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Finding Mercy in Catastrophes with Prophet Moses

08 August, 2022
Q Salam. So many scholars are saying that catastrophes could turn into mercy. How is that? Is there anything in the Quran that proves this concept?

Answer

Short Answer:

  • Prophet Moses had sought a man who had been given mercy and knowledge from God. All of the situations that seemed to be major catastrophes, were in fact carrying mercy from God.
  • Sometimes we only judge matters by our shortsightedness, but God being The All-Knowing, The Knower of The Seen and The Unseen, knows what’s in our benefit.

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Salam Dear Reader,

Thank you for your question and for contacting Ask About Islam.

Deep Messages in the Story of Moses

There are deep messages in the story of Moses (peace be upon him) that is mentioned in the Quran Chapter 18, Verses 60-82.

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Moses had sought a man who had been given mercy and knowledge from God.

Yes, Moses is The Prophet of God, yet he was humble enough and had enough humility to accept that God can send him someone to teach him specific lessons that Moses is yet to learn.

This is a reminder for many of us to remain humble no matter how much knowledge we think we have.

Questions from Prophet Moses

Moving on, the man took Moses on a journey that will reveal many lessons that could be hard to understand at face value.

First, they got into a boat, and the man made a hole in it. Moses said, ‘How could you make a hole in it? Do you want to drown its passengers? What a strange thing to do!’

Then, they met a young boy and the man killed him, Moses said, ‘How could you kill an innocent person? He has not killed anyone! What a terrible thing to do!’

Then, they came to a town and asked the inhabitants for food but were refused hospitality. They saw a wall there that was on the point of falling down and the man repaired it. Moses said, ‘But if you had wished you could have taken payment for doing that.’

Answers from Al-Khidr

The man then told Moses (peace be upon him) that he will tell him the meaning of the things he could not bear with patiently:

The boat belonged to some needy people who made their living from the sea and he damaged it because he knew that coming after them was a king who was seizing every [serviceable] boat by force. So, this hole that he made would in fact be the reason that saves them and their business.

The young boy had parents who were people of faith, and so, fearing he would trouble them with much wickedness and transgression, he was meant to be replaced with another child purer and more compassionate in his place.

The wall belonged to two young orphans in the town and there was buried treasure beneath it belonging to them. Their father had been a righteous man, so your Lord intended them to reach maturity and then dig up their treasure as a mercy from your Lord.

All of the situations that seemed to be major catastrophes, were in fact carrying mercy from God.

Sometimes we only judge matters by our shortsightedness, but God being The All-Knowing, The Knower of The Seen and The Unseen, knows what’s in our benefit and can teach and show us His mercy that is embedded all around us if only we’re patient, humble and seek His knowledge.

I hope this helps answer your question.

Salam and please keep in touch.

(From Ask About Islam archives)

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About Dina Mohamed Basiony
Dina Mohamed Basiony is a writer based in Cairo, Egypt. She specializes in Islam and spirituality. Dina holds an MA and BA in Journalism and Mass Communication from the American University in Cairo.