Muhammad the Borrower Still

8/4/2019 Muhammad the Borrower Still

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Muhammad the Borrower Still!

The Influence of the Christian Apocrypha On

The composition and formation of the Quran Pt. 1

Sam Shamoun

Bassam Zawadi has written an article where he tries to disprove that Muhammad plagiarizedthe story of Jesus fashioning clay birds and speaking in the cradle from Christian apocryphal

sources, specifically the Arabic Infancy Gospel of Thomas.

It seems that Zawadi has ³lifted´ most of his information from some other source, or thatsomeone else has helped him write it, since the writing style and vocabulary are manifestly

unlike Zawadi¶s as any careful examination of his materials will easily prove.

Be that as it may, Zawadi¶s reply is nothing more than a lengthy display of logical fallacies

and obfuscation. And since he put his name to it, he will also have to bear the responsibility

for all the fallacies and errors committed.

Zawadi appeals to Muhammad¶s sincerity to prove that he would have no interest in

plagiarizing a Christian story and passing it off as revelation from God. However, there areseveral major problems with this assertion.

First, Muhammad¶s sincerity is simply irrelevant and doesn¶t address the fact that the Quran

contains an apocryphal Christian fable.

Second, this is a non-sequitur since it does not logically follow that Muhammad wouldn¶t

include stories which he had heard from his interactions with Jews and Christians just

because he sincerely believed that he was the messenger of Allah. Muhammad may have

believed that his god wanted him to adopt and include the myths and legends which he heardfrom the Jews and Christians into the Quran. As we shall see shortly this is precisely what

Muhammad did.

Nor does it follow that Muhammad¶s sincerity proves that the Quran is from God, as evenZawadi realizes. The most this proves is that Muhammad was sincerely mistaken. As John

Gilchrist explains:

It is not our view that God was the author of the Qur'an but at the same time we do not believe that it was fraudulently composed by Muhammad consciously as its author. A study

of its sources will confirm that this statement is true in one sense: ³That Mohammed was

really the author and chief contriver of the Koran is beyond dispute ´ (Sale, The

Preliminary Discourse to the Koran, p. 68). Nevertheless it is not true to say that Muhammaddeliberately forged the book as a revelation and, as a pious impostor, consciously attributed it

to Allah. His subjective sincerity forbids such a conclusion.

The chief question for us is whether or not Muhammad believed in the message himself. All

his life he maintained that he had got his message from God, and I do not think that there can be any doubt that in the beginning of his activities at any rate he believed fully and firmly in

his mission. (Hammershaimb, "The Religious and Political Development of Muhammad",

The Muslim World , Vol. 39, p. 196).





this of me! I will go to the top of the mountain and throw myself down that I may kill

myself and gain rest. So I went forth to do so and then) when I was midway on the

mountain, I heard a voice from heaven saying µO Muhammad! thou are the apostle of Godand I am Gabriel.¶ (The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq¶s Sirat Rasul Allah,

with introduction and notes by Alfred Guillaume [Oxford University Press, Karachi, Tenth

impression 1995], p. 106; bold and capital emphasis ours)

All the evidence shows that Muhammad was correct.

Fifth, the argument from sincerity proves too much since it can be used to validate the claims

and experiences of other religious figures.

For instance, what could have been Baha'ullah's motive to suffer imprisonment all those years

if he were not really a prophet? What were Buddha's motives for abandoning his lofty statusas a prince to live an impoverished life if he did not sincerely believe that what he was

teaching was the truth? What led Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to accept persecution and disgracefor claiming to be Allah¶s final Islamic messenger and reformer for this age? Why would

Rashid Khalifah die as a martyr if he were simply a deceiver seeking monetary gains? What

could have been the motives behind these men maintaining their persecuted positions,forsaking earthly riches for their beliefs and teachings?

Since Baha'ullah, Joseph Smith, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and Rashad Khalifa believed that

what they received was really from God and suffered greatly for it would Zawadi also

embrace them as messengers of God? If not, why not?

Zawadi will immediately agree that they were certainly not from God, since their teaching

contradicts the Qur¶an. But on what basis would he question their sincerity? On what basis

does Muhammad¶s subjective sincerity constitute proof for the divine origin of his teaching if

the same conclusion does not hold for these other men?

Moreover, the Shia have suffered greatly under the persecution of the Sunnis. They have held

to their convictions even if it meant great suffering. This shows their sincerity. Does it follow

the Shia are right and the Sunnis are wrong?

Sixth, it is not at all certain that Muhammad was the beacon of truth that Muslims like

Zawadi make him out to be. For one, these Muslims are basing this on biased Muslim sources

which were written centuries after Muhammad¶s death. Muslims would obviously want to

portray Muhammad in the most favorable light possible, fabricating stories and putting words

into the mouths of Muhammad¶s enemies as a way of making their prophet look much better

than he really was.

In other words, Muslims rewrote history to their liking. After all, Muslims became thedominant force in Arabia and could essentially write and say anything they wanted without

having anyone contest it.

But even with that said, there is plenty of evidence from the Quran showing that Muhammad

wasn¶t as honest or forthright as these polemicists would have us believe. The Quran is filled

with references to Muhammad¶s contemporaries accusing him of being a liar, a forger, a

magician etc.



W e know indeed that it grieves thee the things they say; yet it is not thee they cry lies to, butthe evildoers - it is the signs of God that they deny. S. 6:33 Arberry

And if they call you a liar , say: My work is for me and your work for you; you are clear of

what I do and I am clear of what you do. S. 10:41 Shakir

And they say: "O you (Muhammad SAW) to whom the Dhikr (the Qur'an) has been sentdown! V erily, you are a mad man (jinn-possessed [majnoonun]). Why do you not bring

angels to us if you are of the truthful ones?" S. 15:6

This sure doesn¶t sound like the people who knew Muhammad best thought that he was an

honest person or the paragon of truth and integrity!

The Islamic sources further attest that Muhammad used his prophetic claims to advance hisown desires and ambitions. For instance, the Quran says that Allah made Muhammad rich:

Did He not find you as an orphan and give you shelter? Did He not find you wandering about

and give you guidance? And did He not find you in need AND MAKE YOU RICH? S.

93:6-8 Muhammad Sarwar

One way Allah made Muhammad rich was to command the Muslims to give a fifth of the

booty to his so-called ³messenger´:

They ask you (O Muhammad) about the spoils of war. Say: "The spoils are for Allah AND

THE MESSENGER ." So fear Allah and adjust all matters of difference among you, andobey Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad SAW), if you are believers... And know that out

of all the booty that ye may acquire (in war), a fifth share is assigned to Allah,- AND TOTHE MESSENGER, and to near relatives, orphans, the needy, and the wayfarer, - if ye

do believe in Allah and in the revelation We sent down to Our servant on the Day of Testing,-

the Day of the meeting of the two forces. For Allah hath power over all things. S. 8:1, 41

He also made his ³prophet´ wealthy through pillaging, raiding, and ransacking caravans,

villages etc.,

Narrated Abu Huraira« Allah made the Prophet wealthy through conquests « (Sahih al-

Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 37, Number 495)

Muhammad further used his prophetic status to take and sleep with any woman he desired:

O Prophet! We have made lawful to thee thy wives to whom thou hast paid their dowers; andthose whom thy right hand possesses out of the captives of war whom Allah has assigned to

thee; and daughters of thy paternal uncles and aunts, and daughters of thy maternal unclesand aunts, who migrated (from Makkah) with thee; and any believing woman who gives

herself to the Prophet if the Prophet wishes to wed her ;- this only for thee, and not for the

Believers (at large); We know what We have appointed for them as to their wives and the

captives whom their right hands possess;- in order that there should be no difficulty for thee.

And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. Thou mayest defer (the turn of) any of them

that thou pleasest, and thou mayest receive any thou pleasest: and there is no blame on

thee if thou invite one whose (turn) thou hadst set aside . This were nigher to the coolingof their eyes, the prevention of their grief, and their satisfaction - that of all of them - with



that which thou hast to give them: and Allah knows (all) that is in your hearts: and Allah isAll- Knowing, Most Forbearing. It is not lawful for thee (to marry more) women after this,

nor to change them for (other) wives, even though their beauty attract thee, except any thy

right hand should possess (as handmaidens): and Allah doth watch over all things. S.

