Around the year 781 CE, Patriarch Timothy (727–823 CE) recorded what is now known as the Apology, a transcript of his theological debate with the Abbasid Caliph al-Mahdi (r. 775–785 CE). This text captures a moment in the history of the Christian–Muslim encounter that should unsettle every modern defender of the miracle legends later invented … Continue reading Syriac Polemics Against Islam: Muhammad Had No Miracles Aside from Quran
Notes: Envisioninig Islam: Syriac Christians and Early Muslim World
The following are my notes from the book "Envisioning Islam: Syriac Christians and the Early Muslim World" by Michael Philip Penn. But when Muslims first encountered Christians they did not meet Greek-speaking Christians from Constantinople, nor did they meet Latin-speaking Christians from the western Mediterranean. Rather, they first encountered Christians from northern Mesopotamia who spoke … Continue reading Notes: Envisioninig Islam: Syriac Christians and Early Muslim World
The Earliest Mentions of Muhammad from Syriac Sources
Long before medieval Christian polemicists wrote about “Mahomet,” and centuries before European historians tried to reconstruct early Islam, a different group recorded the rise of Muhammad and his followers in real time: Syriac-speaking Christians of the Near East. These communities lived not in Rome or Constantinople, but in Syria, Mesopotamia, and Persia—the very lands conquered … Continue reading The Earliest Mentions of Muhammad from Syriac Sources
The Night Journey and Ascension: How Jewish Folklore Became Sunni Doctrine
In Sunni Islamic tradition, the Isrāʾ wal-Miʿrāj (الإسراء والمعراج) refers to two separate but interconnected miraculous events that are said to have occurred in a single night — the Night Journey (al-Isrāʾ) and the Ascension (al-Miʿrāj). According to Sunni accounts, this journey began in Mecca, when Muhammad is said to have been visited by the … Continue reading The Night Journey and Ascension: How Jewish Folklore Became Sunni Doctrine
The Quran’s Emergence Points to The Supernatural
Abstract Human civilization advances through gradual cultural evolution: simple forms mature into complex ones through iterative refinement, failure, and learning. Every masterwork—from the Great Pyramid to the Divine Comedy—rests upon centuries of predecessors and prototypes. Yet the Quran appears to violate this iron law. Emerging from seventh-century Arabia, a culture with no tradition of written … Continue reading The Quran’s Emergence Points to The Supernatural
The Many Incoherencies of Ibn Hanbal
Few figures in Islamic history embody incoherency as completely as Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (780 – 855 CE). He is venerated as the purest defender of prophetic tradition, a martyr of the Mihna who resisted the Abbasid Caliph al-Maʾmūn’s demand to declare the Quran “created.” Yet beneath that saintly veneer lies a theology built on suspicion … Continue reading The Many Incoherencies of Ibn Hanbal
Why Sunnis Perpetuate the Myth of Aisha’s Age
The hadith of ʿĀʾishah’s marital age—claiming that the Prophet Muhammad married her at six and consummated the marriage at nine—has long stood as one of the most disturbing reports within the Sunnī hadith corpus. In his groundbreaking Oxford PhD thesis, The Hadith of ʿĀʾishah’s Marital Age: A Study in the Evolution of Early Islamic Historical … Continue reading Why Sunnis Perpetuate the Myth of Aisha’s Age
Why Don’t Sunnis Advocate Mass Illiteracy?
A standard narrative among traditionalists is that the Prophet Muhammad was illiterate. They claim he could not read or write during the ~63 years he was on this planet. In other words, over the span of twenty years, he was delivering the Quran; he either never took the time to learn to read or write, … Continue reading Why Don’t Sunnis Advocate Mass Illiteracy?
Why Transmit Abrogated Hadith Without Clarification?
There are multiple Sahih narrations claiming the Prophet commanded ablution (wudu) after eating food touched by fire: Abu Hurairah reported: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Perform ablution after eating anything which has been cooked by fire. حَدَّثَنَا مُسَدَّدٌ، حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى، عَنْ شُعْبَةَ، حَدَّثَنِي أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ حَفْصٍ، عَنِ الأَغَرِّ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ … Continue reading Why Transmit Abrogated Hadith Without Clarification?
Did the Prophet Ever Cite His Own Hadith?
It is a common practice for leaders, teachers, legislators, and judges to typically reference their own prior words. Individuals in these roles often remind their audience: "As I said before…" or "Remember what I told you last time…" This practice not only reinforces authority but also demonstrates continuity of teaching. Given this very natural human … Continue reading Did the Prophet Ever Cite His Own Hadith?
