Monday, March 28, 2022

The Egyptians adopt Moses

The Quran relates in 28:7-14 the powerful story of Moses' infancy, when he was adopted by the Egyptian nobility and was thus saved from being slaughtered as was decreed by the Pharao against the newborns of the enslaved Israelites. As soon as he was born, through inspiration, God communicated to Moses' mother that, despite the clear danger, she should keep him and care for him so long as the threat did not become imminent. But when it did, she was to put him in a chest, and release him upon the river, while fully trusting that he will eventually be brought back to her and further reassured that he will be honored as a prophet 20:38-40. 

Someone unspecified among Pharao's family (the HB says in Ex2 it was Pharao's daughter) found him drifting along the river and brought him back to the household, where Pharao's wife pleaded for his life and proposed the idea of adopting him. In a specific time where newborn males were being slaughtered, it would have surely been suspicious to find an infant drifting along the river, even moreso should he be found by the royal family who was directly treathened by the potential rise of an individual who would cause them troubles. The most obvious outcome in that case would be to murder him or leave him to die, as was being done to the other infants. 

The Quran however sheds an important light upon this part of the story, stating it was a miracle in itself that Moses was taken up, in addition by the Egyptian elite who had every interest in having him killed 
20:39"And I cast down upon you love from Me (that every one may love you), and that you might be brought up before My eyes". 
As he was definitely taken up, Moses' grieving mother told his sister to observe the situation from afar in order that she might be informed of the evolution of the situation. It is interesting to note at this point the subtle nuances, again loaded with meaning between the Quran's account and the convoluted and improbable one in the HB, where Moses' sister immediately shows up after Moses was picked up by Pharao's daughter to propose the idea of taking him to a foster mother from among the Israelites. This naive depiction of the event shows a simple minded Egyptian unable to uncover the obvious plot, from among the tyrant's own household, temporarily returning a newborn from among those that were ordered to be slaughtered, back to the Israelites, as soon as she found and recognized his ethnicity, and without any valid explanation, followed by the request to have the infant's return some time later, before any real bond existed between him and his future adoptive family. Moses supposedly returns as a grown child, to live among and be accepted by the unsuspecting Egyptian nobility and Pharao himself who had no previous contact with him. He was raised by Pharao's daughter, which is another improbability if we consider the Pharao being RamessessII.

The Quran on the other hand does not speak of any interraction between Moses' sister and the Egyptians that found him, until the appropriate time came and his adoptive family had no choice but to evaluate any foreign suggestion for his case 
"And We ordained that he refused to suck any foster mother before, so she said: Shall I point out to you the people of a house who will take care of him for you, and they will be benevolent to him?" 
The Egyptian household had no alternative but to act upon the opportune recommendation or else the infant, whom they so dearly loved as per God's miraculous decree despite knowing his ethnicity, would not be fed 
"So We gave him back to his mother that her eye might be refreshed, and that she might no grieve, and that she might know that the promise of Allah is true, but most of them do not know". 
Before that point Moses as an infant had already spent some time inside Pharao's own household where he was accepted and cared for, upon the insistence of Pharao's wife 28:9, so his future return among them, following his nurturing by his biological mother, is completely understandable and fits well with the narrative 26:18. This is just another instance of the Quran demonstrating its remarkable ability to introduce independent details within a narrative only when those details have a significant function to fullfill, in this case reintroducing the truth surrounding Moses' infancy 
28:2-3"These are the verses of the Book that makes (things) clear. We recite to you from the account of Musa and Pharao with truth for people who believe".
It is important to note, in the Quranic narrative, Moses' mission was not primarily aimed at freeing the Israelites. This was secondary. His most important purpose was to confront Pharao and urge him to reform, to desist from his cruelty and claims to the divine 
20:24"Go to Pharaoh. Indeed, he has transgressed". 
His tyranical behavior, including the enslavement of the Israelites stemmed directly from his most evil transgressions. That is why the messenger was told to tackle the problem at its root. Moses was going to meet the most powerful man on earth, a tyrant who knew no mercy. Allah strengthened him with miracles, and the assistance of his brother Aaron. The secrets of his years as an infant, floating under Allah's protection on the river, then raised inside Pharaoh's household were then brought to light. Some of the intricacies of the causalities of life were unveiled to Moses, and how Allah's will is in control at ever step. By allowing Moses to be reared under Pharaoh's nose, yet at the same time preventing the tyrant's hand from harming him, God was preparing Moses for his momentous task, giving him the courage of going back to Egypt to confront him. Just as his enemy could not harm him as an infant, so will be the case now 
20:37-9"And We had already conferred favor upon you another time, When We inspired to your mother what We inspired, [Saying], 'Cast him into the chest and cast it into the river, and the river will throw it onto the bank; there will take him an enemy to Me and an enemy to him.' And I bestowed upon you love from Me that you would be brought up under My eye". 
Further, to even be allowed an audience the way Moses was, a special kind of relationship had to exist between him and Pharao.

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