Muhammad: Break with the Jews[21] Guillaume, Muhammad, p. 286; Ibn Sa`d, Classes, vol. 2, 1, p. 4;
Tabari, History, vol. 7, p. 11.
[22] Nöldeke and Schwally, GQ, vol. 1, p. 173.
[23] See p. 157, above for a discussion of this story. Cf. Wellhausen,
Medina, pp. 247 f.
[24] Owing largely to the fact that the Qur'an only mentions the Sabians
without describing their beliefs or practices (5:73; 22:17), much speculation
has been made about their identification. Western scholars usually maintain
that the name of the Sabians comes from the Hebrew root meaning "to
immerse," and that a similar term in Mandaean "s ba" means "to e baptize."
According to various views, the Sabians could have been followers of John
the Baptist, Mandaeans, Elkasaites, Gnostics, or even Hanifs; Buhl,
Muhammeds, p. 67; Andrae, Mohammed, pp. 105, 108; Horovitz,
Untersuchungen, pp. 121 f; Jeffery, Vocabulary, pp. 191 f; SEI, pp. 477 f.
Islamic traditions also show that Muhammad was called a "Sabian" by
some contemporaries (Sahih Bukhari, vol. 1, pp. 204 f; vol. 4, p. 477; Sahih
Muslim, vol. 4, pp. 1316 f). The tradition stating that the Sabians used to
read the Psalms (Sahih Bukhari, vol. 1, p. 240) is more probably a later
innovation of Muslim exegetes, based on the correspondence of the Torah
to the Jews and the Gospel to the Christians.
[25] See Appendix D, p. 384.
[26] Muhammad and early Islamic scholars seem to have understood the
word "ummi" to mean "unlearned" (cf. Qur'an 7:156f; 3:19, 69; 62: 2).
Western scholars, however, generally consider this word to have come from
a Jewish term for "gentile," thus they often translate "heathen" instead; cf.
Nöldeke and Schwally, GQ, vol. 1, pp. 14 f; Watt and Bell, Introduction,
pp. 33 f; see also p. 34, n. 47. In any event, the word "ummi" implies
someone who had not read the Bible.
[27] Canonical hadith relate that copies of the Qur'an were also sold later;
Sunan Abu Dawud, vol. 2, p. 755, and they are still sold today. From a
theological standpoint this verse has also become self-condemning for
Islam.
[28] See pp. 100, 151, 311, above.