1. An earlier study derived from this larger project is my “Muslim Uses of the Jewish Past: Ancient Themes and the Formation of Attitudes Towards the People of the Book,” which was presented to the American Academy of Jewish Research in 1987. 207

2. D. ca. A.H. 150/767 c.E. See Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2d ed. (hereafter cited as E2), s.v. “Ibn Ishak.”Google Scholar

3. Yaqut, Irshad, 6:400 ft; Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib, 9:41 ff.Google Scholar

4. See J. Fiick, Muhammad ibn Ishaq. The intr. to A. Guillaume, The Life of Muhammad, pp. xiv-xlvii; also his “A Note on the Sira of Ishaq, Ibn,” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and Arabic Studies (University of London) (hereafter cited as BSOAS) 18 (1956): 1–4;Google ScholarHorovitz, J., “The Earliest Biographies of the Prophet and Their Authors,” Islamic Culture 2 (1928): 22–50Google Scholar, 164–182, 495–526; Jones, J.. “Ibn Ishaq and al-Waqidi: The Dream of‘Atika and the Raid to Nakhla in Relation to the Charge of Plagiarism,” BSOAS 22 (1959): 41–51CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Robson, J., “Ibn Ishaq's Use of Isnad,” Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 38 (1955–56): 449–465; W. M. Watt, “The Materials Used by Ibn Ishaq, in Historians of the Middle East, ed. B. Lewis and P. Holt; R. Sellheim, ”Prophet, Calif and Geschichte. Die Muhammad-Biographie des Ibn Ishaq,“ Der Islam (1967).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

5. The text is preserved in the version of Ibn Hisham originally published in 3 vols. by F. Wiistenfeld (Gottingen, 1858–60). The edition cited here is the Beirut edition of T. ‘A. Sa’d (4 vols. in 2, n.d.).

6. The tendentious nature of the text is explored in detail by Sellheim (see above, n. 4). He argues strongly for a pro-‘Abbasid anti-’Alid bias. Note, however, the reservations of U. Rubin, who calls attention to the prominent position of’AH in the Sirah. See his ”Prophets and Progenitors in the Early Shi’a Tradition,“Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 1 (1979): 41–65.Google Scholar The favorable rendering of ‘Ali does not detract from the text's pro-’Abbasid bias (see Lassner, J., Islamic Revolution and Historical Memory, American Oriental Society Series 66 [1986], p. 16 n. 32 and more generally pp. 1–33).Google Scholar

7. Ibn Hisham, 1:215–223.

8. The bracketed explanation of ifr represents the gloss of a later commentator.

9. Ibn Hisham, 1:218 ff.

10. A mountain some three mil (six kilometers) from Mecca. See Yaqut, Mu'jam (Wusten feld), 2:228; also Wustenfeld's Chroniken der Stadt Mekka, 1:426, 493; 3:447; 4:332.

11. The nature of these devotions and the etymology of the word was a source of concern t medieval Arabic philologists and modern scholars as well. For a review of the scholarship and; convincing explanation of the term, see Kister, M.J., ”Al-Tahannuth:An Enquiry into thi Meaning of a Term,“ BSOAS 31 (1968): 223–236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

12. Ibn Hisham, 1:222–223; also E1, s.v. ”Waraka,“ citing in addition to the Sirah, Tabari, Annales, 1:1147–52; Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqat (Sachau et al.), 1:58, 130; Ibn Athir, Usd, 5:88; Ibn Hajar, habah (Cairo, 1325 A.H.), 6:317; Isfahan!, Aqhani (Bulak) 3:14–15.

13. Arabic namus = Greek nomos.

14. See, for example, Ibn Hisham, 2:90–91, where Muhammad's opponents reject a plan to exile him for fear that he will, by his eloquence, win over the tribesmen in whose midst he would be forced to dwell.

