Uzair: Difference between revisions
→Jewish responses: neutralise prose, fix quote. extended due to sentence construct |
Yahel Guhan (talk | contribs) rv. massive censorship |
||
| Line 31: | Line 31: | ||
===Jewish responses=== |
===Jewish responses=== |
||
According to Rabbi [[Saadia Gaon]], Jewish texts don't make the claim that Ezra is the son of God. Book of Ezra, a Jewish text predating the time of Muhammad states in {{Bibleref|Ezra|7:1|HE}} that Ezra is the son of Seraiah. [[Judaism]] holds the idea of any person being God, or a part of God, or a mediator to God, to be heresy, and no branch of Judaism makes Ezra a son of God.<ref>''[[Emunoth ve-Deoth]]'', II:5</ref>. Exodus Rabba 29 states, "...I am the first, I have no father; I am the last, I have no brother. Beside Me there is no God; I have no son."<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/tmm/tmm08.htm Exod. Rabba 29]</ref> |
According to Rabbi [[Saadia Gaon]], Jewish texts don't make the claim that Ezra is the son of God. Book of Ezra, a Jewish text predating the time of Muhammad states in {{Bibleref|Ezra|7:1|HE}} that Ezra is the son of Seraiah. [[Judaism]] holds the idea of any person being God, or a part of God, or a mediator to God, to be heresy, and no branch of Judaism makes Ezra a son of God.<ref>''[[Emunoth ve-Deoth]]'', II:5</ref>. Exodus Rabba 29 states, "...I am the first, I have no father; I am the last, I have no brother. Beside Me there is no God; I have no son."<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/tmm/tmm08.htm Exod. Rabba 29]</ref>. The belief that Ezra is the son of God has never been a tenet of Judaism.<ref>http://www.contenderministries.org/islam/contradictions.php</ref> |
||
Of note is that Judaism believes that God, as the creator of time, space, and matter, is beyond them, and will not be born, die, or have a son. Judaism teaches that it is heretical for any man to claim to be God, part of God, or the literal son of God. |
|||
The [[Jerusalem Talmud]], another Jewish text predating the time of Muhammad states explicitly in ([[Ta'anit]] 2:1) : "if a man claims to be God, he is a liar.". |
|||
In one of [[Maimonides|Maimonides's]] discussions about the the relationship between Judaism and Islam he say that the Muslims lie about the Jews and say the Jews believe God has Son "And because they(Muslims) lie about us (Jews), and falsely attribute to us the statement that God has a son" <ref name="Shapiro">{{cite journal |
In one of [[Maimonides|Maimonides's]] discussions about the the relationship between Judaism and Islam he say that the Muslims lie about the Jews and say the Jews believe God has Son "And because they(Muslims) lie about us (Jews), and falsely attribute to us the statement that God has a son" <ref name="Shapiro">{{cite journal |
||
| Line 51: | Line 54: | ||
</ref> |
</ref> |
||
In [[Karaite Judaism]], mourners use the word |
In [[Karaite Judaism|Karitism]], mourners use the word meharef to represent a whole range of Muslim anti-Jewish slander including the misconception that Jews considered Ezra to be the son of God. Salmon b. Yeruhim, said, "A meharef is one who reviles us for sins we have did and other which we haven't ... The latter includes the assertion that we take Ezra as the son of God."<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=MzqwUksGUrkC&pg=RA1-PA193&dq=ezra+jews+quran&sig=fbOsyb0Xif-XuWYIrA0Yi2ifdf0#PRA1-PA193,M1|Search Scripture Well: Karaite Exegetes and the Origins of the Jewish Bible, By Daniel H. Frank, pg 193]</ref> |
||
[[Abraham Geiger]], A Jewish theologian said concerning the claim that Jews believed Ezra to be the son of God the following, "According to the assertion of Muhammad the Jews held Ezra to be the Son of God. This is certainly a mere misunderstanding which arose from the great esteem in which Ezra was undoubtedly held. This esteem is expressed in the following passage "Ezra would have been worthy to have made known the law if Moses had not come before him." Truly Muhammad sought to cast suspicion on the Jews' faith in the unity of God, and thought he had here found a good opportunity of so doing." <ref>[[Abraham Geiger]]'s book Judaism and Islam chapter 2 part 4</ref> |
[[Abraham Geiger]], A Jewish theologian said concerning the claim that Jews believed Ezra to be the son of God the following, "According to the assertion of Muhammad the Jews held Ezra to be the Son of God. This is certainly a mere misunderstanding which arose from the great esteem in which Ezra was undoubtedly held. This esteem is expressed in the following passage "Ezra would have been worthy to have made known the law if Moses had not come before him." Truly Muhammad sought to cast suspicion on the Jews' faith in the unity of God, and thought he had here found a good opportunity of so doing." <ref>[[Abraham Geiger]]'s book Judaism and Islam chapter 2 part 4</ref> |
||
Revision as of 22:58, 19 November 2007
| Part of a series on |
| Islam |
|---|
 |
Ezra (Arabic: عزير, 'Uzair, Turkish: Üzeyir) was a priest and scribe who returned to Jerusalem from Babylonian exile.
