Muhammad, the Qur'an and Islam
[24] An oath of `Adi b. Zayd is quoted by Andrae as containing the
phrase: "Mecca's lord and the Crucified," see Andrae, Mohammed, p. 25.
[25] Andrae, Ursprung, p. 9. See n. 19 above.
[26] Cf. Nau in ECMD, p. 18. Buhl, (Muhammeds, p. 64) shows that there
probably were some nominal Christians in Mecca from other lands, who,
however, do not appear to have been very good representatives of Christ.
For a brief discussion of Byzantine and Syrian trade with Mecca, see
Crone, Trade, pp. 139 f.
[27] Polygamy was practiced by both the dynasties of the Ghassanids and
Lakhmids (Buhl, Muhammeds, pp. 6, 66). A quote attributed to Ali reports that the only thing the Taghlibs retained (knew) of Christianity was the drinking of wine (Buhl, Muhammeds, p. 66; SEI, p. 440). Arab Christians even attended the pagan Hajj to Mecca (Buhl, Muhammeds, p. 66; Andrae, Ursprung, p. 39; Mohammed, p. 25). Cf. also Rafi b. `Umayra in
Guillaume, Muhammad, p. 668.
[28] Cf. Bell, Origin, p. 17. It appears that the Gospel, or perhaps more
appropriately Diatessaron, was first translated for Amr al-As in the course
of the first Islamic expansions by the Jacobite Patriarch John I in 639 AD;
see ECMD pp. 7, 17.
[29] There are traditions which report that Muhammad heard Quss the
(Nestorian) bishop of Najran preach at the market of `Ukaz, which same
traditions appear to have been suppressed by the earliest Islamic historians;
see Jeffery, Vocabulary, Andrae Ursprung, pp. 201 f; Mohammed, p. 92.
[30] Cf. Jeffery, Vocabulary, pp. 20 f.
[31] Only Hubal, who was worshiped by the Quraysh in Mecca, is thought
to have been an idol in the normal sense. See note 35 below for references.
[32] Wellhausen in Reste, p. 101, quotes Clement of Alexandria as saying
(trans.): "The Arabs revere (the) stone," to which Wellhausen adds (trans.):