Nadim Bashir – Conversations In The Quran #15 Musa – As & The Pharaoh
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AI: Transcript ©
Today's Qur'anic conversation is from Surah Taha.
Surah Taha is truly a remarkable surah because
it really highlights the story of Musa ﷺ.
And there are very beautiful nuances and lessons
for those especially engaged in da'wah to
be learned from Surah Taha.
What does a da'i go through?
The phases of a da'i, the qualities
and the characteristics of a da'i, what
they are required to have.
These are all things that are mentioned in
Surah Taha.
In addition, I have to also remind everyone
that the most mentioned prophet in the Qur
'an, even more than Rasulullah ﷺ, is Musa
ﷺ.
And the reason why Musa ﷺ is mentioned
at such a high level is because there
are many similarities between Musa ﷺ and the
Prophet ﷺ.
Not only that, Allah ﷻ gave Bani Israel
that izzah, that maqam, that status.
And then Allah ﷻ, He took it away
from them because they did not live up
to that standard set by Allah ﷻ.
And hence Allah gave that honor and that
izzah to the ummah of Rasulullah ﷺ.
And Allah is teaching us a lesson that
if we as a Muslim ummah, if we
do not uphold the standard set by Allah
ﷻ, then Allah will take away the izzah
from us.
And we see the same thing happening today.
Though we are the fastest growing religion in
the world, you have to really honestly think
about this, the fastest growing religion in the
world, yet wallahi today there is no religion
that is mocked as much as Islam is.
There is no religion whose followers are persecuted
as much as Muslims are.
All over the world you see where Muslims
are being persecuted because they simply say, لا
إله إلا الله.
So we go back to the story of
Musa ﷺ, and especially in this day and
age.
This is why Allah ﷻ mentioned the story
of Fir'aun.
Because if we even look at this day
and age, this apartheid state that is Israel,
that is committing a genocide against our brothers
and sisters in Palestine.
Our brothers and sisters, the key thing is
that if you look at this person, who
is calling the shots behind the scenes, the
prime minister.
And if you look at Fir'aun and
their characteristics, their mindset, wallahi there are too
many similarities.
And once again Allah gave us these stories
so that you and I, we can find
consolation.
Because in this day and age, if a
Muslim loses hope in Allah, where else will
a Muslim go to?
If a person loses hope in Allah ﷻ,
many ulema they say, that you cannot be
a Muslim and be hopeless at the same
time.
Being hopeless and being a Muslim is considered
as an oxymoron.
Meaning that two things that cannot go hand
in hand.
So that is why if we are a
Muslim, we can never lose hope in Allah
ﷻ.
And this is why Allah gave us these
stories, so we can find some consolation and
some hope in these stories.
So we come to the story of Musa
ﷺ, when he goes to Fir'aun, and
he's telling Fir'aun that, أَنْ أَرُسِلْ مَعِيَ
بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلٍ This is mentioned in surah Shu
'ara.
So he's telling Fir'aun, that I want
you to send Bani Israel with me.
You have persecuted them, you have made them
your slaves, you have abused them, financially, physically,
psychologically, in any way, in every way possible.
Now it's about time you give them to
me, and let us go somewhere else.
And he don't want to do that.
So surah Taha mentions, that at that time,
Fir'aun, in order to ensure that everyone
is going to galvanize behind him, everyone is
going to stand behind him.
It is the nature of every single leader.
When he's about to lose power and control,
they always make it about the country.
They always make it about the country.
How do...
You know, if you remember, for those of
you who were there at 9-11, even
after that, what was that one call every
single time?
If the Muslims come into this country, if
sharia law takes over, then all your freedom
will be...
all your freedom, all your privileges will be
taken away.
They actually use the country and their freedom
to fight their own causes.
Although wallahi, they don't even care about their
own people.
Wallahi, they don't even care about their own
people.
But when it came to holding on to
power, they made it about the country, and
their freedom, and their privileges.
Likewise, Firaun did the same exact thing.
He told the people of Egypt that these
two people, these two brothers are here to
take away their country.
