Montgomery Watt and The Last Prophet (s.a.w)
Mohammad Fazril Bin Mohd Saleh
International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM)
Introduction
The
Last Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) has become the target for Islam’s adversaries
and their armies of missionaries including orientalists who have aroused
suspicions and propagated allegations against the Last Prophet (s.a.w) and his
message. According to Edward W. Said, an orientalist is anyone who teaches,
conducting research or writes about the Orient either in its specific or its
general aspect. Since the end of European medieval era, occidental intellectuals
has been working hardly, systematically, and creatively to produce a lot of
works about Islam with prejudice and unfair conclusion. This phenomenon is a
result of confrontation between The West and Islam where the basis of this
clash is religion. Their objective has always been to distort the image of the
Last Prophet and to deny him as a legitimate prophet. Nevertheless, the evidence
of prophethood of the Last Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) is crystal clear. It can be
derived from the Holy Quran, the hadith and sirah literature, the miracles (mu’jizat), the prophesied glad tidings in the previous
revealed scriptures, the Last Prophet’s (s.a.w) conduct and morals, and the recognition
and acknowledgement by the academia. Abdul Hameed Siddeeqi, in his book Prophethood in Islam, argues that in the
history of religions, the Last Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) is known as the only
prophet whose biography is written in a detailed and documented way that made
him qualified to be the role model for mankind. Interestingly, all his words
and deeds were recorded and preserved with precision and verification based on
reliable transmission records which then transmitted from one generation to
another.[1]
This paper is basically
dealing with the views of an outstanding orientalist by the name of William
Montgomery Watt towards the Last Prophet of Islam, Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w). Consists
of five subtopics, the paper starts with Watt’s biographical
background, consists of his life, education, experiences and works (William Montgomery Watt: Biographical
Background). Then, we go further to discover in
brief his scholarly works especially those writings about the Last Prophet
(s.a.w) in Watt’s
Works on the Last Prophet (s.a.w). Perhaps, some
authors and scholars regarded Watt’s works as the most influential ‘interpretation
of Islam’ in Europe. Then, as we think that it is important
to lay a foundation in understanding basic important concepts before we go to
highlight Watt’s views on the Last Prophet (s.a.w), we have come
out with these two subtopics: The Worldview of Islam: On Sirah al-Nabawiyah, and
Prophethood: Revealing the Truth about
the Last Prophet (s.a.w). In
The
Worldview of Islam: On Sirah
al-Nabawiyah, a brief discussion
on the understanding of the life history of the Last Prophet (sirah al-nabawiyah) will be taken place in
the light of the worldview of Islam. An elaborative argument on the concept and
significance of the Last Prophet and his prophethood will then being discussed
in Prophethood: Revealing the Truth about
the Last Prophet (s.a.w). Consequently, before we arrive at the
conclusion, The
Last Prophet (s.a.w): Watt’s Perception will become our final topic to be dealt with. Here,
we try to analyze some false claims and misleading arguments done by Watt
against the Last Prophet (s.a.w). Then, these fallacies will be answered and
enlightened, in the light of the authentic Muslim scholars’ view.
