Tafheem-ul-Quran - Abul Ala Maududi

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Tafheem-ul-Quran - Abul Ala Maududi translation for Surah Al-Qasas — Ayah 25

28:25
فَجَآءَتۡهُ إِحۡدَىٰهُمَا تَمۡشِي عَلَى ٱسۡتِحۡيَآءٖ قَالَتۡ إِنَّ أَبِي يَدۡعُوكَ لِيَجۡزِيَكَ أَجۡرَ مَا سَقَيۡتَ لَنَاۚ فَلَمَّا جَآءَهُۥ وَقَصَّ عَلَيۡهِ ٱلۡقَصَصَ قَالَ لَا تَخَفۡۖ نَجَوۡتَ مِنَ ٱلۡقَوۡمِ ٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ ٢٥
Soon thereafter one of the two women came to him, walking bashfully,1 and said: "My father invites you that he may reward you for your having watered our flocks for us.2" When Moses came to him and narrated to him the whole of his story, he said: "Have no fear. You are now safe from the iniquitous people."
Footnotes
  • [1] She said this also out of modesty, for she had to give a sound reason for her coming to another man all alone; otherwise it was not at all necessary that a gentleman should have been rewarded if he had rendered some service to the helpless women in trouble. And then, in spite of hearing of a reward, the Prophet Moses’ (peace be upon him) willingness to follow her forthwith to her house indicates the state of extreme helplessness in which he found himself at that time. He had left Egypt emptyhanded and might have taken at least eight days to reach Midian. He must be hungry and worn out by journey. And above all, he must be anxious to find a shelter in the unfamiliar land and a sympathetic person to give him refuge. Under this very compulsion, in spite of hearing that he was being called to be rewarded for a small service he had rendered, the Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) felt no hesitation in going with the woman. He must have thought that the prayer he had just made to God was being answered by God Himself. Therefore, he did not think it was right to turn down the means of hospitality provided by his Lord by an unnecessary show of self-respect.
  • [2] Qira’at: Ibn ʻAmer, Abu Jaʻfar and Roways read it as: “. . . We widely opened for them . . .”
  • [3] A grammatical shift from 3rd person to 1st person.
  • [4] Umar (may Allah be pleases with him) has explained this sentence, thus: “She came walking modestly, with her face covered with a part of her outer garment, unlike those immodest women, who go about wherever they like, and enter wherever they like without any hesitation.” Several traditions bearing on this subject have been reported by Said bin Mansur, Ibn Jarir, Ibn Abi Hatim and Ibn al- Mundhir from Umar (may Allah be pleases with him) through authentic chains of authorities. This shows that the Islamic concept of modesty, which the companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) had understood from the Quran and the teaching and training of the Prophet (peace be upon him), was absolutely opposed to keeping the face exposed to others and moving about immodestly outside the house. Umar (may Allah be pleases with him) has clearly regarded covering of the face as a symbol of modesty and exposing it to other men as an immodesty and shamelessness.