Sūrat Yūnus
Section 13 of 17 · Surah Studies · Mufti Abdul Rahman Mangera
Pharaoh's Adornment
Before his story, however, a word on that of Mūsā (peace be upon him). It need not be gone through again, having been treated already; the episode of the magicians is related here too. The one additional point to be drawn out is in verse 88.
Mūsā (peace be upon him) looks upon Pharaoh, upon all the wealth he has been given and all the power he has been given, and says to Allah:
وَقَالَ مُوسَىٰ رَبَّنَآ إِنَّكَ ءَاتَيْتَ فِرْعَوْنَ وَمَلَأَهُۥ زِينَةً وَأَمْوَٰلًا فِى ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا رَبَّنَا لِيُضِلُّوا۟ عَن سَبِيلِكَ ۖ رَبَّنَا ٱطْمِسْ عَلَىٰٓ أَمْوَٰلِهِمْ وَٱشْدُدْ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ فَلَا يُؤْمِنُوا۟ حَتَّىٰ يَرَوُا۟ ٱلْعَذَابَ ٱلْأَلِيمَ
“Mūsā said, “Our Lord, You have given Pharaoh and his group glamour and riches in the worldly life, so that, our Lord, they mislead (people) from Your path. Our Lord, obliterate their riches and harden their hearts, so that they may not come to believe until they witness the painful punishment.”” (10:88)
O Allah, You have given Pharaoh and his cronies abundant adornment of the world, the wealth of the world in this dunyā. O Allah, they turn people away from Your path; they mislead people from Your path. Rabbanā iṭmis ʿalā amwālihim — obliterate their wealth, destroy their wealth — wa-shdud ʿalā qulūbihim, and harden their hearts.
The next verse replies:
قَالَ قَدْ أُجِيبَت دَّعْوَتُكُمَا فَٱسْتَقِيمَا وَلَا تَتَّبِعَآنِّ سَبِيلَ ٱلَّذِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
“Allah said, “The prayer of the two of you has been granted; so stand firm, and never follow the way of the ignorant.”” (10:89)
This is verse 89. Allah says: your duʿāʾ — the duʿāʾ of you two, Hārūn and Mūsā (peace be upon them). The ʿulamāʾ have explained that Mūsā (peace be upon him) was making the duʿāʾ and Hārūn (peace be upon him) was saying āmīn, in whatever form it was said in those days. Your duʿāʾs, then, have been accepted.
Yet there was no immediate punishment, no immediate destruction of their wealth. It took years, but it did come. The lesson to be drawn concerns the duʿāʾ we ourselves make: if Mūsā (peace be upon him) and Hārūn (peace be upon him) had to wait, then we too must wait. Allah acts according to His own timetable. He says, in effect: do not rush Me, I know what to do. Everything is planned. It will happen; but it may happen later, when the time is right.