A Dictionary of Islam Being a cyclopedia of the...

This shows that he was handed to all the Egyptian women; but he would not drink, for God said, The mouth which shall once speak with me, should it drink what is unclean?”68 This was too valuable for Muḥammad to omit from the Qurʾān.69 Although it is nowhere said in the Bible that the sign of the leprous hand was wrought in the presence of Pharaoh, yet the Qurʾān relates it as having there taken place.70 And in this also it was preceded by Jewish tradition—“He put his hand into his bosom, and withdrew it leprous, white as snow; they also put their hands into their bosoms and withdrew them leprous, white as snow.”71 Again, among Moses’ own people, none but his own tribe believed him.72 This Muḥammad doubtless inferred from the statement of the Rabbis: “The tribe of Levi was exempted from hard labour.”73 Among the sorcerers of Egypt, who first asked for their wages, and then became believers, when their serpents were swallowed by that of Moses,74 Pharaoh himself was chief.75 Here, again, Muḥammad is indebted to Judaism: “Pharaoh, who lived in the days of Moses, was a great sorcerer.”76 In other places of the Qurʾān, Pharaoh claims divinity,77 and Jewish tradition makes him declare, “Already from the beginning ye speak falsehood, for I am Lord of the world, I have made myself as well as the Nile”; as it is said of him (Ezek. xxix. 3), “Mine is the river, and I have made it.”78 The Arab prophet was much confused with regard to the plagues; in some places he enumerates nine,79 in others only five, the first of which is said to be the Flood!80 As the drowning in the Red Sea

The following somewhat dark and uncertain passage81 concerning Pharaoh has caused commentators great perplexity. It is stated that Pharaoh pursued the Israelites until actually drowning, when, confessing himself a Muslim, he was saved alive from the bottom of the sea, to be a “witness for ages to come.”82 But we find that it is merely a version of a Jewish fable: “Perceive the great power of repentance! Pharaoh, King of Egypt, uttered very wicked words—Who is the God whose voice I shall obey? (Exod. v. 2.) Yet as he repented, saying, ‘Who is like unto thee among the gods?’ (xv. 11) God saved him from death; for it saith, Almost had I stretched out my hands and destroyed; but God let him live, that he might declare his power and strength.”83

As Jewish commentators add to Exod. xv. 27, where we read of twelve fountains being found near Elim, that each of the tribes had a well,84 so Muḥammad transposes the statement, and declares that twelve fountains sprang from the rock which had been smitten by Moses at Rephidim.85 The Rabbinical fable, that God covered the Israelites with Mount Sinai, on the occasion of the law-giving,86 is thus amplified in the Qurʾān: “We shook the mountain over them, as though it had been a covering, and they imagined that it was falling upon them; and we said, ‘Receive the law which we have brought unto you with reverence.’”87 The Qurʾān adds that the Israelites, now demanding to see God, die, and are raised again.88 It will not be difficult to trace the origin of this figment. When the Israelites demanded two things from God—that they might see his glory and hear his voice—both were granted to them. Then it is added, “These things, however, they had no power to resist; as they came to Mount Sinai, and He appeared unto them, their souls escaped by His speaking, as it is said, ‘My soul escaped as He spake.’ The Torah, however, interceded for them, saying, ‘Does a king give his daughter to marriage and kill his household? The whole world rejoices (at my appearance), and thy children (the Israelites) shall they die?’ At once their souls returned; therefore it is said, The doctrine of God is perfect, and brings back the soul.”89 In the matter of the golden calf, the Qurʾān follows as usual the fabulous account of the Rabbinical traditions.

Both represent Aaron as having been nearly killed when at first resisting the entreaty of the people. The Sanhedrin relates: “Aaron saw Chur slaughtered before his eyes (who opposed them), and he thought, If I do not yield to them they will deal with me as they dealt with Chur.”90 According to another passage in the Qurʾān, an Israelite named as-Sāmirī enticed them, and made the calf.91 Like the wandering Jew in Christian fable, as-Sāmirī is punished by Moses with endless wandering, and he is compelled to repeat the words, “Touch me not.”92 Jewish traditions make Mikah assist in manufacturing the idol calf;93 but Muḥammad either derived as-Sāmirī from Samael, or, as the Samaritans are stated by the Arab writers to have said, “Touch me not,” he may have considered as-Sāmirī as the author of the sect of the Samaritans. That the calf thus produced by as-Sāmirī from the ornaments of the people, lowed on being finished,94 is evidently a repetition of the following Jewish tradition: “The calf came forth (Exod. xxxii. 24) roaring, and the Israelites saw it. Rabbi Jehuda says, Samael entered the calf and roared to deceive the Israelites.” The addition, that the tribe of Levi remained faithful to God, is both Scriptural and Rabbinical.95 The matter of Korah is honoured with singular embellishments; for instance, Korah had such riches, that from ten to forty strong men were required to carry the keys of his treasures.96 Abū ʾl-Fidāʾ says forty mules were required to convey the keys.

