Medieval legends credited Muhammad’s revelations to a heretical monk

Evidence

It seemed likely, not only that the Bahira of Muslim legend was the same as the Christian apostate whom Muhammad, in Christian legend, customarily consulted, but also that Islamic sources betrayed the hidden truth when they spoke of Muhammad’s retirement from the world just before the first revelation, in the hills around Mecca - this suggested that the time was really spent with the renegade, secretly preparing the details of the fraud. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1314 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

The notion that Muhammad did travel, and often that he travelled great distances, was general; usually he was thought to have done so as a merchant, or as Khadijah’s agent in handling her merchandise.*° The idea of his travels offered an alternative explanation of his knowledge of Christianity and Judaism, to that which depended on apostate monks and cunning Jews in Arabia. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 506 (#qualifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Medieval anti-Islamic legend cast Muhammad’s revelation as staged deception — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1895; Medieval Christians explained Muhammad’s scriptural knowledge as travel-borne rather than apostasy — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 506; Medieval Christian polemic credited Muhammad’s doctrine to a Nestorian monk and Jews (+1 more)

Related

• Medieval Christians explained Muhammad’s scriptural knowledge as travel-borne rather than apostasy (similarity 0.89)
• Early Christian polemicists accused Muhammad of fraud committed with a renegade monk (similarity 0.88)
• Christian polemicists explained Muhammad’s prophethood as a fraudulent bid for kingship (similarity 0.86)
• Medieval anti-Islamic legend cast Muhammad’s revelation as staged deception (similarity 0.85)
• Christian polemicists read Muslim sources as unwittingly confirming Christian legends (similarity 0.85)
• Medieval Christian polemicists could read Muhammad’s revelations as akin to pagan oracles (similarity 0.83)
• Medieval annotators traced specific Qur’anic verses to Arian and Nestorian heretical origins (similarity 0.83)
• Medieval Christian writers sometimes preserved authentic Islamic legends about Muhammad (similarity 0.82)
• Christian polemicists studied Muslim revelation accounts seriously rather than dismissing them (similarity 0.82)
• Christian polemicists preferred a fabricated teaching monk over Muslim claims of miracle (similarity 0.81)
• The Bahira legend was inverted to make a heretical monk the mastermind of Islam (similarity 0.81)
• Scholars perpetuated apocryphal Islamic legends despite knowing they lacked sources (similarity 0.81)
• Medieval polemicists used Muslim sources to validate anti-Muslim legends (similarity 0.81)
• Medieval Christian polemicists treated Christian and Muslim legends as mutually confirmatory (similarity 0.80)
• Medieval critics saw Islamic truths as deliberate bait for deception (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• Early Christian polemicists accused Muhammad of fraud committed with a renegade monk #corroborates (0.92) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1314
• Medieval Christian polemic credited Muhammad’s doctrine to a Nestorian monk and Jews #exemplifies (0.90)
• Medieval Christians explained Muhammad’s scriptural knowledge as travel-borne rather than apostasy #qualifies (0.85) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 506
• Medieval anti-Islamic legend cast Muhammad’s revelation as staged deception #expands (0.78) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1895