Is the Documentary Hypothesis incompatible with Islam?
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Islam and the Documentary Hypothesis
- Thread starter Jayhawker Soule
- Start date
( I guess I'll take that as a 'yes'. )
In a way it is. In Islam, the Torah has been distorted by man and no longer in its pure form.
On the other hand this theory apparently is to make sense of perceived inconsistencies , while in Islam, naturally, considering them authentic would be incompatible. Making sense of parts that dont conflict with any Islamic teaching, would be compatible.
We dont reject everything in the Torah (despite believing that the laws have been abrogated) . If something in it doesnt contradict any Islamic text, we dont accept it as authentic, nor do we reject it. Examples would be on what the Torah says about names of certain characters for instance, or Adam and Eve etc.
If it helps at all, regarding the sayings of prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, a science of authentication was developed, known as Mustalah Al Hadeeth. In it, biographies, list of narrators, their numbers (sometimes a group would hear something and transmit it to another), in each part of the chain of narrators, must be taken into consideration. Even good/bad memory is considered.
If theres a missing person/s in the chain, its not considered authentic and not accepted. Levels of authenticity were also developed... so theres sound narrations, "good" narrations, weak narrations, very weak ones, and fabricated ones. Only the sound and good narrations are accepted.
As a whole, the Torah or the Gospel, do not meet the criteria of an acceptable (or even a weak) narration to begin with. So theres very strict rules on what to accept.
Also, the Torah in Islam, is a book from God sent down to Moses peace be upon him. It is one of the six articles of faith to believe so in Islam. So its not just narrations by different people over long periods of time. So therefore, it is incompatible in that sense, even if it would create a better understanding of various topics in the Torah available today.
Hope that helped.
On the other hand this theory apparently is to make sense of perceived inconsistencies , while in Islam, naturally, considering them authentic would be incompatible. Making sense of parts that dont conflict with any Islamic teaching, would be compatible.
We dont reject everything in the Torah (despite believing that the laws have been abrogated) . If something in it doesnt contradict any Islamic text, we dont accept it as authentic, nor do we reject it. Examples would be on what the Torah says about names of certain characters for instance, or Adam and Eve etc.
If it helps at all, regarding the sayings of prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, a science of authentication was developed, known as Mustalah Al Hadeeth. In it, biographies, list of narrators, their numbers (sometimes a group would hear something and transmit it to another), in each part of the chain of narrators, must be taken into consideration. Even good/bad memory is considered.
If theres a missing person/s in the chain, its not considered authentic and not accepted. Levels of authenticity were also developed... so theres sound narrations, "good" narrations, weak narrations, very weak ones, and fabricated ones. Only the sound and good narrations are accepted.
As a whole, the Torah or the Gospel, do not meet the criteria of an acceptable (or even a weak) narration to begin with. So theres very strict rules on what to accept.
Also, the Torah in Islam, is a book from God sent down to Moses peace be upon him. It is one of the six articles of faith to believe so in Islam. So its not just narrations by different people over long periods of time. So therefore, it is incompatible in that sense, even if it would create a better understanding of various topics in the Torah available today.
Hope that helped.
Thank you for the response.
You're most welcome.
Orthodox Jews view the Torah as having been (for the most part) revealed to Moses by HaShem. To the best of my knowledge normative Islam views the Torah having been revealed to Musa by Allah but subsequently distorted by man. The Documentary Hypothesis, on the other hand, asserts that the Torah is the product of different individuals reflecting, among other things, different cultures, lore, and agendas. I would therefore expect it to be incompatible with Islam because anything that challenges the status of Torah as divine revelation indirectly challenges the Qur'an as well.
jamaesi
To Save A Lamb
Thank you for explaining. I suppose on some level that it's incompatible, but not for me.