Islam Perfectly Understands (and Answers) Judaism

Judaism proclaims itself as the monotheistic faith of the Jews, an ethnoreligious minority Judaism aims to guide and elevate with various laws and teachings. It has immense influence, with other religions like Samaritanism, Mandaeism, and Christianity branching off from it.

Mainstream Judaism is called Rabbinic Judaism, and is derived from the Written Torah, also known as the Tanakh or the Hebrew Bible, which itself is divided between the Torah ("teaching"), the Nevi'im ("prophets"), and the Ketuvim ("writings"); and the Oral Torah, oral teachings traditionally held to have been revealed to the Prophet Moses (عليه السلام) on Mount Sinai alongside the Written Torah that were eventually written down as the Mishnah, which, alongside the Gemara (Jewish rabbis' commentaries and debates regarding the Mishnah), forms the Talmud.

Islam is a different monotheistic religion commonly associated with Judaism by virtue of the two being "Abrahamic" religions. It is derived from the Quran, believed to be God's final revelation to humanity through His final prophet, the seventh-century Qurayshite Arab Muhammad ibn Abdullah ﷺ; and the Sunnah, historically attested reports of the Prophet Muhammad's ﷺ sayings, teachings, and actions. Islam speaks about Judaism a lot, and whilst critics have accused Islam's criticisms of Judaism of being ahistorical and inaccurate, a deeper analysis reveals quite the opposite: Islam is miraculous in its knowledge of Judaism, for a religion supposedly founded by an unlettered man with no formal schooling.

Uzayr

Critics of Islam primarily point to Verse 30 of the Quran's Surat at-Tawbah as a historical error:

وَقَالَتِ ٱلْيَهُودُ عُزَيْرٌ ٱبْنُ ٱللَّهِ وَقَالَتِ ٱلنَّصَـٰرَى ٱلْمَسِيحُ ٱبْنُ ٱللَّهِ ۖ ذَٰلِكَ قَوْلُهُم بِأَفْوَٰهِهِمْ ۖ يُضَـٰهِـُٔونَ قَوْلَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ مِن قَبْلُ ۚ قَـٰتَلَهُمُ ٱللَّهُ ۚ أَنَّىٰ يُؤْفَكُونَ

Translation:

"The Jews say, 'Uzayr is the son of God,' while the Christians say, 'The Messiah, [Jesus, the son of Mary,] is the son of God.' Such are their baseless assertions, only parroting the words of earlier disbelievers. May God condemn them! How can they be deluded [from the truth?]"

"Uzayr" has traditionally been translated as "Ezra," the name matching a Jewish priest who is the titular main character of the Written Torah's Book of Ezra. Critics of this verse claim no Jews have ever seen Ezra as a son of God. But, there are various ways the verse can be interpreted to reasonably show it is not inaccurate, but in fact miraculously understands Judaism despite coming from an unlettered prophet. It should also be noted Medina's early Jewish communities never criticised this verse despite narrations like Sahih Muslim 2135 confirming non-Muslims used to criticise the Quran for supposed historical inaccuracies, so clearly, the verse at least applied to the early Medinian Jews.

Explanation #1: The "Son of God" in the Bible

The Tanakh refers to various people as sons of God:

Job 1:6 - The Angels: "Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them."
Job 2:1 - The Angels: "On another day the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him."
Job 38:7 - The Angels: "...while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"
Genesis 6:2 - The Angels: "...the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose."
Psalm 29:1 - The Angels: "A Psalm of David. Ascribe to the LORD, O sons of the mighty ones. Ascribe to the LORD glory and strength."
Deuteronomy 32:8-9 (Dead Sea Scrolls) - The Angels: "When the Most High gave the nations as an inheritance, when He separated the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. For the LORD's portion was his people; Jacob was the lot of his inheritance."
Exodus 4:22 - Israel: "Then say to Pharaoh, 'This is what the LORD says: Israel is my firstborn son...'"
Hosea 11:1 - Israel: "When Israel was a child, I, [i.e. God,] loved him, and out of Egypt I called him my son."
Deuteronomy 14:1 - Israel: "You are the children of the LORD, your God. Do not cut yourselves or shave the front of your heads for the dead..."
Deuteronomy 32:5-6 - Israel: "They are corrupt and not his children; to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation. Is this the way you repay the LORD, you foolish and unwise people? Is He not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you?"
2 Samuel 7:14 - The Davidic King: "I, [i.e. God,] will be his Father, and he will be My son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands."
1 Chronicles 17:13 - The Davidic King: "I, [i.e. God,] will be his Father, and He will be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor."
Psalm 89:26-27 - The Davidic King: "He will call out to me, 'You are my Father, my God, the Rock my Savior.' And I will appoint him to be My firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth."
Psalm 2:7 - The King: "I, [i.e. David,] will proclaim the LORD's decree. He said to me, 'You are my son; today I have become your father...'"

Some verses even outright refer to other beings as gods themselves:

Psalm 82:1: "A psalm of Asaph. God presides in the great assembly; He renders judgment among the gods..."
Psalm 82:6: "I, [i.e. God,] said, 'you are gods; you are all sons of the Most High.'"

From the above, it can be concluded Ezra was simply one of many figures Jews used to call a son of God.

Explanation #2: The Two Powers in Heaven

My good friend Adam interprets the Ezra verse as referring to the "two powers in Heaven" heresy. He has stated the following, which I will clean up and grammatically correct:

In antiquity, [particularly in] the Roman [imperial] era, the Jews had split into numerous sects. [Among] these was a sect that believed that, along with the eternal creator, God, there existed a secondary, created god through whom all things were created - a 'logos' of sorts. This heresy emerged from [Jewish] interaction[s] with the Greeks after...Alexander the Great['s conquest of Achaemenid Palestine,] although it was condemned by the mainstream as a heresy. But, this heresy became widespread amongst the upper classes...[Hellenistic Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria would say,] "Why does he say, as if speaking of another God, 'in the image of God I made man,' and not, 'in my own image?' This has been spoken very finely and wisely, for nothing mortal could have been made in the likeness of the Most High and Father of the universe, but only in that of the second God, who is His Logos..." This logos of God was also often depicted as being His son...[For example, Philo of Alexandria's On the Confusion of Tongues states the following:]

"Those who possess knowledge are properly called sons of the One God, just as Moses also acknowledges, saying, 'You are sons of the Lord, your God...' and, 'The God who begot you...' and, 'Is not He Himself, your Father..?'"
"...Even if someone is not yet worthy to be called a son of God, let him strive to be adorned according to His firstborn Logos, the eldest of the angels, as one who is an archangel of many names; for he is called Beginning, the Name of God, and Logos, and the man according to God's image, and the one who sees, Israel."
"Therefore, I was previously led to praise the virtues of those who say, 'We are all sons of one man,' for even if we have not yet become worthy to be considered children of God...[we may nevertheless be considered children] of His image, the most sacred Logos; for the most ancient Logos is the image of God."

This is a heresy...very similar to [Arianism.]

I greatly appreciate and admire Adam's work, and order all readers to check his stuff out. I will now show screenshots to prove my academic collaboration with him:

Explanation #3: Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus

Possibly the most radical interpretation of the Quranic Ezra verse is that it does not refer to Ezra at all. First suggested by 12th-century Jewish convert to Islam As-Samawal al-Maghribi in page 60 of his Ifḥām al-Yahūd (Refutation of the Jews) polemic, the theory posits that the verse actually refers to a rabbi named Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, whom God directly calls His son in the Talmud.

Firstly, the 31st verse of the Quran's Surat at-Tawbah- the verse right after the verse accusing Judaism of deifying "Ezra" as God's son- should be noted:

"They have taken their rabbis and monks as well as the Messiah, [Jesus, the] son of Mary, as lords besides God, even though they were commanded to worship none but One God. There is no god [worthy of worship] except Him. Glorified is He above what they associate [with Him!"]

One may dispute this verse by saying Jews and Christians do not deify their scholars, but the Prophet Muhammad explained to Adi ibn Hatim (عليهما السلام), who was a Rakūsī (a follower of a mysterious syncretism of Christianity and Sabianism, which itself is another mysterious religion Islam mentions) at the time, how they do deify such figures in a different way:

"As for [the Christians and the Jews,] they did not [physically] worship [their monks and rabbis,] but when [the monks and the rabbis] made something [God forbade] lawful for [the Christians and the Jews, the Christians and the Jews] considered it lawful, and when [the monks and rabbis] made something [God permitted] unlawful for [the Christians and the Jews, the Christians and the Jews] considered it unlawful."

