An Analysis of the Qur’an in the Light of Documented History

By Dr. Rafat Amari

What is the Documented History?

To begin we’ll address the question, “What is documented history?” History is based on documented narration which is information provided by historians through what they wrote in books during the times in which they lived.

One example of documented narration is the writings of the Greek historian, Herodotus, who was born in Asia Minor and lived in the 5^th century B.C. Cicero considered him the father of history. He wrote a history of the world, especially focusing on the Persian Wars. His work simply titled Histories covers a period from the middle of the 6th century B.C. to the early part of the 5th century B.C. Ancient historians such as Herodotus not only can be a reliable source for information on the era in which they lived but their information can be vital to our understanding of the previous century. Other Greek and Roman historians who came after Herodotus also wrote valuable works which can be considered reliable sources of documented history.

Still others who contributed to documenting history are written records or chronicles of kings and nations. The chronicles of the Assyrians, Chaldeans and Persians are especially helpful. The most ancient chronicles come from the Assyrians and date back to the 7th or 8th centuries B.C. These sources would be enough in themselves, but we have more resources for documenting history, including the annals and the inscriptions on stones and other archaeological findings.

The Bible as a Valid Resource for Ancient History

It is true we have all of these resources to validate ancient history, but the single most reliable resource is the Bible. The books of the Bible were written by various prophets who lived at various times. Moreover, they were inspired by God to ensure accuracy. Most of the inspired writers of the Old Testament lived and wrote before the historians themselves.

The first Biblical writer was Moses who lived in the 15th century B.C. Moses chronicled the nations as they branched and grew from Noah's sons after the flood. Moses’ writings make up Genesis, the first book of the Bible. Though in the past, scholars doubted some of the Biblical narrations, today, we have found archaeological discoveries which confirm the historical accuracy of the Bible. Although the Bible covers a period in history where there were no historians, archaeology has increased our knowledge through its excavations in different sites throughout the Middle East. Since archaeology has never contradicted the Biblical narration, the Bible is considered a valuable resource, especially for ancient history.

The unhistorical and false chronology of the narration found in the Qur’an

On the other hand, Islam does not have a single resource to document its claims. Mohammed wrote in the 7th century A.D., a long time after the documented histories which had preceded him. He never presented a chronology of history like we find in the Bible because he never had one. All he had were stories which he mixed with the personalities he borrowed from the Bible. In some cases, Mohammed inserted these accounts in other time periods hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of years from the time in which those personalities lived.

The Qur’an Placed Haman and the Tower of Mesopotamia in Egypt at the Same Time as Moses

For example, he placed Haman, the prime minister of the Persian king, Ahasuerus, and the tower of Mesopotamia in Egypt, at the same time as Moses. Ahasuerus has been identified by most scholars as Xerxes who became king in the year 486 B.C., not at the time of Moses who lived in the 15th century B.C. Mohammed claims Pharaoh asked Haman to burn bricks and build a tower so he could go to heaven and see the God of Moses. Here is Mohammed’s account in Surah Al-Qasas, 28:38,

Pharaoh said, “O people, I know no god except me. Therefore, Oh Haman, light me a kiln to bake bricks out of clay and build me a lofty tower, that I may mount up to see the God of Moses because I think Moses is a liar.”

Mohammed borrowed this story from Genesis, 11:3, 4. After the flood:

They said to each other, “Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

We know that the Pharaohs never built towers which were characteristic of the towers of Mesopotamia. The Egyptians didn’t use burnt bricks until the Roman occupation of Egypt. They used stones for the pyramids and their temples. For houses, they used bricks which were dried with the sun’s heat.

Mohammed Applied the Name “Samaritan” to the Time of Moses, Even Though the Samaritans did not Appear Before the 6th Century B.C.

One example of a misapplied title is found in Mohammed’s narration concerning the golden calf, which the book of Exodus says Aaron made in the wilderness. This occurred when Moses went to the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments. Due to pressure from the Israelites who saw that Moses was delayed for 40 days, Aaron submitted to the Israelites’ demands and made the golden calf idol for them to worship. Mohammed reported the event in Surah Ta Ha 20:85-97 when he wrote:

Allah said, “We have seduced your people in your absence. The Samaritan had led them astray.” Moses returned to his people in a state of anger and sorrow. He said to them, “Oh people, did not your lord make a good promise to you? Did the promise seem too long for you, or did you want the wrath to come down on you from the lord, and so you broke your promise to me?”

