Musa (AS) and his people have been rescued from Fir’Awn. As they are coming out of this situation, they see a group of people that are worshipping idols. They have just seen the power and the might of Allah (SWT) but they seem to have this weakness where their faith fluctuates so quickly and wavers so fast. They see people worshipping idols, so they ask Musa (AS), “Give us some idols like this, just like these people have idols; something that we can see and interact with.” Musa (AS) admonished them and said that they were ignorant. Allah (SWT) gave Musa (AS) the chance to have his people be there when he was revealing his message to them, so he chooses 70 people, takes them with him to Mt. Sinai, to Tur Sineen, and there Allah (SWT) speaks to Musa (AS). He gives him the tablets that contain the Tawrah, but these 70 people are still not convinced. They say [“The people of the Book as thee to cause a book to descend to them from heaven: Indeed they asked Moses for an even greater (miracle), for they said: ‘Show us Allah in public,’ but they were dazed for their presumption, with thunder and lighting. Yet they worshipped the calf even after clear signs had come to them; even so we forgave them; and gave Moses manifest proofs of authority.” Surah An-Nisa: 153] “Show Allah to us, right in front of us.” So, Allah (SWT) sent a bolt of lighting and took all of their lives. After Musa (AS) earnestly appealed to Allah (SWT), he brought them back to life so they could see the power of Allah (SWT). While this is going on, in the meantime, though Musa (AS) has left his brother to look after these people, a very large number of them have been tricked by Samiri into worshipping the golden calf. This is after seeing the power and the might of Allah (SWT) repeatedly. Musa (AS) moves with them, he takes them, and he says, “Our destination is the sacred land.” Once they get close to this sacred land of Canaan, Sham, and Quds, he says, “Look, this land has been taken over by the Amaliqa, the Amalekites; we have to go and take it back from them. Allah (SWT) is going to help us, and we just have to go with resolve and move forward and everything else will be looked after.” [“O my people! Enter the holy land which Allah hath assigned unto you, and turn not back ignominiously, for then will ye be overthrown, to your own ruin.” Surah Al-Ma’idah: 21] (It is time for you to enter this sacred land.)
Before this, Allah (SWT) had taken promises from Bani Isra’il, all of this had already happened, but at this moment, they refused to go forward. [“They said: “O Moses! In this land are a people of exceeding strength: Never shall we enter it until they leave it: if (once) they leave, then we shall enter.” Surah Al-Ma’idah: 22] “There are some very strong and powerful people there, and the only way we are going to go is if they leave first.” So, two people from the devout followers of Musa (AS) stood up and they tried to motivate them and tried to instill some spark of faith in them to get them moving, but Bani Isra’il were stubborn and refused to budge on this issue, and they said “We are not going there. As long as those people are there, we will never go. We categorically refuse.” [“Go thou, and thy Lord, and fight ye two, while we sit here (and watch).” Surah Al-Maidah: 24] “You and your lord; we have seen you are very strong, and you are very powerful; why don’t you and your lord go and fight, and we will stay exactly where we are.” Musa (AS) is very worried; he beseeches Allah (SWT) and says, “O Allah, it seems I only have control over myself and my brother.” He is afraid that he will also be grouped with them, so he is asking Allah (SWT) to treat him and his brother based on their intent and based on their belief and actions and not treat them the way these people are acting. Now, Allah (SWT) says that, “Because of this stubbornness, refusal, and cowardice, they are now going to be deprived from this sacred land for 40 years.” [“Allah said: “Therefore will the land be out of their reach for forty years: In distraction will they wander through the land: But sorrow thou not over these rebellious people.” Surah Al-Ma’idah: 26] “Now it is haram for them to enter that land for the next 40 years, so what will they do? They are just going to wander about aimlessly, lost in the desert and the sand.” This was the consequence from Allah (SWT) for refusing to accept his command and fulfill his command even after all that had transpired, all that they had seen with their own eyes. Of course, in these stories are many lessons for us and reflections for us to really think about and ponder and also to think about what we might be doing that might be delaying us from seeing the help of Allah (SWT), from having our problem solved, and what the real obstacles are in our way. These are all moments of reflection.
