Thread by @NaqadStudies

Who was Uzair عُزَيْر of Surah At-Tawba 9:30? Though Uzair is absent in the hadith, tafsir concludes that this Uzair was the Israelite prophet Ezra.

But what does the cultural landscape of Late Antique Arabia have to say about a 'son of God' named Uzair? Let's have a look.

One problem in equating Uzair with Ezra (by interpreting the name as a diminutive and derogative form of ‘Azr) is that no Jewish literature or tradition exists that attests to Ezra’s divination.

Arye Olman's paper, “Uzair As a Son of Allah,” has a convincing suggestion for the identity of Uzair. This theory is based on existing Rabbinic tradition.

Olman suggests that Uzair is rather a distorted form of the name Uza.

Uza should not be confused with the goddess al-Uzza (Q 53:19-20) well known to Arabs as a female deity; she could not have been "the son of God” even though she is named the “daughter of Allah” in “satanic ayahs."

Here, Uza would be one of the Enochic fallen angels.

In 1924, Paul Casanova soon suggested that “the son of God” in Q 9:30 may mean one of the biblical “bene Elohim” (Gen 6, Ps 82 etc).

Phonetic transmutation ‘r-l’ led to a change from ‘Uziel to ‘Uzair.

The name Uza has many variants, including Uzu, Uzi, Aza, Azael, Uziel.

In Qumran text 4Q 180 I 7-10 (Commentary to The Book of Periods), Azael is pictured as the leader of fallen angels who started to “enter homes of the sons of men."

In 1 Enoch, Azael and his fall are mentioned in many passages, including 6:7, 8:1, 9:7, 10:5-8, 13:1, and 54:5.

Talmud sources and early midrashes (documented up to the 5th century CE, though some are probably earlier) also hint at these fallen angels.

It is known that r.Shimon bar Johai scolded those who talked about “gods' sons” when commenting on Genesis 6:1-4 (Bereshit Raba 26:5).

The Talmud teaches that a goat for Azael atones for the sins of Aza and Azael (Babylonian Talmud, Joma 67b).

According to Targum P. Jonathan to Genesis 6:4, “Azael was one of the ‘fallen from heaven’.”

"So how could (people of Enosh's generation) pull them (sun, moon and stars) down (from heaven)? It was 'Uza, 'Aza and 'Azael who taught them witchcraft so that the people could pull them (celestial bodies) from heaven and (celestial bodies) served their idols."
- 3 Enoch 5

“Can it be that God repented and grieved that he had made men, but he did not regret that he had created angels, sons of God and Azael? But know that both the former and the latter are called "human."

- commentary by Karaite Binyamin ben Moshe Nehavendi on Genesis

"Do not go astray because of what you have seen, as it is because of sight that one goes astray. So you can see that Uza and Uziel went astray because of what they had seen. As it was said: 'And sons of God saw human daughters.'”

- Kala Rabati 3:6

Hebrew midrash and Talmud sources of the pre-Quranic period frequently discussed whether it was theologically sound to refer to fallen Enochic and Gen 6 angels as “sons of God.”

It seems clear that this debate continued into 7th c Arab tradition.

For more info on this theory, please reade Olman's paper:

“'Uzair As a Son of Allah' – Understanding of One Accusation"

academia.edu/249840/_Uzair_…