THE QUR'AN AND THE ORIENTALISTS THEQUR'AN AND THE ORIENTALISTS AN EXAMINATION OF THEIR MAIN THEORIES AND ASSUMPTIONS By MUHAMMAD MOHAR}LI (Formerly Professor of the History of Islam,Madina I s l ~ c University,Madina, and Imam Muhammad Islamic University,Riyad) IPSWICH JAM'IYAT 'II:IYAA' MINHAAJ AL-SUNNAH 2004 THEQUR'ANANDTHEORIENTALISTS:ANEXAMINATIONOFTHEIRMAINTHEORIESAND ASSUMPTIONS PUBLISHED BY jAM'IYAT 'II;IYAA' MINHAAJ AL-SUNNAH P.0. Box24,Ipswich, Suffolk IP3 8ED Tel.&Fax:01473251578 First edition 2004 ISBN0954036972 M.M.Ali \?J? l ~ o , ~PRJNTED BY ALDEN GROUP LIMITED,OSNEY MEAD, OXFORD,OX2 OEF f\ LfSq loo t.f .J.ll!'""""' J.JTJ...L..>...-J Js- r')LJIJo')\....JIJ yJ....U...l...>JI PREFACE Thesubjectoftheorientalists'viewsandassumptionsabouttheQur'an especially attracted my attention during the early1990s when Ihad been engaged in writing the Strat al-Nabt and theOrientalists.1 It soon became clear that the major partof theirassumptionsandremarksabouttheProphetareaimeddirectlyor indirectlyagainsttheQur'an,whichfactgoesonlytoconfirmtheQur'anic statement at 6:33(al-'An'am): 0 ....Ui.:.fJJdi'Y "Soinfactthey cry liesnot toyou[i.e.,the Prophet]; but thetransgressorsdo at Allah's'qyahs(revelations)hurl rejection." Subsequently,earlyin1999,myattentionwasdrawntoanarticlewrittenby TobyLesterundercaption"WhatistheKoran"andpublishedintheJanuary 1999 issue of the Atlantic Monthfy.It wasa sort of heavyweight journalistic writing publicisingtheviewsofGerd-RPuinregardingtheQur'anbasedonhis examinationof someQur'anicmanuscriptslatelydiscoveredatSan'a',together withtheviewsof someotherorientalists.Iwroteareviewof thatarticlewhich waspublishedasabookletundercaption:TheQur'anandtheLatestOrienta/is! Assumptions.2 InthefollowingyearIpresentedapaper(inArabic)onthe orientalists'assumptionsabouttheQur'anataseminaronQur'anicstudiesand sciences,organisedbythe KingFahdQur'anPrintingComplexandheldat Madinabetween30Septemberand3October 2000.3 ArevisedEnglishversion of thispaper waspublished in 2002 asanother booklet under caption :The Qur'an and theOrientalists: ABrief Suroeyof Their Assumptions.4 Intheprefacetothislatter bookletImentionedthatthesubjectneededamoredetailedtreatment.The present work isan attempt in this direction. AsIstartedorganizingtheworkIrealizedthatsomeof thechapters inthe Strat al-Nabf and theOrientalistson the themesof the Prophet's allegedpreparation forgivingouttheQur'an,hisallegedborrowingfromJudaismandChristianity 1 M.M.Ali,Siratai-Nabi andtheOrientalist.r,withspecialreferrncetothewriting.rof WilliamMuir,D.S.MargolioutbandW. MontgomeryWatt,vols.1A and 1B, King Fahd Qur'an Printing Complex, Madina,1997. 2 Published by ]am'iat If!yaa' Minhaaj ai-Sunnah,Ipswich, June,1999. 'Published by the King Fahd Qur'an Printing Complex, Madina, under caption :0T_,.il1J_,.- .:.'_r..:-)1rl-" 4 Published byJam'iat If!yaa' Minhaaj ai-Sunnah,Ipswich, June, 2002. VI forcomposing the Qur'an andtheassumptionsabout theQur'anic waf?yare very muchrelatedtothesubjectofthepresentworkandthatwithout these discussionsthe treatment of it would remain palpably incomplete.The first seven chaptersof the present work arethusrevised versionsof therelevant chapters in theSfratai-Nabfetc.Therestofthechaptersdealingwiththeorientalists' assumptionsaboutthehistoryandtextsoftheQur'anarenewlywritten, incorporating some materialsfrom my above mentioned booklets. As thus designed, the present work gives in a compact and integrated form the mainorientalistassumptionsandtheoriesabouttheQur'anandexaminesthem critically.Thetreatmentisnotwhatsomeof theorientalistsarepronetocall "apologetic".Ihavemetthemontheirowngroundsandhavetakenuptheir argumentsandstatementsonebyone,pointingouttheirfaults,inconsistencies and untenability.Ido not claim, however,to be exhaustive and comprehensive. If thepresentworkhelpstomakethereadersawareofthemainorientalist assumptionsandtheoriesabouttheQur'anandtheirinherentfaultsand unreasonableness, my efforts willnot have gone wholly in vain. Iamgratefultomywife,Rosy,andmysonMansoor,whosecareand attentionhavesustianedmethroughaprolongedillenessandenabledmeto pursueandcompletethepresentwork.Mythanksareduealsotomy daughter-in-law,Muneera,andmysecondson,Maaruf,whohavegoneth,rough the computer print-out script of the book and drawn my attention to a number of typographicalandothererrors.Iamresponsible,however,foranyothererrors that might still have escaped scrutiny.Last but not least,specialthanksare dueto my eldest son, Manu(Abuandthe Jam'iyat Il)yaa'Minhaajal-Sunnah, for having arranged forprompt publication of the work. MayAllahenableustodowhatHelikesandispleasingtoHim;andpeace andblessingsof AllahbeonHisfinalProphet andMessenger,Mul)ammadibn 'AbdAllah. And allthe praise isfor Allah, Lord of allbeings. 12 Hazeleigh Gardens, Woodford Bridge, Essex IG8 8DX U.K. M.M.Ali 11April 2004 Preface Abbreviations Introduction CONTENTS PART I ON 1HE ALLEGED AUTHORSHIP OF MUJ:IAMMAD(P.B.H) CHAPTER l. THE ALLEGATION OF AMBITION ANDPREPARATION FOR GIVING OUT 1HEQUR'AN i.On the theme of ambition in general ii.The alleged cultivation of poetical skill iii.The Question of literacy: Watt's theory II. THE ALLEGEDBORROWING FROMJUDAEO-CHRISTIAN SOURCES i.Introductory remarks ii.Summary of the assumptions iii. On the environmental influence in general iv.The alleged contact with J udaeo-Christian experts v.The supposed Qur'anic evidence about a monotheist informant or informants vi. The so-called growth in accuracy in Biblical information vii Differences in the Qur'anic and Biblical accounts III. THE ALLEGED CONTEMPORARY ERRORSIN THEQuR'AN ASEVIDENCE v X 1-4 PAGES 7-25 7 14 15 26-61 26 26 33 38 40 46 53 OF THE PROPHET'S AUTHORSHIP62 i.The supposed mistakes about Judaism and Christianity62 ii.The alleged scientific errors71 PART II THE 0RIENTALISTS ON 1HE QuR'ANIC WAHY IV. THE ORIENTALISTS ON THEQuR'ANIC WAI;IY:l. THE VIEWSOF MUIR ANDMARGOLIOUTH91-109 i.Preliminary remarks91 ii.Muir's assumptions92 iii.Margoliouth's assumptions99 iv.Margoliouth's assumption about the vision of God106 Vlll V. THE ORIENTALISTS ON THE QuR'ANIC WAij:II. THE VIEWSOF RICHARD BELL i.Summary of Bell'sassumptions ii.Concerning the traditions about the coming of waby iii.The assumption of pre-Qur'an deliverances iv.Bell'sassumption about the vision of God v.Bell's concept of waby VI.ThE ORIENTALISTS ON THE QuR'ANIC WAI-fY:III. WATT's TREATMENT OF AL-ZUHRIS REPORT ON THE COMING OF WAJ:IY i.Preliminary remarks ii.Watt'ssegmentation of al-Zuhri's report iii."Muhammad's visions" iv."Thevisit to Hid': Tabannuth" v."Thou art the Messenger of God" vi."Recite" vii."Surat ai-Muddaththir.the fatrah viii."Encouragement fromKhadijah and Warqah" 110-133 110 111 114 117 125 134-171 134 135 138 148 152 156 159 167 VII. THE ORIENTALISTS AND THE QuR'ANIC WAifY: IV. WATT's THEORY OF INTELLECTUAL LOCUTION172 i.Watt's Matrix: A.Poulain's theory172 ii.Watt's application of the theory considered173 iii. Further Qur'anic evidence on the nature of Qur'anic waf:y186 PART III THE ORIENTALISTSON THE HISTORY AND TEXT OF THE QuR'AN VIII.ON THE HISTORY OF THE QuR'AN:I. THEODORE NbLDEKE1S ASSUMPTIONS i.The basic facts ii.Noldeke's assumptions iii.Examination of Noldeke's assumptions IX.ON THE HISTORY OF THE QuR'AN:II. lNFLATION OF NOLDEKE1S ASSUMPTIONS i.Arthur Jeffery's Materials etc. ii.The Bell-Watt theories ii. John Burton'sCollectionrf the Qur'an 197-217 197 202 203 218-244 218 232 241 lX X. ON THE HISTORY OF THE QUR'AN: II. REVISIONISM ATITSCLIMAX i.On revisionism in general ii.]. Wansborough's fallacies iii. Yahuda D. Nevo et al:Digging theearth to bury the past iv.The ~ a n ' a ' find:Fresh speculations XI.ON THE TEXT OF THEQuR'AN:I. THE LANGUAGE ANDSTYLE AND THE THEORY OF REVISION i.On the language and style in general ii.Noldeke's viewson the language and styleof the Qur'an iii.The Bell-Watt extension to Noldeke's assumptions: the theory of revision XII.ON THE TEXT OF THE QuR'AN:II. THE SO-CALLED FOREIGN VOCABULARY ANDCOPYIST'S ERRORS i.On the naturalized foreign words in the Qur'an in general ii.The orientalists'fiction of foreign vocabulary iii.Arthur Jeffery's ForeignVocabularyetc. iv.Luxenberg's Syro-Aramaic Reading and Torrey's Commercial-theological terms v. The theory of copyist's errors and the proposed emendations to the text of the Qur'an XIII. THE ORIENTALISTS' TRANSLATIONS OF THE QuR'AN i.The earliest orientalist translations ii.The translation of Ludovicco Maracci and its off-shoots iii.Glimpses of Sale'stranslation iv.Translationsof the late-nineteenth century:Rodwell and Palmer v.Translations of the twentieth century:Bell and Arberry vi.Other main European translations XIV.Conclusion SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX 245-271 245 248 256 267 272-304 272 273 279 305-323 305 306 311 313 316 324-352 324 327 330 335 343 351 353 363 367 ABBREVIATIONS B.S. O.A.S.=Bulletinof theSchool of On"ental and Ajn"can Studies,London. Bukharf='Abu 'AbdAllah Mubammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari,ai-Bukh!zrf (fhe number refersto the no.of badtth in Fathai-Barl) Ibn Hisham ='Abu Mubammad 'Abd al-Malik ibn Hish:im, AI-Strat ].A.S.B. J.A.O.S. ].RA.S. M.atM. M.W Muslim Musnad Sryar ai-Nabawryyah,ed.'Umar 'Abd al-Salam Tadmuri, 4 vols., Beirut, 1990. =1ournal of the Asiatic Societyof Bengal =1ournal of the Amen" canOn"ental Society = 1ournal of theRqyal Asiatic Societyof Great Bn"tainand Ireland =W.M.Watt, Muhammad at Mecca,Oxford University Press, 1960 =TheMoslemWorld,Hartford Seminary Foundation, Connecticut, U.S.A. ='Abu al-l;Iasan Muslim ibn al-I;:Iajjaj,al-Quashayri,al-Naysaburi, $a/;fh Muslim(The number refersto the number of l;adtth in the edition by Fu'ad 'Abd al-Baqi,5 vols., Istanbul, n.d.). ='Abu 'Abd Allah Abmad ibn l;Ianbal ibn Mub.ammad, Musnad Abmad ibn}janbal wabeihamishihi Muntakhab Kaf!j al- 'Ummdl,6 vols., old print, n.d. =Shams al-Din Mul:;ammad ibn 'Ahmad ibn 'Uthman al-Dhahabi, Sryar'A 'lamed.Shu'ayb al-Arna'ut and I:lusayn al-Asad, 25vols., Beirut, 1992. =Sulayman ibn Daud ibn al-Jarud 'Abi Daud, Musnad'Abt Daud al-Tqydlisf,2 vols., Beirut, n.d. THE QUR'AN AND THE ORIENTALISTS: AN EXAMINATION OF THEIR MAIN THEORIES AND ASSUMPTIONS INTRODUCTION It hasbeenaconstant endeavourof theorientaliststoassailtheQur'an.This hasbeen sosincethe riseof orientalism itself.Their main aimhasbeento prove that theQur'an isa product of human mind and hand.Basicallythisattitudeon thepartof non-MuslimsisasoldastheQur'an itself.TheMakkanunbelievers, theimmediateaudienceoftheQur'anicrevelations,madeexactlythe.same allegation,sayingthat these wereonly a man'sutterances, 1 that their trustworthy but unlettered young man Mul).ammad(peaceand blessingsof Allahbe on him) hadturned a poet or asorcerer2 or someone elsehad composedthe passagesof the Qur'an which he memorized in themorning and the evening and gave out as Allah'srevelationsorthattheseweremereancientfables. 3 TheQur'an categoricallydeniestheseallegationsandgivesappropriaterepliestothis particularobjection.IngeneraltheQur'an'sresponsetothisallegationtakesat leastsevenprincipalforms.