Al-A'raf 7:123–151

To sacrifice one’s life for the sake of Truth amounts to bearing the final testimony to the Truth as the Truth. With the help of God, the magicians were enabled to make this sacrifice. The magicians, by offering themselves for the worst punishment, proved that their faith in Moses was not a matter of excuse or conspiracy, but a genuine acknowledgement of the truth. But, this supreme action of the magicians stung Pharaoh’s pride. Supporting Moses against him amounted to insulting Pharaoh before the whole community. So, Pharaoh was enraged at them. He, therefore, decided to take stern action against the magicians, as any haughty person in a position of power would do. Both the magicians as well as Pharaoh were defeated in the field of arguments. But the magicians, by admitting their defeat, became entitled to God’s eternal rewards, while Pharaoh made it a prestige issue. In order to satisfy his false egotism, he could do little but oppress truth-loving individuals and in the Hereafter be himself consigned to God’s eternal punishment. Pharaoh considered the question of acceptance or non-acceptance of Moses’ call as one involving his ‘permission’, while the magicians treated it as a ‘sign’ (from God). It is always the attitude of a haughty person that his opinion overrides arguments and proofs. Such people never receive inspiration to accept the Truth. At this critical juncture, the strength shown by the magicians was entirely due to God’s help, and the prayer which fell from their lips was entirely inspired. When a subject of God surrenders himself body and soul to God, he becomes so close to Him that he starts receiving special blessings from God. He utters such words as are God-inspired in the full sense. The magicians’ prayer, ‘Our Lord, pour patience upon us, and cause us to die in a state of submission to You,’ meant ‘We have entirely surrendered to You, O God. Now, we have done whatever it is in our power to do, and we leave the rest to You.’ When a subject of God prays like this from the bottom of his heart, certainly God is sufficient for him to solve all his difficulties.

For the Children of Israel Pharaoh’s rule created a problem, and they asked their prophet to solve it for them. But the solution suggested by the Prophet was that they should turn towards God. This indicates the difference in the way of thinking of worldly leaders and that of the Prophet regarding communal problems. Worldly leaders seek the solution to such problems at the government level, either by way of compromise with the government or by a clash with the government. But the solution offered by the Prophet was that whatever was happening should be tolerated and God’s help should be solicited; without expecting anything from the powers that be, one should turn to God.

Then the prophet also explained why he was presenting a solution which was against the general way of thinking of the community; though these problems apparently stemmed from the ruling authority and were resolvable only by that ruling authority, the more important point for consideration was how power and authority came to be wielded. Nobody wields power simply as a result of strategies; power is bestowed or taken away directly by God. This being so, it follows that the solution to the problem also lies in God. Then, this power, regardless of whoever it is bestowed upon, is in fact a test for the recipient. In this world, being powerful is as much of a test as being powerless. Today, if one has received power, it is because he is being tested on whether he will become haughty and tyrannical, or will behave with justice and modesty. If empowerment is conferred upon others, even then the purpose will be to test others. If, due to its incompetence, one group has power taken away from it and handed over to another group, and if this other group also proves incompetent, power will likewise be taken away from it and given to yet another group. The prosperity and power for which a man pines in this world are in fact, assets that are attainable in the real sense only in the Hereafter: thus in the world these things are conferred on human beings solely to put them to the test, while in the Hereafter they will be given to the righteous people as rewards.

