Page 124 - The Prophet Moses (pbuh)

THE PROPHET MOSES (PBUH)

4- Ignorance and self-purification

As related throughout this book, some of the Children of Israel em-
braced the religion the Prophet Moses (pbuh) brought, without entirely
abandoning their ancient ways. Moreover, with great ignorance, they at-
tempted to merge their errant ways with the revealed religion. This is an im-
portant point all should be cautious of. It may be that, during the develop-
ment of his personality, an individual could have inculcated some improp-
er ways of thinking. Accordingly, after having accepted the right path, he
may still keep some old beliefs and thoughts.
Also to be found in the story of the Prophet Moses (pbuh), idolatrous
practices of the tribe encountered on their journey became a matter of
temptation for some of the people of the Prophet Moses (pbuh), who were
of poor faith and who had failed to cleanse themselves from the ways of ig-
norance. This instructive incident demonstrates that adherence to the
Qur'an and the Sunna is the sole way of eliminating beliefs and thoughts
that are rooted in ignorance.

5- Hypocrites and their attitudes

In the story of the Prophet Moses (pbuh), we find the example of hyp-
ocrites lurking within a community, and the great harm they can bring to a
society. For instance, we can discern attributes peculiar to hypocrites in
Samaritan:
Hypocrites are found among believers. In the time of the Prophet
Moses (pbuh), for example, Samaritan was among the Children of Israel. In
order to stir trouble, hypocrites look for when the believers are at their
weakest. Only at that point they, with their foolish minds, feel they will be
most successful do they take action. They make use of people's shortcom-
ings to lead them astray. In pursuit of their cause, they appeal to man's base
natures. They offer empty promises. They may never openly express unbe-
lief in the religion or in Allah, but rather, try to bring attention to their sup-
posed piety. They even go to such lengths as to claim they understand the
religion better than anyone else, and that therefore, are the most capable of

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