Towards the problem of existence of the Pre-Islamic Arabic translation of the Bible

The article traces the problem of emergence of the Arabic written translations of biblical texts. There is a generally accepted idea about the period of formation of Islam (i.e., the early 7th century) as the starting point after which the first written Arabic translations of biblical texts might have appeared. Accordingly, the oldest written Arabic translations of biblical texts date back to the 8th century, although a generally accepted translation of the Bible among Arabs did not exist even in the 10th century. The traditional approach to the date of the first written Arabic translations of biblical texts is based on the belief that before the emergence of Islam Arabs had a developed oral tradition of storytelling, and thus the ideas of Christianity and biblical texts could have circulated orally in Arabic. Therefore, this approach suggests that the oral storytelling was the source for the numerous Christian reminiscences in the Qur'an, such as references to events or figures of the Gospels (e.g., St. Mary and the Annunciation, Jesus and his miracles), as well as for inaccurate quotations from the Torah and the Psalms. On the other hand, the traditional Islam recognizes such reminiscences as confirmation of the divinity of the Qur'an as a revelation that the Prophet Muhammad – the founder of Islam – received from the same God who had sent a similar biblical revelation to Christians. At the same time, the fact that there is no real evidence of the existence of written Arabic translations of biblical texts in the pre-Islamic period serves as a basis for scientific confirmation of the traditional approach. This raises a hypothesis about the possibility of finding the above-mentioned evidence in the future. This hypothesis is based on the facts of the historical and religious context in pre-Islamic Arabia. It is believed that before the formation of Islam in Arabia, Arab missionaries played an active role in spreading the ideas of Christianity. The activities of these missionaries influenced the development of the Arabic writing, which is reflected in numerous inscriptions and graffiti. It is quite probable that the first written Arabic translations of biblical texts could have appeared within the context of the developed Christian community with the writing system. The preservation of such hypothetical translations was complicated by the turbulent history of the Arab world which affected local Christian monasteries where pre-Islamic Arabic written translations of biblical texts could have been preserved.