William Montgomery Watt: Biographical
Background
William Montgomery Watt was a famous scholar who
had written many books about Islam and the Last Prophet. He was born in
Scotland on 14th March 1909 and died on 24th October 2006 at the age 97. He was
married to Jean Donaldson, together both of them were granted one son and four
daughters. Educated at George Watson's College, he then studied at the
universities of Edinburgh, Jena and Oxford. Basically he was specialized in
theology and philosophy, however, later on when he learned about through a long
conversation with an Indian man. Then he decided to learn Arabic and because of
his keen to learn about Islam, in 1939 he was ordained in a church and as the
chaplain of the Bishop of Jerusalem.[2]
He was an Emeritus Professor in Arabic and
Islamic Studies at the University of Edinburgh. He was known as non-Muslim
interpreters of Islam in the west. In addition to that he was also served
as Emeritus Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of
Edinburgh.[3] Through Edinburgh
University Press he has publish circa 30 books basically about Islam, The Last
Prophet and Christianity. Some of his works even translated into other
languages and also amongst the bestseller up to today.[4] Montgomery
Watt’s passion to study Islam had always served him the ability of seeing other
people’s point of view towards Islam. He also witness how the western
historians’ prejudice and bias towards Islam. He even mentioned that the
historians only make such statement about Islam due to the fact that they were
only supporting the crusades. Hence, through the bias and prejudice is how the
Europeans see the Muslim and that was basically the opposite of his faith
towards Christianity which practices positivity. To implement the positivity as
a Christian, he often refers to the verses in the Qur’an as his basic method to
the daily practices.[5]
Watt’s
Works on the Last Prophet (s.a.w)
Montgomery Watt had written many books which
deals with Islam and the Last Prophet. The most famous three
books written by him: Muhammad at Mecca
(1953), Muhammad at Medina (1956), and
Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman
(1961), which focus on one person that is The Last Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w),
acknowledged by experts to be classics in the field.[6] Of all
his works, Muhammad
at Mecca (1953) and Muhammad
at Medina (1956) are among the earliest works he had published. These two books have since been
republished several times and also been translated in a number of European
languages, as well as Arabic.[7]
After these two books he then wrote another book, Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman
(1961). This work is the summary
of the two books mentioned before. Muhammad:
Prophet and Statesman talks about the Last Prophet’s (s.a.w) history
from the very beginning to the end. It is also serves as an excellent introduction
to one of the world's major religions.[8] This book contains more of
Montgomery Watt’s opinion, and in fact it is a short account of the life and
achievements of one of the great figures of history. In addition to that,
Montgomery Watt wrote this book in chronological manner; from the Last
Prophet’s childhood up to the last moment of the Last Prophet (s.a.w). Montgomery
Watt elaborated each point he proposed in detail, for instance, in the second
part of this book; the call to prophethood, he break it into several sections
such as the rise of Muhammad as the Last Prophet (s.a.w), the messages he
brought, the first Muslims and the influence of Judaism and Christianity. It
was actually accordingly to one another how Montgomery Watt explain it.
The
Worldview of Islam: On Sirah al-Nabawiyah
In
Islamic intellectual tradition, Muslim scholars, in dealing with the life
history of the Last Prophet (Sirah al-Nabawiyyah), used three main
sources: the Holy Qur’an, the Hadith (traditions/reports) and historical
as well as biographical literatures known as sirah or maghazi.[9]These three sources are complementary and
supplementary on another. Anyone who wants to obtain fair view of the Prophet’s
life and activities has to depend on these three sources. This is the proper
methodology on studying sirah al-Nabawiyah or the life history of the
Last Prophet (s.a.w).
In
his works, William Montgomery Watt deals a lot with the life history of Last
Prophet (s.a.w). As a scholar and orientalist, indeed he was using a systematic
way of studying the life and activities of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w). In other
words, he has proper system and methodology of study and dealt with those three
main sources as being used in Islamic intellectual tradition (the Qur’an, the Hadith
and Sirah literature). However, his treatment to these main sources can
be considered as misleading and sometimes out of context, or might be shadowed
by certain hidden agenda. How did he deal with these sources? Mohar Ali is
managed to analyze and synthesis several works done by some leading
orientalists including Watt and concludes that orientalist: (a) considering the
Quranic evidences or hadith and sirah reports in isolation
without supplementing it with information or accounts contain in other sources,
(b) taking a passage or account in the Quran, the hadith or sirah
literature out of context and put wrong interpretation on it, and (c) take only
