Parallelism: Introduction - Revision history

Lightyears: Automated script replacing USC-MSA hadith numbering system for Bukhari, Muslim, and Abu Dawud

2025-11-12T20:57:55Z

Automated script replacing USC-MSA hadith numbering system for Bukhari, Muslim, and Abu Dawud

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Asmith at 04:56, 18 December 2024

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	This is an old stub article, the main article has been moved to [Parallels Between the Qur'an and Late Antique Judeo-Christian Literature], please do not make any edits here.		This is an old stub article, the main article has been moved to [[Parallels Between the Qur'an and Late Antique Judeo-Christian Literature]], please do not make any edits here.

	'''For the full article with many more examples than are included in this series, see''' {{Main\|Parallelism Between the Qur'an and Judeo-Christian Scriptures}}		'''For the full article with many more examples than are included in this series, see''' {{Main\|Parallelism Between the Qur'an and Judeo-Christian Scriptures}}

Asmith at 04:55, 18 December 2024

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	This is an old stub article, the main article has been moved to [Parallels Between the Qur'an and Late Antique Judeo-Christian Literature], please do not make any edits here.		This is an old stub article, the main article has been moved to [Parallels Between the Qur'an and Late Antique Judeo-Christian Literature], please do not make any edits here.

	For the full article with many more examples than are included in this series, see {{Main\|Parallelism Between the Qur'an and Judeo-Christian Scriptures}}		'''For the full article with many more examples than are included in this series, see''' {{Main\|Parallelism Between the Qur'an and Judeo-Christian Scriptures}}

	The similarities between the Qur'an and previous scriptures have been noted since the advent of Islam. The Judeo-Christian tales and their Qur'anic retellings, however, rarely match perfectly. A claim found in the Qur'an and other Islamic literature is that the Jews and Christians deliberately changed their scriptures to obscure the truth which is restored in the Qur'an. There is no documentary evidence in the textual traditions of those religions to support this claim, and since it would require a conspiracy of people across centuries and empires, speaking different languages and holding radically different beliefs, the claim itself is generally not taken seriously by modern scholars.		The similarities between the Qur'an and previous scriptures have been noted since the advent of Islam. The Judeo-Christian tales and their Qur'anic retellings, however, rarely match perfectly. A claim found in the Qur'an and other Islamic literature is that the Jews and Christians deliberately changed their scriptures to obscure the truth which is restored in the Qur'an. There is no documentary evidence in the textual traditions of those religions to support this claim, and since it would require a conspiracy of people across centuries and empires, speaking different languages and holding radically different beliefs, the claim itself is generally not taken seriously by modern scholars.

Asmith at 04:54, 18 December 2024

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			This is an old stub article, the main article has been moved to [Parallels Between the Qur'an and Late Antique Judeo-Christian Literature], please do not make any edits here.

	For the full article with many more examples than are included in this series, see {{Main\|Parallelism Between the Qur'an and Judeo-Christian Scriptures}}		For the full article with many more examples than are included in this series, see {{Main\|Parallelism Between the Qur'an and Judeo-Christian Scriptures}}

Plantfromabove: Reworked the references to make them more clearer and consistent.

2024-11-26T19:05:47Z

Reworked the references to make them more clearer and consistent.

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Lightyears at 21:58, 6 January 2023

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	As documented in detail in this series, a great number of non-Biblical stories in the Quran are now known to have antecendents in late antique Jewish and Christian apocrypha and exegesis. This is rather suggestive that all or almost all Quranic examples have such an origin. This conclusion would naturally extend to imply that Biblical stories were similarly circulating in the environment in which the Quranic materials were first composed.		As documented in detail in this series, a great number of non-Biblical stories in the Quran are now known to have antecendents in late antique Jewish and Christian apocrypha and exegesis. This is rather suggestive that all or almost all Quranic examples have such an origin. This conclusion would naturally extend to imply that Biblical stories were similarly circulating in the environment in which the Quranic materials were first composed.

