Post by c***@mindspring.comIn the Ali English translation of the Koran, there is mention that
Khadija had a brother "who was a follower of Christ" and states that
actually a first cousin.
Post by c***@mindspring.comshe went to consult him on a question.
Y. Ali does not seem to mention this. where?
at any rate, this does not say anything about Khadija's
religion, except that she respected her cousin's opinions.
their common grandfather was a pagan, `abdul`uzza" , acc.
to his name.
Post by c***@mindspring.comDoes anyone here know any more about this? One biblical scholar
see, for example,
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/001.sbt.html#001.001.003
Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 1, Number 3
it refers to Waraqa b. Nawfal, a first cousin of Khadija and a priest,
whom Khadija brought to consult after Muhammad's first revelation. they
both recognized immediately, acc. to tradition, the prophethood of
Muhammad.
Post by c***@mindspring.com(Robert Eisenman) believes that the Prophet (pbuh) was influenced by
that remnant of Jesus's followers who fled Jerusalem after the Roman
church decided to persecute them for not believing that Jesus was God
or the Son of God. These folks were called Ebionites. There is a
this is a common theory of islamic origins amongst christians.
it is also expounded in a book "The Priest and the Prophet",
original in Arabic (also found in french), by an arab christian
priest who also wrote other similar works, some under a
pseuodonym (it's now common knowledge). it is interesting that
this author uses, in arabic, naSra:niyy with the meaning
of "Nazarene" i.e "Jewish Christian".
there were also other "Jewish Christians" (Nazarenes). the Ebionites
did not accept the virgin birth either (but Islam does), the Elkasites
accepted the Virgin birth and also, in a fashion, the Trinity. I'm
not sure but some may have considered the two other "Persons" angelic
beings, and I am not sure how these, in the case of the Elkasites
the Son and Mary as the Holy Ghost corresponded to their earthly
counterparts. they are all known mainly through "Orthodox" christian
polemics against them.
however, they all observed at least most of Jewish Law and considered
Jesus a prophet in the Old Testament tradition, as well as the Messiah
as peredicted in the OT. they had their own Gospel, the Gospel of the
Hebrews IIRC following mainly Matthew, in christian palestinian
aramaic.
Post by c***@mindspring.comstory that when the Roman emperor Constantine converted to
Christianity, he sent his mother Helena to Jerusalem. She sought
these people out, thinking that if they were the descendents of the
original Christians they would have the true scoop on Jesus. When
they denied that he was divine, they were condemned as heretics.
but some seemed to have survived, especially in Persian territory.
quite plausibly also in Arabia, away from Byzantine enforcement.
that the Nasara (NaSa:ra") "Christians" of the Qur'an were mainly
Elkasites is defended quite plausibly by de Blois in his article
in BSOAS (Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies):
School of Oriental and African Studies.Bulletin
Vol. LXV Part 1 2002
Nasrani and hanif : studies on the religious vocabulary of
Christianity and of Islam
FRANÇOIS DE BLOIS pp 1-30
his thesis rests:
a) NaSra:niyy comes from Nazarene, the earliest name for
"christian" but later applied only to "Jewish
Christians". the christian arabic term masi:Hiyy (a calque
of "christian") does not come into use until much later.
b) the Trinity described in the Qur'anic polemic against it
is the Trinity as believed by the Elkasites.
c) there is no mention in the Qur'an of christians eating pork,
and the food of christians (and jews) is permissible for muslims.
thus the christians of the Qur'an seem to have observed jewish
dietary laws.
d) there is no evidence of Orthodox Church activity (at least
of any significance) in Central Arabia.
other people point out that Waraqa read (and "wrote") the Gospel
in "Hebrew". this might refer to the christian palestinian aramaic
in the "aramaic square script" which is what is commonly knowen
as the hebrew script, and is what is used to write Hebrew for
over two millenia.
also except (it seems) for Volume 4, Book 55, Number 605: {Bukhari}
arab-muslim writings usually refer to the "Injil" (Gospel) in the
singular rather than in the plural (i.e. it seems they had only
one canonical gospel).
see:
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/001.sbt.html#001.001.003
Volume 1, Book 1, Number 3: {Bukhari}
Narrated Aisha:
Khadija then accompanied him to her cousin
Waraqa bin Naufal bin Asad bin 'Abdul 'Uzza,
who, during the PreIslamic Period became a
Christian and used to write the writing
with Hebrew letters. He would write from
the Gospel in Hebrew as much as Allah
wished him to write.
other versions refer to his reading and writing the Gospel in Arabic:
(thus perhaps Waraqa was involve din translating the Gospel)
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/055.sbt.html#004.055.605
Volume 4, Book 55, Number 605: {Bukhari}
Narrated Aisha:
She took him to Waraqa bin Naufal who was
a Christian convert and used to read the
Gospels in Arabic
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/060.sbt.html#006.060.478
Volume 6, Book 60, Number 478:
Narrated Aisha:
Khadija then took him to Waraqa bin Naufil,
the son of Khadija's paternal uncle. Waraqa
had been converted to Christianity in the
Pre-lslamic Period and used to write Arabic
and write of the Gospel in Arabic as much
as Allah wished him to write.
=================
many of the writings about the possibility of jewish-christians in
Arabia at the time of Muhammad are polemical in character. de Blois
isn't, as he merely identifies the majority of the Nasara as such.
there were also arab monophysite coptic christians in Nejran and
non-arabs in Ethiopia (and also in Yemen though they were defeated),
Nestorian arabs in S. Iraq, and arab monophysite syrian christians
and orthoodox ones in S. Syria at the time of Muhammad. the Qur'an
mentions that Christianity had many sects.
christians in central arabia don't seem to have been very nuemrous,
there is no mention, for example in muslim tradition of them taking
a unified political stance in the traditional account of Muhammad.
Post by c***@mindspring.comThere were also Sabeans, who I don't know much about except they
followed John the Baptist and are considered People of the Book.
the traditionally and "officially" accepted identification
is with the Mandaeans (Gnostics) of Iraq and also Iran,
currently many in diaspora. it is debated whether their
following John the Baptist was under muslim pressure or not.
a more pagan oriented sect brought to Iraq from Harran (now
in SE Turkey, with the plain extending into Syria) are said
to have recognized John the Baptist as their prophet under
muslim pressure. they were also gnostics but with a more pagan
orientation.
some orientalists have proposed jewish-christians or Manichaeans,
both under gnostic influence, as possible candidates. the second
is by F. de Blois based on some traditions identifying Manichaeanism
in Muhammad's era and surroundings. nevertheless, this seesm to be
in contradiction with the later rather negative atitude towards
Manichaeanism.
Post by c***@mindspring.comThere is also a crazy Roman Catholic priest on the net claiming that
user name?
Post by c***@mindspring.comKhadija was a Catholic, which seems absurd. Given what I know of the
area, if she was related to Christianity in any way it would have to
be Eastern Orthodox or else to the dissident forms of Christianity
there was no official schism between the two churches at the time,
and both churches describe themselves as "catholic" and "orthodox",
just that one is better known by one name and the other by the
other name.
but it is a safe assumption that there was no Latin-rite church
in the Hijaz at the time.
Post by c***@mindspring.comsuch as mentioned above. But I think he's just a ranting bigot.
I would appreciate all scholarly information and references.
see also th ereleavnt entries in Enc. of Islam II.