William Saint. Clair Tisdall (1859-1928) was a British historian and philologist who served as the Secretary of the Church of England's Missionary Society in Isfahan, Persia. He was fluent in several Middle Eastern languages including Arabic and spent much time researching the sources of Islam and the Qur'an in the original languages.

One of William Saint. Clair Tisdall's studies are included in ''Origins of the Qur'an|The Origins of The Qur'an: Classic Essays on Islam’s Holy Book'' edited by [[Ibn Warraq]]. Chapter III include a section on ''Influence of Sabian and Jewish Ideas and Practices''.

While this work is dated and strongly reflects 19th century prejudices, much of the information is still valid,and deserves to be updated with more recent research.

==Introducton==

When it became manifest that the Jews would in no wise recognize the prophetic office of Mohammed, he fought several severe battles with them and, not without difficulty, either took them prisoners and slew them with the sword, or at last expelled them from the land. Now, although these Jews were an ignorant people, yet they possessed and carefully preserved the Torah, the Psalms, etc., and were called (as also the Christians) The People of the Book. Though the nation at large knew little or nothing of Hebrew, yet (like the Jews we see in Persia at the present day) they were familiar with the stories of the Talmud and the tales which had come down from their ancestors, and which, being ignorant of their own sacred books, they regarded as holy and divine.

The Arabs of the day looked upon their neighbors the Jews with honor and respect as being of the seed of Abraham, and possessed of the Word of God. Hence when the Prophet turned aside from idols as hateful to the Almighty, and sought to bring his people back to the faith of Abraham, he betook himself with the utmost care to learn in what the teaching, customs, and obligations of that Faith consisted. Comparing these with the Qur'an and Jewish Tradition, we find the closest similarity between the two. Thus the Qur'an throughout bears witness to the faith of Abraham, to the truth of the Jewish religion, and the heavenly origin of their divine books.

The following passages will be found to that effect:

:Dispute not with the People of the Book, but in the mildest way, excepting such as behave injuriously; and say, We believe in that which has been revealed unto us, and in that which has been revealed unto you; our God and your God is One, and to Him we are resigned.

And again:

:Say, We believe in God, and in that which has been sent down unto us, and and in that which was sent down unto Abraham and Ishmael, and Isaac and Jacob, and the Tribes; and in that which was delivered unto Moses and Jesus, and in that which was delivered to the Prophets from the Lord. We make no distinction between any of them; and to Him we are resigned.

At this period, also, Mohammed made the Holy House (Jerusalem) the Qibla of his followers, being then, (as it has since remained) the Qibla of the Jews.

If the reader will look at the last verse (35) in the quotation above from Surah v. of the Qur'an, he will see that it has no connection with the one preceding. The relation is explained thus in the Mishnah Sanhedrin, where in quoting from Genesis the verse, - The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground,<ref>Gen. iv. 10, "Bloods" in the margin for blood.</ref> - the Commentator writes as follows:

:"As regards Cain who killed his brother, the Lord addressing him does not say, 'The voice of thy brother's blood crieth out,' but 'the voice of his Bloods'; - meaning not his blood alone, but that of his descendants; and this to shew that since Adam was created alone, so he that kills an Israelite is, by the plural here used, counted as if he had killed the world at large; and he who saves a single Israelite is counted as if he had saved the whole world."

Now, if we look at the thirty-fifth verse of the text above quoted, it will be found almost exactly the same as these last words of this Jewish commentary. But we see that only part is given in the Qur'an, and the other part omitted. And this omitted part is the connecting link between the two passages in the Qur'an, without which they are unintelligible.

The story is scattered over various passages of the Qur'an, chiefly in those noted below.<ref>Surah ii. 260, vi. 74-84, xxi. 52-72, xix. 42-50, xxvi. 69-79,xxix.15, 16, xxxvii. 81-95, xliii. 25-27, ix. 4, and other passages</ref> Now whoever will read these, as well as the Traditional Records of the Moslems,<ref>Such as the Qissas al Anbia and Araish al Majalis.</ref> will at once perceive that the tale as there told has been taken from one of the ancient Jewish books called Midrash Rabbah. To bring this clearly to view, we must first shew the history as given in the Qur'an and Moslem writings, and then compare it with the Jewish tale in the above book.

