Introduction to the Study of The Holy Quran — Page 32
32 thought that those who came later would not be able to detect these interpolations defeats comprehension. It remains true, however, that after such serious interferences the Torah could not retain the status of a revealed book. It needed another book to bring out its absurdities and reassure the world that Aaron was not an ungodly or a superstitious person. That book is the Quran. It exonerated Aaron of the charge of ungodliness. Instead of being ungodly himself, he restrained his people from this foul tendency. We read in the Quran: And Aaron had said to them before: O my people, you have only been tried by means of it (the calf ), and surely the Gracious God is your Lord; so follow me and obey my command. 48 From this it is evident that even before Moses returned from Mount Sinai, Aaron had warned the Israelites that the calf of gold had been set up to mislead them, that the Lord was the God Who had provided them with all the goods of life even before they were born. He had told them that the calf had been made before their very eyes. It was up to them, therefore, to follow Aaron, to obey him and to shun all forms of ungodliness. It is up to all reasonable persons to consider whether the book revealed to Moses should continue to command our faith, when it begins to contradict established truths and to inculcate irrational beliefs. Should we not look for a book which should tell us the truth about events of the time of Moses, even though it should come two thousand years after him. (3) In Genesis 19:26 we read: But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. This seems like magic. Such an account is worthy of stories told to children about ghosts and fairies. They have no place in a Book of God. The account which the Quran has given of this incident steers clear of all superstition. It says: She (Lot’s wife) was of those who stayed behind. 49 She was not converted into a pillar of salt or any such thing. Only she refused to go with Lot and sacrificed love of God to love of relations. In the Quran are narrated events belonging to the time of Moses. The present Torah narrates them in a wrong manner but the Quran, coming two thousand years later, is able to correct these narratives. The errors which the Quran points out are readily acknowledged by reason. Prophets Defamed by the Bible There have also crept into the Bible statements which are immoral in their import. It seems impossible to attribute actions reported in them either to God or to His Prophets, (1) In Genesis 9:20-22 we read: