The Prophets, Their Lives and Their Stories: Moses: The Pharaoh Wants to Kill Moses and The Believing Man From The Pharaoh Family Defending Him

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The Pharaoh Wants to Kill Moses and The Believing Man From The Pharaoh Family Defending Him When the wizards were defeated and they all believed in Moses and what he had come with and they all fell prostrating to God, most of the people from the Israelites did believe as well so the pharaoh captivated them and used them for hard works and heavy adversities fell upon them, then after years of the signs of dryness, flood, locusts, vermin, frogs, blood, and terror (or pollution), he (the pharaoh) released them for Moses, but the pharaoh did not believe in Moses but insisted on his ideas and his rebellious nature neglecting the signs that Moses brought to him, but his people seduced him to run after Moses blaming him to let Moses go with his people to corrupt the lands as they claimed, and stop working for them as they used to do, and they cut off worshipping the pharaoh, and he (the pharaoh) used to calm them down by promising that he will kill Moses and his people and enslave their women depending on the power of his solders and their numbers and proud of his power, so then the pharaoh and his assistors started with torturing and the Israelites complain to Moses for what they are facing, and Moses call them to have some patience toward this adversity and commanded them to take refuge in God against what is coming in their way and he used to promise them with victory and they said to him: we've been under torture before and after your arrival.
He (Moses) promised them that their enemy will be destroyed and their adversities will be over and that they will rule the lands that it was promised for them, then the pharaoh wanted to kill Moses for he was afraid that he would change their religion and corrupt in the lands as they claim, but Moses (PUH) took refuge in God, the One, against the evil of every one of pride that does not believe in the day of Reckoning. In the chapter of Al-A`raf: The chiefs of Pharaoh's people said: (O King), wilt thou suffer Moses and his people to make mischief in the land, and flout thee and thy gods? He said: We will slay their sons and spare their women, for lo! we are in power over them. And Moses said unto his people: Seek help in Allah and endure. Lo! the earth is Allah's. He giveth it for an inheritance to whom He will. And lo! the sequel is for those who keep their duty (unto Him). They said: We suffered hurt before thou camest unto us, and since thou hast come unto us. He said: It may be that your Lord is going to destroy your adversary and make you viceroys in the earth, that He may see how ye behave(Al-A`râf:127-129). In the chapter of Ghâfir: And verily We sent Moses with Our revelations and a clear warrant. Unto Pharaoh and Haman and Korah, but they said: A lying sorcerer! And when he brought them the Truth from Our presence, they said: Slay the sons of those who believe with him, and spare their women. But the plot of disbelievers is in naught but error. And Pharaoh said: Suffer me to kill Moses, and let him cry unto his Lord. Lo! I fear that he will alter your religion or that he will cause confusion in the land. Moses said: Lo! I seek refuge in my Lord and your Lord from every scorner who believeth not in a Day of Reckoning(Ghâfir:23-27).
Then the pharaoh made a plot with his people to kill Moses and started to watch for opportunities to do so for he was afraid that people would say he was not able to face Moses for his miracles, and Moses turned to be powerful among his people and the believers also, and the pharaoh was afraid of him because all of that, especially the staff and its deeds, and he thinks that if Moses wanted to destroy the pharaoh and his people and every enemy for him (Moses) with that staff he would do it without a doubt, and for this he was afraid of Moses, otherwise, he was a tyrant man, and then supposing that he is much more stronger than Moses and can assassinate him by any way, he was more afraid of the great shame that is to be said that he killed Moses for he could not face him, and what is the guilt of Moses to come with miracles, so then he would be signed with shame among people, especially poor ones.
The the pharaoh gathered for him the wizards but Moses defeated them and they believed in him. Lot of people believed in Moses after that wizards believed in him, thus the pharaoh was afraid to kill him to avoid the response for he had no rights against Moses as they can see and killing Moses might cause them to change their religion as well and doubt about his holiness, and here there was a way for the believing man of the pharaoh family to protect Moses, and he was the maternal cousin of the pharaoh and some say that he was his paternal cousin, and he is Hazaqeel (Ezekiel) (PUH) [The man is supposed to be Egyptian, but the name is of Hebrew origin, but this is how it was mentioned, but it differs from Ezekiel the prophet for sure although the author mentioned "PUH" after his name] and they say that he hid his faith for six hundred years as Taqiyyah [Arabic: Taqiyyah = Preservation, Protection. This action was spread among Shiite people so wide to get along with other communities for the long history of adversities and hostilities against them. It is done by acting, wearing and behaving like the community that a man would live in to get along with people and hide his faith in something], and as attributed to Al-Sâdiq (PUH): the Taqiyyah is of my religion and the religion of my fathers, and there is no religion for the one that has no Taqiyyah, for Taqiyyah is the shield of God on earth, for the believing man of the pharaoh would be killed if he showed his faith, and it is attributed to the prophet (PUH) that he said: the righteous are three and Ezekiel the believing man of the pharaoh family is considered one of them..etc, so Ezekiel in this story was defedning Moses freely for he was not afraid of being charged, for the pharaoh and his people are plotting against Moses.
