APPENDIX D
Appendix D: Qur'anic Narratives
105 105 105 105 The elephant.The elephant.The elephant.The elephant.
The judgment narrative of the elephant is based upon the campaign of
Abraha, the Abyssinian viceroy of Yemen, against Mecca after 540 AD.
The goal of Abraha's army, which included an elephant, was to destroy the
Ka`ba. See Guillaume, Muhammad, pp. 21 f.
68:17f 68:17f 68:17f 68:17f The owners of the garden who The owners of the garden who The owners of the garden who The owners of the garden who
did not say "If God will." did not say "If God will." did not say "If God will." did not say "If God will."
Andrae in Ursprung, p. 133 shows this and other Qur'anic garden judgment
parables to be related to a narrative of the Syrian church, whereby a
powerful atheist who troubled the poor, widows and orphans is warned of
God's judgment; after not repenting, his house burns down one night with
many of his possessions; the man becomes ill and dies within ten days; his
vineyards and orchards are destroyed in two years time; his family loses
everything, including their slaves (Anecdota Syriaca, II, 39 f, as quoted by
Andrae)
87:19 87:19 87:19 87:19 Scrolls of Abraham and Moses Scrolls of Abraham and Moses Scrolls of Abraham and Moses Scrolls of Abraham and Moses
mentioned. mentioned. mentioned. mentioned.
Geiger in WMJA, p. 120 states that the Jewish cabalistic Sepher Yezirah
mentions Abraham as having written books, and this opinion is also shared
by Nöldeke-Schwally, GQ, p. 17, n. 2 and others. In the late apocrypha,
books are also ascribed to Abraham; see Apokalypsen, pp. 29 f.
85:4f 85:4f 85:4f 85:4f The comrades of the pit.The comrades of the pit.The comrades of the pit.The comrades of the pit.
Although Geiger (WMJA, p. 189) and others following him think this to be
a reference to Dan. 3:8 f, it is more probable that the Muslim authorities (cf.
Guillaume, Muhammad, pp. 14, 17) are correct in seeing an allusion to the