Another Quranic Blunder: Moses’ Leprous Hand

The Quran repeats the story of Moses' encounter with God, often with major verbal contradictions and variations, which includes the sign of Moses' hand turning white:

Then we raised after them Musa with Our communications to Firon and his chiefs, but they disbelieved in them; consider then what was the end of the mischief makers. And Musa said: O Firon! surely I am an apostle from the Lord of the worlds: (I am) worthy of not saying anything about Allah except the truth: I have come to you indeed with clear proof from your Lord, therefore send with me the children of Israel. He said: If you have come with a sign, then bring it, if you are of the truthful ones. So he threw his rod, then lo! it was a clear serpent. And he drew forth his hand, and lo! it was white to the beholders. S. 7:103-108 Shakir

And has the story of Musa come to you? When he saw fire, he said to his family: Stop, for surely I see a fire, haply I may bring to you therefrom a live coal or find a guidance at the fire. So when he came to it, a voice was uttered: O Musa: Surely I am your Lord, therefore put off your shoes; surely you are in the sacred valley, Tuwa, And I have chosen you, so listen to what is revealed: Surely I am Allah, there is no god but I, therefore serve Me and keep up prayer for My remembrance: Surely the hour is coming – I am about to make it manifest – so that every soul may be rewarded as it strives: Therefore let not him who believes not in it and follows his low desires turn you away from it so that you should perish; And what is this in your right hand, O Musa! He said: This is my staff: I recline on it and I beat the leaves with it to make them fall upon my sheep, and I have other uses for it. He said: Cast it down, O Musa! So he cast it down; and lo! it was a serpent running. He said: Take hold of it and fear not; We will restore it to its former state: And press your hand to your side, it shall come out white without evil: another sign: That We may show you of Our greater signs:

Go to Firon, surely he has exceeded all limits. He said: O my Lord! Expand my breast for me, And make my affair easy to me, And loose the knot from my tongue, (That) they may understand my word; And give to me an aider from my family: Haroun, my brother, Strengthen my back by him, And associate him (with me) in my affair, So that we should glorify Thee much, And remember Thee oft. Surely, Thou art seeing us. He said: You are indeed granted your petition, O Musa And certainly We bestowed on you a favor at another time; When We revealed to your mother what was revealed; Saying: Put him into a chest, then cast it down into the river, then the river shall throw him on the shore; there shall take him up one who is an enemy to Me and enemy to him, and I cast down upon you love from Me, and that you might be brought up before My eyes; When your sister went and said: Shall I direct you to one who will take charge of him? So We brought you back to your mother, that her eye might be cooled and she should not grieve and you killed a man, then We delivered you from the grief, and We tried you with (a severe) trying. Then you stayed for years among the people of Madyan; then you came hither as ordained, O Musa.

And I have chosen you for Myself: Go you and your brother with My communications and be not remiss in remembering Me; Go both to Firon, surely he has become inordinate; Then speak to him a gentle word haply he may mind or fear. Both said: O our Lord! Surely we fear that he may hasten to do evil to us or that he may become inordinate. He said: Fear not, surely I am with you both: I do hear and see. S. 20:9-46 Shakir

So when Musa had fulfilled the term, and he journeyed with his family, he perceived on this side of the mountain a fire. He said to his family: Wait, I have seen a fire, maybe I will bring to you from it some news or a brand of fire, so that you may warm yourselves. And when he came to it, a voice was uttered from the right side of the valley in the blessed spot of the bush, saying: O Musa! surely I am Allah, the Lord of the worlds. And saying: Cast down you staff. So when he saw it in motion as if it were a serpent, he turned back retreating, and did not return. O Musa! come forward and fear not; surely you are of those who are secure; Enter your hand into the opening of your bosom, it will come forth white without evil, and draw your hand to yourself to ward off fear: so these two shall be two arguments from your Lord to Firon and his chiefs, surely they are a transgressing people.

