Headings
Introduction: the Relevance?
Muslims, at least in the modern era, hold to the belief in the perfection of the prophets, and the usual reason that is given is that if they are not perfect, then how can we trust their revelations. This gives them the mandate for what Christians would see as the near- idolization of Muhammad. Christians however do not hold dogmatically to any such criterion with regards to their prophets, since they would believe that the prophets are on a path to holiness just like any other huan being. The guarantor of the authenticity revelation is God, not the instrument and he is sufficient guarantor. God guarantees the perfection of the revelation, not of the prophet. There is at least one Biblical prophet who seemingly falls outside of grace.
However Christians could not accept that a prophet could be susceptible to the demonic in the matter of revelation. This is once again due to what we have just said: When it comes to the revelation itself, God is the guarantor of its authenticity. This means that either the prophet cannot give false Scripture, or his saying are not recorded at all. The People of God are not deluded as to what is and what is not from God in the matter of their Scriptures, at any time, for the purpose of faith and morals.
This brings us to the problem, which we can now enumerate:
- If we have a prophet who cannot tell true Scripture from false, at least partly due to the fact that he is susceptible to delusions, then what is the premise for the authenticy of the Scripture? The reason that saying “God guarantees it” does not work, because the “satanic verses” incident privides an example where this “guarantee” did not work, or in other words, there was not guarantee. Muhammad stated the words of the angel as Scripture, and here lies the problem. The entire incident is then airbrushed from the Qur’an, but we will show how it can be reconstructed from the Qur’an itself, using the external sources. This is because remnants of the incident remain, which aids our critical examination.
- The other examples of Muhammed being bewitched serve only to further strenghten the positive case we are making, that it is entirely likely that this is not an isolated incident and we cannot affirm with any confidence that there are not several other verses that are not from a source of darkness rather than one of light, in the Quran itself, if not all of it, since Muhammed himself believed that the primary source too was demonic until someone not present told him that it was probably an angel.
- Muhammed also believed that he had a demon which had converted to Islam which advised him. Again, the concern here is that in the belief that the demon is “converted”, Muhammad is completely open to channeling instruction from the dark side. Muhammad seemingly makes the naive assumption that religious “conversion” of the manner that we undergo in the physical world is a phenomenon in the spiritual realm too, in other words, he treats both realms as epistemically equivalent.
- Finally, when Muhammad did receive his “revelations”, rather than showing signs of spiritual ecstacy which one would expect in the presence of the Holy as we see in the Bible, we see signs of extreme bodily disturbance and possible epileptic activity instead.
The “Satanic Verses” Incident
A look at the only known accepted occurence of a Satanic sequence in a religion
The phrase “satanic verses” in relation to the Qur’an has come to relate to a couple of verses that are thought (or alleged) to relate to an incident in the life of Mohammed. The full description of that event is found in other writings, as is the case for most aspects of his life. There are essentially two Qur’anic verses in view. The first:
“…God abrogates (fayansakhu -root: ن س خ; one other occ. as abrogating in 2:106) the interjections of Satan and confirms his own revelations” (Q 22:52)
This seems to imply that Satan is able to trick Muhammed into accepting some of his own sayings as divine, and at some later point these interjection which are accepted as “Qur’an” and then “abrogated” by Allah. The reason we would read the verse in this manner is that “abrogation” is classically used in the Qur’an to denote actual scripture that has been changed.
The second verse is thought to be a remnant of the actual verse that was originally a Satanic interjection, later edited or redacted:
“Have ye thought upon Al-Lat and Al-‘Uzza And another, the third (Yusuf Ali adds “(goddess)”), Manat (Muhammad Sarwar adds “(whom you considered as God’s daughters)”, Mohsin Khan adds “(another idol of the pagan Arabs)”)?” (Q 53:19,20 AH writes “the names of Arabian goddeses)
In it’s current form, the Qur’an seemingly criticizes the pagans for assigning daughters to Allah instead of sons, and asserts that they are made-up false beliefs, in line with Islamic thought:
“What, have you males, and He females? That were indeed an unjust division. They are naught but names yourselves have named, and your fathers; God has sent down no authority touching them. They follow only surmise, and what the souls desire; and yet guidance has come to them from their Lord.” (Q 19:21-23)
However as we shall see the traditions hold that the original text did not read in this manner, rather it read:
“and he (the Prophet) said [ fa-qāla]: “Indeed, they are from among the high gharānīq! And, indeed, their intercession is to be hoped for! [inna-hunna la-min al-gharānīq al-‘ulā wa-inna shafā‘atahum (sic) la-turtajā]””
This has therefore come to be called the “Gharaniq” verse, now absent from the Qur’an and present only in these writings. Indeed this sequence is unique in being the only passage in any religious tradition to have been accepted by it, for a time, to have been ascribed to an authentic verbatim Satanic corruption. There is nothing like it in the whole world, this combination of surah 53;19,20 and the alleged second half of the quote, now allegedly separated from the original.
How Strong is the Evidence for it?
