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Draft:Killing the Egyptian

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Killing the Egyptian by Prophet Moses (a) is a narrative featured among the Quranic stories. Moses (a) resided in the palace of Pharaoh.[1] One day, a conflict erupted in the city between an individual from the Banu Israel and an Egyptian.[2] Intervening to assist the Israelite, Moses (a) struck the Egyptian, a blow that resulted in the latter's death.[3] As news of the fatality spread throughout the city, Pharaoh's retinue began to pursue Moses (a), compelling him to flee Egypt.[4] This event is recounted in Qur'an 28:15–16 and Qur'an 26:20.[5]

Certain Sunni commentators interpret the killing of the Egyptian by Moses (a) as evidence against the absolute infallibility of the prophets, specifically regarding Moses (a).[6] They argue that if the Egyptian deserved death,[7] there would be no reason for Moses (a) to characterize the act as "Satan's doing"[8] or "wronging oneself."[9] Conversely, if the man did not deserve death, the act would be inconsistent with the concept of infallibility.[10] Consequently, they posit that Moses (a) committed a minor sin by taking the Egyptian's life without prior divine authorization, an action for which he subsequently sought forgiveness.[11] It has been suggested that a strike delivered without lethal intent constitutes a minor sin resulting in accidental killing, for which the Sharia prescribes a kaffara (expiation).[12]

Shia commentators maintain that prophets are infallible and protected from all sins, whether major or minor.[13] From this perspective, although the Egyptian deserved death and God had sanctioned such an act,[14] it would have been preferable for Moses (a) to postpone it.[15] Under the prevailing circumstances, killing the Egyptian was not in the immediate interest of his mission and precipitated his forced departure from Egypt.[16] By acting hastily, Moses (a) committed a neglect of the better (abandoning the optimal course of action); for this reason, he sought forgiveness,[17] and God extended His grace to him.[18]

According to 'Allama Tabataba'i, Moses (a) killed the Egyptian prior to receiving his prophetic mission and before the enactment of the prohibition against homicide. Furthermore, as the victim was a disbeliever, his life was not deemed inviolable.[19] Moses's (a) confession was not an admission to the sin of murder, but rather an acknowledgment of an action that was strategically disadvantageous.[20] Naser Makarem Shirazi similarly argues that since Pharaoh's people had slaughtered thousands of Israelite infants, their blood was not considered inviolable by the Bani Israel.[21]

In a tradition attributed to Imam al-Rida (a), Moses's (a) statement "this is Satan's doing" is interpreted as referring to the conflict instigated between the Egyptian and the Israelite, while the phrase "I have wronged myself" is understood to mean that Moses (a) had placed himself in a perilous situation.[22]

Notes

  1. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, 1370 Sh, vol. 16, p. 17; Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i namūna, 1353 Sh, vol. 16, p. 49.
  2. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i namūna, 1353 Sh, vol. 16, p. 54.
  3. ↑ Qur'an 28:15.
  4. ↑ Rāwandī, Qiṣaṣ al-anbiyāʾ, 1368 Sh, pp. 154–155.
  5. ↑ Qur'an 28:15–16; Qur'an 26:20.
  6. ↑ Cited in Fakhr al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-ghayb, 1420 AH, vol. 24, p. 585.
  7. ↑ Fāḍil Miqdād, Lawāmiʿ al-ilāhiyya, 1380 Sh, p. 259.
  8. ↑ Qur'an 28:15.
  9. ↑ Qur'an 28:16.
  10. ↑ Fāḍil Miqdād, Lawāmiʿ al-ilāhiyya, 1380 Sh, p. 259.
  11. ↑ Zamakhsharī, al-Kashshāf, 1407 AH, vol. 3, p. 398.
  12. ↑ Ālūsī, Rūḥ al-maʿānī, 1415 AH, vol. 10, p. 264.
  13. ↑ Sayyid Murtaḍā, Tanzīh al-anbiyāʾ, al-Sharīf al-Raḍī, p. 67.
  14. ↑ Shaykh al-Ṭūsī, al-Tibyān, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, vol. 8, p. 137; Fāḍil Miqdād, al-Lawāmiʿ al-ilāhiyya, 1380 Sh, p. 259.
  15. ↑ Shaykh al-Ṭūsī, al-Tibyān, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, vol. 8, p. 137; Fāḍil Miqdād, al-Lawāmiʿ al-ilāhiyya, 1380 Sh, p. 259.
  16. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i namūna, 1353 Sh, vol. 16, p. 55.
  17. ↑ Shaykh al-Ṭūsī, al-Tibyān, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, vol. 8, p. 137; Fāḍil Miqdād, al-Lawāmiʿ al-ilāhiyya, 1380 Sh, p. 259.
  18. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i namūna, 1353 Sh, vol. 16, p. 55.
  19. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, 1370 Sh, vol. 6, p. 278.
  20. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, 1370 Sh, vol. 6, p. 278.
  21. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i namūna, 1353 Sh, vol. 16, p. 56.
  22. ↑ Shaykh al-Ṣadūq, ʿUyūn akhbār al-Riḍā, 1404 AH, vol. 2, p. 177.

References

  • Ālūsī, Maḥmūd b. ʿAbd Allāh. Rūḥ al-maʿānī fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿaẓīm wa-l-sabʿ al-mathānī. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1415 AH.
  • Fakhr al-Rāzī, Muḥammad b. ʿUmar. Mafātīḥ al-ghayb. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1420 AH.
  • Fāḍil Miqdād, Miqdād b. ʿAbd Allāh. al-Lawāmiʿ al-ilāhiyya fī l-mabāḥith al-kalāmiyya. Qom: Daftār-i Tablīghāt-i Islāmī, 1380 Sh.
  • Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tafsīr-i namūna. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1353 Sh.
  • Rāwandī, Quṭb al-Dīn. Qiṣaṣ al-anbiyāʾ. Mashhad: Āstān-i Quds-i Raḍawī, 1368 Sh.
  • Sayyid Murtaḍā, ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn. Tanzīh al-anbiyāʾ. Qom: al-Sharīf al-Raḍī, n.d.
  • Shaykh al-Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī. ʿUyūn akhbār al-Riḍā. Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Aʿlamī li-l-Maṭbūʿāt, 1404 AH.
  • Shaykh al-Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan. al-Tibyān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, n.d.
  • Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Qom: Intishārāt-i Ismāʿīliyān, 1370 Sh.
  • Zamakhsharī, Maḥmūd b. ʿUmar. al-Kashshāf ʿan ḥaqāʾiq ghawāmiḍ al-tanzīl. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿArabī, 1407 AH.
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