An Insider in the Palace

So they picked him up. What happened is that some soldiers or servants saw this box, opened it, and found a child inside. Where did they take it? Allah (swt) wanted that child to land not in the hands of Firʿawn, but in the hands of Firʿawn's wife, Āsiyah. So Āsiyah picked up this wooden box, saw the baby in it, and fell in love with him. Allah (swt) put the love of this righteous baby into the heart of this righteous woman.

The wife of Firʿawn said: a comfort of the eye for me and for you; do not kill him. So we sense here that perhaps Firʿawn wanted to kill this child, because the wife of Firʿawn is saying, do not kill him. Perhaps there was an attempt to kill Mūsā. Firʿawn was killing all the children of Banū Isrāʾīl right and left, so he might have felt there was a possibility this child was one of them — why not be rid of him? But Allah (swt) placed some support for Mūsā inside the palace of Firʿawn.

When Allah (swt) wants to help His servants, you do not know who the soldiers of Allah (swt) are. Allah (swt) put an insider in the palace of Firʿawn to support Mūsā (peace be upon him), and that was the wife of Firʿawn — an insider, the queen. Allah (swt) made her a supporter of Mūsā.

It was just like Quraysh: when the disbelievers besieged the Muslims in a shiʿb and boycotted them for three years, Allah (swt) put into the hearts of some of the strong men of Quraysh the intention to break up the embargo, even though they were not Muslims. Allah (swt) can use anyone He wants for the sake of His religion, even if they are not Muslim. Even if they intend to be enemies of Islam, Allah (swt) can turn their actions against them. So we should always have trust in Allah (swt) that no matter how strong the enemy is, no matter how powerful the devil's work seems, Allah (swt) can give us victory if we fulfil the requirements of victory. In tanṣurū Allāha yanṣurkum — if you give victory to Allah, Allah will give victory to you.

So Allah (swt) provided the helpless child with an insider to take care of him: the wife of Firʿawn. She said: he will be a comfort for my eyes and a comfort for your eyes, and we will take him as an adopted son — because they had no children. It is said that Firʿawn said: a comfort for your eyes, but not a comfort for mine. He was really making a duʿāʾ against himself — saying he did not want this child to be a comfort for his eyes. Let him be a comfort for your eyes. And Mūsā was a comfort for the eyes of Āsiyah, and he was not a comfort for the eyes of Firʿawn; those words of Firʿawn were fulfilled. Do not kill him; perhaps he may benefit us, or we may adopt him as a son.