Is it stated in the Quran that "ten afflictions" were sent to Egypt? If yes, what are they?
Is it stated in the Quran that "ten afflictions" were sent to Egypt? If yes, what are they?
Submitted by on Thu, 08/02/2018 - 15:36
Dear Brother / Sister,
- In the Quran, five afflictions are mentioned clearly in the following verse:
“So We sent (plagues) on them: Wholesale death, Locusts, Lice, Frogs, And Blood: Signs openly self-explained: but they were steeped in arrogance,- a people given to sin.” (al-Araf, 7/133)
- “Nine signs/miracles” are mentioned in verse 101 of the chapter of al-Isra and verse 12 of the chapter of an-Naml as miracles of Hz. Musa (the names of them are not mentioned).
Tafsir scholars say the "nine signs" here are the nine miracles performed by Hz. Musa or the nine verses, that is, nine commandments / decrees of the Torah.
According to the first interpretation, the nine miracles are as follows: The staff that was transformed into a snake, the hand shedding light, locusts, lice, frogs, blood, water gushing forth, the sea being split and the Mount Tur frightening Sons of Israel. (For those miracles, see al-A'raf 7/108,133; Taha 20/17-23)
Some scholars list those nine miracles as follows: Hz. Musa’s bright hand, his fascinating staff, famine, decrease in fruits, and the following miracles mentioned in the verse above: flood, locusts, lice, frogs and blood. (see Ibn Kathir, the interpretation of 17/101)
It is understood that there are nine of those “inflictions” (or rather, miracles).
The second interpretation is based on the following narration: Two Jews went to the Prophet and asked what was meant by the "nine miracles" in the verse; the Prophet told tem that they consisted of the following nine religious and ethical orders:
"Do not associate partners with Allah,
do not kill people unjustly,
do not commit fornication,
do not eat up usury / interest,
do not commit sorcery,
do not surrender an innocent person to a cruel administrator to kill him,
do not waste,
do not slander chaste women,
do not escape from battle." (see Tirmidhi, Istidhan, 33; Tabari, XV, 172; Zamakhshari, II, 377)
Muhammad Hamidullah says those nine signs are "the ten commandments" in the Torah except the prohibition of Saturday. (Le Saint Coran, p. 292; cf. ibid, p. 281)
Questions on Islam
- When Hz. Yusuf (Joseph) became an administrator in Egypt, had he started the duty of prophethood? Did he decree based on the laws of Allah when he was the prime minister in Egypt?
- Why were the personal belongings of the Prophet taken to Egypt?
- Calamities that Befall Pharaoh
- How did the Prophet Idris go to Babylon and Egypt?
- What animals are mentioned in the Qur´an?
- What is the state of sorcery in Judaism? Do they not regard sorcery haram today according to their religion?
- Surah 7. Al-A'raf (The Heights)
- What are the miracles of Prophet Moses?
- What is Dabbatu’l Ard? Has it emerged? Can the Illness of Aids be Dabba?
- What are the virtues of saying the glorification / supplication “La ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lah, lahul mulku wa lahul hamdu wa huwa ala kulli shay'in qadir” every morning and evening?