One Qur'anic verse (Quran 9:30) refers to a person named Azir(عزير) worshiped by Jews as "the son of God". Azir(عزير) is usually identified by Muslim commentators with the biblical Ezra, or sometimes with a man who slept for three hundred years. Modern scholars have also suggested the Biblical Enoch, Azazel and Osiris.[1]
Although not explicitly mentioned in Quran among the prophets, Ezra is considered as one of the prophets by some Muslim scholars, based on Islamic traditions. Ezra lived between the times of King Solomon and the time of Zechariah, father of John the Baptist.[2][3]
Ezra in Islamic tradition
He is mentioned in Sahih Muslim in The Book of Faith as:
...Then the Jews would be summoned, and it would be said to them: What did you worship? They will say: We worshipped 'Uzair, son of Allah. It would be said to them: You tell a lie; Allah had never had a spouse or a son... Template:Muslim-usc
Also, according to Ibn 'Abbas and Al-Hassan Al-Basri, the prophet mentioned in the following tradition is Uzair [2]:
Abu Haraira said that he heard Muhammad say, "An ant bit a prophet amongst the prophets, and that he ordered that the place of the ants be burnt. So, God inspired to him, 'Is it because one ant bit you that you burnt a nations amongst the nations that glorify God?
Resurrection
Also in some Islamic narrations, Ezra is the person mentioned in the following Qur'anic verse [3]:
Or (take) the similitude of one who passed by a hamlet, all in ruins to its roofs. He said: "Oh! how shall Allah bring it (ever) to life, after (this) its death?" but Allah caused him to die for a hundred years, then raised him up (again). He said: "How long didst thou tarry (thus)?" He said: (Perhaps) a day or part of a day." He said: "Nay, thou hast tarried thus a hundred years; but look at thy food and thy drink; they show no signs of age; and look at thy donkey: And that We may make of thee a sign unto the people, Look further at the bones, how We bring them together and clothe them with flesh." When this was shown clearly to him, he said: "I know that Allah hath power over all things." (Quran 2:259)
After resurrection, he rode on his donkey and entered his native place. But the people did not recognize him, nor did his household, except the maid, who was now an old blind woman. He prayed to God to cure her blindness and she could see again. He meets his son who recognized him by a mole between his shoulders and was older than him. Ezra then led the people to locate the only surviving copy of Torah as the remaining were burnt by Nebuchadnezzar. He thus renovated the Torah to the Children of Israel. Ibn Kathir mentions that the sign in the phrase "And that We may make of thee a sign unto the people" was that he was younger than his children [3].
Quranic statements about perceived Jewish exaltation
Quran mentions that Jews exalted Ezra as "Son of God".
The Jews call 'Uzair a son of Allah, and the Christians call Christ the son of Allah. That is a saying from their mouth; (in this) they but imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say. Allah's curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the Truth! (Quran 9:30)
They take their priests (Ahbar) and their anchorites to be their lords in derogation of Allah, and (they take as their Lord) Christ the son of Mary; yet they were commanded to worship but One Allah: there is no god but He. Praise and glory to Him: (Far is He) from having the partners they associate (with Him).(Quran 9:31)
According to G. D. Newby in A History Of The Jews Of Arabia, "Jews of Hijaz" associated Ezra as Bene Elohim or Son of God.[4]. He mentions that Jews of Arabia exalted him "particularly because he was equated with Enoch as the Scribe of God, (and) could be termed one of the Bene Elohim. And, of course, he would fit the description of religious leader (one of the ahbar of the Quran 9:31) whom the Jews had exalted."[4]. Moreover, H. Z. Hirschberg mentions in Encyclopaedia Judaica, that according to muslim sources there was some group of Yemenite Jews who believed that 'Uzayr was indeed the son of Allah' [5]. Ibn Kathir also mentions the reason for Jewish exaltation of Ezra was that he could write down the Torah out of his memory while, Moses could not get the Torah but in a book however "'Uzair got it without a book" [3]. According to Islamic scholar Al Baidawi, when Jews returned from Babylonish captivity, no one remembered the Tawrat and it was lost, hence God raised Ezra from the dead. Upon seeing him being raised from the dead, Jews exalted him to be the Son of God [6]. Moreover, the Quran further adds that despite Jews and christians were "commanded to worship but One Allah" through scriptures, yet they exalted their clergy as Lords.[7]
According to Hava Lazarus-Yafeh, later Muslim authors who heard from their contemporary Jews and Christians that the accusation of sonship had no basis mentioned three types of explanation: al-Tabari said that only one Jew (Finhas) viewed Uzra as the son of God, Ibn Hazm said that only a small group of Jews worshipped ʿUzayr as a son of God in some past period. And others like Qurtubi said that the verse refers to the extreme admiration of Jews for their doctors of law. [1]
Jewish responses
According to Rabbi Saadia Gaon, Jewish texts don't make the claim that Ezra is the son of God. Book of Ezra, a Jewish text predating the time of Muhammad states in Ezra 7:1 that Ezra is the son of Seraiah. Judaism holds the idea of any person being God, or a part of God, or a mediator to God, to be heresy, and no branch of Judaism makes Ezra a son of God.[8]. Exodus Rabba 29 states, "...I am the first, I have no father; I am the last, I have no brother. Beside Me there is no God; I have no son."[9]. The belief that Ezra is the son of God has never been a tenet of Judaism.[10]
Of note is that Judaism believes that God, as the creator of time, space, and matter, is beyond them, and will not be born, die, or have a son. Judaism teaches that it is heretical for any man to claim to be God, part of God, or the literal son of God. The Jerusalem Talmud, another Jewish text predating the time of Muhammad states explicitly in (Ta'anit 2:1) : "if a man claims to be God, he is a liar.".
