ON ASHURA MANY of us reflect on the day Allah granted victory to Musa (as) over Pharaoh. We remember the sea splitting, the end of a tyrant, and the salvation of a persecuted people.
But perhaps the most important question is this: How did Musa (as) become the kind of person whom Allah granted such a victory?
The answer begins long before the sea split. It begins with a duʿā’.
When Allah commanded Musa (as) to return to Egypt and confront Pharaoh, he was not being sent into a easy situation. Pharaoh was the most powerful ruler in the land. Musa had previously fled Egypt after accidentally killing a man. He was effectively returning as a wanted fugitive to face the very regime from which he had escaped.
He was understandably afraid. He was anxious. And he was concerned about his speech.
Yet what is remarkable is that Musa (as) did not turn these realities into excuses. Instead, he turned them into a duʿā’.
He said:
قَالَ رَبِّ ٱشْرَحْ لِى صَدْرِى وَيَسِّرْ لِىٓ أَمْرِى وَٱحْلُلْ عُقْدَةًۭ مِّن لِّسَانِى يَفْقَهُوا۟ قَوْلِى
“My Lord, expand for me my chest, make my task easy for me, untie a knot from my tongue, so that they may understand my speech.” (Ta Ha 25-28)
Many of us approach our weaknesses by saying: “Because of this limitation, I cannot do what Allah is asking of me.” Musa’s (as) attitude was different. He acknowledged his weaknesses honestly, but instead of using them to avoid responsibility, he brought them before Allah and asked for help in overcoming them. His weakness became a duʿā’, not an excuse.
The Eloquence of the Duʿā’
The order of this duʿā’ is itself a lesson. Musa (as) does not begin by asking Allah to fix his tongue. He begins by asking Allah to expand his chest.
The Arabs would use constriction of the chest to describe anxiety, fear, distress, and feeling overwhelmed. Musa (as) understood that his greatest obstacle was not his tongue, it was what fear was doing to his heart. Before asking Allah to improve his speech, he asked Allah to strengthen his inner state. The greatest barriers to fulfilling our responsibilities are often internal before they are external.
Notice, too, that Musa (as) does not ask for the removal of fear. He asks for expansion. Fear may remain. Difficulty may remain. Pharaoh certainly remains. Victory begins with inner capacity.
Only after asking Allah to transform his heart does Musa ask Allah to ease the task itself: first change me, then ease my circumstances. Too often we focus entirely on changing the challenge before us; Musa (as) teaches us to first ask Allah to prepare us for the challenge.
And when he finally turns to his tongue, he asks for something modest. Not the removal of every knot, not flawless eloquence, not mastery, a knot, just enough. Enough for the mission. Enough for the message. Enough so that people understand. There is humility in this: Musa (as) is not seeking admiration or applause. He wants to communicate the truth effectively, because the goal is understanding, not impressing people or winning arguments. This is a lesson for every parent, teacher, imam, and caller to Allah: the purpose of communication is to convey truth clearly, not to be admired for saying it well.
This is one lesson many of us return to as Ashura approaches each year, not simply that Allah split a sea, but that He first reshaped a man.
Every Request Serves the Mission
Consider the progression carefully.
“My Lord, expand my chest.” Why? Because he must stand before Pharaoh.
“Make my task easy for me.” Which task? The one Allah has commanded.
“Untie a knot from my tongue.” Why? So that they may understand his speech.
Every request is purposeful. Every request is directed toward obedience. This reveals a profound sincerity in the duʿā’. Musa (as) is not simply asking Allah to remove discomfort, he is asking Allah to remove whatever stands between him and fulfilling Allah’s command.
That distinction is critical. Many of us naturally make duʿā’ for relief: we ask Allah to remove stress, anxiety, difficulty, fear, or hardship. Musa’s (as) duʿā’ has a different orientation. It is as though he is saying: if this fear is preventing me from serving You, expand my chest; if this difficulty is preventing me from serving You, make it easy; if this weakness in my speech is preventing me from conveying Your message, remove it. The focus is not comfort. The focus is capacity.
Why We Sometimes Avoid Such a Duʿā’
There is also an uncomfortable lesson hidden here.
Many of us say we want change. We say we want stronger faith, greater impact, deeper knowledge, more courage, and a closer relationship with Allah. Yet often we hesitate to make this duʿā’ sincerely because we understand what it might mean if Allah answers it.
To ask Allah to expand our chest is to ask Him to make us capable of carrying heavier responsibilities. To ask Allah to make our task easy is to acknowledge that there is a task that must actually be undertaken. To ask Allah to untie the knots in our speech is to ask Him to make us more effective in conveying truth.
In other words, this is not a duʿā’ for comfort. It is a duʿā’ for transformation.
Many of us want the victory of Musa (as), but we do not necessarily want the mission of Musa (as). We admire the splitting of the sea, but we hesitate before the journey to Pharaoh.
There is a subtle sincerity test hidden within this supplication. If we truly believe Allah answers duʿā’, then making this duʿā’ sincerely means being willing for Allah to change us, being willing to become the person required by the responsibility He has placed before us.
Identifying Our Own “Knot”
Musa (as) identifies his obstacles with remarkable insight. His chest feels constricted. The task feels overwhelming. His speech is a weakness. Because he names the obstacles honestly, he is able to ask Allah for exactly what he needs.
Perhaps one of the most powerful ways to recite this duʿā’ today is to identify our own “knot.” For one person it may be fear. For another, laziness, or pride, or attachment to comfort, or fear of criticism.
The lesson is not merely to ask for blessings in general. It is to identify the specific obstacle standing between us and what Allah wants from us, and to make that obstacle the subject of our duʿā’. The supplication becomes a framework for self-reflection: What has Allah asked of me? What is preventing me from doing it? Have I identified that obstacle honestly? And have I brought it before Allah with the same sincerity that Musa (as) did?
A Partner in the Mission
Musa’s (as) duʿā’ does not end with his own transformation. In the verses that follow, he makes one more request: that Harun (as), his brother, be appointed to help him, to share the burden, to confirm his words, to stand beside him before Pharaoh.
Having asked Allah to expand his own chest, ease his own task, and loosen his own tongue, Musa’s (as) very next request is not for more personal capacity. It is for companionship in the work.
The mission was never meant to be carried alone. A transformed individual still asks for a community of support, people to walk beside him, to corroborate his message, to share the weight of standing before a tyrant. For those of us who think about iman as something lived collectively as families, communities and societies rather than in isolation, this is perhaps as important as the rest of the duʿā’: expansion in service of a shared mission, not a solitary one.
The Connection Between the Duʿā’ and Victory
When we think about Ashura, our minds naturally go to the dramatic moment at the sea. The army of Pharaoh was approaching. The sea was in front of them. The situation appeared impossible.
Yet by the time Musa stood at the shore and declared, “Indeed, my Lord is with me; He will guide me,” the foundations of that victory had already been laid, years earlier, in a single duʿā’.
Victory began when Musa accepted Allah’s command despite his fears. The sea did not split for a man who had no fears. It split for a man who brought his fears to Allah and refused to let them prevent him from obeying Him.
Victory began when he refused to let his weaknesses become excuses. Our weaknesses do not disqualify us from serving Allah. If we bring them to Him sincerely, they may become the very means through which He grants us victory.
Allah does not always remove the mission. Instead, He expands the servant. And when the servant grows into the responsibility Allah has given them, victory follows.
|QUR’ANIC REFLECTION · SURAH TA HA 25-28|
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