Ali Ataie – Ramadan & Revelation The Message of the Torah
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AI: Transcript ©
My name is Ali Atahi, associate professor and
dean of undergraduate studies here at Setuna College
in beautiful Berkeley, California.
For this first session of this series entitled
Ramadan and Revelation, I want to explore the
first of the major Kutub or scriptures according
to the Islamic tradition,
the Torah.
However, I want to examine the Torah from
3 distinct perspectives.
Number 1, the perspective of traditional Judaism.
Number 2, the perspective of modern critical historians.
And number 3, the perspective of the Quran.
I think this more holistic approach to the
scripture will be more academically
enriching
In Judaism, the word Torah,
can be used to refer to different things.
The most common usage of the word is
in reference to the first five books of
the Hebrew Bible. This is the narrowest usage
of the word. These five books, also known
as a Pentateuch or Chumash, are named Genesis,
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy,
or in Hebrew, Beresheet, Shemot, Vayikra, Benidbar, and
Devarim.
Traditional Jews believe that these books were written
some 35100
years ago on Mount Sinai by none other
than Moses, peace be upon him, Musa alaihi
salaam, or in Hebrew, Moshe.
However, it was God or Hashem who spoke
these words through Moses. Moses was simply the
means or mouthpiece of God. According to Exodus,
Hashem spoke these words to Moses Panim al
Panim, literally face to face. That is to
say, without any sort of mediation,
angelic or otherwise.
Therefore, traditional Jews believe that the first five
books are the divine
or the very words
of god himself.
I think most people probably don't know this,
but in addition to receiving these 5 books,
traditional Jews also maintained that Moses received an
oral Torah on Mount Sinai.
This was something that was meant to be
passed mouth to mouth from teacher to student.
I'll come back to the oral Torah in
a minute, but first, let's go back to
the Hebrew Bible.
So we said that the first five books
are attributed to Moses.
The next 34 books in the canon are
split between the nabiim or prophets in the
Ketubim, the writings.
Generally, books that are named after a prophet
fall into the category of nabiim.
These are books such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel,
Micah, Hosea.
The kit will be consists of books like
1st and second Kings, Proverbs, and Psalms.
We'll examine the Psalms later in this series
Insha'Allah.
So all three of these parts, the Torah
here referring to the 5 books, the prophets,
and the writings are collectively called the Tanakh.
It's an acronym, tau for Torah, noon for
nabiim, and ka for ketobim.
Christians call the Tanakh the old testament. However,
the term old testament can be offensive to
traditional Jews. The orthodox may refer to the
Tanakh as the written Torah. This is a
broader usage of the word Torah. Now remember
I said that traditional Jews believe that Moses
received an oral Torah on Mount Sinai in
addition to the Pentateuch.
This oral Torah was eventually written down.
This process picked up at the end of
the 1st century of the common era by
a group of Palestinian scribes known as the
Tannaim.
This was after the destruction of the second
temple by the Romans in 70 CE.
The writings of the Tanaim became known as
the Mishnah. Between the 3rd 6th centuries of
the common era, Jewish scribes in both the
Palestinian and Iraqi academies
known as the Amoraim wrote vast commentaries on
the Mishnah. These commentaries are called the Gemara.
The Mishnah and Gemara were then codified and
called the Talmud.
So there are 2 versions of the Talmud,
Palestinian and Babylonian.
The word Talmud is actually related to the
word tilmid.
Think of the Talmud as being a student
of the Tanakh.
So now the Tanakh and Talmud together is
called Torah Min Hashamayim
or the Torah from heaven. This is the
broadest usage of the word Torah.
Now despite the claims of orthodox Jews, there
is a general consensus among modern historians
and textual critics of the Bible that Moses
almost certainly did not write the 5 books
that are traditionally attributed to him. Again, the
Pentateuch is also called the Chumash in Hebrew.
Chumash is related to the Arabic word Khamsa,
meaning 5,
the first five books of the bible. Now
if you read these 5 books, you'll notice
that stories are oftentimes repeated with slight differences.
There are 2 creation stories, 2 flood narratives.
This type of repetition is quite common in
Semitic rhetoric. However, stylometric analysis of the Pentateuch
strongly suggest that there are multiple authors.
As you read the 5 books, you will
notice that different people and places are called
by various names. Where did Moses receive the
Torah? Sinai or Horeb? Who was Moses's father-in-law,
Jethro or Reuel?
What is God's name, Adonai or Elohim or
both?
You will find different ways in which god
is described, sometimes very imminent, even highly anthropomorphic,
and sometimes transcended.
Why is that?
Modern historical critics claim to have the answer.
It's called the DH, the documentary
hypothesis, and its pioneer was the German scholar
Julius Wellhausen.
