Download muhammad: a christian critique

MUHAMMAD: A CHRISTIAN CRITIQUE
2008
Muhammad’s Biographies
• 1,548 biographies have been listed (Hamadeh 1965:112-283; taken from Royster 1972:49)
• Karen Armstrong: Muhammad was the man “who gave birth to a literary masterpiece, created a
major religion and founded a world power, whose descendants are viewed as a profound threat to
Western civilization” (Armstrong 1992:back cover)
• W.Montgomery Watt: Muhammad was a “seer..a statesman, and an administrator” (Watt
1961:237)
• Maxine Rodinson: Muhammad was an ideal, “the utopia that has never been achieved [which] is
always before us”
• Michael Cook: Muhammad was a historical figure whose historicity yet leaves us much in doubt
(Cook 1983:61)
• Alfred Guillaume: Gives us the closest and best translation of Ibn Hisham’s biography.
The Classical Account
 570
Muhammad was born
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610
610-622
Met ‘Jibril’ in the Hira Cave
Received ‘Meccan Revelations’
622
622-632
‘Hijra’ from Mecca to Medina
Received ‘Medinan Revelations’
624
630
‘Mi’raj’ to the 7 heavens (5 prayers)
Conquered Mecca peacefully
632
Died (poisoning?)…no written Qur’an
Since almost all the material available to us concerning the life of Muhammad, and the emergence of
Islam from the 7th c. (i.e. that of the Sira, Hadith, Tafsir, Ta’rikh), is not compiled until the 9th - 10th c.,
Orientalists (from the Revisionist’s School) believe it cannot be trusted.
Late Dates:
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Nothing before 800 AD:
Sira (Hisham=833AD),
Hadith (Bukhari=870AD, Mishkat al-Masabih
Tarikh, Tafsir (Tabari=923AD,
al-Baladhuri=892, az-Zamakshari=1144,
al-Baydawi=1282, as-Suyuti=1502)
Thus, not Primary but Secondary revelation
14th C.),
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Problem with the Late Dates:
 Since almost all the material available to us concerning the life of Muhammad, and the emergence of
Islam from the 7th c. (i.e. that of the Sira, Hadith, Tafsir, Ta’rikh), is not compiled until the 9th - 10th c.,
Orientalists (from the Revisionist’s School) believe it cannot be trusted.
 Thus, “if knowledge of the life of Muhammad was transmitted orally for a century before it was reduced
to writing, then the chances are that the material will have undergone considerable alteration in the
process” (Cook 1983:65)
 So, Cook & Cröne went to Greek, Syriac, and Armenian sources from the 7th-8th c. & found a contrasting
picture to the later Islamic Traditions.
 They sought to step outside the Islamic Traditions and start again, piecing together an original account
from non-Islamic sources of Muhammad’s time. The two together wrote “Hagarism”…a sort of “What if”
in 26 pages, supported by 226 notes in a further 27 pages (Robinson 1996:47)
 Conclusion: They suggested that the history of Islam, including the life of Muhammad, upto at least the
time of the caliph Abd al-Malik is fraudulent!!!!
Further Problems ↓
Uri Rubin:
 Rubin examines how the image of the Prophet was perceived by believers throughout the various
evolving versions of his life. The contents of the texts are a reflection of the state of mind of the
believers among whom the texts were created, preserved, and circulated over the ages.
• Medieval Islam was preoccupied with portraying its prophet in a manner comparable to the biblical
prophets. Biblical themes were adopted from the stories of the prophets, adapted to fit an Arabian
situation, and applied to the biography of Muhammad.
• Take the example of the battle of Badr: Al-Miqdad provides the same response regarding the
Children of Israel, contrasting their inferiority against the superiority of the Arabs. “The entire
Arabian umma as one collective group constitutes here the new chosen community that replaces
the Children of Israel.”
Credibility:
 John Wansbrough (1977-1978):
(Qur’anic Studies: Sources and Methods of Scriptural Interpretation 1977)
(The Sectarian Milieu: Content and Composition of Islamic Salvation History 1978)
 The compilers took their material from collections compiled within the decades around 800 A.D., and not
from any documents which were written in the seventh century, and certainly not from the person of
Muhammad or his companions (Humphreys 1991:73, 83; Schacht 1949:143 1949:143-145; 145; Goldziher
Goldziher 1889 1889-90:72).
 The Maghazi, which are stories of the prophet's battles and campaigns, are the earliest Muslim
documents which we possess. They should have given us the best snapshot of that time, yet they tell us
little concerning the prophet's life or teachings. In fact, oddly enough nowhere in these documents is
there a veneration of Muhammad as a prophet!