33:50-52

The preceding passage provided justification for Muhammad to sleep with any womanwilling to give herself to him! This led even Muhammad¶s wife to mockingly say:

Narrated Aisha:

I used to look down upon those ladies who had given themselves to Allah¶s Apostle and I

used to say, "Can a lady give herself (to a man)?" But when Allah revealed: "You (O

Muhammad) can postpone (the turn of) whom you will of them (your wives), and you may

receive any of them whom you will; and there is no blame on you if you invite one whose

turn you have set aside (temporarily)." (33.51) I said (to the Prophet), "I feel that your Lord

hastens in fulfilling your wishes and desires ." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 6, Book 60,

Number 311)

Muhammad also allowed himself to have more than four wives. For instance, Muhammad atone time had eleven wives:

Narrated Qatada:

Anas bin Malik said, "The Prophet used to visit all his wives in a round, during the day

and night and they were ELEVEN IN NUMBER." I asked Anas, "Had the Prophet the

strength for it?" Anas replied, "We used to say that the Prophet was given the strength of

thirty (men)." And Sa'id said on the authority of Qatada that Anas had told him about nine

wives only (not eleven). (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 5, Number 268)

What truly makes this all the more shameful is that Muhammad forced certain men who had

more than four wives to divorce some of them in order to comply with the Quranic injunction

of Q. 4:3, which limits the number of wives to a maximum of four:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar

Ghaylan ibn Salamah ath-Thaqafi accepted Islam and that he had ten wives in the pre-Islamic

period who accepted Islam along with him; so the Prophet told him to keep four and

separate from the rest of them.

Ahmad, Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted it. ( Al-Tirmidhi, Number 945: taken from the

Alim CD-ROM Version)

Narrated Al-Harith ibn Qays al-Asadi

I embraced Islam while I had eight wives. So I mentioned it to the Prophet. The Prophet said:

Select four of them. (Sunan of Abu Dawud , Book 12, Number 2233)

Muhammad even went so far as to use his so-called inspiration to justify his preferential

treatment of some of his wives:

Narrated 'Urwa from 'Aisha:

The wives of Allah's Apostle were in two groups . One group consisted of 'Aisha, Hafsa,

Safiyya and Sauda; and the other group consisted of Um Salama and the other wives of

Allah's Apostle. The Muslims knew that Allah's Apostle loved 'Aisha, so if any of them



had a gift and wished to give to Allah's Apostle, he would delay it, till Allah's Apostle

had come to 'Aisha's home and then he would send his gift to Allah's Apostle in her

home. The group of Um Salama discussed the matter together and decided that Um Salamashould request Allah's Apostle to tell the people to send their gifts to him in whatever wife's

house he was. Um Salama told Allah's Apostle of what they had said, but he did not reply.

Then they (those wives) asked Um Salama about it. She said, "He did not say anything to

me." They asked her to talk to him again. She talked to him again when she met him on her day, but he gave no reply. When they asked her, she replied that he had given no reply. They

said to her, "Talk to him till he gives you a reply." When it was her turn, she talked to him

again. He then said to her, ³Do not hurt me regarding Aisha, AS THE DIVINE

INSPIRATIONS DO NOT COME TO ME ON ANY OF THE BEDS EXCEPT THAT

OF AISHA.´ On that Um Salama said, ³I repent to Allah for hurting you.´ Then the group of

Um Salama called Fatima, the daughter of Allah's Apostle and sent her to Allah's Apostle to

say to him, ³Your wives request to treat them and the daughter of Abu Bakr on equal

terms.´ Then Fatima conveyed the message to him. The Prophet said, ³O my daughter!

Don¶t you love whom I love?´ She replied in the affirmative and returned and told them of

the situation. They requested her to go to him again but she refused. They then sent Zainab bint Jahsh who went to him and used harsh words saying, ³Your wives request you to

treat them and the daughter of Ibn Abu Quhafa on equal terms.´ On that she raised hervoice and abused 'Aisha to her face so much so that Allah's Apostle looked at 'Aisha to

see whether she would retort. 'Aisha started replying to Zainab till she silenced her . TheProphet then looked at 'Aisha and said, ³She is really the daughter of Abu Bakr.´ (Sahih al-

Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 47, Number 755)

Notice that Muhammad¶s justification for loving and favoring Aisha more than the rest of his

spouses was because Allah singled out and specifically chose Aisha¶s bed to send down his

revelations to him! Allah refused to do this for any other wife!

This hadith reveals just how unhappy and miserable Muhammad¶s wives truly were due

primarily to Muhammad¶s failure as a husband. Muhammad clearly failed to satisfy the

emotional and physical needs of his spouses.

In fact, the misery of Muhammad¶s wives can be more readily seen by Aisha¶s comments to

her husband that if it were up to her Muhammad would not spend time with anyone else:

Narrated Muadha:

'Aisha said, ³Allah's Apostle used to take the permission of that wife with whom he wassupposed to stay overnight if he wanted to go to one other than her, after this Verse was

revealed:--

µYou (O Muhammad) can postpone (the turn of) whom you will of them (your wives) andyou may receive any (of them) whom you will; and there is no blame on you if you invite onewhose turn you have set aside (temporarily).¶ (33.51)´ I asked Aisha, ³What did you use to

say (in this case)?´ She said, ³I used to say to him, µ If I could deny you the permission (to goto your other wives) I would not allow your favor to be bestowed on any other person.¶´

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 6, Book 60, Number 312)



Here we can sense the anguish of Aisha and her heart¶s cry for a husband who would bewholly devoted to her. Unfortunately for her and the other wives Muhammad was not that

man since he was more concerned with what made him happy.

Finally, Muhammad wasn¶t beneath breaking his oaths and acting hypocritically:

« He replied. µI have not provided you with means of conveyance but Allah has providedyou with it, and by Allah, Allah willing, if ever I take an oath to do something, and later

on I find that it is more beneficial to do something different, I will do the thing which is

better, and give expiation for my oath.¶ (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 4, Number 361)

Narrated 'Aisha:A man asked permission to enter upon the Prophet. When the Prophet saw him, he said,

"What an evil brother of his tribe! And what an evil son of his tribe! " When that man satdown, the Prophet behaved with him in a nice and polite manner and was completely at

ease with him. When that person had left, 'Aisha said (to the Prophet). "O Allah's Apostle!

When you saw that man, you said so-and-so about him, then you showed him a kind

and polite behavior, and you enjoyed his company? " Allah's Apostle said, "O 'Aisha!

Have you ever seen me speaking a bad and dirty language? (Remember that) the worst peoplein Allah's sight on the Day of Resurrection will be those whom the people leave (undisturbed)

to be away from their evil (deeds).´ (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 73, Number 59o)

For more information on these various topics we recommend the following articles and

rebuttals:

http://answering-islam.org/Books/Gairdner/camouflage.htm

http://answering-islam.org/Shamoun/mhd_amin.htm

http://answering-islam.org/Shamoun/zaynab_aisha.htm

http://answering-islam.org/Shamoun/mhd_marriages.htm

http://answering-islam.org/Shamoun/treatment_of_wives.htm http://answering-islam.org/Silas/rf1_mhd_wealth.htm

http://answering-islam.org/Silas/hudaybiyya.htm http://answering-islam.org/Authors/Arlandson/wealth.htm

http://answering-islam.org/Authors/Arlandson/women_slaves.htm http://answering-islam.org/Shamoun/privileges.htm

http://answering-islam.org/Silas/hudaybiyya.htm http://answering-islam.org/Muhammad/hudaybiyya.html

http://answering-islam.org/Gilchrist/Vol1/1b.html http://answering-islam.org/Muhammad/treaties.html

http://answering-islam.org/Silas/levine_truce.htm http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Osama/zawadi_safiyyah.htm

http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Osama/zawadi_safiyyah2.htm http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Osama/zawadi_barra.htm http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Osama/zawadi_mhd_wives_challenge.htm

http://answering-islam.org/Shamoun/badawi_mhd_marriages1.htm http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Osama/zawadi_mhd_wives_challenge2.htm

http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Abualrub/sinful_mo.htm http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Shabir-Ally/eightreasons.htm

http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Naik/quranclaims1.htm http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Osama/zawadi_hudaybiyya.htm



http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Osama/zawadi_hudaybiyya2.htm

http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/SherKhan60114.htm

So much for the appeal to Muhammad¶s sincerity.

