We commented last week on the opening verses in the account given in this Surah of Moses and his people. The account starts at the moment when he is given his message. We mentioned how Moses was traveling with his wife in the desert when he lost his way. In the darkness of the night, he saw a fire and aimed toward it, leaving his wife behind, so that he could bring her a torch and ask directions. But as he arrived there, the great surprise took place. The whole universe echoed the Divine address made directly to him: “Moses, I am your Lord! Take off your sandals, for you are in the sacred valley of Tuwa. Know that I have chosen you. Listen, then, to what is being revealed (to you).”
That small, insignificant particle that is a human being is faced here with the great majesty which no human vision can encompass. Compared with that majesty, all heavens and Earth shrink into insignificance. Nevertheless, that human being receives that Divine address coming from on high. How? We only say: by God’s grace! How else? At that moment, all humanity, represented by Moses (peace be upon him), is elevated very high. Sufficient it is for a human being that he receives this grace for one moment. It is sufficient for humanity as a whole to have the ability to sustain such a communication in some way. How? We do not know. It is not the function of the human mind to judge. All that it can do is to look on in admiration and to believe in what it sees.
“When he came close to it, a voice called out to him: ‘Moses’.” The calling out is expressed in the original Arabic text in the passive voice. In English we say, “a voice called out.” We cannot define the source of this address, its direction, form or nature; nor can we be sure how Moses heard or received it. Simply, there was an address of a particular nature and it was received accordingly. We accept that this has taken place, without asking how, because that is part of the way in which God accomplishes His business.
“Moses, I am your Lord! Take off your sandals, for you are in the sacred valley of Tuwa.” You are in the presence of God Almighty, so take off your shoes. You must not step with your shoes in the valley over which God’s presence is made. “Know that I have chosen you.” What an honor is granted to the man chosen directly by God. Moses is, after all, merely one servant among the great multitude living on a planet that is no more than a small particle in a much greater group. Yet this group is merely a small particle in the great universe. That universe came into existence when God willed it to exist. We can thus imagine the great care God has taken of man.
When this announcement of God’s honor reflected in his selection by God to be His messenger is made, and he is asked to be prepared for what is coming by taking off his sandals, he is told to be ready to learn: “Listen, then, to what is being revealed (to you).”
That revelation is summed up under three inter-linked headings: belief in God’s oneness, addressing all worship to Him alone, and belief in the Last Hour. These are the foundation of God’s message: “Indeed, I alone am God; there is no deity other than Me. So, worship Me alone, and establish regular prayer to celebrate My praise. Although I have chosen to keep it hidden, the Last Hour is bound to come, so that every soul may be rewarded in accordance with what it strove for (in this life). Hence, let not anyone who does not believe in its coming and follows only his own desires turn your thoughts from it, lest you perish.”
God’s oneness is the cornerstone of faith. In His address to Moses, God emphasizes it in different forms: first in a statement bearing a strong stress, “Indeed, I alone am God.” Then Godhead is stated to apply to no one else: “There is no deity other than Me.” When Godhead is thus established, worship follows. Worship means that every activity should aim to please God. Singled out among all human activity is prayer: “Establish regular prayer to celebrate My praise.” Prayer is the most complete and perfect of all types of worship and celebrating God’s praises. In fact its sole purpose is such. It discards everything else. Thus in prayer we are prepared for our contact with God.
The Last Hour is the time appointed for administering complete rewards, in all justice and fairness. People think of this time and make sure to keep it in mind. They move on in life, looking with watchful eyes, fearing to slip. God makes it clear that this Last Hour is certain to come: “Although I have chosen to keep it hidden, the Last Hour is bound to come.” What people know about this last hour is limited to what God has given them of information. This is all that they need to know, as determined by Divine wisdom. That something remains unknown is essential in human life. They need to have something unknown to which they may aspire.
With their nature being as it is, should everything be clearly exposed, their activity would cease and their life would become sterile. In fact, human beings continue to seek that unknown: they watch carefully, entertain hopes and aspirations, experiment and learn, and uncover what they did not know of their own potentials and those of the universe around them. They contemplate God’s signs placed within their own constitution and over the horizons. They invent and produce new things. When they think of the last hour, whose timing remains unknown, they do not lose sight of it. Since they do not know its timing, they remain conscious of it, ready for its arrival. Needless to say, this applies to those who preserve their sound human nature. Those who distort it are bound to fall and fail: “Let not anyone who does not believe in its coming and follows only his own desires turn your thoughts from it, lest you perish.”
Indeed, pursuing one’s desire is the cause of denying the last hour. Sound human nature believes that humanity cannot attain its super status during this present life, where justice is not seen to be done. There must be another life when man attains perfection and absolute justice is made.