While most westerners know the story of Joseph as a passage from the end of the book of Genesis in the Bible or the Torah, understanding the story and its intricacies in sura 12 of the Qur’an proves equally important. Joseph’s story in Genesis emphasizes his personal abilities and God rewarding him and his people’s loyalty and faith amidst hardship. The Qur’an takes the same plot and enforces the theme of monotheism and Joseph’s prophetic role in its spread. The Qur’an’s interpretation serves as a more influential religious text in the context of its body of belief, whereas the Biblical story of Joseph, with its thematically intriguing story line and embellishments, comparatively serves a greater literary purpose. By reading and understanding both passages, one can gain a clearer knowledge of what is regarded as important to the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic faiths. The two stories follow the same general plot, but the different interpretations give varying underlying meanings, assumingly stemming from the differences in authorship. This difference in content is the major divide between the Qur’an and the Bible. Islamic believers claim that the Qur’an was divinely inspired and physically written by the prophet Muhammad in its entirety and the Bible contains many historical manipulations due to its varied authorship. Assuming the common belief in divine inspiration is true, the single author of the Qur’an would provide less room for error than the compilation style of the Bible. However, according to biblical tradition, the Torah was completed around 1500 BCE, and the Qur’an was written during the lifetime of Muhammad from 609 to 632 CE, meaning that the Qur’an was written many centuries after the events it chronicled and leave... ... middle of paper ... ...e Biblical story weighs heavily on Joseph’s divine dream interpreting ability and the story it provides, focusing on the theme of God caring for His people and fulfilling his divine plan. The Qur’an appreciates this but sees it as a means to the end of the spread of faith to non-believers. The Christian and Jewish version of Joseph’s trials serves a greater literary purpose than the Qur’an’s version, advancing belief by showing God’s abilities and the way they may be manifested in others in order to fulfill his divine plan. However, the Qur’an expands upon the Biblical version by including additional plot points and explicitly portraying Joseph’s goals and how they align with Islamic theology. The accounts differ in functionality, but both are crucial to the holistic understanding of the story of Joseph and some of the fundamental differences between the religions.
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Show MoreThe Book of Job is one of the three books in the Hebrew bible whose genre is described as wisdom literature.1 Certainly the Book of Job satisfies the literary conventions that qualify a biblical book for such status. 2 Yet Job may be associated with wisdom in a much more literal sense. The Book of Job attempts to deal with a problematic question that confronts suffering humanity: why do bad things happen to good people? The variety and vehemence of commentators' contemporary responses to this chapter of the Bible is testament to the continued relevance of the Book of Job's wisdom thousands of years after it was written. Although the commentators examined herein arrive at differing and sometimes conflicting conclusions after reading the story of "the holy Arab"3, none are left indifferent.
Scholars have shifted from the notion that the Bible differs from other ancient Near Eastern literature, cultures, and religions. If this were so, the Bible would be considered a myth. In this chapter Oswalt gives descriptions to what a myth is and gives insight into whether it is acceptable to label the Bible as a myth. Since the 1960s, scholars have been stating that the attributes of the Bible and its contemporary belief system have more in common to a myth even though the data used to make these claims have remained the same.
In conclusion, there are many connections to be made between the life of Joseph and Jesus. They both encountered much adversity which then in turn resulted in the redemption of many. The difference is Joseph was able to help some and Jesus was salvation for
Different approaches are required in order to get to the theology of the book. Unreserved evidences from the text itself provide the clear set of evidence that God is in fact behind the scenes preserving and sheltering His people. Several other definite items such as literary structure, writi...
...ics, their religious texts contain tales that are almost completely opposite. Biblical scholars accuse Hebrews of borrowing and even plagiarizing stories from neighboring religions and cultures. So which stories can be deemed true within The Bible and The Koran? The truth is obvious and can be found within the revelations of Muhammad.
...understand. It is important, however, that you do not interpret these allegorical accounts literally. It is equally important to avoid allowing other people to shape your interpretation. If you take one thing away from this essay, it should be that the answers provided by the Torah, New Testament and Qur'an are only possible answers, and divine truth can only be derived from personal introspection.
