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qāla ya-bna-ʾumma lā taʾkhudh bi-liḥyatī wa-lā bi-raʾsī ʾinnī khashītu ʾan taqūla farraqta bayna banī ʾisrāʾīla wa-lam tarqub qawlī
He said, ‘O son of my mother! Do not grab my beard or my head! I feared lest you should say, ‘‘You have caused a rift among the Children of Israel and did not heed my word [of advice].’’’
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Ta Ha – Verses 92 - 94
92. “(Moses) said: ‘O Aaron! What hindered you when you saw them going astray,”
93. “So that you did not follow me? Did you then disobey my order?’”
94. “Said (Aaron): ‘O son of my mother! Seize me neither by my beard nor by (the hair of) my head! Verily I feared lest you would say ‘You have caused division among the Children of Israel, and you did not observe my word!’”
When Moses (as) returned from Tur (Mount Sinaie) and found his people misguided, he interrogated three types of people:
1. His people, whom he asked:
2. Aaron, to whom he said:
3. Samiri, whom Moses addressed and said:
As it is recorded in Atyab-ul-Bayan, the commentary, since Aaron was a prophet and was sinless, he had done his duty of enjoining good and forbidding evil. Therefore, the action of Moses (as) against Aaron can idiomatically be rendered into a ‘sham quarrel’, or he says: ‘If the cap fits, wear it’, and he addresses Aaron so that people might be careful of their own accountability. But, there is a tradition recorded in At-Tafsir-us-Safi, narrated from Imam Sadiq (as), which says that the reprimand of Moses (as) was this that why Aaron (as) did not immediately inform Moses of that circumstance when he saw it.
Concerning the methods of teaching, in order to move the common opinions, or to shake the lifeless body of a society, sometimes we must invent a new action, as Moses (as) behaved so harshly unto his own sinless successor, Aaron; or when Amir-ul-Mu’mineen Ali (as) was preaching for people, in order to attract their attention, he slapped hardly in his own face. However, at first Moses (as) turned his face to his brother Aaron, and said:
Did I not tell you:
when I wanted to leave for the tryst? The purpose of the Qur’anic phrase which is recited: /’alla tattabi‘ani/ is:
Moses (as), with an intensive anger and violence, said these words to his brother shouting at him, while he was taking his hair and his head and dragging Aaron. In order to sooth and to decrease his inflammation, Aaron called him as the son of his mother (in stead of his brother) and wanted him not to seize him by his beard and his head, since he though if he raised to struggle against them there would appear a great dispersion among the Children of Israel.
Also, he feared that at the time of his return, Moses might say that he had caused division among the Children of Israel and in his absence he had not observed his order and had not acted his instructions. The verse says:
And, in this way, Aaron (as) proved his innocence.
Explanations
1. Leaders should be responsible for the aberrations of their people.
2. The silence and inattentiveness of the authorities is often reproachful.
3. A prophet can be an obedient to another prophet.
4. The Faith and religiousness is more important than family adherence.
5. Religious zeal is a requisite of prophethood.
Footnotes