Asiya, the daughter of Muzahim ibn Ubayd ibn Rayyan ibn Walid al-Qibti, was a descendant of the Pharaoh of Joseph’s time. In the Quran she is referred to as the wife of Pharaoh, and in the Book of Exodus as the “daughter of Pharaoh,” yet neither text explicitly mentions her name. Although her name appears in most Islamic exegetical and narrative sources, no ancient Egyptian source—such as inscriptions, papyri, or tombs—nor any Jewish text has so far confirmed this name. Nevertheless, Jewish scholars have speculated in order to identify her historical counterpart (the woman who drew Moses from the water, Asiya or Bithiah) among the wives of the Pharaohs of Egypt’s New Kingdom period, especially Ramesses II. Since the expression “daughter of Pharaoh” occurs sixteen times in the Bible with various referents, including “Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh whom Mered took as wife” and “the daughter of Pharaoh, Solomon’s wife,” it is probable that the Quranic account of Moses refers to Asiya, the wife of Pharaoh and a descendant of the Pharaoh of Joseph’s era, rather than the daughter of the Pharaoh of Moses’ own time.
Asiya; a believing woman mentioned in the Holy Quran and one of the four chosen women in Islamic narrations
