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Though Muhammad never disclosed the sources oh his information, the Koran suggests that he obtained much of his knowledge from both jewish and christian scholars. With judaism his acqaintance is intimate and many-sided. Hè learned his lessons well; and when a thorough-going comparison is made of the koranic material, of all sorts, with the standard hebrew-jewish writings then current, we must say with emphasis that his authorities, whoever they were, were men well versed in the bible, in the oral law, and the haggada. Scholars who have written on the subject of Jewish influence on the Koran have dealt with this theme from a general point of view: they either discussed whole narratives or dealt with religious terms or Aggadic stories common to Islam and Judaism. The Koran is not the book as Mohammad revealed it. In fact, he never revealed a book; he revealed short visions, injunctions, parables, fables, or doctrinal discourses. Muhammad (570-632 CE) borrowed extensively from Jewish sources: he was fully aware of the importance of the Jewish religion and leaned heavily upon it. He used all sources, the bible, the Talmud, as well as the apocrypha. The Christian tradition, too, was an invaluable materials for the development of his new structure.

According to the Koran, Muhammad alone possessed a true understanding of "G d": he stated that he did not come to abrogate the old and new testaments, but rather to fulfill the spirit and the letter of the Book. He maintained that Avraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but the true expounded of ethical monotheism, and that the Koran, as revealed to him by his Allah through the angel Gabriel, embodied the true revelation which the Jews and the Christians had failed to follow. Tracing his genealogy to "Ibrahim" through his son Ishmael, Muhammad claimed to be the (only) rightful heir to Avraham's high rank. It was Muhammad's contention the "G d" could not have omitted the Arabs from the revelations with which he had favored the Jews and the Christians. Though he denied the divinity of ISA (Jesus/Yehoshua), he accepted the Nazarene as the last of the Hebrew prophets. Himself he considered the Messenger of God and "the Seal of all the Prophets." He accused the Jews of deleting the bible predictions of his advent. At the same time, however, he accepted most of the narratives of the bible. Muhammad never intended to establish Islam as a new religion. He considered himself the rightful custodian of the Book sent by "Allah" to "confirm" the Scriptures and it is for that reason that in the beginning he saw no difference between Judaism and Christianity & believed that both Jews & Christians would welcome him ...