Stimulating Books / Muḥammad's Bio 2 / Does Reasoning Change Minds?

And yet some question the value of attending conferences, spending hours in books, and cultivating the intellect. After all, it is often noted, weren’t Jesus and his apostles uneducated (John 7:15; Acts 4:12-13)? Yet they had studied. Needless to say, Jesus knew the word thoroughly. And Peter and John, like the other apostles, had spent years in the classroom of Christ. They were well informed and knew what they were talking about! Would that all Christian leaders aimed for such excellence! (For more along these lines, please click here.)

DOES REASONING REALLY CHANGE MINDS?

So, can reasoning change minds? Absolutely, if the heart and will are in the right place. And this fact implicitly calls each and every one of us to Christian humility. Still, there will always be an important place for better thinking, logic, teaching, and Christian scholarship. The attitude of openness lies at the very heart of being a disciple of Christ: not always thinking we are right, or even in the right place, but staying flexible, and in a learning mode. If we remain humble, then the older we grow the more we will embody this disposition—not hardening in our opinions, but softening in our hearts.

TWO GREAT READS

Always looking for good books. For me a good book isn’t one that reinforces what I already believe. Nor is it one whose content I am always in complete agreement with. Rather, I revel in considering new thoughts, or old thoughts expressed in new ways.

MUḤAMMAD’S BIOGRAPHY, II
Muḥammad the Man (AD 570-632)

Last week I introduced this series, and today we move to the second installment. All references are to sections in A. Guillaume’s translation (Oxford edition). Before going any further, let me freely admit that Arabic is not one of my languages. I invite any learned Muslim or scholar of Ibn Ishāq’s Sīrat Rasūl Allāh to send me any corrections, including corrected references. Thank you.

A. Birth and childhood
There were 50 generations from Adam to Muḥammad—see Jesus’ genealogy in Luke chapter three (3). Then comes the genealogy of Ismā’īl. Note that in sūrah 37 the Qur‘an mentions Abraham’s (Ibrahim’s) son, who was led to the place of sacrifice, but he is not named—neither Isaac nor Ishmael (Ismail). My guess is that once the majority of Jews rejected the new religion, Muḥammad or his successors opted for a different (partly fictitious) genealogy.

The exact moment his parents’ marriage was consummated, his mother became pregnant with Muḥammad (101). He was the first and only son of Abd Allāh bin Al-Muttalib and Āmina bint Wahb (100). His was the easiest delivery, with a light going out illuminating the castles of Bușrā in Syria (106). This reminds me of a passage in an apocryphal birth narrative where Jesus is born virtually weightless…. Many infancy miracles are attributed to Muḥammad (104-106). Similar legends may be found in the NT Apocrypha and the Jataka Tales of the Buddha. At any rate, by the time he was two years of age it was clear that Muḥammad was a “well-made child” (105).

B. Family
His mother Āmina died when Muḥammad was six years old (107). At age eight, he lost his grandfather—greatly missed and greatly praised (108). After the death of ‘Abdu’l-Muṭṭalib the apostle lived with his uncle Abū Ṭalib (114).

The future prophet learned something of Christianity. He was connected with a monk Bahīrā (Busra in Syria), well versed in the knowledge of the Christians—and said to have predicted Muḥammad would become a prophet of God… (115). Muḥammad often learns from Jabr, a young Christian slave (206), and even his mother Āmina knew something of Christianity, as her brother had been a Christian (102).

Muḥammad marries Khadījah, a merchant woman of dignity and strength (119). After her death, the apostle took many other wives. Khadījah was the mother of all Muḥammad’s children, except for Ibrāhīm (121).

Khadījah was his first convert (155). Four uncles were also converted (166). And yet his own parents were not faithful Muslims, despite the line “O Muḥammad, finest child of noble mother / Whose sire a noble sire was” (539). Yet Jesus’ parents were both faithful believers, as Muslims and Christians alike believe. I have often brought this point up to Muslims, just to plant a seed. If your prophet is always victorious, how could he have failed to win over his own mother and father?

Muḥammad was to be “the Seal of the Prophets” (859)—even greater than Jesus. At first, he spoke to friends and family. He was rejected by his own people, the Quraysh (313). Muḥammad led raids against trading caravans, enriching his followers. Eventually he engaged in outright warfare, as well as solidifying profitable regional economic networks.