In a work of Abdul Feda we have the Moslem story as follows.<ref>Ancient History from the Mukhtasar fi Akhb~r ii Bashar.</ref>

:‘Azar, Abraham's father used to construct idols, and hand them over to his son to sell Abraham would go about crying, "Who will buy that which will hurt and not benefit him?" Then when God Almighty commanded him to call his people to the Divine unity, his father refused the call, and so did his people. Thus the matter spread abroad till it reached Nimrod, son of Cush, king over the country who took Father Abraham, and cast him into a fierce fire; but the fire grew cool and pleasant unto Abraham, who came out of it after some days. And thereupon his people believed in him.

Again, in the Araish al Majalis we read:

:Before this, when Abraham one night came up out of his cave and saw the stars before the moon arose, he said: This is my Preserver. (Surah 6:76) ''And when the night overshadowed him, he saw a star, and said, This is my Lord; and when it set, he said, love not those that set. And when he saw the moon rising, he said, This is my Lord; but when it set, he said, Verily if my Lord direct me not, I shall be of those that go astray. And when he saw the sun rising, he said, This is my Lord; this is the greatest. But when it set, he said, O my people! Verily I am clear of that which ye associate together with God. Verily I direct my face unto him who hath created the heavens and the earth. I am orthodox, and not one of the idolaters.''

:They say that Abraham's father used to make idol images and give them to Abraham to sell. So Abraham taking them about would cry: ''"These will neither hurt nor help him that buys,"'' so that no one bought from him. And when it was not sold, he took an image to the stream, and striking its head, would say, ''Drink, my poor one! in derision'', - for his people and the heathen around him to hear. So when his people objected, he said, ''Ah! do ye dispute with me concerning God, and verily God hath directed me….And this Is our argument wherewith We furnished Abraham for his people. We raise the dignity of whom we wish, for thy Lord is wise and knowing. (Surah 6: 80-85)''

:And so in the end Abraham overcame his, People by such arguments. Then he called his father Azar to the true faith, and said: ''O my father, wherefore dost thou worship that which , neither hears nor sees, nor yet doth profit thee in any way and so on to the end of the story. (Surah 19:40)''

:But his rather refused that to which Abraham called him; whereupon Abraham cried aloud to his, people that he was free from what they worshipped and thus made known his faith to them. He said, ''what think ye? That which ye worship, and your forefathers also, are mine enemies, excepting only the lord of the worlds (Surah 26:75-77)''"

:They said, Whom then dost thou worship? He answered, "The Lord of all worlds." "Dost thou mean Nimrod?" "Nay, but he that created me and guideth me," and so on. The thing then spread abroad among the people, till it reached the ears of the tyrant Nimrod, Who sent for him, and said: ''"O Abraham! Dost thou hold him to be thy god that hath Sent thee; dost thou call to his worship and speak of his power to those that worship other than him? Who is he?"'' Abraham replied. ''"My Lord, he that giveth life, and giveth death." (Surah 2:260)''

:Nimrod answered . "I give life, and cause to die." Abraham asked: ''"How dost thou make alive, and cause to die?"'' Nimrod replied: ''"I take two men who at my hands deserve death, one I kill, who thus dies; the other I forgive. who thus is made alive."'' Whereupon Abraham answered, "Verily God bringeth the sun from the East, now do thou bring him from the West."(Surah 2:260)

Thereupon Nimrod was confounded, and returned him no reply. The people then went away to celebrate their Eed<ref>Surah vi. 76, etc.; all is from the Qur'an so far as in italics; and so also in the next two pages.</ref>, and Abraham, taking the opportunity, broke all the idols but the biggest, and then the story proceeds as follows:

:When they had prepared food, they set It before their gods and said, "When the time comes we shall return, and the gods having blessed the meat we shall eat thereof." So when Abraham looked upon the gods, and what was set before them, he said derisively. ''"Ah! ye are not eating"'', and when no answer came, ''"What aileth you, that ye do not speak?" and he turned upon them and smote them with his right hand.(Surah 37:90)''

:And he kept striking tht:m with a hatchet in his hand. until there remained none but the biggest of thenl. and upon Its neck he hung the axe.(Surah 21:59) )

