The Body of Pharaoh and the Statement of the Holy Quran (1)

A Research and Analytical Study of Exegetical Opinions. Presented in a Question & Answer Format

Dr. Amir Gazdar

This column of “Nuqta-e-Nazar” is reserved for the writings of various thinkers.

The publication of an article here does not necessarily mean that the editorial board agrees with the views expressed in it.

Question: Has the Holy Quran stated anywhere that the body of Pharaoh will be preserved by God until the Day of Resurrection as a sign of admonition for people?

Answer: No. This statement is not mentioned anywhere in the Quran.

Question: Does the Quran state that God would preserve his body for later generations or future ages so that people might continue to observe it and take admonition from it?

Answer: No. The Quran does not explicitly state this either.

Question: If that is the case, how did the notion become so widespread among Muslims that God has preserved Pharaoh’s body to this day?

Answer: Upon investigation and reflection, the basic reason appears to be that many Urdu translators and exegetes of the Quran made an error in this regard. Consequently, in Surah Yunus (10), verse 92, where God speaks about Pharaoh’s body, they did not convey the meaning of the verse accurately in Urdu. Later translators apparently relied upon the renderings of their predecessors and, with only minor differences in wording, repeated the same interpretation—an interpretation that, according to many scholars, exegetes, and researchers, is not correct. Thus, this well-known notion gradually spread among us, and later Urdu translations and commentaries also interpreted the verse in accordance with that earlier translation.

Question: According to your research, who was the first scholar or translator in the Indian subcontinent in whose translation or commentary this lapse occurred?

Answer: According to my investigation so far, the earliest instance of this scholarly mistake in the translation and interpretation of this verse appears in the work of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (may God have mercy on him). Prior to him, I have not found, in any Arabic or Urdu commentary, the meaning or interpretation of the verse that he presented in his exegesis Tarjuman al-Quran.¹⁴ After him, many contemporary scholars—particularly those associated with the intellectual tradition of Shibli—essentially reproduced Maulana Azad’s translation and interpretation in their own styles in their respective commentaries.

Question: After Maulana Azad, which well-known Urdu translations and commentaries of the Quran, in your view, have exhibited this same leniency in translating and interpreting the verse?

Answer: Apart from Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, examples may be cited from the translations and commentaries of Maulana Abul Ala Maududi, Imam Amin Ahsan Islahi, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, Mufti Taqi Usmani, and Javed Ahmed Ghamidi. The details are as follows:

1. Maulana Azad translated: “So today We shall save your body (from the waves of the sea), so that you may become a sign (of the power of the Truth) for those who come after you.” ¹⁵

2. Maulana Maududi writes: “Now We shall save only your corpse so that you may become a sign of admonition for later generations.”¹⁶

3. Imam Islahi’s translation is: “So today We shall save your body so that you may become a sign for those who come after you.”¹⁷

4. Maulana Wahiduddin Khan writes: “So today We shall save your body so that you may become a sign for those who come after you.”¹⁸

5. Mufti Taqi Usmani translates it as: “Therefore today We shall save (only) your body so that you may become a sign of admonition for those who come after you.”¹⁹

6. Javed Ahmed Ghamidi writes: “Thus today We shall save your body so that you may remain a sign (of God’s punishment) for those who come after you.”²⁰

In these translations, it is noteworthy that the Quranic expression ‘liman khalfaka’ has been rendered as “for later generations,” “for those who come after you,” or “for the people after you.” The error here lies in understanding the word khalfa in the sense of bada (“after” in a temporal sense). However, in this context the Quranic word khalfa denotes a spatial zarf (adverb of place), not a temporal adverb. Just as we use the word “behind” in contrast to “in front,” the expression here carries precisely that meaning.

Question: Does this word occur elsewhere in the Quran with the meaning of a spatial adverb as well? Please clarify with another example from the Quran.

Answer: Yes. In the Quran this word is used everywhere in the sense of spatial position. For instance, consider Surah al-Anfal (8), verse 57, where it occurs in the same way attached to the pronoun of address. The verse states:

فَإِمَّا ا تَثْقَفَنَّهُمْ فِي الْحَرْبِ فَشَرِّدْ بِهِمْ مَنْ خَلْفَهُمْ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَذَّكَّرُونَ

Consider carefully the expression khalfahum in this verse and its meaning in the following three translations:

1. Imam Amin Ahsan Islahi translates the verse as: “So if you encounter them in battle, strike them in such a way that those who are behind them are also scattered, so that they may take heed.”

