Esther's Loss and Haman's Time Travel (Part 2)
Pharaoh and the Tower of Babel
After discussing the possible reasons for the omission of Esther’s story by the author of the Islamic scripture (1 A) and examining the occurrences of the name Haman in the Qur’an (1 B) in the previous two articles, in this third article I shall seek answers to the questions why and how the Biblical narrative of the Tower of Babel was accidentally embedded into the narrative about Pharaoh and his struggle with Moses in Surah 28:38 and Surah 40:36. These two verses illustrate one of the biggest historical blunders of the Qur’an in that they contain two historical compressions: Haman’s designation as the vizier of the Pharaoh of the Exodus and Pharaoh’s identification as the arrogant ruler that fathered the construction project of a lofty tower for reaching the heavens:
Pharaoh said: "O Chiefs! no god do I know for you but myself: therefore, O Haman! light me a (kiln to bake bricks) out of clay, and build me a lofty palace, that I may mount up to the god of Moses: but as far as I am concerned, I think (Moses) is a liar!" (Surah 28:38 Yusuf Ali)
Pharaoh said: "O Haman! Build me a lofty palace, that I may attain the ways and means, the roads of the heavens, and may look upon the God of Moses, though verily I think him a liar. Thus was the evil that he did made fairseeming unto Pharaoh, and he was debarred from the (right) way. The plot of Pharaoh ended but in ruin. (Surah 40:36-37 Yusuf Ali)
To remember, in the Bible Haman is identified as King Ahasuerus’ vizier in the Persian Empire (Esther 3:1) while the idea of constructing a tower for reaching the sky is said to have arisen from the nations living in Babel after the deluge (Genesis 11:2-4). The writer of the Qur’an, on the other hand, did not only associate Haman with Pharaoh but also linked the essential theme of the Tower of Babel to Pharaoh’s haughtiness and disbelief. At this early stage of the discussion, it is not unreasonable to say that Pharaoh’s portrayal in connection with the Tower of Babel in the Qur’an was a mistake resulting from Muhammad’s and/or the Quranic author’s habit of assimilation and replacement. However, before having a meticulous study of the motifs causing this particular historical compression, it is necessary to have a look at the narrative of the Tower of Babel in the Torah as well as in Jewish traditions and compare it with the parallel teachings found in the Islamic scripture.
Tower of Babel in the Book of Genesis
The dispersion of the nations after their desire to build a city and a tower with its top in the skies is recounted in the 11th chapter of the Book of Genesis:
The whole earth had a common language and a common vocabulary. When the people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. Then they said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” (They had brick instead of stone and tar instead of mortar.) Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens so that we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise we will be scattered across the face of the entire earth.” But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people had started building. And the Lord said, “If as one people all sharing a common language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be beyond them. Come, let’s go down and confuse their language so they won’t be able to understand each other.” So the Lord scattered them from there across the face of the entire earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why its name was called Babel – because there the Lord confused the language of the entire world, and from there the Lord scattered them across the face of the entire earth. (Genesis 11:1-9 NET Bible)
The essential aim of this Biblical account is apparently to explain the reason for the diversity of human languages in the world and link it to the historical reality of the lofty buildings (ziggurats) in the ancient Babylonian civilization through the phonological similarity between the word Babel and the Hebrew word meaning “confusion”. Accordingly, the NET Bible has the following footnote on the word Babel:
Here is the climax of the account, a parody on the pride of Babylon. In the Babylonian literature the name bab-ili meant “the gate of God,” but in Hebrew it sounds like the word for “confusion,” and so retained that connotation. The name “Babel” (בָּבֶל, bavel) and the verb translated “confused” (בָּלַל, balal) form a paronomasia (sound play). (Footnote 23)
Thus, the dispersion of the nations after the deluge in Noah’s time is related in the Bible in association with the great Babylonian civilization and its people’s pride. The place of the incident is said to be Shinar, which is actually the region of Babylonia. Besides, the lofty building in question, which reminds us of the Babylonian ziggurats, represents the pride of the nation and their wish to create an urban culture apart from God. The nations’ intention to construct an edifice with its top in the skies and thus make a name for themselves indicates their arrogance. However, they cannot succeed due to the divine intervention when their tongue is confused: they are eventually obliged to give an abrupt end to the project and are scattered in the world. The NET Bible makes the following commentary on the word “scatter” in verse 4:
The Hebrew verb פָּוָץ (pavats, translated “scatter”) is a key term in this passage. The focal point of the account is the dispersion (“scattering”) of the nations rather than the Tower of Babel. But the passage also forms a polemic against Babylon, the pride of the east and a cosmopolitan center with a huge ziggurat. To the Hebrews it was a monument to the judgment of God on pride. (Footnote 13)
There is a similar critique and denunciation of the Babylonian king’s arrogance in the Book of Prophet Isaiah:
Look how you have fallen from the sky, O shining one, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the ground, O conqueror of the nations! You said to yourself, “I will climb up to the sky. Above the stars of El I will set up my throne. I will rule on the mountain of assembly on the remote slopes of Zaphon. I will climb up to the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High!” But you were brought down to Sheol, to the remote slopes of the pit (Isaiah 14:12-15 NET Bible)
The narrative of the Tower of Babel is placed right after the account of the table of nations in chapter 10 and is both chronologically and thematically bound to the emergence of nations. Further, it belongs to an early period of the creation and functions to give an account of mankind’s dispersion with an emphasis laid on the significance of language in communal unity. In its basic form the story is related to the regeneration of mankind through Noah’s progeny after the universal deluge and contains a few elements that link it also to the story of the first human parents’ fall and expulsion from the Garden of Eden.
A comparison of these two narratives (Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the Garden versus mankind’s dispersion from Shinar) shows that the account of the Tower of Babel is the counterpart of Adam’s and Eve’s banishment on a national level. As Adam and Eve live in Eden until they attempt to be like God by eating of the forbidden fruit, the nations live in unity in one place (Shinar) until they attempt to gain honor for themselves and reach the heavens. In both cases God intervenes to punish this prideful act and to banish the sinners, directly in the first incident whereas indirectly in the second. In short, both of these falls are thematically related as they demonstrate the consequences of pride.
