YM Intensive Lessons from the Story of Musa (as)

Lessons from the Story of Musa (AS)

By Nouman Ali Khan

Introduction

Bismillah, wa salatu wa salam ala rasulillah. The individual that fascinates my imagination in the Quran is Musa (AS). His narrative, his story is mentioned in several places in the Quran, and every time it's just absolutely mind-boggling.

The Beginning of Divine Revelation - Surah Taha

This particular case that I want to share with you belongs to Surah Taha. Musa (AS) is on a journey. He's traveling with his family. And Allah tells us:

"Did the news of Musa come to you?"

It's a really cool way of starting a story. Hadith in Arabic is something new. And you know, by this time the story of Musa has been mentioned somewhat before. But now Allah is going to tell one part of the story that he's never told before. So he says, did this part of Musa's story, did it get to you yet? Did you hear about this? And already the curiosity is piqued.

The Mysterious Fire

He saw a fire and he said to his family, you stay here. You guys stay here. He's traveling with his family. It's in the middle of the night, and the GPS batteries went out. It's dark. It's out in the desert, and he sees a fire up on top of a mountain.

Now the thing is, if it's completely dark and there's a fire on top of a mountain, who should see it? Everybody should see it, right? But the language of the ayah is, you stay here. The language, the grammar of the ayah suggests, nobody else could see it.

"It is I for sure that sees it."

And "inna" is used in Arabic to convince someone of something. It's used when you're not sure, you say for sure. So it's almost as though Allah is telling us a conversation that happened between him and his family without going into those details. Like he says to his family, you see that? So what? I don't see anything.

Because Allah made that fire such that only who could see it? Only Musa (AS). Because in the middle of the desert, if there's a fire at night and people are lost, they're all going to show up. But nobody else is supposed to show up. This meeting is only with Musa (AS). So only he sees it.

Seeking Guidance and Fire

He says to his family:

"Maybe I'll bring to you some flame from it, or I might find some guidance there."

Because it's getting dark. It's late. And you know, the desert environment, it gets really cold. So he's in a sense of urgency. Of course, when you're getting something for your family, the father's here can relate. If you're getting something for your family and your family is left by themselves, you're in a hurry. You got to get back. He's climbing up this mountain.

But what's he worried about at this time? His family. That's what he's worried about. Because they're by themselves in the middle of the dark. So he's hurrying his way up.

Now, when he's thinking of guidance, what kind of guidance is he thinking of? Directions. But what kind of guidance does he find? A different kind, right? Guidance for life. Guidance that he could never have had from anywhere else. So there's a wordplay here from Allah. Like, Allah is telling us, look what he thought he's going to get. Look what he got.

The Divine Call

Now, he's climbing up this mountain by himself, middle of the night. There's a flame up there. He's never been to this place before. Then when he got to it, "lamma" is used in Arabic to prolong something. In other words, it took a while to get up there. It was quite a struggle. So now he's exhausted. He's up reaching, approaching the top of the cliff.

"A call was made. Ya Musa."

You're up on top of a cliff by yourself in the middle of the night. And nobody even says, hey, who's there? Who are you? Nothing. He's called by his name. It's already shocking that he heard a voice. That's terrifying enough. But they know who he is. The voice knows who he is. Ya Musa.

And immediately at this point, you're in shock, right? Because you know, if somebody knows your name, you're already like, he's in shock. What does Allah tell him immediately?

"No doubt about it. I'm your master. Take your shoes off. You're in the sacred valley of Tuwa."

Divine Selection and Purpose

Now, he hasn't seen anything. He's only what at this point? He's heard a powerful voice. And the powerful voice has given him a command to do what? Take off his shoes.

By the way, this is an interesting phenomenon. When Allah spoke, when Allah delivered the message to the Prophet, he introduced himself as the master too. And he also commanded at that time. What was the command to the Prophet? Read. Musa is told, I'm your master. What should you do? Take your shoes off. But there's a flip.

In the case of the messenger, the command came first. And then master was mentioned. Here, I'm your master. And therefore, then as a result, take your shoes off.

Allah makes sure he understands you're in the right place:

"It is that has selected you. Listen carefully to what's being revealed."

It's a very interesting ayah. In Arabic, if you say "ikhtartuka", it just means I've selected you. But Allah says "wa ana ikhtartuka", so the "I" is mentioned twice. And the purpose of mentioning a pronoun twice in Arabic is to create exclusivity. It is I who has chosen you, meaning this meeting was set up not by you, but by me. You didn't come here because you wanted to get something. I brought you here. This is completely by plan.

The word "ikhtiar" comes from "khayr". Musa (AS) had a riding guilt. He had killed an individual. That guilt was not letting him go. He felt like he was no good. And Allah told him, I have chosen you because I see the good in you. Allah sees the good in him that he might not even be able to see in himself. And he's chosen him.

