Muhammad: Victory and Deathremain in the traditions of their forefathers. The vv. 105f make provision
for verbal testaments and how they could be contested. The vv. 109f give a
narrative about Jesus and His disciples, in which Jesus is said to have been
strengthened by the Holy Spirit (cf. 2:81, 254), and that He spoke in the
cradle (cf. 19:30f). Moreover, it is said (v. 110) that God taught Him the
Torah and the Gospel (cf. 3:43), and with God's permission He is said to
have made clay birds live, He healed the blind and lepers and raised the
dead (cf. 3:43). Some are said to have thought his miracles were magic
(also v. 110), and Jesus' disciples are said to have been inspired and also
Muslims. In the vv. 112f the sending down of a table is claimed t^267 o have
been a sign, which was to have been a feast day for His discipl^268 es and
those who followed. In v. 116 it is said that Allah will ask Jesu^269 s if He
commanded others to accept Himself and His mother as two gods beside
Allah, and it is said that Jesus will then deny this. In v. 117, Jes^270 us will
reportedly say that He only commanded to serve God, His Lord and their
Lord (cf. v. 76). The vv. 118f speak of punishment and Paradise, and v. 120
states that God has the power over all things. The word for "making clean"
in v. 4 probably came from the Jews, the term for "unlawful" in^271 the
vv. 46, 67f may have come from the Syriac, and the word for "table^272 "
came from Ethiopic. Many of the verses of this sura are simila^273 r to
passages in the Bible or Talmud.^274
Islamic traditions report that Ibrahim b. Muhammad died as an infant on the
same day a solar eclipse occurred.^275
In the 117th month after the Hijra, Muhammad and his followers left
Medina to perform the Hajj. `Ali and his forces returned from Yemen and
met Muhammad in Mecca. Muhammad showed the pilgrims how the Hajj
was to be performed, and gave what was later to be known as his farewell
sermon.^276
During the 121st month after the Hijra, Muhammad sent out Usama b.
Zayd to raid Mu'ta. On the day they were to set out, however, they^277
received news that Muhammad's illness had become severe. The Muslim
forces returned to Medina.^278