MUHAMMAD THE BORROWER
by Silas
INTRODUCTION
Since Islam began people have
charged Muhammad with borrowing stories and religious material from other
religions and repeating them as the Quran.
Muhammad's contemporaries had heard those stories before and voiced that
Muhammad was repeating them. The
exposure of Muhammad's borrowing continues to this day. Modern Islamic scholars continue the
assertion. These scholars come from
Atheist, Jewish, Christian, and even Muslim backgrounds. They've all agreed that Muhammad borrowed
religious material. A moderate
selection of quotes from about a dozen scholars is presented at the end.
Specifically, scholars assert that
primarily Muhammad borrowed from Judaism and Christianity. He also borrowed from Arabic paganism. They add that he injected quite a bit of his
own concepts, desires, and philosophy, into the Quran.
On the other hand fundamentalist
Muslims claim, as Muhammad claimed, that he received pure revelations from a
spirit he identified as the angel "Gabriel". They believe that this spirit,
"Gabriel" had previously received these words from God and repeated
them to Muhammad. Muhammad then recited
them as the Quran.
Interestingly, the Quran records
this charge of borrowing leveled against Muhammad by his contemporaries:
Quran
25:5
And
they say: "Tales of the ancients,
which he has caused to be written: and they are dictated before him morning and
evening."
Quran
16:103-104
"We
know indeed that they say "It is a man that teaches him." The tongue
of him they wickedly point to is notable foreign while this is Arabic pure and
clear. Those who believe not in the
Signs of Allah, Allah will not guide them and theirs will be a grievous
Penalty." (Yusef Ali's translation)
[1]
Why did Muhammad's contemporaries
say that Muhammad borrowed from other religions or fables? Why do today's scholars make the same exact
charge? What is the basis of their accusations
and statements? Do they have ground to
stand on? Or is it, as some
fundamentalist Muslims claim, a conspiracy to defraud Muhammad and Islam?
What is
at stake is this: if there is evidence
that Muhammad borrowed other religious material the Quran would be invalidated
as being pure revelation from God.
Wouldn't that make the Quran a deception and Muhammad an impostor?
I'll point out that when Muhammad
first encountered this "spirit", the experience drove him to attempt
suicide. Oddly enough, it was this same
spirit that prevented him from killing himself. See the webpages related to Muhammad’s
Suicide Attempts, and Muhammad and the Demons,
for information on Muhammad's interaction with spirits.
What follows is the evidence of
Muhammad's borrowing. I will
"bring forth some proof", as Muslims say, and produce material in the
Quran that has been borrowed from other sources.
Let's start with two simple
cases: Muhammad borrowing from the
Jewish Mishnah concerning 1) Cain and Abel, and 2) Abraham. [27]
1) The Quran's story is found in Sura
5:27-32. Initially, the O.T. and Quran
basically agree on the narrative. In
verse 31, the two diverge.
"That
is why we laid it down for the Israelites that whoever killed a human being,
except as punishment for murder or other villainy in the land, shall be deemed
as though he had killed all mankind; and that whoever saved a human life shall
be deemed as though he had saved all mankind.".
Initially, there appears to be no
connection between verses 31 and 32.
Why the life or death of one should be as the salvation or destruction
of all mankind in not made clear in the Quran.
When we turn to another Jewish record - the
Mishnah Sanhedrin, we find the link between the story and what
follows:
"We find it said in the case of
Cain who murdered his brother, 'The voice of thy brother's bloods crieth' (Gen.
4:10). It is not said here blood in the
singular, but bloods in the plural, that is, his own blood and the blood of his
seed. Man was created single in order
to show that to him who kills a single individual it shall be reckoned that he
has slain the whole race, but to him who preserves the life of a single
individual it is counted that he hath preserved the whole race." Mishnah Sanhedrin, 4:5
Here in the Quran is a passage from
the Mishnah! The Mishnah is a Jewish
commentary on the Torah. How did a Rabbi's
commentary on the Torah make its way into the Quran? Simple, Muhammad had heard
these teachings from the Jews, and repeated them later as he recited "revelation".
Because the word for blood is in the
plural in Gen. 4:10, an ingenious Rabbi invented the supposition that all
Abel's offspring had been killed with him which signified that any murder or
life-saving act had universal implications.
