Prophets Stories In Islam

Part 23. Prophet Musa and Harun: The death of Musa (as) and Harun (as)

Musa (as) suffered terribly from his people and endured much for the sake of Allah. The children of Israel mistreated Musa (as) a lot. His agony was not limited to mutiny, stupidity, chattering, ignorance, and idolatry; it exceeded this and went as far as inflicting personal harm on him.
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Harun (as) died shortly before Musa (as). His people were still wandering in the wilderness when he died.
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Imam Bukhari reported on the authority of Abu Hurairah narrated: "The Angel of Death was sent to Musa (as). When he came to Musa, Musa slapped him on the eye.
The Angel returned to his Lord and said: 'You have sent me to a slave who does not want to die.'
Allah said: 'Return to him and tell him to put his hand on the back of an ox and for every hair that will come under it, he will be granted one year of life.'
Musa said: 'O Lord! What will happen after that?'
Allah replied: 'then death.'
Musa said: 'Let it come now!'
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Musa then requested Allah to let him die close to the Holy Land so that he would be at a distance of a stone's throw from it.
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Abu Hurairah added:
"Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: 'If I were there, I would show you his grave below the red sandhill on the side of the road.'" (Sahih Al Bukhari)
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Ibn Hibban said: When the Angel of death came to Musa (as), he did not recognize it, as he did not come in his normal form. This is similar to how Jibraeel (as) once came in the form of a Bedouin and the Angels went to Prophets Ibrahim and Lut (May Allah's peace be upon them) disguised as young men. Neither of them had recognized the Angels as they were not in their normal forms. Perhaps Musa (as) also did not recognize him and that is why he slapped him and blinded him. After all, the Angel had entered his house without his permission. This is in accordance with our Sharia, wherein we are allowed to do this to someone who looks into our house without our permission.
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It is quite possible that Musa (as) did not recognize him and thus slapped him since he was expecting to carry out many tasks before his death, such as taking the Israelites out of their wandering and making them enter the holy land. However, Allah (ﷻ) had decreed that Musa (as) will die, while the children of Israel are still wandering.
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Some scholars have claimed that it was Musa  (as) who took the Israelites out of their wandering and entered the holy land with them. However, this is against the opinion of the people of earlier scriptures and also against what the majority of Muslims hold to be true.
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Among the evidence that supports this is the saying of Musa (as) to his Lord when he had chosen to die: "O my Lord, bring me within a stone's throw of the Holy Land."
If he had already entered it, he wouldn't have asked this.
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What actually happened is that when his death approached and the children of Israel were still wandering, he wished to come closer to the land he had migrated to and had motivated his people to go to. However, the Divine decree stopped him and took him only as far as the distance of a stone's throw.
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That is why Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: "If I were there, I would show you his grave below the red sandhill on the side of the road."
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Imam Ahmad reported on the authority of Anas ibn Malik (ra) that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: "When I was taken on the night journey, I passed by Musa who was praying in his grave, near the sand hill."
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Musa (as), Prophet of Allah and the one to whom Allah spoke to directly, met his death with a contented soul and a faithful heart that looked forward to righteousness and made haste to meet with Him Who bore tidings of peace.