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Historical Errors in the Quran: Difference between revisions
→Noah's worldwide flood: Have added in some more verses on the story of Noah relevant for it being a worldwide flood. And made the point that all classical scholars took it to refer to a worldwide flood citing a range of the most popular exegesis. Plus provided a link/source from an modern geologist academic providing an overview of the geological issues of a worldwide flood.
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(→Noah's worldwide flood: Have added in some more verses on the story of Noah relevant for it being a worldwide flood. And made the point that all classical scholars took it to refer to a worldwide flood citing a range of the most popular exegesis. Plus provided a link/source from an modern geologist academic providing an overview of the geological issues of a worldwide flood.) |
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===Noah's worldwide flood=== | ===Noah's worldwide flood=== | ||
The Quran contains a version of the worldwide-flood story widespread in ancient near-Eastern mythology and most famously found in the Bible. Since geological evidence suggests such a flood never took place, some modern Muslim scholars have reinterpreted the account in the Quran as referring to a more limited, local flood. | The Quran contains a version of the worldwide-flood story widespread in ancient near-Eastern mythology and most famously found in the Bible. Since geological evidence suggests such a flood never took place,<ref>''E.g. see [https://www.csun.edu/~vcgeo005/Nr38Reasons.pdf Twenty-one Reasons Noah’s Worldwide Flood Never Happened].'' Dr Lorence G. Collins. Professor emeritus of geological sciences at California State University, Northridge. | ||
''While focused on the biblical account, the majority of the points apply to the Quranic version.''</ref> some modern Muslim scholars have reinterpreted the account in the Quran as referring to a more limited, local flood. Key elements in the tale, however, militate against this rereading. Elsewhere in the Quran whenever the heavens and earth are mentioned together, it means in their entirety. In this story waters are released from both of them. | |||
Another such detail is the storage of "two of each kind" of animal aboard the ship, since it is not clear what purpose this would serve if the flood were local. Similarly, the purpose of the boat itself appears unclear in this reading - as with the ample warning time that Noah was given, he and his family could have simply evacuated the area that was to be flooded. The relevant passage also states plainly that nothing, not even a tall mountain, could save an individual from drowning on that day except for Allah - this seems to contradict the idea that individuals and animals could have escaped the flood simply by evacuating the flooded area. Noah is recorded praying to God, "O my Lord! Leave not of the Unbelievers [kuffar], a single one on Earth!" - the flood is an answer to this prayer, which likewise suggests that the flood described is a global flood that drowns all those not chosen by Allah to persist aboard the ark. | |||
Not to mention all major traditional Islamic scholars, who dedicated their lives to studying the meaning of the Quran, unanimously took the language in these verses to mean referring to a global flood.<ref>''For example on verse 37:77, with all stating that all humans are descended from Noah, with many listing the ancestors of different races. These comments indicating a global flood can be found on their commentary on many other verses.''''[https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Jalal/37.77 Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on verse 37:77].'' Al-Jalalayn / Al-Mahalli and as-Suyuti. Published 1505CE. | |||
''[https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Abbas/37.77 Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs on Verse 37:77.]'' Attributed to Ibn Abbas but of unknown medieval scholar's origin. | |||
''[https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Kathir/37.75 Tafsir Ibn Kathir on Verse 37:77]''. Ibn Kathir d. 1373CE. | |||
''[https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=1&tSoraNo=37&tAyahNo=76&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1 Jami' al-Bayan on verse 37:77].'' Al-Tabari d 923CE. | |||
[https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=67&tSoraNo=37&tAyahNo=76&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1 ''Tafsir Muqatel on Verse 37:77'']. Muqatil ibn Sulayman d. 767CE. | |||
''[https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=4&tSoraNo=37&tAyahNo=77&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1 Tafsir Al-Kabir on Verse 37:77].'' Al-Razi. d. 1210CE. | |||
[https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=3&tSoraNo=37&tAyahNo=77&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1 ''Tafsir Al-Qurtubi on Verse 37:77.''] Al-Qurtubi d. 1273CE. | |||