وَيُخْرِجَاكُم مِّنْ أَرْضِكُمْ بِالسِّحْرِهِمَا When Musa a.s.
threw down his staff, and it turned to
a serpent, he's selling them.
He's using this to remove all of us
from our land.
So once again, the tactic that he used
is very common, something that we see very
often in this day and age.
Now, Musa a.s., he's telling them, he's
telling Firaun, you think that this is magic?
You think you wanna have, bring all your
magicians together?
خلاص, no problem.
Let's have a competition.
But see, Musa is smart.
He knows that if Firaun just calls everyone,
and says that this is a day of
competition.
This is the day where we're gonna, you
know, we're gonna take back our country and
so forth.
And he were to call people, some people
will come, some people may not come.
But Musa is smart, he's telling him, let's
choose a day where it is considered as
a holiday in your country.
It's already a holiday.
It's already a day of festivities.
People are gonna be away from work.
They're gonna come as it is.
But on that same day, we will do
this also.
So what did Firaun do?
He called, the Quran says, فَجَمَعَ كَيْدَهُ ثُمَّ
أَتَى He gathered all his people.
Now what does every powerful person they do?
When it comes to using people, they are
excellent.
They are experts in using people for their
own gain.
So what did he do?
He called all these magicians.
And by the way, if you study the
history of Bani Isra'il, magic was something
that was very common.
It was practiced abundantly.
And one of the people who were the
most privileged, and the most rich, and the
most resourceful people in the community, in the
society, were the magicians.
So, Firaun called all of them.
They came to Firaun.
And then they are the ones who are
telling Firaun, that if you want us to
fight your battles, what do we get for
it?
What is in it for us?
What benefit do we get out of it?
And Firaun is promising them everything.
I will make you, أَنَا أَمِنَ الْمُقَرَّبِينَ I
will make you from amongst those who are
the closest to me.
Meaning that whatever you want, you got the
hookups, you got the connections.
I'll take care of you.
You know, don't worry about it.
So now the time comes, and Musa Alayhi
Salaam, he gathers everyone.
And he tells them, they even said, that
who wants to go first?
They even asked Musa Alayhi Salaam, that who
wants to go first?
And Musa Alayhi Salaam said, you can go
first.
So at that time, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta
'ala says in the Qur'an that they
put down their staffs, and they put down
their robes, and they turn into serpents.
And there were serpents everywhere.
And at that time Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta
'ala mentions the state of the heart of
Musa Alayhi Salaam.
فَأَوْجَسَ فِي خِيفة نَفْسِهِ خِيفةَ مُسَىٰ In his
heart, there was an element of fear.
He's looking at everything around him, and he's
thinking, how is this one?
My one serpent is gonna overpower everything else.
So at that time, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta
'ala says, دَا قُلْنَا لَا تَخَفْ إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ
الْأَعْلَى That do not fear, do not be
worried about all this.
Because what you see in front of you
is an illusion.
And Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala refers to
their magic as an illusion.
When he says, سَحَرُوا أَعْيُنَ النَّاسِ This was
an illusion.
They were making, this was magic, and tricking
the eyes of people, which is an illusion.
So it's not real.
On the other hand, when Musa Alayhi Salaam
put down his staff, what the magician see,
the magician knows what he's putting down.
The magician knows that this is not real.
But when the magician saw the serpent of
Musa Alayhi Salaam, they knew right away that
this is not magic.
This is not an illusion.
This is, as we call it, the real
deal.
This is the real deal.
And at that time, this one serpent overpowered
all the other serpents.
At that time they realize that this is
the real deal.
And this man is a real deal.
His message is a real deal.
Therefore, as Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentioned,
فَأُلْقِيَ السَّحَرَةُ سُجَّدًا They all fell into a
sajda.
قَالُوا أَمَنَّا بِرَبِّ هَارُونَ وَمُوسَى They accepted Islam
on the hands of Musa Alayhi Salaam, and
his brother Harun Alayhi Salaam.
