Does the “best of stories” in the Qur’an and the Torah match?

In the previous article ‘Was the Torah corrupted at Muhammad’s time?’ (also see ‘Does the Qur’an teach that the Torah was corrupted?’), we established that the Qur’an confirms that the prophet stories in the Torah—as recorded before and during Muhammad’s lifetime—are reliable. Since the Torah that we can read today is derived from manuscripts that were written before and during Muhammad’s time, we know: today’s Torah is the Torah that the Qur’an refers to. Therefore, we can now take a closer look at it.

In this article we will focus specifically on the story of Yusuf, which is called in the Qur’an the ‘best of stories’ and which appears in both the Quran and the Torah. In Surah Yusuf 12:3¹, Allah says to Muhammad:

نَحْنُ نَقُصُّ عَلَيْكَ أَحْسَنَ ٱلْقَصَصِ بِمَآ أَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَيْكَ هَـٰذَا ٱلْقُرْءَانَ وَإِن كُنتَ مِن قَبْلِهِۦ لَمِنَ ٱلْغَـٰفِلِينَ

We relate to you, [O Muhammad], the best of stories in what We have revealed to you of this Quran, although you were, before it, among the unaware.

– Surah Yusuf 12:3 –

The Jews have known the story of Yusuf for many centuries as it is a major part in their Torah. For Muhammad, however, things were different. As ayah 12:3 says, he was ‘among the unaware’. This does not necessarily mean that he did not know the story at all, since he might have had encounters with Christians and Jews who told him about it. It is more likely that he did not know the details of the story². How could he? He was an unlettered man who could not read the Torah.

However, Muslim scholars argue that, eventually, a miracle happened: He recited the story with nearly 100 ayat of details. Just a few ayahs after the story of Yusuf ends in the Qur’an, we read:

لَقَدْ كَانَ فِى قَصَصِهِمْ عِبْرَةٌۭ لِّأُو۟لِى ٱلْأَلْبَـٰبِ ۗ مَا كَانَ حَدِيثًۭا يُفْتَرَىٰ وَلَـٰكِن تَصْدِيقَ ٱلَّذِى بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ وَتَفْصِيلَ كُلِّ شَىْءٍۢ وَهُدًۭى وَرَحْمَةًۭ لِّقَوْمٍۢ يُؤْمِنُونَ

There was certainly in their stories [= the stories of the prophets] a lesson for those of understanding. Never was it [= the Quran] a narrated invention, but a confirmation of what was before it and a detailed explanation of all things and guidance and mercy for a people who believe.

– Surah Yusuf 12:111 –

The Qur’an claims to be a confirmation of the Scriptures that came before, including the Torah. Thereby, it is said to not only confirm general themes mentioned in the Torah. Rather, it is a ‘a detailed explanation of all things’, including the stories of the Torah. In other words, the Qur’an confirms the Torah by faithfully representing the details of its stories. This is seen as proof that Muhammad received divine revelation and thus was a true Messenger of Allah, since he could not have known the details of these stories as an unlettered man unable to read the Torah.³ So, when comparing the story of Yusuf in the Qur’an with the story in the Torah, we should expect that both stories perfectly match each other, even in the details (or at least not contradict each other).

In the following, we will look at two specific parts of this story and compare them with the account in the Torah, namely 1) Yusuf’s dream and the brother’s plot, and 2) Yaqub’s reaction to Yusuf’s alleged death.

1) Yusuf’s dream and the brother’s plot

The story of Yusuf in the Qur’an (Surah Yusuf 12:4-20) begins as follows: Young Yusuf tells his father Yaqub that he had a dream in which eleven stars, the sun and the moon prostrated to him (12:4). Yaqub advises him not to tell his brothers about this dream (12:5) and assures him that Allah will give him the divine gift of interpreting dreams (12:6). Then, Yusuf’s eleven brothers say to each other that Yusuf and his brother are more beloved to their father than them. Therefore, they plot to either kill Yusuf or cast him out to another land, hoping that then their father’s attention will be only for them (12:9). However, one of the brothers says, they should not kill Yusuf but rather throw him into the bottom of a well, so that some travelers will pick him up (12:10). Then, they turn to their father Yaqub, asking him to send Yusuf out with them, so that he may ‘eat and play’. They even assure him that they will watch over him (12:12)⁴. Yaqub, who does not trust the brothers (12:11), hesitates, fearing Yusuf could be eaten by a wolf (12:13). The brothers assure Yaqub that this will not happen (12:14). So, they go out with Yusuf and cast him into the bottom of a well (12:15). Then, they come back home to their father at night (12:16). After the brothers return home, some traders find Yusuf in the well as they send their water boy to draw water. They pull Yusuf out of the well and sell him for a few silver coins to the Egyptian man Al-Aziz (12:19-21).

