Al-Hajj 44: And the people of wood (nation of Madyan) too. And Moses was denied also. Then, I gave time to the infidels, and then I captured them. See how My rejection (punishment) of them was.

We continue.

"The people of Midian also denied." Look, here Allah Almighty lists all those who denied. "The people of Midian also denied. Moses too was denied." Moses was denied by Pharaoh. He showed seven miracles. At each miracle Pharaoh said, "O Moses, I believe in your Lord, remove this calamity from us." Although Allah Almighty removed these seven calamities from them, when Pharaoh still kept claiming to be a god, in the end Allah Almighty told Moses to take his people and leave from there. So when he took his people and left Egypt, Pharaoh hears of it. On the shore of the Red Sea he approaches Moses. At this, Allah Almighty says, "O Moses, strike the sea with your staff." It splits into 12 passages.

The Children of Israel are 12 tribes. Each tribe passes through one passage. When they cross to the other side, this Pharaoh plunges into the sea too. He plunges in. When Allah Almighty joins the sea together, "I believe." Again — "in the Lord of Moses, there is no god but Him" — despite his saying it, "Now," He says, "do you believe?" Yes. "I will leave your lifeless body as a lesson for the worlds," He says. And today his lifeless body, found on a rock in the Red Sea, in England is on display in the (?) museum. Yes. "The people of Midian also denied. Moses too was denied. Then I gave those unbelievers a respite.

Then I seized them. How was My rejection of them?" My punishing, He says. Yes. May Allah protect us.

The people of Shu'ayb (peace be upon him) also called Shu'ayb a liar. The people of Midian lived in abundance and owned wealth and property. But although Shu'ayb (peace be upon him) brought them the truth, they did not believe in Allah's oneness, and to Shu'ayb (peace be upon him), "You are a liar," they said. They also called Moses a liar. Although he brought the truth to Pharaoh, Pharaoh denied Allah and Allah's servant and Messenger, Moses (peace be upon him), and Pharaoh did not believe in Allah. What's more, what did he say?

To his vizier: "Build a ladder. I will climb up to the sky," he said, "I will look at Moses' Allah. I will wage war on Him," he said. He had the ladder built. Yes.

Although Moses (peace be upon him), by Allah's leave, showed many miracles, he brushed them off, calling them sorcery. Allah Almighty gives such peoples some respite. He gives respite; in the end, when they still continue their denial, He destroys these peoples. So He gave Pharaoh some respite too. But Pharaoh, to Moses (peace be upon him), did not keep the word he gave. Instead of setting his people and him free, he went after them. At the Red Sea, when he was about to catch Moses (peace be upon him) and his people, Allah Almighty, as a miracle, commands Moses (peace be upon him) to strike the sea with the staff. When Moses (peace be upon him) strikes the sea with his staff, the sea splits in two. With his people they cross to the far shore by the path opened in the sea.

Meanwhile, to catch Moses (peace be upon him) and destroy him along with his people, Pharaoh plunges into the sea split in two, and by Allah's leave the two sides of the sea come together. Pharaoh perishes right there with his army. See, then, how Allah's seizing is.

Those who deny Allah, Allah Almighty too — Allah Almighty too rejects them. And Allah's rejection is very severe. There is no other god besides Allah, so that rejected people could go to the other Allah and take refuge. Since even rejected people are within Allah's rule, they are deprived of Allah's mercy and receive His wrath. Their incurring this wrath means that in their eternal life in Hell they buy punishment for themselves. May Allah make us all among those who attain His mercy, among those welcomed with a smiling face in the hereafter, among those who find shade in the shade of the Throne, and among those whose reckoning on that Day of Reckoning is made easy.