Muhammad, the Qur'an and Islam
[43] Guillaume, Muhammad, pp. 90 f; Ibn Sa`d, Classes, vol. 1, 1,
pp. 172 f.
[44] The fabulous events of a speaking calf (Ibn Sa`d, Classes, vol. 1, 1,
p. 180), or the carcass of a calf (Guillaume, Muhammad, p. 93) are also the
sort of things the Qur'an would have made mention of had they really
occurred. Tabari, History, vol. 6, p. 66, adds to the story of the speaking
calf's carcass, the speaking of a slaughtered camel.
[45] Guillaume, Muhammad, pp. 93 f; Ibn Sa`d, Classes, vol. 1, 1,
pp. 181 f. Jewish Messianic expectations, of course, are for a Jewish
Messiah.
[46] The story about Ibn al-Hayyaban, for example, (Guillaume,
Muhammad, p. 94; Ibn Sa`d, Classes, vol. 1, 1, pp. 183 f) not only contains
the flaw that the main character, himself a Jew, addresses his religious
colleagues as "O Jews," but also that this narration is used to explain how
some Jews (contrary to Ibn al-Hayyaban's reported message) became
Muslims.
[47] It is relatively clear from Qur'anic passages (2:73; 3:69; 62:2) and
early Muslim works, that the word "ummi" was understood by Muhammad
to mean "unlearned" or "heathen." According to Qur'an 7:156, the Torah
and Gospel say this prophet will: "enjoin on them which is right and forbid
them that which is wrong. He will make lawful for them all good things and
prohibit for them only the foul; and he will relieve them of their burden and
the fetters that they used to wear. Then those who believe in him, and honor
him, and help him and follow the light which is sent down with him: they
are the successful." (Pickthall). Western scholars of Islam generally
consider the Arabic "ummi" to have been derived from a Jewish term for
gentiles, and thus tend to translate it as "heathen"; cf. Nöldeke and
Schwally, GQ, vol. 1, pp. 14 f; Watt and Bell, Introduction, pp. 33 f. See
also p. 209.
[48] In general, the Old Testament passages used by early Muslim
polemicists to strengthen the Islamic claim for Muhammad's prophethood
are Deuteronomy 18:18 and Is. 21:7 (Peshitta). See ECMD, p. 734, for
references to early Muslim works.