Moses—peace be upon him—was among the strongest and most formidable of men. One day he came upon two men fighting: one was from his own people, the Children of Israel, and the other was from their enemies, the Copts of Pharaoh’s household. The Israelite called out for help against his foe, asking Moses to rescue and assist him. Moses therefore struck the Egyptian—just a single blow—and the man died on the spot, for Moses was extraordinarily powerful. Moses said, “This is from Satan’s doing; he is indeed a manifest, misguided enemy” (al-Qasas 28:15).

The next morning Moses found that same Israelite again quarreling, this time with another man. Allah Most High says: “The man who had sought his help the previous day cried out to him once more. Moses said, ‘You are clearly a trouble-maker’” (al-Qasas 28:18)—that is, yesterday you were fighting one man and today another. Moses intended to seize the enemy of them both, but the Israelite cried out, “Do you want to kill me as you killed a man yesterday?” (al-Qasas 28:19). People had already been searching for the killer of the Egyptian, and when the Copt realized the truth he informed them that Moses was the one who had slain him. Thus, on the Day of Resurrection Moses—peace be upon him—will excuse himself before humanity because he killed a soul he had not been commanded to kill.

After that they will go to Jesus—peace be upon him—and say, “You are the Word of Allah and His Spirit.” “The Word of Allah” means that you were created by the divine command, and “His Spirit” means that you are a spirit from among the spirits Allah—glorified and exalted is He—created. He too will apologize, yet he will mention no sin, offering nothing specific as an excuse, and he will direct them to the Prophet ﷺ.