	==~~=Corruption of the Previous Scriptures=~~==		==References==
	Similarities between the Qur'an and previous Abrahamic scriptures have been noticed since the inception of Islam. These Quranic narratives, however, often do not always follow their Judeo-Christian forebearers. Three possible explanations are usually offered for this:		{{reflist}}

	~~#The original Judeo-Christian scriptures have been corrupted (common Muslim apologetic claim).~~		{{pn\|next=Parallelism: Talking Baby Jesus\|nexttitle=Talking Baby Jesus}}
	~~#The Qur'an imperfectly borrowed from the Judeo-Christian scriptures and/or used extra-Biblical sources.~~		+
	~~#The Qur'an was corrupted.~~		[[Category:Jewish tradition]]
			[[Category:Christian tradition]]
	~~None~~ of the apocryphal and exegetical Judeo-Christian texts support the Muslim contention of corruption of the earlier Judeo-Christian scriptures. Such arguments fail to distinguish between between older mainstream texts and others which are self evidently late and whose development can be traced over the centuries leading up to Islam~~. Moreover, there do not exist any earlier Christian texts which accord with the orthodox Sunni Muslim view of Jesus and early Christianity.~~		[[Category:Criticism of Islam]]
			[[Category:Sacred history]]
	The charge of a scheme to corrupt the Christian and Jewish scriptures in just such a way as to hide the true versions of events, which are later correctly recounted in the Qur'an, would have required a conspiracy of hundreds of different individuals working across immense distances of time and space in different linguistic and religious traditions; it can be dismissed prima facia as a groundless conspiracy theory.

	The parallelism however, between the Qur'an and late antique Judeo-Christian literature is undeniable. These parallelisms are either apocryphal, heretical, commentaries by religious figures, or mere folk tales. As such, and even on the basis of evidence in the Islamic tradition itself, the parallelisms between the Qur'an and Judeao-Christian seem to stem not from divine revelation, but from mundane religious contact.

Lightyears at 21:16, 6 January 2023

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			{{parallelism_qjcs}}
	For the full article with many more examples than are included in this series, see {{Main\|Parallelism Between the Qur'an and Judeo-Christian Scriptures}}		For the full article with many more examples than are included in this series, see {{Main\|Parallelism Between the Qur'an and Judeo-Christian Scriptures}}

Lightyears at 21:15, 6 January 2023

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	For the full article with many more examples than are included in this series, see {{Main\|Parallelism Between the Qur~~%27an~~ and Judeo-Christian Scriptures}}		For the full article with many more examples than are included in this series, see {{Main\|Parallelism Between the Qur'an and Judeo-Christian Scriptures}}

	The similarities between the Qur'an and previous scriptures have been noted since the advent of Islam. The Judeo-Christian tales and their Qur'anic retellings, however, rarely match perfectly. A claim found in the Qur'an and other Islamic literature is that the Jews and Christians deliberately changed their scriptures to obscure the truth which is restored in the Qur'an. There is no documentary evidence in the textual traditions of those religions to support this claim, and since it would require a conspiracy of people across centuries and empires, speaking different languages and holding radically different beliefs, the claim itself is generally not taken seriously by modern scholars.		The similarities between the Qur'an and previous scriptures have been noted since the advent of Islam. The Judeo-Christian tales and their Qur'anic retellings, however, rarely match perfectly. A claim found in the Qur'an and other Islamic literature is that the Jews and Christians deliberately changed their scriptures to obscure the truth which is restored in the Qur'an. There is no documentary evidence in the textual traditions of those religions to support this claim, and since it would require a conspiracy of people across centuries and empires, speaking different languages and holding radically different beliefs, the claim itself is generally not taken seriously by modern scholars.

Lightyears: Pasted from the rewritten and much more up to date Parallelism article

2023-01-06T21:04:53Z

Pasted from the rewritten and much more up to date Parallelism article

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	==Possible Channels for Knowledge Transfer==		==Possible Channels for Knowledge Transfer==

	There is a sahih hadith narrated from Abu Huraira that the Jews used to explain the Torah in Arabic to the Muslims {{Bukhari\|6\|60\|12}}, and the Quran itself (especially Surah Imran) is concerned that some people of the book were trying to lead the believers astray. Many academic scholars have further noticed that the eliptical and homiletic way many of the stories are told in the Quran indicates that their basic outlines must have been in circulation already, common knowledge to its listeners. Some even suspect that the stories were already circulating in Arabic.		There is a sahih hadith narrated from Abu Huraira that the Jews used to explain the Torah in Arabic to the Muslims {{Bukhari\|\|\|4485\|darussalam}}, and the Quran itself (especially Surah Imran) is concerned that some people of the book were trying to lead the believers astray. Many academic scholars have further noticed that the eliptical and homiletic way many of the stories are told in the Quran indicates that their basic outlines must have been in circulation already, common knowledge to its listeners. Some even suspect that the stories were already circulating in Arabic.