Finally, the issue is not that Muhammad plagiarized the Arabic Infancy Gospel of Thomas.

Rather, the argument is that Muhammad heard Christians referring to this story and thereforedecided to include it in his Quran since he erroneously assumed that it was an actual miracle

performed by the historical Jesus.

Zawadi raises the false analogy of the so-called pagan parallels to the story of Jesus¶ life,

death and resurrection and the Christian responses to defend against the claim thatMuhammad borrowed from the Arabic Infancy Gospel of Thomas. Zawadi erroneously

thinks that these are somehow analogous to one another.

The problem with this ³defense´ is that there is no evidence that these so-called pagan parallels were even in circulation before the birth of Christ and the writing of the Gospels. All

of these pagan stories which are supposed to contain similarities to the Gospel reports

actually originate AFTER the rise and spread of Christianity. Thus, if anyone copied anyone itwas the pagans who copied the Gospels in order to make their gods comparable to the risen

Lord Jesus!

In the case of Muhammad, however, we know for certain that the story of Jesus fashioning

clay birds was in circulation long before Muhammad was born. We also know that he had

come into contact with some Christians who shared this story with him. More on this later.

Zawadi mentions the following Christian reply to the accusation that the story of Jesus wascopied from pagan myths:

- This is an act of Satan's deception: Many of the early church writers such as Irenaeus,Justin Martyr and Tertullian claimed that the similarities between Christianity and paganism

were a Satanic attempt at "diabolical mimicry", which means that Satan purposely ensured

that stories similar to what would be included into the future Gospels would be pre-recorded

in pagan sources so that it appears that Christians copied from the earlier pagan sources. They

view this as some kind of pre-emptive strike from Satan against Christianity. It's also possible

that Satan's deception could be that he is whispering into the ears of skeptics and tempting

them to opt for the belief that Christianity was influenced by pagan myths.

And then turns this same argument against Christians who claim that Muhammad borrowed

from the Christian Apocrypha:

- Prove that this is not merely a Satanic attempt where Satan tried to ensure that the story of Jesus eating [ sic] in the cradle didn't find its way into any first century sources because he

knew that many historians in the future would adopt a historical method that would drive

them to say that this story is a forgery. Or that Satan is currently the one responsible

whispering into the ears of skeptics that the obvious conclusion to derive from a story being

found in both the Qur'an and Infancy Gospel is that the Qur'an plagiarized the story.



(Sidenote ± Zawadi refers to Jesus eating in the cradle when he meant to say speaking in thecradle. After all, what¶s so miraculous about a baby eating in the cradle, unless by eating we

assume that Jesus was eating solid foods as an infant?)

There is actually no need to disprove this since in actuality it is not that Satan made sure that

the story of Jesus speaking in the cradle wasn¶t written in any first century documents.

Rather, my conviction is that Satan may have actually influenced Muhammad to adopt fablessuch as this one from these Christian apocryphal sources in order to dupe Christians of

Muhammad¶s time to believe that the Quran acknowledges the miraculous life and ministry

of Jesus.

In other words, Satan tried to persuade Christians who did believe in these stories that

Muhammad¶s ³revelation´ truly did honor Christ and spoke the truth about him.

After all, which of Muhammad¶s Christian contemporaries would have taken his claims

seriously if he tried to denigrate Christ by denying his miraculous life? It was bad enough thathe denied (albeit a mistaken view) of Christ¶s Deity, but to deny his miracles would have

been simply too much for the Christians to accept.

That Muhammad¶s views of Christ were shaped by what Christians believed at that time can

be easily demonstrated by Muhammad¶s teachings concerning Mary. During his time the vast

majority of Christians held to the perpetual virginity of Mary, i.e. the Lord¶s mother remained

a virgin even after giving birth to her blessed and glorious Son. This accounts for why the

Quran fails to mention Mary¶s fiancée/husband Joseph or that Jesus had siblings (cf. Matthew

1:18-25; Mark 3:31-35; Luke 1:27; 2; John 2:12, 7:1-10; Acts 1:14; 1 Corinthians 9:5;

Galatians 1:19) since Muhammad was trying to win over the Christians of his day who held

to Mary¶s perpetual virginity.

In light of this it only makes sense that Satan would inspire Muhammad to include

apocryphal fables into the Quran seeing that his Christian contemporaries actually believed

these stories. Little did Muhammad (or even Satan) realize that these same stories would end

proving that the Quran is not a revelation from the all-knowing God of the Holy Bible.

Zawadi raises the following objections:

If Muhammad was copying from the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, or reliant upon it even

indirectly, why were its crucial details omitted? The Quran does not mention the "soft" clay,

the "twelve sparrows," Jesus' "clapping of hands" and his "crying" to the sparrows: "Be off..."

It does not mention Jesus asking the sparrows to remember him and the sparrows noisily

flying. In fact, the entire framework of the story is absent in the Quran (the sabbath story).

If the Quran was dependent upon the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, why would its Author omitso much - He omitted everything except for mentioning the miracle of the clay-bird?

The Quran only states that Jesus made a bird from clay and it transformed into an actual bird

when he breathed into it. The Quran then emphasizes that this was God's miracle, done

through Jesus (peace be upon him). Thus, it is highly unlikely that Muhammad had a copy of

the Infancy Gospel of Thomas in his lap and was copying directly from it.



Could it be that Muhammad acquired this story indirectly, as it was circulating orally (with itsultimate source being the Infancy Gospel of Thomas)? This is "possible." Though one

wonders, is it likely that the written story would later transmit orally in such a way that it wascompletely stripped from all the exciting details in its written form and a total absence of its

framework? That seems quite improbable.

Not only is it possible that Muhammad acquired this story orally the Islamic sources actuallysay that this is precisely how Muhammad learned of this fable!

According to the sirah literature a group of Christians from Najran came to Muhammad to

inquire of his views concerning the Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. During their discussion

these Christians mentioned the stories of Jesus speaking in the cradle and fashioning clay

birds to prove that Christ is God. The first eighty verses of Q. 3 were then composed in direct

response to the Christian claims:

« µThe plain verses are the mother of the Book ; the rest are obscure.¶1

I heard a scholar above suspicion mentioning that these verses were sent down about the

people of Najran when they came to the apostle to ask him about Jesus the son of Mary .(The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq¶s Sirat Rasul Allah , with introduction

and notes by Alfred Guillaume [Oxford University Press, Karachi, Tenth impression 1995],

p. 257; bold emphasis ours)

1. Sura 3.5. (Ibid.)

And:

A deputation from the Christians of Najran came to the apostle. There were sixty riders,

fourteen of them from their nobles of whom three were in control of affairs, namely (a) the

µAqib the leader of the people, a man of affairs, and their chief adviser whose opiniongoverned their policy, µAbdu¶l± Masih by name; (b) the Sayyid , their administrator who saw

to transport and general arrangements, whose name was al-Ayham; and (c) their Bishop,

scholar, and religious leader who controlled their schools, Abu Haritha b. µAlqama, one of B.

Bakr b. Wa¶il.

