When Mūsā ʿalayhis salām entered the land of Madyan, after barely just escaping wrongful persecution from Firʿawn et al., he comes across a body of water surrounded by herders and their cattle.
Nearby, but still at a distance, he spots two young women struggling with their herd.
He approaches them and asks,
ما خطبكما؟
❝What is your circumstance?❞
(Or if we were to look at my favourite translation of this verse: “What aileth you?”)
From just two words in a single āyah, scholars derive innumerable lessons in the etiquettes of male-female interaction.
He could have offered a warm greeting, so as not to frighten them. He could have offered words of support. He could have prodded more into their very strange circumstance (– WHAT was aileth-ing them?! It wasn’t normal for women to be carrying out hard labour exclusive to the realm of men, but here they were.)
Instead he limits his interaction to two words: ما خطبكما
Absolutely no other comment or remark is offered.
Receiving a reply just as reserved,
They said, we do not water until the shepherds dispatch [their flocks]; and our father is an old man. – al-Qaṣaṣ:23
Content with their reply, he finds no need to extend the conversation further and does what is only obvious,
So he watered (their flocks) for them. – al-Qaṣaṣ:24
And instead of waiting for a word of thanks, an appreciation, or even to ask if any further help was needed, he leaves.
These stories in the Qurʾān are not (just) meant to be made a part of children’s Islāmic school syllabus’, or bed time stories, or themes for fun, entertaining but overpriced Islāmic events.
More than anything, they are meant to be lessons for us, examples of real life implementation of etiquettes and laws that please Allāh subḥāneh wa tʿālā.
As Allāh the Most Exalted says in the Qurʾān, ﴾Indeed in their stories, there is a lesson for men of understanding…﴿ Yūsuf:111
و لكن يا أسفى؛ قل من يعتبر
And here we are far, far removed from implementing even an iota worth of Qurʾānic mannerism our society desperately needs in order to function well. Great changes do not and cannot happen overnight, it’s in these small considerations (note: it’s always the finer details that reflect who we are) – the most basic of all: how we carry ourselves, interact and converse with those around us in public and private – which eventually will oversee some form of betterment on a larger scale.
And never forget, Allāh does not belittle an act of goodness. Be it an ounce of taqwa in our hearts restraining our actions and speech to a small, kind gesture (such as the one demonstrated by Prophet Mūsā), He ﷻ sees, and He rewards by opening doors of goodness. Look at the sort of doors that He opened for Mūsā alayhis salām! 🙂
(Not done yet), though centuries have passed and vast changes have taken place in the way we live our lives, function, communicate,… (you’re not going to come across two maidens trying to water their herd, know what I mean?) but these lessons are universal, especially in the ease of their applicability, if we only but tried.
What do you say? 🙂
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