3/29/2021 0:00:01
Is the Pharaoh mentioned in the Qur’an a phenomenon that is repeated at all times?
If you observe and research the way Muslims understand and manage the story of Musa and Pharaoh found in the Qur’an, you will find that it is the largest story in which there is disagreement, controversy, and disagreement among Muslims in understanding it. And if you search for the reason for this disagreement and disagreement among Muslims, you will find that The reason is because it is the largest story in the Qur’an that has many interpretations, and Muslims are divided between those interpretations.
If we want to understand this reason more…we will try to classify these interpretations according to their type, and we will also classify the Muslim’s orientation, so that we can create a comprehensive framework for the matter that gives us a comprehensive picture so that we can understand the story of Musa and Pharaoh:
Types of interpretations:
1- Heritage interpretation
– The source of interpretation… There are two sources.
The first source came to the Muslim from the books of the printer, which contain books of interpretations for reciters and books of stories of the prophets written by Muslim scholars. The second source is found in the book of the Old Testament, which the Al-Yahoud believe in and which talks about a story similar to the story of Pharaoh in the Qur’an.
– What is the interpretation? ………. One interpretation.
It talks about a Jewish group that entered Misr during Youssef’s entry into Misr, coming from Palestine, and lived next to the Egyptians. Then after a while, an arrogant ancient Egyptian king named Pharaoh appeared and slaughtered this Jewish group and killed them and their sons for fear that a son would appear among them who would seize power, and one of these men appeared. His name is Musa, and he stood against this king, and defeated him after the sea parted and Pharaoh came chasing him, so the sea closed over him and he and his soldiers drowned. Then the Allah then gave the Jewish Musa the book of the Old Testament that was in the tablets, and this book is the one that the Al-Yahoud have today. .
– Interpretation time……one time.
Approximately 1300 BC
2- Historical interpretation
– The source of interpretation… There are two sources.
The first source is the West’s translations of the ancient region’s inscriptions, which also reached Muslims from printer’s books, and the second source is the book of the Old Testament, which the Al-Yahoud and the West believe in and which talks about characters who confirm the West’s translations of the inscriptions.
– What is the interpretation? ………. several interpretations.
The history extracted from the inscriptions of Iraq… It talks about a person named Sargon, which was extracted from the cuneiform inscriptions, and it talks about a person whose mother threw him in a basket in the river. He became a king in Iraq and grew up with them and became the king’s cupbearer, and after a while he killed the king who raised him. By another king, and Sargon went for revenge and became king.
The history extracted from the inscriptions of Misr, which talks about the period of the entry of the Hyksos invaders into Misr, who were not Egyptians, but the possibility is that they were a Semitic people who came from the Levant and Iraq and inhabited Misr and were distinguished by Semitic names different from the names of the Egyptians.
Also, the history extracted from the inscriptions of Misr, in the period that talks about Egyptian kings who were famous for their wars, such as kings such as the family of King Ramses.
Also, the history extracted from the inscriptions of Yemen, in the period that talks about the kings of the mini-states in Yemen bearing names such as Branch.
– The time of interpretation……four times.
Approximately 2000 BC
Approximately 1300 BC
Approximately 1000 BC
Approximately 900 BC
3- Modern interpretation
The source of interpretation…one source.
It is the new readings of modern thinkers that attempt to understand the religious text as a reaction to traditional interpretations, which no longer meet the new reality and interact with it.
– What is the interpretation? ………. Several interpretations take the same character.
The story is only symbolic…….and its characters are merely abstract symbols that transcend time, that is, they move parallel to time.
The story talks about a phenomenon only…..and its characters are merely abstract phenomena that transcend time, that is, they move parallel to time.
The story talks about a shrine only… and its characters are shrines that transcend time, that is, they move parallel to time.
– The time of interpretation… repeated endlessly
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This concerns the type of interpretations of the story, and these interpretations are what divided Muslims and made them different and inconsistent in their understanding of the story and caused great controversy among them.
If we wanted to classify Muslims, we would find that the classification of a Muslim depends on the Muslim’s confidence in the sources of interpretations of the story and his belief in them:
1- The Muslim who believes and trusts the books of interpretations and believes that the Book of the Al-Yahoud is a book from Allah, a marriage will occur in his mind between three sources (the Qur’an, the traditional books, the book of the Al-Yahoud), and the result will be belief in the traditional interpretation of the story only, and he will not comprehend it. The rest of the explanations.
This type is the Muslim who has great faith in the Qur’an and the heritage, and whose reading is limited to the heritage books only and is deeply immersed in them.