Since the right is shown to be beside Moses and nothing can beocme higher than him, Ezekiel stood up to protect Moses that God appreciated that for him, and he did well with that fearing no one, and without a doubt he is a believer in Moses and in the Lord of Moses, and he explained for them that it is not approperiate to kill him just because he said that my Lord is "Allah" because his claims do not deserve to be killed for, and he came with his obvious miracles that proves his truthfulness, and then Ezekiel avoided being discovered so he said: if he was a liar then no harm of his lies, and if he was true, then some of his promises would be fullfilled against you, and by saying this he is pulling them gradually toward believing and admitting his truthful calls and proving that they are wrong and to ask them not to be fundamentalists, but the pharaoh opposed him in opinion and said to some people that agree with him against him (Ezekiel), then he (the pharaoh) said: I do but show you what I think, and I do but guide you to wise policy(Ghâfir:29), and the believing man of the pharaoh family did not stop just by telling them his opinion but also called to God and warned them against God's will and what happened to the ancient nations and how God deals with those who disbelieve in His prophets, and He took revenge of Noah's people and drawned them and destroyed A`ad and Þamud, and explained to them what happened to the various nations because of their deeds and reminded them that the calls of Moses are not something new, and Joseph ben Jacob (PUH) came with such tidings and calls before and when he passed away to his Lord they said that God will never send another prophet while before him came his fathers Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac and Jacob, and all of them were prophets and all came with clues and miracles and some of them God had guided and some others were not to be guided at all, and nothing can be hid from God in earth or heaven, and He never neglect the good and bad deeds and rewards everyone according to his deeds, thus believers will be in paradise nad eternal luxury, [some lines come here with tricky order that I could not translate, but it has the meaning of: Ezekiel is calling them to happiness and faith and they are calling to sorrow and hell].
They started to plot against Ezekiel as they did with Moses and they felt that he was believing in the religion of Moses for his obvious defense for Moses but God protected him against their plotting, and his end was to happiness and the pharaoh's end with his people to hell.
In an interpretation for Al-`Askari (PUH) as attributed to his fathers as they reported to Al-Sâdiq (PUH) that he said: Ezekiel, the believing man of the pharaoh family, a believer in the Oneness of God and a believer in the prophecy of Moses, and in preferring Muhammad (PUH) to all prophets and preferring `Ali ben Abi-Tâlib (PUH) and the rest of the Imams (PUT) to all other viceroys and he was a disbeliever in the sacredness of the pharaoh and what his people believe in, so some betrayers betrayed him and told the pharaoh about him and said: Ezekiel calls against you and helps your enemies, so he said to them: he is my cousin and my viceroy over my kingdom so if he did as you said then he deserves the punishment for neglecting my favours towards him and if you were liars then you deserve the extreme punishment for interfering with him, so Ezekiel then brought and was said to him: you disbelieve in the pharaoh and neglect his favours, so Ezekiel said then: O king, did you ever witness my lying? He answered: no, he (Ezekiel) said then: ask them then who is their lord? They all said: the pharaoh, he said then: who is your creator? They said: the pharaoh, he said: who is the one that gives you life and make a living for you and protect you? They said: this pharaoh! Then said Ezekiel: O king then witness and all of the people in your presence that their Lord is my Lord and their Creator is my Creator and the One who makes life for them is the One that makes life for me as well, and I make you witness with all people around you that every other god but their God I do disbelieve in. He said all of that meaning God, the One, the Lord of the worlds.
