Was the Torah given for the Egyptians?
Mohamad Mostafa Nassar
Twitter:@NassarMohamadMR
Jochen Katz has come up with another supposed contradiction within the Quran, he writes:
The Qur’an makes the following statement about the mission of Moses:
Then We sent Moses and his brother Aaron with Our signs and a manifest authority
unto Pharaoh and his Council; but they waxed proud, and they were a lofty people,
and they said, ‘What, shall we believe two mortals like ourselves, whose people are our servants?’ So they cried them lies, and they were among the destroyed.
And We gave Moses the Book, that haply they would be guided; S. 23:45-49 Arberry
There is no further explanation in the immediate context of this passage. The verses immediately before the quoted passage contain some general remarks about messengers, and S. 23:50 switches the topic again and makes a remark about Jesus and Mary.
Reading this text the way it is formulated can only lead to the conclusion that the Book given to Moses was for the purpose of guiding the Pharaoh and his council who are representing the Egyptian people.
This is obviously wrong as is well known from the Bible. And even the Qur’an says elsewhere:
Indeed, We gave Moses the Book; so be not in doubt concerning the encounter with him;
and We appointed it for a guidance to the Children of Israel. S. 32:23 Arberry
RESPONSE
How is this ?obviously wrong’? Notice Katz doesn’t actually bring any contradiction; all he does is bring two verses which mention that Moses received a book that was guidance for both the Israelites and the Egyptians! Now how in the world is that a contradiction? All that means is that you have a divinely blessed book as a guide for both these people!
Does Katz think that Allah is as narrow minded as his own Biblical God? Indeed Katz is brainwashed into believing that the book of Moses could only be beneficial to the Israelites only, while everyone else (goyims) should be ignored!
As a believer I would readily expect that if Moses indeed did have a divine book from God, then I would expect this book to be able to guide the pagan lost Egyptians as well, not just the Israelites. In fact the Egyptians were probably more in need of guidance than the Israelites at the time!
It is a well known fact that the divine book of Moses, the Torah contained a blessed and pure monotheistic message, while the evil pharaoh contended with the pure Tawheed (monotheism) of God by claiming himself to be God:
Pharaoh said: “O Chiefs! no god do I know for you but myself: therefore, O Haman! light me a (kiln to bake bricks) out of clay, and build me a lofty palace, that I may mount up to the god of Moses: but as far as I am concerned, I think (Moses) is a liar!” (28:32)
And as Islamic-Awareness also mention:
The Encyclopaedia Britannica informs us that the term “Pharaoh” originally referred to the royal residence, and was later applied to the king during the New Kingdom period (1539-1292 BC), and, that the Pharaoh was indeed considered a god in ancient Egypt
Pharaoh (from Egyptian per ‘aa, “great house”), originally, the royal palace in ancient Egypt; the word came to be used as a synonym for the Egyptian king under the New Kingdom (starting in the 18th dynasty, 1539-1292 BC), and by the 22nd dynasty (c. 945-c. 730 BC) it had been adopted as an epithet of respect.
The term has since evolved into a generic name for all ancient Egyptian kings, although it was never formally the king’s title. In official documents, the full title of the Egyptian king consisted of five names, each preceded by one of the following titles: Horus; Two Ladies; Golden Horus; King of Upper and Lower Egypt and Lord of the Double Land; and Son of Re and Lord of the Diadems. The last name was given him at birth, the others at coronation.
The Egyptians believed their Pharaoh to be a god, identifying him with the sky god Horus and with the sun gods Re, Amon, and Aton. Even after death the Pharaoh remained divine, becoming transformed into Osiris, the father of Horus and god of the dead, and passing on his sacred powers and position to the new Pharaoh, his son.
The Pharaoh’s divine status was believed to endow him with magical powers: his uraeus (the snake on his crown) spat flames at his enemies, he was able to trample thousands of the enemy on the battlefield, and he was all-powerful, knowing everything and controlling nature and fertility.
As a divine ruler, the Pharaoh was the preserver of the God-given order, called ma’at. He owned a large portion of Egypt’s land and directed its use, was responsible for his people’s economic and spiritual welfare, and dispensed justice to his subjects. His will was supreme, and he governed by royal decree.[37]
Concerning Pharaoh, Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary says:
The Egyptians believed that he was a god and the keys to the nation’s relationship to the cosmic gods. While the Pharaoh ruled, he was the son of Ra, the sun god and the incarnation of Horus. He came from the gods with divine responsibility to rule the land for them. His word was law, and he owned everything. When the Pharaoh died, he became the god Osiris, the ruler of the underworld… (http://www.islamic-awareness.org/Quran/Contrad/External/haman.html#4a)
So the Pharaoh himself claimed to be God, and the Egyptians took him as a God alongside many of their other gods! These were a people in disgusting polytheism, which is the worst of all sins, and the sin that shall never be forgiven in the after life.
Now Moses was sent with the message of Tawheed (pure monotheism), this message of Tawheed was contained within the holy divine blessed book that he was given, and indeed he told this message to the Pharaoh and his chiefs, and had they listened and believed him they would have been guided as it would have brought them to pure monotheism, and away from polytheism!
Not only would this have guided the leaders of Egypt, but would also eventually guide the people of Egypt as well because the leaders would end their polytheism and naturally their followers would follow suit. After all if the leaders became Monotheists they would end the establishment of polytheism, and start educating the people about true Monotheism, and start implementing Monotheism within the society and so forth.
So all of this shows that the Quran has no contradiction at all, rather it is mentioning a reality, and all of this shows how blind Christians like Katz are, because they fail to see all of this, rather they are so blind and ignorant they think that with all the truth and beauty within the book of Moses, that none of that could benefit the Egyptians, rather it was all for the Israelites only! Now that is the real contradiction my friends.
And Allah Knows Best!
Sami Zaatari