THE GREATEST LOVE STORIES OF ALL TIME..

CHAPTER 8:;THE LOVE STORY OF PROPHET MUSA (AS) AND SAFURAH..

A human being is born with psychological and emotional impulses to respond to the things around him, and so is his impulse of love for the opposite sex strongly ingrained in his "fitrat" (nature). The inclination of one sex towards the other is so immense and paramount that every culture across the globe has recorded its expression in epic stories of love featuring characters like Romeo and Juliet, Laila and Majnoon, Heer and Ranjha, Shireen and Farhaad.

All these epic love stories describe an ideal and ecstatic state of love that serves as a yardstick for us to measure our own nature and spirit of relationship we share with our beloveds. These characters are there to remind us that love is the expansion of one's self to embrace the other, regardless of individual, social and cultural differences that may intrude or try to thwart such a relationship.

The reason behind the popularity of these epic love stories is their universal appeal in the sense that all mankind shares the psychological and emotional turbulence of love described in them and relates to them its own state of heart.

However, no matter how sublime and deeply engaging these epic love stories are, the fact is that they are merely fictional representations and the characters have never actually existed on planet earth. It is also a fact that these love stories, apart from their popularity, are also infamous among a large chunk of population who see them as compromising on the legal, moral or ethical standards set by cultural and religious traditions.

While digging through the phases of history and looking beyond the fictions of time to find a love story that was real and practical, our search ends the moment we come across the sacred love story of Prophet Musa (AS) and Safurah..

Who hasn't read the story of prophet Musa? The tortures of Pharaoh towards the people of Bani Israel, the parting of the red sea, the drowning of Pharaoh. But let's track back a bit, there are some other lessons also we can get from the story of prophet Musa, for indeed Allah doesn't mention a story in the Quran except that it has a message to be understood and followed by the people to come. We see Allah mentions in quite some detail how Musa met his wife, the interactions between them and how they ended up being married.

Now if we pause here, we see that with just this story Allah is teaching us so many beautiful lessons. From interactions with the opposite gender to marriage to having belief in Allah, it just goes on.

We say Islam is boring, the Quran just has stuff telling what is wrong and what is right. This is one of the biggest understatements a person could make. The Quran is a life manual which if read and understood properly can change life completely. We read about romantic gateways, Prince Charming on the white horse, the picture of a perfect woman and what not.

Media today has made us into droids just living in a fantasy land and hoping for things that are next to impossible. If only we look at the Quran and Sunnah we will find stories that portray the most beautiful of love stories. We don't need romance novels telling us what to expect in love when Allah himself has told us.

Musa, The Youthful Prince In Egypt

Musa grew up in the comforts that only the royal house of Pharaoh could provide. People could see that he was a handsome, healthy and strong young man. His arms were strong, face radiant, forehead broad and eyes bright. His youthfulness was indeed worth observing. He was recognized as the son of King Pharaoh and Queen Asiya. He possessed every comfort and had full freedom. On the other hand his wisdom and intelligence had also become the talk of the town. But the people did not know that these were the signs of his Prophethood, which was to bring a revolution one day, a revolution to free people from the tyranny of Pharaoh.

Despite having all the physical comforts, Musa was always troubled spiritually seeing the arrogance and atrocities committed by Pharaoh. By and by, poor, needy, and oppressed people began to realize that Mûsa was very kind and sympathetic towards the enslaved masses. So they sought his help in times of trouble. Musa also rushed to help them in every possible way.