Why Were No Prophets Sent To The Meccans?

Download as PDF (best formatting)

INTRODUCTION

Islam holds to the concept of the collegiality of the prophets – that they all came with essentially the same message. It also holds that every people have received a prophet. Muslims believe that there have been more than 124,000 prophets. In the Qur’an, twenty-five – possibly twenty-eight prophets are mentioned. Most of these are easily identifiable with Biblical figures, although Lut (Lot) is not a prophet in the Bible, nor is Ismail (Ishmael). Obviously, by the time of Yaqub (Jacob), it is clear that these prophets were sent to the Bani Israil (i.e., the Israelites/Jews). It is equally clxear that for the most part (save for the Exilic period) the Israelites were in Palestine, rather than the Hijaz.

However, Islam holds that Ishmael was sent to re-found and re-build Mecca with his father Ibrahim (Abraham), and that this was the origin of the Arabs. It follows therefore, that according to Islam, the original religion of the Meccans was Islam, at least in terms of the Abrahamic revelation. Yet, at the same time, Islam holds that the Meccans apostatized into polytheism and idolatry. Jews and Christians are familiar with this scenario, since the Tanach – the Old Testament – presents a recurring picture of such apostasy and prophets sent to bring the Israelites to repentance. Of course, ethical issues also emerge as concerns of the Biblical narrative, but these were often related to Baal-worship, since paganism in the Fertile Crescent - especially among the Canaanites – was associated with ethical violations, especially sexual ones.

It is at this point a problem arises – for Islam. As we have noted, Islam holds that Abraham and Ishmael re-built the Kaaba and effectively founded Mecca. Yet, equally, Islam holds that the Meccans apostatized, but no prophet was sent to them until Muhammad. This contradicts both the Biblical and Qur’anic concepts of the frequency of prophets being almost immediately sent to bring the people back to monotheism and the abandonment of idolatry. Given the special status of Mecca in Islam, this contradiction raises major problems for the integrity of its message.

1. Prophets in the Bible

The prophetic credentials of Moses were established by the Exodus and its associated miracles, after which he received the Decalogue, and wrote Scripture, as in Deuteronomy 31:9: ‘Then Moses wrote this law...’, and v24ff: ‘When Moses had finished writing the words of this law in a book to the very end, Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of YHWH, “Take this Book of the Law and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of YHWH your God, that it may be there for a witness against you.’ Moses then become the Prophetic model for Israel, as illustrated by Deuteronomy 18:15: ‘Yahweh your god will raise up for you from time to time a prophet like me from among you, from your own kin. Him you shall listen to.’ (Clements, R. E., Prophecy and Tradition, Oxford: Blackwell, 1978, p. 12. Clements observes that the verse is in ‘the iterative imperfect tense’, which ‘expresses a distributive sense’). Hence, Moses was the prophetic pattern for Israel. The passage continues (vs. 21ff):

But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die. And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that YHWH as not spoken?’ — when a prophet speaks in the name of YHWH, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that YHWH has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously...

The meaning of ‘brothers’ in this chapter is illustrated by v2 in reference to the Levites: ‘They shall have no inheritance among their brothers’ – i.e., brother-Israelites, similar to the way US Presidents begin speeches with ‘My fellow Americans’.

Note that a true prophet had to speak in the name of YHWH; one can search from start to finish in the Qur’an for this name with no success. Immediately we can see that Qur’an’s re-working of the stories of Biblical prophets will not work because none of them in the Qur’an ever prophesy in the name of YHWH! Yet to speak in His name was vital: ‘Moreover, a prophetic message often begins with the formula “Thus says Yahweh” and concludes with “the oracle of Yahweh” or “says Yahweh” (e.g. Amos 1:3-5; Jer. 2:1-3; Is. 45: 11-13).’(Anderson, Bernhard W., The Living World of the Old Testament, Harlow: Longman, 1982, p. 227) A prophet – Hebrew nabi – is one who announces the divine will. (Ibid., p. 226). In Biblical terms, it means the will of YHWH, announced in His name. A ‘god’ that does not have this name is not the God of the prophets of Biblical Israel.

A true prophet had to be in theological conformity with Moses. This is indeed what we find in Israelite history, true prophets calling people to observe the revelation found in the Torah. Right at the start of the Books of Moses we find references to the Spirit of God involved in the work of Creation, and in Genesis 3 we see that YHWH can come down in human form to the earth, walking in Eden. Clearly, the god of the Qur’an does not conform to this, so the teaching of the Qur’an is not in theological conformity with Moses. Moses encountered Theophanies – manifestations of God on the earth, as in the Burning Bush, as at Mount Sinai. Notice what YHWH says in Numbers 12:6-7: ‘6 And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I YHWH make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. 7 Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. 8 With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of YHWH.”’

It is also clear that being charismatically endued by the Spirit (whom we have seen is not Gabriel) is required, as seen in the life of Moses, Numbers 11:25, 29:

Then YHWH came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. And as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they did not continue doing it... Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all YHWH’s people were prophets, that YHWH would put his Spirit on them!”

Hence, a canonical standard of Inspiration is revealed. This is important for two reasons. As Numbers 11:25 shows, men who were not normally prophets could prophesy under inspiration of the Spirit for a limited time, as with King Saul in 1 Samuel 10: ‘10 When they came to Gibeah, behold, a group of prophets met him, and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them. 11 And when all who knew him previously saw how he prophesied with the prophets, the people said to one another, “What has come over the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”‘ Hosea 9:7 describes a prophet as a ‘man of the Spirit’.

If we return to Deuteronomy 18, we can see what pagan worship involved:

9 “When you come into the land that YHWH your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer 11 or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, 12 for whoever does these things is an abomination to YHWH. And because of these abominations YHWH your God is driving them out before you. 13 You shall be blameless before YHWH your God, 14 for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, YHWH your God has not allowed you to do this.

The only peoples to make human sacrifice a fixed part of their cults were those of the Levant – specifically the Canaanites, who included the Phoenicians and their colony, the Carthaginians:

Where human sacrifice is clearly attested (as in Israel and Moab), it is a last resort in times of personal or national crisis. More commonly, as in the translation above, ‘votive gifts’ in response to a divine favour are usually forms of animal sacrifice, or the dedication of stelae, statues, precious metals or, at Ugarit, ships’ anchors, appropriate to a maritime culture.

(Wyatt, Nicolas, “Religion in ancient Ugarit”, in Hinnells, John R. [Ed.], A Handbook of Ancient Religions, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007, p. 138).

The Old Testament accuses the Canaanites of committing human sacrifice – specifically of children - who obviously could not have consented (in any meaningful sense) to their fate, Deuteronomy 12:31: ‘...for every abominable thing that YHWH hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.’ Similarly, 18:10, in the context of referring to Canaanite religious practice, commands: ‘There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering…’ Sadly, Israel eventually succumbed to syncretism with the Canaanites, Psalm 106:347-38: ‘They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons; 38 they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan’. In 2 Kings 16:3 we read about King Ahaz of Judah sacrificing his son ‘through the fire, as did King Manasseh in 21:6. In 2 Kings 17:17, we read that the northern Kingdom of Israel did likewise. This was despite the warning in Leviticus 18:28, that exile would the punishment for doing such things. Further, in Deuteronomy 17 (which is part of the same discourse as chapter 18), we see the ban on worshiping other gods:

2 “If there is found among you, within any of your towns that YHWH your God is giving you, a man or woman who does what is evil in the sight of YHWH your God, in transgressing his covenant, 3 and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have forbidden, 4 and it is told you and you hear of it, then you shall inquire diligently, and if it is true and certain that such an abomination has been done in Israel, 5 then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you shall stone that man or woman to death with stones.

Needless to say, the First and Second Commandments of the Decalogue forbid both the worship of other gods and the depiction of any (including YHWH), as in Exodus 20:

3 “You shall have no other gods before me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I YHWH your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

A false prophet who prophesied in the name of other gods was to be executed, Deuteronomy 18:20: “But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.” It follows those Biblical prophets call unfaithful Israel to return to the principles outlined in the Mosaic revelation, both in terms of worship and ethics. We see an example of this for the first time after Israel is ensconced in Canaan, Judges 2:11ff:

11 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of YHWH and served the Baals. 12 And they abandoned YHWH, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them and bowed down to them. And they provoked YHWH to anger. 13 They abandoned YHWH and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. 14 So the anger of YHWH was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them...

16 Then YHWH raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of YHWH, and they did not do so. 18 Whenever YHWH raised up judges for them, YHWH was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For YHWH was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. 19 But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways.

Note the pattern of frequency here – the apostasy of the Israelites, and YHWH raising Judges who save them and restore them to YHWH. If we move to 1 Kings 11, we see what happens when King Solomon apostatized:

Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 2 from the nations concerning which YHWH had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love… 4 For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to YHWH his God, as was the heart of David his father. 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of YHWH and did not wholly follow YHWH, as David his father had done. 7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. 8 And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods…

29 And at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now Ahijah had dressed himself in a new garment, and the two of them were alone in the open country. 30 Then Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it into twelve pieces. 31 And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says YHWH, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and will give you ten tribes 32 (but he shall have one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel), 33 because they have forsaken me and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites, and they have not walked in my ways, doing what is right in my sight and keeping my statutes and my rules, as David his father did.

YHWH punishes Solomon, and announces through a prophet, who denounces the worship of false gods. Again, in 1 Kings 16, we read of King Ahab of Israel: “31 And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. 32 He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. 33 And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.” The result is that YHWH sent the prophet Elijah (called Ilyas in the Qur’an, Surah As-Saaffat 37:123–126), who eventually confronts Jezebel’s prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, 1 Kings 18:21: “And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If YHWH is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.” A miracle is performed, the people acknowledge YHWH, which leads Elijah to command in v40: “And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.” And they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slaughtered them there.”

It would be tedious to give further examples, but we can see a pattern of prophets being sent regularly to Israel to call them back to the Mosaic covenant of fidelity to YHWH, rather than worshiping other gods and idols. There is never a long gap between apostasy and the commission of a prophet sent to bring about restoration to YHWH. There is one exception – the apostasy under the Seleucid King Antiochus Epiphanes in the second century B.C. After the return from the Babylonian Exile, the Jews were remarkably free from idolatry – until after the conquests of the Macedonian king Alexander the Great in the second century B.C., who had a policy of Hellenization – essentially, making all his diverse subjects into Greeks through the spread of the Greek language and culture. He largely left the Jews to their own religion, as did his successors who ruled Palestine, the Ptolemies in Egypt and the Seleucids of Coele-Syria (and other lands). This lasted until 175 B.C., when Antiochus IV Epiphanes ascended the Seleucid throne, and began a policy of enforced religious assimilation in 168 BC. Many Jews, especially among the priesthood, collaborated with this, identifying the Syrian god Ba’al Shamen – ‘lord of Heaven’ and the Greek god Zeus Olympios with YHWH.