Words have necessarily to be used to pronounce a thing right or wrong or to label a man innocent or guilty. But, the user of the words is man and in this present world of trial, he has been given the power to use these words in any way he pleases. The most critical part of the freedom given to him is his having the ability to justify his calling the Truth falsehood or falsehood the Truth. He can classify as magic what is clearly a miracle wrought by a prophet, and then ignore it. If God gives him some blessing, he can express this in a way which suggests that whatever he received was due solely to his own capabilities and efforts. If God sends some warning as a punishment to him for his ignoring the Truth, he is free to say that it was due to the inauspicious presence of those very God-worshipping servants whom he had ill-treated and on whose account he had been sent that warning. Everything flows from God so that man should learn a lesson from it. But by using certain words, man gives the opposite meaning to every admonition and thus remains deprived of its inherent lesson. ‘Whatever sign you might bring, we will not embrace the Faith.’ This statement made by Pharaoh shows that in spite of the Truth being apparent in an abundantly clear and perfect shape, only that person becomes a recipient of it who is open to it. In other words, the reality of Truth reveals itself only to that person who is serious about the Truth; who has the inclination and willingness to receive and accept the Truth, wherever and in whatever form it is offered. Unlike him, one who is not serious about this matter; whose mental condition is such that he is satisfied with the statusquo will not be capable of seeing the Truth as such; so he will not be able to accept it. Being happy with the condition in which a man finds himself makes him unaware of the things outside himself; he is ignorant in spite of having knowledge; he does not hear in spite of having ears. Man will certainly find the Truth if his mind is free from negatively conditioned thinking. But, mostly people have been subjected to such mental conditioning and that is why the Truth eludes them.

Moses performed his prophetic mission in Egypt for about forty years. There were two parts of his mission—one, to give the message of the oneness of God to Pharaoh and secondly, to lead the Children of Israel out of Egypt, settle them in the Sinai Desert and give them religious training in that untainted atmosphere. The Children of Israel (the progeny of Joseph) at that time were in the the grip of the Copt ruler (Pharaoh). The Copts used to utilise them as labourers in their agricultural and construction works. So, the Copt rulers did not want the Israelites to leave Egypt. Initially, when Moses demanded that Pharaoh should allow the Children of Israel to leave Egypt along with him, Pharaoh and his courtiers gave his request a political colour and accused Moses of intending to remove the Copt from Egypt ( 7:110 ). This was absolutely meaningless, because Moses’s plan was to remove himself from Egypt. At that time Pharaoh and his companions had an inflated opinion of their power and that is why they saw even a straight proposition in a crooked way. But, in later stages, God subjected Pharaoh and his community to all types of calamities. For many years they had continuously to face famines; they had severe hail-storms with lightning and thunder; swarms of locusts invaded their country and ate up their crops and gardens and completely destroyed all greenery; lice so proliferated that clothes and beds became infested with them; and in the houses and on the pathways, frogs were hopping about everywhere; the water in the rivers and lakes became bloody. When Pharaoh and his community began to suffer these strange afflictions, they asked Moses to pray to his Lord to relieve them of these troubles, then they would allow the Children of Israel to leave with Moses. Moses’s demand, which had earlier appeared to the Copts as a political conspiracy to evict them, now appeared to them simply as a migration of the Children of Israel themselves.

Punishment was inflicted on the communities addressed by the Prophet because of their denial of the signs (ayat) of God. The believers in the Prophet on the other hand, were entitled to special succour from God, thanks to their patience in the face of all kinds of provocations from their contemporaries (the addressees of the Prophet) and their remaining steadfast on the path of God. By ‘signs’ is meant those arguments which establish Truth as Truth. But man, due to his egotism or pride is unable to accept them. Instead of paying full attention to the arguments presented to him, he diverts his attention to the preacher, the presenter of arguments. He fails to counter the arguments, but the person who is presenting them is not a historically established figure, neither is he covered in worldly glory, so the addressee finds it easier to ridicule the presenter instead of his arguments. He (the addressee) thinks that if he listens to the arguments, it will amount to making his status inferior to that of the preacher. Therefore, in order to maintain his pride and superiority vis à vis the dai, he refuses to acknowledge the superiority of the Truth. This is the real point on which man is being tested. In the present world, God reveals Himself indirectly in the form of signs and reason. In the Hereafter, He will reveal His Being directly, then no one will dare to deny Him. But only that faith is of value when it stems from man’s discovery of the truth when God is as yet unseen.

