1. HEAVENLY STAFF
It was the holy staff of Sayyiduna Musa which is commonly known as ‘Asaa-e-Musa’. Several miracles exhibited by Sayyiduna Musa were by virtue of this holy staff. These miracles have been mentioned by the Holy Quran under different topics repeatedly. The history of this holy staff is very ancient and it comprises of hundreds of historical events that impart thousands of moral lessons. Those who possess the spiritual insight can avail the light of guidance from these events. The staff was as tall as Sayyiduna Musa i.e. ten arms-length [approx. 15ft]. Its head was split into two branches that would emit the light at night like a lamp. It was made from the heavenly tree of Salvadora Persica [Peelu] and Sayyiduna Aadam had brought it with him from the Paradise. The excellence of the blessed staff has been mentioned by Sayyid ‘Ali Ujhawri in his couplets:
Five things descended from the Paradise with Sayyiduna Aadam ‘Oud (the fragrant wood), the blessed staff of Sayyiduna Musa which was made up of the great wood of Salvadora Persica [Peelu], the leaves of the fig-tree, Hajar-ul-Aswad present in Makkah Mu’azzamah and the holy ring of the Blessed Prophet Sulayman
After Sayyiduna Aadam, the holy staff was passed on as a prophetic heritage to several distinguished Prophets one after the other. Then finally, it reached Sayyiduna Shu’ayb, who was a Prophet sent to the people of Madyan. When Sayyiduna Musa migrated from Egypt to Madyan, Sayyiduna Shu’ayb got his daughter, Sayyidatuna Saffura married with Sayyiduna Musa. Sayyiduna Musa served Sayyiduna Shu’ayb for ten years. He would herd the goats of Sayyiduna Shu’ayb during that period. At that time, upon receiving the command of Allah Sayyiduna Shu’ayb gave the holy staff to Sayyiduna Musa:
‘And what is this in your right hand, O Musa?’ He said, ‘It is my staff;
I lean on it, I knock down leaves for my sheep with it, and there are my
other works in it.’
In the context of other works that were accomplished through that staff; Sayyiduna ‘Allamah Abul Barakaat ‘Abdullah Bin Ahmad Nasfi has mentioned following things in Tafseer of this part of the Quranic verse:
1. Holding it and walking taking its support.
2. Talking to it as a pastime.
3. The staff becoming a tree and providing shade during the daytime.
4. In the night time, the two forked branches of the staff would glow and provide light.
5. Using it as a protection against enemies, wild beasts, snakes and scorpions.
6. At the time of drawing out water from a well, the staff would turn into a rope and its two forked branches would turn into a bucket.
7. As and when required the staff would turn into a tree and would bear desired fruits.
8. Water would emerge upon pegging the staff into the ground.
Sayyiduna Musa used to perform the above mentioned things with the holy staff. When Sayyiduna Musa went to the court of pharaoh to guide him towards the right path, pharaoh denied Sayyiduna Musa and blamed him to be a magician. Thereafter wonderful miracles were exhibited through the blessed staff. The Holy Quran has mentioned three of those miracles repeatedly:
Staff became a serpent
Once pharaoh arranged a huge carnival and gathered all of the magicians of his kingdom in order to defeat Sayyiduna Musa In the midst of this carnival which was crowded with hundreds and thousands of people, at one side stood a large number of magicians holding their magic devices in their hands and on the other side, there stood Sayyiduna Musa all alone yet determined against all of them. The magicians swore by the grace of pharaoh and threw their sticks and ropes onto the ground. Suddenly, those sticks and ropes became hissing snakes slithering all over the field. The whole crowd lost senses out of fear and a stampede broke out. Pharaoh and all of his magicians swelled with arrogance upon demonstrating their show and began to clap arrogantly considering it their victory.
Meanwhile, upon receiving the command of Allah , Sayyiduna Musa placed his holy staff among the snakes. The blessed staff turned into a big and horrifying serpent that swallowed all of the snakes of the magicians. Upon witnessing this miracle, all of the magicians admitted their defeat and fell prostrate while proclaiming (‘We believe in Him Who is the Lord of Haroon and Musa’). Therefore, while mentioning this incident, the
Holy Quran says:
They said, ‘O Musa, either you throw first – or shall we throw first?’ He said, ‘Rather, you may throw’; there upon their ropes and their sticks, by the strength of their magic, appeared to him as if they were fast running. And Musa sensed fear in his heart. We said, ‘Do not fear – it is you who is dominant.’ And cast down what is in your right hand – it will swallow their fabrications; what they have made is the trick of the magician; and a magician does not prosper, anywhere he comes.’ Therefore all the magicians were put down to prostrate – they said, ‘We believe in Him Who is the Lord of Haroon and Musa.’
