Ahmad Al-Jallad: Ancient Arabic Inscriptions and the Rise of Islam
In this interview, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Professor Ahmad Al-Jallad of The Ohio State University. Professor Al-Jallad is the Sophia Chair in Arabic studies and his work focuses on epigraphy, philology, the history of language. Professor Al-Jallad has been on the cutting edge of many new studies and discoveries in the history of Arabic and the Arabian Peninsula.
Here we discuss his journey to philology and the study of Arabic as well as his recent findings in the field. We also address the implications of these findings how they impact our understanding of Pre-Islamic Arabia.
More information about Professor Al-Jallad can be found here: nelc.osu.edu/people/al-jallad.1
As always, I hope you enjoy this! Please like, subscribe, and comment your thoughts!
This was an amazing interview! Your work with this channel deserves far more attention. 👏
Please invite Al-Jallad to your podcast.
We need him on mythvision Derek
This guy proves the accuracy of the Quran. Allah says he was sent to unlettered people 62:2 It is He who has sent among the unlettered a Messenger from themselves reciting to them His verses and purifying them and teaching them the Book and wisdom. Also in the Quran 29:48 And you did not recite before it any scripture, nor did you inscribe one with your right hand. Otherwise the falsifiers would have had [cause for] doubt. Not much inscriptions near Mecca because Allah called them unlettered people but there is obvious traffic going to or from Mecca. Also the second verse points to people didn’t really have religious knowledge of what Christianity and Judaism taught due to Allah also mentioning in the Quran 16:103 And We surely know that they say, “No one is teaching him except a human.” But the man they refer to speaks a foreign tongue, whereas this ˹Quran˺ is ˹in˺ eloquent Arabic. If the Arabs in Mecca knew Christianity and Judaism they wouldn’t have accused him of learning from a foreigner but from someone with in their own Arabic speaking community. Absolutely Beautiful
Ahmed Al Jallad is truly fascinating. His favorite word is دومة الجندل.
I love an expert who is so involved in his projects. The way he smiles with zeal when he reaches a conclusion is just awesome and I also love the eager interjections from the interviewer which were more out of agreement with the expert. Great work!
Ahmad is such a daddy
My life hasn't been the same since he left Twitter
@@pheeel17 why did he leave twitter?
Thank you very much for an amazing discussion and for the creation of this channel, Dr. Reynolds.
Thank you so much! I found the discussion really interesting!
That was realy interesting. Thank you very much!
Thank you again for an amazingly eye opening look into a period of pre-islamic Arabia. This has been a long time coming and hopefully it continues to shed light on the lost history of that region and period. It would have been interesting to hear what Ahmad's thoughts might be as to why there is such a lack of inscriptions around the Mecca area since our general understanding is that Mecca was a hub for "pagan" pilgrimage and trade. Looking forward to the next video.
I have been to north Madina, where many those inscriptions found. Also in this area (Ula region) we will find Nabatean, Safaitic and Arabic inscription all over the place. Madina has been an important town since pre Islamic era and continued after prophet Muhammad immigrated and settled there. Mecca was probably a small unknown village that many people at that time were not aware until the advance of Islam, and also probably the reason he moved to Madinah to spread his messages. So it makes sense that not too many inscriptions found in Mecca.
Thanks, for asking. I have been to the museum in mecca. Most people dont even know about it. There were loads of artifacts, from within and the periphery of mecca, surprisingly. Almost the whole museum is dedicated to pre-Islam, which is probably why it was just curious me there. Beautiful classical building also.
I'm quite convinced by Tom Holland and Dan Gibson's theory that Islam did not start in Mecca, but more likely in the Petra region of Jordan. Check it out.
@@azizpatel Can you please let us know of how you were convinces Patel sahib.
@@DWAGON1818 Read their books, then you will find out.
This is such an insightful interview. Thank you for doing this.
muchas gracias por las lecciones tan importantes, esperamos la continuacion !!!
Learning about the religious and linguistic background of pre-Islamic Arabia is so fascinating, thanks once more professor Reynolds
The qira’at have very interresting inclutions of old arabic dialects.
This one calls for another listen 🙂
Very cool
Very great lecture. Jallad is a famous falastenee family in Toolkarem.
