Islam:
In Light Of History
Dr. Rafat Amari
A Religion Research Institute Publication
Copyright by Religion Research Institute.
P.O. Box 7505, Prospect Heights, IL 60070, USA. All rights reserved.
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ISBN 0-9765024-0-2
Printed in the United States of America.
First Edition, November 2004
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Contents
Preface ……………………………………………..……………… 7
Introduction……………………………………..………….... 10
Maps ……………………………………………..…………….... 18
1 - An Analysis of the Qur’an in the Light ofDocumented History ………………………………..…………..…………………23
2 - Those Who Rewrote History for Muslims…….…… 62
PART II - True History of Mecca …….………….……………….95
1 - Did Hagar Flee to Mecca ?.……………………………….. 97
2 - Studies by Classical Writers Show That Mecca Could not Have Been Built Before the 4th Century A.D.…. 104 3 - The History and Archaeology of Arabia Show that Mecca did not Exist Before the Advent of Christianity………………………………………………………….148
4 - Absence of Mecca in Archaeological Records Found in the Other Ancient Cities and Kingdoms of Arabia.... 168
Index ……………………………………..…………………. 495
27
PREFACE
Preface
It was 20 years ago when I began studying Islam and its sources. At the beginning, I thought the study would require me to dedicate two years of my time. Also, because I preside over a Christian organization which requires that I travel from time to time to conduct prayer and teaching conferences in various countries of the world, I thought that my study of Islam should be limited to only a few years so that it would not conflict with my travel plans. However, the study continued for twenty years, compelling me to dedicate eight to nine hours a day, except for Sundays. There was no time for vacation. I researched various books written about the life of Mohammed and his sayings, called the Hadith. I read, re-read and studied the Qur’an several times in the light of the famous expositors of the Qur’an. I studied other Islamic and non-Islamic texts describing the history of Arabia before Islam and the Arabian mythology. Then, I found it necessary to study the classical Greek and Roman authors who visited Arabia and wrote about its geography. I wanted to know if they mentioned Mecca.
My residency in The United States of America gave me access to many of the major libraries of the world which were instrumental in my study of the most important texts. Unfortunately, competent scholastic work was very limited. For example, I estimate that the total pages about Zoroastrianism in the Qur'an in these texts can be estimated at not more than twenty pages. When I thought that my study was complete, and wanting to publish some of my works, I realized that the Lord was urging me to do my own research on the sacred Zoroastrian texts, such as the Zenda Avest and the Pahlavi Texts, and not to depend only on what I had studied. This meant more years of study and research. My study was further extended to examine the sacred literature of other religions at the time of Mohammed.
I was surprised by the similarities I found in the comparative study between the Qur’an and sacred texts of various sects and religions at the time of Mohammed, including: Zoroastrianism, Mandaeanism, Harranism, Manicheism and Gnosti-cism. (Mohammed had connections with all of these religions and sects, mainly through the group called “Ahnaf,” which he joined in his youth.)
I asked myself: “What material from other religions was used in the Qur’an?” I discovered that much research had been connecting the Qur’an with Judaism and Christianity, but almost nothing had been connecting the Qur’an with Mandaeanism and Harranism. Even what had been done was inadequate and trivial when it came to examining Manicheism and Zoroastrianism as major sources for the Qur’an. My own research showed that these pagan religions had a major impact on the Qur’an, much more than Judaism, Christianity and heretical Christianity at the time of Mohammed. Suleiman al-Farsi was a priest of Zoroastrianism who embraced Islam and became a close counselor of Mohammed. His contact with Mohammed made Zoroastrianism a major resource for the Qur’an. Since Arabic is my native language, I used Arabic to write 800 pages on Zoroastrianism as a resource for the Qur’an.
The study of Mandaeanism from their many sacred books allowed me to detect the roots of Mandaeanism in the Qur’an, which enabled me to prepare a volume of references about this study. I prepared the same thing for Manicheism, Harranism and Gnosticism as roots of the Qur’an.
I continued my research with the occult religion of Arabia called the Jinn religion, or the religion of Kuhhan, the priests of the Jinn–devils. The affiliation of the family of Mohammed with this religion, and the existence of many of their doctrines in the Qur’an, makes this religion an important root of Islam.
These religions were not alone. Another Arabian local religion has obvious roots in the Qur’an. It is the Arabian Star religion, in which Allah was the head; Ellat, the sun, was his wife; and al-'Uzza and Manat, representing two planets, were his daughters. These studies also gave birth to the Religion Research Institute, a scholarly ministry which endeavors to help Christians better understand Islam and its true sources. While this book is still being written, I am in the process of preparing a study course to help those who want to serve among Muslims, and for those who want to help their Muslim friends understand the roots of Islam. I want it to be easier for Muslims to make intelligent choices and avoid the trap of the untruthful data which they have inherited.
The present text, Islam: In Light of History, has been prepared as an introduction to Islam. It will be part of the Religion Research Institute course to be presented in the first year of our curriculum. Though I mention some of the sources of the Qur’an in this book, this present text is not intended to cover the sources of the Qur’an, something that I am going to treat in a future publication.
I am indebted to all those who edited, reviewed and stood behind me in this work. Finally, the book would never have been written without those who held me before the throne of grace continually in prayer. May the Lord use this effort to enlighten many to the truth.
