Tafsir of Al-Qasas 28:38

"And Pharaoh said, 'O assembly, I have not known of a god for you other than me.'" This was stated by the accursed one after he had gathered the sorcerers and stood against the opposition. The apparent meaning is that he intended to negate his knowledge of a god other than him, not the existence of such a god, for lack of knowledge of a thing does not necessitate its non-existence. He did not assert non-existence with certainty by saying, "There is no god for you other than me." Even though both this statement and what he said are lies—because the outward meaning of Moses' (peace be upon him) statement to him, "You have known that none has sent these down except the Lord of the heavens and the earth as evidence," implies that he knew their god was other than him—he did not omit it. This is more in line with his apparent intent to turn his people away from following Moses (peace be upon him), choosing a satanic intrigue: to appear as if he were fair in a general sense, in order to reach the point where they would accept what he says to them later regarding the matter of "the god," and for them to surrender it to him, relying upon what they had seen of his "fairness." It is as if he said, "I have not known, in times past, of a god for you other than me, as Moses claims, but the matter is open to possibility, and I shall verify that for you."

"So kindle for me, O Haman, upon the clay"—that is, bake bricks for me—"and make for me a tower"—a high, uncovered structure, derived from sarh (an object that has become prominent and visible)—"that I may look"—that is, ascend and climb; ifta'ala here is synonymous with the simple verb, as stated in al-Bahr and elsewhere—"at the god of Moses." He refers to the One whom [Moses] claims is his God and the God of all worlds. It is as if he is deluding his people into thinking that if Allah the Exalted were as Moses says, He would be a body in the sky, for bodies in the sky can be reached by ascending.

Then he said: "And indeed, I think he is among the liars" in what he mentions. This is an emphasis on what he intended and an announcement that his expression of hope to ascend to the god of Moses (peace be upon him) is not because he is certain He is there. The order to make the tower and build it does not prove it was actually built; there is disagreement on this. It is said he built it and mentioned details of its description—Allah knows best. It is also said he did not build it; in this case, his statement and order were meant to deceive his people and delude them into thinking he was in the process of verifying the matter. What he mentioned would thus be one of the methods of verification, so that he could afterward say, "I verified the matter through another means, and I have learned that there is no god for you other than me, and that Moses is a liar in what he says." According to the first view, it is possible he ascended the tower alone, or with those he trusted with his secret, remained for as long as he did, then descended to them and said, "I ascended to the god of Moses, verified that the matter is not as he says, and I have learned that there is no god for you other than me."

Ibn Abi Hatim recorded from al-Suddi that he said: When the tower was built for him, he climbed to the top, ordered an arrow to be shot toward the sky, and it returned to him smeared with blood, so he said, "I have killed the god of Moses." If this is authentic, it is a form of mockery through action, but I do not believe it is authentic. Regardless, the people were in the utmost state of stupidity, ignorance, and extreme blindness and dullness, otherwise such ravings would not have been sold to them. Allah the Exalted has special manifestations in times, places, and persons. It is not far-fetched to say there were among them those of intellect who knew of his deception and trickery and believed his ravings were false, yet they aligned themselves with the ignorant and did not manifest any opposition to the accursed one in any way, either out of desire for what he possessed or fear of his power and aggression against them. How many times have we seen an intelligent person or an accomplished scholar agree with such oppressive tyrants and believe their claims, even if they are impossible or are acts of unbelief in the Hereafter.

The statement of the accursed one to Moses (peace be upon him), "If you take a god other than me, I will surely place you among the imprisoned," was after this statement narrated here, in that he said it and followed it up by informing them with certainty that there is no god for them other than him, then threatened Moses with imprisonment if anything contrary to that appeared from him. This is one interpretation of the verse that is not devoid of subtlety, even if it has a degree of obscurity.

There are other interpretations: First: By saying "I have not known of a god for you other than me," he intended to negate knowledge rather than existence, as in the previous view. However, he did not negate existence because he had nothing that necessitated certainty of non-existence. By saying "I think he is among the liars," he meant he thinks he is a liar in claiming messengership from Allah. By saying "O Haman, kindle for me upon the clay, etc.," he intended to inform the people of the corruption of that claim, based on his own delusion that if Allah were in the sky, a messenger from Him would be one who could reach Him. This is by ascending to Him, which is something a human cannot achieve, and thus it would be a type of impossibility for him. Therefore, what is built upon it—the messengership from Allah—is likewise [impossible]. His saying, "Make me a tower," is to show the impossibility of the ascent upon which the validity of the claim of messengership rests in his view, and perhaps it is for mockery.

Second: He also intended to negate the knowledge of existence, not existence itself, but in negating knowledge, he was deceiving his people and lying, for he knew they had a god other than him—the God of all creation, Allah the Exalted. By saying "And indeed," etc., he meant he thinks he is a liar in the claim of messengership, as in the previous view. By saying "O Haman," etc., he was requesting that he be given something to remove his doubt regarding the messengership, by building an observatory in a high place to observe the states of the stars, which he believed indicated cosmic events, to see if there was anything in them indicating that Allah the Exalted had sent him. This is countered by the fact that it does not suit his saying, "that I may look at the god of Moses," unless it is meant "that I may look at the decree/judgment of the god of Moses" via the positions of the stars and examining them—whether He sent Moses as he says or not. Thus, the speech is based on the estimation of a hidden addition, and "at" (ila) there would be in the sense of "on" ('ala). In this interpretation, it is permitted that he meant the stars by "the god of Moses," as if he said, "so that I may ascend to the stars which are the god of Moses, and see if there is in them anything indicating they sent him," or "so that I may look upon the decree of the stars which are the god of Moses regarding the matter of his messengership." This is, as you can see, a view that should not be given attention.

