Final post 2: Some beliefs demonstrated in a significant conversation between the heretics

The book often refers to many beliefs of Muslim tradition that must be acknowledged in order to understand the arguments within the book concerning Islam.  One belief is that the Jews of Medina once arrogantly claimed that the hereafter belonged to them alone. In the presence of Muhammad, the Jews were very confident about their bliss awaiting them after death. However, with the help of God, Muhammad predicted that the Jews were not ready or willing to accept death and in fact not so sure about their blissful afterlife. The story goes that Muhammad presented the Jews with several opportunities to prove their confidence but they chose to not wish for death.

Like the Jews, the Christians were also challenged by Muhammad because they did not accept him as a prophet. Muhammad told them to perform a prayer and let God be their judge by calling down His curse on the party which lied, or accept him as a prophet. They had not planned to accept Muhammad’s terms, but indeed ended up doing so. In Muslim tradition the two confrontations are frequently connected, and both are regarded as proving that Muhammad was indeed a prophet. Also, because Muhammad was said to be illiterate, the predictions even prove more so that they were told to him by God. Muslims believe that his knowledge of Christian and Jewish scriptures must have come to him through revelation. This was considered proof to Muslims that Muhammad was a prophet that possessed secret knowledge. Another proof was Muhammad’s prediction of his victory over the people from Mecca.

Muhammad’s confrontations with the Jews and the Christians are discussed in the book. The accounts of these beliefs are argued illogical and therefore not possible.

The Zumurrud was constructed as a dialogue between two participants, the one arguing for the existence of prophecy, the other against it. Below is a conversation demonstrating the arguments about prophecy between Ibn al-Rawandi and  Al-Warraq.

Ibn al-Rawandi: Muhammad challenged the Jews to wish for death. Muhammad was confident that if the Jews would wish for death, they would immediately die. [The Jews knew that too, and therefore they did not wish for death. This shows that, despite their refusal to accept Muhammad, the Jews knew that he was a true prophet.] Muhammad also knew that, despite the certainty they feigned, the Jews would not dare to express the wish for their own death [and the verse says explicitly that they will not do so. This proves that Muhammad was a prophet, because without God's help, he would not have been able to guess what the Jews would do].

Al-Warraq: [If the Jews did not accept Muhammad's challenge to wish for death, this was not because they believed that he was a prophet, but rather because they did not take his challenge seriously.] When Muhammad challenged the Christians to let God be their judge by calling down His curse on the party which lied and the Jews to wish for death, the words he used did not imply that he was doing so in order to prove that he was a prophet. Had the Jews and Christians realized that this was his intention, they would have been glad to accept the challenge.

Ibn al-Rawandi: Muhammad warned the Christians that [if they did not submit to him] they would be cursed. [This proves that he was a prophet, because he knew what the outcome would be, if they would have said the prayer. The Christians preferred to accept Muhammad's terms rather than say the prayer and be cursed. This proves that] the Christians realized that he was a true prophet. They knew it because their scriptures foretold the coming of a prophet whose description is like Muhammad' s.

Al-Warraq: People who claimed to be prophets, like Moses and Jesus, had indeed foretold the coming of Muhammad as a prophet. The Christians and Jews believed in prophets; therefore, they did not dare to respond to Muhammad's challenge.

Ibn al-Rawandi: But if you agree that Muhammad is described in the scriptures of the Jews and Christians, then you must admit that prophecy exists, and that Moses and Jesus, as well as Muhammad, were prophets.

Al-Warraq: Moses and Jesus did indeed predict the coming of Muhammad [but this does not imply the existence of prophecy or that these people were prophets]; any astrologer can make correct predictions. In the same way, the fact that Muhammad could predict certain events does not prove that he is a prophet; he may have been able to guess successfully, but this does not mean that he had real knowledge of the future. And certainly the fact that he was able to recount events from the past does not prove that he was a prophet. [He could have read about those events in the Bible] and, if he was illiterate, he could still have had the Bible read to him.

Ibn al-Rawandi: The Jews and Christians had access to a very detailed description of the Prophet and the circumstances of his future arrival. No astrologer could predict the future in such a precise manner. Astrologers rarely succeed in predicting the future and then only by chance.

Al-Warraq: The Jews knew that if they had accepted Muhammad's challenge [and declared that they were so confident of prospering in the hereafter that they wished for death], then Muhammad would have said that they did not really wish for death, but only said so.

Ibn al-Rawandi: Muhammad's challenge did not include the condition that they have to mean what they say; they only had to say it. Also, the Jews could have replied that they did wish it in their hearts.

Al-Warraq: If the Jews were to say that they did wish it in their hearts, Muhammad would have answered that Gabriel had revealed to him that they were lying, and that they did not wish it in their hearts.
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