39:17 interesting point about the different words for writing. It reminds me of a certain Quranic verse that seems to use a peculiar word in surah al Ankabut 48 which uses تخطه I wonder what the significance of that is from this historical linguistic perspective.
Great content! Great channel 👍
You two killed it with this one.
Incredibly interesting interview! Would love more videos on the religion(s) of the pre-Islamic Arabs!
Pre-islamic arabia, not pre-islamic arabs. Arabia and arabs are two different term and have different meanings.
@Yassin Zao you definitely dont even read al jallad's work. take southern arabia or north arabia as an example. linguists categorize the languages spoken on those two regions as "south arabian language" and "north arabian language". those two languages group were not arabic despite the name "arabia/arabian". i agree arabia = arabs+desert, but which arabia? arabia has different geographical meaning throughout the times.
at 40:00 mark when they talk about writing they mention "Al Sata al_Awalleen. Referring to the South Arabian script and monuments. Can someone please explain this to me more as I am confused
The أساطير الأوّلين, the tales of the first [people], I think, a Qur'ānic phrase (used by skeptical voices in the Qur'ān who are portrayed as dismissing the Revelation as 'nothing but tales of the ancients'). Gabriel was asking whether أُسْطُور _'usṭur_ (the singular of أساطير) might be related to Greek _historía,_ a word that starts as inquiry, becomes 'history' (with Herodotus in the 5th century BC) and later 'story' in later Greek. I think it's likely, myself. Ahmad says he doesn't know, but that it might not be an accident that the South Arabian _s³ṭr,_ 'to write', which appears in Arabic as _saṭara_ (asṭuru, saṭr), 'to rule (lines), to jot down, to record' was used as the root for _'usṭur,_ presumably as it seemed a natural fit for that root.
Really great discussion on the name of Isa (peace be upon him).
Is Rahman also a term used for one god in the North Arabic inscriptions? Because it is so common in Southern Arabia.
на севере в Пальмире засвидетельствован Рахим ( JAVIER TEIXIDOR THE PANTHEON OF PALMYRA)
Here from MythVision 😅
Mythvision is an interesting young man....but talks too much for a simple question.
I think I know the answer to his historical question about the missing cause of the homogeneity of Arab identity and dialects before Islam; I will publish a book about this subject soon.
But you probably won't
Just to add to something being said over here about the first revelation was "Iqra bismi ....." , in this regard a phenomenal scholar of Arabic from India Hamid ud Din Farahi (whose thoughts have developed into a school of theology now - called Dabistan e Farahi , almost headed by contemporary scholar Javaid Ahmed Ghamidi ) . The school claims , based on research on Quran that the first revelation was Fatiha , and not Surah Alaq . For more details refer to Ghamidi .
Such profound research about the name of Jesus and reconcilation on inscription-based evidenced and pertinent questioning by Dr Reynolds at appropriate points literally made this presentation a creme brulee
❤🎯👍🔥👌
Sir, please, can you provide me with the email of Dr. Ahmed Al-Jallad
well it was intresting one question what about dr rashded khalifa who fed the quran in the computer and broke mathematicl code on base of prime no over it are 19 can any one explain
Nonsense
He removed verses from the Quran to make the miracle work
what is ahmad's background? where in the arab world is he from? also is he muslim?
I find it hard to see the relationship between the safaitic inscription ayn-sin-ya and the quranic word ayn-ya-sin for Jesus. For one thing, switching consonants around change the meaning of a word. E.g., the triliteral meaning of ayn-ya-sin means "to become white" like an animals coat or a person's hair whereas ayn-sin-ya means "to redeem" (in the words of al-Jallad). So i'm failing to see how one root is related to the other. This "white" metaphor affiliated with Jesus is further supported by other verses in the quran which refer to Isa's disciples as the "white garbed ones" (hawriyyun) which possible connects them to the Essene community which Josephus describes as men who always wore "white garments".
I am also interested in languages. I love the diversity of languages, and I also love my own language: I am preserving the BIBLE in the original language. 🌿
What is it, hebrew or koine greek ? Not sure if you mean the old or new testament :D
30:52
Excellent work
Because Mecca didn't exist before 750 CE
Thanks Gents. Really interesting evidence. There can of course have been many things happening simultaneously, but the notion of Judaeo-Christian monotheism providing a framework for Islam to spring out of is pretty persuasive isn't it? I still find the "Pagan" world fascinating, in particular the Square Betyls of Petra seeming to pre-shadow the Kaaba (or Kaaba's), which is very abstract notion of the 'divine'? But rather than springing freshborn out of nowhere, it is looking like Islam is coming from somewhere ?
