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Historical Errors in the Quran: Difference between revisions
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{{Quote|{{Quran-range|5|72|75}}|They surely disbelieve who say: Lo! Allah is the Messiah, son of Mary. The Messiah (himself) said: O Children of Israel, worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord. Lo! whoso ascribeth partners unto Allah, for him Allah hath forbidden paradise. His abode is the Fire. For evil-doers there will be no helpers. '''They surely disbelieve who say: Lo! Allah is the third of three'''; when there is no Allah save the One Allah. If they desist not from so saying a painful doom will fall on those of them who disbelieve. Will they not rather turn unto Allah and seek forgiveness of Him? For Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. '''The Messiah, son of Mary, was no other than a messenger''', messengers (the like of whom) had passed away before him. '''And his mother was a saintly woman. And they both used to eat (earthly) food.''' See how We make the revelations clear for them, and see how they are turned away!}} | {{Quote|{{Quran-range|5|72|75}}|They surely disbelieve who say: Lo! Allah is the Messiah, son of Mary. The Messiah (himself) said: O Children of Israel, worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord. Lo! whoso ascribeth partners unto Allah, for him Allah hath forbidden paradise. His abode is the Fire. For evil-doers there will be no helpers. '''They surely disbelieve who say: Lo! Allah is the third of three'''; when there is no Allah save the One Allah. If they desist not from so saying a painful doom will fall on those of them who disbelieve. Will they not rather turn unto Allah and seek forgiveness of Him? For Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. '''The Messiah, son of Mary, was no other than a messenger''', messengers (the like of whom) had passed away before him. '''And his mother was a saintly woman. And they both used to eat (earthly) food.''' See how We make the revelations clear for them, and see how they are turned away!}} | ||
A common interpretation advocated by Muslim scholars today is that this refers to a fringe Arab Christian sect known as the Collyridians. However, this sect were only mentioned in a 4th century CE book on heresies. The most plausible | A common interpretation advocated by Muslim scholars today is that this refers to a fringe Arab Christian sect known as the Collyridians. However, this sect were only mentioned in a 4th century CE book on heresies. The most plausible interpretation so far by academic scholars sees these verses as a response to a Byzantine theological dispute and contemporary war propaganda (or a misunderstanding thereof, in the view of critics). For details, see the Qur'anic Trinity section of the article [[Parallels Between the Qur'an and Late Antique Judeo-Christian Literature]]. | ||
===Mary as Miriam=== | ===Mary as Miriam=== | ||
{{main|Mary the sister of Aaron in the Quran}}Mary the mother of Jesus was born in the first century BCE and was not related to Moses and his family whose story is set 1500 years earlier. Miriam was the sister of Moses and Aaron and daughter of Amram (Imran). The Quran appears to confuse these two characters, as it describes Mary, the mother of Jesus, as the "Sister of Aaron" and her mother as the "wife of Imran" in context where the "Imran" being discussed is evidently Miriam's father. A possible source of this confusion is the fact that both Miriam and Mary had the same name in Arabic, or were at least similar enough sounding for the original distinction to have been lost or neglected (the word used in either case in the Quran is the same and is pronounced ''maryam'').{{Quote|{{Quran-range|19|27|28}}|Then she brought him to her own folk, carrying him. They said: O Mary! Thou hast come with an amazing thing. '''O sister of Aaron!''' Thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy mother a harlot.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|66|12}}|And Mary, '''daughter of 'Imran''', whose body was chaste, therefor We breathed therein something of Our Spirit. And she put faith in the words of her Lord and His scriptures, and was of the obedient.}}{{Quote|{{Quran-range|3|33|36}}| Lo! Allah preferred Adam and Noah and the Family of Abraham '''and the Family of 'Imran''' above (all His) creatures. They were descendants one of another. Allah is Hearer, Knower. (Remember) when the '''wife of 'Imran''' said: My Lord! I have vowed unto Thee that which is in my belly as a consecrated (offering). Accept it from me. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Hearer, the Knower! And when she was delivered she said: My Lord! Lo! I am delivered of a female - Allah knew best of what she was delivered - the male is not as the female; and lo! I have named her Mary, and lo! I crave Thy protection for her and for her offspring from Satan the outcast.}} | {{main|Mary the sister of Aaron in the Quran}}Mary the mother of Jesus was born in the first century BCE and was not related to Moses and his family whose story is set 1500 years earlier. Miriam was the sister of Moses and Aaron and daughter of Amram (Imran). The Quran appears to confuse these two characters, as it describes Mary, the mother of Jesus, as the "Sister of Aaron" and her mother as the "wife of Imran" in context where the "Imran" being discussed is evidently Miriam's father. A possible source of this confusion is the fact that both Miriam and Mary had the same name in Arabic, or were at least similar enough sounding for the original distinction to have been lost or neglected (the word used in either case in the Quran is the same and is pronounced ''maryam'').{{Quote|{{Quran-range|19|27|28}}|Then she brought him to her own folk, carrying him. They said: O Mary! Thou hast come with an amazing thing. '''O sister of Aaron!''' Thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy mother a harlot.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|66|12}}|And Mary, '''daughter of 'Imran''', whose body was chaste, therefor We breathed therein something of Our Spirit. And she put faith in the words of her Lord and His scriptures, and was of the obedient.}}{{Quote|{{Quran-range|3|33|36}}| Lo! Allah preferred Adam and Noah and the Family of Abraham '''and the Family of 'Imran''' above (all His) creatures. They were descendants one of another. Allah is Hearer, Knower. (Remember) when the '''wife of 'Imran''' said: My Lord! I have vowed unto Thee that which is in my belly as a consecrated (offering). Accept it from me. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Hearer, the Knower! And when she was delivered she said: My Lord! Lo! I am delivered of a female - Allah knew best of what she was delivered - the male is not as the female; and lo! I have named her Mary, and lo! I crave Thy protection for her and for her offspring from Satan the outcast.}} | ||
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 customarily 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=== | ==='Uzayr as the son of God in Jewish doctrine=== | ||
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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.}} | 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 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> | 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 (though not as the "son of god"), 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==== | ====Identification as R. Eliezer==== | ||
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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> | 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 | [[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 was 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 /> | 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 /> | ||
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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/> | 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/> | ||
Zellentin points 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/> | 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/> | ||
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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). | 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 | 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. It says they both 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 | 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 also argue 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 === | ||