Contradictions:
Al-Tabari’s conflicting accounts - i.e.15 different accounts of child Muhammad meeting a religious man (Crone
1987:219-220)
 during his infancy (Ibn Hisham ed.1860:107)
 when he was 9
 or 12 years old (Ibn Sa’d 1960:120)
 Or when he was twenty-five (Ibn Hisham ed.1860:119)
 seen by Ethiopian Christians (Ibn Hisham ed.1860:107)
 or by Jews (‘Abd al-Razzaq 1972: 318),
 Or by a seer
 or a Kahin (Ibn Sa’d 1960:166)
 at either Mecca, (‘Abd al-Razzaq 1972:317)
 or Ukaz (Abu Nu’aym 1950:116f).
 or Dhu’l-Majaz (Abu Nu’aym 1950:95).
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Cröne concludes that what we have here is nothing more than “fifteen equally fictitious versions of an event that
never took place.” (Crone 1987:220)
Proliferation:
 Ishaq (765 AD): ‘Abdallah had died early enough to leave Muhammad an orphan; but as to the specific
details of his death, “God knew best” (Cook 1983:63).
 Waqidi: (50 yrs. Later) when ‘Abdallah died, how he died, where he died, what his age was, and the exact
place of his burial.
 According to Michael Cook, “this evolution in the course of half a century from uncertainty to a profusion of precise
detail suggests that a fair amount of what Waqidi knew was not knowledge.” (Cook 1983:63-65)
 Bukhari: from 600,000 down to 7,397 =1.2% (or 2,762 non-repetitive Hadith)
Isnad
 Names of transmitters
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No documentation before 9th century
Prophetic authority begins with Sha’fi (820AD)
Based on Oral Tradition…
-Embellishment
-No need for Oral Tradition after 4th c.
-Conquest of Literate metropolises
Storytellers
 Kussas: “As storyteller followed upon storyteller, the recollection of the past was reduced to a common stock of
stories, themes, and motifs that could be combined and recombined in a profusion of apparently factual
accounts. Each combination and recombination would generate new details, and as spurious information
accumulated, genuine information would be lost. In the absence of an alternative tradition, early scholars were
forced to rely on the tales of storytellers, as did Ibn Ishaq, Waqidi, and other historians. It is because they relied
on the same repertoire of tales that they all said such similar things”. (Crone 1987:225)
20th-21st Century Revisionists Conclusions:
Joseph Schacht:
“Every legal tradition from the Prophet, until the contrary is proved, must be taken not as an authentic or
essentially authentic, even if slightly obscured, statement valid for his time or the time of the Companions, but as
the fictitious expression of a legal document formulated at a later date”
(Schacht, The Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence, 149)
Patricia Crone & Michael Cook in Hagarism (1977):
“The [earliest] ‘maghazi-sira’ works should be treated as sources for religious ideas current in the 8th century, when
they were circulated, not for the life of Muhammad”
Humphreys’ Conclusion:
Islam, and the prophet’s life, as we know it, was not derived from the 7th century, but evolved over a period of 200300 years, and then redacted back on to the prophets life, and compiled in the 9th century (Humphreys 1991:71,83-89)
The Revisionist’s Final Conclusions:
• Islam, and the prophet’s life, as we know it, was not derived from the 7th century, but evolved
over a period of 200-300 years, and then was redacted back on to the prophet’s life, and
compiled in the 9th century
(Humphreys 1991:71,83-89)
II
CHRISTIAN ASSESSMENT
Christians (and Jews) have a separate responsibility from that of the historians. They have to
make an assessment concerning the validity of any prophet. The Bible has clear conditions of
who can carry the ‘office’ of prophethood.
• Did Muhammad fulfil those conditions?
The Muslim Position:
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• Supernatural witness points to Muhammad's Prophethood (angels & heart, protective cloud)
• Prophesying points to his Prophethood (Sura 30:1-4 ‘defeat in a few years’…615 vs. 628).
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• Miracles point to his Prophethood (Challenge in Sura 17:90-93; Response in Suras 2:118-119; 6:37, 124; 13:7;
17:59 = warner & Sura 54:1 = Splitting of the moon).
• Illiterate Creator of the Qur'an points to his Prophethood (Sura 7:157 & 62:2 = ‘unlettered’).
The Christian Position:
1. Who Qualifies as a true Prophet of God?
A Prophet must be born in the Prophetic Race (Genesis 17 & 22)
A Prophet's Message must Conform to previous Revelation
A Prophet's Predictions must be Verifiable, or he must perform a miracle to verify his authority
 A Prophet must Speak in the Name of God (=YAHWEH or JEHOVAH)
Questions Concerning Muhammad’s Prophethood:
•Was Muhammad a Specific Prophet to the Arabs? (Sura 2:119, Sura 14:4, Sura 17:93, Sura 26:195,196, Sura
27:91, Sura 42:7, Sura 43:3, Sura 46:12)
• Or a Universal Prophet? (Sura 33:40, Sura 34:28)
• Was Muhammad a prophet of the Jews? (i.e. the 3 Jewish tribes in Medina = Banu Qaynuka, Banu al-Nadir,
Banu Quraiza)
• Was Muhammad a prophet to the Christians? Sura 2:120, Sura 3:28, Sura 5:54= "O ye who believe! Take
not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors; they are but friends and protectors to each other.