They said, “We broke not the promise to you, as far as it lay in our power, but we were made to carry the weight of the ornaments of the people, and we threw them into the fire, and that’s what the Samaritan threw. Then he brought a lowing calf before them. So they said, “This is your god and the god of Moses.”

Then Moses said, “What is the matter with you, O Samaritan?” He replied: “I saw what they saw not, so that I took a handful of dust from the footprint of the Apostle, and threw it into the calf … “Go” Moses said to him. “Your punishment in this life will be that you will say, 'Touch me not.' And you will have a day of punishment that will not fail. So look to your God from whom you have gone astray and whom you have worshipped.”

When Mohammed attributed these words to the Samaritan, he certainly had had Simon, the Samaritan magician in the book of the Acts of the Apostles, in mind. Simon deceived the people of the city of Samaria with his magic and was rebuked by the Apostle Peter. The similarity between the rebuke of Moses to the Samaritan in the Qur’an and the rebuke of Peter to the Samaritan in the book of Acts, indicates Mohammed wanted to use the Samaritan in the book of Acts to place him at the time of Moses, even though there were 1500 years between the two events.

The city of Samaria was built by Omri, King of Israel, around the year 880 B.C., but the name “Samaritans” was not coined until the 6th century B.C. when it was given to the people whom the Assyrians brought to Samaria after Sargon II occupied the city in year 721 B.C. Mohammed, who was ignorant of the history of the Samaritans, was caught in a major historical mistake.

Mohammed in the Qur’an Confused Mary, the Mother of Jesus, with Mary, the Sister of Aaron and Moses

Another example of Mohammed’s confusion of the historical facts was in the Biblical chronology concerning Mary. Mohammed was misled by the Mandaeans when he considered Mary, the mother of Jesus, to be Mary, the sister of Aaron and Moses mentioned in the Bible. Mary, the mother of Jesus, in Arabic is called Miriam, the same name as the sister of Aaron and Moses as found in Numbers 26:59. In Sura Maryam 19 :28, the text addresses Mary, the mother of Jesus, “Oh sister of Aaron, your father was not a man of evil, nor your mother a woman unchaste.”

Mohammed intended in this Qur’anic verse to show that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was the same Mary who was the sister of Aaron and Moses. This is confirmed in another Surah in which Mohammed contends that Jochebed, the wife of Amram, who was the father of Aaron and Moses, dedicated Mary, the mother of Jesus, when she was born. This we read in Surah 3 al-I’Imran: 35 and 36:

Oh my lord I am delivered of a female child. And Allah knew best what she brought forth. In no way is the male like the female. And I have named her Mary.

Mohammed made these statements even though Mary, the sister of Aaron and the daughter of Amram, was born near the end of the 16th century B.C, while Mary, the mother of Jesus, was born between 26 and 20 B.C. 

Mohammed’s confusion resulted from the fact that he was misled by the Mandaeans, a sect that appeared for the first time in Mesopotamia in the 2nd century A.D. The Mandaeans were known in Arabia as Sabians. Mohammed was acquainted with their teachings, and sometimes called Sabian by his contemporaries because they saw him practicing many Sabian rituals, such as: praying five times a day; preceding each prayer with ablution like the Sabian Mandaeans did; and adopting the same movements during prayer, and other rituals. The Mandaeans thought that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a member of the family of Moses and Aaron. In their book Haran Gawaita, dated in the 3rd century A.D, we read about Jesus who, according to their book:

was placed in the womb of Mary, a daughter of Moses. He was hidden in her womb for nine months. When the nine months were fulfilled, she entered labor and brought forth the Messiah.[1][1]

Mohammed was called a Sabian by his co-citizens. For example, on his return from one of his campaigns, he was thirsty. His companions asked a woman who carried a water skin to carry water for him. The woman asked, “Where?” They said “To the prophet of Allah,” to which she replied, “To that one who is called a Sabian?” and they answered, “Exactly, to the one you call a Sabian.” The woman returned to Mecca and said, “Two men I encountered brought me to the one called Sabian.”[2][2] We see that Mohammed was recognized by the people of Mecca as a member of the Sabian community. Earlier Islamic literature says that the tribe of Quraish called Mohammed a Sabian, and they called the followers of Mohammed Sabians as well,[3][3] demonstrating to us that the Arabians at the time of Mohammed were  acquainted with the Sabian sects, their rituals and teachings. They knew the relationship Mohammed enjoyed with the Sabian sects of Mecca, so when Mohammed came out with new religious claims, it appeared to the Quraish tribe as coming from the Sabians who lived among them.

