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Moses in the Qur'an and Islamic Exegesis

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Moses in the Qur'an and Islamic Exegesis MOSES IN THE QURAN AND ISLAMIC EXEGESIS RoutledgeCurzon studies in the Quran This work draws upon a host of late antique and medieval sources to examine selected Muslim exegeses of Moses in the Quran. The Muslim exegetical image ofMoses in the Quran is linked with ancient Sumerian stories ofGilgamesh, var­ ious versions of the Alexander Romance (Ethiopic, Syriac, Persian), Aramaic translations of the Abraham story in Genesis, and rabbinic accounts of the Ten Lost Tribes in the Talmud and the Midrash. Muslim exegetes associate Moses with the Jacob story in Genesis, Dhu al-Qarnayn 's visit to the cities at the ends of the Earth, and the Prophet Muhammad as caretaker in the garden of Eden. In doing so, the Muslim exegetes do not confuse and mistake earlier sources, but they intentionally use non-Quranic elements thick in Biblical allusions to delineate a particular image ofMoses, the Torah, and the Israelites. It is an image ofMoses, drawn in contrast to the Biblical and Jewish image ofMoses, which the Muslim exegetes use to identify and authorize themselves as linked to the different image of the Prophet Muhammad. Using approaches from Biblical Studies, History of Religions, Folklore Studies, and Judeo-Arabic Studies, this book suggests how Muslim exegesis ofthe Quran is purposeful in its appropriation and adapta­ tion ofelements consonant with Jewish and Christian interpretation and theology ofthe Bible. Brannon M. Wheeler is Associate Professor of Islamic Studies and Chair of Comparative Religion at the University ofWashington, Seattle, where he is also Head ofComparative Islamic Studies. His research and teaching focus on Islamic Law, Quranic Studies and the History ofReligions . ROUTLEDGECURZON STUDIES IN THE QURAN Editor: Andrew Rippin University ofVictoria In its examination of critical issues in the scholarly study of the Quran and its commentaries, this series targets the disciplines of archaeology, history, textual history, anthropology, theology and literary criticism. The contemporary relevance ofthe Quran in the Muslim world, its role in politics and in legal debates are also dealt with, as are debates surrounding Quranic studies in the Muslim world. LITERARY STRUCTURES OF RELIGIOUS MEANING IN THE QUR'AN Edited by Issa J. Boul/ata THE DEVELOPMENT OF EXEGESIS IN EARLY ISLAM The authenticity ofMuslim literature from the formative period Herbert Berg BIBLICAL PROPHETS IN THE QUR'AN AND MUSLIM LITERATURE Roberto Tottoli MOSES IN THE QURAN AND ISLAMIC EXEGESIS Brannon M. Wheeler MOSES IN THE QURAN AND ISLAMIC EXEGESIS Brannon M Wheeler First published 2002 by RoutiedgeCurzon 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OXI4 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada By RoutiedgeCurzon 270 Madison Ave, New York NY 10016 RoutledgeCurzon is an imprint ofthe Taylor & Francis group Transferred to Digital Printing 2006 © 2002 Brannon M. Wheeler Typeset in 10/12 Times New Roman by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd, Chennai, India All rights reserved. No part ofthis book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording , or in any information storage or retrieval system , without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library ofCongress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN 0-7007-1603-3 Publisher's Note The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality ofthis reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original may be apparent CONTENTS Acknowledgments VI Introduction 1 Q 18:60-82 10 2 Q 28:21-28 37 3 Sanctuary at Beersheba and Mecca 64 4 Cities at the ends ofthe Earth 93 Conclusion: Prophet Muhammad and the water of life 118 Notes 128 Works cited 186 Index ofQuran citations 211 Index ofBible citations 215 General index 219 v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book grows out of a number of contexts which I look back upon now as a series oflearning experiences that, with the completion ofthis book, have only reached a temporary resting point. It is my expectation that readers will respond to my arguments, and my hope that these will allow me to understand better the rich variety and constant wonders ofMuslim exegesis. My first venture into Moses and the Quran was in a graduate seminar at Vanderbilt University in 1994, reading Ibn Kathir's commentary on Q 28:21-28. A student asked me about the rock on the well and how it might possibly be related to the story of Jacob and the well in Genesis. This question eventually led me to what is now Chapter 2 of this book. An earlier version ofthis chapter was presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion in 1995 where I benefited from the comments of fellow panelists and the audience, especially from those ofKhalid Blankenship and Mahmoud Ayoub. Also