Jewish tradition is still more extravagant: “Joseph buried three treasures in Egypt, one of which became known to Korah. Riches are turned to destruction to him that possesses them (Eccles. v. 12), and this may well be applied to Korah. The keys to the treasures of Korah made a burden for 300 white mules.”97

The accusation from which God cleared his servant Moses, of which the Qurʾān makes mention, was occasioned by Korah. “Abu Aliah says it refers to Korah hiring a harlot to reproach Moses before all the people, upon which God struck her dumb, and destroyed Korah, which cleared Moses from the charge.”98 This is unquestionably an amplification of the following passage: “Moses heard, and fell on his face. What was it he heard? That they accused him of having to do with another man’s wife.”99 Others conceive the unjust charge from which Moses was cleared, to have been that of murdering Aaron on Mount Hor, because he and Eleazar only were present when Aaron died! That they had recourse to Jewish tradition, will appear from the subjoined extract: “The whole congregation saw that Aaron was dead; and when Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain, the whole congregation gathered together, asking, Where is Aaron? But they said, He is dead. How can the Angel of Death touch a man, by whom he was resisted and restrained, as it is said, He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stayed? If ye bring him, it is well; if not, we will stone you. Moses prayed, Lord of the World, remove from me this suspicion! Then God opened and showed them Aaron’s body.” And to this the passage applies: “The whole congregation saw,” &c. (Numb. xx. 29, 75.) [MOSES.]

The time of the Judges is passed over unnoticed, and from the manner in which the election of a king is introduced,100 it would appear that Muḥammad was ignorant of the long interval between Moses and Saul.101 [SAUL.] Of David’s history, only his victory over Goliath and his fall through Bathsheba are recorded. [DAVID.] The Traditions make mention of the brevity of his slumbers, and commentators of the Qurʾān affirm the same: “The Apostle of God said David slept half the night; he then rose for a third part, and slept again a sixth part.” This is derived from the Rabbis, who assert that the king slept only for the term of “sixty breathings.”102 Of the wisdom of Solomon, the Qurʾān makes particular mention; and to support the statement, adds, that he understood the language of birds; this was also the opinion of the Jewish doctors. The winds, or, more probable, spirits, obeyed him; and demons, birds, and beasts, formed part of his standing army.103 Jewish commentators record that “demons of various kinds, and evil spirits were subject to him.”104 The story of the Queen of Sheba, and the adventures of the lapwing,105 are only abridgments from Jewish traditions. With regard to the fable, that demons assisted Solomon in the building of the Temple, and, being deceived, continued it after his death, we may here add that Muḥammad borrowed it directly from the Jews.106 When Solomon became haughty, one of his many demons ruled in his stead, till he repented.

The Sanhedrin also refers to this degradation: “In the beginning Solomon reigned also over the upper worlds”; as it is said, “Solomon sat on the throne of God”; after that only over his staff, as it is said, “What profit hath a man of all his labour?” and still later, “This is my portion of all my labour.”107 On repenting, he maimed his horses, considering them a useless luxury. In the Talmud and the Scriptures, we find allusion to his obtaining them as well as to their being prohibited.108 [SOLOMON.]

Elijah is among the few characters which Muḥammad notices after Solomon; nothing, indeed, is mentioned of his rapture to heaven, yet he is considered a great prophet.109 Among the Jews, Elijah appears in human form to the pious on earth, he visits them in their places of worship, and communicates revelations from God to eminent Rabbis. In this character Elijah also appears in Muslim divinity. [ELIJAH.] Jonah is the “man of the fish”;110 Muḥammad relates his history in his usual style, not omitting his journey to Nineveh, or the gourd which afforded him shade. [JONAH.] Job, too, with his suffering and cure is noticed111 [JOB]; also the three men who were cast into a burning fiery furnace112 (Dan. iii. 8); the turning back of the shadow of degrees on the occasion of Hezekiah’s recovery.113

(4) The Shechinah, or Sakīnah, سكينة, Sūrah ii. 249: “The sign of his kingdom is that there shall come to you the ARK (Tābūt), and SHECHINA (Sakīnah) in it from the Lord.” Heb. שְׁכִינָה. A term not used in the Bible, but used by the Rabbinical writers to express the visible presence of God between the Cherubim on the Mercy seat of the Tabernacle.

