Transliteration:( Wa iz najjainaakum min Aali Fir'awna yasoomoonakum sooo'al azaabi yuzabbihoona abnaaa'akum wa yastahyoona nisaaa'akum; wa fee zaalikum balaaa'um mir Rabbikum 'azeem )
92. Followers are also regarded as family or progeny Although Pharoah had no children. His soldiers are referred to as his progeny, who had persecuted the Bamı Israel until Allah Almighty had saved them for the clutches of those tyrants. On the basis of this the entire Ummah of the Holy Prophet can be regarded as his progeny.
93. Pharoah saw in a dream a raging fire coming from the direction of Jerusalem which destroyed the houses of his followers, the Qibtees. but spared the homes of Bani Israel, followers of Hazrat Musa. His interpreters of dreams informed him that a child would be
born from the Bani Israel who will destroy him and his follower. On hearing this, the Pharoah decreed that all male infants born to Bani Israel shall be put to death, and the females were to be used to serve them. In this way 70 thousand male infants were slain and 90, 000 pregnancies were wasted. When the Qibtees saw that the male population of the Bani Israel was decreasing, they advised the Pharoah to limit this carnage. In response to this Pharoah decreed that the male infants shall hence be slain in alternate years. Hazrat Harun was born in the year when infants were spared while. Hazrat Musa was born in the year in which male infants were to be slain.
94. Was Pharoah's persecution a curse or was Allah's deliverance of the Bani Israel a reward for them?
49. And (remember) when We delivered you from Fir`awn’s (Pharaoh) people, who were afflicting you with a horrible torment, killing your sons and sparing your women, and therein was a mighty trial from your Lord. 50. And (remember) when We separated the sea for you and saved you and drowned Fir`awn’s (Pharaoh) people while you were watching.
Allah said to the Children of Israel, “Remember My favor on you
(And (remember) when We delivered you from Fir`awn’s (Pharaoh) people, who were afflicting you with a horrible torment,) meaning, `I – Allah – saved you from them and delivered you from their hands in the company of Musa, after they subjected you to horrible torture.’ This favor came after the cursed Pharaoh had a dream in which he saw a fire emerge from Bayt Al-Maqdis (Jerusalem), and then the fire entered the houses of the Coptics in Egypt, with the exception of the Children of Israel. Its purport was that his kingship would be toppled by a man among the Children of Israel. It was also said that some of Pharaoh’s entourage said that the Children of Israel were expecting a man among them to arise who would establish a state for them. We will mention the Hadith on this subject when we explain Surat Ta Ha (20), Allah willing. After the dream, Pharaoh ordered that every newborn male among the Children of Israel be killed and that the girls be left alone. He also commanded that the Children of Israel be given tasks of hard labor and assigned the most humiliating jobs.
The torment here refers to killing the male infants. In Surat Ibrahim (14) this meaning is clearly mentioned,
(Who were afflicting you with horrible torment, and were slaughtering your sons and letting your women live.) (14:6).
We will explain this Ayah in the beginning of Surat Al-Qasas (28), Allah willing, and our reliance and trust are with Him.
The meaning of,
(who were afflicting you) is, “They humiliated you,” as Abu `Ubaydah stated. It was also said that it means, “They used to exaggerate in tormenting you” according to Al-Qurtubi. As for Allah saying,
(killing your sons and sparing your women) that explains His statement,
(who were afflicting you with horrible torment) then it explains the meaning of the favor He gave them, as mentioned in His statement,
(Remember My favor which I bestowed upon you). As for what Allah said in Surat Ibrahim,
(And remind them of the annals of Allah) (14:5) meaning, the favors and blessing He granted them, He then said,
(Who were afflicting you with horrible torment, and were slaughtering your sons and letting your women live.) (14:6)
So Allah mentioned saving their children from being slaughtered in order to remind them of the many favors that He granted them.
We should state here that `Pharaoh’ (Fir`awn) is a title that was given to every disbelieving king who ruled Egypt, whether from the `Amaliq (Canaanites) or otherwise, just as Caesar (Qaysar) is the title of the disbelieving kings who ruled Rome and Damascus. Also, Khosrau (Kisra) is the title of the kings who ruled Persia, while Tubb`a is the title of the kings of Yemen, and the kings of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) were called Negus (An-Najashi).
Allah said,
(And therein was a mighty trial from your Lord.)
Ibn Jarir commented that this part of the Ayah means, “Our saving your fathers from the torment that they suffered by the hand of Pharaoh, is a great blessing from your Lord.” We should mention that in the blessing there a is test, the same as with hardship, for Allah said,
(And We shall make a trial of you with evil and with good) (21:35) and,
(And We tried them with good (blessings) and evil (calamities) in order that they might turn (to obey Allah.)) (7:168).
Allah’s statement next,
(And (remember) when We separated the sea for you and saved you and drowned Fir`awn’s (Pharaoh) people while you were watching) means, `After We saved you from Fir`awn and you escaped with Musa; Fir`awn went out in your pursuit and We parted the sea for you.’ Allah mentioned this story in detail, as we will come to know, Allah willing. One of the shortest references to this story is Allah’s statement,
(And saved you) meaning, “We saved you from them, drowning them while you watched, bringing relief to your hearts and humiliation to your enemy.”
It was reported that the day the Children of Israel were saved from Fir`awn was called the day of `Ashura’. Imam Ahmad reported that Ibn `Abbas said that the Messenger of Allah came to Al-Madinah and found that the Jews were fasting the day of `Ashura’. He asked them, “What is this day that you fast” They said, “This is a good day during which Allah saved the Children of Israel from their enemy, and Musa used to fast this day.” The Messenger of Allah said,
(I have more right to Musa than you have.)
So the Messenger of Allah fasted that day and ordered that it be fasted. This Hadith was collected by Al-Bukhari, Muslim, An-Nasa’i and Ibn Majah.
64. From here on, through the several sections that follow, reference is made to the best
65. We have rendered ‘Al Fir’awn’ as ‘Pharaoh’s people’. This includes the members of the Pharaonic family as well as the aristocracy of Egypt.
66. The test was whether they would emerge from the crucible of persecution as pure gold, or as mere dross. The test also lay, in whether or not, after their miraculous deliverance from so great a calamity, they would become grateful servants of God.
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