JUDAISM — THE TAURAH — TALMUD The Îsâwî (Nazarene) religion is a continuation of the Sharî’at of Mûsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’. It will therefore be useful to give some information about Jews and their Holy Book. First, we shall present a brief history of Judaism: Ibrâhîm ‘alaihis-salâm’ is one of those Prophets who are called Ulul-azm. He was neither a Jew, nor a Christian. He was a true Muslim. Ibrâhîm ‘alaihis-salâm’ is the forefather of the Israelites, that is, Jews, and of the Arabs. He is at the same time one of the grandfathers of Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’. The capital of Chaldea was Babylon. Their kings were called Nemrûd (Nimrod). At that time Chaldeans worshipped the moon, the sun and stars. They had made various idols to represent these celestial beings. Nimrods, too, were among these idols. Allâhu ta’âlâ sent forth Ibrâhîm ‘alaihis-salâm’ as a Prophet to them. Yet they would not have îmân. They wanted to burn that blessed Prophet in a fire, but Allâhu ta’âlâ made the fire salvation for him. This fire, which they made after piling up wood for many days, became a verdure for him. Although they saw this miracle, most of them would still not have îmân. Ibrâhîm ‘alaihis-salâm’ went to Egypt. Then, commanded by Allâhu ta’âlâ, he returned to Palestine. After Ibrâhîm’s ‘alaihis-salâm’ death, his son, Is-haq (Isaac) ‘alaihis-salâm’, became the Prophet, and after Is-haq ‘alaihis-salâm’ prophethood was granted to his son, Ya’qûb (Jacob) ‘alaihis-salâm’. Another name of Ya’qûb ‘alaihis-salâm’ was Isrâîl (Israel). Therefore, people descending from the twelve sons of Ya’qûb ‘alaihis-salâm’ are called (Benî Isrâîl), which means ‘the sons of Isrâîl’, (or Iraelites). Yûsuf (Joseph) ‘alaihissalâm’, one of Ya’qûb’s ‘alaihis-salâm’ sons, was envied by his brothers. They threw him into a well and lied to Ya’qûb ‘alaihissalâm’, saying that he was dead. Then he was saved by some travellers going by the well. They took him out of the well, took him along to Egypt, and sold him as a slave there. His purchaser was Azîz (Potiphar), Egypt’s Minister of the Exchequer. He took Yûsuf ‘alaihis-salâm’ to his home. His wife, Zelîha, fell in love – with him. But when Yûsuf ‘alaihis-salâm’ refused her, she slandered him. Upon this slander, Yûsuf ‘alaihis-salâm’ was imprisoned in a dungeon. Later, when he interpreted a dream of Pharaoh, the Egyptian Ruler, he was taken out of the dungeon and was made Egypt’s Minister of the Exchequer by the Pharaoh. Yûsuf ‘alaihis-salâm’ brought his father Ya’qûb ‘alaihis-salâm’ and his brothers to Egypt from Canaan, that is, from (today’s) Palestine. The Pharaoh treated Ya’qûb ‘alaihis-salâm’ and his children with respect and deep interest. Thus the Israelites settled in Egypt, where they led a comfortable life for a while. Later, however, they were subjected to countless torments and persecutions and were reduced to slavery. Who saved them from these troubles and took them to the (Ard-i-Maw’ûd), that is, to the Promised Land [Palestine], was Mûsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’. Mûsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ was raised in Pharaoh’s palace and by Pharaoh himself. When he reached forty years of age, he left the palace and began to live with his kin, especially with his elder brother Hârûn (Aaron). One day he saw an Egyptian unbeliever [a gypsy] bullying an Israelite. As he tried to rescue him, the gypsy died. Being frightened, Mûsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ fled to the Median city (Midian) in the vicinity of Tebuk.[1] There, he married the daughter of Shu’ayb (Jethro) ‘alaihis-salâm’, and served him ten years. Then he left for Egypt. On the way, on Mount Tûr (Sinai), he spoke with Allâhu ta’âlâ. When he arrived in Egypt, he invited the Pharaoh to the religion of Allâhu ta’âlâ. He asked him to grant freedom to the Israelites. The Pharaoh refused it and said, “Moses is a powerful magician. He wants to cheat us out of our country.” He asked his viziers what they thought. They advised him to convene the magicians to outvie him. The magicians came and, as the Egyptians watched, they dropped the ropes they were holding in their hands on to the ground. Each of the ropes changed into a snake and began to crawl towards Mûsâ ‘alaihissalâm’. Upon this, Mûsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ left his rod to the ground. It became a gigantic serpent and swallowed (all) the snakes. Bewildered, the magicians became Believers. The Pharaoh became angry and said, “So he was your master. I shall have your hands and feet cut off and hang you all on date branches.” They said, “We believe Mûsâ. We trust ourselves to his Rabb (Allah). Him, alone, do we beg for forgiveness and mercy.” The water – [1] An Arabian town, about half way between Medina and Damascus. which the unbelievers had been using became blood. It rained frogs. Cutaneous diseases broke out and spread. Darkness fell and the whole country remained in darkness for three days. Awed by these miracles, the Pharaoh permitted the Israelites to leave Egypt. However, as Mûsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ and the Israelites were on their way to Jerusalem, the Pharaoh repented having let them go and, rallying his army, fell to follow them. The Suez Isthmus opened and the Believers walked to the other side. As the Pharaoh, too, was passing to the other side, the sea closed in, drowning him and his army. The Israelites saw people worshipping an ox on their way, and said to Mûsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’, “We wish to have a god like this.” Mûsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ answered them. “There is no god