inflammation of theology

Saturday 6 February 2010

Dia Lebih Fasih

Mari kita buat sedikit perbandingan antara kisah nabi Musa seperti diceritakan dalam al-Quran dan dalam Taurat. Saya kadang-kadang menggunakan perkataan Bible sedangkan saya maksudkan Taurat. Ini kerana seperti yang sahabat semua maklum, Bible terdiri dari 2- New dan Old Testament. Old Testament adalah Taurat.

Kali ini kita cuma akan bincang ayat ini:
“Dan saudaraku Harun, dia lebih fasih lidahnya daripadaku, maka utuslah dia bersamaku sebagai pembantuku untuk membenarkan (perkataan) ku, sesungguhnya aku khuatir mereka akan berdusta “
(al-Qasas:34)

Kisah seumpama ini juga ada dieceritakan dalam Bible:
וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה אֶל-יְהוָה, בִּי אֲדֹנָי, לֹא אִישׁ דְּבָרִים אָנֹכִי גַּם מִתְּמוֹל גַּם מִשִּׁלְשֹׁם, גַּם מֵאָז דַּבֶּרְךָ אֶל-עַבְדֶּךָ:  כִּי כְבַד-פֶּה וּכְבַד לָשׁוֹן, אָנֹכִי. 

And Moses said unto the LORD: 'Oh Lord, I am not a man of words, neither heretofore, nor since Thou hast spoken unto Thy servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.'
Exodus 4:10
And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and He said: 'Is there not Aaron thy brother the Levite? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee; and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.
Exodus 4:14

Apa yang menarik saya nak sebutkan di sini ialah, terdapat pentafsir Taurat yang membuat spekulasi yang mengatakan nabi Musa ada cleft lip! (hare lip/sumbing). Namun apa yang lebih penting bukanlah perbincangan mengenai isu ini. Kita lebih perlu mengambil iktibar dan pengajaran dari kisah penyebaran dakwah yang dilakukan oleh nabi Musa. Post ini hanya untuk bacaan di waktu senggang selepas peperiksaan. Saya menulis post ini untuk dikongsi kerana saya merasakan pentafsiran ini sangat menarik!

Menurut Levin, terjemahan di atas (Exodus 4:10) adalah kurang tepat kerana dalam Hebrew, perkataan yang digunakan ialah פֶּה (peh) yang membawa maksud mulut dan bukan lidah. Perkataan yang lebih sesuai untuk lidah atau percakapan ialah lashon atau sefataim. Menurutnya lagi, contoh-contoh lain dalam Bible yang merujuk pada speech defect menggunakan perkataan safah atau ileg, dan bukan peh.


If, in fact, he had an uncircumcised lip, a physical malformation, he would be more easily recognized and identified. This might have been an added factor to his ready recognition as the one who had killed an Egyptian (Exodus 2:14). Even a moustache and beard might not have adequately hidden an oral deformity.

Why did Moses not function as high priest? He was de facto high priest at the time when the tabernacle was in the wilderness. He was in and out of this sacred structure, communing with God. Yet Aaron became high priest. Was this out of respect for the older Aaron or was there some other reason? Persons with physical defects don't lend themselves as suitable spokesmen for deity and ritual. The Israelites promulgated a law forbidding high priesthood to ablemished individual (Leviticus 21:16f). Did Moses have a physical blemish?

Moses was hidden for 3 months (Exodus 2:2), supposedly because of a murderous edict by Pharaoh.- But the older Aaron (Exodus 7:7) wasn't hidden.

Furthermore, such an edict, to be effective, would have been promulgated against newborn girls. In any event there is no textual record of other newborn Israelites being drowned; quite the reverse (Exodus 10:2,9). Only Moses was secreted away; why? Did his mother need to isolate-.him because of some specific difficulty? It would seem so. The Hebrew text says that after his birth vatereh oto ki tov hu, commonly translated as 'and she saw that he was a fine (or goodly) child or something similar. This is invariably interpreted as referring to his pleasing appearance or sunny disposition (eg as noted in the Talmud, Sotah 12a, an opinion predating the 5th century, or as noted by the justly famed 11th century French-Jewish biblical commentator best known by his acronym, Rashi).
Dan beberapa hujah lain yang membawa Levin pada spekulasi yang megatakan Moses adalah sumbing. Sahabat-sahabat boleh baca dalam pdf di link ini: Journal of the Royal Soceity Medicine

Tetapi,  bukankah antara syarat nabi antaranya ialah lelaki, sempurna (tidak cacat), dan lain-lain... betulkan?
Jadikan post ini sekadar bacaan, dan tengok macam mana Levin ini boleh tafsirkan ayat-ayat di atas sedemikan rupa..

*Yus, asalnya aku nak tulis ini dalam BUDAKMEDIK, tapi rasa macam tak sesuai. Post ini sendiri aku rasa macam tak patut.

1 comments:

Adam Lee said...

AMARAN! this is not Islamic point of view. this is not my stand. saya post sbb seronok tgk cara dia tafsirkan ayat2 tersebut.

saya sendiri tidak pandai cakap in public. sedangkan saya, umat Muhammad yg mahir dgn bahasa... sebab itu mukjizat Rasulullah adalah Quran.