:''He broke them all in pieces except the biggest, that they might lay the blame on it.'' Now when the People returned from their Eed to the house of their gods, and saw it in such a Stafe, they said, ''Who hath done this to our gods? Verily he is a wicked one. They answered, We heard a young man speaking of them They call him Abraham.'' He it is, we think, who hath done it. When this reached the tyrant Nimrod and his chief men, ''They said, Bring him before the eyes of the people; perhaps they will bear witness that he hath done this thing.'' And they were afraid to seize him without evidence.<ref>Cotada and Al Sidy are quoted here; and it is added from Al Dzahhak, "Perhaps they may give evidence as to what we should do, and punish him." </ref>

:So they brought him and said: ''Hast thou done this unto our gods, O Abraham?'' He answered, ''Nay but that big one hath done it''; he was angry that ye worshipped along with him these little idols, and he so much bigger than all; and he brake the whole of them in pieces. Now ask them if they can speak.<ref>A note is here added to the following purport:-- Mohammaed on this remarked that Abraham in all told three lies, all on behalf of the Lord, namely, "I am sick"; "the big one hath done this"; and what he said to the King regarding Sarah, "She is my sister."</ref> When he had said this, ''they turned their backs'', and said (among themselves), ''"Verily it is ye that are the transgressors.. We have never seen him but telling us that we transgress, having those little idols and this great one."'' So they broke the heads of them all, and were amazed that they neither spake nor made any opposition. Then they said (to Abraham), ''Certainly thou knowest that they speak not.'' Thus when the affair with Abraham was ended, he said to them: ''Ah! do ye indeed worship, besides God, that which cannot profit you at all, nor can it injure you. Fie on you, and on that which ye worship besides God! Ah, do ye not understand?''

When thus overthrown and unable to make any answer, ''they called out, Burn him, and avenge your gods if ye do it.'' Abdallah tells us that the man who cried thus was a Kurd called Zeinun; and the Lord caused the earth to open under him, and there he lies buried till the day of Judgment. When Nimrod and his people were thus gathered together to burn Abraham, they imprisoned him in a house, and built for him a great pile, as we read in Surah Saffat:

:''They said, Build a pile for him and cast him into the glowing fire.'' Then they gathered together quantities of wood and stuff to burn; and so, by the grace of God, Abraham came out of the fire safe and sound, with the words on his lips, - ''God is sufficient for me (Surah 39;39)''; and ''He is the best Supporter (Surah 3. 37)''. For the Lord said, ''O Fire! be thou cool and pleasant unto Abraham.''<ref>In the last few pages the quotations from the Qur'an are all from Surahs 21. and 37., and the verses being so numerous and detached are not numbered in detail; but they will be found in passages succeeding verse 52 of the former, and verse 84 of the latter Surah. The Qur'an passages are throughout printed in italics.</ref>

Midrash Rabbah:

:Terah used to make images. Going out one day, he told his son Abraham to sell them. When a man came to buy, Abraham asked him how old he was. Fifty or sixty years, he replied. Strange, said the other, that a man sixty years of age should worship things hardly a few days old! On hearing which the man, ashamed, passed on. Then a woman carrying in her hand a cup of wheaten flour said, Place this before the idols. On which, Abraham, getting up, took his staff in his hand, and having broken the idols with it, placed the staff in the hand of the biggest. His father coming up, cried, "Who hath done all this?" Abraham said, "What can be concealed from thee? A woman carrying a cup of wheaten flour asked me to place it before the gods; I took and placed it before them; one said, I will eat it first, and another, I will eat first. Then the big one took the staff, and broke them all in pieces."

:His father: "Why do you tell such a tale to me? Do these know anything?" He answered, "Does thine ear hear what thy mouths speaks?" On this his father seized and made him over to Nimrod, who bade him worship Fire. Abraham: "Rather worship Water that putteth out Fire." N. "Then worship Water." A. "Rather worship that which bringeth Water." N. "Then worship the Cloud." A. "in such case, let ua worship Wind that drives away the Cloud." N. "Then worship Wind." A. "Rather let us worship Man that standeth against the wind." On this Nimrod closed: - "If thou arguest with me about things which I am unable to worship other than Fire, into it I will cast thee; then, let the God thou worshippest deliver thee there from." So Abraham went down into the flames, and remained there safe and unhurt.

