The ark and sakina (sacred relics)

Sha'rawi holds that the ark God made the sign of Talut's kingship was a sacred object for the Children of Israel. It held sakina from God and remains left by the house of Musa and Harun ¹.

He says that relics tied to events of faith and prophethood matter for belief and should be left as they are, as reminders, rather than counted as idolatry. He holds that rulers should look after them, display them so that they become a source of calm, and advise people not to be drawn into them ^{2 3}.

He notes that the verse does not say the ark would come whole or that it held what Musa was placed in. It says remains, and that angels carry it, which he reads as a sign of its weight ³.

He reports that some said the remains were Musa's staff. He finds this reasonable, since the staff was one of the tools of his sign and his people would not have let it go ⁴.

This is Sha'rawi's reading. The exegetical discussion of the ark, the academic view and any non-Sunni view have not been checked, so nothing is attributed to them.