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.
In the Aqedah of Genesis and John’s passion narrative,
The seduction scene in these text teach us about good and evil. In the Bible, the character Joseph and in the Koran the character Joseph is clearly the one being seduced by a married woman. It is also stated that during this seduction in both text Joseph was the only male or the only other person in the home. With some basic knowledge of both religions it is safe to say that regardless of the religion the seduction is a clear sin and seen as evil tempting good. In this case evil is being portrayed as the king’s wife and good is Joseph. Although he didn’t commit a sin Joseph is thrown in jail for this incident. This occurs because the king’s wife was able to draw attention to her, claiming he was the seducer.
The 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.
The life of Joseph could be considered a foreshadowing of Jesus’ life since there are many similarities. Joseph was the prized son of Rachel to Jacob, which optimized the resentment felt towards him from his other ten brothers, whom later sold him to a caravan traveling to Egypt for slavery. Jesus, likewise the promised Messiah, was rejected by his family and community. Neither of their relatives could perceive the significance of these two men nor notice what God was doing with their lives.
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...
Robinson, B. A. (2008, March 30). Books of the Hebrew Scripture . Retrieved May 7, 2011, from Religious Tolerance: http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_otb3.htm
...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.
Throughout his life, the Prophet Muhammad proved to be exceptionally adept at uniting diverse groups, negotiating a series of alliances and loyalty arrangements that spanned religious, tribal, ethnic, and familial lines (Berggren 2009). Among other things, this ability enabled Muhammad to forge a shared identity and found a nascent Islamic state from a diverse and even heterogeneous community (Rahman 1982; Ernst 2003, pp. 87-93). This diversity proved to be both a source of strength and conflict for Islam, and following the death of Muhammad early Islamic communities engaged in extensive debates not only about the nature of his teachings or how to carry his legacy forward, but also about the terms that should be used to define his authority. Although this debate produced a colorful array of movements within the tapestry of early Islamic civilization, this essay offers a critical examination of two particularly distinct perspectives on the nature of prophetic authority: namely, those articulated
The two largest religions in the world, Christianity and Islam, were implemented by two of religions most powerful leaders, Jesus and Muhammad. Without question, both Jesus and Muhammad have affected humanity powerfully. As religious leaders both men laid down the principles upon which Christianity and Islam are founded yet today. However, while Jesus performed miracles and arose from the dead, thus proving to his followers he was God, Muhammad performed no such feats, and made no such claims. In fact, Muhammad’s only claim was that he was the last prophet sent from God.
The following paper examines a close reading of the figure of Moses in Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy with respect to the issue of why he is barred from entering the Promised Land of Canaan as well as in the Quran. Moreover, after considering the stories and character of Moses in these respective texts, I will then analyze the two accounts in order to examine their similarities and differences.
“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
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 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.
A brief illustrated guide to understanding Islam. 2nd ed. of the book. Houston: Darussalam Books, 1997. The Holy Bible: giant print ; containing the Old and New Testaments translated out of the original tongues ; and with the former translations diligently compared and revised, by His Majesty's special command, authorized King James version ; words of Chri.
The stories are similar in many ways, but they are also very different. This can be related to the relationship between the two religions themselves.