Surah Al-Baqarah 2:49

The Children of Israel were saved from Pharaoh and His Army Who drowned

Allah said to the Children of Israel, "Remember My favor on you

وَإِذْ نَجَّيْنَـكُم مِّنْ ءَالِ فِرْعَوْنَ يَسُومُونَكُمْ سُوءَ الْعَذَابِ

(And (remember) when We delivered you from Fir`awn's (Pharaoh) people, who were afflicting you with a horrible torment,) meaning, `I - Allah - saved you from them and delivered you from their hands in the company of Musa, after they subjected you to horrible torture.' This favor came after the cursed Pharaoh had a dream in which he saw a fire emerge from Bayt Al-Maqdis (Jerusalem), and then the fire entered the houses of the Coptics in Egypt, with the exception of the Children of Israel. Its purport was that his kingship would be toppled by a man among the Children of Israel. It was also said that some of Pharaoh's entourage said that the Children of Israel were expecting a man among them to arise who would establish a state for them. We will mention the Hadith on this subject when we explain Surat Ta Ha (20), Allah willing. After the dream, Pharaoh ordered that every newborn male among the Children of Israel be killed and that the girls be left alone. He also commanded that the Children of Israel be given tasks of hard labor and assigned the most humiliating jobs.

The torment here refers to killing the male infants. In Surat Ibrahim (14) this meaning is clearly mentioned,

يَسُومُونَكُمْ سُوءَ الْعَذَابِ وَيُذَبِّحُونَ أَبْنَآءَكُمْ وَيَسْتَحْيُونَ نِسَآءَكُمْ

(Who were afflicting you with horrible torment, and were slaughtering your sons and letting your women live.) (14:6).

We will explain this Ayah in the beginning of Surat Al-Qasas (28), Allah willing, and our reliance and trust are with Him.

The meaning of,

يَسُومُونَكُمْ

(who were afflicting you) is, "They humiliated you," as Abu `Ubaydah stated. It was also said that it means, "They used to exaggerate in tormenting you" according to Al-Qurtubi. As for Allah saying,

يُذَبِّحُونَ أَبْنَآءَكُمْ وَيَسْتَحْيُونَ نِسَآءَكُمْ

(killing your sons and sparing your women) that explains His statement,

يَسُومُونَكُمْ سُوءَ الْعَذَابِ

(who were afflicting you with horrible torment) then it explains the meaning of the favor He gave them, as mentioned in His statement,

اذْكُرُواْ نِعْمَتِيَ الَّتِى أَنْعَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ

(Remember My favor which I bestowed upon you). As for what Allah said in Surat Ibrahim,

وَذَكِّرْهُمْ بِأَيَّامِ اللَّهِ

(And remind them of the annals of Allah) (14:5) meaning, the favors and blessing He granted them, He then said,

يَسُومُونَكُمْ سُوءَ الْعَذَابِ وَيُذَبِّحُونَ أَبْنَآءَكُمْ وَيَسْتَحْيُونَ نِسَآءَكُمْ

(Who were afflicting you with horrible torment, and were slaughtering your sons and letting your women live.) (14:6)

So Allah mentioned saving their children from being slaughtered in order to remind them of the many favors that He granted them.

We should state here that `Pharaoh' (Fir`awn) is a title that was given to every disbelieving king who ruled Egypt, whether from the `Amaliq (Canaanites) or otherwise, just as Caesar (Qaysar) is the title of the disbelieving kings who ruled Rome and Damascus. Also, Khosrau (Kisra) is the title of the kings who ruled Persia, while Tubb`a is the title of the kings of Yemen, and the kings of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) were called Negus (An-Najashi).

Allah said,

وَفِى ذَلِكُمْ بَلاَءٌ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ عَظِيمٌ

(And therein was a mighty trial from your Lord.)

Ibn Jarir commented that this part of the Ayah means, "Our saving your fathers from the torment that they suffered by the hand of Pharaoh, is a great blessing from your Lord." We should mention that in the blessing there a is test, the same as with hardship, for Allah said,

وَنَبْلُوكُم بِالشَّرِّ وَالْخَيْرِ فِتْنَةً

(And We shall make a trial of you with evil and with good) (21:35) and,

وَبَلَوْنَـهُمْ بِالْحَسَنَـتِ وَالسَّيِّئَاتِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَ

(And We tried them with good (blessings) and evil (calamities) in order that they might turn (to obey Allah.)) (7:168).

