Surah Al-Maaida: Verse 25 - قال رب إني لا أملك... - English

The Determination of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) against the Treachery of his People

The prayer of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) ; قَالَ رَ‌بِّ إِنِّي لَا أَمْلِكُ إِلَّا نَفْسِي "0 My Lord, I have no control except over myself" should be seen in the perspective of the events in the life of the people of Bani Isra'il, the favours of Allah bestowed upon them and the conduct of their prophet, Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) in their case. An impartial observer would not fail to notice that the people of Bani Isra'il had been suffering from all sorts of pain and disgrace as slaves and serfs of the Pharaohs for centuries. It was the teaching of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) and his barakah by virtue of which Allah Ta` ala blessed them with unprecedented stations. With their own eyes, they saw so many manifestations of the most perfect power of Allah Jalla Sha'nuhu . The Pharaoh and the people of Pharaoh were defeated on their own grounds, in the Court confrontation summoned by them at the hands of Sayyidna Musa and Sayyidna Harun, peace be upon both of them. The magicians they had trusted were the magicians who placed their trust in Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) and elected to stay by his side. Then, there was the Pharaoh, the one who claimed to be God, and along with him, there were so many members of his family who lived in luxury in the royal palace. And then, their eyes saw how the great subduing power of Allah, the Mighty, the Exalted, made all of them vacate all palaces and mansions they lived in and leave behind all they once owned, all simultaneously, in a single sweep of time. And how He drowned the Pharaoh in the sea with Bani Isra` il looking on the spectacle and how did He make the miracle of Bani Isra` il themselves cross the river. And finally, how was the wealth, over which the Pharaoh waxed proud by saying: أَلَيْسَ لِي مُلْكُ مِصْرَ‌ وَهَـٰذِهِ الْأَنْهَارُ‌ تَجْرِ‌ي مِن تَحْتِي (Is it not that this land of Egypt is for me and these are rivers which flow from beneath me?) given out by Allah Ta` ala, the entire country and the entire wealth, without any fighting or killing, to the Bani Isra'il

These were great happenings. These people were direct witnesses to the manifestations of Allah's supreme power to subdue. No less was the good done to them by Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) who first delivered them from heedlessness and ignorance and then freed them from the slavery of the Pharaoh facing unbearable hardships in that process. After all that, when these very people were commanded to mount a Jihad on Syria, of course with assurances of Divine help and promises of rewards, they betrayed their mean nature and said: (So go, you and your Lord, and fight. As for us, we are sitting right here). Let the greatest possible reformer in the world stop for a while, cross his hand over his heart and think what effect such low attitudes demonstrated by the people he was working for would have produced on him. But, here we are talking about a highly determined Rasul of Allah who stands there as an immovable model of steadfastness, despite all odds, and pursuing his goal relentlessly.

Now that he was made helpless by repeated breaches of trust committed by his people, he turns to his Lord and to Him he says only this much: إِنِّي لَا أَمْلِكُ إِلَّا نَفْسِي وَأَخِي (I have no control except over myself and my brother). And the problem was how could he now carry out the Jihad expedition against the Amalkites? Also worth noticing is the fact that there were at least two chiefs of the Bani Isra'il, Yasha' ibn Nun and Kalib ibn Yu'qina, who had proved themselves to have been faithful followers of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) and had made consistent efforts with him to give good counsel to their people and bring them to the right path. Still at this time, he made no mention of them as well. He simply talked about himself and his brother, Sayyidna Harun (علیہ السلام) . It had no other cause but the same treachery and disobedience of the people of Bani Isra'il. Sayyidna Harun (علیہ السلام) being a prophet was the only one Divinely protected there. That he would stand firm by the truth in word and deed was certain. As for the two chiefs, they were not so protected and infallible. So, being in pain and anger, he mentioned only those he was certain would stand firm on truth - 'I have no control except over myself and my brother.'

The prayer that Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) made after that was: فَافْرُ‌قْ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَ الْقَوْمِ الْفَاسِقِينَ (So, make a separation between us and the sinning people). The substance of this prayer, according to an explanation given by Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ was that 'the punishment these people deserved should be given to them; and whatever we are found to be deserving of should be awarded to us.'

The manner in which Allah Ta` ala answered this prayer was: مُحَرَّ‌مَةٌ عَلَيْهِمْ ۛ أَرْ‌بَعِينَ سَنَةً ۛ يَتِيهُونَ فِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ (This [ land ] is prohibited to them for forty years. They shall be wandering around the earth). It means that the land of Syria was forbidden for them for forty years. They shall' not go there, even if they wanted to. And not simply that they would be unable to go to the land of Syria, they would also be unable to return back to their homeland of Egypt, if they thought of going there. Instead of that, they shall be detained in this wilderness.

