Mount Sinai/ Mount Tur:-
The Peninsula of Sinai lies between the African Continent and the southern Judean desert, of which it is a natural extension.
The Sinai is completely separated from the Arabian Peninsula by the Earth's fault line - the Great Rift Valley - creating a depression starting from Lake Kinneret in the North to the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Eilat in the South.
Mount Sinai is situated in the desert of Sinai, famous for its connection with the promulgation of the Law by God through Moses (Ex. xix. 1-xx. 18).
Mount Sinai is often referred to as "the mountain" (that is, the mountain par excellence), "the mountain of Elohim" (Hebr.), and "the mountain of Yhwh"
(Hebr.; Ex. iii. 1, iv. 27, xviii. 5, xix. 2, et passim; Num. x. 33), and in many other passages it is called "Horeb" (Ex. iii. 1; Deut. i. 2 et passim).
The Biblical text, indeed, seems to indicate that this last was its proper name, while "Sinai" was applied to the desert.
When Moses led the flocks of his father-in-law to the desert and came "to the mountain of God, even to Horeb," an angel appeared to him from a flaming bush, and then God Himself spoke to Moses, telling him that where he stood was holy ground, thus foreshadowing the great event that was to occur there.
From that mountain God persuaded Moses to go to Pharaoh and deliver the Israelites from his yoke. After the Exodus, when the Israelites who had encamped at Rephidim were suffering with thirst, Moses, by command of God, smote water from a rock in Horeb
Exodus 17:6 "I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb. You must strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.' Moses did this in the presence of the elders of Israel.
Having encamped before Mount Sinai, the Israelites were told that from this mountain they would receive the Commandments of God, and that they would hear His very voice. They were commanded to give three days to preparation for that solemnity, for on the third day God would come down on the mountain in sight of all the people. Moses set a boundary up to which they might go, and they were prohibited under penalty of death from even touching the mountain.
On the third day the mountain was enveloped in a cloud; it quaked and was filled with smoke as God descended upon it, while lightning-flashes shot forth, and the roar of thunder mingled with the peals of trumpets. Then Moses appeared upon it and promulgated the
Ten Commandments, after which God instructed him in many of the laws which form a part of the Pentateuch (Ex. xix. 1-xxiii. 33).
Later, Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy elders of Israel went together up the mountain, where they saw the God of Israel.
Mount Sinai was then enveloped in a cloud for six days, while on its summit, fire, the emblem of God, was seen burning. On the seventh day Moses was commanded by God to ascend the mountain to receive the Tables of the Law; he remained there forty days and nights (Ex. xxiv. 9-10, 16-18).
The Song of Moses refers to the solemn promulgation of the Law on Mount Sinai (Deut. xxxiii. 2); so does the Song of Deborah (Judges v.), which declares that the
"earth trembled," the "heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water," and the "mountains melted" (comp. Ps. lxviii. 9, 17).
Horeb reappears later as the place to which Elijah escaped after Jezebel had massacred the prophets of Yhwh (I Kings xix. 8 et seq.)
Exodus 24:18 Moses went into the cloud, and climbed to the mountain top. Moses was to remain on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.
According to the Bible, it is in the Sinai desert. But, according to the WISHFUL thinking of the Arab theologians among the followers of Muhammad, and contrary to all logic and without any substantiating historical records, it is in Arabia.
In the following verses from the Quran and Hadiths, I shall demonstrate that Muhammad was not the only one who had totally MIXED UP the two mountains in the Bible, these of Horeb and Sinai, but also,the Muhammadan exegetes.
One of the most knowledgeable on the subject, namely Abddullah Yusuf Ali, the current translator and interpreter of the Quran, DELIBERATELY
STOOPS to incredible depths of DEPRAVED INDIFFERENCE to FACTS, to HISTORY, to REALITY and to LANGUAGE, to achieve his AGENDA of arrogating to the Quran everything that actually does not belong to it so as to give it a worthy FOUNDATION and an eminent history.
2: 63 And remember We took your covenant and We raised above you (the towering height) of Mount (Sinai) (saying): "Hold firmly to what We have given you and bring (ever) to remembrance what is therein perchance ye may fear Allah."
# 78 The Mountain of Sinai (Tur-u-Sinin) a prominent mountain in the Arabian desert, in the peninsula between the two arms of the Red Sea. Here the Ten Commandments and the Law were given to Moses. Hence it is now called the Mountain of Moses (Jabal Musa). The Israelites encamped at the foot of it for nearly a year. The Covenant was taken from them under many portents (Exod. xix. 5,8,16,18), which are described in Jewish tradition in great detail. Under thunder and lightening the mountain must indeed have appeared an awe-inspiring sight above to the Camp at its foot. And the people solemnly entered into the Covenant: all the people answered together and said, "All that the Lord hath spoken we will do#
*** Mount Sinai according to both the Bible and historians in general, is the one at the tip of the Sinai desert and no where near Mecca.
Not once in the historical records that are available, was the Sinai desert considered part of the Arabian Peninsula or that it had Arabs living in it ***
28: 29 Now when Moses had fulfilled the term and was travelling with his family he perceived a fire in the direction of Mount Tur. He said to his family: "Tarry ye; I perceive a fire; I hope to bring you from there some information or a burning firebrand that ye may warm yourselves."
