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Moses in Islam

Islamic perspective on the prophet Moses

  • 39 min read
  • 6 chapters

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Through Islam, Prophet and Muhammad

According to the Quran, Moses was born to an Israelite family. In his childhood, he is put in a basket which flows towards the Nile, and is eventually discovered by Pharaoh's (Fir'awn) wife (not named in the Quran but called Asiya in Hadith), who takes Moses as her adopted son. After reaching adulthood, Moses then resides in Midian, before departing for Egypt again to threaten the Pharaoh. During his prophethood, Moses is said to have performed many miracles, and is also reported to have personally talked to God, who bestows the title 'Speaker of God' (Kalīm Allāh) upon Moses. The prophet's most famous miracle is dividing the Red Sea, with a miraculous staff provided by God. After Pharaoh's death, Moses and his followers travel towards the Promised Land and the prophet dies within sight of the land. Moses is reported to have met Muhammad in the seven heavens following his ascension from Jerusalem during the Night Journey (’Isrā’ Miʿrāj). During the journey, Moses is said by Muslims to have repeatedly sent Muhammad back, and request a reduction in the number of required daily prayers, originally believed to be fifty, until only the five obligatory prayers remained.

Moses is viewed as a very important figure in Islam. According to Islamic theology, all Muslims must have faith in every prophet and messenger of God, which includes Moses and his brother Aaron. The life of Moses is generally seen as a spiritual parallel to the life of Muhammad, and Muslims consider many aspects of the two individuals' lives to be shared. Islamic literature also describes a parallel relation between their people and the incidents that occurred in their lifetimes; the exodus of the Israelites from ancient Egypt is considered to be similar in nature to the migration of Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina as both events unfolded in the face of persecution—of the Israelites by the ancient Egyptians, and of the early Muslims by the Meccans, respectively. His revelations, such as the Ten Commandments, form part of the contents of the Torah and are central to the Abrahamic religions of Judaism and Christianity. Consequently, Jews and Christians are designated as "People of the Book" for Muslims and are to be recognized with this special status wherever Islamic law is applied. Moses is further revered in Islamic literature, which expands upon the incidents of his life and the miracles attributed to him in the Quran and hadith, such as his direct conversations with God. Generally, Moses is seen as a legendary figure by biblical scholars, some of whom consider it possible that Moses or a Moses-like figure existed in the 13th century BCE.

Life

Childhood

In Islamic tradition, Musa was born into a family of Israelites living in Egypt. Of his family, Islamic tradition generally names his father Imran, corresponding to the Amram of the Hebrew Bible, traditional genealogies name Levi as his ancestor. Islam states that Moses was born in a time when the ruling Pharaoh had enslaved the Israelites after the time of the prophet Yusuf (Joseph). Islamic literature states that around the time of Moses's birth, the Pharaoh had a dream in which he saw fire coming from the city of Jerusalem, which burned everything in his kingdom except in the land of the Israelites. Another version says that the Pharaoh dreamed of a little boy who caught the Pharaoh's crown and destroyed it, although there is no authentic Islamic reference to whether the dreams actually occurred. When the Pharaoh is informed that one of the male children would grow up to overthrow him, he orders the killing of all newborn Israelite males in order to prevent the prediction from occurring. Experts of economics in Pharaoh's court advise him that killing the male infants of the Israelites would result in loss of manpower. Therefore, they suggest that male infants should be killed in one year but spared the next. Moses's brother, Aaron, was born in the year when infants were spared, while Moses was born in the year when infants were to be killed.

Incident of the Nile

According to Islamic tradition, Jochebed, Moses's mother, suckled him secretly during this period. When they were in danger of being caught, God instructed her to put him in a wicker basket and set him adrift on the Nile. She instructs her daughter to follow the course of the ark and report back to her. As her daughter follows the ark along the riverbank, Moses is discovered by the Pharaoh's wife, Asiya, who convinces the Pharaoh to adopt him. When Asiya ordered wet nurses for Moses, Moses refuses to be breastfed. Islamic tradition states that this is because God forbade Moses from being fed by any wet nurse in order to reunite him with his mother. His sister worries that Moses has not been fed for some time, so she appears to the Pharaoh and informs him that she knows someone who can feed him. After being questioned, she is ordered to bring the woman being discussed. The sister brings their mother, who feeds Moses, and thereafter, she is appointed as the wet nurse of Moses.

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