 |
CONGRUITIES AND INCONGRUITIES BETWEEN THE BIBLE AND THE QUR'AN |
 |
Exile to Babylonia
Although exile to Babylonia had deeply affected the Jewish people, they managed to adapt themselves to the new way of life and succeeded in surviving. They learned the Aramaic language and erected a synagogue at the site of the Temple pulled down and re-affirmed their faithfulness to their God. « For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. »(Jeremiah 29/10)
Return to their land and construction of the Second Temple
The Persian armies invaded the Babylonian Empire in 375 BC and took over the administration. Cyrus II, founder of the Achaemenian dynasty of Persia and conqueror of Babylonia, in 538 BC, issued an order allowing exiled Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple. The Israelites returned to their land after an interval of 70 years. The re-erection of the II Temple began with some delay. Work was completed in 515 BC. It was a modest copy of the former Temple. The Ark of the Covenant which contained the stone tablets and the Ten Commandments along with the Torah had been destroyed during the devastation of the first Temple, could not be redeemed. Ezra's assistant Nehemiah rebuilt Jerusalem and the walls.
Re-writing of the Law
The people, who had erected the Temple, had no leader. This position was filled by Ezra who was a Jewish scribe living in exile in Babylon. He was a scholar of the Law rather than a prophet. He returned to Jerusalem along with a community of 1500 people to establish Judaism, bringing the Law back with all the impact it had previously possessed. « And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with their faces to the ground. »(Nehemiah 8/6) So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading. (Nehemiah 8/8) The prayers continued; they confessed their sins and begged God to forgive them and took refuge with Him. The leadership was assumed by the Great Assembly (410-310 B.C.) presided by Ezra. The Torah and the Law was re-written based on oral and written records. Multiplicity of words related to Babylon proves that the text was written after the Babylonian exile. Israel which had suffered physically had morally recovered its moral strength. The Holy Qur'an expressed resentment to certain Jews who claimed Ezra to be 'the 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! (Surah 9/30) They take their priests 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). (Surah 9/31)
The Invasion of Israel by Alexander the Great
The Greek army, under the command of Alexander the Great, had defeated the Persian Empire and invaded Israel in 312 BC. The pagan Greeks wanted to pull down the II Temple. But Alexander who was a military genius, not only did he not do so, but he peacefully assimilated them in his own Empire. The Greek administration protected the rights of the Israel people and did not meddle with their religion. The people learned the Greek language and the Torah was translated into Greek by the Alexandrian Jews. Most of the books of the Old Testament today are the versions rendered into Greek by them. In fact, the translation into Latin of these books was executed from the Greek originals before they were translated into English. The Jews use today in their prayers the Hebrew version of the Old Testament.
Greek cruelty
In the wake of the death of Alexander the Great, the Greek Empire was divided into three sections. Israel came under the domination of the Greeks whose centre was Egypt. The period of peace and friendship came to an end when the Greeks tried to Hellenize the Jews by compulsion. The highest spiritual head in the Temple Cohen was removed and his position was occupied by puppet officials. Teaching of the Torah was banned and circumcision prohibited. The taxes became prohibitive.
The Jews were forced to take part in the ritual of sacrifices in honor of pagan gods like Zeus. Israelite scholars were arrested or murdered. Some Jews were Hellenized by compulsion and some by their own accord.
Maccabees revolt
The revolt started in a town where Greek cruelty was raging in 167 B.C. The Jews were told to sacrifice a pig in honor of Greek gods. Mattathias sparked the resistance movement by striking a Jew who was preparing to offer sacrifice to the new gods and by killing the king's officer who was standing by. Then he and his family took to the hills. Many joined them there, especially the Hasideans, a pious and strict group deeply concerned for the Law of Moses. After the death of Mattathias Judas Maccabeus, the third son, became the leader of the resistance movement. In his first battle he seized the sword of Apollonius, governor of Samaria, the general leading the opposing army. But he was also a man of faith in the God of his fathers. He saw himself as a charismatic, divinely appointed leader, like Gideon of old. He would pause in his guerrilla tactics to assemble his men to “watch and pray” and to read the Torah (the divinely revealed Law of Moses) together. The war lasted for twenty five years. Finally the Greeks got tired and signed an agreement with Israel.
