From the series: When the Solution Is the Impossible
Prof. Dr. Faid Mohammed Said
Divine Miracle at the Heart of a Mother
In the heart of every mother there is love
and in the heart of the mother of Moses, there was a miracle.
It is a story that begins with fear
and ends with prophethood.
It begins with weakness
and concludes with strength.
It begins with an unknown woman
and culminates in the salvation of an entire nation.
It is a story in which the most astonishing commands, the most extraordinary promises, and the deepest reassurance converge.
The Qur’an encapsulates the entire ordeal in a few words—
words that carry within them a long history of divine care:
“And We inspired the mother of Moses: ‘Suckle him…’”
(Qur’an 28:7)
1. The Beginning of the Story: A Strange Command… and a Trembling Mother
The very first command sent from Heaven to the mother of Moses was:
“Suckle him.”
A single word—yet one filled with tenderness, bonding, and maternal affection.
At the same time, it carries an implicit sign:
this infant will soon be taken from her arms.
Thus, there had to be a moment of intimate closeness—
a moment of love that would grant him strength at the very beginning of his life.
Then comes the second command—
one that shatters all human logic:
“But when you fear for him, cast him into the river.”
O Lord!
Can fear be cured by casting a child into the sea?
Can salvation lie in surrendering an infant to the current?
Can protection be found in water?
This is a command no mother’s instinct can comprehend—
it is understood only by the logic of Heaven.
In human terms:
when you fear for your child, you hold him closer.
In God’s method:
when you fear for him, obey God—even if His command defies all human reasoning.
2. The Logic of Heaven: When Danger Lies in Staying, and Safety Lies in the Sea
At that moment, the mother could not have known
that the most dangerous place for Moses was her own embrace,
and that the safest place for him was the river itself.
Pharaoh’s hand was closer than imagination could conceive,
yet God’s hand was closer than fear itself.
Here lies the lesson:
The path to salvation may be the farthest route you could ever imagine,
and the path to destruction may appear, outwardly, the nearest and safest.
This is the very heart of the series:
When the solution is the impossible.
3. After the Commands… Two Prohibitions
To complete the divine pedagogy, two merciful prohibitions are revealed—
words that, if spoken to our hearts in moments of hardship, would transform everything:
“Do not fear,”
“and do not grieve.”
Fear concerns the future.
Grief is bound to the past.
God gathered reassurance for her from both directions.
This is the divine educational method:
Do not fear what is yet to come.
Do not grieve over what has passed.
Between them lies certainty—
that God is with you.
4. A Promise from Heaven Unlike Any Other
After the commands, and after the prohibitions, comes the divine promise:
“Indeed, We shall return him to you.”
A promise no one on earth could ever write,
no power could guarantee,
no king, tyrant, or ruler could ever fulfil.
But God promised.
And when God promises, the matter is settled.
Then comes the second promise more astonishing, more exalted:
“And We shall make him one of the messengers.”
It was not merely a promise of return,
but a promise of destiny, of mission, of elevation.
This infant cast into the river
would return as a prophet standing before Pharaoh himself.
What kind of story is this?
What heart could endure such a trial?
And what series could better demonstrate that the “impossible solution” is the very methodology of Heaven?
5. Execution: When Faith in the Hands of a Woman Becomes Greater than Pharaoh’s Army
The mother placed her child in the chest.
She secured it carefully.
She carried it to the river.
She closed her eyes—perhaps her heart as well—
and cast her son into the water.
The river flowed toward Pharaoh’s palace.
And therein lay the very essence of divine planning:
Moses was taken to the place where death was intended for him—
so that it would become the place of his life.
The waves carried the chest to Pharaoh’s doors,
where it was received by his wife, Āsiyah bint Muzāḥim.
Her heart softened, and she uttered the words that altered the course of history:
“A comfort of the eye for me and for you.”
“Perhaps he may benefit us.”
As for Pharaoh himself—
the very man searching to kill Moses—
he did not know that Moses was already in his hands.
Glory be to the One whose wisdom surpasses human reason.
6. The Refusal to Nurse: The Second Miracle
They attempted to find a wet nurse for Moses—
but he rejected them all.
Why?
Because there was a mother, in a distant home,
to whom God had promised:
“Indeed, We shall return him to you.”
Thus, divine decree unfolds:
Soldiers search.
Women are brought.
Every breast offered to him is refused—
until his older sister approaches and says with quiet confidence:
“Shall I direct you to a household that will care for him on your behalf and be sincere toward him?”
(Qur’an 28:12)
They send her.
She leads them to the mother.
She takes her child,
and he nurses from her breast
as though the entire universe had been waiting for that moment.
Thus, God’s promise is fulfilled in the most astonishing way:
He returns to her.
In her own home.
She nurses him.
And she is paid for nursing him—by Pharaoh’s household.
It is not merely a return,
but a return with honour, provision, and safety.
7. What Does This Story Say to the Contemporary Heart?
It says:
Your greatest fears may be the very doors of your salvation.
The doors you believe to be most firmly closed are often the ones God opens.
God may lead you to the edge of the abyss—only to show you that His steps descend with yours.
The mother who cast her son did not abandon him; she placed him in God’s hands.
God’s promises do not arrive late—they arrive when the heart is ready to bear them.
And it also says:
When you fear, follow God’s command—not the command of fear.
When you grieve, remember that God never abandons a heart that has known Him.
8. Conclusion: A Mother Casts… and the Lord Preserves
Thus begins the miracle:
A woman casts her child into the river,
the waves become guardians,
fear is transformed into safety,
and the child becomes a prophet who shatters the throne of tyranny.
And thus ends the miracle:
The impossible is never impossible when God is the One who commands.
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