The Women in the Life of the Prophet Moses (1/2)

The Women Surrounding the Prophet Moses (Musa) in the Qur'an

The Qur'an tells the stories of several women connected with Moses:[1] mother, sister, foster mother, and wife. His foster mother was the righteous wife of the tyrannical Pharaoh; it was she who saved his life and raised him from infancy "under God's eye" in the household of God's enemy. Moses' wife was the daughter of an old Madyanite flockherder in whose service he spent some years before God's initiation of his prophethood. The Qur'anic revelations on the events in Moses' life in which these women played a part belong into the middle Meccan and late Meccan periods. Only the verse on Pharaoh's wife whose righteousness is revealed as "an example to the believers" (Surah At-Tahrim, 66: 11) is dated into the late Medinan period, and there she is linked with the virgin Mary (Surah At-Tahrim, 66: 12).

The Qur'an tells that Pharaoh had elevated himself in the land of Egypt and had broken up its people into fragmented groups. Of these, he oppressed a small minority, the Israelites, killing their sons (or: men) and keeping their daughters (or: women) alive (Surah Al-Qasas, 28:4; Surah Ibrahim, 14:6; Surah Ghafir, 40:25; Surah Al-A'raf, 7:127,141; Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:49). "To release the Children of Israel from their bondage and defeat Pharaoh, Haman, and their hosts" (Surah Al-Qasas, 28:5-6), God sent an inspiration to the mother of Moses that she should throw her child into a "chest" (or "ark," tabut)[2] and the chest into the river, which would cast it upon the bank, so that he would be taken in by "an enemy of God and an enemy to Moses" (Surah Ta-Ha, 20:38-39).  “God also inspired Moses' mother to suckle the child; but when afraid for his life, she should cast him into the river without fear or sadness, since God would restore him to her and make him one of His messengers.” (Surah Al-Qasas, 28:7). Pharaoh's family rescued Moses "in order that he would be their enemy and a cause of sorrow for them, because Pharaoh and Haman and their hosts were men of sin" (Surah Al-Qasas, 28:8). “Pharaoh's wife found joy in the infant and prevailed on the Pharaoh not to kill him, saying that he would be useful to them or they might adopt him as a son.”[3] (Surah Al-Qasas, 28:9). “But Moses' (natural) mother was grieving and almost told about him, had not God strengthened her heart so that she remained a firm believer.” (Surah Al-Qasas, 28: 10). “Moses' mother told his sister to follow the baby and observe all that was happening while no one knew who she was.” (Surah Al-Qasas, 28: 11). “God ordained that the child Moses refused to nurse until his sister recommended their mother as nursemaid for him. In this manner, Moses' mother was reunited with her son.” (Surah Ta-Ha, 20: 40; Surah Al-Qasas, 28: 12-13). Moses' foster mother, the Pharaoh's wife, was a righteous woman, "an example for the believers. She prayed to God to build her a house with Him in paradise, deliver her from the Pharaoh and his doings, and deliver her from the sinful people."[4] (Surah At-Tahreem, 66: 11).

 “When Moses had reached adulthood, God bestowed power of judgment and knowledge on him” (Surah Al-Qasas, 28:14). “Then he killed an unbeliever” (Surah Al-Qasas, 28:15-16); he fled from Egypt and stayed for a number of years with the people of Madyan (Surah Al-Qasas, 28: 15-22; Surah Ta-Ha, 20:40). “When he first arrived at the watering place in Madyan, he found there some men who were watering their flocks, and also two women who kept their flocks back. These said that they could not water their animals until the shepherds were done with their work; and they added that their father was a very old man” (Surah Al-Qasas, 28:23). “Moses watered the women's animals for them, and one of them returned to him, walking bashfully, and invited him to her father's house” (Surah Al-Qasas, 28: 24-25). “One of the two women then said to her father that he should hire Moses, because he was strong and trustworthy” (Surah Al-Qasas, 28:26). “The patriarch wedded one of his daughters to Moses on condition that he serve him for eight or ten years, and Moses accepted” (Surah Al-Qasas, 28:27-28). “When Moses had fulfilled the term and was travelling with his family, he perceived a fire (in the direction of Mount Tur) and told his family to stay behind while he would go to obtain some tiding of the way there, or a burning brand to light their fire and warm them” (Surah Ta-Ha, 20:10; Surah An-Naml, 27:7; Surah Al-Qasas, 28:29). But when he reached the fire, a voice told him that he was in the presence of God (Surah An-Naml, 27:8-9). The voice commanded that he take off his shoes because he was in the Lord's presence in the sacred valley of Tuwa” (Surah Ta-ha, 20: 12). “He heard a voice from the right bank of the valley, from a tree in hallowed ground, which called to him: "Moses, verily I am God, the Lord of the Worlds"” (Surah Al-Qasas, 28:30). Thus began the prophethood of Moses.

