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_-_Moses_in_Midian_001.jpg) Moses grew to be a man of noticeable strength. This
strength in fact led him to kill another man. In the Bible, Moses is portrayed
as having murdered an Egyptian whom he saw beating one of his Israelite
‘foster’ brothers.
“He went out to his brethren to see how
they were being burdened, and saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew. So he looked
this way and that, and, when he saw that nobody was around, killed the Egyptian
and buried him in the sand.” (Exodus 2:11-12)
This account shows that his action, though
provoked by what he had seen, had an element of premeditation. In the Quranic
version of the same event, he is portrayed as killing the Egyptian
unintentionally when he went to aid his brother Israelite in a fight.
“The one from his own people asked him to help him
against his enemy, so Moses struck him with his fist, which killed him. He
said, ‘This is the work of Satan, who is definitely a misleading enemy.’ He
prayed, ‘O my Lord, I have wronged myself, so please forgive me!...’” (Quran
28:15-16)
His reaction to killing the Egyptian shows that it
was done without having intended it, and he went on to promise never to support
a wrongdoer in gratitude for God’s bounties bestowed upon him. Two things are
clear from this. Moses was a believer in One God, the Lord of the worlds, even
before he received revelation, just like both his mothers, and this despite
being brought up at court. Furthermore, he knew he had transgressed when he
killed a man, even though, as he supposed, the man was a disbeliever and he did
so while supporting a believer. The next day, however, the same Israelite asked
for his help again in a similar situation. In the Bible, he was fighting
another Israelite, but in the Quran it was another ‘enemy to them both.’
This time, as he approached to break up the fight, Moses said to the man
asking for help, ‘Verily, you are plainly a misleader.’
Thinking he was about to hit him, the Israelite said:
“O Moses! Will you slay me today as you slew a living
soul yesterday? You just want to be a tyrant in the land, and shy away from
being one of the righteous.” (Quran 28:19)
The Bible says almost the same, the Israelite
asking:
“Who made you a Judge or a Prince over us?”
In the Bible, Moses only suspected that the
rumor had reached the Pharaoh, but in the Quran, a man came to warn him that
the Pharaoh was going to punish him for murder, and advised him to escape. The
result was that he fled Egypt and headed west, to Midian.
Moses in Midian
Upon his arrival, he came across several groups
drawing water from a well to water their flocks. The Bible mentions that seven
women customarily came to the well to water their father’s sheep, but were
driven away from it on this occasion by some shepherds who wanted to water
their sheep first. The Quran, however, mentions that only two women were
present, holding back their sheep. The reason for holding back would have been
twofold, practical and moral: to prevent their sheep from getting mixed up with
the men’s flocks, and to modestly refrain from mixing with the men themselves. Moses
asked them:
“‘…What’s the matter?’ The two women said, ‘We cannot
draw water until the shepherds have gone away, and our father is a very old
man.’” (Quran 28:23)
According to some reports, the shepherds would
place a huge stone lid on the well when they were not using it, and this is
what they did when they left. Moses removed that stone (which normally needed
several men to shift) alone, watered the women’s sheep for them, and then
replaced it.
This feat of extraordinary strength did not escape the notice of the women,
who would tell their father of it later. He then prayed aloud to God:
“…My Lord! I am in need of any good that You can send
me.” (Quran 28:24)
His prayer was answered when the sisters’ father
sent for him in order to reward him. The Quran eloquently describes the
invitation:
One of the women he had helped “came walking modestly”.
That is to say, in a genteel manner that concealed, rather than revealed,
her physical attractiveness. She said, “My father invites you so that he may
reward you for drawing water for us.”
The Bible leaves the rest of the story of the encounter out, but the Quran
gives an extra hint. The woman said, when they arrived at her home, “O my
father, hire him! Surely he best of employable persons are those who are
strong and trustworthy.” The
companions of the Prophet explained that when her father asked her how she knew
Moses was as she described, she told him of his feat in lifting the stone lid
on and off the well mouth and the fact that, when she began to lead him home,
he had told her to walk behind him and throw a pebble into the path he was to
follow whenever the trail forked. This meant that he did not ogle women or
even desire to be attracted to their voices, which she took as a sign of
trustworthiness.
So the father offered Moses an indenture of eight
to ten years as his shepherd in return for room, board and clothing, and to
marry him to his daughter, Ziporrah.
According to Ibn Abbas, Moses fulfilled ten years service, and then left with
his family. The Bible, however, says he managed the father’s business for
forty years, and then had to seek permission to leave after he had received his
first revelation from the burning bush.
God Speaks to Moses
The Quran says:
“When Moses had fulfilled the term (he contracted) and
was traveling with his family, he saw a fire in the direction of Mt. Toor. He said to his family, ‘Wait (here)! I have seen a fire. Perhaps I can bring you
news from there, or a firebrand to warm yourselves.’ When he reached it, he
was called from a tree on the right side of the valley in that blessed place…”
(Quran 28:29-30)
The Quran reports the words heard by Moses more
fully in certain verses.
“Blessed is whosoever is in the fire, and whosoever is
around it, and Glory be to God, the Lord of the worlds. O Moses. Verily it is
I, God, the Almighty and all-Wise.” (Quran 27:8-9)
“Verily, I am your Lord, so take off your shoes; you
are in the sacred valley of Tuwa. I have chosen you, so listen to that which
will be revealed. Verily, I am God, there is no God but Me; so worship Me and establish
the prayer for my remembrance. Verily, the hour is coming, but My Will is to
keep it hidden so that every soul may be rewarded for how it strives (Quran
20:12-15)”
This first revelation for Moses contains a very
important lesson about monotheism. The first duty a believer has is to know
there is only One God worthy of receiving worship from his creatures, and that
there are no other gods to act as intermediaries or partners. The second is
that humans must single Him out alone in worship. The third is that the regular
establishment of prayer will keep the line of Divine Help open because one will
be constantly reminded of God. The final duty is to make every act for the
sake of God, and as if it will be the last act in our life, for upon that we
will be judged when the Day of Judgment arrives. And we do not know when we
will die, nor when the Day will be, because it is concealed by God from us.
It is this message that Moses was to be ordered
to remind the Children of Israel, and bring to the Pharaoh and his people. This
mission will be the subject of the next part.
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