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

CLAUDE GILLIOT
The case of Waraqa b. Nawfal and the topos “Holy! Holy!” could be an
indication of traces of a Christian liturgy in the Arabic language among the
Christian Arabs. 45 It seems clear that we are here in the semantic context of
a Christian liturgy (Sanctus! Sanctus! in Latin; cf. Isaiah 6:3).
The case of Zayd b. Thabit, secretary of the revelation
and “Editor” of the Qur’an
Zayd b. Thabit probably knew Aramaic, Syriac or Hebrew, or elements of these
languages before the arrival of Muhammad to Yathrib. He is sometimes credited with
the knowledge of two languages (or rather two scripts) – Arabic and Hebrew – which
he acquired before Islam. In some reports, however, Zayd’s study of the “Jewish
script” (kitab Yahud) is said to have taken place after the emigration of
Muhammad to Yathrib.
The Messenger of God ordered me to study for him the script of the
Jews, and he said to me: “I do not trust the Jews with regard to my
correspondence” [i.e. correspondence with the Jews, written in their
script]. Not even half a month passed until I used to write for him, and
when they wrote to him, I read their letter.
(Baladhuri, Futuh al-buldan, 474 46 )
Or in another version with the following chain of transmitters: [...] ‘Abd
al-Rahman b. al-Zinad/his father/Kharija b. Zayd:
I was brought to the Messenger of God when he came to Medina. They
said: “Messenger of God, this is a boy of the banu al-Najjar [He should
have been eleven years old at that time], of what had been revealed unto
you he knows (qad qara’a) seventeen (sixteen or ten, in other versions)
suras.” So I recited to the Messenger of God, and he was pleased with it.
(Ibn ‘Asakir, Ta’rikh madinat Dimashq, 19, 302 47 )
This tradition is followed by the order to learn the script of the Jews as in the
previous version. An initial question arises hence. Are these suras of the Qur’an?
Would they not rather be passages of Jewish writings which Muhammad or others
liked and which were used for the composition of the Qur’an? The word sura is
not of Arabic origin, as the embarrassment of the lexicographers regarding it
demonstrates, but stems rather from Aramaic or from Hebrew. 48 This is not the
only case where information that Muhammad acquired from others has been
attributed to Muhammad himself by inverting the situation. In a famous episode
the Christian Palestinian Tamim al-Dari transmits eschatological traditions to
Muhammad on the Antichrist and the Beast (al-Dajjal wa-l-Jassasa). Yet in
another version of the episode, it is Muhammad himself who informs Tamim
al-Dari on this subject. 49
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