The story of Balkis, Queen of Saba, as told at length in the Qur'an, corresponds so closely with what we find in the II. Targum of the Book of Esther, that it was evidently taken from it, as heard by Mohammed from some Jewish source. The following is from the Surah of the Ant (27.17et seq):

:His armies were gathered together unto Solomon, consisting of Genii, men and birds, and they were kept back... Solomon smiled at the ant and said: O Lord! may I do that which is right and well pleasing unto thee, so that thou introduce me amongst thy servants the righteous. And he viewed the birds and said, Why is it that I see not the ''Hudhud'' (Lapwing)? Is she among the absent ones? Truly I will chastise her with a severe chastisement, or will put her to death unless she bring a just excuse. Hut she did not wait long, and said, I have viewed a country that thou hast not seen: and I come unto thee from Saba with certain news. I found a female ruling over them, surrounded with every kind of possession, and having a magnificent throne. I found her and her people worshipping the Sun apart from God. Satan hath made their deeds pleasant unto them, and hath turned them aside from the right way, and they are not rightly directed, -- lest they should worship God who manifesteth that which is in heaven and earth, and knoweth what they conceal and what they discover. God! there is no God but he, the Lord of the great Throne!

:Solomon said: We shall see whether thou tellest the truth or art amongst the liars. Go with this my letter, and having delivered it to them turn aside, and see what answer they return. The Queen having received it, said: O ye Nobles! verily an honourable letter hath been delivered unto me. It is from Solomon. It is in the name of the Most Merciful God; "Rise not up against me; but come ye submissive unto me." She said: O ye Nobles! advise me in the affair; I will not resolve upon it, until ye be witnesses thereof. They said: We are men of strength and of great prowess; but the matter belongeth unto thee: see therefore what thou wilt command. She said: Verily kings when they enter a city waste it, and abuse its most powerful inhabitants; and so will they do. But I will send gifts unto them, and wait to see what the messengers will return with. So when they went to Solomon, he said: Ah! do ye present me with wealth? Verily that which God hath given unto me is better than that which he hath given you, but ye do rejoice in your gifts. Return unto them; we will surely come unto them with an army which they cannot withstand, and we shall drive them thence humbled and contemptible. O ye Nobles (he continued), which of you will bring me her throne, before they come submissive unto me? A giant of the Genii cried, I will bring it unto thee before thou gettest up from thy place, for I am strong in this, and to be trusted. And one who had knowledge of the Scriptures: I will bring it unto thee before the twinkling of thine eye.

:Now when (Solomon) saw it placed before him he said: This is a favour of my Lord, that he may try me whether I am grateful or ungrateful; he that is grateful is grateful for his own benefit but he that is ungrateful, verily the Lord is rich and beneficent. And (Solomon) said: Alter her throne, that we may see whether she be rightly directed, or be amongst those who are not rightly directed. And when she came, it was said, Is this thy throne? She said, It is as if it were; and knowledge hath been bestowed upon us before this, and we are resigned (Unto God). But that which she worshipped besides had turned her aside, for she was of an unbelieving people. It was said to her, "enter the palace." And when she saw it, she imagined that it was a great surface of water, and she uncovered her legs, when (Solomon) Said, verily it is a palace floored with glass. And she said, truly I have done injury to my own soul, and I resign myself, along with Solomon, unto God, the Lord of all creatures. (Surah 27. 20-45).

II TARGUM of Ester

:At another time, when the heart of Solomon was gladdened with wine, he gave orders for the beasts of the land, the birds of the air, the creeping things of the earth, the demons from above and the Genii, to be brought, that they might dance around him, in order that all the kings waiting upon him might behold his grandeur. And all the royal scribes summoned by their names before him; in fact, all were there except the captives and prisoners and those in charge of them. Just then the Red-cock, enjoying itself, could not be found; and King Solomon said that they should seize and bring it by force, and indeed he sought to kill it. But just then the cock appeared in presence of the King, and said: O Lord, King of the earth! having applied thine ear, listen to my words. It is hardly three months since I made a firm resolution within me that I would not eat a crumb of bread, nor drink a drop of water until I had seen the whole world, and over it make my flight, saying to myself, I must know the city and the kingdom which is not subject to thee, my Lord King.