Tower of Babel in non-canonical Jewish writings
In the traditional yet non-canonical Jewish writings the theological implications concerning mankind’s pride in the Biblical narrative of the Tower of Babel are made explicit as men’s aim to rival God is stressed. For instance, we find the following account in the Talmud:
"Let us build a city and also in its midst a tall tower for a stronghold, a tower the top of which shall reach even to the heavens. Then shall we truly make for ourselves a great and mighty name, before which all our enemies shall tremble. None will then be able to harm us, and no wars may disperse our ranks." And they spoke these words to the king, and he approved of their design. Therefore these families gathered together and selected a suitable spot for their city and its tower on a plain towards the east, in the land of Shinar. And while they were building rebellion budded in their hearts, rebellion against God, and they imagined that they could scale the heavens and war with him. They divided into three parties; the first party said: "We will ascend to heaven and place there our gods, and worship them." The second party said: "We will pour into the heavens of the Lord and match our strength with His." And the third party said: "Yea, we will smite Him with arrow and with spear." (The Talmud, Selections. Part 1: Biblical History, chapter 1)
The assertion that the people were divided into three parties at the time of the construction may have stemmed from the Biblical teaching that the nations were descendants of Noah’s three sons. This Talmudic claim gave birth to the teaching that these three parties were given a different means of punishment:
According to their deserts did God punish the three rebellious parties. Those who had said, "We will place our gods in the heavens," were changed in appearance, and became like apes;1 those who had said, "We will smite Him with arrows," killed one another through misunderstandings; and those who had said, "Let us try our strength with His," were scattered over the face of the earth. (The Talmud, Selections. Part 1: Biblical History, chapter 1)
Finally, the destruction of the Tower is claimed to have occurred in three stages:
The tower was exceedingly tall. The third part of it sunk down into the ground, a second third was burned down, but the remaining third was standing until the time of the destruction of Babylon. (The Talmud, Selections. Part 1: Biblical History, chapter 1)
One of the functions of the Babylonian ziggurats was to provide a high place that priests could stand on to evade the rising waters during a flood (*). In harmony with this secular historical information and the connection between Babylonian ziggurats and the Biblical Tower of Babel, Jewish historian Josephus Flavius wrote in his book entitled Antiquities of the Jews that the zeal to construct a lofty tower in Nimrod’s era was relevant to the destruction of mankind in a deluge in Noah’s time. More to the point, Nimrod was claimed to get this tower built in order to prevent God from killing the sinners in a universal flood again:
Now the sons of Noah were three, - Shem, Japhet, and Ham, born one hundred years before the Deluge. These first of all descended from the mountains into the plains, and fixed their habitation there; and persuaded others who were greatly afraid of the lower grounds on account of the flood, and so were very loath to come down from the higher places, to venture to follow their examples. … Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such an affront and contempt of God. He was the grandson of Ham, the son of Noah, a bold man, and of great strength of hand. He persuaded them not to ascribe it to God, as if it was through his means they were happy, but to believe that it was their own courage which procured that happiness. He also gradually changed the government into tyranny, seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to bring them into a constant dependence on his power. He also said he would be revenged on God, if he should have a mind to drown the world again; for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to be able to reach! and that he would avenge himself on God for destroying their forefathers! (Antiquities of the Jews, Book I, chapter 4)
According to the Legends of the Jews, the incident of the Tower of Babel was also remarkable because it was one of the rare occasions when God descended from heaven to the world:
Beside the chastisement of sin and sinners by the confounding of speech, another notable circumstance was connected with the descent of God upon earth--one of only ten such descents to occur between the creation of the world and the day of judgment. It was on this occasion that God and the seventy angels that surround His throne cast lots concerning the various nations. Each angel received a nation, and Israel fell to the lot of God. To every nation a peculiar language was assigned, Hebrew being reserved for Israel--the language made use of by God at the creation of the world. (Legends of the Jews, Volume I, chapter IV)
Interestingly, this account forms a superficial and trivial similarity between Esther’s story and the account of the Tower of Babel on the basis of the casting of lots. Particularly, in the Septuagint version of Esther’s story, two lots were cast by Haman because God distinguished Israel from the rest of the Gentiles:
Therefore hath he made two lots, one for the people of God, and another for all the Gentiles. And these two lots came at the hour, and time, and day of judgment, before God among all nations. (Additions to Esther, chapter 10:10-11)
Implied reference to the Tower of Babel in the New Testament
The importance of the Biblical narrative regarding the Tower of Babel can be seen in the symbolic analogies drawn in the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament. What happens on the Day of Pentecost in Jerusalem after Jesus’ ascension makes an allusion to the confusion of tongues and dispersion of the nations into the whole world in the Book of Genesis. However, a close analysis of these intended parallelisms proves that the effects of the Tower of Babel were reversed and this historic incident gained a new and positive meaning in the Christian era through Christ’s resurrection.
Consequently, ten days after Christ’s bodily ascension to heaven, the Spirit of God descends on the apostles and gives them power and authority to proclaim the risen Christ to the world. More, the Spirit comes down in the form of fiery tongues and enables the apostles to proclaim Christ in different languages. Thus, in the Christian era God descends when people from different nations are gathered together in one place (Shinar versus Jerusalem) not to confuse tongues and disperse the nations, but to tear down the linguistic barriers and send the apostles to the whole world so that Christ’s truth can be spread.
The account of the Tower of Babel missing from the Islamic scripture
In sharp contrast to the significance attached to the story of the Tower of Babel in Judaic and Christian theology, the author of the Qur’an neither confirmed nor denied this historic incident in human history. He simply attributed the construction of a lofty building to the Pharaoh of the Exodus, but did not necessarily affiliate it with the confusion of tongues and the dispersion of the nations. Maintaining in his version only the arrogant and rebellious attitude of a mighty figure, he changed the original place of the story from Babylonia to Egypt. Equally, Babylonia, the haughty and hostile civilization in the Biblical account, was transformed into haughty and hostile Pharaoh’s Egypt in the Qur’an.
It is possible to reckon a few possibilities for the exclusion of the original story of the Tower of Babel from the Islamic scripture. In the first place, this exclusion does not seem unusual or odd when we remember that the writer of the Qur’an had a tendency to skip the Biblical narratives that provided information on the origin of certain names and/or concepts. He similarly disregarded the phonological connections established in Hebrew between certain names and incidents/figures. In this regard the account of the Tower of Babel is surprisingly similar to Esther’s and Mordecai’s story: in both cases the origin of a Hebrew name (Purim in the first versus Babel in the second) was explained with the help of a historic incident. It is no wonder that the author of the Qur’an included none of these two.
Second, the Qur’an falls short of having the same literary quality as the Bible since it lacks a clear sense of chronological order. What we see in the Islamic scripture is actually a lectionary or homily taken from different narratives and combined together with a careless attitude towards the notion of chronology. This peculiarity makes it rather difficult, if not impossible, for the writer of the Qur’an to observe the contrasts between the early and later periods of the creation. As a result, it was hardly possible for the reader of the Qur’an to follow what has changed so far in the history of mankind.
Third, the writer of the Qur’an probably did not know or endorse the teaching that the whole mankind spoke the same language once upon a time and that this later changed as a punishment after a rebellious incident. Some verses in the Qur’an are rather concerned with the religious unity of the human race, and teach that men fell into disagreement among themselves, breaking their one religion into many sects (Surah 2:213, 10:19, 21:93, 23:53). The present variety of religions in the world is also taught to survive only through God’s permission and as a part of a test (Surah 5:48). It is likely that these kinds of verses were derived from Muhammad’s wish to silence his opponents who interpreted the existence of numerous religions as his god’s failure or impotence.
