MOSES' MOTHER--JOSEPH
The story of the mother of Moses is an interesting one in the Coran. I have always been familiar with the verse in Surat Taha regarding Moses throwing her son, Moses, in the river. I always wondered how can a mother be that 'brave', 'sure' to throw her only son in the river. How can she just be that 'sure' her son would be safe? I guessed that being the mother of a prophet she got it all. But I discovered to myself another dimension of the story, which is actually more interesting and more realisitic.
Opening Sura 27:7, I find another detailed version of Moses' mother feeling. '...throw him in the river and be neither afraid nor afraid We shall return him (Moses) back to you....' Indeed she was 'fearful' and 'sad' and Allah knew that. Very human. Yet not a typical human. She actually listens, comprehends and believes what she had recieved in her heart, otherwise, no power on earth would have convinced her to throw her beloved with her own hands to its unknown destination. Deep faith, or as I read before, husn al-zan bi-allah.
The second phase, 27:10, where Moses' mother couldnt control her motherly fear (Fu'ad which is a deeper level than heart) on her child and was about to confess he was her child lest the divine interference and rabit on her heart so that she will attain a degree of 'mu'min.'
The third interesting verse is 27:13. '...and we returned him back to his mother so as to be happy, and not sad and to know that Allah's promise is Right but most people don't know (realize, understand, comprehend).' Beautiful. Not only does Allah wants Moses mother to be satisfied, and not sad, but what is most important to Him, is her knowing that Allah's promise is right.
How very much do I love the divine interference in our matters by his direct jalal or jamal. It gives situation a beautiful taste and existence. I just love how human sadness and worrying are just known and observed by Allah, and just waiting for the right moment to send His message. Or maybe His message is constantly sent yet we just need to open the right door to recieve it. It is easy to say that I believe in God's messages to me, but sometimes hard to see them in the midst of all the dust erupting from every corner. Sometimes all we need to do is just get closer to the centre where the effect of rotation is not so strong, and the vision is piercing; and the state is centered and more grounded. Something like the state of Joseph.
12:36 and 12:78. Both these verses end with '...and we see you from al-muhseneen.' The first verse is said when Joseph was imprisoned for a guilt that he didn't commint, and the other verse was said when Joseph is the king the Egypt owning all the treasures of the world. Yet, in both cases, he is seen as a muhsin. A state of his that is not affected by the outside image. A prisoner or a king, he is a Muhsin. Why? Because no matter the outside image is, there remains one everlasting Reality, Allah and I. In the core of everything, there exists only Reality, Allah. And in the lub of the heart exists only Allah. Not in the Qalb, that is changeable by nature, but in the lub, where the changing nature of the heart dissolves because it knows what it contains.
Opening Sura 27:7, I find another detailed version of Moses' mother feeling. '...throw him in the river and be neither afraid nor afraid We shall return him (Moses) back to you....' Indeed she was 'fearful' and 'sad' and Allah knew that. Very human. Yet not a typical human. She actually listens, comprehends and believes what she had recieved in her heart, otherwise, no power on earth would have convinced her to throw her beloved with her own hands to its unknown destination. Deep faith, or as I read before, husn al-zan bi-allah.
The second phase, 27:10, where Moses' mother couldnt control her motherly fear (Fu'ad which is a deeper level than heart) on her child and was about to confess he was her child lest the divine interference and rabit on her heart so that she will attain a degree of 'mu'min.'
The third interesting verse is 27:13. '...and we returned him back to his mother so as to be happy, and not sad and to know that Allah's promise is Right but most people don't know (realize, understand, comprehend).' Beautiful. Not only does Allah wants Moses mother to be satisfied, and not sad, but what is most important to Him, is her knowing that Allah's promise is right.
How very much do I love the divine interference in our matters by his direct jalal or jamal. It gives situation a beautiful taste and existence. I just love how human sadness and worrying are just known and observed by Allah, and just waiting for the right moment to send His message. Or maybe His message is constantly sent yet we just need to open the right door to recieve it. It is easy to say that I believe in God's messages to me, but sometimes hard to see them in the midst of all the dust erupting from every corner. Sometimes all we need to do is just get closer to the centre where the effect of rotation is not so strong, and the vision is piercing; and the state is centered and more grounded. Something like the state of Joseph.
12:36 and 12:78. Both these verses end with '...and we see you from al-muhseneen.' The first verse is said when Joseph was imprisoned for a guilt that he didn't commint, and the other verse was said when Joseph is the king the Egypt owning all the treasures of the world. Yet, in both cases, he is seen as a muhsin. A state of his that is not affected by the outside image. A prisoner or a king, he is a Muhsin. Why? Because no matter the outside image is, there remains one everlasting Reality, Allah and I. In the core of everything, there exists only Reality, Allah. And in the lub of the heart exists only Allah. Not in the Qalb, that is changeable by nature, but in the lub, where the changing nature of the heart dissolves because it knows what it contains.
Comments
Moses' elder sister, Miriam, who worked in the royal court knew that the pharaoh's wife can't have children.
She convinces her mother that her baby child might be raised in a well manner if he gets the chance of being adopted by the childless queen.
He's put in a basket, the basket in the river upstream from where the palace is and with little help and coordination from his sister, the maid, the queen notices and calls for him to be picked up.
Still a great risk, of course, no ordinary mother would put her baby in a basket in a river. But that's why they're all famous :)
Moses is raised like an Egyptian prince; he receives the best education in the world at that time, making him ready to lead his people and found a new nation, among other things. [miracles - Ark of the Covenant - crossing the Reed Sea (Yam Suf)]
His mother was besides him all the time, feeding him and teaching him his heritage as not to forget.
The rest is (almost) history.
Quite a story indeed. The Saga of a nation, as Kamal ElSalibi puts it.
Note that the Torah tells that the child was hid beside the river.
Well, the emphasis of the story you provided, lacks, in my point of view, the influence of God, the human factor, the divine factor,.... This is what I like about it.
So this version is from where, Coran?
Seems I need to get closer to the center as well!
That version is an attempt at the reconstruction of history after eliminating the metaphysical aspect.
I read Kamal ElSalibi in Arabic. He has many works in the field of Near Eastern mythology. But I know he writes and teaches in English.
After you've had enough time exploring the mythology of our area you will find out that nothing is new. Not even the gods themselves. You feel awe; even more.
I'm not forwarding a purely materialistic view, on the contrary.
I am too :)
Do you read it in Arabic, or translation?
Read in Arabic if you can. Go through it all, you'll find things you'll love. It's not one book you know..there are three voices in there. At least that's what Nasr AboZaid says.