Surah Al Qasas Tafseer

He said:"That (is settled) between me and you:whichever of the two terms I fulfill, there will be no injustice to me, and Allah is Surety over what we say."

Musa said to his father-in-law,

"The matter is as you say. You have hired me for eight years, and if I complete ten years, that is my choice, but if I do the lesser amount, I will still have fulfilled the covenant and met the conditions."

So he said:

أَيَّمَا الاَْجَلَيْنِ قَضَيْتُ فَلَ عُدْوَانَ عَلَيَّ

(whichever of the two terms I fulfill, there will be no injustice to me),

meaning, `there will be no blame on me. The complete term is permissible but it is still regarded as something extra.'

This is like the Ayah,

فَمَن تَعَجَّلَ فِى يَوْمَيْنِ فَلَ إِثْمَ عَلَيْهِ وَمَن تَأَخَّرَ فَل إِثْمَ عَلَيْهِ

But whosoever hastens to leave in two days, there is no sin on him and whosoever stays on, there is no sin on him. (2:203)

And the Messenger of Allah said to Hamzah bin Amr Al-Aslami, may Allah be pleased with him, who used to fast a great deal and who asked him about fasting while traveling:

إِنْ شِيْتَ فَصُمْ وَإِنْ شِيْتَ فَأَفْطِر

If you wish, then fast, and if you wish, do not fast.

even though it is better to fast, according to the evidence of other reports.

And there is evidence which indicates that Musa, peace be upon him, fulfilled the longer of the two terms.

Al-Bukhari recorded that Sa`id bin Jubayr said:

"A Jew from the people of Hirah asked me; `Which of the two terms did Musa fulfill?'

I said, `I do not know until I go to the scholar of the Arabs and ask him.'

So I went to Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, and asked him. He said:

`He fulfilled the longer and better of them, for when a Messenger of Allah said he would do a thing, he did it."'

This is how it was recorded by Al-Bukhari