Muhammad, the Qur'an and Islam72:7 this people is said to have denied that God would resurrect the dead, in
a manner similar to the Meccans’ rejection of this teaching; and it is known
that Gnostics and Manichaeans denied the doctrine of a phys^210211 ical
Resurrection. Apparently, Muhammad's contact with "Christian"
Abyssinians at this time may have been limited to members of one of these
sects, since the earliest sections of sura 19 and parts of sur^212 a 36 also^213
seem to have the books of the Gnostics and the Manichaeans as sources.
The verses 72:8f explain the eavesdropping of the jinn (cf. 37:10; 15:18,
etc.), and 72:10 describes the jinn as not knowing what the Lord will do in
the future (cf. v. 26 for the counterpart for Muhammad). 72:12 contains the
admission of the jinn, that they never thought they could have frustrated
God through flight, and quite possibly this is a reference to the apostasy or
doctrinal swaying of some of the emigrants, who had "fled" to Abyssinia.
The apostates of the jinn (vv. 14f) and humans (vv. 16f) are to be punished
in Hell. The v. 18 claims all places of prayer for Allah and prescribes prayer
to Him alone, and the vv. 19f may refer to an occasion at the Ka`ba. The v.
24 is generally thought to be a Medinan addition, in which disobedience to
Allah and Muhammad is to be punished in Hell. 72:26f not only shows that
future events had not been revealed to Muhammad, but stipulates that God
would only share His secrets with Muhammad himself, who was then
protected by those guaranteeing that he recited God's revelation.
Since the inferior jinn were now shown to be responsible for the doctrine of
Christ's Sonship, early Muslims had to reject this Christian influence if they
were to remain as followers of Muhammad. Islam had openly parted with
Christianity and its related sects, and as an apparent result, the following
suras of the Qur'an became increasingly dependent on Jewish sources.
The denial that God should have a Son became an important part of the
Qur'anic polemic, and it may have been that sura 112sura 112sura 112sura 112 was composed at this
time.^214
The Sira traditions are in disagreement over the fate of the emigrants who
returned to Mecca. One collection of traditions state that they remained in