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Historical Errors in the Quran: Difference between revisions
Historical Errors in the Quran (view source)
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===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|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|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|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|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. {{Muslim|25|5326}} 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. | |||
===Ezra as the son of God in Jewish doctrine=== | ===Ezra as the son of God in Jewish doctrine=== | ||
Historically, Judaism has been a strict form of monotheism. The Quran, by contrast, describes the Jews as practitioners of polytheism by stating that they hold ''Uzair'' (Ezra) to be the son of God. This is compared directly with the Christian doctrine which hold Jesus to be the son of God. This appears to be a confusion resulting from conflating the alternative senses in which Jewish and Christian theologians have employed and understood the word "son".{{Quote|{{Quran|9|30}}| | Historically, Judaism has been a strict form of monotheism. The Quran, by contrast, describes the Jews as practitioners of polytheism by stating that they hold ''Uzair'' (Ezra) to be the son of God. This is compared directly with the Christian doctrine which hold Jesus to be the son of God. This appears to be a confusion resulting from conflating the alternative senses in which Jewish and Christian theologians have employed and understood the word "son".{{Quote|{{Quran|9|30}}| | ||
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===Flood waters boiled from an oven=== | ===Flood waters boiled from an oven=== | ||
The Qur'an further describes the flood waters as boiling from an oven. There is no scientific nor historical evidence for a large flood of this nature. This element is not found even in more ancient versions of the story (Epic of Gilgamesh, Atra hasis, and Ziusudra). Its ultimate origin appears to be a highly tenuous rabbinical | The Qur'an further describes the flood waters as boiling from an oven. There is no scientific nor historical evidence for a large flood of this nature. This element is not found even in more ancient versions of the story (Epic of Gilgamesh, Atra hasis, and Ziusudra). Its ultimate origin appears to be a highly tenuous rabbinical exegisis in the Babylonian Talmud, based on a word in an unrelated verse that means heat or wrath.<ref>[https://biblehub.com/lexicon/esther/7-10.htm biblehub.com]</ref>{{Quote|1=[https://www.sefaria.org/Rosh_Hashanah.12a.4?lang=bi Tracate Rosh Hashanah]|2=The Gemara answers: Even according to Rabbi Eliezer a change was made, in accordance with the statement of Rav Ḥisda, as Rav Ḥisda said: They sinned with boiling heat, and they were punished with boiling heat; they sinned with the boiling heat of the sin of forbidden sexual relations, and they were punished with the boiling heat of scalding waters. This is derived from a verbal analogy. It is written here, with regard to the flood: “And the waters abated” (Genesis 8:1), and it is written elsewhere, with regard to King Ahasuerus: “And the heated anger of the king abated” (Esther 7:10), which implies that the word “abated” means cooled. This indicates that at first the waters of the flood had been scalding hot.}}Note that in his translation, Yusuf Ali mistranslates the Aramaic loan word for the oven (alttannooru ٱلتَّنُّورُ)<ref>[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume1/00000355.pdf Lane's Lexicon p. 318 تَّنُّورُ]</ref> as "fountains". The Arabic verb translated "gushed forth" (fara فَارَ) means "boiled" in the context of water in a cooking pot<ref>[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume6/00000241.pdf Lane's Lexicon p. 2457 فور]</ref>, as well as in the other verse where it is used, {{Quran|67|7}}.{{Quote|{{Quran|11|40}}| | ||
(Thus it was) till, when Our commandment came to pass '''and the oven gushed forth water''', We said: Load therein two of every kind, a pair (the male and female), and thy household, save him against whom the word hath gone forth already, and those who believe. And but a few were they who believed with him.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|23|27}}| | (Thus it was) till, when Our commandment came to pass '''and the oven gushed forth water''', We said: Load therein two of every kind, a pair (the male and female), and thy household, save him against whom the word hath gone forth already, and those who believe. And but a few were they who believed with him.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|23|27}}| | ||
Then We inspired in him, saying: Make the ship under Our eyes and Our inspiration. Then, when Our command cometh '''and the oven gusheth water''', introduce therein of every (kind) two spouses, and thy household save him thereof against whom the Word hath already gone forth. And plead not with Me on behalf of those who have done wrong. Lo! they will be drowned.}} | Then We inspired in him, saying: Make the ship under Our eyes and Our inspiration. Then, when Our command cometh '''and the oven gusheth water''', introduce therein of every (kind) two spouses, and thy household save him thereof against whom the Word hath already gone forth. And plead not with Me on behalf of those who have done wrong. Lo! they will be drowned.}} | ||
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In the Qur'an, the people of ''Thamud'' are killed instantly by an earthquake {{Quran|7|78}} or thunderous blast {{Quran|11|67}}, {{Quran-range|41|13|17}}, {{Quran|51|44}}, {{Quran|69|5}}. The people of ''A'ad'' are killed by a fierce wind that blew for 7 days {{Quran-range|41|13|16}},{{Quran-range|46|24|35}},{{Quran|51|41}}, {{Quran-range|69|6|7}}. The people of Midian (''Midyan'') are killed overnight by an earthquake {{Quran|7|91}}, {{Quran|29|36}}. The towns of Lot (''Lut'') are destroyed by a storm of stones from the sky {{Quran|54|32}}, {{Quran|29|34}}. The actual locations of these towns or tribes is unknown. Midian in particular was a wide geographical desert region rather than a particular location or city, which makes archeological investigation difficult. | In the Qur'an, the people of ''Thamud'' are killed instantly by an earthquake {{Quran|7|78}} or thunderous blast {{Quran|11|67}}, {{Quran-range|41|13|17}}, {{Quran|51|44}}, {{Quran|69|5}}. The people of ''A'ad'' are killed by a fierce wind that blew for 7 days {{Quran-range|41|13|16}},{{Quran-range|46|24|35}},{{Quran|51|41}}, {{Quran-range|69|6|7}}. The people of Midian (''Midyan'') are killed overnight by an earthquake {{Quran|7|91}}, {{Quran|29|36}}. The towns of Lot (''Lut'') are destroyed by a storm of stones from the sky {{Quran|54|32}}, {{Quran|29|34}}. The actual locations of these towns or tribes is unknown. Midian in particular was a wide geographical desert region rather than a particular location or city, which makes archeological investigation difficult. | ||
Critics have also asked why it is that various other polytheistic cultures worldwide | Critics have also asked why it is that various other polytheistic cultures worldwide did not encounter similar fates as those outlined in the Quran.{{Quote|{{Quran|22|45}}|And how many a township have We destroyed because it had been immersed in evildoing - and now they [all] lie deserted, with their roofs caved in! And how many a well lies abandoned, and how many a castle that [once] stood high!}}The suddenness of Allah's punishment is stressed repeatedly in Surah al-A'raf:{{Quote|{{Quran|7|4}}|How many a township have We destroyed! As a raid by night, or while they slept at noon, Our terror came unto them.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|7|34}}|And every nation hath its term, and when its term cometh, they cannot put it off an hour nor yet advance (it).}}{{Quote|{{Quran-range|7|97|98}}|Are the people of the townships then secure from the coming of Our wrath upon them as a night-raid while they sleep? Or are the people of the townships then secure from the coming of Our wrath upon them in the daytime while they play?}} | ||
===Humans lived for hundreds of years=== | ===Humans lived for hundreds of years=== | ||