20:29 Taa-Haa (Taa-Haa)

تفسير الآيات من 29 الى 31 :ـ{ وَاجْعَلْ لِي وَزِيرًا مِنْ أَهْلِي } أي: معينا يعاونني، ويؤازرني، ويساعدني على من أرسلت إليهم، وسأل أن يكون من أهله، لأنه من باب البر، وأحق ببر الإنسان قرابته، ثم عينه بسؤاله فقال: { هَارُونَ أَخِي* اشْدُدْ بِهِ أَزْرِي } أي: قوني به، وشد به ظهري، قال الله: { سَنَشُدُّ عَضُدَكَ بِأَخِيكَ وَنَجْعَلُ لَكُمَا سُلْطَانًا }

وقوله"واجعل لي وزيرا من أهلي هارون أخي" وهذا أيضا سؤال من موسى عليه السلام في أمر خارجي عنه وهو مساعدة أخيه هارون له.قال الثوري عن أبي سعيد عن عكرمة عن ابن عباس أنه قال: نبئ هارون ساعتئذ حين نبئ موسى عليهما السلام وقال ابن أبي حاتم ذكر عن ابن نمير حدثنا أبو أسامة عن هشام بن عروة عن أبيه عن عائشة أنها خرجت فيما كانت تعتمر فنزلت ببعض الأعراب فسمعت رجلا يقول أي أخ كان في الدنيا أنفع لأخيه ؟ قالوا لا ندري قال أنا والله أدري ؟ قالت فقلت في نفسي في حلفه لا يستثني إنه ليعلم أي أخ كان في الدنيا أنفع لأخيه قال موسى حين سأل لأخيه النبوة فقلت صدق والله قلت ومن هذا قال الله تعالى في الثناء على موسى عليه السلام "وكان عند الله وجيها".

The Hand of Musa turning White without any Disease

This is the second sign of Musa. That is Allah has commanded him to place his hand into the opening of his garment, as is clearly stated in another Ayah. It mentioned here merely as a passing reference, saying:

وَاضْمُمْ يَدَكَ إِلَى جَنَاحِكَ

(And press your hand to your side:) Allah said in another Ayah,

وَاضْمُمْ إِلَيْكَ جَنَاحَكَ مِنَ الرَّهْبِ فَذَانِكَ بُرْهَانَـنِ مِن رَّبِّكَ إِلَى فِرْعَوْنَ وَمَلَئِهِ

(And draw your hand close to your side to be free from fear. These are two signs from your Lord to Fir`awn and his chiefs.) 28:32 Mujahid said,

وَاضْمُمْ يَدَكَ إِلَى جَنَاحِكَ

(And press your hand to your side:) "This means put your palm under your upper arm." When Musa put his hand into the opening of his garment and brought it out, it came out shining as if it were a half moon. Concerning His statement,

تَخْرُجْ بَيْضَآءَ مِنْ غَيْرِ سُوءٍ

(it will come forth white, without any disease) This means without any leprosy, ailment, or disfigurement. This was stated by Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, `Ikrimah, Qatadah, Ad-Dahhak, As-Suddi and others. Al-Hasan Al-Basri said, "He brought it out, and by Allah, it was as if it were a lamp. From this Musa knew that he had surely met his Lord, the Mighty and Sublime." This is why Allah says,

لِنُرِيَكَ مِنْ ءَايَـتِنَا الْكُبْرَى

(That We may show you (some) of Our greater signs.)

Allah commanded Musa to go to Fir`awn to convey the Message Allah said,

Allah commanded Musa to go to Fir`awn to convey the Message Allah said,

اذْهَبْ إِلَى فِرْعَوْنَ إِنَّهُ طَغَى

(Go to Fir`awn! Verily, he has transgressed.) This means, "Go to Fir`awn, the king of Egypt, whom you left Egypt fleeing from, and invite him to the worship of Allah alone, Who has no partners. Command him to treat the Children of Israel well and to not torment them. For verily, he has transgressed, oppressed, preferred the worldly life and forgotten the Most High Lord."

The Supplication of Musa

قَالَ رَبِّ اشْرَحْ لِى صَدْرِى - وَيَسِّرْ لِى أَمْرِى

((Musa) said: "O my Lord! Open for me my chest, and ease my task for me.") Musa requsted his Lord to expand his chest for his mission. For verily, He was commanding him with a great task and a weighty affair. He was sending him to the mightiest king on the face of the earth at that time. He was the most arrogant and severe of all people in his disbelief, and He had the largest army and the most powerful kingdom. He was the most tyrannical and the most obstinate of rulers. His case was such that he claimed not to know Allah at all, and that he knew of no god for his subjects other than himself. Along with this, Musa lived in his home for a period of time as a child. He stayed in Fir`awn's own room and slept on his bed. Then, after this, he killed one of their people and feared that they would retaliate by killing him in return. Thus, he fled from them and remained an outlaw during this entire time. Then, after all of this, His Lord sent him to them as a warner calling them to worship Allah alone, without associating partners with Him. This is why he said,

قَالَ رَبِّ اشْرَحْ لِى صَدْرِى - وَيَسِّرْ لِى أَمْرِى

(O my Lord! Open for me my chest, and ease my task for me.) This means, "I cannot perform this task if You do not help me, aid me and support me."

