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Historical Errors in the Quran: Difference between revisions
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Some modern academic scholars cite evidence that this could be a case of typology (deliberate literary allusion between characters - see main article). This may be the best explanation, although the verses would still be misleading as historical statements in the view of critics. {{Muslim||2135|reference}} seeks to explain the coincidence based on alleged customary forms of address (to explain "sister of Aaron") or naming customs (to explain why Imran named his daughter Mary), depending on interpretation of the hadith. Either interpretation only reduces part of the coincidence. Even if a naming custom could increase the odds that this father-daughter pair would share names with some earlier biblical family, a further coincidence would still be required if her father happened to be named the same as the father (Imran) in the particular biblical family alluded to when his daughter is addressed as "sister of Aaron". Another attempted explanation is that simply by coincidence this Imran actually had a son called Aaron as well as a daughter named Mary. | Some modern academic scholars cite evidence that this could be a case of typology (deliberate literary allusion between characters - see main article). This may be the best explanation, although the verses would still be misleading as historical statements in the view of critics. {{Muslim||2135|reference}} seeks to explain the coincidence based on alleged customary forms of address (to explain "sister of Aaron") or naming customs (to explain why Imran named his daughter Mary), depending on interpretation of the hadith. Either interpretation only reduces part of the coincidence. Even if a naming custom could increase the odds that this father-daughter pair would share names with some earlier biblical family, a further coincidence would still be required if her father happened to be named the same as the father (Imran) in the particular biblical family alluded to when his daughter is addressed as "sister of Aaron". Another attempted explanation is that simply by coincidence this Imran actually had a son called Aaron as well as a daughter named Mary. | ||
=== | ==='Uzayr as the son of God in Jewish doctrine=== | ||
Historically, Judaism has been a strict form of monotheism. The Quran, by contrast, | Historically, Judaism has been a strict form of monotheism. The Quran, by contrast, states that the Jews call ''ʿUzayr'' (traditionally interpreted as the Biblical figure Ezra) the son of God. This is compared directly with Christians calling Jesus the son of God. | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|9|30}}|The Jews say, "Ezra is the son of Allah "; and the Christians say, "The Messiah is the son of Allah." That is their statement from their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved [before them]. May Allah destroy them; how are they deluded?}} | {{Quote|{{Quran-range|9|30|31}}|30 The Jews say, "Ezra is the son of Allah "; and the Christians say, "The Messiah is the son of Allah." That is their statement from their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved [before them]. May Allah destroy them; how are they deluded?</BR> | ||
31 They have taken their scholars and monks as lords besides Allah, and [also] the Messiah, the son of Mary. And they were not commanded except to worship one God; there is no deity except Him. Exalted is He above whatever they associate with Him.}} | |||
Academic scholars have theorized that the statement derives from the high esteem in which the Biblical Ezra was held in the Talmud, or from the angel Azael in 1 Enoch (a non-canonical Jewish apocalyptic text) | Academic scholars in the past have theorized that the statement derives from the high esteem in which the Biblical Ezra was held in the Talmud, or from the angel Azael in 1 Enoch (a non-canonical Jewish apocalyptic text)<ref>Gabriel Said Reynolds, ''The Quran and Bible: Text and Commentary'', New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2018, pp. 307-8<BR />Reynolds notes that according to one opinion cited in b. Sanhedrin 21b, "''Had Moses not preceded him, Ezra would have been worthy of receiving the Torah for Israel''".</ref> while others have simply inferred that the verse is an example of the thematic assumption in the Quran that humans tend to repeat the same religious mistakes, in this case transferring a Christian concept onto the Jews.<ref>Nicolai Sinai, ''The Qur'an: A Historical-Critical Introduction'', Edinburgh University Press, 2018, p. 201</ref> | ||
====Identification as R. Eliezer==== | |||
In 2025 Holger Zellentin presented a new identification of 'Uzayr which has persuaded many academic scholars.<ref>[https://youtube.com/watch?v=W3Pj8fVo7Y0 Holger Zellentin, "The Divine Authorship of the Misnhah in the Qur'an and in the Rabbinic Tradition] - Youtube.com uploaded 14 May 2025. View from 20 minutes to the end for the identification of 'Uzayr as R. Eliezer<BR/> | |||
This paper was presented at the conference 'The “Seven Long Ones” (al-Sabʿ al-Ṭiwāl): Approaches to Surahs 2–7 and 9', held at Pembroke College, Oxford (24-25 March 2025)</ref> | |||