Yes, Islam came from Allah (God)
Let's pretend that somebosy made allah up; what would be the base for this monotheism? A religious framework based on judaism and early christiniaty. I'm only wonderin how it differs so much from its cousins and is basically abandoning the idea of a Messiah.
Please don't interrupt alot
57:53 Abraha was an Habashi (Ethiopian) that ruled over Yemen
This is myth, not proven
@@1AnimeWorld How is it a myth, Abraha did rule over Yemen
@@stevves4647 Based on the scripts he is Abraha in Al Sabah the king of Saba and Di Raidan...etc. A typical name for kings of Yemen.
@@1AnimeWorld Yemenis called him a king? He was their king...
All semetic languages dates back to Abraham. One god. Brunch to ismail and ishak and it goes on
Nice try though we have over 30,000 rock inscriptions and ones on coins too but they Pilgrims inscriptions by people who are pagan or Christian but not Muslim. There is Mecca as city until the 8th century
The word سطر is originally greek ἱστορία
القران ملئ بالكلمات من اصول غير عربية من اليونانية واللاتنية و الحبشة و حتي من المغرب الاقصي, و علماء الاسلام يعلمون ذلك و تكلموا عنه في كتبهم فانا لا افهم ما هو الجديد الذي يتحدث عنه هولاء المستشرقون و اتباعهم الان, و ان كان ظني انهم يريدون اثبات بان القران انتحل من الانجيل و التوراة لانهم يفترضون بان محمد ليس بنبي و ان القرأن تم تأليفه و لم يوحي به الي النبي, و اضف علي ذلك فان طريقة العلوم الغربية في الانسانيات تختلف في المقاصد و الاليات عن علوم الاسلام و لا تصلح لدراسة الاسلام و هم يتعاملون مع القران الكريم كنص ادبي و يستخدمون نظريات الادب و الفرضيات الزائفة في بناء قصة او حبكة و يلبسونها ثوب البحث العلمي!! اقرؤوا في كتاب الاتقان في علوم القران للحافظ السيوطي و ستجدون هناك جزء فيه بعنوان "النوع السابع و الثلاثون فيما وقع فيه بغير لغة الحجاز" و ايضاً "النوع الثامن و الثلاثون فيما وقع فيه بغير لغة العرب", فعلماء المسلمين منذ البداية لم ينكروا احتواء القران علي كلمات غير قرشية او اعجمية او من لغات اخري و هذا من دلائل اعجاز القران و اثبات لتهافت اكاذيب المستشرقين بتلبيسهم بانهم اكتشفوا اشياء جديدة لم يعرفها علماء الاسلام و لم يناقشوها في كتبهم الضخمة سواء ما طبع منها او مازال مخطوطة, و اخيراً انصح بقراءة كتاب تاريخ ارض القران لسليمان الندوي قبل البدء في قراءة اي شئ لهولاء المستشرقون
@@ME-yp7fn طالما انت راضي عن نفسك خلاص سيب الي يقول يقول
@@amr-______-2040 لا افهم ما تقصده، هل يمكنك التوضيح؟
@@ME-yp7fn يعني انا كنت هاكتب لك رد واشرح لك ازاي انت غلطان. وبعدين لقيت انه مفيش داعي. واضح انك مبسوط كده. وغيرك برضه مبسوط. فخلاص اعتقد الي انت عايز تعتقده وسيب غيرك يعتقد الي عايز يعتقده. ايه الي هامك في الي بيقوله المخالفين طالما انت عقيدتك قوية وماعندكش شكوك؟ بتشوف فيديوهاتهم وتدور ورا كلامهم ليه؟
@@amr-______-2040 قمت بالرد لان اليوتوب أظهر ذلك الفيديو لي فتركت رد لعل أحد ينتبه له إذا شاهد الفيديو لتكون الصورة واضحة بالكامل أمام أي شخص و لا يقتصر القول فقط علي كلام المستشرقين، و يمكنه الرجوع الي مصادر الاسلام الموثوق بها اولا، الاسلام يطلب من متابعيه نصرته باي شئ علي حسب الحال و المناسبة سواء كان بالقول أو باليد و لا نترك الباطل ينتشر دون مقاومته
جبريل....الانباط قوم سيدنا صالح كانوا قبل المسيح عليه السلام بالاف من السنين لانهم كانوا ورثه قوم عاد وقوم عاد هم اقدم الحضارات الانسانيه على الاطلاق بعد نوح. بالتالى في تقديري ان العربيه اصلها يعود الى عشرات الاثف من السنين. شرحي قد يطول هنا واكتفي.