15. Kafatan li'l-nas.

16. The question of Muhammad's changing intentions at the various stages of his career remains of vital importance. Later commentators ascribed to Muhammad a global mission from the outset.

17. For example, Qur'an 2:83, 20:85–89, 33:69, 61:5.

18. Note Ibn Hisham, 2:125 ff., for a specific linkage between the Jews of Medina and the hypocrites (munafiqun), former polytheists who paid lip-service to Muhammad and Islam. One might indeed argue that it was the political linkage between the hypocrites and the Jews that was of the greatest concern for the Prophet and as much as anything condemned the Jews to their faith: extermination or exile. A full reevaluation of the Prophet's political relations with the Jews is long overdue.

19. On the development of the term Islam, see E1; also Baneth, D.H., ”What Did Muhammad Mean When He Called His Religion ‘Islam’? The Original Meaning of Aslama and Its Derivatives“, Israel Oriental Studies 1 (1971): 183–190;Google ScholarRinggren, H., Islam Aslama and Muslim(Uppsala, 1949)Google Scholar, reviews previous scholarship; Bravmann, M., The Spiritual Background of Early Islam (Leiden, 1972), pp. 7–26.Google Scholar

20. This term is used by Muslim writers to cover the extended narratives and incidental commentary that complement summary information on biblical events and personages mentioned in the Qur'an. It also refers to the didactic treatment of biblical events and personages not mentioned in Muslim scripture. Some of this material, if not a good part of it, was introduced in Islamic texts by way of Jewish sources. I am currently engaged in a study of this process of cultural transmission. For the pertinent secondary literature, see E1, s.v. ”Isra'iliyyat“ and ”Banu Isra'il“; the bibliography of Thackston, W.M., Jr., The Tales of the Prophets ofal- Kisa'i (Boston, 1978)Google Scholar; also Sezgin, F.. Geschichte des Arabischen Schrifttums (Leiden, 1967), 1:305–307.Google Scholar

21. Referring to the Arabic tale of Sulayman and Bilqis, the Queen of Sheba. The most detailed account, which is based partially on the qur'anic story (27:15^14), is that of Tha'labi, ‘A rd’is (Beirut, 1985), pp. 311 ff. I am currently preparing a lengthy study of this tale. An annotated translation of the ‘Ara’is is being readied by W. M. Brinner of the University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar

22. Although in later Mamluk and Ottoman usage, the term al-Haramayn occasionally refers to Jerusalem and Hebron, there is no confusion here as to the author's intention. According to Muslims, it was Abraham who first established the sanctuary at Mecca. See E1, s.v. ”al- Haramayn,“ ”Makka.“

23. Tha'labi, ‘Ara’is, p. 311 (qurban and mansik).

24. Ibid(mulhbat ft zaburihim).

25. Ibid p. 314. The reference is to the Basmala: ”In the name of God, the Merciful and Compassionate.“ See E2, s.v. ”Basmala.“

26. Ibid p. 313.

27. Qur'an 27:23.

28. Tha'labi, ‘Ara’is, p. 318, quoting a “majority” of unnamed authorities.

29. Ibid pp. 320, 321.

30. Ibn Hisham, 1:322.

31. Arabic khatam al-nabiyin and sayyid al-anbiya. This conception of Muhammad's honored position among the monotheistic prophets is explicitly stated in the Qur'an and was, from the outset, part of Muslim religious thought. See Qur'an 33:40.

32. Qur'an 3:75 (81).

33. For example, Tabari, , Jam? (Cairo, 1984), 3:323–324;Google Scholar and more sharply in Razi, , Tafsir(Cairo, 1985), 4:117–120. For Ka'b and Huyayy, see the standard histories of the period.Google Scholar

34. The rhetorical strategies of medieval Muslim polemicists are described in Lassner, Islamic Revolution and Historical Memory, esp. pp. 1–33.

