“Angels don’t harm Prophets”

A Christian said “Angels don’t harm Prophets” he was trying to make a point saying, that Prophet Muhammed Pbuh was “harmed” in the Cave when he received his first revelation.  Firstly, Prophet Muhammed Pbuh was not “harmed or attacked” in the Cave. Secondly, he was squeezed tightly, there was no grievous bodily harm in any way, scholars have given their opinion to why he was squeezed.  Some scholars say he wasn’t dreaming, this was a real event, it was a physical event not a dream. Others say Gabriel (Pbuh) is indicating Prophet Muhammed Pbuh will be inspired with a heavy message, it was not going to be easy and physically painful.  And some scholars deprive, this was an indication of three significant trials, (1^st the boycott, where Muslims for two and a half years literally had almost no food to eat. 2^nd the assassination attempt, and the Hijra 3^rd the most difficult time for Prophet Muhammed Pbuh was the battle of Uhud, when Prophet Pbuh was surrounded by the Quraish). So, these three times it is as if he is being indicated, you will have three traumatic experiences and every time Allah Swt will open the way out for you.

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We can conclude the tight squeeze had its unique meaning behind it. Christians who bring this event trying to show a negative meaning behind it only dig their hole even deeper. One doesn’t have to go far to destroy this argument that “Angels never harm the Prophets”. If there’s one thing that we can be certain about is, Christians have no knowledge of the Midrash relating to the story of Moses, or else they would have refrained from making such ludicrous claim.

We have writings found in the Midrash where Moses was harmed by an Angel.

The midrash tells that the daughter of Pharaoh would kiss and hug Moses as if he were her own son, and she would not take him out of the royal palace. Because of his beauty, everyone desired to see him, and no one who saw him could tear his eyes away. Moses’s life was in danger, despite the daughter of Pharaoh’s guarding of the infant. One time Pharaoh held Moses and hugged him. Moses took Pharaoh’s crown from the monarch’s head and put it on his own, as he would later do when he grew up. Pharaoh’s magicians, who were sitting there, explained: “We fear that this child will take your crown and place it on his own head, lest this be the one who we prophesy will seize the kingdom from you.” Some of the magicians said to kill the child, and some said to have him burnt. Jethro was sitting among them (as one of the magicians). He told them: “This child is witless. In order to test him, set before him two bowls, one containing gold, and the other, a coal. If he stretches his hand to the coal, he is witless and does not deserve to die; but if he stretches his hand to the gold, he did this with intelligence, and he is to be put to death.” They immediately set before him the gold and the coal and Moses put forth his hand to take the gold, but Gabriel came and pushed his hand away. Moses took the coal and put his hand, with the coal, in his mouth. His tongue was burnt, thus causing him to be (Ex. 4:10) “slow of speech and slow of tongue” (Ex. Rabbah 1:26). The Rabbis observe that the daughter of Pharaoh raised in the palace the one who would eventually bring all manner of troubles upon her father as punishment for the subjugation of Israel, as is said in Ezek. 28:18: “So I made a fire issue from you, and it has devoured you,” thus symbolizing the manner in which the future redemption would occur.

 The midrash replies that she saw the Shekhinah (the Divine Presence) with him, and the wording “va-tire-hu” alludes to the name of God (Ex. Rabbah 1:24). Another approach is based on the continuation of the verse, that relates that the child’s weeping motivated the daughter of Pharaoh: “She saw that it was a child, a boy crying. She took pity on it.” The Rabbis maintain that divine intervention was needed for the infant to cry, which they learn from a close reading of v. 6. The beginning of the verse refers to Moses as a “child [yeled],” and then calls him a “boy [na’ar],” from which the Rabbis learn that Moses was a yeled, that is, an infant, but he conducted himself as a na’ar (an older child). Thus, when the daughter of Pharaoh opened the ark, Moses, unlike other babies, did not cry. The angel Gabriel immediately came and hit Moses so that he would cry, thereby arousing the compassion of the daughter of Pharaoh (Ex. Rabbah 1:24). Another tradition claims that the daughter of Pharaoh suffered from leprosy and she went down to bathe in the water to be cured of her disease. When she touched Moses’s ark, she was miraculously cured, leading her to take pity on the child and love him so strongly (Ex. Rabbah 1:23).

Notice how Angel Gabriel according to the Jewish Midrash pushed baby Moses’s hand towards the coal, which he eat and burnt his mouth causing him speech impediment. Also Angel Gabriel according to the Midrash “hit Moses when he was a baby” arousing compassion to the daughter of Pharaoh.

In both instance the Angel caused actual physical harm to Moses, that is when he was a baby! So much for “Angels don’t harm Prophets” it gets worse we read from the “Torah” Yahweh tried to kill Moses?

At a lodging place on the way the LORD met him and sought to put him to death. (Exodus 4:24)

Wait a tick Yahweh wanted to kill Moses what for?  Starting from verse 1 all the way to verse 23 there is no sign of Yahweh showing his wrath to Moses. Yahweh had a straight forward conversation with Moses commanding and instructing him what needs to be done. Why all of a sudden did Yahweh sought to kill him? For what reason do you see the gap between verse 23 and 24 like a major leap something happened in between those verses. What could have possibly happened that Yahweh wanted to kill him? Something is missing, furthermore there is no grammatical or linguistic way to solve this problem. this isn't half of what comes next.

Here’s what Rashi say’s regarding this verse

on the way, in an inn and sought to put him to death: [I.e., He sought] Moses, because he had neglected to circumcise his son Eliezer. Because he neglected it, he was [to be] punished with death. It was taught in a Braitha: Rabbi Jose said: God forbid! Moses did not neglect it, but he reasoned: Shall I circumcise [him] and go forth on the road? It will be dangerous for the child for three days. Shall I circumcise [him] and wait three days? The Holy One, blessed be He, commanded me, “Go, return to Egypt.” [Moses hurried to Egypt intending to circumcise Eliezer upon his return.] Why [then] was he to be punished with death? Because first he busied himself with [the details of] his lodging. [This appears] in tractate Nedarim (31b). The angel turned into a sort of serpent and swallowed him [Moses] from his head to his thighs, and then [spit him out and] swallowed him from his feet to his private parts. Zipporah therefore understood that it was because of [the failure to perform] the circumcision [that this occurred]. — [from Ned. 32a, Exodus Rabbah 5:5]

we have a very graphic and detailed explanation of what really happened according to Jewish belief. Here's the striking part on how an Angel turned into a Serpent and swallowed Moses half way? 

"The angel turned into a sort of serpent and swallowed him [Moses] from his head to his thighs, and then [spit him out and] swallowed him from his feet to his private parts."This is an unusual event which is spoken by classical Jewish scholars. Can you imagine Yahweh sent an Angel to kill his Messenger who he himself, sent to carry out a mission?

Christian don’t believe in Hadiths, nor do they Believe in the Midrash or the commentaries written by Rabbi, either way Christian have no say. Both Muslims and Jews have their own Belief and tradition written down in black and white. Unfortunately, Christians have nothing of the sort, so when they come across the Midrash or Hadith they feel frustrated.

to sum it all up:

Moses was “Hit” by an Angel when he was a baby. He was made to eat hot coal by an angel which burnt his mouth and he was also half swallowed by a serpent send by Yahweh who tried to kill him and this is all found in the Jewish oral tradition. we conclude according to the Jews “Angels do harm Prophets”