1- ما أورده الباحث أحمد الجلاد في أبحاثه تبقى في خانة "الرأي"، بالنسبة للنقوش الصفائية هو بنفسه قال إن أقدم نقوشها يمكن تأريخها للقرن الثالث قبل الميلاد في أبحاثه وليس أبعد من ذلك وبالتالي حتى الغير مؤرخه منها لا يمكن الافتراض أنها أقدم من ذلك بدون دليل. 2- نقش باير الثنائي اللغة (كنعاني - عربي) كتب بأبجدية مختلفة عن الصفائية وقال إنه قد يعود لبداية الألفية الأولى قبل الميلاد، وهو أفترض بشكل غير قاطع إن الابجدية الصفائية قد تكون متطورة عن أبجدية النقش الثنائي اللغة وهنا أصبح هناك فجوة زمنية بين أقدم نقش صفائي مؤرخ ونقش باير فكيف تكون هذه النقوش الصفائية أستمرارية لنقش باير وهناك فجوة زمنية واختلاف في الابجدية؟ 3- الخط الصفائي معظم الباحثين والأكاديميين قالوا أنه مشتق من خط المسند الجنوبي ومن كتبها هم عرب بدو رحل وبالتالي قد يكونون مهاجرون من شبه الجزيرة العربية للرعي وليس العكس.
الدكتور احمد الجلاد متحامل بشكل غير مفهوم على جنوب جزيرة العرب. حتى تويتر يزعم ان خط المسند الجنوبي مشتث من الصفائي الحديث. مش فاهم صراحة ليش التحامل هذا.
الخط الصفائي مشتق من الخط السامي الجنوبي و ليس المسند. هنالك لغط بسبب تشابه الاسامي. الخط الساميه اثنان. جميعها اشتقوا من الخط السينائي. الخط الأول هو الكنعاني. الخط الثاني هو الخط السامي الجنوبي. الخط السامي الجنوبي انقسم الى الخط العربي الشمالي و الخط العربي الجنوبي. الصفائية و الحسمائية و الدادانية و التيمائية و خطوط الواحات مثل خط دومه الجندل و مدن خط التجارة تتبع تصنيف الخط العربي الشمالي، بينما المسند يتبع تصنيف الخط العربي الجنوبي الى جانب الخطوط اليمنية العديدة الاخرى. الباحثين و علماء الباليوقرفي يجمعون ان الخط العربي الشمالي هو الاقدم لان رسم الابجدية يحمل صفات "اركِيه" اي أقدم. هل هذا يعني ان الخط العربي الشمالي هو من انبثقت منه جميع الخطوط العربية الجنوبية؟ لم اقرأ دليل كامل يساند هذه النظرية، انما اطروحات متحفظة تميل الى ذلك و لا اكثر و اغلبها يستخدم اقدميه رسم الخط العربي الشمالي كأساس الأطروحة.
This man is adding ideas in which he cannot prove. Mecca in Saudi Arabia didn’t exist until 740 CE. He can’t date any inscriptions.
The Thamudic script is quite ancient. So definitely the place was inhabited. Now whether they were nomads, or more settled communities is uncertain. But this script was long gone by the time Islam arrived.
Lil boy shut up when you don't know anything
Semitic classification is problematic
Semitic classification of Arabic? How so? Keep in mind that Arabic evolved from the Nabatean Aramaic script.
@@JohnDoe-hy2ob the modern Arabic script emerged from the nabatean aramaic script. this is very plausible. but to say that Arabic language came from Aramaic is not based on any facts.
