The Qur'an in its historical context (pdf - Islam and Christian-Muslim ...

CLAUDE GILLIOT
influenced by the theological representation of the Islamic exegetical tradition of
the lingua sacra of the Qur’an. It is probably not the right translation, which
should rather be: “speech Arabic, making [things] clear (mubin).”
According to the renowned exegete Muqatil b. Sulayman (d. 150/767):
There was a servant of ‘Amir b. al-Hadrami al-Qurashi. He was a Jew,
not an Arab [or spoke bad Arabic, a‘jami]; he spoke Greek [more likely:
Aramaic], 17 and his name was Abu Fukayha Yasar. As the Qurayshis saw
the Prophet speaking with him, they said: “Indeed, he is being taught by
Abu Fukayha Yasar.”
(Muqatil b. Sulayman, Tafsir al-Qur’an, 2, 487 18 )
According to another version: “The apostle used often to sit at al-Marwa at the
booth of a young Christian called Jabr, slave of the Banu l-Hadrami, and they
used to say: ‘The one who teaches Muhammed most of what he brings is Jabr the
Christian, slave of the Banu l-Hadrami.’ ” 19
In some versions, the slave of the Banu l-Hadrami is not named. According to
Mujahid b. Jabr (d. 104/722), he came from the Byzantine territories (rumi), he
had a book (sahib kitab) and he spoke Aramaic (al-rumiyya, which could mean
Greek, but for a Christian of these territories, probably Aramaic). 20 According
to al-Hasan al-Basri (d. 110/728), this slave of Ibn al-Hadrami had been a soothsayer
(kahin) in pre-Islamic times. 21 According to Talha b. ‘Amr (al-Hadrami, d.
152/769): “Khadija used to see Khayr (or Jabr?) frequently, and the Qurayshis
said that a slave of the Banu l-Hadrami taught her and that she taught Muhammad,
so the verse (i.e. Q 16:103) was revealed.” 22
The accusations against Muhammad have been summed up by one of his
greatest opponents, al-Nadr b. al-Harith. 23
This Qur’an is naught but lies that Muhammad himself has forged [...].
Those who help him are ‘Addas, a slave of Huwaytib b. ‘Abd al-’Uzza,
Yasar, a servant of ‘Amir b. al-Hadrami, and Jabr who was a Jew, and
then became a Muslim. [...] This Qur’an is only a tale of the Ancients
(hadith al-awwallin), like the tales of Rustam and Isfandiyar. These
three teaching Muhammad at dawn and in the evening (cf. Q 25:4–5).
(Muqatil, Tafsir al-Qur’an, 3, 226–7 24 )
The study of the reports on the informants has led us to the conclusion that we
cannot exclude the possibility that whole sections of the Meccan Qur’an could
contain elements originally established by, or within, a group of “God seekers,”
of “deprived” or “have-nots” who possessed either Biblical, post-Biblical or
other information. People like Waraqa b. Nawfal and Khadija may have also
participated in that common enterprise under the direction of Muhammad or
another individual. 25
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