Springs emerged by virtue of staff’s stroke
Syria was the native country of Israelites (the Bani Israel) – but these people settled in Egypt during the reign of Sayyiduna Yusuf and the people of ‘Amaliqah, the worst of the unbelievers, dominated Syria. When pharaoh drowned in the River Nile and Sayyiduna Musa was secured from the tyrannies of pharaoh, Allah commanded Musa to do Jihad (holy war) against the people of ‘Amaliqah and free Syria from their domination. Therefore, Sayyiduna Musa mobilized an army of six hundred thousand Israelites and moved for Jihad. However, when the Israelites reached within the borders of Syria, they became so terrified of the people of ‘Amaliqah that they gave up and fled from Jihad.
As a consequence of disobeying the command of Allah , the Israelites were punished in such a way that they went wandering in the plains of Teeh for forty years and could not get out of it. Sayyiduna Musa also stayed with them in that field. When those people became restless due to the thirst and hunger in the plains where no signs of food and water existed, Allah descended ‘Mann-o-Salwa’ for them from the skies by virtue of the supplication made by Sayyiduna Musa.
Mann was a type of sweet confectionary similar to honey and Salwa was roasted quails. After eating, when they became restless due to extreme thirst, Sayyiduna Musa struck a stone with his staff. Immediately, twelve springs emerged from the stone. The twelve
tribes of the Bani Israel began drinking water from their individual springs, and also served this water to their cattle. It continued for forty years. It was a miracle of Sayyiduna Musa that occurred with the help of the holy staff and stone. The Holy Quran describes this miracle as under:
And when Musa asked for water for his people, We said, ‘Strike this rock with your staff’; straightaway twelve springs gushed forth from it; each group recognised its drinking-place.
Stroke of staff split the Niles
Sayyiduna Musa preached pharaoh for a long time and showed him heavenly signs and miracles. However, he did not embrace the truth and grew even further in his mischief and stubbornness. The Israelites did not accept pharaoh as their Lord; therefore, he tortured them severely. During this persecution, a Divine revelation was revealed upon Sayyiduna Musadirecting him to migrate from Egypt along with the Bani Israel overnight. Therefore, Sayyiduna Musa left Egypt overnight along with the Israelites. When pharaoh came to know about it, he mobilized his army to arrest the Israelites. When the two armies became close to each other, the Israelites shrieked out of the fear of pharaoh and thought they would now be arrested by pharaoh. The prevailing situation for the Israelites was very serious because, at one side, they were confronted by the river with big tidal waves in front of them and the bloodthirsty army of pharaoh on the other side.
Under this alarming situation, Sayyiduna Musa was relaxed and was consoling the Israelites. When they approached the river, Allah commanded Sayyiduna Musa to strike the river with his staff. Therefore, the moment he struck the river with his blessed staff, twelve clear roads developed across the river. The Israelites walked over these twelve paths and crossed the river safely.
When pharaoh reached the river and saw the twelve roads, he went onto the roads along with his army. However, when he and his army reached the middle of the river, suddenly the huge waves rose and engulfed the roads. Consequently, pharaoh drowned into the river, along with his army. The Holy Quran mentions the incident in these words:
And when the two groups saw each other, those with Musa said, ‘They have captured us.’ Said Musa, ‘Not so, indeed my Lord is with me, He will now show me the way.’ So We sent the Divine revelation to Musa that, ‘Strike the sea with your staff’; there upon the sea parted; so each part became like a huge mountain. And We brought the others close to that place. And We saved Musa and all those with him, then drowned the others. Indeed in this is necessarily a sign, and most of them were not Muslims.
These are the three wonderful miracles that occurred through the blessed staff of Sayyiduna Musa , that have been mentioned in the Holy Quran repeatedly in different contexts to provide moral lessons for the people.
Source: (QURANIC WONDERS) by ‘ABDUL MUSTAFA A’ZAMI.
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