Muhammad, the Qur\'an & Islam

Muhammad: Victory and Death

Qur'an passages for the massive influx of pagan (or particularly Meccan)
Arabs to Islam.

The Arabic name for Ezra seems to have come from the Hebrew, and the
other foreign vocabulary of these suras appears to have come from Hebrew
(or Aramaic), Syriac, or Ethiopic (from Christians or membe^303304 rs of
sects).^305

The evidence of foreign vocabulary (as given) in this and the previous
sections indicate that the earliest passages of the Qur'an were generally
influenced by Syriac, the "middle" suras reveal more borrowings from
Hebrew or Aramaic, and the last suras imply an increasing dependence on
Ethiopic (Christian) terms. This later influence of Ethiopic may have come
about through the return of Muslims from Abyssinia. Furthermore,
although the Qur'anic cognates from Ethiopic generally always approximate
their counterparts in meaning, the derivatives from Hebrew, A^306 ramaic or
Syriac are frequently nearest their original meanings in the later suras of the
Qur'an.

There are numerous inconsistencies in the last years of Muhammad's
ministry. It does not appear that the entire fast of Ramadan was held very
often by the early Muslims, since the battle of Badr (2 AH), t^307 he raid to
murder Umm Qirfa (6 AH), the raid on the Banu Uwal and Banu^308 Thalaba (7 AH), the conquest of Mecca (8 AH), and `Ali's miss^309310 ion to
Yemen (10 AH), all occurred in Ramadan. The Qur'an confirms th^311 at the
Torah is God's Word (cf. 3:2f; 5:48, 50; etc.), but when the Muslims had a
copy in their possession (from the spoils of Khaybar), they gave it back to
the Jews, keeping only their women and material goods as booty. The^312
Jews are accused of having exchanged some of God's words (cf. 5:16), but
they are encouraged to practice the Torah (5:72). Although Mecca was
already in Muslim hands, the pilgrimage of 8 AH was performed according
to pagan customs. Moreover, in 9 AH