Joseph in the Qur'an

It is fascinating to read how Jewish and Christian stories ended up in the Quran, where they are often altered or fragmented.

Below is a passage about Joseph, who grew up as a house slave in Egypt.

And women in the city said: “The wife of the ruler wanted to sleep with her servant. She has fallen deeply in love with him. We think she has clearly lost her mind.” When she heard of this gossip, she sent for them, prepared a banquet for them, gave each of them a knife, and said, “Come out before them.” And when they saw him, they found him very striking, and they cut their hands and said, “Great God, this is no ordinary man, this is a magnificent angel!”

The question arises: why were the women each given a knife? The answer can be found in an older Jewish source. The women were given knives because they were offered fruit and were eating it. When they saw Joseph, they were so startled that they accidentally cut their fingers.

Virtually all the stories that ended up in the Quran have this characteristic: relevant context or details are missing. The apparent reason is that the intended audience already knew these Jewish or Christian stories.

It is also noteworthy that many of these stories come from Jewish or Christian writings that were later classified as apocryphal. The version of the story of Joseph used in the Quran comes from the Midrash.