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

THE AUTHORSHIP OF THE QUR’AN
The topos “Holy! Holy!” (Quddus, Quddus) or the “Helpers”
of Muhammad (Khadija, Waraqa b. Nawfal, and so on) who
“Made Him a Prophet” 26
Muhammad had auxiliaries who helped him during his first enigmatic experiences
of revelation 27 and who contributed to his establishment as a prophet. But for
his first wife Khadija, he probably would never have become a prophet. 28 In his
Persian abridgment of the Annals of Tabari, Bal‘ami (d. 363/974) writes that
Khadija “had read the ancient writings and knew the history of the prophets, and also
the name of Gabriel.” 29
When Muhammad had his first revelatory experience, Khadija took him to her
cousin Waraqa b. Nawfal. 30 The passage on this event is given in the Maghazi
(or Maghazi-Sira) of the historian Ibn Ishaq (d. 150/767), 31 in the section on
Muhammad’s “invocation to mission” or “call” (al-mab‘ath), within a longer
narrative on his call, translated here according to the version (transmission)
of Ibn Hisham (d. 218/834), in the account of the storyteller (qass) ‘Ubayd b.
‘Umayr b. al-Laythi (d. 68/687). 32
Then she rose and gathered her garments about her and set forth to her
cousin Waraqa b. Nawfal b. Asad b. ‘Abd al-‘Uzza b. Quayy, who had
become a Christian and read the scriptures and learned from those who
follow the Torah and the Gospel. And when she related to him what
the apostle of God told her he had seen and heard, Waraqa cried: ‘Holy!
Holy! Verily by Him in whose hand is Waraqa’s soul, if thou has spoken to
me the truth, O Khadija, there hath come unto him the greatest Namus
[i.e. Greek nomos] 33 (Tabari: meaning Gabriel) who came to Moses aforetime,
and lo, he is the prophet of his people. Bid him be of good heart.” 34
(A. Guillaume, The Life of Muhammad: A Translation
of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah, 107)
In other versions the topos “Holy! Holy!” does not appear, for instance in that
of al-‘Utaridi/Yunus b. Bukayr which is in Abu Bakr al-Bayhaqi’s Dala’il
al-nubuwwa. 35 In al-Zuhri’s (d. 124/742) Maghazi, 36 Waraqa says: “It is the
Namus which God let come down upon Moses.” 37 According to ‘Urwa b. al-Zubayr
(d. probably 94/712), 38 ‘A’isha’s nephew and another authority on the life and
military campaigns (maghazi) of Muhammad, Waraqa says: “Verily the one who
comes to him is the greatest Namus, the Namus of Jesus, the son of Mary....” 39
But in another version, the same ‘Urwa transmitting also from ‘A’isha has: “It is
the Namus which God let come down upon Moses.” 40 The same topos “Holy!
Holy!” is also found in the account of the legendary meeting between Khadija and
the hermit Bahira 41 (or Sergius, Sarjis), and the account of one of Muhammad’s
informants ‘Addas. 42 In another report Khadija gives to Abu Bakr the order to go
with Muhammad to Waraqa, and when Waraqa hears the account of Muhammad,
he cries: “All-Perfect! All-perfect!” 43 (sabbuh or subbuh). 44
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