Did Muhammad Exist?: An Inquiry into Islam's Obscure Origins (40 page)

At-Tabari, Muhammad ibn Jarir.
The History of al-Tabari.
Volume XVII, “The First Civil War.” Translated by G. R. Hawting. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1996.

Wansbrough, John E.
Quranic Studies: Sources and Methods of Scriptural Interpretation.
Foreword, translations, and expanded notes by Andrew Rippin. Amherst, NY: Prometheus, 2004.

———
The Sectarian Milieu: Content and Composition of Islamic Salvation History.
Foreword, translations, and expanded notes by Gerald Hawting. Amherst, NY: Prometheus, 2006.

I
could not have written this book at all without the extraordinarily generous and kind assistance of Ibn Warraq, an indefatigable and innovative scholar whose collections on the Qur'an and the historical Muhammad are essential reading for anyone who has more than a passing interest in the origins of Islam. His recommendations for reading and research have given this book any merit it may have—and in this case, the hoary cliché of author's acknowledgments that “what is good in the book is all his, and its errors and failures are all mine” couldn't be truer.

Indeed, were it not for a memorable conversation that Ibn Warraq and I once had in The Hague, during which he elucidated for me in a particularly compelling way the weakness of Islam's historical foundations, and a subsequent dinner conversation on the same subject with Hans Jansen (to whom also much thanks for his keen eye in spotting errors and other problems in this manuscript), I would never even have thought to write this book. Nor would this book have been possible without the assistance of Daniel Pipes and the Middle East Forum Educational Fund, to whom I remain grateful.

I am indebted to my colleague, partner, and friend Pamela Geller for her aid in sharpening the focus and structure of this book. Her eye for conceptual imprecision, stylistic infelicities, and logical consistency has immensely improved this presentation.

Thanks also to my friend Roland Shirk for his invaluable help in
finding a home for this manuscript, and for his many helpful suggestions on matters of content and presentation.

I am deeply grateful to Jed Donahue as well. He has been a superb editor, deeply attentive to large and small questions raised by the manuscript, and full of extraordinary guidance on how to smooth it out stylistically, tie up loose ends, answer questions left unanswered, and strengthen the book's argument in innumerable ways.

There are, as always, many others who have offered advice, support, and searching questions as I have wrestled with the facts and concepts I have tried to outline here. Most would, given the volatile nature of the subject matter, prefer not to be named, but my gratitude to them is not for that any dimmer.

Aaron,
61
,
115

Abbas (uncle of Muhammad),
xvi
,
xvii
,
196
–
97

Abbasids,
60
,
64
,
78
,
85
,
86
,
198
,
206
,
211
,
212
,
215

Abbott, Nabia,
69

Abd al-Malik,
60
,
72
,
83
,
206
,
210
–
11
; caliphate of,
xiv
; coinage of,
58
–
59
; Dome of the Rock inscription and,
50
,
197
,
209
; Islam, introduction of and,
58
–
59
; Muhammad, example of and,
69
,
70
; Qur'an, collection of and,
197
–
99
,
206

Abd al-Muttalib (grandfather of Muhammad),
xvi
,
xvii
,
99

Abd ar-Rahman,
42

Abd ar-Razzaq,
83

Abdullah (father of Muhammad),
xvi
,
xvii

Abdullah bin Salam,
107
–
8
,
109

Abdur Rahman bin Harith bin Hisham,
188

Abel,
148

Abou El Fadl, Khaled,
14
–
15

Abraham,
xiv
,
12
,
21
,
30
,
31
,
32
,
34
,
134
,
165
,
194
,
207

Abu Bakr,
92
,
111
,
118
; caliphate of,
xiii
,
xvii
; death of,
73
; Khaybar, siege of and,
76
; Muhammad and,
74
; Qur'an, collection of and,
187
,
188

Abu Dawud as-Sijistani,
78

Abu Fukayha Yasar,
146
,
147

Abu Muslim,
85

Abu Nasr Yahya ibn Abi Kathir al-Yamami,
163

Abu Sufyan,
86

Abu Talib (uncle of Muhammad),
xvi
,
73

Abu Ubaida,
144
,
172

Abu Zura,
89

Adam,
54
,
136
,
148
,
168

adoption,
110
,
111
,
117

adultery,
65
,
74
,
135

Ahmad,
21
–
22

Aisha (wife of Muhammad),
65
,
73
–
74
,
82
,
91
,
94
,
135
; Muhammad bewitched and,
121
–
22
; Qur'an, collection of and,
137
–
38
; Zaynab, Muhammad's marriage to and,
110
,
111
–
12
,
117