#2564 See last note. After many years spent in a quiet life, grazing his father-in-law's flocks, he came one day to the valley of Tuwa underneath the great mountain mass of Sinai, called Tur (in Arabic). The peak on the Arabian side (where Moses was) was called Horeb by the Hebrews. Then was fulfilled Allah's Plan: he saw the fire in the distance, and when he went up, he was addressed by Allah and chosen to be Allah's Messenger for that age#
*** This is, of course, not the same as the original in the Bible, which has no mention of Mount Tur***
Exodus 3:1 And Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock far away into the desert, and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb.
2. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
3. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.
*** Moses was NOT with his family. As invariably is the case, and as usual, the Quran has got it all wrong once more ***
20: 12 "Verily I am thy Lord! Therefore (in My presence) put off thy shoes: thou art in the sacred valley Tuwa.
#2544 This was the valley just below Mount Sinai, where subsequently he was to receive the Torah#
*** Of course the above explanation is blatantly UNTRUE since there was no mention of any 'sacred valley of Tuwa' in the whole of the Bible, from which Muhammad had plagiarised the story ***
28: 44 Thou wast not on the Western Side when We decreed the commission to Moses nor wast thou a witness (of those events).
#3376 The Sinai Peninsula is in the north-west corner of Arabia. But the reference here is, I think, to the western side of the valley of Tuwa. Mount Tur, where Moses received his prophetic commission, is on the western side of the valley.#
28: 46 Nor wast thou at the side of (the Mountain of) Tur when We called (to Moses) Yet (art thou sent) as a Mercy from thy Lord to give warning to a people to whom no warner had come before thee: in order that they may receive admonition.
79: 15 Has the story of Moses reached thee? 16 Behold thy Lord did call to him in the sacred valley to Tuwa 17 "Go thou to Pharaoh for he has indeed transgressed all bounds.
*** The reader should be made aware that the Bible NEVER mentions either Tur or Tuwa in the story of Moses and the revelations of the Commandments.
Since the Quran asserts repeatedly that the TORAH is of DIVINE ORIGIN, how could the Quranic version be so utterly different and incompatible with the original story and still claim that it also, is divinely 'revealed' ? ***
Al-Muwatta Hadith
Hadith 20.6
The Ghusl of Someone in Ihram
Malik related to me from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar would spend the night between the two trails in the valley of Dhu Tuwa when he was approaching Makka. Then he would pray subh, and after that he would enter Makka by the trail which is at the highest part of Makka. He would never enter Makka, if he was coming for hajj or umra, without doing ghusl beforehand when he was near Makka at Dhu Tuwa, and he would tell whoever was with him to do likewise.
Sahih Al-Bukhari HadithHadith 2.643 Narrated byNafi
On reaching the sanctuary of Mecca, Ibn 'Umar used to stop, reciting Talbiya and then he would pass the night at Dhi-Tuwa and then offer the Fajr prayer and take a bath. He used to say that the Prophet used to do the same.
Sahih Al-Bukhari HadithHadith 2.644 Narrated byNafi
' Ibn 'Umar said, "The Prophet passed the night at Dhi-Tuwa till it was dawn and then he entered Mecca." Ibn 'Umar used to do the same.
Sahih Al-Bukhari HadithHadith 2.820 Narrated byNafi
Ibn 'Umar used to spend the night at Dhi-Tuwa in between the two Thaniyas and then he would enter Mecca through the Thaniya which is at the higher region of Mecca, and whenever he came to Mecca for Hajj or 'Umra, he never made his she-camel kneel down except near the gate of the Masjid (Sacred Mosque) and then he would enter (it) and go to the Black (stone) Corner and start from there circumambulating the Ka'ba seven times: hastening in the first three rounds (Ramal) and walking in the last four. On finishing, he would offer two Rakat prayer and set out to perform Tawaf between Safa and Marwa before returning to his dwelling place. On returning (to Medina) from Hajj or 'Umra, he used to make his camel kneel down at Al-Batha which is at Dhul-Hulaifa, the place where the Prophet used to make his camel kneel down.
Al-Muwatta Hadith
Hadith 48.16
Wearing Sandals
Yahya related to me from Malik from his paternal uncle Abu Suhayl ibn Malik from his father that Kab al-Ahbar said to a man who took off his sandals, "Why have you taken off your sandals? Perhaps you have interpreted this ayat, 'Remove your sandals. You are in the pure valley of Tuwa?' (Sura 20 ayat 12) Do you know what the sandals of Musa were?"
Malik (the father of Abu Suhayl) said, "I do not know what the man answered." Kab said, "They were made from the skin of a dead donkey."
Al-Muwatta Hadith
Hadith 20.118
Praying after Subh and Asr when doing Tawaf
Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Humayd ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf that Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abd al-Qari mentioned to him that he once did tawaf of the House with Umar ibn al-Khattab after subh and when Umar had finished his tawaf he looked and saw that the sun had not yet risen, so he rode on until he made his camel kneel at Dhu Tuwa, and he prayed two rakas.
*** While the Quran is associating the valley of Tuwa with the Sinai Peninsula, the Hadiths remove it about 1000 miles south towards Mecca and the Ka'ba.
If TWO versions of the same locations are CONTRADICTORY, one or BOTH must be wrong; either the Quran or the Hadiths or BOTH are WRONG ***