Clearly Muhammad had no knowledge of the source of the theory set out in
the Mishnah but, in hearing it related, simply set out the Rabbi's suppositions
as the eternal decree of God! Now
today, some Jewish Rabbi's thoughts are quoted as revelation in the Quran!
This short piece clearly shows, in
one way at least, how Muhammad received "revelations". In this case, verbal stories told by the
Jews, and Muhammad's memory served him.
Here the Quran fails the test of authenticity; it owes much of its
substance to other faiths. For some reason
Muhammad decided to quote a Jewish story, feeling it has some important
meaning, and placed into the Quran.
Little did Muhammad know or really understand from what he was really
quoting.
NOTE: Dating of the Mishnah Sanhedrin is as
follows, from the Encyclopedia Judaica, 1996, Keter Publishing House Jerusalem
"Commitment to writing began
about the middle of the 3rd century CE with RAV (Abba Aricha) and Samuel and
was completed with the conclusion of the teaching of Ravina in 499 AD."
Likewise the "Introduction to
the Babylonian Talmud", Soncino Press edition by Dr. J.H. Hertz states
that the Babylonian Talmud
" Claims origins from the
Babylonian captivity proclaiming the religious and civil law fixed in 444 BEC
by Ezra the Sofer (The Biblical Ezra the Scribe) and finalized in 500 AD."
Both these
references state that the writing related to 5:32 predate Muhammad.
=============================================================
2) There is another passage in the Quran
that has its origins in the Mishnah.
This passage is Sura 21:51-71.
The Mishnah passage is found in Rabbah Genesis.
Here is the
Quranic story:
We formerly
bestowed guidance on Abraham, for We knew him well. He said to his father and to his people: "What are these images to which you are
so devoted?" They replied: "They are the gods our fathers
worshipped." He said: "Then you are your fathers are in the
grossest error." "Is this the
truth that you are preaching," they asked, "or is this but a
jest?" "Indeed," he
answered, "Your Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth. It was He that made them: to this I bear witness. By the Lord, I will overthrow your idols as
soon as you have turned your backs."
He broke them all in pieces, except their supreme god, so that they
might return to him. "Who has done
this to our deities?" asked some.
"He must surely be a wicked man." Others replied: "We
have heard a youth called Abraham speak of them." They said:
"then bring him here in sight of all the people, that they may act
as witnesses."
"Abraham," they said, "was it you who did this to our
deities?" "No," he
replied. "It was their chief who
smote them. Ask them, if they can
speak." Thereupon they turned
their thoughts upon themselves and said to each other: "Surely you are the ones who have done
wrong." [Confounded as they were,
they said to Abraham:] "You know
they cannot speak." He
answered: "Would you then worship
that, instead of God, which can neither help nor harm you? Shame on you and on your idols! Have you no sense?" They cried:
"Burn him and avenge your gods, if you must punish him!" "Fire," We said, "be cool to
Abraham and keep him safe."
Here is the quote from the Mishnah Rabbah, Genesis (Noach) (CH
38:11-13) Vol. 1, pp. 310 -311, Soncino Edition, Soncino Press London, Editors
Dr H Freedman and Maurice Simon. [28]
13.
AND HARAN DIED IN THE PRESENCE OF HIS FATHER TERAH (XI,28). R Hiyya said: Terah was a manufacturer of
idols. He once went away somewhere and
left Abraham to sell them in his place.
A man came and wished to buy one.
'How old are you?' Abraham asked him 'Fifty years' was the reply 'Woe to
such a man!' he exclaimed. 'You are fifty years old and would worship a day old
object!' At this he became ashamed and
departed.
On
another occasion a woman came with a plateful of flour and requested him, 'Take
this and offer it to them.' So he took a stick and broke them and put the stick
in the hand of the largest. When his
father returned he demanded, 'What have you done to them?' 'I cannot concealed
it from you' he rejoined. "A woman came with a plateful of fine meal and
requested me to offer it to them. One
claimed 'I must eat first' while another claimed 'I must eat first'. Thereupon the largest arose, took the stick,
and broke them." 'Why do you make
sport of me' he cried out; 'have they any knowledge!' 'Should not your ears
listen to what your mouth is saying' he retorted. Thereupon he seized him and delivered him to Nimrod.
'Let
us worship fire' he (Nimrod) proposed.
