Al-Baqarah: (50) And [recall] when We parted the sea for you...

This is the second blessing mentioned.

The phrase {فَرَقْنَا} (We parted) means We separated some parts from others, creating paths for you. It is also read with the shaddah (فَرَّقْنَا), meaning We distinctly separated. It is said, "We separated between two things" and "We separated between things," because there were twelve paths, corresponding to the number of the Tribes (Asbāṭ).

If you ask: What is the meaning of {بِكُم} (with you/by you)? We say there are two interpretations:

1. That they were walking through it, and the water separated as they walked, so it is as if the sea was parted by their passage, similar to how separation occurs between two things when something passes between them.
2. We parted it because of you and due to your salvation.

Herein lie several discussions:

The First Discussion

It is narrated that when Allah Almighty intended to drown Pharaoh and his people, and it was known to Allah that none of them would believe, He commanded Moses (peace be upon him) to ask the Children of Israel to borrow jewelry from the Copts for two purposes:

1. So that they would leave behind them (the Copts) because of the wealth.
2. So that their wealth would remain in their hands.

Then Gabriel (peace be upon him) descended in the evening and told Moses: "Take your people out by night," which is what is meant by His saying: {وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَىٰ مُوسَىٰ أَنْ أَسْرِ بِعِبَادِي} (And We inspired to Moses, "Set out by night with My servants") (Ṭā-Hā: 77).

They were six hundred thousand souls, as they were twelve tribes, each tribe numbering fifty thousand. When Moses set out with the Children of Israel, this reached Pharaoh, who said: "Do not follow them until the rooster crows." The narrator said: "By God, no rooster crowed that night." When morning came, Pharaoh called for a sheep, slaughtered it, and said: "I will not finish eating the liver of this sheep until six hundred thousand Copts gather to me." Qatādah said: One million and two hundred thousand people gathered to him, each on a swift horse. They followed them during the day. This is His saying: {فَأَتْبَعُوهُم مُّشْرِقِينَ} (So they pursued them at sunrise) (Ash-Shuʿarā’: 60), meaning after sunrise.

{فَلَمَّا تَرَاءَى الْجَمْعَانِ قَالَ أَصْحَابُ مُوسَىٰ إِنَّا لَمُدْرَكُونَ} (And when the two groups saw each other, the companions of Moses said, "Indeed, we are overtaken!") (Ash-Shuʿarā’: 61). Moses said: {كَلَّا ۖ إِنَّ مَعِيَ رَبِّي سَيَهْدِينِ} (No! Indeed, with me is my Lord; He will guide me) (Ash-Shuʿarā’: 62).

When Moses led them and reached the sea, Joshua son of Nun said to him: "Where has your Lord commanded you to go?" Moses replied: "Forward," and pointed to the sea. Joshua son of Nun urged his horse into the sea, and it walked in the water until it reached deep water. The horse swam while he was on it, then returned and said to him: "O Moses, where has your Lord commanded you to go?" Moses replied: "The sea." He said: "By God, you have not lied." He did this three times.

Then Allah inspired to him: {أَنِ اضْرِب بِّعَصَاكَ الْبَحْرَ فَانفَلَقَ فَكَانَ كُلُّ فِرْقٍ كَالطَّوْدِ الْعَظِيمِ} (Strike the sea with your staff," and it parted, and every part became like a great mountain) (Ash-Shuʿarā’: 67). The sea split into twelve mountains, and in each one was a path. He told them: "Enter," but there was mud in the path. The east wind blew, drying the sea, and every path until it became a dry road, as Allah Almighty said: {فَاضْرِبْ لَهُمْ طَرِيقًا فِي الْبَحْرِ يَبَسًا} (So strike for them a dry path across the sea) (Ṭā-Hā: 77).

Each tribe took a path and entered it. They said to Moses: "Some of us cannot see the others." Moses struck the sea with his staff, and openings and windows were made between the paths so that some could see others.

Then Pharaoh followed them. When he reached the shore of the sea, he saw Iblis standing there, who forbade him from entering. He intended not to enter the sea, but Gabriel (peace be upon him) came on a rock and preceded Pharaoh, who was on a stallion. Pharaoh's horse followed him, and he entered the sea. When Pharaoh entered the sea, Michael cried out to them: "Catch up with your first ones!" When they had all entered the sea, Allah commanded the water to descend upon them. This is the meaning of His saying: {وَإِذْ فَرَقْنَا بِكُمُ الْبَحْرَ فَأَنجَيْنَاكُمْ} (And [recall] when We parted the sea for you and saved you).

It is said that this event occurred on the Day of Ashura, so Moses (peace be upon him) fasted that day in gratitude to Allah Almighty.

The Second Discussion

Know that this incident contained numerous blessings in this world and the Hereafter for Moses (peace be upon him).

As for the worldly blessings:

1. When they were trapped in that tight spot—Pharaoh and his soldiers behind them, and the sea before them—if they had stopped, the enemy would have caught them and destroyed them with the severest torment; if they had moved forward, they would have drowned. No fear is greater than that. Then Allah saved them by parting the sea; no relief is greater than that.
2. Allah Almighty singled them out for this great blessing and manifest miracle, which is a sign of their high status with Allah Almighty.
3. They witnessed Allah Almighty destroying their enemies. Salvation from such a tribulation is one of the greatest blessings, how much more so when accompanied by this great honor and the destruction of the enemy.
4. He bequeathed to them their land, their homes, their blessings, and their wealth.
5. When Allah Almighty drowned the family of Pharaoh, the Children of Israel were saved from them, which is a great blessing because he was a source of fear for them. If Allah had only saved Moses and his people from that predicament but had not destroyed Pharaoh and his people, the fear would have remained, as they might have gathered, plotted a scheme, and intended to harm Moses and his people. But when Allah Almighty drowned them, He completely cut off the source of fear.
6. This drowning occurred in the presence of the Children of Israel, which is what is meant by His saying: {وَأَنتُمْ تَنظُرُونَ} (while you were looking).

