“When Musa came to the place appointed by Us, and his Lord addressed him, He said: “O my Lord! show (Yourself) to me, that I may look upon you.” Allah said: “You shall never see me; But look upon the mount; if it abides in its place, then you will see me.”
When his Lord manifested His glory on the Mount, He made it as dust. And Moses fell down in a swoon. When he recovered his senses he said: “Glory be to Thee! to Thee I turn in repentance, and I am the first to believe.” (Qur’an 7:143)
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Our brothers have done it again. An excellent overview of the meaning of the request of Musa (as) to see Allah (swt).
As for Musa (as), we get that he knows the attributes of Allah -Transcendent and Exalted He is. That which concerns the positive side and that which concerns the negative side. So he knows of the impossible -to affirm- attributes upon Allah. As we said that this is perceived through the natural instinct and the mind. And Musa (as) without doubt is greater than that; rather he is a prophet whom revelation is passed onto, and he has been chosen by Allah from all creation. So he cannot attribute to Allah that which is not suited. So he is not ignorant-dignified he is- rather he is knowledgeable. He is knowledgeable on the fact that it’s impossible for Allah to be described with being perceived.
As for connecting his request {“My Lord, show me [Yourself] that I may look at You.”} [Qur’an 7:143] and his Belief that this is impossible, then that is understood by saying that he didn’t request the ‘action of seeing’/ru’ya for himself. Rather, he asked (that) for his people. Even if it came in the singular form or first person(perspective). When he said {“My Lord, show me [Yourself] that I may look at You.”}. As for the proof that he asked it for his people then the ayats of the Qur’an are clear! {And [recall] when you said, “O Musa, we will never believe you until we see Allāh outright”;} [Qur’an 2:55].
So, they are the ones who asked Musa (as) for that. And they negate belief upon themselves until that is achieved for them. And Allah the Exalted also said, {For truly, they had asked Moses for something even greater than that, for they said, “Show us Allah openly.”} [Qur’an 4:153] The evidence is also when Musa (as) and those of those who were with him (from bani Israel, when asked for ru’ya) were struck.
He said {Will You annihilate us for what the fools among us have done?} [Qur’an 7:155]. So the sign here is that they are ignorant and they have brought this upon themselves. This all signifies that he asked the ‘action of seeing’ for them, as in him being attentive for them to believe. So he was Merciful to his people, benevolent towards them, even though he knows that this is a grave matter. But he wanted to prove its impossibility not in acceptance to them for what they asked. Rather they were stubborn, so he asked this not in respect to their request to them. All the while knowing it being impossible. Rather to show them by proof that it is not happening. Because they know with their stubbornness that he is better than them; and that he is a messenger of Alllah whom revelation is passed onto.
For if the perception was unachievable for him , then it will be all the more so unachievable for them, thus not happening. And indeed , this is what happened. And reality has been shown with the decimation of the mountain, and with them being struck alongside Mosa (as) by the lightning. And that signified the danger of what was asked.
And that was a punishment for them, but as for Musa (as) it was a type of guidance, because Allah the almighty knows the truth of Musa (as) , but this from Allah was due to Musa (as) being hasty in asking that which he should have sought permission in first. It was more appropriate and fitting for him to first ask permission from Allah the Exalted. Then, his repentance from this indicates that this is grave upon Allah, because when he became unconscious. What did he say, he first said {And when he awoke, he said, “Exalted are You! I have repented to You, and I am the first of the believers.”} [Qur’an 7:143]
If you would like to read more on this subject:
May Allah Guide the Ummah.
May Allah Forgive the Ummah.
Prima Quran 