Israel facing Roman invasion
Rome that had originally been a city state grew and expanded its territories. It conquered eventually first the Greek colonies and afterwards the entire Greece. The Romans enlarged the horizon of their civilization by integrating also the Greek civilization, which came to be known as Greco-Roman culture. It was in 63 B.C. that the Roman army invaded Israel, and appointed a puppet king as their head; the taxes had become prohibitive; however, as they had had the Greek experience behind them, they did not meddle with their religion.
Herod and Moral Corruption
Herod who was appointed King from among the Jewish population had governed his country for 33 years. His economically successful administration created a moral corruption. With the profits he realized from his commercial transactions he undertook vast construction projects, amongst others the erection of the II Temple. The construction with its white marble pillars and walls and golden ornamentations proved to be a sumptuous monument. At the entrance, there stood the statue of the Roman Eagle, symbol of pagan Romans that had incurred the wrath of the Jews; it was to be destroyed later on by a group of Torah students. Herod, a fan of the Greco-Roman culture, had them burned at stake. He tried to Hellenize the Jewish people. He had the 46 members of the Great Assembly, who protested against his intention, killed. He had Cohen, the high priest, step down and replaced him with a puppet administrator. Spiritual corruption had started. Herod's cruelty had extended to his own family; his jealousy had provoked him to have his brother, his wife and his children. His notoriety as a cruel man is recorded in history. The reaction by the Jews against Hellenization movement led to religious disintegration. Sadducees took their guidance from Scripture alone and not from the rulings of the elders. They collaborated with the Romans to be able to perpetuate their power. Pharisees, the traditionalists, formed the majority that adhered to the old Mosaic ways, and the minority Essenes, an odd monastic order whose desire it was to recapture the purity and piety of the pre-temple times of Moses. There was also a priestly, eschatologically oriented resistance movement, the Zealots, who were particularly dedicated to keeping the Temple and its cult pure and used guerrilla tactics toward that end.
Revolt against Rome
In 66 BC, when the Romans were powerful, the Jews had revolted as though their intention was a collective suicide. There was more than one reason behind this incident for which the Jews had paid a high price. Rome exacted prohibitive taxes by extortion from the Jewish population through governors it appointed. The Jews were divided; one part was already Hellenized under the influence of Greco-Roman culture. They were willing to collaborate with them. The wealthy Sadducees, responsible for the management of the Temple, cooperated with them, while the Pharisees, who formed the majority and remained faithful to the old order, were willing to accept their supremacy provided they were independent in terms of religion. The fanatic zealots rejected the Roman rule and were wrathful against the rest of the Jews. Many other such divergences had influenced the Jewish population and made them a languishing mass. What were especially important were the rancorous internecine feuds.
The first revolt was triggered by the reaction of the Caesarian Jews against the prohibitive taxes exacted. The year 66 A.D. marked the first Jewish rebellion against the Roman rule in Judaea. The First Jewish Revolt was the result of a long series of clashes in which small groups of Jews offered sporadic resistance to the Romans, who, in turn, responded with severe countermeasures. Eventually Rome came with an overpowering force and besieged Jerusalem and the Jews lost the war in 70 A.D. Jerusalem fell and the city was razed to the ground. The Temple, among others, was totally destroyed. The surviving population was exiled to various places. The Law had once more taken a heavy toll from the Jewish population who had become a mass of people full of hatred against their brethren and who had incurred the divine wrath.
Post-Roman Period and Israel until today
Rome remained sovereign over Palestine up until the seventh century. The present day's Israel State was founded in 1948. The country under British governance was given to the Jews and the Arabs in the following proportions: 56.47% to the Jews and 43,53% to the Arabs. The controversy between the Arabs and the Jews has continued to this day, sometimes assuming the aspect of armed conflict. The Temple of Solomon had remained in ruins from the time of its final destruction until the rise of Islam. The Surah 17 revealed in c.620 considered the site one of the sacred spots and a mosque was erected under the name of Mesdjid-i Aksa. Jerusalem was under the domination of the Ottomans from 1507 to 1917, during which period the cultural heritage of the city was replenished and what remained from the Western Wall had been repaired. The said wall also called the Wailing Wall is today the spot where Jews perform their ritual prayers.
ABRAHAM