As for the religious blessings for Moses (peace be upon him):

1. When his people witnessed that manifest miracle, doubts and ambiguities were removed from their hearts. The evidence provided by such a miracle regarding the existence of the Wise Creator and the truthfulness of Moses (peace be upon him) approaches necessary knowledge. It is as if Allah Almighty removed from them the burden of deep contemplation and difficult deduction.
2. When they experienced this directly, it became a call for them to remain firm in believing Moses and submitting to him, and it became a call for Pharaoh's people to cease denying Moses (peace be upon him) and instead dare to deny Pharaoh.
3. They learned that matters are in Allah's hands. There is no honor in this world greater than what Pharaoh possessed, nor is there hardship more severe than what the Children of Israel endured. Yet, in a single moment, Allah Almighty made the honored humiliated and the humiliated honored. This necessitates the heart's detachment from worldly attachments and a complete turning toward serving the Creator and relying upon Him in all matters.

As for the blessings obtained by the Ummah of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) from mentioning this story:

1. It serves as a proof for Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) against the People of the Book. It was known that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was illiterate, having neither read nor written, nor associated with the People of the Book. When he presented them with detailed accounts from their own history that could only be known from books, they knew he was informed by revelation and that he was truthful. This became a proof for him (peace be upon him) against the Jews, and a proof for us in believing him.
2. When we contemplate the great events that happened to them and against them, we know that whoever opposes Allah is wretched in this world and the Hereafter, and whoever obeys Him is fortunate in this world and the Hereafter. This makes us eager for obedience and repelled from sin.
3. The Ummah of Moses (peace be upon him), despite being favored with such manifest miracles and clear proofs, still opposed Moses (peace be upon him) in matters, even saying: {اجْعَل لَّنَا إِلَٰهًا كَمَا لَهُمْ آلِهَةٌ} (Make for us a god just as they have [many] gods). As for the Ummah of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), even though their miracle is the Qur'an, whose miraculous nature can only be known through subtle proofs, they submitted to Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and never opposed him in any matter. This indicates that the Ummah of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is superior to the Ummah of Moses (peace be upon him).

Two questions remain regarding the verse:

The First Question

The parting of the sea is as necessary a proof for the existence of the Capable Creator and for the truthfulness of Moses as a necessary truth itself. How, then, was it permissible to perform it during the time of accountability (Taklīf)?

The Answer: It is clear according to our view (of the Ash'arites/Sunnis). As for the Mu'tazila, Al-Ka'bi provided a general answer: Among the accountable people are those who are far from astuteness and intelligence and characterized by dullness, and the majority of the Children of Israel were like that. Therefore, they required the witnessing of great signs, like the parting of the sea, the raising of the Mount (Ṭūr), and the reviving of the dead, to be alerted. Do you not see that even after this, they passed by people devoted to their idols and said: {يَا مُوسَى اجْعَل لَّنَا إِلَٰهًا كَمَا لَهُمْ آلِهَةٌ} (O Moses, make for us a god just as they have [many] gods)? However, the Arabs were different, as they were at the peak of intellectual perfection. Consequently, Allah Almighty sufficed them with subtle proofs and gentle miracles.

The Second Question

When Pharaoh witnessed the sea parting, being a rational person, he must have known that this was not his doing but the act of a Capable, Knowing Being who differs from all other capable beings. How, then, did he persist in disbelief despite this?

If you say: He knew his Lord but remained a disbeliever out of obstinacy and denial. We reply: If he knew this in his heart, how did he risk his own destruction by entering the sea, especially since, at that moment, he was compelled to know the existence of the Creator and the truthfulness of Moses (peace be upon him)?

The Answer: The love of a thing blinds and deafens. His love for status and deception drove him to plunge into that destruction.

Regarding His saying: {وَأَنتُمْ تَنظُرُونَ} (while you were looking)

There are several interpretations:

1. That you saw the waves of the sea crashing down upon Pharaoh and his people.
2. The companions of Moses (peace be upon him) asked him to show them Allah’s treatment of their enemies. Moses asked his Lord to show them, and the sea cast up one million and two hundred thousand souls, with Pharaoh among them. They looked at them floating, and the sea did not accept a single one of them due to the ill omen of their disbelief. This is His saying: {فَالْيَوْمَ نُنَجِّيكَ بِبَدَنِكَ لِتَكُونَ لِمَنْ خَلْفَكَ آيَةً} (So today We will save you in body that you may be a sign to those who come after you) (Yūnus: 92), meaning: We will bring you out from the narrowness of the sea into the open space so that people may see you and take you as a lesson.
3. It means that you were near them, facing them and opposite them, even if they could not see you with their eyes. Al-Farrā’ said this is like your saying: "I struck you while your family were looking at you," which you say when his family are near him even if they cannot see him. The meaning refers to knowledge.

7 < {And [recall] when We made a promise to Moses for forty nights. Then you took the calf [for worship] after him, while you were wrongdoers. * Then We pardoned you after that, that you might be grateful.} > 7

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