robert spencer-did muhammad exist__ an inquiry into islams obscure origins-intercollegiate studies institute (2012) (1)

that) it has seen an angel. And when you hear the braying of a donkey, seek refuge with Allah from Satan
for (its braying indicates) that it has seen a Satan.'” 14 He counseled: “If a housefly falls in the drink of
anyone of you, he should dip it (in the drink), for one of its wings has a disease and the other has the cure
for the disease.'” 15 Muhammad even announced a startling biological discovery: “A non-Muslim eats in
seven intestines whereas a Muslim eats in one intestine.” 16
The Hadith contain a great deal of this sort of thing. We cannot know with certainty the derivation of
such material, but it seems unlikely that it was added in the heat of some sectarian or dynastic battle. It is
much more likely that everything considered wise or useful or just good to know was attributed to the
prophet of Islam.
These maxims and pearls of folk wisdom did not cause the early Muslims any embarrassment. The
story of Zaynab did—or so it seems.
Why the Zaynab Story Was Composed
The story of Muhammad's marriage to his former daughter-in-law appears to betray embarrassment about,
and provide a justification for, a negative episode in Muhammad's life. But it may actually be something
else altogether.
The Qur'an's allusive and fragmented reference to the incident concludes with the affirmation that
“Muhammad is not the father of any one of your men, but the Messenger of God, and the Seal of the
Prophets; God has knowledge of everything” (33:40). What does that affirmation have to do with
Muhammad's marriage to his daughter-in-law? Possibly nothing—the Qur'an is remarkably
decontextualized, veering from topic to topic within many of its suras, often without any discernable
logical connection between the subjects treated. Thus the appearance of this affirmation of Muhammad as
“the Seal of the Prophets” may have nothing to do with the Zaynab incident. Then again, when considered
in light of a central tenet of Islamic theology, the assertion that Muhammad is “the Seal of the Prophets”
appears to have everything to do with the story of his marriage to Zaynab.
In the Qur'an, the prophets are all related to one another, and it appears that the prophetic office is
handed down from father to son, like an inheritance or a genetic predisposition. Speaking of Abraham,
Allah says:
And We gave to him Isaac and Jacob—each one We guided; and Noah We guided before; and of his seed David and Solomon,
Job and Joseph, Moses and Aaron—even so We recompense the good-doers—Zachariah and John, Jesus and Elias; each was of the
righteous; Ishmael and Elisha, Jonah and Lot—each one We preferred above all beings. (6:84–86)
Thus “David and Solomon, Job and Joseph, Moses and Aaron” and the rest were “of his seed”—that
is, Abraham's. These prophets were all relatives, and presumably they received their prophetic spirit as
something of an inheritance. This view is reinforced by the Qur'an's confusion of Miriam the sister of
Moses and Aaron with Mary the mother of Jesus—the name of each is the same in Arabic: Maryam. This
makes Jesus Moses' nephew. While Islamic tradition has Muhammad saying that the appellation “sister of
Aaron” for Mary in the Qur'an (19:28) was merely an honorific and not an expression of an actual blood