Moses in the Qur'an and Islamic Exegesis

This work draws upon a host of late antique and medieval sources to examine selected Muslim exegesis of Moses in the Qur'an. The Muslim exegetical image of Moses int he Qur'an is linked with the ancient Sumerian stories of Gilgamesh, various versions of the Alexander Romance (Ethiopic, Syriac, Persian), Aramaic translations of the Abraham story in Genesis, and Rabbinic accounts of the Ten Lost Tribes in the Talmud and the Midrash. Muslim exegetes associate Moses with the Jacob story in Genesis, Dhu al-Qarnayn's visit to the cities at the ends of the Earth, and the Prophet Muhammad as caretaker in the Garden of Eden. In doing so, the Muslim exegetes do not confuse and mistake earlier sources, but they intentionally use non-Qur'anic elements thick in Biblical allusions to delineate a particular image of Moses, the Torah, and the Israelites. It is an image of Moses, drawn in contrast to the Biblical and Jewish image of Moses, that the Muslim exegetes use to identify and authorize themselves as linked to the different image of the Prophet Muhammad. Using approaches from Biblical Studies, History of Religions, Folklore Studies, and Jewish-Arabic Studies, this book suggests, for a limited case, how Muslim exegesis of the Qur'an is purposeful in its appropriation ad adaptation of elements consonant with Jewish and Christian interpretation and theology of the Bible.