Volume 10 Surah 12 - 15 - Enjoy Islam

Ibrahīm (Abraham) | ONE MESSAGE FOR ALL MANKIND
Moses said to his people: ‘Remember the blessings God bestowed on you when He saved you
from Pharaoh’s people who afflicted you with grievous torment, slaughtered your sons and
spared [only] your women. That was indeed an awesome trial from your Lord. For your Lord
had declared: If you are grateful, I shall certainly give you more; but if you are ungrateful,
then My punishment shall be severe indeed.’ And Moses said: ‘If you and whoever lives on
earth were to deny God, [know that] God is indeed Self-Sufficient, worthy of all praise.’“
(Verses 5-8)
The sūrah uses the same wording to report the instructions given to Moses and
those given to Muĥammad (peace be upon them both), so as to maintain the same
style of expression. Muĥammad is told, “This is a book which We have bestowed on you
from on high so that you might bring forth mankind, by their Lord’s leave, from darkness into
the light.” (Verse 1) Similarly Moses is instructed, “Lead your people out of darkness into
the light.” (Verse 5) The first applies to all mankind, while the second addressed
Moses’s people in particular. The ultimate goal, however, was the same.
“Lead your people out of darkness into the light, and remind them of the Days of God.”
(Verse 5) All days are indeed God’s days, but what is intended here is that he should
remind them of the days when people, or a group of them, encounter a special
situation, reflecting either God’s grace or punishment, as we will see when Moses
carries out this order. He reminds them of some days they themselves had witnessed,
and of others belonging to the time of the peoples of Noah, the ‘Ad, and Thamūd and
other communities that followed them.
“Surely in this there are signs for everyone who is patient in adversity and deeply grateful
[to God].” (Verse 5) Some of these days occasioned adversity, making of them a sign
requiring patience, while others were occasions when God’s grace was bestowed,
and they invite gratitude. A person who qualifies as, ‘patient in adversity, deeply
grateful [to God],’ is the one who recognizes these signs and what lies behind them.
He finds in them lessons to be learnt and reminders to be appreciated.
A Reminder of God’s Favours
Moses began to fulfil his task and remind his people. “Moses said to his people:
‘Remember the blessings God bestowed on you when He saved you from Pharaoh’s people who
afflicted you with grievous torment, slaughtered your sons and spared [only] your women.
That was indeed an awesome trial from your Lord.’“ (Verse 6) He reminds them first of
God’s grace when he delivered them from the great torment inflicted on them by
Pharaoh’s people. That torment was visited on them time after time, with little
reprieve. One of the ghastlier features of that torment was the killing of the male but
not the female population as a means of preventing them from increasing in number.
This aimed to ensure their continued weakness and subjugation. The fact that God
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