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To Moo Or Not to Moo, That Is The Question!
To Moo Or Not To Moo, That Is The Question!
Elias Karim, M S M Saifullah & Muhammad
Ghoniem
© Islamic Awareness, All Rights Reserved.
First Composed: 21st October 2001
Last Updated: 21st January 2006
Assalamu-`alaykum wa rahamatullahi wa barakatuhu:
1. Introduction
Christian missionaries have claimed that the Qur'an contains a historically
impossible narration when it mentions the name al-Samiri which
some translate as the "Samaritan" (Qur'an 20:85, 87 and 95). They
claim
that:
The Qur'an says that the calf worshipped by the Israelites
at mount Horeb was molded by a Samaritan (Sura 20:85-87, 95-97). Yet the term
'Samaritan' was not coined until 722 B.C., which is several hundred years
after the events recorded in Exodus. Thus, the Samaritan people could not
have existed during the life of Moses, and therefore, could not have been
responsible for molding the calf.
We have already discussed the origins of the Samaritans in the paper The
"Samaritan" Error in the Qur'an. We had mentioned that until the
middle of the 20th century it was commonly believed that the Samaritans originated
from a mixed race people living in Samaria at the time of the Assyrian conquest
(722 BCE). In recent years however, new research based on a more careful study
of the Samaritan Chronicle has led to a re-evaluation of their origins. The
Samaritans are the direct descendants of the Joseph tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh,
and until the 17th century C.E. they possessed a high priesthood descending
directly from Aaron through Eleazar and Phinehas.
The Qur'anic mention of the name al-Samiri sometimes translated as the
"Samaritan" (Qur'an 20:85, 87 and 95) is entirely consistent with
modern investigations into the origin of the Samaritan sect.
This paper responds to a different allegation, that the Qur'anic story mentioned
in surah 20: 85-95 was in fact based on Jewish myths and fables.
The Christian missionary Tisdall attempts to explain the origin
of the "Samaritan" story in his book The Original
Sources Of The Qur'an:
This legend also comes from the Jews, as is
evident from the following extract which we translate from Pirqêy Rabbi
Eli'ezer, § 45, "And this calf
came out lowing [the sound uttered by cattle;
moo], and the Israelites saw it. Rabbi Yehûdah
says that Sammaêl was hidden in its interior, and was lowing in order
that he might deceive Israel." The idea that the calf was able to low
must come from the supposition that, though made of gold (Exodus 32. 4), it
was alive, since it "came out" (5. 24) of the fire. Here, again,
we see that the figurative expression, when taken literally, led to the growth
of a myth to explain it. The Muhammadan commentator in explaining the
words "a calf in body" in the Qur'an as signifying that it had "flesh
and blood" has only gone a step further, and he does this to explain
how it was that the animal could low. Muhammad seems to have understood
most of the Jewish legend correctly, but the word Sammaêl puzzled him.
Not understanding that this is the Jewish name of the Angel of Death, and
perhaps misled as to the pronunciation, he mistook the word for the somewhat
similar "Samiri", which means "Samaritan." Of course he
made this mistake because he knew that the Jews were enemies of Samaritans,
and he fancied that they attributed the making of the calf to one of the latter.
He was doubtless confirmed in his belief by some indistinct recollection of
having heard that Jeroboam, king of what was afterwards called Samaria, had
"made Israel to sin" by leading them to worship the calves which
he made and placed in Dan and Beth-el (I Kings 12. 28, 29). But since the
city of Samaria was not built, or at least called by that name, until several
hundred years later after Moses' death, the anachronism is at least amusing,
and would be startling in any other book than the Qur'an, in which far more
stupendous ones frequently occur.[1]
He believes that the story is entirely Jewish in origin, and furthermore, he
also mentions the "amusing anachronism" in the Qur'an concerning the
mistaken usage of the term "Samaritan". This "amusing anachronism"
has already been refuted.
Now, concerning the Jewish origins of the story, Tisdall would like us to believe
that Muhammad lifted this material
from a Rabbinical source called Pirke De-Rabbi Eli'ezer. Tisdall presumably
used Abraham Geiger's book, Was hat Mohammed aus dem
Judenthume aufgenommen? as his source.[2]
Concerning the golden calf Abraham Geiger writes:
Muhammad says that the calf lowed as
it come forth. With this is to be compared the Rabbinical statement: "There
came forth this calf lowing and the Israelites saw it. Rabbi Jehuda says that
Samael entered into it and lowed in order to mislead Israel."
In the Qur'an it is said that among the people of Moses there was a tribe
which kept the truth. This seems to refer to the tribe of Levi and especially
to their behaviour about the calf, although possibly it may refer also to
their belief in Moses' mission to Pharaoh of which we have spoken before.
In the biblical accounts a statement is made, which is explained by the Rabbis
as follows: "From Exodus 32. 26, it is clear that the tribe of Levi was
not implicated in the matter of the golden calf."[3]
Not surprisingly, Geiger also uses the rabbinical source called Pirke De-Rabbi
Eli'ezer[4] to support his theory that
Muhammad copied this story (or 'legend' as Tisdall prefers to call it)
from Jewish sources. Similar claims have been made by Robert Morey,[5]
`Abdallah `Abd al-Fadi[6] and N. A. Newman.[7]
Thus, Tisdall proposes that Muhammad
used the source Pirke De-Rabbi Eli'ezer to compose the account found
in surah 20:85-95.
2. The Case Against Pirke De-Rabbi Eli'ezer
But Tisdall's explanation is probably the most inaccurate and inexcusable suggestion
he has yet put forward. An examination of the another contemporary source of
Tisdall's time reveals the answer. The Jewish Encyclopaedia
published in 1905, in the same year as the publication of Tisdall's book, states
under "Pirke De-Rabbi Eli'ezer":
Josh was the first to point out that in the thirtieth
chapter, in which at the end the author distinctly alludes to the three stages
of the Mohammadan conquest, that of Arabia, of Spain, and of Rome, the names
of Fatima and Ayesha occur beside that of Ishmael, leading to the conclusion
that the book originated in the time
when Islam was predominant in Asia Minor.
