The Plagues of Egypt

 Eventually, the punishment of Allah began to fall on Egypt for Firown’s arrogance and because he was not willing to let the Banu Israel go. Musa (AS) came to Firown one more time to warn him that the punishment would begin if he did not release the Banu Israel and stop oppressing the people. In response, Firown gathered the Banu Israel and mocked Musa (AS) for being a poor man with no power.

The punishment of Allah came in the form of at least 6 plagues. The first was a drought. The River Nile did not flood as it normally did and there was no rain, so the land became dry and no food could grow. The people began to starve.

When this happened, Firown and his chiefs came to Musa (AS). Deep in their hearts, they knew that Musa’s (AS) message was true and that Allah was the one true God, but their arrogance did not let them accept that. But when the situation was difficult, they came to him because they knew he had the real power; they could not control the weather, but Allah could. So they asked him, ‘O Musa, call your Lord for us. If you remove this punishment from us, we will definitely believe in you and let the Banu Israel go.’

So Musa (AS) made du’a to Allah, which Allah accepted and removed the drought. But as soon as Musa (AS) fulfilled his promise, Firown and his gathering broke theirs and refused to believe or release the Banu Israel.

So straight after the drought, Allah sent a flood. There was now too much water, which destroyed buildings and the land. Once again, the Egyptians came to Musa (AS) to ask him to remove this punishment. Musa (AS) made du’a to Allah, who removed the plague, but the Egyptians again broke their promise and didn’t release the Banu Israel.

The next plague Allah sent was a swarm of locusts. These were a massive pest and ate all of the food that had been grown, so once again the people began to starve. Once again, they came to Musa (AS), and once again they broke their promise when the punishment was lifted.

After that Allah sent a plague of lice, which carried disease across the city. Then a plague of frogs, which were a major pest for the Egyptians. And finally Allah sent a plague of blood, where the whole River Nile turned to blood overnight. Every time, Firown and his people would come to Musa (AS) for help, and every time they would refuse to free the Banu Israel.

Musa (AS) realised that Firown would never believe, so he and Haroon (AS) turned to Allah and made a du’a. In it, he asked Allah to destroy the Egyptians and all their wealth, and also to harden their hearts so that they would never believe until the punishment came to them.’ Allah accepted the du’a of both of them, and told Musa (AS) to take his people in the middle of the night and lead them out from Egypt.

The Banu Israel gathered all that they owned, their clothes, their animals and they even took some jewellery from the Egyptians. Then they set out following Musa (AS) away from Egypt and towards the Red Sea. On the way, Firown learnt of their escape, and so he began to gather his army to follow them. At sunrise the army of the Egyptians set out to bring back the Banu Israel into slavery.

By the time the Banu Israel had reached the Red Sea, the army of Firown could be seen in the distance following them. The people of the Banu Israel became terrified; in front of them was the sea and behind them were the Egyptians. They began to wail out of fear, but Musa (AS) promised them that Allah would guide them.

True to his word, Musa (AS) was soon given an order by Allah. He was told to hit the floor with his stick, which he did, after which the entire Red Sea separated in two with a dry path down the middle. On either side of the path was a wall of water, but it did not fall and so the Banu Israel began to walk through to the other side. They reached the other side, but as they did they turned around and saw Firown and his army also crossing the sea close behind. But just as the sea had split, it came crashing back together onto the army of Firown, drowning each and every one of them.

As Firown was drowning, he began to shout, ‘I believe in no God but Allah!’ to try and save himself. But it was too late; he was destroyed completely, and his body was spat out onto the land so that he could be seen as a sign of what happens to the one who disobeys Allah.

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