Muhammad: Break with the Jewsthose who were given the Book (57:15). They were encouraged to
participate in armed conflict (61:2f; etc.), commanded not to kill each other
(4:94); they were to be Allah's helpers (61:14). They were not to make any
discrimination between the messengers (4:151), and they are now clearly
called "Muslims" (3:57).
Distinctive of these suras is their regulatory nature. With the formation of a
Muslim "community," laws and guidelines became necessary, and in this
period regulations were made governing inheritance (2:176f; 4:8f, 23, 37,
175), marriage (2:220f; 4:3, 24f, 126f), divorce (2:226f, 237f; 4:129; 65:
1f), widows (2:234f, 241f), usury (2:276f; 3:125f), debt instruments
(2:282f), revenge for murder (2:173f), and the division of booty (8:1,42).
Some of these laws were derived from Jewish sources, and in the absence
of a civil authority in the Hijaz, the theocratic legal system of the Jews in
Medina generally served as a pattern for the Muslim community.
Certain passages of this period indicate that the general prohibition of wine
had not yet been given (2:216; 47:16f; 4:46).
After Muhammad realized that Ishmael was a son of Abraham, the Qur'anic
narratives became preoccupied with the development and exploitation of
the Abraham legend (2:118f), which was to justify Muhammad's break with
the Jews. Whereas Muhammad appears to have identified himse^281 lf most
with the characters of Noah and Moses earlier, he does not seem to have
portrayed himself as Abraham (as one might have expected) in the suras of
this section. Rather, by way of anachronism Muhammad has Abraham and
Ishmael pray for his advent (2:123), he has himself be foretold of in the
Torah and Gospel (7:156f), and even makes Jesus prophesy of him as
"Ahmad" (61:6).
Relatively few new characters appear in the narratives of these suras, and
the sources for their Arabic names seem to have been diverse. The^282
amount of vocabulary borrowed from Syriac has increased, w^283 hereas the
number of terms borrowed from Hebrew and Ethiopic appears t^284285 o have
been minimal.
Among the new narratives of this period are the Abraham legend (2:118f),
the story about Saul, Goliath and David (2:247f), and the materials
concerning the family of `Imran (3:30f). As in earlier Qur'anic accounts, a
number of inconsistencies can also be found in the narratives of this period.