اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ بِجَمِیعِ مَحَامِدِه کُلِّهَا عَلَی جَمِیعِ نِعَمِهِ کُلِّهَا… اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ مالِکِ الْمُلْکِ مُجْرِی الْفُلْکِ مُسَخِّرِ الرِّیاحِ فالِقِ الاْصْباحِ دَیّانِ الدّینِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمینَ اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی حِلْمِهِ بَعْدَ عِلمِهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی عَفْوِهِ بَعْدَ قُدْرَتِهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی طُولِ اَناتِهِ فی غَضَبِهِ وَهُوَ قادِرٌ عَلی ما یُریدُ
Praise is to God with all his praises, for all his blessings. . . Praise is to God, the owner of the property, the operator of the orbit, the bender of the wind, the glory of the morning, the religion of the beliefs, lord of the worlds; praise is to God for his dream after his knowledge and thank God for forgiveness after his power, and praise be to God for his long patience in his wrath and he is capable to do what he wills
و نشهد أن لا اله الا الله وحده لا شریک له، و أَنَّ محمداً عبده و رسوله ارسله بالهدی و دین الحق لیظهره علی الدین کله و لو کره المشرکون اوصیکم عبادالله و نفسی بتقوی الله و اتباع امره و نهیه، و اخوفکم من عقابه
And we bear witness that there is no god but God alone, without partner, and that Muhammad is his servant and messenger, he sent him with guidance and the religion of truth, that he might proclaim it over all religion, even if the polytheists hated it.
The second period: the period of Musa’s migration from Egypt to Midian, marriage and life beside Shoaib the prophet
Musa, Kalimullah, decided to go to the land of Midian. This city was located in southern Syria and northern Hejaz, which was separated from the territory of Egypt and the rule of the pharaohs. Musa was pampered and had not suffered any hardships; however, he was on the verge of a long journey without any luggage. When he set out for the city of Midian, with faith and trust in God, he asked God for guidance and advice: وَلَمَّا تَوَجَّهَ تِلْقَاءَ مَدْيَنَ قَالَ عَسَى رَبِّي أَنْ يَهْدِيَنِي سَوَاءَ السَّبِيلِ And when he turned his face toward Midian, he said, ‘Maybe my Lord will show me the right way.’ (Qesas: 22)
Musa traveled the distance between Egypt and Midian in eight days and nights. Near the city of Midian, he saw a group of people by a well, where they were drawing water from that well with buckets to water their cattle. Beside them, he saw two girls standing modestly in a corner, taking care of their sheep and not going near the well. The holy Qur’an describes this story:
وَلَمَّا وَرَدَ مَاءَ مَدْيَنَ وَجَدَ عَلَيْهِ أُمَّةً مِنَ النَّاسِ يَسْقُونَ، وَوَجَدَ مِنْ دُونِهِمُ امْرَأَتَيْنِ تَذُودَانِ؛ قَالَ: مَا خَطْبُكُمَا؟ قَالَتَا: لَا نَسْقِي حَتَّى يُصْدِرَ الرِّعَاءُ وَأَبُونَا شَيْخٌ كَبِيرٌ؛ فَسَقَى لَهُمَا ثُمَّ تَوَلَّى إِلَى الظِّلِّ فَقَالَ: رَبِّ إِنِّي لِمَا أَنْزَلْتَ إِلَيَّ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَقِيرٌ؛
When he arrived at the well of Midian, he found there a throng of people watering [their flocks], and he found, besides them, two women holding back [their flock]. He said, ‘What is your business?’ They said, ‘We do not water [our flock] until the shepherds have driven out [their flocks], and our father is an aged man.’ So he watered [their flock] for them. Then he withdrew toward the shade and said, ‘My Lord! I am indeed in need of any good You may send down to me!’ (Qesas: 23-24)
The name of the old father of these two girls is not mentioned in the holy Qur’an. In Islamic traditions, he is considered to be the prophet Shoaib, who was the prophet of the people of Midian. However in the Torah, another name is mentioned for this father: “Moses fled to the land of Midian. One day, the seven daughters of Jethro, the priest of Midian, came to draw water from a well and fill their troughs to water their flock. But some shepherds came and pushed Jethro’s daughters away from the well to water their own flocks. Moses went forward and drove them back and helped the girls to water their sheep.”[1]
When Musa helped Shoaib’s daughters, he did not know them, but when he felt that the two girls were having trouble doing their work and saw that they were waiting with modesty, he rushed to help them. This spirit of masculinity and chivalry is one of the characteristics of the prophets. History of Islam has mentioned to the oath of chivalry, which the holy prophet of Islam was also a holder of such characteristic. Halaf al-Fadhol is the name of a contract in Arab history, in which a group of Meccan youth made with each other in the pre-Islamic years. They gathered together and took an oath to help the oppressed and strangers who came to the city and were oppressed by the powerful people of Mecca.