(a)AllahdeclaresthattheQur'anisnotthe composition of a human being nor didthe Prophet turna poet. 4 (b)The Qur'an repeatedlysaysthatit isAllahWhosent downtheQur'anandthatalsointhe Arabic language.5 (c)Allahrepeatedly askedthe Prophet not tomove histongue hastilyinordertomemorizewhatwasbeingdeliveredtohimandtolisten patientlyandcarefullytillthecompletionof thecommunication,assuringhim thatHe wouldenablehimtoremember what wasbeing deliveredtohim. 6 This group of the Qur'anic passages clearly prove that what wasbeing delivered to the Prophet wasintheformof particulartexts.(d)AllahconsolestheProphet and askshimtobear withpatiencetheobjectionandrejectionof theunbelieversby reminding himthat inthe past therehad not been asingleProphet who had not beensimilarlydisbelievedandobjectedto.7 Infacttheaccountsof theprevious ProphetsgivenintheQur'anaregearedtothisendandtobringhometothe 'Qur"an,74:25. 2 Qur"an,10:76,21:5,21:36,37:4, 47:7;51:52-53,74:24.52:30. 'Qur'an,25:5. Qur"an,36:69;69:40-41. 'Qur'an, 4:166;6:96;12:2;14:1;20:113;22:16;21:50;24:1;25:6; 38:29;44:3;97:1, among others. 6 Qur'an, 20:114;75:16. 7 Qur'an, 3:183-84;6:34;13:23;21:41;36:30, among others. 2THE QUR'AN AND THE ORIENTALISTS unbelieversthe truth of the message.(e)Allah asksthe Prophet to declarethat if hefabricatedanythinghimselfandthengaveitoutinthenameof Allahhe would be severely punished.1 (f)Allah asksthe Prophet totellthe people that He isthe Witness between him and them and that there couldbe no better a witness of this matter than Allah.2 This isvery significant; for Allah'scommunication with HisMessengersisessentiallyanintimateaffair whichnooutsider can witnessor vouchsafe for.(g)AllahaskstheProphet tothrow out achallengeto listenersof alltimestocomeupwithatextsimilartothatof evenasinglesurahof the Qur'an if they hadanydoubtabout itsbeingthe wordsof God. 3 Thechallenge remains open tilltoday. EversincethetimeoftheProphetunbelieversandcriticshavemerely rehearsedthe Makkanunbelievers'viewabout theQur'an.Andsincethemiddle ofthenineteenthcenturymodernEuropeanscholars,theorientalists,have repeatedthesameobjectionsandarguments.Foremost of thesenineteenthand earlytwentiethcenturyorientalistsareASprenger,WilliamMuir,Theodor Noldeke,IgnazGoldziher,W.Wellhausen,LeoneCaetaniandDavidS. Margoliouth.Theirworkandconclusionshavebeenfurtherdevelopedand summarisedinthemiddleandlaterpartof thetwentiethcenturyprincipallyby RichardBellandhispupilW.MontgomeryWatt.Allthesescholarshave attemptedtoshow,byonedeviceoranother,thattheQur'anisMul;lammad's (peace and blessings of Allah be on him)own composition. Duringthelastquarterof thetwentiethcentury,however,anewtrendhas appearedamong certainorientalistswhohavecomeforwardwiththesuggestion thatnotonlyistheQur'anaworkbyhumanhandbutthat itcameintobeing througha processof evolutionand growthoverthefirsttwocenturiesof Islam. Thesegroupof orientalistsaregenerallyknownasthe"revisionists".Foremost amongtheproponentsoftheseviewsare].Wansborough,PatriciaCrone, Michael Cook and Yahuda De Nevo.Their viewsaresummarised and publicised by others like Andrew Rippin, Ibn Warraq, Toby Lester, and others. Those who suggest that the Qur'an isthe Prophet's composition have recourse to the following linesof arguments: 1 Qur'an, 69:44-46. 2 Qur'an,6:19;4:76;4:166;13:43;17:96;29:52, among others. 'Qur'an, 2:23; 10:38; 11:13. INTRODUCTION3 (a)ThattheProphetwasanambitiouspersonwhomadepreparationsfor giving out the Qur'an and for the role he played.1 Especially he cultivated poetical skill since hisearly lifeto be able to compose the Qur'an.2 (b)That he wasnot quiteanunlettered person andtheterm'umm!Jappliedto him has a different connotation;3 (c)ThatheborrowedideasandinformationfromJudaismandChristianity which he incorporated in the Qur'an;4 (d)That contemporary scientific errorsare reflected in the Qur'an; so are many commercial terms and foreignwords, both showing hisauthorship of it. 5 (e)Thatthetermwal;ybymeansof whichhegaveouttheQur'andoesnot meanverbalcommunicationofanytextbut"suggestions"and"intellectual locution".6 As regardsthe other group of the orientalists who try to prove that theQur'an isnotsimplytheProphet'scompositionbutthatitcameintobeingthrougha process of evolution and amendments during the course of acouple of centuries, their arguments and assumptions revolve mainlyround the following themes: 7 (a)The allegedunreliability of thesourcesand the history andcollection of the Qur'an. (b)TheassumptionsroundtherecentdiscoveryofcertainQur'anic manuscripts ata n ' a ' .(c)Textual criticism andthe alleged copyists'errors inthe Qur'an. It shouldhavebeenclearfromtheabovethattheorientalistsleavenostone unturnedtoassailtheQur'an.Thefollowingfewchaptersexaminethe assumptionsandtheoriesof boththegroupsof theorientalistsregardingthe Qur'an.Thishasbeendoneinthreebroadsections.InpartI,theassumptions 1 SeeforinstanceW.Muir,Lifeof Mahomet,3rdedition,reprinted1923,pp.25-26;D.S.Margoliouth,Mohammed and the Rireof l.rlam,3rdedition,London,1905,pp.64-65;MontgomeryWatt,MuhammadatMea"tl,Oxford,1960,p.39and Mubammad'.r Mett1,Edinburgh,1988, pp.50-51. 2 Muir,op.dt.,p.15;Margoliouth,op.dt.,pp.52-53,60. 'Watt, Muhammad'.r Mecca,op.cit., pp.52-53 4 SeeforinstanceAbrahamGeiger,Wa.rbat Mohammedau.rdemjudenthemaufgenommen?Bonn,1833.Seealsohisessayin J udairmand I.rlam,Madras,1898;RichardBell,TheOriginof l.rlaminit.rClmstianEnvironment,London,1926;C.C.Torrey, The Jewi.rhFoundationofl.rlam,New Work,1933; A.I. Katsh,Judairm inI.rlam,New York,1954. 5 Watt,Muhammad'.rMect"tl,pp.45-46;C.C.Torrey,TheCommmiai-TheologicalTerm.rof theKoran,Leiden,1892;Arthur Jeffery, TheForeignVocabularyof the Qur'dn,Baroda,1938. 6 Seefor instance RichardBell,"Mohammed's call",TheMo.rlemWorld, January,1934,pp.13-19;"Mohammed's visions", ibid,April,1934,pp.19-34;Watt,Muhammad atMecca,op.cit.,pp.52-58andhisThel.rlamkRevelationintheModernWorld, Edinburgh, 1969 7 Referencesregarding these themes aregiven in the course of discussion in the respective chapters. 4 THE QUR'AN AND THE ORIENTALISTS andtheoriesof theorientalistsabouttheProphet'sallegedauthorshipof the Qur'anhavebeenexamined.PartIIisdevotedtoanexaminationoftheir assumptionsandsurmisesabout theQur'anicwaf;y.Inthethirdpart theirviews andassumptionsabout the history and text of theQur'an, including the viewsof the "revisionists", have been dealt with. PARTI ON THE ALLEGED AUTHORSHIP OF MUI;fAMMAD(p.b.h.) CHAPTER I THE ALLEGATION OF AMBITION AND PREPARATION FOR GIVING OUT THE QUR'AN Onelineof argumentof theorientalistsinsupportof theirtheorythatthe ProphetMul;lammad,peaceandblessingsofAllahbeonhim,hadhimself composedtheQur'an isthat he wasanambitiousperson who sinceanearly age had made preparations for the role he subsequently played.It issaid that since his earlyyouthhehadcultivatedhislinguisticandpoeticalskillwhichhe subsequently made use of in "composing"the Qur'an. Further, it hasbeen argued that the traditional view of hisbeing an unlettered person isnot quite correct and thatatleastheknewreadingandwritingtosomeextent.Thepresentchapter examinesthese two linesof argument of the orientalists. I. ON THE THEME OF AMBITION IN GENERAL Amongtheearlyexponentsof theabovementionedviewsareW.Muirand D.S.Margoliouthwhowroterespectivelyinthelaterpartof thenineteenth centuryandtheearlyyearsof thetwentiethcentury.Bothof themspeakvery distinctlyabouttheProphet'sallegedambition.Muirwrites:"Behindthequiet retiring exterior of Mahomet lay a high resolve,a singlenessand unity of purpose, a strength and fixednessof will,a sublime determination,destinedtoachievethe marvellous work of bowing towards himself the heart of allArabia asthe heart of one man."1 Thisambition,addsMuir,wasreinforcedafterMul;lammad's(p.b.h.) arbitration in resetting the Black Stone atthetimeof rebuilding the Ka'ba, when he wasabout thirty-five yearsof age.This incident, according to Muir,"prompted the idea of hisbeing chosen of God to be the Prophet of his people."2 Speaking inthesamestrainMargoliouthasserts:"WeknowfromtheKoran that Mohammed wasa young man of promise"and that "of hisambition wehave evidenceinthecomfortwhichhisnotorietyaffordedhimatatimewhenfew thingsweregoingwellwithhisproject:Havewenotexpandedthybreastand exaltedthyname?istheformwhichthedivineconsolationtakes,whenthe Prophetisintrouble.Expansionof thebreast,theorganizationof lifeabouta new centre ...and celebrity werethenthingsforwhich he yearned. "3 Margoliouth 1 W.MuiR,The Life of Mahomet,3rd edition, 25-26. 2 Ibid.,29. 3 MARGOJLOUTH,op.cit.,64-65. 8THE QUR'AN AND THE ORIENTALISTS suggeststhatitwastheProphet'sambitionandloveforachievingpersonal distinction which prompted him to participate in the Fij!ir war.1 Of the subsequent orientalists who have taken over thistheme of ambition on the Prophet's part the most notable isMontgomery Watt.He does not specifically usetheterm"ambition"inhisstatements.Instead,hespeaksof theProphet's "consciousness"ofhis"greatorganizingability"andaddsapsychological dimension to that consciousness, saying that the Prophet wasactuated by a "sense of deprivation"produced,first,bytheabsenceof afatherduring hischildhood and,secondly, by "his exclusion fromthe most lucrative trade."2 The hint forthis supposedsenseof deprivationontheProphet'spartbecauseofhisbeinga posthumouschildseemstohavebeenmadebyMargoliouth,forhestatesin connectionwiththeProphet'schildhoodthatthe"conditionof afatherlesslad wasnotaltogetherdesirable."3 Bethatasitmay,Wattdefinitelyfollows Margoliouth in citing theQur'anic evidence of divineconsolationtotheProphet asamark of his"preparationforhiswork asMessengerof God", withtheonly difference that while the latter invokesthe evidence of surah94, Watt doesthat of surah93.Thus,describingtheyearsthatfollowedtheProphet'smarriagewith Khadijah(r.a.)as"yearsof preparation"forthe work that layahead, Watt givesa translation of 'qyahs6-8of surah93and observesthat thispassage"seemsto refer toMul:;ammad'searlyexperiences"andthatfromthis"wemightperhapsargue that onestageinhisdevelopment wastherealizationthat thehandof God had beensupportinghimdespitehismisfortunes. "4 Citingthesamepassage,witha slightlydifferenttranslation,inhislatestworkandsimilarlyreferringtothe Prophet'searly lifeand what iscalledthe"preparation forhiswork asMessenger of God"Watt surmises:"The absenceof afathermust haveproducedasensea deprivationinMuhammad,andtherealexperienceof povertyasayoungman may wellhavenourishedthesenseof deprivation."5 "It wasmost probablyhis exclusionfromthemostlucrativetrade,"concludesWatt,"coupledwithhis consciousnessof havinggreatorganizingability,thatmadeMuhammadbrood over the general state of affairs in Mecca."6 IIbid.,p.65. 2 WAIT,Muhammad'.r Mecca,50-51. 3 MARGOLIOUTH,op.tit.,46. 4 WATT,M.atM., 39. 5 WArr,Muhammad'.r Mecca,50-51. 6 Ibid.,50. THE ALLEGATION OF AMBITION AND PREPARATION9 ThusdotheorientalistssuggestambitionandpreparationontheProphet's part.It mustatoncebepointedoutthatthisassumptionof personalambition andpreparationonhisparttoplaytheroleof aprophet-reformeristotally groundlessandisnotatallsustainedbythesources,neitherbythetextof the Qur'an,nor bythetraditions.Thearguments,or ratherthesurmisesadducedin supportoftheallegationdonotstandreasonandcommonsense.Thus, Margoliouth'sinnuendothattheProphetparticipatedintheFijarwartogain personaldistinctionistotallyuntenableandcontrarytothefacts,itbeingwell known that the Prophet was very young at the time of theFijarwarsand that on only oneoccasion he wastakento thesceneof thefightingby hisuncle.He did not go there on hisown accord or initiative.1 MoreflagrantlywrongisMargoliouth'suseoftheQur'anicevidencein support of hisallegation.He saysthat "Mohammed wasa young man of promise" andcitesin substantiation of thisstatement the authority of surah11(Hud),'qyah 65. 