A Critical Study of Skeptical Views Raised on Impact of People of Scripture on Prophet of Islam (PBUH) and the Holy Quran with Emphasis on Orientalists’ Views

The holy Qur'an was revealed as universal Law to the great Prophet of Islam (PBUH) in an environment in which many religions including Judaism, Christianity, Magianism and Sabeanism had many followers. As a result, in addition to addressing the polytheists, the holy Prophet (PBUH) had many encounters with the monotheistic religions from the very beginning of his mission. A large number of the Quranic verses are dedicated to this topic. In reference to this environment, a dialogue between the followers of the Qur'an and other monotheistic religions was initiated and span throughout the history of Islam. As a result of their engagement with these discussions, some followers of these religions converted to Islam, but a great majority insisted on their opposition and carried out hostile actions against Islam. One of these hostile positions is the accusation that the holy Prophet (PBUH) did not know about Judaism and Christianity until he heard of them in Mecca and Medina. Unfortunately, a lot of pagans have fueled the opposition. All this has happened in the face of the fact that the holy Qur'an considers itself as the protector of the Torah and the Bible and levels criticisms against the errors that Christians and Jews were unaware of. Islamic scholars believe that, although Abrahamic religions and their scriptures have similarities, the Qur'an and the Prophet (pbuh) have not been influenced by the followers of Christianity due to the fact that the holy Qur'an consider itself protector of Abrahamic religions and explicitly invalidates a large number of the beliefs attributed to Christians and Jews. What reveals the necessity of this research is that it can pave the way for future research and call the attention of ordinary people at present and in future to these issues. Lack of concern and attention to these issues, especially from the perspective of pure Shiite Islam, may lead to destructive and harmful effects on Islam and the Quranic teachings. The present study is an attempt to extract the views of Orientalists and determine the boundaries of the issues while examining and criticizing the views expressed toward these issues from the perspective of the Shiite school. It intends to show how the opponents have relied on unreliable Islamic sources, made deviant, incomplete and incorrect interpretations, and most importantly drawn upon written and oral sources of the people of the scripture.