a part of passages or reports in those three sources to support an assumption or a particular part of view.[10] Not only that, Watt was also
suffering from confusion in understanding the worldview of Islam that is the ‘aqidah of Islam
itself.[11] In
other words, Watt’s attitude and false claims towards the life history of the
Last Prophet (s.a.w) were the results of his confusion and misunderstanding of
the very nature of Islam as projected by its worldview. For instance, in his
book What is Islam (1990), Watt claims: “…while much of what valuable in the nomadic Arabic outlook has been
taken into the central core of Islam and there transformed, there would also
appear to be matters which have been given an Islamic dress without any
fundamental change…”[12]. It
is absolutely a false statement that describes Islam as a derivation of
cultural and philosophical elements. The fact is that this wahy is final, and it not only confirms the truth of preceding
revelations in their original forms, but includes their substance, separating
the truth from cultural creation and ethnic inventions.[13]
Muslims
believes that ‘aqidah of Islam or worldview of Islam projects the vision
of the Reality and Truth. It is a fixed,
unchanging, final and absolute vision because it is grounded in and derived
from wahy.[14]
This is not merely a theoretical claim, for Muslim historical experience has
shown that the fundamental element of the worldview such as the conception of
God, of the nature of man and of the psychology of the human soul, and the
meaning of knowledge, of happiness, of virtue and vices, and of prophethood
have no change throughout the long ages of Islamic epoch.[15]
Prophethood: Revealing the Truth about
the Last Prophet (s.a.w)
Before
we go further to analyze Watt’s claims on the Last Prophet (s.a.w) and his
life, it is better to have a look at the concept of prophethood. Prophethood (nubuwwah) is a very vital aspect of
Islamic creed. Unlike other world religions which faced confusions in their
beliefs and religious practices as a result of their confusions in
understanding the sources of their religions, Islam promotes a very clear
principle of religion, firmed belief and guided rituals. Literally, the Arabic
term for prophet, nabi has two
possible meanings: (a) the one who conveys the knowledge and information shown
to him by Allah, and (b) the one who is of noble and eminent rank and status.[16] These two meanings implies prophet as the one who
is special, chosen by God to be revealed the special knowledge from Him, and
who is above ordinary people and has a high status that was bestowed on him by
God. According to Ibn Taimiyyah, the words nabi
(prophet) and nubuwwah (prophethood)
are derived from the Arabic verb nabba’a,
means to tell. For instance, Surah Al-An’am (6), verse 143 reads, “…informs (nabbiu’ni) me with your knowledge
if you are truthful.”[17]
Meanwhile
technically, as we regard prophethood as an Islamic term, some views and
definitions given by great Muslim scholars will be highlighted here. Abu Hassan
Al-Ash’ari defines prophet as an informer about the unseen.[18] Quite similar to Al-Ash’ari, Ibn Hazm argues that a
prophet is whoever has been informed by Allah about an unseen matter or a
matter before it exists.[19] For Ibn Taimiyah, he considers prophet as the one
who has been informed by Allah about His commands, prohibitions, and other
knowledge, and they informs the people about all the commands, prohibitions,
and knowledge they received from Allah. These three definitions imply two major
aspects of prophethood, communication between God and mankind, and knowledge
acquired from this communication.
The rejection against prophethood in
Islam indicates the rejection against the whole religion. Without vivid concept
and proper understanding of prophethood, might be Muslims will be suffered from
confusions in conducting their religious and secular life, just like the other
religions. In fact, as far as the nature of Islam is concerned, Muslims
believed that the religion of Islam as not merely a code for private religious
rituals and practices. Rather it is the way of life (al-deen) whose source is wahy
(divine revelation), confirmed by religion, and affirmed by intellectual
and intuitive principles.[20] Israr Ahmad Khan argues
that wahy means communication which
derived from the Arabic verb “ahwa”
that is for instances, denotes sentence of “he
communicated”.[21] God sends His words to His creation through an
imperceptible message of communication called as wahy.[22]
In the theory of communication,
scholars agreed upon these four basic elements: source (sender), the message,
channel and receiver. Thus, in the process of revelation, God can be referring
as the source or sender, and human, represented by the Prophets denotes the
receiver. Meanwhile wahy indicates
both message and channel. This message, known as wahy, was revealed by God to His chosen Prophets as mentions in the
Holy Qur’an, “O
ye the Messenger of Allah do communicate what is being sent to down you, if you
do not, you would not have fulfilled your mission”.[23]
This verse clearly indicates the task of the Prophets who received wahy from God and obliged to fulfill the
mission of spreading the truth of Tawhidic teachings, and as we mentioned
before the ultimate source for Islam is wahy.
Therefore, the message of Islam can only be known through the Prophets who has
been revealed the wahy.
