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Did Moses Throwing the Tablets Disrespect God's Word? — Al-A'raf 150 Explained with Tafsir & Bible

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Did Moses Disrespect the Word of God by Throwing the Tablets? — Apologetics & Response

Table of Contents

The Doubt — The Missionary’s Claim

The Missionary’s Claim A Christian teacher insulted the Holy Qur’an by describing its clear verses with a degrading word, claiming that the Prophet Moses — peace be upon him — disdained the words of God and threw them to the ground.

One of her people then wrote a post to add to her attack.

The Response The malicious missionary’s claim that the Prophet Moses — peace be upon him — disdained the words of God and threw them to the ground is nothing but a pipe dream and a Christian fart that reached the heavens!

First — An Action in the Qur’an Does Not Necessarily Express Shame

An Action Mentioned in the Qur’an Does Not Necessarily Express a Shameful Action There is evidence in the scriptures themselves. The Truth, the Almighty, the Most High, says:
Al-Qasas 7 “And We inspired the mother of Moses, ‘Suckle him, but when you fear for him, then cast him into the river and do not fear and do not grieve. Indeed, We will return him to you and make him one of the messengers.’”
Ash-Shu’ara 45 “Then Moses threw down his staff, and behold, it devoured what they were fabricating.”

Second — Why Moses Threw the Tablets

The Reason — Intense Anger at His People, Not at God The Prophet Moses — peace be upon him — threw down the tablets out of his intense anger at his people after he saw that they had replaced the worship of the One God with the calf that the Samaritan had made.

The Noble Verse in Full Context

Al-A’raf 150 — The Full Verse the Missionary Ignored “And when Moses returned to his people, angry and grieved, he said, ‘Evil is that which you have done to me after me! Did you hasten the command of your Lord?’ And he threw down the tablets and seized his brother by the head, dragging him toward him. He said, ‘O son of my mother, indeed the people have oppressed me and were about to kill me. So do not let my enemies rejoice over me and do not place me with the oppressors.’”

Ibn Kathir on the Throwing of the Tablets

Ibn Kathir — Tafsir The Most High informs us that Moses — peace be upon him — returned to his people from his supplication to his Lord, the Most High, and he was angry and grieved. Abu Darda’ said: The most intense anger was “He said, ‘How evil is that which you have done after me.’”

He said: “How evil is that which you have done in worshipping the calf after I went and left you.” And His saying, “Did you hasten the matter of your Lord?” — He said: “Did you hasten? My coming to you was decreed by Allah the Most High.”

And His saying: “And he threw down the tablets and seized his brother by the head, dragging him towards him.” It was said that the tablets were made of emeralds. It was also said that they were made of rubies, and it was also said that they were made of hail. This is evidence of what came in the hadith: “Hearing is not like seeing.”

Then the apparent context is that he only threw the tablets in anger at his people, and this is the saying of the majority of scholars, past and present.

Tafsir Al-Jalalayn

Tafsir Al-Jalalayn “And when Moses returned to his people, angry with them, grieved, extremely sad, he said, ‘Evil is that which you have succeeded me in.’ ‘After me,’ this succession of yours, since you have associated partners with God. ‘You hastened the command of your Lord.’ And he threw down the tablets.”

The Torah was broken in anger for his Lord, not in anger at his Lord.

Tafsir Al-Tabari

Tafsir Al-Tabari “God Almighty says: And when Moses returned to his people from the Children of Israel, he returned angry and grieved, because God had informed him that his people had been tempted, and that the Samaritan had led them astray, so he returned angry and sorry for that. Sorry means intense anger and rage towards the one who angered him.”

Tafsir Al-Qurtubi

Tafsir Al-Qurtubi “The Almighty’s statement: ‘And he threw down the tablets’ — because of the anger and sadness that overcame him when he looked down upon his people while they were worshipping the calf, and because of his brother’s neglect of their matter. This was said by Saeed bin Jubair.”

Ibn Al-Qayyim — Ighathat Al-Lahfan

Ibn Al-Qayyim — Ighathat Al-Lahfan fi Hukm Talaq Al-Ghadhban “Moses — peace be upon him — would not have thrown the tablets in which God Almighty wrote His words from his head to the ground and broken them of his own free will, nor was there any benefit for the Children of Israel in that, and so he dragged him by his beard and his head, and he was his brother, but anger led him to do that, so God Almighty excused him for it and did not blame him for what he did, since its source was anger beyond the ability and choice of the servant.”

Third — The Missionary Cut the Verse from Its Context

The Missionary’s Method — Excerpting and Cutting Verses Al-Munsir followed the path of his own kind in excerpting and cutting verses from their correct context. If the wood worshipper had finished reading the Surah to the end, he would not have uttered such nonsense.

The Completion of the Story — Al-A’raf 154

Al-A’raf 154 — The Verse the Missionary Did Not Read “And when Moses’ anger subsided, he took up the tablets, and in their inscription was guidance and mercy for those who fear their Lord.”

Ibn Kathir on Moses Picking Up the Tablets

Ibn Kathir — Tafsir of Al-A’raf 154 “Allah the Almighty says: ‘And when Moses’ anger subsided,’ meaning his anger at his people, ‘he took up the tablets,’ meaning those he had thrown down out of intense anger at their worship of the calf, out of jealousy for Allah and anger for Him.”

Fourth — The Bible Says the Same Thing

He Whose House Is Made of Glass Does Not Throw Stones at Others If the wretched, desperate missionary had followed the advice of the crucified one and searched his books, he would not have brought himself to ruin.
Exodus 32:19 “And it came to pass, when he came near to the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing: and Moses’ anger was kindled, and he threw the two tables out of his hands, and brake them at the foot of the mountain.”
2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”
The Point Once again, it is proven in a tangible way that Islamic forums are an arena for disciplining, rebuking, and reprimanding missionaries and teaching them the principles of their own faith.

Conclusion

The False Doubt Is Cut Off at Its Root
  • Moses — peace be upon him — threw the tablets out of intense anger at his people for worshipping the calf — not out of disrespect for the word of God.
  • All major classical scholars agree: Al-Tabari, Ibn Kathir, Al-Qurtubi, Al-Jalalayn, and Ibn Al-Qayyim.
  • Allah excused Moses for this act because its source was anger beyond the ability and choice of the servant.
  • Moses picked the tablets back up when his anger subsided — Al-A’raf 154 — which the missionary deliberately did not read.
  • The Bible itself records the exact same event in Exodus 32:19 — so the missionary’s own book contains what he attacked.

Praise be to God, the root of the false doubt of the alarmist has been cut off.