Surah Araf ayat 108 Tafsir Quran 7:108

﴿وَنَزَعَ يَدَهُ فَإِذَا هِيَ بَيْضَاءُ لِلنَّاظِرِينَ﴾
[ الأعراف: 108]

7:108 And he drew out his hand; thereupon it was white [with radiance] for the observers.

And he drew forth his hand he took it out from his bosom and lo! it was white radiant for the beholders and not its usual skin colour.

And he drew his hand from the folds of his garment and there it was instantaneously transfigured in a radiance of white divine light

ثُعْبَانٌ مُّبِينٌ ( a Thu`ban serpent, manifest ), refers to "The male snake." As-Suddi and Ad-Dahhak said similarly.
A report from Ibn `Abbas said, فَأَلْقَى عَصَاهُ "( Then (Musa ) threw his staff), and it turned into a huge snake that opened its mouth and rushed towards Fir`awn.
When Fir`awn saw the snake rushing towards him, he jumped from his throne and cried to Musa for help, so that Musa would remove the snake from his way.
Musa did that." As-Suddi commented, فَإِذَا هِىَ ثُعْبَانٌ مُّبِينٌ ( and behold! It was a Thu`ban serpent, manifest! ) "This Thu`ban refers to male snakes.
The snake opened its mouth and headed towards Fir`awn to swallow him, placing its lower jaw on the ground and its upper jaw reaching the ( top of the ) wall of the palace.
When Fir`awn saw the snake, he was frightened, so he jumped and wet himself and he never wet himself before this incident.
He cried, `O Musa! Take it away and I will believe in you and release the Children of Israel to you.' So Musa, peace be on him, took it, and it became a staff again.
" وَنَزَعَ يَدَهُ فَإِذَا هِىَ بَيْضَآءُ لِلنَّـظِرِينَ ( And he drew out his hand, and behold! it was white (with radiance ) for the beholders.) Musa took his hand out of his cloak after he inserted his hand in it and it was shining, not because of leprosy or sickness.
Allah said in another Ayah, وَأَدْخِلْ يَدَكَ فِى جَيْبِكَ تَخْرُجْ بَيْضَآءَ مِنْ غَيْرِ سُوءٍ ( And put your hand into your bosom, it will come forth white without hurt. ) 27:12 Ibn `Abbas said, "without hurt', means, `not because of leprosy'.
Musa inserted his hand again in his sleeve and it returned back to its normal color." Mujahid and several others said similarly.

(7:108) Then he drew out his hand, and it appeared luminous to all beholders. *87

And he drew out his hand; thereupon meaning

*87).
Moses was granted these two miraculous signs in order to provide testimony to his being a Messenger of God, the creator and sovereign of the universe.
As we have mentioned earlier, whenever the Prophets introduced themselves as God's Message-bearers, people asked them to produce some miraculous sign, to perform something supernatural.
In response to those demands the Prophets produced what the Qur'an terms as 'signs', and which are called 'miracles' by theologians.

Those who tend to play down the supernatural character of such signs or miracles, and who try to explain them in terms of natural laws of causation, in fact attempt to build a mid-way house between believing and disbelieving in the statements of the Qur'an.
Such an approach can hardly be considered reasonable.
What it does demonstrate, however, is how such people can be pulled in two opposite directions.
On the one hand, they are not inclined to believe in a Book which abounds in narrations of a supernatural kind.
On the other hand, being born followers of their ancestral religion, they are not inclined to reject the Book which carries supernatural narrations.

With regard to miracles, there are two basic questions that people should ask themselves.
Did God, after creating the universe and establishing a system of natural causations therein, suspend Himself such that it is no longer possible for Him to interfere in the workings of the universe? Or does He still hold the reins to His realm in His owns Hands so that His command is enforced every moment, and He does retain the power to alter the shape of things and the normal course of events - either partially or fully, - as and when He wills?
It is impossible for those who respond in the affirmative to the first question to accept the idea of miracles.
For clearly miracles do not fit in with their concept of God and the universe.
Honesty demands that instead of indulging in far-fetched explanations of Qur'anic statements on miracles, such people should clearly declare that they do not believe in the Qur'an.
For quite obviously the Qur'an is explicit, even quite emphatic in affirming the former concept of God.

As for those who, being convinced by Qur'anic arguments, respond in the affirmative to the second question regarding God and the universe, for them there is no difficulty in accepting miracles.
Let us take the instance mentioned in verse 107, namely, that the rod of Moses turned into a serpent.
Now, there are those who believe that serpents can come into being only through one process - the known biological process.
Such people are bound to reject the statement that Moses' rod changed into a serpent and later reverted to its original shape.
On the contrary, if you are fully convinced that it is God's command alone which causes life to arise from lifeless matter, and that God has full power to confer whichever kind of life He wills, the transformation of the rod into a serpent and its subsequent reversion to its original state is no stranger than the transformation of any other lifeless matter into a living entity.
The fact that the latter happens virtually every day whereas the former took place only a few times in history is not enough to declare the first as incredibly, strange and the second as 'natural'.

 

ثُعْبَانٌ مُّبِينٌ ( a Thu`ban serpent, manifest ), refers to "The male snake." As-Suddi and Ad-Dahhak said similarly.
A report from Ibn `Abbas said, فَأَلْقَى عَصَاهُ "( Then (Musa ) threw his staff), and it turned into a huge snake that opened its mouth and rushed towards Fir`awn.
When Fir`awn saw the snake rushing towards him, he jumped from his throne and cried to Musa for help, so that Musa would remove the snake from his way.
Musa did that." As-Suddi commented, فَإِذَا هِىَ ثُعْبَانٌ مُّبِينٌ ( and behold! It was a Thu`ban serpent, manifest! ) "This Thu`ban refers to male snakes.
The snake opened its mouth and headed towards Fir`awn to swallow him, placing its lower jaw on the ground and its upper jaw reaching the ( top of the ) wall of the palace.
When Fir`awn saw the snake, he was frightened, so he jumped and wet himself and he never wet himself before this incident.
He cried, `O Musa! Take it away and I will believe in you and release the Children of Israel to you.' So Musa, peace be on him, took it, and it became a staff again.
" وَنَزَعَ يَدَهُ فَإِذَا هِىَ بَيْضَآءُ لِلنَّـظِرِينَ ( And he drew out his hand, and behold! it was white (with radiance ) for the beholders.) Musa took his hand out of his cloak after he inserted his hand in it and it was shining, not because of leprosy or sickness.
Allah said in another Ayah, وَأَدْخِلْ يَدَكَ فِى جَيْبِكَ تَخْرُجْ بَيْضَآءَ مِنْ غَيْرِ سُوءٍ ( And put your hand into your bosom, it will come forth white without hurt. ) 27:12 Ibn `Abbas said, "without hurt', means, `not because of leprosy'.
Musa inserted his hand again in his sleeve and it returned back to its normal color." Mujahid and several others said similarly.

( And he drew forth his hand ) from his armpit: ( and lo! it was white ) shining ( for the beholders ) who looked at it.

And he drew out his hand, and behold! it was white (with radiance) for the beholders.

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