Muhammad, the Qur'an and Islam
being the first parts of the Qur'anic revelation are doubtful, the accusation^14
of Muhammad being a "poet" or "possessed" was made by Meccans who
later opposed him, the word "apostle" was probably first us^15 ed in Qur'an
73:15, the name "Namus" never appears in the Qur'an or in othe^16 r Sira
hadith and the "fatra" is generally viewed as being a later i^17 nnovation.^18
Nevertheless, the majority of Western Islam scholars do follow the Muslim
accounts in maintaining that Qur'an 96:1f was probably the first
revelation. The reasons for this opinion are that based on t^19 he internal
evidence of the Qur'an alone, it is impossible to determine which of the
existing passages were revealed first, and the majority of the only early
external evidences (Islamic traditions) show Qur'an 96:1f as the first part of
the Qur'an to have been revealed. The view of most Islamic authorities that
Qur'an 68 was the second revelation is justifiably rejected by Western
scholars, but even some Western listings place this sura e^20 arlier than it
probably should be. Muslim views regarding Qur'an 74:1f an^21 d 93:1f as
being the next Qur'anic revelations are closely related to the traditions about
the fatra, and as such these evidently did not carry much weig^22 ht with the
scholars who constructed the various Islamic sura orderings. For the^23
Meccan periods at least, Muslims seem to have been more influenced by
Qur'anic exegesis than the traditions of Muhammad's Sira in composing the
chronological sura orderings.^24
In what appear to be the earliest suras, Muhammad does not seem to have
had a following. The openings of the passages Qur'an 96, 74 and 107, for
example, are in the imperative and are addressed to a singular person, who
is generally thought to be Muhammad. Qur'an 93 and 94 are also suras
which appear to have been "private" communications to Muhammad.^25
On closer examination of Qur'an 96:1-5Qur'an 96:1-5Qur'an 96:1-5Qur'an 96:1-5 and 74:1-774:1-774:1-774:1-7, the influences of the
pagan soothsayers and Syrian Christianity are obvious. The general style of
the Qur'an was so similar to the loosely rhymed "poetry" (saj`) of the sooth-
sayers, that Muhammad's contemporaries even accused him of^26 being a
"poet," "kahin" or "possessed." In 74:1 Muhammad is called "th^27 e en-
shrouded" (cf. 73:1) and the custom of wrapping oneself up during
supernatural inspiration, appears to have been pagan. The^28 word "Qur'an"
seems to have been related to the Syriac "qeryana" used in conjunction with
"reading" or "reciting" a lesson from the scriptures. In 74:^29 5, the word
usually translated "abomination" or "defilement," seems to be the Syriac