D. Control
Muḥammad serves as absolute judge and mediator. Disagreements were to be “referred to God and the Muḥammad the apostle of God” (342-343). “We obey him, treating none among us as his equal / He is our guiding light in the darkness of the night” (667). Disobeying the prophet is a “great sin” (600). Muḥammad expected complete loyalty: “Do not hang back from me as the disciples hung back from Jesus son of Mary” (972).

E. Charisma
Apparently the prophet was quite persuasive. For example, one Muslim confessed, “When I heard the Quran [Muḥammad was praying] my heart was softened and I wept, and Islam entered into me” (228).

We also read how one ‘Utba is amazed by Muḥammad’s teaching. When ‘Utba returned to his companions they noticed that his expression had completely altered, and they asked him what had happened. He said that he had heard words such as he had never heard before, which were neither poetry, spells, nor witchcraft. ‘Take my advice and do as I do, leave this man entirely alone for, by God, the words which I have heard will be blazed abroad”… They said, ‘He has bewitched you with his tongue.’ (186-187). See the parallel in John 7:32, 45ff.

A prospective Muslim exclaimed: “‘By God, if Muḥammad had ordered you to kill me would you have killed me?’ He said, ‘Yes, by God, had he ordered me to cut off your head I would have done so.’ He exclaimed, ‘By God, a religion which can bring you to this is marvelous!’ and he became a Muslim” (554). In reference to one Muslim sharing the faith, we also read, “By God, before he spoke we recognized Islam in his face by its peaceful glow” (291).

F. Raids and wars
Through the course of his lifetime, Muḥammad took part personally in 27 raids and battles (Ț1575). We will explore warfare, which may be fairly said to dominate the Sīrat, in section 5.

G. Death (AD 632)
The apostle died in bosom of his favorite wife favorite wife, ‘Ā’isha (1011). He had been born on a Monday (102), and died on a Monday (1009). He was prepared for burial on Tuesday (1018). The apostle’s body did not present the appearance of an ordinary corpse (1019). His disciples were unsure whether to wash the body with the clothes on or off. Allāh caused them to fall into a deep sleep, then a voice from heaven told them to wash the corpse with the clothes on (1019). The burial was on Wednesday—in the middle of the night (1020).

Leading this followers till virtually the end of his life, Muḥammad died a warrior. Visit the magnificent Topkapı Palace in İstanbul (which is now a museum) for swords, banners, and more.

H. Succession
Who would succeed the prophet? He had no living sons, only daughters. The best friend to Muḥammad, Muḥammad said, was Abū Bakr (1006). Yet his cousin and son-in-law ‘Āli was also immensely popular. A rift opened up between the followers of ‘Āli and those of Abū Bakr—and men took sides (1015). Today the Shi’a minority say ‘Āli was the rightful successor, while the Sunni majority holds the successor to be Abū Bakr. Generally speaking, the Shi’a locate authority in the leader, whereas the Sunni Muslims focus on the traditions (sunna).

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For three talks from the Hadith of Bukhari, the most respected collection of Muḥammad’s words and deeds, corresponding more or less to the role of the four gospels in the New Testament in supplying life details, please refer to Islam C, Islam D, and Islam E. (A hadith is one of these events of sayings; the plural of hadith is aḥādīth, although I’ll stick with the more familiar Hadith.)

Next week: Teachings and practices of Islam (worship, women, paradise, and more). For a basic (introductory-level) talk on Islam, you might want to click here. This could prove helpful, since the Sīrat, like my compendium in this newsletter, is sketchy.

TURKEY TALLY: CONTESTANTS FOR THE FREE TOUR

And now, an update on the competition for the free tour of The Seven Churches of Revelation (a $1790 value). The three front-runners at present (they will recognize themselves by their initials):
#1 T.H. (Knoxville, TN) #2 J.H. (Greensboro, NC) # 3 B.H. (Pacheco, CA) 

Even if you don’t enter the contest, you’re more than welcome to join us in June.

For years of previous newsletters, click here. For the audiovisual version of the newsletter (YouTube, about 3 minutes, read by Chase Mackintosh), click here. This is usually available the day after the newsletter is posted. To reach our website, click here.