	Attributing vectors of transmission to individuals is a somewhat speculative endeavour, though there is significant evidence from the sahih hadiths that Muhammad initially converted to Abrahamic monotheism under the influence of a Hanif known as Zaid bin 'Amr bin Nufail. Meir Jacob Kister wrote a short academic article about this tradition. He quotes Alfred Guillaume who called it "a tradition of outstanding importance" as "it is the only extant evidence of the influence of a monotheist on Muhammad by way of admonition". Kister then details several versions of the tradition through different chains of narration (including in Sahih al-Bukhari, shown below), each of which convey the same essential message that Muhammad was converted to Abrahamic monotheism by Zayd, with minor differences. Commentators were very uncomfortable with the idea that Muhammad may have at one time eaten meat sacrificed to idols of even made such an offering himself. Kister considers the version which is most explicit on that point to be the earliest layer.<ref>Kister, M. J. (1970). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/613003 ‘A Bag of Meat’: A Study of an Early ‘Ḥadīth.] "Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies." 33(2), pp. 267–275.</ref>		Attributing vectors of transmission to individuals is a somewhat speculative endeavour, though there is significant evidence from the sahih hadiths that Muhammad initially converted to Abrahamic monotheism under the influence of a Hanif known as Zaid bin 'Amr bin Nufail. Meir Jacob Kister wrote a short academic article about this tradition. He quotes Alfred Guillaume who called it "a tradition of outstanding importance" as "it is the only extant evidence of the influence of a monotheist on Muhammad by way of admonition". Kister then details several versions of the tradition through different chains of narration (including in Sahih al-Bukhari, shown below), each of which convey the same essential message that Muhammad was converted to Abrahamic monotheism by Zayd, with minor differences. Commentators were very uncomfortable with the idea that Muhammad may have at one time eaten meat sacrificed to idols of even made such an offering himself. Kister considers the version which is most explicit on that point to be the earliest layer.<ref>Kister, M. J. (1970). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/613003 ‘A Bag of Meat’: A Study of an Early ‘Ḥadīth.] "Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies." 33(2), pp. 267–275.</ref>

	{{Quote\|{{Bukhari\|7\|67\|~~407~~}}\|Narrated 'Abdullah: Allah's Apostle said that he met Zaid bin 'Amr Nufail at a place near Baldah and this had happened before Allah's Apostle received the Divine Inspiration. Allah's Apostle presented a dish of meat (that had been offered to him by the pagans) to Zaid bin 'Amr, but Zaid refused to eat of it and then said (to the pagans), "I do not eat of what you slaughter on your stonealtars (Ansabs) nor do I eat except that on which Allah's Name has been mentioned on slaughtering."}}		{{Quote\|{{Bukhari\|\|\|5499\|darussalam}}\|Narrated 'Abdullah: Allah's Apostle said that he met Zaid bin 'Amr Nufail at a place near Baldah and this had happened before Allah's Apostle received the Divine Inspiration. Allah's Apostle presented a dish of meat (that had been offered to him by the pagans) to Zaid bin 'Amr, but Zaid refused to eat of it and then said (to the pagans), "I do not eat of what you slaughter on your stonealtars (Ansabs) nor do I eat except that on which Allah's Name has been mentioned on slaughtering."}}