No prophet was sent at this time, because canonical prophecy had ceased – until (from a Christian standpoint) the commission of John the Baptist. The criteria of Old Testament canonicity – specifically, the period of inspiration – when the prophetic door was shut:

In the Babylonian Talmud, completed by about A.D. 550, we read: “Our Rabbis taught: Since the death of the last prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachai, the Holy Spirit departed from Israel,” so that inspiration was thought to have ceased long before the beginning of the Christian era. (Newman, Robert C., ‘The Council of Jamnia and the Old Testament Canon’, Westminster Theological Journal 38.4, Spr. 1976, p. 320)

With this agrees the statement of Josephus in Against Apion 8:40, who sees the period of inspiration as stretching “From the death of Moses until Artaxerxes who succeeded Xerxes as king of Persia...” Green comments:

According to Josephus, therefore, the period in which the books esteemed sacred by the Jews were written, extended from the time of Moses to the reign of Artaxerxes I. of Persia; after which no additions of any sort were made to the canon. Artaxerxes Longimanus, the monarch here referred to, reigned forty years, from B.C. 465 to B.C. 425. In the seventh year of his reign Ezra came up to Jerusalem from the captivity (Ezra vii. 1, 8); and in the twentieth year of the same Nehemiah followed him (Neh. ii. 1, 5, 6).

(Green, William Henry, General Introduction to the Old Testament: The Canon, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1898, p. 38.)

Another indication of this is found in 1 Maccabees 4:42ff, especially v46, concerning the Temple altar desecrated by Antiochus Epiphanes, in regard to which Judas Maccabaeus chooses some priests to determine what action to take:

He selected priests who were blameless and devoted to the Law. They cleansed the sanctuary and took the polluted stones to a ritually unclean place. They discussed what to do about the altar for entirely burned offerings, since it had been polluted. They decided it was best to tear it down so that it wouldn’t be a lasting shameful reminder to them that the Gentiles had defiled it. So they tore down the altar. They stored the stones in a convenient place on the temple mount until a prophet should arise who could say what to do with them.

This took place after the Battle of Emmaus in 166 B.C. The last verse shows that the prophetic office (or a charismatically endued figure) was in effective abeyance at this time. Yet, YHWH did not leave His people without guidance – rebuke for apostates, encouragement for the faithful – at the time of Antiochus’ actions; the latter chapters of the Book of Daniel prophesy about them. Centuries before, the people of Judah in Exile in Babylon had faced the prospect of cultural and religious assimilation, but YHWH had sent Daniel to prophesy to them to avert this. In his visions, Daniel sees far into the future when similar events would take place, and chapters seven to twelve address this. So, always, there is prophecy to address apostasy and restoration.

1. Prophets in Islam

Islam holds to the collegiality of the prophets - all prophets were Muslims with identical messages, i.e., Islam – Surah Baqarah 2:135-136:

135. And they say: Be Jews or Christians, then ye will be rightly guided. Say (unto them, O Muhammad): Nay, but (we follow) the religion of Abraham, the upright, and he was not of the idolaters.

136 Say (O Muslims): We believe in Allah and that which is revealed unto us and that which was revealed unto Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes, and that which Moses and Jesus received, and that which the prophets received from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them...’

Surah Baqara 2:285

The messenger believeth in that which hath been revealed unto him from his Lord and (so do) the believers. Each

one believeth in Allah and His angels and His scriptures and His messengers We make no distinction between any of His messengers and they say: We hear, and we obey. (Grant us) Thy forgiveness, our Lord. Unto Thee is the journeying.

Surah Nisaa 4:163

163. Lo! We inspire thee as We inspired Noah and the prophets after him, as We inspired Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes, and Jesus and Job and Jonah and Aaron and Solomon, and as we imparted unto David the Psalms; 164. And messengers We have mentioned unto thee before and messengers We have not mentioned unto thee; and Allah spake directly unto Moses; 165. Messengers of good cheer and off warning, in order that mankind might have no argument against Allah after the messengers. Allah was ever Mighty, Wise.

Muslims believe that there have been more than 124,000 prophets. Of the 124,000 prophets, 315 were messengers:

Surah An-aam 6:83

83. That was the reasoning about Us which We gave to Abraham (to use) against his people: We raise whom We will degree after degree: for thy Lord is full of wisdom and knowledge.

84. We gave him Isaac and Jacob: all (three) We guided: and before him We guided Noah and before him We guided Noah and among his progeny David Solomon Job Joseph Moses and Aaron: thus do We reward those who do good: 85. And Zakariya and John and Jesus and Elias: all in the ranks of the righteous:

86. And Ismail and Elisha and Jonah and Lot: and to all We gave favour above the nations:

87. (To them) and to their fathers and progeny and brethren: We chose them.

And We guided them to a straight way.

Others are not mentioned:

Surah Mumin 40:78

We did aforetime send apostles before thee: of them there are some whose

story We have related to thee and some whose story We have not related to thee.

It was not (possible) for any apostle to bring a Sign except by the leave of Allah:

but when the Command of Allah issued the matter was decided in truth and justice

and there perished there and then those who stood on Falsehoods.

The collegiality of the prophets and Muhammad’s own calling are confirmed for Muslims by the Night Journey and Ascension to Paradise, where Muhammad met the other prophets. According to the Shia Hadith, the essential message was the same – opposition to idolatry, enjoinment of monotheism, prayer, alms, ablutions, fasting, pilgrimage, jihad, laws:

Usul al-Kafi

H 1461, Ch. 9, h 1

Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn abu Nasr and a number of people from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khalid from Ali ibn Ibrahim from Muhammad al-Thaqafi from Muhammad ibn Marwan all of them from Aban ibn ‘Uthman from those whom he has mentioned from ‘abu ‘Abd Allah, who has said the following:

“Allah, the Most Blessed, the Most High, granted to Muhammad, the system of laws of Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus peace be upon them: They consisted of belief in monotheism, purity of such belief, the negation of all associates of Allah and the culture that is free and clean of idolatry... He has made lawful in such system of laws all that is good and clean and has made unlawful all that is filthy… He then made it necessary for them, in such system of laws to perform prayers, pay the charity (Zakat) complete the fasting, the Hajj and the duty of asking others to perform their duties and stop committing sins…and the obligations and the duty of Jihad (defending the faith) in the way of Allah. He has made Wuzu as additional obligation …

Another hadith emphasizes the collegiality of the prophets in terms of kerygma, specifically the rejection of idolatry and polytheism:

Usul al-Kafi

H 1491, Ch. 14, h 1

Ali ibn Muhammad has narrated from certain persons of his people from Adam ibn Ishaq from ‘abd al-Razzaq from ibn Mihran from al-Husayn ibn Maymun from Muhammad ibn Salim from abu Ja’far who has said the following:

“…Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, sent prophet Noah to his people who said to them, “Worship Allah, have fear of Him and obey me” (71:3). He then called them to Allah alone to worship Him only and not take any partners for Him. Thereafter He sent the prophets until (their coming ended with) Muhammad He invited people to worship Allah only and not to take partners for Him and He said, “He has plainly clarified the religion which is revealed to you and that which Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus were commanded to follow…

He sent the prophets to their people with the testimony that no one deserves to be worshipped except Allah... When the believers of the people of each prophet followed them He gave them a system of laws and guidance. Al-Shari’a is a system, a path and tradition. Allah said to prophet Muhammad, “(Muhammad), We have sent revelations to you just as were sent to Noah and the Prophets who lived after him...” (4:163). Allah commanded every prophet to follow the path and the tradition.

Below is the list of (possible) prophets in the Qur’an, together with their possible Biblical or historical equivalents - twenty-five (possibly twenty-eight) prophets are mentioned therein:

• Adam

• Idris (Enoch)

• Nuh (Noah)

• Hud

• Salih

• Ibrahim (Abraham)

• Lut (Lot)

• Isma’il (Ishmael)

• Ishaq (Isaac)

• Ya’qub (Jacob)

• Yusuf (Joseph)

• Luqman?

• Shu’aib (Jethro?)

• Dawud (David)

• Sulaiman (Solomon)

• Ilyas (Elias)

Al-Yasa’ (Elisha)

Al-Khidr? (Jethro? St. George?)

• Musa (Moses)

• Uzair (Ezra)

• Ayyub (Job)

• Dhul-Kifl (Ezekiel)

• Yunus (Jonah)

• Dhul-Qarnein? (Alexander)

• Zakariya (Zachariah)

• Yahya (John the Baptist)

• Isa (Jesus)

Obviously, many of these would not be recognized by Jews or Christians – neither Lot nor Ishmael are presented as prophets in the Bible, and the idea that Alexander the Great – a bisexual pagan who believed he was divine could be a true prophet of God is frankly ridiculous. Surah Yunus 10:48 says that every people have received a messenger:

Surah Yunus 10:48

And for every nation there is a messenger. And when their messenger cometh (on the Day of Judgment) it will be judged between them fairly and they will not be wronged.

In the Maliki Fiqh, this explanation is given about Messengers and Prophets:

7238 AL-RISALA (Maliki Manual)

1.04 MESSENGERS AND MUHAMMAD

He sent Messengers to mankind to establish a plea against them. He completed their mission, admonition and prophethood with His prophet Muhammad - may Allah be pleased with him and please him - whom he made the last of the Messengers, giving glad tidings, warning and calling people to Allah, with His permission. The Prophet was an illuminating lamp and Allah revealed to him His book, which is full of wisdom. He explained through it His true religion and guided by it along the right path.

There are certain common characteristics of Messengers:

Narrated by AbuAyyub

Mishkat Al-Masabih 0382

Allah’s Messenger said: There are four characteristics (which may be called) the Sunnahs (the practices) of the messengers of Allah: Modesty, but some say, circumcision, the use of perfume, miswak and marriage. Transmitted by Tirmidhi.

The Shia Hadith explains the distinction between prophets and messengers:

Usul al-Kafi H 421, Ch. 3, h1

A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn abu Nasr from Tha’laba ibn Maymun from Zurara who has said the following

“I asked abu ‘Abd Allah about the words of Allah, the Most Holy, the Most High, ‘He was a messenger, a prophet’. What is a messenger and what is a prophet?’” The (Imam) said, “A prophet is one who sees things (matters of Divine guidance) in his dream and hears the voice but does not see the angel. The messenger is one who hears the voice, in his dreams sees things (of matters of Divine guidance) and sees the angel.” I then said, “What is the position of the Imam?” The (Imam) said, “He hears the voice but does not see and observe the angel” Then he recited the following verse of the Holy Quran. ‘Satan would try to tamper with the desires of every Prophet or Messenger or Muhaddath whom We sent...’” (22:52) (the Imam has included the word Muhaddath in above verse and it is his commentary and not part of the verse.)

Al-Ghazali states: “The recipient knows the medium, i.e. the angel by whom he received the information. This is “Wahi,” the inspiration of prophets, the inspiration of the Quran. The recipient receives information from an unknown source and in an unknown way. This is the inspiration of saints and mystics. It is called “Ilham.” The difference between “Wahi” and “Ilham” is that in the former an angel is the medium of communication, and in the latter he is not. It comes direct to the mind of the prophet.” (Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, Vol 7. p. 354). The greatest prophets are Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad:

Usul al-Kafi H 419, Ch. 2, h3

A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Yahya al-Khath’ami from Hisham from abu Ya’qub who has said the following

“I heard abu ‘Abd Allah saying, ‘The leaders and masters of the prophets and the messengers are five who are called ‘Ulul ‘Azm (people with determination) among the messengers who have the central role. They are Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad.”

