Page 103 - The importance of conscience in the Qur'an

Examples of Those Who Were Astray 101

Egypt not belong to me? Do not all these rivers flow under my
control? Do you not then see?' shows that the main reason for
his arrogance is his possessions. In the rest of the verse,
Pharaoh refers to Prophet Musa, who is the messenger of Allah,
as 'this man' and describes him as 'contemptible'. An interesting
comparison can be made here between Pharaoh and the
shaytan. When the shaytan was ordered to prostrate before
Prophet Adam (AS), he rebelled against Allah's command and
declared himself superior to Prophet Adam.
He (Allah) said, 'What prevented you from
prostrating when I commanded you to?' He
replied, 'I am better than him. You created
me from fire and You created him from clay.'
(Surat al-A'raf: 12)
This shows how arrogance completely covers
consciousness. The shaytan had direct contact with Allah and
understood His oneness and sole right to be worshipped and
obeyed, yet in spite of this he denied the command to prostrate
to Adam. Similarly, Pharaoh's illimitable transgression was a
result of his pride in the possessions and favours Allah granted
him, and it led him to see himself as superior. After refusing to
listen to Prophet Musa, Pharaoh asked a question to his people,
which has been asked about almost all prophets throughout
history:
Why have gold bracelets not been put upon
his arms and why is there not a train of angels
accompanying him? (Surat az-Zukhruf: 53)
This question shows a very significant point. Disbelievers
cannot accept that a common person may be assigned as
messenger. Since the measure of disbelievers is not their
conscience, what they want to see in a messenger is not