Surah al-Ghafir - Verse 26 وَقَالَ فِرْعَوْنُ ذَرُونِي...

I fear that he may change your religion or that he may cause mischief to appear in the land.” It is the common practice of tyrannical rulers to slay the leaders of the Path of Truth and it is the policy of the arrogant to deny, menace, and humiliate.

The struggle between Moses (as) and his adherents on the one side and Pharaoh and his followers on the other heightened and in order to impede the revolutionary move of Moses (as), Pharaoh made up his mind to slay him but it sounds as if his people and advisors declined.

The Holy Qur’an says: “Leave me to slay Moses and let him call his Lord [so that He may save him].” The Verse reveals that the majority of his advisors or at least some of them were against slaying Moses (as) and produced arguments to the effect that taking his miraculous acts he might cast a curse and his God might send down some torment. Yet, the arrogant Pharaoh said: “I will slay him!

Come what may!” However, the real motive of the adherents and advisors behind such impediment is not precisely known. There are different possibilities all of which may be true: firstly, fear of Divine torment, secondly, fear of slaying Moses (as) and making a hero and martyr out of him thereby casting him in a halo of sanctity.

Thus, it could increase the number of believers and adherents particularly when it happened following Moses (as) demonstrating his feats against sorcerers and his wonderful victory over them. It is apparently so since Moses had demonstrated the twain great miracles of his, namely the walking stick and the illuminating hand, in his first meeting with Pharaoh as a consequence of which he had obtained the appellation of sorcerer.

He had asked for Moses’ confrontation with his sorcerers and had set his hope on their sorcery as a consequence of which he awaited the due date of confrontation. Taking the above points into consideration, there would remain no reason for Pharaoh’s decision as to slaying Moses (as) at this time span nor would he stand in awe as to mass conversion into Moses’ (as) religion.