In explanation he writes: “The meaning is that at present whatever they are doing, they are doing covertly; none of them has the courage to confront openly. If any group among them dares to appear and you encounter them on the battlefield, then strike them in such a way that they are utterly shattered and that those who are sitting behind them, measuring their chances, also lose their strength and courage.”²¹

2. Mufti Taqi Usmani translates it as: “Therefore, if they ever fall into your hands in battle, deal with them in such a manner that those who are behind them are also scattered, so that they may remember.”

His exegetical note states: “The meaning is that if they openly confront the Muslims in battle, they should be taught such a lesson that not only do they themselves realize the consequences of their treachery, but also the disbelievers of Makkah who incite them from behind are so admonished that their plans collapse.”²²

3. Javed Ahmed Ghamidi translates: “So if you encounter them in battle, strike them in such a manner that those who are behind them are also scattered, so that they may take heed.”

In his explanatory note he writes: “That is, they have not yet come forward for battle, but are sitting behind, weighing their chances.”²³

From the example above, it is clear that all three scholars understood and translated “khalfahum” in accordance with its spatial sense, meaning “those who are behind them.” If the translation were altered to a temporal sense—such as: “So if you encounter them in battle, strike them in such a way that the people or generations who come after them are scattered”—the error in such a rendering would become immediately obvious.

In short, this Quranic example also demonstrates that the word “khalfa” cannot be interpreted in the temporal sense of “bada” (“after”). Rather, wherever the Quran has used expressions such as “khalfahum”, “khalfakum”, “min khalfihim”, or “min khalfihi”, if we were to replace “khalfa” with “bada”, the meaning of the verse would become completely invalid.

For example, in Surah al-Araf (7), verse 17, the Quran quotes the statement of Iblis:

ثُمَّ لَآتِيَنَّهُمْ مِنْ بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ وَعَنْ أَيْمَانِهِمْ وَعَنْ شَمَائِلِهِمْ وَلَا تَجِدُ أَكْثَرَهُمْ شَاكِرِينَ

Then I shall surely come upon them from before them and from behind them, from their right and from their left, and You will find most of them ungrateful.

Question: In your opinion, why did later scholars exhibit such leniency in translating the verse under discussion? What might be the reason for this?

Answer: In my humble view as a student, there may be two reasons for this.

First, in some earlier commentaries the expression ‘khalfaka’ in this verse was explained by using the expression ‘badaka’. Influenced by this explanation, many later exegetes translated it in the sense of a temporal zarf (adverb of time). For example, in Tafsir al-Jalalayn, Imam al-Suyuti clarified the meaning of this construction—namely ‘khalfaka’—through the expression ‘badaka’.²⁴ Consequently, many Urdu translators treated this Arabic explanation as synonymous with ‘khalfaka’ and interpreted it to mean “later times and generations.” However, if one examines the matter carefully, even in the explanations of some early exegetes who used the phrase ‘man badaka’, the intended meaning was actually the people present there in that very time after Pharaoh’s death—those who would witness his body—not the people of later generations and ages. Evidence for this interpretation lies in the details that these exegetes themselves provide in their explanations of this verse.²⁵ Moreover, the earlier commentators did not at all mention the continued existence or preservation of Pharaoh’s body in later generations or eras.

The second major reason is that during the modern period, around the same time as Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, some ancient mummies were discovered in Egypt. Around that very time, for the first time, the news also gained global attention that the body of the Pharaoh of Moses was preserved and present in a museum in Cairo—although this claim is not actually established from the standpoint of archaeology.²⁶ It is therefore likely that, following Maulana Azad, later scholars—while translating and interpreting this verse—were influenced by the widespread publicity of this report due to insufficient research and knowledge regarding it. As a result, they did not sufficiently reflect upon the original wording and expression of the Quran itself.

In short, on the one hand there was an error in determining the meaning of the word due to insufficient reflection, and on the other hand, instead of critical investigation, the widespread modern claim was accepted that the body of the Pharaoh of Moses had been discovered in Egypt in the late nineteenth century. Consequently, there was a lapse in correctly understanding the true intent of the Quranic statement.

Question: In your view, which scholars provide examples of the correct Urdu translation and explanation of the verse under discussion?

