robert spencer-did muhammad exist__ an inquiry into islams obscure origins-intercollegiate studies institute (2012) (1)

in Paradise reserved exclusively for the Prophet or Muslims, and in the subsequent text the reprobation of
an opponent of the Prophet who must have despised the latter for having been deprived of children.
However the Syriac reading of this sura calls to mind the First Epistle of St Peter, Chapter 5 verses 8–9,
according to which—and in accordance with the introduction to the compline of the Roman service—the
faithful are exhorted to persevere in their prayers by which their adversary, Satan, is routed.” 50
Many of the Quran's more obscure passages begin to make sense when read in light of its having a
foundation in Christian theology. For example, there is an enigmatic sura on the Night of Power, al-Qadr
(“Power”): “Behold, We sent it down on the Night of Power; and what shall teach thee what is the Night
of Power? The Night of Power is better than a thousand months; in it the angels and the Spirit descend, by
the leave of their Lord, upon every command. Peace it is, till the rising of dawn” (97:1–5). Muslims
associate the Night of Power with the first appearance of Gabriel to Muhammad and the first revelation of
the Qur'an; they commemorate this night during the fasting month of Ramadan. But the Qur'an makes no
explicit connection between the Night of Power and the revelation of the Qur'an. The book doesn't explain
what the Night of Power is, except to say it is the night on which the angels (not just one angel) and the
Spirit descend and proclaim Peace.
In light of the Qur'an's Syriac Christian roots, there is another plausible interpretation—that sura 97
refers to Christmas.
The Qur'anic scholar Richard Bell saw in the night, angels, Spirit, and peace of the sura a hint of the
Nativity even without a detailed philological examination: “The origin of the idea of the Night of Power
is unexplained. The only other passage in the Quran which has any bearing on it is XLIV, 2a,3. In some
ways what is here said of it suggests that some account of the Eve of the Nativity may have given rise to
it.” 51 Luxenberg points out that because the Night of Power is associated with the revelation of the Qur'an,
Muslims undertake vigils during Ramadan. “However,” he notes, “with regard to the history of religions
this fact is all the more remarkable since Islam does not have a nocturnal liturgy (apart from the tarawih,
prayers offered during the nights of Ramadan). There is thus every reason to think that these vigils
corresponded originally to a Christian liturgical practice connected to the birth of Jesus Christ, and which
was later adopted by Islam, but re-interpreted by Islamic theology to mean the descent of the Koran.” 52
A close textual analysis supports this argument. Al-qadr, the Arabic word for “power,” also means
“fate” or “destiny.” Luxenberg observes that the Syriac qaaf-daal-raa—the q-d-r root of the Arabic word
al-qadr—has three meanings, designating “i) the birth (meaning the moment of birth); ii) the star under
which one is born and which determines the fate of the newly born; iii) The Nativity, or Christmas.” He
continues: “Thus defined, the term al-qadr, ‘destiny,’ is related to the star of birth, which the Koranic al
qadr applies, in the context of this sura, to the Star of Christmas. As a result, a connection is found to be
established with Matthew II.2, ‘Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his
star in the East and are come to worship him.’” 53 Then the verse “the Night of Power is better than a
thousand months” (97:4) would be rendered “Christmas night is better than a thousand vigils.” 54
The Qur'an concludes the Night of Power passage with “Peace it is, till the rising of dawn” (97:5).
Luxenberg notes that this verse “sends us back to the hymn of the Angels cited by Luke II.14: ‘Glory to
God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men.’ This chant of the Angels has always
constituted the principal theme of the Syriac vigils of the Nativity which lasts into Christmas night, with