Surah Yunus (10) — Ayah 83

(Ayah 83) {فَمَاۤ اٰمَنَ لِمُوْسٰۤى اِلَّا ذُرِّيَّةٌ مِّنْ قَوْمِهٖ … :} Despite witnessing such clear miracles, the defeat of the magicians, and their acceptance of faith, no one believed in Musa (peace be upon him) except a few youths from his people. Here, whose people are meant by "his people"? The opinion of Ibn Jarir Tabari (may Allah have mercy on him) is that, except for a few boys and girls from Musa's own people, the Children of Israel, no one believed, and that too while fearing Pharaoh and their own chiefs among the Children of Israel, who were agents of Pharaoh, that they would put them through trials and hardships to turn them away from faith. The result of this interpretation is that, except for the magicians from Pharaoh's people and a few youths from the Children of Israel, not a single person believed. The entire nation of Pharaoh and all the elders of the Children of Israel remained deprived of faith and adhered to the religion of Pharaoh. Ibn Jarir and those who share his view say that this was the situation in the early period; later, except for Qarun, all the Children of Israel believed in Musa (peace be upon him). { ’’مَلَاۡىِٕهِمْ ‘‘} (their chiefs) in {’’هُمْ‘‘} the plural pronoun either refers back to Pharaoh, because the Egyptians used the plural pronoun for Pharaoh out of respect, or it refers to the chiefs of the Children of Israel, meaning that the youths from the Children of Israel who believed were afraid of Pharaoh on one hand and their own chiefs on the other. However, Hafiz Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) strongly refuted this meaning of the verse, and in his preference, in {’’ ذُرِّيَّةٌ مِّنْ قَوْمِهٖ ‘‘} in {’’هٖ‘‘ } the pronoun refers back to Pharaoh, because the Children of Israel were already awaiting the arrival of Musa (peace be upon him), and when he came, all of them believed, and the next verse also supports this, which shows that all the Children of Israel had believed in Musa (peace be upon him). However, among Pharaoh's people, the Copts, only a few youths believed in Musa (peace be upon him), and the translation of the verse would be: "Then, only a few youths from his (Pharaoh's) people, the Copts, believed in Musa, and they feared Pharaoh and their chiefs lest Pharaoh put them to trial." This translation is clearer, and the scholars of research have preferred this. (Ibn Kathir, Ruh al-Ma'ani) If one reflects, it is evident that even before the arrival of Musa (peace be upon him), despite all their faults, the Children of Israel were Muslims and took pride in being the descendants of prophets. Otherwise, if they had accepted the religion of Pharaoh and not demanded freedom, what need would Pharaoh have had to kill their sons? The incident of Musa (peace be upon him) killing a Copt also happened because he was supporting a man from his own people. Even at that time, Musa (peace be upon him) considered the Children of Israel his own group and the Copts his enemies, and the Children of Israel also thought the same about Musa (peace be upon him), which is why that Israelite called Musa (peace be upon him) for help, even though Musa (peace be upon him) had not yet been granted prophethood. Now, God forbid, if the people of Kashmir become Hindus or the Palestinians become Jews, what need would Hindus and Jews have to oppress them? But despite countless faults in belief and practice, their being Muslim and remaining steadfast upon it is something the disbelievers can never tolerate.

83. 1. There is a difference among the commentators regarding the antecedent of the pronoun "his" in قومہ. Some have considered its antecedent to be Prophet Musa (Moses) عليه السلام, because in the verse, the mention before the pronoun is of him, that is, only a few people from the people of Pharaoh believed. Their argument is that the people of Bani Israel were waiting for a messenger and savior, who they found in the form of Prophet Musa عليه السلام, and in this regard, all of Bani Israel (except Qarun) believed in him. Therefore, the correct view is that by (ذُ رِیَّۃُ مِنْ قَوْمِہٖ), it is meant a few people from the people of Pharaoh who believed in Prophet Musa عليه السلام. Among them was also his wife (Asiya).

83. 2. This explicit statement of the Noble Quran also indicates that these few believers were from the people of Pharaoh, because it was they who feared harm from Pharaoh, his courtiers, and officials. The Bani Israel, in any case, had been enduring the humiliation of Pharaoh's slavery and subjugation for a long time. But believing in Musa عليه السلام had nothing to do with this, nor did they have any fear of further harm because of it.

83. 3. And those who believed were afraid of his habitual oppression and tyranny.

So none believed in Moses except a few youths [94] from his people, out of fear that Pharaoh and his chiefs would afflict them with some trouble. And Pharaoh was indeed mighty in the land, and he was surely among the transgressors [95].

[94]
The Meaning of "Dhurriyyah" — The Young, Courageous Generation:

The literal meaning of the word "dhurriyyah" is offspring, and here by "dhurriyyah" is meant the young generation of Bani Israel. Among these youths, a few men mustered the courage to openly declare their faith in Sayyiduna Musa ؑ, whereas the elders were so terrified by Pharaoh's tyranny that, despite believing in their hearts, they considered expressing their faith as tantamount to courting death. The long period of slavery, the weakness of old age, and Pharaoh's oppression had made them so dispirited that they were afraid even to express their faith. After the magicians believed, it was only these few young men among Bani Israel who proved to be so brave that they resolved to face the coming hardships and difficulties with determination and openly declared their faith. In this way, Musa ؑ gained some support, and he began to train these new Muslims and explained to them that now they must stand by him with utmost steadfastness and perseverance, and if they remained obedient to Allah and relied on Him, Pharaoh would not be able to harm them in any way.

The Resemblance Between the Circumstances of Musa ؑ and Your Circumstances, the Young Companions and Their Ages:

Exactly such a situation arose in Makkah as well. Among those who believed in you, most were from the youth. For example, Sayyiduna Ali ؓ, Ja'far Tayyar ؓ, Zubair bin al-Awwam ؓ, Sayyiduna Talhah ؓ, Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas ؓ, Abdullah bin Mas'ud ؓ, and others — all of them were under twenty years of age at the time of accepting Islam. Abdur Rahman bin Awf ؓ, Bilal bin Rabah ؓ, and Suhaib ؓ were between twenty and thirty years old. Only two companions could be called elders: one was Sayyiduna Abu Bakr ؓ, who was two years younger than you ﷺ, i.e., 38 years old, and Sayyiduna Ammar bin Yasir ؓ, who was your contemporary. In other words, among these ﴿وَالسّٰبِقُوْنَ الْاَوَّلُوْنَ﴾, there was not a single old man. In the initial stages, it is the youthful blood and their courage that serve to support the truth and stand firm in the face of difficulties. The cautiousness of the elders does not avail, except as Allah wills.

[95] That is, such people who leave no stone unturned in using every lawful and unlawful means to achieve their goals, and for whom there is no legal or moral limit at which they would stop. Pharaoh was such a rebellious, arrogant, and tyrannical person.