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Parallels Between the Qur'an and Late Antique Judeo-Christian Literature: Difference between revisions

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Parallels Between the Qur'an and Late Antique Judeo-Christian Literature (view source)

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{{Quote|{{Quran-range|16|101|104}}| When We exchange a verse for another and Allah knows best what He is sending down they say: 'You are but a forger. 'No, most of them do not know. Say: 'The Holy Spirit (Gabriel) brought it down from your Lord in truth to confirm those who believe, and to give guidance and glad tidings to those who surrender. 'We know very well that they say: 'A mortal teaches him. 'The tongue of him at whom they hint is a nonArab; and this is a clear Arabic tongue. Those who disbelieve in the verses of Allah, Allah does not guide them for them is a painful punishment.}}
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|16|101|104}}| When We exchange a verse for another and Allah knows best what He is sending down they say: 'You are but a forger. 'No, most of them do not know. Say: 'The Holy Spirit (Gabriel) brought it down from your Lord in truth to confirm those who believe, and to give guidance and glad tidings to those who surrender. 'We know very well that they say: 'A mortal teaches him. 'The tongue of him at whom they hint is a nonArab; and this is a clear Arabic tongue. Those who disbelieve in the verses of Allah, Allah does not guide them for them is a painful punishment.}}


The evidence is that Quranic tales were already familiar to its critics. That at least some of these ''tales of the ancients'' were Judeo-Christian tales and not that of the fanciful Quranic “Arabic/Arabized” fairy-tales of Jinns, Houris and the like is apparent from the context of these verses, particularly those doubters who at the same time dismissed the idea of resurrection, and the charge that another nation had supplied these tales (meaning the Jews and possibly also Sabeans and Christians--nations such as the Byzantine Empire at the time were associated with certain religions such as Chalcedonian Christianity).  
The evidence is that Quranic tales were already familiar to its critics. That at least some of these ''tales of the ancients'' were Judeo-Christian tales and not the fanciful Quranic “Arabic/Arabized” fairy-tales of Jinns, Houris and the like is apparent from the context of these verses, particularly those doubters who at the same time dismissed the idea of resurrection. This is also evident from the charge that another nation had supplied these tales (meaning the Jews and possibly also Sabeans and Christians - nations such as the Byzantine Empire at the time were associated with certain religions such as Chalcedonian Christianity).  


==Possible Channels and Circulation of Stories==
==Possible Channels and Circulation of Stories==


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.
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 also a hadith narrated from Abu Huraira that the Jews used to explain the Torah in Arabic to the Muslims ({{Bukhari|6|60|12}}).


===Syriac Christian missionary activity===
Julien Decharneux, an academic scholar who specialises in Syriac traditions and the Quran, proposes that the Quranic author(s) came into contact with East Syriac Christian preachers or missionaries rather than direct accessing Christian texts. In his book ''Creation and Contemplation: The Cosmology of the Qur'ān and Its Late Antique Background'', Decharneux explains that the repetoire of texts that would have contributed to the thought of a "standard Christian preacher" at the turn of the 7th century would vary depending on church affiliation, "but it involves among other things the Bible, apocryphal texts, exegetical commentaries, and ascetic literature. These types of texts were not ''occasionally'' read. The sources attest that they were ''omnipresent'' in the Christian scholastic and monastic life from where a 'standard preacher' would have come". Indeed, he adds, "both Syriac ''and'' Greek exegetes were extremely popular".<ref>Julien Decharneux (2023) "Creation and Contemplation: The Cosmology of the Qur'ān and Its Late Antique Background", Berlin/Boston: DeGruyter, pp. 10-11</ref>
Decharneux further writes regarding missionary activity in the vicinity of Arabia:
{{Quote|Julien Decharneux (2023) "Creation and Contemplation", p. 252|The Church of the East was particarly active from this point of view with far-reaching missionary activites in the south-eastern part of the Asian world. At the time of the emergence of the Qurʾān, both the Syro-Orthodox Church and the Church of the East were already exerting their influence on the south of the Arabian Peninsula, as the records show. Most importantly, the Church of the East was established on both sides of the Persian Gulf. From the end of the 4th century at least, Christian communities had settled in the region called Beth Qatraye, covering a large zone of the eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula. Recent archaeology shows that several monasteries existed along the coast and in the islands of the Persian Gulf. We know that these communities were connected with the regions of Sinai and the Byzantine world particularly. Some of the writings emanating from these circles were also translated in Sogdian, Ethiopic, and Arabic from the 7th century onwards.}}
===Zaid bin 'Amr===
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. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/613003 ‘A Bag of Meat’: A Study of an Early ‘Ḥadīth.’] Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, vol. 33, no. 2, 1970, pp. 267–75</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. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/613003 ‘A Bag of Meat’: A Study of an Early ‘Ḥadīth.’] Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, vol. 33, no. 2, 1970, pp. 267–75</ref>