Abu Haritha occupied a position of honour among them, and was a great student, so that he

had an excellent knowledge of their religion, and the Christian kings of Byzantium had

honoured him and paid him a subsidy and gave him servants, built churches for him and

lavished honours on him, because of his knowledge and zeal for their religion«

The names of the fourteen principal men among the sixty riders were: µAbdu¶l-Masih the

µAqib, al-Ayham the Sayyid; Abu Haritha b. µAlqama brother of B. Bakr b. Wa¶il; Aus; al-Harith; Zayd; Qays; Yazid; Nubayh; Khuwaylid; µAmr ; Khalid; µAmr ; Khalid; µAbdullah;

Johannes; of these the first three named above spoke to the apostle. They were Christians

according to the Byzantine rite, though they differed among themselves in some points,

saying He is God; and He is the son of God; and He is the third person of the Trinity, which

is the doctrine of Christianity. They argue that he is God because he used to raise the

dead, and heal the sick, AND DECLARE THE UNSEEN; AND MAKE CLAY BIRDS

AND THEN BREATHE INTO THEM, SO THAT THEY FLEW AWAY; and all this

was by the command of God Almighty, µWe will make him a sign to men.¶ They argue that



he is son of God in that they say he had no known father ; AND HE SPOKE IN THE

CRADLE and this is something that no child of Adam has ever done . They argue that he

is the third of three in that God says: We have done, We have commanded, We have createdand We have decreed, and they say, If He were one he would have said I have done, I have

created, and so on, but He is He and Jesus and Mary. Concerning all these assertions the

Quran came down.

When the two divines spoke to him the apostle said to them, µSubmit yourselves.¶ They said,

µWe have submitted. He said: µYou have not submitted, so submit.¶ They said, µNay, but we

have submitted before you.¶ He said, µYou lie. Your assertion that God has a son, your

worship of the cross, and your eating pork hold you back from submission.¶ They said, µBut

who is his father, Muhammad?¶ The apostle was silent and did not answer them. So God sent

down concerning their words and their incoherence the beginning of the sura of the Family of

µImran up to more than eighty verses« (Ibid., pp. 270-272; bold, capital and underline

emphasis ours)

Again:

This sura is composed of 200 verses. It was revealed in Madina after sura 8, al-Anfal (TheBooty). Commentators are generally agreed that the first eighty-odd verses were revealed

concerning the Christian delegation of Najran, an ancient town in South Arabia.

Wahidi reports:

³Commentators have said that a delegation from Najran consisting of sixty horsemen came to

the Messenger of God. Among them were fourteen of their notables. Three of these fourteen

held special authority among their people. They were al-µAqib, µAbd al-Masih by name, who

was the leader of the people and guardian of their affairs, and whose opinion was never

opposed. The other was called al-Ayham who was the sayyid (chief) of the people and their

leader. The third was Abu Harithah b. µAlqamah who was their bishop and religious leader

(imam), and the head of their religious school (midras). He attained high honor among his

people because he studied all their (sacred) books, so that he acquired great learning. EvenByzantine kings honored him, bestowing on him great wealth and building churches for him

because of his great wisdom. These men came to the Messenger of God in his mosque at thetime of the midafternoon prayers. They were clad in Yamani attire, garments and mantles.

They were equal in elegance and beauty to the men of the tribe of Banu al-Harith b. Kaµb.Those of the companions of the Messenger of God who saw them exclaimed, µWe have never

seen a delegation like them!¶ When the time for their prayers had come, they arose and prayed in the mosque of the Messenger of God, and the Prophet said, µLet them pray.¶ They

thus prayed facing east. Then al-Sayyid and al-µAqib spoke with the Messenger of God and

he said to them, µAccept islam!¶ They answered, µWe have been muslims long before you!¶

He replied, µYou do not tell the truth! Your claim that God has a son, your worship of thecross and your eating of the swine prevent you from being muslims.¶ They retorted, µIf Jesuswere not the son of God, then who is his father?¶ They thus debated with the Prophet

concerning Jesus. He argued, µDo you not know that there is no child but that he mustresemble his father?¶ µYes,¶ they said. He continued, µDo you not know that our Lord is

living and will never die, while Jesus is subject to extinction?¶ They said, µYes.¶ The Prophetargued further, µDo you not know that our Lord has control over all things which He alone

preserves and sustains?¶ µYes,¶ they said. He said, µDoes Jesus possess the power to do any of

these things?¶ µNo,¶ they answered. He then continued, µIt is our Lord who formed Jesus in



the womb as he willed [cf. verse 6, below]. Our Lord, moreover, neither eats, drinks, nor doeshe void. Do you not know,¶ he went on, µthat the mother of Jesus bore him in the same

manner as women bear children, and delivered him as they do, and that he was then nurturedas would any child. Then he ate, drank, and voided.¶ They consented saying, µYes.¶ The

Prophet concluded, µHow could it then be as you say!¶ But they were silent. Thus God sent

down concerning them the first eighty-odd verses of this sura´ (Wahidi, pp. 90-91).

Tabari begins his commentary on this sura with the following general statement:

"It is related that God begins in revealing the opening of this sura as He does with the

negation of divinity of any being other than He, and describes Himself as He does at its

beginning [i.e., verse I] as an argument against a group of Christians who came to the

Messenger of God from Najran. They debated with him concerning Jesus and manifested

unbelief in God. God, therefore, sent down the first eighty-odd verses of this sura

CONCERNING THEM and Jesus, and as an argument for His Prophet against them and any

others who may have held similar views. Yet these men persisted in their rejection of faith

and grave error. The Prophet called them to the mubahalah [i.e., praying to God and invoking

His curse on those who are in the wrong; see verse 59, below], but they refused. They asked

instead that he accept from them the jizyah poll tax. This he did, and they returned to their country. However, even if it may be true that they were primarily intended by God in this

argument, nevertheless, any other people who share their rejection of faith in God by takingother beings beside Him as lords and gods worthy of worship, are likewise included in this

divine reproof. They are also subject to the proof of the criterion ( furqan) by which God judged between them and His Messenger´ (Tabari, VI pp. 150-151).

Tabari then relates the tradition already cited from Wahidi, but on the authority of Ibn Ishaq,

who reported in turn on the authority of Muhammad b. Jaµfar b. al-Zubayr. He adds that the

men of Najran who spoke to the prophet were adherents of the ³king¶s religion,´ perhaps

meaning that they were Melkites.

Tabari asserts further that ³Christians were nonetheless in disagreement among themselves,

some saying that Jesus is God, others that he is the son of God, and, still others, that he is µthethird of three¶ [see Q. 5:73]. These are the claims of the Christians. They have argued in

support of the claim that Jesus is God from the fact that he used to raise the dead, curediseases AND FORETELL UNKNOWN THINGS. HE ALSO USED TO FASHION OUT

OF CLAY THE SHAPE OF A BIRD, THEN BREATHE INTO IT, AND IT BECAME ABIRD (Q. 3:49 and 5:110). All this, however,´ Tabari continues, ³was by God¶s permission,

to make Jesus a sign for humankind. Christians have likewise argued that Jesus is the son of

God in that they say that he had no known father. HE ALSO SPOKE IN THE CRADLE (Q.

3:46, 5:110 and 19:29), a thing which none of the children of Adam had done before him.

They have contended that Jesus is µthe third of three¶ on the basis of God¶s saying µWe did¶

µWe commanded¶ µWe created¶ and µWe have decreed.¶ They thus argue that had God beenonly one, He would have said, µI did¶ µI commanded, µI decreed¶ and µI have created.¶ This

refers, therefore, to God, Jesus and Mary. It is concerning all these claims that Qurµanic

verses were sent down. Thus, God informed His Prophet of their claims´ (Tabari, VI, pp.

152-153). (Ayoub, The Qurµan and Its Interpreters: The House of µImran [State University of

New York (SUNY) Press, Albany 1992], Volume II, pp. 1-4; capital and underline emphasis

ours)



The foregoing explains why Muhammad¶s version of this apocryphal fable lacks ³theexciting details´ found in the ³written form´ and why ³its framework´ is missing.

These quotations serve to further answer and refute the following statements and challenges

raised by Zawadi:

We need to bare in mind that similarity between a Qur'anic account and a Biblical (or non-Biblical) story is not proof of the former borrowing from the latter. They could have the same

source as well. Why could it not be that a certain event occurred and eventually came to be

recorded either in a Biblical or a non-Biblical writing and later Allah revealed to Muhammad

(peace be upon him) the story as well? If a priori we reject the possibility of Muhammad's

prophethood then we would have no choice but to look for a non-divine solution (i.e. that

Muhammad either directly or indirectly borrowed a certain story). But if we are open to the

possibility of revelation, miracles and Muhammad's prophethood, then the mere fact that two

stories are the same or similar does not by itself negate the prophethood of Muhammad or

that he received the information through fresh revelation. Only by a priori denying the

possibility of revelation and miracles can we come to this conclusion. We need to ensure that

we are not appealing to the fallacy of false cause when examining this issue.

