Surah Al Qasas Part 2 | "When Victims Turn Into Aggressors"

Surah Al-Qaṣaṣ Part 2: When Victims Turn Into Aggressors

Looking through the lens of the story of Musa, we realize that this is a template that repeats again and again in history. We talked yesterday about Firaun and his methods — how he split the people, split them into groups, created an apartheid state, created a state of affairs where one group was more empowered than the other, one group was weaker than the other, had less rights than the other. We talked about the mother of Musa, and the promise of Allah.

Musa Grows into Strength, Wisdom, and Knowledge

And now, as Musa is in the palace — the baby prince — we fast forward a number of years. Allah says:

"And when he reached his maturity and was fully grown, We gave him wisdom and knowledge. And thus do We reward the doers of good."

Some scholars are of the opinion that this is referring to prophethood — that Allah gave him prophethood at this time. And others are of the opinion that this is just him growing up and Allah preparing him for prophethood, and the real prophethood comes later when Allah reveals to him in front of the burning bush. So Musa is preparing for prophethood. And he has wisdom, he has knowledge, he has that insight from Allah.

Musa Enters the City

And one day, he enters the busy center of the city — al-Madinah. Not the palace where he was living, in the suburbs, far from the city, but the actual center of the city. He enters the city while he's unaware of its people. He's unaware of what really goes on. He's naïve, he's inexperienced. Or he's unaware of what he could come across in this part of the city.

And what does he find? He finds that a fight breaks out in the middle of the city. One person is an Israelite and the other one is a Qibti — a Copt. I said there were two classes in society: the slave class, the Banu Israel — the Israelites — and the masters, those who would enjoy the extra benefits and enjoy the oppression, and they were the Copts. So he sees one from each against each other, fighting. And the one from his group, the Banu Israel, called him and asked for his help. He said, come on, help me please.

So Musa عليه السلام comes, and in trying to separate the fight, he gives a firm punch to one of them and he lands flat. He takes his life. Not deliberately. Now this action that Musa عليه السلام did, and this result that happened — Musa عليه السلام wasn't expecting that. He wasn't intending that.

Musa's Repentance and Du'a

So he immediately turns to Allah in du'a:

"He said, 'My Lord, indeed I have wronged myself, so forgive me.' And He forgave him. Indeed, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful."

Allah forgives him. Allah is the most forgiving and merciful. He makes another du'a:

"He said, 'My Lord, because You have blessed me, I will never be a supporter of the criminals.'"

Oh Allah, because of the blessings You gave me of knowledge and wisdom, I'm not going to help a mujrim — a criminal — again. Don't make me somebody who assists the wrongdoers.

When Victims Turn Into Aggressors

What's the context here? When this cycle of oppression is happening, you have one group of people oppressing, one group of people oppressed. Sometimes the oppressed people will retaliate. They will take revenge. They will cause a fight. And sometimes the response they give is excess — it's more than what they should be doing. They strike harder than they should be striking. And that's not fair. That's unjust.

Just because somebody is doing wrong to you, don't allow that to make you unjust with them, to make you unfair with them, for you to go too far. So the whole idea in Islam is one of Qisas — this idea of equality. A tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye. But if someone comes and gives you a punch, takes a tooth of yours, and you take out his entire set of teeth — this is udwan, you've gone too far. Just because you are oppressed doesn't give you the right to oppress others. They say two wrongs don't make a right.

So this is what Musa عليه السلام is learning. This guy is from my people. He's from the oppressed people. But when I went too far, I need to stop. This wasn't right. I should not have crossed the line. Oh Allah, forgive me. Oh Allah, don't let me help someone who is a mujrim — a criminal — even if he's from my people.

This is where sometimes the connection of tribe, of blood, of country, of sect, of group — sometimes it blinds you. You think he's from my group, he's from my sect, my tribe, my family, so you support this person. But actually they're in the wrong. But because you're so deeply connected, you can't see that. You only see: my group, my people, my sect, my oppressed people. So you helped them, but you go too far.

This is where Musa عليه السلام is teaching us: never go too far when righting a wrong. Never cross the line. Just because someone is your blood, don't accept their claims at face value. Always investigate — are they really in the right, or are they making a mistake here?

The Second Day — The Same Man Causes Another Fight

Musa عليه السلام the next day — now he's more careful. He's not naïve anymore. He's watching what's going on in the city of Egypt. And he finds the same gentleman again. The same person he saved yesterday — the person Musa عليه السلام accidentally killed someone trying to save — that same person is in another fight today.

