READING: EARLY RESPONSES TO THE QURAN:
You will now read three selections from Martin Lings’s Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources. In this book, Lings reads the sīra, the eighth- and ninth-century Arabic biographies that recount numerous events in the prophet’s life, in order to create a biography of the prophet in narrative form. He also translates many sections of the sīra for this book. Lings is as faithful to the original sources as possible, choosing to retell the story of the prophet as the classical tradition received it.
The full book is available in PDF format, but you will be reading only three short sections (feel free to skim or peruse anything else, of course!)
Since we are asking you to read three sections out of context, the following notes may be helpful.
Section One, pp. 52-55 (the story in question begins at the bottom of p. 53): Let us recall that Muhammad was a member of the Banū Hashīm, a distinguished albeit rather poor tribe within the larger clan of the Quraysh. The Quraysh clan, in general, opposed the prophet and his new message for various reasons; it must also be noted that the Banū Umayyah, another tribe within the larger clan of the Quraysh, had most of the money and power and were the effective rulers of Mecca. In this story, you read of the conversion of Abū Dharr, a member of the Banū Kinanah tribe, which was a branch of Quraysh (its complex, we know--but there is no need to memorize all this!). Abū Dharr may well have been the fourth or fifth convert to Islam, in fact. You will then read of the conversion of Tufayl from the Banū Daws, another tribe in Mecca. In both of these stories, take note of the importance of the aural reception of the Quranic verses.
Section Two, pp. 60-63: As background, know that Hamza (ibn ‘Abdul-Muttalib) was the paternal uncle of the prophet, and after his conversion, provided the prophet with protection from persecution. In this story, ‘Utbah ibn Rabi’ah is sent to the prophet to offer him certain concessions in hopes of stemming--or even ending--the spread of Islam; however, once again, after hearing the recitation of the Quran, he is conveted. Pay attention to how ‘Utbah describes the recitation of the Quran. Other members of the Quraysh tribe then visit the prophet, trying to test him. What are they asking of him and how does the prophet respond?
Section Three, pp. 85-87: This is the story of the conversion of ‘Umar, a figure similar to Paul in Christianity in that both were violent and adamant persecutors of the adherents to the religious tradition to which they both ultimately converted, and in that both later became leaders of their new religious communities. ‘Umar’s encounter with the Quran is different from the other two: how so?