Jan 11 2008
Prophet Joseph’s dream
The Qur’an corrects the Torah/Bible
The Prophet Yusuf (peace be upon him)/Joseph had a prophecy in the form of a dream, in which he sees the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowing to him. This dream prophesised that his father (sun), mother (moon), eleven brothers (eleven stars) would bow to him.
Both, the Bible and the Quran mention Prophet Joseph’s dream, but the Biblical account contains an error which leaves the prophecy unfulfilled.
“(Remember) when Yusuf (Joseph) said to his father: “O my
father! Verily, I saw (in a dream) eleven stars and the sun
and the moon, I saw them prostrating themselves to me.”
[Quran 12:4]
“Then he (Joseph) had another dream, and he told it to his
brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this
time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
[Genesis 37:9]
The Quran mentions this dream at the beginning of Chapter named
“Joseph”, and shows how it was fulfilled at the end of the story.
The Bible, however, mentions the dream, but never shows that
it was a fulfilled prophecy. The reason why the Bible is not
able to fulfill this dream is due to an error, where the mother
of Jospeh supposedly died when she bore Benyameen/Benjamin.
“And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the
midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for you have another
son.” As she breathed her last–for she was dying–she named
her son Ben-Oni. But his father named him Benjamin. So Rachel
died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).
[Genesis 35:17-19]
Rachel is the mother of Joseph and Benjamin; she died two
chapters before Joseph had his dream.
The Quran never says that she died, the proof for that is at
the end of the story where Yusef raises both of his parents
on his throne:
“And he raised his parents to the throne and they fell down
before him prostrate. And he said: “O my father! This is the
interpretation of my dream aforetime! My Lord has made it come
true! He was indeed good to me, when He took me out of the prison,
and brought you (all here) out of the bedouin-life, after Shaitan
(Satan) had sown enmity between me and my brothers. Certainly, my
Lord is the Most Courteous and Kind unto whom He will. Truly He!
Only He is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.”[Quran 12:100]
Bible writers make a mistake when they claim that Joseph’s mother
died before the adventures of Joseph happened. The Quran ends this
kind of falsehood which might have been injected to the Bible
intentionally or unintentionally, and corrects the Bible:
1) Jospeh’s dream was a perfect prophecy.
2) His mother never died after giving birth to Benyameen.
3) The dream was fulfilled when his father (The Sun) and
his mother (the Moon) and his eleven brothers (stars)
bowed down to him.
Therefore, the Quran compliments and corrects the Bible
errors. Joseph’s dream is nothing but one of many other
examples of how the Quran corrects the Bible.
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4 responses so far
Just to add to this, in the Qur’an, i don’t see it mentioning the 11 “stars” (or “planets”) bowing down, but the prophecy includes them. In my opinion, however, whether or not they were to truly bow down is irrelevant. So long as Joseph is placed above their (his family’s) last status, the prophecy is fulfilled. So, if you’re going to judge the Bible based on the literal bowing down of Joseph’s family, then your argument fails, for the Qur’an doesn’t mention that these 11 “stars” bowed down before Joseph in real life. It’s either both are wrong or one is right or both are right—pick one.
Response:
The Qur’an DOES mention the 11 stars, moon, and sun bowing to the prophet Joseph. In-fact, I quoted this above; verse 12:100.
Perhaps you have failed to understand the prophecy. The 11 stars, moon, and sun ARE Joseph’s brothers, mother, and father. Hence, when his family bowed, the prophecy was fulfilled. The prophecy, in both the Bible and Qur’an, specifically mentions that ELEVEN stars, the MOON, and the SUN, would bow to him. This means that his eleven brothers, his MOTHER, and his father would bow to him. Hence, the prophecy remains unfilled in the Bible, because Joseph’s mother died (in the Bible) and did not bow to him, with the rest of the family. Hence, the prophecy was fulfilled in the Qur’an, because Joseph’s 11 brothers, mother, and father all bowed down to him.