But then look at the threat of Firaun.
What Firaun wanted to accomplish was that everyone
come, at the end of the day, everyone
will be on the side of Firaun, everyone
will support Firaun, everyone will be against Musa
Alayhi Salaam.
That is what his plan was.
And this is why we remind ourselves, وَمَكَرُوا
وَمَكَرَ اللَّهُ وَاللَّهُ خَيْرُ الْمَاكِرِينَ Today what we
see happening today, they have a plan, but
Allah has a plan too.
And the plan of Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala will always supersede.
This is our yaqeen, this is the things
that we need to take away from these
stories.
And there's more things inshallah I'm gonna mention
at the end, I just wanna go through
the ayat.
At that time, what did Firaun say?
He threatened them.
He says, فَلَأُقَطِّ عَنَّ أَيْدِيَكُمْ وَأَرْجُلَكُمْ مِّنْ خِلَافٍ
I'm gonna cut your limbs and on opposite
ends.
If I cut your right leg off, I'm
gonna cut your left hand off.
You understand?
And so this is the threat.
And not only that, فَلَأُقَطِّ عَنَّ أَيْدِيَكُمْ وَأَرْجُلَكُمْ
مِّنْ خِلَافٍ وَلَأُصَلِّ بَنَّكُمْ I'm not gonna only
just cut off your limbs from opposite ends.
I'm gonna hang you.
So you become an example for everyone else
that anyone who defies the orders of Firaun,
this is their fate.
This is their fate.
Now, at that time of course, they all
came.
Even though they are the ones who were
gonna be amongst the closest, the cabinet members
of Firaun.
Even they were now confronting Firaun.
إِنَّهُ مَنْ يَأْتِ رَبَّهُ مُجْرِمًا فَإِنَّ لَهُ جَهَنَّمٌ
لَا يَمُوتُ فِيهَا وَلَا يَحَيَى These are now
people who are coming to Firaun, and they
are confronting Firaun that we truly believe.
This is the real deal, and we're gonna
believe in him.
Now of course the story is long, but
there are few important lessons that I really
want all of us to take away from
this.
The very first one was, as I said
earlier, every single oppressor, every single ruler, every
single leader, they use a tactic of taking
over.
And this is one thing that if you
think about Firaun, you know there are many
verses of the Quran, if you think about
what Firaun used to say to Musa.
When it came to holding on to power,
he always made it about the country.
But when it came to bragging about what
he has, he would never talk about the
country.
Think about it.
Firaun was a selfish man.
He was a smart man.
This is one thing by the way, we
don't realize, Firaun was a very intelligent and
very smart man.
In a conversation, how he could switch the
conversation so quickly, and so subtly, is not
something that many people can do.
But Firaun had that ability.
But Musa was, once again it was a
chess game.
And Musa Alayhi Salaam was also playing this
game with Firaun.
When Firaun would change the conversation, immediately Musa
Alayhi Salaam, he knew the game.
And he was playing it accordingly, and he
made sure that there was never a situation
where he would get caught into the web
of Firaun.
So this is why it's important that every
single time, especially for those who are giving
da'wah, you have to know the game.
Let me give you one example.
How often, how often it happens when you're
engaged in da'wah or in a da
'wah dialogue.
Someone says to you, I remember I went
to a church.
And someone asked me, I remember there was
a lady, she asked me that, and there
was a panel discussion, so majority of the
questions were coming my way because I was
a Muslim there.
So she says that Islam oppresses women.
This was her statement.
Can you explain why does Islam oppress women?
Now honestly, any person who is in a
state of da'wah 101, anything you know,
you're gonna try to throw it at her,
right?
You throw the Quran at her, you throw
the sunnah at her, you throw everything you
know at her.
But you see one thing about da'wah
also is, you gotta know how people think.
You gotta know how to give answers.
The very first thing I asked her was,
and this is a lesson for all of
us, when someone asks you a loaded question,
don't answer a loaded question.
You know what I did?
I asked her, can you please be very
specific, which area of life are you referring
to?