This is taken from Jami' at-Tirmidhi 3095, a Hadith which some scholars have graded as being fairly good in authenticity, which is why I am using it as a source here. The Quranic verse this Hadith refers to implies that, just as Christians deified the Prophet Jesus (عليه السلام), Jews did the same with a rabbinic figure. In turn, this implies Uzayr was a rabbinic figure seventh-century post-Talmudic Jews in Arabia were familiar with and even deified. Additionally, with the help of the aforementioned Hadith, we know this deification of this rabbinic figure may have not been literal, but rather, it may have been in the form of attributing legislation to him.

Next, we must etymologically deconstruct the name "ʿUzayr" (عزير). It should be noted that Ezra in Arabic is not translated as "ʿUzayr," but instead, as "ʿAzrā" (عزرا). A proof of this is how, in the Arabic Bible, Ezra is referred to as "ʿAzrā," not "ʿUzayr:"

As for the name "Uzayr" itself, it originates in the Arabic triliteral root ʿ-z-r (ع-ز-ر), which relates to prevention, withholding, forbidding, discipline, chastisement, punishment, blame, censure, reproving, aid, help, assistance, strength, treating with respect, abasement, and rendering things vile or despicable. The root matches the Hebrew root ע־ז־ר, which also relates to the concept of help and is actually the etymological root of the names "Eliezer" and "Ezra." To be more specific, "Uzayr" seems to be the diminutive form of ʿazara (عزر), which means to do anything related to the ʿ-z-r (ع-ز-ر) triliteral root. Arabic diminutives can be used positively, like when the Arabic name Ḥasan (حسن; "that which is good") becomes the Arabic name Ḥusayn (حسين; "that which is little and good"), or negatively, like when the name of the historical false prophet Maslamah (مسلمة; "peace, safety, and security") became "Musaylimah" (مسيلمة).

Now, onto Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus: he was a prominent first-to-second-century Jewish sage whose given name, "ʾĔliʿezer" (אֱלִיעֶזֶר) literally meant "God helps," "Help of God," "God's helper," or "God is help." The following Talmudic tractates talk in depth about Eliezer ben Hyrcanus:

Pirkei Avot 2: "...Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai had five disciples, and they were these: Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah, Rabbi Yose, the priest, Rabbi Shimon ben Nethaneel and Rabbi Eleazar ben Arach. He [Rabbi Johanan] used to list their outstanding virtues: Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus is a plastered cistern which loses not a drop; Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah happy is the woman that gave birth to him; Rabbi Yose, the priest, is a pious man; Rabbi Simeon ben Nethaneel is one that fears sin, And Rabbi Eleazar ben Arach is like a spring that [ever] gathers force. He [Rabbi Yohanan] used to say, "If all the sages of Israel were on one scale of the balance and Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus on the other scale, he would outweigh them all.' Abba Shaul said in his name, 'If all the sages of Israel were on one scale of the balance, and Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus also with them, and Rabbi Eleazar ben Arach on the other scale, he would outweigh them all...'"
Avot DeRabbi Natan 25: "...Then Rabbi Eliezer [ben Hyrcanus] raised both of his arms and lay them on his chest, and said, 'Oy, these two arms of mine are like two Torah scrolls that will vanish from the world! For if all the seas were ink, and all the reeds were quills, and every person was a scribe, they still could not write down everything that I have read and taught...'"

Avot DeRabbi Natan 25 curiously resembles a Quranic verse in which God says about Himself:

"Say, [O Prophet Muhammad,] 'If the ocean were ink for [writing] the Words of my Lord, it would certainly run out before the Words of my Lord were finished, even if We refilled it with its equal." - Surat al-Kahf, Verse 109

This further portrays Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus as taking that which is true of God and applying it to himself. Such a concept is implied even more through other Talmudic passages like the Babylonian Sanhedrin 101a:

"...The Sages taught [in a baraita:] When Rabbi Eliezer [ben Hyrcanus] fell ill, four Sages entered to visit him: Rabbi Tarfon, and Rabbi Yehoshua, and Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya, and Rabbi Akiva. Rabbi Tarfon responded [to the situation with words of encouragement ]and said, 'You are better for the Jewish people than a drop of rain, as a drop of rain [provides benefit] in this world, and my teacher [provides them benefit] in this world and in the [afterlife.'] Rabbi Yehoshua responded and said, 'You are better for the Jewish people than the sphere of the sun, as the sphere of the sun [provides benefit] in this world, and my teacher [provides benefit] in this world and in the [afterlife.'] Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya responded and said, 'You are better for the Jewish people than a father and mother, as a father and mother [provide benefit] in this world, [and] my teacher [provides benefit] in this world and in the [afterlife...'"]

Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus is very famous for being a central figure in the Talmudic story of the Oven of Akhnai, a story traditionally used in prioritising rabbis' opinions over divine commandments (note the Quran accusing Jews of worshipping their rabbis for this!), in which he argues with other rabbis over Jewish law. Eliezer keeps saying seemingly impossible things will happen if his position is correct only for them to consistently miraculously happen, starting from a tree uprooting itself and ending in God directly speaking from Heaven, explicitly saying His son Eliezer has the correct position. But, then, the rabbis triumph God and Eliezer by pointing out scripture stating the Torah is not in Heaven. In short, the rabbis of the Talmud attributed divine infallibility and godly sonhood to Eliezer so he could legislate whatever he wanted, with him tolerating such exaggerations.

God in the totally monotheistic religion of Islam would obviously detest such a rabbi. Tying back into the etymology of "Uzayr" and the general links between Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus and Uzayr, it should be noted Rabbi Eliezer is often referred to as "Eliezer HaGadol," meaning "Eliezer the Great" or "God helps the great." It can be logically deduced God omitted the "El-" ("God") from Eliezer's name to disavow him and turned it into its diminutive, "Uzayr" ("little helper" or "Ezer the small;" quite the opposite of "Eliezer the Great"), to insultingly belittle him for trying to trump God in legislation. This may all link to the Jewish belief that one's name foreshadows their future.

Who Built the Golden Calf?

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all share the story of the Israelites worshipping a golden calf idol when the Prophet Moses (عليه السلام) left them, with Judeo-Christian scriptures saying the Prophet Aaron (عليه السلام) built it and the Quran saying it was made by a mysterious man called As-Sāmirī (السامري). This has often been translated as "the Samaritan," with critics claiming this is historically inaccurate due to the Samaritan identity not yet existing. At first, this accusation of an anachronism seems valid, but upon further investigation, it falls apart and shows the Quran's possible impressive knowledge of the Talmud and ancient Egypt (let me know if you want me to dedicate a separate blog article to the Quran's outstanding Egyptological wisdom).

Explanation #1: What Islamic Exegetes Said

As-Sāmirī seems to be an Arabic title or a nickname, likely one that is demonymic. Ibn Abbas, a companion of the Prophet Muhammad (عليهما السلام) and held by Islam to be the master of Quranic exegetic commentary, is attributed in Tafsir Ibn Kathir to have held that As-Sāmirī was a nickname for a man named Mūsā ibn Ẓafar (roughly "Moses, the son of Zafar") from Bajarma or Kerman. Others opined he was from a village or a tribe called Samara. As-Sāmirī's people are explained to have worshipped cows, with him still attached to this behaviour at heart despite outwardly professing monotheism, leading him to make the golden calf. This makes sense, as various cultures historically deified cattle, particularly bulls.

Yaqut al-Hamawi's thirteenth-century Classical Arabic geographical dictionary Dictionary of Countries says Bajarma is a village near Raqqa, modern-day Syria. Meanwhile, Kerman is in modern-day Iran. It is unclear why As-Sāmirī would have his nickname indicating different origins if this were the case or how he ended up all the way in ancient Egypt with the Israelites. I could not find further information on the village of Samara As-Sāmirī may have been from.

Explanation #2: The Shimronites

Many believe "Samaritan" and the region "Samaria" are toponyms for Samaria, the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Israel. In Biblical Hebrew, "Samaria" is "Šōmrōn" (שֹׁמְרוֹן), and is named after Shemer (שמר), the man the Bible says previously owned the hill of Samaria:

1 Kings 16:24: "[King Omri] bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver and built a city on the hill, calling it 'Samaria,' after Shemer, the name of the former owner of the hill."