'Let us rather worship water', which extinguishes the fire' replied
he. 'Then let us worship water!' ' Let us rather worship the clouds which
bear the water.' 'The let us worship
the clouds!' 'Let us rather worship the
winds which disperse the clouds' 'Let
us worship the wind!' 'Let us worship
human beings, who withstand the wind'
'You are just bandying words' he exclaimed; 'We will worship naught but
fire. Behold, I will cast you into it,
and let the God whom you adore come and save you from it.
Now
Haran was standing there undecided. If
Abram is victorious, (he thought), I will say that I am of Abram's belief,
while if Nimrod is victorious I will say that I am on Nimrod's side. When Abram descended into the fiery furnace
and was saved, he (Nimrod) asked him, 'of whose belief are you?' 'Of Abram's' he replied. Thereupon he seized and cast him into the
fire; his inwards were scorched and he died in his father's presence. Hence it is written, AND HARAN DIED IN THE
PRESENCE OF ('AL PENE) HIS FATHER TERAH.
COMMENT
It is clear that Muhammad borrowed from
Jewish legend. He added a few
details, just as all story-tellers do, to embellish the story according to his
needs or fancies. Also notice that
although the Quran does not name Nimrod as the king, as the Mishnah does, the
Islamic historian Tabari refers to this incident and names him. On page 59 of volume 4,: "god moved Nebuchadnezzarb. Nabuzeradan
b. Sennacherib b. Darius b. Nimrod (the one who disputed with Abraham
concerning his Lord)...[29]
NOTES
1) The Rabbis translate ''Al Pene' 'Because of'
: He died because his father manufactured idols.
==========================================================
THE
QURAN AND THE NEW TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA
There are many quotes in the Quran
that come from New Testament Apocrypha.
I will not list all of the quotes because many of them are
repetitions. Also, there are many
references in the Quran to Christian themes, but they are redundant. Taken as a whole, there is a paucity of
detail in the Quran regarding Christian teachings. As Watt said earlier, Muhammad and the Quran lack an alarming
amount of actual detail with respect to Christianity.
That being
said, I will list a selection of the borrowed Christian themes found in the
Quran to demonstrate that Muhammad obtained some of his "Quran" from
Christians or those that had knowledge of general Christian themes as
documented and known by the church at that time (A.D. 610 - 632).
==============================================================
A From the Quran - Sura 19 -
"Mary", verses 28 - 33
Carrying the child, she came to her
people, who said to her: 'Mary, this is
indeed a strange thing! Sister of
Aaron, your father was never a whore-monger, nor was your mother a harlot.'
She made a sign to them, pointing to
the child. But they replied: 'How can we speak with a babe in the
cradle?'
Whereupon he spoke and said: 'I am the servant of God. He has given me the Book and ordained me a
prophet. His blessing is upon me
wherever I go, and He has exhorted me to be steadfast in prayer and to give
alms as long as I shall live. He has
exhorted me to honor my mother and has purged me of vanity and wickedness. Blessed was I on the day I was born, and
blessed I shall be on the day of my death and on the day I shall be raised to
life.' (Dawood's translation).
The source
of this story is "The Arabic Infancy Gospel". There exists a whole collection of stories
and fables classified as "Infancy Gospels". Later ones were based upon earlier ones. The Arabic Infancy Gospel is based upon
earlier Infancy Gospels were created from the second century onward. Here is the quote from The
Arabic Infancy Gospel:
"We
find what follows in the book of Joseph the high priest, who lived in the time
of Christ. Some say that he is Caiaphas.
He has said that Jesus spoke, and, indeed, when He was lying in His
cradle said to Mary His mother: I am Jesus, the Son of God, the Logos, whom
thou hast brought forth, as the Angel Gabriel announced to thee; and my Father
has sent me for the salvation of the world."
One scholar - J. K. Elliot writes
regarding the dating of the Arabic Infancy Gospel, in "The Apocryphal New
Testament", page 100:
"This is another collection of
material that has made use of the Protevangelium of James (PJ) and Infancy
Thomas. Chapters 1 - 10 are based up
PJ, and 36-55 shows many similarities with Thomas... In between (i.e. chapters 11-35) the author has drawn on a large
collection of fantasies, the origin of which is likely to be Egyptian.