As far as wahy is concerned, the authenticity of
it should be clarified and the relationship between wahy and prophethood has to be further elaborated. Here, in short,
we provide a beautiful explanation on wahy
with its relation to prophethood by Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas. Al-Attas
refers wahy as the speech of God in
which revealing about Himself, His creation, the relation between them, and the
way to salvation communicated to His chosen Prophet and Messenger. [24]
He argues that wahy was not revealed
by sound or letter, but it represented in words that been conveyed by the
Prophet to the mankind in the new comprehensible linguistic form (Arabic
Language of Qur`an) and without confusion with the Prophet’s own subjectivity
and cognitive imagination. [25]
From this explanation,
we can conclude that Islamic perspective towards divine revelation is that God
has not only created human beings, but also continually guided them by raising
series of prophethood starting with Adam and ending it with the last Prophet
Muhammad (s.a.w) and it stated that every prophet or messenger must have
received revelation (wahy) from God, which His divine guidance (hidayah),
directing people to lead their lives in accordance with the absolute command of
God. The command is of two kinds, that it is the instructions and the
prohibitions. Those who believed and obeyed the command are believers, and
those who rejected are condemned as unbelievers. That means prophethood is an
extremely important need for human being and this need is undeniable. Israr
Ahmad Khan highlights some significance of the prophets towards human
development. Among others are: (1) prophets
laid the foundation of the first comprehensive human society, (2) prophets
helped mankind to return to their very nature (reorientation of man), (3)
prophets implemented human civilization, and (4) prophets developed human
intellectual capacity.[26] All these roles of the prophets can only being
successfully accomplished by the reception of divine guidance, known as wahy
and it were the prophets alone who endowed with this privilege of receiving
divine revelation.
Furthermore,
in Al-‘Aqidah Al-Tahawiyyah written by Abu Jaafar Al-Tahawi, mentions
that prophethood as a mercy from Allah to His slaves. He further argues that
sending messengers is one of Allah’s greatest graces upon mankind, particularly
in sending Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w). Allah says, “Indeed Allah conferred a great favor on the believers when He sent
among them a messenger (Muhammad) from among themselves, reciting unto them His
verses, and purifying them, and instructing them the Book and the Wisdom, while
before they had been in manifest error.”[27] We have discussed briefly the concept of
prophethood as being understood in Islam. Yet, to believe in Prophet Muhammad
as the legitimate and the Last Prophet is also a part of the elements of
prophethood in Islamic belief.
The
Last Prophet (s.a.w): Watt’s Perception
There are too many
false claims as well as allegations made by the orientalists in general, and by
Watt in specific. In several works of Watt, he has arrived at some conclusions
about the Last Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w). Among major points raised by him will
be discussed here: (1) the Last Prophet
(s.a.w) as the author of the Qur’an, (2) the Last Prophet (s.a.w) was
influenced by the idea and facts from pagan’s Arab poetry and other religions,
(3) the Last Prophet (s.a.w) lied about the operation of receiving wahy
and (4) the Last Prophet (s.a.w) has been confused by Satan in his teachings.
(1) The Last
Prophet (s.a.w) as the author of the Qur’an
Watt claims that the Last Prophet
(s.a.w) was the one who projected the idea of socio-religious reforms arising
out of his time that he claimed as wahy.[28] He admits some similarities between wahy which he regards as the work of the
Prophet and works of man’s creative imagination such as drama and poetry in the sense that
both types of works have a wide appeal and producing material from the collective
unconscious.[29] Thameem Ushama, who
critically analyzed this issue has confirmed that Watt had arrived at a
misleading conclusion by saying that the Last Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) may had
been mistaken in believing The Qur’an to be a divine message.[30]
This conclusion implies that the Holy Qur’an is ‘the product of creative imagination’.[31]
Nevertheless, the fact is, wahy is “neither the sudden visions of great poets
and artists claim for themselves, nor the apostolic inspiration of the writers
of sacred scripture, nor the illuminative intuition of the sages and people of
discernment”.[32] Besides, Israr Ahmad Khan
put a question for this allegation: “if it was Muhammad himself who developed the book, why he did not,
