Arabs were polytheists before Islam, but Islam is an Abrahamic religion that builds upon the Jewish and Christian scriptures. Are there any historical explanations for how Muhammad come into contact with the Jewish and Christian traditions? Of course the Islamic tradition supposes that Muhammad simply received his revelation from God, and so I have found it difficult to find any information about how Muhammad, who was an illiterate Bedouin merchant, understood Jewish and Christian beliefs. Can someone give me a more historically grounded picture of the relationship between Judaism and Christianity in Muhammad's life and/or in the time an place that he lived. Thanks.
We discussed similar issues the other day. In short, a lot of people in the sixth-century Arabian Peninsula were Jewish or Christian. The Quran itself seems to indicate that the polytheists known its author worshiped Allah (the God of Abraham) alongside other deities. This chimes with the fifth-century account of Sozomen, who writes about some people of the Arabian Peninsula blending Jewish practice with native pagan practices.
The earliest texts of the Quran have their variations, so the way in which the original author (or authors) talk or wrote about Christians and Jews may have been somewhat different to how they are mentioned in the version used today.