In one of Maimonides's discussions about the the relationship between Judaism and Islam he say that the Muslims lie about the Jews and say the Jews believe God has Son "And because they(Muslims) lie about us (Jews), and falsely attribute to us the statement that God has a son" [11]
In Karitism, mourners use the word meharef to represent a whole range of Muslim anti-Jewish slander including the misconception that Jews considered Ezra to be the son of God. Salmon b. Yeruhim, said, "A meharef is one who reviles us for sins we have did and other which we haven't ... The latter includes the assertion that we take Ezra as the son of God."[12]
Abraham Geiger, A Jewish theologian said concerning the claim that Jews believed Ezra to be the son of God the following, "According to the assertion of Muhammad the Jews held Ezra to be the Son of God. This is certainly a mere misunderstanding which arose from the great esteem in which Ezra was undoubtedly held. This esteem is expressed in the following passage "Ezra would have been worthy to have made known the law if Moses had not come before him." Truly Muhammad sought to cast suspicion on the Jews' faith in the unity of God, and thought he had here found a good opportunity of so doing." [13]
The New Encyclopedia of Islam on page 467, states, "... The reference to Ezra as the "son of God" is obscure, and can not be explained by anything in the Bible or from other sources.
Ishmael Instructs Isaac: An Introduction to the Qur'an for Bible Readers page 273, states, "This is the only text in the Quran which levels shirk against the Jews. The reference of their worship of Ezra as Allah is obscure and a mystery. Some (Muslim) commentators claim that this was a belief among the Jews of Medina, but there is no solid evidence to support this..."
Non-denominational responses
According to the American historian and archaeologist, Charles Cutler Torrey, Muhammad made this assertion so as to claim pure monotheism for the Muslims alone, in his day.[14]
Edward Henry Palmer of Cambridge, in his translation of the Qur'an (1880), notes that "There is no Jewish tradition whatever in support of this accusation of Muhammed's, which was probably due to his own invention of misinformation."[15]
References
- ^ a b Encyclopedia of Islam, Uzayr
- ^ a b Encyclopaedia of Holy Prophet and Companions By Ashraf, Shahid, p199
- ^ a b c d Stories Of The Quran, Ibn Kathir
- ^ a b G. D. Newby, A History Of The Jews Of Arabia, 1988, University Of South Carolina Press, p. 61
- ^ Encyclopaedia Judaica, p. 1108.
- ^ A Dictionary of Islam By Patrick Hughes, Thomas Patrick Hughes, pg 114
- ^ Quran 9:31
- ^ Emunoth ve-Deoth, II:5
- ^ Exod. Rabba 29
- ^ http://www.contenderministries.org/islam/contradictions.php
- ^ Shapiro, Marc B. (1993). "Islam and the halakhah". Judaism: A Quarterly Journal of Jewish Life & Thought. 42 (167). New York: American Jewish Congress. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
The Ishmaelites are not at all idolaters; [idolatry] has long been severed from their mouths and hearts; and they attribute to God a proper unity, a unity concerning which there is no doubt. And because they lie about us , and falsely attribute to us the statement that God has a son…
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Scripture Well: Karaite Exegetes and the Origins of the Jewish Bible, By Daniel H. Frank, pg 193
- ^ Abraham Geiger's book Judaism and Islam chapter 2 part 4
- ^ Torrey, Charles Cutler (1967). "Allah and Islam in Ancient History". The Jewish foundation of Islam. Introd. by Franz Rosenthal. New York: KTAV. p. 72. OCLC 921947. LCCN 67-0.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|origdate=ignored (|orig-date=suggested) (help) - ^ Palmer, Edward Henry. "Footnote on 177:1". The Qur'ân, part I (Sacred Books of the East volume 6), Palmer edition [1880]. Internet Sacred Text Archive. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
The Moslem tradition is that Ezra, after being dead 100 years, was raised to life, and dictated from memory the whole of the Jewish Scriptures which had been lost during the captivity, and that the Jews said he could not have done this unless he had been the son of God. There is no Jewish tradition whatever in support of this accusation of Mohammed's, which probably was entirely due to his own invention or to misinformation.