@@rodouaneessadouki5512 If you say it's plausible that Arabic originated from "Nabataean Aramaic", how do you then go on to say it doesn't come from Aramaic? After all, "Nabataean Aramaic" literally is Aramaic so I'm not quite getting what you're saying.
@@JohnDoe-hy2ob weren’t the Nabateans bilingual? Aramaic for official use and the vernacular was Arabic?
@@TheUnique69able Yes and I think it is more accurate to say that certain Arabic dialects were more influenced by Aramaic. This is similar to how English is Germanic but it is extremely influenced by French and Latin.
Now the etymology of the name “Aeissa ” as the Redeemer makes perfect sense in the Quranic proclamation that the Redeemer (Aeissa) was neither crucified nor died - because- obviously- the Redeemer redeems us by conquering death. That is why it only “seemed” that the Redeemer was crucified and died. Therefore, the verse does not deny AT ALL Jesus’s death on the cross - it only affirms Jesus as the Redeemer.
You are reading into it way more than al- Jallad and Reynolds give evidence for. Al- Jallad says here, based on pre-Islamic inscriptions, that 'Isa was a name that existed among Arabs, but which was probably somewhat appropriated or adopted by Christian missionaries in order to localize the cult of Jesus for pre-Islamic Arabs. Since it could be interpreted as "redeemer" or "buyer" (in pre- Islamic North Arabia/South Syria at least) during the 4th century, and because it sounded superficially similar to Yesu'. As far as the audience of the Qur'ān is concerned, al- Jallad explicitly says that the Qur'ān never feels the need to explain or legitimate the name or its use of the name. Which indicates that the audience of the Qur'ān already knew the person known as Jesus by the name of 'Isa. It was in other words an entrenched name in the Arabic religious name repertoire of that time, and he had probably been known by this name among the Arabs of the region at least two centuries before Islam. The same way as English-speaking people today do not know or care about knowing that the word "restaurant" is actually a foreign (French) concept. This does not imply that the audience of the Qur'ān actually knew the etymology or the semantic development of the name, and hence would be capable of making such abstract and theological semantic connections regarding the crucifiction of Jesus as you say. So we should be careful when making such theological conclusions as you do regarding the use of that particular name in the Qur'ān. It is not empirical.
@@Ebionarius why would Allah use Isa if it signifies redeemer. Redemption from what ?
@@seekthetruthandthetruthwil2388 The point was that the missionaries among the nomads probably found the name "ayin-sīn-yā" fitting as a name for Jesus. Because it was already known as a divine name by the pagans and also had the semantic meaning of "redeem" or "purchase". That would be a good match, since according to Christian belief, Jesus redeemed humanity from sin through his sacrifice. The fact that it also already sounded kind of similar phonetically to Greek Iesou(s) would have had the effect of easing the nomads' conversion to Christianity. At the same time as getting the theological message across. But all this is somewhat speculative. The important thing to take away is that the name "'ayin-sin-yā" already was a divine name that was known among the nomads of Northern Arabia centuries prior to the rise of Islam. And that it eventually came to be used for Jesus, probably with Christian influence. The name as it appears in the Qurān is a reception of this tradition. In other words, that is how the prophet and his audience knew and talked about Jesus. Had the Qurān instead used the "original" name of Jesus, Aramaic Yeshua, or the Greek version Iesous, the audience would not have known who was being talked about. They knew him as 'Isā and had probably never heard of those other names. There are other cases of the Qurān simply using existing names as they were known by the local culture without much need for "correction" (or, perhaps, awareness of the original name of the character). For instance Dhu'l Qarnayn instead of Alexander. Or, for instance, the name of the prophet "Yūnūs". In Hebrew, the name of that prophet is "Yônah". But the form of the name as it appears in the Qurān indicates that it was not a direct transmission of the original Hebrew name. In the Greek Biblical tradition, Yonah becomes hellenized as "Ionas". The Quranic "Yūnūs" seems therefore to be a reception of the Greco-Roman naming tradition, as indicated by the -ūs ending, rather than the Hebrew Yônah-tradition. This gives an indication of the path of cultural transmission.
@@Ebionarius since Allah gave the Quran in pure Arabic, why didn’t he know the background info?
