BEHOLD THE BEAST
home |
Islam Reviewed
5 - KORAN & THE BIBLE ON HISTORIC FACTSAs is characteristic of him, the Islamic scholar, A. Deedat, always
attempts to discredit the Bible. On p. 6 of his little booklet titled Christ
in Islam, he labors to prove that Jesus' right name was Esau in Hebrew,
Eesa or Isa in Arabic. We know where he and his likes are headed with
that idea. They just want to justify an error in the Koran. The name Jesus
is the anglicized form of Jehoshua, meaning Jehovah is Savior.1 The
name was given by God Himself through the Angel Gabriel as recorded
in Luke Chapter one, verse Thirty-one:
And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth
a Son, and shall call his name JESUS.
Esau was the twin brother of Jacob, who sold his birthright to Jacob
for a bowl of porridge (Genesis 25: 32-34). When Esau missed the
blessing as a result of his folly, he became angry and started persecuting
Jacob (Genesis 27:41). The nation of Israel descended from Jacob. The
other name of Esau is Edom (red) and the Edomite nation descended
from him. Possibly because of the bitter hatred of Esau towards his
brother Israel (Jacob), Israelites do not name their children Esau to this
day. Muhammad, or whoever composed the Koran, must have been
misled by his informants. Jesus, not Isa, is the proper name of the
miracle man that descended from heaven and made His landing on
Nazareth soil (1 Corinthians 15:47, Acts 10:38). Even Arabian Christians
use the Arabic equivalent, Yesu, for Jesus.
The Koran confused Miriam, sister of Aaron, with Mary mother of
Jesus. Here is the confused passage as stated in Surat Maryam, 27-29:
_______________________________
1 The word in the original is 30F@?l (Strong's Greek Lexicon No. G2424). i.e.,
Iesous, (ee-ay-sooce), which is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Jehoshua.
(Strong's Hebrew Lexicon No. 3091). The meaning of which is "Jehovah saves" or
"Jehovah saved." Pronounced in Hebrew: Yeh-ho-shoo'-ah; from H3068 and
H3467; Jehoshua (i.e. Joshua), Comp. H1954, H3442.
_________________________________
"At length she brought the [babe] to her people, carrying him
[in her arms]. They said: 'O Mary! truly an amazing thing hast
thou brought! O Sister of Aaron! thy father was not a man of
evil, nor thy mother a woman unchaste!' But she pointed to the
babe. They said: 'how can we talk to one who is a child in the
cradle?'"
According to Islam, Amran (Imran) was the father of the Virgin
Mary (also Sura 3:30-44). Any child who attended a Sunday School
knows that Miriam, sister of Aaron and Moses lived 1,400 years before
Mary the mother of Jesus. (see Exodus 15:20 and Numbers 26:30-44).
Islamic scholars seem to have detected this error, but instead of
rectifying it, they hide it in interpretive argument, claiming that the sister
of or brother of Aaron means a descendant of, or of the clan of Aaron.1
Aaron, elder brother of Moses, son of Amran (Imram) was a priest of
Levitical descent (Exodus 4:14; Numbers 26:59). While the Virgin Mary,
Mother of Jesus, was of the tribe of Judah, and of the lineage of David
(Psalm 132:11; Luke 1:32; Romans 1:3).
For it is clear that our Lord [Jesus] descended from Judah, and
in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.
(Hebrews 7:14 NIV)
It is evident that Miriam, sister of Aaron, and the Virgin Mary were
neither blood nor tribal relatives, nor were they of the same descent.
Miriam descended from Levi, while Mary descended from Judah. These
were two distinct tribes and lineages in Israel. The Muslims' belief in the
infallibility of the Koran (without verification) obliges them to pitch their
tent with the Koran even if it teaches that 1+1=3. As past actions and
rhetoric show, Islamic scholars will try to justify the Koranic position no
matter how historically untenable their positions may be.
The name of Abraham's father was not Azar, as the Koran states in
Sura 6:74, but Terah (Genesis 11:26). The Koran further teaches that
Pharaoh's wife adopted Moses (Sura 28:8,9), whereas Moses himself said
he was adopted by Pharaoh's daughter (Exodus 2:5-10).
________________________
1 See pamphlet entitled Jesus in the Qur'an and the Bible, an outline, by Jamal
Badawi, p. 1; cf. Yusuf Ali's commentary No. 2481.
_____________________________________
In several places the Koran associates Haman with a Pharaoh of
Moses' time (Sura 28:6-7, 38; 40:24, 36), but from the Bible book of
Esther (3:1-10), we know that Haman was a servant of Ahasuerus I, the
5th century BC Medo-Persian king (known to us all as Xerxes) who lost
the battle of Marathon. So Haman was really born a thousand years after
Moses!
In the words of Sura 28:28 and 40:36,37, Pharaoh commanded
Haman to build a tower of bricks, the top of which will reach heaven. We
know from archaeological and other historic evidence that this famous
tower was built in the Babylonian plain many generations before
Pharaoh's time (Genesis 11:1-9). The account of Gideon, son of Joash
who led the Israelites in battle against the Midianites is given in Judges
Chapter 7, but in relating this incident the Koran makes another error,
stating that this took place at the time of Saul in connection with David's
victory over Goliath (Sura 2:249-251).