Allah's statement next,

وَإِذْ فَرَقْنَا بِكُمُ الْبَحْرَ فَأَنجَيْنَـكُمْ وَأَغْرَقْنَا ءَالَ فِرْعَوْنَ وَأَنتُمْ تَنظُرُونَ

(And (remember) when We separated the sea for you and saved you and drowned Fir`awn's (Pharaoh) people while you were watching) means, `After We saved you from Fir`awn and you escaped with Musa; Fir`awn went out in your pursuit and We parted the sea for you.' Allah mentioned this story in detail, as we will come to know, Allah willing. One of the shortest references to this story is Allah's statement,

فَأَنجَيْنَـكُمْ

(And saved you) meaning, "We saved you from them, drowning them while you watched, bringing relief to your hearts and humiliation to your enemy."

Fasting the Day of `Ashura

It was reported that the day the Children of Israel were saved from Fir`awn was called the day of `Ashura'. Imam Ahmad reported that Ibn `Abbas said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came to Al-Madinah and found that the Jews were fasting the day of `Ashura'. He asked them, "What is this day that you fast" They said, "This is a good day during which Allah saved the Children of Israel from their enemy, and Musa used to fast this day." The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«أَنَا أَحَقُّ بِمُوسَى مِنْكُم»

(I have more right to Musa than you have.)

So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ fasted that day and ordered that it be fasted. This Hadith was collected by Al-Bukhari, Muslim, An-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah.

Peringatan lain kepada Bani Israil tentang nikmat Allah yang lain, yaitu mereka telah diselamatkan dari kesengsaraan yang mereka alami, akibat kekejaman Fir'aun, raja Mesir, pada waktu Bani Israil bertempat tinggal di sana. Orang pertama dari kalangan Bani Israil yang masuk ke Mesir ialah Nabi Yusuf. Kemudian saudara-saudaranya datang pula ke sana dan tinggal bersamanya. Selanjutnya, mereka berkembang biak di sana, sehingga dalam masa + 400 tahun (dari masa Nabi Yusuf sampai dengan Nabi Musa) jumlah mereka telah mencapai ratusan ribu orang. Penduduk asli semakin terdesak, karena Bani Israil itu giat bekerja dan memiliki pikiran yang lebih cerdas. Di samping itu, mereka sangat mementingkan diri sendiri, karena mereka masih tetap menganggap diri mereka sebagai sya'bullah al-mukhtar. Sebab itu, mereka tidak mau bersatu dengan penduduk asli, dan tidak mau bekerja sama dan membantu mereka dalam kehidupan sehari-hari.

Melihat keadaan yang demikian, penduduk asli negeri itu semakin khawatir, sebab apabila Bani Israil itu semakin banyak jumlahnya, maka mereka akan menguasai keadaan dan penduduk asli akan semakin terdesak. Oleh sebab itu, mereka berusaha untuk melemahkan kekuatan Bani Israil. Mula-mula dengan mewajibkan kerja paksa kepada mereka. Kemudian semakin meningkat dengan pembunuhan anak-anak lelaki mereka, dan hanya anak-anak perempuan mereka yang dibiarkan hidup. Sekitar peristiwa ini bandingkan dengan Kitab Keluaran i.16 ; perintah Fir'aun kepada para bidan. Penyiksaan dan penderitaan Bani Israil tergambar dalam Keluaran i.22, dan pada beberapa bagian lagi dalam Perjanjian Lama. Fir'aun memerintahkan kepada setiap suku rakyatnya untuk membunuh setiap lelaki Bani Israil, walaupun anak-anak kecil mereka.

Penderitaan yang dialami Bani Israil itu merupakan ujian bagi mereka karena mereka telah melupakan nikmat-Nya dan telah melakukan bermacam-macam dosa. Kemudian Allah swt mengampuni dan menerima tobat mereka, dan dikaruniakan-Nya pula nikmat yang besar, yaitu diselamatkan dari kesengsaraan yang mereka alami dari kekejaman Fir'aun. Tetapi rahmat ini pun merupakan ujian bagi mereka, apakah nantinya mereka akan mensyukuri nikmat itu, atau tidak.

Umat Islam dapat mengambil pelajaran yang sangat berharga dari kisah Bani Israil itu. Allah swt, mula-mula telah melimpahkan bermacam-macam nikmat-Nya kepada umat Islam, sehingga umat telah bersatu di bawah panji-panji Islam dan hidup dalam persaudaraan yang kukuh, serta berhasil membangun negara Islam yang kuat. Tetapi kemudian terjadilah perpecahan di antara umat Islam, sehingga Allah swt mendatangkan malapetaka kepada mereka.

Khilafah Abbasiyah di Bagdad diruntuhkan oleh bangsa Tartar. Kemudian terjadi Perang Salib dalam waktu yang panjang sekitar 200 tahun. Sementara itu bangsa-bangsa barat menyusup ke negeri-negeri Islam, menguasai sumber-sumber kekayaan mereka sehingga umat Islam di mana-mana menjadi lemah.