robert spencer-did muhammad exist__ an inquiry into islams obscure origins-intercollegiate studies institute (2012) (1)
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In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful<br />
Allah! forgive! Has<strong>an</strong> bn [sic] Maysarah<br />
<strong>an</strong>d his two parents <strong>an</strong>d their offspring<br />
Amen Lord of Muhammad <strong>an</strong>d Ibrahim<br />
Allah! consider my deeds great exertion (jihad)<br />
<strong>an</strong>d accept my compassion as martyrdom in Your cause<br />
<strong>an</strong>d Has<strong>an</strong> wrote (it) on Tuesday<br />
the 22th [sic] of the month of Rabiy‘ al-Awwal, in which<br />
passed away<br />
B<strong>an</strong>u Ha[t]im may God have mercy on all of them<br />
And this in the year 117 [735] 46<br />
By this time, accounts of the heroic life <strong>an</strong>d exemplary deeds of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, had<br />
begun to circulate widely. He had become a figure with whom the faithful could identify—someone they<br />
felt they knew.<br />
This familiarity was the product of a remarkable court industry, first among the Umayyads <strong>an</strong>d then<br />
among the Abbasids, of unabashedly m<strong>an</strong>ufacturing material about what Muhammad said <strong>an</strong>d <strong>did</strong>.