[Assam] Do people in Assam take any Holy book as from GOD without reservations? The HOLINESS of one BOOK is being put under very revealing scholarly scrutiny in the article pasted here. Part 4 of the article 2.

Mon Sep 3 02:18:01 CDT 2007

*Who Authored the Qur'an?—an Enquiry*

*Part 4*

*By Abul Kasem <http://www.mukto-mona.com/Articles/kasem/index.htm>*

* *

* *

*Bahira*

Bahira was a Nestorian Christian monk who lived in Sham (Syria). His
Christian name was Sergius or Georgius. It is believed that he was expelled
from the monastery for certain offences. To expiate it, he set out on a
mission to Arabia. In Mecca, he met Muhammad, became intimate with him and
stayed with him. He had confidential conversation with Muhammad, in which he
surely told Muhammad many facets of Christianity. The verses in the Qur'an
dealing with Christianity must have emanated from Bahira, the monk. Muhammad
simply re-wrote them with the help of his Qur'an collectors or scribes.

It is believed that the Qur'anic verses on the Psalms of David were actually
the contribution of Bahira. These verses are:

*004.163 *We have sent thee inspiration, as We sent it to Noah and the
Messengers after him: we sent inspiration to Abraham, Isma'il, Isaac, Jacob
and the Tribes, to Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, and Solomon, and to David We
gave the Psalms.

*017.055 *And it is your Lord that knoweth best all beings that are in the
heavens and on earth: We did bestow on some prophets more (and other) gifts
than on others: and We gave to David (the gift of) the Psalms.

*021.105 * Before this We wrote in the Psalms, after the Message (given to
Moses): My servants the righteous, shall inherit the earth."
In fact, the Dictionary Islam (p.698) writes that the last quoted verse (
21.105) is a direct quote from Psalm xxxvii.29

Here are some sample verses which most likely were contributed by Bahira:

Even when Muhammad confirms the previous scriptures, the Jews and the
Christians reject him…2:101

The Jews and the Christians quarrel with each other even though they study
the same book; God will judge between them...2:113

The Islamic, the Jewish and the Christian God is the same God, do not argue
on this; God will reward each group according to their deeds…2:139

The Jews and the Christians are invited to believe in the Book of God to
settle their disputes...3:23

Some Jews and Christians twisted their scriptures and passed them as God's
messages…3:78

Some Jews and Christians believe in baseless powers of mysteries and the
powers of evil...4:51

Christians forgot a good part of the message; so, God condemned them to
animosity and hatred among themselves...5:14

Some Christians follow Gospel correctly but most of them do not. If they
followed the Gospel correctly they would have enjoyed happiness from every
side...5:66

Jesus' believers (Christians) were Muslims and their religion was Islam
(?)...5:111

Muhammad was to learn from the Jews and the Christians; the Qur'an contains
the messages of these books...10:94-95

Some Jews and Christians are actually Muslims; they believed in the
Qur'an…28:53

Argue with the people of the Book only in a nice manner; Muslims are to
believe in the Qur'an as well as in other books sent down by God; Muslim's
God and Jews' and Christians' God is the same…29:46

God bestowed Gospel to Jesus and ordained compassion and mercy to his
followers; God did not prescribe monasticism to the Christians...57:27

It is not clear why Bahira was expelled from the Syrian church. Could it be
that he held views on Christianity that was blasphemous to the Nestorian
church? Or could it be that he did some criminal act? No one knows. Any way,
Muhammad had a wealth of information on Christianity (apocryphal or
main-stream) from this monk.

It is interesting to note that Qur'an mentions itself that Muhammad was, in
fact, taught by a foreigner, but Allah tried to deny the truth by implying
that the language of Muhammad and the language of the foreigner was
different! This obviously, is completely untrue, as we note that Muhammad,
during his trip to Sham (Syria) had met Bahira, and had no difficulty in
communicating with him. Here is the verse that says that Muhammad was taught
by a foreigner:

*016.103 *We know indeed that they say, "It is a man that teaches him." The
tongue of him they wickedly point to is notably foreign, while this is
Arabic, pure and clear.