We begin by looking at the evidence for the incident in question. In short, there are no less than 50 “traditions” that relate the inident, and they are all from early Islamic sources, as we read in the section by Shahab Ahmad, who presents his analysis of the fifty riwayahs of this incident, which is parallel records by different narrators of it. In his detailed and scholarly analysis, Dr. Ahmad could not emphasize more strongly just how widespread the acceptance of the verity of this incident was among the early Muslim community, All the early biographies and commentaries form the first two Islamic centuries included it:
“The foregoing analysis of the fifty riwāyahs that narrate the Satanic verses incident was carried out (…) It has emerged in the most emphatic terms that the Satanic verses incident constituted an absolutely standard element in the memory of the early Muslim community on the life of its founder.
We have repeatedly dated reports of the Satanic verses incident as being in circulation among individuals involved in the historical memory projects of sīrah-maghāzī (early biographical accounts of Mohammed) and tafsīr (commentaries) in the late first and early second centuries of Islam. Simply, the Satanic verses incident was ubiquitous in the earliest period of systematic collection and organization of historical memory materials on the life of Muḥammad in the genres of sīrah-maghāzī and tafsīr, where it was transmitted, like all other narratives, bi-al-ma‘nā and by incomplete isnāds.
Reports of the Satanic verses incident were recorded by virtually every compiler of a major biography of Muḥammad in the first two centuries of Islam: ‘Urwah b. al-Zubayr (23–94), Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī (51–124), Mūsā b. ‘Uqbah (85–141), Ibn Isḥāq (85–151), Abū Ma‘shar (d. 170), Yūnus b. Bukayr (d. 199), and al-Wāqidī (130–207)…”
Dr. Ahmad then goes on to detail the names of the books of those biographers in which the incident is found:
“Each of the foregoing scholars incorporated the incident into the framework of a larger narrative of the life of the Prophet—that is, into a Kitāb al-maghāzī or a Kitāb al-sīrah. Riwāyah 1 was recorded in Salamah b. al-Faḍl’s Rayy recension of the Sīrah of Ibn Isḥāq; Riwāyah 2 in the Kitāb al-maghāzī of Abū Ma‘shar; Riwāyah 3 in the Kitāb al-mubtada’ of al-Wāqidī (from whom it was taken by Muḥammad Ibn Sa‘d, 168–230, into his biography of the Prophet); Riwāyah 7 in the Kitāb al-maghāzī of Yūnus b. Bukayr; Riwāyah 8 in Abū al-Aswad’s Egyptian recension of the Kitāb al-maghāzī of ‘Urwah; Riwāyah 9 in the Kitāb al-maghāzī of Mūsā b. ‘Uqbah; and Riwāyah 15, most probably, in the Kitāb al-maghāzī of al-Zuhrī, from whom it was cited by al-Wāqidī in his Kitāb al-mubtada’. Within this narrative, the incident is consistently related to the return of some of the refugees of Abyssinia.”
He then lists the commentators as well:
“Similarly, the first- and second-century authors of tafsīr works whom we know to have recorded the incident include almost every prominent early mufassir: Abū al-‘Āliyah (d. 93), Sa‘īd b. Jubayr (23–95), Mujāhid b. Jabr (d. 102), al-Ḍaḥḥāk (d. 105), ‘Ikrimah (d. 107), Muḥammad b. Ka‘b al-Quraẓī (40–108), al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (21–110), Qatādah (60–117), Abū Ṣāliḥ (d. 110/120), ‘Aṭiyyah al-‘Awfī (d. 111/127), al-Suddī (d. 128), al-Kalbī (d. 146), Muqātil b. Sulaymān (80–150), Ibn Jurayj (d. 150), Ma‘mar b. Rāshid (d. 154), and Yaḥyā b. Sallām al-Baṣrī (124–200). Six of these—‘Ikrimah, Sa‘īd b. Jubayr, Abū Ṣālih, ‘Aṭiyyah al-‘Awfī, al-Kalbī, and Ibn Jurayj—transmitted the incident on the authority of ‘Abd Allāh Ibn ‘Abbās (d. 68), with remarkably consistent hermeneutical content.”
He lists the verses from the Qur’an that this incident is linked to and then goes on to also point out that every major Islamic intellectual centre by the second Islamic century, and lists them too:
“In other words, the Satanic verses incident constituted a standard element in first- and second-century Qur’ānic exegesis, in which discourse it was invariably associated with the Revelation of Qur’ān 53:19 al-Najm and 22:52 al-Ḥajj and, sometimes, with the exegesis of Qur’ān 17:73 al-Isrā’, Qur’ān 39:45 al-Zumar, and Qur’ān 109 al-Kāfirūn. Not only did the incident form a standard element in the discourses of late first- / early second-century sīrah-maghāzī and tafsīr, but also the isnāds show that, by the end of the second century, accounts of the Satanic verses were being transmitted in almost every important intellectual center in the second-century Islamic world from the Hijaz to Syria to Iraq to Transoxania to North Africa: Madīna, Mecca, Baṣrah, Kūfah, Baghdād, Miṣṣīṣah, Rayy, Balkh, amarqand, Marw, Ṣan‘ā, Fustāt, and Qayrawān.”