The Declaration of Monotheism

"It is no doubt I, I am Allah. No one is to be worshipped and obeyed except myself. Then enslave yourself to me."

The first command was take your shoes off. That's just the beginning of obedience. But now, you know, who obeys in every circumstance? A slave. You tell someone to do something once, you've obeyed them. Maybe you're a servant. You've served them. You've obeyed them. But to obey them in every circumstance, you have to be a slave. There's a transition here from one command being obeyed to just becoming a life of, turning into a life of obedience.

The Purpose of Prayer

"Establish the prayer so you can remember me."

The question I have is, he's never going to forget. How can he forget? He just got he's in conversation with Allah. If there's one thing Musa (AS) will never ever forget, is this. And Allah says, even you, if you really want to remember me, what do you have to do? Establish Salat.

Can you imagine the value of Salat when it comes to remembering Allah? It's amazing how Allah puts that in perspective. And then after remembering Allah would be the primary purpose of establishment, of establishing prayer.

The Coming Judgment

"The hour is coming, day of judgment is coming, it's on its way. I'm almost keeping it hidden so every person can be compensated for what they ran towards."

The word "atiyah" in Arabic means it's running, it's coming right now, it's on its way, things are in motion already. Allah says, I'm almost keeping it hidden. By saying almost, what has he told us? There are some signs I will release. There are some things I will let you see. I won't show you everything, but I'll give you some indications.

It's usually translated as what efforts they made. But "sa'i" in Arabic is literally running towards something. Like we do sa'i in Hajj and Umrah. What's really beautiful is Musa (AS) got here by means of sa'i. He ran to this place, didn't he? He ran and he was running sincerely and Allah says, so Allah gives everybody what they ran towards. And you ran towards this.

The Calming Question

Now this conversation is very serious. It began with Musa (AS). And by the way, here's another difference, very important. When you're telling your kids not to do something, you say their name first. Calling somebody's name is a form of harshness. In the beginning of your talk, if you want to say something to someone and you say their name first, it's a form of strictness.

But saying somebody's name at the end is a form of love, softness, mercy. You notice the difference? That when the conversation began between Allah and Musa what was the name, beginning or end? "Ya Musa," take your shoes off. Harshness, there's a toughness here.

Now listen:

"What's in your right hand, Musa?"

Where's the word Musa? At the end. What's in your hand, Musa? What has Allah just done? He got soft. He got nice. He's calming him down. He realizes Musa (AS) is at this point really terrified.

Allah just gave him a lecture about first take your shoes off. I'm your master. You better become my slave. Establish prayer. Judgment day is coming. I'm keeping it hidden and I'll give everybody a compensation. I mean if you just heard that in the course, it's not a long conversation. This one minute is probably the most shocking one minute of his life. He needs to be calmed down now.

So what does Allah say? So what's in your hand? What's in your right hand, Musa? Now does Allah know what that is?

The Staff and Prolonged Conversation

This part of the conversation, Allah has calmed Musa (AS) down. Musa (AS) realizes he's about to talk to Allah. Not many people can say that. Not many people can say I got to talk to Allah.

So when you get to talk to somebody important, would you like the conversation to last longer or short? You'd like it to stay longer. You wouldn't want the connection to be lost. You want to prolong the conversation.

So what does he say?

"This is my staff. I lean on it sometimes. And I beat on bushes with it so that my sheep can eat. And I've got some other things I can do with it too."

What was the question? What's in your right hand? What's the answer? This is my staff. Question is done. Answer is done. Musa (AS) doesn't stop.

Did Allah ask, what do you do with it? Allah didn't ask. All Allah asked was one thing, which was what? What is it? And he said, this is my staff. I lean on it. And I beat on bushes with it so that my sheep can eat. But you know it's a stick. How many things are you going to come up with? Right? So he runs out of things to say. But he wants the conversation to go on (AS) because he's getting to talk to Allah. So he, exhausting his imagination says, And I've got some other things I can do with it too.

It's amazing that he says that. Because what's he trying to do? Keep it going. And it shows you his nervousness (AS).

The Command to Throw

And Allah says, very softly Allah says:

"Throw it, Musa."

Now what's the harsh way of saying it? What Allah says, throw it Musa. Just throw it.

"He throws it."

Now when he climbed the mountain, we read the word "lamma", it took him time to get to the mountain. It took an effort. But when Allah commanded him to throw, did it take him any time? No, he just immediately, yes sir, yes Allah. Throw it. He throws the staff immediately.

"Then immediately it turns into a python moving around."

And by the way, it didn't just turn into a snake, it's running around. Now imagine, you were just calm, you were nervous, and Allah very softly told you, Throw the stick, Musa. And the moment he throws it, what happens? It's a gigantic python, and what is it doing? Running around. You're calm anymore? No. All that calm is gone.

