In the Footsteps of the Prophet: Lessons from the Life of Muhammad

rratbings and Dr/rat^115

A d elegatio n o f fourteen religious leaders from Najran (Yemen) had
visited the Prophet in ord er to question him about the n ew religio n , about

his faith, and of course about the StatuS of Jesus in Islam.^17 Numerous
Christian tribes lived in the Arabian Peninsula, and it seems that most of
the Yemeni Christians followed the Melchite Orthodox rite, whose center
was in Const.antinople. The Prophet answered their questions, pointing
o ut the link bet\veen the two tmditions, Islam being the continuation of
the prophet Jesus's message, but h e categoricaUy rcicctcd the dogma of th e
T rinity. I-Ie invi ted them to worship the One God and accept Islam as the
las t Revelation. T he Quran gives a lengthy account of that encounte r as
well as o f the similarities and di fferences between Christian and Islamic
teach ings. IS The beginning of the third surah, "Ala Imran" (rhe Family
of I01ran), establishes the Islamic frame of reference:

Alif, iJm, m[!II. God! There is n() god but Him, the Ever-Uving, the Self-

Subsisting by whom aU things subsist. It is He who sent down to you step

by step, in truth, the Book, confirming what went beforc it; and He sent

down th e Torah and thc Gospel before this, as a guide to humankind. And

l ie sent down the Criterion Ithe Qur:anj. 19

Reve latio n confirms the rccognition of thc previous Books that came

down to humankind through Moses and Jesus, and adds that the Quran is

part of the same monotheistic tradition. Further on, the text d etails tbe

terms of the invitation made to the Christians:

Say: "0 People of the Book! Come to common Icrms ocru.'een us and you:

that \ve shall worship none but God; that we shall associate no partners

with Him; that we shall nm erect, f rom among ourseJvcs, lords and patrons

Other than God." J f then they turn back, say: ''Bear witness that we have

surrendered ourselves unto Him."ZO

Along with the affirmation of God's o neness and the rejection of the

Trinity, this verse also denounces the staw s and role of priests in Christian

tradition. Here, as in other \'crse s o r Prophetic traditions, the reference to

potential " maSters" (lords, auth orities) indicates those who place them-

seh'es bct\\leen God and people and might th us claim illegitimate o r inor-

dinate: religio us powers.