Finally he describes how the incident does not find it’s way into the later canonical hadith literature:
“Despite this universal transmission of the narratives of the Satanic verses incident in the genres of sīrah-maghāzī and tafsīr, it is striking that the incident did not constitute a standard element in the third major historical memory discourse on the life of Muḥammad—that of Ḥadīṭh. As we have seen, the incident is not included in any of the Ḥadīth collections that came to be invested with canonical authority. The only Ḥadīth collections in which the incident is recorded are noncanonical: the Musnad of al-Bazzār, the Mu‘jam alkabīr of al-Ṭabarānī, and the Mukhtārah of al-Ḍiyā’ al-Maqdisī…”
Content of the verses
He then specifies the exactly language of the text, which specifies in the vast majority that these Satanic verses were actually enunciated from Muhammad’s own mouth:
“All the first- and early second-century reports are agreed that the Prophet uttered the Satanic verses (even the maverick Riwāyāhs 49 and 50 from al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī agree that the Prophet uttered the gharānīq phrase). The two riwāyahs that are ambiguous as to the question are clearly later adjustments of early reports made so as to deflect what became the doctrinally problematic content of the narrative (Riwāyahs 9 and 10 in relation to Riwāyah 8, and Riwāyah 26 in relation to Riwāyah 25). The majority of reports explicitly mention that the Prophet uttered the verses. This is done either by straightforward use of the verbs takallama or qāla; or through the unambiguous phrases alqā al-shayṭān ‘alā lisāni-hi (“Satan cast upon his tongue”), alqā al-shayṭān ‘alay-hi (“Satan cast upon him”), ajrā alshayṭān ‘alā lisāni-hi (“Satan caused to run upon his tongue”), ujriya ‘alā lisāni-hi (“it was caused to run upon his tongue”), alqā al-shayṭān fī fī-hi (“Satan cast into his mouth”); or through a correction scene in which Jibrīl points out the Prophet’s error, sometimes after the Prophet recites the verses back to Jibrīl. In three reports, Riwāyahs 12, 21, and 25,617 the fact of the Prophet uttering the verses is not stated explicitly, but is clearly implied by the context. On the question of why the Prophet uttered the verses, the accounts differ.”
The Motive for the “Concession” to the Meccan Pagans
All of the reports contained in sīrah-maghāzī works, either explicitly or by contextualization (i.e., mention of the refugees in Abyssinia), present the incident as taking place in a climate of persecution by Quraysh (Riwāyahs 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15). In three of these reports—Riwāyahs 1, 2, and 3 (all from Muḥammad b. Ka‘bal-Quraẓī)—the Prophet is portrayed as desiring a reconciliation with Quraysh; and in two reports—Riwāyah 1 (from al-Quraẓī) and Riwāyah 12 (al-Suyūṭī’s citation of Mūsā b. ‘Uqbah ← al-Zuhrī)— the Prophet is presented as desiring a respite from, or an end to, the persecution. In Riwāyah 1, the Prophet desires that Divine Revelation be the instrument by which this be effected. In Riwāyahs 2 and 3, the Prophet desires that God not send down a Revelation that will further estrange Quraysh.
In these riwāyahs, the fact of the Prophet’s taking words suggested to him by Satan as being Divine Revelation is presented as arising directly from the Prophet’s misplaced desire, which, in turn, is clearly influenced by the harsh circumstances. In this interpretation, the verb tamannā in Qur’ān 22:52 is glossed by the narrative as “desire,” and the verse reads: “We have not sent, before you, a Messenger or a Prophet but that when he desired, Satan cast something into his desire.” Another background motif to the incident is the one given in Riwāyahs 8 (from ‘Urwah . al-Zubayr); 12 and 13 (from Mūsā b. ‘Uqbah);618 16, 17, 18, and 19 (Abū al-‘Āliyah); and 21 (al-Suddī)—namely, Quraysh’s offer of a rec-onciliation with, or even active support for, the Prophet on the condition that he speak well of their gods. In all of these reports except Riwāyah 21, this offer takes place in a stated context of persecution; in other words, if the Prophet agrees to praise the deities of Quraysh, the persecution will stop. In all these riwāyahs, the Prophet’s uttering the verses is presented as a response to the offer from Quraysh. Whereas Riwāyahs 12 and 13 gloss tamannā as “desire,” Riwāyahs 16 to 19 and 21 do not provide any gloss for the verb.
Muhammad Caught Unawares
In none of the above reports is Muḥammad presented as deliberately doing something that he knows to be against the terms of his Prophetic mission; rather, Muḥammad is portrayed as being under pressure, confused, and unaware of the import of his act. This point is driven home by the correction process. In those reports where Jibrīl corrects the Prophet (Riwāyahs 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 22, 23, 35, 36, 38, 40, 42, and 47), it is evident that the Prophet is not aware of having done anything wrong until he is corrected. In Riwāyahs 7 and 8, however, the Prophet is presented as already being distressed before the correction takes place. This motif conveys the idea that the Prophet has sensed that something has gone wrong, although he is still not sure what exactly it is. When he is corrected, he acknowledges his error and laments it in touchingly self-critical terms, most strikingly in Riwāyah 8: “I have obeyed Satan, and spoken his words, and he has become a partner in God’s matter with me [wa-sharika-nīfī amr Allāh].” In the shorter Riwāyahs 16 to 20 from Abū al-‘Āliyah there is no correction scene, and the impression is that the Prophet realizes on his own that he has erred. This suggests a lesser degree of confusion on the part of the Prophet about the nature of his Prophetic mission than is indicated in those reports where the Prophet is corrected by Jibrīl. (…)
These riwāyahs, and the fact that the incident itself did not find its way into the canonical Ḥadīth collections, provide a telling illustration of the discomfort of Ḥadīth scholars in the period circa 150 onwards with the memory of the Satanic verses incident as contained in the sīrah-maghāzī and tafsīr discourses of the late first and early second centuries.
