Islam - Children's Corner

Prophet Musa (alayhis salam)

In the land of Egypt where the children of Ibrahim (alayhis salam), Yaqub (alayhis salam) and Yusuf (alayhis salam) once lived, there reigned an evil, wicked Pharaoh.

One day, this wicked Pharaoh ordered that all boys descended from Yusuf (alayhis salam) should be killed. He gave this order because he did not want Yusuf (alayhis salam)s children to increase and become more powerful than his own people.

It was at this dangerous time that the baby Musa (alayhis salam) was born. Allah sent a message to his mother, telling her to place little Musa (alayhis salam) in a small basket and put the basket on the river. That way, Musa (alayhis salam) would escape the dreadful fate which Pharaoh had decreed.

The basket with the little child in it was found by the Pharaohs wife. She was kind and good-hearted and took Musa (alayhis salaam) into the palace.

Nobody knew who his parents were, but the Pharaohs wife wanted to keep him, so she looked for a foster mother to nurse him. Allah then caused Musa (alayhis salam)s own mother to be brought into the palace so that she could be chosen as Musa(Alaih Assalaam)s foster mother. So the baby Musa (alayhis salam)s life was saved, and through the help of Allah, he was given back to his own mother.

Musa (alayhis salam) was brought up in Pharaohs palace and had the best teachers to educate him. They made a clever and capable man out of him.

As Musa (alayhis salam)grew up to be a man, he had to leave Pharaohs land on a journey. On the way, he passed by a well where the shepherds gave water to their sheep. Musa (alayhis salam) found there two women who also wanted to give their sheep water to drink. But they could not reach the water before the shepherds had taken their flocks away from the well.

Musa (alayhis salam) helped them to give water to their herd and when the two women returned home, they told their old father what had happened. He sent one of them back to invite Musa (alayhis salam) to come to their house.

Later the father offered him one of his daughters to take for his wife, and Musa (alayhis salam) accepted. Afterwards, Musa (alayhis salam) led a happy life with his family and the old father by the well.

Some years later, Musa (alayhis salam) and his family were traveling in the country, when suddenly, he saw a big fire. He told his family to stay where they were and went on his own to find out about the fire.

As Musa (alayhis salam) approached, he heard a voice:

O Musa! the voice said, I am Allah, your Lord. I am going to make you my Prophet. You must go to the people and tell them that there is only one God, Allah, Who created them. So they must be grateful and pray only to Allah and strive to do good. Take your brother Harun (alayhis salam) with you and go to the Pharaoh and his people and give them My message.

Musa (alayhis salam) went to Egypt and told Pharaoh: Allah, Who is the Lord of the worlds, has sent me to you. I am Allahs messenger and I bring the truth to you. You should set free the children of Yusuf (alayhis salam), who are being oppressed in this land, and let them come away with me.

When Pharaoh heard this, he became furious and shouted: You lie! No-one except I, the great Pharaoh of Egypt, is the lord of the world. I am the most powerful king on earth. You must be out of your mind to dare to say otherwise. If you disobey me, I will throw you into prison!

But Musa (alayhis salam) was not frightened by Pharaohs anger or his words. With the help of Allah I shall show you that Allah is more powerful than all men and also more powerful than you, he told the Pharaoh.

Musa (alayhis salam) then took his stick and threw it onto the ground. At once, the stick turned into a long thick curling snake.

You are obviously a magician, said the Pharaoh when he saw this. I will call together all the magicians in my land, and then we will see who can make better magic, they or you.

So, all the magicians were summoned to the Pharaohs palace. They had many sticks with them, and they turned them into snakes.

But then Musa (alayhis salam) threw his stick once more onto the ground, and once more it turned into a snake. This snake swallowed up all the snakes which the magicians had made.

The magicians were impressed: We believe truly in Allah, Who has sent Musa(alayhis salam) as His prophet, they said, Allah is really and truly much more powerful than all or any of us.

The Pharaoh was furious. He said: Do you want to believe in something before I give you permission to believe it? You will all have your hands and feet chopped off as punishment! he shouted at the magicians.

Do you want to take revenge on us just because we believe in Allahs signs? the magicians replied. Whatever you do to us, we will still turn to Allah. May Allah have mercy on us and help us to be patient and steadfast.

In this way the magicians, who were greedy men, were turned into good and faithful servants of Allah.

Now Musa (alayhis salam) went to the descendants of Yusuf who were suffering much oppression under the rule of the evil Pharaoh. He told them: We shall go away from Egypt. But after they had departed, Pharaoh and his soldiers went after them to fetch them back.

Musa (alayhis salam) and his people sped on their journey until they finally reached the sea. By this time, though, Pharaoh and his soldiers were approaching and the people grew terribly afraid.

But Allah came to their rescue. He divided the water into two, so that Musa (alayhis salam) and his people could walk through the middle to get across the sea. when Pharaoh and his soldiers reached the sea, they of course rode after them. But they could not reach Musa (alayhis salam) and his people before they came to the other side.

Suddenly, while Pharaoh and his soldiers were still riding across the sea bed, the waters came flowing back, and all of them were drowned.

Allah had thus saved Musa (alayhis salam) and his people because they worshipped Him alone. Pharaoh, who refused to believe in Allah and who was proud and even wanted to throw Musa (alayhis salam) into prison, was left to drown.

After their escape, Musa (alayhis salam) and his people wandered in the desert for many years.
One day, Musa (alayhis salam) received Allah's order to climb a high mountain.

Musa (alayhis salam) was to stay there for forty days and nights praying to Allah and listening to what Allah would tell him and his people. But forty days and nights seemed a log time and while Musa (alayhis salam) was away, his people became impatient.

They decided to make a calf out of gold and worship it!. When Musa (alayhis salam) came down from the mountain, he saw the calf and became very angry. He smashed the calf into a thousand pieces and scolded his people so much that they felt ashamed of themselves. You must never, ever worship anything else apart from Allah, Musa (alayhis salam) instructed them.

Musa (alayhis salam) had brought a book to his people which Allah had revealed to him on the mountain. This book is called the Taurat. In the Taurat, it is stated what men should not do. They must never worship anything else apart from Allah.

They must never kill a fellow man. They must not take things which do not belong to them. They must be good to their parents and to one another.

Musa (alayhis salam)s people understood now that they had been very ungrateful to Allah, for it was Allah who had saved them from Pharaoh and his soldiers. They prayed to Allah and thanked Him for what He had done for them. They asked for His forgiveness and made a promise that they would strive hard to do good deeds.

Allah forgives those who are ashamed for the bad deeds they have done, and are willing to correct their mistakes and return to Allah.

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