:Then I found the fortified city Qitor in the Eastern lands, and around it are stones of gold and silver in the streets plentiful as rubbish, and trees planted from the beginning of the world, and rivers to water it, flowing out of the garden of Eden. Many men are there wearing garlands from the garden close by. They shoot arrows, but cannot use the bow. They are ruled by a woman, called Queen of Sheba. Now if it please my Lord King, thy servant, having bound up my girdle, will set out for the fort Qitor in Sheba; and having "bound their Kings with chains and their Nobles with links of iron," will bring them into thy presence. The proposal pleased the King, and the scribes prepared a dispatch, which was placed under the bird's wing, and away it flew high up in the sky. It grew strong surrounded by a crowd of birds, and reached the Fort of Sheba. By chance the Queen of Sheba was out in the morning worshipping the sea; and the air being darkened by the multitude of birds, she became so alarmed as to rend her clothes in trouble and distress. Just then the Cock alighted by her, and she seeing the letter under its wing opened and read it as follows: "King Solomon sendeth to thee his salaam, and saith, The high and holy One hath set me over the beasts of the field, etc.; and the kings of the four Quarters send to ask after my welfare.

:Now if it please thee to come and ask after my welfare, I will set thee high above them all. But if it please thee not, I will send kings and armies against thee; - the beasts of the field are my people, the birds of the air my riders, the demons and genii thine enemies, -- to imprison you, to slay and to feed upon you." When the Queen of Sheba heard it, she again rent her garments, and sending for her Nobles asked their advice. They knew not Solomon, but advised her to send vessels by the sea, full of beautiful ornaments and gems, together with 6000 boys and girls in purple garments, who had all been born at the same moment; also to send a letter promising to visit him by the end of the year. It was a journey of seven years but she promised to come in three. When at last she came, Solomon sent a messenger shining in brilliant attire, like the morning dawn, to meet her. As they came together, she stepped from her carriage. "Why dost thou thus?" he asked. "Art thou not Solomon?" she said. "Nay, I am but a servant that standeth in his presence."

:The queen at once addressed a parable to her followers in compliment to him, and then was led by him to the Court. Solomon hearing she had come, arose and sat down in the Palace of glass. When the Queen of Sheba saw it, she thought that the glass floor was water, and so in crossing over lifted up her garments. When Solomon seeing the hair about her legs, cried out to her: Thy beauty is the beauty of women, but thy hair is as the hair of men; hair is good in man, but in wonian It is not becoming. On this she said: My Lord, I have three enigmas to put to thee. If thou canst answer them, I shall know that thou art a wise man: but if not thou art like all around thee. When he had answered all three, she replied, astonished: Blessed be the Lord thy God, who hath placed thee on the throne that thou mightest rule with right and justice. And she gave to Solomon much gold and silver; and he to her whatsoever she desired.

Here we would ask whether there is any reality whatever in all this story. There is indeed so much as we find in the First Book of Kings, 10: 1-11 (also see 2 Chronicles 9 1-9) which is as follows:-

:And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to prove him with hard questions. And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart. And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not any thing hid from the king, which he told her not. And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he had built, and the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the Lord; there was no more spirit in her.

:And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard. Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom. Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the I,ord loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice. And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon. I Kings 10:1-11

===Harat and Marut===

There are many other stories in the Qur'an taken from the fanciful details of Jewish writers; but we shall content ourselves with this one other before entering on more general questions. We shall first recite the tale of those two Spirits as given in the Qur'an and Tradition, and then compare it with the same as told by Jewish writers. The passage in the ~~Coran~~ Qur'an is this:

:Solomon was not an unbeliever; but the Devils believed not. They taught men sorcery, and that which was sent down to the two angels at Babel, - Harat and Marut. Yet these taught no man until they had said, - Verily we are a temptation, therefore be not an unbeliever. (Surah 2:96)

1. The origin of the name is traced still fllrther East to the ancient Sanskrit wind-gods the Maruls.

But enough has been said to show that the story of Harut and Marut, as we find it in the ~~Coran~~ Qur'an and Moslem books, has been derived from Jewish sources.

===Sinai overhead===

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