"...the Arabic is likely to go
back to a Syrian archetype, which could be of he fifth - sixth
century." [30]
M. R. James in "The Apocryphal
New Testament", pub. by Oxford, writes on page 38 regarding "The
Protevangelium of James",
"Origen mentions the Book of
James as stating that the brethren of the Lord" were sons of Joseph by a
former wife. This is the first mention
of it and shows us that the book is as old as the second century." [31]
Regarding the composition date
of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, Helmut
Koester writes in "Ancient Christian Gospels" on page 311:
"That this writing existed in
some form in the 2nd century is not certain but also not improbable. [32]
And Elliot writes regarding the
"Infancy Gospel of Thomas",
"Wright's Syriac text is based
on a fifth century manuscript that is close to Greek A.
Hennecke writes in "New Testament Apocrypha", pub. by
Lutterworth, page 369:
"The basis of all the vast
later literature constituting the apocryphal infancy gospels is the so called
Protevangelium of James, probably of the 2nd century, particularly for the
birth, childhood and motherhood of Mary, and the Gospel of Thomas, not much
later in its original form, for the miracles of the child Jesus." [33]
Fables through time have changed,
and Muhammad repeated one of the variations of Jesus speaking in the
cradle. Thus the fable of Jesus
speaking in the cradle predates Islam.
The text of
the Arabic Infancy Gospel can be found at
http://wesley.nnc.edu.noncanon/gospels/infarab.htm
===========================================================
B From Sura 19 - Mary: verses 22 - 26
Thereupon she conceived him, and
retired to a far-off place. And when
she felt the throes of childbirth she lay down by the trunk of a palm-tree,
crying: 'Oh, would that I had died and
passed into oblivion!'
But a voice from below cried out to
her: 'Do not despair. Your Lord has provided a brook that runs at
your feet, and if you shake the trunk of this palm-tree it will drop fresh ripe
dates in your lap. Therefore eat and
drink and rejoice; and should you meet any mortal say to him: "I have vowed a fast to the Merciful
and will not speak with any man today."'
From
Sura 23 - The Believers, verse 50:
We made the son of Mary and his
mother a sign to mankind, and gave them a shelter on a peaceful hillside
watered by a fresh spring.
These
two verses relate to the birth of Jesus.
The parallel is found in "The Gospel of Pseudo Matthew", as
follows:
Now on the third day of their
journey, as they went on, it happened that blessed Mary was wearied by the too
great heat of the sun in the desert, and seeing a palm tree, she said to
Joseph: "I should like to rest a
little in the shade of this tree."
And Joseph led her quickly to the palm and let her dismount from her
animal . And when blessed Mary had sat
down she looked up at the top of the palm tree and saw that it was full of
fruits, and said to Joseph: "I
wish someone could fetch some of these fruits of the palm tree." And Joseph said to her: "I wonder that you say this; for you
see how high this palm tree is, and (I wonder ) that you even think about
eating of the fruits of the palm. I think rather of the lack of water, which
already fails us n the skins, and we have nothing with which we can re-fresh
ourselves and the animals."
Then the child Jesus, who was
sitting with a happy countenance in his mother's lap, said to the palm: "Bend down your branches, O Tree and
refresh my mother with your fruit."
And immediately at this command the palm bent its head down to the feet
of blessed Mary, and they gathered from it fruits with which they all refreshed
themselves.....Then Jesus said to it:
"Raise yourself, O palm .....and let the waters flow so that we may
quench our thirst from it." And
immediately it raised itself, and there began to gush out by its root a
fountain of water very clear, fresh and completely bright. [34]
The quote above is from "New
Testament Apocrypha", by E. Hennecke, edited by Schneemelcher, published
by WJKP, page 463.
The Gospel of Pseudo Matthew was
based upon earlier Apocryphyal Infancy Gospels, namely, the
"Protoevangelium of James" and "The Infancy Gospel of
Thomas". These two Infancy Gospels
form the basis for many other "Infancy Gospels".
M. R. James in "The Apocryphal
New Testament", pub. by Oxford, writes regarding the Pseudo Matthew, on
page 70
"The two main sources are the
Protevangelium (of James) and the (Infancy) Gospel of Thomas, but some few
episodes are not found in either.