The Bible goes on to say the Samaritans became a people after the Assyrians destroyed the Kingdom of Israel in 720 BCE and started mixing with the remaining Israelites. Samaritans call themselves "Shamerim" ("Šā̊merīm/ࠔࠠࠌࠝࠓࠩࠉࠌ;" "Guardians," as they "guard" the Torah), which shares the same root as "Shemer" and "Samaria," and they claim descent from Samaria's Ephraim and Manasseh tribes. On the contrary, the Hebrew Bible uses a different term - Šōmrōnīm (שומרונים). The Hebrew Bible uses this term to refer to inhabitants of Samaria, for Samaritans as an ethnoreligious group are not mentioned in the Hebrew Bible; essentially, the Hebrew Bible mentions "Samarians" or "Shomeronites," not "Samaritans."

Genesis 46:13 lists the grandsons of the Jewish patriarch Jacob (عليه السلام) through his son Issachar as Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron. "Shimron" comes from the same root as "Shamerim," "Shemer," and "Shomeronites," and is spelt the same in Hebrew as Šōmrōn but with a different diacritical mark for the first letter. Shimron was the progenitor of the Shimronites, who lived among Israel at the time of the Prophet Moses (عليه السلام). Although Sāmirī is Arabic for "Samaritan," the Hebrew similarity between Shomronim and Shimronim shows it could also plausibly translate it to "Shimronite," although Arabic translations of the Bible do not typically do this.

This linguistic hypothesis is actually supported by a Talmudic-era midrash where a rabbi tells a Samaritan the latter descends from Shimron:

Bereshit Rabbah 94: "Rabbi Meir saw a certain Samaritan. Rabbi Meir said to him, 'From where did you descend?' [The Samaritan] said.., 'From Joseph.' Rabbi Meir.., 'No.' The Samaritan said.., 'But rather, from whom?' [Rabbi Meir] said.., 'From Issachar.' [The Samaritan] said.., 'From where do you know?' [Rabbi Meir] said.., 'As it is written. 'And the sons of Issachar: Tola, and Puah, and Jashub, and Shimron' - these are the Samaritans.'"

The point here is not that the rabbi was right or wrong, but that "Shomeronite/Samaritan/Samarian" and "Shimronite" are so etymologically connected that a rabbi was able to make the link and theorise the Samaritans descend from the Shimronites. This all ties back to the fact that the Shimronites were among Israel at the Prophet Moses (عليه السلام). It can be deduced As-Sāmirī may have not been a Samaritan, but rather, a Shimronite, which makes more sense. It may also set up a typological fulfillment regarding Hosea 8:5-6, in which God curses Samaria for building their own calf idols.

Explanation #3: Ancient Egypt

As mentioned earlier, As-Sāmirī is certainly a nickname. Page 741b of Sir E.A. Wallis Budge's An Egyptian Hieroglyphics Dictionary defines shemer as meaning a stranger or a foreigner in the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. This linguistically resembles As-Sāmirī, raising the question on if As-Sāmirī is the Arabised version of the Hebraised version of shemer.

This ties back to early Islamic exegetes generally agreeing As-Sāmirī was an outsider accepted by the Israelites, even if they disagreed on his origins. It is possible As-Sāmirī was a seemingly monotheistic Egyptian who was nicknamed his language's term for a foreigner by the Israelites and secretly retained his bull worship, considering the ancient Egyptians worshipped many bulls and even had entire cults dedicated to bulls.

The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and the Rabbi

Sahih al-Bukhari 3329 records the following interaction between the Prophet Muhammad and Medina's chief rabbi, Abdullah ibn Salam (عليهما السلام), the latter converting to Islam as a result:

"When Abdullah ibn Salam heard [of] the arrival of the Prophet [Muhammad] ﷺ at Medina, he came to him and said, 'I am going to ask you about three things which nobody knows except a prophet: What is the first portent of the Hour, [i.e. the Day of Judgement?] What will be the first meal...[of[ the people of Heaven? Why does a child resemble its father, and why does it resemble its maternal uncle?'" God's Messenger ﷺ said, '[The archangel] Gabriel has just now told me...[the] answers.' Abdullah said, 'He, [i.e. Gabriel,] is the enemy of the Jews.' God's Messenger ﷺ said, 'the first portent of the Hour will be a fire that will bring together the people from the east to the west, [and] the first meal of the people of Heaven will the caudate lobe of a fish's liver. As for the resemblance of the child to its parents: if a man has sexual intercourse with his wife and gets discharge first, the child will resemble its father, and if the woman gets discharge first, the child will resemble her...' [Upon this,] Abdullah ibn Salam said, 'I testify you are God's Messenger...'"

Sahih Muslim 315a records the same interaction, but with added details: the people of Heaven eating a bull after eating the caudate lobe, the people of Heaven drinking from a spring called Salsabīl, the people being in darkness near a bridge on the Day of Judgement, and the poor Meccan emigrants to Medina crossing the bridge first. The Hadith actually shows miraculously in-depth knowledge of Judeo-Christian scriptures, and it is not like the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ could have just stopped to ask different Jews of the answers to these questions, as all of these answers were given in one conversation without stopping.

The first point to address is the widely stretched fire close to the Day of Judgement. Although 2 Esdras 5:8 lists constant fires as a sign of the apocalypse, 2 Esdras is not acknowledged by Judaism and is only deuterocanonical in some Christian denominations. So, a better passage to show Judaism lists fire as a sign of the End Times is the Hebrew Bible's Joel 2:30-31:

"I, [i.e. God,] will show wonders in the heavens and on Earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful."

Next is the bridge first being crossed by the poor Muslim Meccan refugees on the Day of Judgement. The apocalyptic 4Q521 Dead Sea Scroll curiously mentions a "bridge of the abyss" separating the blessed from the accursed after the final judgement. Abdullah ibn Salam being pleased with the Prophet Muhammad (عليهما السلام) specifying his poor refugee companions may relate to the following:

Pesachim 50a: "...Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said, 'These are people who are [considered] important in this world and unimportant in the World-to-Come. [This is] like [the incident involving] Rav Yosef, son of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, [who] became ill and [was about to] expire. When he returned [to good health,] his father said to him, 'What did you see [when you were about to die?'] He said to him, 'I saw an inverted world. Those above, [i.e. those who are considered important in this world, were] below, [insignificant, while] those below, [i.e. those who are insignificant in this world, were] above. He said to him: My son, you have seen a clear world. [The world you have seen is the true world, as in that world people’s standings befit them. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi asked,] 'And where are we, [the Torah scholars..?'] Rav Yosef responded: Just as we are [regarded] here, so are we [regarded] there."

As cited earlier, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ told the rabbi the people of Heaven will eat from a fish's liver's caudate lobe. It should be noted the word he used for the fish here is ḥūt (حوت), which can refer to a fish or a whale in Classical Arabic. Leviathan is a sea monster Judaism describes as a fish or a whale which God will turn into a heavenly feast:

Bava Batra 75a: "...Rabba says [that] Rabbi Yoḥanan says: [In the] future, the Holy One, [i.e. God,] Blessed be He, will make a feast for the righteous from the flesh of the leviathan, as it is stated [in Job 40:30...]"

The people of Heaven would then eat a bull. Judaism describes a wild bull God prepares for the righteous in Eden, often identified as the legendary Behemoth:

Targum Psalm 50:10: "For mine, [i.e. for God,] are all animals of the forest, and I have prepared for the righteous in the Garden of Eden clean beasts and a wild bull who grazes everyday on a thousand mountains."

The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ goes on to say the people of Heaven will drink from the Salsabīl spring, which the Quran describes as a spring of wine:

Surat al-Insan, Verses 17-18: "And they will be given a drink [of pure wine] flavoured with ginger from a spring there called 'Salsabīl.'"

The aforementioned Quranic verse matches a Talmudic passage indicating in Heaven, the righteous will drink wine:

Sanhedrin 99a: ["...The Gemara asks,] 'What [reward is indicated in the phrase] 'no eye has seen it?'' Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi says, 'This is wine preserved in its grapes from the six days of Creation. [No person has drunk that wine, and therefore, no one can appreciate its quality...'"]