And:

- Similarity does not equal sameness: Christian apologists would claim that just because

there are similar features between one story and another that doesn't necessarily imply that

they are the same story, since it's very likely that a story told could be similar to another story

in certain aspects, yet not totally the same.

The problem that Zawadi faces is that the Islamic sources which were just cited emphatically

prove that Muhammad took the very exact story which he heard from this Christian group

and included it within the Quran. This explains why the Quran¶s story of Jesus creating clay

birds is identical to the version narrated by the Christians from Najran, i.e. Muhammad

acquired his information directly from the Christians who had obviously derived it from the

apocryphal Christian Gospels which they had either read or heard. (It seems highly probablethat in the case of Abu Haritha b. µAlqama he would have actually read this for himself since

the Islamic sources claim he was very knowledgeable in the Christian scriptures.)(1)

Again:

- There is no evidence that pious Christians would have copied off pagan sources:Christian apologist Sam Shamoun said (bold emphasis mine):

If Smith wants to prove that Christianity borrowed from these pagan religions, not the other

way, then he must establish the following:

- He must provide some pre-Christian evidence, whether archaeological inscriptions, artifacts

etc., showing that these pagan stories existed before the time of Jesus.

- He must also show that such stories were not just in circulation, but that they were

circulating in first century Palestine.



- He must then demonstrate that God-fearing, monotheistic Jews such as Christ's

followers would be interested in plagiarizing such myths in the first place. (Sam

Shamoun, T he Alleged Pagan Origins of Christianity: Examining More of Abdullah

Smith's Continuing Intellectual Suicide Mission, Source)

It is rather unfortunate that Zawadi actually thinks that my statements somehow apply to

Muhammad¶s situation when they do not. What Zawadi¶s misapplication of my points showsis that he simply can¶t prevent himself from repeatedly committing logical fallacies, in this

case the fallacy of false analogy.

Be that as it may « according to the Muslim sources, (a) the clay bird story was already

circulating before Muhammad composed his verses, (b) this story came to Muhammad¶s

attention by the Christian deputation from Najran, and (c) Muhammad adopted this fairy-tale

into his Quran as a polemic against the claims made by these Christians in support of the

Deity of Christ.

To be more specific, the Najran Christians believed that Jesus did the miracle of the clay bird

and used it to prove his Deity. Muhammad took the conviction of these Christians that this

story was a fact at face value. Little did he realize that this story was found merely in anapocryphal legend and not part of the canonical Scriptures. Muhammad accepted the story as

fact, and only challenged their interpretation of it. The purpose of including this story in the

Quran was meant to show that this incident does not establish that Christ was fully Divine.

The situation would have been completely different if he had said: EVEN IF this story were

true, it would not imply the deity of Christ, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, the story itself is

not trustworthy because it is a late invention. Such a reply would have shown some amazing

insight on the part of Muhammad. But as it stands, the Muslim sources themselves provide

the evidence that Muhammad received this detail from the Christians and then incorporated it

into the Quran through his reply (and later repeated it again in Q. 5).

Thus, Muhammad had both a clear reason and the means by which to include this fable intohis Quran. So much for Zawadi¶s false analogy.

This concludes the first part of our rebuttal. It is now time to move on to part 2.

Endnote

(1) This same story is repeated in Q. 5:110, a surah which according to Muslim scholars was

composed after Q. 3:

This Surah was revealed to suit the requirements of the changed conditions which were now

different from those prevailing at the time of the revelation of Al-i-'Imran and An- Nisa«(Syed Abu-Ala' Maududi's Surah Introductions to the Qur'an)



Muhammad the Borrower Still!

The Influence of the Christian Apocrypha on

The composition and formation of the Quran Pt. 2

Sam Shamoun

We continue our discussion of Zawadi¶s points against Muhammad adopting Christianfables about Jesus into the Quran.

Muhammad¶s Source of Information for Christianity in Mecca

Zawadi responds to the late Christian scholar of Islam William St. Clair Tisdall who believed

that Muhammad may have learned of Jesus speaking in the cradle from his Coptic concubine

Mary:

3) The Qur'anic verse about Jesus in the cradle was revealed in Mecca, while the Prophet met

Mary-the Copt only during the Medinan period.

However, this still doesn¶t refute the fact that Muhammad learned of these fables by hiscontacts with Christians. According to the Muslim commentators Muhammad would

frequently meet with a couple of Christians in Mecca and listen to their reading of theScriptures:

And verily (wa-laqad is for confirmation) We know that they say, µIt is only a human that is

teaching him, the Qur¶n¶ ² this was a Christian blacksmith whom the Prophet used to

frequent. God, exalted be He, says: The tongue, the language, of him to whom they refer, to

whom they incline, [with the accusation] that he is [the one] teaching him, is foreign¶ ; while

this, Qur¶n, is [in] a clear Arabic tongue, one of lucidity and clarity: so how can a foreigner be teaching him? (T afsir al-Jalalayn; bold emphasis ours)

And:

(And We know well) O Muhammad (that they) i.e. the disbelievers of Mecca (say: Only a

man) Jabr and Yasar (teacheth him) the Qur'an. (The speech of him at whom they falselyhint) incline and ascribe this to (is outlandish) Hebraic, (and this is clear Arabic speech) He

says: the Qur'an is in the usage of the Arabic language. (T anwîr al-Miqbâs min T afsîr Ibn

µAbbâs)

Again:

(And We know well that they say: Only a man teacheth him. The speech of him at whomthey falsely hint is outlandish«) [16:103]. Abu Nasr Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Muzakki> Abu

µAbd Allah Muhammad ibn Hamdan al-Zahid> µAbd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn µAbd al-µAziz> Abu Hisham al-Rifaµi> Ibn Fudayl> Husayn> µAbd Allah ibn Muslim who said: ³We

owned two Christian youths from the people of µAyn Tamr, one called Yasar and the other Jabr. Their trade was making swords but they also could read the Scriptures in their own

tongue. The Messenger of Allah used to pass by them and listen to their reading. As aresult, the idolaters used to say: µHe is being taught by them!¶ To give them the lie, Allah,



exalted is He, revealed (The speech of him at whom they falsely hint is outlandish, and this isclear Arabic speech)´. (µAli ibn Ahmad Al-Wahidi, Asbab Al-Nuzul ; bold emphasis ours)

Finally:

He went on: ³The Messenger of God used often to sit at al-Marwa near the shop of a young

Christian named Jabr, a slave of the Banu al-Hadrami. People would say, µBy God, it ismerely Jabr who teaches Muhammad most of what he says!¶´ (Ibn Kathir, The Life of the

Prophet Muhammad (Al -Sira al-Nabawiyya), translated by Professor Trevor Le Gassick,

reviewed by Dr. Ahmed Fareed [Garnet Publishing Limited, 8 Southern Court, south Street

Reading RG1 4QS, UK ; The Center for Muslim Contribution to Civilization: First paperback

edition, 2000], Volume II, p. 55)

Another source says that five years before Muhammad claimed to be a prophet there was acarpenter in Mecca who was a Coptic Christian.

Muhammad b. Ishaq b. Yasar said, ³When the Messenger of God reached 35 the Quraysh

reached an agreement to rebuild the kaµba. They did so because they were concerned about

reroofing it, being afraid its roof would collapse since it was made only of stones set above itsframe. They also wanted to make it taller as well as reroof it«

Ibn Ishaq said, ³In Mecca there was A COPT who was a carpenter and so they had

available to them some of what was needed to repair it.

³There was a serpent that would emerge from the kaµba¶s well into which they would dropevery day the sacrificial offerings. It would emerge and sun itself on the kaµbaµs wall. They

were all afraid of it, because whenever anyone approached it, it would raise its head, move itscoils audibly and open its mouth. One day as it lay on the kaµbaµs wall as was its habit, God

sent down a bird which snatched it up and flew away with it.