He articulated his theory in his very influential
critical introduction to the Pentateuch
called the Prolegomena,
which is still the standard in the academy.
Basically, the DH espouses that the Pentateuch or
Chumash
is a composite work, combined work, derived from
4 semi independent and complete narratives
stitched together into 1 by a redactor about
a 1000 years after Moses.
Thus, a redactor took the words of 4
authors writing at different times and combined them
into a single narrative. The redactor is called
r by Wellhausen,
and he suggests that the redactor was the
early second temple scribe, Ezra.
The redactor divided his final narrative into the
5 familiar volumes, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and
Deuteronomy.
According to historians, this explains the repetition,
the different literary styles,
and why there are different terms for the
same people in places.
There were 4 original authors writing the same
or similar stories
and using their own terminology.
What were each writing?
Basically, a history of the Jewish people.
But who are these 4 original authors of
the Pentateuch?
Scholars have given them names. They obviously do
not identify themselves.
The first, historians call the Yahweh's because he
uses a tetragrammaton,
Yod Hey Vav Hey for God. These four
letters were God's initials as it were. Their
true articulation was only known by the kohanim,
the high priest of the Beit HaMikdash, the
temple. The narrative of the Yahweh is called
the J source by scholars. It was written
around 1,000 to 900 BCE in Jerusalem.
It was written during the height of David
and Solomon's kingdoms when Israel's borders stretched from
the Nile to the Euphrates.
Substantial portions of Genesis, Exodus, and Numbers is
from the j source. God is often anthropomorphized
by the Yahweh's. There is a focus on
God's imminence.
God appears directly to humans. This is most
apparent in Genesis chapters 2 through 12.
In Genesis 3:8, for instance, Adam hears God,
quote, walking in the garden. And so Adam
and Eve, quote, concealed themselves from God by
hiding behind the trees. There is very little
legislation in Jay. It is mostly theophany, I
e direct experience with God.
The author of the second source is called
the Elohist. The Elohist prefers the word Elohim
for God. His narrative is called the e
source. It was written around 800 BCE in
Israel, the Northern Kingdom.
Substantial portions of Genesis, Exodus, and Numbers is
from the e source.
God is more impersonal and transcendent.
There is indirect contact with God through dreams,
visions,
and angels. Major themes of ER, prophets,
fear of God, and berit, covenant. These are
solemn agreements with God. So J and E
formed the backbone of the Pentateuchal narrative. The
patriarchs, matriarchs, Moses and the exodus, and the
wanderings in the wilderness. The famous covenant code
of Exodus 20 to 23 is associated with
j and e.
The author of the 3rd source is called
the Deuteronomist.
He is the author of the d source.
Deuteronomy literally means second law.
So the book of Deuteronomy is exclusively from
the d source. The redactor also placed a
bit of d source material in Exodus.
The d source was written around 700 BCE,
probably in Jerusalem or Judah. However, some say
the north.
Major themes include God's wrath, repentance, apostasy, and
criteria for true prophecy.
It recounts the laws and events of Exodus
and Numbers with different emphases.
It uses both the tetragrammaton,
Yod Vav and Elohim for God. It has
a unique oratory and preaching style that focuses
on the person of Moses.
The d source also contains 3 major speeches
of Moses delivered on the east side of
the Jordan before the children of Israel entered
the promised land and contains an account of
the death of Moses.
The 4th and final author is called the
priest. His narrative is called the p source
or priestly source. It was written around 550
BCE in Babylon by the kohanim,
the remnants of the priestly class living in
Babylonian captivity.
P source material is primarily found in Leviticus,
but also in portions of Genesis, Exodus,
and Numbers. Major themes include God's goodness, ritual
laws, Sabbath, circumcision,
Passover,
cash root, purity, sacrifices,
holidays, holiness, as well as the genealogies.
The priest also uses Elohim for God. Genesis
chapter 1, the creation narrative, which famously begins.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and
the earth is widely considered to be p
source material, which means it was likely written
around 550 BCE,
some 900 years after Moses.
As far as literary style goes, j is
the most eloquent than e, d, and p.
E and d call the mountain Horeb.
J and p call it Sinai.
So r had these four narratives on his
desk as it were around 500 BCE when
the temple was being rebuilt in Jerusalem.
As I said, according to Wellhausen,
Ezra, a priest and scribe of this period,
was the redactor.
Others maintain that the redaction was done by
priests during the exilic period between 586
and 538
BCE.
When the children of Israel were in Babylon
in in captivity, the Babylonians were defeated by
the Persians in 538
BCE.
In that same year, the Persian king, Khurosh
or Cyrus the Great issued a decree authorizing
the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem
and the return of the temple vessels captured
by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, some 50
years earlier.