I do not think there are such things as "pure" languages linguistically speaking (..generally that is. There might be isolated, small languages that are. For instance in the Caucasus or on some pacific island somewhere). The Quran describes itself as "clear Arabic". Which to me indicates that that is how the audience and its originator (whoever it was) probably understood it as well (otherwise it would have been a rhetorically unnecessary or irrelevant argument. It apparently was not considered to be so, since the argument ultimately was made). But Arabic, just like any language, has loanwords. Just as the fact that the word "restaurant" ultimately being derived from French does not necessarily mean that "restaurant" is "non-English" or "bad English" (what would you say instead?), there are indeed words and concepts in the Qurān that the audience probably understood as good Arabic at that time, although being ultimately of foreign origin. To me this does not mean that it isn't "good Arabic". It is. Then there is also the issue of linguistic delimitation. What is "Arabic"? Those kinds of questions. For instance, the verb-root k-t-b exists natively in Arabic. The primitive meaning being to "line up". But the secondary cultural meaning of "to write" came into Arabic through the influence of the sister- language Aramaic. Does that mean that "kataba" ("he wrote") is pure Arabic or not? Particularly considering that the root k-t-b is a cognate in both languages and ultimately has the same origin in proto-central-Semitic? These are not simple yes or no questions. Apologists might be into those kinds of questions. But I do not have a dog in that race.
Monotheism did not enter Arabian peninsula because of missionaries, it started with Ismail, the son of Ibrahim. We hardly see any evidence of trinity in Arabia,
Arab was Pagan before Islam, Ishmael descent was pagan. Monotheism in arabia start 200 years before Islam.
it's ok, you wouldn't even find it in the Bible either 😂
He copied almost everything from the Torah and Gospels.....Most likely the initial Quran was a Syriac lectionary.
He didn’t copy Quran is a reformist text it’s focus is Unitarian Universalist because Christianity was mostly trinitarian tradition and Judaism became ethnic religion and Arabs pagans so the Quran basically teaching Tawheed meaning ones of God,ones of humanity and ones of the universe
You always speak of a corrupt Bible, but your Qur'an is corrupt. The first surah, which is called Al-Fatihah, is not the first surah. The first surah is that of revelation, but I do not see it heading the Qur'an, that surah does not have to be relegated from the first place. If the Qur'an is an uncreated book, revealed and descended from heaven; then the word of God has not been respected, because that first sura of the revelation should be the first sura in the Qur'an, there is also something more serious, that first sura of the revelation, has been biased, because it does not start with those words, what were the first words revealed? You are reading and reciting a corrupt Qur'an, from 1,200 years ago, made by an Abbasid caliph. In the word of my Lord God, no doctrine of abrogation can be made to any Chapter, under any circumstances; it would be anathema. "And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free." John 8: 32
What’s the oldest surviving Quran manuscript and how much does it differ from current copies of the Quran?
Pls Omar, don’t waste your time with someone who never even studied islam, all they know is what they saw on KZhead or wikapedia, some of these keyboard warriors never heard of islam until after 9-11. do you have that time to waste??
😂 I don't wanna laughter that hard but you just may want to send a little time studying your own scripture instead of yapping about scripture you know zilch of. Do you think 1st book of Genesis is the first book of written the towrah, is that what your own scholars say, let alone any other scholars!!!😮 or is Matthew the first book written of the Christian bible 🤔. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Learn a bit more, acquire a bit more knowledge from actual qualified scholars of the subject matter before you embarass your self on a public forum like this one, where academics to come to dialog.
@@omararain1730 Probably the "Birmingham manuscript" from the Mingana collection, recently radiocarbon dated vellum to between 560-645 CE. Remarkably, it is the last several verses of Surah Maryam and first several verses of Surah Taha written in the Hijazi script. Other than vowel notation, it is absolutely identical to the current text. Fernando Rivera's assertion that "It was written by an Abbasid Caliph" is absolute nonsense.
The oldest Qur'an fragments are dated to the Caliphate of Abu Bakr or Uthman (at the latest 645 CE) so your assertion that it was "made by an Abbasid caliph" is entirely false. Furthermore, they are identical to the current text. This is based on script analysis as well as radio carbon dating. Secondly, the entire Qur'an is non-chronological, both in its content and in its surah order. This is known. Muslim children know this. I fail to see how the surah order has any relevance to the validity, integrity, "corruption" as you call it, of the text. Your entire point is a non sequitur.