2 The'qyahruns asfollows: Y JA.. _r.i:- .JsJ rt.:fJ 1_,..::...;Jw t..."But theyhamstrung her (theshe camel),sohe(Prophet said:Enjoy yourselvesin your housesforthree days.That isa promise not to be belied."(11:65) Thisstatement,indeedthewholesectionof thetexthere,referstoProphet Salihandhiswarningtohispeoplefortheircontinueddisobedienceandthe retribution that ultimately befellthem. The "promise"(.JsJ)alludedto in the'qyah hasreferencetothe warning of retribution whichwasnot belied.Bynostretch oftheimaginationcoulditbeconstruedtorefertotheearlypromiseand determination of Prophet Mul;lammad(p.b.h.). Margoliouthfurtherquotesfromsurah94,givingthetranslationof its'qyahs1 and 4 asa continuous sentence, omitting the two intermediate'qyahsas:"Have we not expanded thy breast and exaltedthy name?"3 Admitting that the passage isa divineconsolationtotheProphet atamoment of dejection,it isdifficulttosee how it refersto hisambition and resolve during hisearly life to attain celebrity, as Margoliouthconcludesfromit.Clearlyhiscitationof 11 :65insupportof the allegationof"earlypromise"ontheProphet'spartisasmisleadingas. ishis interpretation of the'qyahs1-4 of surah94wrong and inappropriate. 1 Ibn Hishfun,I,p.186. 2 MARGOLIOUTH,op.cit.,64. 'Ibid.,65. 10THE QUR'AN AND THE ORIENTALISTS Thesameremoteandinappropriateconstructionhasbeenputinthis connectionbyWattontheQur'anicpassage93:6-8(suratThereisno doubt that the passage in question referstothe Prophet's situation in lifeprior to hismarriagewithKhadijah(r.a.).It isalsoevidentthat it indicatesa"realization" onhispart"thatthehandofGodhadbeensupportinghimdespitehis misfortunes."Butthatrealizationwasunmistakablyposteriortohiscallto prophethoodanditcannotbetakentorefertohisstateof mindpriortothat event.Norcoulditimplyhismentalpreparationbeforethecall.Nordoesthe passagesustaintheassumptionof asenseof deprivationontheProphet'spart. On thecontrary,thepredominant noteinthepassageisthatof satisfactionand gratitudeforthefavourablechange inhissituation brought about by thehand of God.Whateversenseof deprivationhemighthavesupposedlysufferedfrom,it hadclearlyyieldedplacetoanunmistakablesenseof satisfactionandgratitude after hismarriage withKhadijah(r.a.).And thatchangedsituationandhappiness had been continuingforat least15yearsbeforethecoming of therevelationto him,that is,for the very material period which Watt characterizes asthe period of "preparation" Equally wrong isWatt's assumption of the Prophet's "exclusion from the most lucrativetrade".Watt of coursecitesinthisconnectionthewell-knownQur'anic statement at 43:31:"Why wasnot theQur'an sent downtosome important man ofthetwotowns

Thispassageindicates,asisadmittedonall hands,that the Prophet wasnot atthetimeof hiscallone of the leading men of thetwotowns,Makkaand'P'if.Butthatdoesnotnecessarilymeanhis "exclusion"assuch fromthe"most lucrativetrade".In fact,thetheory of a trade rivalrybetweenBam1HashimandsomeotherQurayshclansandtheprobable exclusionofMuQ.ammad(p.b.h.)fromthemostprofitablecommercial operations,onwhichWattbasesanumberofhisconclusions,is,asshown elsewhere,groundlessandtotallyuntenable.2 Onthecontrary,theexpression fa 'aghnaCs:.....w, which means:"they haveindeedcomeupwithan injusticeandfalsehood".Watt omits tomentionthislastclauseof the'4Jahobviouslybecauseitcontradictshisfalse suggestionthatthereisnodenialintheQur'anof theallegationmadebythe unbelievers. THE AlLEGED BORROWING FROM JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANI1Y45 Thispassage 25:4-5orrather thissurahisunanimously regardedasearlierthan surah16 intheorder of revelation.1 This isallthe more reason why the allegation containedin16:103shouldbeconsideredinconjunctionwiththeallegationin 25:4-5;forit wouldbeobviously absurdon theunbelievers'partfirsttosuggest that the Prophet had the passagesof the revelation writtenforhim by others and recitedby them tohimmorning andevening,andthentostatethathehadonly obtained the "facts"and "information"froman individual.It isthusobviousthat theallegationof incapacityontheProphet'sparttoproducetherevelationby himself had referencenot simply to the"facts"and"information"but tothetext andlanguageof therevelationaswell.But whetherone likestoassumethat the allegationhadreferencetofactsandinformationalone,or whetheroneadmits theobviousfactthattheallegationhadreferencetoboththefactsandthetext, theconcludingpartof'qyah25:4,whichWattchoosestowithholdfromhis readers,characterizesthe unbelievers'allegationasa manifest injusticeand apalpablefalsehood(zur).Nothingcouldbeastrongerandclearerdenialthan this. WattdoesmentionthattheMuslimcommentatorsof theQur'anarenotin agreementabouttheidentityofthepersonorpersons"hintedat"bythe unbelieversandgiveseveralnames,"mostly of Christianslaves"in Makka.2 But what Watt failsto do isthathedoesnot completethestory;nor doeshepursue thequestionsthat naturally ariseout of hisassumption.Thesequestionsare:(a) Why,after Mu};lammad(p.b.h.)had come forward with hisclaim to Prophethood andafterhehadpassedsometimeinpubliclycallingpeopletobelieveinhis mission - why any knowledgeable Jew or Christianshould have come forwardto helppromotehisclaimbysupplyinghimwithinformationabout Judaismand Christianity?(b)WhytheQurayshleaders,withtheirpowerandinfluenceand 1 This.rilrah( a/-Furqdn)isplacedbetweenthe38th andthe42nd intheorder of revelationbyclassicalMuslimscholars. On the other hand,orientalistslike RODWELLand NOLDEKE count itasthe66th in the order of revelation,and MuiR places itasthe74th.Silrah16 ontheother hand,isplacedbetweenthe67thand72ndbytheMuslimscholars;while RoDWELLandNOLDEKEplaceitasthe73rd,MuiRputsitasthe88thandA.JEFFERYasthe46th.(SeeMuHAMMAD KHALIFA,TheSublimeQur'dnandOrienta/ism,LondonandNewYork,1983,AppendixII;andMUHAMMAD'IzzAT DARWAZAH,Sirat a/-Ra.ri/1 eft:,I.Beirut, n.d.(1400H.], pp.145-149.-2 Watt,Mumammad'.rMecca,45.Severalnameswereindeedsuggested.ThemostfrequentlymentionednameisJabr,a Christianslaveof Al-Fakihibnal-Mughlrah,whohadembracedIslam.IbnIsl;laqsaysthatthis Jabr wasa slaveof Bam1 al-l;Iagrami.AnothernamesuggestedisYa'ish,aslaveof Banual-I;Iaqramior Banual-Mughlrah,or of Banu'Amiribn Lu'ayy.It isfurther said thatBanu al-I;Ia4rarnihadtwoslaves,one named Jabr andtheother named Yasar or Nabt. They weresword-smithsandtheProphet isstatedtohaveoccasionallyvisitedthemandtalkedtothem.Ibn 'Abbassaysthat thepersonreferredtowasBal'am,aChristianwhohadsomeknowledgeof theBible.AccordingtoAl-QurttJbi,the personalludedtowasaGreekChristianatMakkanamedMaysara.Anotherreportsayshewas'Addas,aservantof 'UtbahibnRabi'ah.Astillanotherviewisthathewas'Abs,aservantof I;Iuwayrithibnal-'Uzz:l.SeeAL-QURl;tJBi, Tafsir,X,177-178 and AL-ZAMAKHSHARiAI-Ka.rh.rhdj;II,429. 46THE QUR'AN AND THE ORIENTALISTS theirknowledgeandcontrolof affairsof thethennot verybigtownof Makka, andespeciallyof theirconstant watchupontheactivitiesof theProphet andhis acquaintances- whydidtheynotmakeuseof anysuch"informant"toexpose theProphet's"pretensions"?(c)If,ontheotherhand,such"informant"or "informants"werefromamong theChristianand JewishconvertstoIslam, why should they have continued tohavefaithin theProphet's missionand leadership whentheyfoundoutthatheneededtheirknowledgeandhelpinformulating what hegaveout asrevelationfromAllah?Significantlyenough, Watt doesnot raisetheseverypertinent questions,letaloneansweringthem.If hedidraisethe questions,hewouldhavefoundthattheMuslimcommentatorshavemadeit clearthattheQurayshleadersmadetheallegationinquestionbecauseof the existenceintheranksof theMuslimsafewChristianconvertsandthatthe Makkanleadersdidnotstopbysimplymakingtheallegation.Theytortureda number of such converts in order to extort an admissionfromthemto the effect thatMul)ammad(p.b.h.)hadobtainedhelpfromthem.It isfurthermentioned that one of such victimsof oppression, Jabr, when persecuted and tortured to the extreme,gaveoutthesignificantreply:"ItisnotIwhoteachesMuhammad, rather it ishe who teaches and guidesme. "1 V. THE SO-CALLED GROWTH IN ACCURACY IN BIBLICALINFORMATION Indeed, it doesnot at allstand to reason that a person of Mul)ammad's(p.b.h.) intelligence and common sense would obtain fromhearsay and secondary sources aperfunctory andsuperficialknowledgeof thecontentsof the Judaeo-Christian scriptures,whichiswhattheorientalistssuggestatthemost,andwouldthen proceed,onthebasisof thatknowledge,toutterdoctrinesandstoriesclaiming them to be divine revelation. Yet the orientalistsnot only advance such an absurd propositionbutevengofurthertosuggestineffectthattheProphetwas simpletonandrashenoughtogiveoutasrevelationwhateverlittlehelearntat firstof a particularOld-Testament story andsubsequently modifiedor improved uponitashelearntmoreof it.Thus,citinganumberofQur'anicpassages relatingtoIbrahim and Lut(p.b.t.)which willbe considered presently and which hethinksshow "the growth inaccuracy of theacquaintance withOld-Testament stories"Wattconcludesthat"Muhammad'sknowledgeofthesestorieswas 1 Tafsir,X,177. THE ALLEGED BORROWING FROM JUDAISMAND CHRISTIANI1Y47 growing andthatthereforehe wasgetting informationfroma personor persons familiar with them."1 The passagescitedby Watt are37:135C;26:171E(D);27:58E(D);7:81D-E; 15:60DE;1:83E+and29:32E+.ItmaybenotedthatWattfollowsFlugel's numberingofthe'qyahswhichdiffersslightlyfromthecurrentandstandard numbering; but there isno difficulty in identifying thepassagesby looking atthe meaning.Hedoesnotquotethepassagesinoriginal,nordoeshegivetheir translation. Also, whileciting only one'qyahof each surahhe evidently has in view anumberofthemrelatingtothetopic.Thelettersplacedbesideeach'qyah numberare,asWattmentions,indicativeofBell'sdatingofthepassages,C standing for Makkan, Efor early Madinan and E + for Madinan period. 2 It maybenotedattheoutsetthattheassumptionof "growthinaccuracy"is basedessentiallyupontheabovementioneddatingofthepassages.Butthis datingisacknowledgedtobeonly"provisional"3 andWatthimselfentertains doubtsabout itsaccuracy4.Moreover,inhislatest work hediscardsBell'sdating in favour ofR. Blachere's which closely followsthat ofNoldeke.5 Also the way in which two letters indicating two different periods,sometimes one in brackets, are placedbesidean'qyah,isconfusing.It shouldalsobe notedthatallthepassages citedarecountedasMakkanbytheclassicalMuslimscholars.Inanycase,an assumptionof gradualgrowthinaccuracybaseduponasystemof datingabout the accuracy of whichthe author himself isin doubt and which he discards in his latest work ishazardous and misleading. Apartfromthequestionof dating,however,thepassagescitedbyWattto provehisviewthemselvesdonotreallysustainthetheoryof"growthin accuracy"assuch. Thus, the first point which Watt attemptsto make isthat in the twofirstmentionedpassages(37:135and26:171)thememberof Lut's"party" notsavedis"anoldwoman",inalltheotherpassagesitishiswife.This statementof Watt'sisnotcorrectandisclearlyamisunderstandingof thetwo passagesinquestion.Thestatement atboththeplacesstartswith'ilia,"except", whichshows that it ismerely a continuation of what precedes inthe passage. It is tobenotedthatinthe'qyahprecedingateachplacethematerialtermis'ahl. Hencethemeaningatboththeplaces1sthatallof Lufs'ahlexcept"anold 'WAIT, M.atM., 159(Excursus B). 