Muhammad, the Qur'an and Islam
Conclusions
The Qur'anic evidence from what are generally held to be the earliest suras
presents prayers and vigils as having been the primal rituals of Islam.
Noteworthy doctrines of this period seem to have been belief, which was
not always well defined, the performing of good deeds (including
almsgiving) the reality of the coming Judgment, the punishments of Hell
and the rewards of Paradise. Later, the first half of the Islamic creed
(shahada) may have been added to these.^173 Of the narratives, none of which
are very complete, those of the Thamud, the `Ad, Pharaoh and Noah are the
most developed. Although Abraham, Moses and Jonah are mentioned or
alluded to, not very much information is related about them.
From Arab paganism, Muhammad had already retained the "sanctity" of the
Kaba (Qur'an 106:3) and some form of pagan sacrifice (Qur'an 108:2), as well as saj verse.^174 The stories of the Thamud, the `Ad and Noah appear to
have come from the works of Arab poets predating Muhammad.^175 The
influence of Jewish or Christian sects seems to have been relatively limited
in this period,^176 and the amount of foreign vocabulary borrowed from
Ethiopic^177 or Hebrew^178 is also minimal.
By far the major source for the early suras of the Qur'an appears to have
been the Eastern, or perhaps more specifically, Syrian Church. The early
Qur'anic regulations of prayer follow Nestorian practice,^179 and the vigils
described in sura 73 appear to be patterned on those of the Eastern
monks.^180 In that Muhammad's general style of proclamation is reminiscent
of Christian missions' liturgies,^181 it is also possible, if not probable, that the
first part of the Islamic creed (shahada) was adapted from a Christian
message to polytheists. The usage of the term "belief" or "believer" as well
as the mention of good works are probably of Christian origin,^182 and the
Qur'anic doctrine of almsgiving, as a means of "purifying" oneself was
indeed a precept of Eastern Christianity.^183
Early Qur'anic passages reveal their closest ties to the Syrian Church in
their eschatological descriptions. These not only frequently follow certain
works of Ephraem the Syrian (d. 373 AD),^184 but they even resemble more
mundane