When Hasin, the father of a Muslim named Umran,   became Muslim, the tribe of Quraish said he “Saba,”[4][4] which means he converted to the doctrines and  religion of the Sabians. When Hamzeh, the uncle of Mohammed, entered the mosque to support Mohammed, they said to him, “We see only that you became a Sabian.”[5][5]  Abu Lahab, an uncle of Mohammed who disagreed with Mohammed, called Hamzeh “the stupid Sabian.”[6][6] All these historical facts show that the tribe of Quraish classified Muslims as a Sabian sect.

Not only did the tribe of Quraish make this judgment, but other Arabian tribes followed suit as well. A man named Labeid went to visit Mohammed and became a Muslim. He returned to Bani Amer, his tribe, doing ablutions, which were ceremonial washings like the Sabians performed. He adopted Sabian slogans such as the cry, “Allah Akber,” which means, “Allah is greater.” Labeid began bowing and kneeling like the Sabians,  praying like them and saying the Fatihah. All the rituals of prayer known to the Arabians as Sabian rituals became incorporated into Islam. Sirafa Bin Auf Bin al- Ahwas, the poet of the tribe of Bani Amer, saw Labeid’s Sabian rituals and mocked him in a poem in which he described Labeid  as “one who came to them with the religion of the Sabians.”[7][7]

Confusion on the Timing of the Tribes of Ad and Thamud

Another example which shows Mohammed’s ignorance of historical chronology is where he placed the Arabian tribes of Ad and Thamud. Ad was a small Arabian tribe which lived in northern Arabia in the 2nd century A.D. Claudius Ptolemy of Alexandria, Egypt, was born in the year 90 A.D. and died in 168 A.D. He wrote his famous book of geography in the first part of the 2nd century A.D. Among the tribes he mentioned in one of his maps was Oaditae, which many identify with Ad. Ptolemy placed Oaditae in the area east of Gulf Aqaba. No other geographer had previously mentioned this tribe; though classical authors like Pliny (who wrote around the years 69-70 A.D.) had mentioned all tribes in the region, yet he did not mention this tribe. Prior to him, Strabo wrote about the same region without mentioning this tribe. Other classical Greek authors, such as Agatharchides of Alexandria who wrote between 145-132 B.C., described the region, but he did not mention this tribe. All this shows that the tribe of Ad was a small tribe which appeared in the 2nd century A.D. It is not known for how long it existed there; most probably was absorbed by greater tribes in the area such as Thamud.

Mohammed claimed members of this tribe inhabited of the earth in the second generation after Noah. We read in Surah al-A'raf 7, 69:

Call to your remembrance that he made you inheritors after the people of Noah, and gave you a stature tall among the nations.

And in Sura 23:32:

Then we raised another generation after them - by which he means after the people who died in the flood at the time of Noah - and we sent a messenger to them from among themselves saying “Worship Allah.”

Mohammed claimed that the tribe of Ad was destroyed by a cloud or wind that Allah brought against it.

The phrase “stature tall among the nations” in Sura 7:69 indicates that Mohammed was influenced by Manichean literature, which claimed that the people who lived on earth at the time of the flood were giants, very tall in stature. Mani, the founder of Manicheism, wrote a book which he entitled “The Giants.” We also find this idea in other Gnostic literature embraced by the Manicheans in the 4th century A.D. In 1 Enoch we read that the angels married the human women “and the women became pregnant and bore great giants, having heights of three thousand cubits.”[8][8] (about 4,500 feet). The idea in the Qur’an of the two angels Harut and Marut who came down to Babel and taught magic to people is taken from the book of Giant of Mani[9][9] The connection between Mohammed and the Manicheans is affirmed by the fact that many people in the tribe of Quraish, from which Mohammed came, embraced Manicheism. The Manicheans were called Zandik at Mecca.[10][10]

