The Invisible Apostle — Muḥammad as a Literary Character
Against the Grain
In the Qur’an, many prophets are mentioned to remind the hearers of God’s messages to them in the past. Most of them have elaborate stories of miracles they participated in, or something else that functioned as an ayat(proof) of their prophethood. The most impressive of the prophets, even in the Qur’an, is Jesus. He is unique in that God set him in the world in the likeness of Adam (Q. 3–59). This simply means that he was born to the Virgin Mary without a human father. Even more than that, the Qur’an states that Jesus was conceived in Mary when God blew his ruḥ (wind/spirit) into her. He is also called a kalimat (word) from God (Q. 4:171). This solidifies the Semitic connection between spirit and teaching, which is the Biblical model. The Qur’an further describes Christ as speaking full sentences as an infant (Q. 19:30), perhaps a poetic reworking of Isaiah 11:6. As an adult, Jesus performs many miracles and proclaims the Law and Gospel. The Gospel being, in part, making some things lawful that were previously unlawful (Q. 3:50). The Qur’an doesn’t specify what was specifically made lawful, but in the Biblical context, it is the inclusion of the gentiles. In other words, Jesus is virtually identical to how he is portrayed in the New Testament. Despite playing such a critical role in the text, like his Biblical counterpart he understands that God is ultimately the reference and source of his authority. His followers ended up destroying each other over disputes about his divine status and metaphysical makeup. The Qur’an was composed in the midst of 7th century Arabia, nearly two centuries after the councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon completely shattered Christian unity in the East. The Qur’an directly references these disputes.
وَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ رَبِّى وَرَبُّكُمْ فَٱعْبُدُوهُ ۚ هَـٰذَا صِرَٰطٌۭ مُّسْتَقِيمٌۭ فَٱخْتَلَفَ ٱلْأَحْزَابُ مِنۢ بَيْنِهِمْ ۖ فَوَيْلٌۭ لِّلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ مِن مَّشْهَدِ يَوْمٍ عَظِيمٍ
Jesus said, “Surely God is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him. This is the Straight Path”. Yet their groups have differed among themselves, so woe to the disbelievers when they face a tremendous Day! — Q. 19:37
From the persepctive of the text, Jesus had become an idol. Not the Jesus of the New Testament who taught his followers to worship God and serve the needy neighbor, but the Greco-Roman Jesus who was a metaphysical tapestry of deity and humanity. Even worse, for the Byzantines, he became their Platonic ideal of a Roman emperor. The meek shepherd Jesus who only belonged to his Father was recast as the mascot for Rome’s military campaigns. Jesus became a brand. To respond to this violent fallout, the Qur’an casts the final prophet as intentionally unremarkable as possible.
An Aniconic Messenger
When discussing the prophet of the Qur’anic revelation, one often goes straight to the hadith literature. There is a reason for this. To put it simply, Muḥammad is strikingly absent in the Qur’an. He is there, but only as its recipient. There are no biographical details about him. He doesn’t even speak in the text, save the very words of the Qur’an which he is obligated to recite.
ٱقْرَأْ بِٱسْمِ رَبِّكَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ
Recite thou in the name of thy Lord who created — Q. 96:1
Those words are not Muḥammad’s, but God’s. It parallels the terminology of the biblical prophets who do not speak to their audiences with their own words, but rather the words that God gives them to recite!
And I have put my words in your mouth and covered you in the shadow of my hand, establishing the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth, and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’ — Isa. 51:16
Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” — Jer. 1:9–10
And he said to me, “Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey. — Ezek. 3:1–3
In many ways the Qur’an reads like an extended version of one of God’s oracles in the Old Testament. Whereas, in the Bible the prophets have their own authorial personality, Muḥammad is completely passive. If he were an Old Testament prophet, we might expect some kind of introduction describing his first divine encounter on the cave of Hira. What we are met with instead is a literature that is completely centered around God and his direct utterance to mankind. Muḥammad is only a vessel, and the text seemingly takes great aims at trying to diminish his role as much as possible.
وَمَا مُحَمَّدٌ إِلَّا رَسُولٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ مِن قَبْلِهِ ٱلرُّسُلُ أَفَإِي۟ن مَّاتَ أَوْ قُتِلَ ٱنقَلَبْتُمْ عَلَىٰٓ أَعْقَـٰبِكُمْ وَمَن يَنقَلِبْ عَلَىٰ عَقِبَيْهِ فَلَن يَضُرَّ ٱللَّـهَ شَيْـًٔا وَسَيَجْزِى ٱللَّـهُ ٱلشَّـٰكِرِينَ
And Muḥammad is only a messenger; messengers have passed away before him. If then he dies or is killed, will you turn back on your heels? And he who turns back on his heels does no harm to God at all; and God will reward the grateful. — Q. 3:144
In fact, Muḥammad is virtually unremarkable in the Qur’an. This often gets downplayed by the religion of Islam which has, through the hadith literature, elevated the prophet to a sort of Lao Tzu/ Buddha type figure. The Muḥammad of ahadith is a sage who answers spiritual and existential questions. He sets the rubrics of religious life, and the aim of Sunni Islam in particular is to emulate the way (sunnah) that Muḥammad supposedly lived. He also performs miracles and is said to be virtually perfect in his conduct. Such a portrayal is in direct tension with the Muḥammad we find in the Qur’an. This Muḥammad is not a spotless fount of spiritual wisdom, but a passive instrument used by God to warn the nations of yawm al-din. To illustrate this, there are two explicit examples of God admonishing Muḥammad’s behavior. The first comes from surah 66.