The Israelites crossed the northern end of the Red Sea and reached the Sinai Peninsula. Then they travelled Southwards along the banks of the sea. During this journey, they witnessed a community engaged in polytheism. On seeing this, some of the Israelites demanded that Moses make an idol for them. The greatest weakness of man is to attach importance to appearances, thus becoming unable to devote his attention to the Invisible God. That is why he cannot detach himself from things which can be seen with the naked eye. The un-enlightened bow down before deities of stone and metals, while the civilized devote their attention to a particular personality or a community or a cultural structure, etc. When a group of Israelites asked Moses to make tangible idols, Moses replied, ‘All their devotion is going to be wasted.’ What he meant was that when his mission was to make people worship the one God, how could he possibly carve idols for his community? The Israelites were given superiority over all mankind. This ‘superiority’ is not used here in the racial sense, but refers rather to their mission. It conveys the same sense as the Quranic phrase “you are the best community” applied to the ummah of the Prophet Muhammad. It is the way of God that He selects a community to become the bearer of the Book of God and, through this community, He conveys His message to other nations. In ancient times this office was held by the Israelites, but after the coming of the Final Prophet, this office was given to the Muslim community. The opportunity Pharaoh had of oppressing the Israelites was a test for the Israelites and not a punishment. Believers are subjected to such trials in order to shake them and awaken them by shock treatment. It thus becomes clear who are the people who turn away from the true religion of God because of having to face difficult circumstances and who are the people who can adhere strictly to God’s religion by exercising patience in times of adversity.

Moses was given dawah commands in Egypt, while laws were communicated to him after he reached the Sinai desert. This shows the order of divine injunctions. In general situations, what is required of the believers is to rectify their personal life and live as true devotees of God, and along with this, they must invite others to accept monotheism and the Hereafter-oriented life. But when the believers acquire the position of an independent community and have the freedom to organize themselves as the Israelites did in the Sinai desert, then it becomes incumbent on them to establish their social life on the basis of the Islamic law. When Moses appointed Aaron as guardian of the Israelites in his absence, he said to him, ‘Take my place among my people: act rightly and do not follow the way of those who spread corruption.’ This shows the basic principle of shouldering one’s responsibilities as the head of the community.

Moses wanted to see God, but when he learnt that it was not possible to do so, he turned to God in repentance and reposed his faith in God, the unseen. Thus man is put to the test of believing in God without seeing Him. Seeing God is a reward reserved for the Hereafter, so how is it possible to see God in this present world? Moses received his first prophetic call on the mountainside. The next time he was again called to the mountain to receive the commands of the Torah. This is an indication that the best place to receive divine inspiration is the environment of nature rather than that of human society. Where man emerges from the hubbub of this noisy world of human beings and reaches the quiet world of the trees, mountains and rivers, he begins to feel himself closer to God. His mind is free from mundane problems; it is not preoccupied with worldly thoughts, so this is the best moment for him to think without any bias or complexes which might affect his thinking. Then he can be in true communion with God.

A prophet is also a man like other men. He is not a supernatural creature. His only special characteristic is that he is successful in preserving his inborn abilities intact. Therefore he is chosen by God to become the bearer of His message and may be trusted to represent Him among the people. In this sense, Moses was the best person of his community. Therefore, God chose him as His prophet, and revealed His message to him. God’s revelation provides the necessary guidance for one’s life. But these divine messages come down in the form of words, and in the present world of trial, there is always the possibility of putting a wrong or distorted construction upon these words to suit one’s own desires. But one who is serious and sincere in this matter of guidance and fears God for His chastisement or censure, will be able to draw from those words the same meaning which God wanted to convey. Thus it is only one who is desirous of finding the True Path who will receive divine inspiration from God’s words. ‘Soon I shall show you the homes of the wicked.’ That is, during your journey you will pass through the ruins of those communities that had been destroyed. They had been given God’s guidance, but they transgressed in their ways. They could not stay strong and firm in their belief, for they failed to ignore the pressures of circumstances and succumbed to their own personal desires and ambitions. So they earned God’s displeasure and were destroyed. Likewise, if the Children of Israel also disobeyed God, they would meet the same fate. God is not partial to any community in the balance of Divine justice; there is no difference between one community and another. In this world one has the opportunity to interpret God’s words according to one’s own whims and fancies and even put distorted interpretations upon them. But this is the kind of insolence which places even those who profess to be obedient on the list of disobedient persons in the eyes of God.

