In sum, Pharaoh took every conceivable precaution to make sure Moses would never even come into existence. He posted men and midwives to make the rounds among pregnant women, noting the expected time of their delivery; no Israelite woman brought forth a male child but that those butchers slaughtered him on the spot.

According to the People of the Scripture, Pharaoh ordered the killing of the boys merely to weaken the power of the Children of Israel so they could not resist whenever the Egyptians overpowered or fought them. This claim is open to objection—indeed, it is false—for that command to slay the newborns belongs to the period after Moses had been sent, as the Most High says:

“When he came to them with the truth from Us, they said, ‘Kill the sons of those who have believed with him, and spare their women.’” (Ghafir 25)

For this very reason the Children of Israel said to Moses, “We were oppressed before you came to us and after you have come to us.” (al-A‘raf 129)

The correct view, then, is that Pharaoh’s initial decree to kill the boys was issued solely out of fear that Moses might appear, as we have already noted (1).

Here destiny itself seems to address him:

“O tyrannical king, deluded by the multitude of your troops, the might of your power, and the breadth of your dominion! The Almighty—whom none can overwhelm, resist, or gainsay—has decreed that this very child from whom you seek to protect yourself, and for whose sake you have slaughtered countless innocents, shall be reared nowhere but in your own palace, upon your very couch, nourished with your food and drink. You will be the one to adopt him, to raise him, to lavish care upon him (2), all the while unaware of the secret of his true mission. In the end, your destruction in this world and the next will come at his hands because of your opposition to the manifest truth he brings and your denial of what has been revealed to him—so that you and all creation may know that the Lord of the heavens and the earth does whatever He wills, that He is the Mighty, the Strong, possessed of awesome power, irresistible in might and decree.”

Several exegetes add that the Copts complained to Pharaoh about the shrinking number of Israelites brought about by the slaughter of their male infants. They feared (3) that, with the elders dying off and the young being killed, no Israelites would remain to perform the labor they had been forced to do, leaving the Egyptians themselves to undertake it. Pharaoh therefore ruled that the sons be killed one year and spared the next. They relate that Aaron—peace be upon him—was born in the year of reprieve, whereas Moses—peace be upon him—was born in the year of slaughter.

His mother was sorely distressed for his sake. She had been cautious from the very start of her pregnancy, and no outward sign of it showed (4). When she delivered, she was inspired to make a chest for him, tie it to a rope, and—because her house adjoined the Nile—she would nurse him; then, whenever she feared someone’s approach, she would place him in that chest and let it drift on the river while holding the end of the rope. When the danger had passed, she would pull him (5) back to herself.

God, exalted be He, says:

“We inspired the mother of Moses, ‘Nurse him; but when you fear for him, cast him into the river and do not fear nor grieve. We shall surely restore him to you and make him one of the messengers.’ Then the family of Pharaoh picked him up so that he might become an enemy to them and a source of sorrow. Truly Pharaoh and Hāmān …” (al-Qasas 7–8)