It is said that then the pharaoh turned his face to the betrayers and said: O people that seek corruption in my kingdom and desire sedition between me and my cousin, you are the ones that desire my punishment for your desires to kill my cousin, and then he ordered to put wedges in their legs and their chests and ordered to brush their bodies with iron brushes, and this is about God's saying: So Allah warded off from him the evils which they plotted, while a dreadful doom encompassed Pharaoh's folk(Ghâfir:45), so their betraying for Ezekiel was a reason for their destruction.
The holy phrases from the chapter of Ghâfir: And a believing man of Pharaoh's family, who hid his faith, said: Would ye kill a man because he saith: My Lord is Allah, and hath brought you clear proofs from your Lord ? If he is lying, then his lie is upon him; and if he is truthful, then some of that wherewith he threateneth you will strike you. Lo! Allah guideth not one who is a prodigal, a liar. O my people! Yours is the kingdom to-day, ye being uppermost in the land. But who would save us from the wrath of Allah should it reach us ? Pharaoh said: I do but show you what I think, and I do but guide you to wise policy. And he who believed said: O my people! Lo! I fear for you a fate like that of the factions (of old); A plight like that of Noah's folk, and A'ad and Thamud, and those after them, and Allah willeth no injustice for (His) slaves(Ghâfir:28-31), until God mentioned what he did say: And verily Joseph brought you of old clear proofs, yet ye ceased not to be in doubt concerning what he brought you till, when he died, ye said: Allah will not send any messenger after him. Thus Allah deceiveth him who is a prodigal, a doubter(Ghâfir:34), and God then said: And he who believed said: O my people! Follow me. I will show you the way of right conduct(Ghâfir:38), and also: And ye will remember what I say unto you. I confide my cause unto Allah. Lo! Allah is Seer of (His) slaves. So Allah warded off from him the evils which they plotted, while a dreadful doom encompassed Pharaoh's folk, The Fire; they are exposed to it morning and evening; and on the day when the Hour upriseth (it is said): Cause Pharaoh's folk to enter the most awful doom(Ghâfir:44-46). In a narration attributed to Al-Sâdiq (PUH) about Ezekiel: by God, they turned him into pieces, but God warded off the evils of being a disbeliever. They said that he hid his faith until Moses appeared and defeated the wizards so he showed his faith with the wizards and so he was crucified with them.
Although Moses was so cautious toward the pharaoh and his tyranny he did not stop calling him to believe in God and work with the righteous religion seeking that if he believed then all people would do so as well because they all follow him, so his wish to make the pharaoh believe was to let all people believe as well, thus all in Egypt would believe in God, so his true gain is to make all people believe in God and His religion and work according to His laws, and Moses increased his calls towards the pharaoh to believe after that wizards believed in him neglecting the tyranny of the pharaoh, and Moses were calling and asking him to believe in God and release the Israelites.
The pharaoh did exaggerate in his response and saw that it is something so great for him to believe in Moses and follow his religion with such power and riches he had and all the people were his slaves, and Egypt with its Nile and its branches that run all over the lands pour into his riches, and so he was taken away with his material soul that sees no dignity except by riches so he said: I am surely better than this fellow, who is despicable and can hardly make (his meaning) plain!(Al-Zokhrof:52), and also said: Why, then, have armlets of gold not been set upon him, or angels sent along with him?(Al-Zokhrof:53), and the damned neglected what Moses brought with him which was greater than what he wished, and if Moses brought what he wished he would still say it is but magic, but he works with his forked tongue in front of the poor people and by these sayings his people did follow him for they used to follow him to wherever he wants and so they sold their after-life and their religion and their souls for the sake of the life of the pharaoh and so they lost the life and the after-life and this is the great loss, and that made him gather the people from every where and say to them: I (Pharaoh) am your Lord the Highest. God did tell his story in the chapter of Al-Zokhrof: And Pharaoh caused a proclamation to be made among his people saying: O my people! Is not mine the sovereignty of Egypt and these rivers flowing under me? Can ye not then discern? I am surely better than this fellow, who is despicable and can hardly make (his meaning) plain! Why, then, have armlets of gold not been set upon him, or angels sent along with him? Thus he persuaded his people to make light (of Moses), and they obeyed him. Lo! they were a wanton folk(Al-Zokhrof:51-54). And in the chapter of Al-Nâzi`ât: Then turned he away in haste, Then gathered he and summoned, And proclaimed: "I (Pharaoh) am your Lord the Highest." So Allah seized him (and made him) an example for the after (life) and for the former(Al-Nâzi`ât:22-25), and the former is when he said: I know not that ye have a god other than me, and the after (life) is when he said: I (Pharaoh) am your Lord the Highest. Thus, when pride conquered the pharaoh with tyranny and rebelled against the commandment of God and exaggerated in disbelieving Moses and kept on torturing the Israelites and humiliating them, God then ordered Moses to tell the pharaoh and his people that God will reveal His punishment upon them, and thus whenever an adversity comes over them they knew its reason and it is only because of the prays of Moses and he had promised them with that, so they had to come to Moses and promise him with believing in God to have a relief, and when God take off His punishment they would get back to tyranny, and so on until the great adversity fell upon them and that is by drawning the pharaoh and his people and destroying them, and that was the great happy tidings for the Israelites in this life for their victory and been safe and the destruction of their enemy.