Jacques Hervieux writes in "The
New Testament Apocrypha", published by Hawthorn Books, page 18:
"About the sixth century there
appeared in Latin a certain book on the birth of the Blessed Mary and of the
Savior's infancy. An introductory
letter presented this new work as a "supplement" to the Gospel of St.
Matthew, translated personally by St. Jerome the great fourth century
exegete."[35]
Elliot
writes in "The Apocryphal New Testament", page 86:
"In the Gelasian Decree, no. 8
refers to Evangelia nomine Jacobi mnoris, which Amann (p. 104) identifies with
PJ, but de Strycker (La Forme la plus ancienne..., p. 43 n. 1) raises the
possibility that this could b ePseudo-Matthew.
If so, then Pseudo-Mathew must have been composed before the compilation
of the Decree, and this would give it a date prior to the sixth century.
=============================================================
C From the Quran - Sura 3 - "The
Imrans:, verses 37 - 37
Remember the words of Imran's
wife. 'Lord,' she said, 'I dedicate to
Your service that which is in my womb.
Accept if from me. You alone
hear all and know all.'
And when she was delivered of the
child, she said: 'Lord, I have given birth to a daughter' - God well knew of
what she was delivered: the male is not
like the female - 'and have called her Mary.
Protect her and all her descendants from Satan, the Accursed One.'
Her Lord graciously accepted
her. He made her grow a goodly child
and entrusted her to the care of Zacharias.
Whenever Zacharias visited her in
the Shrine he found that she had food with her. 'Mary,' he said, 'where is this food from?'
'It is from God,' she answered. 'God gives without stint to whom He will.'
Here
is the story from "The Protevangelium of James".
And behold
an angel of the Lord came to her and said:
"Anna, Anna, the Lord has heard your prayer. You shall conceive and bear, and your
offspring shall be spoken of in the whole world." And Anna said: "As the Lord my God lives, if I bear a child, whether male
or female, I will bring it as a gift to the Lord my God, and it shall serve him
all the days of its life.".....
.....And
her six months were fulfilled, as the angel had said: in the seventh month Anna brought forth. And she said to the midwife: "What have I brought froth?" and the midwife said: "A female." And Anna said: "My soul is magnified this day." And she laid it down. And when the days were fulfilled, Anna
purified herself from her childbed and gave suck to the child, and called her
name Mary.....
.....When
she (Mary) was two years old, Joachim said to Anna: "Let us bring her up to the Temple of the Lord that we may
fulfill the promise which we made, lest the Lord send some evil upon us and our
gift become unacceptable." And
Anna replied let us wait until the third year that the child may not long after
her father and mother. And Joachim
said: "Very well."
And
when the child was three years old, Joachim said: "Let us ......in order that the child may not turn back and
her heart be enticed away from the Temple of the Lord." And he did so until they went up to the
Temple of the Lord. And the priest,
(Zacharias) took her and kissed her and blessed her, saying: "The Lord has magnified your name among
all generations; because of you the Lord at the end of the days will manifest
his redemption to the children of Israel.
.....And
Mary was in the Temple nurtured like a dove and received food from the hand of
an angel.
As was previously detailed, the PJ
was composed in the 2nd century, well before Muhammad was born. As a story, it circulated throughout the
Mideast, and was used as material for other story makers. Muhammad heard versions of this story and
repeated them as the Quran.
==============================================================
D From Sura 3 - The Imrans, verse 44
This is an account of a divine
secret. We reveal it to you. You were not present when they cast lots to
see which of them should have charge of Mary; nor were you present when they
argued about her.
From
"The History of Joseph the Carpenter", by From "The Apocryphal
New Testament, by Elliot, 114:
Mary was being brought up in the
Temple till she was twelve years old.
The priests decided to give her to a husband. The lot fell on Joseph.
A
similar story is found in another Infancy Gospel, the "The Nativity of Mary"
Now there was among the rest Joseph,
of the house and family of David, a man of great age: and when all brought
their rods, according to the order, he alone withheld his. Wherefore, when nothing in conformity with
the divine voice appeared, the high priest thought it necessary to consult God
a second time; and He answered, that of those who had been designated, he alone
to whom the virgin ought to be espoused had not brought his rod. Joseph, therefore,
was found out. For when he had brought his rod, and the dove came from heaven;
and settled upon the top of it, it clearly appeared to all that he was the man to whom
the virgin should be espoused.
