QUR'ANIC NARRATIVE AND ISRAILIYYAT IN WESTERN SCHOLARSHIP AND IN CLASSICAL EXEGESIS by ISMAiL ALBAYRAK Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds Department of Theology and Religious Studies May 2000 'The candidate confirms that the work submitted is his own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others.' Dedicated to my wife I Abstract The main subject of this thesis is twofold. On the one hand it analyses how the Qur'an presents stories, on the other hand it examines the classical Muslim commentators' response to the Queanic narration. In part one we remark that the theory that the Qur'an borrowed extensively from the Bible has clouded the vision of many Western scholars. They explained the Qur'anic narratives in accordance with their preconceptions; only a few emancipated themselves from this prejudice, but some of these scholars were sensitive to the literary qualities of the Queanic narrative. Adopting their general approach to the Qur'anic narrative we analyse the Qur'anic narrative of the 'golden calf episode. Here we invite the reader to step into the textual world of the Qur'an in order to appreciate its otherness. At the same time we try to show the internal coherence among the verses (and also among the surahs) to remove the assumption of the incoherence of the Qur'an which has veiled much of its literary excellence from view. In addition, this study gives us an opportunity to appreciate one of the most neglected aspects of the Queanic narratives, namely the relationship between the oral recitation and the written characters of the Qur'an. The written text lacks the contextual richness provided by the oral dimension for it cannot convey intonation, emphasis, and so on, but the transcription of the spoken word displays the relationship of sound and meaning within the surahs or verses together with special emphasis upon phonological effects. The first chapter of part two is designed to provide a general overview of the notion of isräliyyät, taking into account the opinions held by both Muslim and non- Muslim authorities. We raise two important questions regarding this technical term When did the technical term isreliyyät come into general use? Who first used it critically? To answer these questions we analyse the commentaries of eight exegetes together with some qi5 works on the 'golden calf and 'heavenly table' episodes. It is clear that, in contrast to the view held by many Muslim and non-Muslim scholars, the technical usage of this term is a late development. Another important conclusion derived from our analysis of classical exegesis is that the commentators who use this term themselves depend on isrif giyyät in several respects. In other words, their theorn, H is not in agreement with their practice. Furthermore, there are commentators who do not use the term israliyyät and consistently seek to distance themselves from these reports. They also try to minimise the amount of these reports in their tafsir. According to this research, Ibn cAtiyya was the first to pay more attention to the implausibility of this type of report, two centuries before Ibn Kathir's critical exegesis. III Acknowledgements My sincere thanks are due, first of all, to Professor Neal Robinson, under whose supervision this piece of research was produced. I shall always be grateful for all the kind words and support he offered during this venture. Without his encouragement this thesis would have never been able to take its present form. I am also deeply grateful to Dr. Kim Knott for her constant encouragement and help throughout this study. Many thanks are also due to the academic and secretarial staff of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies and to the staff of the Brotherton and Edward Boyle Libraries of the University of Leeds for their innumerable assistance. I owe special thanks to several colleagues and friends who helped me in many ways throughout my study: Muhammad Riaz Rafiq, Peter Coleman, Ahmet Onay, Recep Kaymakcan, Fazli b. Adam, Hannah Hunt, Waqar Khan. I am also deeply grateful to the University of Sakarya, Turkey, for awarding me a generous grant which enabled me to finish my study in England, and equally for their constant encouragement and assistance. Last but not least, I am most deeply indebted to my wife, Fatma, my son, Ahmed Arif, and my parents, for their unlimited patience, love and strong support. The Grace and Mercy of God has been