Alexander the Great,
157

Ali, Abdullah Yusuf,
154
,
159
,
165
,
166

Ali ibn Abi Talib,
xvi
,
xvii
,
153
; Battle of Siffin and,
189
–
92
; caliphate of,
xiv
; chain of transmitters
(isnad)
and,
81
; death of,
85
; factionalism and Hadith and,
76
; Muhammad as Seal of the Prophets and,
116
; Qur'an and,
65
,
73
–
74
,
199
–
200
; Shiite Islam and,
117
,
211

Allah: Arabic and,
145
; Islam as political and,
213
; Jesus and,
38
; obedience to,
204
; Qur'an and,
xiii
,
17
,
18
,
125
,
150
.
See also
God

Amina (mother of Muhammad),
xvi
,
xvii

Amr bin Umm Maktum,
129
,
136

Amr ibn al-As,
30
,
190

Anas bin Malik,
103

Andrae, Tor,
166

Antichrist,
21

Antioch,
29

apostasy,
113

Apostles,
29
,
30

Arabian conquest,
207
; brutality of,
xv
,
25
,
26
–
27
,
35
; Christianity and,
25
–
28
; coins and inscriptions of,
42
–
43
,
205
; Islam and,
205
; Muhammad and,
2
,
7
,
24
–
28
,
41
,
48
,
191
,
205
; Muslims and,
205
; Qur'an and,
41
,
48
.
See also
Arabian Empire

Arabian Empire: Arabian conquerors and,
7
; cultural influence of,
2
; growth of,
2
,
71
; Islam and,
12
,
28
,
100
–
106
; paganism and,
28
–
30
,
158
,
182
; political theology of,
207
–
9
; polytheism and,
28
; unification of,
6
,
20
,
28
,
46
,
204
,
214
.
See also
Arabian conquest

Arabic,
36
–
37
,
171
,
206
; Allah and,
145
; alphabet of,
xi
,
162
,
185
; Islam and,
100
–
106
; Qur'an and,
143
–
60
,
162
,
185
,
210

Arabic calendar,
98

Arabs,
13
; as Hagarians,
30
–
31
; monotheism and,
ix
; monotheism in,
57
; as Muslims,
30
–
35
; paganism and,
ix
,
28
–
30

Aramaic,
14

Arberry, A. J.,
151

archaeology: Arabian conquest and,
7
; early Islam and,
ix
; Muhammad, historicity of and,
ix

Arius,
179

Armenia,
xiii
,
204

Ar-Ridwan pledge of allegiance,
75

Asbab an-Nuzul
(al-Wahidi),
65

Ash'ath, Al-,
190

Asim an-Nabil,
78

Athanasius II,
29
,
30

Azami, Muhammad Mustafa,
82
–
83

Baha'is,
18

Bahira,
95
–
96

Bal'ami,
147

baptism,
26
,
35
,
152

bar Penkaye, John,
xv
,
35

Bashear, Suliman,
9

Battle of Badr,
75
,
194

Battle of the Camel,
65

Battle of Hunayn,
196

Battle of Karbala,
xvii

Battle of Muta,
117
,
119
–
21

Battle of Siffin,
189
–
92

Battle of Tours,
xv

Battle of the Trench,
93

Battle of Yamama,
xiii
,
134
,
187

Baydawi, Abdullah al-,
130
,
159

believers,
17
,
18
,
45
,
64
,
69
,
78
,
81
,
110
,
123
,
146
,
204
,
213
–
15

Bell, Richard,
138
–
42
,
183
–
84

Bible,
31
,
148
,
182

bin Hudhafa bin Qais bin Adi, Abdullah,
64

bin Yahya as-Saji, Zakariya,
78

bin Yazid al-Asari, Tabit,
48
,
49

bin Zaid, Abdullah,
77

Book of History and Campaigns
(al-Waqidi),
92

Bukhari, Muhammad Ibn Ismail al-,
77
,
79
–
82
,
110
–
12

Bulliet, Richard,
105

Bultmann, Rudolf,
4