Pharaoh’s traits in the Quran Friday, 04 March 2011 02:26

n recent weeks we have seen a modern-day Pharaoh brought to his knees. This is not the first time this has happened in history, nor will it be the last. When we read the Quran we find that the most-mentioned Prophet is Musa or Moses (peace and blessings be upon him). A core element of the story of Prophet Musa is his confrontation with the Pharaoh of his time in Egypt. In this article we will look at some of the characteristics of that Pharaoh as described by Allah so that we can try to work towards eliminating these characteristics in ourselves, our families, and our communities.

Pharaoh had many deeply-rooted negative traits, the most severe being his “god complex.” He took this to the highest level when he told people to outright worship him. It is no hidden fact that many of us practice elements of this trait in our daily lives. When Musa came to Pharaoh and told him about the message of tawheed (monotheism) Pharaoh’s arrogant reply was, “O Chiefs! no god do I know for you but myself…”

(Al Qasas 28:38)

Pharaoh truly believed he was the most powerful; a god that his people should worship and dedicate their lives to, or face death. Sometimes we also feel that we should be the center of everyone else’s existence.

An example of this is how we update our facebook statuses with all kinds of small things that are not of concern to others. Why are you telling us that you just had a nice coffee or that you prefer diet pepsi over diet coke? Are these actions small indications that we are beginning to think we are so important that everyone else should care that much about the minor details of our lives?

One interesting thing about this self-involved trait is that when a person acquires it he/she begins to misread things that happen around them. In the case of Pharaoh, Allah says,

Allah also said: “Pharaoh said: “I but point out to you that which I see myself; Nor do I guide you but to the Path of Right!” (Ghafir 40:29)

Pharaoh’s statements and outlook in this regard are very similar to the hypocrites referred to in the beginning of Surat Al Baqarah. Allah says:

This condition of the heart is something we should pay attention to. When a person’s relationship with is very close, He will give him/her better insight into his/her life. Similarly, when a heart is diseased with love for oneself, it shows signs of hypocrisy towards Allah.

The heart reflects the actions of a person, so anyone who worships Allah alone will have a purer heart and will not corrupt others. At the same time, if he/she is disobedient towards Allah then He will mislead him/her further into darkness. Allah said: “Do they not travel through the land, so that their hearts and minds may thus learn wisdom and their ears may thus learn to hear? Truly it is not their eyes that are blind, but their hearts which are in their breasts.” (Al Haj 22:46)

As for transgression, Allah has prohibited excessiveness in all its forms.

The Pharaoh was a relentless tyrant. Again, he took this trait to the extreme, but each of us exhibit oppressive shades in our daily lives. Allah said about Pharaoh: “And certainly Pharaoh was mighty on the earth and one who transgressed all bounds.) (Yunus 10:83)

When reading about Pharaoh’s tyranny we should think about how we interact with our families, coworkers, children, and neighbors. Do we exceed Allah’s limits or make our own? Do we demand more or give more? Do we always speak with kindness or only when it suits us? Allah narrates how Pharaoh wished to execute his ultimate law in Egypt.

Allah mentions this corruption again when instructing Prophet Musa (peace and blessings be upon him) to carry the message of tawheed to Pharaoh:

We see in all of these verses that one of Pharaoh’s core traits was tyranny. He transgressed ethical bounds in everything he did to monstrous proportions. We also learn from these verses that he had particular techniques to accompany his tyranny: transgression or excessiveness, and dividing the people.

Both of these problems afflict us today as individuals and communities. As for transgression, Allah has prohibited excessiveness in all its forms. Allah said,

We should think about how this relates to our lives. In the face of excessive consumerism and materialism, many aspects of our lives are lived in excess. We can easily cut back and save to give that extra to another – otherwise we too become pharaohs.

Pharaoh’s second oppression was in dividing his people into “different factions.” We have all heard how the maxim “divide and conquer” has been used by the powerful to control their people. Unfortunately now we see this in our own Muslim communities, where rather than engaging in constructive discourse for unity, we simply hurl labels and suspicion at the ‘other’ to write them off. This does not mean that we should not have various organisations working for good, but it does mean that those groups should act more like battalions in one struggle, rather than political parties at each other’s throats.

Pharoah’s third bad trait was to make excuses whenever he was faced with the truth. This is clearly seen by his arrogance and rejection of all the signs Prophet Musa brought to him. When Musa confronted Pharaoh, Allah says:

Quran also narrates another attempt of denying Allah and His dominion,

In these instances we see Pharaoh being confronted with truth and in both of these examples we see Pharaoh ignoring that truth and coming up with any excuse to not follow it. We should ask ourselves whether we respond the same way when we are confronted with a conflict between what we want and what the teachings of Islam want. If we follow that which Allah has commanded rather than our own desires then we actualize what it means to truly submit to Allah.

These are just three major bad qualities exhibited by Pharaoh. I ask Allah to guide us to worship Him in the best way possible and cleanse us from these traits. Aameen.

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