Qisas Al-Anbiya

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Qisas Al-Anbiya

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The "Qisas Al-Anbiya" (??? ????????) or Stories of the Prophets refers to various collections of tales adapted from the Quran. One of the best-known is that composed by al-Kisai in either the 6th or the 13th century; others include the Ara'is al-majalis by al-Tha'alabi (d. 427 AH) and the Qisas an-anbiya by Ibn Kathir (d. 774 AH).

Because the lives of biblical figures ("prophets," in the Muslim tradition) were covered only briefly in the Quran, scholars, poets, historians, and storytellers felt free to elaborate, clothing the bare bones with flesh and blood. Authors of these texts drew on many traditions available to medieval Islamic civilization such as those of Asia, Africa, China, Europe. Many of these scholars were also authors of commentaries on the Quran; unlike Quran commentaries, however, which follow the order and structure of the Quran itself, the Qisas told its stories of the prophets in chronological order.

The Qisas thus usually begin with the creation of the world and its various creatures including angels, and culminating in God's masterpiece, Adam, created by His own hand and given life from His own breath. Following the stories of the Prophet Adam and his family come the tales of Idris

Idris (prophet)

Idris , is a prophet of Islam. He is known in the Bible as Enoch, ancestor of Noah....
, Noah

Noah

Noah was, according to the Bible, the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs ; and a prophet according to the Qur'an. The biblical story of Noah is contained in the book of Book of Genesis, chapters 5-9, while the Qur'an has a whole sura named after and devoted to his story with other references elsewhere....
, Shem

Shem

Shem was one of the sons of Noah in the Bible. He is most popularly regarded as the eldest son, though some traditions regard him as the second son....
, Hud

Hud (prophet)

Hud, ), is a Prophets of Islam. The eleventh sura of the Qur'an, Hud , is named after him, though the narrative of Hud comprises only a small portion of the sura, ....
, Salih, Abraham

Abraham

Abraham is a man featured in the Book of Genesis and an important figure in several monotheistic religions. Judaism, Christianity and Islam traditions regard him as the founding Patriarchs of the Israelites, Ishmaelites and Edomite peoples....
, Ishmael

Ishmael

Ishmael is a figure in the Torah, Bible, and Qur'an. Judaism, Christianity and Islam Ishmael is Abraham's eldest son or first born and natural heir....
and his mother Hagar

Hagar (Bible)

Hagar , according to the Abrahamic faiths, was an Egyptian handmaiden of Sarah, wife of Abraham. At Sarah's suggestion, she became Abraham's second wife....
, Lot

Lot

Lot may refer to:In economics and business:*Lot , a tract of land** Parking lot, for automobiles*Lot, a set of goods, together for sale in an auction...
, Isaac

Isaac

According to the Hebrew Bible, Isaac The New Testament contains few references to Isaac. The Early Christianity views Abraham's willingness to follow God's command to Binding of Isaac as an example of faith and obedience....
, Jacob and Esau, Joseph

Joseph (Hebrew Bible)

Joseph or Yosef , is a major figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible . He was Jacob's eleventh son and Rachel's first. He is also mentioned favourably in the Qur'an....
, Shuayb, Moses

Moses

Moses is a Hebrew Bible Hebrews religious leader, lawgiver, prophet, to whom the Mosaic authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed. Also called Moshe Rabbeinu in Hebrew , he is the most important prophet in Judaism, and also an important prophet of Christianity, Islam, the Bah?'? Faith, Rastafari movement, Chrislam and many ot...
and his brother Aaron, Khidr, Joshua

Joshua

Joshua, Jehoshuah or Yehoshua , born in Egypt, was a biblical Israelite leader who succeeded Moses. His story is told in the Hebrew Bible, chiefly in the books Book of Exodus, Book of Numbers and Book of Joshua....
, Josephus

Josephus

Josephus , also known as Yosef Ben Matityahu and, after he became a Roman citizenship, as Titus Flavius Josephus, was a first-century Jewish historian and apologist of priestly and royal ancestry who survived and recorded the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70....
, Eleazar

Eleazar

Eleazar , was a son of Aaron, a Levite Kohen and Kohen Gadol. His wife, a daughter of Putiel, bore him Phinehas. After the death of Nadab and Abihu, he was appointed to the charge of the sanctuary....
, Elijah, Samuel, Saul

Saul the King

Saul is identified in the Books of Samuel, Books of Chronicles and Qur'an as the first king of the ancient united United Monarchy. Saul was anointed by the prophet Samuel and reigned from Gibeah during the closing decades of the 2nd millennium BC....
, David

David

David , was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. He is depicted as a righteous king, although not without fault, as well as an acclaimed warrior, musician and poet ....
, Solomon

Solomon

Solomon is a figure described in the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an. The biblical accounts identify Solomon as the son of David. He is also called Jedidiah in the Tanakh , and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah split; following th...
, and Jonah

Jonah

According to the Hebrew Bible and Arab Qur'an, Jonah was a prophet who was swallowed by a great fish....
all the way up to and including John the Baptist

John the Baptist

John the Baptist was a mission preacher and a major religious figure who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River in expectation of a divine apocalypse that would restore occupied Israel....
and Jesus

Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , also known as Jesus Christ, is the central figure of Christianity and is revered by most Christian churches as the Son of God and the Incarnation ....
son of Mary. Sometimes the author incorporated related local folklore or oral traditions, and many of the Qisas al-anbiyas tales echo medieval Christian and Jewish stories.

During the mid-16th century, several gorgeously illuminated versions of the Qisas were created by unnamed Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299?1923. It was Treaty of Lausanne by the Republic of Turkey, which was officially proclaimed on October 29, 1923....
painters. According to Milstein et al, "iconographical study [of the texts] reveals ideological programs and cliché typical of the Ottoman polemical discourse with its Shi'ite rival in Iran
Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran and formerly known internationally as Persian Empire until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia, located on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf and the southern shore of the Caspian Sea....
, and its Christian neighbors in the West."

Sources

(Islamic Art & Architecture Series, No. 8). Mazda Publishers, Inc.:1999
- beautiful illuminated manuscript pages

See also

Book of the Cave of Treasures
Midrash Rabbah
Midrash

Midrash is a Hebrew language term referring to the not exact, but comparative method of exegesis of Biblical texts, which is one of four methods cumulatively called Pardes ....