2- The Muslim who believes in the books of interpretations and believes in the Jewish book that it is a book from Allah, and who completely believes in the West’s translations of the region’s inscriptions and trusts them, will create in his mind a marriage between four sources (the Qur’an, the heritage books, the Jewish book, and the West’s translations), and He will try to reconcile these sources, and the result will be belief in the historical interpretation, and the traditional interpretation no longer meets the new sources.
This type is the Muslim who strongly believes in Western translations and loves studying and reading history books.
3- As for the Muslim who believes in the Qur’an and the Book of the Al-Yahoud as a book from Allah, and completely believes in the West’s translations of the region’s inscriptions and trusts them, but does not believe in the traditional books and rejects them, and has a new outlook on religion and the religious text, he will try to create a consensus. Between these sources with his new spiritual view of religion, the result will be belief in the Enlightenment interpretation, because he rejects the traditional interpretation.
This type is the Muslim who rejects heritage books and has a new view of religion and religious text that he found in other religions based on spirituality, because he believes in the unity of religions, believes in Western modernity and all the ideas produced by the West, and loves reading and studying from anywhere.
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Now that we have made classifications for the interpretations and for Muslims, we will then understand the reasons for the disagreement among Muslims and the ongoing debate among them about the story, and the reasons for their disagreement on only one meaning. The reason is the difference in the cognitive level of the Muslim, which created multiple views for them that caused their disagreement and ongoing debate about it. Details of interpretations between them.
For example
– There is an ongoing debate among Muslims about the place of the story…… Some say in Misr, another says in Iraq, another says in Yemen, and another says there is no place for it.
There is an ongoing debate among Muslims about the identity of Pharaoh…. Some say an Egyptian king named Ramses, another says a Hyksos king, another says an ancient Yemeni king, another says an Iraqi king, but the story has changed, and another says he is not a person in and of himself, but rather a phenomenon.
– There is an ongoing debate among Muslims about the time of the story…….. Some say 3000 years ago, another says 2000 years ago, and another says that it has no time, but rather is repetitive.
– There is an ongoing debate among Muslims about the purpose of the story…….. Some say that it is a story for education, refinement, admonition and lesson, and another says that it is a true historical story, and another says that it is nothing but a legendary story, the like of which exists in all religions. Another says that it is a symbolic story that talks about a phenomenon that exists everywhere and at all times.
So how will we know the correct interpretation among these interpretations, because there are those who will say that there must be one correct interpretation?
If you examine the types of interpretations and the types of Muslims, you will know well the reasons for disagreement, disagreement, and ongoing debate. All three types of Muslims have agreement on two things, which are:
The first thing… is to rely on sources other than the Qur’an (such as books of interpretations, Jewish books, history books, Western translations).
The second thing…belief in the unity of religions (belief that Judaism is a religion from Allah, belief in the unity of religions)
And this agreement is the real main root……..that created these differences between Muslims, made them not agree, and created a continuous, continuous and never-ending debate about the story and the character of Pharaoh.
Because the first common source agreed upon among Muslims is the Qur’an, which contains the story, but everyone abandoned this source, which contains the story, and searched for other sources to understand the story in the first source, so the matter created disagreement and controversy and prevented them from understanding the story well.
It is logical…. If there is a text in a first source, then every text found in other sources will cause ongoing disagreement and controversy.
If other sources are the cause of the problem…..what is the solution?
The natural, logical solution… is for all these types of Muslims to cling to the first source of the story, which is the Qur’an, and throw away the rest of the other sources. They should not be satisfied with just throwing away, but they must never believe in any source other than the Qur’an, or in the meaning of it. Another thing is for them to remove from their minds and hearts trust and belief in the rest of the other sources of the story, if they really want to understand the story in the Qur’an, prevent disagreement between them, and reach a single agreement between them in understanding the story.
{Indeed, this Qur’an narrates to the Children of Israel most of that over which they differ (76) and indeed it is a guidance and a mercy for the believers (77) Indeed, your Allah judges between them with His judgment, and He is the Mighty, the All-Knowing (78) So put your trust in Allah. Indeed, you are upon the clear truth (79) Indeed, you do not hear the dead, nor do You hear the deaf praying when they turn away, turning away.}
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In my opinion… it is important to criticize the thought of these three types of Muslims, clarify aspects and details of their ways of thinking while understanding the Qur’an, and formulate a comprehensive picture of the thought of each group, and in my view it is a very important work so that we know the mind we have while understanding the Qur’an only. .
We have spoken in many previous articles about two types of Muslims, which are those who believe in traditional interpretation and historical interpretation, even if without creating a general picture of them, but in a sporadic manner, so I will leave these two types, and I will go to the third type who believes in enlightenment interpretation, Because it is the type from which the question of our topic today emerged, which is that Pharaoh is a phenomenon that is repeated over time, and because this interpretation is very popular and widespread among many people and has become one of the fashions these days.