2 Ibid.,IX. 'Ibid. 4 WAIT,"The dating of the Qur'an: A review of Richard Bell'stheories". j.RA.S.,1957, pp.46-56(especially pp.54-65) 5 WAIT, Muhammad'.r Metm,4. 4811-IE QUR'AN AND THE ORIENTALISTS woman"weresaved.The primary meaning of 'ahl is"family",even"wife";while inasecondaryorextendedsenseitmaymean"people"or"inhabitants".This secondarymeaningisclearlyinadmissiblehere;foritisobviouslynotthe intentionof thepassagesinquestiontosaythatallof Lufspeopleweresaved exceptanoldwoman.Norcoulditbesuggestedthatamongallthoseof Lufs peoplewhowerepunishedanddestroyed,therewasonlyoneoldwoman.The obviousmeaningofthetwoconsecutive'qyahsateachofthetwopassages (37:134-135and26:170-171)isthatallthemembersof Lufsfamilyweresaved except"anoldwoman".ThusatboththeplacesLufsrelationshipwithheris expressedinanindirectway.Theterm"oldwoman"isusedhereoutof disapprovalof her unbelief,not out of an ignoranceof her relationship with Lut. Inalltheotherplaces,however,therelationshipisexpresseddirectlyand explicitly.Thereisthusnocaseof inaccuracyinthefirsttwopassages,norof "growth in accuracy" in the other fivepassages. Similarlyill-conceivedisWatt'ssecondpoint.Hesaysthatintheabove mentionedpassagesthereis"noawarenessof theconnexionbetweenAbraham andLot";whereasintheotherpassages"thereisexplicitmentionofthe connexion with Abraham."1 Now,areferencetothepassages15:60,11:83and29:32showsthat"the connexionbetweenAbrahamandLot"whichWattfindsinthemisonlyan indication of their contemporaneity. This comes out asan incidental detailof the mannerinwhichAllah'swrathandpunishmentbefellLut'speople.These passagestellthat Allahsentsomeangelswho,ontheir waytoLufspeople,also metIbrahim,gavehimthegoodtidingsof anothersontobeborntohimand informedhimthattheyweregoingtoLut'speopletopunishthem.Thereupon IbrahimmadesomepleadingsforLut.Obviously,thisincidentaldetailwasnot calledforintheotherpassageswherethethemeandcontextaredifferent.In fact,the emphasis of the firstfour passages(37:135;26:171, 27:58and 7:81)ison Allah'sfavoursupontheProphetsmentionedandhowtheywerehelpedto emergesuccessfulthroughtheirtrialsandtheenmityof theirownpeople.The emphasisof theotherthreepassages(15:60,11:83and29:32)is,ontheother hand,ontheconductof theProphets'opponentsandtheevilconsequencesof theiroppositiontoandrejectionofthemessagedeliveredtothem.Thefirst groupof fourpassagesareaddressed mainlytotheProphet and hisfollowersby 1 WArr,M.atM.,159 11-IE ALLEGED BORROWING FROM JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANI1Y49 way of reassuring and consoling them; the other three are addressed mainly to the unbelieversby way of warning them about the ultimate evil consequences of their disbelief and opposition.Hence inthefirst group of fourpassagesno detailsare givenoftheretributionthatbefelltherejectersofthetruth,noristherea mentionof theangelswhoactedastheagentsof suchretributionuponthe peopleof Ontheotherhand,intheotherthreepassagessuchdetailsare given,includingthecomingoftheangelsthroughwhoseconversationwith !brahamtheso-called"connexion"betweenhimand Lut appears.Thereisthus here,again,nodeficiencyassuchinthefirstfourpassages,noranygrowthof accuracy in the other three passages. It should be mentioned herethat theQur'an referstohistorical eventsand the storiesof the previousProphetsnot forthesakeof narrating historyor tellinga story; it doesso essentially for the sake of illustrating a lesson or drawing a moral; most frequendy to emphasize the fact that allthe Prophets preached the doctrine of monotheism Hence different or thesame aspects of the life-story of a particular Prophet arementionedatdifferent places;andnowhereisaparticular historicaleventorthestoryof aProphetnarratedinfullandatastretch,asis usuallythecase withordinary history or story books.Thisapparent repetitionor partialnarrationof thestorieshasbeenseizedbytheorientaliststoadvancethe theoryof "growthinaccuracy".But acareful lookatthepassages,or ratherthe surahs,wouldatonceexposethespeciousnessof thetheory.It mayalsobe pointed out thatthe mere non-mention of a detail, which isnot called for by the themeandcontextatone place,andthementionof thatdetailatanotherplace wherethethemeandcontextdemand it,isno groundforsuggesting inaccuracy inthefirstinstance,andgrowthinaccuracyinthesecond.Again,eventhe gradualunfoldingoffactsanddetailsdoesnotinitselfprovethatahuman informant or informantsweresupplying informationtotheProphet.The whole of theteachingsof Islam in theQur'an, the rulesand duties,areindeed spelt out gradually and over a period of some twenty-threeyears.To cite thisfactasproof of the Prophet'ssupposedly gradualacquisitionof knowledgefromsome human tutor or tutors would be a height of presumption. Apartfromthesereasons,acloserlookatthepassagesshowsthatthereis indeedno deficiency in information assuch inthefourfirstmentioned passages orsurahs.For,nottospeakof theProphetssenttothe'AdandtheThamud peoples(i.e.Hud and $alih), who are mentioned in them but who do not findany soTHE QUR'AN AND THE ORIENTALISTS mention intheBible,even with regardtoIbrahimsuchdetailsaregiveninthese surahsasarenot to be found in theOld-Testament. Thus, it isinthesesurahsthat Ibrahimisdepictedasapropagatorof monotheismandaveryclearaccountis givenof hisstrugglesforitssake,hisargumentationwithhisfatherandpeople over their mistaken beliefs,hisdenunciationand breaking of the idols,hisordeal byfire,histraveltoHijaz,etc.Noneoftheseaspectsofhislife-storyis mentioned anywhere in the Old-Testament. On the other hand, in the other three passageswherea"growth inaccuracy"isassumedon accountof themention in themof thecomingoftheangelsandtheirconversationwithIbrahim,itis noteworthy that theQur'anic account of thisincident differsmateriallyfromthat of theOld-Testament.For instance,it isclearlymentioned inthethree passages underreferencethatIbrahimgrewcuriousabouthis"guests"(theangelsin human forms)only when they declined to partake of the meal prepared forthem, which led to their disclosing their identity and their furtherconversation with him includingthegivingof thegoodtidingsof anothersontobeborntohimand their commission about thepunishment of Lut'speople.The Old-Testament, on the other hand, simply statesthat assoon asIbrahim saw "three men"he"ran to meetthemfromthetentdoor",invitedthemtobehisguests,andontheir acceptance of it, prepared a meal for them,"and they did eat"of it.1 Similarly they "did eat"the food prepared forthem by Lut.2 Thus neither isa case of deficiency in information established in respect of the first four passages in question, nor isa caseof dependenceupontheOld-Testamentdetailsprovedinrespectofthe otherthreepassages.InboththeinstancestheQur'angoesbeyondthe Old-Testamentandalsodiffersmateriallyfromit.Hencethesourcesof Mul;lammad's(p.b.h.)informationmusthavebeenotherthantheextant Old-Testament and anyother humanbeing conversant withit;andnotheoryof "growth in accuracy"can logically be sustained here. Indeed,farfromdenyingthereceiptof informationfroman"informant"or "informants",theQur'anthrowsoutachallengedeclaringthatneitherthe Prophetnorhispeoplepreviouslyknewthefactsthatwerebeingrevealedto him. Thus11:49 says:....I..L.J_,j,y .;..L. j':1J...:,..;!4---J...;..:-.SL..!.l.,Ji4-.>- j..,_.;Ji~ t . , . ; l ,y .;.U; "That isof thetidingsof the unseen, that Wereveal to thee:thou didst not know them, neither thou nor thy people, before this ... "(11 :49)3 1 Gen.18:1-8. 2 Gen.19:3 3 The translation isthat of A.J.Arberry,op.til.,217, with slight modification. THE ALLEGED BORROWING FROM JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANI1Y51 This'4Jahtogetherwithsomeotherstothesameeffectaresomeofthe strongestQur'anicevidencesshowingthattheProphethadnoprevious knowledgeof whatwasbeingrevealedtohim.Hence,asinthecaseof the Qur'anic evidence insupport of theProphet's"illiteracy"\soin thisinstancetoo Watthasmisinterpretedthis'4Jahinordertosustainhisassumption.Thus, proceedingonthebasisof hisassumptionthattheQur'anshowstheProphet's receipt of informationfromsomeone, Wattstatesthatthis'4Jah11:49posesan "embarrassment"tothose "who want to uphold the sincerity of Muhammad"and thenattemptstoexplainawaythissupposedembarrassment byhavingrecourse tohispeculiarnotionaboutrevelation(waf?y).Hesaysthatthefactsand informationaboutthepropheticstoriescamefromhumansources,butthe "teaching"and"ulteriorsignificanceofthestoriescametoMuhammadby revelation".2 But having saidthis Watt seemstorecall his general thesisthat even inrespectofideasandconceptstheProphetborrowedthemfrom Judaeo-Christian sources.Hence Watt hastensto add that since"Judaeo-Christian ideashadbecomeacclimatizedintheHijaz",theideasthattheQur'an presupposed didnot requiretobespecially communicated", but that the"precise form"inwhichtheyweretobe"integratedsoastoberelevanttothe contemporarysituation,couldhavebeengiventhemonlybytheprophetic intuition. "3 Itmustatoncebepointedoutthattheassumptionof theProphet'shaving receivedinformationfromanyhumansourceistotallygroundlessandwrong. AlsoitistruethattheProphet andhispeopledidnot know thefactsthat were being giventhrough the revelation.Hence the'4Jahquoted above does in no way pose an embarrassment;nor isthereany needforexplaining awaythat supposed embarrassment byreducingthemeaningandscopeof revelationtomerely"the preciseform"inwhichthestoriesortheideasweretobe"integrated"soasto make them relevant to the contemporary situation. ThattheProphetwasreceivingthefacts(aswellasthetext)throughthe revelationisclearfromtheQur'anicpassagesthemselves.Thekeywordinthe passagequotedabove(11 :49)is'anbli'( ~ 4 i ~ . Watthimself translatesthiswordas "stories".Nonethelesshesuggeststhattheir"teaching"and"significance"only shouldbeunderstood.Thissuggestionismadejustforthesakeof fittinghis 1 Supra,pp.15-20. 2 Watt, M.atM., 160. 'Ibid.,160-161. 52TilE QUR'AN AND THE ORIENTALISTS assumptioninthis'qyah. TheplainArabicequivalentof 'anba'is'akhbarandbothmean"facts"or"accounts";andA.J.Arberry'srenderingofthe expressionas"tidings"comesnearertoconveyingthecorrectmeaning.Indeed 'anbd,whenitemanatesfromAllah,1 means"facts"and"trueaccounts"without theslightestdoubtor untruthaboutthem.Butevenif Watt'stranslationof the wordas"stories"isallowed,thereisnothing hereor elsewhere intheQur'an to sustaintheclaimthatitmeansmerely"teaching"and"significance"tothe exclusionof thefacts.It maybe notedthat besidesthe variousderivativesfrom theroot,thewordnaba' )initssingularformoccursintheQur'anatsome seventeenplaces,2 whilethepluralform'anbd'insome12places.3 Ateachof these 29places it signifiesfactsand circumstances. It isnot necessary to look into alltheseplaces.It wouldsuffice if we look atonlythetwoother places,besides 11:49where it hasbeen used withthesameemphaticassertionthat the Prophet hadno priorknowledgeof what wascoming tohimasrevelation.One of these places is3:44 which runs asfollows: .).)\t+'..u..::. 1,..)t/-ft+'f.).)\t+'..u..::. 1,..)..!J,)\"-::>- j .._,....!.l).) "That isof thetidingsof theunseen,that Werevealtothee;forthouwastnot withthem, when they were casting quills which of them should have charge of Mary;thou wast not with them when they were disputing. "4 And the other'qyah,12:102, runs asfollows: .) ('-"') ('-"' _,..fl_,.....,..f.)