He said: My Lord! surely I killed one of them, so I fear lest they should slay me; And my brother, Haroun, he is more eloquent of tongue than I, therefore send him with me as an aider, verifying me: surely I fear that they would reject me. He said: We will strengthen your arm with your brother, and We will give you both an authority, so that they shall not reach you; (go) with Our signs; you two and those who follow you shall be uppermost. So when Musa came to them with Our clear signs, they said: This is nothing but forged enchantment, and we never heard of it amongst our fathers of old. S. 28:29-36 Shakir

Some Muslims have taken the aforementioned statements as an express rejection of the account in Exodus that Moses' hand was struck with leprosy and then restored. And yet herein lies the problem for the Muslims.

In another contradictory version of this same event, the author(s) and/or editor(s) of the Quran list the transformation of Moses’ hand as one of the nine signs or miracles that Allah did through him:

When Musa said to his family: Surely I see fire; I will bring to you from it some news, or I will bring to you therefrom a burning firebrand so that you may warm yourselves. So when he came to it a voice was uttered saying: Blessed is Whoever is IN the fire and whatever is about it; and glory be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds; O Musa! surely I am Allah, the Mighty, the Wise; And cast down your staff. So when he saw it in motion as if it were a serpent, he turned back retreating and did not return: O Musa! fear not; surely the apostles shall not fear in My presence; Neither he who has been unjust, then he does good instead after evil, for surely I am the Forgiving, the Merciful: And enter your hand into the opening of your bosom, it shall come forth white without evil; among nine signs to Firon and his people, surely they are a transgressing people. So when Our clear signs came to them, they said: This is clear enchantment. And they denied them unjustly and proudly while their soul had been convinced of them; consider, then how was the end of the mischief-makers. S. 27:7-14 Shakir

Note how other versions translate that specific part:

And put thy hand into the bosom of thy robe, it will come forth white but unhurt. (This will be one) among nine tokens unto Pharaoh and his people. Lo! they were ever evil-living folk. S. 27:12 Pickthall

"Now put thy hand into thy bosom, and it will come forth white without stain (or harm): (these are) among the nine Signs (thou wilt take) to Pharaoh and his people: for they are a people rebellious in transgression." Yusuf Ali

"And put your hand into your bosom, it will come forth white without hurt. (These are) among the nine signs (you will take) to Fir'aun (Pharaoh) and his people, they are a people who are the Fasiqun (rebellious, disobedient to Allah). Hilali-Khan  

And put thy hand into thy bosom; it will come forth white without evil. This is among the nine Signs unto Pharaoh and his people, for they are a rebellious people.' Sher Ali

"Put your hand in your pocket; it will come out white, without a blemish. These are among nine miracles to Pharaoh and his people, for they are wicked people." Khalifa

Thrust thy hand in thy bosom and it will come forth white without evil-among nine signs to Pharaoh and his people; they are an ungodly people.' Arberry

‘but put thy hand in thy bosom, it shall come forth white without hurt;- one of nine signs to Pharaoh and his people; verily, they are a people who act abominably.' Palmer  

“Put now thy hand into thy bosom: it shall come forth white, yet free from hurt: one of nine signs to Pharaoh and his people; for a perverse people are they." Rodwell

Moreover put thy hand into thy bosom; it shall come forth white, without hurt: [This shall be one] among the nine signs unto Pharaoh and his people; for they are a wicked people. Sale   

Elsewhere the Quran exhorts its readers/hearers to consult and ask the Jews concerning these nine specific miracles that Allah gave to Moses:

And certainly We gave Musa nine clear signs; so ask the children of Israel. When he came to them, Firon said to him: Most surely I deem you, O Musa, to be a man deprived of reason. He said: Truly you know that none but the Lord of the heavens and the earth has sent down these as clear proof and most surely I believe you, O Firon, to be given over to perdition. So he desired to destroy them out of the earth, but We drowned him and those with him all together; S. 17:101-103 Shakir

Here is how some of the many Muslim commentators and/or translators interpret this command. All emphasis will be mine:

Footnote: 120

I.e., of the present time. The whole phrase has this meaning: "Ask them about what the Qur'an tells us in this respect, and they will be bound to confirm it on the basis of their own scriptures." This "confirmation" apparently relates to what is said in verse {104}, explaining why the story of Moses and Pharaoh has been mentioned in the present context. (The story as such appears in greater detail in {7:103-137} and {20:49-79}.) (Muhammad Asad, The Message of the Quran: https://www.alim.org/translation/asad/17/)

(And verily We gave unto Moses nine tokens clear proofs (of Allah's Sovereignty)) nine clear signs: the hand, the staff, the flood, the locusts, the lice, blood, the years of drought and the disappearance of properties. (Do but ask the Children of Israel) 'Abdullah Ibn Salam and his followers (how he) Moses (came unto them, then Pharaoh said unto him: Lo! I deem thee one bewitched, O Moses) I think that you are possessed. (Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs: https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=73&tSoraNo=17&tAyahNo=101&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2)

Ibn Kathir embarrassingly lists a flood as among the nine signs sent down upon the Egyptians!