National and linguistic division in the Islamic scripture
The author of the Qur’an produced a brief and vague statement about the division of mankind into tribes and nations, depriving the reader of the knowledge of when and how this took place:
O mankind! Lo! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another. Lo! the noblest of you, in the sight of Allah, is the best in conduct. Lo! Allah is Knower, Aware. (Surah 49:13 Pickthall)
The reason underlying the division of mankind into tribes and nations seems to be of paradoxical nature and does not make much sense. Apart from this, the Children of Israel are depicted as divided into twelve tribes during their wandering in the wilderness in Moses’ time, which is a teaching that sounds awkward and inaccurate:
We divided them into twelve tribes, nations; and We inspired Moses, when his people asked him for water, saying: Smite with thy staff the rock! And there gushed forth therefrom twelve springs, so that each tribe knew their drinking-place. And we caused the white cloud to overshadow them and sent down for them the manna and the quails (saying): Eat of the good things wherewith we have provided you. They wronged Us not, but they were wont to wrong themselves. (Surah 7:160 Pickthall)
The erroneous and stunning teaching in this verse probably came into existence through the hasty combination of Exodus 15:27 with Exodus 17:26 on the basis of the reference to twelve springs in the former. In addition, the following verses in the same chapter (Surah 7) bafflingly talk of the Israelites’ division into nations due to their sin of pride:
So when they took pride in that which they had been forbidden, We said unto them: Be ye apes despised and loathed! And (remember) when thy Lord proclaimed that He would raise against them till the Day of Resurrection those who would lay on them a cruel torment. Lo! verily thy Lord is swift in prosecution and lo! verily He is Forgiving, Merciful. And We have sundered them in the earth as (separate) nations. Some of them are righteous, and some far from that. And We have tried them with good things and evil things that haply they might return. (Surah 7:166-168 Pickthall)
These verses are strange and astounding as they are thematically related to the story of the Tower of Babel in the traditional yet non-canonical writings of Judaism. In such writings the people rebelling against God with pride fall into three parties, and one group is transformed into apes while the third party is scattered around the world. In the Qur’an verses above it is the Children of Israel who became haughty sinners, some of whom were changed into apes, and all of whom were separated into nations on a different occasion. In short, the punishment befalling the nations in the traditional Jewish writings is mysteriously assigned to the Jews in the Qur’an. Finally, Islamic tradition teaches that the Jewish population of the village mentioned in Surah 7:166 consisted of three groups:
Allah said that the people of this village were divided into three groups, a group that committed the prohibition, catching fish on the Sabbath, as we described in the Tafsir of Surat Al-Baqarah. Another group prohibited them from transgression and avoided them. A third group neither prohibited them, nor participated in their action. (Tafsir Ibn Kathir)
Although the author of the Qur’an was definitely aware of the fact that each community had its peculiar language and that language was something cultural (Surah 14:4, 41:44, 43:3), and although he once argued that the human race was divided into tribes and nations by the Creator (Surah 49:13), he failed to give a similar account for the existence of many languages in the world and associate linguistic diversity with the existence of diverse nations. Instead he attempted to force linguistic diversity into a false pair with the multiplicity of humans’ colors:
And among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the variations in your languages and your colours: verily in that are Signs for those who know. (Surah 30:22 Yusuf Ali)
George Sale translated the word “color” in this verse as “complexion”:
And of his signs [are also] the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the variety of your languages, and of your complexions: Verily herein are signs unto men of understanding. (Surah 30:22)
In Ibn Kathir’s commentary on this verse the word “color” is also interpreted as pertaining to humans’ appearance:
(and the difference of your languages) So, we see that some speak Arabic, and the Tatars have their own language, as do the Georgians, Romans, Franks, Berbers, Tou Couleurs (of Sudan), Ethiopians, Indians, Persians, Slavs, Khazars, Armenians, Kurds and others. Only Allah knows the variety of languages spoken among the sons of Adam. And the difference of their colors mentioned here refers to their appearance, for all the people of this world, from the time that Allah created Adam, and until the Hour begins, each of them has two eyes, two eyebrows, a nose, a forehead, a mouth and two cheeks, but none of them looks like another; there is bound to be some difference in posture, appearance and speech, whether it is apparent or is hidden and can only be noticed with careful observation. (Tafsir Ibn Kathir)
Evidently, the coupling of linguistic variety with the variation in colors or complexions in this verse is far from perfection, for colors and complexions stand for genetic heritage whereas a language is not genetic, but cultural as it is something that is acquired after birth and in accordance with the environment a human is born into. Moreover, people having the same color or similar complexions do not necessarily speak the same language. It seems that the writer of this chapter could not come up with a better idea than this while endeavoring to explain the cause of linguistic variation in the world.
The word Babel in the Islamic scripture
Even though the Qur’an does not relate the Biblical account of the Tower of Babel, the word Babel occurs in it in connection with a Jewish fable regarding two fallen angels:
And follow that which the devils falsely related against the kingdom of Solomon. Solomon disbelieved not; but the devils disbelieved, teaching mankind magic and that which was revealed to the two angels in Babel, Harut and Marut. Nor did they (the two angels) teach it to anyone till they had said: We are only a temptation, therefore disbelieve not (in the guidance of Allah). And from these two (angels) people learn that by which they cause division between man and wife; but they injure thereby no-one save by Allah's leave. And they learn that which harmeth them and profiteth them not. And surely they do know that he who trafficketh therein will have no (happy) portion in the Hereafter; and surely evil is the price for which they sell their souls, if they but knew. (Surah 2:102)
A comparison of the Quranic version of the story with its original form in the Talmud reveals that the borrower accidentally inserted the story into Solomon’s era although it originally belonged to the period following the deluge.2 More interestingly, this fable was introduced with the aim of accusing the Children of Israel.
A possible allusion to the Tower of Babel
There is an interesting verse in the Qur’an that is thematically similar to the Tower of Babel even though it is not possible to conclude due to its vagueness that it definitely refers to the Biblical story:
Those before them plotted, so Allah struck at the foundations of their building, and then the roof fell down upon them from above them, and the doom came on them whence they knew not. (Surah 16:26 Pickthall)
Here we have the teaching that Allah took action against some unidentified plotters and destroyed their building. Surprisingly, traditional commentators in Islam are torn between interpreting this verse in association with the construction of the Tower of Babel by Nimrod and construing it metaphorically, detaching it altogether from the Biblical story. For instance, Ibn Abbas seemed sure that this verse referred to Nimrod’s tower:
(Those before them plotted) against their prophets, just as the leaders of Quraysh who were slain in the valley of Badr plotted against Muhammad (pbuh); the reference here is to the tyrant Nimrod who built the tower, (so Allah struck at the foundations of their building) Allah extracted their tower from its foundation, (and then the roof fell down upon them) the tower fell upon him (from above them, and the doom came on them) through this destruction (whence they knew not). (Tafsir Ibn Abbas)
Jalalayn similarly revealed his knowledge of the parallelism between this particular verse and the tower mentioned in the Bible, but was also careful enough to add an alternate approach:
Those before them had indeed plotted, [those] such as Nimrod — he built a lofty tower that he might ascend through it to the heavens and wage war against its inhabitants; then God came at, He aimed at, their edifice from the foundations, from the base, unleashing against it winds and earthquake, which demolished it; and so the roof collapsed upon them from above them, that is, while they were beneath it, and the chastisement came upon them whence they were not aware, from a direction which would not have occurred to them: [alternatively] it is said that this [description] is a simile for [demonstrating] the thwarting of that which they had settled on in the way of plots against [God’s] messengers. (Tafsir al-Jalalayn)
Ibn Kathir reported both interpretations, but insisted that the correct view was the metaphorical rendering of the verse:
(Those before them indeed plotted,) Al-`Awfi reported that Ibn `Abbas said: "This refers to Namrud (Nimrod), who built the tower.'' Others said that it refers to Bukhtanassar (Nebuchadnezzar). The correct view is that this is said by way of example, to refute what was done by those who disbelieved in Allah and associated others in worship with Him. (Tafsir Ibn Kathir)
Before proceeding to study another possible allusion to the Tower of Babel in the Qur’an, it is crucial to keep in mind that these Muslim commentators ascribed the construction of a lofty tower and the act of insolently defying God to Nimrod.
