فَٱلْتَقَطَهُۥٓ ءَالُ فِرْعَوْنَ لِيَكُونَ لَهُمْ عَدُوًّا وَحَزَنًا
“Firoun’s household picked him up – later to become an enemy and a source of grief for them… [Al Qasas 28: 8]

وَقَالَتِ ٱمْرَأَتُ فِرْعَوْنَ قُرَّتُ عَيْنٍ لِّى وَلَكَ ۖ لَا تَقْتُلُوهُ عَسَىٰٓ أَن يَنفَعَنَآ أَوْ نَتَّخِذَهُۥ وَلَدًا وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ
The wife of Fir’oun said: “This child may become the comfort of the eyes for me and for you. Do not kill him. He may prove useful to us or it may be that we will adopt him as our son.” They were unaware of the result of what they were doing. [Al Qasas 28: 9]

In the meantime, Umm Musa asked her daughter to follow the trail of her younger brother and to keep watch on what was happening around him.

وَقَالَتْ لِأُخْتِهِۦ قُصِّيهِ ۖ فَبَصُرَتْ بِهِۦ عَن جُنُبٍ وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ
She said to Musa’s sister: “Go, and follow him.” So, she (Musa’s sister) watched him from a distance in such a way that the other did not notice it. [Al Qasas 28: 11]

Thus, Musa AS`s sister learned that her brother was refusing to be suckled by any and all wet-nurses.

وَحَرَّمْنَا عَلَيْهِ ٱلْمَرَاضِعَ مِن قَبْلُ فَقَالَتْ هَلْ أَدُلُّكُمْ عَلَىٰٓ أَهْلِ بَيْتٍ يَكْفُلُونَهُۥ لَكُمْ وَهُمْ لَهُۥ نَـٰصِحُونَ
We had already ordained that he would refuse to suck any foster mother. His sister came to Fir’on’s wife and said: “Shall I point out to you a house whose people will take care of him for you and they will be sincere to him?” [Al Qasas 28: 12]
The entire palace entourage was in turmoil searching for a wet-nurse to save the little protégé of Asiyah, the wife of Firoun, who was distraught at the idea of losing the one who had come to fill her maternal void. The divine plan was unfolding slowly but surely.

Musa AS`s sister, moved by this opportunity and taking advantage of the surrounding distress, suggested to them coyly, but nonetheless cleverly, a wet nurse who the child would not refuse. Thus, the baby was returned to Umme Musa and Allah is great and merciful and His promise was fulfilling itself.

Invited by Asiyah to take up residence in the palace as the official wet nurse of the baby, Umme Musa respectfully refused this request, proposing instead to keep the child in her own home for the duration of the breast-feeding period. She justified her refusal arguing she had other children that she could not leave alone. Being the only woman able to breastfeed Asiyah’s young protégé, Umme Musa was aware of the power she was currently wielding. She thereby found herself with the ultimate opportunity to impose her will, and in retrieving the child to feed him she was simply taking back what was rightfully hers. In the privacy of her home, she would be free to express her maternal love as she saw fit, without being monitored by the palace entourage. Confronted by Umme Musa’s tenacity and conscious of the upper hand she had in the situation, Asiyah could but only accept. Umme Musa was motivated by the strength that she drew from her conviction, and her trust in the pact she had forged with Allah. She continually recollected the words of Allah, “We shall return him to you”. He had promised to return her son who was now safe and sound in her arms…

And His Providence was realising itself. Umme Musa, honoured by the divine gifts, was doubly fulfilled: firstly, by the reunion with her child and also because of her intense joy at realising that she, a humble and modest woman, had been chosen by the Creator.

If one had to recall just one moral from the story of Umme Musa, the epitome of a courageous mother – beyond the strength of her feelings – it would be resistance to oppression; a resistance that Umme Musa repeatedly demonstrated thanks to her spiritual strengths; namely the faith in Allah, the trust in His destiny and endurance. She was able to defy, with the help of Allah, the hegemonic will of Firoun.

The motherly love of Umme Musa for her baby is easy to understand, but let us not forget that there was also a second woman who helped him, and that was his sister.

It was his sister who had suggested and directed Asiyah to the perfect wet-nurse for Musa AS – his mother. She could have been like the brothers of Yusuf AS and said, “Now I can have more of my mother`s love,” but she was different, she cared, not only about her brother but also about her mother.