M S M Saifullah & 'Abd ar-Rahmaan Robert Squires inform us that:
"Be sure I will cut off your hands and your feet on apposite sides, and I will cause you all to die on the CROSS."[Qur'an 7:124]
(Pharaoh) said: Ye put your faith in him before I give you leave. Lo! he doubtless is your chief who taught you magic! But verily ye shall come to know. Verily I will cut off your hands and your feet alternately, and verily I will crucify you every one. [Qur'an 26:49]
(Pharaoh) said: "Believe ye in Him before I give you permission? Surely this must be your leader, who has taught you magic! be sure I will cut off your hands and feet on opposite sides, and I will have you crucified on trunks of PALM-TREES: so shall ye know for certain, which of us can give the more severe and the more lasting punishment!" [Qur'an 20:71]
These three passages from the Qur'an tell the story of Moses which occurred between 1450 - 1200 BC.. There is another mention of crucifixion in the Qur'an:.
"O my two companions of the prison! As to one of you, he will pour out the wine for his lord to drink: as for the other, he will hang from the CROSS, and the birds will eat from off his head. (so) hath been decreed that matter whereof ye twain do enquire"... [Sura 12:41]
This passage refers to the story of Joseph's which is dated around 1880 BC. The event described took place long before the time of Moses and the Jewish Exodus from Egypt. It is also interesting that Suras 7:124 and 12:41 refer to CROSSES while Sura 26:49 talks about palm-tree trunks. Which is it, a cross or a palm-tree trunk? After pondering this problem, I understand your confusion in the remainder of this section.
The Qur'an is in error based on the historical and archeological evidence.
We have no record that Egyptians used crucifixion as punishment. This only becomes a punishment much later in history and then in another culture. Such a threat is historically inaccurate.
They are correct. Archaeology and history show us NO EVIDENCE of the use of crucifixion in ancient Egypt. This is clearly another case of the Qur'an compressing historical events based on a misunderstanding of Biblical history.
Can anyone prove that something DID NOT occur? If you want to prove the positive, that crucifixion was practiced in ancient Egypt, all you need to do is find an inscription or papyri that describes it. This is clearly an attempt to dismiss a very serious problem in the Qur'an without proving the positive - that such events actually happened.
Crucifixion was in used among the Egyptians, Ge 40:19; the Carthaginians, the Persians, Es 7:10; the Assyrians, Scythains, Indians, Germans, and from the earliest times among the Greeks and Romans. Whether this mode of execution was known to the ancient Jews is a matter of dispute. Probably the Jews borrowed it from the Romans. It was unanimously considered the most horrible form of death.
This definition is misleading. Crucifixion was a method of execution. Prisoners were fastened to wooden crosses (not trees) where they slowly, and painfully, died of suffocation. Fastening someone to a cross was different that hanging them, or impaling them, on a tree.
"This is what it means," Joseph said. "The three baskets are three days. Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and hang you on a tree. And the birds will eat away your flesh." [Genesis 40:18-19]
Similar story is also mentioned in the Qur'an in the story of Joseph(P):
"O my two companions of the prison! As to one of you, he will pour out the wine for his lord to drink: as for the other, he will hang from the cross, and the birds will eat from off his head. (so) hath been decreed that matter whereof ye twain do enquire"... [12:41]
Once again, the Qur'an is in error!!
NO!! This was not crucifixion! If you read your Qur'an in context, the baker's head was chopped off and then his dead body was hung on the tree and eaten by the vultures. Crucifixion is a method of execution or "putting a living person on a cross in order to kill him", this man was already dead.
Displaying the body of someone who was executed was a common practice in the Old Testament and even in Medieval Europe. The purpose of this was to warn others not commit similar acts.
There are very few legal documents from ancient Egypt. We do know that there were two courts which tried capital cases: Thebes and Heliopolis. We also have one capital punishment case called the "haram conspiracy", where Ramses III was killed. In this case, which involved members of the royal family, those convicted were permitted to take their lives. The Edict of Horemheb gives the legal methods for execution. I am trying to locate a copy of this Edict and will update this page when I find it.
Many historians believe that Joseph lived around the time of the late Hyksos Kings. There is an inscription on the walls of the Temple of Karnak, dated after the fall of the Hyksos, which describes the success of Tehutimes III:
Yes and no. Crucifixion was very rare among the Jews. Once again, crucifixion is a method of execution. If a dead body is hung in a tree, this is a public display of an already dead person, not a crucifixion.
Deuteronomy 21:22-23
The Hebrew word for "hung" in both cases in this verse is "talah". The literal translation of "talah" is "to hang up for display". The man, in this case is put to death and THEN his body is displayed by being hung on a tree.
Joshua 8:29
Once again, the Hebrew word "talah" is used in this verse, implying that he was already dead and was hung up for display. Once again, this is not crucifixion!
Galatians 3:13
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." [Galatians 3:13]
The Greek word for "tree" in this verse is "xulon" which is more accurately translated as wooden beam or stock. In any event, in the context of Paul's message, it refers to the cross.
Act 10:39
We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, [Act 10:39]
Once again, the Greek word for "tree" in this verse is "xulon" which is more accurately translated as wooden beam or stock.
The problem for the Qur'an is that crucifixion did not exist in ancient Egypt and you are well aware that you have no evidence to support your arguments. You only have the a priori assumption that the Qur'an is true and you are seeking evidence to fit your conclusion!
My, my, when we cannot defeat the argument we insult the person making it! I pray that everyone who reads this response weighs the facts based on the evidence. Once again, the Qur'an makes a serious error, this time historical. In my mind, and heart, this is clear evidence that the Qur'an is the word of man and not the Word of an all-knowing God. God could not make such an error because, as you love to say, God knows best!
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