Prophet Musa (Moses)
In the land of Egypt where the children of Ibrahim(Alaih Assalaam), Yaqub(Alaih Assalaam) and Yusuf(Alaih Assalaam) once lived, there reigned an evil, wicked Pharaoh. One day, this wicked Pharaoh ordered that all boys descended from Yusuf (Alaih Assalaam)should be killed. He gave this order because he did not want Yusuf(Alaih Assalaam)’s children to increase and become more powerful than his own people.
It was at this dangerous time that the baby Musa (Alaih Assalaam)was born. Allah sent a message to his mother, telling her to place little Musa(Alaih Assalaam) in a small basket and put the basket on the river. That way, Musa(Alaih Assalaam) would escape the dreadful fate which Pharaoh had decreed.
The basket with the little child in it was found by the Pharaoh’s wife. She was kind and good-hearted and took Musa(Alaih Assalaam) into the palace. Nobody knew who his parents were, but the Pharaoh’s wife wanted to keep him, so she looked for a foster mother to nurse him. Allah then caused Musa(Alaih Assalaam)’s own mother to be brought into the palace so that she could be chosen as Musa(Alaih Assalaam)’s foster mother. So the baby Musa(Alaih Assalaam)’s life was saved, and through the help of Allah, he was given back to his own mother.
Musa(Alaih Assalaam) was brought up in Pharaoh’s palace and had the best teachers to educate him. They made a clever and capable man out of him.
As Musa (Alaih Assalaam)grew up to be a man, he had to leave Pharaoh’s land on a journey. On the way, he passed by a well where the shepherds gave water to their sheep. Musa(Alaih Assalaam) found there two women who also wanted to give their sheep water to drink. But they could not reach the water before the shepherds had taken their flocks away from the well. Musa (Alaih Assalaam)helped them to give water to their herd and when the two women returned home, they told their old father what had happened. He sent one of them back to invite Musa(Alaih Assalaam) to come to their house. Later the father offered him one of his daughters to take for his wife, and Musa (Alaih Assalaam)accepted. Afterwards, Musa (Alaih Assalaam) led a happy life with his family and the old father by the well.
Some years later, Musa(Alaih Assalaam) and his family were traveling in the country, when suddenly, he saw a big fire. He told his family to stay where they were and went on his own to find out about the fire. As Musa(Alaih Assalaam) approached, he heard a voice: O Musa! the voice said, I am Allah, your Lord. I am going to make you my Prophet. You must go to the people and tell them that there is only one God, Allah, Who created them. So they must be grateful and pray only to Allah and strive to do good. Take your brother Harun (Alaih Assalaam)with you and go to the Pharaoh and his people and give them My message.
Musa(Alaih Assalaam) went to Egypt and told Pharaoh: Allah, Who is the Lord of the worlds, has sent me to you. I am Allah’s messenger and I bring the truth to you. You should set free the children of Yusuf(Alaih Assalaam), who are being oppressed in this land, and let them come away with me.
When Pharaoh heard this, he became furious and shouted: You lie! No-one except I, the great Pharaoh of Egypt, is the lord of the world. I am the most powerful king on earth. You must be out of your mind to dare to say otherwise. If you disobey me, I will throw you into prison!
But Musa(Alaih Assalaam) was not frightened by Pharaoh’s anger or his words. With the help of Allah I shall show you that Allah is more powerful than all men and also more powerful than you, he told the Pharaoh. Musa(Alaih Assalaam) then took his stick and threw it onto the ground. At once, the stick turned into a long thick curling snake.
You are obviously a magician, said the Pharaoh when he saw this. I will call together all the magicians in my land, and then we will see who can make better magic, they or you.
So, all the magicians were summoned to the Pharaoh’s palace. They had many sticks with them, and they turned them into snakes. But then Musa (Alaih Assalaam)threw his stick once more onto the ground, and once more it turned into a snake. This snake swallowed up all the snakes which the magicians had made.
The magicians were impressed: We believe truly in Allah, Who has sent Musa(Alaih Assalaam) as His prophet, they said, Allah is really and truly much more powerful than all or any of us.
The Pharaoh was furious. He said: Do you want to believe in something before I give you permission to believe it? You will all have your hands and feet chopped off as punishment! he shouted at the magicians.
Do you want to take revenge on us just because we believe in Allah’s signs? the magicians replied. Whatever you do to us, we will still turn to Allah. May Allah have mercy on us and help us to be patient and steadfast. In this way the magicians, who were greedy men, were turned into good and faithful servants of Allah.
Now Musa(Alaih Assalaam) went to the descendants of Yusuf who were suffering much oppression under the rule of the evil Pharaoh. He told them: We shall go away from Egypt. But after they had departed, Pharaoh and his soldiers went after them to fetch them back.
Musa (Alaih Assalaam)and his people sped on their journey until they finally reached the sea. By this time, though , Pharaoh and his soldiers were approaching and the people grew terribly afraid. But Allah came to their rescue. He divided the water into two, so that Musa (Alaih Assalaam)and his people could walk through the middle to get across the sea. when Pharaoh and his soldiers reached the sea, they of course rode after them. But they could not reach Musa (Alaih Assalaam)and his people before they came to the other side. Suddenly, while Pharaoh and his soldiers were still riding across the sea bed, the waters came flowing back, and all of them were drowned. Allah had thus saved Musa (Alaih Assalaam) and his people because they worshipped Him alone. Pharaoh, who refused to believe in Allah and who was proud and even wanted to throw Musa (Alaih Assalaam) into prison, was left to drown.
After their escape, Musa (Alaih Assalaam)and his people wandered in the desert for many years. One day, Musa(Alaih Assalaam) received Allah ‘s order to climb a high mountain. Musa (Alaih Assalaam)was to stay there for forty days and nights praying to Allah and listening to what Allah would tell him and his people. But forty days and nights seemed a log time and while Musa(Alaih Assalaam) was away, his people became impatient. They decided to make a calf out of gold and worship it. When Musa (Alaih Assalaam)came down from the mountain, he saw the calf and became very angry. He smashed the calf into a thousand pieces and scolded his people so much that they felt ashamed of themselves. You must never, ever worship anything else apart from Allah, Musa(Alaih Assalaam) instructed them.
Musa(Alaih Assalaam) had brought a book to his people which Allah had revealed to him on the mountain. This book is called the Taurat. In the Taurat, it is stated what men should not do. They must never worship anything else apart from Allah.
They must never kill a fellow man. They must not take things which do not belong to them. They must be good to their parents and to one another.
Musa(Alaih Assalaam)’s people understood now that they had been very ungrateful to Allah, for it was Allah who had saved them from Pharaoh and his soldiers. They prayed to Allah and thanked Him for what He had done for them. They asked for His forgiveness and made a promise that they would strive hard to do good deeds.
Allah forgives those who are ashamed for the bad deeds they have done, and are willing to correct their mistakes and return to Allah.