The Lofty Pillars of Iram
The Islamic scripture recurrently refers to the People of Ad and identifies them as a sinful community that lived after Noah and was destroyed by a roaring wind (*). The prophet that was allegedly sent to the People of Ad is called Hud in the Qur’an. While revealing the Jewish sources of the narratives in the Islamic scripture, Abraham Geiger highlighted the probable connection between the People of Ad in the Qur’an and the nations constructing the Tower of Babel in the Bible:
In order to have the right to refer what is said about Hud to the time of the confusion of tongues, or, as the Rabbis call it, the Dispersion, we must adduce some particulars which point to this reference, for the statements are very general in their tenor and might be referred to ether occurrences. The following verse a possibly refers to the building of the Tower: "And ye erect magnificent works, hoping that ye may continue for ever." The Arabic commentators take it that the buildings would afford them a perpetual dwelling place, but the verse might also mean, "make by building it an everlasting name for yourselves." The neighbourhood is called in the Quran the "Possessor Of Pillars. In one passage there appears to be a reference to Nimrod, who lived at this time and in this region, since the children of Ad are here reproached for obeying the command of every contumacious hero. (Judaism and Islam, Second Division, Chapter Two, First Part)
In particular, the following Qur’an verses make the People of Ad more similar to the constructors of a city with its top in the skies:
Seest thou not how thy Lord dealt with the 'Ad (people), - Of the (city of) Iram, with lofty pillars, the like of which were not produced in (all) the land? (Surah 89:6-8 Yusuf Ali)
Rev. E. M. Wherry quoted from Sale and Baidháwi in order to explain the meaning of the word Iram:
The people of Iram. "Iram was the name of the territory or city of the Adites, and of the garden mentioned in the next note, which were so called from Iram or Aram, the grandfather of Ad, their progenitor. Some think Aram himself to be here meant, and his name to be added to signify the ancient Adites, his immediate descendants, and to distinguish them from the latter tribe of that name; but the adjective and relative joined to the word are, in the original, of the feminine gender, which seems to contradict this opinion." – Sale, Baidháwi. (Source)
Later he pointed out the disagreement concerning the interpretation of the phrase “lofty pillars”:
Lofty buildings, "or 'pillars.' Some imagine these words are used to express the great size and strength of the old Adites; and then they should be translated, 'who were of enormous stature.' But the more exact commentators take the passage to relate to the sumptuous palace and delightful gardens built and made by Shaddád, the son of Ad. (Source)
It is true that some Muslim commentators tended to consider the pillars as a reference to the height and stature of the People of Ad. Ibn Kathir gave the most detailed information along with the differing views concerning the interpretation of these verses in Surah 89:
(The like of which were not created in the land) meaning, there had been none created like them in their land, due to their strength, power and their great physical stature. Mujahid said, "Iram was an ancient nation who were the first people of `Ad.'' Qatadah bin Di`amah and As-Suddi both said, "Verily, Iram refers to the House of the kingdom of `Ad.'' This latter statement is good and strong. Concerning Allah's statement, (The like of which were not created in the land) Ibn Zayd considered the pronoun of discussion here to refer to the pillars, due to their loftiness. He said, "They built pillars among the hills, the likes of which had not been constructed in their land before.'' However, Qatadah and Ibn Jarir considered the pronoun of discussion to refer to the tribe (of `Ad), meaning that there was no tribe that had been created like this tribe in the land - meaning during their time. And this latter view is the correct position. (Tafsir Ibn Kathir)
Still, the designation of Iram as a town or garden would further the parallelism between the Biblical story and the People of Ad since in that case Iram would turn into the Quranic counterpart of the Biblical Shinar whilst Iram’s lofty pillars to the lofty Tower of Babel. Interestingly, the traditional Islamic story about the garden of Iram recounted by Wherry strengthens this possibility:
But the more exact commentators take the passage to relate to the sumptuous palace and delightful gardens built and made by Shaddád, the son of Ad. For they say Ad left two sons, Shaddád and Shaddíd, who reigned jointly after his decease and extended their power over the greater part of the world; but Shaddíd dying, his brother became sole monarch; who, having heard of the 'Celestial Paradise,' made a garden in imitation thereof in the deserts of Aden, and called it Iram, after the name of his great-grandfather. When it was finished, he set out with a great attendance to take a view of it; but when they were come within a day's journey of the place, they were all destroyed by a terrible noise from heaven. Al Baidháwi adds that one Abdullah Ibn Kalábah (whom, after D'Herbelot, I have elsewhere named Colabah, Prelim. Disc., p. 21) accidentally hit on this wonderful place as he was seeking a camel." – Sale, Baidháwi. See Prelim. Disc., pp. 20, 21. (Source)
It is amazing to see how the Biblical town of Shinar in Genesis 11 was changed into a garden named Iram in Islamic tradition although the themes of rivalry, arrogance, and the subsequent punishment were maintained. The figure in the Islamic story attempted to create a replica of the celestial garden whilst the people in the Biblical story attempted to create a city connected to the heavens.
On the other hand, some modern Muslim propagandists made use of the literal meaning of the lofty pillars of Iram while fabricating a pseudo-historic miracle from the Qur’an. This comparatively new Islamic hoax has already been rebutted (*). The identification of Iram as the counterpart of the Biblical Shinar refutes this so-called miracle for the second time as Surah 89:6-8 seem to reiterate in a slightly modified form the Biblical story of the Tower of Babel, which was definitely known by both Jews and Christians and thus contained no mystery that was supposedly revealed by Muhammad.
From Ad to Pharaoh
It must be made clear that Surah 89 is remarkable because it contains a mysterious triplet: the People of Ad, the People of Thamud, and Pharaoh. This triplet is additional to the triplet of Pharaoh, Haman, and Qarun (Korah), which we analyzed in the previous article, and as a matter of difference, was formed through Pharaoh’s attachment to a pair of sinful and boastful communities rather than figures. After mentioning the People of Ad and their Iram of lofty pillars in Surah 89:6-8, the author of the Qur’an immediately referred to the People of Thamud:
And with the Thamud (people), who cut out (huge) rocks in the valley? – (Surah 89:9 Yusuf Ali)
The triplet was completed when Pharaoh made an appearance in the following verse:
And with Pharaoh, lord of stakes? (Surah 89:10 Yusuf Ali)
What the members of this particular triplet had in common is explained in the following verses:
(All) these transgressed beyond bounds in the lands, And heaped therein mischief (on mischief). Therefore did thy Lord pour on them a scourge of diverse chastisements: For thy Lord is (as a Guardian) on a watch-tower. (Isn’t this interesting imagery similar to God watching the nations constructing the Tower of Babel and then punishing them?) (Surah 89:11-14 Yusuf Ali)
The author of the Qur’an designated the People of Ad, the People of Thamud, and Pharaoh as rebellious sinners punished by God. Besides, the particular act through which this triplet expressed their transgression seems to be associated with the things they constructed, for the People of Ad had a place of lofty pillars whilst the People of Thamud were emphatically identified as a community hewing huge rocks in the valley to make themselves dwellings. Pharaoh, the third of the three is qualified as a lord or owner of stakes in Yusuf Ali’s translation. However, the original Arabic word occurring in this verse is awtadi, the exact meaning of which is unfortunately lost to us. Therefore, this word constitutes a mystery in the Qur’an and is translated by Muslims in a number of forms. To check some of them:
And with Pharaoh, firm of might (Pickthall)
And with Pharaoh, lord of stakes? (Yusuf Ali)
And (with) Fir'aun (Pharaoh), who had pegs (who used to torture men by binding them to pegs)? (Hilali-Khan)
And (with) Firon, the lord of hosts (Shakir)
And with Pharaoh, lord of vast hosts (Sher Ali)
And Pharaoh who possessed might. (Khalifa)
And Pharaoh, he of the tent-pegs (Arberry)
And Pharaoh of the stakes? (Palmer)
And with Pharaoh the impaler (Rodwell)
and with Pharaoh, the contriver of the stakes (Sale)
WafirAAawna thee al-awtadi (Arabic transliteration)
Evidently, the majority of the translators tended to translate the word as “stakes” while some of them followed a literal interpretation and concluded that this word meant “pegs” in Arabic. Actually, various meanings assigned to this particular word in the Qur’an by a number of Muslim commentators display the gravity of the mystery and the relevant disagreement (*). Another interesting factor is that some authoritative commentators insisted on interpreting this word as a peculiar structure used by Pharaoh in the punishment of his opponents. For instance, we read the following commentary in a traditional Tafsir:
(And with Pharaoh) and how He destroyed Pharaoh, (firm of right) Pharaoh erected four pillars to which he tied and tortured anyone with whom he was angry until the latter died, as he did with his wife Asiyah Bint Muzahim. (Tafsir Ibn Abbas)
Jalalayn said almost the same thing with regard to this structure:
And Pharaoh, the one of the tent-pegs: he used to fasten four pegs and tie to these the hands and feet of those whom he tortured — (Tafsir Al-Jalalayn)
This particular interpretation of the word strikingly reminds us of Haman, who erected gallows to hang Mordecai. Although many scholars and translators link the mysterious word in Surah 89:10 to the pillars erected by cruel Pharaoh, the fact that Pharaoh was reckoned as the third example of people who expressed their rebellion and arrogance through construction entails the interpretation of the word awtadi as a building rather than a machine of torture and death. It is probable that the overall tendency to connect the word in Surah 89:10 with Pharaoh’s means of torture stemmed from the Islamic legends concerning the supposed martyrdom of Pharaoh’s wife (*). In short, it is more likely that this word originally pertained to some building erected by boastful Pharaoh. The only thing we can presume at the moment is that the author of the Qur’an mistakenly likened the pyramids to mountains and identified them as pegs in accordance with his faulty depiction of mountains as pegs cast into the earth and functioning as stabilizers (Surah 78:7).
No matter what the mysterious word in Surah 89 precisely means, we have a few instances in the Qur’an where Pharaoh is uncannily associated with the People of Ad and/or the People of Thamud:
Of Pharaoh and (the tribe of) Thamud? (Surah 85:18 Pickthall)
The 'Ad, Pharaoh, the brethren of Lut (Surah 50:13 Yusuf Ali)
Oddly, the examination of the other Qur’an chapters where the word Pharaoh occurs in association with the other sinful communities shows that in such sequences Pharaoh mostly followed the People of Ad, being thematically related to the period of the communities living at the time of and after the deluge:
Before them (were many who) rejected apostles, - the people of Noah, and 'Ad, and Pharaoh, the Lord of Stakes (Surah 38:12 Yusuf Ali)
Likewise, the unidentified prophetic figure delivering a sermon to Pharaoh and his folk in Surah 40 alludes to the destiny of the former communities and presents those of Noah, Ad, and Thamud as explicit examples:
"Something like the fate of the People of Noah, the 'Ad, and the Thamud, and those who came after them: but God never wishes injustice to his Servants. (Surah 40:31 Yusuf Ali)
Finally, in Surah 29 the triplet of Pharaoh, Haman, and Qarun appears in a verse coming right after the reference to the pair of Ad and Thamud:
(Remember also) the 'Ad and the Thamud (people): clearly will appear to you from (the traces) of their buildings (their fate): the Evil One made their deeds alluring to them, and kept them back from the Path, though they were gifted with intelligence and skill. (Remember also) Qarun, Pharaoh, and Haman: there came to them Moses with Clear Signs, but they behaved with insolence on the earth; yet they could not overreach (Us). (Surah 29:38-39 Yusuf Ali)
Despite the existence of inconsistencies, it is still reasonable to conclude that the triplet of the People of Ad, the People of Thamud, and Pharaoh in Surah 89 was not haphazard. The tendency to reckon Pharaoh mostly in association with the sequence of the People of Noah, Ad, and Thamud implies that the writer of the Qur’an was partly aware of the connection between some arrogant communities living after the flood and Pharaoh on the basis of the construction of some buildings or structures exhibiting arrogance. By maintaining this connection in many verses of his scripture he gave the first signal of his faulty ascription of the Tower of Babel to Pharaoh.
From Nimrod to Pharaoh
Certainly, the thematic association established by the author of the Qur’an between the arrogant community living right after the deluge and the Pharaoh of the Exodus was not the only or primary reason for the baffling insertion of the statement uttered by the people living in Shinar in the Bible into Pharaoh’s mouth in Surah 28:
Then they said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” (Genesis 11:3 NET Bible)
Pharaoh said: "O Chiefs! no god do I know for you but myself: therefore, O Haman! light me a (kiln to bake bricks) out of clay, and build me a lofty palace … (Surah 28:38 Yusuf Ali)
A closer scrutiny reveals that the accidental transfer of the account of the Tower of Babel from the Bible to the narrative about Pharaoh in the Islamic scripture arose from Nimrod’s assimilation to Pharaoh. As I showed in the analysis of Surah 16:26 above, even some Muslim commentators attributed the project of building a lofty tower to Nimrod. This assertion of theirs was adopted from the non-biblical yet traditional Jewish teachings concerning the Tower of Babel. Josephus Flavius overtly identified Nimrod as a mighty and evil ruler that constructed the Tower of Babel in his efforts to confront the Creator:
Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such an affront and contempt of God. He was the grandson of Ham, the son of Noah, a bold man, and of great strength of hand. He persuaded them not to ascribe it to God, as if it was through his means they were happy, but to believe that it was their own courage which procured that happiness. He also gradually changed the government into tyranny, seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to bring them into a constant dependence on his power. He also said he would be revenged on God, if he should have a mind to drown the world again; for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to be able to reach! and that he would avenge himself on God for destroying their forefathers ! Now the multitude were very ready to follow the determination of Nimrod, and to esteem it a piece of cowardice to submit to God; and they built a tower, neither sparing any pains, nor being in any degree negligent about the work: and, by reason of the multitude of hands employed in it, it grew very high, sooner than any one could expect; but the thickness of it was so great, and it was so strongly built, that thereby its great height seemed, upon the view, to be less than it really was. It was built of burnt brick, cemented together with mortar, made of bitumen, that it might not be liable to admit water. (Antiquities of the Jews, Book I, chapter 4:2-3)
If we get back to the Qur’an, we see that the word Nimrod does not occur in it, but figures only in some traditional Islamic narratives regarding Abraham and his war on polytheism. For instance, Ibn Kathir identified the unnamed King disputing with Abraham in Surah 2:258 as Nimrod:
The king who disputed with Ibrahim was King Nimrod, son of Canaan, son of Kush, son of Sam, son of Noah, as Mujahid stated. It was also said that he was Nimrod, son of Falikh, son of `Abir, son of Shalikh, son of Arfakhshand, son of Sam, son of Noah. (Tafsir Ibn Kathir)
The source of the erroneous teaching that Nimrod was Abraham’s contemporary was most likely the Midrash:
When his father returned and saw the havoc committed on his 'gods' and property he demanded an explanation from his son whom he had left in charge. Abraham mockingly explained that when an offering of fine flour was brought to these divinities they quarrelled with each other as to who should be the recipient, when at last the biggest of them, being angry at the altercation, took up a stick to chastise the offenders, and in so doing broke them all up. Terah, so far from being satisfied with this explanation, understood it as a piece of mockery, and when he learnt also of the customers whom Abraham had lost him during his management he became very incensed, and drove Abraham out of his house and handed him over to Nimrod. (Genesis Rabba)
The writer of the Qur’an, on the other hand, did not talk of Nimrod, but depicted Pharaoh as the main archetype of mighty and arrogant rulers in the world. Consequently, he stressed Pharaoh’s rebellious and haughty character:
Then after them sent We Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh and his chiefs with Our Signs. But they were arrogant: they were a people in sin. (Surah 10:75 Yusuf Ali)
"Go thou to Pharaoh, for he has indeed transgressed all bounds." (Surah 20:24 Yusuf Ali)
To Pharaoh and his Chiefs: But these behaved insolently: they were an arrogant people. (Surah 23:46 Yusuf Ali)
And he and his hosts were haughty in the land without right, and deemed that they would never be brought back to Us. (Surah 28:39 Pickthall)
(Remember also) Qarun, Pharaoh, and Haman: there came to them Moses with Clear Signs, but they behaved with insolence on the earth; yet they could not overreach (Us). (Surah 29:39 Yusuf Ali)
