Saul and Gideon in the Quran: Revelation or Confusion?

[Zafir]

What happens when a passage in the Quran is erroneous? What if it has passages which can be compared with another older sacred text? How do you clarify the mistake? Do you retreat to the doctrine of infallible revelation? (The Quran comes down from Allah, so that settles everything!) Or will you listen to reasonable evidence, using Ockham’s Razor to cut out needless and convoluted explanations?

 

The Quran confuses an episode in King Saul’s life with one in Gideon’s life, who lived about three hundred before Saul. Normally, one should show generosity for an occasional mix-up in a strictly literary book or even a history book from the ancient world. But Islamic theology asserts that the Quran is no ordinary book.

 

Revelation and inspiration of the Quran

 

In Islamic theology, it is believed that the Quran existed in heaven, and the angel Gabriel came down and over time spoke it to Muhammad, and then it became a physical book. Sometimes a comparison is made between the Quran’s “inlibration†(from the root “libr†or “bookâ€) with Christ’s “incarnation†(from the root “carn†or “fleshâ€). That is, as the heavenly Son of God was “made flesh,†so the heavenly Quran was “made book.â€

 

However, this is an exceptionally high view of inspiration. The following passages illustrate the extremely high standard of Quranic inspiration.

 

While Muhammad was living in Mecca before his Hijrah (Emigration) to Medina in 622, the Meccans disputed the divine origin of the Quran and wanted Muhammad to change it, but Allah tells Muhammad how to answer them in this verse:

 

10:15 When Our clear revelations are recited to them, those who do not expect to meet Us say, “Bring [us] a different Quran, or change it.†[Prophet], say, “It is not for me to change it of my own accord; I only follow what is revealed to me, for I fear the torment of an awesome Day, if I were to disobey my Lord.†[MAS Abdel Haleem, The Qur’an, Oxford UP, 2004. His insertions; this translation is used in the rest of the article, unless otherwise noted]

 

The most important aspect of this verse is its revelation. The Prophet follows only what “is revealed†to him from Allah himself. These short verses in the Meccan suras also show the super-high standard of inspiration:

 

39:28 An Arabic Quran free from any distortion—so that people may be mindful.

 

55:1 It is the Lord of Mercy 2 who taught the Quran.

 

75:17 We shall make sure of its [the Quran’s] safe collection and recitation. 18 When We have recited it, repeat the recitation 19 and We shall make it clear.

 

26:192 Truly, this Quran has been sent down by the Lord of the worlds: 193 the Trustworthy Spirit [Gabriel] brought it down 194 to your heart [Prophet], so that you could bring warning 195 in a clear Arabic tongue. [First insertion is mine; the rest are Haleem’s]

 

When Muhammad was feeling inspired, he sometimes heard a bell ringing, (see the hadith below this one) or he would sweat, or his face would change color. He seems to have fallen into some kind of trance at times.

 

This doctrine of inspiration and these verses land polemicists in interpretive problems, because every word must be taken as it is written, when the passages are clear—not, for example, when a passage is an illustration. However, the following passages cited in this article are not merely illustrations, but are clear and straightforward.

 

Will this doctrine of inspiration trump an ordinary explanation about confusion or an error?

 

Gideon and Saul

 

Most of Sura (Chapter) 2 is usually regarded as one of the first (if not the first) to be revealed after Muhammad’s Hijrah (Emigration) from Mecca to Medina in AD 622. Thriving tribes of Jews lived in the city. The long sura deals with several topics, but it has many passages about Jews and the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament). At this early stage, Muhammad wanted the Jews to accept him, but they correctly rebuffed him because he was a gentile and because he was confused about their sacred text. Here is one piece of evidence of the confusion.

 

In the context of Saul being chosen as king to lead ancient Israel into battle against their enemies the Amalekites and the Philistines, Talut (Saul) tests his soldiers with drinking at an unnamed river.

 

The Quran in Sura 2:249 says:

 

2:249 When Talut [saul] set out with his forces, he said to them, “God will test you with a river. Anyone who drinks from it will not belong with me, but anyone who refrains from tasting it will belong with me; if he scoops up just one handful [he will be excused].†But they all drank [deep] from it, except a few . . . [first insertion is mine; the rest are Haleem’s].

 

The passage goes on to recount David’s victory over Goliath, and the Israelites over the Philistines.

 

Besides the illogical and unwise announcement to the soldiers of a test before it is enacted, Allah’s inspiration seems to mislead the Prophet about the chronology and the characters. Anyone who is even vaguely familiar with the Bible knows that this Quranic episode conflates Saul with an event in Gideon’s life.

