Moses in Qur'an and Bible

(11) Ignorance of the Law and Persistence in Ignorance:

It has been the rule with the old nations of the world that after the passing away of their prophets they gradually let the law enforced by them fall into desuetude and followed self invented rituals and customs according to their wishes in place of the simple and clear teachings of their faith, The Israelites were no exception. Thought they had the Torah with them thought not in its original purity, yet their religious life was based upon certain superstitious rites and customs. The Qur'an points this out in these words:

"And there are among them illiterates who know not the Book but only idle stories and they only make use of conjectures." (2:78)

The Qur'an condemns them in these words:

"O people of the Book! Be not unduly immoderate in your religion and not follow the low desires of people who went astray before and led many astray and drifted away from the right path." (5:77)

This is only a birds-eye-view of the state of society among the people of the Book during the Prophetic mission of Muhammad (may peace and the blessings of God be upon him). This picture is drawn in the sacred book of Islam with the object of warning the Muslims that God's law of Requital is universal and undiscriminating and is applied to all without the least distinction of race and creed. For is it not said in the Qur'an.

"Thou shalt not find any change in the course of Allah." (33:62)

"Thou shalt not find any alteration in the course of Allah." (35:43)

NOTES:

[^0] The word Fir'aun looks to a superficial observer to be only a difference of pronunciation but this is not so. Pharaoh is undoubtedly the Hebraized title of the King of Egypt.

If the Prophet had heard this title from the Jews there was no reason why he should not have used Pharaoh (Fero) in Arabic and its pronunciation was not difficult for the Arabs. But he did not do it and there must be some reason for it. That reason has come to light now from the book of Herodotus; the Greek historian of ancient Greece. He uses Peroun for Pharaoh, the very title the Qur'an has used.

Herodotus's information must be direct and first-hand. Was this true also of Muhammad? Yes, in one sense, for the real author of the Qur'an is far better informed than the Jews, and if, later, a Greek historian whose work could never have been consulted by the Prophet in Mecca accidentally comes to confirm the Qur'anic name, it should give some food for reflection to those who glibly talk of Muhammad obtaining his information from the Jews or from the folk-lore popular in Arabia in his days.

1. The Christian critics point out that Haman who is mentioned here as the minister of Pharaoh is not mentioned in the Bible as such and therefore, they allege that the Prophet has blundered and confounded the Haman mentioned ill the book of Esther of the Old Testament, a favourite of the Persian king Abasuerus with the minister of Pharaoh. But this allegation is based on ignorance combined with prejudice as we shall presently prove.

The Pharaoh who was the contemporary of Moses was Rameses II belonging to the nineteenth dynasty of Egypt. During his reign some of the biggest temples and buildings of Egypt were constructed and the head priests of the temples enjoyed great power in the land. Among these the high priest of the temple of Ammon, the Ram-god was the most powerful (Jewish Encyclopaedia, Vol. X, p. 12)

Dr .Steindroff of the Leipzig University, in the book Religious of Ancient Egyptians, states on page 96 that the high priest of the temple of Ammon was the chief officer in charge of constructions and decorations of all public buildings and he also used to be the general of the military attached to the temples like the archbishops of medieval Europe. He was also in charge of the public treasury and the head of all the priests of the temples of Thebes and of north and the south Egypt, Again on page 106 he writes that the servants of the temples were mostly prisoners of war or the cultivators and artisans of the land.

Forced labour was imposed on them all in the construction of public buildings. The priests were very wealthy and exercised great power over the people. The high priest of the Temple of Ammon was owner of one-tenth of the whole of land.

Now keeping these things in view which the European orientalists have discovered from the study of Egyptian archaeology let us see that the Qur'an says about Haman:

"Surely Fir'aun and Haman and their hosts were wrong-doers." (28:8)

No doubt Pharaoh was the king, but the high priest of Ammon with his retinue was also of no less importance and therefore the Qur'an uses the words "and their hosts." Again in the same chapter the Qur'an says:

"And Fir'aun said: O chiefs I do not know of any god for you besides myself and therefore burn me then, O Haman! Bricks of clay and build me a lofty tower that I may mount up to the Lord of Musa, for, in sooth I deem him a liar," (28:38)

This shows that the high priest of Ammon was also the chief architect of the kingdom. Now why did the Qur'an call him Haman? The simple reply is that in the Old Testament the brother of Moses is called Aaron who was the high priest of the Israelites and the Qur'an has called him Harun. Like was the high priest of Ammon is called Haman in place of Ammon.

