ISLAMIC ARTICLE ~ ~ Musa; Eloquence on a Different Level

Prophet Musa (`alayhisalam) is often described as being strong, tough
and a force against the harshness that surrounded him. See, he was
destined to go up against the barbaric Pharaoh, so Allah `azza wa jall
raised him in a way where he'd be fit to face the horrors and physical
calamities that were to occur to him in his time (surviving
persecution, the killing of his opponent, exile, coming back to the
Pharoah, leading Bani Israel from oppression etc).
But one interesting characteristic of Musa (`alayhisalam) is that he
was not eloquent nor did he possess fluency or ease of speech (which
is in contrast to the Prophet Muhammad (s) who was granted 'jawami'
al-kalim' , i.e. high eloquence).
Musa acknowledged this impediment and feared that Pharaoh would use it
against him.Remember, he was a Messenger delivering a message - and
naturally it would be that much more difficult to get across your
message if you cannot speak as well as your opponent. It only makes
the battle harder. Let's lookat Musa's acknowledgement of this:
He said in his supplication to Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala:
وَأَخِي هَارُونُ هُوَ أَفْصَحُ مِنِّي لِسَانًا فَأَرْسِلْهُ مَعِيَ
رِدْءًا يُصَدِّقُنِي ۖ إِنِّي أَخَافُ أَن يُكَذِّبُونِ
"And my brother Aaron is more fluent than me in tongue, so send him
with me as support, verifying me . Indeed, I fear that they will deny
me ." [al-Qasas: 34]
He feared that the Message wouldbe denied on account of his speech
defect. And indeed, he was denied by Pharaoh and his elites. In fact,
Pharaoh used this as an insult against Musa and said:
أَمْ أَنَا خَيْرٌ مِّنْ هَٰذَا الَّذِي هُوَ مَهِينٌ وَلَا يَكَادُ يُبِينُ
"Or am I [not] better than this one who is insignificant and hardly
makes himself clear ?" [al-Zukhruf: 52]
So, why does this characteristic of Musa interest us?
Because subhan'Allah, perhaps this is why Allah `azza wa jall singled
him out and spoke to himdirectly . Pharaoh was arrogant and saw
himself above speaking to Musa because he 'couldn't make himself
clear', and so Allah honoured Musa by raising to up to Mount Sinai and
speaking to him directly – to show that despite the speech impediment,
he was worthy of conversing with his Lord .
وَرُسُلًا قَدْ قَصَصْنَاهُمْ عَلَيْكَ مِن قَبْلُ وَرُسُلًا لَّمْ
نَقْصُصْهُمْ عَلَيْكَ ۚ وَكَلَّمَ اللَّهُ مُوسَىٰ تَكْلِيمًا
"And [We sent] Messengers about whom We have related to you before and
Messengers about whom We have not related to you. And Allah spoke to
Moses with a direct speech ." [al-Nisa: 164]
Hence Musa is forever remembered as ' Kaleemullah' – the one who
conversed with Allah.
A lesson: Sometimes, people may disregard you and belittle you,
thinking that you are not worthy of something, but in some future turn
of events, Allah `azza wa jall will raise you and bring you out as
better. He will draw you closer to Him and give you from His Mercy,
and also make clear to the people what you are truly deserving of. Let
us humble ourselves and never look down on anyone, because not
everyone's reality is clear, and perhaps the ones we look down upon
are a million times better and more deserving than us in the Sight of
Allah `azza wa jall
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