\t+'..u..::. 1,..)..!J,)\"-::>- j .._,....!.l).) "That isof the tidingsof the unseen that We reveal to thee:thou wast not with them when they agreed upon their plan, devising."5 It isnoteworthy thatthelastpart of eachof thesetwo'qyahsbeginningfrom "thouwastnot withthem"isanexplanationof the'anbd'giventotheProphet anditreferstospecificfactsandcircumstances,nottomere"meaning"and "significance" of some facts. The same emphasison the Prophet's innocence and lack of prior knowledge of the factsthat were being revealed to him isreiterated(though without the specific expression'anbd}in another highlyexpressiveQur'anic passage,28:44-46,which runs asfollows: JJ\k.a1.; J}.:fJ J .._,....::.\...J_,..';1l5'"" yJi1.:.,..;:.i.ll(,f-_;JI..::.\...J .:fJ.llJ#l ..::. \...J_,..\.:5'.:fJ J1_,1.:;..:r-..vJ.o>fJ4JG..::.\...J__,...,JI 1 Watt of course does not admit that the revelation received bytheProphet wasfrom Allah. 2 Q.5:27; 6:34; 6:67; 7:175; 9:70;10:71;14:9;18:3;26:69;27:22;28:3;28:21;38:67;38:88;49:6;64:5 and 78:2. 'Q.3:44; 6:5;7:101;11:49;11:100;11:120;12:102; 20:99; 26:6;28:66;33:20 and 44:4. 4 A.J. ARBERRY,op.cit.,51. 'Ibid.,237. THE ALLEGED BORROWING FROM JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANI1Y53 0J.J'.i::r-..w.!.ll,.i,y~ - . . i ; ,y ("""'Lil\..\..j J..i.:::J~ J ,y 6.....>-J "ThouwastnotuponthewesternsidewhenWedecreedtoMosesthecommandment,nor wastthouof thosewitnessing;butWeraisedupgenerations,andlongtheirlivescontinued. NeitherwastthouadwelleramongtheMidianites,recitingtothemOursigns;butWewere sending Messengers.Thou wast not upon thesideof theMount when We called;but fora mercy fromthyLord,thatthoumayestwarnapeopletowhomno warnercamebeforethee,andthat haply they may remember."(28:44-46).1 AlltheseQur'anic passages(11:49;3:44,12:102and 24:44-46)areunequivocal confirmationsof theProphet'sinnocenceandlackof priorknowledgeof the factsandcircumstanceshewasgivingoutbymeansof therevelationtohim. They alsoconstitute irrefutable contradictions of the assumption that he received factsand ideasfromhuman sourcesandthen had had recourse to"revelation"in order to obtain only "the preciseform"in which they were tobe integrated so as to makethem relevanttothe contemporary situation. Also,these passagesare,as alreadypointedout,inthenatureof challengestotheProphet'scontemporary adversarieswhosimilarlyinsinuatedthathereceivedinformationfromsome human beings.It should be noted that every part of theQur'an wasgivenout to thepublicthemomentitwasrevealed.Infactthevariousallegationsofthe unbelieversandtheirrebuttalastheyoccurintheQur'anarethemselves unmistakableproofsof instantpublicationof thetextsof therevelations.And keeping inviewthedatesof revelationof theabovementionedpassages,which varyfromearlyMakkantomid-Madinan periods(andWatt himself classifiesthe firstmentionedpassage,11:49,asC-E+,i.e.,earlyMakkantomid-Madinan period), it isevident that the challenge wasrepeated not only at Makka but alsoat Madina wheretherewereanumber of well-informed Jewswho wereagainstthe Prophet.Yet,thereisnoindicationinthesourcesof theirhavingtakenupthe challenge inany way,nor of theirhaving pointedout any individual or any other sourcefromwhichMuQ.ammad(p.b.h.)couldhaveobtainedtheinformation. Nor,asalreadypointedout,couldtheunbelievingQurayshleaders,inspiteof theirceaselesseffortsandinhumantorturingof thefewChristianconvertsat Makka, elicit an admission fromthem that they had taught the Prophet anything. VI.DIFFERENCES IN THE QUR'ANIC AND BIBLICAL ACCOUNTS Thattheabovementionedpassagesrelatetofactsandalsoprovethatthe Prophet didnotreceivethefactsfromanypersonconversant withtheBibleis furtherevidentfromthefactualdifferencesthatarenoticeableintheQur'anic IIbid.,396-397. 54THE QUR'AN AND THE ORIENTALISTS andBiblicalaccountsof thesameProphets.Thefirstmentionedpassage,11:49, occurs in the context of the account of Nul;l.UnliketheOld-Testament, it isthe Qur'anwhichspecificallymentionsthathepreachedmonotheismandcalledhis people to the worship of Only One God. Again, unlike the Old-Testament, it tells thatthedelugedidnot comeexcept afterNul;lhadfacedallsortsof opposition andtroublesinthecauseofhismissionandexceptafterhehadbecome despairedof hispeopleeverreceivingguidance,andalsoexceptafterGodhad revealedtohimthattheywouldnotbelieve.Thirdly,itistheQur'anwhich mentionsthat only those who believed in God were saved. The Qur'an alsorefers to what happened to Nul;l'sson for hisrefusal to accept the truth and how he was drowned.Fourthly,theOld-TestamentsaysthatGodbecamerepentant(?)for His having caused the devastation and resolved never againto do soand, in order toremindHim of Hisresolutionand"covenant"with Nul;l,set abow (rainbow) inthesky,thusimplyingalsotheweaknessof forgetfulnessonHispart.1 It is more with reference to such factsasare not mentioned inthe Old-Testament but arestated clearly intheQur'anthat it challenginglytellstheProphet that neither he nor hispeople previously knew them. Similarlythesecondpassage,3:44,comesinthecontextofthestoryof Maryamand'Isa(Maryand Jesus).Thedifferencesbetweentheirstoryinthe Qur'anandthat intheNew Testamentaremoreremarkable.Thepassageitself refersto the incident of her careand protection whichinformation iswanting in the New Testament.Second,theQur'an clearsher of allimputationsof being an unworthycharacterandemphaticallydeclaresherpurityandchastityandstates that Allahselectedher asthenoblest ladyfortheextraordinary honour of being motherof isa- "0 Maryam,Allahhaschosentheeandpurifiedthee,chosen thee above the women of allthe nations. "2 At the same time it makes it very clear thatshewasnomorethanahuman being andthatshewasasmuchinneed of prayingtoAllahasanyoneelse- "0Maryam,worshipthyLorddevoutly, prostratethyselfandbowdown(inprayer)withthosewhobowdown. "3 As regards'Isa,theQur'an mentionsevensuchof hismiraclesasarenot related in the New Testament.For instance,hisspeaking tothe people whilehe wasin the cradle,4 hisgivinglifetoclaybirdsbyAllah'spermission,5 andthetablethat 1 Gen. 8:21and 9:11-16. 2 Q.3:42. The text runs as:~ W I ,w Js- !lW....I; !l; !lW....I..!JI01t'/ 4 >.S:l':>W1.,.Ju;1; 1 Q.3:43. The text runs as:.:r.1)1 e::...->h ....._1;~ ) IJ4)1 ')IIJ/( L.Jtf-/ .y.le--l\J ....UI0 .y 44)JJt"'IJ.b:JI .0'_r.;"They taketheir priestsandanchoritesaslordsapart from Allah,and(also)theMessiah,son of Maryam.Yettheywerenot commandedbut toworshipOneGod.There isnogodbut He. Exalted isHe from what they associate(with Him)."(9:31) Thispassageisanalogousto5:116.Hereagaintheworshipof anyother beingsbesidesAllahiscondemned.There isatraditionwhichexplainshow the 1 WAIT, Muhammad'.< Me..}>J\'1..UI "He Whomadetheearthacradleforyouandthreadedforyouin itroutes;andsentdown fromtheskywater.ThusWehaveproducedtherebypairsof plants,eachdifferentfromthe other."(20:53) Thescientifictruthaboutsexesinplantsisstatedheremorepointedlyand explicitly, thussupplementing the information contained in 13:3 noted above. The third of the passages is51:47-48. It runs asfollows: 0 J.uWIL-W) ..}> J \'IJ0 .Y-" ,..J lil J1 See also Q.36:36 and 51:49 on this point. 2 See for instance M.Pickthall's and A.Yusuf Ali'stranslations and comments on this'ifyah. 'Seebelow (text)for other Qur'anic referenceson thispoint. 4 ARBERRY,op.dt.,239. THE ALLEGED CONTEMPORARY ERRORSIN THE QUR'AN79 "And thesky We havemade it withHands; andverilyWeareExpanders(arein theprocess of expanding it).Andtheearth, Wehavelaidit out,andhow Excellent aretheauthorsof laying out!" Heretheexpression"andverilyWeareExpanders"(0 _,...... _,..JUlJ)isvery significant.Watthasrenderedthispartof thestatementas:"anditiswewho makeitof vastextent. "1 Butitistobenotedthattheconstructionisinthe nominalform(a.,...... Iu...,.,.)incontrastwiththeverbal(....,Wu...,.,.)formofthe immediatelyprecedingexpression,whichisalsointhepasttense.Itisa well-knownruleof Arabicconstruction that thenominalformtogether withthe emphaticlamisusedtoindicateahabitualor continualactor processof doing. Thusthecorrecttranslationoftheexpressionwouldbe:"AndverilyWeare expanders"or"Wedoexpand"or"Weareintheprocessof expandingit". Indeed, A.J.Arberry isjust correct in rendering this part of thestatement as"and We expand it wide."2 Now,thisstatementassumesagreatsignificanceinthelightofmodern scientific information that theuniverseisexpanding at astaggering speed.It says that everything in space(theskies)-the constellationstogether withtheir planets andsatellites,etc.,areallflyingstraight ahead at anunimaginablespeed.The sun itself,togetherwithitsplanetsandtheirsatellitesasa wholearereckonedtobe movingatthestaggeringspeedofalmostamillionmilesadaytowardsthe constellation Lyra which itself ismoving awayat asimilarspeed!Thusthespace, i.e.thesky,iscontinuallyexpanding.Inthelightof thismodernknowledgethe Qur'anicstatement"Wehavecreatedtheheaven,andindeed Wedoexpandit" assumes a bewildering significance, besidesbeing surprisingly precise. Thusthreeof theeightpassagescitedby Watt toprove what hesupposesto bescientificerrorsintheQur'ancontainatleastfoursuchfactsasrundirectly counter to hisassumption. Two of thesefactsrelatetothe shape of the earth and tworelatetocreation andtheuniversein general.Thesefactsare:(a)that Allah hasshaped the earth likeanegg(daf?ahti);(b)that"He makesthenightcoverthe day"(13:3),whichisanindicationof thesphericalnatureof theearth;(c)that plantsand fruits,besidesother objects,arecreated in pairs(of sexes)and (d)that thesky(space)iscontinuallybeingexpanded(51:47).Thereareindeedmany other passagesof scientificimport intheQur'an,speciallyrelatingtotheorigin and creation of man, nature andtheuniverse.3 It isnot feasiblehere to refer even 1 WAIT, Muhammad'.r Mecca,6. 2 ARBERRY,rp.dt.,545. 'Seefor instanceM.BuCAILLE,rp.dt. 80THE QUR'AN AND THE ORIENTALISTS briefly to allof them. Afewof them bearing on the question of the earth'sshape may, however, be mentioned here. The most significant in this respect isthe statement at 91:6which saysthat the earthhasbeen thrown(initsorbit?inthespace?)likeaball.Thestatement runs as:t...L:.J.L.. JJ> J \JIJ- "BytheearthandHe Whothrew it(likeaball."It maybe noted that likethe word (79:30)this word faqahdalsohas been rendered by many early scholars as"spread out", "expanded", etc.Significantly,however, both Al-Qurtubiand Al-Shawkani,whilenoticingtheinterpretationsput ontheword by thepreviouscommentators, point out that the Arabsunderstoodthe word in thesenseof goingormovingaway.1 Themeaningisfurtherclarifiedbythe authorof theTtijal- 'Artiswho,whilenoticingthemeaningsput on theword by theearlycommentators,pointsoutthatthewordmeans"throwing"something, forinstanceaball(1+.I.S"J L:.J.J).2 Thisexpressionthusagreeswellwiththe meaningof dahahaasexplainedaboveandbothindicatethesphericalshapeof the earth and its rotation in the space.It may further be noted that the statements immediately preceding 91:6,particularly91:3-4,haveasignificantbearingonthe pointastheydescribetherelationshipofdayandnightwiththesun.The statements run as:J..!IJ\....')