Prophet Musa, peace be upon him: key events in the Quran

What is the order of his story in the Quran?

The Quran does not tell the story once, in one order. Each surah picks the parts it needs, so one event can come back with different details.

How was he saved as a baby?

Al-Qasas 28:7 says that Allah inspired the mother of Musa to nurse him, and that if she feared for him she should "cast him into the river". The next verse says the family of Pharaoh took him up, so that he would become "an enemy and a sorrow" for them. Pharaoh's wife asked that he be spared, with the words "Do not kill him", and the verse ends "And they perceived not" (28:9).

In 28:10 the verses say that "the heart of the mother of Moses became void". She would have betrayed him had Allah not fortified her heart. His sister watched him from afar and offered to show a household that would nurse him (28:11 and 28:12). Allah restored him to his mother "that she might be comforted and not grieve" (28:13).

Who was in his family in the Quran?

The passages name very few people. His mother and his sister appear in the story of the river (28:7 and 28:11), and neither is named. His brother Harun, peace be upon him (Aaron in the translation on this site), is named when Musa asks for him as a helper (20:30 and 28:34). The verses on his birth do not name his father, and the Quran gives no family tree.

Why did he leave Egypt?

Al-Qasas 28:15 tells of a day when he entered the city "at a time of carelessness of its folk" and found two men fighting, one from his own group and one from his enemies. The man from his group asked for help, and Musa "struck him with his fist and killed him". He said, "This is of the devil's doing". Then he asked his Lord, "I have wronged my soul, so forgive me" (28:16).

The next day, when Musa moved to strike the man from the enemy's side, a man cried out: "Would you kill me as you did kill a person yesterday" (28:19). A man came running from the far side of the city to say that "the chiefs take counsel against you to slay you" (28:20). Musa left, "fearing, vigilant", and asked his Lord to "Deliver me from the wrongdoing folk" (28:21). The verses do not name any of the men.

What happened in Midian?

Musa turned towards Midian, asking that his Lord "will guide me in the right road" (28:22). At the water he found two women holding back their flock, who said that they could not water it until the shepherds had gone, because "our father is a very old man" (28:23). He watered the flock for them and said, "I am needy of whatever good You send down for me" (28:24). One of the women came back, walking shyly, to call him to her father, who offered him a payment (28:25). The father proposed that he marry one of his two daughters on condition that he serve for "eight pilgrimages", and "if you completest ten it will be of your own accord" (28:27).

How did the call come at the fire?

Ta-Ha 20:9 opens the account with a question: "Has there come to you the story of Moses". Musa sees a fire and tells his household that he may bring them a brand from it, or find guidance there (20:10). When he reaches it he is called by name (20:11). The voice says "you are in the holy valley of Tuwa" (20:12), then "And I have chosen you" (20:13), and then "There is no God except Me" (20:14).

An-Naml 27:7 to 9 tells the same moment with other details: Musa says "I spy afar off a fire", and the call says "Blessed is Whoever is in the fire" (27:8). Al-Qasas 28:30 says the call came "from the tree" on the right side of the valley. Al-Nisa 4:164 says that "Allah spoke directly to Moses".

Ta-Ha 20:17 to 23 then gives the first signs. The staff becomes "it was a serpent, gliding" (20:20), and his hand comes out white (20:22). The purpose given is "That We may show you" some of Our greater portents (20:23). Al-Qasas 28:32 says "these shall be two proofs from your Lord to Pharaoh and his chiefs", and An-Naml 27:12 calls them "among nine tokens to Pharaoh and his people".

What was the dua of Prophet Musa? His prayer in the Quran

The Quran records Musa's own prayer when he is sent, in Ta-Ha 20:25 to 28. He asks his Lord to "relieve my mind", to "ease my task for me", and to "loose a knot from my tongue", so that they "may understand my saying".

In 20:29 to 32 he asks for a helper from his household, "Aaron, my brother", who is Harun, peace be upon him. The purpose he gives is "That we may glorify You much" (20:33). Ash-Shu'ara 26:13 gives the reason, "my tongue will not speak plainly", so "therefore send for Aaron". In Al-Qasas 28:34 he says, "My brother Aaron is more eloquent than me in speech".

How did Pharaoh and his magicians respond?

In Al-A'raf 7:104 Musa says, "I am a messenger from the Lord of the Worlds", and 7:105 asks that "So let the Children of Israel go with me". When he throws down his staff, the verse says "it was a serpent manifest" (7:107). Pharaoh's chiefs say that this is "some knowing wizard" (7:109). The magicians fall down, and say that they believe in "The Lord of Moses and Aaron" (7:122).

Pharaoh answers, "You believe in Him before I give you leave" (7:123), and threatens: "Then I shall crucify you every one" (7:124). The magicians ask for "Vouchsafe to us steadfastness" (7:126). The signs that follow, the flood, locusts, vermin, frogs and blood, are called "a succession of clear signs" (7:133). When the terror is lifted for a term, the people "they broke their covenant" (7:135), and then "We drowned them in the sea" (7:136).

How did the sea part?

Ta-Ha 20:77 says Allah inspired Musa to "strike for them a dry path in the sea", and to take "My slaves" away by night without fear of being overtaken. Pharaoh followed with his hosts, and "there covered them that which did cover them of the sea" (20:78). In Ash-Shu'ara 26:61 the people with Musa say, "we are indeed caught", and he answers that "my Lord is with me" (26:62). The verse gives the command: "Smite the sea with your staff. And it parted, and each part was as a mountain vast" (26:63).

The verses say, "And We saved Moses and those with him, every one" (26:65), and "And We drowned the others" (26:66). Ad-Dukhan 44:24 gives the order to "leave the sea behind at rest", and Al-Baqarah 2:50 recalls the same favour: "We brought you through the sea and rescued you".

What happened at the mountain?

Al-Baqarah 2:51 says that Allah "We did appoint for Moses forty nights", and then that the people chose the calf in his absence. In Ta-Ha 20:83 to 86 Allah asks why he hastened from his people, and Musa says they are "close upon my track" (20:84). He returns "angry and sad" (20:86). The verses say that "As-Samiri has misled them" (20:85), and that the people made a calf: "a calf, of saffron hue, which gave forth a lowing sound" (20:88).

Harun had warned them: "You are but being seduced with it" (20:90). When Musa asks him why he did not follow, Harun answers that he feared Musa would say, "You have caused division among the Children of Israel" (20:94). Al-Baqarah 2:53 says "We gave to Moses the Scripture and the criterion".

What does the text leave unsaid, and what do later retellings add?

Later books of history and commentary add names, places, numbers and dialogue to these events. The Quran does not give them, and this page does not state them as Quran. The table shows where the text is silent.