Intertextual Analysis of Quranic and Biblical Versions: A Study of the Moses Story

Abstract

The comparative study of Qur’anic and Biblical narratives has been a popular practice in the last two decades. The story of Musa (Moses) as a more inspiring story has been extensively explored from a variety of perspectives. This article is a step forward in the direction of juxtaposing Qur’anic and Biblical versions of this story to find out the points on which textual affinities exist. For this purpose, the model of intertextual study promoted by Charles Bazerman has been followed. Intertextuality according to Bazerman is the explicit and implicit relations that a text or utterance has to prior, contemporary, and potential future texts. This approach has wide scope for being based on practical grounds. The significance of this study is evident from the fact that, it highlights necessary points on which the readers of Qur’anic and Biblical text or the followers of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are in total agreement. The study has confirmed the applicability of intertextuality on the texts based on almost conflicting ideologies. It has opened new avenues for exploring common grounds in other stories contained in the Holy Qur’an and the Bible through applying the same technique.