Prophet Mūsā: Part 5 — The Calf, the Seventy and the Cow
Section 5 of 23 · Lives of the Prophets
Do Not Let the Enemy Rejoice
وَلَمَّا رَجَعَ مُوسَىٰٓ إِلَىٰ قَوْمِهِۦ غَضْبَـٰنَ أَسِفًا قَالَ بِئْسَمَا خَلَفْتُمُونِى مِنۢ بَعْدِىٓ ۖ أَعَجِلْتُمْ أَمْرَ رَبِّكُمْ ۖ وَأَلْقَى ٱلْأَلْوَاحَ وَأَخَذَ بِرَأْسِ أَخِيهِ يَجُرُّهُۥٓ إِلَيْهِ ۚ قَالَ ٱبْنَ أُمَّ إِنَّ ٱلْقَوْمَ ٱسْتَضْعَفُونِى وَكَادُوا۟ يَقْتُلُونَنِى فَلَا تُشْمِتْ بِىَ ٱلْأَعْدَآءَ وَلَا تَجْعَلْنِى مَعَ ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ
“When Mūsā returned to his people, angry and sad, he said, “How bad is the thing you have done in my absence! How did you act in haste against the command of your Lord?” He dropped down the Tablets, and grabbed the head of his brother, pulling him towards himself. He (Hārūn) said, “My mother’s son, the people took me as weak and were about to kill me. So do not let the enemies laugh at me, and do not count me with the wrong-doers.”” (7:150)
Hārūn told them not to worship the calf, and they threatened Hārūn; they said: we are going to kill you. And Hārūn said this in another ayah: they saw me as weak, and they were almost going to kill me, so do not let the enemy rejoice over us. Hārūn was saying: do not let the enemies — because we have some enemies among these people; some of them are enemies — do not let them rejoice because of the dispute between me and you.
So whenever we have a conflict, we should keep it private. If there is a conflict between the husband and the wife, it should not go outside the bounds of the household unless it is necessary; the problem should be private. And even when Allah said to bring in someone from outside — whom did Allah say to bring? A judge from her side of the family and a judge from your side of the family; and if that does not work, then you bring someone from the community as a judge.*** It is the same when we have a dispute as a Muslim ummah: we should keep it contained, and we should not bring the enemy in from outside to solve it.
When Muʿāwiyah was having a dispute with ʿAlī, the Romans felt that this was their opportunity to make a move, so they started arranging their army. The news reached Muʿāwiyah, because Muʿāwiyah was the one who was close to the Roman Empire, in al-Shām. So Muʿāwiyah sent a letter to the emperor of the Romans. He said: do not let the dispute between me and my cousin make you overconfident. If you do not stop, I am going to send you an army that starts here and ends where you are. Muʿāwiyah is telling them clearly: do not think that this dispute between me and my cousin will open a door of opportunity for you to come in.
Hārūn is telling his brother Mūsā: do not let the enemies rejoice over this. Hārūn said: they were about to kill me. They saw Hārūn as weak.