Of Muhammad, Farah (Islam, 2000, page 36) writes: “…he was the first to live and preach in the full light of history. We have more information relating to his career than we have of his predecessors. His life by and large is not wrapped in mystery, and few tales have been woven around his personality.”
Here is what we have learned from looking up “Muhammad” in the Qur’an… According to a concordance of the Qur’an edited by a Hanna E. Kassis and published by the University of California Press, (1983), “Muhammad” is mentioned only 4 times: 3:144 (138); 33:40; 47:2; 48:29.
Surah 47 is, in fact, entitled “Muhammad.” However, there very little historical information in the Qur’an about Muhammad. What we learn is that Allah has revealed a message to him. He was a bringer of “good tidings” and a “warner.” What Muhammad revealed is equal with the “Torah,” and “Gospel” (3:3), and the “psalms” (4:163).
If you love Allah, you will follow Muhammad and Allah will love you and forgive your sins (3:31). There is a “battle of Uhud” mentioned in 3:121. Yet the Study Qur’an suggests it might refer to the “battle of Ahzab.” Uhud was in 625 A. D. Uhud was a battle between the Meccans and the Medinans. But the battle is not described or referenced in the Qur’an!
There is a reference to those of Mecca wanting to kill or evict Muhammad (8:30; “Mecca,” however, is added by the translators). Speaking of the two holiest cites in Islamic religion, “Mecca” is found 15 times in the Qur’an, but only 5 times is it not added by the translator. “Madinah” is found only 5 times.
Contrast that with the Bible which is rooted and grounded in historical events. Genesis and Exodus are largely historical works. There’s a little history in Numbers, then you get to Joshua all the way through Esther and we have 15 books of history in the OT. The prophets are largely grounded in those very historical books. Many of the psalms are historically connected. In the NT, Matthew through Acts are all history. We know a lot about the life of Jesus compared to Muhammad if you limit yourself to the Qur’an. Again, in the NT, many of Paul’s letters are grounded in the history found in the book of Acts.
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So, is Farah right when he says, “We have more information relating to his career than we have of his predecessors?” Of course not. That is demonstrably false.
So, what does Muslim tradition, not the Qur’an, say about Muhammad? He was born in 570 A. D. in Mecca, western Saudi Arabia. His dad died before he was born; his mom died when he was 6 years old. He impressed a wealthy widow named Khadijah (whom I could not find referenced in the Qur’an under different spellings). He was married to her for 15 years.
Muhammad was disturbed by the greed, immorality, and idolatry of his fellow citizens. Muslims claim he received his first revelation from God at the age of 40 and the revelations continued over a period of 23 years. Those revelations compose the Qur’an which is the only miracle Muslims claim Muhammad performed. He moved to a village named Yahtrib (“Medina”) to help with a tribal war but was eventually run out of town. That flight out of town is the Hijrah, the beginning of the Muslim calendar (September 24, 622).
Eventually, Muhammad was able to bring peace and unity to the Arabian peninsula. Some of it was simply through treaties. Some from war. Some from conversion. Muhammad died in the 11th year of Islam, June 8, 632, at the age of 63. He was buried in the apartment of a wife, Aishah. The “Mosque of the Prophet” is built over that site.
Muslims will adamantly deny that they worship Muhammad but their behaviors reflect worship to outside believers. However, the fact that almost none of this is recorded in the Qur’an should lead Muslims to seriously question how reliable the Qur’an is and rather it is actually from God.
Paul Holland