What does that tell you about this person? This person likes getting into fights. Musa عليه السلام looks at him:

Musa عليه السلام looks at him and says, again you're in a fight, again you're calling me. He says: "You are clearly misguided. You're lost." The cause of Banu Israel, the cause for equality, the cause to remove injustice and oppression — that is a fair cause. But you, my friend, you like to pick fights every day. That doesn't mean that you're right. He says, look, right now yes, our people are oppressed, but what you're doing is wrong.

So because this gentleman — this guy who keeps getting into fights from Banu Israel — he is a problematic person, a tricky person. He doesn't have the best intentions. So he says: okay, you see, I'm misguided? Let me take you down with me. So he says loudly in the city center: "Musa, you just want to kill me like you killed someone yesterday. All you want to be is an unjust tyrant. And you don't want to be someone who is fixing things and making things better."

Now everybody in the city knows Musa killed someone yesterday. Great PR for Musa, right? Everybody knows now — the adopted son of the Pharaoh, he killed one of us. No, we have to make an example out of him. We have to put his posters on the wall and make sure everybody knows you can't get away with this. Let us make him an example. So the news reaches back to Musa. Somebody comes from the other side of the city, from the palace:

"Musa, the plan is to get rid of you. Get out of here. I'm here sincerely to help you."

Musa Flees — A Fugitive Who Is Not a Criminal

Musa leaves the city of Egypt. He doesn't know where he's going, but he just has one thing in mind:

"So he left it, fearful and waiting. He said, 'My Lord, save me from the wrongdoing people.'"

Musa, at that moment, is a criminal. He's a fugitive. He's on the blacklist. But not everybody on the blacklist is always doing something wrong. It depends who's in power. It depends what their rules are. It depends how they see right and wrong. At that time, they say Musa is criminal number one — we have to get him.

Musa escapes. He doesn't know where he's going. One thing you notice about Musa — at every stage in his life, he's talking to Allah. When he makes a mistake. When he's ready to leave. When he reaches Madyan. This man — he's got the whole world on his back. The burden that he carries, the difficulties that he has — it's unbearable, unimaginable. A tyrant king who wants to slaughter him, a people who are oppressed — it's a big job.

The Constant Conversation with Allah

The only thing that gets him through this — every moment, he's in a constant conversation with Allah. This is why it is said by our scholars that Allah is the close companion of everyone who is lonely. Allah is the supporter when you have nobody. Allah is the helper when you have no help, when you have been abandoned.

And to really understand this, to measure this, you have to ask yourself — and I have to ask myself — how often are we speaking to Allah? Frequently it is only in times of difficulty that we turn to Allah. Something goes wrong, the boiler breaks, we lose our jobs — then we turn to Allah like it's nobody's business. And this is good, this is natural, this is what Allah wants — this is why He sent the calamity in the first place. But the beauty and the key and the blessing is the one who is able to consistently speak to Allah in good times and in bad times.

Musa عليه السلام learns from this incident — just because he's a prophet, just because Allah promised his mother something, doesn't mean he's going to have the easy path. The path to freedom takes sometimes 100 years, 150 years, 80 years — but he has to be patient.

He's going now in a direction he has no clue about. Uncertainty — just as his mother threw him into the sea, uncertain where he was going to go, he now walks into the desert, no clue where he is going. He's only certain of one thing: Allah will show me the way. Allah will never leave me.

This idea — this iman, this surety and certainty — that no matter what the situation, no matter how bad the bombings, wherever we are lost and displaced and dispossessed, our homes, our food, our families — if we are with Allah, then we have succeeded. True success is not material success. Having a big house, a nice car — these are blessings no doubt — but the true success is that no matter what happens, that rope between me and Allah does not get sliced. This is what Musa عليه السلام is teaching us.

Conclusion — The Lesson of This Story

We learn another important thing: it is often the one who is being wronged, the one who is being oppressed, who retaliates and takes revenge in a way that's not appropriate. In Islam, everything has rules — war has rules, retaliation has rules, there's a court, there's a system — because we should never overstep the limit. We have to always keep this in mind, whether it's in our family, at work, in arguments, with friends, or whether it's when you look at these situations in the world. We must not overstep the line and advocate the oppression of others, but we should always ask Allah to remove the oppression that we are faced with.

And this is the second part of the story of Musa عليه السلام.

Du'a

O Allah, forgive us all our sins — all of them, small and great, those we know of and those we do not know of. Indeed, You are the Most Merciful of the merciful. No one can overcome You, and no one can repel You. Indeed, You are the Knower of the unseen. O Allah, grant us patience. Indeed, our eyes do not obey their vision. O Allah, do not test us in our hereafter. O Allah, protect us in our life. O Allah, You are the Most Forbearing. We ask You for Your Mercy and Forgiveness.

And peace and blessings be upon the Prophet of Mercy, Muhammad, and upon his family and companions. May Allah's peace, mercy, and blessings be upon you.