(entire foregoing passage is a direct excerpt from Al Shabab Shahab Ahmed (2018), Before Orthodoxy: The Satanic Verses in early Islam, Harvard University Press, 158-165)
Al- Shabab goes on to relate how in a more advanced Islamic society form the third Islamic century onward when the Hadith did begin to be compiled, the priority shifted to portraying the prophet in a light that would be amenable as a basis for Islamic law modelled upon him:
“The Ḥadīth scholars were concerned with prescribing the specific content of Islam and, as such, the project of Ḥadīth fused with the authoritative and prescriptive project of the elaboration of Islamic law. To both these ultimately integrated fields, Ḥadīth and law, the memory of the life and personality of the Prophet existed primarily to provide Prophetic statements and acts on the basis of which to lay down in detail the specific legal, praxial, and creedal rules by which the members of the community should live. These normative Prophetic statements and acts covered almost every sector of quotidian life, from prayer ritual to personal sanitation, to social comportment, to dietary law, to commercial practices. However—and this is the crucial point—this project did not merely require a particular method suited to its authoritative-prescriptive purpose; it also required a particular type of Prophet suited to its authoritative and prescriptive purpose. Given the centrality of the authoritative persona of the Prophet to the logic of the Ḥadīth movement, it is obvious that the idea of an infallible or impeccable Prophet whose words and deeds might reliably be taken to establish a model for detailed pious mimesis must have possessed a particular appeal for the ahl al-ḥadīth. As Annemarie Schimmel has noted, “The absolute obedience owed to the Prophet is meaningful only if Muhammad was free from any faults and could thus constitute an immaculate model even for the most insignificant details of life.”5 Consequently, the image of Muḥammad contained in the Satanic verses incident, that of a Prophet who fell victim to Satan and erred in the transmission of Divine Revelation, was entirely dissonant with and, indeed, constituted a normative challenge to the Ḥadīth movement.” (267-268)
The pagans are not happy with a certain surah that mocks them
Then those who had gone (to Abyssinia) the first time returned before (the departure of) Ja‘far b. Abī Ṭālib and his companions. This was when God sent down the sūrah in which He states, “By the star when it sets.” The Mushrikūn had said: “If only this man would speak favourably of our gods [yadhkuru ālihata-nā bi-khayr], we would secure him [aqrarnā-hu] and his companions. He does not speak of any of the Jews and Christians who oppose his religion with the abuse and invective [al-shatm wa-al-sharr] with which he speaks of our gods.”
Satan makes changes– The Satanic Verses
When God sent down the sūrah in which He mentions, “By the star,”he (the Prophet) recited [qara’a], “Have you seen al-Lāt, al-‘Uzzā and Manāt, the third, the other?” At this point, Satan cast into it (Sūrat al- Najm) [alqā al-shayṭānu fī-hā ‘inda dhālika] a mention of the evil ones [dhikr al-ṭawāghīt], and he (the Prophet) said [ fa-qāla]: “Indeed, they are from among the high gharānīq! And, indeed, their intercession is to be hoped for! [inna-hunna la-min al-gharānīq al-‘ulā wa-inna shafā‘atahum (sic) la-turtajā]”; that was the rhyming phrases [saj‘] of Satan and was an instance of his sedition [min fitnati-hi].
The Meccan pagans Rejoice and Join Muslims in Prostration
Those two phrases [hātāni al-kalimatāni] became lodged in the heart of every Mushrik; their tongues were debased by them, they rejoiced at them [dhallat bi-hā alsinatu-hum wa-istabsharū bi-hā] and said:“Muḥammad has returned to his original religion and the religion of his tribe [qad raja‘a Muḥammad ilā dīni-hi al-awwal wa-dīn qawmi-hi].” And when the Messenger of God reached the end of the sūrah in which there is mention of “the Star” he made the sajdah and all the Muslims and Mushrikūn present made the sajdah along with him, except for al-Walīd b. al-Mughīrah who was an old man and who raised some dirt on his palm and made the sajdah on it. Both the parties were astonished at their joint sajdah [ fa-‘aja ba alfarīqān kilā-humā min jamā‘ati-him fī al-sujūd] following the sajdah of the Messenger of God.
The Muslims were astonished at the Mushrikūn having made the sajdah when they were in a state of Unbelief [‘alā ghayr īmān wa-lā yaqīn], the Muslims not having heard that which Satan cast onto the tongues (or into the ears ‘alā ādhān ) of the Mushrikūn [lam yakun al-muslimūn sami‘ū alladhī alqā al-shayṭān ‘alā alsinat al-mushrikīn]. As for the Mushrikūn, their minds were set at ease in regard to the Prophet and his Companions when they heard what Satan cast into the umniyyah of the Prophet [lammā sami‘ū alladhī alqā al-shayṭān fī umniyyat al-nabī]. Satan told them that the Messenger of God had recited them (the Satanic verses) when in sajdah, so they made the sajdah in veneration of their gods. That phrase circulated among the people, and Satan spread it until it reached Abyssinia.