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Even the Muslim method of prayer may have originated from Zaid, as Ibn Ishaq wrote that he prayed by prostration on the palm of his hands.<ref>Guillaume, A., The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah. Oxford University Press, London: Oxford University Press, 1955, p. 100</ref>
Even the Muslim method of prayer may have originated from Zaid, as Ibn Ishaq wrote that he prayed by prostration on the palm of his hands.<ref>Guillaume, A., The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah. Oxford University Press, London: Oxford University Press, 1955, p. 100</ref>


The non-Arab who was accused of teaching Muhammad the Qur'an ({{Quran-range|16|101|104}}) is not mentioned by name, but there are many candidates in the sira.  
===The alleged informant mentioned in Quran 16:101-4===
The non-Arab who was accused of teaching Muhammad the Qur'an ({{Quran-range|16|101|104}}, quoted above) is not mentioned by name, but there are many candidates in the sira.  


According to Professor Sean Anthony, from the ninth century Christian polemics attributed Muhammad's religious knowledge to his trading travels outside Arabia. In the eight century, Christian writers said Muhammad reputedly learned from an Arian monk (an archetypal heresy at that time), or a Syriac Christian monk known as Sergius Bḥyrʾ. The second word Bḥyrʾ was a monastic title meaning tested / elected / renowned, but in later writings was treated as a personal name, Bahira, and legends about him were subsequently picked up by Muslim writers.<ref>Sean Anthony, Muhammad and the Empires of Faith: The making of the Prophet of Islam, Oakland CA: University of California, 2020, pp. 76-78</ref>  
According to Professor Sean Anthony, from the ninth century Christian polemics attributed Muhammad's religious knowledge to his trading travels outside Arabia. In the eight century, Christian writers said Muhammad reputedly learned from an Arian monk (an archetypal heresy at that time), or a Syriac Christian monk known as Sergius Bḥyrʾ. The second word Bḥyrʾ was a monastic title meaning tested / elected / renowned, but in later writings was treated as a personal name, Bahira, and legends about him were subsequently picked up by Muslim writers.<ref>Sean Anthony, Muhammad and the Empires of Faith: The making of the Prophet of Islam, Oakland CA: University of California, 2020, pp. 76-78</ref>  
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{{Quote|{{citation|title=The Life of Muhammad|trans_title=Sirat Rasul Allah|ISBN=0-19-636033-1|year=1955|publisher=Oxford UP|author1=Ibn Ishaq (d. 768)|author2=Ibn Hisham (d. 833)|editor=A. Guillaume|url=https://archive.org/details/GuillaumeATheLifeOfMuhammad/page/n113/mode/2up|page=180}}|"According to my information the apostle used often to sit at al-Marwa at the booth of a young Christian called Jabr, a slave of B. al-Hadrami and they used to say "The one who teaches Muhammad most of what he brings is Jabr the Christian, slave of the B. al-Hadrami." Then God revealed in reference to their words "We well know that they say, "Only a mortal teaches him"." The tongue of him at whom they hint is foreign, and this is a clear Arabic tongue.<ref>[http://www.injil.de/Main/Silas/saifdebate2.htm Muhammad the borrower – Debate 2 with Saifullah]</ref>}}
{{Quote|{{citation|title=The Life of Muhammad|trans_title=Sirat Rasul Allah|ISBN=0-19-636033-1|year=1955|publisher=Oxford UP|author1=Ibn Ishaq (d. 768)|author2=Ibn Hisham (d. 833)|editor=A. Guillaume|url=https://archive.org/details/GuillaumeATheLifeOfMuhammad/page/n113/mode/2up|page=180}}|"According to my information the apostle used often to sit at al-Marwa at the booth of a young Christian called Jabr, a slave of B. al-Hadrami and they used to say "The one who teaches Muhammad most of what he brings is Jabr the Christian, slave of the B. al-Hadrami." Then God revealed in reference to their words "We well know that they say, "Only a mortal teaches him"." The tongue of him at whom they hint is foreign, and this is a clear Arabic tongue.<ref>[http://www.injil.de/Main/Silas/saifdebate2.htm Muhammad the borrower – Debate 2 with Saifullah]</ref>}}


