ABSTRACT
The Qur <ån is conceived by Muslims to be the word of God spoken to Mu˙ammad and then passed on to humanity in exactly the same form as it was received. On one level, the entire text is seen as having Mu˙ammad thoroughly imbued in it. When the text says ‘Say!’, this is interpreted as God addressing Mu˙ammad and ordering him to repeat what is being dictated. In that sense, the first-person speaking voice of some of the text is Mu˙ammad, but that is deflected in the narrative through the command ‘Say!’ to become the word of God. Clear examples of this are present in some of the passages of the Qur <ån provided above (e.g., section 1.4, s¥ rat å l > Imrån [3], verse 15; section 1.5, s¥ rat al-barå<a [9], verse 24). The life story of Mu˙ammad is also held to be the basis of what builds the narrative of some sections of the text. One of the most famous of such sections is s¥ rat al-∂u˙ å, ‘The morning’ (93), in section 2.1.5 below, which is generally understood as a reference to Mu˙ammad’s own childhood. Given that there is no independent source material on the early life of Mu˙ammad, this reading of the text of the Qur <ån remains highly speculative, but it is compelling in light of the weight of Muslim tradition behind it. Still, the life story of Mu˙ammad is certainly present in the Qur <ån. While some of the references are just in passing, others seem to refer to disputes in the community. The actual name ‘Mu˙ammad’ is used four times in the Qur <ån, as found in sections 2.1.1 to 2.1.4 below.