Narrated by Abdullah ibn Abbas

Mishkat Al-Masabih 5762

When some of the companions of Allah’s Messenger were sitting he came out, and when he came near them he heard them discussing. One of them said Allah had taken Abraham as a friend, another said He spoke direct to Moses, another said Jesus was Allah’s word and spirit, and another said Allah chose Adam. Allah’s Messenger then came out to them and said, “I have heard what you said, and you wonder that Abraham was Allah’s friend, as indeed he was; that Moses was Allah’s confidant, as indeed he was. I am the one whom Allah loves, and this is no boast. On the Day of Resurrection I shall be the bearer of the banner of praise under which will be Adam and the others, and this is no boast.

To understand the prophetic pattern and message (kerygma) in Islam, we begin with Nuh (Noah):

The story of Noah appears also in the Quran, and plays a much more prominent role there than it does in Genesis (Q 7:59–64, 10:71–73, 11:25–49, 21:76–77, 23:23–30, 26:105–122, 29:14–15, 37:75–82, 54:9–17, 71:1–28). Noah is mentioned by name 43 times in the Quran as opposed to the brief reference to him in Genesis. In the Quran and in Muslim exegesis Noah is seen as the first of a series of prophets including Hud, Salih, Lot, and Shuayb who epitomize the regular prophetic pattern that includes a prophet being sent, rejected, and the destruction of those who rejected him.

(Noegel, Scott B., Wheeler, Brannon M., Historical Dictionary of Prophets in Islam and Judaism, Lanham & London: Scarecrow Press, 2002, p. 239)

Note what is stated about “the regular prophetic pattern that includes a prophet being sent, rejected, and the destruction of those who rejected him.” That a prophetic pattern exists is also indicated by Surah Ash-Shura 42:13. “He hath ordained for you that religion which He commended unto Noah, and that which We inspire in thee (Muhammad), and that which We commended unto Abraham and Moses and Jesus, saying: Establish the religion, and be not divided therein. Dreadful for the idolaters is that unto which thou callest them. Allah chooseth for Himself whom He will, and guideth unto Himself him who turneth (toward Him).” This also indicates that the polemic against idolatry is fundamental to the message of the Islamic prophets. So, what occasioned Nuh’s prophetic career, and what was his message? In the Bible, Noah is introduced in the context of increasing and general moral corruption, Genesis 6:

When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose…

5 YHWH saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And YHWH regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So YHWH said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of YHWH…

11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.”

The cause of divine wrath in this case is the intermarriage between God’s people and those outside the fold, and general ethical corruption, notably widespread violence. No mention is made of idolatry or polytheism. The text does not refer to Noah’s verbal preaching, but rather to God’s command that Noah build an ark. In 2 Peter 2:5 it is stated: “if he [God] did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly”, which in Greek is: καὶ ἀρχαίου κόσμου οὐκ ἐφείσατο, ἀλλὰ ὄγδοον Νῶε δικαιοσύνης κήρυκα ἐφύλαξεν κατακλυσμὸν κόσμῳ ἀσεβῶν ἐπάξας. The Greek word κήρυκα is only used here in the New Testament, and it derives from κῆρυξ, which is used in 1 Timothy 2:7 and 2 Timothy 1:11, where it is translated as either “preacher” or “herald”. In Hebrews 11:7, it is indicated that the action of Noah in building the ark was the message of condemnation for the wider society: “By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.” Again, there is no mention of idolatry or polytheism.

In the Qur’an, a different picture emerges. In Surah 7 Al-A’raf Nuh preaches a message of repentance and monotheism to the people:

59. We sent Noah (of old) unto his people, and he said: O my people! Serve Allah. Ye have no other God save Him.

Lo! I fear for you the retribution of an Awful Day.

60. The chieftains of his people said: Lo! we see thee surely in plain error.

61. He said: O my people! There Is no error me, but I am a messenger from the Lord of the Worlds.

62. I convey unto you the messages of my Lord and give good counsel unto you, and know from Allah that which ye know not.

63. Marvel ye that there should come unto you a Reminder from your Lord by means of a man among you, that he may warn you, and that ye may keep from evil, and that haply ye may find mercy.

64. But they denied him, so We saved him and those with him in the ship, and We drowned those who denied Our token

Lo! they were blind folk.

In Surah Yunus 10, the emphasis is on Nuh reminding the people of Allah’s Signs – which presumably focused on monotheism:

71. Recite unto them the story of Noah, when he told his people: O my people! If my sojourn (here) and my reminding you by Allah’s revelations are an offence unto you, in Allah have I put my trust, so decide upon your course of action... 72. …I am commanded to be of those who surrender (unto Him). 73. But they denied him, so We saved him and those with him in the ship, and made them viceroys (in the earth), while We drowned those who denied Our revelations. See then the nature of the consequence for those who had been warned.

When we turn to Surah 26 Ash-Shu’araa, we witness the hostility of the people to the message of Nuh, especially in v116:

105. Noah’s folk denied the messengers (of Allah),

106. When their brother Noah said unto them: Will ye not ward off (evil)?

107. Lo! I am a faithful messenger unto you,

108. So keep your duty to Allah, and obey me.

109. And I ask of you no wage therefor; my wage is the concern only of the Lord of the Worlds.

110. So keep your duty to Allah, and obey me.

111. They said: Shall we put faith in thee, when the lowest (of the people) follow thee?

112. He said: And what knowledge have I of what they may have been doing (in the past)?

113. Lo! their reckoning is my Lord’s concern, if ye but knew;

114. And I am not (here) to repulse believers.

115. I am only a plain warner.

116. They said: If thou cease not, O Noah, thou wilt surely be among those stoned (to death).

117. He said: My Lord! Lo! my own folk deny me.

118. Therefor judge Thou between us, a (conclusive) judgment, and save me and those believers who are with me.

119. And We saved him and those with him in the laden ship.

120. Then afterward We drowned the others.

It should be noted that according to Surah 29 Al-Ankabut, the ministry of Nuh to his people was extravagantly long: “14. And verify We sent Noah (as Our messenger) unto his folk, and he continued with them for a thousand years save fifty years; and the flood engulfed them, for they were wrongdoers. 15. And We rescued him and those with him in the ship, and made of it a portent for the peoples.” This implies that Allah is presented as someone who does not like to leave people without a prophet for long. Finally, as to the Qur’an, we note the emphasis on the threat of divine judgment:

Surah Nuh 71

1. Lo! We sent Noah unto his people (saying): Warn thy people ere the painful doom come unto them. 2. He said: O my people! Lo! I am a plain warner unto you 3. (Bidding you): Serve Allah and keep your duty unto Him and obey me, 4 That He may forgive you somewhat of your sins and respite you to an appointed term. Lo! the term of Allah, when it cometh, cannot be delayed, if ye but knew.

Ibn Kathir comments on religious conditions at the time of Nuh (Ibn Kathir, Stories of The Prophets, Translated by Muhammad Mustapha Geme’ah, Al-Azhar, www.islambasics.com, n.d., p. 24):

For many generations Noah’s people had been worshipping statues that they called gods. They believed that these gods would bring them good, protect them from evil and provide all their needs. They gave their idols names such as Waddan, Suwa’an, Yaghutha, Ya’auga, and Nasran (these idols represented, respectively, manly power; mutability, beauty; brute strength, swiftness, sharp sight, insight) according to the power they thought these gods possessed.

Allah the Almighty revealed:

“They (idolaters) have said: “You shall not leave your gods nor shall you leave Wadd, nor Suwa, nor Yaghuth, nor Yauq nor Nasr (names of the idols).” (CH 71:23 Quran). Originally these were the names of good people who had lived among them. After their deaths, statues of them were erected to keep their memories alive. After some time, however, people began to worship these statues. Later generations did not even know why they had been erected; they only knew their parents had prayed to them. That is how idol worshipping developed. Since they had no understanding of Allah the Almighty Who would punish them for their evil deeds, they became cruel and immoral.

This becomes relevant to the issue of Mecca, in the light of this hadith from Bukhari:

Narrated Ibn `Abbas

Sahih al-Bukhari 4920 Book 65, Hadith 440 [USC-MSA web (English) reference: Vol. 6, Book 60, Hadith 442]

All the idols which were worshiped by the people of Noah were worshiped by the Arabs later on. As for the idol Wadd, it was worshiped by the tribe of Kalb at Daumat-al-Jandal; Suwa` was the idol of (the tribe of) Hudhail; Yaghouth was worshiped by (the tribe of) Murad and then by Bani Ghutaif at Al-Jurf near Saba; Ya`uq was the idol of Hamdan, and Nasr was the idol of Himyar, the branch of Dhi-al-Kala`. The names (of the idols) formerly belonged to some pious men of the people of Noah, and when they died Satan inspired their people to (prepare and place idols at the places where they used to sit, and to call those idols by their names. The people did so, but the idols were not worshiped till those people (who initiated them) had died and the origin of the idols had become obscure, whereupon people began worshiping them.

The tribe of Hudhail is described as “a tribe of Northern Arab descent in the vicinity of Mecca and al-Taaif... Hudhayl was closely related to Kinana and consequently to Kuraysh… Hudhayl has occupied much of the territory immediately west and east of Mecca and on up into the mountains towards al-Ta’if; there is no tradition of its having migrated here from elsewhere… According to Ibn al-Kalbī, the people of Hudhayl were the first among the descendants of Isma‘il to become idolaters.” (G. Rentz, “Hudhayl”, B. Lewis, V. L. Menage, Ch. Pellat and J. Schacht [Eds.], Encyclopedia of Islam, Volume III, Leiden: Brill, 1986, p. 540). The other tribes stretch from the north to the east and the south of the Peninsula, indicating that the whole country was overtaken by this apostasy.

If we turn to Abraham, the Bible records that Abram (his original name) was called by YHWH to leave his land (Mesopotamia, originally Ur and then Haran) to go to another land, which we soon learn is Canaan, Genesis 12:

Now YHWH said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

4 So Abram went, as YHWH had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 Then YHWH appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

Nothing is said about Abram’s prior religious beliefs. We are simply told (v7) that YHWH “appeared” to Abram, and in Acts 7:2, we learn that YHWH had appeared to him in Ur: “And Stephen said: ‘Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran…’” However, in Joshua 24, it is implied that the ancestors of the Israelites – indicating Abraham – worshiped the gods of Mesopotamia:

14 “Now therefore fear YHWH and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve YHWH. 15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve YHWH, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve YHWH.”

Nothing further is indicated about this. We may infer that Abram was converted by the appearance of YHWH. It is different when we turn to the Qur’an and Hadith about Ibrahim (Abraham): Surah An-Anam 6:74: “(Remember) when Abraham said unto his father Azar: Takest thou idols for gods? Lo! I see thee and thy folk in error manifest.” The text continues:

75. Thus did We show Abraham the kingdom of the heavens and the earth that he mighty be of those possessing certainty:

76. When the night grew dark upon him he beheld a star. He said: This is my Lord. But when it set, he said: I love not things that set

77. And when he saw the moon uprising, he exclaimed: This my Lord. But when it set, he said: Unless my Lord guide me, I surely shall become one of the folk who are astray.

78. And when he saw the sun uprising, he cried: This is my Lord! This is greater! And when it, set be exclaimed: O my people! Lo! I am free from all that ye associate (with Him).

