Al Mu’minūn

ثُمَّ أَرْسَلْنَا مُوسَي وَأَخَاهُ هَارُونَ بِاَيَاتِنَا وَسُلْطَانٍ مُبِينٍ

إِلَي فِرْعَوْنَ وَمَلَئِهِ فَاسْتَكْبَرُوا وَكَانُوا قَوْماً عَالِينَ

45. “Then We sent Moses and his brother Aaron with Our signs and a manifest authority, ”
46. “Unto Pharaoh and his chiefs, but they behaved insolently and they were an arrogant people.”

The Arabic word /sultan/ is a synonym for an ‘evidence’, for someone can often dominate people’s hearts with logic, reasoning, and rational and practical argument. Up till now the subject was the nations that arose and disappeared before the time of Moses (as), Allah’s arch-prophet, but here the Qur’an briefly refers to the uprising of Moses and Aaron themselves against the Pharaonic system and the destiny of this conceited nation. The Qur’an says:

“Then We sent Moses and his brother Aaron with Our signs and a manifest authority, ”

The objective of the Qur’anic word /’ayat/ (Signs) is the Torah and the miracles (the nine Signs) that Allah had bestowed upon Moses, the son of ’Imran. And the objective of the Arabic phrase /sultanin mubin/ (manifest authority) is the strong logical argument Moses presented and the powerful reasons he gave against the claims of pharaonism. In the next verse, the Qur’an implies that Allah sent Moses and his brother Aaron to Pharaoh and his aristocrat and proud elites supported by these signs (miracles) and manifest authority.

The verse says:

“Unto Pharaoh and his chiefs, but they behaved insolently...”

This verse indicates the fact that the root of all corruption was found with them and no nation could be reformed unless its elites and authorities change and reform. Despite the compelling arguments and impressive miracles of Moses, Pharaoh and his companions became conceited and did not accept Allah’s signs and the manifest authority and they continued to oppress the people. The verse concludes saying:

“...and they were an arrogant people.”