Tafsir of Surah Al-Qasas - Verse 18

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.

The next day Moses found that the same Israelite was fighting with another Egyptian. This gave a clear indication that he was a quarrelsome person and was in the habit of picking quarrels with someone or the other every day. So, inspite of his being an Israelite, Moses held him guilty. The proof of the Israelite’s being guilty was further strengthened by the fact that, when the Israelite found that Moses was not supporting him on that day and was on the contrary blaming him, he stooped to meanness. In an irresponsible manner, he revealed the secret of the previous day’s killing, which till then had not come to anybody’s knowledge. When the killer’s name was made public by the Israelite, many people heard about it. In a few days the news spread everywhere. Ultimately, there was a discussion among the rulers about killing Moses. One virtuous man who came to know about it, met Moses secretly and advised him that it would be better if he went away. So, he left Egypt and set forth for Midian (Madyan). Midian was situated on the west coast of the Gulf of Aqaba and outside the limits of Pharaoh’s empire.