There are two ways of leading one’s life in this world. One way is to keep one’s eyes and ears open. Then one can see things as they really are. When truth appears, one will recognise it, for lessons are sure to be found in the signs of God which are in evidence everywhere in the universe. The other way to lead one’s life is to have a superiority complex. One who has such a complex lives as if he is the owner of this world. He does not care for anything except for his personal interests. He thinks that all the good things he is receiving in this world are thanks to his own ability and his own efforts. Therefore, he does not consider others’ needs. This attitude on his part comes in the way of his recognising and accepting the truth. The former type of man is mentally receptive to his environment. With his openness of mind he can understand the relevance of God’s signs and loses no time in moulding himself accordingly. Unlike him, the latter type of man is not receptive to his environment because of his pride and self-righteousness. He is confronted with the truth but, attaching no importance to it, he ignores it. Nature sings its melodies in silent language, but he pays no attention to it. He is not inclined towards any form of truth, which is outside his own beliefs. The world of the Hereafter is not for people of this category. Just as he ignored the message of God in this world of trials, so will he be ignored by God in the eternal world of the Hereafter, while those of the former type will be bountifully rewarded by God. Treading the path of misguidance is the result of man’s following the desires of his own self. The path of guidance can be arrived at when one rises above the influence of the self and one’s surroundings: it is a path opted for purely for the sake of God. The self-centred person who appreciates nothing but the fulfillment of his own desires rushes headlong towards the path of transgression. The right path appears strange and alien to his temperament, so he will fail to follow it. One who feels himself to be superior finds it easy to accept any proposition which does not diminish his sense of superiority. But where he thinks he will not receive due importance, he becomes disinterested.

There was a clever man named Samiri among the Israelites. When Moses left for the mountain, leaving his people in the care of Aaron, Samiri started misleading them. He collected pieces of jewellery from the people and moulded them into the shape of a calf. The sculpting art of the ancient Egyptians was such that when air passed through it, a bellowing sound came out of the calf’s mouth. People are generally awed by strange things. So this ‘miracle’ of the calf led them to believe that there was something sacred about it and they began worshipping it. Thanks to Samiri’s engaging way of speaking, people started gathering around him. His influence increased to such an extent that he soon acquired a large number of followers, except for Aaron and a few of his companions. Nobody dared to openly protest against him. In the face of this mass following, even the protests of Aaron were not strong enough to sway the people and no other member of the community had the courage to speak up. This has always been the reaction of the public from ancient times to the present day. A clever person by his sheer eloquence may draw a huge crowd, even on some non-issue. The public who are attracted to trivialities which are unrelated to the facts do not have the ability to think deeply enough to analyse what is true and what is not. That is why they rally to the side of such a person, thus adding to his popularity and importance. And if anyone attempts to reveal the truth, he is simply ignored in the same way as Aaron was.

When Moses came down from the Mountain and saw the Israelites worshipping the golden calf, he held Aaron responsible for this, under the impression that he had neglected his duty as a reformer. Moses caught hold of him in anger but Aaron clarified his position and told him that he had done all he could to show them the right path. But they had not listened to him. So Moses checked himself, and started praying to God for Aaron. Many misunderstandings take place between believers, but after clarification they return to normalcy, just as if no misunderstanding had ever taken place.