As in ch. 36, two brothers reigning simultaneously are mentioned, after whose
reign the Messiah shall come, the work might be ascribed to the beginning
of the ninth century, for about that time the two sons of Harun al-Rasid,
El-Amin and El-Mamun, were ruling over Islamic realm.[8]
Thus, according to Tisdall, Muhammad
composed the account found in surah 20: 85-95 using a source that had not yet
been compiled until hundreds of years after his death! Long before Tisdall wrote
The Original Sources Of The Qur'an, Jewish scholars
had already mentioned that Pirke De-Rabbi Eli'ezer post-dated
Islam. But surprisingly the famous Rev. W. St. Clair Tisdall was oblivious
to this fact!
Abraham Geiger's book Was hat Mohammed aus dem Judenthume
aufgenommen? has also been subject to recent criticisms by scholars such
as Norman Stillman:
... it did tend to give exaggerated view of the
Jewish contribution to the Qur'an. Many of the traditions that he cites are
in oriental Christian as well as talmudic and haggadic literature. Our
chronology of rabbanic literature is better today than in Geiger's, and many
more texts - Muslim, Jewish, and Christian - have since being published. In
the light of this we know now that in some instances what was thought to be
a Jewish haggadic influence in an Islamic text might well be quite the reverse.
The Pirqe de Rabbi Eli'ezer, for example, would seem to have been finally
redacted after the advent of Islam.[9]
This view of late compilation of Pirke De-Rabbi Eli'ezer (as well as
Midrash Tanhuma!) is also echoed in Encyclopaedia
Of Islam:
Regardless of how the story [of
al-Samiri] came about, the
Kur'an appears to present the earliest record of this midrashic development;
aspects of it which are found in the Jewish sources (e.g., Pirke De-Rabbi
Eli'ezer and Tanhuma) would seem to date from after the rise of Islam.[10]
A detailed analysis of the dating and composition of Pirke De-Rabbi Eli'ezer
is available here.
Since Tisdall lifted most of his material from his master Abraham Geiger, it
is not at all surprising to find that Tisdall's sense of poor chronology matches
greatly with Geiger's. Other examples of Tisdall's poor and embarrassing
scholarship are exposed in his discussions concerning the Prophet's
wives teaching him stories from the Bible, Salman
the Persian and the story of Cain & Abel
as possible Judeo-Christian sources of the Qur'an.
Finally, Stillman advises us in his conclusion:
In conclusion, it should be emphasized that one
should be extremely cautious about assigning specific origins to the story
discussed here - or for that matter, any other story in the Qur'an.[11]
Christian missionaries would of course choose to ignore this advice as "The
Promotion Of Christian Knowledge" by any means is sometimes more important
than accuracy and truth!
3. To Moo Or Not To Moo?
The Christian missionaries seem to also have a problem
with the golden calf: Did the golden calf moo? They write:
Has Allah given a miracle to this false idol even though
idolatery is so detested by him?
We will simply reply by saying that Christians themselves report the idols
or statues of Virgin Mary performing "miracles" for believers. This
has been reported in both Europe and Latin America. Does that now mean that
their (Trinitarian) god has given these idols the power to perform miracles,
even though idolatry is so much detested by God?
It is quite clear in the Qur'an that God will test people:
Do men think that they will be left alone on saying,
"We believe", and that they will not be tested? We did test those
before them, and Allah will certainly know those who are true from those who
are false. [Qur'an 29:2-3]
Some of these trials will expose the hypocrisy and falsehoods in the hearts
of those who claim to believe; and for others it will strengthen their faith
and resolve - for they are indeed the true believers. This whole life is but
a test for the true believer. Just as the Children of Israel were tested, other
nations were also tested. The people of Thamud for example were tested
by the she-camel.
There's no such thing as a free ticket to Paradise!
And Allah knows best!
Related Articles
A related article is on the 'historical' error in the Qur'an.
The "Samaritan"
Error In The Qur'an
References
[1] Rev. W. St. Clair Tisdall, The Original Sources
Of The Qur'an, 1905, Society For The Promotion Of Christian Knowledge,
London, pp. 112-113.
[2] ibid., pp. 7.
[3] A. Geiger, Judaism And Islam (English Translation
Of Was hat Mohammed aus dem Judenthume aufgenommen?),
1970, Ktav Publishing House Inc., New York, pp. 132.
[4] ibid., See footnotes on p. 132.
[5] R. Morey, The Islamic Invasion: Confronting The
World's Fastest Growing Religion, 1992, Harvest House Publishers: Eugene
(OR), p. 150.
[6] `Abdallah `Abd al-Fadi, Is The Qur'an Infallible?,
1995, Light of Life: Villach (Austria), p. 316.
[7] N. A. Newman, Muhammad, The Qur'an & Islam,
1996, Interdisciplinary Biblical Research Institute: Hatfield (PA), p. 367.
[8] "Pirke De-Rabbi Eli'ezer", The
Jewish Encyclopaedia, 1905, Volume X, Funk & Wagnalls Company, p.
59.
[9] N. A. Stillman, "The Story Of Cain &
Abel In The Qur'an And The Muslim Commentators: Some Observations",
Journal Of Semitic Studies, 1974, Volume 19,
p. 231.
[10] "Al-Samiri", Encyclopaedia
Of Islam, 1993, Volume VIII, E. J. Brill: Leiden, p. 1046.
[11] ibid., p. 239.
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Of The Qur'an
