17:103 Al-Israa (The Night Journey)

{ فَأَرَادَ } فرعون { أَنْ يَسْتَفِزَّهُمْ مِنَ الْأَرْضِ } أن: يجليهم ويخرجهم منها. { فَأَغْرَقْنَاهُ وَمَنْ مَعَهُ جَمِيعًا } وأورثنا بني إسرائيل أرضهم وديارهم.

وقوله "فأراد أن يستفزهم من الأرض" أي يخليهم منها ويزيلهم عنها "فأغرقناه ومن معه جميعا وقلنا من بعده لبني إسرائيل اسكنوا الأرض" وفي هذا بشارة لمحمد صلى الله عليه وسلم بفتح مكة مع أن السورة مكية نزلت قبل الهجرة وكذلك وقع فإن أهل مكة هموا بإخراج الرسول منها كما قال تعالى "وإن كادوا ليستفزونك من الأرض ليخرجوك منها" الآيتين ولهذا أورث الله رسوله مكة فدخلها عنوة على أشهر القولين وقهر أهلها ثم أطلقهم حلما وكرما كما أورث الله القوم الذين كانوا يستضعفون من بني إسرائيل مشارق الأرض ومغاربها وأورثهم بلاد فرعون وأموالهم وزروعهم وثمارهم وكنوزهم كما قال كذلك وأورثناها بني إسرائيل.

The Nine Signs of Musa

Allah tells us that He sent Musa with nine clear signs, which provided definitive proof that his prophethood was real and that what he was conveying from the One Who had sent him to Fira`wn was true. These clear signs were: his staff, his hand, the years of famine, the sea, the flood, the locusts, the lice, the frogs and the blood. This was the view of Ibn `Abbas. Muhammad bin Ka`b said, "They were his hand and his staff, the five signs mentioned in Al-A`raf, and destruction of wealth and the rock." Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, `Ikrimah, Ash-Sha`bi and Qatadah said: "They are his hand, his staff, the years of famine, the failure of the crops, the flood, the locusts, the lice, the frogs and the blood."

فَاسْتَكْبَرُواْ وَكَانُواْ قَوْماً مُّجْرِمِينَ

(Yet they remained arrogant, and they were of those people who were criminals,) 7:133 meaning, despite all these signs and their witnessing of them, they disbelieved them and belied them wrongfully and arrogantly, although they were themselves were convinced of them, so they did not have any effect on them. By the same token, (Allah tells His Messenger here,) `if We were to respond to what these people are asking you for, who have said that they will not believe in you until you cause springs to gush forth throughout the land for them, they would not respond or believe except if Allah willed.' As Fira`wn said to Musa, even though he had witnessed the signs which he brought,

إِنِّى لأَظُنُّكَ يمُوسَى مَسْحُورًا

("O Musa! I think you are indeed bewitched. ") It was said that this meant he thought he was a sorcerer, but Allah knows best. These nine signs which were mentioned by the Imams (scholars) quoted above are what is referred to here, and in the Ayah :

وَأَلْقِ عَصَاكَ فَلَمَّا رَءَاهَا تَهْتَزُّ كَأَنَّهَا جَآنٌّ وَلَّى مُدْبِراً وَلَمْ يُعَقِّبْ يمُوسَى لاَ تَخَفْ

("And throw down your stick!" But when he saw it moving as if it were a snake, he turned in flight, and did not look back. (It was said:) "O Musa ! Fear not.") until His saying,

فِى تِسْعِ ءَايَـتٍ إِلَى فِرْعَوْنَ وَقَوْمِهِ إِنَّهُمْ كَانُواْ قَوْماً فَـسِقِينَ

(among the nine signs (you will take) to Fir`awn and his people. Verily, they are a people who are rebellious.) 27:10-12 These Ayat include mention of the stick and the hand, and the rest of the nine signs are mentioned in detail in Surat Al-A`raf. Musa was also given many other signs, such as striking the rock with his staff and water flowing from it, their being shaded with clouds, manna and quails, and other signs which were bestowed upon the Children of Israel after they had left the land of Egypt. But here Allah mentions the nine signs which were witnessed by his people in Egypt. These became evidence against them, because they stubbornly rejected them out of disbelief. So Musa said to Fira`wn:

لَقَدْ عَلِمْتَ مَآ أَنزَلَ هَـؤُلاءِ إِلاَّ رَبُّ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ بَصَآئِرَ

("Verily, you know that these signs have been sent down by none but the Lord of the heavens and the earth. ) meaning, as proof and evidence of the truth of what I have brought to you.

وَإِنِّى لأَظُنُّكَ يفِرْعَونُ مَثْبُورًا

(And I think you are indeed, O Fir`awn, doomed to destruction!) i.e., bound to be destroyed. This was the view of Mujahid and Qatadah. Ibn `Abbas said: "It means cursed." Ibn `Abbas and Ad-Dahhak said:

مَثْبُورًا

(doomed to destruction.) means defeated. As Mujahid said, "doomed" includes all of these meanings.

