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I discovered something that I'm rather shocked doesn't get brought up more. I can't be the first person to discover this, but then again many people don't bother to read primary texts. Still, this point is so large and causes such disruption in the religious-political environment that a discussion cannot be avoided. So I want to highlight this rather provocative topic.
I was going through my personal copy of the Koran (aka Quran or Qu'ran), Islam's highest scripture, for research purposes on doing a different, upcoming post but I discovered something else that I'm rather shocked doesn't get brought up more. That "something" is the fact that the Koran, in rather direct terms, endorses Zionism. This claim I make might sound outrageous, given, well, all that you know. I will cite the Koran to provide documentation.
But before I get into the Koranic scripture, I need to be clear about what I mean by "Zionism" since this is a very loaded and thrown-about term. Here I mean Zionism to mean the plain-Jane historical definition, which simply means the establishment of a Jewish Nation State - typically thought to be within the geographical region of the Levant. This concept of a "Promised Land" has roots in the Mosaic books that are part of both the Christian Bible and Jewish Torah. What is fascinating is that the Koran borrows many stories and characters from the Bible but arranges them into a jumbled mess. Whoever compiled the Koran may not have really understood the texts being put together, and it resulted in a rather hard-to-follow and, at times, incoherent religion when taken as a whole. I think scholars of Islam understand this and have to sweep the dirty evidence under the prayer carpet. Instead of reading for comprehension of the Koran, the Imams seem to prefer reciting it in a mindless repetition. The Koran itself doesn't really supply the means of a religion just by itself, so that's probably why all the other stuff was added (I write about this in another post).
One of the Biblical stories the Koran paraphrases is the story of Exodus and Moses. This is one of the most famous Bible stories in pop culture. However, I'll do a very brief recap in case we have any totally secular people here who hated Charlton Heston movies. Exodus is the second of 5 Mosaic books. In it the prophet Moses (born Hebrew yet raised Egyptian) leads the Hebrews from bondage out of Egypt towards the promised land of their ancestors. In the process Moses has to lay a smackdown on Pharaoh, he gets some laws, hits a few figurative bumps in the road, and then finally hands things off to Joshua for entering the land that is to become Israel (through conquest when needed). Now, in the Koran a very similar story is told, but much less developed. There are a couple of exceptions, such as the deletion of the Ten Commandments (it just says Moses had stone tablets, no mention of contents) and there are 9 plagues on Pharaoh instead of 10. In the Koran the story of Passover is also totally deleted (I'll address this in another post). However, one thing is clear as anything else in the Koran: Allah gives the land to the Israelites. So let's mention the importance of that next.
Yes! The text is translated as Israelites or Children of Israel to whom the land is to be given by Allah. This is a critical feature, even more so within the theology of Islam, because for Islam the line of succession is through Ishmael (son of Hagar) and not Issac. Ishmael is the more important one, and the early Muslims are actually known as Ishmaelites. So to spell out Israelites is a big deal, as I understand it. (On a side note, a pious Muslim may be totally confused by the meaning of the opening line of Moby Dick: "Call me Ishmael," but I digress. Herman Melville might have to get his lazy bones up and do a rewrite.)
Now, without further delay, let's get into citing the Koranic scripture.
One thing to know about the compositional structure of the Koran is that it is rather confusing for a modern reader (perhaps even for readers of any time). The reason why is that the Koran is a mixed bag of content that doesn't appear to follow any particular storyline. It contains 114 Chapters, known as Surahs, which are organized according to length. The longest Surahs are generally at the front and the shortest toward the back. Surah 1 is an exception. To give context, in my Koran Surah 2 is 49 pages, and Surah 114 is barely a paragraph. Unlike the Bible, which has organized books with coherent stories within them that cover the subject, the Koran instead has fragments scattered throughout the text that touch upon the same thing. Sometimes apparently random statements. The Surahs are not ordered in time sequence either. There's also the so-called "Mecca" and "Medina" verses. So here I will be referring to the Koran's version of the Biblical Exodus story in Sarah 5, 7, and 17.
Koran Surah 5:20-26 covers Moses and the Exodus. For those familiar with the Bible, the wording will be rather strange.
5:20 And ˹remember˺ when Moses said to his people, “O my people! Remember Allah’s favours upon you when He raised prophets from among you, made you sovereign,1 and gave you what He had never given anyone in the world.2
5:21 O my people! Enter the Holy Land which Allah has destined for you ˹to enter˺. And do not turn back or else you will become losers.”
In the previous section of the Koran (the literal word of Allah as dictated to the Prophet Mohammad) states:
5:19 O people of the Scripture! (Jews or Christians) There has already come to you Our Messenger who makes things clear to you after a break in the series of Messengers
Notice here the clear statement from Allah that the people Moses is leading to take possession of the Holy Land (aka Promised Land) is also sovereign. The story of Moses drops out of the Koran and doesn't seem to pick back up until Surah 7:130, where a lot more information is given throughout 7:171. I'd like to specifically highlight 7:132-134 and especially 7:137.
7:134 When tormented, they pleaded, “O Moses! Pray to your Lord on our behalf, by virtue of the covenant He made with you. If you help remove this torment from us, we will certainly believe in you and let the Children of Israel go with you.”
7:137 And ˹so˺ We made the oppressed people successors of the eastern and western lands, which We had showered with blessings. ˹In this way˺ the noble Word of your Lord was fulfilled for the Children of Israel for what they had endured. And We destroyed what Pharaoh and his people constructed and what they established.
