The Wandering Years
The tale of the Ten Commandments and the
detailing of the Law of Moses are not mentioned in the Quran, because the event
was superseded by what was sent to Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God
be upon him. However, several events concerning the time of wandering are told,
three of which we will mention here.
The Cloud
The first of these is that God shaded the
Israelites with clouds. In the Bible it mentions that a cloud accompanied them
in the desert, from which commands were issued.
This, however, was not the function ascribed to them in the Quran. While they
were wandering the Israelites could feel comfortable in their shade, even in
the heat of the day, and this lasted while God sent manna and quails to
feed them daily. He said:
“And We sheltered you with clouds and sent manna and
quails: so consume the good things We have provided for you…” (Quran 2:57)
The Refusal to Fight
The second event
probably refers to the refusal of the Israelites to fight the giants of Kadesh.
Moses said to the Israelites: ‘Remember the
Favor of God on you in making prophets among you, and kings, giving you what He
has not given to others. Enter the holy land which God has assigned to you,
and do not run away, lest you be resurrected as losers.’
They said: ‘O Moses! The people in the land are
of great strength, so we cannot enter it while they are there; we will only
enter it when they leave.’
Two God fearing men
of those on whom God had bestowed His Grace said: ‘Assault them through the
gate, for victory will be yours once you are inside; so if you are really
believers, put your trust in God.’
The people said: ‘O Moses! We’ll never enter it
as long as they are there. Why don’t both you and your Lord go and fight them
together? We will just sit right here and wait.’
Moses feared the reaction of God against the
people led and, by association, himself. He appealed to God: ‘O my Lord! I
have power only over myself and my brother, so separate us from the disobedient
rebels!’
In the event, God was mild in the punishment he
ordained: ‘Therefore this holy land is forbidden to them for forty years; in
distraction they will wander through the land. So don’t be sorrowful over the
disobedient rebels (against Me).’
This confirms the sentence meted out in the
Torah.
However, the text of the Bible shifts some blame to Moses himself, saying that
when he hit a rock twice instead of talking to it (as commanded) to obtain
water for the people, God accused him and Aaron of disbelieving in the means
demanded. Therefore, it concluded:
“You will not bring this congregation into
the land I have given them.” (Numbers 20:12)
Needless to say, no such blame is laid upon
Moses in the Quran, who is always depicted as an obedient slave of God.
The Cow
The third event is the story of the cow that the
Israelites almost refused to sacrifice. When Moses told them God had commanded
them to sacrifice a cow, they questioned. First they took it for a joke:
‘Are you making fun of us?’ they said.
Then they asked for a plain description. ‘A cow
that is neither too young nor too old’, they were told, ‘but somewhere in
between’.
‘What about its color?’ they persisted.
‘It’s a bright yellow cow, and very nice to look
at,’ they were informed. Yet still they questioned.
“Call upon your Lord for us to make plain to us what
it is. Verily to us all cows are alike, and surely, if Allah wills, we will be
guided.
He [Moses] said, He says, ‘It is a cow neither trained
to till the soil nor water the fields, sound, having no other color except
bright yellow.’
They said, ‘Now you have brought the truth.’ So they
slaughtered it though they were near to not doing it.” (Quran 2:70-72)
The description of the cow matches that given in
the Bible describing a special sin offering, except for the color (red instead
of yellow). However, in
another less detailed description, the ritual established for absolving the
guilty party of the murder of a man whose murderer is not known,
comes reasonably close to the reason stated in the Quran and Prophetic
Narrations as to why this sacrifice above was ordered.
A rich man from whom his nephews wished to
inherit was killed by one of them, and left on the open road. When he was
found the following morning, a dispute started about who had killed him. Then
the people had suggested that the disputers went to Moses, the Messenger of
God, for help. When one of the nephews complained to him about the murder,
Moses gathered the disputers and the onlookers together.
‘In the name of God, I adjure you all, if any
one has any knowledge of this affair, disclose it now!’
No one seemed to know anything about it, so the
people had demanded that he asked the Lord about the matter. In reply to the
request, God had merely ordered the slaughter of a cow. He did not designate a
particular quality of cow, but the people insolently demanded clarification. Each
time God named a characteristic, they persisted in demanding more details. When
they had finally stopped questioning, they had a tall order on their hands.
How could they find such a singular unblemished cow as God ultimately described?
When they finally found a man who owned such a
beast, it cost them ten times its weight in gold to purchase. With great
reluctance, they had paid the price and slaughtered the cow. Then God said, by
way of His messenger: “Strike (the dead man) with a piece of (the cow)...”
(Quran 2:73)
When they did that, God brought the man back to
life temporarily. Moses then asked him who had been his murderer, and he
pointed out the culprit and said, ‘my nephew.’ Then he fell dead again.
These three stories show that the majority of
the people Moses had led out of Egypt were ungrateful to their Lord, despite His
care, attention, mercy actions and clear signs. They were characterized by a
singular lack of modesty and submissiveness, continually challenging the role
of Moses and their duty to obey him. Was it that they felt that they had the
right due to God choosing the descendents of Israel as His ‘chosen people’?
Did they suspect Moses was actually Egyptian and not from among their people,
despite the legends, and so had less right to God’s ear than they? Had God’s
promise to save them obscured their minds from doing righteousness? Whatever
the case, their resulting comportment led to God greatly increasing the
difficulties they faced and the tests they had to go through until they could
barely bear them.
God only wishes to make our worship of Him
easy. It is our own rebellious nature which makes worship of Him a chore.
Furthermore, those who set themselves against God find that they never actually
encounter the way to salvation again, often ending up destroyed by His Will
without ever repenting. This means their ultimate abode will not be heaven,
which should be what we all seek, but the place we would all rather avoid.
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