The Destruction of Fir`awn and His People

فَأَرَادَ أَن يَسْتَفِزَّهُم مِّنَ الاٌّرْضِ

(So he resolved to turn them out of the land.) means, he wanted to expel them and drive them out.

فَأَغْرَقْنَاهُ وَمَن مَّعَهُ جَمِيعًاوَقُلْنَا مِن بَعْدِهِ لِبَنِى إِسْرَءِيلَ اسْكُنُواْ الاٌّرْضَ

(But We drowned him and all who were with him. And We said to the Children of Israel after him: "Dwell in the land...") This is good news for Muhammad , a foretelling of the conquest of Makkah, even though this Surah was revealed in Makkah before the Hijrah. Similarly, the people of Makkah wanted to expel the Prophet from the city, as Allah says in two Ayat:

وَإِن كَادُواْ لَيَسْتَفِزُّونَكَ مِنَ الاٌّرْضِ لِيُخْرِجُوكَ مِنْهَا

(And verily, they were about to frighten you so much as to drive you out from the land...) 17:76-77 Hence Allah caused His Messenger to inherit Makkah, so he entered it by force, according to the better-known of the two opinions, and he defeated its people then out of kindness and generosity, he let them go, just as Allah caused the Children of Israel, who had been oppressed, to inherit the land, east and west, and to inherit the land of Fir`awn's people, with its farmland, crops and treasures. As Allah said,

كَذَلِكَ وَأَوْرَثْنَـهَا بَنِى إِسْرَءِيلَ

(thus We caused the Children of Israel to inherit them. ) (26:59). Here Allah says:

وَقُلْنَا مِن بَعْدِهِ لِبَنِى إِسْرَءِيلَ اسْكُنُواْ الاٌّرْضَ فَإِذَا جَآءَ وَعْدُ الاٌّخِرَةِ جِئْنَا بِكُمْ لَفِيفًا

(And We said to the Children of Israel after him: "Dwell in the land, then, when the final and the last promise comes near, We shall bring you altogether as mixed crowd.") meaning, all of you, you and your ene mies. Ibn `Abbas, Qatadah and Ad-Dahhak said, "It means all together."

And he Pharaoh desired to scare them to expel Moses and his people from the land the land of Egypt; so We drowned him and those with him all together.

Commentary

The first verse (101): وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَا مُوسَىٰ تِسْعَ آيَاتٍ mentions the bestowal of nine clear signs on Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) . The word: آیَہ ('ayah) carries the meaning of miracle or sign as well as that of the آیَت : ayat or verses of the Qur'an, that is, the divine injunctions. At this place, the probability of both meanings exists. Therefore, a number of commentators have taken the word 'ayat' to mean miracles - and the number nine does not make it necessary that they will not be more than nine - but, at this place, the figure 'nine' has been mentioned on the basis of some particular importance it has. Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ has enumerated these miracles as follows:

1. The staff of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) which turned into a huge snake.

2. The hand that emitted light when placed under and taken out of the armpit.

3. The removal of stammering from his tongue.

4. The splitting of the water barrier in two sections to give safe passage to the Bani Isra'il to cross it.

5. The sending of the punishment through locusts in unusual circumstances.

6. The sending of the storm.

7. The clothes on their bodies were infested with countless lice they had no escape from.

8. The punishment of frogs was released on them when frogs would appear in everything they ate or drank.

9. The punishment of blood was sent that filled every utensil and mingled with whatever they ate or drank.

And a Sahih Hadith tells us that the word 'ayat' used here means divine injunctions. This Hadith has been reported in Abu Dawud, an-Nasa'i, Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah on the authority of Sayyidna Safwan ibn al-` Aththal. He says that a Jew asked one of his friends to take him to 'that' prophet. The friend said, 'do not call him a prophet. If he finds out that we too call him a prophet, he will have four eyes on him (that is, he will have an opportunity to wallow in his pride and glee).' Then they came to the Holy Prophet ﷺ and asked him as to what were the nine clear signs given to Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) . He said:

1. Do not ascribe any partners to Allah.

2. Do not steal.

3. Do not fornicate.

4. Do not unjustly take the life of the one whose killing has been forbidden by Allah.

5. Do not falsely impute anyone innocent with charges liable to the sentence of death or any other punishment.

6. Do not practice magic.

7. Do not devour interest.

8. Do not level a false accusation of fornication on a chaste woman.

9. Do not desert the battlefield in Jihad for fear of being killed.

And he also said, '0 Jews, it has also been specially enjoined on you that you shall not contravene the particular injunctions of the observance of the day of Sabbath (Saturday) given to you.'

Hearing what the Holy Prophet ﷺ said, they both kissed his hands and feet and declared, 'We bear witness that you are the prophet of Allah.' He said, 'What is it, then, that stops you from following me?' They said that Sayyidna Dawud (علیہ السلام) had prayed to his Lord for prophets to always keep appearing from among his progeny - 'and we are scared that the Jews will kill us if we started following you.'

Since this explanation of the verse stands proved on the authority of Sahih Hadith, therefore, this is what many commentators have preferred to go by.