the attribute it to his name?”[33] If the Last Prophet (s.a.w) was the
author of the Qur’an, prophet would have undoubtedly hailed by his compatriots as
well as the world today as the most remarkable literary genius for producing
the work with extraordinary language and messages.[34]
(2) The Last
Prophet (s.a.w) was influenced by the idea from pagan’s Arab poetry and other
religions
From the premise ‘Prophet Muhammad
(s.a.w) was the author of the Qur’an’ Watt moves to another allegation. For an
author, inspiration is crucially needed in order to come out with an
outstanding work. Thus, in order to fully utilized his ‘creative imagination’
for an outstanding work of the Qur’an, Watt argues that the Last Prophet
(s.a.w) has modified and derived the wahy from the ancient Arab (pagan) poetry and other religions
which prevailing in Arabia at the time such as Christianity, Jews and
Zoroastrians.[35]
Watt seems to has accepted the view of the continuance of pre-Islamic (Jahiliah) attitudes happened in the Qur’an
as he try to find similarity of messages in both the Qur’an and the pagan
poetry.[36] Not
even that, he also arrived at the conclusion the Qur’an in the earliest passage
have no insistence on the truth that there is no deity but God.[37]
He claims that in the early time of Islam, the doctrine of monotheism is vague
and admiration for superior culture like the people of Syria and Iraq (who
believe in one God) and influence of Judaism and Christianity made the
acceptance of monotheism become easier.[38] Therefore,
we are going to answer all these misleading claims by these three arguments: Firstly,
as mentioned by M. Mohar Ali, for Muhammad’s (s.a.w) emergence as Prophet must
has been marked by something new and better on his part than what was already known.
None would pay any attention to him and become his followers if his ideas were
not clearly in advance of those of the enlightened Meccans.[39]
Secondly, the message of Tawhid and
its principles in the Qur’an is very clear, as mentioned for instance in Surah al-Ikhlas (Qur`an: 112) and surah al-Kafirun (Qur`an: 109). Thirdly,
it is clear that Islam by its nature was conscious of his own identity from the
time of its revelation.[40]
When it appeared on the stage of the world history, Islam is already ‘mature’,
needing no process of growing up to maturity. Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas
stressed that wahy religion or revealed
religion can only be that which known itself from the very beginning and that
self-knowledge comes from wahy itself, not from history.”[41] Other
than that, Israr Ahmad Khan argues that the Qur’anic account of many stories is
essentially different from the Biblical account, in many respects.[42]
The Holy Qur’an is totally different from neither the Pagan’s Arab poetry nor
the traditions of other world religions. Moreover, the Qur’an clearly clarifies
the differences between Islam and Judeo-Christian traditions and religions.[43]
(3) The Last
Prophet (s.a.w) lied about the operation of receiving wahy
Muslims believe the
Archangel Gabriel (Jibril a.s) was
the one whose task was to send wahy
from Allah to the Last Prophet (s.a.w). For Watt, the wahy does not mean
verbal communication of a text, but rather ‘suggestion’ or ‘inspiration’ to give
out the Qur’an and Jibril (a.s) was introduced at a later stage as a
conveyer of way. In translating surah
al-Najm Watt adopts Bell’s rendering of the expressions wahy and awha as ‘suggestion’ and ‘suggested’. However, these meaning are
not all correct for Qur`anic wahy.[44]
The meaning of the word changed with the change of the context. Indeed, a
common English equivalent for wahy should
be communication rather than suggestion.[45]
This meaning would fit in all situations.[46] Wahy is maybe of different types
depending on the nature of the matter communication. As far as Jibril (a.s) is concerned, Watt mentions “There is no mention of Gabriel
(Jibril a.s) in the Qur’an until the Medinan period”.[47]
According to M. Mohar Ali, Watt invoked the opinion of Karl Ahrens who said
that there is no mention of Jibril in
the Meccan passages of the Qur’an. Actually, Watt has misinterpreted the Qur’anic
terms, words and passages. Jibril is
mentioned several times in the Qur`an (especially in Meccan passages) by
several names which refers to the Archangel Jibril (a.s) such as “Rasul Karim”[48]
and “al-Ruh”.[49]
Both names are refers to the same individual whom mentioned as the conveyer of wahy who is also described as al-amin[50],
“nazzala bihi al-ruh al-amin”
which means faithful and having been employed as a messenger by God. Moreover,
the specific mention of him by the name Jibril
as a conveyer of wahy can be
found for example in surah al-Baqarah (2):
97.