(5) The Ark, Tābūt, تابوت. In Sūrah ii. 249, for the Ark of the Covenant, and in Sūrah xx. 39, for Noah’s Ark. The Heb. תֵּבָה (which is used in the Bible for Noah’s Ark and the ark of bulrushes), and not the Heb. אֲרוֹן; the former being Rabbinical.

JIBT (جبت). An idol of the Quraish mentioned in the Qurʾān, Sūrah iv. 54: “They (certain renegade Jews) believe in Jibt and T̤āg͟hūt, and say of the infidels, These are guided in a better path than those who hold the faith.” The Jalālān say certain Jews used to do homage to these idols in order to please the Quraish.

JIHĀD (جهاد). Lit. “An effort, or a striving.” A religious war with those who are unbelievers in the mission of Muḥammad. It is an incumbent religious duty, established in the Qurʾān and in the Traditions as a divine institution, and enjoined specially for the purpose of advancing Islām and of repelling evil from Muslims.

The duty of religious war (which all commentators agree is a duty extending to all time) is laid down in the Qurʾān in the following verses, and it is remarkable that all the verses occur in the al-Madīnah Sūrahs, being those given after Muḥammad had established himself as a paramount ruler, and was in a position to dictate terms to his enemies.

Sūrah ix. 5, 6: “And when the sacred months are passed, kill those who join other gods with God wherever ye shall find them; and seize them, besiege them, and lay wait for them with every kind of ambush: but if they shall convert, and observe prayer, and pay the obligatory alms, then let them go their way, for God is Gracious, Merciful. If any one of those who join gods with God ask an asylum of thee, grant him an asylum, that he may hear the Word of God, and then let him reach his place of safety. This, for that they are people devoid of knowledge.”

Sūrah ix. 29: “Make war upon such of those to whom the Scriptures have been given as believe not in God, or in the last day, and who forbid not that which God and His Apostle have forbidden, and who profess not the profession of the truth, until they pay tribute (jizyah) out of hand, and they be humbled.”

Sūrah iv. 76–79: “Let those then fight on the path of God, who exchange this present life for that which is to come; for whoever fighteth on God’s path, whether he be slain or conquer, we will in the end give him a great reward. But what hath come to you that ye fight not on the path of God, and for the weak among men, women, and children, who say, ‘O our Lord! bring us forth from this city whose inhabitants are oppressors; give us a champion from Thy presence; and give us from thy presence a defender.’ They who believe, fight on the path of God; and they who believe not, fight on the path of T̤āg͟hūt: Fight therefore against the friends of Satan. Verily the craft of Satan shall be powerless! Hast thou not marked those to whom it was said, ‘Withhold your hands awhile from war; and observe prayer, and pay the stated alms.’ But when war is commanded them, lo! a portion of them fear men as with the fear of God, or with a yet greater fear, and say: ‘O our Lord! why hast Thou commanded us war? Couldst thou not have given us respite till our not distant end?’ Say: Small the fruition of this world; but the next life is the true good for him who feareth God! and ye shall not be wronged so much as the skin of a date-stone.”

Sūrah ii. 214, 215: “They will ask thee concerning war in the Sacred Month. Say: To war therein is bad, but to turn aside from the cause of God, and to have no faith in Him, and in the Sacred Temple, and to drive out its people, is worse in the sight of God; and civil strife is worse than bloodshed. They will not cease to war against you until they turn you from your religion, if they be able: but whoever of you shall turn from his religion and die an infidel, their works shall be fruitless in this world, and in the next: they shall be consigned to the fire; therein to abide for aye. But they who believe, and who fly their country, and fight in the cause of God may hope for God’s mercy: and God is Gracious, Merciful.”

Sūrah viii. 39–42: “Say to the infidels: If they desist from their unbelief, what is now past shall be forgiven them; but if they return to it, they have already before them the doom of the ancients! Fight then against them till strife be at an end, and the religion be all of it God’s. If they desist, verily God beholdeth what they do: but if they turn their back, know ye that God is your protector: Excellent protector! excellent helper! And know ye, that when ye have taken any booty, a fifth part belongeth to God and to the Apostle, and to the near of kin, and to orphans, and to the poor, and to the wayfarer.”