Stories of the Prophets: 24. Musa a.s.: Experiences With Bani Israel

After Musa a.s. and Bani Israel have crossed the Red Sea in safety, Allah s.w.t. commanded Musa a.s. and his people to come to Mount Tur.  The congregation of 600 thousand could only move slowly.  Musa a.s. moved hurriedly to take the Taurah as promised, and left Bani Israel behind.  He informed his people that he will return to them within 30 days.  He appointed Harun a.s. to manage the affairs of Bani Israel.

During the days at Mount Tur, Allah s.w.t. revealed the Taurah to Musa a.s. by directly speaking to him.  During one of his much conversation with Allah s.w.t., Musa a.s. requested to actually see his beloved Lord.  The Mountain collapsed from the light of Allah s.w.t. and it became dust.  Musa a.s, fainted from the impact of that experience.  Allah s.w.t. gave him the Taurah, which was written on tablets of stones, Musa a.s. received the orders of Allah s.w.t. in the Taurah for days.  During his absence his people were misled to act wrongfully.  They were misled by Al-Saamiri.

Musa a.s. had promised his people he would return after 30 nights.  However, his meetings with Allah s.w.t. were extended to 40 nights.  His people began to make wild and unfounded assumptions about the delay.  Harun a.s. said that they may have committed some sin in taking jewelries that belonged to the people of Pharaoh, the Egyptians.  The jewelries were borrowed from the Egyptians ladies to be worn when they want to attend social gatherings.  When they left Egypt to follow Musa a.s. they took the gold and jewelry with them.  Since they could not return it back, they had to discard and bury it.

The Samaritan, Al-Saamiri, took the gold and makes a calf out of it.  He also took a handful of the dust from Jibril’s a.s. footprints.  Allah s.w.t. gave the Samaritan the ability to see the angel Jibril a.s.  He saw Jibril a.s. on his horse and found that as the horse treaded on the land, plant immediately blossomed.  Everywhere Jibril’s a.s. horse treaded, it seemed to generate life.  When he saw this, he collected a handful of dust from the horse’s tracks.

The Samaritan threw that sand upon the calf, making actions like a magician to impress people.  He deceived others and said that Musa a.s. had lost his way.  He claimed that the gold calf statue was the god of Musa a.s.  Most of the people worshipped the calf, but few of them refused and waited.  They remain firm and patient.

Musa a.s. blamed his brother Harun a.s. severely for these happenings.  He pulled his brother’s, Harun a.s., hair and beard.  The Bani Israel loved Harun a.s. much more then they loved Musa a.s.  Musa a.s. then turned to the Samaritan.  He told Musa a.s. that he saw Jibril a.s. and had taken a handful of the sand footprints of Jibril’s a.s. horse.  He threw it on the calf so it roared.

The 9 great signs that were sent to Pharaoh and the unbelieving Egyptians were all witnessed by Bani Israel.  They had just witnessed another great miracle when the sea split before them in order to rescue them all and then completely destroy Pharaoh and all his soldiers.  Despite all these signs of Allah s.w.t greatness, the statue of a calf became an object of their worship.

It was said that an infectious disease had affected the Samaritan.  People deserted him, nobody came near him.  Musa a.s. orderd the burning of the calf statue.  He then took the ashes and other remains and threw it into the sea.  Musa a.s. hoped that it would eliminate any influence that episode may have exerted upon his people.

When his anger subsided, Musa a.s. took the tablets on which the Taurah was prescribed.  He gathered the rest of Bani Israel explaining to them the orders and commandments of Allah s.w..t as contained in the Taurah.  Suddenly, the mountain was raised while all of them were looking.  The mountain moved and hovered above their heads.  Musa a.s. demand from his people their commitment to obey the teachings of Allah s.w.t. But his people did not respond as he expected.  Fearing the mountain would fall upon them, the prostrated and raised their heads looking at the homering mountain and said: “we listen and we disobey!”

After that, he took their covenants that any order that came from the Taurah, they must obey without hesitation.  Musa a.s. wanted to apologize to Allah s.w.t. for the ingratitude and arrogance Bani Israel had shown.  He was ashamed of them and their wicked behavior.  He chose 70 men who did not worship the calf; the best of the Jews then.  He gathered the Bani Israel and headed with them to Al-Tur Mountain to meet Allah s.w.t. for the third time.  As they climbed Mount Al-Tur, it started to quake so strongly that they felt they would be destroyed, Musa a.s. started to apologize to Allah s.w.t. for what his people did.  The earthquakes subside, and they moved through the mountain.  Heavy fog fell upon the mountain. They could not see anything but still could hear well enough.  Here Musa a.s. started to pray earnestly.  Allah s.w.t. accepted his apology.

