26:63
Then We told Moses by inspiration: “Strike the sea
with thy rod.” So it divided, and each separate
part became like the huge, firm mass of a mountain.
The following excerpt is taken from “Tafhim ul Quran”
by Sayyid Maududi under the commentary of the above
verse note 47:
“Literally, tawd is a high mountain. It appears that as
soon as Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) struck the
sea with his staff, it tore the sea asunder and the waters
stood like two mighty mountains on the sides and
remained in that condition for so long that, on the one
hand, the Israelite caravans consisting of hundreds of
thousands of the migrants were able to passthrough
safely, and on the other, Pharaoh and his hosts stepped in
and reached the middle of the sea. In the natural course, a
phenomenon like this has never occurred that due to a
windstorm, however strong, the sea should have parted
and stood like mighty mountains on either side for such a
long time. According to Surah Taa-Haa 20:77 , Prophet
Moses (peace be upon him) was commanded by Allah to
make for them (the Israelites) a dry path across the sea.
This shows that the smiting of the sea did not only result
in dividing the waters into two parts, which stood like
mighty mountains on either side, but it also created a dry
path in between without any mud or slush. In this
connection, one should also consider Ayat 24 of Surah
Dukhan 44:24 , which says that after Moses (peace be
upon him) had crossed the sea along with his people, he
was commanded by Allah to let the sea remain as it is
because Pharaoh is to be drowned in it. This implies that
50
if after crossing the sea, Moses had again struck it with
his staff, the two sides would have rejoined, but he was
forbidden to do so. Obviously, this was a miracle, and the
view of those who try to interpret it as a natural
phenomenon, is belied.”
References:
Maududi, Abul Ala (2010). Tafhim ul Quran. (note 47).
https://www.englishtafsir.com/Quran-
/6/index.html #sdfootnote47sym