[[w:Eliezer ben Hurcanus|Eliezer ben Hurcanus]] (ʾEliʿezer, d. 2nd century CE), known as Rabbi Eliezer or Eliezer ha-Gadol ("the Great") is the 6th most commonly mentioned sage in the Mishnah, a 3rd century CE written compilation of Jewish oral traditions which is the first written work of Rabbinic literature. The Mishnah claims its traditions were handed down orally from Moses on Mount Sinai. This concept, later termed "oral Torah" is first seen around the 1st century CE. | |||
Rabbis revered R. Eliezer with great legal authority. A 5th century Palestinian Rabbinic text has god himself quoting the future Rabbi's legal interpretations to Moses on Mount Sinai and promising that this "righteous one" will be born in Moses' lineage.<ref>Pesikta des Rav Kahana 4:7-8.<BR /> | |||
See at 21 minutes in [https://youtube.com/watch?v=W3Pj8fVo7Y0 Zellentin's presentation]</ref> A later text of uncertain date adds that on this occasion the voice of god stated "R. Eliezer my son said...". | |||
<ref>Tanhuma Ḥukat (Chukat) 8-9 (Warsaw), part 2, folio 79a quoted at 26 minutes in [https://youtube.com/watch?v=W3Pj8fVo7Y0 Zellentin's presentation]</ref> | |||
The Jerusalem Talmud (4th/5th century CE, one of two major commentaries on the Mishnah), narrates that after losing a debate and facing excommunication by his peers, a voice from heaven defended the rabbi: "The law accords with Eliezer my son".<ref>See at 27 minutes in [https://youtube.com/watch?v=W3Pj8fVo7Y0 Zellentin's presentation<BR/> | |||
[https://www.sefaria.org/Jerusalem_Talmud_Moed_Katan.3.1.7?lang=bi Jerusalem Talmud: Moed Katan 3:1:7] - Sefaria.org</ref> | |||
The name ʾEliʿezer means “help of god" in Hebrew, from ʾEl (god) and ʿ-z-r (“help”). According to Zellentin, 'Uzayr in Q. 9:30 could be an Arabic version of ʿezer, in the diminutive form (fu’ayl) which adds "ay" to mean, "little helper". This could be a Quranic insult, though possibly was just an affectionate name for the scholar among Arabic speaking Jews.<ref>See from 29 minutes in [https://youtube.com/watch?v=W3Pj8fVo7Y0 Zellentin's presentation].<BR/> | |||
Sidky and Zellentin point out both possibilities. Early Muslims gave the rival prophet Maslamah the insulting diminutive Musaylimah, while on the other hand Ali's sons were called Hasan and Husayn.</ref> | |||
The next verse (Q. 9:31) criticises the authority accorded by Jews to their scholars. Building on an observation by Saqib Hussain, Zellentin argues that this is further evidence that 'Uzayr in the previous verse refers to a rabbinic figure,<ref>At 28 minutes in [https://youtube.com/watch?v=W3Pj8fVo7Y0 Zellentin's presentation]</ref> and regards the verses as a well informed polemic.<ref>This argument was further developed in a presentation by Hythem Sidky with Zellentin [https://event.fourwaves.com/iqsa2025/abstracts/94a52e0d-1e00-470c-a5fc-484fb862df96 Once again on ʿUzayr, the Son of God] (2025)<BR/> | |||
Zellentin compares the language in Q:9:31 with Mishnah Avot 4:12:<BR/> | |||
''Rabbi Elʿazar said: "Let the honor of your disciple be as beloved to you as the honor of your colleague (haver), and the honor of your colleague like the fear of your master (rab), and the fear of your master like the fear of Heaven."''</ref> | |||
====Historical accuracy of the polemic==== | |||
However, it has also been pointed out that "son of god" did not denote any kind of quasi-divine status in Judaism but rather is common language in the Hebrew Bible. In [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Chronicles%2028&version=NIV 1 Chronicles 28:6] Solomon is chosen to be god's son. Even in the Talmud, the voice of god in the temple addresses another Rabbi, Yishmael ben Elisha as "my son".<ref>[https://www.sefaria.org/Berakhot.7a.4?ven=hebrew|William_Davidson_Edition_-_Vocalized_Aramaic&lang=bi Berakhot 7a.4] - Safaria.org</ref> | |||
It may be that Q. 9:30 means no more than that the Jewish scholars (particularly those who follow the Jerusalem Talmud) are like Christians and disbelievers of old in terms of applying "son of god" language to a revered figure, and in ascribing legislative authority to such a man or men which in monotheism belongs to Allah alone (Q. 9:31). | |||
On the other hand, others have noted the vehemence with which Q. 9:30 polemically puts Jews in similar company to Christians in calling a man the son of god, says they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved in the past, invokes Allah's destruction on them and is astonished at their delusion. This may indicate that the author thought Jews called R. Eliezer god's son in a more literal sense. It would be an easy mistake to make or could be deliberate exaggeration. Significantly, the end of Q. 9:31 accuses both the Jews and Christians of failing to worship only one god and of shirk (associating partners with Allah). This may suggest a theological parallel between Christian worship of Jesus and an imagined quasi-divine Jewish reverence for R. Eliezer. | |||
Ironically, the Quran itself unwittingly credits rabbinic interpretations as divine revelation. The most famous example [[Parallels_Between_the_Qur%27an_and_Late_Antique_Judeo-Christian_Literature#Whoever_kills_a_soul_it_is_as_if_he_has_slain_mankind|occurs in Q. 5:32]]. Some critics have also argued there is a double standard in the polemic since {{Quran|33|36}} gives legal authority to Allah and Muhammad and due to the traditional Sunni reliance on his sunnah as recorded in hadiths. | |||
=== The afterlife in the Torah === | === The afterlife in the Torah === | ||