Now, his people claimed that he promised them that they would meet Allah s.w.t.  They insisted that they will never believe unless they saw Allah s.w.t. manifestly.  Musa a.s. warned them against this strange requested.  They said they would not tell their people that Musa a.s. was telling the truth, and they would not believe until they saw Allah s.w.t. with their own naked eyes.  Allah s.w.t. was so angry with their arrogance that all of them were strucked by a thousand bolts that killed them all.

Musa a.s. prayed to Allah s.w.t. not to send him to Bani Israel alone.  He insisted and kept on supplicating.  Allah s.w.t. gave them life again.  The 70 selected people looked at each other after coming back to life from death.  Musa a.s. returned with the ones who were with him.  He journey on with Bani Israel till they reached Ilia (known today as Jerusalem).  Musa a.s asked Bani Israel to conquer Ilia and liberate Jerusalem.  When they reached that area, the people of Ilia got ready for battle.  But they were afraid as they heard that there was 600 thousand Bani Israel, so they withdrew into their city and enclosed their forts around themselves.

The Bani Israel refuses to attack claiming that they had no knowledge or experience in fighting.  They had been slaves for 430 years.  Musa a.s. reminded them to obey and believe in him.  He promises that they would triumph and will control the Holy Land.  They flatly refused.  Musa a.s. expressed his disappointment.  This was the first time he supplicated against his people.  Allah s.w.t. exalted a unique punishment against his people.  Jerusalem will be forbidden for them for the next years and will travelled the land in circles without any clear destination.  They will be wandering lost for 40 years.

Musa a.s. ordered them to go away from Jerusalem.  They went to another village and lost their way.  They had guides who know the area well.  Days later they would find their own trails.  They would return to the same place where they started from.  Then they would start to search along another direction.  They would wonder for days only to return back the same place again.  They would repeat the same ordeal over and over again for 40 years.  Forty years they were lost in the land of their beloved Palestine.  Allah s.w.t. wanted to punish them, not to kill them.  They were lost and thirsty.  Allah s.w.t inspired Musa a.s. to strike the rock with his staff, out of which gushed forth 12 springs.  Each spring would flow in a separate direction because there were 12 tribes from the children of Ya’acob a.s., who is also known as Israel, each group knew its own drinking place.  When they started to walk, water stopped coming out from the rock.  So they carried the rock along with them, if they stopped and laid the rock, water poured out from it.  That was their life for 40 years, roaming about in the desert.

During the 40 years, Allah s.w.t. fed them three (3) times per day.  A great number of quail birds would come to them during mealtime.  Everyone took one of those birds to slaughter and cook.  Also there was the Manna.  Despite being fed with food and water in miraculous ways, Bani Israel remained ungrateful.  Over those 40 years all of those who originally migrated with Musa a.s. from Egypt died.  Only their children and the next generation survived the 40 year ordeal.  It was a cleansing period to create a new generation of Bani Israel.  Several events happened among them during their 40 years in the wildness.

One of the events involved the story of the heifer.  It started when they discovered that one of their chief had been killed.  They investigate, searching for the one who killed him.  They came to Musa a.s. asking him who killed this man.  They told him to ask his Lord to inform them who killed the man.  Musa a.s. prayed to Allah s.w.t to indicate to them who murdered this man.  Inspiration came to Musa a.s. and he went to convey to his people the message from Allah s.w.t.  He told them if they really wanted to know who killed this man then they had to execute the following orders of Allah s.w.t.  Allah s.w.t. commands them to sacrifice a heifer.

Bani Israel showed their hesitation in obeying the simple command from Allah s.w.t.  They continued asking for details and clarifications to such an extent that they almost did not carry out the instruction.  Allah s.w.t. gave them the finer descriptions of the heifer.  They found it and it belonged to some orphan boy.  Someone knew that this boy had the prescribe heifer.  He hurried to the boy to convince him to demand for a high price if any one came to buy the heifer.  So, when they came, the boy demands its weight in gold.  They went to Musa a.s. asking him to change it for another heifer.  The family of the dead was keen to know who killed their kin, so they matched that high price for the cow.  Allah s.w.t. wanted to make the orphan boy rich, and wanted to punish the others at the same time.  They then told Musa a.s. they had done as Allah s.w.t. commanded but they still did not know who killed their man.  Musa a.s. told them to cut part of the slaughtered heifer.  They cut one of its legs and hit the dead man with this part.  The dead man woke up and spoke to them.  The dead man was revived before their eyes.  The dead man came back to life with Allah s.w.t. permission and power, and pointed out the culprit who killed them.  Then he died again.

