Article appeared Friday, March 6th, 2020 in The News Today, Bangladesh

The Revelation (612) yousuf mahbubul Islam, PhD

Do we interact with God on a regular basis? Or do we seek God only when in trouble?
As a thought-provoking question, does belief mean that believers customarily rely on
God during their day-to-day activities and situations? Specifically, therefore, do believers
put their trust in God? And on the other hand, how does God respond to those who
place their trust in Him?

To help understand, how/where can we find out examples of how to rely on God? Holy
Scriptures carry stories of prophets of how they interacted with God. Can analyzing such
stories help? One such story is that of Moses before he became a prophet. We pick up
the story at a point when Moses has to suddenly flee from his Egyptian town [28.20 –
28.21] in fear of being caught and killed by the people of Pharaoh.
“Then when he turned his face towards (the land of) Madyan he said, "I do hope
that my Lord will show me the smooth and straight path."” [28.22]

Can we work out the state of mind and situation of Moses at this point in time? He had
accidentally killed an Egyptian the day before. He could not therefore return to the
palace where he stayed. Next morning [28.18], he was involved in another fight [28.19].
At this point, a person came running and informed Moses of the plan to kill him [28.20].
Moses had no option but to leave the town there and then. At this point, it is highly
unlikely that Moses had the opportunity or time to prepare for the journey. It is most likely
that Moses was totally unprepared, i.e., he had no money or provisions for journeying
outside the town, nor did he have any directions on where he could go. So, as he set off,
he put his complete trust in God and prayed I do hope that my Lord will show me the
smooth and straight path. Madyan is probably the only place he could go, where there
would Arabs rather than Egyptians. According to the Qur’an [7.85], this was the land of
the people of Prophet Shuaib.

28.23 “And when he arrived at the watering (place) in Madyan he found

there a group of men watering (their flocks) and besides them he found two
women who were keeping back (their flocks). He said, “What is the matter
with you?” They replied, “We cannot water (our flocks) until the shepherds
take back (their flocks): and our father is a very old man.””
It is natural for travellers to look for water to drink. How did he happen to arrive at this
particular watering hole? What was the scene here, and what happened? Moses nature
was to help people – an attitude that got him into trouble in the first place. Instead of
bothering about his problems of being thirsty and hungry he enquired why the women
were unable to move forward to get water for their flock. They explained their problem.

28.24 “So he watered (their flocks) for them; then he turned back to the
shade and said, "O my Lord! Truly am I in (desperate) need of any good
that you send me!"”
After solving the problem of the two women, Moses settled back in the shade from the
heat of the sun and began thinking of his own problem – he had no money, no food and
no shelter other than the shade of the tree. He was hungry and tired from the journey.
He did not ask the women for any reward. He instead prayed to God to help him.
28.25 “Afterwards one of the (damsels) came (back) to him walking
bashfully. She said, "My father invites you that he may reward you for
having watered (our flocks) for us." So when he came to him and narrated
the story he said, "Fear not, you have escaped from an unjust people.”
Obviously, the women Moses helped went back home and spoke of the man who asked
for no reward for his help.

28.26 “Said one of the (damsels), "O my (dear) father! Engage him on
wages: truly the best of men for you to employ is the (man) who is strong
and trustworthy."”
Moses’ conduct and helping attitude impressed the women. The respect he showed to
the women obviously impressed them. They had the opportunity to compare Moses’
attitude and conduct with the other men already at the watering hole. The men either
ignored the women or were disrespectful.

28.27 “He said, "I intend to wed one of these my daughters to you on
condition that you serve me for eight years; but if you complete ten years it
will be (grace) from you. But I intend not to place you under a difficulty: you
will find me indeed if God wills one of the righteous."”
Notice how the would-be father-in-law talks. He makes a promise to Moses while
invoking God’s help by saying if God wills. Also, notice how God has responded to
Moses’ prayer and trust placed in Him in Verse 28.24. Moses finds employment, food,
shelter and a promise of marriage all in one go – without expressly seeking any one of
these things! Moses would also have the peace of working under another believer!
Could anyone other than God have arranged such a reward? Does God have the power
to reward and look after those who trust Him?

28.28 “He said, "Be that (the agreement) between me and you: whichever of
the two terms I fulfill let there be no ill-will to me. Let God be a witness to
what we say."”
Having settled on the terms of the agreement, both the would-be father-in-law and
Moses get God to be a witness to their terms. Why is this? They both fear God and want
His support to keep their promises?

In the story so far, in how many ways was God trusted and how did He respond? All this
while Moses was a believer who trusted God, helped people and kept his promises.
Moses is now married and has a family. At this point, God decides to introduce Moses to
the next phase of his life – being a prophet.

28.29 “Now when Moses had fulfilled the term and was travelling with his
family he perceived a fire in the direction of Mount Tur. He said to his
family, "Wait here; I perceive a fire; I hope to bring you from there some
information or a burning firebrand that you may warm yourselves.”
God made Moses perceive a fire on Mount Tur. After Shuaib, Moses was to be the next
prophet [7.103]. This would be a further reward from God.