A NEW Paleo-Arabic Inscription by a COMPANION of Muhammad? | Ahmad Al-Jallad and Hythem Sidky
In this video I [Gabriel Said Reynolds] chat with Dr. Ahmad Al-Jallad and Dr. Hythem Sidky about a recently discovered Paleo-Arabic Inscription found in Taif, which may be from a companion of Muhammad. They have recently released a paper in which they publish their findings and make some observations about the nature of the inscription, its date, and whether or not it could be authored by a companion of Muhammad.
You can find their paper here: “A Paleo-Arabic Inscription of a Companion of Muhammad?” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 83 (2024), 1–14.
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjNODB0_9I4
"...Paleo-Arabic Inscription by a COMPANION of Muhammad?"
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StephenGoranson
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Re: "...Paleo-Arabic Inscription by a COMPANION of Muhammad?"
A Paleo-Arabic Inscription of a Companion of Muhammad?
Ahmad Al-Jallad and Hythem Sidky
Introduction
Despite the explosion in the discovery and documentation of early Islamic inscriptions by amateurs and scholars in recent years, very few of the identities of the inscriptions’ authors are securely recognized as figures found in the biographical sīrah literature of the prophet Muhammad. This is in part due to the ambiguity of inscriptions containing only a two-generation genealogy. One notable exception is found in the al-Bāḥah region in the Ḥijāz, approximately 300 kilometers south of Makkah.1 An autograph by Khālid b. al-ʿĀṣ b. Hišām b. al-Muġīrah leaves no ambiguity as to his identity. He is identified as a Makhzumite companion of Muhammad whose father was killed by ʿUmar b. al-Khattāb at the battle of Badr. Khālid was later appointed by ʿUmar as governor of Makkah. His death date is unknown, except that he survived into the reign of Muʿāwiyah (r. 661–680 ce). Khālid’s identity is further secured through inscriptions on the same boulder left by his sons al-Ḥāriṯ and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān,2 whose names also appear in the biographical literature.
Beyond the inscription noted above, we know of no other scientifically documented inscription authored by companions or other noted contemporaries of Muhammad. In this work, we present a second inscription we believe is likely authored by another companion of Muhammad, Ḥanẓalah b. Abī ʿĀmir (d. 3 ah / 625 ce). We further propose that the inscription can be dated to a narrow window of time; it was likely carved before the establishment of the Medinan state.
The inscription is located on a prominent boulder approximately 100 meters uphill from an abandoned mosque allegedly built by the caliph ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (r. 656–661); it was documented during the spring campaign of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies’ Mecca-Ṭāʾif epigraphic survey project, directed by the authors. The boulder containing these texts is adjacent to a vineyard known as karmat ʿAddās al-Naṣrānī, in reference to a Christian slave by that name. Ibn Isḥāq mentions that following Muhammad’s humiliating rejection at Ṭāʾif, he sought refuge in the shade of the vineyard owned by two Makkan elites, ʿUtbah and Šaybah b. al-Rabīʿah. Upon witnessing Muhammad’s desperate situation, they sent their slave boy, ʿAddās, with some grapes to him. Before consuming the grapes, Muhammad uttered the basmalah which ʿAddās recognized and claimed was “not the speech of the people of these towns.” Muhammad ascertained from ʿAddās that he was a Christian from Nineveh, and remarked that it is the town of Jonas son of Amittai. ʿAddās recognized the prophetic nature of this knowledge, and proceeded to kiss Muhammad’s head, hands, and feet. When ʿAddās returned to his masters, having seen what took place, they interrogated him. After defending his actions, they warned him not to abandon his religion, for his religion was better than Muhammad’s.3....
Ahmad Al-Jallad and Hythem Sidky
Introduction
Despite the explosion in the discovery and documentation of early Islamic inscriptions by amateurs and scholars in recent years, very few of the identities of the inscriptions’ authors are securely recognized as figures found in the biographical sīrah literature of the prophet Muhammad. This is in part due to the ambiguity of inscriptions containing only a two-generation genealogy. One notable exception is found in the al-Bāḥah region in the Ḥijāz, approximately 300 kilometers south of Makkah.1 An autograph by Khālid b. al-ʿĀṣ b. Hišām b. al-Muġīrah leaves no ambiguity as to his identity. He is identified as a Makhzumite companion of Muhammad whose father was killed by ʿUmar b. al-Khattāb at the battle of Badr. Khālid was later appointed by ʿUmar as governor of Makkah. His death date is unknown, except that he survived into the reign of Muʿāwiyah (r. 661–680 ce). Khālid’s identity is further secured through inscriptions on the same boulder left by his sons al-Ḥāriṯ and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān,2 whose names also appear in the biographical literature.
Beyond the inscription noted above, we know of no other scientifically documented inscription authored by companions or other noted contemporaries of Muhammad. In this work, we present a second inscription we believe is likely authored by another companion of Muhammad, Ḥanẓalah b. Abī ʿĀmir (d. 3 ah / 625 ce). We further propose that the inscription can be dated to a narrow window of time; it was likely carved before the establishment of the Medinan state.
The inscription is located on a prominent boulder approximately 100 meters uphill from an abandoned mosque allegedly built by the caliph ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (r. 656–661); it was documented during the spring campaign of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies’ Mecca-Ṭāʾif epigraphic survey project, directed by the authors. The boulder containing these texts is adjacent to a vineyard known as karmat ʿAddās al-Naṣrānī, in reference to a Christian slave by that name. Ibn Isḥāq mentions that following Muhammad’s humiliating rejection at Ṭāʾif, he sought refuge in the shade of the vineyard owned by two Makkan elites, ʿUtbah and Šaybah b. al-Rabīʿah. Upon witnessing Muhammad’s desperate situation, they sent their slave boy, ʿAddās, with some grapes to him. Before consuming the grapes, Muhammad uttered the basmalah which ʿAddās recognized and claimed was “not the speech of the people of these towns.” Muhammad ascertained from ʿAddās that he was a Christian from Nineveh, and remarked that it is the town of Jonas son of Amittai. ʿAddās recognized the prophetic nature of this knowledge, and proceeded to kiss Muhammad’s head, hands, and feet. When ʿAddās returned to his masters, having seen what took place, they interrogated him. After defending his actions, they warned him not to abandon his religion, for his religion was better than Muhammad’s.3....