At that the Quraysh said, µNow we can hope that God is pleased at our plan. We have a local

carpenter, and wood, and God has taken care of the serpent.¶´ (Ibn Kathir, The Life of the

Prophet Muhammad (Al-Sira al-Nabawiyya), Volume I, pp. 199-200; bold and capital

emphasis ours)

We are further told that a group of Meccans had converted to Christianity, one of whom was

the first cousin of Muhammad¶s first wife Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, Waraqa b. Naufal.

We gave some information concerning Waraqa in material above relating to Zayd b. µAmr b.

Nufayl, God have mercy on him. We told how he had become a Christian before the comingof Islam and how he had left and travelled to Syria accompanied by Zayd b. µAmr, µUthman

b. al-Huwayrith and µUbayd Allah b. Jahsh. All of these became Christian because they foundChristianity to be at that time the religion closest to the truth «

Waraqa b. Nufayl did adopt Christianity, and used to try to prognosticate it in the Messenger

of God as we have said above, from the way in which Khadija would describe and

characterize him. She told Waraqa of the fine, pure qualities he had, and of the signs and

indications there were upon him. (Ibn Kathir, The Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Al -Sira al-

Nabawiyya), translated by professor Trevor Le Gassick, reviewed by Dr. Ahmed Fareed

[Garnet Publishing Limited, 8 Southern Court, south Street Reading RG1 4QS, UK ; The





The Kabah is even said to have contained pictures of Christ and Mary!

I. I. from Hakim b. µAbbad b. Hanif and other traditionists: Quraysh had put pictures in theKaµba including two of Jesus son of Mary and Mary (on both of whom be peace!). I. Shihab

said: Asma¶ d. Shaqr said that a woman of Ghassan joined in the pilgrimage of the Arabs and

when she saw the picture of Mary in the Kaµba she said, µMy father and mother be your

ransom! You are surely an Arab woman!¶ The apostle ordered that the pictures should beerased EXCEPT THOSE OF JESUS AND MARY. (Ibid., p. 552; capital emphasis ours)

This shows just how pervasive Christianity was in Mecca at that time. In light of this

Muhammad could have easily learned the apocryphal fable of Jesus speaking while in the

cradle from any number of Christians who were living in Mecca at that time.

In fact, the inspiration that Muhammad had received from Christians was so widespread andwell-known that Muslims had to create a story in order to undermine and discredit it:

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: ³Muhammad 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, ³This 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). (Sahih al-Bukhari,

Volume 4, Book 56, Number 814)

Despite the fanciful details of the Christian¶s burial this hadith attests that Muhammad¶s

contemporaries were aware that there was a strong Christian influence which helped

Muhammad to shape and form the stories that are found in the Quran.

Why educated Christians reject Jesus¶ childhood miracle stories of the Christian

apocrypha

Zawadi thinks he has a response to the Christians who reject the stories which are found in

the Apocrypha:

If one wishes to dismiss this story of clay-bird miracle as a ³legend,´ then how is Jesus¶

raising of Lazarus not a legend? JUST BECAUSE A STORY IS NOT FOUND IN THE

CANONICAL GOSPELS IT DOES NOT FOLLOW THAT IT IS A LEGEND.

He also says:



From a purely historical perspective, we cannot say with confidence that the story of Jesusmaking a clay bird and miraculously giving it life is a fabrication. It could be that this story

was in circulation in the first century. Now, at the same time, neither could we say withconfidence and certainty that this story existed in the first century. From a purely historical

perspective, we would have to conclude: WE DON'T K NOW. May be it was in existence

(either orally or in a written form) in the first century, or it was not. There is no evidence to

speak against its existence (oral or written) in the first century, nor any positive evidence to"demonstrate" its existence in the first century (oral or written). All we know is that it existed

in a written form in the fifth/sixth century (in a manuscript of the Infancy Gospel of

Thomas) and that there may be evidence of its existence during the time of Ireaneus (180

AD).[1] Given the fact that oral traditions continued to be valued and in circulation even after

the writing of the canonical gospels, we cannot a priori rule out the real possibility of

authentic (and inauthentic/contaminated) oral traditions from the first century finding their

way into documents which were not included in the canonical list of writings. Non-canonical

documents may very well contain first century traditions, though identifying these traditions

and determining their extant is not historically possible. The canonical documents cannot

possibly consist of all or a big sample of traditions floating around in the first century.

Ironically, Zawadi appeals to the Gospel of John to prove that Jesus performed many other miracles which are not recorded in the Gospels!

The Christian would still insist that this story is not found in the Bible and that this is

problematic. In response to this we reply back by saying "lack of evidence does notnecessarily imply evidence of absence". The author of John's Gospel makes it clear that Jesus

did many things (possibly miracles as well) which weren't recorded (John 21:25), thereforethere is a good reason for us to believe that it's at least possible that this miracle of Jesus was

also not recorded.

Little does Zawadi realize that the testimony of this very same Gospel backfires against him

since it proves that Jesus could not have performed any of the miracles which the InfancyGospel attributes to him!

According to John¶s Gospel the very first miraculous sign Jesus performed was when he was

an adult after his public ministry had begun and the Holy Spirit had already come down andrested upon him:

³The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, µLook, the Lamb of God, who

takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ³A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.´ I myself did not know him, but the reason I

came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.¶ Then John gave this

testimony: µ I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him . I would

not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ³Theman on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the HolySpirit.´ I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.¶ The next day John was there

again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, µLook, the Lamb of God!¶´John 1:29-36

³On the third day there was a wedding at, Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.

Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, µThey have no wine.¶ And Jesus said to her, µWoman, what does this



have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.¶ His mother said to the servants, µDowhatever he tells you.¶ Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of

purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, µFill the jarswith water.¶ And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, µNow draw some out

and take it to the master of the feast.¶ So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the

water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had

drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him,µEveryone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine.

But you have kept the good wine until now.¶ T his, TH E FIRS T OF H IS SIGNS, Jesus did

at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory . And his disciples believed in him.´ John 2:1-

11

From then on Jesus began performing many other signs and wonders:

³Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they

saw the SIGNS that he was doing . But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them,

because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself

knew what was in man.´ John 2:23-25

³Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man

came to Jesus by night and said to him, µRabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from

God, for no one can do these SIGNS that you do unless God is with him.¶´ John 3:1-2

John even tells us what the second miracle that Jesus performed in Cana was:

³So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum

there was an official whose son was ill. When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea

to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the

point of death. So Jesus said to him, µUnless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.¶

The official said to him, µSir, come down before my child dies.¶ Jesus said to him, µGo; your

son will live.¶ The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. As he

was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. So he askedthem the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, µYesterday at the seventh

hour the fever left him.¶ The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, µYour son will live.¶ And he himself believed, and all his household. T his was now the second sign

that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.´ John 4:46-54

What is even more ironic is the fact that Zawadi refers to Tisdall but failed to mention the

reason Tisdall gave for rejecting these Christian myths and fables:

We notice here again that, while the legend is evidently the same as that briefly referred to in

the Qur'an, yet the difference is sufficient to prove that Muhammad was reproducing ashortened form of it from memory, and was not consulting any written document. Hence hementions only one bird instead of twelve, and speaks of life being given to it by the breath of

Jesus and not by a command of His. The brief reference made to the tale in the Qur'an showsthat the story had obtained wide currency and was generally believed at the time. This again

proves how little knowledge of the New Testament there then was in Medina; for not only areno such accounts of miracles performed by our Saviour in His childhood recorded in the

canonical Gospels, but John ii. 11 shows that none were wrought until after His Baptism



at the age of about thirty. (The Original Sources of the Quran, Chapter IV. The Influence

of Christianity and Christian Apocryphal Books ; bold emphasis ours)

And:

« Now it is clear that such stories of infantile miracles are altogether opposed to what is

written in the Gospel of St. John (ii.) regarding the turning of water into wine, where itis recorded that ³This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee and

manifested forth his glory.´ Jesus was then over thirty years of age; and it is clear that

before this no miracle had been done by him. But all the miracles noted in the Qur'an,

beyond what have been mentioned above, and that of the Table to be spoken of below, were

undoubtedly true and beyond question, as they correspond with what we read of in the four

Gospels. (The Sources of Islam, Chapter IV. Tales Derived From Heretical Sources,

Childhood of Jesus , p. 59; bold emphasis ours)

Hence, Jesus¶ first miracle took place in Cana when he turned water into wine after the HolySpirit had descended upon him. Jesus then started to perform other signs and wonders from

that point on.