(4) The Last
Prophet (s.a.w) has been confused by Satan in his teachings.
Perhaps, Watt’s
most controversial view on the Last Prophet (s.a.w) is his theory of ‘Satanic
verses’.[51]
He argues that the Last Prophet (s.a.w)
has been outsmarted by Satan who managed to put into his mouth some
polytheistic ideas.[52]
More ridiculously, he claims that the Satan put these kind of polytheistic
ideas during the revelation of surah
al-Najm. He claims that ayat 19-23 of surah al-Najm is those verses. Watt says: “it is assumed in Islam that all such Satanic alterations in the Qur’an
have been discovered and corrected…”[53]
and “…Satan had managed to slip in the
false versus of the first version without Muhammad noticing it...”[54]
Nevertheless the Holy Qur’an already states that it is impossible.[55]
According to Israr Ahmad Khan, the incident involving those verses is totally
different with the story raised up by Watt. He corrects Watt as in 5 A.H, when
a number of early Islamic community took refuge in Abbysina, the Last Prophet
(s.a.w) after having received the complete revelation of surah al-Najm (Qur`an: 53) from Allah, recited it to a large
audience comprising the companions and non-believers. In the end as the last
words demand for doing prostration (ayat
al-sajadah), The Last Prophet (s.a.w) made it (sujud sajadah) and he was followed by the others including the
non-believers. Later, the Quraysh, on felt ashamed of their joining in doing
prostration to Allah with Prophet s.a.w, and to wash off this stigma started to
fabricate the story that they follow the later in prostration because they
heard the Last Prophet (s.a.w) praising their idols.[56]
Israr Ahmad Khan also in his commentary to this issue argues that almost all
the Orientalists described the Last Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) as a genius.
Therefore, how come the he (s.a.w) as an intelligent person cannot realize the
nature of the two opposite messages which one is allegedly Satanic verses and
the other is genuinely divine versus: the former appreciates the Arab’s chief
goddesses and the latter condemn them as falsehood? These two views are too
distinct to escape even from an ordinary person’s mind.[57]
Conclusion
From our brief survey, we can conclude that William Montgomery Watt was an outstanding orientalist who prolifically wrote about the life and activities of the Last Prophet (s.a.w). However, to certain extent, he has made false claims about the Last Prophet (s.a.w) and fell into misleading. We have analyzed his four main views on Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w): (1) the Last Prophet (s.a.w) as the author of the Qur’an, (2) the Last Prophet (s.a.w) was influenced by the idea and facts from pagan’s Arab poetry and other religions, (3) the Last Prophet (s.a.w) lied about the operation of receiving wahy and (4) the Last Prophet (s.a.w) has been confused by Satan in his teachings. Then we have response them by advancing evidence and proof, even some basic Islamic concepts such as sirah al-Nabawiyyah and al-Nubuwwah which has been discussed before supported our response against Watt’s false views on the Prophet (s.a.w).
Therefore, now it is
clear to us that any attempt to distort the Last Prophet (s.a.w) image is
useless. For Muslims, without him as the messengers of God, we have no means of
accessing God. As the chosen one who was given the holy mission by God, the
Last Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) as well as the other prophets is infallible. He
was the most trustworthy person, the most ideal leader and his life was the
most perfect life to be followed by human beings. To accept the Last Prophet
(s.a.w) and prophethood means to accept Islam and to deny it indicates the
denial of the whole religion. Prophethood indeed is inevitable. Hence, the clear
concept of prophethood in Islam is crucially important as it is tightly
connected with the revelation or wahy
that represents the ultimate sources of Islam.
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[2]
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(accessed February 20, 2013).
[3] “William
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[4] Carole
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Episcopal Priest Who Became a Leading Interpreter of Islam”. op.cit.
[5]
R. Holloway. “William Montgomery Watt: A Christian scholar in search of Islamic
understanding”. http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2006/nov/14/guardianobituaries.highereducation
(accessed February 20, 2013).
