Page 83 - Tafsir of surat at tawba repentance

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2. Wahy is also used in the Qur’aan to mean natural human instincts that Allaah
has placed in humans. For example, Allaah uses it in reference to Prophet
Moosaa’s mother as follows:

( Ïm‹ÏèÅÊö‘r& ÷br& #Óy›qãB ÏdQé& #’n<Î) !$uZøŠym÷rr&ur )

“And I inspired Moosaa’s mother by wahy (awhaynaa) to suckle
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him.”

The motherly instinct of suckling her child is a result of information which has
been communicated to the genes of every female in a way unknown to man.

3. In the completion of the previous verse, Allaah refers to another aspect of
wahy: Allaah’s inspiration to humans to do actions which are not instinctive.

( þ’ÎTt“øtrB Ÿwur ’Îû$sƒrB Ÿwur ÉdOuŠø9$# †Îû ÏmŠÉ)ø9r'sù Ïmø‹n=tã ÏMøÿÅz #sŒÎ*sù )

“Then, when you fear for him, cast him into the river (in a basket),
and don’t be afraid and don’t grieve.”

This is sometimes called intuition; a person gets a strong feeling that a certain
action is the right thing to do, even though there may not be any logical evidence
for it.

4. One must be careful, to distinguish between the sources of various inner voices,
however, because devils also have the ability to inspire suggestions in human
hearts. Occasionally, the Qur’aan refers to the whispering and prodding of the
devils as wahy. The following verse is a good example of this type of use:

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Soorah al-Qasas (28):7.

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