Mohammed created a dilemma for Muslims by placing the Arabian tribes, Ad and Thamud, in a period connected with that of Noah, that is 5000 – 6000 B.C., so they searched for a remedy or a way out from this problem. The first Muslim who proposed a remedy for this contradiction was Ibn Ishak, who died around 774 A.D. (152 years after Mohammed's emigration to Medina).[11][11] Ibn Ishak changed the geneologies in Genesis to fit the Qur'an’s historical mistakes. He added names to the genealogy of Shem son of Noah; Arabic names of his generation stile , that were not known as stile even in four or five centuries prior to his times. He inserted the name of Ad as son of Uz who is mentioned in Genesis 10: 21-24. “as son of Aram, son of Shem, son of Noah.” He then changed the genealogy of Noah arabizing it.[12][12]

Ibn Ishak was considered by the educated people of his time as one “who fabricates false genealogies” and as a “liar and deceiver.” Since no one before him had mentioned such modified genealogies, his educated Islamic contemporaries considered him to be a false historian. Yet, in the generations which followed Ibn Ishak's writings became the foundation for a new history which backs the Qur'an. Based on the genealogy that Ibn Ishak invented, Ibn Khaldun (A.D. 1332-1406) claimed that Ad occupied the south of Arabia and part of western Africa. [13][13] He invented this claim without any precedent from history to draw upon. We find no support for his historical fabrication in any archaeological find or writing. The Muslims found an old tomb in Hadramot, among the tombs of southern Arabia, and attributed it to Hud as his tomb without any evidence to support such a claim prior to the Islamic era.

Muslims today look to Surah 50, verse 50, where it says “he destroyed the ancient Ad”, to claim that there were two Ads: the ancient one (which they placed in southern Arabia) and another Ad that appeared in the north in the area of the Gulf of Aqaba. But the Qur'an called Ad as “ancient” because Mohammed placed it as second generation after Noah, and he did not intend to distinguish it from another more recent Ad.

Muslims also look to Surah 46, verse 21, where it is mentioned “mention the brother of Ad who warned his people about the winding Sand–tracts”; in Arabic the “winding sand tracts” is Ahqaf. They say the first Ad lived in Al-Ahqaf, which they considered as a place in southern Arabia in the desert of Rub al-Khali at the border of Hadramot. But the Qur'an spoke about Hud as a prophet who, according to the Qur'an, was a prophet to Ad, and who warned Ad of a destruction which would come to Ad through winding Sand–tracts. This is what the Qur'an intended by this verse. In verse 24 we find the Qur'an describing the coming of this wind over the tribe of Ad which, according to the Qur'an, destroyed every thing.

The earlier Islamic writers understood the word of Ahqaf not as a place but as windy sand. Among these writers I mention al-Feiruzabadi.[14][14]

The Qur'an intended in this ancient Ad a place in northern Arabia and not in the south. The Qur'an intended that this ancient Ad inhabit the same area that Thamud inhabited immediately after Ad's destruction through wind. The Qur'an specified the area where ancient Ad and Thamud lived by describing the area where houses are being hewed in the rock of the mountains, which we know existed only in a certain place in northern Arabia near the city of Hegra. In reality it was a Nabataean city where some Thamud lived in north western Arabia. In Surah 7 called al-A'raf, verse 69, we see that Mohammed spoke of Ad existing one generation after Noah, and dealt with destroying them; then immediately in verses 73 and 74 he began speaking about the tribe of Thamud as coming a generation after Ad and inheriting their land:

To the Thamud we sent Salih, one of their brothers… Remember how he made you inheritors after the Ad people and gave you habitation in the land, you build for yourselves palaces and castles in the plains and hew homes from the mountains.

It is clear that Mohammed placed this ancient Ad (which he placed after Noah) in the area where houses were hewed in the rocks which in Surah al-Hijr 15:80 he specified that the area was the city Hegra (known also as Hijr):

The inhabitants of Hijr have rejected the messengers. We sent them our signs, but they turned away from them. Out of mountains they hewed homes where they were safe. But the cry seized them one morning and gave them no avail.

We know Hegra is in north western Arabia, and was built by the Nabataeans, who alone were known as people who hew their houses in rocks. So we see that Mohammed meant by the "ancient Ad" a tribe who lived before Thamud in the area of Hegra in north western Arabia, and not a tribe who lived in southern Arabia. He placed such a tribe as second generation after Noah, though we know that Thamud appeared in the 8^th century B.C. (as I will discuss in the coming paragraphs) and Ad appeared in the same area of Thamud only in the 2nd century A.D.