	{{Quote\|{{Bukhari\|\|\|3826\|darussalam}}\|Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Umar: The Prophet met Zaid bin 'Amr bin Nufail in the bottom of (the valley of) Baldah before any Divine Inspiration came to the Prophet. A meal was presented to the Prophet but he refused to eat from it. (Then it was presented to Zaid) who said, "I do not eat anything which you slaughter in the name of your stone idols. I eat none but those things on which Allah's Name has been mentioned at the time of slaughtering." Zaid bin 'Amr used to criticize the way Quraish used to slaughter their animals, and used to say, "Allah has created the sheep and He has sent the water for it from the sky, and He has grown the grass for it from the earth; yet you slaughter it in other than the Name of Allah. He used to say so, for he rejected that practice and considered it as something abominable.}}		{{Quote\|{{Bukhari\|\|\|3826\|darussalam}}\|Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Umar: The Prophet met Zaid bin 'Amr bin Nufail in the bottom of (the valley of) Baldah before any Divine Inspiration came to the Prophet. A meal was presented to the Prophet but he refused to eat from it. (Then it was presented to Zaid) who said, "I do not eat anything which you slaughter in the name of your stone idols. I eat none but those things on which Allah's Name has been mentioned at the time of slaughtering." Zaid bin 'Amr used to criticize the way Quraish used to slaughter their animals, and used to say, "Allah has created the sheep and He has sent the water for it from the sky, and He has grown the grass for it from the earth; yet you slaughter it in other than the Name of Allah. He used to say so, for he rejected that practice and considered it as something abominable.}}
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	Then there is this sahih hadith that specifically informs us that Muhammad learned from a Christian:		Then there is this sahih hadith that specifically informs us that Muhammad learned from a Christian:

	{{Quote\| {{Bukhari\|4\|56\|~~814~~}}\| Narrated Anas: There was a Christian who embraced Islam and read Surat-al-Baqara and Al-Imran, and he used to write (the revelations) for the Prophet. Later on he returned to Christianity again and he used to say: "Muhammad knows nothing but what I have written for him." … }}		{{Quote\| {{Bukhari\|\|\|3617\|darussalam}}\| Narrated Anas: There was a Christian who embraced Islam and read Surat-al-Baqara and Al-Imran, and he used to write (the revelations) for the Prophet. Later on he returned to Christianity again and he used to say: "Muhammad knows nothing but what I have written for him." … }}

	This Christian who taught Muhammad is not named in the sahih hadiths. However, Ibn Warraq, citing Waqidi, names him as ibn Qumta.		This Christian who taught Muhammad is not named in the sahih hadiths. However, Ibn Warraq, citing Waqidi, names him as ibn Qumta.
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	In short, verse {{Quran\|16\|103-104}} is nothing more than the Qur'an's attempt to answer the charge that he learned the Jewish/Christian religion from a foreigner (very possibly Jabr). He was the Muslim who first came up with the excuse that the similarities between the Judeo-Christian religion and the Qur'an are due to the three scriptures sharing the same source, which he named as Allah.		In short, verse {{Quran\|16\|103-104}} is nothing more than the Qur'an's attempt to answer the charge that he learned the Jewish/Christian religion from a foreigner (very possibly Jabr). He was the Muslim who first came up with the excuse that the similarities between the Judeo-Christian religion and the Qur'an are due to the three scriptures sharing the same source, which he named as Allah.

	Thus, beyond what seems to have been a general circulation of Judeo-Christian stories (and the Quran attesting the presence of and complaining about the people of the book), there are various individuals from whom Muhammad may have heard these tales, beginning with Zaid bin 'Amr bin Nufail and from Waraqa bin Naufal bin Asad bin 'Abdul 'Uzza, to Jabr and the un-named Christian of {{Bukhari\|4\|56\|~~814~~}}.		Thus, beyond what seems to have been a general circulation of Judeo-Christian stories (and the Quran attesting the presence of and complaining about the people of the book), there are various individuals from whom Muhammad may have heard these tales, beginning with Zaid bin 'Amr bin Nufail and from Waraqa bin Naufal bin Asad bin 'Abdul 'Uzza, to Jabr and the un-named Christian of {{Bukhari\|\|\|3617\|darussalam}}.

	====Muslim Views====		====Muslim Views====
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	'''''2. There was no center of Judaism and/or Christianity in Mecca or the Hijaz in Muhammad’s time.'''''		'''''2. There was no center of Judaism and/or Christianity in Mecca or the Hijaz in Muhammad’s time.'''''

