مَلَإِي۟

17:102; 28:37; 43:47.

Commentary:

The clause, Then after them We sent Moses, does not mean that Moses appeared directly or immediately after the Prophets mentioned in the preceding verses. Other Messengers may have intervened between Moses and these Prophets, of whom Shu‘aib appears to be the nearest in time to Moses. In fact, the use of the words, Then after them, in the above clause only means that Moses appeared and lived sometime after them. The expression also contradicts the popular view that Shu‘aib was a contemporary and the father-in-law of Moses.

The words ظلموا بھا (they unjustly rejected them) literally meaning "they did wrong by means of the signs, or did them wrong", really signify that "they rejected the signs and treated them as lies, or they made them the means of doing wrong to men by ridiculing them and in this way deceiving the people."

The word ظلم also means, "to put a thing in the wrong place, or to make a wrong use of a thing" (Lane). Taking the word in this sense, the clause would mean, "they made a wrong use of the signs", i.e. though the signs were meant to engender fear of God in the hearts of men, the disbelievers, instead of profiting by them, jeered and mocked at them.

7:104.

Commentary:

A Prophet of God is rejected for two reasons. Either the people to whom he preaches his Message look upon his claim as too big, thinking that God cannot speak to a man; or, behaving arrogantly, they think it to be beneath their dignity to follow his lead. This happened with Moses. Some of those to whom he delivered his Message rejected his claim because they thought it impossible that God should have condescended to speak to a mortal; others thought it incompatible with their dignity to obey a man of no consequence like Moses.

The clause, they were a sinful people, may have two meanings: (1) They were already a sinful people and therefore they rejected Moses. Taken in this sense, the words furnish the reason why they behaved with arrogance and paid no heed to the truth. (2) They became sinful in consequence of their rejection of Moses. Both interpretations explain why people reject the truth. Evil is born of evil and also leads to it; and therefore those who lead a sinful life cannot accept the truth. Again, the goodness and godliness of a person sometimes make him proud and prompt him to reject the truth. The rejection of truth is therefore no light matter, and one should think a thousand times before one rejects a claimant to prophethood.

28:5.

Commentary:

It appears from this verse that all the Israelites had not believed in Moses. Only a part of them had really believed in him. The rest followed him from only political or national considerations. The pronoun "his" in the clause, from among his people, may also refer to Pharaoh. In that case the clause would mean that some youths of the people of Pharaoh also believed in Moses. But the former interpretation seems to be more correct and is therefore preferable.

This verse also brings to light the fact that not unoften an appreciable number of the people to whom a Prophet of God preaches his Message become convinced of his truth, but they dare not profess their faith openly for fear of their leaders and chiefs. The pronoun "their" in the words "their chiefs" may refer either to the Israelites or to the people of Pharaoh. Preferably it refers to the people of Pharaoh. The chiefs of the people of Pharaoh have been called the chiefs of the Israelites because the latter were a subject people. But the pronoun need not necessarily be taken as referring to any particular people. The great men of a country are regarded as chiefs not merely because they belong to any particular community but also because, being members of the government, they possess influence and authority. Hence the high officials of the State, whether they belonged to the people of Pharaoh or the Israelites might rightly be called the chiefs of the Israelites and it was through both that Pharaoh tyrannized over the Israelites.

The words, Pharaoh was a tyrant in the land, show that Pharaoh was not a wise and sagacious monarch. He had embarked upon a policy of open repression and persecution which was calculated to incite the people to rebellion. This policy eventually led to the downfall of the dynasty.

23:47; 40:25.

Commentary:

Pharaoh, as already stated, was not the name of any particular monarch (2:50). It was the title of the rulers of Egypt. The ruler of the Nile valley and Alexandria was called Pharaoh. This title was in vogue before the conquest of Egypt by the Romans. As, after the advent of the Romans, the government of the country passed into foreign hands, the title of Pharaohfell into disuse, for the foreign conquerors adopted their own titles.

It also appears that Pharaoh was not the title of the rulers of one dynasty only. Kings of many dynasties which ruled over the valley of the Nile and Alexandria in succession for about four thousand years bore this title. The Pharaoh during whose reign Moses was born was also, like the Israelites, a foreigner in the country, and therefore always feared lest they should multiply and help the original inhabitants of Egypt in expelling him and his people from the land or should rebel against him (Exod. 1:9-10).

7:109; 20:23; 27:13.

Important Words:

ذانک (those two) is the dual of ذاک which is formed from ذا which is a noun of indication (properly meaning this, but sometimes, when repeated, better rendered that), relating to an object of masc. gender, such as is near: or it relates to what is distant (according to some, and therefore should always be rendered that). ذاک relates to an object which is distant or to that which occupies a middle place between the near and the distant. They say جاءنی ذانک الرجلان i.e. those two persons came to me (Lane & Aqrab).

11:97; 14:6; 23:46; 40:24.

Commentary:

In the immediately preceding verse it was mentioned that the basic teaching of all Divine Messengers was the Unity of God. In this and the following verses, a study of the story of the greatest Israelite Prophet, Moses, has been enjoined for the purpose of showing that he laid the greatest emphasis on Divine Unity.