This article considers the relationship between the Qur'an, the central religious text of Islam, and pre-Islamic mythology and legends.
Early in Islamic history, debates over the role of Jewish mythology, as well as Christian Biblical apocrypha references in the Qur'an, the sacred text of Islam, existed. "Myths are narratives that serve to explain and describe the experienced world by laying bare its archetypal patterns; they are often staged in a cosmic or supernatural framework so as to manifest binding truths, to generate meaning and provide guidance. Legends, raising no such universal claim, may be understood as narratives of pious imagination celebrating an exemplary figure."
However, the acknowledgment of Qur'an's incorporation of myths and legends is not widely accepted in the Islamic community and remains a sensitive and controversial topic as it is often used to threaten the Qur'an as the word of God. Instead, Islamic scholars point out that differences between the Qur'anic accounts and that of Jewish mythology and Christian Biblical apocrypha serve to correct the legends, thus rendering them more credible and reliable.
The Qur'an's response
During Muhammad's lifetime, non-Muslims accused Muhammad of borrowing from "tales of the ancients" to compose the Qur'an. Because Muslims believe that the Qur'an was not revealed all at once, the Qur'an quotes these critics.
Satan and Adam
When God creates Adam, he commands all the angels to bow to him. Satan refuses to bow to Adam and is therefore rebuked by God. The apocryphal Jewish work Life of Adam and Eve also contains this narrative.
Quran
The Life of Adam and Eve
Adam and the Angels
Adam possesses more knowledge than angels.
Qu'ran
Killing all Mankind
The Qur'an relates a Talmudic parable about the value of human life in its account of the murder of Abel by Cain.
Quran
The Qur'an does not mention Abel and Cain by name, but refers to them as the two sons of Adam, " Recite to them the truth of the story of the two sons of Adam" [Quran 5:27] --Translated by Yusuf Ali.
Mishnah
The raven and the burial of Abel
Quran
The Qur'an does not mention Abel and Cain by name, but refers to them as the two sons of Adam, " Recite to them the truth of the story of the two sons of Adam" [Quran 5:27] --Translated by Yusuf Ali.
Haggadah of Pesach folklore
Abraham â€" idol wrecker
Abraham smashing idols contained in Midrash Bereishit 38:13 and Surah 21 in the Qur'an. Abraham's father was an idolater while Abraham is a devout monotheist. Abraham breaks many idols and the people try to burn him until God rescues Abraham.
The Qur'an does not elaborate on the meaning behind the idolaters losing more than Abraham as the Midrash does. The Midrash account is accepted by Jews as non-historical but as a lesson created by Jews to warn against following the Greek gods. Elements of the story suggest to have roots in the Apocalypse of Abraham and the Book of Jubilees. Abraham's father's name is Azar in the Qur'an and Terah in the Midrash and Bible
Early Muslims differed on whether Azar was an alternate name for Terah, as Israel was for Jacob. Many of the commentators of the Qur'an (both Sunni and Shia) have also cited an opinion that Azar was the father of Abraham.
Moses' milk
God creates a way so that Moses' birth mother is able to nurse him.
Qu'ran
Talmud
Pharaoh's magicians
Pharaoh's magicians later accept Moses as a prophet and convert. This Qur'anic account also appears in Ambrosiaster, a 4th-century biblical commentary.
Qu'ran
Ambrosiaster
Korah's keys
The Qur'an describes Korah as exceedingly wealthy in the same way as the Talmud.
Qur'an
Talmud
Flying mountain
Both the Qur'an and the Talmud tell the story of God raising a mountain over the Israelites
Qur'an
Torah
(Exodus 19:17).
The Hebrew phrase used here (be-tahtit ha-har) evidently means that they encamped at the foot of the mountain. Hoever, looked at with a more narrow literalism, it can be understood as "they stood underneath the mountain"
Talmud
The Cave
The Quran confirms the story of men protected by sleeping in a cave that is amongst the many Jewish holy stories, according to Muhammad Asad, though was understood by the earliest Islamic scholars as a Christian legend.
Mary and Zechariah
Several elements of Mary's childhood under Zechariah are depicted in the Qur'an and Gospel of James. The oldest manuscript of the Gospel of James is the 4th century Papyrus Bodmer V
God cares for Mary
Mary the mother of Jesus at a young age was fed by supernatural means.
Quran
Gospel of James
Casting lots to care for Mary
Quran
Gospel of James
Mary and the miracle of the Palm Tree
The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew describes Mary sitting below a palm tree with Jesus, Jesus talking to Mary when he is a baby and baby Jesus performing miracles to nourish Mary with dates from a palm tree and a stream of water. The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew is believed to date back to the 6th century.
Quran
Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew chapter 20
Jesus creates birds
Jesus forms birds out of clay.
Quran
This parallels an episode in the apocryphal Infancy Gospel of Thomas where he does the same:
Infancy Gospel of Thomas
The Injilu 't Tufuliyyah, also known as the Infancy Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ, was written in the middle of the 2nd century.
Jesus speaks in the cradle
The 2nd century's Injilu 't Tufuliyyah or the Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ, contains an Arabic translation of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas and additional narratives. This contains a narrative of Jesus speaking while an infant, also contained in the Qur'an.
Quran
"He relates that Jesus spake even when he was in the cradle and he said to his mother, "Mary, I am Jesus the son of God, that word which thou didst bring forth according to the celebration of the angel Gabriel to thee, my Father has sent me for the salvation of the world." -Syriac Infancy Gospel 1:2-3
See also
- History of the Qur'an
- Biblical narratives and the Qur'an
- Prophets of Islam
- Stories of The Prophets
References
External links
- Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends The Star Child The story of Abraham smashing the idols