Muhammad, the Qur'an and Islam
Arabs. The later Qur'anic references to Jesus (42:11, 6:85), Z^260 acharias and
John (6:85) also suggest that Muhammad again turned to Christians after
his disagreement with the Jews concerning their dietary laws.
During this period, requests were still made for a miracle or sign on
Muhammad’s behalf (10:21; 29:49; 13:8, 27f). Muhammad replied that
miracles were of God (10:21; 29:49; cf. 13:38), and once even rhetorically
asked if the sending down of the Book was not enough (29:50). Some of
Muhammad's hearers also seem to have asked him to expedite the
threatened punishment (29:53f; 7:32), and once he answered by alluding to
the Judgment (29:54f). In other passages, Muhammad states that the
awaited punishment may not come during his own lifetime (10:47; 13:40).
Muhammad still asks for no wage for his services (12:104; 42:22; 34:46;
6:90), and he has not yet directly claimed the title of a prophet for himself
(cf. 7:92; 6:112). Muhammad's statement about not being anything new
among the messengers (46:8) is contradicted by his assertion that he is the
first Muslim (39:14) or the first to profess Islam (6:14). M^261 uhammad was
commanded to request forgiveness for his own sins in 40:57.
The Qur'an is presented as a revelation in Arabic (41:2; 12:2; 39:29;
13:27), which confirms the previous Books (10:38; 35:28; 4^262 6:28f).
Muhammad was accused of authoring the Qur'an himself (11:16; 10:39f;
46:7) and of having received "foreign" help (16:105). The Qur'an was
"preserved" by memory (29:47f), and Muhammad seems to have had
reservations about having it committed to writing (6:7), even though he was
earlier accused of such (perhaps as a memory aid - cf. 25:6) and knew that
the Jews copied out the Book of Moses on parchment (6:91).
Notes:
[1] Guillaume, Muhammad, pp. 194 f; Ibn Sa`d, Classes, vol. 1, 1,
pp. 249 f; Tabari, History, vol. 6, pp. 120 f.
[2] Iyas b. Mu`adh - Guillaume, Muhammad, pp. 196 f; Tabari, History,
vol. 6, pp. 123 f. The name "Medina," actually means "town" and was
adopted much later, Medina was known as "Yathrib," before the Hijra; cf.
EI², s.v. "al-Madina."