Plagues Upon Egypt (7:133)

 

بِسۡمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِیۡمِ

‌قُدُّوسٌ ‌قُدُّوسٌ ‌قُدُّوسٌ

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

Holy, Holy, Holy

Among the most wonderful things which our God Allah سبحانه وتعالى did in the past was the liberation of the Children of Israel from bondage in Egypt. Specifically, through the plagues which Allah سبحانه وتعالى brought upon the land of Egypt, Pharaoh and his people, which inspire an ecstatic awe. Allah says:

فَاَرۡسَلۡنَا عَلَیۡہِمُ الطُّوۡفَانَ وَالۡجَرَادَ وَالۡقُمَّلَ وَالضَّفَادِعَ وَالدَّمَ اٰیٰتٍ مُّفَصَّلٰتٍ

So We sent upon them the storm, and locusts, and lice, and frogs and blood—manifest Signs

(Surah 7, Ayah 133)

Although this isn’t an exhaustive list of the plagues and afflictions that befell Egypt at the hands of Moses and Aaron عليهما السلام it is a mention of the most famous and awe inspiring. Five of the Ten Plagues mentioned in the Torah are listed here; 1. thunderstorm and hail, 2. locusts, 3. lice (or gnats), 4. frogs and 5. the waters of the Nile turning to blood. The plague of blood is mentioned last perhaps because it is the seemingly supernatural one of the others listed in the Ayah. Allah سبحانه وتعالى says that whenever the Rijz (plague) befell them they (Pharaoh and his servants) pleaded with Moses to ask his Lord to remove it from them so that they might believe and send the Children of Israel with him. However, whenever Allah removed the punishment from them for a while they broke their promise (Surah 7:134-135), as spoken of in the Torah too.

Although five of the Plagues have specifically been mentioned in the Ayah (7:133), elsewhere the Quran speaks of Nine Signs in total, but without specifying what each of them were:

وَلَقَدۡ اٰتَیۡنَا مُوۡسٰی تِسۡعَ اٰیٰتٍۭ

And We gave Moses nine signs

(Surah 17, Ayah 101)

In the Psalms also are a list of the Plagues and other Signs: “How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan. And had turned their rivers into blood; and their floods, that they could not drink. He sent divers sorts of flies among them, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them. He gave also their increase unto the caterpiller, and their labour unto the locust. He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycomore trees with frost. He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts. He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them. He made a way to his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence; And smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham: But made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. And he led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies” (Psalm 78:43-53, KJV), “He sent Moses his servant; and Aaron whom he had chosen. They shewed his signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham. He sent darkness, and made it dark; and they rebelled not against his word. He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish. Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, in the chambers of their kings. He spake, and there came divers sorts of flies, and lice in all their coasts. He gave them hail for rain, and flaming fire in their land. He smote their vines also and their fig trees; and brake the trees of their coasts. He spake, and the locusts came, and caterpillers, and that without number, And did eat up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground. He smote also all the firstborn in their land, the chief of all their strength” (Psalm 105:26-36, KJV) What is made clear here is that the plagues which afflicted Egypt caused a scarcity of fruits, and this is confirmed in the Quran:

وَلَقَدۡ اَخَذۡنَاۤ اٰلَ فِرۡعَوۡنَ بِالسِّنِیۡنَ وَنَقۡصٍ مِّنَ الثَّمَرٰتِ لَعَلَّہُمۡ یَذَّکَّرُوۡنَ

And We did seize the people of Pharaoh with years (of famine) and scarcity of fruits that they may receive admonition

(Surah 7, Ayah 130)

See how Allah compelled Pharaoh, despite the hardness of his heart, his arrogance and his stubbornness, to release the Children of Israel and allow them to depart with Moses عليه السلام through these incredible Signs. Although many of these Signs are considered natural calamities, such as the hailstorm, the swarms of locusts, infestation of gnats, and invasion of frogs, they were each promised and occurred in a succession afflicting only Pharaoh and his people but miraculously not the Israelites who were sojourning in the same country (though in their own locality called Goshen, which is in the eastern Delta region).