79. Lo! I have turned my face toward him Who created the heavens and the earth, as one by nature upright, and I am not of the idolaters.

80. His people argued with him. He said: Dispute ye with me concerning Allah when He hath guided me? I fear not at all that which ye set beside Him unless my Lord willeth. My Lord includeth all things in His knowledge: Will ye not then remember?

81. How should I fear that which ye set up beside Him, when ye fear not to set up beside Allah that for which He hath revealed unto you no warrant? `Which of the two factions hath more right to safety?, (Answer me that) if ye have knowledge.

82. Those who believe and obscure not their belief by wrong doing, theirs is safety; and they are rightly guided.

83. That is Our argument. We gave it unto Abraham against his folk. We raise unto degrees of wisdom whom We will.

Lo! thy Lord is Wise, Aware.

Further indications of Ibrahim’s conversion to idol-less monotheism is found in Surah Maryam 19, which also displays the opposition he faced:

41. And make mention (O Muhammad) in the Scripture of Abraham. Lo! he was a saint, a Prophet.

42. When he said unto his father: O my father! Why worshippest thou that which beareth not nor seeth, nor can in aught avail thee?

43. O my father! Lo! there hath come unto me of knowledge that which came not unto thee. So follow me, and I will lead thee on a right path.

44. O my father! Serve not the devil. Lo! the devil is a rebel unto the Beneficent.

45. O my father! Lo! I fear lest a punishment from the Beneficent overtake thee so that thou become a comrade of the devil.

46. He said: Rejectest thou my gods, O Abraham? If thou cease not, I shall surely stone thee. Depart from me a long while!

47. He said: Peace be unto thee! I shall ask forgiveness of my Lord for thee. Lo! He was ever gracious unto me.

48. I shall withdraw from you and that unto which ye pray beside Allah, and I shall pray unto my Lord. It may be that, in prayer unto my Lord, I shall not be unblest.

49. So, when he had withdrawn from them and that which they were worshipping beside Allah. We gave him Isaac and Jacob. Each of them We made a Prophet.

However, Ibrahim did not leave it at that. He also presaged Muhammad in physically destroying idols, Surah Al-Anbiyaa 21:

51. And We verily gave Abraham of old his proper course, and We were Aware of him,

52. When he said unto his father and his folk: What are these images unto which ye pay devotion?

53. They said: We found our fathers worshippers of them.

54. He said: Verily ye and your fathers were in plain error.

55. They said: Bringest thou unto us the truth, or art thou some jester?

56. He said: Nay, but your Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth, Who created them; and I am of those who

testify unto that.

57. And, by Allah, I shall circumvent your idols after ye have gone away and turned your backs.

58. Then he reduced them to fragments, all save the chief of them, that haply they might have recourse to it.

59. They said: Who hath done this to our gods? Surely it must be some evil doer.

60. They said: We heard a youth make mention of them, who is called Abraham.

61. They said: Then bring him (hither) before the people’s eyes that they may testify.

62. They said: Is it thou who hast done this to our gods, O Abraham?

63. He said: But this, their chief hath done it. So question them, if they can speak.

64. Then gathered they apart and said: Lo! ye yourselves are the wrong doers.

65. And they were utterly confounded, and they said: Well thou knowest that these speak not.

66. He said: Worship ye then instead of Allah that which cannot profit you at all, nor harm you?

67. Fie on you and all that ye worship instead of Allah! Have ye then no sense?

68. They cried: Burn him and stand by your gods, if ye will be doing.

69. We said: O fire, be coolness and peace for Abraham.

70. And they wished to set a snare for him, but We made them the greater losers.

The basic story of Abraham’s idol-smashing is found elsewhere than the Qur’an – in the Jewish apocryphal legends. Specifically, it is found in the Midrash Genesis Rabbah, with the tale merely re-worked for the Qur’an:

13. AND HARAN DIED IN THE PRESENCE OF HIS FATHER TERAH (xi, 28).

R. Hiyya said: Terah was a manufacturer of idols. He once went away somewhere and left Abraham to sell them in his place. A man came and wished to buy one. ‘How old are you?’ Abraham asked him. ‘Fifty years,’ was the reply. ‘Woe to such a man!’ he exclaimed, ‘you are fifty years old and would worship a day-old object?’ At this, he became ashamed and departed. On another occasion, a woman came with a plateful of flour and requested him, ‘Take this and offer it to them.’ So he took a stick, broke them, and put the stick in the hand of the largest. When his father returned he demanded, ‘What have you done to them?’ ‘I cannot conceal it from you,’ he rejoined. “a woman came with a plateful of fine meal and requested me to offer it to them. One claimed, “I must eat first.” Thereupon the largest arose, took the stick, and broke them.’ ‘Why do you make sport of me,’ he cried out; ‘have they any knowledge?’ ‘Should not your ears listen to what your mouth is saying?’ he retorted.

(Freedman, H., & Simon, Maurice [trans./Eds.], Midrash Rabbah, [London: Soncino Press, 1939, 1961], pp. 310-311)

Interestingly, the Rabbinic editors of the book here quoted state: ‘The considerable indebtedness of Mahommed to the Midrash for the legendary and other material which he incorporated in the Koran has already been proved over a century ago by Abraham Geiger in his work, Was hat Mohammed aus dem Judenthume aufgenommen? (Ibid., p. xx). The Midrash was created about the third century A.D., completed about the sixth century (Ibid., pp. xxviii- xxix). So, it is clearly older than the Qur’an, though much younger than the Old Testament. It follows that the story of Abraham smashing the idols of his city is pure legend, not divine revelation. However, the point is, the prophetic pattern demonstrates devastating, even violent action against idolatry.

Most of the prophets listed in the Qur’an can be found in the Bible, and so it can be established that their primary, if not unique place of ministry was Palestine. In Surah 17 Al-Israa, otherwise known as Bani Israel, we are told that Jerusalem/Palestine is the “Blessed Land”: “1. Glorified be He Who carried His servant by night from the Inviolable Place of Worship to the Far Distant Place of Worship the neighbourhood whereof We have blessed, that We might show him of Our tokens! Lo! He, only He, is the Nearer, the Seer”. The Farthest Mosque is Al-Aqsa – which Muslims usually explain as not meaning the Haram al-Sharif established by Ab-al Malik and his successors, but rather Jerusalem as a holy site. The very next verse speaks about the Bani Israil, so it is clear that the sphere of revelation for the prophets who came to Israel was indeed Palestine. This becomes even more clear in v104: “And We said unto the Children of Israel after him: Dwell in the land; but when the promise of the Hereafter cometh to pass we shall bring you as a crowd gathered out of various nations.” Again, in Surah Al-Jathiya 45 we read: “16. And verily We gave the Children of Israel the Scripture and the Command and the Prophethood, and provided them with good things and favoured them above (all) peoples”. So, the prophets who repeatedly came to the Israelites arrived on the basis of the people’s apostasy from the principles of Islam that they (supposedly) received from Ibrahim, ʾIsḥāq, Yaʿqūb and Musa – specifically, the prohibitions on idolatry and polytheism. This was further necessitated by the sacred character of their land according to Surah 17:1.

Before we go on to address Mecca, we should also consider the Arab prophets of the Qur’an apart from Muhammad himself. Wheeler makes this observation:

In his discussion of the prophet Salih and the people of Thamud, Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari (d. 310/923) mentions a dispute concerning references in the Bible to the Arab prophets mentioned in the Qur’an: As for the People of the Torah, they allege that there is no mention of ‘Ad, Thamud, Hūd and Sālih in the Torah. Their word among the Arabs in pre-Islamic and Islamic times is like the repute of Abraham and his people. The idea that the Jews, or ‘People of the Torah’, refused to acknowledge the Bible as a confirmation of the Qur’an, and, by extension, the authority of the Prophet Muhammad, is not uncommon in Muslim exegesis. There are a number of well known cases in which exegesis of certain verses, such as Q. 3:93 and Q. 2:222, focuses on a challenge made by the Jews to the Prophet. In his history, Ibn al-Athir repeats the remark made by al-Tabari, adding a comparison of the denial of the Arab prophets with the Jews’ rejection of Jesus as the Christ. These passages indicate that denying the mention of Hūd and Sālih in the Bible is part of the larger motif of the Jews rejecting the claim that the prophethood of Muhammad was foretold in the Bible as a continuation and fulfillment of ancient Israelite prophecy.

(Wheeler, Brannon, “Arab Prophets of the Qur’an and Bible”, Journal of Qur’anic Studies, Vol. 8, No. 2, 2006, p. 24)

We saw earlier that Shu’ayb has been very tentatively and perhaps questionably associated with Jethro, but no Biblical equivalents exist for Hūd and Sālih. Wheeler continues (p. 25):

In his collection of prophetic hadith reports, Muhammad ibn Hibban (d. 354/965) cites, from a number of authorities, a long conversation between the Prophet Muhammad and Abu Dharr. During the conversation Abu Dharr asked Muhammad about prophets:

[Abu Dharr said] I said, ‘Apostle of God, how many prophets (anbiyā’) are there?’ He said, ‘One hundred and twenty thousand.’ I said, ‘Apostle of God, how many of them are messengers (rusul) He said, ‘Three hundred and thirteen altogether.’ I said, ‘Apostle of God, who was the first of them?’ He said, ‘Adam.’ I said, ‘Apostle of God, was he a prophet sent as a messenger?’ He said, ‘Yes. God created him with His hand, breathed into him from His spirit, and spoke with him face to face.’ Then he [Prophet Muhammad] said, ‘Abu Dharr, four [prophets] are Syrian: Adam, Seth, Enoth - he is Idris, the first to write with a pen - and Noah. Four are Arab: Hūd, Shu’ayb, Sālih and your Prophet, Muhammad.’

Later, Wheeler comments about Shu’ayb:

Outside of the Bible and Qur’an, there is little direct evidence to which Muslim exegetes and historians can point for the historicity of the prophet Shu’ayb and the people to whom he was sent. According to a report, given on the authority of Wahb ibn Munabbih, Shu’ayb died in Mecca along with a group of his followers, all 70 of whom were buried to the west of the Ka’ba. In his exegesis of Q. 2:125, al Suyuti reports that Shu’ayb, along with Hūd, Sālih, Ishmael, and Noah are buried in the sanctuary at Mecca. Taqi al-Din al-Fasi (d. 832/1429) records a number of traditions preserving reports that large numbers of prophets were buried near the Ka’ba in Mecca. There is also a tomb around which is built a mosque in the Wadi Shu’ayb in Jordan just outside of the city of al-Salt which is said to be the tomb of the prophet Shu’ayb.

Noegel and Wheeler observe that there are different traditions about Shu’ayb among Muslim commentators:

Prophet mentioned 11 times in the Quran, and associated with Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses. Shuayb was sent to the people of Midian (Q 7:85–93, 11:84–95) and to the People of the Tanglewood (Q 15:78–79, 26:176–191). Muslim exegetes disagree about whether these are the same people, and Suyuti reports that some exegetes claim that Shuayb was also sent to the People of the Well. Ibn Kathir maintains that the people of Midian and the People of the Tanglewood are identical. Kisa’i explains that these were originally two different peoples, but that the People of the Tanglewood moved to Midian and intermarried with the people of Midian. Kisa’i also claims that Shuayb was the son of the leader of the people of Midian, a man named Zion, son of Anaq, who married an Amalekite woman.

