The Tsunami Effect in the Prophet Moses’ (as) Parting of the Sea

The Egyptian monarchs known as the pharaohs regarded themselves as divine beings. This was fundamental part of the polytheistic, superstitious religious beliefs prevalent in ancient Egypt. Allah sent the Prophet Moses (as) as messenger to the people of Egypt at a time when they preferred their own superstitious beliefs to the true faith, Islam. It was also during this period of time when the ruling family of Egypt had cruelly enslaved the Israelite tribes in their country. Although the Prophet Moses (as) invited the rulers and the people of Egypt to the faith of the one, true God – Allah – most refused to abandon their pagan beliefs. When they rejected his message, the Prophet Moses (as) reminded the Pharaoh and his court that the wrath of Allah is something to be avoided at all costs. Yet, despite this dire warning from Allah’s Messenger, they rebelled and hurled false accusations at the Prophet in their midst. They accused Moses (as) of madness, sorcery and mendacity. Although various tribulations were inflicted on Pharaoh and his people, they stubbornly refused to submit to the one, true God. They even held the Prophet Moses (as) responsible for what had befallen them, accusing him of cursing their lands, and sought to exile him from Egypt. At this, Allah told the Prophet Moses (as) and those with him to leave where they were:

As revealed in the Qur'an, the two peoples—the Israelites and the Egyptians—came together at the end of this chase. Allah rescued the Prophet Moses (as) and the believers with him by parting the sea, while destroying Pharaoh and his people. Allah's assistance to the believers is revealed as follows in the Qur'an:

The Arabic word "idrib," translated as "strike" in the first of these verses, also means "to open, divide or separate." In the light of this expression and what happened subsequently, the verse may be a reference to the formation of tsunami waves. (Allah knows the truth.) Tsunami waves cause large amounts of water to shift and they can give way to the emergence of earth on shallow grounds. In the time of the Prophet Moses (as), as with the tsunami waves, the waters might have pulled back some hundreds of meters and this might have caused the parting of the sea. (Allah knows the truth.)

Tsunami Formation

Stage 1—Beginning

If the tsunami acts like an earthquake, the sea floor is moved up or down. As a result the mass of water moves up or down.

Stage 2 —Separation

Within a few minutes, the tsunami that starts to form divides in two, one part moving toward the depths of the ocean, the other reaching the coast.

Stage 3—Elevation

The tsunami wave reaching the shore rises up like a huge wave when it reaches the land.

Stage 4- Wave impact

The leading wave becomes pointed and appears to rise even higher. The first part of the wave to hit the land is convex in shape, which is why the water initially seems to be pulling away from the land.

In addition, the waters are compared to mountains in the above verse. The waters collected in a tsunami form a giant peak¹ and resemble a mountain seen from below. As with mountains, the base of this extraordinary phenomenon is very broad and strong. In tsunamis, the depth of the water declines while the mass of the wave expands and rises in height. Tsunamis may be up to 30 meters high.² It is therefore very significant how the waters are likened to a mountain in this Qur’anic passage.

Tsunamis are very different to the waves we are familiar with, and are a movement of the entire depth of water. This is not generally restricted to the surface, and may stretch for several kilometers. They thus possess high levels of energy and move amazingly quickly.³ Scientific statements say this about tsunamis:

In fact the tsunami crest is just the very tip of a vast mass of water in motion... Wind-driven waves and swells are confined to a shallow layer near the ocean surface, a tsunami extends thousands of feet deep into the ocean…. Survivors of tsunami attacks describe them as dark "walls" of water. Impelled by the mass of water behind them, the waves bulldoze onto the shore and inundate the coast...

... The contours of the sea floor and coastline have a profound influence on the height of the waves -- sometimes with surprising and dangerous results. During the 1993 tsunami attack on Okushiri, Japan, the wave "run up" on the coast averaged about 15 to 20 meters (50 - 65 feet). But in one particular spot, the waves pushed into a V-shaped valley open to the sea, concentrating the water in a tighter and tighter space. In the end, the water ran up to 32 meters (90 feet) above sea level, about the height of an 8-story office building.⁴

Past events described in the Qur'an are in complete agreement with present-day historic evidence and scientific advances – this is, without doubt, one of the great miracles of the Qur'an. The waters parted when the Prophet Moses (as) and his companions needed to cross yet they closed again over the heads of Pharaoh and his army – this is a clear instance of Allah’s Love for true believers. Indeed, the Prophet Moses (as) displayed an excellent example of proper moral values by trusting in Allah in that most difficult moment: