An ex-Muslim contacted me on social media regarding my last article and pointed something out to me. He said that Surah 26 had God talking to Moses and giving him the specific task of rescuing the children of Israel from Egypt.
I had made the argument that God doesn’t properly identify himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In addition to that, he doesn’t give his mission to Moses which I find problematic. The ex-Muslim told me that mission is given to Moses in Surah 26. Let’s take a look at Surah 26.
In this Surah we definitely see Allah giving a message to Moses. We read:
Go to Pharaoh, and say, ‘We are the Messengers of the Lord of the Worlds. Let the Children of Israel go with us.’“
– Surah 26:16-17
Okay, this is a definite clear mission. What is interesting here is that the burning bush or fire is not mentioned once while it is mentioned in Surah 20, 27, and 28. Should we assume this is at the burning bush? I guess we can since we have no reason to suggest it isn’t. It’s a bit different though without the actual fire.
Also, Allah doesn’t give him the two signs of the staff and the hand. However, if we continue reading the episode he eventually appears before the Pharaoh and presents these two signs. Obviously the earlier narrative must have just omitted it. Did it assume that we’d get it from the other verses in Surah 20, 27, and 28?
So it actually has most of the Biblical narrative. It still lacks the identification as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I just think it’s a bit odd that a core element is left out of three narrations of this story, specifically the mission to the Pharaoh.
My question for Muslims is, how is this superior to the Torah that we possess today? The Torah in Exodus 3 and 4 gives us the burning bush, the identity as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the mission to free the oppressed children of Israel, and the proofs to give the Pharaoh should he not believe.
How can the Bible be corrupt when we have one clean narrative that gives all the details as opposed to four narratives that we have to splice together? On top of all that, all four accounts lack the identity of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the God of Moses’ people that he would have known about. I don’t know why the Quran presents information like this. I just know that I trust Exodus 3 and 4 a lot more.
Comparing the two accounts is interesting. Alongside Exodus, the Koran sounds as if it was written by a child:
Sura 28:30
But when he came to it, he was called from the right side of the valley in a blessed spot – from the tree, “O Moses, indeed I am Allah, Lord of the worlds.”
3:4 And when the Lord saw that he went forward to see, he called to him out of the midst of the bush and said: Moses, Moses. And he answered: Here I am.
3:5 And he said: Come not nigh hither, put off the shoes from thy feet; for the place, whereon thou standest, is holy ground.
3:6 And he said: I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Moses hid his face: for he durst not look at God.