See 1:1.

Commentary:

See 1:1.

26:2; 27:2.

Commentary:

For an explanation of the abbreviated letters, Ta Sin Mim, see 26:2 & 27:2.

12:2; 15:2; 26:3; 27:2.

Commentary:

This verse has been commented upon in some detail in 12:2; 26:3 & 27:2.

Commentary:

Perhaps in no other Surah of the Quran have the different phases of Moses’ life been treated in such detail as in the present Surah—his infancy, and childhood, his youth, his flight or exile and his Call. The Holy Prophet’s pre-eminence as a Prophet is a thing apart, but as he has been "likened" to Moses, the conditions and circumstances of his life resemble more those of Moses than of any other Prophet.

The words, "with truth" imply that the Quranic narrative of Moses differs in certain details from that of the Bible but wherever the Quranic description differs from the Biblical account, it will be found to be nearer truth and reality.

10:84.

2:50; 7:142; 14:7.

Commentary:

The policy of "divide and rule" which has been practised with such deadly effect by the Colonial Powers of the west in this twentieth century was also followed by Pharaoh. He had split the people of Egypt into parties and sections and had made invidious distinctions between them. Some of them he favoured and others he exploited and suppressed. Moses’ people belonged to the latter unfortunate class.

The words, "he slew their sons and spared their women," besides bearing the apparent sense, viz. that in order to keep the Israelites under permanent subjection, Pharaoh destroyed their manhood and kept alive their women, may also signify that by his policy of exploitation and heartless suppression, Pharaoh sought to kill all manly qualities among the Israelites and thus made them timid like women.

Commentary:

When the degradation and humiliation of the Israelites in Egypt reached its nadir and the cup of iniquities of Pharaoh and his people became full to the brim and God in His infallible wisdom decreed that the oppressors should be punished and those held in bondage be emancipated, He raised Moses. Such has always been God’s practice that He raises a Prophet to lead a down-trodden people to honour and glory and through his influence and under his lead the erstwhile suppressed and exploited people become the leaders and teachers of men. This phenomenon which took place in the time of every Divine Messenger witnessed its fullest and finest manifestation during the ministry of the Holy Prophet of Islam.

The words "to make them inheritors", refer to the Israelites becoming heirs to that 'land of promise'—Canaan—which, like Egypt, "flowed with milk and honey" and which God had "ordained for them" (5:22).

7:138; 26:60; 44:29.

Commentary:

Exploitation and tyranny produce their own nemesis and the exploiters and oppressors never feel secure from the standard of revolt being raised against them by those whom they exploit, suppress and oppress. The greater the oppression of the tyrant, the greater his fear of revolt on the part of the tyrannized. Pharaoh, too, was seized with this fear and, therefore, he employed all sorts of means and machinations to keep the Israelites under permanent subjection. But the time had come that he should be punished and those held in bondage should be emancipated.

Haman was the title of the High Priest of the god Amon, "ham" in Egyptian meaning high priest and Amon was the god who dominated all other Egyptian gods. "Haman was the director of the double treasury and granary and director of the soldiers and all the craftsmen of Thebes. His name was Nebunnef and he was high priest under Ramesus II and his son Merneptah. Being the head of the extremely rich sacerdotal organization embracing all the priesthoods of the country his power and prestige had increased so much that he controlled a most influential political faction and even kept his own private army" (A story of Egypt by James Henry Breasted, Ph.D.).

Haman is also said to be the name of a minister of Ahasuerus, a king of Persia who lived many ages after Moses. There is nothing strange or objectionable in two persons living in two different periods bearing the same name. But Mr. Wherry, only to expose his own crass ignorance, has pretended to discover a serious anachronism in the Quran having called a minister of Pharaoh by the name of Haman, which incidentally was also the name of a minister of a king of Persia (Wherry’s Commentary, vol. 3, p. 254). In fact, anachronism lies in the brain of Mr. Wherry himself and not in the Quran.

20:39.

Commentary:

The preceding seven verses had spoken of Moses’ mission and by implication had referred to the mission of the Holy Prophet and in fact to the mission of every Prophet of God. From this verse, however, begins the actual story of Moses.

Whereas Moses was cast into the river by his mother to escape being killed by the people of Pharaoh, the Holy Prophet’s mother had to entrust him, while yet a child, to the care of a poor wet-nurse, to whom all the well-to-do families of Mecca had refused to entrust their babies on account of her poverty.

20:40.

Important Words:

التقطه (picked him up) is derived from لقط which means, he picked it up, took it up from the ground. التقط الشیء means, he picked up the thing; he stumbled upon it unexpectedly without seeking it. لقیته التقاطا means, I met him unexpectedly (Lane & Aqrab).

The particle ل in لیکون (that he might become) is called لام العاقبة and denotes result and consequence, as in the well-known Arabic couplet:

لدو اللموت وابنوا للخراب

فکلکم یسیر الی تباب

i.e. bear children that they should die and build houses that they should fall into ruins, for all of you are marching towards destruction. Thus the first part of the verse would mean, "And the family of Pharaoh picked him up with the result that ultimately he became an enemy and a source of great grief and sorrow for them."

Commentary:

God’s ways indeed are inscrutable. Pharaoh did not know that the very child upon whom he had lavished so much care and love will one day prove an instrument of punishment for him in the hands of Destiny because he had flouted and defied Divine commandments and had held the Israelites in bondage and had tyrannized over them for a long time.

Important Words:

فارغا (free from anxiety) is derived from فرغ which means, it was or became empty, void, devoid; he died. فرغ له means, he made him or it the object to which he directed himself. فارغ means, vacant, devoid of or free from care or anxiety or disquietude (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The heart of Moses’ mother became free from care or anxiety because of the consolation and assurance given to her by Divine revelation referred to in v. 8 above. The pronoun ہ in به may refer either to Moses or to the matter concerned. In the first case the expression ان کادت لتبدی به would mean that Moses’ mother was so much pleased with Moses having been restored to her that out of joy she was on the point of declaring that the child belonged to her. In the second case the meaning would be that if God had not restrained her, she almost had told people about the whole affair—how she had received a Divine revelation and how in pursuance of it she had put the child into the river and so on.

Important Words:

قصیه (follow him up) is derived from قص. They say قصه i.e. he cut it; or he clipped it. قص أثرہ means, he followed, or followed after, his track, or footsteps, in pursuit; he endeavoured to trace or track him; he endeavoured to trace him by degrees, or by night or at any time (Lane & Aqrab). See also 7:177 & 12:4.

20:41.