Musa And The Magicians

Phir'oun Rejects Allah's Message

Musa met Phir'oun in his palaceand conveyed Allah's message to him. He explained to him that this world has One Great Creator; Allah or God. And no one can claim that he or she is God. People should only worship the One True Creator.Musa's talk was simple and clear, but Phir'oun refused to believe..Even worse, he tried to threaten and humiliate Musa. He asked Musa how he dared to worship Allah and not him! Phir'oun claimed that he was a god. The punishment for not worshipping Phir'oun was prison.

Hadeeth Shareef

Tariq ibn Shihab رضي الله عنه reported that a man came to the Prophet ﷺ and asked:

"What is the best form of jihad?"The Prophet ﷺ said: "A word of truth in front of an unjust leader."

Prophet Musa's Miracles

Musa said: "Even if I would bring you something obvious and very convincing." Phir'oun said,"Bring it forth, then, if you are truthful!"

So Musa "threw his stick, and behold, it was a serpent. And he drew out his hand, and behold, it was bright white to all!" (Suratush-Shu araa' 26:30-33)

After Prophet Musa had performed the two miracles, Phir'oun was terrified. He feared that his rule was in danger. He remembered the old prophecy he learned a many years before that a man from the children of Isra'eel would destroy his kingdom. So, he told his advisors: "These are two magicians who will strip you of your best traditions and drive you out of the country with their magic. What do you advise?" Phir'oun's advisors told him to detain Musa and his brother Haroon while they called for the cleverest magicians in the country. Then they too, could show their skills of magic and change sticks into serpents. This way, they thought, they could reduce the influence of Musa's miracles on the people.

Musa and Haroon were under arrest by Phir'oun's order. He sent messengers all over the land recruit the best magicians.Phir'oun offered each successful magician a big reward. The event was scheduled to happen on the usual festival day, which attracted people from all over the Egyptian empire. Phir'oun arranged for a public contest between Musa and the magicians. Rumors were spread all over Egypt about Phir'oun's many magicians and a single man who claimed to be a prophet. Everyone was excited about watching this great contest. Before the contest began, Musa stood upand the whole crowd was quiet. Head dressed the magicians: "Woe unto you! Do not invent lies against Allah. He would destroy you completely by a punishment.And surely, he who invents a lie (against Allah) will fail miserably."

The Story of Qaroon

The Qur'an tells another story about a wealthy man called Qaroons, who lived in the times of Prophet Musa. He was from among the children of Isra'eel. As Qaroon became richer, he became very arrogant. He had magnificent treasures. The key to these treasures could not even be carried by a group of strong men. He refused to thank Allah and follow Prophet Musa. Therefore Allah destroyed all of his wealth and punished him. Qaroon is an example to those who forget Allah's blessings and fail to remember that everything comes from Allah.

Prophet Musa Prevails

Prophet Musa had spoken sincerely and made the magicians think and about what he said. But the magicians were fooled by greed and fame. They hoped to impress their people with their sihr, or magic, and expose Prophet Musaas a liar.

Prophet Musa asked the magicians to perform first. They threw their magical objects down on the ground. Their staffs and ropes took the shape of wriggling snakes. The crowd was amazed and Phir'oun and his men applauded loudly.Musa felt a little fear in his heart when he saw many snakes move and creep around him. "Don't be afraid, you will prevail. Throw your staff and it will swallow all of their snakes," Allah revealed to him.Then Musa threw his staff and it began to wriggle and it became a huge snake. The people stood up to witness the great miracle.Phir'oun and his men sat silently and watched as Musa's huge snakes wallowed all the other snakes.Musa bent to pick it up and became a staff again.

Phir'oun's Revenge

The crowd rose up like a great wave, shouting and screaming with excitement. They had never seen a wonder like this before! The magicians prostrated them selves to Allah, declaring,"We believe in the Lord of Musa and Haroon."

Phir' oun became very angry. Heclaimed that the magicians and Musa had secretly plotted together against Phir'oun. He demanded that the magicians confess to their plan, threatening them with death,The magicians refused to denounce Allah and stuck to their sincere belief. Phir'oun threatened to cut of their hands and feet and crucify them on the trunks of palm trees.