Third: By negating his knowledge of a god other than him, he intended to negate [the god's] existence. By thinking him a liar, he meant he thought he was a liar in proving there is a god other than him. "Thought" (zann) here is interpreted as certainty, as in the saying of Durayd ibn al-Simma: "I told them to be certain of two thousand well-armed warriors..." Thus, establishing the mentioned "thought" does not prevent the intention of that negation. Some permitted keeping it at its apparent meaning, saying in defense of the lack of contradiction: "It is possible to say the first statement was for deception and trickery against the people, and the second was a confidential discussion with his confidant, Haman. Thus, establishing the 'thought' in the second does not negate that the knowledge in the first was to negate the known." The objection to this is that the flow of the verse rejects it, and the fa (so) in "so kindle for me" and his request to build the tower hoping to ascend to the god of Moses (peace be upon him) was intended for mockery. It is as if he attributed to Moses (peace be upon him) the statement that his god is in the sky, so he said, "O Haman, make for me a tower," to ascend to the god of Moses, mocking him. This is similar to if someone informs you of the life of Zayd and that he is in his house, and you know the contrary, so you say to your servant—after stating your knowledge of what contradicts his claim, while mocking him—"O servant, saddle the mount so I may go to so-and-so and find company with him." In fact, what Pharaoh said is more apparent in its mockery than what was mentioned. His request to build the tower, based on this, would not be contradictory to what he claimed first and last regarding knowledge and certainty.

Some have said, in defense of what was said regarding contradiction, that it would only exist if his saying, "that I may look, etc.," were not by way of concession and condescension. The accursed one was a polytheist who believed that whoever ruled a land was its god and the object of worship for its people. Thus, what he established in his saying, "that I may look, etc.," regarding a god for lands other than his own, and what he negated as a god for his own [land], as indicated by his saying "for you," is not free from debate.

In al-Kashshaf, it is said there is a contradiction between building the tower and his claim of knowledge and certainty, but he said that it was hidden from his people due to their stupidity and dullness, or it was not hidden from them, but everyone feared his whip and sword. If this door is opened, it is permissible to keep the "thought" at its apparent meaning without the need to dismiss the contradiction. In my view, it is better to strive to dismiss the contradiction. Since he did not base the actions of the disgraced one on his ignorance, foolishness, or lack of concern for the people due to their stupidity, or their fear of him, etc., and the claim was objected to—that he intended by the negation of his knowledge of a god other than him the negation of [the god's] existence—he said in the investigation, as others have also mentioned, that this is unsound, for the lack of knowledge of a thing does not prove its non-existence, especially the lack of knowledge of a single individual. The Judge al-Baydawi said: This is correct for active sciences because they are necessitated by the realization of their known objects, so it follows from their negation, but not so for passive sciences. It was responded that the purpose of the speaker is that the lack of existence is a cause for the lack of knowledge of existence in general, and there is no doubt that it is so, so the effect was mentioned but the cause was intended, not that there is a total logical necessity between them. Moreover, since it is one of the strongest causes for the lack of knowledge because it is the most consistent, it is permissible to mention it while intending existence. For in the art of rhetoric, logical necessity is not stipulated; rather, customary and conventional [necessity] is sufficient. One of us might say, "I do not know that," meaning, "If it existed, I would have known it," if there is a context. This usage is common in the customs of the Arabs and non-Arabs, among the common and the elite. Among this is the statement of the muzakki (character witness) when asked about the justice of witnesses: "I do not know." How could it be otherwise, when the disgraced one claimed divinity? Furthermore, the apparent meaning of the speech, upon the estimation of intending the negation of existence, is metonymy (kinayah), not metaphor (majaz). In short, what was mentioned is a plausible view, and the determination of the interpretations is entrusted to your mind, and Allah the Exalted is the Granter of success.

Some of those who say that Allah the Exalted is in the sky, in the meaning intended by the Almighty in His saying, "Do you feel secure [from Him] who is in the heaven?" as the predecessors say, used this verse as evidence. The way of doing so is that if Pharaoh had not heard from Moses (peace be upon him) that his God is in the sky, he would not have said, "Make for me a tower that I may look at the god of Moses." His statement is evidence of having heard it, but he erred in understanding what he heard, so he assumed that His being in the sky was in the way of containment and place, and the like of what belongs to bodies. You know that this evidence is in the utmost state of weakness, and establishing the doctrine of the predecessors does not require clinging to such things. In the statement of the disgraced one, "Kindle for me upon the clay"—and the intended meaning is labn (unbaked mud bricks) rather than "make bricks for me"—is an indication that Haman did not have knowledge of the craft of brick-making, so he ordered him to make them in a way that includes instruction. There are reports that support this. Ibn al-Mundhir recorded from Ibn Jurayj that he said, "Pharaoh was the first to cook bricks and build the tower." From Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, that when he traveled to the Levant and saw palaces constructed of bricks, he said, "I have not known anyone to build with bricks except Pharaoh." In his order to him—his minister and his follower—to perform the work of the lowly, which is the kindling upon the clay, calling him by his name without an honorific, and labeling him with "O" (ya) without what indicates closeness in the middle of the speech rather than its beginning—is a demonstration of his tyranny and arrogance that is not hidden.