in 1995, in my World Religions course at Pennsylvania State University, a student asked why Dhu al-Qarnayn and Abraham appeared together in the story ofal-Khidr, which we were reading in English translation from al-Tabart's history. At the same time I had been browsing through Ginzberg's Legends ofthe Jews when I came upon the stories of the three men and the purse, and the story of Elijah and Joshua b. Levi which seemed related to the Muslim exegesis on Q 18:60-82. Working through these interrelated issues also allowed me to spend time learning about the many recensions of the Alexander Romance, something I had wanted to do since reading short passages in Syriac and Ethiopic. The result ofthis research is Chapter I ofthis book. An earlier version ofthis was presented at the Middle East Center of the University of Pennsylvania in 1995 where I gained new perspectives from the comments ofBarbara von Schlegell, Margaret Mills, and Everett Rowson. Earlier and different versions of parts of Chapter I were published in the Journal ofNear Eastern Studies 57 (1998): 191-215 and Journal ofthe American Oriental Society 118 (1998): 153-71. VI ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Chapter 3 originated with my continued puzzlement over the relationship of Dhu al-Qarnayn and Abraham, and with my growing interest in how Muslim exegetes explain the revealed but non-canonical nature of the Bible. A seminar with a brilliant group of Comparative Religion graduate students in 1996 at the University ofWashington allowed me to think through these issues in comparison with the Christian use of the Greek classics, and the complex layers of the Mahayana Buddhist canon. Research at the College of Shariah and Islamic Studies ofKuwait University in 1997 provided me additional insights, especially from my Kuwaiti colleagues. I was also fortunate to be invited to contribute to a lecture series on Jerusalem in the western religious traditions at the University ofWashington in 1999, compelling me to think in a more focused and organized fashion about the interaction ofJewish and Muslim views ofAbraham's sanctuaries and their relation to the history ofthe Israelites . Researching Chapter 4 was the most fun of all, enabling me to return to some ofthe fantastic and often ignored traditions which first sparked my interest in the study ofIslam. The Prophet Muhammad as Dhu al-Qarnayn was suggested to me by the work of Basil Lourie on the redemptive aspects ofAlexander the Great in Ethiopic and Syriac legends, a concept that led to an article in a special edition of Byzantino-rossica devoted to Alexander the Great. The issue of the Lost Tribes, Eldad ha-Dani, and the Children of Moses came up in a graduate seminar on Hebrew and Arabic stories of Moses at the University of Washington in 1999. Tying these accounts with the stories ofHud and Salih was inspired by an earlier graduate seminar in 1998 on pre-Islamic Arab prophets and North Arabic inscrip­ tions. My thoughts on the meaning of Alexander's quest for immortality were refined while teaching, wih Eugene Vance, the Medieval Colloquium for 2000 on Legends ofAlexander the Great, a course which included students from a dozen disciplines and reading knowledge of26 languages . Time and support to finish the writing of this book were in part provided by a Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities through the American Research Center in Egypt during 2000. This was supplemented by gen­ erous support from the University ofWashington, both from the College ofArts and Sciences, and from the Walter Chapin Simpson Center for the Humanities. In addition to the many useful insights I have gained from students and col­ leagues over the course ofmy thinking, several colleagues read the completed man­ uscript of this book and have offered useful advice. Thanks to Miller Sherling for her careful reading, and the much appreciated expertise ofBaruch Halpern, Gordon Newby, Fred Astren, and Andrew Rippin. Not all of their comments have been incorporated here, but any omissions merely leave the door open for future attempts to further my understanding ofsometimes difficult texts and disciplines. I also thank my loving wife Deborah Wheeler who not only has thought through my work with me each step ofthe way, but has also inspired me with her own innovative work. VB ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It should be noted that transliteration ofArabic words is according to the stan­ dard usage in the International Journal ofMiddle East Studies, except that the tii marbuta is indicated with "ah" in the final, nonconstruct position. Foreign words in square brackets are not italicized but are intended to indicate for specialists in certain cases the word being translated. Certain foreign words commonly used in English, such as "Quran" and "Torah," are used without transliteration throughout except when cited in titles.
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