Guillaume--Life of Muhammad.pdf - Radical Truth

264 The Life of Muhammad
their backs and sold it for a small price. Wretched is the exchange!
Think not that those who rejoice in what they have done and \vant to be
praised for what they have not done-think not that they ,vill esca~~ tl~e
punishment: theirs will be a painful punish~.ent..'1 He means I:1ll0a~
and Ashya' and the rabbis like them who rejOIce m what they enJoy of
worldly things by making error attractive to men and wish to be pralsed
for what they have not done so that men will say they are learned when they
are nothing of the kind, not bringing them to truth and gUIdance and
wanting men to say that they have so done. .
Kardam, Usa-rna, Nafi" Bal:Iri, J:luyayy, and Rlfa'a 2 used to go to some
of the helpers advising them not to contribute to the public expense~,
'for we fear that you will COffie to poverty. Don't be in a hurry to con:n~
39° bute, for you do not know the outcome.' So God sent down con~ernmg
them: '\Vho are avaricious and enjoin avarice on others concealIng the
bounty they have received from God', i.e. the Torah whi:h confirms what
Muhammad brought.' 'We have prepared for the unbelievers a shameful
punishment and those who spend their money to be seen of men and
believe not i'n God and the last day' as far as the words 'God knows about
them'.
Rifa'a was a notable Jew. When he spoke to the apostle he twisted his
tongue and said: 'Give us your attention, Muhammad, so that we can
make you understand/ Then he attacked Islam and reviled it. So God
sent down concerning him: 'Hast thou considered those to whom a part
of the book has been given how they buy error and wish that. you shoul.d
err as to the way. But God knows best about your enemlCS. God IS
sufficient as a friend and helper. Some of the Jews change words from
their contexts and say: We hear and disobey; hear thou as one that heareth
not and listen to us, twisting their tongues and attacking religion. Had they
said, \Ve hear and we obey; hear thou and look at us, it would have bee?
better for them and more upright. But God has cursed them for the"
unbelief and only a few will believe."
The apostle spoke to two of the chiefs of the Jewish rahbis 'Ahdullah
b. 5uriya al-A'war and Ka'b b. Asad calling on them to accept Islam,
for ·they knew that he had brought them the truth; but they denied that
they knew it and were obstinate in their unbelief. So Go~ ser:t dO\vn
concerning them: '0 you to whom the book was sent, Behevc III what
\'Ile have sent down in confirmation of what you have before 'Ve efface
I v. 184.
2 Their names have already been given in full.
J One would naturally suppose that their wealth is referred to here. . " ,
4 Sura 4. 47. This text shows that 1\1uhammad knew (II) that when th(~y saId \\c hear
and 'a;aynti they were playing on the similar-sounding Hebrew word usinu (with sin) meaning
'we carry out', and (b) that ra'ina to them meant '~ur evil one'..It seems, therefore,
probable that ghayra musma'in is not to be understood 10 the sense given ab~ve, but, a~ a
vocative '0 thou that hast not been made to hear', i.e. thou who hast not received a dlVlOe
revelatio'n. The 'tongueMtv:isting' is revealed as the sarcastic use of Arahic in a Hebrew
The J4e of J11uhammad 26-
)
(your) features and turn them back to front or curse you as 'Ve cursed the
sabbath-breakers \vhen God's. command was carried~out'1 (3 1
9).
And those \1,'ho formed parties of Cluraysh and Gha!afan and B. Qurayza
39
w~re }.IuyaYY,and .Sallam and :\b1:i R:ifl.' Jnd al-Rabi' and AhCi 'Amm:i.r ;~nd
1
'\~~\val.l .b. Anllr, and lIa:Idha b. Qays, the latter three being of B.
\, a II while the rest were ot B. al-.K1ac,iIr. \\'hen they Came to QuraYsh
they told them that these were Jewish rabbis, the folk who possessed the
first (sacred) book, and t~1ey could ask them whether their religion or that
7 f l\1uhar:n:nad. \vas the better. \Vhen they did ask them they answered:
Your rehglOn IS better than his and you arc on a betteT path than he and
thos~ who follow him.' So God sent down conccrning them: 'Hast thou
con.slder~d tho~e to \vhom a part of the book has been sent how they
b~,ltev~ m ~l,-Jlbt and al-T;lghll.t? (320). And they say of those \Vh;
dls?elI:ve: I hese are bettcr gUided to the right path than those who
b:heve as far as the \\'ords 'or arc they eIn-ious of men because God has
glvcn .them of His bounty. \Ve gave thc familY of .Abraham the book
and v,rlsdom and \Ve gave them a great kingdom.-'2
39 2
S~kayn .and 'Adi"y b. Zayd said: '0 I\luhammad, \\"L' do not know of
God shavIng .sent d~\vn to mortals anything after ::Yloses.' So God scnt
dO\vn eoncernmg theIr words: "Ve have revealed unto thee as we reveakd
unto Noah and the prophets after him, and we rcvealed unto Abraham
and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes and Jesus and Job and
Jonah and, Aaron and Solomon and we brought to Da\"id the Psalms; and
apostles \Ve have told thee of hefore and apostles \Ve havc not told thee of,
and God spo~c directly to 1\10scs; apostle.s bringing good news and warnin~
that mcn mlf?ht ~ave no argument aga1I1st God after the apostles (had
come). God IS Mighty, Wise."J
A number of them came in to the apostle and he said to them, 'Surely
y~u know that. I am an apostle from God to you.' They replied that the~'
dId not . know It . and would not bear \vitness" to hl·m 51) God sen t (own I .
con~ernmg theIr r:vords.: 'But God tes~ifjcs concerning what lIe has sent
dO\\n t.o t~ee. \\ Ith lIts. kno\~l~dge did He send it down and the