Prophet Harun (Aaron)

The elder brother of Moses and a prophet whose name occurs in twenty places in the Qur'an. The origin of the word Harun is unknown; the word recorded in the Hebrew Torah as Aharon is thought to have passed into Arabic from Palestinian Syriac, and it is suggested that it may mean “shining”.

Although his name is often mentioned in the Qur'an, little is said of his life and activity; he is generally mentioned together with Moses. Neither does he figure largely in the Torah, where he remains in the second rank beside Moses. According to the Torah he was the son of Amram and Jochebed of the family of Levi; he was three years older than Moses and younger than their sister Miriam. He was born in the time of the Pharaoh who oppressed the Children of Israel in Egypt, and before the order to kill the male children. He married Elisheba and had four sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. During Moses' stay in Midian, Aaron remained in Egypt.

When Moses, on his return from Midian, received the first revelation on Mount Horeb and was charged with bringing the Children of Israel out of Egypt, he expressed his anxiety by saying that he was “slow of speech and of tongue”; his brother Aaron was thereupon given to him as his spokesman. Together they returned to Egypt and gathered the elders of the Children of Israel, and Aaron proclaimed to them the words of the Lord. When they went before Pharaoh, Aaron was eighty-three years old. When Pharaoh demanded a miracle, Aaron cast his staff to the ground and it became a serpent that swallowed the serpents of the magicians. In the Torah the staff that occasions the various miracles is ascribed sometimes to Moses and sometimes to Aaron; in some places Aaron uses the staff of Moses.

After they had crossed the Red Sea and reached the desert of Sinai, hunger set in and Moses and Aaron gave the people the good news of quails and bread. In the battle against the Amalekites, Aaron and Hur helped Moses to keep his hands raised and so sustained the miracle. When Moses went up the mountain to speak with God he left Aaron and Hur in his place. To prove the legitimacy of the priestly office, Aaron's staff budded and blossomed. At Kadesh, when the people rebelled for thirst, the Lord told Moses and Aaron to strike the rock with the staff, and water gushed out.

The Qur'an states that revelation came to Aaron and that he was guided (al-Nisa 4/163; al-An'am 6/84), that favour was shown to him (al-Saffat 37/114), that he spoke well (al-Qasas 28/34), and that the criterion was given to him along with Moses (al-Anbiya 21/48). When Moses was charged to go to Pharaoh he asked God that his brother be given him as a helper and made a partner in his task; his request was granted and Aaron was given prophethood (Ta Ha 20/29-36; al-Furqan 25/35; Maryam 19/53). The two were sent together to Pharaoh with signs and a clear proof (Yunus 10/75; al-Mu'minun 23/45); when the magicians were defeated they declared their faith in the Lord of Moses and Aaron (al-A'raf 7/121-122). Setting out for Sinai for a period of forty days, Moses left Aaron as his deputy, saying “Take my place among my people, act well, and follow not the way of the corrupters” (al-A'raf 7/142). Another verse declares that Moses and Aaron will always be remembered with good (al-Saffat 37/120).

While Moses was on the mount and his people, seduced by the Samiri, made a calf and began to worship it, Aaron warned them: “O my people, you have only been tried by this; your Lord is the Most Merciful, so follow me and obey my order” (Ta Ha 20/90) — but they would not listen. On his return, seeing his people worshipping the calf, Moses rebuked Aaron, who explained himself saying “O son of my mother, do not seize me by my beard or my head! I feared that you would say: you have caused division among the Children of Israel and did not observe my word” (Ta Ha 20/92-94). His part in this episode is told quite differently in the Torah; the three accounts are set side by side under “Differing Views”.

When the people set out from Kadesh and came to Mount Hor, the Lord informed Moses that Aaron's term had come; Moses stripped him of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar, and Aaron died on the summit of Mount Hor (Numbers 20/7-29; 33/38; Deuteronomy 32/50). He is said to have been 123 years old at his death (Numbers 33/39).

His Circle of Influence — In the Jewish scriptures Aaron is presented not only as the brother of Moses and a leader of the Children of Israel but also as the ancestor of the priestly class and the high priest. The whole of the book of Leviticus, and much of Exodus and Numbers, is devoted to Aaron the priest and his duties. The offering of sacrifice, the duties connected with the tent of meeting and the ark of the covenant, the blessing of the people, the judgement concerning lepers, the distinguishing of the holy from the common, and the teaching of God's laws to the people all fall to him. His priesthood and that of his progeny are of permanent status; the principal line is that of his son Eleazar, and the lineage of Ezra the priest goes back to Aaron. In Christianity Aaron is held to be a type of the Messiah: he is likened to him in that he offers sacrifice, mediates between God and men, and performs a religious office in the Holy of Holies; Aaron is the high priest of the Old Covenant and Jesus of the New (Hebrews 5/2-5; 7/11-12; 8).

His Tomb and Complex — According to the widespread tradition, the Mount Hor on which Aaron died is the mountain called Jabal Harun, 1400 metres high, to the west of Petra; this atlas entry is attached to that place. On the highest peak of the mountain stands a structure believed to be his tomb. Nevertheless the source records plainly that where the tomb of Aaron lies is not known with certainty; the other places that have been proposed are listed under “Differing Views”.