Al-Furqan: (35-36) And We certainly gave Moses...

Having stated, {And thus We have appointed for every Prophet an enemy} (Al-Furqan: 31), Allah follows this by mentioning a group of Prophets and informing [the Prophet Muhammad] about what was revealed concerning the denial by their nations. He says:

{And We certainly gave Moses the Book and made his brother Aaron a minister (wazīran) with him.}

The meaning is: O Muhammad, you are not the first Messenger to be sent whose message was rejected and whose signs were denied. We certainly gave Moses the Torah and strengthened his support with his brother Aaron, yet even so, he (Pharaoh) still rejected [the message].

There are several issues concerning this verse:

Therefore, there is no basis for the view of those who argue that the command {Go, both of you} refers only to Moses (peace be upon him). Rather, it is like the saying, {Go to Pharaoh; indeed, he has transgressed} (Taha: 43), where the command is addressed to both.

If it is argued that his being a Wazīr negates his being a partner, or that once he became a partner, he ceased to be a Wazīr, we reply that there is no contradiction between the two descriptions. It is not impossible for him to be a partner in prophethood while simultaneously being a minister, supporter, and helper to him.

Al-Zajjaj said that Wazīr in language refers to one to whom one resorts and whose opinion one relies upon. Wazr is that which one seeks refuge in, as in {Nay, there is no refuge} (Al-Qiyamah: 11), meaning no escape or shelter.

Al-Qadi [Al-Baqillani] said that because of this meaning, the Almighty cannot be described as having a Wazīr, nor can it be said that He is a Wazīr, because resorting to Him for consultation and opinion, at this level of meaning, is not appropriate.

{We destroyed them} means We annihilated them with complete destruction. If it is argued that the particle Fa (then/so) implies immediate succession, and the destruction did not occur immediately after Moses and Aaron went to them, but after a long period, we reply that the immediacy here is understood in terms of judgment (hukm), not in terms of occurrence (wuqūʿ).

Another view is that Allah intended to summarize the story, mentioning only its beginning and end, as these two parts are the main purpose of the entire narrative: establishing the proof through the mission of the Messengers and the resulting deserved destruction due to their denial.

If we interpret the denial of the signs as referring to the denial of the signs of Divinity, there is no issue. However, if we interpret it as referring to the denial of the signs of Prophethood, although the wording is in the past tense, the intended meaning is the future.

The Second Story: The Story of Noah (peace be upon him)

{And the people of Noah, when they denied the Messengers, We drowned them, and made them a sign for mankind. And We have prepared for the wrongdoers a painful punishment.} (Al-Furqan: 37)