\.,. J4-JIJ- "By the dayasit revealsit(thesun). Bythenight asit concealsit."These twostatementsmake it quiteclearthat it is the actionof thedayandthenight which bringsto viewthesun andconcealsit, notthatanymovementof thesuncausesdayandnight.Theprecisioninthe statements wouldbe alltheclearer if attention ispaidto91:1whereinthesun is referredto. It simplystates:"Bythesunanditsbrightness"(t...l>....,;,J No actionor verb isascribedtoit here.Alittleregardtosuchpreciseuseof words would make it clearthat they imply important scientificfactsregarding theshape of the earth and its rotation. Thesignificanceof theearth'shavingbeen"thrown"(taqaht1)becomesvery clearif itisconsideredalongwithanotherveryimportantQur'anicstatement relating to the origin of the earth itself and of lifeon it.It saysthat initially the sky andtheearthwerejoinedtogetherinonemass,thatsubsequentlytheywere separated and that every living being on the earth originated in water. The passage runs asfollows: 1 AL-QUR'fUBi,Tafsi'r,XX,74-75;AL-SHAWKANi,TajSfr,V, 449. 2 T dja/- 'Ards,X,223.Seealso E.W. LANE,Arabic-Engli.rhLeximn,undertahw( _,.J.)andtaf.ry(_,..1)where,besidesthe other meanings, it isnoted:" bJ.issaid when onethrowsdown aman upon hisface."(CambridgeIslamic TextsSociety print, 1984, Vol.II,1832). THE ALLEGED CONTEMPORARY ERRORS IN THE QUR'AN81 0yy..J} d.4W"" j-.JI .} ,L....JI..s_,kt y. 'Q. 25:25=>S:.")I.JIJJJrw.l4 ,L....J, r _,J 4 Q.44:10=""' ,L....JIIJL......C::'Jl>- L>.i.JI.u.Ji- "AllahisHe Whocreated the seven skies, and of the earth the likeof them."(65:12) Also,itshouldbenotedthattheother livingbeingsmayhaveothertypesof physiqueand constitution; sotheir placesof habitation may be different innature thanthatof ours.Again,sinceevenhumanbeingsbecome"weightless"ata certaindistanceinthespaceandmaymoveabout therein without the"support" of "solid"objects,it wouldbe wrong toassumeonthebasisof theexistenceof living beings in the skiesthat these latter are therefore "solid"things. It should beclearfromtheabovediscussionthattherearecertainexpressions intheQur'anwhich,ifapproachedwiththeprimitivenotionaboutthesky, wouldfitinwiththat notion,but theyareverymuchappropriatetothemodern concept of theskyand theuniverse.Above all,it should not be lost sight of that thepresent stateof our knowledge isconfined only toa part of what constitutes the"nethersky",al-sama'al-duf!Jd.Theregionlyingbeyondthisnearestskywith allitsstarsandplanets,issimplybeyondourknowledge.Eventhescientists admit that what they have hitherto learnt about the extent and nature of the sky is onlyamicroscopic particleinrelationtowhat remainsunknownof it.What lies beyond thisknown or supposedly known region iscompletely dark to us.In view ofalltheseitwouldbesimplypresumptuoustoassumethattheQur'anic statementsabout the skyarenot in accord withmodernscientificknowledge.At 88THE QUR'AN AND 11-IE ORIENTALISTS anyrate,Watt'sassumptionthattheQur'anicviewoftheskyispnmltlve, reflectingthestateof knowledgeintheseventhcenturyiswrong inthreemain respects.He picksup only afewstatements in the Qur'an, approachesthem with the"primitive"notion and putsa verynarrow construction on them.Second,he ignoresalargenumber of other statements intheQur'anthataresurprisingly in accordwithmodernscientificinformationabouttheskyandthesignificanceof whichmaybefullyappreciatedwiththefurtherprogressofourknowledge. Third,heseemstoassumethatthemodernscientistshavethelastwordabout theskyandthatnothingremainstobeknownaboutit,whichisnotatallthe case;forthescientiststhemselvesadmitthattheyhavenotfathomedevena particle of the vast and bewildering creation, the sky. PART II THE ORIENTALISTS ON THE QuR'ANIC WAI;:lY CHAPTER IV THE ORIENTALISTS ON THE QUR'ANIC WAljY: I. THE VIEWS OF MUIR AND MARGOLIOUTH I. PRELIMINARY REMARKS Thegenuinenessof theQur\inasAllah'swordsandadivinelysent-down scripture, the claim of Islam asa divinely communicated religion and the status of Mul).ammad(p.b.h.)asAllah'sProphetandMessenger,allrevolveroundthe questionofwaf?yordivinecommunicationtohim.Naturally,therefore,the subjectof waf?yhasreceiveda good dealof theorientalists'attention.Especially sincethemiddleofthenineteenthcenturytheyhaveadvancedanumberof assumptionsandtheoriesaboutit.Ingeneral,theaimof allthesetheoriesand assumptions isto show, by one argument or another, that the texts making up the Qur'anwereMuQ.ammad's(p.b.h.)owncomposition.Themostthatthe orientalistsseemtoconcede isthat MuJ:lammad(p.b.h.)might havebeensincere in hisconviction that he wasgiventhetextsby Allah;neverthelessthese were the products of hisown mind and thought. Itisunderstandablethatneitheranyorientalist,nor,forthatmatter,a non-Muslim,couldconscientiouslyandwithoutbeingskepticalabouthisown religionadmitthatMu};lammad(p.b.h.)wasAllah'sMessengerandthatthe Qur'anisAllah'swords.Whatisspecialwiththeorientalists,however,isthat they do not leavethe matter there by simply denying divineorigin for theQur'an anddivinecommissionforMul).ammad(p.b.h).Theyproceedfurtherthanthat andendeavour toshow,fromthe Islamicsourcesandtexts,that that really isthe case.And in so farasthey do so,they in effect assume the role of missionariesof theirownfaithsandtheygenerallytwistthefactsandmisinterpretthetextsin orderto sustain their assumptions. Sincethesecondhalf of thenineteenthcenturytheorientalists'viewsabout the Qur'anic wal;yhave passed through three distinct stagesof evolution. The first stagestartedwiththepublicationin1858of WilliamMuir'sLfe of Mahomet.His viewsandassumptionsaboutwaf!yandtheProphethood of Mul)ammad(p.b.h.) ingeneralwereadoptedmoreor lessbyalmostalltheother writersduringthe rest of thecentury and thefirstdecadeof thetwentiethcentury. The stateof the orientalists'attitudeinthisrespectatthebeginningof thetwentiethcentury was reflected,withsomemodificationandaddition,inDavidSamuelMargoliouth's 92THE QUR'AN AND THE ORIENTALISTS MohammedandtheRiseof Islam,thethirdandrevisededitionofwhichwas publishedin1905.Thesecondstageof developmenttook placesincethenand wasbesttypifiedbythewritingsof RichardBellsincethethirtiestilltheearly fiftiesofthecentury.Thethirdandcontemporarystagebeganwiththe publicationin1953of WilliamMontgomeryWatt'sMuhammadat Mecca.Hehas sincethen produced other works,notably hisIslamicRevelationintheModernWorld (1969)andMuhammad'sMecca(1988).Drawingonandbuildinguponhis predecessors' views,particularly thoseof hispreceptor Bell, Watt hasadvanced a gooddealof assumptionsandconclusionsaboutwaf!yandthenatureofthe Qur'an.Inthepresentandfollowingthreechapters,thesethreestagesinthe development of the orientalists' viewsabout waf!yare analysed and examined. II. MUIR'S ASSUMPTIONS Muir'sbasic assumption wasthat Mul).ammad(p.b.h.)wasambitious andthat being depressedbythedebasementof hispeoplehesoughtrelief inmeditation andreflectionatMountI:Iira'.Graduallycertaingrandideas,suchasGodthe SoleCreatorandRuler,thewretchednessofheathenismandidolatry, resurrection,judgementandrecompenseof goodandevil,andlifeafterdeath, etc.,tookshapeinhismind.Hegaveventtotheseideasinwhatiscalled "fragments" of poetry and "soliloquy" on the state and prospects of mankind, and inprayersforguidance.Asinstancesof theseearly"fragments"of poetryMuir quotesinhisowntranslationsurahs103(ai-'Asr)and100(ai-'.Adrydt);andas instancesof"soliloquy"and"prayer"hequotes,respectively,surahs101 (aiQdri'ah)and1

Muiradmitsthat thesewere"couched inwordsof rareforceandbeauty".Sometimesthe"oracle",furthersaysMuir,came"direct fromtheDeity,speaking as'We',andtoMahomet as'Thou'."Asaninstanceof this last category he quotes in translation surah95(ai-Ttn).2 Yet,saysMuir,theconvictionofbeinginspiredwasnotattainedby Muhammad(p.b.h.).It cameto him "after a protracted period of mental throes." In the meantime he issaidtohaveraisedthe"voiceof expostulation and alarm", asinsurah104(ai-Humazah),andtohavealludedto Araband Jewishlegendsas wellasto"national miracles"andsentiments. Asinstancesof these,part of surah 89(ai-Fqjr)andsurahs105and106(ai-Fflandai-'IIdj)infullarequotedin 'MuiR,Life et.:,third edn.35-39. 2 Ibid,39. MUIR AND MARGOLIOUTH ON THE QUR'ANICWAHY93 translation.1 MuQ.ammad(p.b.h),saysMuir,wasstillgropingforthetruth,and surah90(al-Ba/ad)isquoted in fullin translation in support of thisstatement.2 Thus the Prophet, according to Muir,continued to give"vent to hisreveriesin poetry"forseveralyears"beforeheassumedtheofficeof adivineteacher." DuringthisperiodasmallgroupincludingWaraqah,'Ali,Khaclijahand'Abu Bakr(r.a.)became hisfollowers,the firstthree,saysMuir, putting the early surahs towriting,for"Mahometdidnothimselfwrite."3 Outsidethatlittlecircle, continuesMuir,hispreachings weremet by grossignoranceandopposition,the Qurayshleader'Abu J ahlandhisgroupsneeredathimandthegeneralbody of Quraysh remained "careless and indifferent." Atsuchastage,saysMuir,theneedforappearingasaProphet wasbrought hometoMuJ:lammad(p.b.h.)when,the"moresusceptibleamongthecitizens", whilelistening tohim,pointedout that they would leada purer lifeif a Prophet wassenttothem,just asProphetshadbeensent tothe JewsandChristians.In supportof thisstatementMuircitestheQur'anicpassage35:42andsaysthat Mul;lammad(p.b.h.)felttheforceof thereplyandmadeasearching of hisown heart whereby hecame to theconvictionthat the ideasandcompositionshehad been putting forthallconstituted a "supernatural call,a divinemission."4 In such a stateof mindhesought reassurance inGod'spast favourson himasisevident fromsurahs93 and94(ai-Sharb).5 Finally,whileseatedorwandering amidst the peaks of I;Iira',"an apparition rose before him". Jibril stood "close and clear beside him in a vision"and"approaching within 'two bow-lengths', brought fromhismasterthememorablebehestof surata!- 'Aiaq. 6 "ThuswasMahomet led",concludesMuir,"after a protractedperiod of doubt andhesitancy- togive forthhismessage asproceeding directly fromthe Almighty.Henceforth he spoke literallyinthename of the Lord.And so scrupulous washe, ...that every sentence of theCoranisprefacedbythedivinecommand,SPEAKorSAY;which,if not expressed, isalwaysto be understood."7 Even after that he wastaunted asa poet, asorcereroronepossessedbythedemons.Hencehefellbackonhis commissionandinhisperplexitystretchedhimselfonhisbed,wrappinghis garmentsaroundhimand"fellintoatrance".Theangelwas"athand"andthe 'Ibid.,30-40. 2 Ibid.,41. 'Ibid. 'Ibid.,42-43. 'Ibid.,43.Muir quotes here these two slirahs infullin translation. 6 Ibid.,45-46.Muir quotes herethe entire slirah in translation. 7 Ibid.,46.Muir quotes in thefootnote .rlirah112 (a!- 94THE QUR'AN AND THE ORIENTALISTS Prophetwas"arousedfromdespondencytoenergyandaction"bythe reanimating message of surat ai-Muddaththir.1 Muirclaimsthathehasthustracedfromthe"variousintimationsgathered fromtheCoran itself'thestepsby which Mul;lammad(p.b.h.)wasledtoassume the office of Prophet.2 Muir then summarizes what he callsthe traditional account by reproducing mainly the account given by Al-Waqidi.In conclusion he refersto themannersandmethodsof thecomingof wai!J,whichhecallstheProphet's "ecstaticperiods"andsaysthatthosewere"reveriesof profoundmeditation, swoonsconnectedwithmorbidexcitabilityof mentalorphysicalconstitution", which varied at different periods and under different circumstances. 