*Jabr*

*The Dictionary of Islam* (Hughes Dictionary of Islam, p.223) writes that
Jabr was one of the Ahlu-l-Kitab and was well-read in the Taurat and Injil,
and Muhammad used to hear him read these books as he passed by his house.
Muhammad must have learned from Jabr many of those Suras dealing with the
traditions of the Christians and the Jews. Most likely the verses on David
and Solomon were composed by Jabr. Some of these verses are (only the main
messages are shown here; for details read the entire verse):

David slew Goliath...2:251

Psalms was given to David...4:163

God is discriminatory; he prefers some prophets to others; he gave Psalms to
David…17:55

God witnessed the judgment of David and Solomon…21:78

God gave Solomon the correct understanding; He made the mountains and the
birds to serve David…21:79

God taught David the skill of war-shield making…21:80

Before the Qur'an, God sent messages in the Psalms of David...21:105

God gave knowledge to David and Solomon…27:15

Solomon's father was David. Solomon was the heir of David; Solomon
understood the speeches of birds, beasts and plants…27:16

Solomon had control over Jinns; the Jinns and birds fought in Solomon's
army…27:17

God put the mountains under the command of David; taught him how to make
weapons from iron…34:10-11

God had put the mountains, birds for David's service and endowed him with
wisdom and logic…38:18-20

God forgave David's sins...38:25

God made David a ruler on earth and gave him the authority to issue fair
judgment by God's laws and by his personal opinions…38:26

*Ibn Qumta*

Ibn Qumta was a Christian slave who lived in Mecca. Muhammad learned about
the apocryphal gospel of Christianity (such as: The Gospel of Infancy and
The Gospel of Barnabas) from him. The entire Sura on Mary and the birth of
Jesus Christ (Sura 19) was probably written by this Christian slave.
Sourcing from Wakidi, Alphonso Mingana, in his essay, *The Transmission of
the Koran* (Alphonso Mingana, *The Transmission of the Koran*, The Origins
of The Koran, p.103) writes:

 'A more ancient historian, Wakidi, has the following sentence in which it
is suggested that 'Abdallah b. Sa'd b. Abi Sarh, and a Christian slave, ibn
Qumta, had something to do with the Koran. And ibn Abi Sarh came back and
said to Quraish: "It was only a Christian slave who was teaching him
(Muhammad); I used to write to him and change whatever I wanted."'

Please note that Abdallah b. Sa'd b Abi Sarh was Muhammad's trusted scribe.
When Muhammad migrated to Medina Abdallah also followed him. Whenever
Muhammad went into a trance he would dictate Abdallah to write down his
utterances. When Abdallah suggested some changes to Muhammad's lisping,
Muhammad would readily agree with Abdallah. An example is when Muhammad was
dictating 23:12-14.

*023.012 *Man We did create from a quintessence (of clay);
*023.013 * Then We placed him as (a drop of) sperm in a place of rest,
firmly fixed;
*023.014 *Then We made the sperm into a clot of congealed blood; then of
that clot We made a (foetus) lump; then we made out of that lump bones and
clothed the bones with flesh; then we developed out of it another creature.
So blessed be Allah, the best to create!

Abdallah suggested some modifications to the last verse, Muhammad quickly
agreed with Abdallah. This led Abdallah to suspect Muhammad's claim of
reception of messages from Allah, apostatised and left Medina for Mecca. He
then proclaimed that he (Abdallah) too could easily write the Qur'anic
verses being inspired by Allah.

