robert spencer-did muhammad exist__ an inquiry into islams obscure origins-intercollegiate studies institute (2012) (1)
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l<strong>an</strong>guage.’” 24 For example, the word kalla, “no indeed,” occurs three times in sura 96: in verses 6, 15,<br />
<strong>an</strong>d 19. According to Ibn Raw<strong>an</strong>di, “its first appear<strong>an</strong>ce at XCVI.6 is senseless, since it c<strong>an</strong>not be a<br />
negation of the preceding section no matter how those verses are interpreted.” 25 The Qur'<strong>an</strong> tr<strong>an</strong>slator<br />
Rudi Paret draws out that senselessness in his rendering of verses 4-6: “[He] who has taught the use of the<br />
writing c<strong>an</strong>e has taught unto m<strong>an</strong> what he <strong>did</strong>n't know. Not at all! M<strong>an</strong> is really rebellious…” 26<br />
The sura shows signs of editing, appearing to be in two parts. Verses 1–8 fit in with the traditional<br />
Muslim setting, in which Gabriel approached Muhammad on Mount Hira. But then the subject abruptly<br />
<strong>an</strong>d unaccountably ch<strong>an</strong>ges in verses 9–19, denouncing some unnamed person who prevents a “serv<strong>an</strong>t”<br />
(or “slave,” as m<strong>an</strong>y other tr<strong>an</strong>slations have it) from praying.<br />
Günter Lüling explains this sudden shift by suggesting that the text of sura 96 was originally a strophic<br />
Christi<strong>an</strong> hymn that had been reworked to fit it <strong>into</strong> <strong>an</strong> Islamic setting. In Lüling's reconstruction, based on<br />
<strong>an</strong> original reading of the Arabic text, “Recite in the name of your Lord” becomes “Invoke the Name of<br />
your Lord.” Lüling tr<strong>an</strong>slates the Arabic verb iqra as “invoke” rather th<strong>an</strong> “recite,” pointing out that the<br />
Arab philologist Abu Ubaida (d. 818), author of Str<strong>an</strong>ge Matters of Hadith (Gharib al-Hadith),<br />
explained that the verb qara'a—“to recite,” with iqra as its imperative form—me<strong>an</strong>t the same thing as the<br />
verb dakara : “invoke, laud, praise.” 27 Ibn Raw<strong>an</strong>di supports Lüling's argument, noting that<br />
“underst<strong>an</strong>ding ‘iqra’ as ‘invoke,’ rather th<strong>an</strong> ‘read’ or ‘recite,’ becomes plausible when it is realized that<br />
in the <strong>an</strong>cient world reading was invariably reading aloud, so that the distinction between reading <strong>an</strong>d<br />
invoking would not have been what it is today.” Thus to “recite” would me<strong>an</strong> essentially the same thing as<br />
“invoke”: to proclaim aloud. 28<br />
The entire phrase “Invoke the Name of your Lord” recalls the common Hebrew phrase qara' be shem<br />
Yahwe, “Invoke the name of the Lord” (cf. Genesis 4:25-26). It also recalls Psalm 130, known in Latin as<br />
De profundis, “out of the depths I call to you,” in which “to call to God,” qeraatiikha in Hebrew, is<br />
rendered in Latin as Clamavi ad te Domine, which obviously me<strong>an</strong>s “to pray to God.”<br />
In Lüling's reconstruction, the digressive “He who forbids a serv<strong>an</strong>t when he prays” becomes a<br />
confession of God's faithfulness: “Have you ever seen that He denies a serv<strong>an</strong>t when he prays?” The<br />
warning questions, “What thinkest thou? If he cries lies, <strong>an</strong>d turns away—Did he not know that God<br />
sees?” become “Have you ever seen that He betrayed <strong>an</strong>d turned away? Have you not learned that God<br />
sees?” The odd “So let him call on his concourse! We shall call on the guards of Hell” Lüling renders as<br />
<strong>an</strong> exhortation to call on the members of the heavenly court: “So call for His High Council! You will then<br />
call up the High Angelship!” 29<br />
Lüling's reconstruction of sura 96 as a Christi<strong>an</strong> hymn exhorting the pious to call on God's name <strong>an</strong>d<br />
assuring them of his faithfulness makes more sense th<strong>an</strong> the cryptic, abrupt, <strong>an</strong>d decontextualized<br />
c<strong>an</strong>onical text of sura 96.<br />
Examining the Syriac substratum, Luxenberg goes even further. He agrees with Lüling that iqra is more<br />
accurately rendered “invoke” rather th<strong>an</strong> “recite.” But he contends that the sura does not simply fit <strong>into</strong> a<br />
Christi<strong>an</strong> liturgical context but actually calls its followers to participate in that Christi<strong>an</strong> liturgical<br />
service. Luxenberg writes that “the lexicological <strong>an</strong>d syntactical <strong>an</strong>alysis of this sura, examined under its