Muhammad and Jibril finally realize there’s a problem
When ‘Uthmān b. Maẓ‘ūn and ‘Abd Allāh b. Mas‘ūd and those Meccans who were with them heard that the people had accepted Islam and prayed alongside the Messenger of God, and when news reached them of the sajdah of al-Walīd b. al-Mughīrah on the dirt on his palm, they came quickly. The Messenger of God was greatly distressed by this [wa-kabura dhālika ‘alā rasūl Allāh]. In the evening, Jibrīl came to him. He (the Prophet) complained to him [ fa-shakā ilay-hi], so he (Jibrīl) ordered him (to recite the sūrah) and he (the Prophet) recited to him [ fa-qara’a ‘alay-hi]. When he (the Prophet) reached them (the Satanic verses) [ falammā balagha-hā], OR: when he (Jibrīl) heard [sami‘a] (the Satanic verses), Jibrī l absolved himself of responsibility for them [tabarra’a min-hā] and said: “God protect me from these! My Lord did not send them down, nor your Lord command me with them! [ma‘ādh Allāh min hātayni mā anzala-humā rabb-ī wa-lā amara-nī bi-himā rabbu-ka].” When the Messenger of God saw this, he was greatly disturbed [shaqqa ‘alay-hi] and said: “I have obeyed Satan, and spoken his words, and he has become a partner in God’s matter with me [aṭa‘tu al-shayṭāna wa-takallamtu bi-kalāmi-hi wa-sharika-nī fī amr Allāh].”
Allah resolves the error by “sending down” Q 22:52
So God removed that which Satan cast [ fa-nasakha Allāhu ‘azza wajalla ā alqā al-shayṭān] and sent down upon him: “We have not sent before you a Messenger or a Prophet but that when he tamannā, Satan cast something into his umniyyah; then God removes that which Satan casts and establishes His Signs clearly—and God is All-Knowing, All- Wise—to make that which Satan cast a trial for those in whose hearts is sickness, and for those whose hearts are hardened. Indeed, the Wrongdoers are in far dissension.” And when God absolved him [barra’a-hu Allāh] of Satan’s rhyming phrases and of his sedition, the Mushrikūn reverted to their errant state and their hostility. The news reached those Muslims who had been in Abyssinia and who were now approaching Mecca. They were now unable to return because of the severity of the suffering they would encounter, and were hungry and afraid. They were afraid that if they entered Mecca they would be attacked. So no man entered Mecca unless he had protection.”
(Al- Shabab 108-111)
The other scholarly work on the topic is an article by John Burton (1970), “Those Are the High-Flying Cranes”, Journal of Semitic Studies, 15 (2): 246–264
The Commentators: At- Tabari
When the Messenger of God saw how his tribe turned their backs on him and was grieved to see them shunning the message he had brought to them from God, he longed in his soul that something would come to him from God which would reconcile him with his tribe. With his love for his tribe and his eagerness for their welfare it would have delighted him if some of the difficulties which they made for him could have been smoothed out, and he debated within himself and fervently desired such an outcome. Then God revealed:
By the Star when it sets, your comrade does not err, nor is he deceived; nor does he speak out of (his own) desire . . .
and when he came to the words:
Have you thought upon al-Lat and al-‘Uzza and Manat, the third, the other?
Satan cast on his tongue, because of his inner debates and what he desired to bring to his people, the words:
These are the high-flying cranes; verily their intercession is accepted with approval. (Al-Tabari, p. 108)
The polytheists were delighted that Muhammad had at last approved of their gods. To return the kindness, they “prostrated themselves because of the reference to their gods which they had heard, so that there was no one in the mosque, believer or unbeliever, who did not prostrate himself” (p. 109).
Muhammad’s friendly relations with the polytheists were short-lived, however, for he soon learned that his verses praising pagan idols came not from God, but from Satan. Saddened to recognize his treachery against Allah, Muhammad lamented: “I have fabricated things against God and have imputed to Him words which He has not spoken” (p. 111). Yet “Gabriel” comforted Muhammad, informing him that all prophets fall for Satan’s tricks from time to time. This staggering and unbelievable claim even found its way into the Qur’an:
“And We did not send before you any apostle or prophet, but when he desired, the Shaitan made a suggestion respecting his desire; but Allah annuls that which the Shaitan casts, then does Allah establish His communications, and Allah is Knowing, Wise.” (Surah 22:52)
The History of al-Tabari, Volume VI: Muhammad at Mecca, W. Montgomery Watt and M. V. McDonald, trs. (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1988).