Muhammad was furious and sought Allah's help. Allah promptly sent down verse
6:93, condemning any one who claims to be inspired by Allah. Here is the
verse:

*006.093 *Who can be more wicked than one who inventeth a lie against Allah,
or saith, "I have received inspiration," when he hath received none, or
(again) who saith, "I can reveal the like of what Allah hath revealed"? If
thou couldst but see how the wicked (do fare) in the flood of confusion at
death! - the angels stretch forth their hands, (saying),"Yield up your
souls: this day shall ye receive your reward,- a penalty of shame, for that
ye used to tell lies against Allah, and scornfully to reject of His signs!"

When Muhammad occupied Mecca he earmarked 8 [or10 (6 men, 4 women) according
to Ibn Sa'd, vol. ii, p165] people to be killed even if they were found in
the precinct of Ka'ba. Abdallah was one of them.

Even *Sahih Bukhari* confirms that a Christian wrote parts of the Qur'an.
This Christian writer of the Qur'an, without doubt, is none other than ibn
Qumta. Here is the *Hadis*:

A Christian who converted to Islam wrote Muhammad's revelations; then he
reverted back to Christianity and claimed that Muhammad knew nothing and he
wrote the Quran for Muhammad; when this man died his body was repeatedly
thrown out from the grave...4.56.814

*Volume 4, Book 56, Number 814: *

Narrated Anas:

There was a Christian who embraced Islam and read Surat-al-Baqara and
Al-Imran, and he used to write (the revelations) for the Prophet. Later on
he returned to Christianity again and he used to say: "Muhammad knows
nothing but what I have written for him." Then Allah caused him to die, and
the people buried him, but in the morning they saw that the earth had thrown
his body out. They said, "This is the act of Muhammad and his companions.
They dug the grave of our companion and took his body out of it because he
had run away from them." They again dug the grave deeply for him, but in the
morning they again saw that the earth had thrown his body out. They said,
"This is an act of Muhammad and his companions. They dug the grave of our
companion and threw his body outside it, for he had run away from them."
They dug the grave for him as deep as they could, but in the morning they
again saw that the earth had thrown his body out. So they believed that what
had befallen him was not done by human beings and had to leave him thrown
(on the ground).

Please note that the text inside parenthesis, (e.g., the revelations) is the
insertion by the translator.

*The Sabeans *

W. St. Clair-Tisdall (W.St. Clair Tisdal, *The Sources of Islam*, The Orgins
of the Koran, pp.236-237) writes that the Sabeans inhabited Syria. They were
the followers of Seth and Idris. Sabeans fasted for 30 days from night to
sunrise, observed Eid and prayed for the dead without prostration. Muhammad
simply copied their system of fasting (only change made was fasting from
dawn to dusk) and retained the celebration of Eid and the prayer for the
dead in exactly the same fashion as the Sabeans. Thus the rules on fasting
as prescribed in verses 2:183-187 were actually adapted from the Holy
Scriptures of the Sabeans. In fact, the Qur'an confirms itself that the
system of fasting was a copy-cat from other faith, but remaining coy about
which religious scripture Muhammad copied from. Here is verse 2:183 that
says that the Islamic system of fasting is the mimicry of the other faith
(Sabeans, of course):

*002.183 *O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was
prescribed to those before you, that ye may (learn) self-restraint,-

The Sabeans possessed a book called 'Pages of Seth. They observed 7 prayers
a day, 5 of which were at the same hours as chosen by Muhammad. They also
venerated Ka'ba. Muhammad, most likely, learned about the Holy Scripture of
the Sabeans from Bahira, the monk and from Salman, the Persian, because both
of them had spent a considerable amount of time in Syria and were well aware
about the sources, rituals and the religious doctrine of the Sabeans.
Muhammad simply incorporated those in the Qur'an—passing them as Allah's
dictum.

On the Sabeans, the *Dictionary of Islam* (Hughes Dictionary of Islam, p.551)
writes that they worshipped the stars secretly but openly professed to be
Christians. Others say that they were of the religion of Sabi, the son of
Seth, the son of Adam. Some say they were of the religion of Noah. Their
Qiblah was towards the south, from whence the wind blows.

