Surah Taha, Ayah 39

Glad Tidings of the acceptance of Musa's Supplication and the Reminder of the Previous Blessings

This is a response from Allah to His Messenger, Musa, for what he requested from His Lord. It also contains a reminder of Allah's previous favors upon him. The first was inspiring his mother when she was breastfeeding him and she feared that Fir`awn and his chiefs would kill him. Musa was born during a year in which they (Fir`awn's people) were killing all of the male children. So she placed him in a case and cast him into the river. The river carried him away and she became grieved and distressed, as Allah mentioned about her when He said,

وَأَصْبَحَ فُؤَادُ أُمِّ مُوسَى فَارِغاً إِن كَادَتْ لَتُبْدِى بِهِ لَوْلا أَن رَّبَطْنَا عَلَى قَلْبِهَا

فَلْيُلْقِهِ الْيَمُّ بِالسَّاحِلِ (Then let the river throw it by the shore - 20:39.). The word يَمّ (Yamm) means river and here it refers most probably to the river Nile. In this verse the mother of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) has been commanded by Allah Ta` ala to place the baby in a box and set him afloat in the river Nile. Simultaneously the river has been commanded to cast the box on its bank. But the question arises as to how a river can be commanded to do something while it has no sense or understanding.

Some scholars have answered this query with the argument that although here the word has been used in the imperative mood which implies a command, it is not really a command but is meant to convey the information that the river would cast the box on its bank. However some scholars have disputed this explanation and have claimed that the word is really a command and is addressed to the river Nile because everything that Allah Ta` ala has created possesses emotions and a sense of feeling and it is these properties, which according to the Qur'an, enable even trees and rocks to glorify the name of Allah Ta` ala. It is, nevertheless, a fact that except the human beings, the Jinns, and the angels no other created thing possesses feelings and emotions to a degree where the precepts of Halal (permissible) and Haram (forbidden) can be made binding on them. Maulana Rumi (رح) has expressed the same idea in the following verse:

خاک و باد و آب و آتش بندہ اند بامن وتومردہ باحق زندہ اند

(Earth, wind, water and fire are all servants of Allah. To me and you they appear lifeless, but Allah knows that they too have life.)

يَأْخُذْهُ عَدُوٌّ لِّي وَعَدُوٌّ لَّهُ (And it will be picked up by one who is enemy to Me and enemy to him - 20:39.). It means that a person who is an enemy of Allah Ta` ala and also the enemy of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) will rescue the child. Here the reference is to the Pharaoh who was the enemy of Allah Ta` ala because of his infidelity, but his enmity towards Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) needs some explanation since at that time he cherished no hostility towards the latter, rather he was incurring considerable expenditure on his upbringing. Perhaps it was due to his future enmity towards Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) which was even at that time in the knowledge of Allah Ta` ala. Or again it is possible that even at that time he was the enemy and had reluctantly agreed to bring up Sayyidna Musa علیہ السلام for the sake of his wife 'Asiya. Yet when he felt the slightest suspicion about Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) he ordered his immediate execution and was prevented from carrying out his intention through the wise role of Sayyidah 'Asiya ؓ . (Ruh and Mazhari)

وَأَلْقَيْتُ عَلَيْكَ مَحَبَّةً مِّنِّي (And I have cast love on you from Myself - 20:39). The word "love" in this verse is in the sense of 'being loved', meaning thereby that Allah Ta` ala has bestowed upon Sayyidna Musa علیہ السلام an attribute that will make people show love towards him. This is the interpretation given to this verse by Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas and ` Ikrimah ؓ . (Mazhari)

وَلِتُصْنَعَ عَلَىٰ عَيْنِي (And that you are fashioned under My eye - 20:39). The word صَنَعتُ here means "good upbringing". The Arabs have a common phrase صَنَعتُ فَرَسی (I trained my horse well). عَلَىٰ عَيْنِي is used in the same sense as علٰی حِفظَی i.e. it was Allah Ta’ ala's will that Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) should be brought up under His own eye, and for this purpose He chose the Pharaoh, the supreme authority in Egypt, to bring up Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) in his own palace, unaware all the time that the child that he was raising was his enemy. (Mazhari)

After attaining prophethood, Moses might well have developed a sense of pride. But, at that time, the nature of his request to God reveals that he did not take prophethood as a matter of pride but as a matter of responsibility. At that time, the words he uttered were those of one who is fully conscious of the delicate and exacting responsibility attached to the work of a mission. The opening of the heart for a man of the mission means that, according to the different occasions that may arise, appropriate guidance may enter it unhindered. The easing of the situation means that opponents should never succeed in impeding the work of the divine mission. Loosening the knot of the tongue means acquiring the capability to address large gatherings without hesitation in order to give the divine call. Almighty God granted all this to Moses to enable him to effectively discharge the responsibility of prophethood. Along with this, at his request, He made his (Moses’) brother, Aaron, a powerful assistant to him. This special assistance given to a prophet may also be given to a dayee, who is not a prophet, provided that he devotes himself fully to the work of the mission as the prophet had done. Remembrance of God is the real purpose of religion. But, remembrance does not mean the mere oral repetition of certain words. It indicates rather that state which is quite naturally engendered by the discovery of Truth. At that time, a man experiences the perfection of God’s attributes to the point of being quite swept away by them. He becomes so overwhelmed with godly feeling that he dedicates himself unstintingly to the divine cause.