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.http://ismaili.net/mirrors/7ismaili/ismaili.html
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