</ref> {{Quote|{{Quran-range|54|11|12}}|Then opened We the gates of heaven with pouring water And caused the earth to gush forth springs, so that the waters met for a predestined purpose.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|11|40}}|At length, behold! there came Our command, and the fountains of the earth gushed forth! '''We said: "Embark therein, of each kind two, male and female''', and your family - except those against whom the word has already gone forth,- and the Believers." but only a few believed with him.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|11|42}}|And it sailed along with them <b>amid waves [rising] like mountains.</b> Noah called out to his son, who stood aloof, ‘O my son! ‘Board with us, and do not be with the faithless!’}}{{Quote|{{Quran|11|43}}|The son replied: "I will <b>betake myself to some mountain:</b> it will save me from the water." Noah said: '''"This day nothing can save''', from the command of Allah, any but those on whom He hath mercy! "And the waves came between them, and the son was among those overwhelmed in the Flood.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|11|44}}|Then it was said, ‘O earth, swallow your water! O sky, leave off!’ The waters receded; the edict was carried out, <b>and it settled on [Mount] Judi.</b> Then it was said, ‘Away with the wrongdoing lot!’}}{{Quote|{{Quran|71|26}}|And Noah, said: "O my Lord! Leave not of the Unbelievers, a single one on earth!}}{{Quote|{{Quran|37|75-82}}|Noah called to Us; and how excellent were the Answerers! | |||
And We delivered him and his people from the great distress, | And We delivered him and his people from the great distress, | ||
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he was among Our believing servants. | he was among Our believing servants. | ||
'''Then afterwards We drowned the rest'''.}} | '''Then afterwards We drowned the rest'''.}}{{Quote|2=And We gave him Isaac and Jacob and guided them, as We had <b>guided Noah before them, and of his descendants, David and Solomon and Job and Joseph and Moses and Aaron.</b> Thus We reward those who are upright and do good.}} | ||
===Flood waters boiled from an oven=== | ===Flood waters boiled from an oven=== | ||
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{{Quote|Reynolds, Gabriel Said. The Qur'an and its Biblical Subtext (Routledge Studies in the Qur'an) (pp. 212-213). Taylor and Francis.|The pairing of Qorah and Haman, if not in line with the Biblical account, is hardly unreasonable in literary terms. Both acted as the nemesis of God’s servant (Qorah of Moses, Haman of Mordecai). Qorah was extremely wealthy. Haman was extremely powerful. The argument that the is somehow wrong or confused by placing Haman and Qorah in Egypt (or, for that matter, that the Talmud is wrong by placing Jethro, Balaam, and Job there) seems to me essentially irrelevant. The concern is not simply to record Biblical information but to shape that information for its own purposes. The more interesting question is therefore why the connects Haman and Qorah with the story of Pharaoh. The answer, it seems, is that the Pharaoh story is to the a central trope about human conceit and rebelliousness, on the one hand, and divine punishment, on the other. Accordingly the characters of Haman and Qorah, and the legend of the Tower of Babel, find their way into the account of Pharaoh. Thereby the connects this account to its lessons elsewhere on the mastery of God over creation.}} | {{Quote|Reynolds, Gabriel Said. The Qur'an and its Biblical Subtext (Routledge Studies in the Qur'an) (pp. 212-213). Taylor and Francis.|The pairing of Qorah and Haman, if not in line with the Biblical account, is hardly unreasonable in literary terms. Both acted as the nemesis of God’s servant (Qorah of Moses, Haman of Mordecai). Qorah was extremely wealthy. Haman was extremely powerful. The argument that the is somehow wrong or confused by placing Haman and Qorah in Egypt (or, for that matter, that the Talmud is wrong by placing Jethro, Balaam, and Job there) seems to me essentially irrelevant. The concern is not simply to record Biblical information but to shape that information for its own purposes. The more interesting question is therefore why the connects Haman and Qorah with the story of Pharaoh. The answer, it seems, is that the Pharaoh story is to the a central trope about human conceit and rebelliousness, on the one hand, and divine punishment, on the other. Accordingly the characters of Haman and Qorah, and the legend of the Tower of Babel, find their way into the account of Pharaoh. Thereby the connects this account to its lessons elsewhere on the mastery of God over creation.}} | ||
== References == | |||
[[Category:Apologetics]] | [[Category:Apologetics]] | ||
[[Category:Criticism of Islam]] | [[Category:Criticism of Islam]] | ||
[[Category:Qur'an]] | [[Category:Qur'an]] | ||