No doubt, after learning about the Sabeans Muhammad was profoundly impressed
by their religion and hastened to incorporate some of their rituals in
Islam. He regarded them as the true believers of Allah. In fact, the
*Dictionary
Islam* (ibid) writes that the Arabs used to call Muhammad as Sabi—he who has
departed from the religion of the Quraysh. The Qur'an mentions them 3 times
in the following verses:

 *002.062 *Those who believe (in the Qur'an), and those who follow the
Jewish (scriptures), and the Christians and the Sabians,- any who believe in
Allah and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with
their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.

*005.069 *Those who believe (in the Qur'an), those who follow the Jewish
(scriptures), and the Sabians and the Christians,- any who believe in Allah
and the Last Day, and work righteousness,- on them shall be no fear, nor
shall they grieve.

*022.017 *Those who believe (in the Qur'an), those who follow the Jewish
(scriptures), and the Sabians, Christians, Magians, and Polytheists,- Allah
will judge between them on the Day of Judgment: for Allah is witness of all
things.

Note that those verses also contain the Jews, the Christians and the Magians
(Zoroastrians).

*Khadijah, Waraqa and Ubydallah et. al.*

* *

The Sirah (biography) of Muhammad does not mention about the religion of
Khadijah, Muhammad's first wife. However, it is difficult to believe that
Khadijah was a 100% polytheist. She was probably deeply influenced by his
cousin brother Waraqa, who, as mentioned before, was first a Jew, then
converted to Christianity. He became a devout Christian and reportedly
translated the Gospel in his version of Arabic. His profound knowledge and
understanding of the mainstream Christianity, as well as Judaism, must had
had profound influence on Khadijah and Muhammad. So, it will be quite
reasonable to surmise that Khadijah, too, was a follower of Christianity—at
least inwardly. We find no reference anywhere that Khadijah had ever prayed
to any idol or had attended any polytheist religious ritual; instead, we
note (as told previously) that Muhammad was, indeed, a polytheist when he
married Khadijah. For 25 years Khadijah was Muhammad's support (financially)
and counsellor. It was most likely that Khadijah influenced Muhammad to
change his religion—from polytheism to Christianity. Waraqa and Khadijah
used to discuss lots of Christian and Jewish stuff with Muhammad that made
him think deeply about his belief system at birth (i.e., paganism).

We learn from *Sahih Bukhari* that Waraqa used to read the *Gospel* in
Arabic. This confirms that the Arabic translation of the *Gospel* was
available during Muhammad's time.

*Volume 4, Book 55, Number 605: *

Narrated 'Aisha:

The Prophet returned to Khadija while his heart was beating rapidly. She
took him to Waraqa bin Naufal who was a Christian convert and used to read
the Gospels in Arabic Waraqa asked (the Prophet), "What do you see?" When he
told him, Waraqa said, "That is the same angel whom Allah sent to the
Prophet) Moses. Should I live till you receive the Divine Message, I will
support you strongly."

Not only that Waraqa read the Gospel in Arabic, he also translated
*Gospel*in his own version in Arabic.
*Sahih Bukhari* confirms this:

Please note that this is quite a lengthy *Hadis.* I have quoted only the
relevant part.

*Volume 6, Book 60, Number 478: *

Narrated Aisha:

…….." Khadija then took him to Waraqa bin Naufil, the son of Khadija's
paternal uncle. Waraqa had been converted to Christianity in the Pre-lslamic
Period and used to write Arabic and write of the Gospel in Arabic as much as
Allah wished him to write…….

Waraqa even knew how to read and write in Hebrew! *Sahih Bukhari* confirms
this:

Please note that only the part germane to the subject is quoted here.

