after its death?’—so Allah caused him to die for one hundred years and then revived him” (Q. 2:259). They go on to assert that he was a prophet.

Nothing, however, substantiates either of these two claims; the matter must be investigated critically, both in negation and in affirmation. Should it turn out that this man was indeed a prophet whose name was ‘Uzayr, that would merely mean he happened to share the name of the person who compiled their Torah.

In sum, we—and every rational person—are certain that the Torah Allah sent down to His confidant Moses is completely free of such lies, impossibilities, and absurdities, just as we are certain that the prayer performed by Moses and the Children of Israel with him is free of what they recite in their prayers today (1). (For during the first ten days of Muharram each year they say in their worship) (2) a translated form of which is: “O our Father, rule over all the inhabitants of the earth, so that every living soul may proclaim: ‘Allah, the God of Israel, has taken the kingship; His kingdom rules over all.’” (3)

They also say in the same prayer: “The kingdom shall belong to Allah, and on that day Allah will be One and His name One” (4).

By this they mean that His sovereignty and His oneness will not be manifest until political power returns to them; as long as authority rests with others, they regard the Almighty as obscure among the nations, His oneness in doubt, His rule impugned.

It is categorically certain that Moses—and the Lord of Moses—is innocent of this prayer, innocent