[6]
Carole Hillenbrand, “Professor W. Montgomery Watt”, Edinburgh
Middle East Report Online, Winter 2006
[7]
Muhammad Mohar Ali, Sirat al-Nabi And The
Orientalist, (Madinah: King Fahd Complex of Printing The Holy Quran, 1997), ix
[8] A review on the book “Muhammad:
Prophet and Statesman”. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/81393.Muhammad (accessed
February 20, 2013).
[9] Israr Ahmad Khan, Towards Understanding the Mission of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. Unpublished manuscript, 56
[10]
Muhammad Mohar Ali, Sirat al-Nabi, op.cit., 23-27
[11] Omar
Jah, “Al Balagh” in Knowledge, Language,
Thought & the Civilization of Islam ed. Wan Mohd Nor Wan Daud, 83 (Johor Bharu: UTM Press, 2010).
[12]
W. Montgomery Watt, What Is Islam,
(Beirut: Library of Lebanon, 1990), 23
[13] Ibid., 6.
[14]
Adi Setia Mohd Dom, Worldview of Islam
Academy: The Concept, Unpublished paperwork, 7.
[15] Ibid.
[16]
Muhsin, Abdur Radi M. Abdul. Muhammad's
Prophethood, op.cit., 20.
[17]
Surah al-An’am (6): 143.
[18] Muhsin,
Abdur Radi M. Abdul. Muhammad's
Prophethood, op.cit., 22.
[19] Ibid. 23.
[20]
Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, Prolegomena
to The Metaphysics of Islam: An Exposition of The Fundamental Elements of The
Worldview of Islam, (Kuala Lumpur: ISTAC, 1995), 4.
[21]
Israr Ahmad Khan, Qur`anic Studies: An
Introduction, (Kuala Lumpur: Zaman Islam Media, 2000), 35-36.
[22] Ibid. 35
[23]
Surah al-Maidah (5): 69.
[24]
Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, Prolegomena,
op.cit., 6.
[25] Ibid.
[26]
Israr Ahmad Khan, Towards Understanding
the Mission, op.cit.42.
[27]
Surah Ali-Imran (3): 164.
[28]
W. Montgomery Watt, What Is Islam, op.cit., 223. See also W. Montgomery
Watt, Muhammad: Prophet and The Statesman,
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1948),
19-20.
[29] Ibid, 223
[30]
Thameem Ushama, Issues in The Study of
The Qur`an, (Kuala Lumpur: Ilmiah Publisher, 2002), 71
[31]
W. Montgomery Watt, Muhammad: Prophet and
The Statesman, (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1948), 15
[32]
Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, Prolegomena,
op.cit.,6
[33]
Israr Ahmad Khan, Qur`anic Studies, op.cit, 16
[34] Ibid., 49
[35] W.
Montgomery Watt, What Is Islam, op.cit., 13. See also 17.
[36] Ibid., 23.
[37] Ibid., 46.
[38] Ibid.
[39]
Muhammad Mohar Ali, Sirat al-Nabi, op.cit. 216.
[40]
Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, Prolegomena,
op.cit., 4.
[41] Ibid.
[42]
Israr Ahmad Khan, Qur`anic Studies, op.cit,
49.
[43]
Surah al-Baqarah(2): 135.
[44]
Muhammad Mohar Ali, Sirat al-Nabi, op.cit. 454.
[45]
Israr Ahmad Khan, Qur`anic Studies, op.cit,
35.
[46]
Muhammad Mohar Ali, Sirat al-Nabi, op.cit. 435.
[47]
W. Montgomery Watt, Muhammad at Mecca,
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988), 16.
[48]
Surah al-Takwir (81): 19.
[49]
Surah al-Qadr (97): 4, Surah al-Ma’arij (70): 4, Surah al-Naba’ (78): 38.
[50]
Surah al-Syu’ara (26): 193.
[51]
W. Montgomery Watt, What Is Islam, op.cit. 46.
[52] Ibid., 98.
[53]
W. Montgomery Watt, What Is Islam, op.cit. 223. See also 42.
[54]
W. Montgomery Watt, Muhammad: Prophet and
Statesman, op.cit. 61.
[55]
Surah al-Haqqah (69): 44-46
[56]
Israr Ahmad Khan, Qur`anic Studies, op.cit, 50.
[57] Ibid., 51.
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