The argument of literal or metaphorical interpretation does not stand, because prophecies can contain symbolised literal actions. To explain what i mean, i will quote another prophecy: The Pharaoh dreamt a prophecy where seven fat cows appear, then seven thin cows appear. Did seven and seven cows literally appear? No. Actually, seven years of abundance passed, followed by seven years of famine. So the SEVEN fat cows represented SEVEN years of abundance, and the seven THIN cows represented seven years of FAMINE. Notice, that both the number and the object remain the same. Hence, when the prophecy of 13 celestial bodies (11 stars, moon, and sun) bowing to Jospeh was fulfilled, Joseph’s family of 13 (eleven brothers, mother, and father) bowed to him. Hence it is relevant. Otherwise, what’s the point of a prophecy if it doesn’t come true?
I think you misunderstood what i said. Let me clarify, what i meant by ” i don’t see it mentioning the 11 “stars” (or “planets”) bowing down” was that i don’t see the Qur’an mentioning that they *have* bowed down; i only see the Qur’an mentioning that they *will* bow down. The argument you present is that the Qur’an mentions that the *family* *did* bow down. But that’s only a half-truth, for the Qur’an only mentions that the *parents* were the ones that bowed down. I did not see the Qur’an mentioning that Joseph’s *brothers* also bowed down. Do you understand? Qur’an 12:100 does not mentionmention—anywhere—the 11 brothers bowing down, it only mentions the *parents*. So you cannot say that the *family* bowed down before Joseph—this is where your argument fails.
As for your paragraph concerning the interpretation of prophecy: The Qur’an makes it clear that this “prostrating” is a literal one. I can very much understand that the “Sun” represents Joseph’s father, i can very much understand that the “Moon” represents his mother, and i can very much understand that the 11 “stars” (or “planets”) are his 11 brothers. But the prophecy, as proved by the Qur’an, stands as both a literal and metaphorical statement. It cannot be said that it only takes on one form of interpretation.
And like you said, what’s the point of a prophecy if it doesn’t come true? As it seems to me, the Qur’an is implying that the brothers either refused to bow down or were not present at all.
By the way, am i allowed to use simple HTML in this? It would be a lot easier to use instead of asterisks. Testing: bold.
Peace be upon you.
Verse 12:100 says they have bowed down.
12:97 They said: “Our father, ask forgiveness for our sins, indeed we have been wrong.”
12:98 He said: “I will ask forgiveness for you from my Lord, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.”
12:99 So when they entered upon Joseph, he took his parents to him and he said: “Enter Egypt, God willing, in security.”
12:100 And he raised his parents on the throne, and they fell in prostration to Him. And he said: “My father, this is the interpretation of my vision from before. My Lord has made it true, and He Has been good to me that he took me out of prison and brought you out of the wilderness after the devil had placed a rift between me and my brothers. My Lord is kind to whom He wills. He is the Knowledgeable, the Wise.”
Points to notice:
-’They’ = brothers and father in 12:99; (The mother is not mentioned, but this doesn’t mean she isn’t there. And she is there, because of verse 12:100 which says ‘parents’).
-’They’ bow to him in 12:100
-Joseph recognises that ALL of his family bow to him, by saying to his father that his dream (of 13 celestial bodies bowing to him) was fulfilled.
As for your paragraph concerning the interpretation of prophecy: The Qur’an makes it clear that this “prostrating” is a literal one. I can very much understand that the “Sun” represents Joseph’s father, i can very much understand that the “Moon” represents his mother, and i can very much understand that the 11 “stars” (or “planets”)) are his 11 brothers.
Therefore, there is no problem
I do not understand what you are talking about.
The Qur’an says Joseph had a dream where his family bowed to him. His family bow to him.
There isn’t a problem with literal or metaphorical statements.
They did bow down. See earlier.
Yes you are allowed.
Simple html works.