The narratives of Shuayb are grouped together with four other prophets: Noah, Hud, Salih, and Lot. Shuayb’s prophethood comes at the end of this list just before the prophethood of Job, Dhu al-Kifl, and Jonah, but it is to Moses that Shuayb passes on the mantle of prophethood, symbolized by his rod that had been passed down to Shuayb from Adam through all the previous prophets. Muslim exegesis of Q 28:21–28 consistently identifies Shuayb with Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, though Ibn Kathir claims there would be a space of about 400 years between Shuayb and Moses assuming that Shuayb lived close to the time of Lot (Q 11:89).

(Noegel & Wheeler, Historical Dictionary of Prophets in Islam and Judaism, pp. 303-304)

If we first examine what Surah Al-A’raf 7 states about Shu’ayb, we find that apart from ethical concerns, they are presented as apostates from the worship of Allah:

85. And unto Midian (We sent) their brother, Shueyb. He said: O my people! Serve Allah. Ye have no other God save Him. Lo! a clear proof hath come unto you from your Lord; so give full measure and full weight and wrong not mankind in their goods, and work not confusion in the earth after the fair ordering thereof. That will be better for you, if ye are believers.

86. Lurk not on every road to threaten (wayfarers), and to turn away from Allah’s path him who believeth in Him, and to seek to make it crooked. And remember, when ye were but few, how He did multiply you. And see the nature of the consequence for the corrupters!

87. And if there is a party of you which believeth in that wherewith I have been sent, and there is a party which believeth not, then have patience until Allah judge between us. He is the best of all who deal in judgment.

88. The chieftains of his people, who were scornful, said: Surely we will drive thee out, O Shueyb, and those who believe with thee, from our township, unless ye return to our religion. He said: Even though we hate it?

89. We should have invented a lie against Allah if we returned to your religion after Allah hath rescued us from it. It is not for us to return to it unless Allah should (so) will. Our Lord comprehendeth all things in knowledge. In Allah do we put our trust. Our Lord! Decide with truth between us and our folk, for Thou art the best of those who make decision.

90. But the chieftains of his people, who were disbelieving, said: If ye follow Shueyb, then truly we shall be the losers.

91. So the earthquake seized them, and morning found them prostrate in their dwelling place.

92. Those who denied Shueyb became as though they had not dwelt there. Those who denied Shueyb, they were the losers.

93. So he turned from them and said: O my people! I delivered my Lord’s messages unto you and gave you good advice; then how can I sorrow for a people that rejected (truth)?

It is not difficult to see the arrangement of this story as supposedly presaging Muhmmad’s mission to Mecca, and his rejection by the Meccan pagans, together with their persecution of his followers to the point of expulsion, according to the traditional Islamic account. However, if Shu’ayb is indeed to be identified with Jethro, there may be some derivation from a traditional story associated with the latter, not from the Bible, but rather later Jewish traditions. In the Bible, Jethro is described as “the priest of Midian”, Exodus 3:1. The term “Midian” may be territorial rather than ethnic, and there may have been several distinct ethnic groups in that region. We know nothing about religious conditions therein. At any rate, Jethro was probably not a worshiper of the God of Israel at that point, given his reaction to Moses after the latter informs him of the acts of deliverance for Israel by YHWH in Exodus 18:

10 Jethro said, “Blessed be YHWH, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that YHWH is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people.” 12 And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.

There are several potential interpretations, but perhaps this suggests that Jethro was originally either a polytheist or a monolater, who worshipped El, the generic name for the chief God in the Levant and possibly the northern Hijaz - the Midianite lands crossed both regions. Rather like Melchizedek, after the demonstration of the power of YHWH, he identifies this deity with YHWH. Significantly, perhaps, he offers sacrifice to Elohim. At any rate, there is no record of his returning to evangelize his people as to the true faith – in the Bible. As for Jewish traditions, in the Midrash Exodus Rabbah 1:32 on Exodus 2:16, we find this:

Jethro was a priest of idolatry, but he saw that there was no truth [ממש] in it so he despised it and decided to repent even before Moses came. He called the men of the city and said to them: “Until now I have been ministering for you, but now I am old. Choose for yourselves another priest [כומר].” He stood and brought out all the implements of idolatry and gave them all to them. They stood and excommunicated him [נדוהו] so that no one would be in his company nor do work for him nor shepherd his flock.

(Lawrence, Beatrice J. W., Jethro and the Jews: Jewish biblical interpretation and the question of identity, Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2017, p. 106)

Admittedly, the dating of this midrash is late, but it may reflect earlier traditions. Notably, Targum of Pseudo Jonathan, probably dated to the second century A.D., does indeed state of Jethro “that he formally converted. In its version of Exod 18:6, the Targum tells us that Jethro sends word to Moses concerning his arrival, saying, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you to convert (לאתגיירא).” The Targumist has turned the statement in the Bible, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons” into a statement of intention to convert combined with an appeal to be received.” (Ibid., pp. 140-141).

The other Qur’anic passages essentially repeat what Surah 7 states. Ibn Kathir comments:

The people of Madyan were Arabs who lived in the country of Ma’an, part of which today is greater Syria. They were a greedy people who did not believe that Allah existed and who led wicked lives. They gave short measure, praised their goods beyond their worth, and hid their defects. They lied to their customers, thereby cheating them.

Allah sent His Prophet Shu’aib (pbuh) armed with many miracles. Shu’aib preached to them, begging them to be mindful of Allah’s favours and warning them of the consequences of their evil ways, but they only mocked him. Shu’aib remained calm as he reminded them of his kinship to them and that what he was doing was not for his personal gain.

They seized the belongings of Shu’aib and his followers, then drove them out of the city. The Messenger turned to his Lord for help, and his plea was answered. Allah sent down on them scorching heat and they suffered terribly. On seeing a cloud gathering in the sky, they thought it would bring cool, refreshing rain, and rushed outside in the hope of enjoying the rainfall. Instead the cloud burst, hurling thunderbolts and fire. They heard a thunderous sound from above which caused the earth under their feet to tremble. The evil doers perished in this state of horror.

(Ibn Kathir, Stories of The Prophets, pp. 71-72)

The prophet Hūd is depicted as having a similar ministry to that of Shu’ayb:

The account of the Arab prophet Hud, sent to people of Ad, is found in Q 7:65–72, 11:50–60, 26:123–140, 41:15–16, and 46:21–25. His genealogy is given variously as Hud b. Shelah b. Arpachshad b. Shem b. Noah or Hud b. Abdallah b. Rabbah b. Ad b. Uz b. Aram b. Shem b. Noah. The first genealogy seems to identify Hud with the biblical Eber (Gen 10:24), and the second makes the people of Ad descendants of Uz [Ar. ‘Aws] b. Aram. Other traditions identify the Aram given here with the “Iram” of Q 89:7, which is said to be the name of the city in which the people of Ad lived, a city made of gold and silver that would move about the earth. The Quran places the people of Ad among the “winding sand-tracts” [Ar. al-Ahqaf], which usually is understood to be at the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula between Oman and the Hadramawt (Q 46:21). Ibn Kathir reports that Hud was the first to speak Arabic, and that the people of Ad were the “Original” Arabs, as opposed to the “Arabicized” Arabs who descended from Ishmael.

(Noegel & Wheeler, Historical Dictionary of Prophets in Islam and Judaism, pp. 140-141)

Surah 7 presents the picture of Hūd in this way:

65. And unto (the tribe of) Aad (We sent) their brother, Hud. He said: O my people! Serve Allah. Ye have no other God save Him. Will ye not ward off (evil)?

66. The chieftains of his people, who were disbelieving, said: Lo! we surely see thee in foolishness, and lo! we deem thee of the liars.

67. He said: O my people; There is no foolishness in me, but I am a messenger from the Lord of the Worlds.

68. I convey unto you the messages of my Lord and am for you a true adviser.

69. Marvel ye that there should come unto you a Reminder from your Lord by means of a man among you, that he may warn you? Remember how He made you viceroys after Noah’s folk, and gave you growth of stature. Remember (all) the bounties of your Lord, that haply ye may be successful.

70. They said: Hast come unto us that we should serve Allah alone, and forsake what our fathers worshipped? Then bring upon us that wherewith thou threatenest us if thou art of the truth.

71. He said: Terror and wrath from your Lord have already fallen on you. Would ye wrangle with me over names which ye have named, ye and your fathers, for which no warrant from Allah hath been revealed? Then await (the consequence), Lo! I (also) am of those awaiting (it).

72. And We saved him and those with him by a mercy from Us, and We cut the root of those who denied Our revelations and were not believers.

It is questionable if the Ad are to be located in the south of Arabia, in desert sands. In Surah Ash-Shu’araa 26, we read:

128. Build ye on every high place a monument for vain delight?

129. And seek ye out strongholds, that haply ye may last for ever?

130. And if ye seize by force, seize ye as tyrants?

131. Rather keep your duty to Allah, and obey me.

132. Keep your duty toward Him who hath aided you with (the good things) that ye know,

133. Hath aided you with cattle and sons.

134. And gardens and water springs.

The reference to “gardens and springs” suggests the northern Hijaz rather than Oman. Similarly, the account in Surah Al-Ahqaf 46 indicates a more fertile area: “24. Then when they beheld it a dense cloud coming toward their valleys, they said; Here is a cloud bringing us rain. Nay, but it is that which ye did seek to hasten, a wind wherein is painful torment, 25. Destroying all things by commandment of its Lord. And morning found them so that naught could be seen save their dwellings. Thus do We reward the guilty folk.” Despite this, and his own descriptions, Ibn Kathir places them near Oman (op. cit., p. 33):

The people of ‘Ad lived many years in the windswept hills of an area between Yemen and Oman. They were physically well built and renowned for their craftsmanship especially in the construction of tall buildings with lofty towers. They were outstanding among all the nations in power and wealth, which, unfortunately, made them arrogant and boastful. Their political power was held in the hand of unjust rulers, against whom no one dared to raise a voice. They were not ignorant of the existence of Allah, nor did they refuse to worship Him. What they did refuse was to worship Allah alone. They worshipped other gods, also, including idols. This is one sin Allah does not forgive.

The polytheism of the Ad is made clearer in Surah Hūd 11: “53. They said: O Hud! Thou hast brought us no clear proof and we are not going to forsake our gods on thy (mere) saying, and we are not believers in thee. 54. We say naught save that one of our gods hath possessed thee in an evil way. He said: I call Allah to witness, and do ye (too) bear witness, that I am innocent of (all) that ye ascribe as partners (to Allah)”.

The Prophet Sālih and his story also suggest a place in northern Hijaz:

The story of the Arab prophet Salih, sent to the people of Thamud, is found in Q 7:73–79, 11:61–68, 15:80–84, 17:59, 26:141–159, 27:45–53, 41:17–18, 54:23–32, and 91:11–15. Salih’s genealogy is sometimes given as Salih b. Ubayd b. Asif b. Masikh b. Ubayd b. Khadir b. Thamud b. Gether b. Aram b. Shem b. Noah with Thamud descending from Gether rather than Uz [Ar. Aws], as with the Ad. Tha’labi gives the genealogy as Salih b. Ubayd b. Asif b. Mashij b. Ubayd b. Hadhir b. Thamud b. Ad b. Uz b. Aram b. Shem b. Noah, making the Thamud to be descendants of Ad.

