Sayyiduna Musa عَلیہِ السلاَم preached pharaoh for a long time and showed him heavenly signs and miracles. However, he did not embrace the truth and grew even further in his mischief and stubbornness. The Israelites did not accept pharaoh as their Lord; therefore, he tortured them severely. During this persecution, a Divine revelation was revealed upon Sayyiduna Musa عَلیہِ السلاَم directing him to migrate from Egypt along with the Bani Israel overnight. Therefore, Sayyiduna Musa عَلیہِ السلاَم left Egypt overnight along with the Israelites. When pharaoh came to know about it, he mobilized his army to arrest the Israelites. When the two armies became close to each other, the Israelites shrieked out of the fear of pharaoh and thought they would now be arrested by pharaoh. The prevailing situation for the Israelites was very serious because, at one side, they were confronted by the river with big tidal waves in front of them and the bloodthirsty army of pharaoh on the other side.
Under this alarming situation, Sayyiduna Musa عَلیہِ السلاَم was relaxed and was consoling the Israelites. When they approached the river, Allah عزوجل commanded Sayyiduna Musa عَلیہِ السلاَم to strike the river with his staff. Therefore, the moment he عَلیہِ السلاَم struck the river with his blessed staff, twelve clear roads developed across the river. The Israelites walked over these twelve paths and crossed the river safely.
When pharaoh reached the river and saw the twelve roads, he went onto the roads along with his army. However, when he and his army reached the middle of the river, suddenly the huge waves rose and engulfed the roads. Consequently, pharaoh drowned into the river, along with his army. The Holy Quran mentions the incident in these words:
And when the two groups saw each other, those with Musa said, ‘They have captured us.’ Said Musa, ‘Not so, indeed my Lord is with me, He will now show me the way.’ So We sent the Divine revelation to Musa that ‘Strike the sea with your staff; there upon the sea parted; so each part became like a huge mountain. And We brought the others close to that place. And We saved Musa and all those with him, then drowned the others. Indeed in this is necessarily a sign, and most of them were not Muslims.
[Kanz-ul-Iman (Translaion of Quran)] (Part 19, Surah Ash-Shu’ara, verse 61-67)
These are the three wonderful miracles that occurred through the blessed staff of Sayyiduna Musa عَلیہِ السلاَم, that have been mentioned in the Holy Quran repeatedly in different contexts to provide moral lessons for the people. (وَاللہُ تَعَالٰی اَعلَم)