This source specifically names the foreigner to be Jabr, slave of B. al-Hadrami.  
This source specifically names the foreigner to be Jabr, slave of Ibn al-Hadrami. This report and a number of similar versions are also recorded by al-Tabari in his tafsir (Quranic commentary). Professor Sean Anthony considers them just another set of exegetical stories from the tafsir literature, and that none of the versions are particularly credible, noting that they seem to build upon and contradict each other.<ref>See this [https://twitter.com/shahanSean/status/1693641667880865865 Twitter.com thread] by Professor Sean Anthony - 21 August 2023</ref> There is some commonality between them in that some of the stories state that Muhammad's alleged informant was a slave or slaves of Ibn al-Hadrami. The slave is said to have been learned in the scriptures. The slave or slaves in the different versions are named as Ya'ish' or Yasar, and / or Jabr. They were sword sharpeners according to one version, while another story mentions a metal-smith called Balaam as Muhammad's informant.


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:  
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{{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|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." … }}


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: "Waqidi [d. 207 AH D/823 CE] who says that a Christian slave named Ibn Qumta was the amanuensis of the prophet, along with a certain ‘Abdallah b. Sa‘ad b. Abi Sarh, who reported that 'It was only a Christian slave who was teaching him [Mohammed]; I used to write to him and change whatever I wanted.'"<ref>Summary by Sharon Morad, Leeds - [http://debate.org.uk/topics/books/origins-koran.html The Origins of The Koran: Classic Essays on Islam's Holy Book, edited by Ibn Warraq (Prometheus Books: Amherst, New York. 1998)]</ref>
 
Waqidi [d. 207 AH D/823 CE] who says that a Christian slave named Ibn Qumta was the amanuensis of the prophet, along with a certain ‘Abdallah b. Sa‘ad b. Abi Sarh, who reported that "It was only a Christian slave who was teaching him [Mohammed]; I used to write to him and change whatever I wanted."<ref>Summary by Sharon Morad, Leeds - [http://debate.org.uk/topics/books/origins-koran.html The Origins of The Koran: Classic Essays on Islam's Holy Book, edited by Ibn Warraq (Prometheus Books: Amherst, New York. 1998)]</ref>


Regardless who this foreigner who taught Muhammad was, it is clear that this highly specific charge was leveled against the Qur'an, and the aforementioned verse is intended to answer this very specific objection. That this foreigner existed is real: the Qur'an itself alluded to him by saying, ‘the tongue of him at whom they hint is a non-Arab’. Again, this strongly indicates that there was in fact such a foreigner who may have influenced the "clear Arabic tongue" of the Qur'an.  
Regardless who this foreigner who taught Muhammad was, it is clear that this highly specific charge was leveled against the Qur'an, and the aforementioned verse is intended to answer this very specific objection. That this foreigner existed is real: the Qur'an itself alluded to him by saying, ‘the tongue of him at whom they hint is a non-Arab’. Again, this strongly indicates that there was in fact such a foreigner who may have influenced the "clear Arabic tongue" of the Qur'an.  
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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|4|56|814}}.  


====Muslim Views====
===Muslim Views===
   
   
In apologetic and theological literature, Muslim scholars generally follow the Qur'an in denying that Muhammad was influenced by the "legends of the ancients", citing some of the following points:   
In apologetic and theological literature, Muslim scholars generally follow the Qur'an in denying that Muhammad was influenced by the "legends of the ancients", citing some of the following points:   
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{{Quote|{{citation|title=The Life of Muhammad|trans_title=Sirat Rasul Allah|ISBN=0-19-636033-1|year=1955|publisher=Oxford UP|author1=Ibn Ishaq (d. 768)|author2=Ibn Hisham (d. 833)|editor=A. Guillaume|url=https://archive.org/details/GuillaumeATheLifeOfMuhammad/page/n1/mode/2up|page=86}}|"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"}}
{{Quote|{{citation|title=The Life of Muhammad|trans_title=Sirat Rasul Allah|ISBN=0-19-636033-1|year=1955|publisher=Oxford UP|author1=Ibn Ishaq (d. 768)|author2=Ibn Hisham (d. 833)|editor=A. Guillaume|url=https://archive.org/details/GuillaumeATheLifeOfMuhammad/page/n1/mode/2up|page=86}}|"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 ([https://web.archive.org/web/20220712025357/https://twitter.com/shahanSean/status/1546629237053988867 archive])</ref> Even according to a hadith, the Ka’aba may have contained pictures of Abraham and Mary (similarly, see {{Bukhari|4|55|571}}):


{{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|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?"}}  
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