Islamic Studies and Quranic Research in the Contemporary World

Islamic Studies and Quranic Research in the Contemporary World

A Camel Passing Through a Needle Hole: A Qur'anic Interpretation of the Bible

Document Type : Translation

Authors
Abdulla. Galadari 1
Nasims Hasani 2
1 Lecturer at Al-Khalifa University Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
2 Graduate of Master of Quranic and Hadith Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
The metaphor of the camel passing through the eye of the needle is found in the Synoptic Gospels (Mat- thew 19:24, Mark 10:25, Luke 18:25) and the Qur’an (7:40). The Gospels seem to suggest that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The Qur’an, on the other hand, puts the metaphor in the context of disbelievers who are arrogant (istakbarū) toward God’s signs. At the outset, it would seem that the passage’s contexts in the Gospels and the Qur’an are different; however, through a closer analysis of the keywords, there are textual parallels that can be extracted from both texts and go beyond simply the use of this analogy in common, as previous scholars have thought. For instance, the rich man in the Gospels is asking about inheriting eternal life, while the Qur’an also discusses eternal life and inheritance in the same context. These and several other textual parallels suggest that the Qur’an is alluding to the same context for the metaphor as the Gospels do.
Keywords
Intertextuality
Qur’an
Gospels
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  • Receive Date 21 April 2022
  • Accept Date 24 July 2022
  • First Publish Date 24 July 2022
  • Publish Date 24 July 2022