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

The problem with the third option is the logical difficulty embedded within the story: Anyone who
reflects on this account for any time at all will realize that Abdullah had no way of knowing whether
Muhammad's answers were correct. Nor does the reader, which makes the first option problematic. These
considerations make the second option more likely: Muhammad knew Abdullah had presented him with a
game that he could not lose, and he exploited the opportunity.
But if Muhammad was an invented character, why fabricate a story that enemies could use to portray
him—and the nascent Islamic community—in a less than flattering light?
Of course, the most likely explanation here is that this story was constructed by people who took for
granted that Muhammad was a prophet and did not consider that some readers might take the account as
evidence he was a con artist. Supporting this explanation is the fact that establishing Muhammad's
prophetic status is not the primary point of the story; the account of Abdullah bin Salam and Muhammad
ultimately focuses on demonizing the Jews, whom Abdullah helps Muhammad catch in a lie after he
converts to Islam.
But other aspects of the canonical Islamic account of Muhammad clearly did embarrass those who
regarded him as a prophet. Some of the earliest Islamic material on Muhammad contains attempts to
explain away certain actions of the prophet. One of the most notable examples is the episode in which
Muhammad married his former daughter-in-law.
The Comely Zaynab and the Historicity of Muhammad
On several occasions Allah seemed anxious to grant his prophet his heart's desires—as in the notorious
story of one of Muhammad's wives, Zaynab bint Jahsh. Noted for her striking beauty, Zaynab was
originally married to Muhammad's adopted son, Zayd bin Muhammad (formerly known as Zayd bin
Haritha), who was so close to the prophet that he was known as the Beloved of the Messenger of Allah.
Zayd has the distinction of being the only contemporary of Muhammad, or purported contemporary, to be
mentioned by name in the Qur'an.
One day Muhammad chanced to visit Zayd's home while his adopted son was away, and Zaynab
answered the door in a state of semi-undress. “He looked at her,” says the Tafsir al-Jalalayn, a respected
commentary on the Qur'an, “and felt love for her whereas Zayd disliked her.” 2 Zayd offered to divorce her
so that Muhammad could marry her; Muhammad's response is recorded in an elliptical passage in the
Qur'an: “Keep thy wife to thyself, and fear God” (33:37).
One would think that being overcome with desire for one's daughter-in-law would bring a blush to the
cheeks of the most ardent proponent of free love, but the part of the story that embarrassed Muhammad, at
least according to Islamic tradition, was not that at all. Rather, it was the fact that he told Zayd to keep his
wife. Of this, one of his other wives, Aisha, later remarked: “If Allah's Apostle were to conceal anything
(of the Qur'an) he would have concealed this verse.” 3
Why would Muhammad be embarrassed by this point? Because Allah wanted Muhammad to marry