The magicians were the knowledgeable people and scholars of the Egyptian society. They understood that Prophet Musa spoke the truth so they prostrated to Allah.The people of Egypt were afraid of Phir'oun. Therefore they abandoned the magicians and left them to be killed. Allah had given the people of Egypt clear signs that Prophet Musa was a truthful messenger of God but they chose to ignore his message. The people did nothing but stand and watch as the magicians were killed, but Allah punished these people later forbeing cowards.

While Phir'oun returned to his palace, he was overcome with anger and rage. He argued with his ministers and generals, hated them for no reason, and commanded them to get out of his presence.When he was left alone, he tried to think more calmly. He drank several cups of wine, but his anger did not decrease.

Then he called all his ministers and generals for a serious meeting.Phir'oun entered the meeting with a harsh face. It was obvious that he was not going to give up so easily. He had established a kingdom with him being a god to be worshipped by all Egyptians. Now Musa came to destroy all that he built because he came with the message that there is no god but Allah. This meant that Phir'oun was a liar, not a god.

The false God

Phir'oun asked his ministers whether he was a liar. Hamaan,who was one of his top ministers fell to Phir'oun's knees and told him, "Who dared to accuse Phir'oun of lying?" Phir'oun turned to Hamaan and said: "O Hamaan build me a tower that I may arrive at the ways - the ways of the Heaven, and I may look upon the God of Musa but verily, I think him to be a liar.

Phir'oun issued his command to build a tower that would reach the Heavens. Phir'oun ignored the rules of architecture.Hamaan knew that such a building was impossible to build, buthe foolishly issued a command tobuild it immediately. Hamaan said: "However your majesty letme object to Phir'oun for the first time. You will never find anyone in the Heavens. There no God but you." Then Phir'oun said: "Oh Chiefs! I didn't know that you have an ilah (a god)other than me." Not only that,he also claimed that he was "the Highest God."

Surat-ul-A'raf 113-126

﴿وَجاءَ السَّحَرَةُ فِرعَونَ قالوا إِنَّ لَنا لَأَجرًا إِن كُنّا نَحنُ الغالِبينَ۝قالَ نَعَم وَإِنَّكُم لَمِنَ المُقَرَّبينَ۝قالوا يا موسى إِمّا أَن تُلقِيَ وَإِمّا أَن نَكونَ نَحنُ المُلقينَ۝قالَ أَلقوا فَلَمّا أَلقَوا سَحَروا أَعيُنَ النّاسِ وَاستَرهَبوهُم وَجاءوا بِسِحرٍ عَظيمٍ۝وَأَوحَينا إِلى موسى أَن أَلقِ عَصاكَ فَإِذا هِيَ تَلقَفُ ما يَأفِكونَ۝فَوَقَعَ الحَقُّ وَبَطَلَ ما كانوا يَعمَلونَ۝فَغُلِبوا هُنالِكَ وَانقَلَبوا صاغِرينَ۝وَأُلقِيَ السَّحَرَةُ ساجِدينَ۝قالوا آمَنّا بِرَبِّ العالَمينَ۝رَبِّ موسى وَهارونَ۝قالَ فِرعَونُ آمَنتُم بِهِ قَبلَ أَن آذَنَ لَكُم إِنَّ هذا لَمَكرٌ مَكَرتُموهُ فِي المَدينَةِ لِتُخرِجوا مِنها أَهلَها فَسَوفَ تَعلَمونَ۝لَأُقَطِّعَنَّ أَيدِيَكُم وَأَرجُلَكُم مِن خِلافٍ ثُمَّ لَأُصَلِّبَنَّكُم أَجمَعينَ۝قالوا إِنّا إِلى رَبِّنا مُنقَلِبونَ۝وَما تَنقِمُ مِنّا إِلّا أَن آمَنّا بِآياتِ رَبِّنا لَمّا جاءَتنا رَبَّنا أَفرِغ عَلَينا صَبرًا وَتَوَفَّنا مُسلِمينَ﴾ [الأعراف: ١١٣-١٢٦]

UNDERSTOOD MEANING

28:113 So there came the sorcerers to Phir'oun: They said,"of course we shall have a (suitable) reward if we win!"He said: "Yea, (and more),- for you shall in that

28:114 case be (raised to posts) nearest (to my person)."28:115 They said: "O Musa! will you throw (first), or shall we have the (first) throw?"

