Tafsir

How the Secret of this Killing became known

Allah tells us that when Musa killed that Coptic,فِى الْمَدِينَةِ خَآئِفاً(he became afraid in the city) meaning, of the consequences of his action,يَتَرَقَّبُ(looking about) means, turning around and watching out, waiting for the consequences of his action to befall him. He went out and about, and saw the man who sought his help the day before, fighting with another Coptic. When Musa passed by him, he called for his help again, against this other Coptic. Musa said to him:إِنَّكَ لَغَوِىٌّ مُّبِينٌ(Verily, you are a plain misleader!) meaning, `you obviously lead people astray and are very evil.' Then Musa intended to attack that Coptic, but the Israelite -- because of his own cowardice and weakness -- thought that Musa wanted to hit him because of what he had said, so he said, in self-defence --يمُوسَى أَتُرِيدُ أَن تَقْتُلَنِى كَمَا قَتَلْتَ نَفْساً بِالاٌّمْسِ(O Musa!

Is it your intention to kill me as you killed a man yesterday) Nobody except him and Musa, peace be upon him, knew about it, but when the other Coptic heard this, he took the news to Fir`awn's gate and told him about it. So Fir`awn came to know of it, and he became very angry and resolved to kill Musa, so he sent people after him to bring him to him.

قَالَ رَ‌بِّ بِمَا أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيَّ فَلَنْ أَكُونَ ظَهِيرً‌ا لِّلْمُجْرِ‌مِينَ (He [ Musa ] said, "0 my Lord, since You have favoured me, I will never be a supporter to the sinners." -28:17). When Allah Ta’ ala pardoned this slip of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) he said in gratitude to Allah Ta` ala that he would never again help a criminal. The second incident of the quarrel had proved that the Isra'ili in whose defense Musa (علیہ السلام) had involved himself in the brawl was quarrelsome. Therefore, by declaring him a criminal he vowed not to help such a person again. Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ while explaining this verse, has maintained that the word 'criminals' stands here for infidels. Qatadah has also interpreted the verse in almost the same way. On the basis of these commentaries it seems that actually the Isra'ili, whom Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) had defended, was not a Muslim but he helped him considering that he was an oppressed person.

Rulings

It is worth noting here that this saying of Musa (علیہ السلام) has established two rulings about two issues. One, that even if an oppressed person is a sinner or infidel, he should be helped. The second ruling is that it is not permitted to help any criminal or oppressor. Scholars have argued on the basis of this verse that working in the employment of cruel rulers is also not permitted, for they too would be regarded as their associates. Many citations from the righteous salaf (elders) have also been quoted in support of this argument. (Ruh u1-Ma’ ani) To provide support to the oppressors or to the infidels may take different forms. The different rulings about these forms are laid down in the books of fiqh in detail. This humble writer has also dealt with the subject in his Arabic book Ahkamul-Qur'an with greater elaboration. The scholars interested in the subject may consult it.

فلما أن أراد موسى أن يبطش بالقبطي، قال: يا موسى أتريد أن تقتلني كما قتلت نفسًا بالأمس؟ ما تريد إلا أن تكون طاغية في الأرض، وما تريد أن تكون من الذين يصلحون بين الناس.

فقال يدفع عن نفسه : ( يا موسى أتريد أن تقتلني كما قتلت نفسا بالأمس ) وذلك لأنه لم يعلم به إلا هو وموسى ، عليه السلام ، فلما سمعها ذلك القبطي لقفها من فمه ، ثم ذهب بها إلى باب فرعون فألقاها عنده ، فعلم بذلك ، فاشتد حنقه ، وعزم على قتل موسى ، فطلبوه فبعثوا وراءه ليحضروه لذلك .