وَاحْلُلْ عُقْدَةً مِّن لِّسَانِى - يَفْقَهُواْ قَوْلِي

(And loosen the knot from my tongue, that they understand my speech.) This is referring to the lisp that he had. This lisp was a result of an incident when he was presented a date and a hot coal stone and he placed the coal on his tongue instead of the date. A detailed explanation of this story is forthcoming in the following chapters. However, he did not ask Allah to remove this affliction all together. Rather, he asked for removal of his stammering so the people would understand what he intended in his speech. He was only asking for what was necessary to deliver his message. If he had asked for the removal of his affliction in its entirety, it would have been cured for him. However, the Prophets do not ask for any more than what is required. Therefore, he was left with the remnants of this accident that took place with his tongue. Allah informed of what Fir`awn said concerning him,

أَمْ أَنَآ خَيْرٌ مِّنْ هَـذَا الَّذِى هُوَ مَهِينٌ وَلاَ يَكَادُ يُبِينُ

(Am I not better than this one who is despicable and can scarcely express himself clearly)43:52 This means that he is not eloquent in speech. Concerning Allah's statement,

وَاجْعَل لِّى وَزِيراً مِّنْ أَهْلِى - هَـرُونَ أَخِى

(And appoint for me a helper from my family, Harun, my brother.) This was also a request from Musa concerning something not pertaining to himself. That was his request for the assistance of his brother, Harun. Ath-Thawri reported from Abu Sa`id, from `Ikrimah, who said that Ibn `Abbas said, "Harun was made a Prophet at the same moment that Musa was made a Prophet." Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that `A'ishah went out intending to perform `Umrah and stopped to camp among some bedouins. While she was among them she heard a man say, "Which brother in this life was the most beneficial to his brother" The people said, "We do not know." The man said, "By Allah, I know." `A'ishah said, "I said to myself about his swearing, that he should not swear such an oath, singling himself out as knowing what person was of most benefit to his brother." The man said, "It is Musa, when he asked for prophethood to be bestowed upon his brother." Then `A'ishah said, "By Allah, he has spoken truthfully." This is why Allah commended Musa by saying,

وَكَانَ عِندَ اللَّهِ وَجِيهاً

(And he was honorable before Allah.)33:69 Concerning Musa's statement,

اشْدُدْ بِهِ أَزْرِى

(Increase my strength with him.) Mujahid said, "This means to make my back strong."

وَأَشْرِكْهُ فِى أَمْرِى

(And let him share my task.) make him my consultant in this matter.

كَىْ نُسَبِّحَكَ كَثِيراً - وَنَذْكُرَكَ كَثِيراً

(That we may glorify You much, and remember You much.) Mujahid said, "A servant of Allah is not considered of those who remember Allah much until he remembers Allah while standing, sitting and lying down." Concerning his statement,

إِنَّكَ كُنتَ بِنَا بَصِيراً

(Verily, You are ever seeing us.) This means in Your choosing us, giving us the prophethood and sending us to Your enemy, Fir`awn. So unto You is all praise for this.

And appoint for me a minister an assistant for that task from my family

The fourth prayer was وَاجْعَل لِّي وَزِيرً‌ا مِّنْ أَهْلِي (and make for me an assistant from my own family - 20:29). The first three prayers of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) concerned his own person. This fourth prayer relates to the assembling of means which would facilitate the successful completion of his mission, and the most important among these was the appointment of a deputy or a helper, who would assist him in this task. The literal meaning of the word j is "one who carries a burden", and since a minister of a state carries the burden of responsibilities entrusted to him by the ruler, he is called a minister. This shows the extreme foresight and prudence of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) because the success of any movement or enterprise depends on the selection of competent and dedicated supporters. With good and loyal workers it is easy to surmount all obstacles and hurdles, while with irresponsible and indifferent workers the best preparations and arrangements become futile. If one were to examine the causes of the decline of some of the modern states and the evils from which they suffer, they can all be attributed to the irresponsible conduct, mismanagement and incompetence of the ministers and advisers.

It is related from the Holy Prophet ﷺ that when Allah Ta` ala appoints someone to govern a country and wishes that the country should be well administered, He provides the ruler with a good Wazir to assist him in whatever he does, and if he forgets to attend to some important task, the Wazir is quick to remind him and to help him in what he intends to do. (Nisa'i, from Qasim Ibn Muhammad).

In this prayer Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) has specified that the helper he wants should be from his own family, the reason being that the behavior and conduct of a member of the family is well-known. Besides, there is mutual affection and understanding between the members of the family which greatly helps towards the accomplishment of the mission. But it is essential that the person selected should be competent and in possession of the merit necessary for the performance of his duties so that his selection may not be attributed to nepotism and favouritism. Nowadays when there is a scarcity of people of integrity and dedication, the ruler who appoints his own close relatives to be his Wazir and deputies renders himself liable to public criticism. When, however, the standards of probity and integrity are high, such appointments are considered normal and are, in fact, conducive to the more efficient performance of sensitive assignments. Indeed all the four Khulafa' ar-Rashidin (guided Caliphs) who succeeded the Holy Prophet ﷺ were in some way related to him.

In his prayer Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) first asked that the helper he required should be from his own family and then specifically asked for his brother Harun to be his Wazir so that with the latter's support and assistance he could better perform the duties of his prophetic mission.