Al Mu’minūn

فَقَالُوا أَنُؤْمِنُ لِبَشَرَيْنِ مِثْلِنَا وَقَوْمُهُمَا لَنَا عَابِدُونَ

فَكَذَّبُوهُمَا فَكَانُوا مِنَ الْمُهْلَكِينَ

47. “And they said: ‘Shall we believe in two humans like ourselves while their people are our slaves?’”
48. “So they belied both of them and became of those who were destroyed.”

Moses and Aaron (as) were from the generation of the Children of Israel, while the people of Pharaoh saw themselves as superior to the Children of Israel based upon the latter’s enslavement. That is why the Qur’an implies that one of the clear signs of their seeking superiority was that they said they should not believe in too human beings who were like themselves, ¹³ and whose tribe, the children of Israel, were their slaves. So, they believed that not only they should not accept them, but also that tribe had to be their servants for ever.

The verse says:

“And they said: ‘Shall we believe in two humans like ourselves while their people are our slaves?’”

They accused the prophets of self-aggrandizement when they themselves were the worst of supremacists, a fact that is clearly seen in their words. In their arrogance they dismissed the Truth and accused Moses (as) and Aaron (as) of being two liars and, because of this, they were destroyed and lost their empire and their rule. The holy verse says:

“So they belied both of them and became of those who were destroyed.”

Thus, finally, the most powerful obstacle to the call of Moses and the greatest enemy of the Children of Israel was destroyed and the period of Divine education and training for the Children of Israel began.

Footnotes

1. 13. Man is called /basher/ because the face and the skin of his body is bare, contrast to the animals whose bodies are usually covered by a natural clothing. In fact, since they lack the ability of providing clothes Allah has naturally provided them with it, while for man, He relied it on his intelligence and talent.