3 Thus, according to Muir,Mul;lammad(p.b.h.),byseeing thedebasedcondition of hispeople,took to meditation and reflection asa result of which certain grand ideasaboutGodandmancametohismind,thathe gavevent tothoseideasin fragmentsof poetry andsoliloquy,that whensome of hislistenerssaidthatthey wouldbemoreamenabletothepreachingsofaProphet,herethoughthis positionandpersuadedhimself thattheideasandmessageshehadbeengiving out werefromGod,that inthatstateof mindhesawan"apparition"whichhe thought tobethe angeldelivering tohim atextandthat hecontinuedtoreceive and giveout suchtextsthroughecstatic"swoons"and"trances"which weredue to the morbid excitability of his mind and constitution. The last mentioned aspect ofMuir'ssuggestionsisonlyanextensionofhisotherassumptionmadein connectionwiththeProphet'schildhoodthathewasavictimof epilepsyor fainting fits. Theseassumptionsandsuggestionsareallwronganduntenable,beingbased on a gross distortion of the factsand circumstances relating to the coming ofa ~to the Prophet. They are also illogical and inconsistent. Muir'sbasicassumptionisthatMul;lammad(p.b.h.)wasambitiousandmade preparationsforplaying theroleof a Prophet.Yet it issuggestedthat he didnot reachtheconvictionof being"inspired"till"after aprotracted periodof mental throes"and"honeststrivingaftertruth"andfurtherthathegaveventtohis "reveries"for"severalyearsbeforeheassumedtheofficeof adivineteacher." Clearly,thetwostrainsareantithetical.If theProphet hadreallybeenambitious and had made plansand preparationsfor playing the roleof a Prophet, he would 1 Ibid,47-48.Muir here quotes in translation the .rflrah with slight omissions. 2 Ibid.,48. 'Ibid,51. MUIR AND MARGOLIOUTH ON THE QUR'ANICWAlfY95 not haveembarkedupon hisproject tillafter hisplanshadfullymaturedand he hadsetdedhislinesofaction.Ontheotherhandif,onaccountofhis contemplation,reflectionand"honeststrivingaftertruth"certaingrandideas "took clearanddefiniteshapebeforehim",thentheProphet didnot obviously actaccordingtopriorplansandpreparations.Infact,Muir'stheorythat Mul)ammad(p.b.h.)feltthe need forappearing asProphet only after some of his listeners had said that they would lead a purer life if a Prophet wassent to them is acontradictionbyhimselfofhistheoryof ambitionandpreparationonthe Prophet's part. Intruth,thecasewasneithertheresultof plansandpreparationnorthatof meditationandcontemplation.TheProphetdidofcourseengagehimselfin solitarystayandreflection,butthatwasinnowaydoneinresponsetohis listeners'desiretohaveaProphet among them,nor wasthetext hedeliveredto hispeopleaproduct of hiscontemplation.It wassomething entirelyextraneous tohimselfandhehadinnowaythoughtof itnorexpectedit.Thatwasthe reasonwhy,byallaccounts,hewasbewildered,puzzledandterrifiedatthe suddenturnofeventsandwasnotinitiallysureofhisnewposition.His uncertainty wasclearly duetothe absence of any designand ambition on hispart andtothesuddennessandunexpectednessof thedevelopment.Italsoshows thatthetext whichhe receivedasrevelationwasno product of histhinking and reflection.Butwhateverthenatureof hisinitialuncertaintyandbewilderment, that statedid not definitely lastfor"several years"and it wasclearlytheresult of thecomingof thefirstwaqytohimandof thecircumstancesattending it.Muir usesthis"effect"of thecomingof waqytotheProphetasthecauseandprior circumstancesof it- thuscompletelyreversingtheprocessof developmentas narrated in allthe sources. MuirstatesthattheProphet didnot attaintheconviction of being"inspired" anddidnotassume"theofficeof adivineteacher"forseveralyears.Yet,Muir wouldhaveusbelievethattheProphetnonethelesspreachedhis"ideas"and calleduponhispeopletoaccepthismessagesomuchsothatwhileasmall number becamehisfollowers,thegeneralityof theQurayshmockedat himand opposed him.Now, thequestionsthat naturally suggest themselvesto any reader of this account are:(a)isit conceivable that a person who isnot yet sure about his own positionnor about thenatureof hismessagewouldatthesame timecome out inthe open,seek convertstohisteachingsand faceinsultsand opposition in 96TilE QUR'AN AND TilE ORIENTALISTS consequence?(b)Isitreasonabletoassumethatagroupof persons,however small,wouldrespondtohiscallunlesstheywereconvincedof thetruthand divineoriginof themessage?Andhowcouldtheybesowhilethepreacher himself of themessagewassupposedly not sosureabouthimself andabout the natureof hismessage?(c)Isitreasonabletothinkthatthegreatbodyof the Qurayshwouldturnagainstthepreacherunlesstheyweresureaboutthe seriousnessof hisclaimsandofhisteachings?Muirdoesnotof courseask himself these verynaturalquestionsbut expectshisreaderstotakethe absurdity from him. But the climaxof Muir'sinconsistency liesin thesuggestion,on theone hand, thatMul).ammad(p.b.h.)didnot giveout hiscall"inthenameof theLord"till afterseveralyearsof hesitationandgropingforthetruthand,ontheother,in thestatementthatduringthatinitialperiodthe"oracle"didsometimes"come directfromtheDeity,speakingas'We'andtoMahometas'Thou'."Now,one clearlyfailstounderstandhowthistypeof deliverancesdifferinanywayfrom thosemadesubsequently"inthenameoftheLord".Indeed,Muir'sbasic inconsistencyliesinthefactthathecitesasmanyas18Qur'anicsurahsto illustratewhathesupposestobepre-wah'orpre-Qur'andeliverancesofthe Prophet! Muir'smostabsurdpropositionisthattheneedforgivinghimselfoutas Prophet dawned on Muhammad (p.b.h.)when inthe course of hispreaching "the more susceptible of the citizens"pointed out that they would lead a purer life if a Prophetwassenttothem,likethoseuntotheJewsandtheChristians. Thereupon, wearetold,Mul)ammad(p.b.h.)reassessedhisposition andthrough a processof intense heart-searchingscametotheconvictionthat he wasdivinely inspired and ultimately perceived the"vision"of the angel Jibril instructing him to "recite", i.e.,to preach, "in the name of thy Lord". Now, imagine the position of a person who goesout tohispeople asareligiouspreacherandthen,afterhaving preachedforseveralyearsandafterhavingfacedtheoppositionandridiculeof hispeople, takesthe hint in the remark of some of them that they would listen to hiscounselofreformifaProphetcametopreachtothem.Thereuponthe preacher reviseshisroleand reappearsto hispeople telling them that he hasnow receivedGod'scommissionsothattheyshouldfollowhim.Nopersonwithan iota of commonsenseand intelligence inhim would renderhimself soludicrous MUIR AND MARGOLIOUTH ON THE QUR'ANIC WAijY97 byactingsofoolishlyandnaively.Yet,Muirnotonlyattributessuchnaivetyto the Prophet but alsoexpects hisreaders to believe it. This absurdstory ismade up by aseriesof twisting and mixing up of the facts on the one hand,and by misinterpreting the textson theother.In thefirstplace, Muir twiststhe well-known fact of the Prophet's bewilderment, apprehension and uncertainty consequent upon hisreceipt of thefirst revelation into a circumstance priortothatincident.Hethenmixesthisbewildermentanduncertaintyonthe Prophet'spart withtheperiodof fatrahor pause inthecomingof wal;y.Indeed, hissecondtwistingtakesplaceinconnectionwiththisfact.Heconveysthe impressionthattheperiodof fatrahiscoterminouswiththe period during which theProphet isallegedtohavebeen struggling withinhimself andsufferingfrom immensemental tensionastowhether or not to givehimself out asProphet and speak in God's name. It may be noted that the nature of fatrah,asmentioned in all thereportsaboutit,iscompletelydifferentfromwhatMuirwouldhaveus believe. Although the reports differ about itsduration, they areallat one in saying that itwasaperiodduring whichthere wasa pause inthecoming of wafty,not a period previoustoit.TheProphetwasof courseanxiousandrestlessduringthat period,but there isno suggestioninthesourcesthatthisrestlessnesswasdueto hismentaltensionaboutwhetherornottospeakinthenameof God.Muir simply putsthisunwarrantable interpretation on thefactof theProphet'sanxiety whichwasduetohisnon-receiptof waftyforaperiodlongerthantheusual intervalsbetween such communications. Incidentally, the reports about jatrahand thewholeaffairoftheProphet'sanxietyandtensiononthataccountare conclusive evidencesof thefactthat waftywasnot something emanating fromthe Prophet himself, nor was it something of hisown making. Suchtwistingofthefactsisblendedwithmisinterpretationsofthetexts, concludedbythemisleadingstatementthattheaccountof thestepsbywhich MuJ;lammad(p.b.h.)wasledtoassumetheofficeof Prophet isgleanedfromthe "variousintimationsgatheredfromtheCoran itself."It must atonce be pointed outthatthe"steps"whichMuirmentionsareonlydistortionsand misinterpretation of thefacts,including thefactof fatrahor pause inthe coming of wafty,arementioned only inthereports,andnot atallintheQur'an.Andthe Qur'anicstatementswhichMuiradducesassupportiveevidenceforhis assumptions are mere misinterpretations by him. 98TilE QUR'AN AND TilE ORIENTALISTS Thefirstnotablemisuseof theQur'anictexton Muir'spart iswithregardto thestatement about thesinof speaking falselyinthenameof God.The Qur'an of course denounces it asthe most odious sin, not once but at least at ten places.1 Asimple glance at these passageswould make it clearthat thestatement ismade either to rebut the unbelievers'allegationthat what the Prophet wasgiving out to themwasnotreallyfromAllah,ortodenouncethepracticeof someof the People of the Book who tampered with Allah'srevelation and gave out their own statements asHis.Muir arbitrarily infersfrom these statements of the Qur'an that the Prophet must have at an early stage of hiscareer struggled within himself over thequestionof whether or not tospeakfalselyinGod'sname.Thereisnothing in the Qur'an to warrant such an assumption. ThesecondgravemisinterpretationofMuir'sishiscitationofsurahs93 (al-puqii)and94asevidenceoftheProphet'sallegedattemptto emancipate himself from the allegedmental tension asto whether or not to speak falselyinGod'snameandtoreassurehimself thathehad indeedbeenfavoured byGod.Thesurahsinquestionof courseremindtheProphet of Allah'sfavours on him;but thereisnothing inthem,or inthereportsconcerning theoccasions of theirrevelation,tosuggestthattheProphetrecalledthosepastfavoursof Allahonhimbywayof emancipatinghimselffromthementaltensionasto whether or not tospeakfalselyin Allah'snameor to persuadehimself that what hewasgivingoutconstitutedadivinemission.TheexplanationissolelyMuir's imagination having no foundation in the Qur'an itself, or in the reports. ThethirdmisinterpretationismadeinconnectionwiththeQur'anicpassage 35:42whichsays:"TheysworetheirstrongestoathsbyAllahthatif awarner cametothemtheywouldbebetterguidedthanoneof thepeoples(Jewsand Christians)."2 Muirassumesthatthisremark wasmadebytheunbelieverstothe Prophetwhenhewaspreachingtothemp.ndthatbecauseof thisremarkhe thought of giving himself out asaProphet.There isnothing inthereportsor in theQur'an itself tosupportthisassumption.Theutterunreasonablenessof the Prophet'sundertakinganypreachingworkbeforehisbeingsureofhisown position and before giving himself out asProphet hasalready been pointed out. It maybenotedherethatthestatementcitedwasmadebysomeQurayshleaders not to the Prophet but long before hisemergenceon thesceneandasa reaction 1 See for instance Q.3:94; 6:21;6:93;6:144;7:37;10:17;11:18;18:15;29:68 and 61:7. 