Inflicted by Pharaoh, for he was arrogant (even) among inordinate transgressors. (Surah 44:31 Yusuf Ali)
(Saying:) Go thou unto Pharaoh - Lo! he hath rebelled – (Surah 79:17 Pickthall)
Moreover, it is written in the ordered narrative about Moses in Surah 28 that Pharaoh exalted himself in the land, which gives the impression that Pharaoh gained his dominion later through some efforts instead of coming to power in Egypt because he was a member of the Egyptian dynasty:
Lo! Pharaoh exalted himself in the earth and made its people castes. A tribe among them he oppressed, killing their sons and sparing their women. Lo! he was of those who work corruption. (Surah 28:4 Pickthall)
The Bible, on the other hand, teaches that the Pharaoh of Moses’ time was a new king that arose over Egypt and knew nothing about Joseph:
Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power over Egypt. (Exodus 1:8 NET Bible)
The author of the Qur’an thus did not affiliate the Pharaoh of Moses’ time with the former Pharaohs/rulers of Egypt. Again, the writer of the Qur’an claimed that Pharaoh proclaimed himself to be the highest God:
But he denied and disobeyed, Then turned he away in haste, Then gathered he and summoned And proclaimed: "I (Pharaoh) am your Lord the Highest." (Surah 79:21-24 Pickthall)
Pharaoh was also reported in the Qur’an to have considered himself the only deity of his folk:
(Pharaoh) said: Lo! your messenger who hath been sent unto you is indeed a madman! He said: Lord of the East and the West and all that is between them, if ye did but understand. (Pharaoh) said: If thou choosest a god other than me, I assuredly shall place thee among the prisoners. (Surah 26:27-29 Pickthall)
And Pharaoh said: O chiefs! I know not that ye have a god other than me, so kindle for me (a fire), O Haman, to bake the mud; and set up for me a lofty tower in order that I may survey the God of Moses; and lo! I deem him of the liars. (Surah 28:38 Pickthall)
Nonetheless, the following verse teaches that Pharaoh worshipped gods and thus contradicts the verses quoted above:
Said the chiefs of Pharaoh's people: "Wilt thou leave Moses and his people, to spread mischief in the land, and to abandon thee and thy gods?" He said: "Their male children will we slay; (only) their females will we save alive; and we have over them (power) irresistible." (Surah 7:127 Yusuf Ali)
The reason underlying the flawed assertion that Pharaoh believed to be the only deity (*) and the discrepancy between Surah 28:38 and Surah 7:127 was most probably Nimrod’s replacement with Pharaoh in the Qur’an and the subsequent ascription of some teachings concerning Nimrod in non-Biblical Jewish stories to Pharaoh in the Islamic scripture. It is written in the Legends of the Jews that Nimrod originally worshipped idols, but then considered himself a deity, asking people to worship him:
The first among the leaders of the corrupt men was Nimrod. … The source of his unconquerable strength was not known to them. They attributed it to his personal prowess, and therefore they appointed him king over themselves. His impiousness kept pace with his growing power. Since the flood there had been no such sinner as Nimrod. He fashioned idols of wood and stone, and paid worship to them. The great success that attended all of Nimrod's undertakings produced a sinister effect. Men no longer trusted in God, but rather in their own prowess and ability, an attitude to which Nimrod tried to convert the whole world. Therefore people said, "Since the creation of the world there has been none like Nimrod, a mighty hunter of men and beasts, and a sinner before God." And not all this sufficed unto Nimrod's evil desire. Not enough that he turned men away from God, he did all he could to make them pay Divine honors unto himself. He set himself up as a god, and made a seat for himself in imitation of the seat of God. (Legends of the Jews, Volume I, chapter IV)
Besides, a description of the particular seat made by Nimrod in imitation of the divine throne is given in the same legend:
It was a tower built out of a round rock, and on it he placed a throne of cedar wood, upon which arose, one above the other, four thrones, of iron, copper, silver, and gold. Crowning all, upon the golden throne, lay a precious stone, round in shape and gigantic in size. This served him as a seat, and as he sate upon it, all nations came and paid him Divine homage.
Is it not interesting that this account depicts Nimrod’s seat as a tower? A more significant point is that the mentioned four thrones forming Nimrod’s seat remind us of the four pillars or stakes mentioned in association with Pharaoh’s insolence in the traditional Islamic commentaries on Surah 89:10. If the word awtadi in this verse pertains to the particular structure or building constructed by Pharaoh, it is likely that the writer of the Qur’an had a vague remembrance of Nimrod’s seat in mind while designating Pharaoh as the possessor/lord of stakes.
Undoubtedly, Nimrod’s arrogance and impiousness reached the zenith when he decided to construct the city of Shinar and the Tower of Babel:
The iniquity and godlessness of Nimrod reached their climax in the building of the Tower of Babel. His counsellors had proposed the plan of erecting such a tower, Nimrod had agreed to it, and it was executed in Shinar by a mob of six hundred thousand men. The enterprise was neither more nor less than rebellion against God, and there were three sorts of rebels among the builders. The first party spoke, Let us ascend into the heavens and wage warfare with Him; the second party spoke, Let us ascend into the heavens, set up our idols, and pay worship unto them there; and the third party spoke, Let us ascend into the heavens, and ruin them with our bows and spears. (Source)
In the light of these accounts in the Legends of the Jews it is easy to understand why in the Qur’an the construction of a lofty tower with the aim of reaching the skies and confronting God is attributed to Pharaoh, who supposedly claimed to be the only deity. As a result, it was by no means a coincidence that Pharaoh’s call to Haman for the construction of a lofty tower in Surah 28:38 was thematically bound to his claims to divinity as it was made manifest in his challenging statement:
And Pharaoh said: O chiefs! I know not that ye have a god other than me, so kindle for me (a fire), O Haman, to bake the mud; and set up for me a lofty tower in order that I may survey the God of Moses; and lo! I deem him of the liars. (Surah 28:38 Pickthall)
Obviously, Nimrod’s assimilation to and replacement with Pharaoh in the Islamic scripture were also based on a few parallelisms between the account of the Tower of Babel and the narrative of Pharaoh’s opposition to God’s plan in the Torah. In other words, Nimrod was particularly replaced with Pharaoh in Surah 28:38 and the narrative of the Tower of Babel was transferred particularly to the period of Moses’ prophetic ministry because the Biblical account of Moses’ first address to Pharaoh concerning God’s plan for the Israelites in Egypt was misunderstood and/or misinterpreted. A closer comparison of the Biblical narrative about Moses’ speech and Pharaoh’s opposition to him with its Quranic version astonishingly reveals that the author of the Qur’an assimilated the teachings in the Book of Exodus to the account of the Tower of Babel.