Which area or which specific thing are you
referring to that Islam oppresses women?
Wallahi, you know her answer was?
She goes, I don't know.
You see, now who's the one who looks
like a fool at the end of the
day?
She does.
You understand?
In da'wah, you cannot answer a loaded
question.
You have to deconstruct a question.
This is something that we learned from Musa
a.s. He knew the game, he knew
how to give da'wah.
When Fir'aun, once again, he was switching,
he was also switching.
You have to, people who are giving da
'wah, you have to be on your feet,
you have to be smart, and sometimes, by
the way, there are times where even answering
the question is of no use.
Even if you have the right answer, you
know why?
Because the person who's asking you, they don't
have the right intention in their heart.
They're only asking you because they just want
to create a scene.
So this is why many times, those who
are in da'wah, you need to understand
the person who's asking the question.
And I understand, you may say, well, I
don't know what their niyyah is.
Yes, no one knows what their niyyah is.
But at the end of the day, if
you have been in da'wah, and you
have observed, especially if you're getting into da
'wah, first learn how to observe other people
giving da'wah.
Observe the experts, and see how it's done,
then you can go and give da'wah.
So this is the very first thing that
we learn from this.
The second thing that we learn is, that
just like Fir'aun, he gathered all the
magicians, we learn that every single oppressor, just
like this apartheid regime right now, when they
wanted to commit a genocide, they called all
their allies.
Fir'aun was no different.
In order to keep his country, in order
to keep himself in power, he gathered all
his allies.
Once again, the Qur'an is telling us,
that these are things that have happened in
the past, learn from them.
These things that we see happening today, it's
not new, it's all a repetition of the
past.
Then the next thing is, فَأَوْجَسَ فِي نَفْسِهِ
خِيْفَةً مُوسَىٰ If Musa Alayhi Salaam, a prophet,
an ulul azam prophet, no matter even he
had a serpent, which was the real deal,
even he when he saw their serpents, and
he had a little fear in his heart,
the lesson to be taken from this is,
no matter what situation you're in, we are
all human beings.
And sometimes you look at the situation, and
your heart has a little fear in it,
it's a human thing, you understand?
It's not a sign that your iman is
weak, it's not a sign that you have
given up on Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
it's a sign that you are a human
being.
Simple as that, you understand?
And once again, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
is reinforcing Musa Alayhi Salaam.
He's giving him that support.
And it's not like Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala said, come on Musa, you know, after
everything I gave you, now you're still doubting,
now you still have the fear?
No, that's not what Allah is doing.
Allah is telling him, إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْأَعْلَىٰ Allah
is reinforcing him.
So even when we have some doubts, even
when we get startled, and we lose our
feet, and we lose our momentum, no problem
inshallah, it happens.
But remember, we always are on the haqq,
and we need to regain our composure, and
present whenever the time comes.
Then the next thing is, what do they
say, آمَنَّا بِرَبِّ حَارُونَ وَمُوسَىٰ What do we
learn from this?
We learn from this, that no matter what
kind of a person you are, these people
were honest people.
These people were honest people.
When they saw Musa A.S. serpent, they
knew that this is, this is not just
magic, this is actually a real serpent.
So at that time, they converted to Islam,
which tells us, people who are genuine in
their heart, when they see the situation, they
will come to the fold of Islam.
You just have to give them a little
time.
And subhanAllah, since this genocide has started, even
overseas, to be honest, how many people have
come to the fold of Islam?
Though no matter what's going on, the Qur
'an is telling us, this has happened in
the past, it's gonna happen again.
How many people went on TikTok?
How many people went on Instagram?
And they're saying, that I cannot imagine, people
are saying, what kind of a nation these
Muslims are?
What kind of a qawm they are?
That their people are being slaughtered, yet they
keep on calling up to Allah SWT.
Children in Palestine, when they're being asked, that
what's going on?
They always say, Allah ma'ana, Allah ma
'ana.
Look at their faith.
And people are just astonished by their faith,
the faith of the Muslims.