	As the Islamic literature itself shows Muhammad was accused of repeating ‘tales of the ancients’ from individual Jews and Christians, some of whom we may know by name, there is no need for Muhammad to learn from centers of Judaism or Christianity. Surah Imran is in large part concerned with people of the book leading the believers astray. However, whether or not there were any Christians proselytizing in Mecca or other localities is irrelevant: all it takes is one Christian individual (as in {{Bukhari\|4\|56\|~~814~~}}) for Muhammad to learn from. Moreover, modern scholarship has shown through inscriptions inter alia that the Arabian peninsula at the time of the prophet was thoroughly Christianized.		As the Islamic literature itself shows Muhammad was accused of repeating ‘tales of the ancients’ from individual Jews and Christians, some of whom we may know by name, there is no need for Muhammad to learn from centers of Judaism or Christianity. Surah Imran is in large part concerned with people of the book leading the believers astray. However, whether or not there were any Christians proselytizing in Mecca or other localities is irrelevant: all it takes is one Christian individual (as in {{Bukhari\|\|\|3617\|darussalam}}) for Muhammad to learn from. Moreover, modern scholarship has shown through inscriptions inter alia that the Arabian peninsula at the time of the prophet was thoroughly Christianized.

	'''''3. There is no evidence that Muhammad borrowed these tales even though there were Jews and Christians in the region.'''''		'''''3. There is no evidence that Muhammad borrowed these tales even though there were Jews and Christians in the region.'''''
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	\|"Layth Abu Sulaym alleged that they found a stone in the Kaba forty years before the prophet's mission, if what they say is true, containing the inscription "He that soweth good shall reap joy; he that soweth evil shall reap sorrow; can you do evil and be rewarded with good? Nay, as grapes cannot be gathered from thorns"}}		\|"Layth Abu Sulaym alleged that they found a stone in the Kaba forty years before the prophet's mission, if what they say is true, containing the inscription "He that soweth good shall reap joy; he that soweth evil shall reap sorrow; can you do evil and be rewarded with good? Nay, as grapes cannot be gathered from thorns"}}

	There were also eye-witness reports that figures of Mary and Jesus were in the Kaaba narrated from Muslims who died in the early 2nd century.<ref>See this [https://twitter.com/shahanSean/status/1546629237053988867 Twitter thread] by Professor Sean Anthony - 11 July 2022</ref> Even according to a hadith, the Ka’aba may have contained pictures of Abraham and Mary (similarly, see {{Bukhari\|4\|55\|~~571~~}}):		There were also eye-witness reports that figures of Mary and Jesus were in the Kaaba narrated from Muslims who died in the early 2nd century.<ref>See this [https://twitter.com/shahanSean/status/1546629237053988867 Twitter thread] by Professor Sean Anthony - 11 July 2022</ref> Even according to a hadith, the Ka’aba may have contained pictures of Abraham and Mary (similarly, see {{Bukhari\|\|\|3352\|darussalam}}):

	{{Quote\|{{Bukhari\|4\|55\|~~570~~}}\|Narrated Ibn Abbas: The Prophet entered the Ka'ba and found in it the pictures of (Prophet) Abraham and Mary. On that he said' "What is the matter with them ( i.e. Quraish)? They have already heard that angels do not enter a house in which there are pictures; yet this is the picture of Abraham. And why is he depicted as practicing divination by arrows?"}}		{{Quote\|{{Bukhari\|\|\|3351\|darussalam}}\|Narrated Ibn Abbas: The Prophet entered the Ka'ba and found in it the pictures of (Prophet) Abraham and Mary. On that he said' "What is the matter with them ( i.e. Quraish)? They have already heard that angels do not enter a house in which there are pictures; yet this is the picture of Abraham. And why is he depicted as practicing divination by arrows?"}}

	It seem to be the case that, in actuality, there were Jews elsewhere outside of Yathrib and surrounding areas of Northern Hijaz. So far, there is limited evidence of a small number of Christians present in Mecca.<ref>See this [https://twitter.com/shahanSean/status/1546498794967154695 Twitter.com] thread involving Professor Sean Anthony - 11 July 2022</ref>		It seem to be the case that, in actuality, there were Jews elsewhere outside of Yathrib and surrounding areas of Northern Hijaz. So far, there is limited evidence of a small number of Christians present in Mecca.<ref>See this [https://twitter.com/shahanSean/status/1546498794967154695 Twitter.com] thread involving Professor Sean Anthony - 11 July 2022</ref>