Parting of the Sea

MSA asked: ... Did Allah part the Red Sea and create a safe passage through it for Moses and Hebrew to escape from the Pharaoh? 

Answer: Yes, Allah did part the sea for Moses and the Bani Israel to escape from Pharaoh and his forces, and yes, we do take it also on faith.  

MSA asked: ... That said, let me address question on the parting of the Red Sea and ask you to take a look at the geographical location of it and then tell us: 

-If the Red Sea had parted and Moses and the Hebrews reached the promised land, how was he able to hold a meeting with Allah on Mount Sinai and receive a tablet of Torah from Him, when the Mount is located in the Egyptian desert? 

I have more questions on this issue. They will follow as we make progress in our conversation.

My Response: Do all agree that it is the Red Sea, and/or the geography of the area hasn't changed?

MSA wrote to someone else: ... One of my questions related to whether Moses and the Hebrews had crossed the Red Sea and then they sojourned at the foot of Mount Sinai, while Moses was receiving the Torah from Allah on its summit remains unanswered. 

One of the participants in the discussion opined that perhaps the geography of the region where the Red Sea was located has changed, and that person has said this, despite having an apparently scientific mind! 

The truthfulness of the so-called monotheistic religions depends on the answer to this question, and I am more that sure no one is going to answer it with a straight face!!

Answer: 

فَانتَقَمْنَا مِنْهُمْ فَأَغْرَقْنَاهُمْ فِي الْيَمِّ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِنَا وَكَانُوا عَنْهَا غَافِلِينَ 

وَأَوْرَثْنَا الْقَوْمَ الَّذِينَ كَانُوا يُسْتَضْعَفُونَ مَشَارِقَ الْأَرْضِ وَمَغَارِبَهَا الَّتِي بَارَكْنَا فِيهَا وَتَمَّتْ كَلِمَتُ رَبِّكَ الْحُسْنَىٰ عَلَىٰ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ بِمَا صَبَرُوا وَدَمَّرْنَا مَا كَانَ يَصْنَعُ فِرْعَوْنُ وَقَوْمُهُ وَمَا كَانُوا يَعْرِشُونَ

[Quran 7:136, 137] So We took retribution from them and We drowned them in the sea because they denied Our Signs, and they were to them heedless. And We made inheritors the people those who were considered weak - (the) eastern (parts) (of) the land and the western (parts) of it, which We blessed [in it]. And was fulfilled (the) word (of) your Lord - the best for (the) Children (of) Israel because they were patient. And We destroyed what used to make Firaun and his people, and what they used to erect.

[http://islamawakened.com/quran/7/136/ ; http://islamawakened.com/quran/7/137/ ] 

The Quran uses the same word: الْيَمِّ for the water in which the Baby Moses was thrown by his mother, as well as for the water which was parted during the Exodus.
[http://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=ymm#(7:136:5)].
Most translators translate the former as river and the latter as sea. I wonder why, however I would not jump to any conclusions.  

Geologic studies suggest that the Nile has moved since antiquity. http://ees.ac.uk/userfiles/file/EA-32pp03-05-Lutley.pdf However, Quran 7:137 informs us that the Bani Israel inherited the Eastern and Western parts of it. I hope it addresses your concerns regarding the geographical accuracy of the narration.   

As per Quran 7:137, all that the Pharaoh (Firaun) and his people built was destroyed. Historians teach us that the Pyramids were built by the Pharaohs. However, some researchers suggest that the Pyramids were not tombs built by the Pharaohs, but rather not only was the purpose of the Pyramids different from that suggested, they were also the legacy of an earlier, more advanced culture. [http://nuclearpyramid.com/great_pyramid.php] 

If everything that the Pharaoh and his people built was destroyed, it must have been a major cataclysmic event causing some major geographical changes in the region. 

Hope the above is instrumental in helping you place more faith in the verses of the Quran, a message from Lord of the Worlds. 

[Quran 61:8] They intend to put out (the) light (of) Allah with their mouths, but Allah will perfect His Light although dislike the disbelievers. 

 

Our Lord, perfect for us our light and forgive us. Indeed, You are over all things competent.

Someone asked: Okay see this then.."O ye who believe! Turn to Allah with sincere repentance:... Their Light will run forward before them and by their right hands, while they say, "Our Lord! Perfect our Light for us, and grant us Forgiveness: for Thou hast power over all things." [66:8]....and elsewhere its said that those who are successful will hold the Book in their Right hands....so now are you saying that the Book can 'run" before you and you will ask Allah to "perfect this light"? Kindly explain..

Remember, Prophet Moses was granted two great signs when he was ordered to go to the Pharaoh. One was his stick which could turn into a snake and a serpent, and the other was that his hand glowed white. 

[Quran 28:31,32; translator: Sahih International] And [he was told], "Throw down your staff." But when he saw it writhing as if it was a snake, he turned in flight and did not return. [Allah said], "O Moses, approach and fear not. Indeed, you are of the secure. Insert your hand into the opening of your garment; it will come out white, without disease. And draw in your arm close to you [as prevention] from fear, for those are two proofs from your Lord to Pharaoh and his establishment. Indeed, they have been a people defiantly disobedient." 

[Al-Qur’an 66:8, translator: Sahih International] O you who have believed, repent to Allah with sincere repentance. Perhaps your Lord will remove from you your misdeeds and admit you into gardens beneath which rivers flow [on] the Day when Allah will not disgrace the Prophet and those who believed with him. Their light will proceed before them and on their right; they will say, "Our Lord, perfect for us our light and forgive us. Indeed, You are over all things competent."  

When Adam ate from the forbidden tree, the human genome got corrupted. When we are presented before Allah on the Day of Judgement, those who are forgiven and granted permission to proceed to Jannat, Allah will correct their genome. Then they will have light emitting from their bodies lighting their path. These concepts can be understood in terms of genomics, pseudogenes, chirality and bioluminescence. 

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0006256 

The human body literally glimmers. The intensity of the light emitted by the body is 1000 times lower than the sensitivity of our naked eyes. Ultraweak photon emission is known as the energy released as light through the changes in energy metabolism. 

The following might be of interest: 

Adam's attempt to Improve upon Allah's creation: http://signsandscience.blogspot.com/2015/11/mission-of-messengers-iii.html 

Rust Upon their Hearts: http://signsandscience.blogspot.com/2014/05/rust-upon-their-hearts.html 

Orientation: Right or Left http://signsandscience.blogspot.com/2015/03/orientation-right-or-left.html 

She responded with a long email on Ta'wil versus my approach of literal interpretation of the Quran. Also, she raised points from non-Quranic sources, used by various sects to justify their beliefs.  

My Response: My point was that it is possible to literally understand the verses of the Quran from the Quran itself and knowledge of science. The glowing of Moses' hand is a proof of what the Quran is telling us about the Hereafter about the NOOR emanating from the body of each person who is forgiven, corrected and is headed for Jannat. The bioluminescence of some creatures, and the discovery of the faint bioluminescence of the human body further makes it easy for us to understand the verses speaking about NOOR, without having to resort to various other historical records of religious nature to help interpret the verses. 

You mention many beliefs based on those other historical records of religious nature, which may or may not be correct. Further, some of those contradict other verses of the Quran. Therefore, it is far safer to base our study on the literal interpretation of the Quran, letting the verses of the Quran shape our beliefs, instead of us trying to justify our beliefs in non-Quranic sources by trying to find some hidden meanings. This is my path, and I pray that Allah increases us all in guidance. 

Salam