(Noegel & Wheeler, Historical Dictionary of Prophets in Islam and Judaism, pp. 288-289)

Indeed, this is further suggested by the other name for Hegra, tha ancient southern capital of the Nabataean kingdom - Mada’in Salih:

The city of Mada’in Salih, also called Magha’ir Salih and referred to as “al-Hijr” (Q 15:80), is located in the northern Hijaz at the site of some Nabataean ruins. Late antique Greek sources refer to the people of Thamud, though they place them considerably later in history than Muslim exegesis. The Assyrian king Sargon II also has left an inscription, which dates to 710 BCE and mentions Sargon’s victory over an Arab tribe called Thamud. Muslim sources report that the prophet Muhammad passed by the former site of the people of Thamud and declared the area and its water off limits.

(Ibid., p. 289)

Surah 7 links them with the Ad and replicates the Islamic prophetic pattern:

73. And to (the tribe of) Thamud (We sent) their brother Salih. He said: O my people! Serve Allah. Ye have no other God save Him. A wonder from your Lord hath come unto you. Lo! this is the camel of Allah, a token unto you; so let her feed in Allah’s earth, and touch her not with hurt lest painful torment seize you.

74. And remember how He made you viceroys after Aad and gave you station in the earth. Ye choose castles in the plains and hew the mountains into dwellings. So remember (all) the bounties of Allah and do not evil, making mischief in the earth.

75. The chieftains of his people, who were scornful, said unto those whom they despised, unto such of them as believed: Know ye that Salih is one sent from his Lord? They said: Lo! In that wherewith he hath been sent we are believers.

76. Those who were scornful said: Lo! in that which ye believe we are disbelievers.

77. So they hamstrung the she-camel, and they flouted the commandment of their Lord, and they said: O Salih! Bring upon us that thou threatenest if thou art indeed of those sent (from Allah).

78. So the earthquake seized them, and morning found them prostrate in their dwelling place.

79. And Salih turned on them and said: O my people! I delivered my Lord’s message unto you and gave you good advice, but ye love not good advisers.

80. And Lo! (Remember) when he said unto his folk: Will ye commit abomination such as no creature ever did before you?

81. Lo! ye come with lust unto men instead of women. Nay, but ye, are wanton folk.

82. And the answer of his people was only that they said (one to another): Turn them out of your township. They are folk, forsooth, who keep pure.

83. And We rescued him and his household, save his wife, who was of those who stayed behind.

84. And We rained a rain upon them. See now the nature of the consequence for evil doers!

Parts of this are reminiscent of the story of Lot and Sodom, but the central point is that of worshipping gods other than Allah, the rejection of the prophet, and the divine punishment that ensues. The vital point is that here we are presented with Arab prophets, who come to Arab peoples to deliver them from polytheism and idolatry. There are even traditions of these prophets being buried in Mecca. Yet none of them ministered in Mecca itself, and no one followed them to preach to the Meccans. Obviously, since these peoples were destroyed, no subsequent prophet could come to them. We will now see how all of this is problematic for Islam.

1. Mecca as the original sanctuary

The Hadith indicates that the first mosque – in the sense of a place of worship - was Mecca:

Narrated Abu Dhar

Sahih al-Bukhari 3366

I said, “O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)! Which mosque was first built on the surface of the earth?” He said, “Al- Masjid-ul-Haram (in Mecca).” I said, “Which was built next?” He replied “The mosque of Al-Aqsa (in Jerusalem).” I said, “What was the period of construction between the two?” He said, “Forty years.” He added, “Wherever (you may be, and) the prayer time becomes due, perform the prayer there, for the best thing is to do so (i.e. to offer the prayers in time).

Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari 3366

In-book reference: Book 60, Hadith 40

USC-MSA web (English) reference: Vol. 4, Book 55, Hadith 585

Does this refer to the era of Creation, or to events during the life of Muhammad and the First Caliphs? The text is unclear on this, but perhaps the former is to be preferred. In this light, we should note how Ibn Kathir (op. cit., pp. 17-18) presents differing (non-canonical) traditions about the role of Adam and Eve in the founding of Mecca:

There are many traditions concerning the place of Adam’s descent upon earth. Ibn Abi Hatim narrated that Ibn Abbas said: “Adam descended on land ‘Dihna’ between Mecca and Taif.” Al-Hassan said that Adam descended in India and Eve in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Iblis Bodistiman (Iraq), and the serpent in Ashahan (Iran). This last was also reported by Ibn Hatim.

Ass’ady related that Adam descended with the Black Stone (a large black stone set into the wall of the Ka’ba in Mecca. It is said to have come from Paradise) in India…

Ibn Umar said that Adam descended on As-Safa and Eve on Al Marwa (names of two mountains in the vicinity of the sacred house in Mecca. Part of the rites of pilgrimage (hajj) includes pacing between these two hills in commemoration of Hajar’s search for water). This was also reported by Ibn Hatim.

Similar ideas are presented by Tabari, who begins by indicating that after Adam performed his initial disobedience, he was “sent down” from Paradise to India:

Then, before sunset of the day-Friday-on which God had created Adam, He cast him down from heaven together with his spouse. According to the early scholars of our Prophet’s nation, He brought him down in India.

This has been stated by some scholars, such as, for instance According to al-Hasan b. Yahya-’Abd al-Razzaq-Ma’mar-Qatadah: God cast Adam down to earth. The place where he fell down was the land of India.

According to ‘Amr b. ‘Aft"! -’Imran b. ‘Uyaynah -’Ata’ b. al-Sa’ib-Sa’id b. Jubayr-Ibn ‘Abbas: When God first cast Adam down, it was in Dahna(’) of the land of India.

I was told on the authority of ‘Ammar (b. al-Hasan)-’Abdallah b. Abi Ja’far-his father-al-Raba’ b. Anas-Abu al-’Aliyah: Adam was cast down in India.

According to Ibn Sinan-al-Hajjaj-Hammad b. Salamah-’Ali b. Zayd-Yusuf b. Mihran-Ibn ‘Abbas-’Ali b. Abi Talib: The land with the sweetest smell on earth is the land of India. When Adam was cast down there, some of the smell of Paradise clung to India’s trees.

(Tabari, pp. 290-291)

In contrast, Eve was cast down to Arabia -in Jeddah, described as “the land of Mecca”:

According to al-Harith (b. Muhammad-Ibn Sa’d-Hisham b. Muhammad-his father-Abu Salih-Ibn ‘Abbas: Adam was cast own in India, and Eve in Juddah. He went in search of her, and eventually they were united. Eve drew near (z-1-f) him, hence al-Muzdalifah. They recognized (‘-r-f) each other, hence ‘Arafat. And they were united (j-m-‘) in Jam‘, hence Jam‘. He continued. Adam was cast down upon a mountain in India called Nūdh…

According to Ibn Humayd-Salamah-Ibn Ishaq: The people of the Torah on their part said: Adam was cast down in India upon a mountain called Wasm on a river (valley) called Buhayl between two places in the land of India, al-Dahnaj and al-Mandal. They continued. Eve was cast down in Juddah of the land of Mecca. Others said: Rather, Adam was cast down in Sarandib (Ceylon) upon a mountain called Nūdh, Eve in Juddah of the land of Mecca…

According to al-Hasan b. Yahya-’Abd al-Razzaq-Hisham b. Hassan-Sawwar, the son-in-law (khatan) of ‘Atai795 -’Ata’ b. Abi Rabah: When God cast Adam down from Paradise, Adam’s feet were upon earth, while his head was in heaven and he heard the speech and prayers of the inhabitants of heaven… Adam missed what he used to hear, from the angels and felt lonely so much so that he eventually complained about it to God in his various prayers. He was therefore sent to Mecca. (On the way, every) place where he set foot became a village, and (the interval between) his steps became a desert, until he reached Mecca. God sent down a jewel (yaqūt [“ruby”]) of Paradise where the House is located today. (Adam) continued to circumambulate it, until God sent down the Flood. That jewel was lifted up, until God sent His friend Abraham to (re)build the House (in its later form). This is (meant by) God’s word: “And We established for Abraham the place of the House as residence.”

(Ibid., pp. 291, 292, 293)

Footnote 787, p. 291, states: “Like al-Muzdalifah and ‘Arafat, Jam‘ refers to some locality near Mecca connected with the pilgrimage. It is also sometimes considered as just another name for al-Muzdalifah.” The place al-Muzdalifah is situated near Mecca, and a stay there is part of the Haj ritual. The importance of all this is that Adam and Eve are reunited in the vicinity of Mecca. This suggests the immediate divine purpose of sanctifying the precinct of Mecca even before its construction. Another tradition takes this further:

According to al-Harith-Ibn Sa’d-Hisham b. Muhammad - his father-Abu Salih Ibn ‘Abbas: When Adam’s size was lowered to sixty cubits, he started to say: My lord! I was Your protege (jār) in Your house… Then God revealed to Adam: I have a sacred territory around My Throne. Go and build a house for Me there! Then crowd around it, as you have seen My angels crowd around My Throne. There I shall respond to you and all your children who are obedient to Me. Adam said: My Lord! How could I do that? I do not have the strength to do it and do not know how. So God chose an angel to assist him, and he went with him toward Mecca. Whenever Adam passed by a meadow or place that he liked, he would say to the angel: Let us stop here! and the angel would say to him: Please do! This went on until they reached Mecca. Every place where he stopped became cultivated land. and every place he bypassed became a desolate desert. He built the House with (materials from) five mountains: Mount Sinai, the Mount of Olives, (Mount) Lebanon, and al-Judi,’ and he constructed its foundations with (materials from Mount) Hira’ (near Mecca). When he finished with its construction, the angel went out with him to `Arafat. He showed him all the rites (connected with the pilgrimage) that people perform today. Then he went with him to Mecca, and (Adam) circumambulated the House for a week…

According to Abu Ma’mar Salih b. Harb, the mawlā of the Hashimites - Thumamah b. `Abidah (‘Ubaydah) al-Sulami - Abu al-Zabir -Nafi’ (the mawla of Ibn ‘Umar)-Ibn ‘Umar:

While Adam was in India, God revealed to him that he should perform the pilgrimage to this House. So Adam left India to go on the pilgrimage. Wherever he put down his foot on a place, that place became a village. Every interval between his steps became a desert. Eventually he reached the House. He circumambulated it and performed all the rites (of the pilgrimage). Then he wanted to return to India and went off. When he reached the two mountain passes of ‘Arafat, the angels met him and said: You have performed the pilgrimage faultlessly. This surprised him. When the angels noticed his surprise, they said: Adam! We have performed the pilgrimage to this House two thousand years before you were created. He continued. And Adam felt properly chastised.

(Ibid., pp. 294-295)

The Qur’an indicates the antiquity and ancient sanctity of Mecca prior to the prophetic career of Muhammad:

Surah Al-Imran 3:96. “Lo! the first House appointed for mankind was that at Bakkah, a blessed place, a guidance to the worlds…”

Surah Al-An’am 6: 92 “And this is a Book which We have sent down, blessed and confirming what was before it, that you may warn the Mother of Cities and those around it. Those who believe in the Hereafter believe in it, and they are maintaining their prayers.”