 

The Bible in Judges 7:4-5 says:

 

7:4 The Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many men [in the army]. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there . . . 5 So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink. Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their mouths. All the rest got down on their hands and knees. [New International Version; my insertion]

 

Though some of the small details differ, the Quran and the Bible share remarkable similarities in at least five ways.

 

First, the large context of a military campaign occurs in both.

 

Second, both passages share the same drink test by water. The Bible says the spring of Haran was the place of testing, whereas the Quran says that the location was an unnamed river. But the element is the same—water. That is, it is not the case that the Bible says that drinking water is the test, whereas the Quran says that throwing a spear the farthest or ingesting food a certain way is the test.

 

Third, the method of drinking is similar. In the Quran, even if the men take a scoopful of water, they will be excused from fighting. How much more will they be exempt if they drink deep? This parallels the Biblical text. Either the men lap the water up from their hand as they stand (= scooping in the Quran), or they kneel down and drink (= drinking deeply in the Quran).

 

Fourth, the immediate purpose of the test is the same. Both are designed to separate or sift men from the army.

 

Fifth, the overall purpose in the Biblical passage is to prevent Israel from boasting of his own strength (7:2). Instead, Israel should boast of God’s deliverance. The Quran says or implies the same in the rest of Sura 2:249.

 

So how should we account for this error or confusion of Saul with Gideon?

 

Two explanations

 

Two options confront us. The first one holds onto revelations no matter what. Allah spoke, and that trumps everything. The second one says that Muhammad got things confused in an ordinary way that all humans do, or perhaps he deliberately reshaped the Bible for his own benefit, at least in part, or a mixture of both.

 

Sayyid Abul A’La Maududi (d. 1979), a highly regarded conservative scholar, chooses the first option. He writes:

 

As the same test was applied by Gideon before Saul, Palmer and Rodwell [two earlier scholars and translators] come to the strange conclusion that Gideon and Saul are here (v. 249) confused . . . This objection is absurd on its face. If two similar events had happened and only one of these is mentioned in the Bible, it does not prove that the other did not happen just because it was not mentioned in it. Moreover, it has never been claimed that the Bible contains the complete history of the Israelites with its full details. The very fact that the Talmud contains many incidents which are not mentioned in the Bible is a proof thereof. [The Meaning of the Qur’an, vol. 1, p. 181]

 

It is difficult to know where to begin with this strange belief. Maududi’s assertion is the one that is “absurd on its face†(his words). He states that many events that happened in Biblical history are not recorded in the Bible. That’s fair enough. Neither the Bible nor Biblical history says one word about Saul’s drinking test. Then Maududi throws out hints about the Talmud as containing more about the Bible than the Bible does about itself. But he does not cite a reference. But even if he did, that would only mean that Muhammad’s source is non-Biblical and postdates the events by hundreds of years. So where do Maududi and his prophet get this information about Saul’s test? Ancient inscriptions? Canaanite records? The answer is obvious: Allah told Muhammad many centuries after the facts, and the Prophet transmits this message to us as revelation.

 

For Muslims like Maududi, steeped in their religion, this answer is adequate,but for the rest of us, it is fanciful.

 

Read Please.

[Khayr]

Saxib,

 

What are some of the objectives that you would like fullfilled by posting this article? An article by a writer that wants to propogate 'Evanglical Confusionism'.

[Qandalawi]

Sxb Pardom me , I haven't read all of this so If im wrong as to what the content of the message is, Please further clarify.

 

The few first lines untill almost half of the text I didn't get anything, Some of the sources of the text are from theoligical beliefs of the Bible, therefore I won't know anything about that or prove any truth in it, that could be the reason I avoided the whole of it.

 

But are they saying there is any contradiction in the Quran? If so I can find and look for it and may be learn something new today whether that turns out to be true ot wronng at a later stage is another matter.

 

But if this post and the sources of this text come from the Bible or a mix of the Quran and the Bible, then in no way will I have the ability to understand it, only will lead myself to a more confussion, therefore I won't pretend reading it and reply not knowing a jack.

 

 

Just draw one or two lines If you read and understood it, two sentence's won't be too bad.

[ElPunto]

What is the point of this bullshid? The Bible has the story correct and the Quran doesn't? Whatever. Each side is entitled to their beleifs. I am hardly gonna consider the possibility of the accuracy of this crap - the Bible has been a written and revised text for centuries while the Quran has not.

[Zafir]

^My sentiment exactly.

 

I posted this topic just to share what’s going around and how the devil is working overtime to plant seeds of doubt.