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Document Details :

Title: Link between Joshua Bin Nun and 'Alī Ibn Abū Ṭālib
Author(s): SINDAWI, Khalid
Journal: Ancient Near Eastern Studies
Volume: 47    Date: 2010   
Pages: 305-321
DOI: 10.2143/ANES.47.0.2051629

Abstract :
This article deals with some aspects of the link between Joshua (Jeshua) Bin Nun and 'Alī Ibn 'Abū Ṭālib, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muḥammad, as reflected in the canonical writings of the Shī'a Islam, which include commentaries on the Qur'ān and the interpretations that proliferated around them, as well as Ḥadīth literature. The Shī'ite writers were influenced by the history of Joshua’s life and selected certain details from it for adaptation to the life of 'Alī Ibn 'Abū Ṭālib, clothing them in Shī'ite dress with the aim of giving 'Alī an aspect of holiness and also of showing that both 'Alī and Joshua belonged to those chosen men of high quality, and that the tradition of inheritor to the prophet has existed since ancient times, before the appearance of Shī'ism on the stage of history, so as to give legitimacy to the doctrine of inheritance among the Shī'a.

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