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Scientific Miracles in the Quran: Difference between revisions
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→Preservation of Pharaoh's body: Have added in a refutation of a new 'historical miracle' claim of a small exodus in the Quran I have seen going around a lot recently.
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{{Quote|Midrash Tanhuma 2:2:14 (5th cent.)<ref>Footnote 1 in [https://www.thetorah.com/article/why-pharaoh-went-to-the-nile Why Pharaoh went to the Nile] by Prof. Scott B. Noegel Accessed 19 Oct 2021</ref><ref>It is also translated on the Sefaria site: "And the Lord said unto Moses: “Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh from the water” (Exod. 8:16). Why did Pharaoh go to the waters early in the morning? Because the wicked one boasted that since he was a god, he had no need to go to the water to relieve himself." [https://www.sefaria.org/Midrash_Tanchuma%2C_Vaera.14.1?lang=bi Midrash Tanhuma Vaera 14] Saferia.org</ref>|Why was he going out to the water? Because the wicked man was boasting of himself, for he had said that he was a god and had no need to relieve himself. Therefore he went out to the water in the morning, so that no one would see he was a (mere) man.}} | {{Quote|Midrash Tanhuma 2:2:14 (5th cent.)<ref>Footnote 1 in [https://www.thetorah.com/article/why-pharaoh-went-to-the-nile Why Pharaoh went to the Nile] by Prof. Scott B. Noegel Accessed 19 Oct 2021</ref><ref>It is also translated on the Sefaria site: "And the Lord said unto Moses: “Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh from the water” (Exod. 8:16). Why did Pharaoh go to the waters early in the morning? Because the wicked one boasted that since he was a god, he had no need to go to the water to relieve himself." [https://www.sefaria.org/Midrash_Tanchuma%2C_Vaera.14.1?lang=bi Midrash Tanhuma Vaera 14] Saferia.org</ref>|Why was he going out to the water? Because the wicked man was boasting of himself, for he had said that he was a god and had no need to relieve himself. Therefore he went out to the water in the morning, so that no one would see he was a (mere) man.}} | ||
=== A small Exodus === | |||
The Quran contains the story of Moses and the Exodus from Egypt escaping the pharaoh. Modern archaeology carried out extensively across the Egyptian, Israeli/Palestinian and surrounding areas has found an astonishing lack of evidence for this allegedly historical event, with not a single Egyptian chronicle mentioning it, and plentiful evidence for the founding of the Israeli/Jewish people as simply emerging from ancient Canaanites who developed into a distinct culture.<ref>Finkelstein, Israel, and Silberman, Neil Asher. ''[https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Bible_Unearthed/lu6ywyJr0CMC?hl=en&gbpv=1 The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Sacred Texts]''. United Kingdom, Free Press, 2002. | |||
See ''Chapter 2: Did the Exodus happen? pp 48-71,'' and ''Chapter 4: Who were the Israelites pp 97-122''</ref> | |||
Some apologists claim that the fact that unlike the Bible, the Quran (which typically lacks more specific details in the story), does not mention the large numbers involved (~600,000 men and more women and children),<ref>Exodus 12:37. The Bible. New International Version. Bible Gateway. Biblegateway.com | |||
''The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Sukkoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children.''</ref> and cite a Quran verse where Pharoah proclaims to his men summoning troops that the Israelites are 'a small band', is evidence for a small scale group that may explain the lack of archaeological evidence for the exodus. | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|26|53-54}}|53. Then Pharaoh sent into the cities summoners, | |||
54. Pharaoh said: "Indeed, those are but a small band."}}However, a quick examination of the previous verse (Q26:53) shows that firstly Pharoah sent these men to summon more men in different cities (plural), which would not have happened if this was a small number of Israelites, that the assumingly capital city the pharaoh would have resided in could quickly and easily have dealt with. | |||
Secondly, what 'small' means here is not provided and could have a number of meanings, which have typically included being small relative to the larger Egyptian army, or are a small people meaning 'lowliest of people' as a form of insult and ridicule, rather than saying they were small in number. That is how it's been interpreted by classical exegetes who never saw it as negating the biblical story nor the large >600,000 figure which has been taken as fact, including for example Al-Jalalayn,<ref>Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on [https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Jalal/26.54 ''Verse 26:54''] </ref> Al-Zamakhshari, <ref>Tafsir Al-Zamakhshari on [https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=2&tSoraNo=26&tAyahNo=54&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1 ''Verse 26:54'']</ref> Al-Qurtubi<ref>Tafsir Al-Qurtubi on ''[https://quran.ksu.edu.sa/tafseer/qortobi/sura26-aya53.html Verse 26:53]''</ref> At-Tabrisī,<ref>Tafsir Al-Tabrisī on [https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=3&tSoraNo=26&tAyahNo=54&tDisplay=yes&Page=2&Size=1&LanguageId=1 V''erse 26:54'']</ref> Al-Baydawi,<ref>Tafsir Al-Baydawi on ''[https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=6&tSoraNo=26&tAyahNo=54&tDisplay=yes&Page=2&Size=1&LanguageId=1 Verse 26:54]''</ref> Mawardi,<ref>Tafsir Mawardi on [https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=12&tSoraNo=26&tAyahNo=54&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1 ''Verse 26:54'']</ref> Ibn Al-Jawzi<ref>Tafsir Ibn Al-Jawzi on [https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=15&tSoraNo=26&tAyahNo=54&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1 ''Verse 26:54'']</ref>, Al-Tabari (who cites traditions confirming the large number)<ref>Al-Tabari on ''[https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=1&tSoraNo=26&tAyahNo=54&tDisplay=yes&Page=1&Size=1&LanguageId=1 Verse 26:54]''</ref> and Al-Razi.<ref>Tafsir Al-Razi on ''[https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=4&tSoraNo=26&tAyahNo=54&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1 Verse 26:54]''</ref> | |||
Thirdly, it is worth noting that it is quoting pharaohs' speech and not God telling us directly or for certain that it was 'small'. Pharaoh is set up as a villain who is dishonest, highly arrogant and even violently oppressive repeatedly in the Quran,<ref>''[https://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jrme/papers/Vol-10%20Issue-6/Series-5/I1006055560.pdf Pharaoh's personality traits in the Holy Qur'an]'' Dr. Akram A. Mansour Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education, Palestine University, Palestine. ''IOSR Journal of Research & Method in Education (IOSR-JRME)'' e-ISSN: 2320–7388, p- ISSN: 2320-737x Volume 10, Issue 6 Ser. V (Nov. – Dec. 2020), PP 55-60. https://www.iosrjournals.org/</ref> i.e. in no way a trustworthy character who would admit that he could be in danger from the Israelites, and when gathering soldiers from other cities could well be simply lying to galvanize the troops as a means of persuasion and/or hide the danger and challenge of the task. | |||
And finally if the Quran really meant to 'correct' a biblical narrative, it easily could have done so by correcting the number of Israelites, just like it directly confronts and 'corrects' Biblical Christian notions of the trinity and crucifixion. | |||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||