Bahira: Difference between revisions

Some claim that the Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) met a Christian monk named **Bahira** during a journey to Syria and learned the Quran from him or that Bahira played a significant role in the emergence of Islam. Is this claim accurate?{{question end}}

**Bahira** was a Christian monk who met **Abu Talib** and **Muhammad (SAWA)** during their trade journey to Syria. Bahira emphasized to them that Muhammad was no ordinary child and bore the signs of prophethood. According to the narrations, Bahira recognized the signs of prophethood in the Prophet (SAWA) and did not teach him anything. Bahira could not have taught the Quran to the Prophet of Islam in a brief meeting and played no role in the emergence of Islam.   

== The Prophet's (SAWA) Meeting with Monk Bahira ==   

Some narrative and historical books report that **Abu Talib** decided to travel with a trade caravan to Syria, taking the young **Prophet Muhammad (SAWA)** with him. At one of the stops, the caravan rested near the monastery of Bahira, where Bahira saw the Prophet (SAWA) and said, "O child, by Lat and Uzza, answer what I ask you." The Prophet (SAWA) replied:   

{{Arabic text|لَا تَسْأَلْنِي بِهِمَا فَوَ اللَّهِ مَا أَبْغَضْتُ شَيْئاً كَبُغْضِهِمَا   

|translation=Do not ask me by Lat and Uzza, for by Allah, I hate nothing more than these two.}}   

Bahira then said, "By Allah, answer whatever I ask you." The Prophet (SAWA) said, "Ask whatever you wish." Bahira asked several questions, and the Prophet (SAWA) answered them. After this, Bahira told Abu Talib, "Take care of your nephew, for he will attain a great status."<ref>Tabarsi, Fadl ibn Hasan, *The Lives of the Fourteen Infallibles* (translation of *I'lam al-Wara*), translated by Azizullah Atarudi Quchani, Tehran, Islamiyah, 1st edition, 1390 AH, p. 20.</ref>   

At the time of this journey, the Prophet (SAWA) was either nine<ref>Bal'ami, Muhammad ibn Muhammad, *Tarikhnameh-ye Tabari*, edited by Muhammad Roshan, Tehran, 1366 SH, vol. 1, pp. 20–21. Ya'qubi, Ahmad ibn Ishaq, *Tarikh al-Ya'qubi*, translated by Muhammad Ibrahim Ayati, Tehran, 1362 SH, vol. 1, p. 369.</ref> or twelve years old.<ref>Ibn Sa'd, *Al-Tabaqat al-Kubra*, translated by Mahmoud Mahdavi Damghani, Tehran, 1365–1369 SH, vol. 1, p. 116.</ref> The story of the Prophet's (SAWA) meeting with Bahira is narrated with minor variations in Shia<ref>Hamiri, Abdullah ibn Ja'far, *Qurb al-Isnad*, Qom, Al al-Bayt Institute, 1st edition, 1413 AH, p. 318. Ibn Babawayh, Muhammad ibn Ali, *Kamal al-Din wa Tamam al-Ni'mah*, Tehran, Islamiyah, 2nd edition, 1395 AH, vol. 1, p. 182, Chapter 14, Hadith 35. Mas'udi, Ali ibn Husayn, *Ithbat al-Wasiyyah*, Qom, Ansariyan, 3rd edition, 1384 SH/1426 AH, p. 115. Tabarsi, Fadl ibn Hasan, *I'lam al-Wara bi A'lam al-Huda*, Tehran, Islamiyah, 3rd edition, 1390 AH, p. 17. Qutb al-Din al-Rawandi, Sa'id ibn Hibatullah, *Al-Khara'ij wa al-Jara'ih*, Qom, Imam Mahdi Institute, 1st edition, 1409 AH, vol. 1, p. 1084.</ref> and Sunni<ref>Bayhaqi, Ahmad ibn Husayn, *Dala'il al-Nubuwwah fi Ahwal Sahib al-Shari'ah*, Beirut, Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, 1405 AH, vol. 2, p. 35. Ibn Hisham, *Al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah*, 1363 SH, vol. 1, p. 191. Tabari, *Tarikh al-Umam wa al-Muluk*, Cairo, Dar al-Ma'arif, 5th edition, 1387 AH, vol. 2, p. 277. Ibn Sa'd, Muhammad ibn Sa'd, *Al-Tabaqat al-Kubra*, Beirut, Dar Sadir, n.d., vol. 1, p. 154.</ref> sources.   

Some **Orientalists** have claimed that the Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) learned the foundations of his religion from the Christian monk Bahira.<ref>Ma'ruf Husni, Hashim, *Sirat al-Mustafa*, Beirut, 1406 AH/1986 CE, p. 53. Rashid Rida, Muhammad, *Al-Wahy al-Muhammadi*, Cairo, 1380 AH/1960 CE, p. 72.</ref> This claim has been criticized for the following reasons:   

* It is untenable to assert that Muhammad (SAWA) learned the teachings he later proclaimed over 28 years after this meeting from Bahira during this journey.<ref>Subhani, Ja'far, *Furugh-e Abadiyat*, n.p., Dar al-Tabligh Publications, 1345 SH, vol. 1, p. 142.</ref>   

* The meeting, which was brief and occurred during the caravan's passage, and the exchanged words, which only included a prophecy of the Prophet's (SAWA) mission, cannot be the basis for the emergence of the vast religion of Islam.<ref>Zargarinejad, Gholam Hossein, *History of Early Islam*, 1st edition, Tehran, Samt Publications, 1378 SH, p. 208.</ref>   

* The Quran is divine revelation, and it is impossible to accept that its teachings were founded by individuals like Bahira.<ref>Ramiyar, Mahmoud, *History of the Quran*, 4th edition, Tehran, Amir Kabir Publications, 1379 SH, p. 131.</ref>