Christmas in the Quran (a refutation of some of the erroneous claims made by Stephen Shoemaker in his book)

Christmas in the Quran (a refutation of some of the erroneous claims made by Stephen Shoemaker in his book) Part 1.

(Because the book by Professor Shoemaker covers over 30 or so pages then this refutation will need to be cut into more than one part for the blog to make easy reading. So please click on the link below for part 2 to read the rest of the article)

A common error made by many orientalists when they write about islam is either a lack of knowledge of the subject at hand or some sort of bias to what they are writing about. And many times they draw from unreliable sources, either intentionally or unintentionally.

The writer of this refutation is not a scholar with a masters or a PHD in islam but a student of islamic studies, But has studied Islam and comparative religion to high enough level up to Bachelors so when he reads a book or listens to a scholar lecturing, he has enough knowledge to at least question or refute what has been written or said.

Professor Stephen Shoemaker who teaches religious studies at Oregon university, in his book mentioned above  " Christmas in the Qur-an: The Quranic ¯Account of Jesus’ Nativity and Palestinian Local Tradition " issues an apology in book saying:

" Before proceeding, however, I feel compelled to offer something in the way of an“apology” for the article that follows. In the first place, I am not an expert on early Islam, as will perhaps be obvious to many readers. I am, however,a specialist in the religious traditions of the late ancient Near East, and more specifically in the areas of early Byzantine apocryphal literature and also thel liturgical traditions of Byzantine Jerusalem. In this article, I bring knowledge from these areas of study to bear on the early history of the Qur-¯an, and it is my hope that those more learned in the Islamic tradition will be able to excuse any potential ignorance on my part and appreciate the potentially valuable perspectives offered from this vantage"

Apologies accepted, however the author of this refutation feels that professor Shoemaker being a Christian ( presumably a catholic due to the intense amount of work defending mary worship and cults and so on) wrote this with christian lenses rather than an unbiased one. I first question for someone writing about the Quran and by the look of his other work he has written about Islam and also the prophet of Islam (peace be upon him and upon all prophets). It would have been  expected that professor Shoemaker to have read the Quran and if not all but many ahadith pertaining to the subject he was writing on. Also what other Abrahamic faiths say about islam.

In this book the professor tries to claim  or insinuate that the Quran borrowed from other sources. Especially the apocrypha on the issue of the nativity of jesus. Something that has been going around on the internet so much and that has been debunked even by myself many times. Professor Shoemaker what if it was proven to you that it was the contrary. Not that the Quran borrowed or copied from anything but that those texts borrowed from the quran? Professor Shoemaker also puts across that after the death of the prophet, his companions after "conquering palestine " found a tradition amongst the christians there of the Karishma church concerning the nativity of the christ and decided to "somehow added that what was not found the Quran.

The Professor draws from many sources except the authentic and reliable ones. From Patricia crone, Warnborough and other"revisionist" sources which he seems to favour but does don't bring sources for the defence of the Quran, the quran itself, the hadith and also Jewish sources which the author will mention later and why it is relevant. We need to set a premise , a standard from which this refutation will draw.If you are writing about the quran why leave out the quran to give it's defence? Unless there are ulterior motives,that is to disprove the Quran as many have been attempting the do.

Assuming the professor has read the quran with no biase but to seek knowledge to write his book from the get go he would have noticed a very important claim made by the Quran in chapter 2 verse 1-4 : 

In the name of God, the Gracious, the Merciful.

1. Alif, Lam, Meem.

2. This is the Book in which there is no doubt, a guide for the righteous.

3. Those who believe in the unseen, and perform the prayers, and give from what We have provided for them.

4. And those who believe in what was revealed to you, and in what was revealed before you, and are certain of the Hereafter. 

So we notice a very powerful statement in the beginning of the Quran that this is a book with no doubt. A term that cannot be found in any of the gospels in the bible and the letters of Paul. So Allah the author of the Quran is confirming that the quran is a book without any any doubt Professor could have  also given the defence of the quran in his book to show that after his apology he was not biased. Then Allah goes on to say a guide for the righteous. So professor Shoemaker seemingly an unbiased righteous writer about islam south have had the wisdom to search more on the subject before putting pen to paper. In verse 4 it says And those who believe in what was revealed to you, and in what was revealed before you. So the professor (assuming) he had was the quran on search for information to write his work would have seen the disclaimer in the Quran from the beginning. Which he cannot he did not notice unless of course he only read the verses that he wrote about which we will see later. If the professor had dug further he would have seen also

Surah al Zukhruf, Verse 4:“And indeed it (the Qūr’ān) is, in the Mother of the Book with Us, exalted and full of wisdom.”