28:116 Musa said: "You throw [first]." So when they threw,they be witched the eyes of the people, and struck terror into them: for they showed a great (feat of) magic.

28:117 We revealed to Musa: "Throw [now] your rod": and behold! it swallows up straight away all the false hoods which they fake!

28:118 Thus truth was confirmed, and all that they made did fail.

28:119 So the (sorcerers) were defeated there and then, and were made to look small.

28:120 But the sorcerers fell down and prostrated in adoration.

28:121 They said: "We believe in the Lord of the Worlds.

28:122 "The Lord of Musa and Aaron."

28:123 Phir'oun said [in anger]: "You Believed in Him before I give you permission? Surely this is a trick which you have planned in the city to drive out its people: but soon you shall know (the consequences).

28:124 "Be sure I will cut off your hands and your feet on apposite sides, and I will cause you all to die on the cross.

28:125 They said: "[Then] We will be sent back to our Lord:

28:126 "But you simply would punish us because we believed in the Signs of our Lord when they came to us[with Musa]! Our Lord! shower us with perseverance, and take our souls to you as Muslims!

Lessons Learned

Standing Up for Your Belief:

There is a great lesson to be learned from the magicians. They embraced Islam after they witnessed the sincerity of Musa and the clearsigns from Allah. They knew the difference between ëop"S magic and the mu'jizah lõpér©oe miracle of Allah. Therefore, they sincerely believed that there was no God but Allah and that Musa was His messenger at that time. They insisted to stay as believers though Phir'oun had threatened them with death. We should have strong faith and belief just like those magicians. We live in a country where Muslims are the minority and face difficulties at times, but we should never turn towards disbelief, no matter what. We should always remember that Allah protects His believers in the end.

Miracles vs. Witchcraft:

Miracles, or mu'jizat, are extraordinary actions that happen with Allah's help. They usually happen fora good cause like proving that prophets are true or to support the believers against evil people. The miracles that happened with Musa were to prove that Musa was a prophet and to support Musa against the evil of Phir'oun and his people.

Magic or witchcraft, on the other hand, is done by evil people to hurtor deceive others. However, those evil people cannot do witchcraft alone. They seek the help of unbeliever jinn. The jinn are created from fire, and most of them follow Shaytana as their leader. Jinn are invisible to mankind most of the time. Some jinn are Muslims but most of them are not. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ spoke to groups of them and they followed him as Al-Qur'an confirmed in Surat AlJinn. They make things move, disappear, and change looks, among many other mysterious things.

Evil jinn help evil humans to domagic or witchcraft for bad purposes.The work of the magicians of Phir'oun was just an example. Shaytan and his evil jinn followers helped the magicians of Phir'oun to make their staffs and robes look as snakes, but they were not real snakes. Only Allah can make real snakes. When the magicians and their jinn helpers made people see their robes and staffs look as snakes, Allah enabled Musa to do the same, and the work of Allah then defeated the works of jinn and the magicians. This made the magicians of Phir'oun discover that their jinn helpers were defeated by Allah.Therefore, they submitted to Allah and followed Prophet Musa.

Not all magicians use the help of the jinn, some magic is done without their help. The art of producing illusions by the skillful hands is also called magic. Some skillful professionals do such stunts and make believe moves on their own without the interference of jinn. Others, still,seek the help of jinn to do their sophisticated magic.

Doing magic with the help of the jinn is Haram or prohibited in Islam,especially if it is done an evil purpose. The Prophet ﷺ forbade Muslims to approach witchcraft and considered it next to shirk, or disbelief. However,seeking the help of Muslim jinn to help possessed people and counter the evil work of witch-crafters is permissible according to many Muslim scholars.