It has often been noted that while the Bible is (among many other things) a series of historical narratives, the Qur’an is a series of sermons. This is nowhere clearer than in the oft-repeated story of Moses. While the Bible’s first five books contain the story of Moses in what is in the main a continuous narrative, the Qur’an tells parts of this story in suras 2, 7, 10, 17, 20, 26, 27 and this one (and elsewhere also).
There is a great deal of repetition and overlap, but there are also unique features of most every retelling. Each one has its own homiletic point: details of Moses’ life are used to warn unbelievers or exhort believers to greater piety. As we saw last week, Ibn Abbas and Jabir bin Zaid say that suras 26, 27, and 28 were revealed in that order. Maududi says that “the different parts of the Prophet Moses story as mentioned in these surahs together make up a complete story.” Still, if someone were to try to reconstruct the chronology of Moses’ life by means of the Qur’an alone, it would be very difficult.
Meanwhile, the recurring preoccupation with Moses reinforces his status as a prophet of Islam, as well as the perversity of the Jews in not recognizing the congruence of Muhammad’s message with that of Moses, and then becoming Muslims. Maududi emphasizes that, here again, the point of these retellings of Moses’ story is not to make a point about Moses, but about Muhammad: “The main theme” of this sura, he says, “is to remove the doubts and objections that were being raised against the Prophethood of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (upon whom be Allah’s peace and blessings) and to invalidate the excuses which were being offered for not believing in him. For this purpose, first the story of the Prophet Moses has been related…by analogy with the period of revelation.”
Verses 2-43 tell Moses’ story, echoing many elements of the Biblical account, although Haman is imported from another time and place (his story is in the Book of Esther) to be Pharaoh’s assistant (v. 8). Allah tells Moses’ mother to cast him into the river “when thou hast fears about him” (v. 7). She does, the “people of Pharaoh” rescue him (v. 8), and his mother, her identity not known to the Egyptians, becomes his nursemaid (v. 13). Moses declares he will never assist those who sin (v. 17) – a declaration that modern Salafis (rigorous, “pure” Muslims) link to Muhammad’s saying recorded in the Mishkat al-Masabih, that someone who knowingly assists a tyrant is no longer a Muslim. This is their justification for opposing authoritarian rulers in Muslim countries who do not implement the fullness of Sharia (such as Mubarak and Musharraf).
Moses kills an Egyptian and Allah forgives him (vv. 15-16), but his deed becomes known (v. 19) and Moses flees to Midian (v. 22). There he agrees to work for the unnamed Jethro in exchange for his daughter’s hand in marriage (v. 27). He sees the burning bush (v. 29), encounters Allah (v. 30), and is given the miracles of the rod (v. 31) and his white hand (v. 32) to show Pharaoh. Pharaoh dismisses his preaching as “sorcery” (v. 36), just as the unbelievers will say about Muhammad (11:7, 15:15). And after Allah flings Pharaoh and his hosts into the sea (v. 40), we get to the point of the story.
That point is in verses 44-55: the fact that Muhammad knows these details of Moses’ life, when he wasn’t there to witness them, is proof that Muhammad is a prophet. Ibn Kathir explains: “Allah points out the proof of the prophethood of Muhammad, whereby he told others about matters of the past, and spoke about them as if he were hearing and seeing them for himself. But he was an illiterate man who could not read books, and he grew up among a people who knew nothing of such things.” So we see Allah reminding Muhammad that he wasn’t present at various events in Moses’ life (vv. 44-46). Yet the pagan Arabs demand that Muhammad perform miracles as Moses did, even though they don’t believe in Moses either (v. 48); “they only follow their own lusts” (v. 50). The People of the Book know that the Qur’an is true — “this was revealed,” says the Tafsir al-Jalalayn, “regarding certain Jews who became Muslims, such as ‘Abd Allāh b. Salām and others, and [certain] Christians who had come from Abyssinia and Syria [who also became Muslims].”
Verses 56-75 excoriate the perversity of the unbelievers, in ignoring and denying the clear signs of Allah. Allah guides whom he will; Muhammad will not be able to bring to the truth all those he loves (v. 56) – yet another verse indicating that belief and unbelief is solely in Allah’s hands. This verses was revealed,” Ibn Kathir explains, “concerning Abu Talib, the paternal uncle of the Messenger of Allah” — and the father of Ali, the hero of the Shi’ites. Abu Talib “used to protect the Prophet, support him and stand by him. He loved the Prophet dearly, but this love was a natural love, i.e., born of kinship, not a love that was born of the fact that he was the Messenger of Allah. When he was on his deathbed, the Messenger of Allah called him to Faith and to enter Islam, but the decree overtook him and he remained a follower of disbelief, and Allah’s is the complete wisdom.”
