The Qur'an does not provide a name which enables us to identify who the reigning Pharaoh was at the time of Exodus, any more than the Bible does. All that is known is that one of his counsellors was called Haman. He is referred to six times in the Qur'an (sura 28, verses 6, 8 and 38, sura 29, verse 39 and sura 40, verses 24 and 36).
The Pharaoh is the Jews' oppressor:
--sura 14, verse 6:
"When Moses said to his people: Remember the favor of God to you when He delivered you from Pharaoh's folk who imposed upon you a dreadful torment, slaughtered your sons and spared your women."
The oppression is recalled in the same terms in verse 141, sura 7. The Qur'an does not however mention the names of the cities built by the Jews in subjection, as does the Bible.
The episode where Moses is left by the riverside is recorded in sura 20 verses 39-40 and sura 28, verses 7 to 13. In the version contained in the Qur'an, Moses is taken in by Pharaoh's family. We find this in verses 8 and 9, sura 28: "The family of Pharaoh took him up. (It was intended) that (Moses) should be to them an adversary and a cause of sorrow. Pharaoh, Haman and their hosts were sinners. Pharaoh's wife said: (He will be) a joy to the eye for me and you. Don't kill him. He may be of use to us or we may take him as a son. They did not sense (what was to come)."
Muslim tradition has it that it was Pharaoh's wife Asiya who took care of Moses. In the Qur'an, it was not the Pharaoh's wife who found him, but members of his household. Moses's youth, his stay in Midian and marriage are described in sura 28, verses 13 to 28. In particular, the episode of the Burning Bush is found in the first part of sura 20, and in sura 28, verses 30 to 35.
The Qur'an does not describe the ten plagues sent down upon Egypt as a divine chastisement (unlike the long description in the Bible), but simply mentions five plagues very briefly (sura 7, verse 133): flooding, locusts, lice, frogs, and blood. The flight from Egypt is described in the Qur'an, but without any of the geographical data given in the Bible, nor the incredible numbers of people mentioned in the latter. It is difficult to imagine how 600,000 men plus their families could have stayed in the desert for a long time, as the Bible would have us believe.
This is how the death of Pharaoh pursuing the Hebrews is described:
--sura 20, verse 78:
"Pharaoh pursued them with his hosts and the sea covered them."
The Jews escaped. Pharaoh perished, but his body was found: a very important detail not mentioned in the Biblical narration.
--sura 10, verses 90 to 92. God is speaking:
"We took the Children of Israel across the sea. Pharaoh with his hosts pursued them in rebellion and hostility till, when the fact of his drowning overtook him, he said: I believe there is no God except the God in whom the Children of Israel believe. I am of those who submit themselves to Him.
"God said: 'What Now !. Thou has rebelled and caused depravity. This day We save thee in thy body so that thou mayest be a sign for those who come after
thee.' But verily, many among mankind are heedless of Our signs." This passage requires two points to be explained:
a) The spirit of rebellion and hostility referred to is to be understood in terms of Moses's attempt to persuade the Pharaoh.
b)
c) The rescue of the Pharaoh refers to his corpse because it is stated quite clearly in verse 98, sura 11, that Pharaoh and his followers have been condemned to damnation:
d)
--sura 11, verse 98 "Pharaoh will go before his people on the Day of Resurrection and will lead them to the fire." For those facts which can be checked with historical, geographical and archaeological data therefore, it should be noted that the Qur'anic and Biblical narrations differ on the following points:
- the absence in the Qur'an of place names, both of the cities built by the Hebrews in Moses's group, and on the route taken by the Exodus.
- the absence of any reference to the death of a Pharaoh during Moses's stay in Midian.
- the absence in the Qur'an of details concerning Moses's age when he addressed his request to the Pharaoh.
- the absence in the Qur'an of the numbering of Moses's followers. These figures are openly exaggerated in the Bible to incredible proportions (said to have been 600,000 men plus their families forming a community of more than two million inhabitants.)
- the absence of any mention in the Bible of the rescue of the Pharaoh's body after his death.
For our present purposes, the points to be noted because they are shared by both narrations are as follows:
- the confirmation contained in the Qur'an of Pharaoh's oppression of the Jews in Moses's group.
- the absence from both narrations of any mention of the King of Egypt's name.
- the confirmation contained in the Qur'an of the Pharaoh's death during the Exodus.