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّبِىُّ لِمَ تُحَرِّمُ مَآ أَحَلَّ ٱللَّـهُ لَكَ تَبْتَغِى مَرْضَاتَ أَزْوَٰجِكَ وَٱللَّـهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ قَدْ فَرَضَ ٱللَّـهُ لَكُمْ تَحِلَّةَ أَيْمَـٰنِكُمْ وَٱللَّـهُ مَوْلَىٰكُمْ وَهُوَ ٱلْعَلِيمُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ
O Prophet: why makest thou unlawful what God has made lawful for thee, seeking the approval of thy wives? And God is forgiving and merciful. God has ordained for you the absolution of your oaths. And God is your protector, and He is the Knowing, the Wise. — Q. 66:1–2
The context here is that Muḥammad made an unspecified oath with his wives, which went against God’s warning against oaths in surah 5.
لَا يُؤَاخِذُكُمُ ٱللَّـهُ بِٱللَّغْوِ فِىٓ أَيْمَـٰنِكُمْ وَلَـٰكِن يُؤَاخِذُكُم بِمَا عَقَّدتُّمُ ٱلْأَيْمَـٰنَ فَكَفَّـٰرَتُهُۥٓ إِطْعَامُ عَشَرَةِ مَسَـٰكِينَ مِنْ أَوْسَطِ مَا تُطْعِمُونَ أَهْلِيكُمْ أَوْ كِسْوَتُهُمْ أَوْ تَحْرِيرُ رَقَبَةٍ فَمَن لَّمْ يَجِدْ فَصِيَامُ ثَلَـٰثَةِ أَيَّامٍ ذَٰلِكَ كَفَّـٰرَةُ أَيْمَـٰنِكُمْ إِذَا حَلَفْتُمْ وَٱحْفَظُوٓا۟ أَيْمَـٰنَكُمْ كَذَٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ ٱللَّـهُ لَكُمْ ءَايَـٰتِهِۦ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ
God will not take you to task for the vain speech in your oaths; but He will take you to task for what you have contracted by oath, whereof the expiation is the feeding of ten needy persons with the average of that you feed your families, or the clothing of them, or the manumission of a slave; but whoso has not the means, then a fast of three days. That is the expiation of your oaths when you have sworn. But keep your oaths; thus does God make plain to you His proofs, that you might be grateful. — Q. 5:89
The penalty for a broken oath, as per God’s instruction, is the feeding of ten needy persons. God’s admonition to Muḥammad is to exhort him to remember the price for breaking an oath.
Another similar example comes from surah 80.
عَبَسَ وَتَوَلَّىٰ أَن جَاءَهُ الْأَعْمَىٰ وَمَا يُدْرِيكَ لَعَلَّهُ يَزَّكَّىٰ أَوْ يَذَّكَّرُ فَتَنفَعَهُ الذِّكْرَىٰ أَمَّا مَنِ اسْتَغْنَىٰ فَأَنتَ لَهُ تَصَدَّىٰ وَمَا عَلَيْكَ أَلَّا يَزَّكَّىٰ وَأَمَّا مَن جَاءَكَ يَسْعَىٰ وَهُوَ يَخْشَىٰ فَأَنتَ عَنْهُ تَلَهَّىٰ كَلَّا إِنَّهَا تَذْكِرَةٌ
He frowned and turned away. When the blind man approached him. But how do you know? Perhaps he was seeking to purify himself. Or be reminded, and the message would benefit him. But as for him who was indifferent. You gave him your attention. Though you are not liable if he does not purify himself. But as for him who came to you seeking. In awe. To him you were inattentive. Do not. This is a Lesson. — Q. 80:1–11
There, the prophet turns a “blind” eye to a blind man. God admonishes him for this. In other places, the Qur’an insinuates that Muḥammad did not perform any miracles, unlike the prophets before him.
وَقَالُوا۟ لَوْلَآ أُنزِلَ عَلَيْهِ ءَايَـٰتٌ مِّن رَّبِّهِۦ قُلْ إِنَّمَا ٱلْـَٔايَـٰتُ عِندَ ٱللَّـهِ وَإِنَّمَآ أَنَا۠ نَذِيرٌ مُّبِينٌ
They say, ‘Why have signs not been sent down upon him from his Lord?’ Say: ‘The signs are only with God, and I am only a plain warner.’ — Q. 29:50
To be clear, this is not to denigrate Muḥammad but to highlight the power of God’s last prophet being an an-nabi al-ummi, a “lay” prophet (Q. 7:157). The fact that he is so unremarkable is precisely what makes him remarkable. The Qur’an is trying to ensure it doesn’t create an idol out of its messenger.
Lesson from the film “The Message”
One of the best films I watched last year was the 1976 epic The Message about the early years of Islam. The film is ostensibly about Muḥammad, but out of respect for Islamic tradition, the prophet is never portrayed directly. Instead, Muḥammad is spoken about and when he directly interacts with the narrative, the film finds ways to refrain from showing his likeness. Muḥammad is not the reference. God is. That is the radical, uncompromising message of the Qur’an. Muḥammad is the messenger of God, but the message is from God alone. Muḥammad has no say. The Qur’an is not his book, nor did he write it. The full power of this teaching is portrayed at the end of the film, quoting a hadith of Abu Bakr.
Whoever worships Muḥammad, know that Muḥammad is dead. Whoever worships God, know that God is alive and will never die.