Page 50 - The Worst Slander: Idolatry

48 THE WORST SLANDER: IDOLATRY

nothing but increase their ruin. (Surah Hud: 97-101)
Egypt's army and people also bowed to Pharaoh; those
who were poor, weak, and needy submitted to his com-
mand. Allah reveals in the Qur'an:
Pharaoh called to his people, saying: "O my people,
does the kingdom of Egypt not belong to me? Do not all
these rivers flow under my control? Do you not then
see?" (Surat al-Zukhruf: 51 )
… In that way, he swayed his people and they suc-
cumbed to him. They were a people who had gone
astray (Surat al-Zukhruf: 54)
A large part of the Israelite captives in Egypt at that time
also existed in a state of fear and oppression stemming
from idolatry. Like the Egyptians, they thought that Pharaoh
possessed power independently of Allah (Surely Allah is
beyond that) and feared him in the same way that they
feared Allah (Surely Allah is beyond that). Thus, they mind-
lessly preferred to submit to Pharaoh rather than believe in
the true faith that is revealed to them through His Prophets
and Messengers:
No one believed in Moses, except some youths from
among his people, out of fear that Pharaoh and the
elders would persecute them. Pharaoh was high and
mighty in the land. He was one of the profligate. (Surah
Yunus: 83)
As revealed in the verse only a few youths followed the
Prophet Moses (pbuh) due to the oppressive and cruel sys-
tem of the Pharaoh. Most of the Egyptians wrongfully dei-