Part 4

said, the ropes and staffs which the magicians threw remained

ropes and staffs in their eyes. When they saw the staff of Musa

really change into a terrible snake, they knew that this was not

magic. It was real. They recognised that this was not a mere decep­

tion of the eyes but was a real transformation of the nature of

things. A staff cannot be transformed into a real snake except by

Allah Almighty. Thus they recognised that what had taken place

before them was a true miracle which only the Creator is capable

of making happen. They therefore realised that Musa, peace be

upon him, was a Messenger from Allah and not a magician.

Anyone who is skilled in a craft knows its secrets. He is the one

who truly understands it in such a way that no one can deceive him

regarding it. The magicians were absolutely certain by their

knowledge of magic and its nature that what had happened in front

of them was truly a miracle and not magic; and consequently they

immediately accepted the fact that Musa really was the Messenger

"The magicians threw themselves down in prostration.

They said, 'We believe in the Lord ofHarun and Musa:"

Pharaoh was astonished at What happened. What. could make

the great magicians, whom he had brought, prostrate? He had pre­

sumed that they would discredit Musa, peace be upon him, and

expose his magic to the people. How could they now prostrate to

the God of Musa? He said to them; as the Noble Quran relates to

"He said, 'Do you believe in him before I give you per­

mission? He is your chief, the one who taught you

That could only happen because Pharaoh himself was not a

magician and did not know anything about magic. His eyes were

bewitched like the eyes of all the rest of those present. He could

not differentiate between magic and a true miracle. So he saw the

ropes and staffs of the magicians as slithering snakes and also saw

. Musa's staff as a slithering snake. He could not distinguish

between the real and the illusory because his eyes were bewitched.

So he spoke in a way which was in accordance with his own false

Since it was necessary to explain the sudden prostration of the

magicians, he could not find anything to say except that he was

amazed that the magicians should prostrate. If he had been a real

god, as he claimed, he would have compelled the magicians not to

prostrate. However, because he was a false god whose powers

were only human, he did not know that the magicians were going

to prostrate. His knowledge was only human knowledge. He was

unable to force them not to prostrate because what happened came

about suddenly. His limited knowledge could not control events in

spite of his claim to divinity.

The spuriousness of Pharaoh's claim to divinity was exposed

after this sudden event had taken him. by surprise. He in fact

believed that Musa, peace be upon him, was the principal magi­

cian and that he was the one who had taught the others magic. In

his eyes they prostrated to acknowledge his leadership and to hon­

our his skill. But the.magicians gave Pharaoh the true answer, and

they countered him by saying that Musa was not a magician but

rather a Messenger from Allah, and that what had happened when

Musa threw his staff was not magic but a miracle. Pharaoh wanted

to save his honour by threatening and intimidating the magicians,

saying that lie would punish and kill them in the hope that they

would retract what they had done when they prostrated to the Lord

The Noble Quran relates to us what happened when Pharaoh

"I will cut off your hands and feet alternately and will

have you crucified on palm trunks. Then you will know for

certain which one of us has the more severe and longer

Pharaoh made this threat, supposing that it would be enough to

make the magicians revert to worshipping him and make them

reveal the truth. He expected them to say that what had happened

was owing to a prior agreement they had made and concealed from

Pharaoh to make Musa their king because he was the chief magi­

cian. Allah Almighty says about this:

"Pharaoh said, 'Have you believed in him before I gave

you permission to? This is just some plot you have

hatched in the city 10 drive its people from it. You will

But all these threats and suspicions on the part of Pharaoh did

not have any result because the magicians had seen the miracle

and were certain of it. That is why they refused to bow to the

threats of Pharaoh. The certainty of belief had entered their hearts.