The adversities that came over them after that Moses showed his miracles and clues are: the dry years, loss of plants, flood, locusts, vermin, frogs, blood and terror (or pollution), and before that the staff and the hand, and they are nine and Moses had lot of miracles before these previous miracles and after the death of the pharaoh and we will point out the strangest of them so just wait. Some concluded that these previously mentioned miracles are not the same as the miracles that Moses was sent with to the Israelites, and that by God's saying: Do but ask the Children of Israel how he came unto them(Al-Isrâ':101), and the miracles (or tokens) that are special for the Israelites are considered to be laws and regulations as it is mentioned that a jew asked the prophet (PUH) about these phrases (or tokens) so he (PUH) said: they are: do not believe in other god but the Lord, do not steal, do not commit adultery, do not kill the soul that God fobade unless by a right, do not take an innocent man to the ruler to kill him, do not commit magic and witchcraft, do not deal in usury, do not claim bad things on a faithful woman, do not escape from fighting, and for you jews in special do not transgress the Sabbath, so when the prophet (PUH) finished his talk the jew man stood up and took his hand and kissed it and said: I swear that you are a prophet.
Thus, the miracles or phrases that are special for the Israelites were as regulations and laws for all people of all creeds and religions that were before them or that will be after them until the doomsday which are fixed in all religions, and what we believe is that everything that Moses brought of regulations was for all sane persons of coptic people or the Israelites and others as well of djinn and human beings, because his regulations are for the public and it banishes what came before it, and for no doubt Moses is considered one of stout of heart among the messengers [messangers of stout hearts is an expression used to denote prophets or messangers that their message and religion was for all people and not only one tribe or nation, and they are five: Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad (PUT)], for he is a messanger in the first place from God to Egypt, to the pharaoh and Haman and Korah and to release the Israelites from the hands of the tyrant pharaoh, and in reality he is a messanger to all people that do understand at his time and so on until his religion is to be changed and banished by another prophet that God would send after him, and it had been banished with religions that came after by the religion of Islam by the hands of its prophet, the Hashimite, may peace be upon him and upon his Household and upon the rest of the messangers and prophets.
We say also that everyone had to ask for a miracle as a proof for what he came with, and the Israelite is like anyone else to ask for miracles and the regulations and laws for all, and as for the pharaoh and his tyranny he was faced with miracles such as the staff and others in public, and this is by God's saying: Go thou unto Pharaoh! Lo! he hath transgressed (the bounds)(TaHa:24), do not be confused. Look to the many doubts of the Israelites and they had like any other nation, the believer and the hypocrite, and when they went out of the sea after the destruction of their enemy, they saw some people worshipping an idol for them so then they said to Moses: O Moses! Make for us a god even as they have gods(Al-A`râf:138), and when Moses went away from them to get the commandments from God they rebelled against his viceroy, his brother Aaron, and followed As-Samiri (the Samarian) with the worshipping of the calf, and the Samarian was one of them, and Korah was also one of them, so notice, but they had been divided to many branches as well as nations before, and so all of that requires a miracle to be shown up for them, or even for some special people of them as well as it was done with others before, and they did take refuge in him because of their adversities only, but we do not deny that there are faithful believers that were waiting for him to appear as we've mentioned before, and they had to ask for miracle as well, and what was mentioned of holy phrases are all mentioned in the chapters of Al-A`râf, Al-Isrâ', TaHa, Al-Naml, Al-Qasas, Al-Zokhrof, Al-Qamar, Al-Nâzi`ât and so on and they are all give the brightest clues for the noble thinker and would make his darkness brighter and they are a refreshment for the heart, so how great are these miracles and holy phrases that leave no excuse.

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