Imām Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Bukhārī said:
Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm narrated to us; Rawḥ ibn ʿUbādah narrated to us; from ʿAwf, from al-Ḥasan, Muḥammad, and Khilās, from Abū Hurayrah, who said:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“Indeed, Moses was a man of profound modesty and privacy; out of his shyness no part of his skin was ever seen. Some of the Children of Israel offended him, saying, ‘He covers himself so completely only because there is some defect in his body—either leprosy, a swelling of the scrotum, or some other blemish.’ Allah—exalted is He—willed to acquit him of what they alleged. One day, when he was alone, he placed his clothes on a stone and bathed. When he finished and turned to take his garments, the stone ran off with them. Moses seized his staff and pursued the stone, crying, ‘My clothes, O stone! My clothes, O stone!’ until he came upon a company of the Children of Israel. They saw him naked, in the most perfect form Allah had created, and Allah cleared him of what they had been saying. The stone stopped; he retrieved his clothes, put them on, and began striking the stone with his staff. By Allah, there are still marks on that stone left by his blows—three, or four, or five.”
He then said, “That is the meaning of Allah’s words: ‘O you who believe, do not be like those who harmed Moses; Allah cleared him of what they alleged, and he was distinguished in Allah’s sight.’” (al-Aḥzāb 33:69)
Imām Aḥmad also recorded this ḥadīth through the narrations of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Shaqīq and Hammām ibn Munabbih from Abū Hurayrah with the same wording. It is found in both Ṣaḥīḥs via the isnād of ʿAbd al-Razzāq, from Maʿmar, from Hammām, from him, and Muslim likewise transmitted it through ʿAbd Allāh ibn Shaqīq al-ʿAqīlī.
Some of the early scholars said: Part of Moses’ high standing with Allah was that he interceded with his Lord on behalf of his brother, asking that his brother serve as a helper alongside him. Allah answered his plea, granted him what he sought, and made his brother a prophet, as He says: “And out of Our mercy We granted him his brother Aaron—a prophet.” (Maryam 19:53)
Then he said