Who is Shuaib?
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I got this comment from a Christian friend working at the Answering-Islam team, I can't seem to make a rebuttal, could any of you help me? Here it is
Haman, Lokman (Aesop or Ahikar), Shuaib, Idris (Enoch, Hermes Trismegistus, Osiris, Esdras, Mercury, Buddha, Elijah and Idris just being Idris), Hud, Salih, Dhul-Kifl (Ezekiel, Isaiah, Joshua, Obadiah and even Buddha!), Uzair, Khidr, Asiya and Dhul-Qarnayn (Alexander the Great, Solomon and Cyrus the Great) are just a few of the many figures in the Quran absent from the other scriptures, such as the Hebrew Bible or New Testament.
As you can see, many have tried to identify them with numerous of different personalities, without luck. To think any of these figures are any of the above in parentheses is, however, still pure speculation - albeit Lokman being Aesop (or vice versa), Idris being Elijah, Dhul-Kifl being Buddha, Dhul-Qarnayn being Alexander the Great are all the most likely identifications.
Hud and Salih have been proven to be Arabian prophets with pre-Islamic origins and certain evidence support the narrative in the Quran about the two figures - this gives Muslims a justification to think of them as historical figures, which they may very well have been.
This still leaves us with Haman, Shuaib, Uzair, Khidr and Asiya.
Fortunately, the Answering-Islam team have already addressed Haman, Uzair and Asiya.
This, then, leaves us with two Shuaib and Khidr.
Khidr is thought to be a popular figure in Muslim mythology. He is implicitly mentioned in the Quran as a servant of God (1862-1882), from thereon he has been attributed several of parables and fables in later time, he was titled for an unknown reason "Khidr" (meaning "Green One" or "Green Man" and is an idol for various sects of Islam.
He is also used as a unity-figure to unite and call Hindus and other mystics to Islam due to Khidr's mystical and spiritual nature as a being to proselytize other forms of gentiles than the usual Christian and Jew, where Abraham and Jesus are used as unity-figures respectively.
Each sect of Islam have a different view on him, the Shia sect identifies al-Khidr as one whom will accompany the hidden messianic figure, Imam Mahdi. The Ahmadiyya identifies al-Khidr to be the symbolic representation of Muhammad himself. The Sufi sect identifies al-Khidr to be a mystical, ascetic philosopher chosen to be a prophet for the Sufis, adherents of an esoteric Islam - he is regarded as "the mysterious prophet, the wanderer, the sage who came to know God."
It is likely, albeit speculative, to say he was a legend from pre-Islamic origin incorporated into Islamic faith and identified as the sage in the Quran by later Muslims due to their great devotion to this special figure when they were Pagans. The original figure in the Quran may not even be the same as the one that we today know as al-Khidr from the Muslim traditions.
Shuaib is the namesake of this article, this figure is another one absent from the Jewish or Christian sources, he is only mentioned in the Quran. The Quran mentions him 10 times, according to the Quran, he used to preach in Madyan and then went to a people whom used to worship a tree. The tribes dismissed his call to monotheism and they were then destroyed. His story is a parallel to that of Noah, Hud, Salih and Lot.
He has been identified with the Biblical Jethro, but that is a flawed identification. Aside from having no similarity in their names, there are also chronological differences. Classical commentators, such as ibn Kathir, say Shuaib prophesied four generations from Abraham.
Shuaib is believed to have been the son of Mikil, son of Issachar, son of Median, son of Abraham. Scholars who take this to be true believe that the identification with Jethro is, as a result, rendered irrelevant, as Jethro - who lived at the time of Moses - would have been active hundreds of years later.Therefore, it is now well-established that Shuaib is not Jethro.
Shuaib's tomb is in Israel and is a common pilgrimage for the Druze, another sect in the Islamic faith, but there is no solid evidence to prove that he is in fact buried there other than from mere traditions and legends.
In fact, Shuaib is a chief prophet for the Druze, yet, they admit that there is certainly nothing about him! Whether historically or religiously...It has been interpreted that Shuaib is an allegorical figure supposed to represent the ancient prophets whom had suffered same fate as he had, such as Lot, Noah and the others.
This means, from a non-Islamic and non-Baha'i view or other religious views regarding the Quran as divine and God's Scripture, that Shuaib is a fabrication by Muhammad!
Some Muslims have identified him with the Hindu Manu and Sumerian "Ziusudra!"
That is just a weak and miserable view when one cannot support the historicity for a figure from the flawless book, Quran.
The Muslim apologetics could argue with a fallacy -such as the tu quoque- however we would like to see Muslims actually address the argument of ours about Shuaib rather polemically than using red herrings to refute the claims we've made by dodging it.
We end this by saying that it's never too late to forsake blind faith and dogmatic superstition in believing figures, such as Shuaib and Uzair, as historically real with no substantial proof.
There is certainly nothing wrong with Shuaib being an allegorical figure or a fabrication made to the Quran, we will however ask Muslims to end this literal interpretation of the Quran, which will end the blind faith and ultimately result in an apostasy, or hopefully a liberal, reformed Islam.
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Peace Islamo-Aleikum,
This attack on al-quran is the logical fallacy of appeal to tradition, and is extremely easy to refute.
http//www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/appeal-to-tradition.html
Just because older scriptures/books/history do not mention Shuaib does not mean Shuaib did not exist or that existence of Shuaib is disproven. It is possible that a later book can mention a fact which has not been mentioned before. This does not mean that Shuaib actually existed or did not exist. All it means is you cannot use this argument to disprove existence of Shuaib.
May the infinite Creator guide us to the truth.
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Peace, truthseeker11.
Thank you and may God grant you a better understanding of Islam and perfect your path in Islam. Peace be on you.