Islamic view of Moses

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Main article: Moses

Moses (Arabic موسى Musa ) is considered a prophet and one of the most mightiest messengers (Rasul) of God in Islam. He is also referred to by the title Kalim allah meaning "He who spoke with God." The Qur'an recounts more stories of his life than of any other prophet.

Contents

[edit] Early years

In Islam, Moses was born into a family of Israelites living in Egypt. The ruling Pharaoh, on the advice of his soothsayers, ordered the killing of all new-born Israelite males. To protect her son, Moses' mother put him in a basket and set him adrift on the Nile. He was discovered by the Pharaoh's wife, Asiya, who adopted him.

Moses grew up as a member of the Pharaoh's household. However, this changed when in rescuing an Israelite from an abusive Egyptian, he accidentally killed the Egyptian. Due to this incident, Musa was deemed a criminal and was to be punished, but escaped into the desert. After traveling the desert for a long time, he arrived at a place called Midian and came into the company of the prophet Shoaib (Jethro, in Biblical traditions), who recognized Moses as a man of God. Shoaib arranged a marriage between his daughter Safoorah (Zipporah in Biblical and Hebrew tradition) and Moses after Moses had worked for him for either or eight or ten years.

[edit] God calls Moses

Moses eventually decided to return to Egypt. On his way back, he stopped at Mount Sinai and noticed a fire upon the mountain. When he came to the fire, he heard a voice calling him by name. This voice then commanded Moses to remove his shoes, as he was standing on sacred ground. It is stated in the Qur'an: "Has the story of Moses reached thee? Behold, he saw a fire: So he said to his family, "Tarry ye; I perceive a fire; perhaps I can bring you some burning brand therefrom, or find some guidance at the fire. But when he came to the fire, a voice was heard: 'O Moses! Verily I am thy Lord! therefore (in My presence) put off thy shoes: thou art in the sacred valley Tuwa.'" (Qur'an 20:9-12)

God ordered Moses to throw his walking stick onto the ground. As a sign to Moses from God the staff was transformed into a snake. Musa became scared, but God ordered Moses to pick it up, as it would change back to its original form. He also ordered him to press his right hand to his left side and it would shine in a bright, white radiant light. Moses admitted that he was afraid of getting arrested on the previous murder charge, and also because he could not speak fluently due to a speech impediment. He prayed to God to grant him fluency of speech, and grant his brother Aaron (Harun in Arabic and Aharoun in Hebrew) the gift of prophecy so that he may help him and be a deputy to him in all his tasks ahead. God granted Moses his requests and told him that he could take his brother along with him, and told him to be gentle in his language and be patient in all his dealings.

Moses thus embarked for Egypt and faced the Pharaoh. Moses and Aaron arrived in the court of the Pharaoh and admonished the Pharaoh by informing him that his claim of godhood was false, for there is but one God who created both the pharaohs and their subjects. He controls all that is in this world and beyond. Moses told the Pharaoh that the only reason for his return was to obtain the release of his people from their bondage in Egypt.

Moses warned the Pharaoh of God's punishment. To intimidate Moses, his magicians threw strings on the floor which turned into snakes. Moses threw his staff to the floor. It transformed into a serpent and devoured all the wriggling snakes.

Although the magic of the Pharaoh was beaten, he would not relent to the power of God. He defiantly refused to allow Israelites to leave Egypt. As a result, Allah decreed punishments over him and his people. These punishments came in the form of floods that demolished their dwellings, swarms of locust that destroyed the crops, pestilence of lice that made life miserable, toads that croaked and sprang everywhere, plagues, and the turning of all drinking water into blood. Each time the Pharaoh was subjected to humiliation, his defiance became greater. Finally, the first-born sons of all Egyptians started to die for no apparent cause. When the Pharaoh's own beloved son died, he finally gave up his defiance. After the freeing the Israelites, the Pharaoh was angry because of his son's death, and followed them to kill them in revenge. Upon seeing the Pharaoh and his army uproaching the Israelites started to run but stopped at the seafront where they could not go any further. Here Moses used his staff to part the ocean that allowed the Israelites to pass through, then the Pharaoh also followed but the ocean closed on him drowning and killing Pharaoh and his entire army.