Muslim writers claim the "ancient Ad" lived in southern Arabia and disappeared two or three centuries before the Christian era. But there is no tribe or nation who lived in southern Arabia whose history lacks archaeological documentation. Not even one archaeological finding supports this Islamic position. No inscriptions in southern Arabia speak of Ad, though the southern Arabian Inscriptions are the richest in the whole world. Even the smallest nations are richly attested to with hundreds of inscriptions.

Serious Historical Mistakes of Mohammed About the Tribe of Thamud

This brings us to the tribe of Thamud. Mohammed claimed the inhabitants of Hegra, a city built in the 1st century B.C. whose houses were hewn from the rock by the Nabataeans, were Thamudic. Mohammed placed them in the third generation of history after the people of the flood, immediately after Ad and Noah. He also claimed that they would be removed from history through a magical cry. Verses  73 and 74 of Surah7 al-A'raf tell us:

To the Thamud we sent Salih, one of their brothers… Remember how he made you inheritors after the Ad people and gave you habitation in the land, you build for yourselves palaces and castles in the plains and hew homes from the mountains.

Historically, Thamud was an Arabian tribe that did not appear before the 8th century B.C. During the end of that period, they attacked the Assyrian borders with other Arabian tribes, and they were defeated by Sargon II who brought some of them to live in Samaria.[15][15]

Mohammed in Surah al-Hijr 15:80 placed them as inhabitants of an Arabian city called Hegra. I quote again the verse:

The inhabitants of Hijr have rejected the messengers. We sent them our signs, but they turned away from them. Out of mountains they hewed homes where they were safe. But the cry seized them one morning and gave them no avail.

At the time of Mohammed, Hegra was called Hijr. Today the term Hijr is still used for the ruins of Hegra. Hegra is  about 24 kilometers from the old city of Dedan.[16][16] The city of Hegra was hewn from solid rock by the Nabataeans in the 1st century B.C.[17][17] The Nabataeans were the only ones to practice building this way. The place the Nabataeans occupied was originally a small Lihyanite village. The Lihyanites appeared in the 6^th century B.C.  Although the city was built by the Nabataeans in the 1st century, Mohammed assigned the city to the third generation after Noah's flood.

Mohammed attributed this city and its construction to the Thamud tribe even though the Thamud never hewed their houses in rocks as did the Nabataeans, though some Thamuds lived in tents in the city when the tribe flourished after the Christian era began. What happened to the tribe of Thamud? Mohammed claimed that they were judged through a cry, and removed from history as we see in Sura Hud 11: 67, 68:

The cry overtook the wrongdoers, and they lay prostrate in their homes before morning. As if they never dwelt and flourished there. Behold, the Thamud were removed.

Yet we know Thamud continued to live as an organized tribe until the 5th century A.D.

THE CASE OF THE MIDIANITES

Mohammed placed the Midianites close to the time of Sodom and Gomorrah and eventually removed them completely from history

The Thamuds were not the only people for whom Mohammed claimed extinction.  Mohammed placed the Midianites close to the time of Sodom and Gomorra and eventually removed them completely from history. In Surah Hud 11, verse 89, Mohammed invented the prophet Shuyeb to speak to the Midianites. Shuyeb addresses his people:

“Oh my people. Let not my dissent with you cause you to suffer a fate similar to what occurred to the people of Noah or of Hud or of Salih nor are the people of Lut far off from you”.

Hud and Salih were the name of prophets Mohammed assigned to the tribes of Ad and Thamud. He dated Midian very close to God’s judgment of Lut, only one or two generations from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorra which happened around 2070 B.C. According to Mohammed's chronology, the Midianites would have lived around 2010-2040 B.C.

The Bible tells a different story. The Midianites came from Keturah, whom Abraham married after Sarah died as reported in Genesis 25:1-6:

Abraham again took a wife, and her name was Keturah.  And she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. Jokshan begot Sheba and Dedan.  The sons of Dedan were Ashurim, Letushim and Leummim, and the sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abidah and Eldaah.  All these were the children of Keturah.

It was not until the 18th century B.C. that the descendants of Midian became a nation.