Answer: According to my investigation so far, among Urdu translations the earliest translators of the Quran—Maulana Shah Rafi al-Din Dehlavi and Maulana Shah Abd al-Qadir Muhaddith Dehlavi—and after them Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi,²⁷ Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Usmani, and Mufti Muhammad Shafi Usmani, have translated this verse correctly in their translations and commentaries in accordance with the Arabic expression of the Quran. These scholars did not make any error in determining the meaning of the word. Moreover, in the marginal notes and commentary provided by Shah Abd al-Qadir and Mufti Muhammad Shafi Usmani, no interpretation has been offered that would suggest that the Quran claims Pharaoh’s body was to remain preserved for later ages.

1. Shah Rafi al-Din rendered the verse literally as follows: “So today We shall deliver you with your body so that you may be a sign for those people who are behind you.”²⁸

2. Shah Abd al-Qadir translated it idiomatically as: “So today We shall save you with your body, so that you may become a sign for those behind you.”

In explanation he writes: “Just as he believed at an improper time and his faith was of no benefit, likewise after he died God caused his body to be taken out of the river and placed upon an elevated spot so that the Israelites might see it, give thanks, and take admonition. What benefit could it bring him that his body was saved?”²⁹

3. Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi translated it as: “Today We shall save your corpse (from sinking into the water) so that it may become a cause of admonition for those who are present after you.”³⁰

4. Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Usmani translated the verse in these words: “So today We save your body so that you may become a sign for those behind you.”³¹

5. Mufti Muhammad Shafi Usmani, in his commentary Marif al-Quran, presented exactly the same translation as that given by Shabbir Ahmad ‘Usmani. Then, in the Khulasa-e-Tafsir he writes: “Thus (instead of the salvation you desired), today We shall save your corpse (from sinking into the water) so that you may become a cause of admonition for those who are present after you (so that, by witnessing your wretched condition and destruction, they may refrain from opposing the commands of God).”³²

In all five of these translations, it may be observed that the translation has been made in accordance with the sense of a spatial adverb. Expressions such as “for later generations,” “for those who come after you,” or similar phrases have not been used.

Question: Has any Prophetic hadith been reported that explains or clarifies the verse under discussion?

Answer: No. In this matter the Prophet (PBUH) neither made any explicit statement himself nor has any saying of his been reported in response to a question from the Companions regarding this verse. All the sources of hadith and transmitted reports are completely silent on this issue.

Question: Is there any report from a Companion mentioned in the narrations concerning this verse?

Answer: Ibn Jarir al-Tabari and Hafiz Ibn Kathir, in their commentaries, have reported from among the Companions only a narration from Abdullah ibn Abbas (RA), and also from some scholars among the Successors. According to this report, when Pharaoh was drowned and destroyed in the sea, some among the Israelites—who had already crossed the sea with Moses (PBUH)—expressed doubt regarding his death. Therefore, by the command of God, the sea did not swallow Pharaoh’s body; rather, it cast it out and placed it upon a slightly elevated place on land so that the people of Moses might see it with their own eyes in a lifeless state and thereby become certain of his destruction.³³ Apart from Ibn Abbas, no report from any other Companion has been transmitted in this regard.

Question: In the major classical commentaries, has any exegete derived from this verse the meaning that the Quran declares Pharaoh’s body would be preserved for later ages so that people in future times might observe it and take admonition?

Answer: No. This meaning has not been stated by al-Tabari, al-Zamakhshari, or al-Razi in their commentaries. Likewise, none of the exegetes in the commentaries of al-Qurtubi, al-Baydawi, Ibn Kathir, al-Suyuti, or al-Shawkani have presented such an interpretation of this verse. If they had understood and stated such a meaning from this verse, its necessary implication would have been that they would have discussed, in their respective eras, the concrete example of this body and indicated its existence in some region. However, the fact is that the incident of Pharaoh mentioned in the Quran predates the Quran itself by two thousand years, and even until roughly thirteen hundred years after the revelation of the Quran there was no mention anywhere in the world of the body of Pharaoh.

Question: Regarding the incident mentioned above—reported from Ibn Abbas and some early scholars—that the sign in the form of Pharaoh’s body was shown in order to assure certain Israelites of Pharaoh’s death, what do you say about it?

