Umm Musa (mother of Musa)

The mother of Musa AS — referred to in Islamic tradition as Yukabid or simply Umm Musa — is one of the most remarkable women in the Quran. She received what Islamic scholars describe as a form of divine inspiration (ilham or wahy-like communication): 'And We inspired the mother of Musa: Suckle him; and when you fear for him, cast him into the river and do not fear and do not grieve. Indeed, We will return him to you and will make him one of the messengers' (Surah al-Qasas 28:7). This communication carried four commands (suckle, cast into river, do not fear, do not grieve) and two promises (We will return him, We will make him a messenger). When Firawn's soldiers began killing Israelite newborn sons, she nursed the infant Musa secretly for months. When she could no longer hide him, she obeyed the divine inspiration and placed him in a waterproofed basket in the Nile, sending her daughter to follow it discreetly. The basket was found by the family of Firawn and brought to Asiyah, who pleaded for the child's life. By divine arrangement, every wet nurse brought to the infant Musa was refused — until Musa's own sister stepped forward and offered to find a suitable woman. She brought their mother, and Allah fulfilled His promise: Musa was returned to his own mother to be nursed in the royal palace, with payment. The Quran says her heart became calm when she saw this: 'that she might not grieve and that she might know that the promise of Allah is true' (Surah al-Qasas 28:13). Her story is a model of trusting in divine promise even when every appearance suggests catastrophe.