Comparing the Book of Exodus with Surah 28
As we have already seen above, some non-canonical Jewish writings depicted Nimrod as a mighty and rebellious ruler that decided to erect a lofty tower. This project represented oppression and cruelty since it imposed hard labor on humans to the extent that building materials were considered more important and valuable than human life:
Many, many years were passed in building the tower. It reached so great a height that it took a year to mount to the top. A brick was, therefore, more precious in the sight of the builders than a human being. If a man fell down, and met his death, none took notice of it, but if a brick dropped, they wept, because it would take a year to replace it. So intent were they upon accomplishing their purpose that they would not permit a woman to interrupt herself in her work of brick-making when the hour of travail came upon her. Moulding bricks she gave birth to her child, and, tying it round her body in a sheet, she went on moulding bricks. (Legends of the Jews, Volume I, chapter IV)
And God watched their evil enterprise, and knew their thoughts, yet they builded on. If one of the stones which they had raised to its height fell, they were sad at heart, and even wept; yet when any of their brethren fell from the building and were killed, none took account of the life thus lost. (The Talmud: Selections. Part First: Biblical History, Chapter I)
A rebellious mighty ruler, his commandment for the construction of buildings, the notion of hard labor and its equation with oppression and cruelty are also found in the Book of Exodus. Pharaoh was a mighty king who ruled over Egypt and became rebellious and arrogant by opposing God’s plan about Israel’s release and telling Moses that he did not care about the God of Israel:
Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Release my people so that they may hold a pilgrim feast to me in the desert.’” But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord that I should obey him by releasing Israel? I do not know the Lord, and I will not release Israel!” And they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Let us go a three-day journey into the desert so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, so that he does not strike us with plague or the sword.” (Exodus 5:1-3 NET Bible)
Pharaoh’s opposition arose from his worries that Egypt would lose its slaves:
The king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you cause the people to refrain from their work? Return to your labor!” Pharaoh was thinking, “The people of the land are now many, and you are giving them rest from their labor.” (Exodus 5:4-5 NET Bible)
The Israelites living in Egypt at around the time of Moses’ birth had already started to suffer from hard labor and slavery when they were worked in the construction of some buildings upon the King’s order:
Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power over Egypt. He said to his people, “Look at the Israelite people, more numerous and stronger than we are! Come, let’s deal wisely with them. Otherwise they will continue to multiply, and if a war breaks out, they will ally themselves with our enemies and fight against us and leave the country.” So they put foremen over the Israelites to oppress them with hard labor. As a result they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more they multiplied and spread. As a result the Egyptians loathed the Israelites, and they made the Israelites serve rigorously. They made their lives bitter by hard service with mortar and brick and by all kinds of service in the fields. (Exodus 1:8-14 NET Bible)
When Moses went to Pharaoh after his return from Midian and delivered to him God’s message concerning the Israelites, Pharaoh in his fury decided to persecute Moses’ people all the more through hard labor, making life more difficult for them. Thus, the second and more violent wave of oppression surging through the Israelites in the era of the new king at the time of Moses’ prophetic ministry was again related to hard labor in connection with Pharaoh’s construction projects:
The king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you cause the people to refrain from their work? Return to your labor!” Pharaoh was thinking, “The people of the land are now many, and you are giving them rest from their labor.” That same day Pharaoh commanded the slave masters and foremen who were over the people: “You must no longer give straw to the people for making bricks as before. Let them go and collect straw for themselves. But you must require of them the same quota of bricks that they were making before. Do not reduce it, for they are slackers. That is why they are crying, ‘Let us go sacrifice to our God.’ Make the work harder for the men so they will keep at it and pay no attention to lying words!” (Exodus 5:4-9 NET Bible)
The person who devised Surah 28 reiterated the Biblical teaching that Pharaoh started to oppress the Israelites just before Moses’ birth, but did not state that this persecution came in the form of hard labor and in association with Pharaoh’s building projects. What was stressed as the sign of oppression was the manslaughter conducted on male Israelites:
Lo! Pharaoh exalted himself in the earth and made its people castes. A tribe among them he oppressed, killing their sons and sparing their women. Lo! he was of those who work corruption. (Surah 28:4 Pickthall)
More significantly, the writer of Surah 28 did not even imply that Pharaoh’s opposition to Moses’ message stemmed from his fears concerning the loss of labor force in Egypt. In sharp contrast to the narrative in Exodus 5, the remedy and precaution found by Pharaoh for the intimidation and oppression of the Israelites were not linked to hard labor in Surah 28. The only response given by Pharaoh to Moses’ message was theological in content and embodied in the construction of a lofty tower so that Moses’ God can be defied:
Moses said: "My Lord knows best who it is that comes with guidance from Him and whose end will be best in the Hereafter: certain it is that the wrong-doers will not prosper." Pharaoh said: "O Chiefs! no god do I know for you but myself: therefore, O Haman! light me a (kiln to bake bricks) out of clay, and build me a lofty palace, that I may mount up to the god of Moses: but as far as I am concerned, I think (Moses) is a liar!" (Surah 28:37-38 Yusuf Ali)
It is worthy of note that in Surah 28 the reason for the construction of a lofty tower was bound by Pharaoh to the claim that Moses was a liar. This accusation is definitely a distorted form of Pharaoh’s statement in the following Biblical verse:
Make the work harder for the men so they will keep at it and pay no attention to lying words!” (Exodus 5:9 NET Bible)
NET Bible has the following comment on this verse:
The words of Moses are here called “lying words” (דִבְרֵי־שָׁקֶר, divre-shaqer). Here is the main reason, then, for Pharaoh’s new policy. He wanted to discredit Moses. So the words that Moses spoke Pharaoh calls false and lying words. (Footnote 28)
Having assimilated Nimrod to Pharaoh, the writer of Surah 28 felt compelled to modify and reshape the content of Pharaoh’s opposition and his policy in accordance with the account of the Tower of Babel. Consequently, what we read in Surah 28 is a hybrid text born from the combination of the story of the Tower of Babel and Pharaoh’s opposition to Moses in Exodus.
The faulty assertion in Surah 28 that Pharaoh wanted to defy God by constructing a lofty building is repeated in Surah 40:
And Pharaoh said: O Haman! Build for me a tower that haply I may reach the roads, the roads of the heavens, and may look upon the God of Moses, though verily I think him a liar. Thus was the evil that he did made fairseeming unto Pharaoh, and he was debarred from the (right) way. The plot of Pharaoh ended but in ruin. (Surah 40:36-37 Pickthall)
However, this particular narrative has the additional and stunning information that Pharaoh attempted to slay the male Israelites before informing Haman of his wish to defy Moses’ God through the construction of a building:
And when he brought them the Truth from Our presence, they said: Slay the sons of those who believe with him, and spare their women. But the plot of disbelievers is in naught but error. (Surah 40:25 Pickthall)
The problematic and non-biblical teaching that talked of a second manslaughter at the time of Moses’ prophetic ministry in his old age (*) is probably a perverted version of the Biblical teaching that both the Israelites living before Moses’ birth and in the period of his ministry suffered from hard labor and slavery. Since the writer of the Qur’an did not talk of hard labor as a means of oppression and focused in Surah 28:4 on the slaying of the male Israelites, he concluded that Pharaoh’s new form of persecution was a continuity of his former genocide. We do not know for sure if the writer of the Qur’an interpreted the following verse in the Bible literally and therefore presumed that Pharaoh attempted to slay the Israelites a second time:
The Israelite foremen saw that they were in trouble when they were told, “You must not reduce the daily quota of your bricks.” When they went out from Pharaoh, they encountered Moses and Aaron standing there to meet them, and they said to them, “May the Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the opinion of Pharaoh and his servants, so that you have given them an excuse to kill us!” (Exodus 5:19-21 NET Bible)
Pharaoh’s call to Haman in Surah 28 and Surah 40
The discovery of the latent connection between the account of the Tower of Babel and that of Pharaoh’s opposition to Moses in the Book of Exodus also enables us to understand why and how Haman was linked to the construction of the Tower of Babel. In the first place, the writer of the Qur’an regarded Haman as Pharaoh’s vizier and right arm in administration, consistently presenting these two as a pair (see Part 1 B). The adoption of the Biblical account in Exodus 5 and its adaption to the story of the Tower of Babel through Nimrod’s replacement with Pharaoh in the Qur’an did not change, but strengthened the idea of Haman’s appearance as Pharaoh’s viceroy. According to the Biblical narrative, Pharaoh gave a command to his officials after Moses’ speech to him:
That same day Pharaoh commanded the slave masters and foremen who were over the people: “You must no longer give straw to the people for making bricks as before. Let them go and collect straw for themselves.” (Exodus 5:6-7 NET Bible)
Evidently, the slave masters in this verse were replaced with Haman in the Quranic narrative and Pharaoh’s commandment concerning the bricks used in construction was turned into his commandment concerning the bricks used in the construction of a lofty tower. This replacement was quite natural also because Haman had already been identified as Pharaoh’s vizier in Surah 28:6 and 8.