Answer: Yes, this incident has been reported by many exegetes among the earlier and later scholars. Mufti Muhammad Shafi‘ Usmani has also mentioned it in Marif al-Quran. While narrating it, he writes:

“The incident is that after crossing the sea, when Moses (PBUH) informed the Israelites that Pharaoh had been destroyed, they were so overawed and intimidated by Pharaoh that they began to deny it and said that Pharaoh had not perished. For their guidance and as a lesson for others, God caused a wave of the sea to cast Pharaoh’s dead body onto the shore. Everyone saw it and became certain of his destruction, and thus his corpse became a sign of admonition for all. After that, it is not known what ultimately happened to the body. The place where Pharaoh’s body was found is still known as Jabal al-Firawn (the Mountain of Pharaoh).”³⁴

In my view, if one examines this incident reported in the commentaries with careful scrutiny, the following four objections arise from the standpoint of critical analysis:

First, if this event from the time of Moses (PBUH) was indeed reported by Ibn Abbas (RA) or by some scholars among the Successors, then what was their source for an event that had occurred nearly two thousand years before their own time—especially when the Torah itself is completely silent about this event, and there exists no statement of the Prophet (PBUH) concerning this verse among the Companions either?

Second, when viewed in light of the context of the verse and the occasion of the discourse, the interpretation implied by this explanation appears as follows: in the time of Moses (PBUH), God addressed Pharaoh at the very moment of his death and, while rejecting his repentance, declared that he would not escape his fate. However, in order to provide assurance to some Israelites—who would soon doubt the report of Pharaoh’s death—God would preserve Pharaoh’s dead body from the sea and cast it onto the land before the Israelites so that they might see the sign of his death with their own eyes.

Upon closer examination, this interpretation implies that at the very moment when God was directly addressing Pharaoh before his death—rejecting his repentance and announcing his destruction and evil fate—He was also informing Pharaoh of His plan to remove a doubt that had not even arisen yet among the Israelites regarding Pharaoh’s death. If this were indeed the intended meaning, the question arises: why would such information be conveyed to Pharaoh himself before his death? If some Israelites later expressed doubt about Pharaoh’s destruction, they would naturally have done so before Moses (PBUH) after Pharaoh’s death. Hence, rationally speaking, the appropriate course would have been for God to inform Moses (PBUH) about the arrangement made to remove such doubt, not Pharaoh before his destruction. Therefore, it does not appear reasonable that God would address Pharaoh before his death and say: since the Israelites will not believe that you have died, I am informing you that I shall bring your body out of the sea and present it before them to assure them.

Third, when God addresses Pharaoh saying: “I intend that your body become a sign for those who are behind you,” the fundamental question arises: who are these people behind Pharaoh at that moment? The obvious answer is that they are Pharaoh’s own people and his followers who regarded him as their deity—those who, after this encounter, remained behind in Egypt awaiting his return. Therefore, the true referent of ‘liman khalfaka’ would be these very people. As for the Israelites, who were the companions of Moses (PBUH), they were actually ahead of Pharaoh at the time of pursuit, not behind him. According to the Quranic narrative, Pharaoh himself was following them, while they had already advanced and crossed the sea. From this perspective as well, the Israelites cannot be the intended referent of ‘liman khalfaka’ in the address to Pharaoh, because they were neither part of his people nor physically behind him at that moment. It is therefore clear that the people behind Pharaoh were his own nation—those who were truly waiting for the return of their supposed deity—and making his destruction and the divine punishment upon him a sign for them is entirely reasonable and appropriate.

Fourth, according to the explanation cited above from Mufti Muhammad Shafi, Pharaoh’s body was found at a specific location which is still known today as Jabal al-Firawn. It is further implied that the body was seen simultaneously by the Israelites—so that they might become certain of Pharaoh’s death—and by Pharaoh’s own people, so that they might take admonition from the humiliating end of their false deity. The point requiring reflection here is that, according to the Quranic account, when Pharaoh died the Israelites had already reached the other side of the sea, whereas Pharaoh’s people remained behind in their own land. If one accepts that the body was present at the location known as Jabal al-Firawn, how can it be imagined that people from both nations saw the body simultaneously at that very place? On land, such a location could only belong to one of the two sides, and it is known that this would be the western shore of the Red Sea. Therefore, to assume that the body lying at that spot was seen by the people of Moses from the opposite side of the sea is rationally impossible. For this would require imagining both nations present at the western shore near Jabal al-Firawn, which contradicts the Quranic account.

From the above internal critique, it becomes evident that the incident attributed to Ibn ‘Abbas (may God be pleased with him) under the explanation of this verse is not supported by the text of the Quran itself, and several rational objections may also be raised against it.

[To be continued…]