Surah Al-Araf, Verse 105 and 106

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*Surah Al-Araf, Verse 105:*

حَقِيقٌ عَلَىٰ أَن لَّا أَقُولَ عَلَى اللَّهِ إِلَّا الْحَقَّ قَدْ جِئْتُكُم بِبَيِّنَةٍ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ فَأَرْسِلْ مَعِيَ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ

"Proper it is for me that I say nothing concerning Allah but the truth. Indeed I have come unto you from your Lord with a clear proof. So let the Children of Israel depart along with me."

#COMMENTARY

Notice that Moses, in addressing Pharaoh and the Egyptians, claims his mission to be not from his God, or his people's God but from "your Lord," from "the Lord of the Worlds." And his mission is not to his people only: "I come unto you Egyptian people) from your Lord." The spirit of our version is entirely different from the spirit of the same story as told in the Old Testament (Exodus, chapters i to xv). In Exodus, chapter iii, verse 18, the mission of Moses is expressed to be as from "the Lord God of the Hebrews."

The essence of the whole Islamic story is this: Joseph's sufferings and good fortune were not merely a story in a romance. Joseph was a Prophet; his sufferings and his subsequent rise to power and position in Egypt were to be a lesson:

A. To his wicked brothers who sold him into slavery, 

B. To his people who were stricken with famine and found a welcome in Egypt, and

C. To the Egyptians, who were arrogant over their high material civilisation, but had yet to be taught the pure faith of Abraham.

Israel prospered in Egypt, and stayed there perhaps two to four centuries. (Renan allows only one century). Times changed, and the racial bigotry of the Egyptians showed its head again, and Israel was oppressed. Moses was raised up with a threefold mission again:

A. To learn all the learning of the Egyptians and preach ALLĀH's Truth to them as one who had been brought up among themselves.

B. To unite and reclaim his own people, and

C. To rescue them and lead them to a new world, which was to open out their spiritual horizon and lead them to the Psalms of David and the glories of Solomon.

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*Surah Al-Araf, Verse 106:*

قَالَ إِن كُنتَ جِئْتَ بِآيَةٍ فَأْتِ بِهَا إِن كُنتَ مِنَ الصَّادِقِينَ

[Fir'aun (Pharaoh)] said: "If you have come with a sign, show it forth, - if you are one of those who tell the truth."

#COMMENTARY

The ensuing dialogue shows the psychology on the two sides, Pharaoh is sitting in his court, with his ministers and chiefs around him. In their arrogance they are only amused at the effrontery and apparent revolt of the Israelite leaders, and they rely upon their own superior worldly power, aided by the magic which was a part of the Egyptian religion. Confronting them stand two men, Moses with his mission from Almighty ALLĀH (Sub-haanahu wata'aala), and his brother Aaron who was his lieutenant. They are confident, not in their own powers, but in the mission they had received. The first thing they have to do is to act on the subjective mind of the Egyptians, and by methods which by Almighty ALLĀH's miracle show that Egyptian magic was nothing before the true power of Almighty ALLĀH (Sub-haanahu wata'aala).