Muhammad, the Qur'an and Islamsaid that the Arabs later worshiped the same gods as the people did in
Noah's time; cf. Ali, Qur'an, vol. 2, pp. 1619 f. For a description of these
idols, see p. 9, n. 35.
[33] There appears to be no traditional source for such a prayer of Noah;
however, Islamic hadith indicate that Muhammad prayed for his own
relatives (even after their deaths) until Qur'an 9:114 was revealed; see Ibn
Sa`d, Classes, vol. 1, 1, p. 136; Horovitz, Untersuchungen, p. 16.
[34] Nöldeke and Schwally, GQ, vol. 1, p. 124, n. 1.
[35] Guillaume, Muhammad, p. 136.
[36] Ibid; see also, n. 21, p. 57, above.
[37] Buhl, Muhammeds, p. 161, (trans.): "The main contents of these
prophet legends, which occupy such an important place in the Qur'an and
come across as so extraordinarily tiresome by virtue of their repetition, is
always the same: a prophet is sent to a people, who are unbelievers; and
because they do not want to hear the divine admonition, they are struck with
a destructive punishment. At the same time, generally everything these
prophets say, and what the peoples reply, is a true reproduction of the
discussions between him (Muhammad) and the Meccans. By contrast, the
whole external apparatus (of these stories) is borrowed mainly from others:
Jews and Christians." Rahman, Islam, p. 7: "The question of the 'historicity'
of these details, i.e. of the extent of their conformity to earlier, pre-Islamic,
stories and legends is in itself interesting but is beset with difficulties. Nor is
the question of the 'material sources' of the Qur'anic prophetology very
meaningful for assessing the real originality and import of the Prophet's
message which must be located in the purpose to which these materials
were turned and the service to which they were pressed. On the other hand,
the Muslim need not fear and reject the historical approach to these
materials." Cf. also Nöldeke, "Qur'an," pp. 8 f, and Horovitz, Un-
tersuchungen, p. 9.
[38] Nöldeke, "Qur'an," p. 15.