Dr. Rafat Amari, 2004
INTRODUCTION
Introduction
More than 1.5 billion people of the world’s population face toward Mecca when they pray. They believe that the city of Mecca was visited by Abraham with his son, Ishmael, who, according to Mohammed's claim in the Qu'ran, built the first temple, called Kaabah. According to his claim, Mecca would have been a flourishing city in western Arabia ever since the 21st century, B.C., which was the time in which Abraham lived, although there is no historical documentation to support this claim.
The claim itself was conceived at the time of Mohammed by four people who called themselves “Ahnaf.” We read in the narration of the life of Mohammed, called Ibn Hisham, and written during the 8th century A.D., that the Honafa’, or Ahnaf, was a small group “started when four persons at Mecca agreed on some ideas. Those four were Zayd bin Amru bin Nafil, Waraqa bin Naufal, Ubaydullah bin Jahsh and Uthman Bin al-Huwayrith. They all died as Sabians.”[1]
The four founders of Ahnaf were relatives of Mohammed, descendants of Loayy, one of Mohammed’s ancestors. Furthermore, Waraqa bin Naufal and Uthman Bin al-Huwayrith were cousins of Khadijah, the first wife of Mohammed. Ubaydullah bin Jahsh was a close relative of Mohammed; in fact, his mother was Umayya, daughter of Abdel Mutaleb, the grandfather of Mohammed. In other words, he was a cousin of Mohammed. Ubaydullah’s sister was Zainab Bint Jahsh, one of the wives of Mohammed who was previously the wife of Zayd bin Harithah, the adopted son of Mohammed.[2]
When Ibn Hisham says the group died as Sabians, this is because the group often went to Sabian territory, especially Zayd bin Amru bin Nafil, who was known to travel extensively to Musil in northern Iraq, and to Jazirah in the northeastern part of Syria near the border with Asia Minor (which is Turkey today); and to Iraq, to inquire about religion.[3] Sometimes Zayd was accompanied by Waraqa bin Naufal on these inquiry trips. Nafil Bin Hashim, a grandson of Zayd bin Amru bin Nafil, mentioned the travels which his grandfather made to the city of Musil and to the district of Jazirah accompanied by Waraqa bin Naufal. Their journies were to search for religion.[4]
The area of Musil has been known since the 2nd century A.D. as the residence of the Sabian Mandaeans, a pagan Gnostic sect which worshipped a complex of polytheistic deities of Persian origin under influence of Mesopotamian polytheism. Harran, the residence of the Sabian Harranians, who were known as worshippers of the god Sin, the moon, the stars, planets and the Jinn, was in the district of Jazirah.
The close relationship between the Ahnaf and the Sabians, who were Mandaeans and Harranians, reveals how Mohammed incorporated many myths and rituals of those sects into the Qur’an. For example, the ritual of Ramadan was known to be a Harranian ritual. (See Part V, Section 3, about Ramadan.) The Islamic prayers, their movements, and the ablution before each prayer were known originally as Mandaean rites. Unfortunately, we must leave the size of the myths, as well as the teaching and rituals which were incorporated into the Qur’an from Mandaean and Harranian sources, for another book, since this study focuses on the history of Mecca and Ishmael and the rise of Islam.
The fact that the Ahnaf were considered to be Sabians by the people of Mecca shows that the Sabians were distinguishable in their teaching, myths and rituals at Mecca to such a degree that, when the Ahnaf presented similar teachings and rituals, they were classified by the Meccans as within that group.
Mohammed joined the Ahnaf in his early youth. He used to spend time with them in the caves of Harra'. Zayd bin Harithah, Mohammed’s adopted son, mentioned that Mohammed presented food to Zayd bin Amru bin Nafil when Mohammed spent months with him in the caves of Harra'. Thus, Zayd bin Harithah confirmed the relationship between Mohammed and Zayd bin Amru bin Nafil.[5] Ibn Darid, an Islamic historian, mentioned the encounter between Mohammed and Zayd.[6] This confirms that Mohammed was taught since his youth by Zayd.
Waraqa, the cousin of Khadijah, was another leading figure in the Ahnaf. He used to make Tahnuf, which meant he spent time in the caves of Harra', separating himself from the society for months at a time. (Such practices were known among heretics, as we learn from the early Christian fathers.[7]) Khadijah, the cousin of Waraqa who became the first wife of Mohammed, used to make Tahnuf at the same caves.
Waraqa embraced the Christian cults, such as Ebionism. While Zayd refused any form of religion that was related to Christianity or Judaism, he insisted on the ideas he obtained, mainly from the Mandaean and Harranian Sabians. Some Kuhhan, who were priests of the religion of the Jinn in Arabia, joined this group. There are signs of the involvement of the group of Ahnaf in occultism, such as: their relations with the Jinn which are devils; their secret and occult retreats in the caves of Harra’ near Mecca; and their promotion of the Jinn as agents for the prophets, replacing the angels. All these things are included in the Qur’an and in the life of Mohammed.
The claim of this group (called Ahnaf) that Abraham was the founder of their sect originated at the time of Mohammed, and influenced him. Mohammed, in one of his Hadith, said, “Zayd will be considered as the chief founder of a nation between Jesus and me.”[8] This claim of Mohammed reveals that Zayd was believed by Mohammed, and other members of the group of Ahnaf, to be the founder of the Ahanf, just as Moses was the head of Judaism, and as Jesus was the head of Christianity. This is a further proof that, befo...
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