The Women Surrounding the Prophet Moses in Islamic Interpretation

Moses' father is identified as Amram [Imran],[5] chief of the Israelites. When the Egyptian Pharaoh had a dream that his rule would be ended by a child, he had the Israelite male children in Egypt "and their mothers" killed to ensure that his reign would endure. Seventy thousand Israelite male babies and twelve thousand Israelite mothers are said to have been slaughtered. Amram, however, was appointed the Pharaoh's grand vizier and became "imprisoned" in the palace.[6] Moses' mother conceived this child close to the purple, in Pharaoh's own bedroom.   This  occurred  when  Amram,  while  sitting  at the  head  of Pharaoh's  bed  as was his custom,  saw his wife arrive  on the wing  of a bird;  he lay with  her  on  Pharaoh's   rug,  and  then  the  bird   carried   her  back  to  her  own house.[7] Ibn Kathir reports that the woman showed   no signs of her pregnancy which thus escaped detection.[8] The argument that her husband was "imprisoned" in the castle, however, did not hold back the Egyptian soldiers in search of newborn Israelite males. Legend  tells  that  Moses'   mother  used  to  secretly hide  the infant  in the oven when  she had to go  out on an errand.  One day her daughter lit a roaring fire in the oven where Moses was, and the military search party did not detect him.  The baby was miraculously saved and called to his mother to pull him out of the blaze.[9] Then God inspired her![10]  to save her son by placing  him in an ark and  casting  the  ark on  the waters  of the Nile where it drifted  for forty  days, or three,  or one  night.[11] When the ark was retrieved by Pharaoh's folk and opened,[12] the light of prophethood was seen shining on the baby's face. Then  they  searched  for a nursemaid for him,  and through his sister's clever intervention the child's  own  mother  was hired  to nurse him, either  in the  royal  palace[13] or in her  own  home.[14]

From among the women associated with Moses, exegetic literature places the greatest emphasis on Pharaoh's wife. Her name is given as Asya. She was either  the daughter   of Muzahim  ibn Ubayd  ibn al-Rayyan   ibn al-Walid,  Pharaoh  in the time of the prophet  Joseph,  or she was an Israelite  of Moses'  tribe, perhaps  his paternal  aunt or first cousin.[15] She was one of the four most beautiful women ever created.[16] Miraculous events surrounded her birth and early life. Her marriage  to the infidel  Pharaoh  was a sacrifice she made for the safety of her people,  but  this marriage  was never  consummated   since God  struck  the Pharaoh   with  impotence.[17] It was Asya who  saved  the  child  Moses  from  the river, brought him up in her palace,  and  protected   him  against  her  husband's murderous wrath  on  many  occasions.  Her  martyr's   death  occurred  after  Pharaoh  had killed a number  of believers  in the palace,  among  them  a ladies'  maid, her children,  and her husband; [18] when  Asya picked  up an iron stake  to avenge these innocent  victims, the Pharaoh  had her tortured  to death.  Iron stakes were driven into her breast, but Gabriel arrived with glad tidings that she would be joining Muhammad in paradise.  He gave  her nectar  from  paradise  and  gently took  her  soul so that  she felt no pain  from  Pharaoh's torture.  Her last words were those of Qur’an, Surah At-Tahreem, 66: 11.[19]

Ibn Kathir, recording medieval  traditions  on God's  special  recompense   for this  believing  woman, speaks  of Asya as one of the  Prophet's celestial   wives,  supreme   honor   that  she  will  share  with  the Prophet's   earthly  wives and  also the virgin Mary. [20] A number of traditions on the authority of the Prophet establish that Asya and Mary, Muhammad's wife Khadija bint Khuwaylid and Muhammad’s daughter Fatima are "the best women of the world" and also "the ruling females in heaven.” [21]  While Asya's and Mary's merit  is established on the  basis of the  Qur'an (Surah At-Tahreem, 66:11-12),  Khadija's   merit  is seen in her support  of the Prophet   from  the  day they  met to the day she died. Fatima's  merit  (in  Sunni  exegesis)  lies in  her  grief  over  the  Prophet's  death whom of all his children she alone survived. (In Shi'i tradition, the theme of Fatima, "mistress of sorrows," is much more prominent, and the figures of Fatima and Mary bear many similarities).[22]

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