Surah Al-A'raaf (7) — Ayah 127

(Ayah 127) ➊ { وَ قَالَ الْمَلَاُ مِنْ قَوْمِ فِرْعَوْنَ … : } After the dominance of the miracles of Musa (peace be upon him) and the magicians embracing faith, although only a few young people dared to believe, and that too while fearing Pharaoh and his chiefs (see Yunus: 83), nevertheless, Pharaoh's actions against the Children of Israel somewhat decreased. So his chiefs incited him by saying, "Will you leave Musa and his people to spread corruption in the land?"—meaning, will you let your subjects go around inviting others to worship Allah alone instead of you and your gods, and spread corruption in the land through the call to monotheism? Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) says: "It is astonishing that these people fear Musa (peace be upon him) and his people spreading corruption, while in fact, they themselves are the ones spreading corruption." Allah said: «{ اَلَاۤ اِنَّهُمْ هُمُ الْمُفْسِدُوْنَ وَ لٰكِنْ لَّا يَشْعُرُوْنَ }» [ البقرۃ : ۱۲ ] "Behold! Surely, they are the ones who spread corruption, but they do not perceive."

➋ {وَ يَذَرَكَ وَ اٰلِهَتَكَ: ’’ آلِهَةٌ ‘‘} This is the plural of {’’ اِلٰهٌ ‘‘}, which means deity, i.e., will they leave you and your deities? This shows that Pharaoh also had some deities whom he worshipped. In the recitation of some Companions, it is {’’اِلَاهَتَكَ‘‘}, the meaning of {’’ اِلَاهَةٌ ‘‘} is worship, i.e., will they leave you and your worship? Although this is also correct, the well-known recitation is the first one. Therefore, the scholars have given several explanations for this, and all are possible. One explanation is that despite his claim of being the "Lord Most High," he actually worshipped several deities, and the belief in the sanctity of these deities was also present among his people. For example, the worship of the cow was common, and due to association and subjugation to them, this belief also entered the Children of Israel. The evidence for this is their excuses when commanded to slaughter a cow even after being freed, and after Musa (peace be upon him) went to Mount Tur, Samiri made the calf and led the people to worship it. Egyptian civilization was similar to that of the Hindus. Polytheistic religions have strange complexities; usually, they believe that the real god descends into a human, which is known among Muslim Sufis as "hulul" (incarnation). Pharaoh, by declaring himself the representative of all these deities, called himself the "Lord Most High" and said to his chiefs: «{ مَا عَلِمْتُ لَكُمْ مِّنْ اِلٰهٍ غَيْرِيْ }» [ القصص : ۳۸ ] "I do not know of any god for you other than myself." This is the same thing that some who claim to be Muslims have said:
He who was established on the Throne as God
Has descended to Madinah as Mustafa
But these people, even after considering Mustafa (peace and blessings be upon him) as the real God, worship many living gods, such as spiritual guides, and dead gods, such as graves, and also believe in the manifestation of Allah in them. Whereas Allah Almighty and His Messenger are free from all such filthy beliefs.

Another explanation is that in reality, Pharaoh was an atheist. He did not believe in any Creator of the universe; in his view, the king himself held the status of deity, that whatever came from his mouth was religion and law. He reserved this status for himself among his chiefs, and his chiefs held this status for their respective regions' subjects. Thus, he had his idols made and kept in people's homes, just as most rulers today try to instill their divinity in people's minds through their pictures and statues. Communist rulers like Stalin, Lenin, and Mao Zedong, despite denying God, tried to create an impression of their divinity in people's minds. Democratic rulers also do not fall short in this effort as much as possible, even though they use the name of the people.

A third explanation is that in terms of authority, he did not accept anyone as a deity except himself, but he also had some deities for seeking unseen help, just as some rulers today enforce their own laws but offer vows to various entities for unseen help. Thus, they wash solid graves with rose water like the Ka'bah and consider saints as miracle workers, and somewhat accept Allah as well, but never allow any of His laws to be implemented.

➌ { قَالَ سَنُقَتِّلُ اَبْنَآءَهُمْ …:} That is, we will resume the oppression and tyranny we used to inflict on the Children of Israel before the birth of Musa (peace be upon him), so that they will be destroyed and not a trace of them will remain. Their men will be killed and only the women will survive. What could they do? We will keep them as slave girls in our homes. Until now, he had not dared to do this, making the excuse: what is the hurry? We have full control over them; whenever we wish, we can do this.