Brannon Wheeler in his article: ”Arab Prophets of the Quran and Bible.” Journal of Quranic Studies 8.2 (2006): 24-57: a study that focuses on the question of the ‘Arab’ prophets Hūd, Sālih, and Shucayb. Of all the prophets mentioned by name in the Qur’an, only these three appear not to be mentioned in the Bible, and, as such, they provide a helpful example to examine the treatment of historical materials in the Qur’an.

In addition to Islamic exegesis, this paper uses a number of non-Qur’anic literary sources, and archeological findings, to demonstrate that there is a fair amount of evidence external to the Qur’an for the historicity of the Arab prophets, suggesting the need for a much more varied and wider consideration of the phenomenon of prophecy in the ancient world as the common heritage of the (3 Abrahamic) religions of the Book.

Prophet Muhammad whom God addresses in Qur’an 28:46 as being sent to warn a people to whom no warner had come before. Qur’an. 32:3 likewise describes a warner, identified by Muslim exegesis as the Prophet Muhammad, sent to a people to whom no warner had come before. Abd al-Haqq ibn Atiyya (d.546/1151) relates that the Arabs were a people who had been taught by Abraham and his sons, but had received no messenger like the Prophet Muhammad before.

Ibn Atiyya also reports that Ibn Abbas and Muqatil ibn Sulayman interpret the statement about there being no warner before in Qur’an 32:3 to refer only to the period of time between Jesus and Muhammad. Mahmud ibn Umar al-Zamakhshan (d.538/1144) explains also that the lack of a warner mentioned in Qur’an 28:46 and Qur’an 36:6 refers to the 550 years between Jesus and Prophet Muhammad. It is possible that the unique role of Muhammad among Arabs is related to the distinction made by Muslim scholarship between the ‘apostles’ (rusul) and the prophets (anbiya1).

Muhammad ibn Sacd (d.230/845) reports that the number of apostles, including Prophet Muhammad, is 315, and the total number of prophets is 2,000: Ibn Abbas says: Between Moses and Jesus ibn Mary were 1,900 years and there is no pause between them, for between them were sent 1,000 prophets from the Israelites, equal to what was sent from non-Israelites. Messengers however, number only 313.

Of the 313, we only know the names of five who brought a sacred scripture. The first one of the five is Abraham as the Qur’an states: “Indeed, this is in the former scriptures; the scriptures of (Prophets) Abraham and Moses. (87:19), and: “Or has he not been informed of what was in the scriptures of Moses and Abraham. (53:36).

I say that for very many centuries Abraham’s faithful descendants within the Children of Israel were the only ongoing monotheistic community that survived as the Qur’an states: “Those who disbelieve are steeped in arrogance and defiance. How many generations have We destroyed before them? They cried out when it was too late to escape. And they marveled that a warner had come to them from among them.

The disbelievers said, “This is a lying magician.” “Did he turn all the gods into one God? This is something strange.” The notables among them announced: “Go on, and hold fast to your gods. This is something planned. We never heard of this in the former faith. This is nothing but a fabrication. (Qur’an 38:2-7)

Jews could have credited this situation to their own spiritual qualities. Muhammad ibn Sacd (d. 230/845) reports that the number of apostles, including Prophet Muhammad, is 315, and the total number of prophets is 2,000: Have of them Hebrew Prophets. But the Torah teaches Jews not to be proud of themselves for having so many prophets among them, or being the first monotheistic community to survive long after their messengers were gone; because it was God’s choice to choose them.

Their only choice was to always be conscious of, and obligated by, God’s choice; to always choose remaining loyal to their ancestors pledge at Mount Sinai: “We will do.”

A major misunderstanding of the Biblical concept of God choosing a people or a prophet is caused by the use of the word ‘the’ chosen when a better translation would be ‘a’ chosen prophet or people. Relationships are always unique and exclusive, but just as a parent can and should have a loving relationship with several different children; God can and does have unique and exclusive relationships with many different prophets and many different religious communities.

Before Prophets Abraham, Moses, David and Jesus, “We (God) sent messengers to many nations, and We afflicted the nations with suffering and adversity, that they call Allah in humility. When the suffering reached them from Us, why then did they not call Allah in humility? On the contrary, their hearts became hardened, and Satan made their sinful acts seem alluring to them.”(Qur’an 6:42-43)

Israel can’t adore any other God, but God can and does redeem other nations. “Are not Israelites like Ethiopians to me? Says the Lord. Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt, the Philistines from Crete and the Aramaeans from Kir?” (Amos 9:7)

Jews are not THE chosen people; they are A chosen people, the first of several ongoing monotheistic religions. A parent can have many children but only one is the firstborn. “These are the words of the Lord, Israel is my first-born son.” (Exodus 4:22) The Jewish people was the first community to enter into a sacred relationship with the one God but they are not the only ones to do so. In later centuries other communities were formed to spread monotheism worldwide.

That process will continue until all nations have a sacred relationship to the one God of Israel. “Each nation will walk in the name of its God, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever.” (Micah 4:5) Even in the Messianic Age the other nations will be free to faithfully follow their vision of the One God.

As the Qur’an states: “For every nation there is a direction to which they face (in prayer). So hasten towards all that is good. Wheresoever you may be, Allâh will bring you together. Truly, Allâh is able to do all things.” (2:148) The commentary/Tafsir of al-Jalalayn states: “Every person, of every community, has his direction/qibla, to which he turns in prayer, so compete with one another in good works; strive with acts of obedience and acceptance of these. Wherever you may be, God will bring you all together, gathering you on the Day of Resurrection and requiting you for your deeds; surely God has power over all things.”

And as Prophet Isaiah states: “In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt, and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel  will join a three-party alliance with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing upon the heart. The LORD of Hosts will bless them saying, “Blessed be Egypt My people, Assyria My handiwork, and Israel My inheritance.”…(Isaiah 19:23-5)

What is Israel chosen for? To be an agent of holiness and enlightenment. “You are the children of the Lord your God…You are a people holy to the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 19). “The Lord has chosen you out of all the nations on earth to be his special possession.” (Deuteronomy 14:1-2) “I will make you a light for the nations” (Isaiah 49:6) Thus, other nations will also be blessed through their own religions that were connected by Israel’s covenant with God at Sinai, thus fulfilling the promise to be a blessing to all the nations of the earth.

As a Rabbi, I believe that the many prophets Allah/God sends to the Children of Israel is a sign of the ongoing covenant between Allah and the Children of Israel. I know Muslim interpreters interpret 2:63-64 to mean that the favors mentioned in those verses were conditional with a certain period of time when the Divine trust—the representation and promotion of God’s eternal religion—rested on the shoulders of the Children of Israel.

The biblical religious tradition claims this trust is an “ongoing covenant” between God and the Children of Israel. Clearly, not all Jews live up to this trust, but God’s commitment is ongoing for the whole Jewish Umma of those who do. For Jews, the ongoing continuity of God’s covenant with the Jewish People is achieved through the faithful linked chain connection of endless successive loyal generations. This is why the Jewish Umma is both a religious and an ethnic community.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)