A Comparative Look at the Prophet Mose's (a. s.) Request to Have Visitation with God in the Quran and the Old Testament

One of the complicated verses of the Quran is the verse which refers to the Prophet Moses'' (a. s.) request to have visitation with God (see al-A''raf، 143). The idea of an Arch prophet''s having such an experience is among the challenging issues in monotheistic debates. Has the Prophet Moses really had such a request from God? If so، has he managed to fulfill it? The above-mentioned verse is one of the reasons given by the Sunni Asharites and Karamites to substantiate visitation with God. Although the scholars of these schools do not have a common conception about visitation with God، the existence of such a verse in the Quran makes them insist on the issue of visitation with God. In contrast، the Shiites and Mu''tazilites reject the incarnation theory. Some commentators agree with latter two schools، although they believe that the Quranic expression `Oh Moses you cannot (bear to) see me'' is not related to the Hereafter. Nonetheless، similar to the Quran، the Old Testament - which includes equivocal verses - declines corporeality of God in some expressions while it verifies incarnation theory and humanization of God in some others. In this paper، following a comparative study between Islam and Judaism، an attempt is made to answer the question raised here enumerating transcendence and allegorical verses of the Quran and the Old Testament on the basis of the reactions of commentators from both religions.