In the city of Munich in Germany there is an ancient statue on which is written that it is the statue or the high priest of Ammon of the time of Rameses II (vide Dr Steindroff, op. cit, pp. 97-98). The Muslim commentators of the Qur'an called Haman as the vizier of Pharaoh without any proof and the Christian critics of the Qur'an took this opportunity to level the charge of historical blunder against the Qur'an,

but recent researches have furnished the proofs, See Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. IX 11th edition, p. 54, where it is stated that along with many other powers the high priest of Ammon used to be appointed as the vizier in charge of southern Egypt. Indeed what the Qur'an has stated fourteen hundred years ago is being proved by modern researches day by day and why should it not be so when the Al1-Knowing God Himself says;

'This is of the announcements relating to the unseenwhich We reveal to thee (0 Muhammad)" (112:192),

But those blinded with prejudice can hardly see the truth.

2. Christian critical opinion discovers here another example of how the Qur'an commits mistakes in borrowing from the Bible. It says that the Prophet had in mind a confused idea of Jacob making an agreement with Laban to serve him for seven years as a condition of marrying one of his daughters (Genesis, 29: 18) and he invented the story of Moses's marriage.

The slightest similarity in incidents like similarity of names (as we have seen in the case of Haman) gives rise in the minds of the Christian critics to a conclusion of confusion and anachronism where the Qur'an is concerned. But they intentionally forget that the stories given in the Bible of Laban marrying his daughters with Jacob by fraudulent methods and then Jacob's going to the female slaves of both his wives and producing children from them in Genesis, 29 and 30, are daring examples of incident and even loathsome fiction.

The Qur'an is far above borrowing such disgusting and abominable tales. We have quoted these passages for our reader's illumination showing the worth of the Bible narratives.

According to Rabbinical accounts as given in the Jewish Encyclopaedia Moses lived with Jethro for ten years which corroborates the Qur'anic story in substance and there is nothing in the circumstances that he may have served him during that period in consideration for marrying of his daughters. The Qur'an does not state how many daughters the man had. It only speaks of two of them being in charge of their father's flocks Hened the alleged confusion of this story with that of Laban's two daughters is itself due to confusion of the minds of our Christian critics.

3. When Moses was a child he burnt his tongue with a live coal. This caused an impediment in his tongue to speak freely. This fact is not mentioned in the Bible but it is given in Midrash Julkut on Ex. c. 166 and also in Shalsheleth Hakabalab, p. 5 b.

4. Here again we have an instance of the correctness of the Qur'anic statement where it differs with the Bible showing the incompleteness of the Bible narrative. In the 4th chapter of Exodus it is clearly stated that two signs were given to Moses, that of his rod turning into a serpent and that of his hand turning white when put into his bosom And when we read chapter 7 where the performance of these miracles before Pharaoh is recorded, we find mention only of the miracle of the rod. It is, however obvious that Moses must have shown the second sign on the rejection of the first, for he could not have disobeyed the Divine commandment, nor was the second miracle given to him in vain.

5. The Bible does not speak of the magicians as believers in the Divine mission of Moses and in the Lord of the worlds Whom he represented. But we have mention of this in the Rabbinical literature according to which some Egyptians accompanied Moses when he departed from Egypt which is corroborated by the Bible narrative: " And a mixed multitude also went up with them" (Exodus 12: 39) "For the Egyptians, when the time fixed for Moses's descent from the mountains had expired came in a body, forty thousand of them accompanied by two Egyptian magicians, Yanos and Yambross the same who imitated Moses in producing the signs and the plagues in Egypt" (Jewish Encyclopaedia). This is a proof of the truth of the statement made in the Qur'an and of the incompleteness of the Bible narrative.