Within this 40 year period also, the great and meaningful incident occurred between Musa a.s. and Al-Khidr a.s.  Allah s.w.t indicated to Musa a.s. that there was someone else who has more knowledge.  Musa a.s. would find him at the junction of the two seas.  Musa a.s. was accompanied by his attendant, Joshua bin Noun, during his travels in search of the most knowledgeable person on earth at that time.  Musa a.s. told Joshua that he would not stop until he reached the junction of the two seas even if he had to walk for ten years.  The place is near, where Al-Aqaba is today.  The two seas refer to the tips of the Red Sea.

They did not recognize the prescribed place even when they had reached it.  Joshua left their food, a fried fish, in a bowl for Musa a.s.  Joshua was sitting while Musa a.s. was sleeping.  Suddenly, Joshua saw the dead and fried fish in the bowl moved.  Then it jumped into the sea and started swimming.  Joshua was amazed.  However, he forgot to tell Musa a..s about the incident involving the fish when Musa a.s. woke up.

The journey began to tire them.  Musa a.s. had asked for the lunch they had brought along.  Only then Joshua a.s. did remember the strange in incident that took place earlier.  So they went back following the path they had.  They found Al-Khidr a.s. and Musa a.s. asked if he could follow him.  But Al-Khidr a.s. said that Musa will not have the patience with him because he will never completely understand some things.  Al-Khidr a.s. then, after Musa a.s. had begged to follow him, allowed Musa a.s. to come along as long as he asked no question about anything unless Al-Khidr a.s. himself spoke to him.

Musa a.s. agreed and directed Joshua to return to Bani Israel.  He wanted to complete the journey only with Al-Khidr a.s.  They then boarded a ship with some poor workers that they had persuaded to give them a ride across the sea to the other bank.  The poor workers carried them without any fare. Al-Khidr and and Musa a.s descended to the bottom of the ship.  There, Al-Khidr then took a piece of iron and started to break the ship.  He hollowed the ship and water started to entered into it.  The ship started to sink.  The workers heard the news and started to throw the water outside.  The ship was in danger.  Musa a.s. was astonished at what Al-Khidr had done.  But Al-Khidr reminded him of his promise.

When they reached the other sea bank and after walking for a while, they found a few boys, a beautiful child.  Al-Khidr attacked him and after forcing him to the ground, he slain him.  Musa a.s. was really taken aback witnessing murder occurring right before his eyes.  He asked Al-Khidr why did he killed an innocent person.  Again Al-Khidr reminded Musa a. s. that he has no patience to be with him.  Musa a.s. told Al-Khidr that would be his last exercise.

They proceeded until they reached a town and by then they were very hungry.  The people of that town saw them but did not offer them any hospitality, so they asked for some food.  The people refused even to offer some food.  So Musa a.s. and Al-Khidr left the town and continued their journey.  Near the outskirt of the town, they found a lopsided house of which only one wall remained and it was about to collapse.  Al-Khidr began to erect the wall until it was firm.  Musa a.s. just stood by watching with wonder surprise and said that Al-Khidr could have asked for some compensation for it.

For that, Musa a.s. has not kept his promise not to questioned Al-Khidr.  Then Al-Khidr said they should part company since Musa a.s. could not remain patient with him.  There were clear reasons behind the peculiar behavior he had shown while journeying with Musa a.s.  As for the boat, it belonged to men in dire want.  The boat had to be rendered unserviceable for there was a certain king who seized every boat by force.

Regarding the boy; his parents were believers.  Allah s.w.t. knew that this boy become an unbeliever, and also a tyrant who will hurt his parents.  So Allah s.w.t. was merciful and wanted to replace them with a better son.  Soon after his death, the woman conceived another boy who grew up to become a believer and always treated his parents kindly.

As for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys from the town.  Under the wall was some treasure that belonged to the two orphans.  If the wall collapsed, the treasure would be exposed and the evil mannered people of the town would steal it.  Allah s.w.t wanted to protect the orphans and their treasure.  Al-Khidr explained to Musa a.s. great lessons.  All his actions were inspired by Allah s.w.t.

During this period of exile, Prophet Harun a.s. and Prophet Musa a.s. both died in the desert.  Musa a.s. requested Allah s.w.t. to let him die close to the Sacred Land.  He was buried near Al-Aqsa Mosque.

STORIES OF THE PROPHETS IN AL-QURAN

(Lessons that we can extract, lessons that we can apply)

(Teaser extraction from the book)

 To be continued…

(Enjoy and read the full version from the book http://www.estore.ansi.com.my/affiliate/idevaffiliate.php?id=256_0_3_2

or listen to the narrated stories through iPhone:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/stories-prophets-in-al-quran/id486922416?ls=1&mt=8