belittle Moses’s importance, he said that this was not any divine event, but simply a magical feat that any magician could perform.