• Fred M. Donner argues that early Islam was a diverse ‘Believers movement’- a monotheistic revival.
• He states that a 7th-century papyrus letter supports his assertion. This article examines Professor Donner’s assertions regarding early Islam.
Fred M. Donner, Professor of Near Eastern History at Stanford University, has devoted many years to investigating the origins of Islam—the world’s fastest-growing religion. In 2013, he developed a keen interest in a papyrus letter dating from the 7th century.
Donner elucidated that the letter had been preserved at the Oriental Institute since 1947 but had been largely overlooked by its predecessors due to its perceived ‘ordinary nature’—primarily detailing the allocation and division of a moderate sum of money. However, upon serendipitously encountering the document, he discerned several highly intriguing characteristics that earlier historians had failed to appreciate.
He first observed that the style of Arabic employed in the letter confirms its origins, thereby suggesting that the letter was composed not long after the time of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w). Donner further cited the letter’s content as corroborative evidence of its antiquity. “Although the papyrus is stained and worn, it remains predominantly intact aside from a small lacuna in its centre,” he said. Since his appointment at Stanford, Donner has been assiduously scrutinising the letter alongside other primary documents. “When you work on a papyrus like this, it’s usually several years for a single page,” he noted. The script can be enigmatic, as these documents are often smudged, faded, and creased; indeed, he has been known to display a particularly perplexing document on his refrigerator for extended periods. Donner contends that both the calligraphy of the inscription and the names referenced within the document compellingly indicate an early seventh-century provenance.
A noteworthy attribute of the letter is its employment of language that is monotheistic. Donner asserts: “It opens with the phrase “I praise to you God, other than whom there is no God,” and concludes with “Peace and God’s blessing upon you,” expressions that would be acceptable to any monotheist—Jew, Christian, or otherwise”, he asserts.
In his work, Muhammad and the Believers: At the Origin of Islam (2010) Donner posits that Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w’s) movement initially comprised “Believers” — a heterogeneous assemblage of individuals from diverse religious backgrounds, united by their faith in one God and their commitment to leading a pious and righteous life in anticipation of the Last Judgment. “It wasn’t exactly a new religion in the beginning,” Donner asserts. “It was a monotheistic revival movement.”
Donner believes that the opening of the letter he has been examining bolsters the same hypothesis.
What Did Professor Donner Get Right and What Did he get Wrong?
Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) was indeed sent to all of mankind as a ‘monotheistic revival movement’. However, he was also sent for believers to follow his path, a comprehensive way of life. The fundamental core belief of Islam is Tawhid (the belief in one God). And Prophet Muhammad (s.aw) was the best of creation and the Seal of the Prophets. Those who came with the same message before Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) included Jesus, Abraham, Moses (peace be upon them all). Their adherents were regarded as being on the right path in Islam, as Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had not yet been sent by Allah. However, Donner’s portrayal of early Islam and the purpose of the Islamic mission is not entirely accurate.
‘The community of Believers encompassed certain Jews and Christians. Several passages in the Quran explicitly state that among the “peoples of the book”—a term broadly applied to Christians and Jews—there are some who are Believers. Donner maintains that it would not have been onerous for Jews and Christians to join Muhammad’s movement, which appealed to all who believed in a single deity and pursued a righteous existence’, Professor Donner claims.
Donner further states that membership in the Believer community did not require one to renounce one’s original confessional identity: “You could be a Believer and be a Jew; you could be a Believer and be a Christian. It’s not like you had to convert.” Furthermore, he asserts that the Islamic jurisprudence—which conferred protected status upon the “peoples of the book” and afforded them relative autonomy on the premise that “they were earlier recipients of the revelation—may serve as residual evidence of an antecedent epoch characterised by peaceful coexistence among disparate religious groups.
‘The prospect of forgery is of paramount importance to me, for its presence would imply that later generations endeavored to obfuscate the non-confessional, or “believerish,” character of Muhammad’s religious movement. The traditional origins narrative is a nice story; it reads like a good novel, but when I read it as a historian it just doesn’t compute. The idea of the Believers movement rings truer to me,’ he says.
While it is true that the term “People of the Book” refers to Jews and Christians who hold true monotheism, it is erroneous to suggest that, during the lifetime of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w), one could reject him as the final messenger of Allah, not follow his teachings and still be regarded as a Believer. Likewise, conversely, a Muslim would not be deemed a Believer if they were to reject any of the prophets who preceded Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w).
Furthermore, if Donner’s hypothesis holds true, then one might question why early Islam instituted the Jizya tax for Christians and Jews which distinguished the Muslims and ‘people of the book’— with Muslims having to pay zakat which is a greater sum than the jizya
In addition, Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 309: Narrated Aisha (ra):
Khadija RA took the Prophet (s.a.w) to Waraka bin Nawfal, who was a Christian scholar and had learned from the scriptures. He said to the Prophet (s.a.w): This is the same one who appeared to Moses. I wish I were younger and could live to see your people drive you out.”
In these accounts, Waraka acknowledges the divine nature of the message but doesn’t convert to Islam himself. However, he believes in one God and expresses his belief in the truth of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w’s) mission and the continuity with previous divine revelations. This in turn, makes him a Muslim.
While Donner rejects the Hadith science and literature, it appears that he selectively chooses particular historical sources that align with his own narrative, a revisionist version of Islam, raising questions about the authenticity of his approach.
“We can only gain an accurate picture of how Islam began by examining documentation from the seventh century,” Donner said. Yet this undertaking is far from trivial. “The seventh century is a difficult period because we don’t have many documentary sources,” he says.
Professor Donner pens the following in his work, Muhammad and the Believers at the Origins of Islam:
‘A little over a century ago, renowned French scholar Erest Renan (1823-1892) wrote the following summation of his findings on the origins and early history of Islam: "We arrive, then, from all parts at this singular result: that the Mussulman movement was produced almost without religious faith; that, putting aside a small number of faithful disciples, Mahomet really worked with but little conviction in Arabia, and never succeeded in overcoming the opposition represented by the Omeyade party”…. …. In the following pages I attempt to present almost the exact opposite of Renan's views. It is my conviction that Islam began as a religious movement-not as a social, economic, or "national" one; in particular, it embodied an intense concern for attaining personal salvation through righteous behavior. The early Believers were concerned with social and political issues but only insofar as they related to concepts of piety and proper behavior needed to ensure salvation’.
Islam is a holistic way of life, with its core principle being Tawhid, as we have previously discussed—a profound bond between the servant and his Master, worshiping the one true and Almighty Allah. However, Islam is not a spiritual path alone; it offers a comprehensive framework that encompasses social, economic, and political justice. The debates raised by historians or academics on this subject often spiral into circular arguments. After all, living in this world naturally requires the pursuit of both social economic justice. Perhaps this notion was so unfamiliar to certain Western historians that they felt compelled to separate the pragmatism of daily life from spirituality and righteousness—an approach that remains a struggle for Jews and Christians to reconcile even today.
