Moses 10

          (27:12-14)(79:24)(17:101) (79:18-34) (43:51-54)(7:130-135)

     Pharaoh faced a crushing defeat when his religious scholars turned against him.  They openly denied his authority, declared their belief in Allah, and refused to prefer him over Allah.  Pharaoh was a seasoned politician; after assessing the situation shrewdly, he tried to invert the impression which had been made by the dramatic refusal of the religious scholars.  He threatened them with excruciating death on the trunks of palm trees, but to no avail.  They accepted the horrifying death without succumbing to Pharaoh’s wishes.

     As Pharaoh was undergoing a torment of humiliations, Moses, under the direction of God, met him.  Moses showed him a great aya; al aya is a concrete object which points toward an abstract reality.  He also told him that his intention was to lead him to a way of safety, so that he might develop his personality— under the guidance of revelation— and stop behaving in a cruel, thoughtless manner.

     When Pharaoh was confronted with reality, he turned his back and refused to accept it.  Not only did he continue in his transgressions, but he also called all his folks and proclaimed, “I am the only provider of nourishment to you.  Do not call anybody else your Rub.”

      Moreover, he caused many proclamations to be made among his people, in the various parts of his empire.  In them he declared, “Oh my people, is the land of Egypt not my domain? Are the canals which are irrigating your fields not owned by me? These canals and land are concrete objects and you can easily see them.  How could you prefer Moses — who is a poor man, unable to clearly explain his thoughts –over me?  If he is really a messenger of God, then why has God not given him bracelets of gold, or sent a group of angels to accompany him?”

     Pharaoh wanted to mislead his people with this type of propaganda.  For him the criterion of truth was money.  “I am a king, and I have money; therefore I am right.  Moses is a poor man; therefore he is wrong in his claim of being a messenger of God.”  He tried to give his falsehood the glow of truth, so that his nation would keep on obeying him.  However, the truth was that the nation of Pharaoh itself did not want to accept the reality and change their ways of living.

     Up till that time, whatever happened in Egypt had no direct bearing on the lives of common folks.  What Moses said about God and the reply of Pharaoh were not directly connected with the life of the common man in the fields.  However, when the plagues struck the land of Egypt, the common men were involved in the strife.

Small administrative shortcomings are to be rectified immediately; if they are not quickly corrected, they result in dire consequences.  The Quran gives this phenomenon the name azab allah.  Such consequences are the result of neglecting natural laws and moral values.  At first, lesser calamities such as lack of food and famine struck Pharaoh and his nation.  They suffered great loses in crops and fruits.   

Whenever a good time came, the people and Pharaoh ascribed it to themselves.  But when seized by calamity, they attributed it to the evil auspices of Moses and his followers.  When calamities seized them,  the people and Pharaoh came running to Moses, saying, “Moses, pray for us to your God who has made you his messenger, and let us know how to overcome the calamity; we will let Israel go with you.  After overcoming the trouble, they broke their promises and refused to send the Israelites with Moses.

Pharaoh and his people faced nine hardships, such as flood, locusts, insects, frogs, gnats, pestilence, and boils. Pharaoh rationalized his shortcomings by saying that all these troubles were nothing except the changes of time.  It had been happening from the beginning; good and bad times kept changing places in the society.  This natural change of times was not a good proof for believing in Moses.