Page:Judaism and Islam, a prize essay - Geiger - 1898.pdf/21

 EBLATION OP JUDAISM TO ISLAM. 3

FIRST DIVISION.
''Did Muhammad wish to borrow from Judaism? Could Muhammad borrow from Judaism? and if so, how was such borrowing possible for him? Was it compatible with Muhammad's plan to borrow from Judaism ?''

It is not enough for us to give a dry meagre summary of the passages which appear to have some connection with Judaism, in order to shew that Muhammad really possessed a certain knowledge of it, and used it in the establishment of his new religion, and that, further, a comparison with it makes clear many passages in the Quran. Rather is it our task to shew how it was bound up with the spirit, the striving and the aims of Muhammad, with the mind of his time and the constitution of his surroundings, and thus to demonstrate the fact that, even were we deprived of all proofs which undeniably shew Judaism to be a source of the Quran, the conjecture that a borrowing from Judaism had taken place would still have great probability. Thus it is necessary for us first to account for this as the philosophical development of a process, afterwards to be confirmed by historical evidence.

Three questions come prominently forward here : --

First : Did Muhammad really think he would gain any object by borrowing from Judaism? or, in other words, Did Muhammad of set purpose borrow from Judaism?

Second : Had Muhammad means, and what means had he, of attaining to a knowledge of Judaism? i.e., Could he thus borrow? and if so, how was it possible for him?

Third : Were there not other circumstances which militated against, or at all events limited such a borrowing?