Mūsa (peace be upon him) was a bashful man who used to cover his skin completely out of extreme bashfulness. So some of the children of Israel abused him
Authentic hadithعن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : "إنَّ موسى كان رجُلا حَيِيًّا سَتِيرًا، لا يُرى من جِلْده شيء استحياء منه، فآذاه مَن آذاه مِن بني إسرائيل فقالوا: ما يَسْتَتِر هذا التَّستُّر، إلا من عيْب بجلده: إما بَرَص وإما أُدْرة، وإما آفة، وإنَّ الله أراد أن يُبرِّئه مما قالوا لموسى، فَخَلا يوما وَحْده، فَوَضَع ثيابه على الحَجَر، ثم اغتسل، فلما فَرَغ أقْبَل إلى ثيابه ليأخذها، وإن الحَجَر عدا بثوبِهِ، فأخَذَ موسى عصاه وطَلَب الحَجَر، فجعل يقول: ثوبي حَجَر، ثوبي حَجَر، حتى انتهى إلى مَلَإ من بني إسرائيل، فرأوه عُرْيانا أحسن ما خلق الله، وأَبْرَأه مما يقولون، وقام الحَجَر، فأخَذ ثوبه فلَبِسه، وطَفِق بالحجر ضربا بعصاه، فوالله إن بالحجر لنُدْبا مِنْ أَثَر ضَرْبِه، ثلاثا أو أربعا أو خمسا، فذلك قوله: {يَاأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَكُونُوا كَالَّذِينَ آذَوْا مُوسَى فَبَرَّأَهُ اللَّهُ مِمَّا قَالُوا وَكَانَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ وَجِيهًا}" [الأحزاب: 69].
Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Mūsa was a bashful man who used to cover his skin completely out of extreme bashfulness. So some of the children of Israel abused him, saying: 'His keenness on covering his body in this way is only because of some defect in his skin, either leprosy or scrotal hernia, or he has some other defect.' Allah wished to clear Mūsa of what they said about him. So, one day, while Mūsa was alone, he took off his clothes and put them on a stone and started bathing. When he finished, he went to get his clothes but the stone ran away with them. Mūsa picked up his stick and ran after the stone saying: 'My garment, O stone! My garment, O stone!' He ran behind it until he reached a group of the Children of Israel who saw him naked then, and found him the best of what Allah had created, and thus Allah cleared him of what they had accused him of. The stone stopped there and Mūsa took his garment, put it on and struck the stone repeatedly with his stick. By Allah, the effect of the strikes was visible on the stone; three, four, or five marks. This was what Allah refers to in His Saying: {O you who have believed, be not like those who abused Moses; then Allah cleared him of what they said. And he, in the sight of Allah , was distinguished.} [Sūrat al-Ahzāb: 69]"
Explanation
Prophet Mūsa (Moses)(peace be upon him) was a man of abundant bashfulness. He always loved to cover himself so that his skin would not be seen out of bashfulness. The Children of Israel verbally abused him. They said that he covered himself as such because he had a skin defect like leprosy or scrotal hernia (i.e. a bulging groin), or some other defect or disease. So, Allah wanted to prove to them that Mūsa was not suffering any of that. One day, he was alone, so he put his clothes on a stone and bathed. After the bath, he went to take his clothes but the stone ran with the clothes on it. Mūsa took his staff and ran naked after the stone, asking it to give him his clothes back. While running, he passed by a group of the Children of Israel who saw him naked and saw that he had perfect skin. They knew then that he had no skin defects. Mūsa caught up with the stone and took his clothes and put them on. He then hit the stone with his staff, leaving on it three, four, or five marks. Allah, the Exalted, referred to this incident in the Qur'an, in the following verse: {O you who have believed, be not like those who abused Moses; then Allah cleared him of what they said. And he, in the sight of Allah, was distinguished} [Sūrat al-Ahzāb: 69]. It warns the believers not to abuse Prophet Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) as the Children of Israel abused Mūsa, who had an honorable status with Allah, the Almighty, and so Allah cleared him of what they had falsely attributed to him.
Source · Narrated by Bukhari & Muslim
From the Hadith Encyclopedia (hadeethenc.com).