A Case of “Terrorism”

Now, this was not a regular homicide, an ordinary crime of murder. This was a big issue; it made headlines all over Egypt, because it was a political issue. It was a dispute between an Egyptian and a member of the weak community, Banū Isrāʾīl — the oppressed and the enslaved. How could someone from the low class kill someone from the high class? By now it was already known that Mūsā was from Banū Isrāʾīl, as some of the mufassirūn say. But even if that was not the case, it was a big issue — so big that Firʿawn, his government and his council met to discuss it.

That is how big it was. It was not an issue that simply went to court. No: it went all the way up to Firʿawn and his cabinet and his council, and they met to discuss it, because for them this was not a regular murder. It was an issue of terrorism. It was a terrorist act. That is what this issue was: because a Muslim had killed a member of the non-Muslim community, it was not dealt with the way they would deal with other, similar crimes. No — because it was committed by a Muslim, it had to be classified as terrorism. So this was an issue discussed by Firʿawn, his cabinet and his government, to be fought through their anti-terrorism task force. And they decided that they had to kill Mūsā.