At the period when Muhammad was using the utmost endeavour to turn his people from idolatry to the Faith of Abraham, the Arabs had no religious writings acknowledged in common by them all, so that it was a matter of extreme difficulty to make them see the evils of their native faiths. There were three religions in the Peninsula — the Sabaean<ref>The Sabaean have disappeared. No trace of them anywhere remains, and even of their history but little is known. We are told by Eastern authorities (what follows is from Abul Feda, who quotes from Abu Isa al Maghrabi) that they were the first of all peoples who inhabited Syria; that they derived their faith from Seth and Idris (Enoch); and that they possessed a book called ''Pages of Seth'', In which were inculcated righteousness, truth, bravery, care of the poor, and avoidance of evil. They had seven times for prayer, five of which were at the same hour as chosen by the Prophet. They prayed also for the dead, but without prostration; fasted thirty days from night to sunrise, and also if any new moon rose badly, for the remaining day of the month; observed ''Eed'' from the setting of their five stars; and venerated the ''Ka'aba''. Hence we see that the Sabaeans kept many observances still in force among the Moslemswithin Islam.</ref>, Jewish, and Christian - each of which, as we hope to show, helped to nurse Islam, which at the first lay like an infant in its cradle.
==Jewish Sources==
===Abraham saved from Nimrod's fire===
The story is scattered over various passages of the Qur'an, chiefly in those noted below.<ref>Qur'an 2:260, 6:74-84, 21:52-72, 19:42-50, 26:69-79, 29:15, 16, 37:81-95, 43:25-27, 60:4, and other passagespafssages</ref> Now whoever will read these, as well as the Traditional Records of the Moslemsrecords Islamic tradition,<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 Islamic writings, and then compare it with the Jewish tale in the above book.
In a work of Abdul Feda we have the Moslem Islamic story as follows.<ref>Ancient History from the Mukhtasar fi Akhbar il 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.
Comparing, now, this Jewish story with what we saw of it in the Qur'an, little difference will be found; and what there is no doubt arose from Mohammed hearing of it by the ear from the Jews.
What makes this the more likely is that Abraham's father is in the Qur'an called Azar,(Qur'an 6.74) while both in the Midrash and Torah he is called Terah. But the Prophet probably heard the name in Syria (where, as we learn from Eusebius, the name had somewhat of a similar sound), and so remembered it.<ref>Tisdall adds the following comment: The MoslemsIslam, of course, hold holds that their the Prophet gained the tale of Abraham's being cast into the fire neither from Jews nor Christians, but through Gabriel from on high; and as the Jews, being children of Abraham, so accepted it, the Qur'an, they say, must be right. But it could only have been the common folk among the Jews who believed it so; for those who had any knowledge of its origin must have known its source. The origin of the whole story will be found in ''Genesis 15:7: I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees.'' Now Ur in Babylonian means a "city" as In Ur-Shalim (Jerusalem), "the City of Peace." And the Chaldaean Ur1 was the residence of Abraham. This name Ur closely resembles in speech another word, Or signifying light or fire. And so ages after, a jewish commentator ignorant of Babylonian, when translating the Scripture into Chaldean, put the above verse from Genesis, as follows: ''I'm the Lord that delivered thee out of the Chaldean fiery oven.'' The same writer has also the following comment on Genesis 11:27: ''"Now this happened at the time when Nimrod cast Abraham into the oven of fire, because he would not worship the idols, that leave was withheld from the fire to hurt him'' - a strange confusion of words, - Ur the city, for Or light and fire. The original Babylonian text is here given, as indeed the author does in most of the oriental quotations. A close translation is also given, but only the general purport is here attempted. It is as if a Persian seeing notice of the departure of the English post, should put in his diary that an Englishman had lost his skin, - not knowing that the same word for skin in Persian means the Post in English. No wonder then that an ignorant Jew should have mistaken a word like this, and made it the foundation whereon to build the grand tale of Abraham's fiery Oven. But it is somewhat difficult to understand how a Prophet like Mohammed could have given credence to such a fable, and entered it in a revelation held to have come down from heaven. And yet the evidence of it all is complete, as quoted above from the Jewish writer. Apart from this we know from Genesis that Nimrod lived not in the days of Abraham but ages before his birth. The name indeed is not in the Qur'an, though freely given in the Moslem Commentaries Islamic commentaries and Traditiontradition. As if a historian should tell us that Alexander the Great cast Nadir Shah into the fire, not knowing the ages that elapsed between the two, or that Nadir never was so thrown.</ref>
===Visit of the Queen of Saba (Sheba) to Solomon===
: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.
