Al-Tur
Definition
Al-Tur — Mount Sinai — is the mountain where Allah spoke directly to Musa and where the most intense divine-human communication in Quranic history took place. Musa heard Allah's voice without the intermediary of an angel, asked to see Allah, and witnessed the mountain shatter at the divine self-disclosure before he himself fell unconscious. Ibn Kathir treats the experience at al-Tur as the apex of Musa's prophetic career and one of the most theologically charged moments in all of Islamic eschatology: it established that no human being in their earthly state can withstand direct vision of the divine, while simultaneously affirming that such vision is possible — and promised — in the afterlife for the believers.
As understood in the classical tradition of Ibn Kathir and the scholars of his school.
How the scholars use Al-Tur.
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"consciousness, finding Moses holding on to the throne. The honest and trustworthy one said, I do not know if he fainted and recovered before me, meaning to say his swoon was light because he had experienced it due to Mount Sinai in the worldly life, or he was blessed by the swoon of Mount Sinai, meaning he did not fully swoon."
— Ibn Kathir, Volume 1 — From Creation to Mūsā
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"and the man asked him, do you know any Quran? He replied, yes, and recited, by the fig and the olive and Mount Sinai. The man then asked, and where are the figs? The Bedouin said, they are under your garment. One of them invited his brother but did not offer him any food. He kept him until the afternoon when the brother became extremely hungry and almost mad. The host then took a lute and asked, by my life, what tune would you like to hear? The brother replied, the sound of frying. It is told that Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Khalid ibn Barmak was extremely miserly. When a relative familiar with him was asked to describe his table,"
— Imam al-Ghazali, Book 27: Condemnation of Miserliness and Love of Wealth
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"I do not know whether he was among those who fell unconscious and regained consciousness before Me, or whether he was compensated for the unconsciousness at Mount Sinai. This statement reflects the humility and modesty of the Prophet. Peace be upon him. Nonetheless, he is the Seal of the Prophets and the Master of Adam's children in this world and the hereafter, without any doubt. Allah the Exalted said, Indeed We have revealed to you as We revealed to Noah and the Prophets after him, and We revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the descendants. Continuing He said, And messengers We have mentioned to you before,"
— Ibn Kathir, Volume 1 — From Creation to Mūsā
Appears in
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