*Volume 1, Book 1, Number 3: *

Narrated 'Aisha:

……Khadija then accompanied him to her cousin Waraqa bin Naufal bin Asad bin
'Abdul 'Uzza, who, during the PreIslamic Period became a Christian and used
to write the writing with Hebrew letters. He would write from the Gospel in
Hebrew as much as Allah wished him to write……

The above information, especially those quotes from the *Sahih Bukhari* will
leave one without any doubt that Waraqa, as well as Khadijah were big-time
contributors to the compilation of the Qur'an-- especially those verses
dealing with Christianity and Judaism.

Then came along Ubaydallah, the grandson of Abd al-Muttalib and Muhammad's
cousin brother. As Ubaydallah was a Hanif, surely, Muhammad learned a lot of
good materials on Hanifism from him. Muslim historians claim that Ubaydallah
converted to Muhammad's religion and migrated to Ethiopia; then he left
Islam and embraced Christianity and died there as a Christian. So, the other
contributors of the Christian stuff in the Qur'an were definitely
Ubaydallah. After Waraqa, Khadijah and Ubaydallah died Muhammad simply
incorporated in the Qur'an, what he had heard/learned from them.

We need to mention here two other main contributors to the Qur'an. They were
*Abdullah b. Salam and Mukhayariq*. According to Ibn Ishaq (Ibn Ishaq, p.239)
*Abdullah b. Salam b. al-Harith *was a Jew from B. Qaynuqa who converted to
Islam when Muhammad arrived at Medina. *Mukhayariq*, too, was a Jewish Rabbi
from B. Thalaba and he also converted to Islam. Abdullah b. Salam was an
authority on Torah, and had undoubtedly contributed to write in the Qur'an,
the Jewish stuff--especially the Jewish laws.

Here is a brief list of some of the materials in the Qur'an that Muhammad
copied/adopted from the Christians, the Jews, the Armenians, the Hindus and
the Magians (Zoroastrians):

Tayammum (4:43): Copied from the Jewish Scripture the Talmud.

Breathing life into birds (2:260, 3:49, 5:110): Copied from the Coptic
books.

Houris, Azazil (44:54): Learned from the foreigners in Mecca.

Harut amd Marut (2:102): From the Armenian books—Harut and Marut are in
control of wind and rain.

Allah's throne above water (11:7): From the Jewish tradition.

Malik, the ruler of Hell (43:77): From the Jews.

7 Heavens (2:29, 41:12): Adopted from the Sanskrit Scripture of the Hindus.

Mary giving birth under the trunk of a tree (19:23): Copied from the Gospel
of Infancy, an apocryphal Christian Gospel

Infant Jesus talking (3:46, 19:30-31, 19:33): Copied from the Gospel of
Infancy.

Description of Paradise and Hell (there are many verses—see the section on
Salman, the Persian: Copied from the Magians (Zoroastrians) and the Hindus.

Jesus not killed, Allah lifted up Jesus (3:55, 4:157-158): Copied from the
Gospel of Barnabas

The story of Joseph (Sura 12): Copied from the Midrash, a Jewish Scripture.

The story of Solomon and Sheba (21:78-82, 27:17-19, 27:22-23): Copied from
the Haggada, a Jewish Scripture.

The original Qur'an is kept in Heaven (43:4, 85:21-22): The Talmud says it
is a preserved tablet in Heaven.

Angel of death--Azrail or Azazil, Malaku'l Maut (6:61, 7:37, 32:11): Adopted
from the Jewish and the Magian (Zoroastrian) scriptures.

Uncannily though, the Qur'an asserts itself that the infidels of Mecca knew
that Muhammad had copied the Qur'an from various sources, especially from
the Jewish Scriptures; and that was why Allah had to admonish the
polytheists for calling Muhammad a copy-cat. This is revealed in verse 28:48

*028.048 *But (now), when the Truth has come to them from Ourselves, they
say, "Why are not (Signs) sent to him, like those which were sent to Moses?"
Do they not then reject (the Signs) which were formerly sent to Moses? They
say: "Two kinds of sorcery, each assisting the other!" And they say: "For
us, we reject all (such things)!"