Surah 7 contains a lot more parallels to the Biblical Exodus story that leads to Joshua. A bunch of the Mosaic book material is basically absent. But here, notice the unmistakable citing of the Israelites being led by Moses and being blessed by Allah to be the successors of the Promised Lands. Next up, Surah 17. Here, Exodus and the Biblical Old Testament pick up again regarding the subject.
Surah 17:101-111 adds more to the same story. I will specifically highlight 17:104-105. Now quoting from my Koran copy.
17:104 And We said after (it was all over with Pharaoh), to the Children of Israel, 'Settle down occupying the promised land (of Palestine). When the time of fulfillment of the second Prophecy comes, We shall bring you back gathering you (from various lands).'
17:105 We revealed it to suit all the requirements of truth and wisdom and it has come down (to you) with truth and wisdom. We have sent you (on one hand) as a Bearer of good tidings and as a Warner (on the other).
Let these two above passages sink in for a minute. Not only is it rather plainly stating for the Israelites to settle in the current day disputed lands, but also for Christians this could be interpreted as directly indicating the foreshadowing of Jesus. "Fulfillment" of prophecy is strikingly similar to classic Christian language. And a clear indication of the New Testament regarding "second." When you look at other passages of the Koran in which Jesus is referenced, it becomes clear that whoever compiled the Koran did not fully understand the material that was likely lifted from other sources.
So from the Koranic scripture, it strongly indicates that Allah blessed the Israelites and provided them with land on which to build a sovereign nation. This is must-read and reference material to any modern-day Muslim who denies that a state of Israel has any legitimate claim to exist. According to Islam, its highest scripture affirms not only the historical but Allah-given claim to the Holy Land...or Promised Land or Palestine or Israel or whatever you want to call it. With this in mind, now let's look at Surah 2:2
2:2 This is the only perfect Book, wanting in naught, containing nothing doubtful, harmful or destructive, there is no false charge in it. It is guidance for those who guard against evil.
The Islam's modern-day Dawah representatives probably would be very uncomfortable dealing with what the Koran actually says. They'd rather hoodwink gullible people and mislead even Umma. Again this is part of the reason why Islam can't build its religion on the Koran alone. It needs the Hadiths and the Islamic commentaries to fill things out and truly shape the theology and evolution that took place within Islam as it developed.
One last thing: In Islamic Theology, the word of the Koran is eternal. There is a copy of the Koran written in heaven (in Arabic, apparently because Allah doesn't have a Rosetta stone and isn't multilingual) that is the same, word-for-word. Or at least the version of the Koran that was decided upon in 1924. But really, what's the difference? As a result, if the word is eternal and without error, not to be added to or subtracted from, well, maybe you should start following the word of Allah on this subject. The Koran may be a big Jewish Zionist conspiracy. This could be a new dilemma within the Muslim community. Do I uphold the text of the Koran and uphold the state of Israel at the same time? There's probably some word-bending that needs to go on to explain this away.
Anyway, this is some information to chew on. I can't be the first person to discover this rather controversial material and contradictory elements of modern Islamic beliefs. However, I would like this information to get picked up by people and publicized to become common knowledge. Despite all that kill the infidel stuff, it might come as a shocker that the Holy Koran (peace be upon it) is a Zionist book. How's that for a plot twist? Surprise!
Discussion (9)
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Thanks for posting this. It's fascinating information.
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I hesitate to speak on this topic because my reading in the Quran is thin and years ago… but my impression is that when the Jews failed to recognize Mohammed and Islam as overriding all prior scriptures that broke all previous ‘deals’ with Allah. So Allah may have granted Israel to the Jews…but that was contingent on them remaining faithful. Rejecting Islam breaks that bond, so the Jews forfeit the land.
That interpretation could be 110% wrong, but that is my current understanding.
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The Koran actually has passages that affirms previous scriptures, not "overriding" them. The Koran is obviously considered by Muslims that literal word of Allah that was given to the last prophet Muhammad. However, the problem occurs when the Koran text itself supports previous scripture. This results in an Apologetics/ Polemics argument called the "Islamic Dilemma". But proponents of Islam is just say anything regardless of the truth. You have to press on sources, since Islam has less room for interpretation apart from source material.
the Bible has been highly scrutinized for many decades (in not hundreds of years), including intense literary and historical academic work. The Koran and other Islamic sources are have largely been spared from research and scrutiny. Most of the public is totally ignorant of it. But that's changing. Old Germanic work has resurfaced and in the digital age more direct access is becoming more widespread. This a larger separate topic though.
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My thinking is based in large part on the Islamic daily prayer, part of that is:
"Guide us on the straight path,
the path of those who You have bestowed favor, not of those who have evoked Your anger, or of those who are astray."
"those who have evoked Your anger, or of those who are astray." are not general admonishments. Rather, Muslim scholars agree that "those who have evoked Your anger, or of those who are astray" are particular peoples. "those who have evoked Your anger" are the Jews and "those who are astray" are Christians. Jews evoked God's anger by not accepting Mohammed and Islam and hence abrogated any previous "deals" with God ... especially that "deal" granting Israel to the Jews.
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Per Islamweb.net :
"As for the previous Scriptures, they were for a limited duration of time. Allah gave human beings the responsibility of preserving them, and they lost them through corruption, alteration, and concealment...Being the final, all-encompassing and preserved against any change, the Islamic Law abrogated all the previous Scriptures which sustained human interpolations. Abrogation generally takes place with regards to secondary matters of law. As for fundamental principles, like the Oneness of Allah, the Most Exalted, the prohibition of idolatry, and the fundamentals of worship – matters that form the basic call of all the Messengers, may Allah exalt their mention, they are not subject to abrogation."
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