Transliteration:( Wa dakhalal madeenata 'alaa heene ghaflatim min ahlihaa fawajada feeha raju laini yaqtatilaani haazaa min shee'atihee wa haaza min 'aduwwihee fastaghaasahul lazee min shee'atihee 'alal lazee min 'aduwwihee fawakazahoo Moosaa faqadaa 'alaihi qaala haaza min 'amalish Shaitaani innahoo 'aduwwum mmudillum mubeen )
"And he entered the city [36] at a time when the people were unaware, and found there two men fighting [37]; one was from his own people, and the other was from his enemies. The one who was from his own people called for help [38] against the one from his enemies. Then Musa struck him [39] and killed him [40]. He said, 'This is of Satan’s doing [41]; indeed, he is an enemy, a clear misleader [42].'"
Musa entered the city during a quiet time, likely afternoon, when roads were deserted. Some reports say he entered from Firawn’s fort or cities like Manaf or Ain Shams, which bordered Egypt.
He encountered two men in a quarrel—an Israelite and a Qibti—highlighting the daily oppression Bani Isra’il faced under the rule of Firawn’s people.
The Israelite, identified as Saman, called Musa for help. Though from his people, he later became a cause of deviation. The Qibti, named Fatoon, was a palace chef forcing labor on the Israelite.
Musa attempted to intervene peacefully but, when ignored, struck the Qibti with a powerful slap, intending only to stop the aggression.
The Qibti died instantly, a sign of Musa’s divinely gifted strength. The death was unintended, showing the physical might given to Allah’s prophets.
Musa recognized that the root of such oppression was Satanic influence, not the just response to it. The cruelty of the Qibti was a result of Satan’s mischief.
Satan is described as a clear misleader, especially over the Qibtees, who were deceived into arrogance and injustice through his influence.
The tafsir of Surah Qasas verse 15 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Qasas ayat 14 which provides the complete commentary from verse 14 through 19.
(28:15) Once he entered the city at a time when its people were heedless,[20] and he encountered two men fighting, one of whom belonged to his own people and the other to his foes. Now the man belonging to Moses’ own people cried out to him for help against the man from the foes, and Moses struck him with his fist[21] and finished him. Moses said: “This is an act of Satan. Surely he is an enemy who openly misleads.”[22]
20. It might be the early morning, or midday in summer, or night in winter, when the roads were deserted and there was all quiet in the city. The words “entered the city” indicate that the royal palaces were situated outside the capital, away from the common population. The words used are “entered the city” and not “came out in the city”, because the Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) lived in the royal palace.
21. The word wakaza in the original means both giving a slap and giving a blow. We have adopted “Moses gave a blow” for the reason that a blow can cause death but not a slap.
22. One can imagine the state of utter remorse and confusion in which the Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) uttered these words when he saw the Egyptian fall down after receiving the blow and breathe his last. He had no intention to murder, nor is a blow struck to kill, nor can one expect that a healthy person would die on receiving a blow. That is why the Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) exclaimed: “This is the work of Satan! He has made me do this in order to work some great mischief, so that I am accused of killing an Egyptian while defending an Israelite, and a violent storm of anger and indignation is aroused in the whole of Egypt not only against me but the whole Israelite community.” In this connection, the Bible gives a different version from the Quran. It declares the Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) to be guilty of willful murder. It says that when Moses saw an Egyptian and an Israelite fighting, “He (Moses) looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, He slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.” (Exodus 2: 12). The same is the version of the Talmud also. Now anybody can see how the Israelites brand the characters of their elders with infamy and how the Quran exonerates them. The verdict of common sense also is that a wise and discreet person, who was to become a great Prophet in the future, and who had to give man a great code of law and justice, could not be such a blind nationalist that seeing a member of his own community fighting with a man of the other community, he would be so infuriated that he would kill the other person willfully. Evidently, it could not be lawful to kill the Egyptian only for the sake of rescuing an Israelite from his tyranny.
[1097]- i.e., during the noon period of rest.
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