The text of
"The Nativity of Mary" can be found at
http://wesley.nnc.edu.noncanon/gospels/natmary.htm
The text of
"The History of Joseph the Carpenter" can be found at
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0805.htm
===============================================================
E From Sura 3 - The Imrans, verse
49: (also refer to 5:110, 111)
.....He will say: "I bring you a sign from your
Lord. From clay I will make for you the
likeness of a bird. I shall breathe
into it and, by God's leave, it shall become a living bird.....
Here, from "The Infancy Gospel
of Thomas" is the source for the Quranic quote.
"The
child Jesus, when 5 years of age, was playing on the road by a dirty stream of
running water; and having brought it all together into ditches, immediately
made it pure and clean; by saying a single word. Then having moistened some earth, he made of it twelve
sparrows. And it was the Sabbath day
when he did these things. There were
many other children playing with him.
Now a Jew, seeing what Jesus did, that he was playing on the Sabbath
day, went his way to (Jesus') father Joseph.
He said, "Behold, your son is at the stream of dirty water, and
having taken up some mud, has made of it twelve sparrows, thus desecrating the
Sabbath. On this Joseph went to the
spot, and cried out, "Why did you do these things on the Sabbath day which
it is not lawful to do?" Jesus
then clapped his hands at the sparrows and cried aloud to them, "Go off!". So they, clucking, flew away. The Jews seeing it were astonished, and went
and told their rulers what they had seen Jesus do."
=========================================================
I've presented Quranic quotes from
both Jewish and Christian sources. As
was already stated, the Mishnah was composed before Muhammad's time I've also quoted from several New Testament
Apocrypha works that are dated well before the creation of Islam.
St. Clair Tisdall summed it up best
when he wrote: in "The Original Sources Of The Quran", published by
Society For The Promotion Of Christian Knowledge, London pages 210 - 211: 1905:
"From
the careful examination of the whole subject dealt with in this chapter (i.e.,
The Influence Of Christianity & Christian Apocryphal Books) we therefore
conclude that the influence of true and genuine Christian teaching upon the
Quran and upon Islam in general has been very slight indeed, while on the other
hand apocryphal traditions and in certain respects heretical doctrines have a
claim to be considered as forming one of the original sources of Muhammadan
faith. " [36]
===============================================================
A
WORD ABOUT THE NT APOCRYPHA "INFANCY GOSPELS"
Elliot writes in "The
Apocryphal Jesus", page 1:
"These second - third - century
inventions may be judged as crudely sensational, magical, or
superstitious. Little of this literature
maintains the restrained spirituality of the earlier writings that eventually
formed the New Testament. Nor do these
'popular' books match the highly intellectual theology of the church father's
treatises that are contemporaneous with them."
M.R. James
in "The Apocrypha New Testament", writes in his preface, pages xi -
xii:
"People may still be heard to
say, "After all, these Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, as you call them, are
just as interesting as the old ones. It
was only by accident or caprice that they were not put into the New
Testament." The best answer to
such loose talk has always been, and is now, to produce the writings and let
them tell their own story. It will very
quickly be seen that there is no question of any one's having excluded them from
the New Testament: they have done
that for themselves.
.....But the
authors do not speak with the voices of Paul or of John, or with the quiet
simplicity of the three first Gospels.
It is not unfair to say that when they attempt the former tone, they are
theatrical, and when they essay the latter, they are jejune."
Oscar Cullmann writes in "New
Testament Apocrypha", pages 416, 417:
"In the further development of
the birth and infancy stories in later days the narrative interests become
predominant, although theological interests are still present. The tendency to draw upon extraneous
legends, already discernible in the infancy narratives of Matthew and Luke, is
greatly increased. The further we move
in time from the beginnings, the more unrestrained becomes the application to
Jesus of what is recounted about the birth and infancy of sons of gods and
children of supernatural origin.... The formation of the canon, which took
place about the middle of the 2nd century, was able to check only to a slight
degree the legendary accretions which grew up around the childhood of Jesus,
..."
INFORMATION FROM ISLAMIC SOURCES
I've presented half a dozen cases or
so detailing the material Muhammad borrowed.
There is more, but for time and space, I have not presented a more
exhaustive account.