For punishments that come from Allah Almighty who needs the police and their handcuffs or the high and strong walls and iron-gates of prisons? When He intends to detain anyone, He needs none of these formal arrangements. He can put one under arrest even on grounds open from all sides. The reason is obvious. The whole universe is at His command. It was created by Him and from Him it takes its orders. When the universe is served with Divine orders to put someone under arrest, the air and the atmosphere and the earth and the space become the jailor for the condemned.

So, this open land area located between Egypt and Baytul-Maqdis is comparatively small. Its measurement, according to the Tafsir of Sayyidna Muqatil (رح) is thirty Farsakh in length and nine Farsakh in width. If one Farsakh is taken to be equal to three miles, it comes to be a total area of ninety miles in length and twenty seven miles in width. And according to some narrations, the whole area is thirty by eighteen miles. Thus, Allah Ta` ala detained a whole people whose total number, according to the statement of Sayyidna Muqatil (رح) was six hundred thousand, restricting them within this small open ground in a manner that they kept struggling for full forty years to somehow get out of this open land area and return back to Egypt, or go forward and reach Baytul-Maqdis. But, what actually happened was that by the time came evening after a whole day's journey, they discovered that they have been as if moving in a circle having returned to the same spot from where they had started in the morning.

Authentic scholars of Tafsir say that the punishment Allah Jalla Sha'nuhu gives to a people is in proportion to their evil deed. Since these disobedient people had uttered the words: إِنَّا هَاهُنَا قَاعِدُونَ (we are sitting right here), Allah Ta` ala had them detained right there for forty years in punishment. Historical accounts in this matter differ. Some say that during these forty years, the present generation which had disobeyed was totally destroyed. Their next generation survived and it was this generation which, after having been delivered from this forty year detention, entered Baytul-Maqdis; or, there were some people from the earlier generation who were still surviving. However, there was that promise of the Holy Qur'an: كَتَبَ اللَّـهُ لَكُمْ (that is, Allah has destined the Holy Land of Syria for the Bani Isra'il). That promise had to be fulfilled, that the Bani Isra'il should take it over and rule the land. But, the people of Bani Isra'il present during that time elected to ignore this Divine award for which they were duly punished: مُحَرَّ‌مَةٌ عَلَيْهِمْ ۛ أَرْ‌بَعِينَ سَنَةً that is, they were deprived of victory over the Holy Land for forty years. Then, it was at the hands of their next generation, that this country was conquered, and the promise of Allah Ta` ala stood fulfilled.

In this wilderness of Tih, Sayyidna Musa and Harun were with their people for whom this wilderness was nothing but detention and punishment, while, for these two blessed souls, it was the fountain head of Divine blessings. This is why this period of forty years during which the Bani Isra'il were condemned was still full of many silver linings. Such was the barakah of the presence of Sayyidna Musa and Harun (علیہما السلام) among them, that Allah Ta` ala showered on them blessings of many kinds. When they became helpless against the scorching sun over their heads in an open field, Allah Ta` ala, answering the prayer of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) stretched out a canopy of clouds over their heads. Wherever they went, these clouds would follow them with their shade. When they complained of thirst and the shortage of water, Allah Ta` ala gave Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) a special stone which went with him wherever he went, and when they needed water, Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) would strike it with his staff and twelve streams would gush forth from it. When they were hit by hunger, the heavenly food of Mann and Salva was sent to them. And when they complained about the darkness during nights, Allah Ta` ala provided for them a tower of light under the light of which they did what they had to do.

To sum up, this wilderness of Tih was not full of condemned people only. In fact, there were two dear prophets of Allah Ta` ala and with them two favoured elders, Yusha` ibn Nun and Kalib ibn Yu'qina, as well. It was for their sake that, even during this period of detention and punishment, blessings kept coming to them. And since Allah Ta` ala is the Most Merciful of all those merciful, it is possible that these once disobedient people from the Bani Isra'il, after having witnessed the happenings around them, may have repented from their sins and may be it was in return for their act of repentance that they were being blessed with these rewards.

According to authentic narrations, it was during this period of forty years that Sayyidna Harun (علیہ السلام) died. Then, after a year or six month, came the death of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) After them, Allah Ta` ala appointed the revered elder, Yusha` ibn Nun as a prophet and gave him the mission of guiding the Bani Isra'il. When the period of forty years of detention was over, the remaining people of Bani Isra'il got together under the leadership of Sayyidna Yusha` ibn Nun and marched towards Baytul-Maqdis on this mission of Jihad. True to the promise of Allah Ta` ala, they conquered Syria and the wealth of the land they inherited was unimaginable.

That it has been said: لَا تَأْسَ عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْفَاسِقِين (so do not grieve for the sinning people) at the end of verse 26 has a basis, for the blessed prophets, may peace be upon them all, are endowed with a natural disposition which makes it impossible for them to bear by the pain and hardship of their people. Even if they are punished, the prophets too are affected emotionally. Therefore, Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) has been comforted here that he should not grieve over the punishment given to those people.