He's at this point, he must have been terrified. He really, I mean it's a human reaction to be terrified. Snakes already have a very terrifying appearance. Even the appearance of a snake is horrific, right? And then on top of that, the thing is running around and it's massive. And it just came out of nowhere, and that was his staff.

The Test of Obedience, Courage and Trust

Now at this point, what does Allah tell him? Look at the words:

"Grab it, and don't be afraid. We will return it back to its original state."

Grab it? And don't be afraid. You know what I was gonna say? If I was in that situation, I was telling my kid to grab something, don't be afraid, grab it. That's what I would say, don't be afraid, grab it. What did Allah say? Grab it, don't be afraid. Amazing, it's amazing. Because Allah is expecting obedience first.

Obedience first, and then courage. The part of obedience is with what part of the ayah? "Grab it خُذْهَا". Where's courage in the ayah? "لَا تَخَف"don't be afraid. And then there's the third part of the ayah, "سَنُعِيدُهَا سِيرَتَهَا الْأُولَى" We will return it back to its original state.

Three parts in one ayah, three parts this commandment. Three parts in one ayah, three parts this commandment.

So now imagine a snake is running around and you're being told, the moment you grab it, it'll be a stick, don't worry. The moment you grab it, and you need to do that immediately, there shouldn't be any time left between Allah's command and you obeying, because when Allah says, we obey, there's no gap in between. So grab it immediately and know, and first of all, you need to be courageous after that when you grab it, and know for sure the moment you do, it's not gonna turn back and bite you, what's it gonna turn into? A stick.

Is that an easy thing or no? Does that take an amazing amount of trust of Allah? Three things, obey, obey, grab it, is obey. The second thing was courage, and the third thing is what? Trust. Trust me, it'll be a stick. Just trust me. Three things.

Preparation for the Mission Ahead

The three things Musa (AS) will need when he goes to talk to Firaun. He will need to obey Allah. He'll need to obey Allah, and he'll need to go back into Egypt. And when he goes into Egypt, out of obedience to Allah, the closer he gets, the more what? The scarier things will become.

The scarier, because the authorities are looking for him. It's not easy to go back to Egypt. And when he gets finally there, he's convinced he's gonna get killed.

In Surah Al-Shu'ara we learned. In Surah Al-Shu'ara he says:

"I'm afraid they're gonna kill me."

That's a very legitimate fear that Musa (AS) has, and Allah says, no, trust me. Don't worry about it. Taken care of.

Those three lessons of obeying Allah, being courageous, and trusting Allah, the entire Tarbiyah program of that on the top of that mountain is what one thing? Grab the snake. Just that.

(Quran 20:21)

Amazing, isn't it? That Allah teaches such amazing lessons in one statement. And now this messenger is ready. If he can pull that off, he can pull anything off. I mean, at this point, Allah will take care of it. Allah will take care of my problem.

The Nature of Quranic Narratives

This is how stories are told in the Quran. This is a narrative of the Quran. It takes you there. It just grabs you and it doesn't let you go.

The entire conversation between Allah and Musa (AS). Allah even lets him know, you know, by the way, this is not the first time I'm actively involved in your life. You know, when your mother put you in the water and your sister was walking next to you. Allah is telling him about times of his life he doesn't even remember.

Allah is reminding Musa (AS) of times even Musa can't remember, about his own life in this narrative. What is Allah compared to a creation? And Allah honors Musa (AS) by saying, I'll even tell you the details of your childhood. And Allah doesn't have to prove that to him, Allah knows everything. But He still make sure He tells him, your sister was walking along, and then you punch the guy, and then you left, and then you were brought here. Subhanallah. What an amazing conversation between master and slave that happens in this narrative.

The Scattered Nature of Quranic Stories

There's only one thing I'd like to add to the concept of stories in the Quran. The stories in the Quran are repeated, right? And they're not, except for the story of Yusuf (AS), they're not all told in one place. Meaning Yusuf (AS) story is all bunched together in which surah? Obviously, surah Yusuf. But that's not the case with the story of Musa (AS).

We have a piece of it here, a piece of it there, a piece of it there, a piece of it there. The story of Bani Israel is not in one place. The story of Ibrahim (AS) is not in one place. The story of Adam (AS) is not in one place, they're scattered. They're scattered and repeated.

So the question arises to the Western critic, and to someone who's reading the Quran in translation, what's the point of this repetition? What's the point of repeating the story? What's the point of not just putting all of it together in one, make a surah called surah Musa and put everything there. Done.

Doesn't happen like that. There's 70 some passages in the Quran about Musa (AS), you know that? It's a very often repeated discussion.

The Purpose Behind Scattered Stories

How are surahs placed in the Quran? Every surah is a collection of very important lessons. Every surah is a collection of very important lessons, and they're all tied together. So a surah is like a thesis, like a course you're taking, it's like that's a surah.

A lot of times when we study the Quran, we study an ayah from over here, and we study another ayah that's related to that ayah over there, and then we study a story that's related to these two ayahs from over there. In other words, we have a very disjointed study of the Quran. When we study a surah, we normally don't stick to the surah as a whole, as a unit.

But a surah really is a unified whole. It has a purpose. It has a singular purpose. It may have a lot of lessons, but they all go together towards one larger concept.

Stories as Supporting Evidence

Have you ever heard the concept of supporting evidence? The stories in the Quran are not being told for the purpose of telling the story. They're being told to support the lesson of that surah. The surah has a lesson and the part of the story, only that part of the story will be mentioned that helps you understand the lesson at hand. No other part of that story will be mentioned.

So the Quran is not concerned with dates and names of places in detail, names of figures. Even Yusuf (AS), the most elaborate story in the Quran are the names of the brothers mentioned, is the name of the minister mentioned, is the name of Yusuf (AS)'s mother mentioned, is the name of the minister's wife mentioned.

Man, there's only two names. What two names? Yusuf and Yaqub. Because even though the story is critical, those details are not the purpose. The purpose is something larger.

Surah Yusuf as Example

And I'll just give you one additional example. And by the way, this is even true of surah Yusuf, which you would think the point of the story of the surah is the story. But even then, the point isn't the story. Even in surah Yusuf, the point is the seerah of the Prophet (ﷺ). Did you know that?

The entire surah is actually a discussion about the life of the Prophet. There are amazing amounts of parallels between the Prophet's life and surah Yusuf. It's the year of grief when the surah is revealed. And the surah is about the grief of Yusuf (AS) and the grief of his father.

Yusuf (AS)'s brothers persecuted him. The Prophet's brothers, the Quraysh persecuted him. Yusuf (AS) was put in a dark place. Rasulullah (AS) was put in a cave. Exiled. Yusuf (AS) eventually comes back and establishes the legacy of his father, Ya'qub. Rasulullah (AS) eventually comes back and establishes the legacy of his father, Ibrahim (AS).

Yusuf (AS) comes back at his brothers and says:

"no harm will come on you today"

Rasulullah says, by the way, I'll do what Yusuf did:

(Quran 12:92)

Amazing parallels between both of those sides.

Allah says in the beginning of this surah:

"We reveal in Arabic Quran so that you can understand."

End of the surah, don't you understand?

(Quran 12:109)

Amazing. It's like the whole thing comes together.

The Story of Talut and Jalut

Surah Al-Baqarah, one of the longest, or the longest surah in the Quran. In Surah Al-Baqarah, so many subjects have come up. In the middle of the, towards the end of the surah, of the many stories of Bani Israel, Allah mentions, the story of Talut and Jalut.

You guys know the story? What's the biblical name of that story? David and Goliath. And if you don't know the story, the summary version of it is, Daud (AS), a young man, really a boy, ends up killing Goliath, Jalut, who is a military commander, who people are terrified of, really, like they're known as armies of giants.

Now this occurs, this surah, Surah Al-Baqarah has many things, and this story occurs towards the end of the surah. And right before it, Allah is preparing the Muslims for the battle that is coming, the battle of Badr. Right before it. Allah talks about fighting in the path of Allah that is approaching. And be ready for it. And immediately switches over to Bani Israel and the story of Daud and Jalut.

And in that story, one of the many lessons in that story:

"How many times has a large group been overtaken, and how many times has a small group dominated a large group by Allah's permission."

Is that about to happen in Badr? Subhanallah. Allah is giving us like pre-game pep talk. Before you get into the battle, there's this, you know, in the locker room basically. You're being fired up. We're not the first ones to go. This has been done before. We're part of a legacy. Let me tell you about a Badr that happened a long time ago. And this is how it turned out. And this is what you have to do to make it work this time.

We're being prepared. It's not just a story. Tell the sahaba it's not a story. They're not reading the history of Bani Israel. They're reading preparation for what they're about to do. That's what they're reading.

"Pour patience onto us. Make our feet firm and aid us against the disbelieving nation"

The followers, the believers, the followers of Talut (AS). And now they will become the words of the sahaba (RA). Firm our feet. Make us patient. Aid us against the disbelieving nation. Subhanallah. It's not just a story. It's not just placed there for any trivial reason. It's situated for a very specific purpose. Very, very specific purpose.

Conclusion

And so even though I apologize that I completely compromised the subject of leadership, which I had some things to share with you about, but nonetheless I thought since we have good momentum going with the stories, might as well share some things.

Jazakumullahu khairan for listening attentively. Wassalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.