Thus far is the beginning of the story according to the Qur’an. Now we will look at how the story unfolds in the Torah (see Genesis 37). It begins like this:

Yusuf is 17 years old (37:2). His eleven elder brothers hate him because their father loved Yusuf more than any of them, having even made a special multi-colored robe (37:3-4). Then one day, Yusuf has a dream in which he and his brothers were binding sheaves in the field. Yusuf’s sheaf arose and stood upright, while their sheaves gathered round it and bowed down to his sheaf. As a result, the brothers hate Yusuf even more (37:5-8). Then, Yusuf has another dream about the sun, the moon and eleven stars bowing down before him (37:9). This time, he does not only tell his dream to his brothers but also to his father, who rebukes him for that dream (37:10). Then one day, the brothers go out to a place called Shechem, which was around 80 km (~ 50 miles) away from Yaqub’s home, to pasture the flocks. After a while, Yaqub, getting worried about how they were doing so far away from home, sends Yusuf to find them and to bring back report about the brother’s wellbeing (37:12-14). Yusuf, first struggling to find them, eventually learns from a man in the area that they went even further than only Shechem, to a place called Dothan (37:15-17). As his brothers see him coming from afar, they decide to kill him (37:18-20). However, one of the brothers called Reuben, wants to safe Yusuf’s life and suggests to not kill him, but to only throw him into a pit with no water (37:21-22). So, as Yusuf comes closer, they take off his multi-colored robe and cast him into the pit (37:23-24). When they see a caravan of traders coming on their way to Egypt (37:25), they decide to pull Yusuf up again and to sell him for twenty pieces of silver to these traders who eventually bring him to Egypt. To trick their father, they slaughter a goat, dip Yusuf’s robe into the animal’s blood, travel back home and present the blood-stained robe to make him believe an animal had eaten him.

Thus far is the story as written in the Torah. Now we must ask, does it match the story in the Qur’an? Dear Reader, as you probably recognized there are differences between both accounts. However, that does not necessarily have to be a problem. For example, in the Qur’an, Yusuf tells his brothers only one dream (about the sun, the moon and the stars), while in the Torah it is two (about the sun, the moon and the stars and about the sheaves). However, only because the Qur’an does not mention the dream about the sheaves the Qur’an is not necessarily claiming, the dream never happened. Both stories are different at this point, but they are not contradictory. And that is fine.

However, harmonizing both accounts in other differences is more difficult. In the following we will list a few:

1. In the Qur’an, Yusuf is only a young boy. This is evident because his brothers say he may ‘play’ outside and that they will watch over him (12:12). Muslim scholars believe he was between seven and nine years old. However, the Torah clearly states that he was already 17 years old (37:2) – old enough to go out into the wilderness alone on a several-day trip to find his brothers.
2. In the Qur’an, Yusuf only tells his dream to his father in private who does not have any objections to his dream. In the Torah, Yusuf tells his first dream to his brothers and then tells his second dream about the sun, the moon and the eleven stars not only to his father but also to his brothers. His father Yaqub does not approve of him telling these dreams but rebukes him in the presence of his brothers.
3. The whole sequence and location of the events are different between both accounts. In the Qur’an, the brothers are at home (12:8-10), plotting to kill Yusuf and convincing their father to allow them to take him with them outside. Even though Yaqub did not trust them at first, he eventually gives permission. Then they go, cast him into a well and get home at night on the same day (12:16).

   In contrast, in the Torah, the brothers are not at home but around 100 km (~60 miles) away in Dothan, which was a several day trip, while Yusuf was at home (see Figure 1 below). They did not convince Yaqub to take Yusuf with them. Instead, Yaqub sends Yusuf on his own initiative to go out and find the brothers. The brothers then do not plot to kill Yusuf when they were at home, but when they were on the field, seeing Yusuf coming closer while they were pasturing their flock in Dothan. Then, they come home only several days after they cast him into the well.

2) The brothers telling Yaqub that Yusuf is dead

Ayahs 16-18 of the Qur’an say:

وَجَآءُوٓ أَبَاهُمْ عِشَآءًۭ يَبْكُونَ ١٦

قَالُوا۟ يَـٰٓأَبَانَآ إِنَّا ذَهَبْنَا نَسْتَبِقُ وَتَرَكْنَا يُوسُفَ عِندَ مَتَـٰعِنَا فَأَكَلَهُ ٱلذِّئْبُ ۖ وَمَآ أَنتَ بِمُؤْمِنٍۢ لَّنَا وَلَوْ كُنَّا صَـٰدِقِينَ ١٧

وَجَآءُو عَلَىٰ قَمِيصِهِۦ بِدَمٍۢ كَذِبٍۢ ۚ قَالَ بَلْ سَوَّلَتْ لَكُمْ أَنفُسُكُمْ أَمْرًۭا ۖ فَصَبْرٌۭ جَمِيلٌۭ ۖ وَٱللَّهُ ٱلْمُسْتَعَانُ عَلَىٰ مَا تَصِفُونَ ١٨

[16] And they came to their father at night, weeping.

[17] They cried, “Our father! We went racing and left Yusuf with our belongings, and a wolf devoured him! But you will not believe us, no matter how truthful we are.”

[18] And they brought upon his shirt false blood. [Yaqub] said, ‘Rather, your souls have enticed you to something, so patience is most fitting. And Allah is the one sought for help against that which you describe.

– Surah Yusuf 12:16-18 –

The corresponding passage in the Torah reads as follows:

[31] Then they took Yusuf’s robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood.

[32] And they sent the robe of many colors and brought it to their father and said, “This we have found; please identify whether it is your son’s robe or not.”

[33] And he identified it and said, “It is my son’s robe. A fierce animal has devoured him. Yusuf is without doubt torn to pieces.”

[34] Then Yaqub tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days.

[35] All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.

– Genesis 37:31-35 –

Again, we must ask, are there differences between both texts and if so, are they contradictory or harmonizable? One difference appears in Surah Yusuf 12:17. There, it is suggested that a ‘wolf’ ate Yusuf, while in the Torah it is suggested he was eaten by a ‘fierce animal’. However, since a wolf is a fierce animal, the Qur’an does not contradict the Torah in this case. This difference can be harmonized.

However, let’s consider the following points:

1. Even though the ‘wolf’ in the Qur’an can be harmonized with the ‘fierce animal’ in the Torah, in the Qur’an it is the brothers who say that Yusuf was killed by a wolf, while in the Torah the brothers only show Yaqub the blood-stained robe; it is then Yaqub who says he was eaten by an animal, not the brothers.
2. Does Yaqub think Yusuf is alive or dead in each account? In Surah Yusuf 12:18 Yaqub says to his sons: ‘Your souls have enticed you to something’, meaning he does not believe their story. However, in the Torah Yaqub says, Yusuf is ‘without doubt torn to pieces’ (37:33). He tears his garments, mourns for several days and even refuses to be comforted by all his children (37:34-35).

In summary, what shall we conclude from all we have discussed so far?

As mentioned in the beginning of our article, the Qur’an says it confirms the Torah even in its details (Surah Yusuf 12:111), to proof its own divine origin. However, we saw major contradictions between the story in both books. The story in the Qur’an and the story in the Torah have the same characters and vaguely similar themes, but they are in no way the same story and could not have been written by the same author. What’s more, the examples we looked at are not the only contradictions in the stories; at the end of the article, we listed forty in total – while even more could be mentioned (see Table 1).

Therefore, we ask, is it possible that these contradictions originated from Jewish scribes who tampered with the Torah and changed the story therein? In response to this question, let’s consider the following:

1. In a previous article we already saw that the Qur’an itself affirms the reliability of the Torah in the 7th century. Since we have manuscripts from the Torah that even date several centuries before Muhammad was born, we can be sure what the uncorrupted Torah looks like.
2. Nevertheless, even if we insisted that the Torah has been corrupted (which would go against the authority of the Qur’an though), we would have to ask, what kind of motive the Jews have had to change their Holy Book, the Torah, in details that have no significance at all. If they had changed things in the story that served a certain purpose (for example making a theological or ethical point), one could perhaps make a case why they did it. But why should they have changed minor details including:
   • Who Yusuf told his dreams to
   • What Yaqub’s response to Yusuf’s dream was
   • How long the distance traveled to and from home was
   • Who first said that Yusuf was devoured by a wolf
   • How old Yusuf was
   • What Yaqub’s reaction to the bloody shirt was

   To coordinate changes in hundreds of copies of one’s own Holy Book, which were distributed across three different continents and partly in the hands of hostile religious groups (see Does the Qur’an teach that the Torah was corrupted?), one needs a compelling purpose to do that. However, changing such small, insignificant details does not seem to be a good enough purpose.

However, one might say, what if the Jews did not change the story intentionally but unintentionally; they did not want to change the text but simply made mistakes while copying? This possibility is also difficult to defend, since we know that all the copies we found from the Torah are extremely similar. Even though the scribes made mistakes now and then, overall they worked with incredible precision and accuracy. What is more, the story in both books does not only deviate in small details (which could be explained by unintentional mistakes) but also in the whole sequence of events. The backbone of the stories is fundamentally different. Therefore, it is impossible that this could have resulted from unintentional copy mistakes. 

The simplest explanation for why the stories of the prophets in the Qur’an and the Torah contain so many differences is propbably that Muhammad was illiterate. He could not read the Hebrew Torah, and therefore could not verify what the Jews of Medina told him about the stories of the prophets.

Dear reader, in the next article, we will take a look at another story, one that touches more on the core of Islam – the story of Ibrahim and Isma’il building the Kaaba in Makkah. Please continue reading: