لكي يُعدّ كتابٌ ما منزلًا من عند الله، يجب أن يكون دقيقًا تمامًا في وصفه للواقع: الماضي والحاضر والمستقبل. وفي القرآن الكريم قصصٌ كثيرة عن الأنبياء السابقين وأقوامهم، وبعض هذه القصص تحتوي على عناصر يمكن التحقق من دقتها.

For a scripture to qualify as divinely revealed it must be totally accurate in its descriptions of reality: the past, the present and the future. The Qur’aan has many stories about previous prophets and their peoples. Some of these stories have elements in them that can be checked out for their accuracy.

One example of the Qur'an's precision in its historical descriptions is in the story of النبي يوسف (Joseph), who was sold as a slave in Egypt, but rose to become an important official in the government, which made it possible for him to bring his whole family to live there in honor. Most historians agree that the entry of the Children of Israel into Egypt occurred when the northern half of the country was ruled by the الهكسوس, Semitic invaders who were the first non-Egyptians to rule that country since the rise of the Old Kingdom. The Qur'an always calls the Egyptian ruler who confronted Moses by the title of "فرعون." Every Egyptian ruler was called by this title starting from the reign of أمنحتب الرابع in the 14th century BC, but not before that. يوسف lived at least two hundred years before أمنحتب الرابع. The Qur'an consistently refers to the ruler in يوسف's time as "الملك," the king.

One example of the Qur’aan’s precision in its historical descriptions is in the story of Prophet Yoosuf (Joseph), who was sold as a slave in Egypt, but rose to become an important official in the government, which made it possible for him to bring his whole family to live there in honor. Most historians agree that the entry of the Children of Israel into Egypt occurred when the northern half of the country was ruled by the Hyksos, Semitic invaders who were the first nonEgyptians to rule that country since the rise of the Old Kingdom. The Qur’aan always calls the Egyptian ruler who confronted Moses by the title of “Pharaoah.” Every Egyptian ruler was called by this title starting from the reign of Amenhotep IV in the 14th century BC, but not before that. Yoosuf lived at least two hundred years before Amenhotep IV. The Qur’aan consistently refers to the ruler in Yoosuf’s time, as “ al-malik,” the king:

وتجدر الإشارة إلى أن الكتاب المقدس يذكر حاكم زمن يوسف باسم «فرعون»، وهو تعبير متأخر أدخله الكتبة الذين دوّنوا أسفار العهد القديم بعد موسى بقرون.50

It should be noted that the Bible refers to the ruler of Joseph’s time as “Pharaoah,” which was an anachronism inserted by the scribes who wrote the books of the Old Testament centuries after Moses.50

ذهب بعض المنتقدين إلى التقاط تفاصيل بعينها في محاولة للطعن في الدقة التاريخية للقرآن الكريم. ومن الأمثلة الشهيرة على ذلك قول قومها لمريم (Maryam) حين أتت بالمولود عيسى بعد أن وضعته في مكان منعزل:

Some critics have seized on certain details to try attack the Qur’aan’s historical accuracy. A famous example is the statement of her people to Mary (Ar.Maryam) when she appeared with the baby Jesus after giving birth to him in an isolated place:

ذكر النقّاد أن المؤلف خلط بين شخصيتين تاريخيتين: مريم أم عيسى، ومريم أخت هارون. وإنما وقع هذا الخلط من جهلهم بطريقة استعمال العرب للغتهم. فالقرآن الكريم يُسمّي هودًا أخا عادٍ.

The critics argue that the author confused two historical figures: Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Miriam, the sister of Aaron. The confusion here is really a result of their ignorance about how the Arabs use their language. The Qur’aan refers to Prophet Hood as the brother of ‘Aad:

كان العرب يُنسبون القبائل إلى الجد الذي تنحدر منه. فقبيلة عاد كانت منسوبة إلى رجل يُدعى عاد. ولم يكن هود أخًا حقيقيًّا لذلك الرجل، ولا كان أخًا حقيقيًّا لكل فرد من قومه، وإنما هذا تعبيرٌ تستعمله العرب للدلالة على الانتساب إلى قوم. وكانت مريم من نسل هارون، ولذلك وُصفت بأنها أخت هارون. وعلى نحو مشابه، يذكر العهد الجديد إليصابات، أم يوحنا المعمدان، بوصفها ابنةً لهارون.53

The Arabs refer to tribes by the patriarch from whom they are descended. The tribe of ‘Aad was descended from a man named ‘Aad. Hood was not literally that man’s brother, nor was he literally the brother of every member of his tribe, but this is an expression used by the Arabs to indicate association with a people. Mary was a descendant of Aaron. That is why she is referred to as the sister of Aaron. In a similar usage, the New Testament refers to Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist as a daughter of Aaron.53