Circle of Willis
Well-known member
Christianity was known to have penetrated into Arabia by the time of Muhammad: the Chalcedonian Christianity of the Romans wasn't particularly popular in the region to my knowledge, but Miaphysitism (Coptic Egyptian & Ethiopian Christianity), Ebionism (the remnants of the Judaizers) and Nestorianism (the Assyrian Church of the East) had all attracted significant numbers of Arab converts by the 7th century. In particular the Ghassanids, the Eastern Romans' principal Arabic allies, were fierce Miaphysites while their Persian-aligned Lakhmid rivals finished converting to Nestorianism, and there may have been Ebionite communities in Arabia as late as the 11-12th centuries. Also, Muhammad's first wife Khadija was possibly a Christian herself, and certainly had known Christian relatives such as Waraqah ibn Nawfal.
So - what if, instead of founding Islam, Muhammad had been a convert to one of these branches of Christianity instead?
So - what if, instead of founding Islam, Muhammad had been a convert to one of these branches of Christianity instead?