In the Jewish statement, we see that the Queen put several enigmas for Solomon to solve; and though this is not mentioned in the Qur'an, it is In the Moslem in Islamic traditions. And so with the story of her legs; for in the Aiaish al Majalis we find the following: - When the Queen was about to enter the Palace, she fancied the glass floor to be a sheet of water, and so She uncovered her legs, that is, to pass over to Solomon; and lo her legs and felt were covered with hair; which when Solomon saw, he turned his sight from her, and called out, The floor is plain glass.
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:-
:[Azrael is the same as in the Talmud is called Azael]
Now anyone comparing the two stories together, must see that they agree, excepting that in the Moslem Islamic one the angels are called Harut and Marut, and in the Jewish, Shamhazai and Azael. But if we search whence the names in the Qur'an and Tradition came, it will be seen that Harut and Marut were two idols worshipped far back in Armenia. For in writers of that country they are so spoken of, as in the following passage from one of them:
:Certainly Horot and Morot, tutelary deities of mount Ararat, and Aminabegh, and perhaps others now not known, were Assistants to the female goddess Aspandaramlt. These aidedher, and were excellent on the earth.
In this extract, Aspandaramat is the name of the goddess worshipped of old in Iran also; for we are told that the Zoroastrians regarded her as the Spirit of the Earth, and held that all the good products of the earth arise from her. Aminabegh also was held by the Armenians to be the god of vineyards, and they named Horot and Morot the assistants of the Spirit of the Earth, seeing that they held them as spirits who had control over the wind<ref>The origin of the name is traced still further East to the ancient Sanskrit wind-gods the Maruts.</ref> so as to make it bring rain. They sat on the top of the lofty mountain Ararat, and sent down showers that fertilized the earth; the two were thus rulers of the wind.
When also it is said that the two angels came down to propagate mankind, the meaning is that they caused the earth to bring forth its produce for that end. Zohra in Hebrew reads as Ishtar or Esther, the same as of old was worshipped in Babylon and Syria as the goddess over the birth of children and promoter of passion and desire. In proof of all this, we find in the ruins between the Tigris and Euphrates the name Ishtar on the primeval tiles. The story of one Gilgamlsh, with whom Ishtar fell in love but was rejected, has been decyphered in ancient Babylonian character upon these tiles. Ishtar came to him having the crown upon her head and asked him to kiss her, and with many loving words and gifts to be her husband, when he would in her Palace have a quiet and happy life. Gilgamish in derision rejected her offer, whereupon she ascended to the sky and appeared before the God of the heavens.<ref>The original Babylonian text is here given, as indeed the Author does in most of the Oriental quotations. A close translation is also given, but only the general purport is here attempted.</ref> It is remarkable that the idolators of Babylon are shown in this primeval story to have held that Ishtar, that is Zohra, ascended on high, - exactly as is told us in Moslem Islamic tradition, as also in the Jewish commentaries.
Now if we search for the Source of the above tale, we shall no doubt find it in what the Talmud says of the angels associating with women, in its commentary on the two verses in Genesis quoted below.<ref> Genesis vi. 2 and 4: "The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and took them wives of all which they chose...There were giants in those days,...when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children unto them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown." The "sons of God," according to our Author, mean righteous men of the seed of Seth. The Commentator quoted is Jonathan son of Uzziel.
:The angels of heaven having seen the daughters of men, fell in love with them, and said to one another, Let us take for ourselves these women, the daughters of mankind, and beget children for ourselves. And Samyaza, who was their chief, said....Azaziel taught men to make swords, daggers, and shields, and taught them to wear breastplates. And for the women they made ornaments of kinds, bracelets, jewels, collyrium to beautify their eyelids, lovely stones of great pice, dresses of beautiful colours, and current money.
Let it be remembered also that we have mention of this in the Qur'an:- Men learned from these two (Harut and Marut) that by which to cause a division between a man and his wife; but they did not injure any one thereby excepting by leave of God; and they learned that which would hurt them and not profit them. (Qur'an 2:96) This is similar to what we have seen above in the Midrash Yalkut, where we are told that Azael. But enough has been said to show that the story of Harut and Marut, as we find it in the Qur'an and Moslem Islamic books, has been derived from Jewish sources.
===Sinai overhead===
===Chaldaean and Syrian words===
A few other Jewish matters. - In the Qur'an are a number of Chaldaean and Syrian words which the Moslems have Islamic tradition has been unable rightly to explain, as ''Torat'', ''Jehannam'', ''Garden of Eden'', ''Taghat'', ''Forcan'', ''Sakana'', ''Tabat'', ''Hibr'', and such like all from one or other of the Hebrew, Syriac, or Chaldaean tongues. To know their meaning, it must be learnt from Hebrew, Chaldaean, and Syriac, for they are not genuine Arabic words.
