Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teacher Training – Prophet Musa (Moses) ‘alaihissalam is known for his spontaneous and assertive nature. When the Angel of Death came to him in human form to take his life, Prophet Musa immediately slapping the angel’s face, causing his eye to fall out. The Angel of Death returned to Allah and reported the incident. Allah then restored the angel’s sight and gave him two choices to convey to Prophet Musa: whether he wanted to live longer or depart to Allah immediately. Prophet Musa chose to depart immediately and requested to die near the Holy Land (Baitul Maqdis) at a distance of a stone’s throw.
A hadith from Abu Hurairah narrated in Sahih Muslim mentions that Prophet Musa ultimately chose to die soon rather than live longer with additional years based on the number of hairs covered by his hand on an ox. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, affirmed that if he were there, he would have shown the location of Prophet Musa’s grave, which is by the side of the road near a red sand dune.
This story conveys several important lessons, including that prophets are given the choice before their death, angels can appear in human form, and death is certain. Additionally, this story shows that Prophet Musa had a very high status with Allah, being able to slapping the Angel of Death without any retribution. Lastly, Prophet Musa deeply loved the Holy Land, even desiring his death to be near that blessed place.
Source:
- https://islam.nu.or.id/hikmah/ketika-nabi-musa-menampar-malaikat-maut-NZjPK
- https://www.freepik.com/free-ai-image/photorealistic-style-clouds-stairs_93622576.htm#fromView=search&page=1&position=3&uuid=c3f9c356-f242-4853-89b7-744d273d3bb0
