Hūd: (96–99) And We sent Moses...

This is the seventh story mentioned by God Almighty in this Surah, and it is the last of the stories in this Surah.

Regarding His saying: {with Our signs and a clear authority} (11:96), there are several interpretations:

1. The signs refer to the Torah, along with the laws and rulings it contains. The clear authority refers to the overwhelming and manifest miracles. The meaning is: We sent Moses with laws, rulings, and obligations, and We supported him with overwhelming miracles and manifest proofs.
2. The signs are the miracles themselves. This is like His saying: {They have no authority for this} (Jonah: 68) and {Allah has sent down no authority for it} (The Star: 23). Under this interpretation, there are two possibilities:
   • These signs possess a clear authority for Moses regarding the truthfulness of his prophethood.
   • The clear authority refers specifically to the staff (the rod), as it was the most famous miracle. This is because God gave Moses nine clear signs: the staff, the shining hand, the flood, the locusts, the lice, the frogs, the blood, the blight upon the fruits, and the blight upon the lives (people). Some commentators substitute the blight upon fruits and lives with the overshadowing of the mountain and the splitting of the sea.

They differed on why the proof (Hujjah) is called Sultān (authority/power):

• Some verifiers say that the possessor of the proof overpowers the one who lacks proof during deliberation, just as a ruler (Sultān) overpowers others. Therefore, the proof is described as Sultān.
• Al-Zajjāj said that Sultān is the proof (Hujjah). It is called Sultān because it is God's authority on earth. Its derivation is from Salīṭ, and Salīṭ is what illuminates by. Hence, olive oil is called Salīṭ.
• There is a third opinion: Sultān is derived from Taslīṭ (empowerment). Scholars are Salāṭīn due to their perfection in intellectual power, and kings are Salāṭīn due to the power and might they possess. However, the authority of scholars is more complete and stronger than the authority of kings because the authority of scholars is not subject to abrogation or deposition, whereas the authority of kings is. Furthermore, the authority of kings is secondary to the authority of scholars, and the authority of scholars is of the same kind as the authority of the Prophets, while the authority of kings is of the same kind as the authority of the Pharaohs.

If it is asked: If you interpret the signs mentioned in {with Our signs} as miracles, and Sultān also as proofs, and Mubīn (clear) as being the cause of manifestation, what is the difference between these three levels?

We reply:

• Signs (Āyāt) is a term for the common attribute shared by signs that yield mere conjecture, and proofs that yield certainty.
• Authority (Sultān) is the term for what yields definitive proof and certainty. However, it is a term for the common attribute shared by proofs confirmed by sensory experience and proofs not confirmed by sensory experience.
• The clear proof (Sultān Mubīn) is the definitive proof that is confirmed by sensory experience. Since the miracles of Moses (peace be upon him) were like this, it is no wonder that God described them as a clear authority.

Then He said: {to Pharaoh} (11:97), meaning We sent Moses with signs like these signs to Pharaoh and his chiefs (Malā’ih), meaning his group.

Then He said: {and his chiefs, so they followed Pharaoh's command}. It is possible that his command refers to his ordering them to disbelieve in Moses and his miracles. It is also possible that the command (Amr) refers to the way or the established practice.

Then the Almighty said: {But the command of Pharaoh was not right guidance} (11:97). Meaning, it was not a guide to good. Another interpretation is that Rashīd means possessing right guidance.

Know that Pharaoh's path was clearly devoid of right guidance because he was a materialist who denied the Creator and the Hereafter. He used to say: "There is no god for the universe; rather, the people of every land must busy themselves obeying and worshipping their ruler for the sake of worldly order." He denied that right guidance lay in worshipping and knowing God. Since he denied both these matters, he was completely devoid of right guidance.

Then God described him and the state of his people: {He will precede his people on the Day of Resurrection and will lead them into the Fire} (11:98). There are two points of discussion here:

First Point (Linguistically): The phrase qaddama fulānan means "he preceded someone." From this comes qādimat al-rajul (the foremost part of the foot), and muqaddimat al-jaysh (the vanguard of the army).

