Its True! The Quran Borrowed Stories From Preexisting Sources
Isn't it true that the Qur'an is copied from the Bible?
Answer
No. This is not true. All evidence show that the Qur'an could not have been copied from the Bible.
Response:
Actually it is completely true. Read these links for the proof: [1], [2] , [3].
Take for example the story of the flood that occurred in the days of the prophet Noah, on whom be peace. This event is narrated in both the Bible and the Qur'an. A careful examination of the two versions will show that the Qur'anic version could have come from no other source but God alone.
Response:
A careful examination will show that it could not have come from God, but is another example of the Quran borrowing sources which were known previously.
One important difference between the two accounts is that whereas the Bible describes the flood as a worldwide flood (see Genesis ch. 7) the Qur'an mentions it as a local flood affecting the people of Noah (see Qur'an 7:59-64). Today it is acknowledged that no record exists of a worldwide flood occurring at the time specified in the Bible. How did the author of the Qur'an avoid this mistake unless the author was God Himself?
Response:
The problem is that the author of the Quran did not avoid the "mistake" of teaching that the flood was a worldwide event. Both the Quran and the earliest Islamic sources affirm that a worldwide flood took place with only Noah and his family surviving. : See this article.
Interestingly, Muhammad also believed in a young earth and that the world would end approximately 500 years after his advent! See this related article for details.
Also, here is another article dealing with the issue on whether the Holy Bible teaches a young earth or not.
The closest thing in history to a flood like the one described in the Bible and the Qur'an, is a discovery made by Archaeologist Sir Charles Leonard Wooley. In 1929 he discovered remains from a flood which occurred around 4000 B.C. His findings are described in the book entitled The Bible as History by Werner Keller. Keller tells us:
The incredible discovery at Ur made headline news in the United States and in Britain (The Bible as History, 2nd Revised Edition, Bantam Books, 1980, p. 27).
But was this a worldwide flood? After describing the extent of the flood, Keller explains:
Looking at the map we should call it today 'a local occurrence' (p. 28).
"In other words," writes Keller, that flood was "obviously not of sufficient magnitude for the Biblical Flood" (p. 29). Furthermore, he says: "A flood of the unimaginable extent described in the Bible still remains 'archaeologically not demonstrated'" (pp. 29-30).
Response:
The underlying problem with this entire assumption is that Shabir must assume that the flood of Genesis is definitely the same flood described by Keller which had occurred in 4000 BC. Herein lies the problem. The fact is that the Genesis flood is not the same as the one described by Keller.
It is interesting to note that in nearly every continent one will find a flood-story told and preserved by the inhabitants. The only way for people all over the globe and who are separated by thousands of miles to have preserved a story of the flood is if the flood was in fact a worldwide occurrence.
Another comparison will again demonstrate that the Qur'an was not copied from the Bible. In the Bible we are told that God drowned the Pharaoh and his army when they pursued Moses, on whom be peace, and his people (see Exodus 14:28). The clear indication in that description is that the body of the Pharaoh perished in the sea. However, the Qur'an dared to differ and prove true. In the Qur'an we find that God promised to preserve the body of the Pharaoh as a sign for later generations (see Qur'an 10:90-92).
Response:
Shabir is partially correct here since the Quran did not borrow the story of Pharaoh from just the Holy Bible, but from the Talmud as well. See below.
True to the Qur'anic promise, the mummified body of the Pharaoh was discovered by Loret in 1898 at Thebes in the Kings' Valley (see The Bible, the Qur'an and Science by Dr. Maurice Bucaille, p. 238). From there it was transported to Cairo. Elliot Smith removed its wrappings on July 8, 1907 and gave a detailed description in his book entitled the Royal Mummies (1912).
From which source did the author of the Qur'an derive this information? How did the author of the Qur'an know that the Pharaoh's body was preserved whereas the knowledge that the ancient
Egyptians mummified their dead was not discovered until recently? And how could the author of the Qur'an predict that the body of the Pharaoh will be discovered later, unless the author was God Himself?
Response:
Shabir's allusion that the body of Pharaoh has been found is not entirely correct. Scholars are in disagreement over the identity of the Pharaoh of the Exodus. Some scholars are of the opinion that the Exodus took pace in the 19th dynasty period of Egypt, making Seti 1 and Rameses 2 the Pharaohs of the oppression and Exodus.
Others, citing 1 Kings 6:1 as evidence, believe that the Exodus took place in 1446 B.C. This is due primarily to the statement in 1 Kings that Israel's deliverance from Egypt took place 430 years before "The fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel" (i.e. 966 B.C.). This would make Thutmose 3 and his son Amunhotep 2 the Pharaohs of that period.
This is a fact with which at least one Muslim commentator agrees:
Finally, as we already mentioned, the story of Pharaoh's repentance at the face of destruction was not a new revelation. The Talmud documented this story long before the Quran was ever compiled.
Using Shabir's logic we are now forced to conclude that God revealed the Talmud to the Rabbis since they knew of Pharaoh's body being preserved even before the Quran was written!
Hence, there is nothing in the Quran that had not been previously known by the Jews, Christians and pagans.
Articles by Sam Shamoun
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