6. The Bible does not mention that the body of Pharaoh was cast ashore. But from recent discoveries in Egyptology it has been found that the body of Rameses who is regarded as the Pharaoh of Moses's time has been preserved among the mummies of Egypt (vide Encyclopaedia Britannica, Article: 'Mummy"). This is another instance of the insufficiency of the Bible narrative and the truth of the Qur'anic statement where it supplements the Bible.

Surely the discovery now made could not have been known to the Holy Prophet and here we have a clear example of the superhuman knowledge contained in the Qur'an. The contention of the Christian critics that the stories of the Qur'an are borrowed from the Bible falls flat to the ground.

7. According to the Bible, Moses received the Torah in the form of tablets written by the hand of God "The tablets were the work of God and the writing was writing of God graven upon the tablets. (Exodus, 32: 16). But according to the Qur'an the Torah was revealed to Moses in the same manner as books were revealed to other prophets and as the Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet of Islam.

"Who revealed the Book which Musa brought?" (6:92); 'We have sent revelations to thee as We sent revelations to Nuh and prophets after him" (6:163)

8. According to the Bible, Moses in his anger broke the tablets on which the word of God was written (Ex 32: 19) and Ex. 34: 1 describes how they were renewed, but the Qur'an says that he only put the down and took them up again when his anger calmed. It appears strange indeed that a prophet like Moses should have been so overpowered with wrath as to have broken the tablets upon which were written down Divine communications. Therefore the Bible narratives must be rejected. Its absurdity is to be found in the fact that the tablets of stone written with the finger of God by merely being cast out of his hand, as the Bible says, had been so broken as to make the writing illegible. Therefore the Qur'anic statement which contradicts the Bible is the correct one.

9. In chapter 32 of Exodus the people cause Aaron to make a calf out of their golden ornaments. He fashions the calf with graving tool after melting the gold into the shape of a calf and builds an altar for it and offers burnt offerings. God informs Moses of their transgression and wishes to destroy them all. Moses beseaches the Lord not to be angry and reminds Him of the promise He gave to Abraham, Isaac and Israel and God repents for the evil which He thought to do to the Israelites.

Imagine the enormity of accusing God of committing an evil and repenting for it. Moses returns to his people, casts the tablets out of his hand and breaks them beneath the mount and takes Aaron to task for the sin he committed. Aaron confesses his fault and the chapter ends with the words:

"And the Lord plagued the people because they made the calf which Aaron made."

The Qur'an not only clears him of idol-making but shows him as plainly warning the Israelites because of the worship of the calf in these words:

"0 my people, you are only tried by it and surely your Lord is the Beneficient God; therefore follow me and obey my orders." (20:90)

Here Aaron's excuse and Moses's acceptance of it show clearly that Aaron was quite innocent, having had a share neither in making the calf nor in worshipping it. The Bible account which makes a righteous prophet of God guilty of the most heinous crime must be rejected as untrue. Here is another example of the Qur'an championing the cause of the prophets of God and clearing them of the blasphemies that the compilers of the Bible have heaped upon their sacred memories.

10. Who was this Samiri? As the Bible does not mention the name of any such person, the adverse Christian critics of the Qur'an at once jump to the conclusion that the Qur'an has committed a blunder of anachronism. According to these critics, the Jewish capital Samariah was founded about 925 B.C. long after the Exodus and a tribe by The name of Samaritans sprang up from this place which was a cross-breed of the Israelites and the Gentiles, and calf worship was in vogue among these people.

Perhaps Muhammad learnt this from the Jews at Mecca and fabricated this story in connection with Moses. We have seen under footnote 2 how in the case of Haman, the high pries of Ammon, they made similar accusations and how the truth of the Qur'an was vindicated by the researches in Egyptology. A similarity in names becomes enough authority with these oriental scholars where Muhammad or the Qur'an is concerned and that is enough excuse to accuse the Qur'an or the Prophet.