an ever present help in my times of need, I cannot thank the Lord enough. IV Table of Contents Dedication Abstract I Acknowledgements III Table of Contents IV List of Abbreviations VIII Note on Translation and Transliteration IX Introduction 1 Part One Qur'anic Narrative Chapter One Qur'anic Studies in Western Scholarship 1.1. The Non-Muslim Approaches to the Qur'an and Its Narratives 15 1.1.1. The Early Period 15 1.1.2. From the Medieval West to the Enlightenment 17 1.1.3. From the Enlightenment to the First Half of the Twentieth 22 Century 1.2. Modern Jewish and Christian Approaches to the Qur'an and Its 30 Narratives 1.2.1. Charles C. Torrey's Concept of the Qur'an and Its 30 Narratives 1.2.2. Richard Bell's Concept of the Qur'an and Its Narratives 42 1.2.3. Concluding Remarks 54 1.3. Recent Developments in Qur'anic Studies 56 1.3.1. Arthur Jeffery 58 1.3.2. John Wansbrough 60 1.3.3. Sympathetic Christian Writers 65 1.3.4. The Literary Approach to the Qur'an 68 V Chapter Two The Qur'anic Narrative of the Golden Calf Episode 2.1. General Introduction 70 2.2. The Structure of Surah Act-5f 77 2.3. The Structure of Surah Td-Ha 82 2.4. The Golden Calf Episode 84 2.5. Introduction to the Episode 86 2.6. God's Test, 20:85 88 2.7. Moses and the Israelites, 20:86-89 91 2.8. Moses and Aaron, 20:90-94 101 2.9. Moses and Samiri, 20:95-97 104 Part Two Isrnliyya and the Analysis of Classical Muslim Commentaries Chapter Three Isrnliyyät 3.1. Introduction to the Notion of Isräliyyit 114 3.2. Discussion of Isräliyyät Reports 116 3.3. The Avoidance of Information from Jewish and Christian Sources I t6 3.4. The Granting of Permission to Muslims to Ask the People of the 118 Book 3.5. Qu ts,s ay, Story-tellers 121 3.6. The Emergence of the Technical Term Isrnliyyät 125 The Classical Exegetes' Comments on the Calf with a Hollow Sound Chapter Four The Analysis of 20:83-85 4.1. Moses' Haste 133 4.2. God's Test 140 4.3. Sämiri's Personality 145 4.4. The Number of the Worshippers 149 VI Chapter Five The Analysis of 20:86-89 5.1. Moses' Anger or Sorrow 150 5.2. The Community of Atimad 154 5.3. The Nature of the Tablets 159 5.4. A Fair Promise 161 5.5. The Excuse of the Israelites 163 5.6. The Ornaments 164 5.7. How the Calf was Formed 165 5.8. The Subject of the Verb Nasiya (He has Forgotten) 175 5.9. The Disapproval of the Action of the Children of Israel 176 Chapter Six The Analysis of 20:92-97 6.1. Dialogue between Moses and Aaron 179 6.2. Sämiri's Childhood 192 6.3. The Punishment of Samiri 198 6.4. The Fate of the Calf 101 Chapter Seven The Explanation of the Golden Calf Episode in the Surahs graf and Baqtara 7.1. The Exact Term 206 7.2. The Origin of the Name of Moses 211 7.3. The Punishment of the Children of Israel 212 7.4. The (Love of the) Calf is drunken into Their Hearts 218 Chapter Eight The Classical Exegetes' Commentaries on the Heavenly Table 8.1. ljawäriyyün (Disciples/ Apostles) 225 8.2. Wahy (Revelation) 226 8.3. Grammatical Position of the Name of Jesus, cisd 227 8.4. The Relationship Between 5:111 and 5:112 228 VII 8.5. The Meaning of Istatla 229 8.6. The Meaning of Widah 238 8.7. The Request of the Disciples of Jesus 239 8.8. The Day of Festival, CJId and Sustenance, Rizq 242 8.9. The Sending down and Contents of the Table 248 Concluding Remarks (Golden Calf and Heavenly Table Episodes) 262 Closing Comments (General) 280 Bibliography 293 VIII List of Abbreviations CE common era BCE before common era b. date of birth d. date of death El/ Encyclopaedia of Islam, PI ed. E/2 Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2 nd ed. ft. footnote h. the year of Hijra nd. no date np. no place Puh peace be upon him IX Note on Translation and Transliteration The translations from the Qur'an are based substantially on Marmaduke Picktall's The Meaning of the Glorious Koran, A. J. Arberry's The Koran: interpreted and M. Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali/ M. Mulpin Khan's Interpretation of the Meaning of the Noble Qur'an in the English Language. The system for numbering the Qur'anic verses is that of the standard Egyptian text. The Penguin publication of The New English Bible With The Apocrypha is the Biblical translation which is quoted. When transliterating Arabic words we follow the system of The Encyclopaedia of Islam (new ed., 1960-), but with the following modifications: q is used for It,/ for 4 and tä marbgrah is rendered -ah, not -a, thus giving `surah', not `sura'.