An old but very interesting discussion from al-Jazeera about the influence of الاسرأيليات والنصرانيات or al-Isra'iliyat and al-Nusraniyyat on the exegesis of the Quran

Submitted by dhimmi no more (United States), Jun 30, 2017 at 11:46

Dr Pipes

I urge your Arabic speaking readers to watch this very interesting discussion about the influence of the Quanic layer called الاسرأيليات والنصرانيات or al-Isra'iliyat and al-Nusraniyyat in the exegesis of the Qur,an

al-Isra'iliyat (as well as al-Nusraniyyat) as per Jonathan Berkey are the "stories and traditions concerning Biblical figures who are mentioned in the Koran which supplemented and contextualized the sparse Koranic narratives but which many Ulama later looked upon with suspicion"

I would also add stories and traditions that are external to the OT and NT but clearly from Jewish and Christian sources

The author of the Qur'an assumes that its reader is familiar with both the OT and NT which means that al-Mufasereen had to turn to the OT and NT to really understand the sparse Quranic narrative As an example Q5:32 and the story of Cain and Able and the source of the verse is from Talmud Sanhedrin

Another example is the punishment of fornicators. In the Qur'an it is "whip them" but if you turn to al-Ahadith and books of al-Shari'a the punishment is to stone them which clearly stems from the older traditions Yes Muslims provide a silly reason for the fact that the stoning verse is not in the Qur'an because a certain goat ate the palm leaf upon which the verse was written but they never explain why the punishment of fornicators is not the Quranic "whip them"

So how do Muslims today explain the vast influence of الاسرأيليات والنصرانيات in Quranic exegesis, Islamic Shari'a and Muhammad's Sunna? We are told that the early Rabbis and Christians that became Muslims brought their old religions with them to Islam Q5:32 and stoning of fornicators and all and a fascinating spin on an old and embarrassing topic to Muslim scholars

Here is the video

http://www.aljazeera.net/audioplayer/8007527f-b4df-43f6-aefc-f58a96a69a0d

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