Tisdall and his Claim of the Verses 27-32 of Sūrat al-Mā ida being Borrowed from Targum and Talmud

From the viewpoint of William Tisdall the dialogue between Abel and Cain in verses 27-32 of Sūrat al-Mā’ida has been stated in various ways in Jonathan and Jerusalem Targum. He also believes that the burial scene of Abel in the Qur’an is described in Pirke de Rabbi Eli’ezer’s book and verse 32 of Sūrat al-Mā’ida is almost a literal translation of a part of the Mishnah Sanhedrin’s text from Talmud. Organized in a descriptive-analytical method, the present article seeks to examine the exact dating of the above works followed by a critique and assessment of Tisdall’s perspective about the borrowing of the above-mentioned verses from the content of the above books. Studies indicate that the theory of the Prophet’s (S.A.W.) impressionability from Jewish teachers is an ill-considered and uncommon probability which suggests Tisdall’s lack of mastery of the Muslims’ narrative and historic texts. Similarly, the sources that he claims to have been the basis for the above verses have not been mooted in the time of the Prophet (S.A.W.) and dating of some of them is evidently baseless. In verse 23 of Sūrat al-Mā’ida, the Qur’an has stated a concept farther beyond, more general, and more profound than what Mishnah Sanhedrin has pointed out and does not correspond with Tisdall’s perspective.