Did Pharoah Understand Tawhid Better Than Ash’aris?
Recently, a questioner asked me, "how do we understand the verse that speaks about Pharoah wanting to build a tower so he can reach Allah? My friend says this is a subtle indication that Allah is in a direction."
He is referring to when Prophet Musa, blessings and peace be upon him, confronts Pharaoh and shows him the signs that Allah gave to him. The details of their exchange is found in multiple places in the Qur'an.
The oft-repeated Salafi trope that Pharaoh knew monotheism better than the Ash'aris quote the verses found in Surah Al-Qasas:
(Important Note, the Qur'anic verses may not appear to be formatted correct with missing characters, so refer back to the references directly)
وَقَالَ مُوسَىٰ رَبِّیۤ أَعۡلَمُ بِمَن جَاۤءَ بِٱلۡهُدَىٰ مِنۡ عِندِهِۦ وَمَن تَكُونُ لَهُۥ عَـٰقِبَةُ ٱلدَّارِۚ إِنَّهُۥ لَا یُفۡلِحُ ٱلظَّـٰلِمُونَ﴿ ٣٧ ﴾
Moses responded, “My Lord knows best who has come with ˹true˺ guidance from Him and will fare best in the end. Indeed, the wrongdoers will never succeed.”
وَقَالَ فِرۡعَوۡنُ یَـٰۤأَیُّهَا ٱلۡمَلَأُ مَا عَلِمۡتُ لَكُم مِّنۡ إِلَـٰهٍ غَیۡرِی فَأَوۡقِدۡ لِی یَـٰهَـٰمَـٰنُ عَلَى ٱلطِّینِ فَٱجۡعَل لِّی صَرۡحࣰا لَّعَلِّیۤ أَطَّلِعُ إِلَىٰۤ إِلَـٰهِ مُوسَىٰ وَإِنِّی لَأَظُنُّهُۥ مِنَ ٱلۡكَـٰذِبِینَ﴿ ٣٨ ﴾
Pharaoh declared, “O chiefs! I know of no other god for you but myself. So bake bricks out of clay for me, O Hamân, and build a high tower so I may look at the God of Moses, although I am sure he is a liar.”
Al-Qasas, Ayah 37-38 (trans.: The Clear Qur'an, Mustafa Khattab)
The anthropomorphists use Pharaoh's plan to build a high tower as a "subtle indication" that God must be in the sky or above us. Of course, common sense dictates that deriving credal points from the statement of one of the worst and most despicable human beings in Islamic creed is preposterous and utter foolishness. However, let us entertain the notion briefly and respond to it.
This statement of Pharaoh is in response to an earlier statement by Prophet Musa, found in other places in the Qur'an. He said to Pharoah:
قَالَ فِرۡعَوۡنُ وَمَا رَبُّ ٱلۡعَـٰلَمِینَ﴿ ٢٣ ﴾ قَالَ رَبُّ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَ ٰتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ وَمَا بَیۡنَهُمَاۤۖ إِن كُنتُم مُّوقِنِینَ ﴿ ٢٤ ﴾
Pharaoh asked, “And what is ‘the Lord of all worlds’?”
Moses replied, “˹He is˺ the Lord of the heavens and the earth and everything in between, if only you had sure faith.”
(Ash-Shuʿarāʾ, Ayah 23 - Ash-Shuʿarāʾ, Ayah 24)
We also know for a fact that this conversation occurred before Pharaoh's statement about the high tower. In the verse before the one from Surah Al-Qasas, it is said:
فَلَمَّا جَاۤءَهُم مُّوسَىٰ بِـَٔایَـٰتِنَا بَیِّنَـٰتࣲ قَالُوا۟ مَا هَـٰذَاۤ إِلَّا سِحۡرࣱ مُّفۡتَرࣰى وَمَا سَمِعۡنَا بِهَـٰذَا فِیۤ ءَابَاۤىِٕنَا ٱلۡأَوَّلِینَ ﴿ ٣٦ ﴾
But when Moses came to them with Our clear signs, they said ˹arrogantly˺, “This is nothing but conjured magic ˹tricks˺. We have never heard of this in ˹the history of˺ our forefathers.”
(Al-Qasas, Ayah 36)
In other words, Pharaoh made the statement about the tower after already having seen the signs of Prophet Musa, such as his staff turning into a snake.
