apostleship. We also read of the history of Joseph that it came by
inspiration of God:
In revealing to thee the Qur'an, one of the most beautiful of narratives will
we relate unto thee. Sura Yusuf (xii) 103.
And then follows the story of Joseph, as told in Jewish legends; but a divine
origin is claimed for this account of it:
This is one of the secret histories which we reveal unto thee. Sura Yusuf
(xii) 103.
The people of Mecca would not, however, believe in the supernatural source of
these matters and said:
Surely, a certain person teacheth hire. Sura An-Nahl (xvi) 105.
To this accusation the Prophet in the same verse replies that the tongue of
him at whom they hint is foreign1 and the Qur'an is Arabic; to which
the retort was easy, that he supplied the material and that Muhammad worked it
up in an Arabic form. Again and again Muhammad had to rebut statements such as
this :
The Qur'an is a mere fraud of his own devising and others have helped him
with it. Sura Al-Furqan (xxv) 5.