other than Allâhu ta’âlâ. Allâhu ta’âlâ saved you.” Then they wandered into a wilderness called Tîh, where they lost their way and suffered dire deprivation of food and drink. (Menn) and (Selva), that is, manna and meat, rained down from heaven. They ate these. When he tapped the ground with his rod, water came out. And they drank this water. They hurt Mûsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ by saying. “We are tired of manna and meat. We wish other things such as broad-beans and onions.” For this reason they remained in the wilderness for forty years. Mûsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’, leaving Hârûn ‘alaihis-salâm’ for his place, went to Mount Tûr (Sinai), where he prayed for forty days. He heard the Word of Allâhu ta’âlâ. Allâhu ta’âlâ sent down the Holy Book (Taurah) and the Ten Commandments inscribed on two tablets. A munafîq (hypocrite) named Sâmirî collected gold wares and ornaments from the people, melted them, and made a gold calf. He said, “This is Moses’ god. Worship this.” So they began to worship it. They would not listen to Hârûn’s ‘alaihis-salâm’ remonstrations. When Mûsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ came back and saw their practices, he was very angry. He cursed Sâmirî. He held his elder brother’s beard and reproached him. They repented and begged him for forgiveness. Mûsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ preached them the Taurah and the Ten Commandments. They began to perform their worships as prescibed in the Taurah. Afterwards, they deviated from the right course again and finally parted into seventy-one sects. Mûsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ and his ummat went to the region south of the Dead Sea. He made war against a king named Ûj bin Ûnq (King of Bashan). He captured the land east of the Sharî’a River. He climbed the mountain opposite Erîha City. He saw the land of Canaan from the distance. Then, leaving his place to Yûshâ (Joshua) ‘alaihis-salâm’, he passed away there, according to a narrative, 1605 years before the birth of Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’, when he was one hundred and twenty (120) years old. Yûshâ ‘alaihissalâm’ captured Erîha City, and then Jerusalem, from the Amalekites, who were heathens. Some time later, Dâwûd (David) ‘alaihis-salâm’ became the king. He recaptured Jerusalem. Thus the most prosperous period in the Jewish history commenced. Afterwards, Suleymân (Solomon) ‘alaihis-salâm’, (who succeeded Dâwûd ‘alaihissalâm’), had the renowned temple, that is, the Mesjîd-i Aqsâ (Al- Aqsâ) built on the site which had been reserved and prepared by his father. Suleymân ‘alaihis-salâm’ had the (Tâbût-i-sekîna), that is, the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the Taurah and the other keepsakes such as the Ten Commandments and the tablets whereon the Ten Commandments (Decalogue) were written, placed in a room of the temple. The Jewish nation, who were composed of twelve tribes, parted into two disparate kingdoms after Suleymân’s ‘alaihis-salâm’ death. Ten tribes made up the Israelite Kingdom, (established by Jeroboam), and the remaining two tribes, (namely Judah and Benjamen), formed the Judah Kingdom. Later, indulging in their passions for excess, they swerved from the right way, plunged into depravities, and eventually incurred the Divine Wrath. The Israelite Kingdom was demolished by the Assyrians in 721 B.C., and later the Judah Kingdom was abolished by the Babylonians, in 586 B.C. The Assyrians invaded Babylonia. In 587, the Assyrian King Buht-un-nasar (Nebuchadnezzar) burned and devastated Jerusalem. He killed most of the Jews and exiled the rest to Babylon. During these tumults the heavenly Book, Taurah, was burned. This original Taurah was a huge Book. In other words, it was composed of forty parts. Each part was made up of a thousand sûras (chapters), and each sûra contained a thousand âyats (verses). No one but Uzeyr (Ezra or Esdras) ‘alaihis-salâm’ had memorized this colossal Book. He taught the Taurah to the Jews again. In the course of time, however, it was mostly forgotten, and largely interpolated. Various people wrote whatever they remembered of its verses, and thus a variety of books appeared in the name of Taurah. A rabbi named Azrâ (Ezra) who lived some four hundred years before the birth of Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’, compiled them and wrote today’s Taurah, which is called the Old Testament. When the Iranian king Shîreveyh routed the Assyrians, he permitted the Jews to go back to Jerusalem. After 520 B.C. the – Jews restored the Mesjîd-i-Aqsâ. For some time they lived under Persian domination, then the Macedonians took them under their sway. In 63 B.C. Jerusalem was captured by the Roman General Pompey.[1] He burned and destroyed the Mesjîd-i-Aqsâ. Thus the Jews went under the Romans’ dominance. In 20 B.C. Herod, the Romans’ Jewish governor in Palestine, had the temple rebuilt. Later the Jews revolted against the Roman domination. Yet, in A.D. 70, the Roman general Titus[2] thoroughly burned and destroyed Jerusalem. He turned the city into a pile of ruins. Beyti- muqaddes was burned, too, and only its Western wall remained standing. This wall is now called (Wailing Wall). This wall has maintained the national and religious esprit de corps in the Jewish community alive for years. Belief in a promised Messiah is another contribution to the prolonged survival of this feeling. The wall was specially protected and the temple was restored by the Byzantines, and then by the Umayyads, and finally by the Ottomans. FOLLOW UP
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 19:59:07 +0000
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