The light of Allah was firm in those same hearts which had come

to challenge and expose Musa, peace be upon him. They became

the first to believe in him. The belief of the magicians was strong

because they saw the miracle and acknowledged it and understood

it. That is why Allah Almighty says:

"They said, 'We will never prefer you over the clear

signs that have come to us nor over Him who brought us

into being. Decide on any judgement you like. Your juris­

diction only encompasses the life ofthis world:" (20:72)

No real change took place when the magicians threw down the

things that they threw with Musa. The change was merely in the

eyes of the beholders. If the staff of Musa, peace be upon him, had

remained a mere staff; the magicians would have been the first to

know that because none of their eyes were bewitched. But in fact

they recognised that its actual nature had been changed into that of

Magic, then, means making people imagine something to be

real when no real change has taken place. It produces terror, fear

and alarm in the heart of the person who has been bewitched and

makes him submit to the magician and do anything he desires.

That is why Allah Almighty says, "They cast a spell over the peo­

ple's eyes and caused them to fear them," with particular regard to

the words, "they caused them to fear them".

It is known that magicians try as hard as they can to produce

fear in people by using things like skulls and terrifying voices so

that their victims will be disposed to feel greater terror and to sub­

mit more readily. Terror fills them merely by seeing the things

which the magician uses to produce his illusion; by means of this

terror the magician is able to effect what he wants and to make

people do what he wants. He is able to impose his will on the

bewitched and they become like putty in the magician's hands.

The Power of Magic or the Help of the Shaytans

But does this deception happen by the power of magic or by the

shaytans' helping the magician? It is well-established that the

shaytans are connected to magic and that they are the ones who

taught it and spread it after the two angels, Harut and Marut, made

it known in Babylon. Allah Almighty tells us in the Noble Quran

that after magic became known, the shaytans used it to tempt peo­

ple because it is a temptation and disbelief. The goal of the shay­

tans is to mislead man and to lure him far from the Path and to

spread disbelief and misguidance. Shaytan is the enemy of man

and desires evil and harm for him. Allah Almighty says:

"Sulayman did not reject faith, but the shay tans did

reject it and taught people magic." (2:102)

Allah tells us that the shaytans teach people magic, and so it is

clear that the shaytans must be deeply involved with it in order to

be able to teach it. It means that they must know it. well because

you cannot teach something to someone else unless you are com­

pletely proficient in it. So the shaytans are deeply involved with

magic and they have been trying to spread it since it was brought

down by the angels, Harut and Marut.

The Shaytans Take on Forms,

The help magicians get from the shaytans enables them to trick

people because it entails one of the forces which are different from

those known to mankind. The reason for this is that Allah - glory

be to Him and may He be exalted! - created the shaytans from fire

and so they have the ability 'to take on different forms. The shay­

tans of the jinn can take the form of anything they want. Man has

no capacity for this shape-shifting nor does he recognise it. A man

cannot see a shaytan except when he takes on a form which is sub­

ject to the laws of human vision.

When a shaytan takes on a physical form, the laws of the form

which he takes on govern that form. So when he takes on the form

of a man, he is subject to the laws of man. For instance, if he were

to be shot, he would die instantly. This is why when a shaytan

appears in any form, he only remains in it for a short time and then

disappears: he knows that anyone who sees him in that form is

This happened to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him

and grant him peace, when he was praying in the mosque. Shaytan

.appeared to him in the form of a man and the Messenger, peace be

upon him, seized him and wanted to tie him to a pillar of the

mosque. However, at that moment he, may Allah bless him and

grant him peace, remembered the supplication of Sulayman which

he had made to Allah Almighty to give him a kingdom which He

would not give to anyone except him:

"He said, 'My Lord.forgive me and give me a kingdom

which no one after me will be allowed. Truly You are the

endless Giver of gifts.''' (38:35)

The books of Sira relate that the Messenger of Allah, may

Allah bless him and grant him peace, said about the incident, "Last

night an 'ifrit of the jinn suddenly appeared before me attempting

to interrupt my prayer but Allah gave me power over him: I want­

ed to tie him to one of the pillars of the mosque so that you could

all see him in the morning, but I remembered the words of my

brother Sulayman, 'My Lord, forgive me and give me a kingdom

which no one after me will be allowed.Truly You are the endless