Leaving aside the question of the identity of “Bakkah” and “Makkah”, this indicates that from the moment of its emergence, Mecca was designated a holy city by Allah. However, the Qur’an indicates that it was Ibrahim and Ismail who founded Mecca and built the Kaabah, and it was during Muhammad’s time that it was made or re-made a sanctuary:

Surah al-Baqarah 2

125. And when We made the House (at Mecca) a resort for mankind and a sanctuary, (saying): Take as your place of worship the place where Abraham stood (to pray). And We imposed a duty upon Abraham and Ishmael, (saying): Purify My house for those who go around and those who meditate therein and those who bow down and prostrate themselves (in worship).

126. And when Abraham prayed: My Lord! Make this a region of security and bestow upon its people fruits, such of them as believe in Allah and the Last Day…

127. And when Abraham and Ishmael were raising the foundations of the House, (Abraham prayed): Our Lord! Accept from us (this duty). Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Nearer, the Knower.

Surah Al-i-Imran 3

96. Lo! the first Sanctuary appointed for mankind was that at Mecca, a blessed place, a guidance to the peoples;

97. Wherein are plain memorials (of Allah’s guidance); the place where Abraham stood up to pray; and whosoever entereth it is safe…

Surah 14 Ibrahim

35. And when Abraham said: My Lord! Make safe this territory, and preserve me and my sons from serving idols.

The Hadith presents a similar picture of Ibrahim and Ismail constructing the Kaaba, after Ismail and Hajar (Hagar)were expelled by Ibrahim, to the extent that the Zamzam well is depicted as the result of Hajar seeking water, and then Mecca is built:

Narrated Ibn `Abbas:

The first lady to use a girdle was the mother of Ishmael. She used a girdle so that she might hide her tracks from Sarah. Abraham brought her and her son Ishmael while she was suckling him, to a place near the Ka`ba under a tree on the spot of Zamzam, at the highest place in the mosque. During those days there was nobody in Mecca, nor was there any water. So he made them sit over there and placed near them a leather bag containing some dates, and a small water-skin containing some water, and set out homeward. Ishmael’s mother followed him saying, “O Abraham! Where are you going, leaving us in this valley where there is no person whose company we may enjoy, nor is there anything (to enjoy)?” She repeated that to him many times, but he did not look back at her Then she asked him, “Has Allah ordered you to do so?” He said, “Yes.” She said, “Then He will not neglect us,” and returned while Abraham proceeded onwards, and on reaching the Thaniya where they could not see him, he faced the Ka`ba, and raising both hands, invoked Allah saying the following prayers: ‘O our Lord! I have made some of my offspring dwell in a valley without cultivation, by Your Sacred House (Ka`ba at Mecca) in order, O our Lord, that they may offer prayer perfectly. So fill some hearts among men with love towards them, and (O Allah) provide them with fruits, so that they may give thanks.’ (14.37) Ishmael’s mother went on suckling Ishmael and drinking from the water (she had). When the water in the water-skin had all been used up, she became thirsty and her child also became thirsty. She started looking at him (i.e. Ishmael) tossing in agony; She left him, for she could not endure looking at him, and found that the mountain of Safa was the nearest mountain to her on that land. She stood on it and started looking at the valley keenly so that she might see somebody, but she could not see anybody. Then she descended from Safa and when she reached the valley, she tucked up her robe and ran in the valley like a person in distress and trouble, till she crossed the valley and reached the Marwa mountain where she stood and started looking, expecting to see somebody, but she could not see anybody. She repeated that (running between Safa and Marwa) seven times.” The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “This is the source of the tradition of the walking of people between them (i.e. Safa and Marwa). When she reached the Marwa (for the last time) she heard a voice and she asked herself to be quiet and listened attentively. She heard the voice again and said, ‘O, (whoever you may be)! You have made me hear your voice; have you got something to help me?” And behold! She saw an angel at the place of Zamzam, digging the earth with his heel (or his wing), till water flowed from that place. She started to make something like a basin around it, using her hand in this way, and started filling her water-skin with water with her hands, and the water was flowing out after she had scooped some of it.” The Prophet (ﷺ) added, “May Allah bestow Mercy on Ishmael’s mother! Had she let the Zamzam (flow without trying to control it) (or had she not scooped from that water) (to fill her water-skin), Zamzam would have been a stream flowing on the surface of the earth.” The Prophet (ﷺ) further added, “Then she drank (water) and suckled her child. The angel said to her, ‘Don’t be afraid of being neglected, for this is the House of Allah which will be built by this boy and his father, and Allah never neglects His people.’ The House (i.e. Ka`ba) at that time was on a high place resembling a hillock, and when torrents came, they flowed to its right and left. She lived in that way till some people from the tribe of Jurhum or a family from Jurhum passed by her and her child, as they (i.e. the Jurhum people) were coming through the way of Kada’. They landed in the lower part of Mecca where they saw a bird that had the habit of flying around water and not leaving it. They said, ‘This bird must be flying around water, though we know that there is no water in this valley.’ They sent one or two messengers who discovered the source of water, and returned to inform them of the water. So, they all came (towards the water).” The Prophet (ﷺ) added, “Ishmael’s mother was sitting near the water. They asked her, ‘Do you allow us to stay with you?” She replied, ‘Yes, but you will have no right to possess the water.’ They agreed to that.” The Prophet (ﷺ) further said, “Ishmael’s mother was pleased with the whole situation as she used to love to enjoy the company of the people. So, they settled there, and later on they sent for their families who came and settled with them so that some families became permanent residents there. The child (i.e. Ishmael) grew up and learnt Arabic from them and (his virtues) caused them to love and admire him as he grew up, and when he reached the age of puberty they made him marry a woman from amongst them…

Then Abraham stayed away from them for a period as long as Allah wished, and called on them afterwards. He saw Ishmael under a tree near Zamzam, sharpening his arrows. When he saw Abraham, he rose up to welcome him (and they greeted each other as a father does with his son or a son does with his father). Abraham said, ‘O Ishmael! Allah has given me an order.’ Ishmael said, ‘Do what your Lord has ordered you to do.’ Abraham asked, ‘Will you help me?’ Ishmael said, ‘I will help you.’ Abraham said, ‘Allah has ordered me to build a house here,’ pointing to a hillock higher than the land surrounding it.” The Prophet (ﷺ) added, “Then they raised the foundations of the House (i.e. the Ka`ba). Ishmael brought the stones and Abraham was building, and when the walls became high, Ishmael brought this stone and put it for Abraham who stood over it and carried on building, while Ishmael was handing him the stones, and both of them were saying, ‘O our Lord! Accept (this service) from us, Verily, You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.’ The Prophet (ﷺ) added, “Then both of them went on building and going round the Ka`ba saying: O our Lord ! Accept (this service) from us, Verily, You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.” (2.127)

Reference

:  Sahih al-Bukhari 3364

In-book reference

: Book 60, Hadith 38

USC-MSA web (English) reference

: Vol. 4, Book 55, Hadith 583

Narrated Ibn `Abbas:

When Abraham had differences with his wife), (because of her jealousy of Hajar, Ishmael’s mother), he took Ishmael and his mother and went away. They had a water-skin with them containing some water, Ishmael’s mother used to drink water from the water-skin so that her milk would increase for her child. When Abraham reached Mecca, he made her sit under a tree and afterwards returned home. Ishmael’s mother followed him, and when they reached Kada’, she called him from behind, ‘O Abraham! To whom are you leaving us?’ He replied, ‘(I am leaving you) to Allah’s (Care).’ She said, ‘I am satisfied to be with Allah.’ She returned to her place and started drinking water from the water-skin, and her milk increased for her child. When the water had all been used up, she said to herself, ‘I’d better go and look so that I may see somebody.’ She ascended the Safa mountain and looked, hoping to see somebody, but in vain. When she came down to the valley, she ran till she reached the Marwa mountain. She ran to and fro (between the two mountains) many times. They she said to herself, ‘I’d better go and see the state of the child,’ she went and found it in a state of one on the point of dying. She could not endure to watch it dying and said (to herself), ‘If I go and look, I may find somebody.’ She went and ascended the Safa mountain and looked for a long while but could not find anybody. Thus she completed seven rounds (of running) between Safa and Marwa. Again she said (to herself), ‘I’d better go back and see the state of the child.’ But suddenly she heard a voice, and she said to that strange voice, ‘Help us if you can offer any help.’ Lo! It was Gabriel (who had made the voice). Gabriel hit the earth with his heel like this (Ibn `Abbas hit the earth with his heel to Illustrate it), and so the water gushed out. Ishmael’s mother was astonished and started digging. (Abu Al-Qasim) (i.e. the Prophet) said, “If she had left the water, (flow naturally without her intervention), it would have been flowing on the surface of the earth.”) Ishmael’s mother started drinking from the water and her milk increased for her child. Afterwards some people of the tribe of Jurhum, while passing through the bottom of the valley, saw some birds, and that astonished them, and they said, ‘Birds can only be found at a place where there is water.’ They sent a messenger who searched the place and found the water, and returned to inform them about it. Then they all went to her and said, ‘O Ishmael’s mother! Will you allow us to be with you (or dwell with you)?’ (And thus they stayed there.) Later on her boy reached the age of puberty and married a lady from them…

Abu Al-Qa-sim (i.e. Prophet) said, “Because of Abraham’s invocation there are blessings (in Mecca).” Once more Abraham thought of visiting his family he had left (at Mecca), so he told his wife (Sarah) of his decision. He went and found Ishmael behind the Zamzam well, mending his arrows. He said, “O Ishmael, Your Lord has ordered me to build a house for Him.” Ishmael said, “Obey (the order of) your Lord.” Abraham said, “Allah has also ordered me that you should help me therein.” Ishmael said, “Then I will do.” So, both of them rose and Abraham started building (the Ka`ba) while Ishmael went on handing him the stones, and both of them were saying, “O our Lord! Accept (this service) from us, Verily, You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.” (2.127). When the building became high and the old man (i.e. Abraham) could no longer lift the stones (to such a high position), he stood over the stone of Al- Maqam and Ishmael carried on handing him the stones, and both of them were saying, ‘O our Lord! Accept (this service) from us, Verily You are All-Hearing, All-Knowing.” (2.127)

Reference

: Sahih al-Bukhari 3365

In-book reference

: Book 60, Hadith 39

USC-MSA web (English) reference

: Vol. 4, Book 55, Hadith 584

Narrated `Abdullah bin Zaid:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “The Prophet (ﷺ) Abraham made Mecca a sanctuary, and asked for Allah’s blessing in it. I made Medina a sanctuary as Abraham made Mecca a sanctuary and I asked for Allah’s Blessing in its measures the Mudd and the Sa as Abraham did for Mecca.

