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Historical Attestation of Muhammad (view source)
Revision as of 15:17, 12 February 2014
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==Introduction== | |||
===Historical Critical Method=== | |||
===Traditionalist Historians=== | |||
===Revisionist Historians=== | |||
Patricia Crone, Michael Cook, John Wansbrough, and Yahuda Nevo. <ref name="Brown">Brown, Jonathan A. C. "Muhammad. A Very Short Introduction", Oxford University Press. pgs 94-95. </ref> | |||
==Timeline== | ==Timeline== | ||
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==Qur'an== | ==Qur'an== | ||
The traditional narrative of Muhammad's life identifies him as the author, or original reciter, of the Qur'an. If this is true then the Qur'an would be a document contemporary to his life and could serve as a valuable source of information about the prophet. However, the Qur'an offers very few details about the author nor much information about the lives of the people in early 7<sup>th</sup> century Arabia. | |||
===References to Muhammad=== | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|3|144}}|"'''Muhammad''' is not but a messenger. [Other] messengers have passed on before him. ..." }} | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|33|40}}|'''Muhammad''' is not the father of [any] one of your men, but [he is] the Messenger of Allah and last of the prophets. And ever is Allah, of all things, Knowing." }} | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|47|2}}|" And those who believe and do righteous deeds and believe in what has been sent down upon '''Muhammad''' - and it is the truth from their Lord - He will remove from them their misdeeds and amend their condition. " }} | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|48|29}}|"'''Muhammad''' is the Messenger of Allah; and those with him are forceful against the disbelievers, merciful among themselves...." }} | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|61|6}}|"And [mention] when Jesus, the son of Mary, said, 'O children of Israel, indeed I am the messenger of Allah to you confirming what came before me of the Torah and bringing good tidings of a messenger to come after me, whose name is '''Ahmad'''.' But when he came to them with clear evidences, they said, 'This is obvious magic.' }} | |||
===Collection of the Qur'an=== | |||
One fundamental problem with accurately dating the contents of the Qur'an is that the verses, even by traditional Muslim accounts, were not collected and put together into a single book during the lifetime of Muhammad. They were put together at least a decade after his death through a process of gathering and recording verses that had been etched upon scraps of papyrus, bone, and wood along with interviewing members of the early community who had committed parts of the Qur'an to memory. | |||
If this narrative of the Qur'an's formation is true then it raises several questions; how accurate was the collection of the book, and is the current version of the [[Corruption of the Qur'an|Qur'an corrupted]]? It is possible that parts of the originally recited Qur'an were not included in the book or entire passages were included that came from an author other than Muhammad. There were countless [[Legends|legends]] and stories circulating at this time in the Middle East and any number of them could have been erroneously added to the Qur'an. Based on this information, there is the possibility that the handful of verses in the Qur'an about Muhammad's life may not actually be authentic. They may well have been fabrications that later found their way into the book as it is known today. | |||
===Earliest Manuscripts=== | |||
==Sura Literature== | ==Sura Literature== | ||
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==Non-Muslim Writings== | ==Non-Muslim Writings== | ||
While | While no early Arab texts about the life of Islam's prophet exist, there are copies of non-Muslim writings that reference the Arab conquest of the Middle East. These include eye witness testimony to the events that take place in the second and third quarters of the 7<sup>th</sup> century. While the authors provide limited details on the Arabs that conquered Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, they do provide some insight into how the conquered people of those areas viewed their new rulers. In particular, a few references to a "Muhammad" can be found which dates to the first few decades of the Arab conquests. | ||
===Doctrina Jacobi=== | ===Doctrina Jacobi=== | ||
One of the earliest references to the Arab conquests of the Middle East comes from a Christian named Jacob who wrote a polemical tract around 634. In his tract, Jacob includes a section from his cousin Justus who writes about how he heard of the killing of a member of the imperial guard, or candidatus, in a letter from his brother Abraham in Caesarea. He mentions that the Saracens (a name used for Arabs at this time) are attacking people in the land and they are lead by a prophet: | |||
{{Quote|Doctrina Jacobi V.16, 209. [p. 57]| | {{Quote|Doctrina Jacobi V.16, 209. [p. 57]| | ||