The Qur'an as the Criterion · The Prophets Restored
Moses, the Egyptian, and how a prophet's error is treated
In short
- 1.The Qur'an does not delete the incident — it evaluates it.
- 2.Musa says: my Lord, I have wronged myself, so forgive me — and He forgave him (Q 28:16).
- 3.Compare Exodus 2:12, where the only concern is that no one was watching.
The claim being examined
Exodus 2 has Moses look both ways, kill an Egyptian and hide the body in the sand — and the text passes no judgement on it.
The Islamic position
The Qur'an keeps the killing but names it: this is from the work of Satan, Musa asks forgiveness immediately, and God forgives him at once.
Analysis
This card guards the section against the accusation that the Qur'an simply flatters the prophets. It does not. Q 28:15-16 keeps the killing of the Egyptian in full: Musa strikes the man and he dies, and Musa's own verdict is "this is from the work of Satan; indeed he is a manifest, misleading enemy." He then says: "My Lord, indeed I have wronged myself, so forgive me" — and the verse continues, "so He forgave him; indeed He is the Forgiving, the Merciful." Q 26:20 has him say before Pharaoh, "I did it then while I was of those astray." The Qur'anic pattern for prophetic error is therefore consistent and visible: the act is minor rather than major, it is named as a wrong, repentance follows immediately, and forgiveness is granted. Exodus 2:11-12 reports the same killing but its narrative interest is elsewhere — "he looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand" — with no moral evaluation offered at all. So the difference between the two books is not that one hides sins. It is that one weighs them.
Side by side
| The Bible | Exodus 2:11-12 | Moses looks around, sees no one, kills the Egyptian and hides him in the sand; the text offers no moral evaluation. |
|---|---|---|
| The Qur'an | 28:15-16; 26:20 | Musa strikes the man, calls it the work of Satan, admits he wronged himself and asks forgiveness — and is forgiven at once. |
From the Qur'an
قَالَ هَٰذَا مِنْ عَمَلِ الشَّيْطَانِ ... رَبِّ إِنِّي ظَلَمْتُ نَفْسِي فَاغْفِرْ لِي فَغَفَرَ لَهُ
He said: this is from the work of Satan... My Lord, indeed I have wronged myself, so forgive me — and He forgave him.
قَالَ فَعَلْتُهَا إِذًا وَأَنَا مِنَ الضَّالِّينَ
He said: I did it then, while I was of those astray.
From the Bible
Hebrew
He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
Read it in their BibleSources
Qur'an 28:15-16; 26:20 · Exodus 2:11-15 · Qur'an 28:15-16
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