Reference

: Sahih al-Bukhari 2129

In-book reference

: Book 34, Hadith 81

USC-MSA web (English) reference

: Vol. 3, Book 34, Hadith 339

Narrated `Aisha:

(The wife of the Prophet) Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said (to her). “Don’t you see that when your folk built the Ka`ba, they did not build it on all the foundations built by Abraham?” I said, “O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)! Why don’t we rebuild it on the foundations of Abraham?” He said. “But for the fact that your folk have recently given up infidelity (I would have done so). Narrated Ibn `Umar: Aisha must have heard this from Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) for I see that Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) used not to touch the two corners facing Al-Hijr only because the House had not been built on the foundations of Abraham.’’

Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari 3368

In-book reference: Book 60, Hadith 42

USC-MSA web (English) reference: Vol. 4, Book 55, Hadith 587

Narrated Ibn `Abbas:

When the Prophet (ﷺ) saw pictures in the Ka`ba, he did not enter it till he ordered them to be erased. When he saw (the pictures of Abraham and Ishmael carrying the arrows of divination, he said, “May Allah curse them (i.e. the Quraish)! By Allah, neither Abraham nor Ishmael practiced divination by arrows.”

Reference

: Sahih al-Bukhari 3352

In-book reference

: Book 60, Hadith 27

USC-MSA web (English) reference

: Vol. 4, Book 55, Hadith 571

Whether Mecca in some form goes back all the way to Adam (possibly even earlier) or to Ibrahim, we see that according to Islam, its existence was prior to the emergence of Muhammad’s ministry. We also see that when it was founded, it began its existence as a holy city dedicated to the worship of Allah alone. The fact that the Hadith records that Muhammad saw pictures of Ibrahim and Ismail in the Kaaba after the conquest (though one wonders why, if hailed from Mecca, he never saw them before!) showed that we are presented with a picture of a territory like Jerusalem with its Temple a depicted in the Old Testament. It had a holy site (the Kaaba) which functioned like the Temple in Jerusalem. Even in Israel’s apostasy, there was never a total forsaking of the worship of YHWH, but rather that His insistence upon unique worship was disregarded in favor of syncretism and idolatry. Is this the picture we find with respect to Mecca?

It has already been noted that the Hadith presents the entire Peninsula as apostatizing into the worship of the idols of the time of Nuh – including the tribe of Hudhayl, who were situated near Mecca. This becomes especially urgent when we consider how the Qur’an depicts Arab prophets Shu’ayb, Hūd and Sālih speaking to their peoples, and the traditions that these prophets were buried in Mecca. Was this apostasy true of Mecca itself? The hadith suggests a positive answer:

Narrated Al-Bara bin Azib:

The Prophet (ﷺ) appointed `Abdullah bin Jubair as the commander of the infantry men (archers) who were fifty on the day (of the battle) of Uhud…

Umar could not control himself and said (to Abu Sufyan), “You told a lie, by Allah! O enemy of Allah! All those you have mentioned are alive, and the thing which will make you unhappy is still there.” Abu Sufyan said, “Our victory today is a counterbalance to yours in the battle of Badr…” After that he started reciting cheerfully, “O Hubal, be high! On that the Prophet (ﷺ) said (to his companions), “Why don’t you answer him back?” They said, “O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) What shall we say?” He said, “Say, Allah is Higher and more Sublime.” (Then) Abu Sufyan said, “We have the (idol) Al `Uzza, and you have no `Uzza.”…

Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari 3039

In-book reference: Book 56, Hadith 245

USC-MSA web (English) reference: Vol. 4, Book 52, Hadith 276

This hadith indicates that the Meccans worshiped the idols Hubal and Al `Uzza. However, it did not stop there – other ahadith indicate that they worshiped a veritable pantheon:

Narrated `Abdullah:

When the Prophet (ﷺ) entered Mecca on the day of the Conquest, there were 360 idols around the Ka`ba. The Prophet (ﷺ) started striking them with a stick he had in his hand and was saying, “Truth has come and Falsehood will neither start nor will it reappear.”

Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari 4287

In-book reference: Book 64, Hadith 320

USC-MSA web (English) reference: Vol. 5, Book 59, Hadith 583

It was narrated that ‘Ali (رضي الله عنه) said:

There were idols on top of the Ka`bah, and I wanted to lift up the Prophet (ﷺ) so he could reach them, but I could not do it. So he lifted me up, and I started smashing them, and if I had wanted to, I could have touched the sky.

Grade: Its isnad is Da’if because Abu Maryam is unknown and Nu’aim bin Hakeem is da’eef (Darussalam)

Reference: Musnad Ahmad 1302

In-book reference : Book 5, Hadith 705

There are a number of parallel ahadith, but the examples are sufficient to demonstrate that according to Islam, the holy city of Mecca, whether it is pre-Adamic, Adamic or Abrahamic, had apostatized into syncretistic polytheism and idolatry. This suggests a parallel with the Old Testament, where Israel and Judah experienced similar apostasy, to the extent that the pure worship of the holy city – Jerusalem – was defiled. Indeed, the Qur’an, which suggests that Jerusalem/Palestine was a holy place, echoes this and lists a number of prophets sent to the Bani Israel to restore them to the pure faith of Ibrahim and Musa. How far back did the apostasy of Mecca go? The Seerah presents an answer:

Muhammad b. Ibrahim b. al-Harith al-Tamimi told me that Abu Salih al-Samman told him that he heard Abu Hurayra say: I heard the apostle of God saying to Aktham b. al-Jaun al-Khuza‘i, ‘O Aktham I saw ‘Amr b. LuHayy b. Qam’a b. Khindif dragging his intestines in hell… He was the first to change the religion of Ishmael, to set up idols…”

They say that the beginning of stone worship among the sons of Ishmael was when Mecca became too small for them and they wanted more room in the country. Everyone who left the town took with him a stone from the sacred area to do honour to it. Wherever they settled they set it up and walked round It as they went round the Ka’ba. This led them to worship what stones they pleased and those which made an impression on them. Thus as generations passed they forgot their primitive faith and adopted another religion for that of Abraham and Ishmael. They worshipped idols and adopted the same errors as the peoples before them. Yet they retained and held fast practices going back to the time of Abraham, such as honouring the temple and going round it, the great and little pilgrimage, and the standing on ’Arafa and Muzdalifa, sacrificing the victims and the pilgrim cry at the great and little pilgrimage, while introducing elements which had no place in the religion of Abraham… They used to acknowledge his unity in their cry and then include their idols with God...

The people of Noah had images to which they were devoted. God told His apostle about them when He said: ‘And they said, “Forsake not your gods; forsake not Wudd and Suwa’ and Yaghuth and Ya’uq and Nasr.” And they had led many astray.’ Among those who had chosen those idols… when they forsook the religion of Ishmael - both Ishmaelites and others -was Hudhayl b. Mudrika b. Ilyas b. Mudar. They adopted Suwa and they had him in Ruhat; and Kalb b. Wabra of Quda’a who adopted Wudd in Dumatu’l-Jandal.

Ka’b b. Malik al-Ansari said:

We forsook al-Lat and al-’Uzza and Wudd.

We stripped off their necklaces and earrings.

An’um of Tayyi’ and the people of Jurash of Madhhij adopted Yaghuth in Jurash.

Khaywan, a clan of Hamdan, adopted Ya’uq in the land of Hamdan in the Yaman

Dhu’I-Kala’ of Himyar adoptcd Nasr in the Himyar country.

Khaulan had an idol called ‘Ammanas in the Khaulan country…

Quraysh had an idol by a well in the middle of the Ka’ba called Hubal. And they adopted Isaf (or Asaf) and Na’ila by the place of Zamzam, sacrificing beside them.

(Guillaume, A., The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ishaq’s Sirat Rasūl Allah, Karachi: Oxford University Press, 1955, 1967, 1998, pp. 35-37)

Much of what is presented mirrors the traditions we encountered in the Hadith about Nuh, etc. It can be seen that the apostasy resembled what happened among the people of Israel and Judah in the Old Testament – syncretism and idolatry. Further, it appears that this apostasy went far back in Mecca’s history. On that basis, we should expect to see the prophetic pattern that we see in the Qur’an – and to some extent in the Old Testament – the near immediate divine dispatch of a prophet to call the people of God to repent of their idolatry/polytheism and return to the one true God. After all, that is what we see in the Qur’an – repeated prophets sent to the Bani Israel. This is enhanced by the fact that the progeny of Ishmael holds a special place in in the purposes of Allah, and that Mecca stands as being at least a scared precinct as Jerusalem. There should have been a pattern of prophets repeatedly sent to Mecca.

Yet, this is what we do not find. Muhammad was the first prophet to the Arabs – at least to those of Mecca or southern Hijaz, to whom God had never before sent anyone:

Surah Al-Qasas 28:46 – And thou wast not beside the Mount when We did call; but (the knowledge of it is) a mercy from thy Lord that thou mayest warn a folk unto whom no warner came before thee, that haply they may give heed.

Surah As-Sajda 32:3 - Or say they: He hath invented it? Nay, but it is the Truth from thy Lord, that thou mayst warn a folk to whom no warner came before thee, that haply they may walk aright..

Surah Saba 34 44 - And We have given them no Scriptures which they study, nor sent We unto them, before thee, any warner.

This requires some explanation. If Mecca was so holy for so long; if the progeny of Ishmael were so special to Allah; if the prophetic pattern suggests imminent dispatch to a community who apostatize – then why were the Meccans sent no prophetic “warner” before Muhammad? Was Allah not outraged by the defilement of his holy precinct – especially the Kaaba – with idols? After all, further north, he was so concerned that he sent three Arab prophets to the ‘Ad, the Thamud and the people of Madyan (Midian). Yet there does not seem to be an explanation for this contradiction in the Qur’anic picture of the prophetic pattern and the long-standing sanctity of Mecca – whether in the Qur’an itself, the Hadith or anywhere else. Indeed, Allah seems to have been more concerned at what was happening among the progeny of Isaac than the progeny of Ishmael – and more concerned about the environs of Jerusalem than those of Mecca, since he continually sent prophets to the Bani Israil in Palestine.

CONCLUSION

The Biblical picture of prophets in relation to the apostasy of syncretism and idolatry is clear – YHWH wastes no time in sending a prophet to recall the people to His unique worship. Even during the four hundred years silence of the Intertestamental period the one time that the people compromised in this way – during the Seleucid era, specifically under Antiochus Epiphanes – YHWH had already spoken to that generation centuries previously in the apocalyptic chapters of the Book of Daniel to warn them against this specific challenge. In many ways, the prophetic pattern is reproduced in the Qur’an – with respect to the Bani Israil. The Qur’an and Hadith recognize the special holiness of Jerusalem, the Farthest Mosque. Yet, for Mecca and its people – supposedly even more special than Jerusalem – this pattern is abandoned; long centuries pass before a supposed prophetic warner is sent to them. This is a major contradiction in the Islamic schema and requires some explanation – which is lacking. Perhaps the real reason is the redacted character of the Qur’an, which has freely borrowed from, and then edited biblical and Jewish or Christian apocryphal material and tacked-on as a de facto appendix (in this respect) the role of the people and place to whom and which Muhammad was supposedly sent. This is expanded in the Hadith and Seerah and other traditional material. Yet for the image to be internally consistent, we should see the same pattern of prophets repeatedly sent to the Meccans as we see with respect to the Bani Israel. Perhaps the answer is that, in reality, there were no Meccans – and no Mecca – to whom prophets could be sent.