Allah will taunt the unbelievers on the Day of Judgment, asking them where his “partners” are (vv. 62, 74-75). Verses 76-88 follow this with the story of Qarun (Korah of Number 16:1-40), who rebelled against Moses. Qarun trusts in his great wealth instead of worshipping Allah (v. 78). According to a hadith, Abu Hurayra, one of Muhammad’s companions, recalled Muhammad saying that only three things actually belong to the man who glories in his riches: the food he eats, the clothes he wears out, and the money he spends in the cause of Allah. “All else,” said Muhammad, “ he will leave for his heirs.” No doubt about that.
Those “whose aim is the life of this world” (v. 79) envied him, but the righteous knew better (v. 80), and sure enough, in due time Allah “caused the earth to swallow up him and his house” (v. 81). Muhammad should “never be a helper to the disbelievers” (v. 86) – “rather,” says Ibn Kathir, “separate from them, express your hostility towards them and oppose them.” For in the end, everything will perish except His Face” (v. 88) – that is, everything except Allah. This might seem to contradict the idea of the eternity of Paradise and hell, but the Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs glosses it in this way: “all works that are for other than Allah’s Countenance…will not be accepted…except that which is meant for the sake of His Countenance.”
Next week: Sura 29: “Do those who practice evil think that they will get the better of Us?”
(Here you can find links to all the earlier "Blogging the Qur'an" segments. Here is a good Arabic Qur’an, with English translations available; here are two popular Muslim translations, those of Abdullah Yusuf Ali and Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall, along with a third by M. H. Shakir. Here is another popular translation, that of Muhammad Asad. And here is an omnibus of ten Qur’an translations.)
excoriate the perversity of the unbelievers, in ignoring and denying the clear signs of Allah. Allah guides whom he will;
Allah will taunt the unbelievers on the Day of Judgment,
So he will taunt the unbelievers, though he is the reason they don't believe.
What a sick, mean god.
It's like not allowing a person to attend school and then taunting them and calling them dumb.
So Mohammad is a good story teller and a prophet because he says he is. No one ever heard these stories? How can people believe that when he lived near the Kabal? Where travelers from all over visited? Surely he heard stories from the people who visited?
And if Moses is so reveared why aren't the second sons named Moses?
It appears to this rookie that Ibn Kathir deliberately ignored the possibility that Mohammad would have known Arabian Jews from his line of work and even carried on conversations with them about Moses well before he invented the perversion of Judaism and Christianity that he named Islam.
In fact, 60 year old Mohammad forcibly married a beautiful 17 year old Jew after slaughtering the men in her family. (Aisha must have been irked to the nth degree!)Safiyah Bint Huyeiy Ibn Akhtab was the daughter of Huyeiy Ibn Akhtab, the chief of the Jewish Banu Nadir tribe, who were all expelled from Madinah "for plotting to kill the Messenger of Allah," according to Islamic sources.
Too bad they failed.
I don't doubt that Mohammad picked Safiyah's brains to add Mosaic details to his "revelations" from Gabriel/Allah. What better way to "win" Jewish converts to his newfangled "religion" than by co-opting Moses, just as he also co-opted Jesus? The bloody perverter was nothing if not shrewd.
There is an insecurity in this and other koranic stories that Mohammed and his message be believed. I once read a really funny comic book version of the Koran, written by an apostate called "Mohammed's Believe It or Else". I think it's still available online. But doesn't that title really sum it all up?
Even Moses was a good Muslim. Right...
Isn't it ironic that the inherited anti-semitism of Islam ignores the fact that one of the foundations of Islam is the Jewish religion?
Another thought - Robert, am I correct in thinking that Mohammed originally had his followers praying in the direction of Jerusalem and then changed the direction to Mecca?
And if Moses is so reveared why aren't the second sons named Moses?
Posted by: Borg at June 9, 2008 7:44 AM
Oh, Borg, Thank God they're not named Moses. How horrible that would be. Oh man, esp. Thank God Mohammedans don't name their kids Jesus. What an abomination that would be.
The bloody perverter was nothing if not shrewd.
Posted by: Lex at June 9, 2008 7:56 AM
Mo is the Con Man of Con Men. No one else has ever come close to the Con called "Islam."
