The story of women's suffering in the time of Moses, peace be upon him
The suffering of the mother of Moses, peace be upon him
Umm Musa was among the women who were subjected to severe suffering at the hands of Pharaoh and his soldiers
Our Lord Almighty mentioned to us the suffering of Moses’ mother in the Qur’an in more than one surah
And He said, Glory be to Him
We have favored you once again
When We revealed to your mother what was revealed
He was saved in the ark, so he was saved in the sea
Let the sea attack him with a weapon, so that an enemy of mine and an enemy of his may seize him
And I bestowed upon you love from me, and let it be done before my eyes
When your sister walks by, she says, “Shall I direct you to someone who will sponsor him?”
So we returned you to your mother so that her eyes would be comforted and she would not be sad
And you killed a soul, so We saved you from distress and tested you with tribulations
So I stayed with the people of Midian for years, then I came to a destination, O Musa
And the Almighty said
And We inspired Moses’ mother to breastfeed her
If you fear for him, then throw him into the river and do not be afraid or sad
If we see him to you and make him one of the messengers
So Pharaoh's family picked him up to make them an enemy and a grief because Pharaoh, Haman, and their soldiers were wrong
And Pharaoh's wife said, "He is the apple of your eye, for me and for you. Do not kill him. Perhaps he will benefit us, or we will adopt him as a son while they do not realize."
Umm Musa's heart became empty
She almost would have done so had We not tied her heart to her so that she would be among the believers
She said to his sister, “Cut him.” She saw him from the side while they did not realize
We had forbidden wet nurses to him before, so she said, “Should I direct you to a family who will be sufficient for you and are sincere to him?”
So we returned it to his mother so that her eyes would be comforted and that she would not be sad and that she would know that God’s promise is true, but most of them do not know
God only mentioned to us the suffering of Moses’ mother in the Qur’an so that we could take a lesson and a sermon from her regarding steadfastness in the truth before the Pharaohs of the time.
So be patient, my sister, and stand firm on the truth, no matter what suffering you are going through because of your enemy’s hatred for this religion
Umm Musa's suffering went through several different stages
The first stage is the duration of pregnancy, which is the anxiety that continued with her throughout the pregnancy as she sees and hears what Pharaoh’s thugs do, spying on women.
Spying on them to find out which of them are pregnant, they monitor them until they give birth, then kill their child if it is a boy
She tried to hide her pregnancy so that no one would know about it, and this was a great suffering that lasted nine months
Ibn Kathir, may God have mercy on him, said: They mentioned that when Pharaoh killed many of the males of the Children of Israel, the Copts feared that the Children of Israel would be annihilated.
They were subjected to the hard work they had been subjected to, so they said to Pharaoh, “If this situation continues, it is likely that their old men will die and their young men will be killed.”
Their women cannot do the work that their men do for us, so that would end to us
So he ordered that the children be killed in a year and that they be left alone in the year of Harun’s death, peace be upon him, in the year in which they leave the children
Moses mentioned in the year in which they kill newborns, and Pharaoh had people appointed for that and midwives who would approach the women.
Whoever saw that she had become pregnant, they counted her name. If at the time of her birth, only Coptic women would accept her, and if the woman gave birth to a slave girl, they would leave her and go.
And if she gave birth to a boy, those slaughterers would enter with their delicate hands and kill him, and their ugliness would go away, may God Almighty
The second stage of suffering after giving birth to Moses, peace be upon him, was fear, anxiety, and mirth
A tired psychological state with postpartum pain and the psychological state resulting from postpartum
The reason is the constant inspection by the tyrant Pharaoh's thugs and their raiding and searching of homes
Searching for male children and killing them in front of their mothers
The nation of Moses must have heard the stories of the children who were killed by Pharaoh’s slaves and how they were killed
How was the killing of their mothers? Such news was widespread at that time
Because of the large number of killings that Pharaoh inflicted on the children of Israel
Imagine such events in the heart, thought, and mind of Musa’s mother, and they were very likely
Imagine if this happened to her child, it would hurt her and increase her suffering
If the mothers rejoice at the birth of a boy, especially if he is her firstborn
Because they feel the support coming to them after the death of his father or his weakness
Musa's mother was contrary to that, as she was plagued by fear and turmoil
There is confusion about how to dispose of this newborn and hide it from the eyes of Pharaoh’s captives
Ibn Katheer, may God have mercy on him, said: When Musa’s mother, peace be upon him, became pregnant with him
She did not have any illusions of pregnancy like others, and her midwife did not stop her
But when she gave birth to him as a male, she was fed up with him and was extremely afraid for him
She loved him with an abundance of love, and no one saw Moses, peace be upon him, but loved him
The happy one is the one whom he loves, of course and by law, God Almighty said
And I showered my love on you
With this suffering that Umm Musa is going through, relief comes from God Almighty
With a revelation that God reveals to her and casts within her soul, God Almighty said
And We inspired Moses' mother to breastfeed him
If you fear for him, then throw him into the river and do not be afraid or sad
If they return him to you and make him one of the messengers
Al-Tahir bin Ashour, may God have mercy on him, said: The revelation here is the revelation of true inspiration
It is the imprint of a meaning in the soul that resonates with the soul of the person being addressed
So that he is certain of his success in it, and that is by the grace of God Almighty
It may be by way of a good vision that makes the person believe that it is true
Ibn Taymiyyah, may God have mercy on him, said: The Almighty said
And when I inspired the disciples to believe in Me and My Messenger
And God Almighty said: We inspired Moses’ mother to breastfeed him
Rather, God Almighty said and revealed about every heaven its command
And God Almighty said: And your Lord revealed to the bees
This revelation is for people other than the prophets, and it occurs during wakefulness and sleep
It may be the sound of a telephone. The sound is in the person’s soul, not outside of himself, while awake and asleep
It may also be the light that he sees within himself
This is the level of revelation that occurs within himself without hearing the voice of an angel in the lowest and last ranks
This was the beginning of the relief for this suffering that Umm Musa was going through
But it was not the end of the suffering
The story of women's suffering in the time of Moses
The suffering that a person experiences may appear as it disappears or diminishes
But it goes back again to a wisdom taught by the Creator, Glory be to Him
What was the third suffering that Umm Musa suffered?
How did she act with this inspiration that God gave her?
We will continue in the next meeting, God willing, and praise be to God, Lord of the worlds
The story of women's suffering in the time of Moses, peace be upon him