For more examples of plagiarism in the Qur'an (and by Muhammad) one may
refer to the books listed in the bibliography.

Muhammad's neighbour was an-Nadr b. al-Harith. He also used to write verses
similar to the Qur'an. He was also a very good story-teller--especially of
the ancient fables. Whenever Muhammad gathered people to listen to his tales
in the Qur'an an-Nadr would entice the audience of Muhammad with better
stories than Muhammad. Due to an-Nadr's excellent proficiency in narrating
the anecdotes Muhammad saw his audience disappear. Muhammad considered
an-Nadr's act extremely loathsome and had his revenge taken by capturing
an-Nadr in the battle of Badr and later beheading him.

Here are references to some selected verses from the Qur'an that tell us
that the pagans were very much aware that Muhammad used to tell them ancient
stories that they had heard before—Muhammad did not narrated any new fable
at all—he simply regurgitated what he had heard from his sources—passing
them as Allah's revelations:

The unbelievers consider the Qur'an as the tales of the ancients…8:31

The unbelievers said that the revelations to Muhammad were the tales from
the past…16:24

Many pagans had heard the story of resurrection from past tales…23:83

Disbelievers say 'the Qur'an is ancient tales which they had heard
before'…25:5

The unbelievers insist that Qur'an is tales from the past…27:68

The unbelievers say the Qur'an is nothing but the tales of the
ancients…46:17

The unbelievers termed Muhammad's revelations as tales from the past…68:15

*Bibliography*

* *

*"The Holy Qur'an*," the internet version of three English translations can
be read at: http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/]<http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/%5D>

Ali, Abdullah, Yusuf, *"The Holy Qur'an: Translation and Commentary,"* Amana
Corp., Brentwood, Maryland, 1983.

al-Bukhari, Muhammad b. Ismail, *"Sahi Bukhari,"* translated in English by
Dr Muhammad Muhsin Khan:
[http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/
] <http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/>

Muslim, Abu al-Hussain b. al-Hajjaj al-Qushairi, *"Sahi Muslim,"* translated
in English by Abdul Hamid Siddiqui:
[http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/muslim/
] <http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/muslim/>

Hughes, Patrick Thomas, *"A Dictionary of Islam;"* first published in 1886;
latest reprint by Kazi Publications Inc., Chicago, 1994.

*"The Origins of the Koran,*"edited by Ibn Warraq, Prometheus Books,
Amherst, New York, 1998.

Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad b. Yasr, *"Sirat Rasul Allah,"*  translated in English
by A. Guillaume; first by published by Oxford University Press, London in
1955; fifteenth reprint by Oxford University Press, Karachi, Pakistan, 2001.

Ibn Sa'd, Abu Abd Allah Muhammad, *"Kitab al-Tabaqat,"* vol i, translated in
English by S. Moinul Haq, Kitab Bhavan; 1784, Kalam Mahal, Daraya Ganj, New
Delhi, India, 1972.

Ibn Sa'd, Abu Abd Allah Muhammad, *"Kitab al-Tabaqat,"* vol ii, translated
in English by S. Moinul Haq, Kitab Bhavan; 1784, Kalam Mahal, Daraya Ganj,
New Delhi, India, 1972.

Ibn al-Kalbi, Hisham, *"The Book of Idols (Kitab Al-Asnam),"* translated in
English by Nabih Amin Faris, Princeton University Press, 1952. [
http://www.answering-islam.org/Books/Al-Kalbi/index.htm ]

al-Misri, Ahmed ibn Naqib, *"Raliance of the Traveller ('Umdat
al-Salik),"*revised edition, translated by Nuh Ha Mim Keller, Amana
Publications,
Bettsville, Maryland, 1999.

*This essay continues in Part 5/5*
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