The holy prophet od Islam was proud to be present in this chivalrous pact and said: “I participated an agreement in the house of Abdullah bin Jadaan that I will not allow to break that agreement even in return of a great wealth, and if I am invited to such an agreement in Islam, I will accept it. (Sirah Ibn Hisham, vol. 1, p. 134)”
Musa enters Shoaib’s house, works for him and marries his daughter
The Torah continues the story of Musa’s encountering with those girls:
When the girls returned home, their father Reuel asked: “How did you come back so early today?”; They said: “An Egyptian man helped us and drove the shepherds aside; he pulled out water for us from the well and watered the flock.” Their father asked: “Where is that man now? Why didn’t you bring him with you? Go and invite him to eat with us.” Musa accepted his invitation and stayed in their house from then on. Yatron married his daughter Safora to Musa.
The holy Qur’an also tells the same story with a slight difference and in more detail:
فَجَاءَتْهُ إِحْدَاهُمَا تَمْشِي عَلَى اسْتِحْيَاءٍ، قَالَتْ: إِنَّ أَبِي يَدْعُوكَ لِيَجْزِيَكَ أَجْرَ مَا سَقَيْتَ لَنَا. فَلَمَّا جَاءَهُ وَقَصَّ عَلَيْهِ الْقَصَصَ قَالَ: لَا تَخَفْ نَجَوْتَ مِنَ الْقَوْمِ الظَّالِمِينَ؛ قَالَتْ إِحْدَاهُمَا: يَا أَبَتِ اسْتَأْجِرْهُ إِنَّ خَيْرَ مَنِ اسْتَأْجَرْتَ الْقَوِيُّ الْأَمِينُ؛ قَالَ: إِنِّي أُرِيدُ أَنْ أُنْكِحَكَ إِحْدَى ابْنَتَيَّ هَاتَيْنِ عَلَى أَنْ تَأْجُرَنِي ثَمَانِيَ حِجَجٍ فَإِنْ أَتْمَمْتَ عَشْرًا فَمِنْ عِنْدِكَ وَمَا أُرِيدُ أَنْ أَشُقَّ عَلَيْكَ سَتَجِدُنِي إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ مِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ؛ قَالَ: ذَلِكَ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَكَ أَيَّمَا الْأَجَلَيْنِ قَضَيْتُ فَلَا عُدْوَانَ عَلَيَّ وَاللَّهُ عَلَى مَا نَقُولُ وَكِيلٌ؛
Then one of the two women approached him, walking bashfully. She said, ‘Indeed my father invites you to pay you the wages for watering [our flock] for us.’ So when he came to him and recounted the story to him, he said, ‘Do not be afraid. You have been delivered from the wrongdoing lot.’ One of the two women said, ‘Father, hire him. Indeed the best you can hire is a powerful and trustworthy man.’ He said, ‘Indeed I desire to marry you to one of these two daughters of mine, on condition that you hire yourself to me for eight years. And if you complete ten, that will be up to you, and I do not want to be hard on you. God willing, you will find me to a righteous person.’ He said, ‘This will be [by consent] between you and me. Whichever of the two terms I complete, there shall be no imposition upon me, and Allah is witness over what we say.’ (Qesas: 25-28)
In this way, Musa married Safura, stayed in Midian shepherding and raising cattle. After ten years of living in Midian, Musa gathered his belongings and sheep and packed his luggage and left Midian with his family for the land of Egypt.
The necessity of ten years of pastoral work for prophet Musa
Musa was a person who grew up in Pharaoh’s palace and in luxury, and naturally he did not deal with the problems and hardships of the world. Human intelligence develops in fighting against unfortunate events and finding solutions for them, and Musa was deprived of this development.
God had considered Musa for the great responsibility of being a prophet, and when he was a baby, he had promised his mother that … إِنَّا رَادُّوهُ إِلَيْكِ وَجَاعِلُوهُ مِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ We revealed to Moses’ mother, [saying], ‘Nurse him; then, when you fear for him, cast him into the river, and do not fear or grieve, for We will restore him to you and make him one of the apostles.’ (Qessas: 7) For such a great responsibility, Musa’a intelligence should have been developed in dealing with problems, and his managerial ability should have been developed in managing the people of Israel and building a great civilization by them. It was by God’s destiny that he was engaged in shepherd work for ten years, and dealed with the sudden attack of wild animals in the desert.
[1] Bible, Exodus 2, 15-17