The Convergence of Judaism and Islam. Religious, Scientific, and Cultural Dimensions

3

Quran and Muslim Exegesis as a Source

for the Bible and Ancient History

Brannon Wheeler

As elucidated by Stillman, the commonalities between Islamic and Jew-
ish civilizations contributed immeasurably to each other’s development.
This is most evident in the realm of their scriptures, religious sanctuaries,
inscriptions, and stories of prophethood.
In his exegesis of Q 7:59–93, Sayyid Qutb (1906–66) describes the sto-
ries of Noah, Hūd, Sālih, and Lot as metaphors for the warnings given to
the heedless by God.

This story captures the nature of faith and the nature of disbelief

in the souls of human beings. It displays a repeated pattern for the

faithful hearts and a repeated pattern for the disbelieving hearts.

Those who believe in all of the messengers have no arrogance in

their hearts and obey the messengers of God. It is not surprising that

God would select one of them to speak and to warn them. Those

who disbelieve in all of the messengers, they are the ones assuming

their own greatness in sin, arrogantly thinking that authority was

given into their hands by God the master of creation and the word.^1

All of these prophets were sent with the same message and all were re-
jected by their people, who were then punished by God for their infidelity.
Sayyid Qutb offers a similar interpretation of the stories of Hūd, Sālih, and
Shu ̔ayb in Q 11:50–95 and 26:123–91.
This metaphorical interpretation of the stories of Hūd, Sālih, and
Shu ̔ayb is not uncommon in the history of scriptural exegesis. John