Haman and the Claim of Anachronism in the Quran

Opponents of the Holy Quran have attempted to identify the holy Quran as a product of human mind and borrowed from earlier sources. The hypothesis of the Quran being borrowed from the scriptures of earlier religions has been one of the fields of study of orientalists. In addition to this accusation, they have sometimes accused the holy prophet of anachronism. The story of Haman is an example of this category. The pretenders of the anachronism of the Quran hold that the holy prophet mistook Haman, the vizier ofAhasuerus, for the vizier of Pharaoh, the contemporary of Moses, due to isunderstanding Jewish sources. This hypothesis is rejected based on certain definitive arguments. A large number of researchers have considered the Book of Esther raising the issue of Haman being the vizier of Ahasuerus as a mythical work. On the other hand, the Quranic report on Haman is not in conflict with historical facts. Rather, archeological researches made by orientalists themselves give adequate evidence that verify Haman as ahistorical figure belonging to the court of Pharaoh at the time of Moses.