24 r Brannon Wheeler
Wansbrough cites the stories of these prophets as typifying the “prophetic
cycle,” in part related to his contention that large portions of the Quran
are to be understood as requiring “haggadic” exegesis.^2 In support of the
conclusions of H. Hirschfeld, A. J. Wensinck argues that Hūd was an al-
legorical figure and that the name derives from the root hwd relating to
Jews, Jewish practices, and Judaism.^3 C. C. Torrey likewise asserts that the
name Shu ̔ayb is derived from sha ̔b meaning “people,” and A. Geiger
takes the story of Shu ̔ayb as a confused conflation of biblical elements.^4
Much of this interpretation is related to the presumption that similarities
between the Bible and Quran are due to the latter being dependent upon
the former.
In part, this metaphorical or literary interpretation of the stories of
Hūd, Sālih, and Shu ̔ayb is due to the perception that these prophets do
not appear in the Bible. All of the other prophets mentioned by name in
the Quran appear to have biblical counterparts, although some disagree-
ment exists about the exact identification of certain names: Adam, Idris
(Enoch), Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Lot, Joseph, Job, Moses,
Aaron, David, Solomon, Elijah, Elisha, Jonah, Zechariah, John, and Jesus.
Dhu al-Kifl is consistently identified by Muslim exegetes as the son of
Job, and Muslim exegetes identify many of the unnamed prophets in the
Quran with biblical figures such as Ezekiel (Q 2:243), Samuel (2:246–51),
and Jeremiah (2:259). Quran exegesis identifies the three messengers in
Q 36:13–29 with the New Testament apostles Simon, John, and Paul, and
other Muslim stories of the prophets also include accounts of Daniel and
Samson.
Western scholars have often ignored the question of the historicity of
the stories of the prophets contained in the text of the Quran, choosing
to focus instead on the historical context in which the Quran was pro-
duced. Many scholars have attempted to evaluate the text of the Quran as
a source for the history of the prophet Muhammad and early Islam, and
scholars continue to concentrate on the history of the text of the Quran.^5
But the historicity of the contents of the Quran as they relate to ancient
and biblical history are overlooked, usually as evidence only that the
Quran is derivative and depends upon earlier written and oral sources.
Despite some suggestive remarks by scholars such as Reuven Firestone
and Roberto Tottoli, little has been done to investigate what information
the contents of the Quran can provide for the history of the Bible and the
ancient Near East.