The Oxford Study Bible says, quote,
indeed, some scholars have suggested that this revision,
the final redaction of the Chumash,
may have been undertaken under the sponsorship of
the Persian government,
reflecting Persia's interest in achieving stability
through its empire by means of religious and
legal reforms in the provinces.
In other words, the redaction was supported, possibly
ordered by the Persians in order to bring
political stability
through scriptural unity to the satrapy of Palestine.
Now you may be thinking,
does this mean that the Pentateuch has nothing
to do with Moses? Hermann Gunkel, a pioneer
of form criticism, identified older, what he called
preliterary
forms used as the sources of JED and
P. These include hymn, law, poem, legend, song,
etcetera. In other words, JED and P did
not invent their texts out of thin air.
They were drawing upon older traditions, either oral,
or written. Many of these could very well
have originated with Moses.
Thus, these preliterary
forms were the sources of the sources of
the Pentateuch.
I'll give you two examples.
Numbers 21, 14, and 27
written by the Elohist
quote something called the book of the wars
of the Lord, Sefer Milchamoth Adonai.
This was one of the Elohist's sources.
The Elohist wrote, therefore, it is said in
the book of the wars of the Lord,
Wahib and Sufa and the valleys of the
Arnon, etcetera, numbers 2114.
Where is this book of the wars of
the Lord? It is lost to time, but
it was a source used by the Elohist
when he wrote his narrative.
Example number 2, the authors of Genesis, the
Yahweh's, the Elowist, and the priest explain the
etymological origins of names. This is why Abraham
is called Abraham. This is why Isaac is
called Isaac. Ishmael is called Ishmael. Jacob is
called Jacob, etcetera. These names were not invented
by the authors of Genesis. They were explaining
their preliterary
origins. In other words, these names were known
by j, e, d, and p, not created
by them. Before I continue, I should mention
that there's an alternate model used by biblical
scholars to explain the origins and composition of
the Pentateuch.
This theory goes back to the 19th century.
It started to become more popular in the
19 seventies due to John Van Siders.
Today, it rivals the documentary hypothesis.
It's called the supplementary hypothesis.
So according to the s h, d or
e, depending on the scholar, was written first,
and then supplementary material was added to it
by various scholars throughout the centuries.
Therefore, the Pentateuch was always one source with
additional material added over time, not 4 semi
independent and complete sources that were later integrated.
Of course, many orthodox and conservative Jews have
pushed back against these theories. However, among critical
scholars of the Pentateuch,
these theories remain dominant.
Now what is the Torah according to the
Quran?
In the Quran, we are told that Allah
revealed the Torah to our master Musa alayhi
salaam. The Torah is described as noor and
huda, light and guidance.
Moses, peace be upon him, is considered one
of the ark apostles, min ululazmi min al
Ruzul, one of the greatest messengers of God
in all of human history. Allah
says in the Quran
that the Jews, al ladheena hadu, were entrusted
with preserving their scripture.
Over time, however, according to the dominant opinion
of Muslim scholars,
scribes began altering the text of the Torah.
The Quran refers to this tahrif of the
biblical text, which could mean alteration, fabrication, or
decontextualization.
It appears that the text of the bible
has been corrupted to a certain significant degree,
and this is totally
mainstream historical scholarship on the bible. In fact,
scriptural alteration of the Torah is admitted in
the Tanakh itself. In Jeremiah
Jeremiah 8:8, how can you say we are
wise? And we have the Torah Adonai, the
law of god.
For falsehood, the lying pen of the scribes
have made it. Or to say it another
way, the false pens of the scribes have
turned it, the Torah,
into a lie.
Therefore, the Quran is the Muhamiman, the overseer
or supervisor of the Bible. The Quran is
the fuqan, the standard of judgment when it
comes to the Bible. Allah
says,
When it comes to the modern Pentateuch, our
scholars posit the following.
There are certainly
things that are true that we as Muslims
can confirm
in meaning,
However, nothing of the exact wording can be
known with certainty. For example, in Deuteronomy chapter
6 verse 4, we read the famous
Shema Israel Adonai Elohino Adonai Echad. Hear, oh
Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is
1.
This is true. God is 1, Ahad. But
is this statement in its exact wording what
god revealed to Moses?
We cannot be certain.
Therefore, we believe that the theological
essence of the actual teachings of Moses are
found in the Quran as well as the
major legal injunctions and apodictic principles.
In this sense, the Quran is a mussaddik
or confirmation.
There is much else from the Torah that
we definitely cannot confirm, and then there is
a whole lot of gray
area. In the next session, we will examine
the 2nd major scripture,
the zabur or the Psalms of David.
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