Surah Al-Qasas - Verse 4 إِنَّ فِرْعَوْنَ عَلاَ فِي الاَرْضِ...
“Verily Pharaoh exalted himself in the land (of Egypt) and divided its people into sections, weakening a group of them, he slaughtered their sons and spared alive their females, verily he was of the mischief- makers.” The Arabic word /šiya‘/ is the plural form of /ši‘ah/ which originally means ‘following’ and ‘obeying’, but since in a group there are some persons who usually follow some others, this word is used in the sense of a group, too.
The Arabic word, /nisa’/ means ‘women’, but in this verse it may mean ‘daughters’ because it has come as the opposite of ‘sons’. The word /fir‘aun/ is not the name of a person, but it had been the title of the kings of Rome. However, in this verse, the Qur’an says: “Verily Pharaoh exalted himself in the land (of Egypt)…” Pharaoh was a very weak person who, as the result of ignorance, lost his own personality and went astray so far that he claimed to be deity.
The application of the Arabic word /’al ’ard/ (the land) in the verse is an indication to the land of Egypt and around it, and since a great part of the habituated land of the earth at that time was that area, this term has been used in an absolute form. This is also probable that the existence of Alif and Lam at the beginning of the word /‘ard/ is for agreement and points to the land of Egypt.
However, in order to strengthen the bases of his cruel oppression, Pharaoh committed a number of crimes: At first, Pharaoh tried to produce disunity among people. This was the same policy that had been forming the main foundation of the oppressors in the length of history. The dominion of a little minority over a great majority is often impossible save by the principle of: ‘cast division and govern’. They have always been afraid of ‘the unity of the word’ and ‘the word of unity’.
They terribly feared of the close relation of the rows of people with each other, and for this reason the only way of their protection is ‘class government’, the same thing that Pharaoh and the like have done in any age. The verse continues saying: “…and divided its people into sections…” Yes, Pharaoh divided the people of Egypt into two separate groups: Coptic group and Sebtian group.