Title: Further on Tawheed at the Time of the Prophet Musa (pbuh) Question/Comments: I am sorry my questions where not clear. I asked you to give evidence from Holy Quran that Musa (Mercy upon him) preached against idol worship in Egypt before death of Firown because of a claim by a Muslim organisation that there are Verses where all Prophet's (peace be upon them) of Islam preaching against idol worship except Musa (Mercy be upon him). So I want the Verses as proof. Another question I asked was whether unity was important than Tawheed. I am sorry I gave you the wrong Verse. Correct Verse is 20:94-Verily I feared lest you should say 'You have made a division among the children of Israel'". Hope you will clarify. Thank you. Answer: The main mission of Musa (Moses) (pbuh), according to the Qur'an, was to take Bani Israel (Children of Israel) out of Egypt and to guide them. However, in the process of doing so he was also instructed to advise (Pharaoh) and his government to give up transgressions and obey God. The two goals were, in fact, complementary to one another. The only way the Bani Israel could leave Egypt in peace was if Pharaoh believed in God, in Musa and in his mission. Obviously, this never materialised due to Pharaoh's denial of the truth. As for preaching against idol worship one should note that it was in fact Pharaoh himself who was considered as god (a deity) by his followers: Pharaoh said (to Musa and Haroon): If you will take a god besides me, I will most certainly make you one of the imprisoned. - Al Shu'araa 26:29 And Firon (Pharaoh) said: O chiefs! I do not know of any god for you besides myself; ... - Al Qasas 28:38 Then he gathered (men) and called out. Then he said: I am your lord, the most high. - Al Nazi'aat 79:23, 24 Therefore when Musa invited Pharaoh and his people to obey God (refer to Al Nazi'aat 79:17-19 and 26:10,11) he was in fact inviting them to stop believing in any false gods (in this case the false deity being Pharaoh himself) and to believe in only one God. One might argue that Pharaoh himself was the idol who was worshipped by his people; however, as far as I can tell, we do not have direct evidence in the Qur'an suggesting that Musa was preaching against 'idol' worship before the death of Pharaoh (and not after it except for the specific incident when his people worshiped an idol in his absence). As for your second question about the incident of Haroon (Aaron) (pbuh) and the idol worshippers: Before Musa went to the mountain to to be addressed by God, he gave the following advice to Haroon): " ... Musa said to his brother Haroon: Take my place among my people, and act well and do not follow the way of the mischief-makers." - Al A'raf 7:142 The translation "act well" is for the Arabic word 'Aslih' which implies 'doing what is best in a particular situation/circumstance'. Later, in the absence of Musa. some of the Bani Israel started idol worshipping. Haroon does not hesitate to advise and warn them against it but the people do not obey him: "And certainly Haroon had said to them before: O my people! you are only tried by it, and surely your Lord is the Beneficent Allah, therefore follow me and obey my order. They said: We will by no means cease to keep to its worship until Musa returns to us. - Taha 20:90-91 Obviously if Haroon wanted to go a step further in his persistence, then he would have needed to fight with the disobeying people. When Musa returned and rebuked Haroon for not putting an end to the idol worship, Haroon replied: "...son of my mother! the people did indeed reckon me as naught, and went near to slaying me ... " - Al A'raf 7:150 If Haroun (Aaron) wanted to engage in fighting then this meant separation (division) and civil fight (war) among the Bani Israel. In response to Musa, Haroon also says: "surely I was afraid lest you should say: You have caused a division among the children of Israel and did not respect my word." - Taha 20:94 The 'word' of Musa that is referred to above is his advice to Haroon (as quoted earlier) when he said: "act well and do not follow the way of the mischief-makers" - Al A'raf 7:142. It is evident from the above that Haroon was worried that by using force he might disobey his brother's order of 'act well' ( Aslih ). At the end Musa asks forgiveness from God for himself and for his brother in case they had any shortcomings in doing their divine duty: "He (Musa) said: My Lord! forgive me and my brother and cause us to enter into your mercy, and you are the most Merciful of the merciful ones." - Al A'raf 7:151 As it should be evident from the above, the given verses do not suggest that being united is more important than Tawheed (belief in the Unity of God). It only shows the utmost struggle of two messengers to guide their people to the right path. When I review the above details carefully all I see is a pure and excellent effort of two of the best human beings on the face of Earth to fulfill their Lord's commands to the best of their ability, while continuously seeking forgiveness from God. I hope you see the same. Abdullah Rahim May 19, 2007