2 SeealsoQ.6:157. MUIR AND MARGOLIOUTH ON THE QUR'ANICWAHY99 tothereportwhichreachedthemthattheJewsandtheChristiansbeliedand disobeyed their Prophets.1 Lastly,Muircompletely misunderstandsor misinterpretsthefirst'4Jahof surat ai-'Aiaqwhenheassumesthatsincethis'qyahisacommandtotheProphet, "Read in the name of your Lord", previously to that he must have been preaching hisdoctrinesnotinthenameoftheLord!Indeed,itisonagross misinterpretationof this'qyahandtheabovenotedpassage35:42that Muirhas builtuphisentiretheoryaboutwhathecallsthestepsbywhichMu};lammad (p.b.h.)came to assume the roleof a divineteacher. And to sustain that theory he hasassumedthattheProphetgaveoutasmanyas18ormoresurahsof the Qur'anbeforeheclaimedtohavereceivedhiscommissionasProphet andany wa!!Jfrom Allah! WhateverviewonemaytakeabouttheQur'anicpassagescitedbyMuir,the utterabsurditiesandinconsistenciesofthevariousaspectsofhistheory,as mentionedearlier,renderittotallyuntenable.Nonetheless,Muir'sviewshave been takenover andadopted by hissuccessor orientalists in someformor other. Notably, histheory of a period of "pre-wab"or "pre-Qur'an"deliverancesby the ProphethasbeenreiteratedbyBell,2 thoughondifferentgrounds;whilethis assumption,together with Muir'stheory of gradual development of the Prophet's careeranddoctrines,havebeentakenoverandpushedtoanextremebyWatt whoevensuggeststhattheProphetdidnotstartwithanyclearconceptof monotheism whichcametohimgraduallyaftera prolonged periodof preaching forasanyasfourorfiveyears!Butletusfirsttakeintoaccounttheviewsof Margoliouth, Muir's immediate intellectual successor. III. MARGOLIOUTH'S ASSUMPTIONS Like Muir's, Margoliouth's treatment of the subject of waf?yisalsoan extension of thethemeof ambitionanddesignontheProphet'spart;butMargoliouth seemstohaveseenandavoidedMuir'sinconsistencies,thoughinthecourseof histreatmentofthematterMargoliouthalsohaslandedhimselfintofresh inconsistenciesandabsurdities.He assumesstraight off that Mu};lammad(p.b.h.), being highly ambitious, carefully thought out his intended role and when hisplans maturedfullyheexecutedthemskilfully.AccordingtoMargoliouth,thewhole affairof wab was"trickery"and"imposture"fromfirsttolast.It isallegedthat 'See Al-Qur\Ubi,Tafsir,XIV, 356; Al-Bay9awi,Tajflr,II, 275 and Al-Shawkani,Tajfir,IV,355-356. 2 Seeinfm,ch.V. 100THE QUR'AN AND THE ORIENTALISTS Mul).ammad(p.b.h.),in accordance withhisplans,actedtheroleof a"medium"1 to"produce messagesfromtheother world"and,in order to ensurehissuccess, hesomanoeuvredtheformandmannerof thosemessagesthattheywould appearto be of "supernatural origin".2 Thus, to produce a revelation Mul;lammad (p.b.h.)would"instinctively",touseMargoliouth'swords,fall"intoaviolent agitation,hisfacewouldturnlivid,andhewouldcoverhimself withablanket, fromwhichhe wouldemergeperspiring copiously,withamessageready."3 This practiceof covering himself withablanket issaidtohavebeenretainedbyhim "from firstto last".4 It isfurther allegedthat the "epileptic fits"which the Prophet experienced"atsometime"suggestedthemannerwhichhe"artificially produced"without"theslightestpreparation",accompaniedby"snoringand reddeningoftheface."5 Thisform,saysMargoliouth,was"recognizedasthe normal formof inspiration. "6 Soadept the Prophet issaidtohavebecome in the matter that he,asMargoliouth puts it,"would receivea divinecommunication in immediateanswertoaquestionaddressedhimwhilehewaseating,andafter deliveringitinthisfashion,proceedtofinishthemorselwhichheheldinhis handwhenhewasinterrupted;orarevelationwouldcomeinanswertoa question addressed him ashe stood in the pulpit."7 Asregardsthecontentsof therevelationsMargoliouthsuggeststhat forthese theProphet"hadto go backtothe JewishandtheChristianscriptures"untilhe had plenty to say;8 andthat heclaimed it a miraclethat "he wasmade acquainted withthecontentsof bookswhichhehadneverread",butthatsubsequently he saidthat"themiraclelayinhisunrivalledeloquence."9 However,the"earliest scrapsofrevelation",saysMargoliouth,are"imitationsoftheutterancesof revivalistpreachers"likeQussibnSa'ida.ItisfurtherallegedthattheProphet imitatedthestyleof theusualArabianoratory,whichwassomesortof rhyme, but "he little understood its nature."111 1 Thischaracterization of the Prophet as"medium"hasbeen adopted byotherslikeTor Andrae andMaximeRodinson who, however, enlarges it as"megaphone". 2 MARGOLIOUTH,op.dt.,84. 'Ibid.,citing Al-Tabari, Tajjir,XXVIII, 4. 4 MARGOLIOUTH,op.dt.,86. 'Ibid.(citingMu.rnad,lV,222). ''Ibid. 7 Ibtd.(citing Mu.rnad,VI, 56&III, 21) 'Ibid.,80,86. 'Ibid.,87. "'Ibid.,87-88. MUIR AND MARGOLIOUTH ON THE QUR'ANICWAifY101 Asregardsthebeginningof therevelationMargoliouthsaysthatitwasthe Prophet'scharactertobidehistimetillthefavourablemoment.Hencehemade useof a"periodof transitionbetweentheoldlifeandthenew. "1 Drawingan analogy with Joseph Smith,founder of the Mormon sect, whofirst wandered in a forestandsubsequentlygaveouthis"trance"utterancesasdivinemessage broughttohisnoticebyangels,MargoliouthsaysthatMul;ammad's(p.b.h.) prophetic career likewisebegan witha period of solitude."For one month of the year",saysMargoliouth,"theMeccanspractisedaritecalledta&annuth")which wasa sort of asceticism.During thismonth "it was Mohammed's custom to retire toacave in Mt.Hira... " At sometimeinthat month when he hadbeen alone in the valley,"occurred thetheophany(or itsequivalent)"whichledtohis"starting asadivinemessenger".Margoliouthfurthersaysthat inthetraditionsrelatingto thematterthecommunicationisdonebyJibril,"theangelwhointheNew Testamentconveysmessages",but intheQur':in"itappearstobeGod Himself Who descended and at a distance of rather lessthan two bow-shots addressed the Prophet..." Jibril wassubstituted "afterwards", saysMargoliouth, probably "due to the development of the Prophet's theology."2 Theseare,inthemain,theviewsofMargoliouthregardingwaljyandthe Prophet'sassumptionoftheroleofadivinelycommissionedteacher. Margoliouthclearly takesover from Muirthetheme of ambitionand preparation ontheProphet'spartanddevelopsit.Margoliouthalsoadoptstheallegationof epilepsyand"trances"andattemptstofittheseinhistheoryof "trickery"and impostureontheProphet'spartbysayingthatheartificiallyproducedthe symptoms.Above all,Margoliouthstresses,equallyasdoesMuir,thatthetext of the Qur':in, or the revelations generally,arethe Prophet's own composition. In all theseessentialrespects,thus,Margoliouthgenerallyfollowsthefoot-stepsof his predecessor.Nevertheless,headdssomenewassumptionsthatwillbenoticed presently. Leaving asidethe allegationof ambition and preparation on the one hand, and thatof epilepsyontheother,bothof whichassumptionsaretotallygroundless, Margoliouth'smainallegationisthatoftrickeryontheProphet'spart.He suggeststhatthe Prophet so planned theformand manner of the revelationthat it mightappeartobeof supernaturalorigin.It isevensaidthatthe Prophet had takenhiscuefromthephenomenonaccompanyinghisallegedepilepticfits IIbid.,90. 2 Ibid.,90-91. 102TilE QUR'AN AND TilE ORIENTALISTS earlierinhislifeandthathereproducedthosephenomena,suchasfallinginto trance,snoring andreddening of theface,perspiring,or covering himself witha blanket, etc.It isfurther said that this"came to be recognized asthe normal form ofinspiration".ButtheinstancescitedbyMargoliouthhimselfshownota uniformbut variousmannersof thecoming of revelationstotheProphet.Most of thesemannersobviouslydonotfitinwiththetheoryof trickery.Thus,(a) with regardto be beginning of revelation, which should have been considered the mostimportantanddecisiveinstancetosubstantiatethetheory,Margoliouth admitsthat the Prophet received it allalone in the"valley"where there wasnone elsetowitnesstheformandmannerofitscoming.Also,neitherdoes Margoliouth allege,nor do the sources indicate, that there wasany suchsymptom on that occasion asfallingintotrance,etc.(b)Margoliouthcitesthe instancesof the Prophet's receiving revelations while taking hismeals or whilestanding on the pulpit.In thesecasesalsothe reportscited do not reallysuggest that the Prophet affectedany such symptoms assnoring, reddening of the face,falling into trance, etc.1 Moreover,theseinstancesdonotrelatetothecomingof Qur'anicwa(!y whichistobealwaysdistinguishedfromtheothertypesofwa(!ywhichthe Prophet receivedfromtimeto time.(c)Margoliouth alsoallegesthat the Prophet lethis"confederatesactthepartof Gabrielorlethisfollowersidentify some interlocutorsof hiswiththat angel. "2 The allegationistotally unjustified;but the allusion isclearlytothe instancesmentioned inthesourcesof Jibril'ssometimes appearing intheformof ahumanbeing (sometimesasastranger,sometimesin theappearanceof acompanionof theProphetnamedDabiyahal-Kalbi)and deliveringtherevelationtohim.Inanycase,thisform,farfromconvincingthe on-lookersaboutthesupernaturaloriginofthetext,wasthemorelikelyto exposetheallegedtrickery;fortheindividualwhothusallegedlyimpersonated the angel wasnot tobe let aloneby the people who were generally inattendance upon the Prophet for most of the time.In allthese casesthere wasno question of theProphet'sartificiallyreproducingthephenomenaof epilepsyallegedtothe "normal manner of inspiration". Thusthe instancescited by Margoliouth himself do not at allsubstantiate the allegation of trickery on the Prophet's part. Secondly,Margoliouthisalsoinconsistentinhisassumptionaboutthe Prophet'ssolitarystayandcontemplation(tabannuth)atthecaveofHira'. Margoliouthsuggeststhatlikemost"mediums"theProphetplanneditasa 1 See Mu.rnad,Ill, 21and VI, 56.These are reports respectively of 'A'ishah and 'Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (r.a.). 2 Margoliouth,op.cit.,88(citing Ibn Sa'd,II, 520). MUIR AND MARGOLIOUTH ON THE QUR'ANICWAHY103 periodoftransitionbetweentheoldlifeandthenew.Inthesamebreath, however,itisstatedthattheMakkanspractisedthisriteduringthemonthof Ramadaneachyearandthat itwas"Mohammed's(p.b.h.)customtoretiretoa caveinMt.Hira"duringthatmonth.Now,thereportabouttheMakkans' practisingt a ~ a n n u t h duringRama_,All...Js.(0) ..s y....s J'11r01(t) L>.,.JI,yLoJ(i) L>Y.LoJ J.-"LoJl ..s}.i(\ ) J.)f} .:r-"} y\j 0\.(;(".)J...l:.iJ.) Js-\11J(V)L>_,:....l.i;;/ ('\) ..s} \.,.o 107 "(2) Your companion (i.e.,the Prophet)has not gone astray nor hashe acted foolishly.(3)Nor doeshe speak out of (his)whims.(4)It isnothing but waf;y(acommunication)communicated(to him).(5)One very powerful taught him.(6)He possesses physical and mental robustness,and he positionedhimself(7)whilehewasinthehighesthorizon.(8)Thenheapproachedandcame closer; (9)and wasat a distance of two bow-lengths or even closer.(10)Thus did he communicate to His(Allah's)servant what He communicated."(53:2-10) Thispassagehastobeunderstoodinthecontextof thesituationinwhichit wasrevealedandalsowithreferenceto another Qur'anic passage,81:19-27(sura! ai-Takwtr)whichdealswiththesametheme.AccordingtoMuslimclassical scholarsaswellasmanyorientalists,thislatterpassageisearlierintheorderof revelationthan53:2-10.1 Boththepassageswererevealed,however,inthe contextof theunbelievers'refusaltobelievethattheProphethadreceivedany revelationfromAllah.Theyallegedthathehadbeenundertheinfluenceof an evilspiritor had goneoff hishead.Boththepassagesrebutthat allegation.The passage 81:19-27 runs asfollows: \...J(n) ..:r--f tcf _,..II;;_; t1-_fJrJJ_,AJ-.;I(\".) 0fr"li.:.r.t(Yi) r->-JJibL..Jo) Js- JibL..Jt)..IA.lJ(H) .:r.JWl '11r01V) "(19)Verilythisisatext(saying,deliveredby anhonourable messenger;(20)possessing powerandrankneartheLordof theThrone.(21)Obeyedthereandtrusted.(22)Andyour companion(i.e.theProphet)isnotonepossessed.(23)Surelyhesawhim(thehonourable messenger) in the clear horizon.(24)Nor d