Here’s Mohammed’s account from Surah Hud 11: 94, 95 where we read about the cry that removed the Midianites from history:

The cry seized the wrongdoers and they lay prostrate in their houses in the morning. As if they had never dwelt and flourished there. Behold, this is how the Midianites were removed just as were the Thamud were removed.

Removing the Midianites from history at a time close to when Lut lived shows how Mohammed simply dealt promptly and quickly with the people of the world by using magical cries. He was completely ignorant of their history. Not only did he display total ignorance about the chronology of the people as to when they appeared in history, but he also completely removed nations from history who lived close to his time. He claimed that they had been exterminated in ancient times.

On the other hand, the Bible tells us a lot about Midian. Moses lived among them 40 years when he was in south Sinai. He married a Midianite woman. Though he had contacts with Jethro, his father-in-law who was a priest of the Midianites, Moses never reported what the Qur’an alleges to be the extermination of the tribe of Midian. Nor did Moses ever mention Shuyeb, the prophet which Mohammed said was sent to the people of Midian. History tells us the Midianites continued to exist in the Sinai and north Arabia during the time of the Old Testament and into the Christian era, as well.

Mohammed In the Qur’an Claimed a Magical Cry Destroyed the City of Antioch In The 1^st Century A.D.

The use of a cry to destroy people and to remove them from history was used by Mohammed in the Qur’an to exterminate the people of Antioch in the 1^st century A.D. We read the text of the Qur’an in Surah Ya Sin, Surah 36, starting from verse 13:

By way of a parable, I set forth the story of the inhabitants of the city. Then the messengers came to it. We sent to them two messengers whom they rejected, but we strengthened those two with a third. They said to the inhabitants, “We have been sent on a mission to you.” The people replied, “You are only men like ourselves, and the Rahman sent no sort of revelation. You do nothing but lie.” They replied, “Our lord does know that we have been sent on a mission to you, and our duty is only to proclaim the clear message.” The people replied, “for us, we conjured an evil omen from you. If you desist not, we will certainly stone you and we will inflict a grievous punishment on you.”

The reporters of the Hadith of Mohammed and his biographers confirmed the city intended by the Qur’an is Antioch in Asia Minor. Al-Khurtubi was among the oldest expositors of the Qur’an who said that Antioch was the city meant by the Qur’anic verse.[18][18]

The Qur’an text surely demonstrates that Mohammed had in mind Barnabas and Paul, the two apostles who preached and taught in Antioch. Then their testimony in the city was strengthened by the arrival of Silas, which the Qur’anic text expresses clearly by the words “we strengthened them with a third.”

The threat of stoning the apostles did not occur in Antioch as the Qur’an portrays, but in another Antioch, the Antioch in Pisidia. Evidently Mohammed failed to accurately remember the early mission to Antioch and the rest of the missionary trips as reported in the Book of Acts. We read in the Book of Acts that the Holy Spirit sent Paul and Barnabas on a mission trip where they were joined by Mark. In Antioch of Pisidia, the people wanted to stone them. Evidently Mohammed, thinking that Antioch of Pisidia was the main city Antioch, he combined the events of the mission to Antioch with the events of Antioch of Pisidia to form one event which he expressed in one paragraph. He had a habit of reporting great chapters of the Bible in small confused sentences and paragraphs.

Then we read in the same Surah 36, verse 29, that the magic cry which judged and destroyed the inhabitants of Antioch "was just one cry, and behold they were quenched like ashes." The main reporters of the Hadith of Mohammed confirm that the city of Antioch was destroyed with its king and inhabitants because of this cry. One of the reporters was Khutadeh, a main reporter of the Hadith of Mohammed. Another was Abdullah Ibn Abbas,[19][19] the cousin of Mohammed. His sayings are considered by Muslims to be next to the Qur’an in importance.

The city of Antioch in the Christian era was full of Greek philosophers and geographers, as well as Christian fathers. We have rich literature coming from Antioch which relates even secondary things that happened in the city. We have Roman historians who precisely recorded the deeds done in each city in the empire. Although Antioch was the third most important city in the empire after Rome and Alexandria, no one mentioned a magical cry which destroyed the inhabitants, or even part of them. Mohammed, when he applied his habitual cry to destroy and remove nations in ancient times, was unaware that Antioch in Asia Minor was ineligible to receive his claims. This reveals the ignorance of Mohammed’s companions who accepted his claims. They were ignorant of the civilized world which was in existence in their time.

