Talk:Haman (Islam)

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The bottom is a repeat but it is still important to research the books listed to look for evidence. They are:

Walter Wreszinski, Ägyptische Inschriften aus dem K.K. Hof Museum in Wien, 1906, J. C. Hinrichs' sche Buchhandlung)

and

Hermanne Ranke, Die Ägyptischen Personennamen, Verzeichnis der Namen, Verlag Von J J Augustin in Glückstadt, Band I, 1935. Band II, 1952

Tim

The Speculation About the Name "Haman"

Those who keep themselves occupied by looking for inconsistencies in the Qur'an refer to a man named "Haman" who is mentioned in the Qur'anic verses as one of Pharaoh's men.

In the Torah, the name Haman is not used when the life of the Prophet Moses is quoted. On the other hand, it is mentioned in the Gospel to refer to a helper of the Babylonian king who lived 1,100 years after the Prophet Moses and persecuted the Jews.

Those who claim that the Prophet Muhammad wrote the Qur'an in the light of the Torah and the Gospel also put forth the sophistry that he copied some of the subjects in the Qur'an wrongly.

The ridiculousness of this claim became obvious 200 years ago when the Egyptian hieroglyphs were deciphered and the name "Haman" was discovered.

Until then it had not been possible to read any of the writings or tablets written in ancient Egyptian. The ancient Egyptian language and hieroglyphs had been present for many thousands of years. However, with the spread of Christianity and its cultural influences during the second and third centuries AD the ancient Egyptians forgot their religion as well as the language, and the use of hieroglyphs came to a gradual stop. The year 394 AD is the last known time when a hieroglyph was used. Afterwards this language was forgotten, leaving nobody who could read and understand it. Until some 200 years ago.

The ancient Egyptian language was deciphered in 1799 with the discovery of a tablet dated to 196 BC called the "Rosetta Stone". The unique nature of this tablet came from the fact that it was written in three different forms of writing; hieroglyphics, demotic (a simplified form of ancient Egyptian hieratic writing) and Greek. The ancient Egyptian dialect was decoded with the help of the Greek version. A Frenchman named Jean-Françoise Champollion completed the deciphering of the whole tablet. In this way, a forgotten language and the history that it contained came back to life. This discovery made it possible to research ancient Egyptian civilization, their beliefs and social life.

It also made it possible to acquire the vital piece of information we are now discussing. The name "Haman" was in fact mentioned in old Egyptian tablets. It was mentioned on a monument which now stands in the Hof Museum in Vienna, and in which the closeness of Haman to the Pharaoh was emphasized. (Walter Wreszinski, Ägyptische Inschriften aus dem K.K. Hof Museum in Wien, 1906, J. C. Hinrichs' sche Buchhandlung)

The dictionary "The People in the New Kingdom" refers to Haman as "the head of the quarry workers". (Hermanne Ranke, Die Ägyptischen Personennamen, Verzeichnis der Namen, Verlag Von J J Augustin in Glückstadt, Band I, 1935. Band II, 1952)

This discovery brought to light a truly astonishing fact. Haman was, contrary to what those who opposed the Qur'an claimed, really a man who had lived in Egypt during the Prophet Moses' time and furthermore, just as stated in the Qur'an, he was close to the Pharaoh and dealt with construction of sorts.

As a matter of fact, the Qur'anic verse that conveys how the Pharaoh requested Haman to build a tower is in perfect unison with this archaeological finding:

Pharaoh said, 'Council, I do not know of any other god for you apart from me. Haman, kindle a fire for me over the clay and build me a lofty tower so that perhaps I may be able to climb up to Moses' god! I consider him a blatant liar.' (Surat al-Qasas: 38)

In conclusion, the discovery of the name Haman on ancient Egyptian tablets discredited another claim made by those who strive to find inconsistencies in the Qur'anic verses. Furthermore, the undeniable truth that the Qur'an is revealed by God is once again proven without any doubt as the Qur'an miraculously conveyed historical information that could not have been found and deciphered in the Prophet's time.

-Amr Atef

Note: WikiHiero transcription can be seen below, though it needs verification:

- Mustafaa 22:43, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Looking at the Egyptological references, I am slightly worried that they are largely to old texts. It is scarcely credible that Maspero can be cited as an authority on Egyptian architectural methods. Likewise, Ranke's dictionary is rather old (it is now superceded) and any information it might present on phonology is of dubious veracity (might as well quote Budge!) given that our knowledge in this area has moved on a little since then.

Egyptology has moved on a long way since the 1930s, and so the whole discussion of historicity needs either to be based on modern, recognised, authoritative Egyptological texts (so David Rohl doesn't count) or to acknowledge that the argument is tendentious and poorly founded in sound scholarship.

I find it worrying that the sole authority claimed is Maurice Bucaille, whom a quick Google search reveals to be a not entirely credible source, in that he clearly has an agenda as a proponent of the Islamic equivalent of sola scriptura (see for example this piece which states that he argued for the accuracy of the Quran as a scientific text).

In view of all this I wonder if this piece requires a POV tag, as it is far from clear to me that it is in fact neutral.

Major Update

Comments on changes I've made:

There is no known egyptiologist btw. expert in this topic supporting Dr. Bucailles claim. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.72.78.99 (talk) 11:39, 19 April 2010 (UTC)

• Removed AEgyptian-L mailing list links because they're all dead
• Changed Fir`awn everwhere to Firon because both are used among Muslims and Firon is easier for non-Arab speakers. Used Firon for Pharoah in the Qur'an except from quotes.
• I'm sorry if the historicity stuff isn't NPOV but I did try. Please help if able!

--JBJ830726 00:21, 15 January 2006 (UTC)