The Nine Signs of Musa

Allah tells us that He sent Musa with nine clear signs, which provided definitive proof that his prophethood was real and that what he was conveying from the One Who had sent him to Fira`wn was true. These clear signs were: his staff, his hand, the years of famine, the sea, the flood, the locusts, the lice, the frogs and the blood. This was the view of Ibn ` Abbas. Muhammad bin Ka` b said, "They were his hand and his staff, the five signs mentioned in Al-A'raf, and destruction of wealth and the rock.'' Ibn ` Abbas, Muj ahid, ` Ikrimah, Ash-Sha` bi and Qatadah said: "They are his hand, his staff, the years of famine, the failure of the crops, the flood, the locusts, the lice, the frogs and the blood.” (Tafsir Ibn Kathir: https://www.alim.org/quran/tafsir/ibn-kathir/surah/17/101/)

Apart from the Quran’s egregious blunder in respect to a flood being one of the plagues or signs, there is another problem facing the Muslims.

As Q. 17:101 shows, the Muslims are expressly told to consult the Israelites, i.e., the Jews, for verification of these nine signs. This means that the Bible is the standard by which to judge the veracity of the Quran in respect to the biblical material plagiarized therein. And yet this is the same Bible, which explicitly states that Moses’ hand became leprous:  

“Then Moses answered and said, ‘What if they will not believe me and will not listen to my voice? For they may say, “Yahweh has not appeared to you.”’ And Yahweh said to him, ‘What is this in your hand?’ And he said, ‘A staff.’ Then He said, ‘Throw it on the ground.’ So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. And Yahweh said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand and grasp it by its tail’—so he stretched out his hand and took hold of it, and it became a staff in his hand—‘that they may believe that Yahweh, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.’

^“And Yahweh furthermore said to him, ‘Now put your hand into your bosom.’ So he put his hand into his bosom; then he took it out, and behold, his hand was leprous like snow. Then He said, ‘Return your hand into your bosom.’ So he returned his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out of his bosom, behold, it returned to being like the rest of his flesh. And so it will be, if they will not believe you or listen to the witness of the first sign, they may believe the witness of this last sign. But if it will be that they will not believe even these two signs and that they will not listen to your voice, then you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry land; and the water which you take from the Nile will become blood on the dry land.’” Exodus 4:1-9

Therefore, if the Quran is contradicting the biblical narrative, then it is false and must be rejected according to its own exhortation to verify its statements in light of the revelation in the possession of the Jews and Christians:

But if you are in doubt as to what We have revealed to you, ask those who read the Book before you; certainly the truth has come to you from your Lord, therefore you should not be of the disputers. S. 10:94 Shakir

The only way around this is to make the Quranic statements harmonize with biblical teaching. As such, the Muslim must argue that the Quranic narrative is only emphasizing the fact that Moses’ hand became leprous in such a way as to cause him no harm. Therefore, Moses’ hand had the appearance of leprosy without actually being infected by the disease so as to not harm him.

Otherwise, the only option is to admit the Quran is wrong and must be rejected for contradicting the very Bible which it points to being the criterion and standard, which folks are to judge Muhammad by.

Further Reading

Qur'an Contradiction: A Flood in the time of Moses?

MOSES’ STAFF: ANOTHER QURANIC BLUNDER

Another Passage Which Exposes Muhammad’s Fraud: The Samaritan Who Didn’t Exist

The Garbled-Up Quran: Muhammad’s Confusion of Figures and Names

A Quran Blunder: The Days and Order of Creation

The Quran’s Manifold Blunders Pt. 1, Pt. 2,Appendices

ANOTHER QURANIC BLUNDER: JEWS WORSHIP OSIRIS?