There is every possibility of this Samiri to be some ancestor of the Samaritans. What the Qur'an says in this verse is that some person other than Aaron was responsible for making the calf From Rabbinical literature (see Jewish Encyc., Art: "Calf") it appears that the Egyptians who had come with the Israelites were foremost in demanding the making of the calf. Imam Razi in his commentary asserts that he was an Egyptian who had believed in Moses and come along with the Israelites.

11. This shows that the ashes of the calf were thrown into the sea and the story of the Israelites being made to drink water mixed with the ashes of the calf is not credited by the Qur'an as given in Exodus, 32: 20, and Deut. 2: 21. The ring-leaders among the Israelites show seduced the people to calf-worship were slain by the Levites. The Bible states that three thousand. people were killed on that day. Therefore there was no need of making them drink the water containing the ashes of the calf.

The Qur'an, on the other hand, tells us:

"And when Musa said to his people: O my people! you have surely been unjust to yourselves by taking the calf for a god. Therefore turn to you Creator penitently and mortify yourselves. That is best for you with your Creator. So He turned to you mercifully, for surely He is the oft-returning to mercy, the Merciful." (2:54).

Thus the wrong was forgiven, though it is possible that the forgiveness may have been granted after the sentence was executed. It is however strange that Aaron, who according to the Bible, made the image and led the people to calf-worship was not at all punished. This itself is enough to show that the allegation made against him in the Bible was baseless.

12. The slaughter of a cow referred to in this verse has nothing in common with the slaying of the heifer as an expiration of the uncertain murder in Deut. 21: 1-9 or to the slaughter of a red heifer, the ashes of which purify one who was touched the dead body of any man (Num. 19: 1-9) except the fact that as the Israelites held the cow in great honour and even worshipped it, as is clear from their worship of the golden calf, they were ordered to slaughter such cows as were usually let abroad and worshipped as sacred objects-cows not wrought with nor drawn in yoke but let loose to wander abroad and the cow mentioned in these verses is a typical cow answering this description.

This type of cow is still an object of special reverence in India. The slaughter of this particular type was specially enjoined upon the Jews according to the Bible as well as the Holy Qur'an the object being to root out cow-worship among them.

But whereas the Biblical injunction to slaughter a heifer is a general injunction to be observed whenever an uncertain murder takes place or an unclear person is to be purified the injunction as contained in the Qur'an points to the slaughter of one particular cow which was probably likely to become an object of worship. Indeed there is a striking resemblance between the colour of the golden calf and the cow ordered to be slaughtered.

The concluding words of the passage show that because of their reverence for that particular cow, the Jews were very averse to slaughter it. This incident is entirely ignored by the Bible.

13. The Bible has ascribed a very despicable act of Moses. In the book of Numbers, chapters 12, verse I, it is written that the sister of Moses, Miryam, charged him with illicit connection with a Cushite woman and the God of Moses became angry with her and made her leper but on the prayer of Moses she was restored again to health. The Qur'an rejects this story in the verses quoted above.

Further on, the Bible paints Moses as a heartless tyrant inflicting vengeance on the Midianites for the doubtful fault of one Midianite woman who was supposed to beguile an Israelite. In retribution he wages war against the Midanites in which all the males are slain and all the women and children are taken captive and all their flocks and herds and goods are taken and all their cities and castles are burnt.

When the spoils of this war are taken to Moses he gets angry with his men for having spared the women and children and he orders to kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him, in cold blood and distributes the virgins and the little ones among his followers to be their slaves and those numbered thirty-two thousand souls in all, (vide chapter 31, Numbers).

14. This was not mentioned in the story of Moses as this incident did not take place during the life-time of Moses. We read in Ezek, 22:, 8-15 the following; "Thou hast despised mine holy things, and has profaned my Sabbaths. In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in thee they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they commit lewdness. In thee have they discovered their fathers' nakedness; in thee they humbled her that was set apart for pollution.

And one hath committed abomination with his neighbour's wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter in law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter... and I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in countries." All this description conforms to the character of apes which the Qur'an uses.

Moses's prophecy of the fact of the Jewish nation amply bears out the description as given in the Qur'an. "And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest; but the Lord shall thee a trembling heart, and falling of eyes, and sorrow of Mind" (Deut. 28: 64-65)