Thread by @NaqadStudies

Who were the people that the Qur'an refers to as the Nasara النَّصٰرَى in such passages as Q 9:30?

And who were the Anṣār أنصار of Q 9:117 et al?

And what can we make of the term "Year of the mu-hāǧir-ūn" in 622 CE?

Let's take a brief look at a compelling theory.

The traditional interpretation is that the word Muhajirūn comes from the root hajara, "to emigrate, to go into exile." These were the émigrés who left Mecca with Mohammad. 

The Anṣār (root naṣara, "to help, to aid") were the helpers who welcomed these exiles at Medina.

However, since the Qur'anic context is limited, and its unique Arabic is practically without a 7th century contemporary, we lack internal comparative evidence for the meanings of many key words.

Therefore, we are compelled to look at related Semitic languages for help.

The first root, hajara, is only attested in the South Semitic word for "city(-dweller)," but in Hebrew and Aramaic (below) as the name of Abraham's concubine, Hagar.

Let's keep Hagar in mind, but return to her in a moment.

Looking at Nasara, we find that neither Akkadian, Aramaic, Ge'ez/Ethiopian nor Hebrew base their words for 'helper' with a nṣr root.

At this point it is important to note that nẓr/nṣr in Arabic (and other Semitic languages) is used as a basis for a describing naṣrānīya (Christianity) and tanṣīr (Christianization, baptism).

The root in Christian nomenclature is of course in reference to Jesus of Nazereth.

Early Church writers like Origen, (3rd c), Eusebius (4th c), Jerome (5th c) and especially Epiphanius (4th c) wrote about the Nazarenes as an historic, heterodox branch of Christianity.

They were, in Nicene Christian eyes, essentially Jews who followed Christ as a mere prophet.

The Ebionites, we learn from such accounts as Eusebius' 'Panarion,' were a subgroup of Nazarenes, who believed in the virgin birth of Jesus.

Additionally, both Nazarenes and Ebionites kept some semblance of Torah law.

Therefore, it is reasonable to suppose that the Nazarenes of Late Antiquity were the nẓr of the Qur'an - Semitic heterodox Christians who kept some form of Jewish law and rejected the divinity of Jesus while accepting his virgin birth, who welcomed Muhammad at Medina.

And the Muhajirūn?

We have already seen that the root hajara was a common Semitic term for Hagar, or 'Hagarenes' - descendants of Hagar.

This was the Late Antique term for ethnic Arabs, understood to be Jewish 'cousins' by way of a shared Hagar/Sarah ancestry with Abraham.

But what about the Year of the Hijra?

We know from contemporary accounts that 622 marks the year that the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius initiated a 'Holy War' to reclaim Syro-Palestinian possessions, with hopes of ultimately destroying the Sassanid Empire.

These monumental imperial events would lead to the formation of the Umayyad Caliphate, known by numismatics and contemporary accounts to be a truly Arab kingdom, though one set up by the Byzantines to protect Byzantine interests.

The year of the Arab (Hagarene)!

The founding of the Umayyad Caliphate marks the beginning of Late Antique Arab hegemony, a moment in time which cannot be underestimated in its importance, as these autonomous Arab rulers would set a conquest in motion that would bring down both Byzantines and Sassanians alike.

This material was adapted from Robert Martin Kerr's Feb 2013 article entitled "Islam, Arabs and the Hijra":

academia.edu/2629114/Islam_…