Notes on the influence of Prophet Isa Alaihissalaam and Christianity on the Arabian Peninsula during the advent of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ…

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السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

  1. Isa bin Maryam (Alaihima-assalaam)’s lineage and the lineage of Muhammad bin Abdullah ﷺ, meets at Ibrahim Alaihissalaam. Isa from Ishaaq and Muhammad from Ismail (عليهم الصلاة والسلام).
  2. Isa Alaihissalaam was carried away at the age of around 30 or 32. The distance between his birth and the birth of Muhammad ﷺ was 600 years.
  3. There wasn’t any Prophet or Messenger on the earth between Isa and Muhammad (عليهما السلام) for around 570 years.
  4. The Da’wah of Isa Alaihissalaam reached the Arabian Peninsula. We can understand that as there were a few purely monotheistic Christians in and around Makkah. Like Waraqa bin Nawfal (رضي الله عنه) who was a polytheist who converted to Christianity, met Nabi ﷺ and accepted Islam at an advanced age and died before the Prophet ﷺ turned 41. Zaid ibn Amr ibn Nufail (رضي الله عنه) met some Christian and Jewish monks and opted to stay out of both religions. He just lived without doing Shirk and worshipping Allah Alone, he died before Nabi ﷺ turned 40 and he ﷺ became a Prophet.
  5. The entire Roman Empire were Christians by the time Nabi ﷺ was born, with a mix of polytheistic beliefs (much like modern day Catholicism).
  6. The monk from Greater Syria who met Nabi ﷺ when he ﷺ was 12 was a pure monotheistic Christian not following the polytheistic version of Christianity propagated by the Roman Empire.
  7. Salman Al-Farisi (رضي الله عنه) lived with many (2-3) purely monotheistic Christian monks before he finally reached Madinah.
  8. There were many ex-Christian Arabs who later became Sahaba , which shows a small but significant presence of Christians in the Arabian Peninsula. Ex. Adi bin Hatim At-Tayi (رضي الله عنه) who was from another sect of the Christians.

All these prove that at least three versions of Christianity had their influence on Arabs. The Arabs knew them and interacted with them. The Roman Empire’s polytheistic version of Christianity and the pure monotheistic form of Christianity that some monks had who were also waiting for the coming of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ were significant groups.

Apart from this, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ never benefitted in knowledge from any Christian preacher or scholar.

And Allah knows the best.