Surah Al-A'raaf (7) — Ayah 105

105. "It is not appropriate for me to say anything about Allah except the truth. I have come to you with clear signs from your Lord. So let the Children of Israel go with me [111]."

[111]
The Demands of Sayyiduna Musa (علیہ السلام) from Pharaoh:

When Musa (علیہ السلام) reached Pharaoh, he conveyed two things to him: first, that he is the messenger of Allah, the Lord of all worlds, and as proof of the truthfulness of his statement, he has been granted two miracles; therefore, Pharaoh should renounce his claim to divinity and accept faith (as is clarified in some other Quranic verses). Second, that the Children of Israel should be set free and sent with him so that he may take them from there towards Palestine. In these two verses, there are several points worthy of consideration and clarification, such as:

1. How did Sayyiduna Musa (علیہ السلام) muster the courage to fearlessly invite such a mighty and tyrannical king, the owner of a grand empire, to faith and also demand the freedom of the Children of Israel—especially under circumstances where he had fled after killing an Egyptian and was also apprehensive that the Pharaoh’s people might arrest and kill him for his previous crime?

The Reasons for Sayyiduna Musa’s (علیہ السلام) Unparalleled Courage Before Pharaoh:

The correct answer is that the responsibility assigned to the Prophets and Messengers is such that they must fulfill it even at the risk of their own lives. Indeed, many Prophets (علیہم السلام) were martyred while carrying out this responsibility. However, in the case of Messengers, Allah Himself takes the responsibility of protecting their lives. When Sayyiduna Musa (علیہ السلام) felt his life was in danger before going to Pharaoh, Allah assured him that they would not be able to kill him. Furthermore, he had additional support in several matters: firstly, he was thoroughly familiar with the environment of Pharaoh’s court, having spent the early part of his life there, so he was not overawed by the court and courtiers as a stranger might be. Secondly, he had prayed to Allah to grant prophethood to his brother Harun and make him his helper in this task; this prayer was also accepted, and when he went to Pharaoh, Sayyiduna Harun (علیہ السلام) was with him. The real danger he feared was not in conveying Allah’s message to them exactly as it was, but rather that, being a fugitive criminal in their eyes, they might seize and kill him for that crime. Allah assured him that they would never be able to do so.

2. When Musa (علیہ السلام) said, “I am the messenger of Allah, the Lord of all worlds,” it was because Pharaoh and his people all acknowledged that Allah is the Creator of this universe and everything in it, and that He is superior to all their deities. Pharaoh’s claim to divinity was in the sense that he was the provider, fulfiller of needs, and remover of difficulties for all people. Musa (علیہ السلام) informed them that the Allah of whom he is the messenger is, even according to their own belief, far above their claim to divinity.

3. Sayyiduna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) had called his parents and brothers from Canaan to Egypt four hundred years earlier, and their progeny grew and flourished there. At that time, they held the status of a ruling nation. After some time, all those ailments developed among them which lead to the downfall of a nation. By the time Musa (علیہ السلام) was born, these Children of Israel, who had reached into the hundreds of thousands, were living under the subjugation of the Pharaohs as a humiliated nation, as mentioned in several places in the Noble Quran. Sayyiduna Musa (علیہ السلام) had felt the intense pain of his people’s oppressed and humiliating life since childhood, and it was for this reason that he had, in support of an Israelite, unintentionally killed an Egyptian. Therefore, Allah made the second major purpose of Sayyiduna Musa’s (علیہ السلام) prophethood the liberation of the Children of Israel.