Anyways, if I could possibly get the Cliff Notes version here: so Mohammad most likely was the person who invented Islam. If he didn’t, who did, or is it virtually certain that Mohammad was the one who invented the religion but it was transcribed/described later on by others after his death? Also, are there similar issues to “misquoting Jesus” or can we be relatively certain that the oral tradition kept the verbiage intact and later fragments of the Koran all show 1:1 isomorphism?
(I’ll try to trundle over to the local library soon).
This is contentious and may be the result of special pleading by later Muslims. There is a claimed tradition and apparently some evidence of what was termed hanifiyya or pre-Islamic monotheists ( or perhaps henotheists ) who supposedly worshiped an Abrahamic God embodied in Allah, rejecting idol-worship.
Ibn Ishaq, author of the first biography of Muhammad ( 8th century ), noted four in particular, none of whom became Muslims. Three he claims eventually converted to Christianity in varying circumstances. The last, one Zayd ibn Amir father of one Muhammad’s later companions, rejected Judaism, Christianity and apparently eventually Islam as well, while nonetheless disdaining idols and blood sacrifice and condemning infanticide, all while claiming to worship the God of Abraham.
But there are traditions that seem to label Muhammad as not having been part of this group. Ibn al-Kalbi claims Muhammad sacrificed ewes to al-Uzza. A particular hadith by Muhammad’s adopted son Zayd ibn Harithah, claims that the above Zayd ibn Amir refused meat from an ewe Muhammad had sacrificed to an idol. And sura 93:1-8,with its references to God finding Muhammad “wandering” would seem to point towards a non-monotheistic position pre-revelation.
I don’t want to write a staff report, nor do I feel qualified to do so :). I’m cribbing mostly from Peters here.
IMO it is overwhelmingly likely Muhammad both existed and “invented” ( or “revealed” or “re-introduced” if you’re Muslim ) Islam. There are just too many references from too many well-recorded historical personages close to his lifetime. The explosion of the Caliphate and Islam out of Arabia was surely triggered by someone and no one else has ever had a finger pointed at them.
However from a skeptical POV there is no real way I can see to authenticate the written Qur’an with Muhammad’s supposed revelations. Even Muslim tradition claims it wasn’t written down until after his death. That it is largely or significantly Muhammad’s work I’d say is fairly likely as well, again due to proximity and the universal attribution of others. That it is exactly what he came up with is probably more questionable.