Other instances where Muhammed Succumbs to Demonic Influence
Muhammad is deluded by witchcraft into thinking that he did things that he did not, like sex:
“Narrated `Aisha: that Allah’s Messenger was affected by magic, so much that he used to think that he had done something which in fact, he did not do, and he invoked his Lord (for a remedy). Then (one day) he said, “O `Aisha!) Do you know that Allah has advised me as to the problem I consulted Him about?” `Aisha said, “O Allah’s Messenger ! What’s that?” He said, “Two men came to me and one of them sat at my head and the other at my feet, and one of them asked his companion, ‘What is wrong with this man?’ The latter replied, ‘He is under the effect of magic.’ The former asked, ‘Who has worked magic on him?’ The latter replied, ‘Labid bin Al-A’sam.’ The former asked, ‘With what did he work the magic?’ The latter replied, ‘With a comb and the hair, which are stuck to the comb, and the skin of pollen of a date-palm tree.’ The former asked, ‘Where is that?’ The latter replied, ‘It is in Dharwan.’ Dharwan was a well in the dwelling place of the (tribe of) Bani Zuraiq. Allah’s Messenger went to that well and returned to `Aisha, saying, ‘By Allah, the water (of the well) was as red as the infusion of Hinna, (1) and the date-palm trees look like the heads of devils.’ `Aisha added, Allah’s Messenger came to me and informed me about the well. I asked the Prophet, ‘O Allah’s Messenger, why didn’t you take out the skin of pollen?’ He said, ‘As for me, Allah has cured me and I hated to draw the attention of the people to such evil (which they might learn and harm others with).’ ” Narrated Hisham’s father: `Aisha said, “Allah’s Messenger was bewitched, so he invoked Allah repeatedly requesting Him to cure him from that magic).” Hisham then narrated the above narration. (See Hadith No. 658, vol 7)” (Sahih Bukhari 6391)
This is a similar hadith which adds the details that the delusion is of a sexual nature:
“Magic was worked on Allah’s Messenger so that he used to think that he had sexual relations with his wives while he actually had not (Sufyan said: That is the hardest kind of magic as it has such an effect). Then one day he said, “O `Aisha do you know that Allah has instructed me concerning the matter I asked Him about? Two men came to me and one of them sat near my head and the other sat near my feet. The one near my head asked the other. What is wrong with this man?’ The latter replied the is under the effect of magic The first one asked, Who has worked magic on him?’ The other replied Labid bin Al-A’sam, a man from Bani Zuraiq who was an ally of the Jews and was a hypocrite.’ The first one asked, What material did he use)?’ The other replied, ‘A comb and the hair stuck to it.’ The first one asked, ‘Where (is that)?’ The other replied. ‘In a skin of pollen of a male date palm tree kept under a stone in the well of Dharwan’ ” So the Prophet went to that well and took out those things and said “That was the well which was shown to me (in a dream) Its water looked like the infusion of Henna leaves and its date-palm trees looked like the heads of devils.” The Prophet added, “Then that thing was taken out’ I said (to the Prophet “Why do you not treat yourself with Nashra?” He said, “Allah has cured me; I dislike to let evil spread among my people.” (Bukhari 5765 Book 76, Hadith 79 Vol. 7, Book 71, Hadith 660)
“A Jewish man cast a spell on the Prophet , and he fell ill as a result of it, for several days. Then Jibra’il, peace be upon him, came to him and said: ‘A Jewish man has put a spell on you. In such and such a well there is a knot that he tied for you.’ The Messenger of Allah sent them to take it out and bring it to him. Then the Messenger of Allah got up as if he had been released from some bonds. No mention of that was made to that Jew, and he did not see that in his face at all.” (Sunan An-Nasa’i 4080)
Comparing Biblical Angelic Greetings with Muhammad’s
It is useful to make a short study of Biblical angelic encounters in order to appreciate what Jews and Christians would immediately recognize from their perspective as aberrations in the Muhammad’s own claimed encounter.
The Elegance of Biblical Angelic Greetings
Angels are respectful in the Bible, it is made clear who they are, usually (probably in all cases) they introduce themselves. Making an introduction is a basic and universal sign of acting in good faith, no matter which planet you come from, as we can see in even in a secular production like Star Wars, for example. If the person is afraid, they put them at ease, they always leave a good impression upon the person, and have the effect of strengthening that person emotionally and spiritually. By definition they are emissaries of the Most High God, so they do a proper and responsible job of representing Him. They are the best ambassadors in the Universe, let us say. The second issue here is the manner in which God deals with his chosen prophets. God primarily speaks with his “navi” directly, not through an angel. The anonymous cave angel model is completely alien to the Biblical notions of revelation.
Are there any outliers to this biblical model? When an angel comes in isolation, as to Mary and Zechariah, they are very clear who they are, and also this is in the inter-Testamental period, when prophecy has ceased for many centuries. Mary, Joseph, Zechariah are at this point being given private revelation and guidance, not something that they are told to go out and proclaim, nor even write down as the prophets of old were. In the case of the major prophets and patriarchs, they have all seen or heard from God directly at some stage, so when the angel is sent, it is as a continuing revelation, based upon the surety of that initial interaction. Muslims sometimes ask about other angelic encounters in the Bible like those to Lot, Hagar, Balaam. Lot is not regarded as a prophet at all in the Biblical sense, nor Hagar. Balaam is a non-Israelite, he is not counted among the prophets of Israel, he is opposed by God through an intentionally negative encounter with the angel and he dies a sinner, he does not have an exalted death. Apart from the well- known divine encounters and visions given to the other prophets which I will not recount here for brevity, we can also see the Lord speak directly to David in 1 Sam 23:2, 1 Sam 30:8, 2 Sam 5:19.