The Qur'an displays an inadequate knowledge of historical chronology when it presents unsubstantiated statements, confuses the personalities of the Bible, and adulterates history. Mohammed took advantage of his local environment at Medina where the people were generally deficient in the knowledge of history. Mohammed was able to use the ignorance of his companions who were unable to compare his narrations with the true facts of history. Will Muslims today continue to defend the Qur’an in our generation when the knowledge of documented history reveals the obvious mistakes it makes ?

THE HOOPOE AND SOLOMON AND THE QUEEN OF SABA

A Comparison Between the Biblical Narration of the Visit of the Queen of Saba to Solomon and its Mythological Narration of the Quran

We will compare the Qur'anic position about the visit of the Queen of Saba to King Solomon with the Biblical and historical facts about the same visit.

First of all, I'd like to turn your attention to the trading relationship between Saba, called Sheba, in Yemen and the Mediterranean countries such as Israel.

God gave Solomon a great gift of wisdom. So much so, that other rulers heard about his wisdom and came to him bearing gifts. The Queen of Sheba was among them. In I Kings, chapter 10, we read about the visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon. The Bible says:

Now when the Queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions. She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels that bore spices, very much gold, and precious stones, and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart. So Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing so difficult for the king that he could not explain it to her. Then she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, spices in great quantity, and precious stones. There never again came such abundance of spices as the Queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

When did the Queen of Sheba visit Solomon?

The book of I Kings specifies that King Solomon had completed most of his important accomplishments before the visit of the Queen of Sheba. Among the things he did was the construction of the Temple at Jerusalem, the construction of his palace, and the building of his marine fleet with the help of Hiram, King of the Phoenician city of Tyre. (Solomon later married Hiram's daughter.) Solomon ascended to the throne in the year 971 B.C. Five years later, he began building the Temple, which he finished in seven years. That takes us to around 959 B.C. Then he started building his palace. According to I Kings 7:1, “Solomon took thirteen years to build his own house.” The completion of his palace brings us to about 945 B.C. Then he wanted to trade gold with Ophir on the Persian Gulf, so he built a fleet of ships in Ezion Geber near Elath on the Red Sea. We read about this in I Kings 9: 26-28 which says:

King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Ezion Geber, which is near Elath on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. Then Hiram sent his servants with the fleet, seamen who knew the sea, to work with the servants of Solomon. And they went to Ophir and acquired four hundred and twenty talents of gold from there.

According to the Bible, all these accomplishments were made before the Queen of Sheba visited Jerusalem. When we add all the numbers, we conclude that the visit of the Queen of Sheba was between 940 and 935 B.C.

How the Queen of Sheba Knew of the Wisdom of Solomon.

We could ask ourselves how the Queen of Sheba heard of the wisdom of Solomon. Perhaps Sabaean merchants were already traveling the land route through northern Arabia by the 10th century B.C. If so, the cities on the oases of northern Arabia, such as Teima, Dedan and Qedar, may have been only small villages, which facilitated trade along the land route from Yemen to Israel. This is probably the reason the Queen was convinced to travel by land to Jerusalem rather than by sea. In the previous century it was impossible to make the trip by land.

I believe that Solomon's name was famous in Saba many years before the visit of the Queen of Sheba because of his ships, built many years before her visit. The fleet traveled across the Red Sea to Ophir on the Persian Gulf and made many stops along the way, many of which were to Sabaean ports, the most important ports on the Red Sea. The Sabaean ports were places where ships traded merchandise and re-supplied themselves with water and food. This made the King of Israel well known among sailors for his wisdom and the beauty and greatness of his Temple which, along with the Great Wall of China and the pyramids, was already considered one of the greatest marvels of the ancient world. What else other than the wisdom of Solomon, which impressed Israel and other kings of the earth, would have been the reason for the servants of Solomon, who served in the ships, to speak to the Sabaeans about him?

