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necturusSurat al-Baqarah speaks rather a lot of Banu Isra'il, sons of Israel. Since in Hebrew it is supposed to mean "he wrestles with God", the corresponding Arabic name ought to be based on sara`a, to throw down, or its derived form saara`a, to wrestle: "yasra`il", perhaps, or "yusari`il" instead of the meaningless "Isra'il". ` is `ayn, in Arabic a voiced pharyngeal fricative, whereas ' is a glottal stop; moreover, the s in Isra'il is sin, but the s in sara`a is sad.
There's no way this name got into the Qur'an from Hebrew.
The Sirat Rasul Allah and other biographical sources say there were three Jewish Arab tribes living in Medina in Muhammad's time: Banu Qaynuqa, Banu Qurayza, and Banu Nadir. Surely must have known how to pronounce "Israel".
Perhaps they weren't really Jews at all, or maybe they never existed.
There's no way this name got into the Qur'an from Hebrew.
The Sirat Rasul Allah and other biographical sources say there were three Jewish Arab tribes living in Medina in Muhammad's time: Banu Qaynuqa, Banu Qurayza, and Banu Nadir. Surely must have known how to pronounce "Israel".
Perhaps they weren't really Jews at all, or maybe they never existed.
