On the Origins of Islam and the Kabbalah

This is not the first time it is being suggested thatthe Legions, God of Israel, God of Life, King of
parts of the Qur'an (Koran) were authored by anAges, Almighty God, Creator of Good, Dwelling in
alien. It seems the Qur'an contains scientificthe Heights, Dwelling in Eternity, Holy Be His
information that could not have been known inName, and create (his/its) world with three books:
Muhammad's (Mohammed's) time and that waswritten, numerical, and verbal." Medieval mystics
subsequently proven to be correct. This lies incorrectly identified the numerical rendering as
sharp contrast to biblical science, which has beenpertaining to the Book of Abraham itself, and
generally shown to be erroneous.they correctly identified the written rendering as
But the present article has nothing to do withpertaining to the Book of Light (deemed written in
science. It merely relates to a prolongedheaven by the archangel Metatron). For the verbal
investigation of medieval mysticism. According torendering, however, they concluded that it had to
cryptically-written accounts, in the late sixthbe the Book of Moses, now deemed to have
century A.D. or thereabouts, Elijah the Prophetbeen verbally dictated to Moses on Mount Sinai.
twice returned to Earth in his chariot, delivering toBut that makes little sense. Moses was too
Judaic scholars in a Babylonian desert, first, thedistant in time to be part of singular authorship of
Book of Light (prophetic poems written in Latin),the three books. The verbal rendering therefore
and then the Book of Abraham (a mathematicalhas to be the Qur'an, verbally transmitted to
summary of creation written in Hebrew). MedievalMuhammad on the Mountain of Light.
writings insinuate that those two books had aThe above paragraphs constitute a synthesis of
profound impact on Judaism: the Book ofinformation gathered from dozens of sources.
Abraham's unrelenting praise of Hebrew led to theHeavily consulted were the Sefer ha-Bahir,
resurrection of Hebrew as a living language, andparticularly chapters on the Works of the Chariot,
possession of the Book of Light (the luminousand the writings of Gershom Scholem, especially
presence of the exile) reinforced Jewish resolvesections that refer to the Revelations of Elijah
against pressure to convert to Islam or(another name of the Book of Light). Meanwhile, a
Christianity while the textual contents of this bookvivid description of the desert scene in Babylonia
inspired the migration of mystics from the Middlewas found in a Spanish translation of Saadia
East to specific parts of Europe.Gaon's Commentary on the Sefer Yetzirah
Anyway, the moral of this story is that(another name of the Book of Abraham). In
Muhammad's encounter with the archangel Gabrielcontrast to these obscure sources, information on
may not have been an isolated incident. Out ofMuhammad and the origins of Islam is widely
the secret world of Jewish mysticism (Kabbalah)available on the Internet.
come signs that around the time of MuhammadMystic literature (including variant versions of the
the early mystics had similar-type encounters withBook of Abraham) is contradictory on which
the prophet Elijah in nearby Babylonia. Thebook, the Book of Light or the Book of Abraham,
prophet and the angel were both described aswas delivered on Elijah's first descent and which
luminous, and each glorified the Lord in imperiousone on his second descent. Likewise, the amount
voice. There's more. The Book of Light was aof time that transpired between the two
masterpiece of Latin poetry, the Book ofdescents, whether it was hours, days, or years, is
Abraham exemplified use of twenty-two letterunclear. The Book of Light (private reconstruction)
Hebrew, and the Qur'an set standards for thespeaks of celestial descent coming after 580 A.D.
Arabic language. All three have surprised scholarsbut is otherwise silent on these issues. Unreliable
on linguistic grounds. Beyond this and otherindications from a later (16th century) but
considerations, the Qur'an directly mentions thenonetheless well-informed source give the year
Book of Abraham, though to this day Muslims585 A.D. for delivery of the Book of Light (which
seem to have little notion about what book theseems plausible in light of the Geonim of Babylonia
Qur'an is referring to.beginning in 589 A.D.) and 606 or 607 A.D. for the
The opening sentence of the Book of AbrahamBook of Abraham. Thus, by these measures, the
reads as follows: "Into thirty-two mysteriousprophet Elijah preceded the archangel Gabriel.
paths of wisdom did (he/it) engrave Yah, Lord of