Many years before Solomon's fleet was constructed, King Hiram, the Phoenician king of Tyre, began sailing his fleet on the Red Sea to the Persian Gulf. Hiram traveled to Ophir, passing through the Sabaean ports. As we saw previously, Hiram traded in the Mediterranean and even provided Solomon, his son-in-law, with gold, special wood and precious stones. Mediterranean nations were connected to the Gulf region, where there were important kingdoms such as Dilmun (which is present Bahrain) and Magan (which is present Oman). There were also rich ports like Jerra, which traded with India and made far-away Asian products available to the Phoenicians. So the main news of kings, like the wise and famous Solomon, were spread to many kingdoms through this international marine trade. This allowed other rulers to learn about the wisdom of Solomon and consequently prompted them to try to create friendships with him. We see this in the Biblical narrative of I Kings 4: 31, 34 where it is written:

For he was wiser than any other man....Men of all nations came to listen to Solomon's wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world who had heard of his wisdom.

All the marine traffic from India to the Persian Gulf passed through the ports of Saba, carrying with it all the news of the Mediterranean, especially news of the famous King Solomon who was given special wisdom from God. He became known in the ports of Saba. So how would the Queen of Saba (Sheba) be the only woman in Saba to not hear about the wise king of Jerusalem? How would she be the only monarch of the earth who did not hear about him? The marine connection between Solomon and Ophir on the Gulf region through Saba leads us to believe that the Queen of Saba was the first monarch of the earth to hear about Solomon’s kingdom. Also, this leads us to believe which the kingdom that Solomon was most acquainted with was the kingdom of Saba and her Queen.

The mythological Quranic narration regarding the visit of the queen of Sheba to Solomon, copied from the II Targum of Esther

You will find this difficult to believe, but the Qur’an claims that King Solomon never heard of the Kingdom of Saba or its famous Queen until a bird, a hoopoe, told him about her. The Qur’an in Surah 27, called al-Naml, or the chapter of ants, gives us a mythological narration of the visit of the queen of Saba to Solomon. Solomon gathers his army composed of Jinn (meaning devils), men, and birds to fight the ants. Afterward Solomon missed the hoopoe and threatened to execute him. The hoopoe returned to announce the discovery of the Kingdom of Saba and its Queen. Then Solomon sent a message with the hoopoe threatening to wage war if the Queen didn't submit to him. The Queen submitted but before she arrived, the Jinn, under the order of Solomon, brought her throne to Jerusalem in only one second.

This Qur’anic myth is copied with little variation from the mythological Jewish book called the Second Targum of Esther. The bird in the Targum is a wild rooster, while in the Qur’an it is the hoopoe. The Targum uses eagles as carriers to the throne while the Qur’an uses the Jinn. Other than this, the Qur’anic narration is identical to the Targum.

The Second Targum of Esther was written before Christ and was widespread among Arabian tribes who embraced Judaism. We find this myth in Arabian poems written before Mohammed's time, and in the poems of people claiming to be prophets in Arabia before Mohammed's time. One of these was Umayya bin abi al-Salt, a cousin to Mohammed on his mother’s side of the family.[20][20] Prior to Umayya, Tubb'a, the Yemeni leader who occupied Mecca around the year 425 A.D., spoke about the hoopoe, Solomon and the Queen of Saba.[21][21] This is because Tubb'a, when he occupied Yathrib (Medina), he took two rabbis from the Jewish communities there and brought them to Yemen. They instructed Tubb'a with many Judaic myths, which he then incorporated into his poems.[22][22] Among such myths was the myth of the hoopoe which discovered the kingdom of Saba and announced such discovery to Solomon. This proves that the book of II Targum of Esther at the time of Tubb'a (in the first part of the 5^th century A.D.) was spread among the Jewish communities of Arabia.

This Qur’anic myth is copied from the II Targum of Esther, with little variation. As I mentioned above, most of the details are identical, as example, the Targum mentioned that the Queen when arriving at Solomon’s palace, thought the King was sitting in water and she raised her dress. The Qur’an copied this particular incident from the narration of the Targum. I quote first the words of the Targum:

Now when King Solomon heard that she was coming to him, King Solomon arose and went to sit down in a bathhouse. When the Queen saw that the King was sitting in a bathhouse, she thought to herself, “the king must be sitting in water.” So she raised her dress to wade across. Whereupon he noticed the hair on her legs, to which King Solomon responded by saying: “Your beauty is the beauty of women, but your hair is the hair of men.” Now hair is beautiful for a man but shameful for a woman.

Mohammed copied the same idea from the Targum. We read in Surah 27, called al-Naml, verse 44:

she was asked to enter the palace, but when she saw plenty of water she raised her dress uncovering her legs.