Islam: In Light Of History Dr. Rafat Amari A Religion Research Institute Publication 1 Copyright by Religion Research Institute. P.O. Box 7505, Prospect Heights, IL 60070, USA. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any way by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author except as provided by USA copyright law. ISBN 0-9765024-0-2 Printed in the United States of America. First Edition, November 2004 This book can be purchased directly through www. religionresearchinstitute .org , or by contacting RRI through e-mailing to: [email protected] 2 Contents Preface …………………………………………….. ……………… 7 Introduction…………………………………….. ………….... 10 Maps …………………………………………….. …………….... 18 PART I- The Unreliability of the Qur’an and the Writers of the Islamic Tradition Regarding History ..…….……….. …….22 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 3 Christianity……………………………………………… ………….148 4 - Absence of Mecca in Archaeological Records Found in the Other Ancient Cities and Kingdoms of Arabia.... 168 5 - The Absence of Mecca Through Studying the Records of the Nations who Occupied the Region…..173 6 - The Study of the Assyrian Inscriptions Also Excludes an Ancient Mecca. ………………………. …………………… 185 7 - Chaldean Records Also Exclude any Record of Mecca During the 7th and 6th Centuries B.C. ……. 206 8 - The Missing Merchants of Mecca …….. …………… 210 9 - The Bible and the Ancient Mecca Claim…….…… 212 10 - The True Story of the Construction of the Temple of Mecca …………………………………………………………. 247 PART III - The Kaabah and Allah as Expressions of the Arabian Star Worship ………….... ……………………………… 268 1 - The Kaabah as Temple of the Arabian Star Worship ………………………………………………………… ….269 2 - Who was Allah in the Worship of Arabia?. …...… 273 PART IV - The Case of the Ishmaelites and Islam …..…... 284 4 1 - The Ishmaelites and Their Existence Throughout History ………………………………………………….. ………….285 2 - A Discussion of the Claims that the Arabs Were Descendants of Ishmael and that Ishmael was the Foundation for a Monotheistic Faith. ..……………….. 308 3 - Refuting the Islamic Claim About Mohammed as Descendant of Ishmael. ……………………………….. …. 333 4 - The History of Quraish Does not Include a Linkage to Ishmael in its Lineage. …………………………………. 357 PART V - The Hajj, the Occult Umra', and Ramadan …. 369 1 - The Great Pilgrimage of Islam. ……….…………. … 370 2 - The Small Hajj Called Umra', and Occultism at Mecca. ………………………………………………………… ….. 404 3 - Ramadan and its Roots ………………………….. …….. 434 Part VI - The Rise of Islam..…………. ………………………… 445 1 - The Earlier Followers of Mohammed at Mecca, and Jinn as Muslims……………………………………………… … 446 2 - The Filthy Bargain. …………………………………….. 455 5 3 - To What Moral Category Should Mohammed be Assigned?.. ………………………………………………………… 478 4 - Islam as the Newborn of the Jinn Religion of Arabia………………………. ………………………………….. 485 Index ……………………………………..…………………. 495 6 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 7 ISLAM IN LIGHT OF HISTORY 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 8 PREFACE 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 9 ISLAM IN LIGHT OF HISTORY 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.