DANIEL
“He said to me, “Daniel, you are a man who is highly precious. Consider carefully the words that I am about to say to you. Stand up, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he had said this to me, I stood up trembling. “Do not be afraid, Daniel,” he said, “for from the first day that you purposed to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them” (Daniel 10:11,12)
ZECHARIAH
“When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified; and fear overwhelmed him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard…” (Luke1:12,13)
THE SPEPHERDS
“ In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people” (Lk. 2:8-10)
MARY
“The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God…” (Luke 1:28,29)
CORNELIUS, ROMAN CENTURION
“he had a vision in which he clearly saw an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius.” He stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” He answered, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God” (Acts10:3)
GOD SPEAKING TO DIRECTLY EVEN IN THE QURAN
Allah of the Qur’an speaks DIRECTLY to Adam (2:33), to Musa (7:143), to Isa (5:116) in passages that seemingly give a nod to the Biblical accounts.
Features of Muhammed’s Claimed Angelic Encounter
No Witnesses
No one saw the angel in the cave (at the initial encounter, nor at subsequent encounters which where supposedly at least annual at Ramadan); No one saw an angel the time Muhammed revealed verses “impromptu”; Lastly, never does Muhammed state “I heard the voice of Allah revealing such-and-such verse”. Given that this is the primary source for all of Islam, I would flag this up as a significant concern.
No Introduction from the Angel
The angel does not introduce himself to Mohammed in the Quran at all! He merely says one word “Recite! (meaning “Qur’an!”). This is the back-narrative of that first encounter in the Cave of Hira where it all allegedly began, and how the angel came to be associated with the angel Gabriel of the Bible, when Mohammed’s uncle Waraq bin Nawfal suggests it to him. It is a singularly terrifying encounter, which leaves Mohammed despondent, with both physical and emotional impaction.
Was Muhammed Tortured?- Left Terrified and Intractably Suicidal
When Muhammad first sees the creature in the cave (or claims to), the negativity does not just stop with the encounter, it just continues to have negative effects upon him of the worst kind. After being squeezed and really roughed up and shouted at, he runs in terror and of all things asks his wife to protect him. Then he becomes suicidal and three times attempts to throw himself off a cliff. Now without presuming the impossibility of angels producing such an effect upon those that God favours, a Jew or Christian would immediately see this as an aberration from the Biblical tradition. The forces of light do not cause spiritual disturbance, and we have already given examples of the Biblical encounters.
Muhammed asking his wife to cover him is is seen in multiple sound narrations. Covering oneself under a blanket which Muhammad employs is thought to be a pagan method of divination at the time, as well as a means of protection, which of course is absurd, there is no reason a spirit being is stopped by a piece of cloth.
“Narrated ‘Aisha: The commencement of the Divine Inspiration to Allah’s Apostle was in the form of good righteous (true) dreams in his sleep. He never had a dream but that it came true like bright day light. He used to go in seclusion (the cave of) Hira where he used to worship (Allah Alone) continuously for many (days) nights. He used to take with him the journey food for that (stay) and then come back to (his wife) Khadija to take his food like-wise again for another period to stay, till suddenly the Truth descended upon him while he was in the cave of Hira.
The angel came to him in it and asked him to read. The Prophet replied, “I do not know how to read.” (The Prophet added), “The angel caught me (forcefully) and pressed me so hard that I could not bear it anymore. He then released me and again asked me to read, and I replied, “I do not know how to read,” whereupon he caught me again and pressed me a second time till I could not bear it anymore. He then released me and asked me again to read, but again I replied, “I do not know how to read (or, what shall I read?).” Thereupon he caught me for the third time and pressed me and then released me and said, “Read: In the Name of your Lord, Who has created (all that exists). Has created man from a clot. Read and Your Lord is Most Generous…up to….. ..that which he knew not.” (96.15)
Then Allah’s Apostle returned with the Inspiration, his neck muscles twitching with terror till he entered upon Khadija and said, “Cover me! Cover me!” They covered him till his fear was over and then he said, “O Khadija, what is wrong with me?” Then he told her everything that had happened and said, ‘I fear that something may happen to me.” Khadija said, ‘Never! But have the glad tidings, for by Allah, Allah will never disgrace you as you keep good relations with your Kith and kin, speak the truth, help the poor and the destitute, serve your guest generously and assist the deserving, calamity-afflicted ones.”
Khadija then accompanied him to (her cousin) Waraqa bin Naufal bin Asad bin ‘Abdul ‘Uzza bin Qusai. Waraqa was the son of her paternal uncle, i.e., her father’s brother, who during the Pre-Islamic Period became a Christian and used to write the Arabic writing and used to write of the Gospels in Arabic as much as Allah wished him to write. He was an old man and had lost his eyesight. Khadija said to him, “O my cousin! Listen to the story of your nephew.” Waraqa asked, “O my nephew! What have you seen?” The Prophet described whatever he had seen. Waraqa said, “This is the same Namus (i.e., Gabriel, the Angel who keeps the secrets) whom Allah had sent to Moses. I wish I were young and could live up to the time when your people would turn you out.” Allah’s Apostle asked, “Will they turn me out?” Waraqa replied in the affirmative and said: “Never did a man come with something similar to what you have brought but was treated with hostility. If I should remain alive till the day when you will be turned out then I would support you strongly.”
