ABSTRACT
Relating the Quran to other scriptures and subject matter known from prior to the time of Muhammad is a sensitive subject. With regard to other scriptures' relationship to the Quran, revisionists have a tendency to privilege the other scriptures as opposed to the Quran. The reasons for this privileging are the fact that other scriptures are known from the literate cultures of the Near East and the Mediterranean basin, while the Quran is probably based upon an oral form, and thus is historically untrustworthy. One way to reconstruct the Quranic relationship to other scriptures is through vocabulary. Key words such as quran (recitation), salat (prayer), zakat (charity), bashshara (to proclaim good news), shirk (associating other entities with God), and a great many biblical names and various details from biblical stories are demonstrated by Arthur Jeffery to be foreign.