Religion, in many forms, has had the most profound influence on human society throughout history. It’s been the basis for many human traditions, value systems, and conflict throughout the history of human civilization. Understanding religious traditions, relationships, and foundational beliefs enables humans to understand their differences and better prepare themselves to make decisions regarding religious interactions in the appropriate context. Religions are considered to be reliable and important in answering the most profound questions of human existence; where do we come from? What should we do while we are here? Since religion is so important so are the holy texts, because they put into words/ writing of guideline of what that religion is all about. In this essay I will attempt to explore and discuss a passage from Gospel of Luke 10:25-37 “The Good Samaritan” and “Surah Ar Rahman” from 55th Sura of the Qur'an and their relation to that particular religion.
Both Christianity and Islam mirror Judaism. From Judaism, Christianity and Islam derived the doctrines of monotheism, prophecy, resurrection, and a belief in the existence of heaven and hell. Both Islam and Christianity have a holy book. Christians consider the Bible the inspired word of God, however Muslims believe that the Koran is the literal word of God. Mohammed was merely transcribing the words of Allah, much as a court reporter does. Muslims therefore attribute greater spiritual
While Joseph was in prison he interprets a couple of dreams, those dreams came from the cupbearer and the baker of the Pharaoh of Egypt. Later Pharaoh has a dream, but no one knew what it meant and the Cupbearer reminders Joseph after the cupbearer had been out of prison for two years and tells the Pharaoh about Joseph interpreting his dream. Joseph got to interpret the Pharaoh's dream, and Joseph saves the people from starving. Joseph was loyal to the Lord and that is what led him to his position of influence and
The content and structure of this section is largely based off of Mark Gabriel’s Jesus and Muhammad. I strongly encourage anyone reading this essay to read through Gabriel’s book in its entirety. My writing will focus on Muhammad’s life timeline, which is interesting in and of itself, but it is incredibly valuable to see the life of Muhammad side by side with the life of Jesus. Gabriel does just that.
“Mohammed Dib, a Bedouin shepherd of the T’Amireh tribe” (Keller, 1957, 401) could not have known that he would be the person who, in 1947, would bring to bear the words of Isaiah 40.8
... of Israel, 2d ed.: A Theological Survey of the Old Testament. Garden City: Baker Academic, 2002.
Smart, Ninian, and Richard D. Hecht. "Scripture and Tradition in Islam- The Qur'an and Hadith," Sacred texts of the world: A Universal Anthology, ed.. Crossroads Publishing, 1982. 130-32,135-41,144-46,150-53,158-59,162-64. Print.
The story of Joseph, the prophet is a pivotal cornerstone for two of the three major Abrahamic religions. In it, both Judaic and Islamic followers have crafted a story which establish God’s ability to intervene and protect his resolute followers. Throughout time, both parties have diverged on the fundamentals of this story to benefit their definition of faithfulness. As such, Both Islamic and Judaic faiths have crafted a story in which the view of God, Joseph, and the other characters present a significant example of the power of God and Allah.
Recent decades turned to textual records, and historian F.E. Peters claimed that a “quest of historical Muhammad is unlikely to yield many certainties since so little can be known for certain about Arabian Peninsula of the era”. It is evident that the prophet was an orphan of noble lineage challenging his tribe and the powers of the oneness of God in an idolatrous wilderness, but what can we really know about Muhammad? How we can known it, and if Muhammad really existed is still of question? Setting Muslim sources aside, early Greek and Syrian sources also give sufficient evidence to remove “any doubts to whether Muhammad was a real person” There is still a debate on if one can use sources for reliable accounts of Muhammad’s life, but one can argue that doubt can fill even a few pages with indisputable information. With early texts often exaggerating the face of Muhammad’s character, it seems readers cannot accept Muhammad as a man that can slaughter, rob caravans and sell women and children into slavery. In that era, it was typical for facts to be presented in an emotional and exaggerated manner to appeal to listeners. Though some claim that there is lacking Muslim literature, Muslims have a voluminous biographical literatures of earlier surviving collection called the Tabaqat (generations) of Ibn Said, which additionally contains biographies of prophet’s wives, relatives, and companions. Some sources even went to explain what the prophet liked to eat, the way he washed, and even manners of eating. With that aside, it seems Ibn Hisham’s work was successful due to the incorporation of emphasizing authentic Christian, Jew and Arabian contexts. Muslims talk of Muhammad as a “perfected human being” whose conduct people should try to