The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume I — Page 227
VII - Days of Struggle 227 the slave of a Makkan Chieftain named Ibni Ḥaḍramī. Since this individual was a Christian, and the teachings of Christianity are far nearer to Islām than Idolatry, and Jabar could see nothing but polytheism and Idolatry in Makkah, thus, in his religious passion, he would meet the Holy Prophet sa at times. Acknowledging his passion, the Holy Prophet sa would also visit him, and preach the message of Islām to him. When the Quraish noticed this, in order to defame the Holy Prophet sa , they began to say that “Muḥammad [sa] acquires knowledge from Jabar. ” 1 Considering the doctrinal differences between Islām and Christianity and the academic level of Jabar himself, this was an extremely futile and vain allegation. The Quraish merely needed an accusation, irrespective of whether it was logical or illogical. For this reason, they eagerly publicised this allegation. The Holy Qur’ān rebutted this allegation wonderfully, saying, “The individual to whom you attribute the teachings of Muḥammad [sa] the Messenger of Allāh is himself speechless both apparently and in the spiritual sense. How, then, can he be a tutor to Muḥammad [sa] , the Messenger of Allāh in a book like the Qur’ān?” 2 In other words, on account of this man being a non-Arab, how can he possibly be considered the tutor of such pure and eloquent speech as found in the Holy Qur’ān? On the other hand, in reference to the spiritual connotation, how can the ignorance of this man be declared the fountainhead of Qur’ānic wisdom? The word ‘Ajamī used in these Qur’ānic verses could also insinuate that since the Gospels had not been translated in to Arabic in the era of the Holy Prophet sa , 3 for this reason, if Jabar did in fact recite any portion of the Gospels to the Holy Prophet sa , they must have been either in Hebrew or Greek. How, then, would the Holy Prophet sa understand them, and how, then, would he mould them into Arabic? In various narrations, in addition to Jabar, other names have also been mentioned about whom the Quraish used to object that they would tutor the Holy Prophet sa. However, the humorous point to note is that all these people 1 As-Sīratun-Nabawiyyah, By Abū Muḥammad ‘Abdul-Malik bin Hishām, p. 284, Bābu Amri Wafdin- Naṣāralladhīna Aslamū, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (2001) 2 An-Naḥl (16:104) 3 The Text and Canon of the New Testament, By Alexandar Souter, Chapter 6, Secondary Versions, p. 74, Printed in New York (1913)