Tafsir of Ta-Ha 20:27

It is narrated that there was a stutter in his tongue, peace be upon him, caused by a live coal he had placed in his mouth during his childhood. The reason for this was that Pharaoh held him one day, and [Moses] took a handful of his beard because of the jewels that were in it. It is also said: he slapped him; and it is said: he struck him with a rod he held in his hand upon his head. [Pharaoh] took it as an ill omen and called for the executioner.

Asiya bint Muzahim, his wife—who loved Moses, peace be upon him—said: "He is only a child who does not distinguish between a ruby and a live coal." They were brought, and [Moses] intended to reach for the ruby, but Gabriel, peace be upon him, moved his hand toward the live coal. He took it and placed it in his mouth, which burned his tongue.

In this is proof against the claim of those who say that fire burns by [inherent] nature without the intervention of Allah Almighty's permission in that. For if the matter were as they claimed, it would have burned his hand. It has been mentioned regarding the wisdom of Allah's permission for it to burn his tongue rather than his hand: that his hand became an instrument for what appeared to be an insult to Pharaoh—and perhaps the whitening of his hand [as a miracle] was also for this reason—while his tongue was an instrument for the opposite, based on the narration that he, peace be upon him, called out to him as small children call out to their fathers.

It is also said: his hand, peace be upon him, was also burned, and Pharaoh exerted effort in treating it, but it did not heal. Perhaps this was so that he, peace be upon him, would not engage in eating with Pharaoh, thus losing the sanctity of sharing a meal between them. When he called him, [Pharaoh] said: "To which Lord do you invite me?" He said: "To the One who healed my hand, while you were unable to."

The manifest implication in this case would be that he, peace be upon him, should have cast the fire from his hand and not brought it to his mouth. Perhaps he did not feel the pain until after he had brought it to his mouth, or he felt it but did not distinguish between dropping it on the ground and dropping it into his mouth. All of this was by the decree of Allah, so that Allah might accomplish a matter that was already ordained.

It is said that the knot in his tongue, peace be upon him, was innate. It is also said that it occurred after the discourse [with Allah], though this is far-fetched. There is disagreement regarding whether it was completely removed. Those who say it was, such as al-Hasan, cling to the words of the Almighty: "You have been granted your request, O Moses." Those who say it was not, such as al-Jubba’i, argue by the words of the Almighty: "He is more eloquent than I," and His, Glory be to Him, words: "And he barely makes himself understood." They also cite the narration that there was a stutter and hesitancy in the tongue of al-Husayn, may Allah be pleased with him, and the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said regarding him: "He inherited it from his uncle Moses, peace be upon him."

[Al-Jubba’i] answered the first [argument] by stating that he, peace be upon him, did not ask for the knot of his tongue to be loosened entirely, but rather [to loosen] a knot that hindered understanding. For this reason, he used the indefinite [knot] and qualified it with his words: "from my tongue," and he did not attribute it [i.e., using a genitive construction like "the knot of my tongue"], even though that would have been more concise, and it would not serve as a description except by assuming an omitted genitive noun. He took "min" (from) to be partitive, meaning: a knot that is one of the knots of my tongue, for the knot belongs to the tongue, not from it.