Stories for Children (Islamic Stories)

Prophet Musa(AS)

Prophet Musa was born in the land of Egypt and came from the people known as the Israelites.  The ruler of Egypt was the Pharoah and he hated the Israelites that were in his land.  In a fit of anger, he sent an order throughout the countryside that said that all Israelite baby boys had to be killed as soon as they were born.  When Musa was born, he was supposed to be killed along with the others but Allah had a plan for Musa.  He ordered Musa's mother to place Musa in a wooden chest in the great Nile River and allow it to float downstream.  The mother did what she was told but was afraid she would never see Musa again.

Allah guided the chest down the Nile River and, eventually, it floated into a small stream.  The Pharoah's wife spotted the chest and ordered her servants to bring it ashore.  When the Pharoah's wife saw the baby, she fell in love with him.  She picked up the baby and showed it to the Pharoah.  "Look," she said, "Here is a joy for the eye to behold.  Please don't kill him.  Instead, we could adopt him as a son for ourselves."  The Pharoah agreed with her and they decided to keep the baby.  So Allah spared Musa the death that was supposed to await him and he was raised in the royal court of the Pharoah of Egypt.

In the meantime, Musa's mother became very sad and wept bitterly at the thought of her helpless little Musa.  Allah knows how much a mother loves her child so He made a plan for them to unite.  The mother sent her daughter to the Pharoah's court in order to check on baby Musa.  When the daughter came to the royal palace, she found the Pharoah's wife very upset.  "Why won't this baby eat?" she exclaimed to her servants.  "He will surely die unless someone can nurse him."  Then Musa's sister spoke up.  "I know of a people that will nourish the baby and make him strong," she said.  The Pharoah's wife was very surprised but was desperate, so she agreed to let the baby go to be fed.  The Pharoah's wife never knew that it was Musa's mother who nursed baby Musa.  Thus Allah made the mother happy again because she could see her son every day.

Musa grew to become big and strong.  One day he saw an Egyptian beating an Israelite.  The poor Israelite asked Musa to help him.  Musa stepped forward and hit the Egyptian with such a powerful blow that the Egyptian collapsed and died.  After seeing what he had done, a cold sweat broke out on Musa's forehead.  He said to himself, "This is the evil work of Satan.  He is an enemy who clearly misleads!"  Musa knew it was a sin to kill anyone until he is brought to trial and found guilty.  He knelt on the ground and prayed to Allah.  "O, my Lord!  I have indeed wronged my soul.  Do You forgive me?"  Allah is the Most Merciful, and out of His mercy, Allah forgave Musa.  Musa then vowed never to help those that sin and to be in Allah's service for the rest of his life.

The next morning Musa was still shaken from what had happened the night before.  Then he saw the same man he had helped last night being beaten by another Egyptian.  Again Musa prepared himself to help the weaker one when the Egyptians said something that made Musa stop.  He said, "O Musa!  Is it your intention to kill me the same way you killed that man last night?  It seems you want to be a violent and unjust man."  Before Musa could reply another man came running toward them saying, "Musa the Egyptian chiefs are coming to kill you.  Getaway while there is still time!"  Musa asked Allah to save him from these sinful people and then headed for the land of Madyan.  Though Musa did not know it he was about to encounter many more adventures in his life devoted to the service of Allah.

Musa left the land of Egypt to go to the land of Maydan.  He had been traveling for several days when he stumbled upon a small oasis that had several trees and a water hole.  The sun was blazing hot, so Musa decided to rest awhile.  At the water hole, he saw some men who were letting their animals have some water.  Waiting behind them were two young women with a tiny flock of sheep.  After a long time, he called out to the women, "What's wrong?  Why don't you water your sheep?"  The women told Musa that they couldn't because the water hole was too crowded with the men's flock.  Upon hearing that, Musa got up and steered their sheep toward the water, allowing them to drink.  The men grumbled a little at first, but upon seeing how big and strong Musa was, they stopped grumbling and looked down.

The two young women smiled and were very grateful for Musa's kind help.  Musa sat back down under the cool shade of a tree and the women took their flock of sheep back home.  A little later one of them came back and asked him to come to meet her father   Musa agreed and went with her.  The father was old and needed a young man to help with the care of the animals.  After talking to Musa, the father found him to be a good man, so he offered one of his daughters to him in marriage.  Musa agreed and helped the old man for several years.  The marriage was a happy one, and they all prospered due to Musa's hard work and good judgment.

Many years later, Musa decided to travel with his family.  He was content with his life and had completely forgotten his troubles in Egypt.  One day he saw a small fire far off in the distance.  Since it was very cold, he went to go fetch a burning log to warm his family.  As he approached the fire, he noticed something strange.  The fire was only in one bush and did not spread to other bushes or trees.  At the same time, the bush didn't burn up and become ashes; it just stayed there-burning.  Then Musa heard a voice say, "O Musa, I am your Lord.  Therefore in My presence take of your shoes."  Musa did what he was ordered.