35. An extensive summary of the early exegesis to this verse is found in Tabari, Jami‘, 3 (pt. 1): 329–335. The view that the oath was taken by the ancient Israelites is found on pp. 331 ff.; see also Ra'zi, Tafsir, 4:125–133.

36. Baydawi, , Anwar (Leiden, 1846), p. 163. Perhaps the sharpest condemnation of the Jews that utilizes this verse is that of Razi. See n. 35 above.Google Scholar

37. A theoretical paper on these considerations is in progress.

38. A comprehensive study of Moses in the Islamic tradition is worthy of the most serious attention. Indeed, it is rather astounding that such a study has not yet been undertaken.

39. Rappoport, A., Myth and Legend of Ancient Israel (New York, 1966), 2:377–378.Google Scholar

40. Qur‘an 46:15. Regarding the exegesis of this verse, see, for example. Tabari, Jami’, 13 (pt. 2), 15–17.

41. Conrad, L., “Abraha and Muhammad: Some Observations Apropos of Chronology and Literary Topoi in the Early Arabic Historical Tradition”, BSOAS 50 (1987): 227–240, esp. 230–237.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

42. BT Abodah Zarah 5b.

43. Deut. 34:7.

44. Sifre Deut. 429.

45. Prior to the hijrah there was no discrete Muslim community, only individual Muslims who were identified by their tribal affiliations. The move to Medina created an Islamic ummah, or community, that theoretically transcended blood affiliations and replaced them with religious ties. The ummah of Medina thus came to include diverse individuals and groups similar in certain respects to the heterogeneous community that followed Moses out of Egypt.

46. Mittwoch, E., “Muhammad's Geburts-und Todestag”, Islamica 2 (1927): 397–101.Google Scholar

47. For the response of medieval readers, see Lassner, Islamic Revolution and Historical Memory, pp. 19–31.Google Scholar

48. BT Megillah 13b, Sotah 12b, Kiddushin 38a, and numerous other references. Tradition had it that the righteous die on the day of their birth. See for example BT Kiddushin 38a; and also BT Rosh Ha-Shanah 1 la for the importance of the month of Nisan in this connection.

49. A summary of the views of various Muslim scholars on the birth and death of Muhammad can be found in Suhayli, Rawd (ed. Wakll) 3:143 ff.-a commentary on the Sirah of Ibn Hisham.

50. BT Sotah 12a, Abot de-Rabbi Nathan (ed. Schechter), 12 (hereafter cited as ARN), and later Midrash Exodus Rabbah 1:20; Deut. 11:9. Note that other biblical personages were similarly described as having been born circumcised. In all, thirteen were said to have been so born, including Balaam, by ARN, which provides a list and scriptural support for this contention. The medieval exegete Rashi, commenting on Gen. 30:11, indicates the same for Gad, the son of Jacob. See also Ginzberg, L., Legends of the Jews (New York, 1925), 7:268 n. 318.Google Scholar The Muslim tradition concerning Muhammad is cited in Diyarbakri, , Ta'rikh (Cairo, 1302 A.H.), 1:231.Google Scholar

51. Gen. 17:11–12.

52. BT Sotah 12b; Exodus Rabbah 1.24. See also Ginzberg, Legends, 7:399 n. 51.Google Scholar

53. Whether or not the Egyptians actually practiced circumcision has been a matter of controversy since ancient times. For our purposes, it only matters that the rabbis in given traditions believed that this was the case.

54. Exod. 14:43–48.

55. Exod. 14.49.

56. EI s.v. “ATiitan.”

57. See, for example, Ibn Man?ur, Lisan, s.v. “kh-t-n.”

58. See the various lexicons of the Semitic languages.

59. Exod. 4:24–26.

60. An excellent summary of the literature but a not very convincing explanation of the passages can be found in J. Morgenstern, “The ‘Bloody Husband’ (?) (Exod. 4:24–26) Once Again”, Hebrew Union College Annual 34 (1963): 35 –71.