Now the 40 years of wandering aimlessly begins. Even during this time, though it was a period of punishment, even there Allah (SWT) looked after them. He did not let them perish; in fact, he provided sustenance from the skies, [“And We gave you the shade of clouds and sent down to you Manna and quails, saying: “Eat of the good things We have provided for you:” (But they rebelled); to us they did no harm, but they harmed their own souls.” Surah Al-Baqarah: 57] where there was no means of eating and drinking, yet they showed ingratitude to this. They said, “We’re tired of eating the same thing, we want something different.” Allah (SWT) has provided this to them as a miracle and here they were, not cherishing the one thing Allah (SWT) has given them. When they would be sweltering in the heat of the sun with no shelter, Allah (SWT) would provide special clouds to shield them from the sun; when they were thirsty and they came to Musa (AS) saying, “Get us some water.” Allah (SWT) had Musa (AS) strike a rocky mass, and from there twelve springs, not one, but twelve springs of water burst out, and each tribe got its own spring of water to drink from, and yet, they were still not ready to change their ways. During this period of 40 years, many things happened. One of the incidents that happened just as this journey was starting, just as Musa (AS) was setting out towards the sacred land, he got lost, and no matter what he did, he could not find his way; so he gathered his advisors and asked them, “There is something we are missing; tell me what it is.” This incident is mentioned by our prophet (SAW) in a hadith from Abu Musa Al-Ash’ari (RA) where the prophet (SAW) visited a Bedouin who was very hospitable to the prophet (SAW) and went out of his way to look after the prophet (SAW). The prophet in gratitude said, “If you ever need anything, come and see me.” So, the Bedouin said, “Well, what I need from you is a camel I can ride and some goats that I can milk.” The prophet (SAW) said, “You couldn’t even be like the old woman from Bani Isra’il.” The sahaba who were with the prophet (SAW) asked, “Who was she? What about her?” Then the prophet (SAW) alluded to this incident.
When Musa (AS) was leaving with Bani Isra’il, he got lost. He gathered his people and said, “What is it we are missing?” They said, “Yes, we recall now; when Yusuf (AS) was about to die, he made a will to Bani Isra’il that ‘If ever you leave Egypt, you must not leave until you take my remains with you and bury me there in the sacred land.’” So, Musa (AS) said, “How do we find out where is buried?” They said in response, “There is an old lady who we believe knows the whereabouts of his grave.” So they went to her and asked her, and she said, “I have a demand; there is something that I need from you first.” Musa (AS) said, “Then ask.” and she said, “You have to make du’a to Allah (SWT) that I am with you in Jannah.” This was the old lady that the prophet (SAW) was referring to. “You have to ask Allah (SWT) to keep me with you in Jannah.” And Musa (AS) hesitated, thinking “Is this appropriate or not? Who is this woman?” As he was hesitating, Allah (SWT) sent a wahi to Musa (AS), saying, “You must accept her terms.” Musa (AS) made this du’a, and she led them to a swampy area filled with water and said, “Drain all the water from here.” And after they drained the water, she said “The grave is underneath, now dig.” So, they dug, and they found the grave of Yusuf (AS) and his body, which they transported with them on this journey.
Now, the forty years of punishment have started, and they continue, and during this time, Harun (AS) passes away, and Musa (AS) also passes away, without even entering Bayt Al-Maqdis. What we do know is, in the hadith of Bukhari, the prophet (SAW) says that Musa (AS) asked Allah (SWT) before he passed away that, “O Allah, if you have not written for us to enter into the sacred land because of the sins of Bani Isra’il, then at least allow me to come close to that land, perhaps just a stone’s throw away.” So, Allah (SWT) brought him as close as possible, and the prophet (SAW) said, “If I were there, I would show you his grave, right off of the path, below the dune of red sand. I know where he is buried, and I would show you where he is buried.” But in this way, this time passed, and Bani Isra’il was still lost, until Allah (SWT) finally gave them a way back into that holy land, which we will talk about next, InshaAllah.