And he amongst you that turns to them (for friendship) is of them. Verily Allah guideth not a people unjust.“
Was Muhammad the Seal of the Prophets?
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1. What about Jesus (Jesus Superiority = Suras 3 & 19:16-34..19; 21:91)
2. What about the Other Prophets? (all sinned)
3. What about Muhammad’s:
-Concessions to People (Ibn Abbas, Mutah marriages, Satanic verses S.53:19-20)
-Sexuality (Zainab, Mary, Aisha)
-Elevation (Sura 33:21, 36)
-Sin (Suras 40:55; 47:19; 48:2; 94:1-3)
Were there Prophecies Concerning Muhammad?
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Sura 7:157: “Those who can follow the Messenger, the Prophet who can neither read nor write whom the find
written with them in the Taurut and the Injeel…”
61:6: “And when ‘Isa son of Maryam said ‘O Children of Israel! I am the Messenger of Allah unto you,
confirming the Taurat [Torah] before me, and giving glad tidings of a Messenger to come after me, whose
name shall be Ahmad…”
Deuteronomy 18:15, 18:
1. Comparison: Who is the prophet like Moses?
2. Contrast: This prophet cannot be Muhammad (“brothers”=Israelite 17:15).
3. Consideration: This prophet must be Jesus (John 1:45; John 5:46; John 6:14; Acts 3:22).
4. Conclusion: Without a prediction where is Muhammad's authority?
Other Predictions in the Old Testament?
• sword
verses (Psalm 45:2-5; 149; Isaiah 63).
• geographical location (Deuteronomy 33:2; Isaiah 63; Habakkuk 3:3)
• Names: (Genesis 49:8-10=Judah; Haggai 2:7=Hemdah)
Song of Solomon 5:16 "His mouth is sweetness itself; he is altogether lovely. This is my lover, this my
friend, O daughters of Jerusalem."
‘Machmad’ vs. Hemdan (Adjectival phrase vs. Proper Noun)
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1 Kings 20:6 = "Yet I will send my servants to thee tomorrow about this time, and they shall search thy house, and
the houses of thy servants; and it shall be, [that] whatever is Muhammad in thy eyes, they shall take [it] in their
hand, and carry [it] away”
Muhammad in the Injil?
Parakletos or Periklytos (John 14 & 16)?
• Greek language confirms parakletos.
• Greek manuscripts confirm parakletos
• Therefore Muhammad could not be the parakletos
So who is the Parakletos?
• 14:16="he will be with you for ever"
• 14:17="he will be the spirit of truth"
• 14:17="the world neither sees him..."
• 14:17="...nor knows him"
• 14:17="and he will be in you" i.e. = Holy Spirit, who arrived 50 days later (Acts 1:4-5)
PRESENT DAY PROBLEMS WITH MUHAMMAD:
•The Danish Cartoon controversy
 Original 12 Cartoons & Abu Laban’s 3 extra
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Jyllands Posten’s 12 Cartoons (see above to the left), creating protest in the Muslim World.
Danish Cartoon reprinted in the Egyptian Al-Fajr Newspaper, on Oct. 17, 2005, yet, resulting in no
protests! So why such a contrast?
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Imam Ahmad Abu Laban (leader of the Islamic Society of Denmark) & his campaign to anger the
Muslim World, and the 3 additional cartoons (see above to the right).
Why is he significant to Muslims?
o His role in history
o His role as intercessor
What are the claims they are making today?
o Their relationship with him
How We can use this in Evangelism:
o The need for a personal relationship with god/man
o This is a great bridge to introduce Jesus as God/Man
o We have what they all want!!!!
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CONCLUSIONS:
• All we know of Muhammad comes from the 8th-9th centuries
• Much of his biography is suspect
• Muhammad does not fulfil any of the four criteria required for prophet-hood in the Bible.
• He is not a prophet for the Jews
• He is not a prophet for the Christians
• He seems only to be a prophet for the Arabs
• He is not even the best prophet!
• He wasn’t prophesied in Deuteronomy 18:18
• He wasn’t prophesied in Song of Solomon 5:16
• He wasn’t prophesied in John 14 or John 16
• He cannot be critiqued by Muslims…or others
• He cannot give what Jesus can…
– Salvation from sin and an eternal life!!!
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