Muhammad: Meccan OppositionSonship of Jesus. Moreover, Muhammad's motivation to deny Christ's
Sonship could also hardly have been the Jews, as they would have rejected
any mention of Jesus, much less His prophethood. The Muslims returning
from Abyssinia may not only have influenced Muhammad to recant the
"Satan inspiration," but they may also have acquainted him with the
doctrines of Christ's Sonship and deity. The context of Qur'an 43:57-58
indicates that Muhammad not only knew of the doctrine of the divinity of
Christ, but that he may have also presented Jesus as divine at least once.
The Meccans also rejected this doctrine (cf. 43:58), and in the end it may
have been their perception of "Qur'anic" Monotheism which caused
Muhammad to deny both the deity of Christ (43:59) and His Sonship
(43:81). Although some Western scholars of Islam give various reasons for
why Muhammad did not become a Christian, the real causes sho^205 uld be
sought in his decision for these denials, which alienated him from both
Christianity and the sects which had broken off from Christianity.
Evidence for the coincidence of the Muslim's returning from Abyssinia and
Muhammad's rejection of Christ's Sonship can be found in the composition
of sura 72sura 72sura 72sura 72. Various Islamic traditions present different settings and times for
the revelation of this sura, whose real significance lies in^206 the witness of its
internal evidence. The message of 72:3, which denies that Allah had a wife
or son, gives one of the earliest Qur'anic indications of familiarity with a
Monophysite (Abyssinian?) interpretation of the position of Mary. The
vv. 6 and 12 speak of refuge and flight in a strange manner, and as will be
shown, the emigration to Abyssinia seems to fit both of these verses. The
vv. 14 (for jinn), 16f and 24 (for humans) concern themselves with
apostasy, and perhaps the first Muslim to apostatize was `Ubaydullah b.
Jahsh, who became a Christian in Abyssinia and had apparently turned
against his comrades. Moreover, v. 18 contains the word for "mo^207 sques"
(plural), as places of prayer, and traditions report that some of the Muslims
in Abyssinia had been inside the churches there. The vv. 1-2 o^208 f sura 72
present jinn as being of lesser importance than Muhammad, since some of
the jinn heard and believed the Qur'an; the context of vv. 3-5 strongly
implies that a "foolish" jinn had said that Allah had a son, and v. 6 speaks of
humans who had taken refuge among the men of the jinn and thereby
increased their folly. Functionally, the passage vv. 1-6 makes jinn
(demons), who are inferior to Muhammad, responsible for the d^209 octrine of
Christ's Sonship, and the emigrants, who must have been affected by
Christian doctrines, had sought refuge among the Abyssinians, who may
well have been "the people (men) of the (deviant) jinn" in these verses. In