Ishmael, Pharaoh, Moses – and Esau

[73:15] We have sent to you a messenger, just as we sent to Pharaoh a messenger.

...

[73:19] This is a reminder; whoever wills, let him choose the path to his Lord.

 

Based on these verses, what is the Qur'an really saying about the path to God?

Apparently there are choices to be made.

 

 Christians and Jews should all know the story of Moses.  But there's a few things we saw before that I'd like to remind you of - just in case you've forgotten.  The Israelites were in Egypt because of the famine that took place hundreds of years earlier.  Shortly before the drought began that caused the famine, Joseph had been sold, by his brothers, into slavery.  They sold him to Ishmaelites.  Those Ishmaelites took him to Egypt, where he rose from being a slave to being the number two person in all of Egypt.  All this because of a band of Ishmaelites.

Fast forward about 400 years, and we have Moses being sent by God to confront Pharaoh and set the Israelites free.  Then comes the plagues.  And finally - freedom for the Israelites.  If you'd like to read the previous post to get more details on this, see God, The Father – Friend or Foe? A look at Pharaoh.  The thing to notice from that article - it really wasn't God that kept Pharaoh from releasing the Israelites.  Each time when the Bible says that God hardened Pharaohs heart - it had to do with whether the punishment would take place - not whether or not the people would be set free.  Pharaoh did that part all on his own.  It also shows that hardening a heart in Old Testament times had to do with whether or not a person was teachable by God.  It's not the way we think of it today.  We saw that Pharaoh was plenty evil, wicked, mean and nasty enough without God doing anything to him.

So - now we come to these verses in Qur'an Sura 73 -

[73:15] We have sent to you a messenger, just as we sent to Pharaoh a messenger.

[73:16] Pharaoh disobeyed the messenger and, consequently, we punished him severely.

[73:17] If you disbelieve, how can you evade a day so terrible that it makes the infants gray-haired?

[73:18] The heaven will shatter therefrom. His promise is true.

[73:19] This is a reminder; whoever wills, let him choose the path to his Lord.

This version calls Moses a messenger.  Other translation, including the one I have from CAIR - calls Moses an Apostle.

Think about this.  What it means.

These are the only verses about Moses in this Sura.  And - it's the first time Moses comes up in a revelation to Muhammad.  So - at this time - there is no choice, once again, except to go to the Jewish Torah to see what this means.  Again - as we've seen before - the Jewish Torah (the first five books of Old Testament) is exactly the same today as it was during the time of Muhammad.  Therefore - what we see today about Moses is exactly what Muslims were reading as what we read today.  Think about the implications of that!

[73:15] We have sent to you a messenger, just as we sent to Pharaoh a messenger.

Moses - a man that The Old Testament says very clearly was sent by God to free His people from slavery under Pharaoh - is claimed by Islam as one of their Apostles.  And there is no disclaimer as to what he was doing at that time.  The revelations to Muhammad - and the verbal telling of what was to become the Qur'an - agreed that Moses was in Egypt to free the Israelites!  And the same God that sent Moses is the God that Muhammad and his followers believed in - at that time.  Amazing, isn't it?

[73:16] Pharaoh disobeyed the messenger and, consequently, we punished him severely.

[73:17] If you disbelieve, how can you evade a day so terrible that it makes the infants gray-haired?

[73:18] The heaven will shatter therefrom. His promise is true.

[73:19] This is a reminder; whoever wills, let him choose the path to his Lord.

Note what the verses above say.  

Pharaoh disobeyed - and he was punished.  The next two verses speak to that thought.

But look at the last one -

[73:19] This is a reminder; whoever wills, let him choose the path to his Lord.

let him choose the path to his Lord.

Wow.  Think about that one.  There is a choice.

The first verses talk about Pharaoh - his choice to fight against God.  And the punishment he received for making that choice.  And that's as far as the Islamic commentaries seem to go.  But there appears to me more - that they don't mention.