But after a few days Waraqa died and the Divine Inspiration was also paused for a while and the Prophet became so sad as we have heard that he intended several times to throw himself from the tops of high mountains and every time he went up the top of a mountain in order to throw himself down, Gabriel would appear before him and say, “O Muhammad! You are indeed Allah’s Messenger in truth” whereupon his heart would become quiet and he would calm down and would return home. And whenever the period of the coming of the inspiration used to become long, he would do as before, but when he used to reach the top of a mountain, Gabriel would appear before him and say to him what he had said before. (Ibn `Abbas said regarding the meaning of: ‘He it is that Cleaves the daybreak (from the darkness)’ (6.96) that Al-Asbah. means the light of the sun during the day and the light of the moon at night). Sahih al-Bukhari 6982
This is also narrated as “wrap me/ in garments” (Bukhari 4, 3238, 4957, 4954, 4922, 4925, 4926, Muslim 161a, 161d, Tirmidhi 3325)
What’s more in many of these, Muhammed claims to have seen Gabriel sitting on a chair/Throne (kursi), the same word usd for Allah’s seating (Bukhari 4, 4925, 4926, 3238, 4954 and Tirmidhi 3325, and Muslim 161a,d)
…This terrifying encounter is also documented in the earliest biographical record of Muhammad. Ibn Ishaq, Sirat Rasul Allah, p. 106:
“…So I read it, and he (Gabriel) departed from me. And I awoke from my sleep, and it was as though these words were written on my heart. Now none of God’s creatures was more horrible to me than a poet or a man possessed: I could not even look at them. I thought, “Woe is me poet or possessed – Never shall Quraysh say this of me! I will go to the top of the mountain and throw myself down that I may kill myself and gain rest.”
Az-Zuhri (died 124 AH/741-2 CE), also referred to as Ibn Shihab credited with pioneering the development of sīra maghazi and hadith literature relates:
“There was a gap for a time in the revelation to the Messenger of God and he was very sorrowful. He started going early to the tops of the mountains to throw himself down from them. But whenever he reached the summit of a mountain, Gabriel would appear to him and say, “Thou are the Prophet of God.”
According to these narratives, following the terrifying and violent encounter with the spirit-being, Muhammad became suicidal. He believed he was possessed by a demon. When Jesus drove out the demons out of a man, they entered into swine and the swine jumped off a cliff (Matthew 8:32).
Muhammad’s Condition looked disturbing
There are only a few reports of anyone witnessing Muhammed in the process of receiving “revelations”. They sound like epileptic fits:
Snorting like a camel, Cold sweat
Would that I see revelation coming to the Messenger of Allah. He (Hadrat ‘Umar) said: Would it please you to see the Messenger of Allah receiving the revelations ‘Umar lifted a corner of the cloth and I looked at him and he was emitting a sound of snorting. He (the narrator) said: I thought it was the sound of a camel.” (Sahih Muslim 1180a)
Narrated Aisha: Verily I saw the Prophet being inspired divinely on a very cold day and noticed the sweat dropping from his forehead (as the Inspiration was over)”. (Sahih al-Bukhari 2)
This is just Muhammed describing what it’s like to his wife Aisha:
It was narrated that Aishah said: “Al-Harith bin Hisham asked the Messenger of Allah: ‘How does the Revelation come to you?‘ He said: ‘Like the ringing of a bell, and when it departs I remember what he (the Angel) said, and this is the hardest on me. And sometimes he (the Angel) comes to me in the form of a man and gives it to me.'” (Sunan an-Nasa’i 933)
All this for “Revelations” of stories that already common knowledge!
“Jibril” in the Quran- is it even an Angel?
The Quran does not even state that Jibreel (Gabriel) was an angel. Jibreel is mentioned only three times by name. That Jibril is the “ruh qudsi (holy spirit)” is inferred from the fact that the both him and the latter are said to have brought down revelations. Surah al-Baqara 2:97 “Say: Whoever is the enemy of Jibreel– for surely he revealed it to your heart by Allah’s command, verifying that which is before it and guidance and good news for the believers.”; 16:102 says that it is the “holy spirit” (ruh qudsi) which brought down the Qur’an.
Here we see that Jibril is mentioned apart from the other angels: ‘Whoever is an enemy of Allah, His angels and His messengers, and Gabriel and Michael; Allah is indeed the enemy to the disbelievers.’ (al-Baqara 2:98) And If you both turn to Allah, then indeed your hearts are already inclined; and if you back up each other against him, then surely Allah it is who is his Guardian, and Jibreel and -the believers that do good, and the angels after that are the aiders.”(Q 66:4)
However the actual encounter of the alleged angel with Mohammed is not documented in the Qur’an, but it is only found in the Hadith. And in those hadith, the being does not give a name. There are various other Hadith like the one where Jibril is trying to kill Pharoah under the sea before Allah’s mercy can reach him and another where Muhammed claims that a stranger he meets is him.
Muhammad thought Demons can give good advice
“Abdullah b. Mas’ud reported that Allah’s Messenger said: There is none amongst you with whom is not an attache from amongst the jinn (devil). They (the Companions) said: Allah’s Messenger, with you too? Thereupon he said: Yes, but Allah helps me against him and so I am safe from his hand and he does not command me but for good.” (Muslim 2814a, also Miskat al-Masabih 67 graded sahih by Zubair al- Aliza’i)
Conclusion
The conclusions are pretty much enumerated in the introduction, I might repeat the points here, because they are extremely important to understand, once I have completed editing: