Qārūn Was of the People of Mūsā, but He Transgressed Against Them

Occasion: An ʿIshāʾ khatira delivered on 22 October 2025 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — [Watch the original video on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHq6PTKRLEc)

The Doctor opened his khatira with praise of Allah and blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ, then with a supplication asking Allah for the good of this night, the good of what is in it and the good of what comes after it, and seeking refuge in Him from its evil, the evil of what is in it and the evil of what comes after it. Then he turned to Sūrat al-Qaṣaṣ and the story of Qārūn in it.

The battle between truth and falsehood

The surah, as he mentioned, presents the battle between truth and falsehood: ﴿إِنَّ فِرْعَوْنَ عَلَا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَجَعَلَ أَهْلَهَا شِيَعًا﴾ (Indeed, Pharaoh exalted himself in the land and made its people into factions). In it is the mention of Mūsā, peace be upon him, then Qārūn: ﴿إِنَّ قَارُونَ كَانَ مِن قَوْمِ مُوسَىٰ فَبَغَىٰ عَلَيْهِمْ﴾ (Indeed, Qārūn was from the people of Mūsā, but he transgressed against them), and in it are His words, glorified be He: ﴿وَنَزَعْنَا مِن كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ شَهِيدًا فَقُلْنَا هَاتُوا بُرْهَانَكُمْ فَعَلِمُوا أَنَّ الْحَقَّ لِلَّهِ وَضَلَّ عَنْهُم مَّا كَانُوا يَفْتَرُونَ﴾ (And We will extract from every nation a witness and say: "Produce your proof," and they will know that the truth belongs to Allah, and lost from them is what they used to invent).^[1]

Brainwashing until a man grows great in his own eyes

He paused at Qārūn's saying: ﴿إِنَّمَا أُوتِيتُهُ عَلَىٰ عِلْمٍ عِندِي﴾ (I was only given it because of knowledge I have), and said: in our time we call this "brainwashing"; those around him kept inflating him until they made him great in his own eyes, and he reached that position in which he saw himself as great. And the reply came to him: ﴿أَوَلَمْ يَعْلَمْ أَنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ أَهْلَكَ مِن قَبْلِهِ مِنَ الْقُرُونِ مَنْ هُوَ أَشَدُّ مِنْهُ قُوَّةً وَأَكْثَرُ جَمْعًا﴾ (Did he not know that Allah had destroyed before him of generations those who were greater than him in power and greater in accumulation?).^[2]

Then he mentioned how the people were infatuated with him: ﴿قَالَ الَّذِينَ يُرِيدُونَ الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا يَا لَيْتَ لَنَا مِثْلَ مَا أُوتِيَ…﴾ (Those who desired the worldly life said: "Oh, would that we had the like of what was given…"), in contrast to the people of knowledge who stood firm: ﴿وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْعِلْمَ وَيْلَكُمْ ثَوَابُ اللَّهِ خَيْرٌ لِّمَنْ آمَنَ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا﴾ (But those who had been given knowledge said: "Woe to you! The reward of Allah is better for he who believes and does righteousness").^[3] Those people were deceived by this glitter that was taking place, and then came the decisive end: ﴿فَخَسَفْنَا بِهِ وَبِدَارِهِ الْأَرْضَ﴾ (And We caused the earth to swallow him and his home).

What transgression did Qārūn commit against his people?

The Doctor asked: what kind of transgression did Qārūn commit against his people? And what does "baghā" (he transgressed) mean? Then he answered: transgression (baghy) is aggression and overstepping limits, and it combines injustice, encroachment and depriving people of their rights; all of that falls under His word ﴿فَبَغَىٰ﴾ (but he transgressed) — and we seek refuge in Allah.

He said that we can grasp this when we look at today: the whole world is talking about the movement of gold up and down, so who is it that toys with people to this level and to this extent? If you hear this example, you grasp the significance of ﴿فَبَغَىٰ عَلَيْهِمْ﴾ (but he transgressed against them). The economy toys with people in many situations if it is not refined in its proper way, its straight direction and its lawful, beneficial purposes, and it becomes a means of destruction within human beings and within societies.

Why the swallowing by the earth?

The Exalted said: ﴿فَخَسَفْنَا بِهِ وَبِدَارِهِ الْأَرْضَ فَمَا كَانَ لَهُ مِن فِئَةٍ يَنصُرُونَهُ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ الْمُنتَصِرِينَ﴾ (And We caused the earth to swallow him and his home. And there was for him no company to aid him other than Allah, nor was he of those who could defend themselves). And why this ending? We always compare the endings of the wrongdoing peoples: ﴿وَمِنْهُم مَّنْ خَسَفْنَا بِهِ الْأَرْضَ وَمِنْهُم مَّنْ أَغْرَقْنَا﴾ (and among them were those whom We caused the earth to swallow, and among them were those whom We drowned), and among them ﴿مَنْ أَخَذَتْهُ الصَّيْحَةُ﴾ (those who were seized by the blast); so we have in the verse four kinds of destruction, among them the swallowing by the earth, which was Qārūn's lot.^[4] So why was the swallowing by the earth chosen for Qārūn rather than for his people and others? And why were the other kinds of destruction chosen for the other peoples and not for Qārūn? And why did Qārūn not meet the same end that the people of ʿĀd or Thamūd met?

Its answer, in Dr. Ahmed's view: because he paraded his splendor upon the earth and enticed people with it, so Allah, glorified be He, willed to show them all this glitter beneath the earth, not above it, so that they would learn that the wealth of this world, however abundant, and its delights, however adorned and glittering, will one day be beneath this dust, beneath the feet of creation.

Who are those upon whom Allah conferred favor?

Then he pointed to His words, glorified be He: ﴿وَأَصْبَحَ الَّذِينَ تَمَنَّوْا مَكَانَهُ بِالْأَمْسِ يَقُولُونَ وَيْكَأَنَّ اللَّهَ يَبْسُطُ الرِّزْقَ لِمَن يَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ وَيَقْدِرُ لَوْلَا أَن مَّنَّ اللَّهُ…﴾ (And those who had wished for his position the day before began to say: "Oh, how Allah extends provision to whom He wills of His servants and restricts it! If not that Allah had conferred favor…").^[5] Then he asked: with what did Allah confer favor upon them? They were poor, they were weak, they were targeted within the framework of the policy whose foundations and fixed principles Pharaoh and Qārūn wove together, and they were deprived of their rights; yet they were saved from being deluded by this world, and saved from having their minds tempted or turned toward what was in the hands of those deluded by the wealth, rank and power they had. They were saved by Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, saving them.

From here he saw the importance of our repeating every day: ﴿اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ﴾ (Guide us to the straight path); for the possibility that minds may twist or turn from right to wrong, from truth to falsehood, from faith to disbelief, is a real possibility, and none of us can guarantee for himself that he will not one day be in this position; rather, deliverance is from the Lord of Might, glorified be He, alone.

Pharaoh, Hāmān and Qārūn: one system

The story of Qārūn represents a large part of the story of Pharaoh; one does not speak of Pharaoh without Hāmān, nor of Pharaoh and Hāmān without Qārūn, nor of Qārūn without Pharaoh. Authority establishes him, grants him favors, and opens the treasuries for him to take from them whatever he wishes, and opens the banks for him to take from them whatever loans he wishes. So authority prepares the means for money, and money serves authority; the pillars are completed and the system becomes integrated, and the ideal victim is that citizen who is trampled underfoot, if these great matters are not set right and directed toward what the Lord of the worlds, glorified be He, wills.

In conclusion of the surah

Then he concluded by reading the end of the surah: ﴿إِنَّ الَّذِي فَرَضَ عَلَيْكَ الْقُرْآنَ لَرَادُّكَ إِلَىٰ مَعَادٍ﴾ (Indeed, He who imposed upon you the Qur'an will take you back to a place of return).^[6] And he said: the exegetes may have spoken of the return in the Hereafter, when we stand before Allah, blessed and exalted, and they may have spoken of Allah's returning His Messenger ﷺ to Makkah as its conqueror one day. And we may add that the One who imposed the Qur'an upon you and upon your nation will return you and return them to an appointed time of true victory for values that the Lord of Might established, before which people stood, and which He made for them a leadership and a pioneering role.

And he concluded by asking Allah, the Most High, the All-Powerful, to grant us good understanding of His Book and a good grasp of what He intends.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: The verses are from Sūrat al-Qaṣaṣ, in this order: verse 4, then 76, then 75. The transcript was garbled in the section between the opening and the mention of Qārūn (roughly minutes 1 to 6), so only what was clear has been reproduced from it. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: al-Qaṣaṣ 78. The context: ﴿قَالَ إِنَّمَا أُوتِيتُهُ عَلَىٰ عِلْمٍ عِندِي أَوَلَمْ يَعْلَمْ…﴾. ^[3]: Editor's documentation: al-Qaṣaṣ 79 and 80. In the transcript the wording «ما أوتي» was garbled, so the amount that was uttered has been given, with an ellipsis. ^[4]: Editor's documentation: al-ʿAnkabūt 40, which also contains ﴿فَمِنْهُم مَّنْ أَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِ حَاصِبًا﴾ (among them were those upon whom We sent a storm of stones), which the speaker did not utter in the transcript; the wording in the muṣḥaf is ﴿وَمِنْهُم مَّنْ خَسَفْنَا بِهِ الْأَرْضَ﴾, with "wa." The swallowing of Qārūn by the earth is in al-Qaṣaṣ 81. ^[5]: Editor's documentation: al-Qaṣaṣ 82, which continues ﴿عَلَيْنَا لَخَسَفَ بِنَا﴾. The speaker read what he read and then asked about "Allah's favor upon them," so the amount that was uttered has been given. ^[6]: Editor's documentation: al-Qaṣaṣ 85. Ibn Kathīr, in his tafsīr, cites the sayings of the early generations about "al-maʿād," among them the saying of Mujāhid: «يحييك يوم القيامة» (He will bring you back to life on the Day of Resurrection); and al-Bukhārī (4773) narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās, may Allah be pleased with them both: ﴿لَرَادُّكَ إِلَىٰ مَعَادٍ﴾ he said: «إلى مكة» (to Makkah).