First, let us ask logical questions:
If Pharaoh is a phenomenon that recurs in every time, then are Qarun, the Samaritan, Musa, and Haroun also phenomena that recurs in every time?
As long as Pharaoh is a phenomenon, then Qarun, Musa, Haroun, and the Samaritan must also be phenomena.
But …………. If Pharaoh was a phenomenon that was repeated at all times, and Musa was also a phenomenon that was repeated at all times, then why did the revelation link the two phenomena in one story, and did not make each phenomenon in a separate story?
Also…if Pharaoh is a phenomenon that is repeated at all times, does the phenomenon of the Samaritan and the phenomenon of Musa who has a brother always appear with it when it is repeated, because the phenomenon of Musa is linked to the phenomenon of Pharaoh in one story?
So the logical question is: Why is Pharaoh the only phenomenon out of all the characters in the story?
Now, if we search for the reasons for their belief that Pharaoh is a phenomenon, we will find that the reason, as we mentioned previously, is the belief of these people in sources other than the Qur’an and the belief in the unity of religions, and this is what made them try to reconcile all sources with their new view of religion, which is based on the unity of religions and Looking at religious texts as texts like what is found in Indian religions based on the philosophy of symbols… and this is the reason behind the idea of Pharaoh being a symbol of the phenomenon around us.
But this is not the whole belief, there is another belief, which is the idea of the temporal repetition of the symbol.
What is the reason for believing in the idea of time repetition?
There are two things behind their belief in time repetition:
The first thing…..is the date that the printer produced for the people.
For example… whoever reads the history that has reached us from the printer’s books, and examines it, will find that it is full of stories, events, and characters that are similar, as if they were repeated, and this thing was expressed by a German researcher named Hans Zellmer with the phrase, “The ancient historical records were created in one period, And it was projected over ancient times, through repetition.”
The second thing….. is the concept of religious stories based on Western humanities approaches based on the concept of Greek mythology.
For example, Western human sciences, which shaped the thinking of many thinkers, believe that the stories of religions are myths, such as Greek mythology, and define them as a true record of specific historical events that have often and after time been subject to improvements in language and language. Style and imagination, and this is the reason why similar stories appear among religions and peoples.
This matter created in the imagination of these people a mythological circular time, and it is natural that this mythological circular time is the real reason behind this belief about repetition……. because the circle is nothing but a repeated movement that is always closed.
All of the previous reasons are behind their belief that Pharaoh was… a symbolic religious phenomenon within a mythological circular time… or a general symbolic religious idea (the unity of religions), moving within a closed mythological circular time continuously and repetitively.
In order for these people to emerge from the symbols that live within a recurring, circular Greek mythological time, they must abandon all other sources and remove their absolute, blind faith and trust in those sources, and return to the Qur’an only with a healthy heart, to know that the Qur’an is speaking to them about two things that completely destroy the idea. Symbolism in their minds, and eliminates the repeated Greek mythological time in their imagination.
how ?
Because the time of the story of Pharaoh in the Qur’an… is news
And the nature of the story of Pharaoh in the Qur’an… is true
{We recite to you the news of Musa and Pharaon with the truth for a people who believe.}
{And each of us shall relate to you of the news of the Messengers, with which we may strengthen your heart and bring you this truth, and an exhortation and a reminder for the believers. (*) These are of the news of the unseen which We reveal to you. Neither you nor your people knew them before this, so be patient. Indeed, the end is for the righteous.}
One last question remains:
I wonder what is the reason why the story of Musa and Pharaoh is the largest story in the Qur’an that has many interpretations and ongoing controversy?
It is natural that it will be the largest story in the Qur’an that will receive many interpretations and there will be continuous and continuous controversy around it, because it is the largest story that contains a speech by the Messenger, and it is the story that comes immediately after the appearance of the Messenger who is addressed in the Qur’an, and therefore it is natural that there is a cunning, satanic force. It will try to prevent the Muslim from understanding the story, by creating too many interpretations of it, and creating many other false sources for the story, and by creating faith and trust in the Muslim towards those sources through trickery, deception, and acting, in order for the Muslim to never understand the story, and create… He has that fake look.
{Say: Who sent down the Book which Musa brought as a light and a guidance for the people? You make it into writings that you reveal and conceal much, and you taught what neither you nor your fathers knew. Say, Allah. Then leave them in their midst playing. (91) And this is a Book which We have sent down, blessed be it, confirming what is before it, and that you may warn the Mother of Cities and those around it and those who believe in the Hereafter. They believe in Him and they guard their prayers (92)}