Surah Ash-Shu'ara, Ayah 26

Allah tells us about the disbelief, rebellion, oppression and denial of Fir`awn, as He says:

وَمَا رَبُّ الْعَـلَمِينَ

((Fir`awn said:) "And what is the Lord of the `Alamin") This is because he used to say to his people:

مَا عَلِمْتُ لَكُمْ مِّنْ إِلَـهٍ غَيْرِى

(I know not that you have a god other than me.) (28:28)

فَاسْتَخَفَّ قَوْمَهُ فَأَطَاعُوهُ

(Thus he fooled his people, and they obeyed him.) (43:54) They used to deny the Creator, may He be glorified, and they believed that they had no other lord than Fir`awn. When Musa said to them: "I am the Messenger of the Lord of the worlds," Fir`awn said to him, "Who is this who you are claiming is the Lord of Al-`Alamin other than me" This is how it was interpreted by the scholars of the Salaf and the Imams of later generations. As-Suddi said, "This Ayah is like the Ayah,

أَنْ أَرْ‌سِلْ مَعَنَا بَنِي إِسْرَ‌ائِيلَ

That you must send the children of Isra'i1 with us". (26:17)

Bani Isra'il were the residents of Syria. They wanted to go back to their land but the Pharaoh would not let them. This way four hundred years had passed and they were living in his bondage like slaves. At that time they were six hundred and thirty thousand in number. Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) when presented the message of Truth to the Pharaoh, he also asked him to stop all the cruelties he had perpetrated over Bani Isra'il and to let them go to their homeland. (Qurtubi)

An example of prophetic dialectic

‘What is this: Lord of the Worlds?’ This utterance of Pharaoh was meant to convey ridicule rather than ask a question. But Moses, without being irritated, replied to him in a normal manner. Again Pharaoh sought to show his disapproval of Moses by asking his courtiers, ‘Did you hear?’ Moses ignored this also and continued with what he had to say.