There is a very important point that
needs to be established: Muhammad's
contact with Christian and Jews or with people who were somewhat knowledgeable
about those religions. We have to
actually examine the source material.
The sources I will use are the Quran, Hadith, and Sirat (biographical
material). I will use Bukhari's and Abu
Dawud's Hadith, and the Sira of Ibn Ishaq (Sirat Rasulallah), and of Ibn Sa'd
(Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir).
Starting with the Quran itself, we
will see that there were people who had Jewish and Christian Scriptures with
them, and that Muhammad testified to their integrity. [Quotes are from N. J. Dawood's translation of the Quran]. [21]
PROOF FROM
THE QURAN THAT THERE WERE JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES IN EXISTENCE AND
IN THE HIJAZ DURING MUHAMMAD'S TIME.
In
the Quran, 3:48-50, the Scriptures are shown to be existing at Christ's birth:
"He (God) will instruct him
(Jesus) in the Scriptures and in wisdom, in the Torah and in the Gospel, and
send him forth as an apostle to the Israelites. He will say: "I
bring you a sign from your Lord. From
clay I will make for you the likeness of a bird. I shall breathe into it and, by God's leave, it shall become a
living bird. By God's leave I shall
heal the blind man and the leper, and raise the dead to life. I shall tell you what to eat and what to
store up in your houses. Surely that
will be a sign for you, if you are true believers. I come to confirm the Torah which preceded me and to make lawful
to you some of the things you were forbidden."
We see from this verse that not only
was God going to teach Jesus the Torah that existed in Jesus' time, but that
Jesus came to "confirm the Torah", and to "make lawful to you
some of the things they were forbidden".
Quran,
35:31: "What we have revealed to
you in the book is the truth confirming previous scriptures...."
Quran
10:37: "This Koran could not have
been devised by any but God. It
confirms what was revealed before it and fully explains the Scriptures..."
Likewise these verses show that the
Quran testifies to the integrity of the Jewish and Christian scriptures that
were in existence during Muhammad's time.
In the words of Dr. Campbell in
"The Quran and the Bible in the Light of History and Science", page
38:
"With
the other verses discussed above from this section they show that Muhammad
acknowledged the existence of a valid Torah and Gospel "under his
eyes" [22]
From
the Quran, 7:156, 157: "I will show
mercy to those that keep from evil and give alms, and to those that in our
signs believe; to those that shall follow the Apostle - the Unlettered Prophet
- whom they shall find described in the Torah and the Gospel."
3:78,
79: "And there are some among them
who twist their tongues when quoting the Scriptures, so that you may think that
what they say is from Scriptures, whereas it is not from the Scriptures. They say:
"This is from God," whereas it is not from God. Thus they knowingly ascribe a falsehood to
God.
No mortal to whom God has given the
Scriptures and whom He has endowed with judgment and prophethood would say to
men: "Worship me instead of
God." But rather: "Be devoted servants of God, for you
have studied and taught the Scriptures.""
3:93,
94: "All food was lawful to the
Israelites except what Israel forbade himself before the Torah was
revealed. Say: "Bring the Torah and read it, if what
you say is true.""
These Quranic verses substantiate
that the Jews and Christians had religious texts, i.e., what was believed to be
the Torah and the Gospel with them before Muhammad. In the Quran, Muhammad said to the Jews to read the Torah. Clearly, they would have to have the Torah
with them in order to read it.
Were the Torah or Gospel in
Arabic? They were, but, it really
didn’t matter. Since the Jews and
Christians knew some of their related teachings they could relate and teach their
stories to Muhammad, verbally, in Arabic, in order for him to understand
them.
There are many of other Quranic
verses I could quote from. Campbell's
book lists quite a number of them, but the few I've quoted are enough to show
that the Quran proves that there were the Torah and Gospel with the
"People of the Book", and that these people were in communication
with Muhammad.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PROOF FROM
THE HADITH THAT THERE WERE JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES IN EXISTENCE
AND IN THE HIJAZ DURING MUHAMMAD'S TIME.
In some cases I quote Hadith
partially. Several are very long and
much of their material has no bearing upon the topic.
Bukhari's
quotes are from Khan's translation.
[23]
Dawud's
quotes are from Hasan's translation.
[24]
From
Bukhari: 9.460: