Muhammad, the Qur'an and Islam
Sura 40Sura 40Sura 40Sura 40 begins with mysterious letters, and mentions "the Book" as having
been sent down by God. The vv. 2f describe God as forgiving, and the
vv. 4f refer to earlier unbelievers and their messengers. The vv. 7f deal with
the subject of intercession, the vv. 15f speak of the Judgment, and the
vv. 22f return to the subject of previous peoples and messengers. The
vv. 24f present a new version of a narrative about Moses, in which Moses is
said to have been sent to Pharaoh, Haman and Korah, who call Mo^129 ses a
magician and liar (v. 25). The command to kill the sons of Moses' people is
said to have come about after Moses was sent to these three (v. 26), and
Pharaoh then wants to kill Moses, in part because he is afraid the latter will
cause others to change their religion (v. 27). It can hardly be overlooked
that Muhammad has placed himself in the role of Moses, and this is also
sub- stantiated in the allusion to a "believer from Pharaoh's people," whose
rhetorical question (about killing a man for saying his Lord is Allah; v. 29)
appears in the Sira and canonical traditions as having been said by Abu
Bakr when the Quraysh once tried to kill Muhammad. This alleg^130 ed
believer in Moses' time also makes an allusion to Noah's people, the `Ad,
the Thamud (v. 32) and Joseph (v. 36). Pharaoh then commands Ham^131 an
to build a tower to Heaven for him (vv. 38f), and the unnamed b^132 eliever
later gives a sermon (vv. 41f), which is very much in the style of
Muhammad's. The vv. 48f relate that this believer was protected and then
describe the judgment of Pharaoh and his people. The vv. 54f refer to
previous messengers, and v. 56 presents Moses as having received
guidance, and the children of Israel "the Book." In v. 57 Muhammad is
commanded to request forgiveness for his own sins, and only t^133 wo daily
prayer times are men- tioned. The vv. 59f speak of the witness of Creation,
and the vv. 61f refer to the Judgment. The vv. 63f describe God as
Provider, Creator and being one, the vv. 69f show God as Creator again,
and the vv. 71f return to the theme of the Judgment. For the most part, the
vv. 78f compare Muhammad with previous messengers. Some of the verses
of this sura are similar to the Jewish Tefillah, the apocrypha or the Bible,^134
the Arabic name for Haman appears to have come from the Jews, a^135 nd the
form "Qarun" (for Korah) may have been created by Muhammad to rhyme
with "Harun" (for Aaron).^136
Qur'an 28Qur'an 28Qur'an 28Qur'an 28 begins with mysterious letters, which are said to be "the signs of
the clear Book" (v. 1). The vv. 2f give a narrative about Moses. The v. 3
implies that the Israelites were part of the people of Pharaoh, and v. 4