Another thought - Robert, am I correct in thinking that Mohammed originally had his followers praying in the direction of Jerusalem and then changed the direction to Mecca?
Posted by: tanstaafl at June 9, 2008 8:20 AM
Yes, that's true. He hoped to win over the Jews. But, the Jews would not be won over by Mo. This angered Mo greatly, and he switched to Mecca.
Of course RS can answer you with greater knowledge and detail.
Today's Blogging the Quran is fascinating, as usual.
The Bible is large, expansive, interesting, and filled with millions of people, including interesting and heroic women. 44 authors all telling a similar story.
The Qur'an is small, repetitive, boring, and plagiarizes The Bible in the few stories it tells. Mary is there, no other women. 1 author, Mohammed. Just have to take his word for it that he received "revelations!" Nothing so believable as a self-proclaimed Prophet!
Perhaps RS can comment on this:
"Allah" refers to himself as "Lord of the Worlds" in the Q - 26 times in 26 verses.
Whereas, nowhere in The Bible does God call himself "Lord of the Worlds."
Yet another reason, among many, why God and "Allah' are not the same.
Darcy - your last post - Does this mean that there are other worlds created and sustained by Allah. Where are they? Did Allah create Mars? (I will not make the desert connection at this time) How about Venus? Maybe Saturn?
tanstaafl - you must ask RS to answer those questions you pose. I don't know.
Darcy: "Lord of the Worlds" is a Buddhist concept, otherwise known as "Lokeshvara".
Darcy - your last post - Does this mean that there are other worlds created and sustained by Allah. Where are they? Did Allah create Mars? (I will not make the desert connection at this time) How about Venus? Maybe Saturn?
Posted by: tanstaafl
I have asked this question of several muslims. Including about life on Mars. The answer is that Allah created everything. When I ask why he never mentioned extra planetary life, or it's possibility
to Mohammad, I get no answer...
Darcy/Borg: Muslims do indeed name their children Moses - "Musa" is Moses in Arabic. Also, I believe that "Issa" or "Essa," Arabic for Jesus, is also a fairly common Muslim name. (I defer to Robert for confirmation.) In any event, many Old and New Testament names, Arabized, are commonly given to Muslims. Examples: Yahya (John), Dawood or Dawoud (David), Suleiman (Solomon), Ishaq (Isaac), Haroun or Aroun (Aaron), Maryam (Mary or Miriam), Yussef (Joseph), Adahm (Adam) and, of course, Ibrahim. All of these Biblical figures, along with many others, are avowed to be Muslims, or proto-Muslims (I forget the Arabic word).
Suppose the Bible had not been written. Would Mo have told the identical stories? I suppose the answer is yes as the text of the Koran was given by Allah. Now if Allah is infallible and outside time and space then why did Allah pay any attention to Moses and how come Allah has no biographical knowledge? And so on-information cannot argue with a closed mind-to paraphrase Mike Nichols.
@pipertune
The assumsion of your first statement;
Suppose the Bible had not been written.
Does not equal the conclusion of yes unless you also assume that Allah and the God of the Bible are the same.
All of the virtues of the Biblical God are not present in Mo's invention. Actually that is telling in itself. So at the very best Allah is the opposite of what most would call the true God. And oddly enough there is a character in the Bible that fits Allah much closer than God. However (and this is important) there are no characters in the Koran with real or apparent virtue. It is blithely explained away by saying, that Allah is above virtue.
I contend that the God of the Bible is different and not Allah because he has all the power of God and does not compromise or nullify virtue. This to me and should be to anyone carefully thinking this through to be greater and more God worthy.
Jev 2:11
Has any nation ever exchanged its gods for another god, even though its gods are nothing? Yet my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols!
Jev 2:11
وقد تبادلت أية أمة من اي وقت مضى لدورته الآلهة إلها آخر ، وبالرغم من الآلهة شيئا؟ بعد شعبي تتبادل الله مجيد لقيمة الأصن
Muslims say that Allah is the same as the God of Christians and Jews and explain that the latter are mistaken. We gain no traction in declaring Allah a different god.
However, Islam and Christo-Judaism are different. One subtle distinction is in the Muslim ideas about god's nature expressed by Pipertune's comment about God's virtue.
I believe, but do not know, that Muslim philosophy proscribes any intelligible characterization of Allah's nature. That is, Muslims never say what Allah is?(
Thank you for clarification Robin Staveling. There seems to be no limit to apologists sophistry(?) The moon, and any other chosen object is a lantern!