Second Point (Meaning-wise): Pharaoh was a leader for his people in misguidance while they were in this world, and likewise, he will be their leader into the Fire, and they will follow him. Alternatively, just as he preceded them in this world by leading them into the sea and drowning them, so too will he precede them on the Day of Resurrection by leading them into the Fire and burning them.

It is also possible that His saying {But the command of Pharaoh was not right guidance} means his command was not sound and did not lead to a praiseworthy end. In that case, His saying {He will precede his people} is an explanation and clarification of that, meaning: How could his command be right guidance when its consequence is this?

If it is asked: Why did He not say, "He will precede his people and lead them into the Fire"? Instead, He said, {and will lead them into the Fire} using the past tense?

We reply: Because the past tense refers to something that has already occurred and entered existence, making it absolutely impossible to avert. When the future is expressed using the past tense, it indicates the utmost emphasis.

Then He said: {What an evil resting place it will be!} (11:98). There are two points of discussion here:

First Point: The word Nār (Fire) is feminine. Therefore, it should have been said: Wa bi’sat al-ward al-mawrood (using the feminine bi’sat). However, the word al-Ward (the arrival/watering place) is masculine, so both masculine and feminine forms are permissible, just as you say: Ni‘ma al-manzil dāruk (Excellent is the dwelling place, yours) or Ni‘mat al-manzil dāruk (Excellent is the dwelling place, yours). Al-Wāḥidī said that whoever uses the masculine form prioritizes the word manzil (dwelling), and whoever uses the feminine form bases it on the femininity of dār (house).

Second Point: Al-Ward can mean the act of arriving (a verbal noun/masdar), as in His saying: {and We will drive the criminals to Hell, as thirsty arrivals} (Mary: 86). Or it can mean the one who arrives (al-Wārid). It can also mean the place to which one arrives, like water to which one comes to drink. The author of Al-Kashshāf said: Al-Ward al-Mawrood is that arrival which has taken place. God likened Pharaoh to one who precedes the arrivals coming to water, and He likened his followers to those arriving at the water. Then He said, "What an evil resting place they are brought to!" because water is sought to quench thirst and cool the livers, whereas the Fire is the opposite.

Then He said: {And they were followed in this [world] by a curse, and on the Day of Resurrection} (11:99). This means they were followed by a curse in this world, and also on the Day of Resurrection. The meaning is that the curse from God, the angels, and the Prophets clings to them in this world and the Hereafter, never leaving them. A similar verse is in Surah Al-Qasas: {And We caused a curse to follow them in this world, and on the Day of Resurrection they will be among those estranged} (Al-Qasas: 42).

Then He said: {What an evil gift they will be given!} (11:99). Al-Rifd means a gift or provision. Its origin is that which aids in achieving a desired goal. Nāfi‘ ibn al-Azraq asked Ibn ‘Abbās (may God be pleased with them both) about His saying: {What an evil gift they will be given!} He replied, "It is the curse following the curse." Qatādah said: Two curses followed them from God: a curse in this world and a curse in the Hereafter. Everything you make an aid for something, you have rafadtahu (provided it with aid).

{That is from the news of the towns which We relate to you; some of them are standing, and some have been reaped.} (11:100)

{That is from the news of the towns} (11:100): This refers to the news of the destroyed nations. {which We relate to you}: O Muhammad. {some of them are standing}: meaning, their ruins are still standing, visible, and their remnants remain. {and some have been reaped}: meaning, they have been completely destroyed and leveled to the ground, as if they were harvested crops.

{And We did not wrong them, but they wronged themselves} (11:101). We did not oppress them by destroying them, but they wronged themselves by their disbelief and rejection of the truth.

{So their gods whom they called upon besides Allah were of no help to them at all when the command of your Lord came} (11:101). Their deities offered them no benefit when the decree of your Lord concerning their punishment arrived. {and they added nothing to them except ruin} (tabab). Meaning, they only increased their destruction and loss.