Complimentary Story
August 2026Muslims claim that they believe in the Torah and in prophet Moses. But when we read what is written in the Qur’an about the Torah and Moses, we discover that there is very little mentioned about Moses and the Torah. We also find the differences between that which is written by Moses’ hands in the Bible and that which is written in the Qur’an is much greater than the few similarities.
The name Moses is mentioned in the Qur’an 131 times, beginning in chapter 2 and continuing through chapter 87. In some chapters only his name is mentioned once. While in others the story of Moses and the children of Israel is repeated many times.
What is amazing is that after reading all of these chapters, one still does not come away with a clear understanding of who Moses was or what happened during his life. In this article, however, we will concentrate only on the signs Moses performed in Egypt.
In the Qur’an we read about nine signs performed by Moses as stated in Qur’an 17:101 “And indeed, we gave Moses nine clear signs. So ask the children of Israel when he came to them. So Pharaoh said to him, ‘Surely I think you are bewitched, O Moses.’” What are these nine signs? Notice that it was Allah who sent Moses with these signs and they were to be performed before Pharaoh and his leaders.
In Qur’an 7:106 He (Pharaoh) said, “If you have come with a sign, so bring it if you were of the truthful. 107, So he threw down his rod. So behold, it became an obvious serpent. 108, And he (Moses) drew his hand. So behold, it was white to the onlookers.” The story continues as Pharaoh brought the Egyptian sorcerers to perform their magic. They also threw down their rods, which became snakes, as it is written in verse 116, “... So when they cast, they bewitched the people’s eyes and made them afraid, and they brought a great sorcery.”
From reading this verse alone, we cannot determine whether the sorcerers actually turned their rods into snakes or merely deceived the eyes of the people, since Muslim scholars disagree in their interpretations. However, the following verse seems to indicate that real snakes were involved. Allah commanded Moses in verse 117, “And we revealed to Moses, ‘That cast your rod.’ So behold, it pecks what they fabricate.” I do not understand how Allah could call their magic a fabrication if their rods had actually became real snakes.
What is especially amazing is how this story ends. In verse 120 we read, “And the sorcerers fell down worshiping. 121, They said, "We believed in the lord of the worlds, 122, the lord of Moses and Aaron.” Pharaoh was not pleased by what had happened. In verse 123 he said, “Have you believed in him before I gave you permission? Surely this is a deception you have devised in the city so that you may drive its people out of it. So you will know.” Pharaoh continued in verse 124, “I will surely cut off your hands and legs on opposite sides. Then I will crucify you, all of you.”
Amazingly, the writer of the Qur’an in this passage appears to know nothing about the history of crucifixion, for crucifixion did not exist in the days of Moses. It was developed many centuries later. Therefore, Pharaoh could not have threatened people with crucifixion. Furthermore, if he cut off one hand and one leg from each of the sorcerers, how could he then crucify them? Crucifixion requires both hands.
In verse 130 we read, “And indeed We seized the family of Pharaoh with years and less of the fruit, perhaps they may remember.” According to the fabrications, or what Muslims call the interpretations of the scholars of Islam, we supposedly see two more signs performed by Allah. In reality, they are one, not two. When you read the scholars’ interpretations, they explain that these signs were for the family of Pharaoh, which obviously does not make sense, since the words “Aal Pharaoh” refer to the people or household of Pharaoh.
The first sign was “years,” which the scholars interpreted as years of famine. Then Allah added “and less fruit.” According to the scholars, there was some fruit, but very little. For example, they claimed that each palm tree produced only one date. If we use simple logic, these are not two separate signs but one, because famine naturally results in less fruit. Somehow the scholars divided them into two signs in order to reach the total of nine signs supposedly performed through Moses.
Finally, in verse 133 we read, “So we sent on them the tufan, and the locusts and the lice and the frogs and the blood, expounded signs; so they became proud, and they were a criminal people.” The word “tufan” is not an Arabic word. It comes from Hebrew or Syriac and means “deluge” or “flood.” It is used only twice in the Qur’an, here in Qur’an 7:133 and in Qur’an 29:14 concerning Noah’s flood. Obviously, the writer of the Qur’an did not realize that this word belongs to the account of Noah, not Moses.
According to the biblical account, after God sent the flood in Noah’s day, as stated in the book of Genesis 9:12-13. God placed the rainbow in the sky as a covenant that He would never again destroy the earth by a flood. How, then, could God make that promise and break it in the days of Moses only a few centuries later?
Continuing with verse 133, we read about the locusts, the lice, the frogs, and the blood. When we compare these signs with the biblical account in Exodus, we discover that they do not match the ten plagues. Furthermore, when we count the signs listed in the Qur’an, we arrive at only eight instead of nine, because the “years” and the “less fruit” are really only one sign. Famine naturally produces less fruit.
In addition, these supposed years of famine have nothing to do with the biblical account of Moses. We know from Exodus that the plagues on Egypt lasted only a relatively short period of time, certainly not years. How can years of famine be included among the plagues of Moses? Unless the writer of the Qur’an confused the account with the seven years of famine during the days of Joseph.
When we examine these so-called nine signs more carefully, we discover that even the first two, the rod becoming a snake and the hand becoming white, had nothing to do with Pharaoh. In Exodus 4:1, Moses was speaking to God and expressed concern that the children of Israel would not believe that God had sent him. Therefore, God gave Moses three miraculous signs, the rod becoming a serpent, the hand becoming leprous, and water poured on the ground becoming blood. The Bible clearly states that these signs were given so that the children of Israel would believe Moses, these signs were not for Pharaoh. God even told Moses that if they did not believe the first two signs, they would believe the third one.
Likewise, the miracles of the years of famine and the lack of fruit have no connection whatsoever with the ten plagues performed by Moses in Egypt. There was no flood in the biblical account of Moses. Furthermore, the word translated as “lice” in some English translations actually refers to gnats in the Hebrew text, creating yet another difference between the Qur’an and the biblical record.
Finally, when Allah mentioned the frogs, the locusts, and the blood, the Muslim reader is left without any explanation of what these signs actually involved. Thus, the Qur’an mentions nine signs, but after examining the text carefully, we are left with only three recognizable plagues: locusts, frogs, and blood, and even these are presented without the details as we read it in the biblical account.
That is essentially all the Qur’an tells us concerning the so-called nine signs of Moses. In our next article we will examine the true account of the ten plagues recorded in the Book of Exodus and compare that historical record with the comedy account presented in the pages of the Qur’an.
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