The Coming of the Prophet Musa

Because of their deep bigotry, the ancient Egyptians would not abandon their idolatrous beliefs. Some persons came to them who announced the message of worshipping only Allah, but the people of Fir'awn always turned back to their perverted beliefs. Finally, Musa was sent by Allah as a messenger (rasul) to them, both because they had adopted a system of falsehood contrary to the religion of truth, and also because they had enslaved the Children of Israel. Musa was instructed both to invite Egypt to the religion of truth, and to save the Children of Israel from slavery and show them the right way. In the Qur'an, it is stated;

We rehearse to thee some of the story of Prophet Musa and Fir'awn in Truth, for people who believe. Truly Fir'awn elated himself in the land and broke up its people into sections, depressing a small group among them: their sons he slew, but he kept alive their females: for he was indeed a maker of mischief. And We wished to be Gracious to those who were being depressed in the land, to make them leaders (in Faith) and make them heirs, to establish a firm place for them in the land, and to show Fir'awn, Haman, and their hosts, at their hands, the very things against which they were taking precautions. (Surat al-Qasas: 3-6)

So We sent this inspiration to the mother of Musa: "Suckle (thy child), but when thou hast fears about him, cast him into the river, but fear not nor grieve: for We shall restore him to thee, and We shall make him one of Our messengers."
Then the people of Fir'awn picked him up (from the river): (It was intended) that (Musa) should be to them an adversary and a cause of sorrow: for Fir'awn and Haman and (all) their hosts were men of sin.
The wife of Fir'awn said: "(Here is) joy of the eye, for me and for thee: slay him not. It may be that he will be use to us, or we may adopt him as a son." And they perceived not (what they were doing)! (Surat al-Qasas: 7-9)

The enslaved people whom Fir'awn wronged. Particularly in the age of the New Kingdom, minorities living in the country were set to work on mas- sive construction projects. The Children of Israel were among those minorities. In the picture above top, the slaves who are seen working on the construction of a temple are most likely the Children of Israel. The pic- ture below depicts technical preparations of slaves, again thought to be the Children of Israel, before setting to work on a construction project. The slaves are making bricks by boiling mud on fire, and preparing mortar.

Fir'awn's wife prevented the murder of Musa and adopted him. This way, Musa spent his childhood in Fir'awn's palace. With the help of Allah, his own mother was brought to the palace as his wet-nurse.

When he had become an adult, one day Musa intervened when he saw one of the children of Israel being tormented by an Egyptian and he struck the Egyptian one blow upon which the Egyptian died. Despite the fact he was living in the palace of Fir'awn, and he had been adopted by the Queen, the chiefs of the city decided that his punishment was to be death. Hearing this, Musa ran away from Egypt and came to Madyan. At the end of the period he passed there, Allah spoke directly to him and Allah gave him the station of prophethood. He was ordered to return to Fir'awn and convey the message of Allah's religion to him.

Considered to be the pharaoh men- tioned in the Qur'an according to many historians, Ramses II is seen killing some of the slaves he has captured. As these wall pictures also reveal, the pharaohs had themselves idealised and depicted as strong warriors. They were presented as tall heroes with wide shoul- ders who could overcome a number of people at one time.

Fir'awn's Palace

Musa and Harun went to Fir'awn in obedience to Allah's command and conveyed him the message of the religion of truth. They asked him to stop tormenting the Children of Israel and let them go with Musa and Harun. It was unacceptable to Fir'awn that Musa, whom he had kept near him for years and who most probably was to have been his successor on the throne, stood up to him and talked to him in this manner. For that reason, Fir'awn accused him of ingratitude;

(Fir'awn) said: "Did we not cherish thee as a child among us, and didst thou not stay in our midst many years of thy life? And thou didst a deed of thine which (thou knowest) thou didst, and thou art an ungrateful (wretch)!" (Surat ash-Shuara: 18-19)

Above: Since the pharaohs saw themselves as divine beings, they tried to seem superior to all other people. Next: War captives seized by the Egyptians are seen wait- ing for the execution of their death sentence.

Fir'awn was trying to play on Musa's sentiments and affect his conscience. It was as if he was saying that since it was he and his wife who had brought him up, it was Musa who should obey them. Moreover, Musa had killed an Egyptian. All these acts required heavy penalties according to the Egyptians. This emotional atmosphere which Fir'awn tried to create, was also directed at influencing the leaders of his people, so that they would also agree with Fir'awn.

On the other hand, the message of the religion of truth proclaimed by Musa undermined Fir'awn's power, and reduced him to the level of ordinary people. From then on, it would be revealed that he was not a god, and moreover he would be compelled to obey Musa. Besides, if he set the Children of Israel free, he would loose some important manpower and thus could fall in great distress.

For all these, Fir'awn did not even listen to what Musa said. He tried to make fun of him, and attempted to change the subject by asking meaningless questions. At the same time, he tried to represent Musa and Harun as anarchists and accuse them of being politically motivated. Finally, neither Fir'awn nor the leaders of the people within his close circle, except for the magicians, obeyed Musa and Harun. They did not follow the religion of truth shown to them. Therefore Allah first of all sent some disasters to them.