In the verse about Prophet Musa saying His Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth, the next few verses say:
قَالَ رَبُّ ٱلۡمَشۡرِقِ وَٱلۡمَغۡرِبِ وَمَا بَیۡنَهُمَاۤ إِن كُنتُمۡ تَعۡقِلُونَ ﴿ ٢٨ ﴾ قَالَ لَىِٕنِ ٱتَّخَذۡتَ إِلَـٰهًا غَیۡرِی لَأَجۡعَلَنَّكَ مِنَ ٱلۡمَسۡجُونِینَ ﴿ ٢٩ ﴾ قَالَ أَوَلَوۡ جِئۡتُكَ بِشَیۡءࣲ مُّبِین ﴿ ٣٠ ﴾ قَالَ فَأۡتِ بِهِۦۤ إِن كُنتَ مِنَ ٱلصَّـٰدِقِینَ ﴿ ٣١ ﴾ فَأَلۡقَىٰ عَصَاهُ فَإِذَا هِیَ ثُعۡبَانࣱ مُّبِینࣱ ﴿ ٣٢ ﴾
Moses responded: “˹He is˺ the Lord of the east and west, and everything in between, if only you had any sense.”
Pharaoh threatened, “If you take any other god besides me, I will certainly have you imprisoned.”
Moses responded, “Even if I bring you a clear proof?”
Pharaoh demanded, “Bring it then, if what you say is true.”
So he threw down his staff and—behold!—it became a real snake.
(Ash-Shuʿarāʾ, Ayah 28 - Ash-Shuʿarāʾ, Ayah 32)
This establishes that the chronology of the exchange is the following:
Prophet Musa tells Pharaoh that his Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth.
Pharaoh demands proof.
Prophet Musa casts his signs.
Pharaoh mocks his signs and makes the statement about building a tower.
In other words, it is clear that the statement of Pharaoh is also in response to Prophet Musa عليه السلام telling Pharaoh that his Lord is the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth and a last-ditch effort to save face in front of the observers after being humiliated by Prophet Musa's signs.
Imam Al-Razi supports this point in his Tafsir of the verse:
الشُّبْهَةُ الثّانِيَةُ: قَوْلُهُ: ﴿فَأوْقِدْ لِي ياهامانُ عَلى الطِّينِ فاجْعَلْ لِي صَرْحًا لَعَلِّي أطَّلِعُ إلى إلَهِ مُوسى وإنِّي لَأظُنُّهُ مِنَ الكاذِبِينَ﴾ وهَهُنا أبْحاثٌ:
الأوَّلُ: تَعَلَّقَتِ المُشَبِّهَةُ بِهَذِهِ الآيَةِ في أنَّ اللَّهَ تَعالى في السَّماءِ، قالُوا: لَوْلا أنَّ مُوسى عَلَيْهِ السَّلامُ دَعاهُ إلى ذَلِكَ لَما قالَ فِرْعَوْنُ هَذا القَوْلَ. والجَوابُ: إنَّ مُوسى عَلَيْهِ السَّلامُ دَلَّ فِرْعَوْنَ بِقَوْلِهِ: ﴿رَبُّ السَّماواتِ والأرْضِ﴾ ولَمْ يَقُلْ هو الَّذِي في السَّماءِ دُونَ الأرْضِ، فَأُوهِمَ فِرْعَوْنُ أنَّهُ يَقُولُ: إنَّ إلَهَهُ في السَّماءِ، وذَلِكَ أيْضًا مِن خُبْثِ فِرْعَوْنَ ومَكْرِهِ ودَهائِهِ.
So, to put this exchange in context, Pharaoh had laid claim to being the god of the earth, and his proof was the dominion and ownership that he had of the land of Egypt as its king.
However, he had no way to claim ownership to the heavens and the unseen, so when Prophet Musa approaches him and says that God has dominion of both the land of Pharaoh (the earth), and the land out of the reach of Pharaoh, (the heavens), Pharaoh's authority and claim to divinity is utterly challenged. Once the miracles of Prophet Musa are presented to him, validating Prophet Musa's claim of messengerhood, Pharaoh is left utterly disgraced in front of an audience, with nothing to turn to except mockery and ridicule.
In light of this, it is clear that Pharaoh's desire to “meet the Lord of Musa” should be understood through the lens of someone committing deceit and misdirection out of arrogance in the face of the clear truth. This is a supporting evidence against the anthropomorphists, not a point for them.
Written by: Uthman Qureshi
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