Besides, the Jewish tradition about Haman contains a superficial and trivial parallelism between the destruction of Haman’s sons and the punishment of the people building the Tower of Babel. It is written in the Talmud that the constructors of Shinar with its tower were three parties and punished differently:
According to their deserts did God punish the three rebellious parties. Those who had said, "We will place our gods in the heavens," were changed in appearance, and became like apes; those who had said, "We will smite Him with arrows," killed one another through misunderstandings; and those who had said, "Let us try our strength with His," were scattered over the face of the earth. (The Talmud: Selections. Part First: Biblical History, Chapter I)
Similarly, in the Legends of the Jews it is argued that Haman’s thirty sons were divided into three groups and castigated differently:
Haman and his ten sons remained suspended a long time, to the vexation of those who considered it a violation of the Biblical prohibition in Deuteronomy, not to leave a human body hanging upon a tree overnight. … Beside these ten sons, who had been governors in various provinces, Haman had twenty others, ten of whom died, and the other ten of whom were reduced to beggary. (The Legends of the Jews, chapter XII, Esther)
The Aftermath of the Tower of Babel
A comparative reading of the Biblical and non-biblical accounts of the Tower of Babel shows that the embellished and developed stories in the traditional writings contain a major difference in regard to the aftermath of the construction. The Bible only says that the language of men was confused and they consequently settled in the different parts of the world with nothing implicit or explicit about the destruction of the Tower or some of its builders:
So the Lord scattered them from there across the face of the entire earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why its name was called Babel – because there the Lord confused the language of the entire world, and from there the Lord scattered them across the face of the entire earth. (Genesis 11:8-9 NET Bible)
On the other hand, the Talmud says not only that the people were punished in three different ways, but also that God’s wrath targeted the Tower too:
According to their deserts did God punish the three rebellious parties. Those who had said, "We will place our gods in the heavens," were changed in appearance, and became like apes; those who had said, "We will smite Him with arrows," killed one another through misunderstandings; and those who had said, "Let us try our strength with His," were scattered over the face of the earth. The tower was exceedingly tall. The third part of it sunk down into the ground, a second third was burned down, but the remaining third was standing until the time of the destruction of Babylon. (The Talmud: Selections. Part First: Biblical History, Chapter I)
The writer of the Qur’an made no explicit statement about the fate of the lofty building constructed by Pharaoh, but only taught that Pharaoh’s plots did not succeed:
And Pharaoh said: O Haman! Build for me a tower that haply I may reach the roads, the roads of the heavens, and may look upon the God of Moses, though verily I think him a liar. Thus was the evil that he did made fairseeming unto Pharaoh, and he was debarred from the (right) way. The plot of Pharaoh ended but in ruin. (Surah 40:36-37 Pickthall)
Strikingly, Islamic tradition concerning the fate of this edifice shows variations most likely due to the influence of the Jewish source that was used in the process of plagiarism. Some commentators followed the Biblical account of the Tower of Babel and claimed that Pharaoh could never finish the project of construction because of procrastination:
(The roads of the heavens) the gates of heaven, (and may look upon) and may see (the God of Moses) whom he claims is in heaven and has sent him to me, (though verily I think him a liar) there is no God in heaven. But he got too busy with Moses and the tower was not built. (Thus was the evil that he did made fair-seeming unto Pharaoh, and he was debarred from the (right) way) and he was prevented from the Truth and guidance. (The plot of Pharaoh ended but in ruin) in disarray. (Tafsir Ibn Abbas)
Some commentators, however, preferred adopting the information given in the Talmud about the fate of the Tower and adapting it to Pharaoh. For instance, Wherry reported the following story in his commentary on the 38th verse of Surah 28:
O Haman....build me a high tower. "It is said that Haman, having prepared bricks and other materials, employed no less than 50,000 men, besides labourers, in the building; which they carried to so immense a height that the workmen could no longer stand on it: that Pharaoh, ascending this tower, threw a javelin towards heaven, which fell back again stained with blood, whereupon he impiously boasted that he had killed the God of Moses; but at sunset God sent the Angel Gabriel, who, with one stroke of his wing, demolished the tower, a part whereof falling on the king's army, destroyed a million of men." – Sale, Zamakhshari. (Source)
Remarkably, the fact that Zamakhshari followed the Talmudic version of the story is evident in Pharaoh’s depiction in identical terms as the third party of rebels in the original story, who threw a weapon to heaven in order to kill God:
And the third party said: "Yea, we will smite Him with arrow and with spear." (The Talmud: Selections. Part First: Biblical History, Chapter I)
Likewise, the origin of the claim found in the traditional story related by Zamakhshari that Pharaoh threw a javelin to heaven and thought he managed to slay God upon seeing it stained with blood is the account found in the Legends of the Jews with regard to the rebellion and insolence of the third party of the constructors:
They never slackened in their work, and from their dizzy height they constantly shot arrows toward heaven, which, returning, were seen to be covered with blood. They were thus fortified in their delusion, and they cried, "We have slain all who are in heaven." (Legends of the Jews, Volume I, chapter IV)
In short, even the traditional Islamic commentaries attest to the connection established by the writer of the Qur’an between the story of the Tower of Babel and that of Pharaoh’s opposition to Moses and rebellion to God.
CONCLUSION
This comprehensive study strongly displays that the root of Esther and Mordecai’s exclusion from the Islamic scripture, Haman’s identification as Pharaoh’s viceroy in Moses’ time and Pharaoh’s faulty association with the construction of a lofty building that reminds us of the Tower of Babel in Surah 28:38 was the Quranic author’s peculiar writing style based on the principle of assimilation. As if being addicted to assimilations and replacements, he deleted some figures and incidents from his mental history and produced weird combinations by working different narratives that had analogous motifs and elements into one single narrative. The disastrous fruit of this habit was the creation of a book having many accounts that overtly contradicted the teachings of the Bible and propagated historical blunders/anomalies due to temporal misplacements.
The story about Pharaoh and Moses in the Qur’an is an excellent and outstanding example illustrating how the writer of the Islamic scripture wrought bizarre historical compressions with the help of the material he copied from both Biblical and non-biblical teachings and his hasty conclusions that later became detrimental to his fundamental claim regarding the celestial origin of his book. Thus, what we read and are invited by Muslims to consider the only genuine revelation of God is actually a poor and falsified version of the Bible.