Islam: Revelation or Reinvention?

Was Early Islam Just a Codified Synthesis of Existing Beliefs?

“The genius of Muhammad (or, if you like, Allah) put them together into a heady cocktail...”
— Tim Mackintosh-Smith, Arabs: A 3000-Year History

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🔍 Introduction: Islam Didn’t Come from a Vacuum

When we study Islam from a forensic historical lens, rather than through the lens of theology or tradition, a different picture emerges. Instead of seeing it as a sudden burst of divine revelation, we begin to recognize a process of codification and adaptation — an organized blending of pre-existing beliefs, customs, and stories from Arabia and beyond.

The more closely we examine early Islamic practices and Qur’anic content, the clearer it becomes: Islam wasn’t born out of nothing. It was assembled.

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🕋 1. The God “Allah” Was Already in Mecca

Before Muhammad ever claimed to receive revelations, the name “Allah” was already known in pre-Islamic Arabia. Pagan Arabs used the name for a high god, though they also worshipped other deities (his so-called “daughters”: al-Lat, al-Uzza, and Manat). This is confirmed by the Qur’an itself:

“If you ask them who created them, they will surely say ‘Allah’.” — Qur’an 43:87

In Southern Arabia, inscriptions also reveal the worship of al-Rahman ("The Merciful"), a divine title later emphasized in the Qur’an. So even the Qur’an’s two most used names for God — Allah and al-Rahman — predate Islam.

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🎤 2. Qur’anic Style Imitates Kahins and Poets

Pre-Islamic Arabia wasn’t illiterate — it was orally poetic. The most respected figures were poets and kahins (mystics), who delivered messages in rhymed prose (sajʿ). Muhammad’s recitations used the same form, and his critics noticed.

So much so that the Qur’an had to explicitly reject the comparison:

“This is indeed the word of a noble messenger. It is not the word of a poet... nor the word of a kahin.” — Qur’an 69:40–42

Why deny it unless people were saying it?

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🧳 3. Hajj: Pilgrimage Rebranded, Not Invented

Islam’s Hajj pilgrimage was not a new invention either. Pre-Islamic Arabs already made pilgrimages to the Kaaba, performed tawaf (circling), and observed ritual purity. Islam took those practices, stripped the idols, and gave them new theological meaning.

The Sabeans of Yemen also practiced pilgrimage — abstaining from violence and sex, just like Muslims do during Hajj. The Qur’anic reforms weren’t novel; they were theological edits of existing rites.

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📚 4. Borrowed Scripture: Bible, Talmud, and Apocrypha

The stories in the Qur’an — Adam and Eve, Noah’s Ark, Moses and Pharaoh, Jesus’ virgin birth — all come from previous Jewish and Christian texts.

Sometimes the Qur’an includes material not found in the Bible but found in extra-biblical sources like the Talmud or Apocryphal gospels. A prime example:

• In Qur’an 19:22–26, Mary gives birth under a palm tree, and baby Jesus miraculously causes the dates to fall.

• This story is not in the New Testament.

• But it is found in the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, written around 600 CE — before Muhammad.

This strongly suggests that the Qur’anic stories were borrowed and retold, not divinely revealed from a vacuum.

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⚖️ 5. Shariah Law = Codified Tribal Practice

Many of Islam’s legal principles predate it. Pre-Islamic tribes already practiced:

• Blood money (diya)

• Retribution ethics (qisas)

• Polygamy

• Male-preferential inheritance

Muhammad didn’t invent these — he codified them, assigned divine authority to them, and formalized them into a new legal-religious system.

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🏛 6. Political Theology: Imported from South Arabia

Islam’s fusion of religion and state wasn’t new either. In South Arabia (e.g. the Himyarite Kingdom), rulers were already mixing monotheism with law, whether Jewish or Christian. They were using divine legitimacy to rule and wage war.

Islam followed that model — but extended it across Arabia through conquest and religious mission.

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🧠 Conclusion: Islam Was a Synthesis, Not a Sudden Revelation

The origins of Islam, when stripped of tradition and viewed critically, show clear signs of borrowing, reframing, and strategic unification. Muhammad’s achievement — or if you prefer, his divine revelation — wasn’t about inventing new beliefs. It was about taking familiar elements and merging them into a powerful, unified system that mobilized tribes, legitimized rule, and framed Arab identity in monotheistic terms.

"All the ingredients of what would become Islam were sourced locally."
— Tim Mackintosh-Smith

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📊 Summary Table: Pre-Islamic Elements Repackaged in Islam

Islamic Element	Pre-Islamic Source	Qur’anic Recast
Allah	Pagan high god	Declared sole deity
Al-Rahman	South Arabian inscriptions	One of God’s names
Revealed poetry	Kahin & poet traditions	Framed as divine revelation
Pilgrimage	Meccan and Sabean practices	Theologically repurposed as Hajj
Biblical stories	Torah, Gospel, Talmud, Apocrypha	Rearranged and retold in Qur’an
Legal norms	Tribal Arabian customs	Codified in Sharia
Religious rulership	South Arabian kings (e.g. Jewish Himyarites)	Muhammad’s model of prophetic governance

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📚 Sources:

• Hoyland, Arabia and the Arabs

• Crone, Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam

• Hawting, The Idea of Idolatry and the Emergence of Islam

• Tim Mackintosh-Smith, Arabs: A 3000-Year History

• Pseudo-Matthew (6th–7th century Latin gospel)

• Inscriptions from Qaryat al-Faw, Najran, and Himyarite sites