Surah Al-Qasas (28) — Ayah 4

(Ayah 4) ➊ By { اِنَّ فِرْعَوْنَ عَلَا فِي الْاَرْضِ: ’’ الْاَرْضِ ‘‘} is meant the land of Egypt, as indicated by the mention of Pharaoh, because his rule was only in Egypt. Those who consider him the king of the entire earth are not correct, because after migration, when Musa (peace be upon him) reached Madyan near Egypt, he was free from his grasp. The literal meaning of {’’ عَلَا ‘‘} is "he raised his head, became exalted," meaning he rose above his original position of servitude and claimed divinity, forgetting his reality. In the word {’’ عَلَا فِي الْاَرْضِ ‘‘}, there is also an indication that loftiness and grandeur are the attire of the One who is exalted above the Throne; the right of one living on earth is humility and submission before the One above the Throne, not to rebel and humiliate Allah's servants and inflict mountains of oppression and tyranny upon them.

➋ {وَ جَعَلَ اَهْلَهَا شِيَعًا:} means he divided the inhabitants of the land of Egypt into different classes. It should be noted that the civilization and beliefs of Pharaoh's era were very similar to those of the Hindus. Hindus are also divided into four classes: Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra, in which Brahmins are placed above all and Shudras are degraded below the level of humanity. The Egyptian civilization, along with the king's divinity, was also devoted to the worship of the cow; the same is the case with Hindus. Pharaoh of Egypt also divided the residents of Egypt into different groups and kept them embroiled with each other, and by granting various privileges or by oppressing them, he made them so insignificant and helpless that they could not dare to disagree with him in any matter, to the extent that they even accepted his claim of being the supreme lord. (See Zukhruf: 51–54) Even today, the method of the great powers to keep countries and nations subjugated is the same: divide and rule.

➌ The meaning of { يَسْتَضْعِفُ طَآىِٕفَةً مِّنْهُمْ: ’’ أَضْعَفَ يُضْعِفُ‘‘} (af‘ala) is to weaken, and in the form of istif‘al, due to the addition of letters, the meaning is intensified, i.e., he was greatly weakening one group among them. By this is meant the Children of Israel, who came to Egypt during the time of Yusuf (peace be upon him) and lived for a long time with great dignity and respect, but due to disobedience to Allah and their evil deeds, Allah imposed upon them the original inhabitants of Egypt, who were the Copts, and this Pharaoh took their weakening and helplessness to the extreme. He arranged matters so that the Copts remained masters and the Children of Israel became slaves and servants. Thus, every laborious task was forcibly taken from them, such as farming, building constructions, digging canals, and household chores were taken from their women. In addition, their boys were slaughtered and their women were kept alive to be subjected to their lust.

➍ { يُذَبِّحُ اَبْنَآءَهُمْ وَ يَسْتَحْيٖ نِسَآءَهُمْ:} For the reason for this command and the manner of slaughter, see Surah Al-Baqarah (49).

➎ { اِنَّهٗ كَانَ مِنَ الْمُفْسِدِيْنَ: ’’ إِنَّ ‘‘} is generally used to state the reason for the preceding statement, i.e., the reason for his oppression and rebellion was that he was among those whose very occupation was corruption and whose identity was known as the corrupters.

4-1. That is, he had created an atmosphere of oppression and tyranny and called himself the greatest deity.
4-2. They had separate tasks and duties assigned to them.
4-3. By this is meant the Children of Israel, who were the most excellent nation of that time, but as a trial, they had become slaves of Pharaoh and a target of his cruelties.
4-4. The reason for this was the prediction of some astrologers that a child born among the Children of Israel would cause the destruction of Pharaoh and the end of his kingdom. To solve this, he decided that every newborn Israelite boy should be killed. However, this fool did not consider that if the soothsayer was truthful, then this would certainly happen, no matter how many children he had killed, and if he was lying, then there was no need to have them killed at all (Fath al-Qadeer). Some say that this glad tiding had been passed down from Prophet Ibrahim ؑ that from his progeny there would be a child by whose hands the kingdom of Egypt would be destroyed. The tribes heard this prophecy from the Children of Israel and informed Pharaoh, upon which he began to have the children of the Children of Israel killed. (Ibn Kathir)

4. Pharaoh exalted himself in the land (of Egypt) [4] and divided its people into factions, oppressing one group among them (the Children of Israel), making them weak [5]. He slaughtered their sons [6] and let their women live. Surely, he was among the corrupters.

[4] That is, Pharaoh had become arrogant. He began to consider himself a very great being, and he exceeded all limits in oppressing and wronging people. He raised himself from the position of servitude to the position of complete autonomy and adopted a highly rebellious attitude. Later, the word "Pharaoh" began to be used in the literal sense for someone who is arrogant, rebellious, and defiant.

[5]
Pharaoh's Political Policy. Who Were the Copts and the Israelites:

In order to strengthen and maintain his rule, his political policy was to create class divisions among his subjects. One group was his own people or the ancient inhabitants of Egypt, who were called the Copts, and this was the respected class. Only they could obtain government positions, and as the ruling nation, their rights were looked after more than necessary. The other group was the Israelites, who had settled there since the time of Prophet Yusuf (Joseph) ؑ, that is, for about four hundred years. At that time, they had come as the ruling nation, but after just a century, when irreligion and moral decline began among them and they split into sects, Allah took away their rule from them and the Egyptians regained control. The Egyptians, in retaliation, treated the Israelites like untouchables and outcasts. They had no respect in society. They could not obtain any government position. Generally, these people were slaves or servants of the ruling nation, and their women also worked in their houses. In this way, Pharaoh had practically made these people his slaves.

[6]
Pharaoh's Action for the Genocide of the Israelites:

The movement of Egyptian nationalism had started long before, and as a result, such unjust treatment was meted out to the Israelites (i.e., by the Copts). However, Pharaoh Ramses took the extreme step that henceforth, any boy born to the Israelites should be killed, and the girls should be allowed to live. The girls or women would automatically come under the control of the Copts or the people of Pharaoh, and in this way, after some time, the lineage of the Israelites would be completely wiped out and assimilated into the Egyptians. Accordingly, spy-type women were appointed to enforce Pharaoh's order, who would report to the government about newborn children among the Israelites. And this was merely a precautionary measure; otherwise, the order for the Israelites was that they must inform the government about any newborn boy, and they were compelled to do so.

Pharaoh's Dream That an Israelite Would End His Rule:

It is narrated in some tafsirs that Pharaoh had a disturbing dream, which his astrologers interpreted to mean that a boy would be born among the Israelites by whose hands Pharaoh and his rule would be destroyed. Pharaoh, to avert this danger, ordered the killing of the Israelite boys. From this perspective, if considered, Pharaoh's action was utter foolishness and despotism. Because if the astrologers' interpretation was correct, then this event was bound to happen, and it did happen. There was not even a hint in the dream or its interpretation that Pharaoh could save himself by taking some preventive measure. And if the interpretation was wrong, then this was simply a cruel act. In any case, in both situations, his action was tyrannical and barbaric. And as for the matter of the dream or its interpretation, Allah knows best about its authenticity or lack thereof. Even if this had not been the case, the circumstances arising from nationalism had already developed to such an extent that Pharaoh considered this action appropriate to completely crush the Israelites. And Ibn Kathir describes the situation of this dream and its interpretation as follows: The Israelites used to mention among themselves a prophecy of Ibrahim Khalilullah ؑ that the destruction of the kingdom of Egypt was destined at the hands of an Israelite youth. Gradually, this matter reached Pharaoh's ears as well. This fool, in an attempt to prevent fate and destiny, implemented this cruel scheme.