A Great Battle and a Troubling Anachronism
An epic battle, papermaking, and the reliability of the Islamic 'hadiths'
It may be the most important battle that you have never heard of. The Battle of Talas (July 751 AD) pitted two of the great early medieval empires against each other, with consequences that reverberates into our own day. The armies of the Arab-Persian Abbasid Caliphate and the Chinese Tang met at Taraz (on the border of present-day Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan) in a contest that would determine the fate of Central Asia.
It was ultimately the Abbasids who were successful, effectively setting the Western limit for Chinese expansion and ensuring the dominance of Islam in the region. As such, this battle can rightly be regarded as among the most consequential in all of world history.
There is another factor, beyond purely military or strategic consequences, that underscores the importance of what happened at Talas. It is remembered as the starting point of paper making in the Arab world, from where it spread to the West. Up to this point, Arab writing was mostly done on plant material and parchment (i.e., animal skins). Papyrus, although relatively inexpensive, deteriorates very quickly and was therefore not conducive to the long-term survival of written works. Parchment, on the other hand, was extremely durable, but also incredibly expensive since several animals had to be killed for even a moderate-length text to be preserved.
Arab sources state that some of the Chinese prisoners of war, taken at Talas, began to practice papermaking in Central Asia. This obviously caught the attention of their Arab captors who took some of them to Baghdad (the Abbasid capital) where the first paper mill was opened in 794 AD. After this, paper rapidly replaced other writing materials throughout the Arab world (although parchment was still used for more important texts for centuries).
The very definite date associated with the coming of paper to Arabia, provides us with an excellent opportunity to seriously question the accuracy of the widely accepted accounts of Islam’s origins.
A bit of background first: Believing Muslims maintain that after Muhammad’s death (in 632 AD) a set of traditions (hadiths) were perfectly preserved through oral retelling, until they were finally written down about 200-300 years after his death. These traditions form the basis for much of what we know (or think we know) about Muhammad and of key aspects of the Muslim faith. Without the hadiths, precious little is left of Islam as it is universally practiced. Yet, serious questions can be asked about their reliability.
A case in point. We have seen that paper was introduced into the Arab world 162 years after the death of Muhammad. So, what are we to make of the following hadiths from the collections that are regarded as the most trustworthy (Sahih or ‘sound’)?
“The Verse of stoning and of breastfeeding an adult ten times was revealed, and the paper was with me under my pillow. When the Messenger of Allah (saw) died, we were preoccupied with his death, and a tame sheep came in and ate it." Sunan Ibn Majah, Chapte 11, Hadith No: 1944
“Ibn 'Abbas said, "When the ailment of the Prophet became worse, he said, 'Bring for me (writing) paper and I will write for you a statement after which you will not go astray.” Sahih Bukhari, Chapter 3, Hadith No: 114
“We have nothing except the Book of Allah and this written paper from the Prophet (where-in is written:) Medina is a sanctuary from the Air Mountain…” Sahih Bukhari, Chapter 30, Hadith No: 94
“They would enter a river, one or the rivers of Paradise, and would bathe in it, and then come out as if they were (white like) paper…” Sahih Muslim, Chapter 1, Hadith No: 371
It is again worth noting that these hadiths are all taken from the most authoritative collections. In other words, those that have the most impact on Islamic teaching and beliefs. Yet here they clearly back-project the circumstances (i.e., the existence of paper) of another time and place onto the life of the prophet.
It is worth noting that these references are not to writing material in general. The Arabic word for ‘paper is used (‘warak’ ورق). There are different words for parchment (‘rak’ الرق) and papyrus (‘al-bardi’, البردي). Interestingly there are also other hadiths that list the writing materials that were available to desert dwelling Arabs before the introduction of paper. For example, this is how Zaid, one of the earliest compilers of the Qur’an, described his task: “So I started compiling the Qur'an by collecting it from the leafless stalks of the date-palm tree and from the pieces of leather and hides and from the stones, and from the chests of men (who had memorized the Qur'an).” (Sahih Bukhari Volume 9 Book 89 Hadith 301)
The Merriam Webster dictionary defines an anachronism as: “Something that is out of place in terms of time or chronology.”. The references to paper in some ‘sound’ hadiths clearly fall in this category. This may be dismissed as a mere historical oddity, until you stop the think about the fact that the ‘sound’ hadiths provide a supposedly impeccable record of the life of Muhammad and that they define the very nature of Islam. This leaves us with the inevitable question: What else was back-projected into the time of the ‘prophet’ in this way?
For much more about the history of the origins of the Qur’an, including its sources, please see my book ‘The Mecca Mystery - Probing the Black Hole at the Heart of Muslim history’. Please also consider supporting my work by taking out a paid subscription (link below)
Kind regards,
Peter
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