And they're saying that, what is behind this
faith?
And they go and they pick up a
Qur'an.
This is something that we see even in
the Qur'an.
These magicians, they had good hearts.
When they saw the truth, they came into
the fold of Islam.
Another thing that we learn from this story
is, that when they converted to Islam, you
see once again, now they have become a
threat to Firaun.
What did Firaun say?
We have to always pay attention, to the
nuance of the Qur'an.
Here he says, فَلَأُقَطِّ عَنَّ أَيْدِيَكُمْ وَأَرْجُلَكُمْ مِنْ
خِلَافٍ I'm gonna cut your limbs from opposite
ends.
When you cut, I'm just saying, imagine, if
you cut a person, both legs off, they
usually can still be functional in their life.
Okay?
If you cut someone's hands off, both hands
off, they can still be functional in some
capacity, because they still have their two legs.
But if you cut someone's one leg off,
and one hand off on opposite ends, life
has become even more difficult.
You understand?
To do anything in life, can become more
difficult.
Now think about this, what shaitan is doing
is, he's handicapping them forever.
Likewise, we see what's happening today.
People who are speaking up, what is the
government is doing?
They're handicapping people, taking away their jobs, sanctioning
them, arresting them and so forth.
We see history is repeating itself.
Just like Firaun was handicapping them, and flexing
his muscles, the same thing the governments are
doing today.
No matter how much this country says, freedom
of speech, freedom of speech.
Wallahi, there's one thing that this genocide has
taught us, is that there is no such
thing called freedom of speech.
This thing that they call for democracy, democracy,
wallahi, democracy is the greatest flaw on this
face of earth.
It's one of the greatest...
I mean, it's such a flaw, that every
place where they try to hold democracy, those
are the countries where they do the most
amount of zulm on their people.
This democracy is a flawed concept as it
is.
So you see that these kind of people,
Firaun tried to handicap people.
And not only that, you see what he
said after that, I'm gonna make you an
example.
And this is what these people they do.
They persecute, and then they put them on
social media to show everyone, that if you
speak up against the government, or you go
on college campuses, and you speak up against
the injustice, your scholarships will be taken away,
you'll be expelled from the university, and so
forth.
This is all a repetition.
This is why the Qur'an was given
to us, so that we can see what's
happening today, is a repetition of what happened
in history.
And we can find consolation.
How can we find consolation?
That Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala at the
end of the day, what did He do?
He destroyed Firaun.
He destroyed this zulm.
And just like that Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala, He destroys every single zulm.
They are on the same trajectory as Firaun.
And they will inshaAllah receive the same fate,
or more worse than Firaun inshaAllah.
But the point is that we learn these
stories, we go through these stories, and when
you read the translation of the Qur'an,
try to read a little deeper.
Try to go a little deeper, and try
to understand the story, and relate it.
The point is, if imagine, if the Qur
'an, why did Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
mention all this to us?
Why did He gave us these stories, so
that you and I we can relate to
it?
If these stories were not relatable to us,
then what's the point of getting the Qur
'an?
What's the point of picking up the Qur
'an, and reading these stories?
This Qur'an in itself, the reason why
is called a timeless guidance.
In every era, there are something in the
Qur'an, there is something in the Qur
'an that we can relate to.
We can take the situation, and relate to
some kind of story in the Qur'an.
This is the reason why we read the
Qur'an.
So I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
that first of all, based on what we
have read from surah Taha today, and the
story that we have read about this conversation
between Firaun, and Musa alaihi salam, and the
Banjishans, and so forth.
And not only that, but now understanding in
light of what's going on today.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that
may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala give Izzah
to our brothers and sisters.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect our
brothers and sisters.
And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala give
us ability to apply the teaching of the
Qur'an in our daily lives.
Ameen.
Wa jazakumullahu khair.
Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu.
Assalamualaikum
warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu.
And those who guard their chastity, and those
who guard their chastity, and those who remember
Allah much, and those who remember.
Allah has prepared for them forgiveness, and a
great reward.