Taha: (90-91) And indeed Aaron said to them...

Know that Aaron, peace be upon him, said this out of compassion for himself and for the people.

As for his compassion for himself, it is because he was commanded by God to enjoin good and forbid evil, and he was commanded by his brother Moses, peace be upon him, by the verse: {Leave me among my people and set things right, and do not follow the path of the corrupters} (Al-A'raf: 142). If he had not occupied himself with enjoining good and forbidding evil, he would have been disobeying the command of God Almighty and the command of Moses, peace be upon him, which is not permissible.

God Almighty revealed to Joshua son of Nun: "I will destroy forty thousand of the best of your people and sixty thousand of the worst." Joshua said: "O Lord, these are the wicked, but what about the best?" God replied: "Because they did not become angry for My anger."

Thabit al-Bunani narrated from Anas, who narrated from the Messenger of God (PBUH): "Whoever wakes up whose concern is other than God Almighty, he has nothing to do with God. And whoever wakes up not caring about the Muslims, he is not one of them."

Al-Sha'bi narrated from Al-Nu'man ibn Bashir, from the Prophet (PBUH): "The likeness of the believers in their mutual affection, compassion, and sympathy is like that of a single body. If one part of it complains, the rest of the body calls to it with sleeplessness and fever."

Abu Ali Al-Hasan Al-Ghawri said: "I was in a certain place and saw a boat carrying jars inscribed with 'Latif' (delicate/fine). I asked the boatman: 'What is this?' He said: 'You are a curious Sufi, and these are the wines of Al-Mu'tadhid.' I asked him: 'Give me that ladle.' He told his slave: 'Give it to him so we can see what he does.' I took the ladle and boarded the boat, and I began breaking jars one by one, while the boatman shouted until only one remained. I stopped. The owner of the boat came, seized me, and took me to Al-Mu'tadhid. His sword preceded his speech. When his eyes fell upon me, he said: 'Who are you?' I said: 'The Inspector (Muhtasib).' He said: 'Who appointed you as Inspector?' I said: 'The one who appointed you as Caliph.' He asked: 'Why did you break these jars?' I said: 'Out of compassion for you, lest my hand fail to avert harm from you.' He asked: 'Why did you leave this one?' I said: 'When I broke these jars, I did so out of zeal for the religion of God. When I reached this one, I was impressed and stopped. If I had remained as I was, I would have broken it.' He said: 'Leave, O Sheikh, I have appointed you as Inspector.' I said: 'I used to do it for the sake of God Almighty, so I do not wish to be a policeman.'"

As for his compassion for the Muslims, it is because a person must have a tender heart and be compassionate towards his own kind. What compassion is greater than seeing a group rushing towards the Fire and preventing them from it?

Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri narrated that the Prophet (PBUH) said: {God Almighty says: Seek favor with My compassionate servants, and you will live in their shade, for I have placed My mercy within them. Do not seek it among those whose hearts are hard, for My wrath is within them.}

It is narrated from Abdullah ibn Abi Awfa that he said: "I went out intending to see the Prophet (PBUH), and I found Abu Bakr and Umar with him. A small child came and cried. The Prophet (PBUH) said to Umar: 'Take the child to you, for he is lost.' Umar took him. Then a woman was wailing, uncovering her head in distress over her son. The Messenger of God (PBUH) said: 'Reach the woman and call her.' She came, took her child, and began to cry with the child in her lap. She turned and saw the Prophet (PBUH), and she felt shy. The Prophet (PBUH) then said: 'Do you see that she is compassionate towards her child?' They said: 'O Messenger of God, this compassion is enough for her.' He said: {By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, God is more compassionate towards the believers than this woman is towards her child.}

It is narrated that while the Messenger of God (PBUH) was sitting with his companions, he looked at a young man at the door of the mosque and said: "Whoever wishes to look at a man destined for the Fire, let him look at this one." The young man heard this and turned away. He said: "My God and my Master, this is Your Messenger testifying against me that I am destined for the Fire, and I know that he is truthful. If that is the case, then I ask You to make me the ransom for the Ummah of Muhammad (PBUH), and to ignite the Fire upon me so that His right side may be cooled, and not to ignite the Fire upon anyone else." Then Gabriel, peace be upon him, descended and said: "O Muhammad, give the young man the good news that I have saved him from the Fire because of his affirmation of you and his offering his life as a ransom for your Ummah, and his compassion for creation."

If this is established, then know that enjoining good and compassion for the Muslims is obligatory.

Then Aaron, peace be upon him, saw the people rushing towards the Fire. He did not care about their numbers or their strength, but rather he openly declared the truth, saying: {Say, "O my people, you are only being tested by this..."} (The verse continues).

Here is a subtle point: The Rafidah cling to the saying of the Prophet (PBUH) to Ali: "You are to me as Aaron was to Moses." Yet, Aaron was not prevented by Taqiyya (dissimulation) in such a large gathering; rather, he ascended the pulpit, openly declared the truth, and called the people to follow him and refrain from following others. If the Ummah of Muhammad (PBUH) were in error, it would have been obligatory for Ali, peace be upon him, to do what Aaron did—to ascend the pulpit without Taqiyya or fear and say: {So follow me and obey my command.} Since he did not do that, we know that the Ummah was correct.

Know that Aaron, peace be upon him, followed the best approach in this admonition because he first deterred them from falsehood by saying: {You are only being tested by this}; then he called them to the knowledge of God Almighty secondly by saying: {And indeed, your Lord is the Most Merciful}; then he called them thirdly to the knowledge of Prophethood by saying: {So follow me}; then he called them fourthly to the religious laws by saying: {And obey my command}. This is the good arrangement because it is necessary, before everything else, to remove harm from the path, which is removing doubts. Then the knowledge of God Almighty is the foundation, then Prophethood, then the Law. Thus, it is established that this arrangement is the best way.

He said: {And indeed, your Lord is the Most Merciful} specifically mentioning the name Al-Rahman because he was informing them that if they repented, God would accept their repentance because He is the Most Merciful and Compassionate. Part of His mercy is that He saved them from the afflictions of Pharaoh. However, due to their ignorance, they met this excellent arrangement in argumentation with imitation and denial, saying: {We will not cease to worship it until Moses returns to us}, as if they were saying: We will not accept your argument, but we will accept the saying of Moses. And the habit of the imitator is nothing but that.

7 < { He said, "O Aaron, what prevented you when you saw them go astray * From following me? Have you disobeyed my command?" * He said, "O son of my mother, do not seize me by my beard or my head. Indeed, I feared that you would say, 'You have caused a division among the Children of Israel and have not observed my word.'"} > 7

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