Now in the hadith which was the oral tradition of what was revealed to prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) both the Quran and the hadith are revelation, there is a hadith graded sahih I assume our professor understands what sahih means which says 

Hadith also confirm that the quran and everything else that happened and will happened upto the day of judgement was written down 50000 years before creation.

Abdullah bin 'Amr narrated that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said:

‘Ubadah ibn al-Samit reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Verily, the first to be created by Allah was the pen. Allah told it to write, so it wrote all that will exist until forever.”Source: Sunan al-Tirmidhī 3319) Grade: Sahih (authentic) according to Al-Albani.

Most Christians I know are rejectionists, they reject all sources of evidences except either the bible or what they want to see or hear. The author hopes our professor is not because he seems to take only the opinion of the revisionists and reject all other evidence out there. So assuming as a scholar he must have read the full quran before making judgement. Having done so  let's assume the professor to have come across the chapter 85 verse 21-22. The two last verses where Allah confirms that what is mentioned above:21 Indeed the is the Glorious Quran. 22 inscribed in the preserved tablet." Confirming the preservation of the Quran.If that is not proof enough professor Shoemaker should have done what is mentioned above in chapter 2 verse 4  And those who believe in what was revealed to you, and in what was revealed before you, and are certain of the Hereafter. Not that t is required 5. These are upon guidance from their Lord. These are the successful." So Allah is confirming that "this was revealed to those before you".We will touch on that as well later.

 So we can begin to see that there was no copying or borrowing in the quran from any external sources, be it apocrypha or anything else. Either you believe it or not the Quran and hadith confirm that the words of the Quran Allah's speech dictated to the pen written down on the preserved tablets were there first. 

Many people assume that the quran given to the prophet Mohammad all at once was written there and then. But proof should shows it was already written and preserved and only revealed in the 6th century. The authorship of the quran by Allah and the revelation over a period of 23 years piecemeal are two different things and cannot be confused. If our dear professor had read the full Quran he would have seen that not too far down in the 5 chapter verse 3  At the end of his life when his mission was over Allah confirms to mohammad (saws) that This day those who disbelieve have despaired of [defeating] your religion; so fear them not, but fear Me. This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islām as religion. But whoever is forced by severe hunger with no inclination to sin - then indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.

So apart from being written 50000 years before creation, and revealed piecemeal over a period of 23 years. The Quran was complete, revelation ended. Nothing to be added nothing removed. The companions who learn the Quran verse by verse over a period of 23 years, !any memorized the full Quran and they knew there was nothing that could be added or removed even after the death of the prophet (pbuh). So if was impossible after the keys of palestine's were given to the second  caliph umar ibn Khattab( professor Shoemaker claims it was a conquest insinuating a battle took place was wrong, the keys to palestine were given in peace to the caliph of islam (It was the crusades who massacred and shedded blood in palestine). This it was impossible as the professor implies from his revisionists sources that the traction of the Katishma church in palestine was somehow added into the Quran later. That theory is refuted. It was the tradition for m islam that came first. That was past down to the palestinian christians. And somehow found its way into the apocrypha. We will deal with this a bit more later. 

Not that it is required for the quran to have other sources to confirm it since the quran itself came as the criterion for other scriptures revealed in the verses above but the professor could have also research judaic sources where is is somewhat unanimous among many Jewish rabbis ( a sources christians hate to take from) that Islam was the oldest religion often referred to as Benai noach. Those who follow the laws of Noah. Also Ger Toshav mention on various books of the Torah as the non jew but a gentile who follows the laws the seven laws of Noah. The early pre judaism Muslims who were monotheist but did were non Jews were also known according to the rabbis as Yirat shemayim. Those who fear god and fear hell. As mentioned above the name islam was given to the teaching brought by Mohammad (pbuh) but from the begining it was non under different names. Confirming islam was there long before even judaism and christianity this coming from Jewish rabbis.

According to the islamic creed all Muslims agree that (57) Everyone must know that Allah already knows everything that is going to happen in His creation and has fixed their measures definitively and irrevocably. There is nothing He has created in either the heavens or the earth that can contradict it, add to it, erase it, change it, decrease or increase it in any way. (Commentary on the Creed of At-Tahawl page 61)

So now that the standard has been set we can move to part two to refute the book. Click here for part 2