The fact that Jesus only performed his first miraculous sign after the Spirit had come down

upon him is significant since it shows that Christ carried out his miracles in the power of the

Holy Spirit.

Nor is this simply the view of John since all of the Gospels, including the book of Acts, agree

that Jesus¶ miraculous ministry started only AFTER the Holy Spirit came down upon him at

his baptism:

³When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying,

heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And avoice came from heaven: µYou are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.¶ Now

Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it

was thought, of Joseph,´ Luke 3:21-23 ± cf. Matthew 3:16-17; Mark 1:9-11

³Jesus, full of the H oly Spirit , returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the

desert« Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit , and news about him spread

through the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. He

went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the

synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was

handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: µT he Spirit of the Lord is

on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor . He has sent me to

proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the

oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.¶ Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him,and he began by saying to them, µToday this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.¶´ Luke 4:1,

14-21

³But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God , then the kingdom of God has come upon

you.´ Matthew 12:28



³In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach untilthe day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the H oly Spirit to the

apostles he had chosen.´ Acts 1:1-2

³You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace

through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what has happened throughout Judea,

beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached² how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the H oly Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing

all who were under the power of the devil , because God was with him.´ Acts 10:37-38

The Quran itself agrees that Jesus was strengthened by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of

carrying out his ministry and miraculous signs:

We gave Moses the Book and followed him up with a succession of apostles; W e gave Jesus

the son of Mary Clear (Signs) and strengthened him with the holy spirit . Is it that whenever

there comes to you an apostle with what ye yourselves desire not, ye are puffed up with pride? - Some ye called impostors, and others ye slay! S. 2:87

Those apostles We endowed with gifts, some above others: To one of them God spoke; othersHe raised to degrees (of honour); to Jesus the son of Mary W e gave clear (Signs), and

strengthened him with the holy spirit . If God had so willed, succeeding generations would

not have fought among each other, after clear (Signs) had come to them, but they (chose) to

wrangle, some believing and others rejecting. If God had so willed, they would not have

fought each other ; but God Fulfilleth His plan. S. 2:253

Then will God say: "O Jesus the son of Mary! Recount My favour to thee and to thy mother.

Behold! I strengthened thee with the holy spirit, SO TH AT thou didst speak to the people in

childhood and in maturity. Behold! I taught thee the Book and Wisdom, the Law and the

Gospel and behold! thou makest out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, by My leave, and

thou breathest into it and it becometh a bird by My leave, and thou healest those born blind,

and the lepers, by My leave. And behold! thou bringest forth the dead by My leave. And

behold! I did restrain the Children of Israel from (violence to) thee when thou didst showthem the clear Signs, and the unbelievers among them said: 'This is nothing but evident

magic.' S. 5:110

However, in agreeing with the Holy Bible that God strengthened Jesus with the Holy Spirit

Muhammad pretty much introduced a major contradiction which severely undermines his

prophetic claims.

According to all of the first century accounts Jesus¶ public ministry didn¶t begin until the

Holy Spirit was poured out on Christ after his baptism by John. It was only from that moment

that Jesus began performing miracles.

This indicates that Jesus would not have performed any miracles as a child since the Holy

Spirit had not descended upon him at that point in his life. This also explains why the Gospels

say very little regarding Jesus¶ early years since it is apparent that he hadn¶t done anything

significant during that time apart from visiting Jerusalem at the age of 12 where he had

amazed the religious leaders with his knowledge (cf. Luke 2:41-52).



Muhammad accepted the fact that Jesus was empowered by the Holy Spirit to carry out hisministry which consisted of doing miracles.

Yet Muhammad also accepted Jesus¶ childhood miracle stories. In so doing Muhammad

contradicted the testimony of the first century eyewitness documents since this means that

Jesus was performing miracles even before the Holy Spirit had descended upon him!

Here is a breakdown of the preceding points in order to help Zawadi and the other Muslims

see more clearly all the major problems Muhammad created for both himself and his

followers.

y God empowered Jesus with the Holy Spirit in order to carry out his earthly ministrywhich included doing miracles.

y Jesus did not receive the Holy Spirit until he was an adult.y This means that Jesus would not have carried out any miracles before this point in

time, which is precisely what the Gospels and Acts teach.y Muhammad agrees with the first century eyewitness accounts that Jesus was

strengthened by the Holy Spirit to perform miraculous signs.

y Yet Muhammad also mentions stories of Jesus doing miracles as a child, at a time inwhich Jesus had not been given the Holy Spirit yet.

y Muhammad also mistakenly assumed that God had already strengthened Jesus with

the Holy Spirit while he was an infant which is why Muhammad believed that Christ

could speak in the cradle as a babe.

y Muhammad therefore contradicts the first century eyewitness accounts concerning the

time that Jesus started to perform his miracles.

If Zawadi is going to object to this then he is going to have to explain why the Quran teaches

that God strengthened Jesus with the Holy Spirit if it wasn¶t for the purpose of enabling him

to do miracles. He is also going to have to provide solid reasons why we should reject the

unanimous testimony of all the first century documents, i.e. the Gospels and Acts, whichteach that Jesus only started to perform miracles after the Holy Spirit descended upon him at

his baptism by John. Zawadi will need to further explain why anyone should reject suchmultiply attested first century witnesses for the claims made by sources which were written

centuries after the eyewitnesses lived and which directly conflict with all of our first centurydocuments.

Zawadi¶s problems are far from over.

The theological implications of Jesus¶ miracles

It is apparent that Muhammad didn¶t realize the significance of including these miraculousstories of Jesus which were meant to prove that Jesus is God¶s unique Divine Son who, likehis Father, gives life to whom he pleases. He erroneously assumed that he could include such

miracles while still maintaining that Christ is not God. However, Muhammad was grosslymistaken as we shall now see.

Moreover, by including this fable of the clay birds Muhammad ended up with a story which

depicts Jesus creating in the same exact way that Allah creates!



For instance, Allah is said to have created man from clay and breathed his Spirit into him,obviously for the purpose of animating him or giving him life:

And when thy Lord said to the angels, µ See, I am CREAT ING (khaliqun) a mortal of a clay

of mud moulded . When I have shaped him, and breathed in him My spirit (wa NAFAK HTU

feehi min roohee), fall you down, bowing before him!' S. 15:28-29

When thy Lord said to the angels, 'See, I am CREAT ING a mortal of a clay (innee

K H ALIQAN basharan min teenin). When I have shaped him, and BREATH ED in him My

spirit (wa NAFAK HTU feehi min roohee), fall you down, bowing before him!' S. 38:71-72

The Quran is merely echoing the Biblical story of man¶s creation:

³These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the daythat the LORD God made the earth and the heavens. When no bush of the field was yet in the

land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up²for the LORD God had not caused itto rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from

the land and was watering the whole face of the ground² then the LORD God formed the

man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man

became a living creature.´ Genesis 2:4-7

Amazingly, this is precisely how Jesus created a bird and brought it to life according to the

Quran!

And He will teach him the Book, the Wisdom, the Torah, the Gospel, to be a Messenger tothe Children of Israel saying, "I have come to you with a sign from your Lord. I will

CREAT E for you out of clay (annee AK H LU QU lakum mina al-teeni) as the likeness of abird; then I will BREATH E (anfukhu) into it, and it will be a bird , by the leave of God. I

will also heal the blind and the leper, and bring to life the dead, by the leave of God. I willinform you too of what things you eat, and what you treasure up in your houses. Surely in

that is a sign for you, if you are believers. S. 3:48-49

When God said, µJesus Son of Mary, remember My blessing upon thee and upon thy mother,

when I confirmed thee with the Holy Spirit, to speak to men in the cradle, and of age; and

when I taught thee the Book, the Wisdom, the Torah, the Gospel ; and when thou

CREAT ES T out of clay (wa-ith takhluqu mina al-teeni), by My leave, as the likeness of a

bird, and thou BREATH ES T (tanfukhu) into it, and it is a bird, by My leave; and thou

healest the blind and the leper by My leave, and thou bringest the dead forth by My leave ;

and when restrained from thee the Children of Israel when thou camest unto them with the

clear signs, and the unbelievers among them said, ³This is nothing but sorcery manifest.´¶ S.

