I Swear Musa would Follow Me

The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “I swear by the One Who has my soul in His Hand, if Musa (alaihis salam) were alive today, he would have no choice but to follow me.” [Ahmad]

Once Umar ibn al-Khattab (radi Allahu anhu) met a Jewish person. The Jewish person showed him a passage from the Torah which amazed Umar, so he took a copy for himself. He then came to the Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) with this passage from the Torah and read it out to him.

The Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) realized that Umar was taken by the passage and that if the door were opened for deriving rulings from previous religions, then other books (containing misguidance) would become mixed up with the Quran (which is pure Divine guidance). How could Umar (radi Allahu anhu) have gone and made a copy of the passage without asking the Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) first? The Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) became angry and said, “Are you confused over this, O Ibn al-Khattab?” meaning, “Are you doubting my Shariah?”

He (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) then said, “I swear by the One Who has my soul in His Hand, I have come to you with something crystal clear. Do not ask them (the People of the Book) about anything, lest they inform you of the truth and you reject it, or they inform you of falsehood and you believe in it. I swear by the One Who has my soul in His Hand, if Musa (alaihis salam) were alive today, he would have no choice but to follow me.” [Ahmad, Abu Yala and Bazzar]

The Prophet’s anger – if he ever became angry – was only for religious and not personal matters. The Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) never became angry for his own sake. He would only become angry if one of Allah’s sanctities were being violated. Yet even then we see how decent and civilized the conduct of Allah’s Messenger was.

Although gentleness is urged on a routine basis, firmness is sometimes needed. Truth should never be allowed to mix with falsehood.