The following ideas are common to both Jews and Muslims:—
a striking coincidence.
Again, Moslems Muslims of all lands, at the fixed time of their five prayers, wherever they happen to be, whether in the house or in the street, perform their devotions on the spot, - especially at places where people are passing by. This strange practice is entirely confined to them, and would be seemly In no other religion. But in the days of the Prophet there were Jews in Arabia who used this habit; for many of them were descended from the Pharisees, of whom our Savior said:- "They love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men." (Matt. 6:5) Thus the Companions of Mohammed looking upon the Jews as the People of the Book and children of father Abraham, regarded such practices as having descended from him, and so adopted, and have continued them to the present day, as we see, unchanged, though they are no longer kept up by the Jews themselves.<ref>Does it not seem strange to the Reader, that although the Qur'an repeatedly attests our Scriptures as the Word of God, yet but one quotation is taken from them; viz. Qur'an 21:105, - Verily we have written in the Psalms after the mention (of the Law) that my servants the righteous shall inherit the earth; an evident reference to Psalm 37. 11; - "But the meek shall inherit the earth ." Now before saying anything about the next matter, one may ask, was the Book of the Psalms in existence before the Qur'an or not? For we have given above a verse in which is revealed the inheritance given by the Lord to his servants, as mentioned in the Psalms before the Qur'an was revealed. The Qur'an quotes from the Psalms: is it not clear, therefore, that the Psalms were before the Qur'an? How then could the Qur'an, produced so late in the world, have been placed on the heavenly Table?</ref>
===Qur'an before the creation of the world===
Two other matters borrowed from the Jews. Every Moslem thinks Islam holds the Qur'an to have been on the heavenly Table (Lauh) from before the creation of the world, as is mentioned in a passage already quoted:- Truly it is the glorious Qur'an, on a preserved Table. (Qur'an 85:21,22)
Now let us hear what Tradition tells us about this Table:-
:One tells us that the Throne is made out of a pearl, as is also the Preserved Table, the height of which is 700 years' journey, and its breadth 300. All around it is adorned with rubies. The Lord commanded that there should be written upon it what he had wrought in Creation, and onwards till the Day of Judgment:-- "In the name of the Lord, the Compassionate and Merciful. I am God and there is none else beside me. He that accepts my decree, is patient at my punishment, and thankful at my mercies, I will write and place him along with the righteous; he that doth not accept my decree, let him go forth from beneath my heaven," etc.' (Quissas al Anbia)
The Source of this tale is to be found in Jewish books, but vastly exaggerated by the MoslemsIslamic tradition. We find in the Torah that when God desired to give forth the Ten commandments, he thus addressed Moses, who has himself given the account in Deut. 10:1-5
:At that time the Lord said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and come up unto me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood. And I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables which thou brakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark. And I made an ark of shittim wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in mine hand. And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the Lord spake unto you in the mount our of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and the Lord gave them unto me. And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which had made; and there they be, as the Lord commanded me.
:What is that which is written that the Lord said to Moses: Come up to me into the mount, and be there; and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them (Exodus 24:12) The tables are the Ten Commandments; and the Torah the Law which is read; and the Commandments also mean the Mishnah; and "that which I have written" means the Prophets, and the Holy Writings; and "that thou mayest teach them" points to the Gemara. And from this we learn that all these were delivered to Moses on Mount Sinai.
No Moslem scholar would for a moment credit this story, knowing that the Mishna was not written till about the year 220 of the Christian era; the Gemara of Jerusalem in 430 A.D.; and the Gemara of Babylon about 530 A.D. But some Moslems Muslims believing it all, added their own Qur'an to the rest, and so comes this wretched story. The Reader will not think it necessary, we are sure, that anything more of the above kind be added, excepting this, perhaps, that the Jews themselves hold the Tables to be of date beyond time; for one tells us they were made
:at the creation of the world at the sunset before the Sabbath day. (Pirke Aboth, v. 6)
===The Mount Qaf===
The origin of what the Moslems tell Islam tells us about this mountain clearly originated from the Jews. Here is what the Tradition of the Moslems Islamic tradition tell us: (Araish al Majalis)
:The Lord Almighty formed a great mountain from green chrysolite, - the greenness of the sky is from it, -- called Mount calf and surrounded the entire earth therewith, and it is that by which the Almighty swore, and called it Qaf (see Qur'an 1:1).
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