Islamic view of Balaam
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In regards to the Islamic view of Balaam, it is very doubtful whether there is any reference to Balaam in the Koran. The commentators apply to him, but with reservations, sura vii. 174 et seq.:
- And recite against them [the Jews] the story of him to whom we brought our
- signs, but he separated himself from them; then Satan followed him, and he was
- of those that go astray. And if we had willed, we had exalted him through them,
- but he inclined toward the earth and followed his desire. His likeness was the
- likeness of a dog; if you attack it, it pants, and if you leave it alone, it
- pants.
The Moslem commentators explain that Balaam was a Canaanite who had been given knowledge of some of the books of God. His people asked him to curse Moses and those who were with him, but he said, "How can I curse one who has angels with him?" They continued to press him, however, until he cursed the Israelites, and, as a consequence, they remained forty years in the Wilderness of the Wanderings. Then, when he had cursed Moses, his tongue came out and fell upon his breast, and he began to pant like a dog.
The story as told by Tabari ("Annales," ed. De Goeje, i. 508 et seq.) is somewhat more Biblical. Balaam had the knowledge of the Most Sacred Name of God, and whatever he asked of God was granted to him. The story of the ass, etc., then follows at length. When it came to the actual cursing, God "turned his tongue" so that the cursing fell upon his own people and the blessing upon Israel. Then his tongue came out and hung down on his breast. Finally, he advised his people to adorn and beautify their women and to send them out to ensnare the Israelites. The story of the plague at Baal-peor and of Cozbi and Zimri (Num. xxv. 14, 15) follows.
According to another story which Tabari gives, Balaam was a renegade Israelite who knew the Most Sacred Name and, to gain the things of this world, went over to the Canaanites. Al-Tha'labi ("'i'a' al-Anbiyya," pp. 206 et seq., Cairo ed., 1298) adds that Balaam was descended from Lot. He gives, too, the story of Balaam's dream, his being forbidden by God to curse Israel. Another version is that Balak, the king of Bal'a, compelled Balaam to use the Most Sacred Name against Israel. The curse fell automatically, and Moses, having learned whence it came, entreated God to take from Balaam his knowledge of the Name and his faith. This being done, they went out from him in the form of a white dove.
Other interpreters, however, refer the passage in the Koran to Umayya b. Abi al-'alt al-Tha'afi, one of the seekers of religious truth in the time of Mohammed, who had read the books and aspired to be the expected prophet. He refused to embrace Islam, and this passage was revealed in consequence (Herbelot, "Orient. Bibliothek"). Some scholars find in Lo'man the Arabic parallel to Balaam.
This article incorporates text from the 1901–1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, a publication now in the public domain.