[edit] The journey through the desert

Moses gathered his people and left Egypt. At the last second, the Pharaoh had a change of heart and began to pursue them. However, he was swallowed by the Red Sea which parted long enough for Musa and his people to cross, but which closed on the Pharaoh. From here, Moses led his people on the Exodus. They eventually reached Mount Sinai. Moses told the people that Aaron was his deputy and was to be the leader while he was gone. Moses then went to climb Mount Sinai.

Moses climbed the mountain, and returned to the spot where he had first received his miracles from God. He took off his shoes as before and went down into subjugation to The Creator. He prayed to God for guidance. He was given the Ten Commandments at this session. Before leaving, he begged God to be revealed to him. God told him that it would not be possible for him to see God, but that God will reveal himself to the mountain stating " Look at the mountain, if it will be still in its place when I reveal myself to it then you will be able to see me". When God revealed himseft to the mountain it instantaneously turned into ashes. Moses lost consciousness . When he recovered, he went down in total submission and asked forgiveness of God.

Having thus received the Torah for his people, Moses came down from the mountain and returned to his people. However, he was shocked to find that the Israelites have revolted against his brother Aron and started worshipping a golden calf fashioned by a person named Alsamiri . Shortly thereafter, the elders asked to see the God of Moses, so he took them up the mountain. While climbing, a white bolt of lightning struck their path, and they all bowed in submission. Musa prayed for their forgiveness, and they returned to camp and set up a tent dedicated to worshipping God as Aaron taught them from the Torah.

They began to travel for the promised land again, but ran out of food. God gave them a gift of food and sweets, but eventually the people tired, and asked for more. Moses got angry with them and admonished them for their thanklessness.

[edit] The promised land, and death

They eventually reached Canaan, the promised land, but Moses' people were too scared to fight the pagan inhabitants. He told them that if they did not fight in Jihad against the idol worshipers, they would spend 40 years wandering the desert. But they still refused saying "Go ! you and your Lord and fight for us. We will stay put here" therefore God decreed that they will wander in the land for forty years as a punishment for their refusal to fight. During this time, many of the older generation died. In their place, the younger generation lead by Joshua son of Nun (Yusha bin Nun in Arabic) grew up with an understanding of the Torah and with a willingness to do God's work.

Eventually they would return north, and Moses would show the new generation the land that their elders refused to fight for. He told them to return to it, and that he would no longer escort them.

There is no single verse in the Qur'an that states that Moses went to a mountain and never returned. The Qur'an does not mention his death, but according to Hadith tradition, Musa was confronted by the angel of death. According to the Sunni Islamic view, the angel of death appeared when he was about to take prophets' souls. Since Moses was strong, he overcame the angel of death, and the angel went without taking his soul. Then God told Moses to put his hand on a goat's skin, and that the number of goat hairs his hand covered would be the number of years he would live, but then Moses chose to be near God, and so chose to die.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References to Moses in the Qur'an

Prophets of Islam in the Qur'an
Adam Idris Nuh Hud Saleh Ibrahim Lut Ismail Is'haq Yaqub Yusuf Ayub
آدم ادريس نوح هود صالح إبراهيم لوط اسماعيل اسحاق يعقوب يوسف أيوب
Adam Enoch Noah Eber Shelah Abraham Lot Ishmael Isaac Jacob Joseph Job
Shoaib Musa Harun Dhul-Kifl Daud Sulayman Ilyas Al-Yasa Yunus Zakariya Yahya Isa Muhammad
شعيب موسى هارون ذو الكفل داود سليمان إلياس اليسع يونس زكريا يحيى عيسى محمد
Jethro Moses Aaron Ezekiel David Solomon Elijah Elisha Jonah Zechariah John Jesus
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