Finally, there is why a child may resemble one of its parents. I do not know how literal it is to be interpreted, but we find it still resembles what some rabbis have said in the Talmud:

Niddah 31a: "...Rabbi Yitzḥak says [that] Rabbi Ami says, ['The sex of a fetus is determined at the moment of conception. If the] woman emits seed first, she gives birth to a male, [and if] the man emits seed first, she gives birth to a female, as [Leviticus 12:2 states,] 'If a woman bears seed and gives birth to a male...''"

Linguistic Plays

There are many times where the Quran marvelously understands and responds to languages and statements of the Bible, with Hebrew being the focus for this article. There are too many to list here, so I will simply go by a couple of my personal favourites:

Deuteronomy 5:27 states the Jews must tell God, "We will listen and obey." The Quran's Surat an-Nisa Verse 46 rebuts this by saying Jews take words out of context and say, "We hear, and we disobey." The Arabic used in the Quranic verse seems to transliterate the Hebrew used in the biblical verse.
Verse 32 of Surat al-Ma'idah describes God mandating the Israelites to never murder, for murdering one person is like murdering all of humanity, and saving one person is like saving all of humanity. The Babylonian Talmud's Sanhedrin 57a similarly states killing a Jew is like killing all of humanity and saving a Jew is like saving all of humanity, with the teaching being connected to Abel and Cain. The passage is followed up with a polemic against polytheism, which interestingly matches Surat al-Ma'idah having a few criticisms of Christianity's polytheism.
Surat Hud Verse 71 said Sarah laughed when some angels came to visit her house, and after she laughed, the angels told her of the news of her future son Isaac and his future son Jacob (عليهما السلام). "Isaac" comes from the Hebrew words for "he will laugh," so the Quranic "...So she laughed, then We gave her good news of [the birth of] Isaac..." could be read as "...So she laughed, and then he laughed..."
The Quran's famous Throne Verse (Āyat al-Kursī; آية الكرسي) calls God, "The Ever-Living, the Sustainer of All That Exists" (Al-Ḥayy al-Qayyūmu; الحي القيوم), parallel to Daniel 6:26 calling God, "Living and Enduring" (ḥay-yā wə-qay-yām; חַיָּ֗א וְקַיָּם֙). The Throne Verse goes on to say neither slumber (sinatun; سنة) nor sleep (nawmun; نوم) overtakes Him, sounding similar to Psalm 121:4 saying God does not sleep (yî-šān; יִישָׁ֑ן) or slumber (yā-nūm; יָ֭נוּם).

My friend and collaborator Adam has an entire article on more examples. Go read it!

Conclusion

As stated earlier, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ could not read or write, had no formal schooling, only knew Arabic, and only encountered Jews once migrating to Medina. Yet, he and his god demonstrated a miraculously tremendous amount of knowledge of Jewish teachings. Even if one were to claim Jews taught the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ of their religion, they would have to deal with Jewish doctrine making it clear Judaism cannot be taught to gentiles:

Sanhedrin 59a: "...Rabbi Yoḥanan says, 'A gentile who engages in Torah [study is] liable [to receive the] death [penalty,] as [Deuteronomy 33:4 states,] 'Moses commanded us a law [torah], an inheritance [of the congregation] of Jacob,' [indicating...] it is an inheritance for us, and not for them...'"
Chagigah 13a: "Rabbi Ami said, 'The secrets of the Torah may be transmitted only to one who possesses [the following] five characteristics: the captain of fifty, and the man of favour, and the counselor, and the cunning charmer, and the skillful enchanter, [as indicated by Isaiah 3:3...] Rabbi Ami said [further,] 'The words of [the] Torah may not be transmitted to a gentile, as [Psalm 147:20 states,] 'He, [i.e. God,] has not dealt so with any nation, and as for His ordinances, they have not known them...'"
Maimonides - Mishneh Torah, Kings and Wars 10:9: "...A gentile who studies the Torah is obligated to die. They should only be involved in the study of their seven mitzvot, [i.e. the Seven Noahide Laws...]" It should be noted Maimonides came after the establishment of Islam. However, he derived his position from prior rabbinical statements.

As always, all signs point to the Prophet Muhammad's ﷺ prophethood, and by extension, to Islam being the true religion. I am interested in doing another part of Islam on Judaism, or even making an "Islam Perfectly Understands (and Answers) _____" series, so let me know if you would like to see this.

Search This Blog

rewhum talking about literally anything