5:110

It is obvious that Jesus breathed into a clay bird for the purpose of giving it life. This means

that Jesus possesses the Spirit in the same way that God does since it is through the Spirit that

God gives life to his creation. In other words, the Quran is implying that Jesus breathed the

Spirit into these birds in order to animate them!

As Christians this teaching doesn¶t come as a surprise to us since the Gospels attest that Jesus

Christ baptizes his followers with/in the Holy Spirit:



³And this was his message: µAfter me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will

baptize you with the Holy Spirit.¶´ Mark 1:7-8

And, according to the Gospel of John, Jesus actually breathed the Holy Spirit upon his

disciples:

³Again Jesus said, µPeace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.¶ And

with that he breathed on them and said, µ Receive the H oly Spirit . If you forgive anyone his

sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.¶´ John 20:21-23

The reason why Jesus is able to baptize with the Holy Spirit and breathe him out is becausehe is Life itself, and is therefore able to give life to all creation in the same exact way that the

Father does:

³Jesus gave them this answer: µI tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself ; he cando only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does .

For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will

show him even greater things than these. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives

them life, E V EN SO the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it . Moreover, the

Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son

just as they honor the Father . He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father,

who sent him. I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has

eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the

truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear TH E V OICE OF TH E

SON OF GOD and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so hehas granted the Son to have life in himself . And he has given him authority to judge because

he is the Son of Man. Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in

their graves will hear H IS [the Son¶s] V OICE and come out ²those who have done good

will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. By myself I can donothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but

him who sent me.¶´ John 5:19-30

³You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life.These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.´

John 5:39-40

In fact, one reason Jesus performed miracles in the power of the Holy Spirit was to provide

supernatural confirmation that he is indeed the Life who became flesh and is the very One

who will give life to all and resurrect the dead:

³Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signshe had performed on the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his

disciples. The Jewish Passover Feast was near. When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowdcoming toward him, he said to Philip, µWhere shall we buy bread for these people to eat?¶ He

asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. Philipanswered him, µEight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a

bite!¶ Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up,µHere is a boy with

five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?¶ Jesus



said, µHave the people sit down.¶ There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men satdown, about five thousand of them. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to

those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. When they hadall had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, µGather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing

be wasted.¶ So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley

loaves left over by those who had eaten. After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus

did , they began to say, µSurely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.¶ Jesus,knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a

mountain by himself« Then Jesus declared, µ I am the bread of life. He who comes to me

will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you

have seen me and still you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and

whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do

my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I

shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my

Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life,

and I will raise him up at the last day .¶ At this the Jews began to grumble about him because

he said, µI am the bread that came down from heaven.¶ They said, µIs this not Jesus, the sonof Joseph, whose father and mother we know? H ow can he now say, ³I came down from

heaven´?¶ « I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet theydied. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I

am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will liveforever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.¶ « Jesus said to

them, µI tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, youhave no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will

raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever

eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent

me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This

is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who

feeds on this bread will live forever.¶´ John 6:1-15, 35-42, 48-51, 53-58

³Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It

was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose

brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, µLord, he whom you love is ill.¶

But when Jesus heard it he said, µThis illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God,

so that the Son of God may be glorified through it .¶ « When Martha heard that Jesus was

coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. µLord,¶ Martha said to Jesus, µif

you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask .¶ Jesus said to her, µYour brother will rise again.¶ Martha answered, µI

know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.¶ Jesus said to her, µI AM TH E RES U RREC T ION AND TH E LIFE . He who believes in me will live, even though he dies ;

and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?¶ µYes, Lord,¶ she

told him, µ I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into theworld .¶« Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laidacross the entrance. µTake away the stone,¶ he said. µBut, Lord,¶ said Martha, the sister of the

dead man, µby this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.¶ Then Jesus said,

µ Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God ?¶ So they took away

the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, µFather, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew

that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they

may believe that you sent me.¶ W hen he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice,

"Lazarus, come out!¶ T he dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of



linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, µTake off the grave clothes and lethim go.¶´ John 11:1-4, 20-27, 38-44

Muhammad though that there was no problem in including these miracle stories of Jesus in

the Quran since in his mind they did not prove that he is fully Divine. However, he was sadly

mistaken since the purpose of the miracles was to provide supernatural divine confirmation

that Christ is the Divine Son of God who happens to be Life itself. By including stories of Jesus breathing life into a clay bird and raising the dead Muhammad failed to see how such

miracles establish that Christ possesses the Spirit and can send him forth in order to give

individuals biological and spiritual life.

What makes this all the more amazing is that according to the Quran the One who can create

is not like the one who cannot:

Is then He, Who creates as one who creates not? Will you not then remember? S. 16:17

Hilali-Khan

Since Jesus creates and gives life in the same exact way that Allah does this means that he is

exactly like Allah!

This also means that Jesus is infinitely greater than Muhammad since the latter couldn't

create a single thing and was incapable of giving life to anyone or anything! In fact,

Muhammad actually took away life by inciting his followers to murder countless number of

individuals.

Hence, since Muhammad could not create or give life he is therefore vastly inferior to Jesus

Christ!

Therefore, the Christians of Najran were right for bringing up these miracles to Muhammad

in order to establish that Jesus is God:

The names of the fourteen principal men among the sixty riders were: µAbdu¶l-Masih the

µAqib, al-Ayham the Sayyid; Abu Haritha b. µAlqama brother of B. Bakr b. Wa¶il; Aus; al-

Harith; Zayd; Qays; Yazid; Nubayh; Khuwaylid; µAmr ; Khalid; µAmr ; Khalid; µAbdullah;

Johannes; of these the first three named above spoke to the apostle. They were Christians

according to the Byzantine rite, though they differed among themselves in some points,

saying He is God; and He is the son of God; and He is the third person of the Trinity, which

is the doctrine of Christianity. They argue that he is God BECAUSE HE USED TO

RAISE THE DEAD, and heal the sick, and declare the unseen; AND MAKE CLAY

BIRDS AND THEN BREATHE INTO THEM, SO THAT THEY FLEW AWAY; andall this was by the command of God Almighty, µWe will make him a sign to men.¶ They

argue that he is son of God in that they say he had no known father ; and he spoke in thecradle and this is something that no child of Adam has ever done . They argue that he is

the third of three in that God says: We have done, We have commanded, We have created

and We have decreed, and they say, If He were one he would have said I have done, I have

created, and so on, but He is He and Jesus and Mary. Concerning all these assertions the

Quran came down. (The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq¶s Sirat Rasul Allah,

with introduction and notes by Alfred Guillaume [Oxford University Press, Karachi, Tenth

impression 1995], p. 271; bold and capital emphasis ours)



With that said we do need to reiterate our point again, namely, informed Christians do notreject the miracle stories of the apocrypha on the grounds that they are too mythical and

fanciful to be true. Rather, the reason why educated Christians who know the Scripturesdiscard these miracles is because they contradict the explicit testimony of the Canonical

Gospels, specifically John, that Jesus performed no miraculous signs or wonders while he

was a child. According to the eyewitness records Jesus performed his first miracle after he

had received power from the Holy Spirit who had descended upon him in the form of a dovewhen he was approximately 30 years old.

Now there is a way for Zawadi to get out of this mess. Zawadi can simply come to terms with

the facts and admit that the Quran contains fanciful stories and legends for the purpose of

making an ethical or moral point and/or to highlight certain spiritual truths. He wouldn¶t be

alone here since other Muslims such as the late Muhammad Asad firmly believed that the

Quran was filled with legends and fables. For the details please go here.

Lord Jesus willing, there will be more rebuttals to Zawadi¶s arguments and ³replies´ in the

near future.

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Muhammad the Borrower Still