61. Diyarbakri, Ta'rikh, 1:231; Suhayli, Rawd, 3:150.

62. El\ s.v. “ATiitan.”

63. It is reported that ‘Abdallah b. al-’Abbas claimed to have been circumcised at the time of the Prophet's death. Since Ibn ‘Abbas was reportedly born three years before the hijrah, that would have made him thirteen at the time of his circumcision.

64. The biblical figures mentioned include: Adam, Seth, Noah, Shem, Jethro (Shu'ayb, who is elsewhere identified by Muslims as Jeremiah), Lot, Joseph, Solomon, the mysterious Idris (identified by Muslims with Enoch and also Elijah), Zechariah (probably identified by Muslims as the father of John the Baptist and not the Israelite king), and of course Moses-all figures from the Hebrew Bible. In addition, there are John (the Baptist) and, to be sure, Jesus. There are, all told, thirteen biblical figures, as in the rabbinic tradition of ARN. See above, n.

65. For example, Ibn Hisham, Sirah, 1:146 ff.; BT Sotah 12a, 13a. These were, of course, understood as miraculous events legitimizing the future prophets.

66. Several texts fall under this loose rubric. See Encyclopaedia Judaica, s.v. “Tanhuma Yelammedenu.” The passages quoted here are from the Warsaw edition that was republished in Israel. The passages are not found in the body of Buber's edition.

67. Tanhuma, 1:280. The bracketed words are added from the later version of Exodus Rabbah 28:6.

68. Deut. 5:19.

69. The earliest formulation of this position central to rabbinic Judaism is perhaps FT Peah 2.6.

70. See above, n. 49.

71. See, for example. Tabarl, Jami’, 3:329 ff.

72. See Kister, M.J., BSOAS 31 (1968): 223–336; also above, n. 11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

73. For an extensive summary of these issues, see Kister, M. J., ‘“Haddithu ’an baniisraila ova-la fyaraja‘ A Study of an Early Tradition,” Israel Oriental Studies 2 (1972): 215–239.Google Scholar

74. In many respects, the most convenient point of departure remains the study of Muslim- Jewish polemics by Steinschneider, M.: Polemische und apologetische Literalur in arabischer Sprache (Leipzig, 1877Google Scholar). The subject is certainly in need of a new and systematic review. For numerous studies that have appeared since Steinschneider's path-breaking work, see S. W. Baron, A Social and Religious History of the Jews (2nd ed.), 5:82–94, 326–338. See also the more recent summary of Perlmann, M., “The Medieval Polemics Between Islam and Judaism,” in Religion in a Religious Age, ed. S. D. Goitein (Cambridge, Mass., 1973). The residual strength of medieval Muslim polemics against the Jews is truly impressive. It is a subject that is similarly in need of a critical study.Google Scholar

75. An exception can perhaps be made for Islamic Spain, where Jewish-Muslim relations were subject to somewhat different conditions. The elevated profile of Spanish Jewry may explain the sharp and sustained Muslim attack on the Jews and Judaism and the Jewish response. For a survey of these developments, seePerlmann, M., “Eleventh-Century Andalusian Authors on the Jews of Granada”, Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research 18 (1949): 269 ff.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

76. Sa'd b. Mansur Ibn Kammuna's Examination of the Inquiries into Three Faiths: A Thirteenth Century Essay in Comparative Religion, ed. M. Perlmann, University of California Publications in Near Eastern Studies, no. 6 (Berkeley, 1967). Trans, as Ibn Kammuna's Examination of the Inquiries into the Three Faiths (Berkeley, 1971).Tanqih, 67 ffGoogle Scholar

77. al-Fuwatl, Ibn, Hawadith (Baghdad, 1932), pp. 441 ff. This account and a brief description of Ibn Kammunah's life and works is found in Perlmann's introduction to the Arabic text.Google Scholar

78. al-Athir, Ibn, Kamil (Beirut, 1966), 12:358.Google Scholar