A lady asked Hazrat Amirul Momineen, Khalifatul Masih Vaa how Hazrat Harunas survived when Pharaoh had ordered for all the boys of the Bani Isra’il to be killed. Huzoor-e-Anwaraa, in his letter dated 13 June 2021, provided the following reply to this question:
“According to the Bible, Hazrat Harunas was older than Hazrat Musaas. Hence, it is written therein:
“‘And Moses was fourscore years old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old, when they spake unto Pharaoh.’ (Exodus 7:7, KJV)
“It was at the time of the birth of Hazrat Musaas that Pharaoh ordered the killing of Hebrew boys on the advice of astrologers and soothsayers after having seen a dream. Hazrat Harunas survived because he was born before that.
“Another reason for the survival of Hazrat Harunas, as mentioned in the Bible, is that long after the passing of the time of Hazrat Yaqubas and Hazrat Yusufas, the population of the Bani Isra’il swell to the point that the country was filled with them. Thus, the king of that time, fearing their numbers, began inflicting all kinds of hardships on them. However, the more they were persecuted, the more their number increased. As a result, the king of Egypt ordered the midwives to kill any sons born to the Israelite women and to keep any daughters alive. However, the midwives did not follow the king’s orders. (Exodus 1:7-17, KJV)
“Moreover, it is also written in the tafasir, the commentaries of the Holy Quran, that Egyptians used to employ the Israelites without remuneration. Thus, to maintain a sufficient supply of labour, they would let any sons born to the Israelites live a year but would kill those born the following year to prevent the number of the Israelites from growing. Hazrat Harunas was born in the year in which the sons of the Bani Isra’il were spared. (Ma‘alim al-Tanzil [Tafsir al-Baghawi] by Abu Muhammad al-Husayn ibn Mas‘ud ibn Muhammad al-Farra‘ al-Baghawi, under verse 50 of Surah al-Baqarah)
“Thus, these are the various reasons for the survival of Hazrat Harunas which have been mentioned in the Bible and the books of tafsir.”