Moses 2

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Moses’ birth was a blessing for his mother and elder brother.  His elder brother Aaron used to go to the pharaoh’s palace with his mother.   In this way they familiarized themselves with the customs of Egyptian civilization.  In the ancient Egyptian civilization, the king was the only important person.  The kings of many dynasties had complete control over the lives of common folks.  They forced common folks to dig big blocks of stone for building pyramids for them.  The theory behind this exploitation was that because kings were descendants of either the moon or sun god, the average man should help them to have a comfortable place in the next world. Pharaoh was not a name; it was a title given to the ruling king.  The people of Egypt used to worship their pharaoh.  

Moses grew to be a very handsome, strong, and upright youth.  Some high-up Egyptian dignitaries admired and liked his sense of justice and fair play.  Unlike other princes, he had a thirst for wisdom and knowledge.  Moses learned the secrets of the pharaoh’s politics by living with him in his palace.  He realized that the pharaoh was afraid of the Israelite.  Four hundred years before Moses, in the time of Prophet Joseph, these people were a small group.  Jacob’s twelve sons and their families were allowed to settle in Egypt.  During the period of four hundred years, these few families multiplied in great number. 

The Israelite were living in Egypt, but they were extremely different from Egyptians.  They had a different religion, language, and culture.  Their increase in number frightened the pharaoh, who visualized them transforming into a great force and damaging the Egyptians.   For centuries the pharaohs of Egypt were worshiped as gods, whereas these Israelite had a God whom they thought to be the creator of everything.

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The other two pillars of support for the despotic rule of the pharaoh were Haman and Korah.   Haman, the head priest of Egypt, was a right hand man of the pharaoh. Some historians of Egyptian dynasties place him as a co-worker with the pharaoh.  The king had given him a big piece of land, and he had a large income from it.  He spent all his revenue on building temples for the sun god.   Pharaoh was supposed to be the descendant of the sun god, so the worship of the deity strengthened his power and his hold on the common people.

Korah, who was the representative of capitalism, was an Israeli.   He had accumulated so much wealth that a group of strong men were required to hold the keys of his treasures.  According to some historians, he was the cousin of Moses.  His family was as respected as Moses’.  He was appointed the head of the Israelite by the pharaoh because he was very rich.  Korah used to go out with great pomp and show, displaying his great wealth.  The show was so spectacular that many Israelite wished to be like him.

Some learned Israelite advised him not to exult.  They told him that since God had given him so much wealth he should enjoy it in this world; but he must use it to do good to the needy and poor.  He must not spend his money for the oppression of poor Israelite.  The only answer they got was, “I have earned this money due to my knowledge and skills.  Nobody has any right to advise me how to spend my money.”  

Moses declared his prophethood; people started following him because his message was based on reason and truth.  Korah opposed Moses because he thought that he was more worthy than Moses to be a prophet.  He said, “I am equal to Moses in every aspect; my family is as respected as Moses’ and I am older than him.  According to the law of the Israelite the eldest should have the honor of being a prophet.”  Korah had amassed gold and silver, but no one followed him as people followed Moses.  He became very jealous of Moses and refused to accept his message as the truth.

The Quran says that the policy of Pharaoh was to divide and rule.  He used to divide Israelite into many parties who were busy in quarreling among themselves.  The Quran uses a metaphor to describe the situation.  The words used here are that the pharaoh used to kill their sons and leave their women to live. This is a literal translation.   Those who, like me, take this as a metaphor do not agree with this literal translation.  Their argument is that if the pharaoh was killing all the men, the nation of Israelite could not grow to such big numbers.  The meaning of this metaphor is that the pharaoh used to encourage the timid and weak people, and humiliate and discourage those who had courage and strength to stand against him, or he made them ineffective.