In The Name of God, Most Merciful, Most Beneficent
When discussing the satanic verses, in the context of Islamic history, one is not referring to the controversial novel of Salman Rushdie[1], but rather to the narrated incident in which the Prophet Muhammad (saw) supposedly let slip into his recitation of the Sūrat An-Najm, two āya that were whispered to him by Satan; thus the term satanic verses. This story is much retold by orientalist historians, and some staggering claims have been made as to the legitimacy of it.
The main references used are two early Islamic sources: the Tarīkh[2] of Tabari, and al-Tabāqāt al-Kubrā[3]. The main reason as to why it has been discussed at all by Muslim scholars is because of its appearance in Tabari’s work, which is one of the two most comprehensive early biographical collections of the Prophet’s life. However, because of its obvious conflict with the Qur’ān it has been refuted by many Islamic scholars[4] throughout the ages, and the only reason why it has remained a topic of discussion is because of its constant inclusion in history books by orientalists.
For instance, when Watt discusses the issue in his Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman (1974) he claims the following:
“This is a strange and surprising story. The prophet of the most uncompromising monotheistic religion seems to be authorizing polytheism. Indeed the story is so strange that it must be true in its essentials. It is unthinkable that anyone should have invented such a story and persuaded the vast body of Muslims to accept it. Moreover there is a passage in the Qur’ān which describes something of this kind.”[5]
Watt’s unfounded claim that “the vast body of Muslims […] accept it” is misplaced. It is unthinkable that Muslims could accept a story that so clearly contradicts the Qur’ān and there are numerous passages in the Qur’ān that directly oppose it: “This is a Mighty Scripture. Falsehood cannot reach it from before or behind.” (Qur’ān 41:42) and “Surely We have revealed the Qur’ān and We will most surely be its Guardian.” (Qur’ān 15:9). Considering these, it is not surprising that only a very small minority of scholars has even taken up the issue in debate; moreover accept it as being true. The main reason why it is discussed in Islamic circles is because of the orientalists’ keenness to report it as being factual. Still, aside from Qur’ānic objections there are many other inconsistencies, which shall be discussed after a short summary of the story itself.
The events as related from Tabari are translated by Hawting as follows:
When the prophet saw his people turning away from him, and was tormented by their distancing themselves from what he had brought to them from God, he longed in himself for something to come to him from God which would draw him close to them. […]He pondered this in himself, longed for it, and desired it. Then God sent down the revelation. 'By the star when it sets! Your companion has not erred or gone astray, and does not speak from mere fancy...' [Q.53:1] When he reached God's words, 'Have you seen Allāt and al-'Uzzā and Manāt, the third, the other?' [Q.53:19-20] Satan cast upon his tongue, because of what he had pondered in himself and longed to bring to his people, 'These are the high-flying cranes [Gharāniq] and their intercession is to be hoped for.' When Quraysh heard that, they rejoiced […]When he came to the prostration [sujūd] and finished the chapter, he prostrated and the Muslims followed their prophet in it, having faith in what he brought them and obeying his command. Quraysh went out and were delighted by what they had heard of the way in which he spoke of their gods. They were saying, ‘Muhammad has referred to our gods most favourably. In what he has recited he said that they are “high-flying cranes who intercession is to be hoped for”.’ […] Gabriel came to the Prophet and said, ‘O Muhammad, what have you done! You have recited to the people something which I have not brought you from God, and you have spoken what He did not say to you.’ At that the Prophet was mightily saddened and greatly feared God. But God, of His mercy, sent him a revelation, comforting him and diminishing the magnitude of what had happened. God told him that there had never been a previous prophet or apostle who had longed just as Muhammad had longed, and desired just as Muhammad had desired, but that Satan had cast into his longing just as he had cast onto the tongue of Muhammad. But God abrogates what Satan has cast, and puts His verses in proper order. [22:52] That is, ‘you are just like other prophets and apostles.’ [6]
There are over 15 different accounts of the story[7] and the one in Al-Tabaqat Al-Kubra proposes that the verses of admonition that were revealed were: “And they indeed strove hard to beguile thee (Muhammad) away from that wherewith We have inspired thee, that thou shouldst invent other than it against Us; and then would they have accepted thee as a friend.” [Qur’ān 17:73]. Furthermore not all accounts agree that the verses were said by the Prophet, rather some claim that Satan came in the form of a man; and some that it was the polytheists who themselves who shouted out the verses after the Prophet (saw) mentioned their gods.[8]
The chain of narrators in the different reports that inform of this event are all flawed. For example the chain of narrators used in al-Tabaqat al-Kubra is as follows:
“Muhammad ibn `Umar narrated to us: Yunus ibn Muhammad ibn Fadala al-Zafari narrated to me: From his father who said: From Kathir ibn Zayd: From al-Muttalib ibn `Abd Allah ibn Hantab”[9]
and it is said of Muhammad ibn ‘Umar:
“Muhammad ibn `Umar al-Waqidi (d. 207), Ahmad ibn Hanbal said of him: "He is a liar." Al-Bukhari and Abu Hatim al-Razi said: "Discarded." Ibn `Adi said: "His narrations are not retained, and their bane comes from him." Ibn al-Madini said: "He forges hadiths." Al-Dhahabi said: "Consensus has settled over his debility." Mizan al-I`tidal (3:662-666 #7993).”[10]
The rest of the narrations also have very weak isnāds, most of the chains of narration only reach the tābi’uun, whilst of the ones that reach the sahābā are mursal with only one being narrated from Ibn-Abbās, who was born five years after the event.[11]
Aside from this important flaw, the very composition of
“Your companion does not err, nor does he go astray. Nor does he speak out of desire. It is naught but revelation that is revealed” (Qur’ān 53:2-4)
Not only this, but directly subsequent to the abrogated satanic verses come the following āyāt:
“These are nothing but names which ye have devised,- ye and your fathers,- for which Allah has sent down no authority (whatever). They follow nothing but conjecture and what their own souls desire!- Even though there has already come to them Guidance from their Lord!” (Qur’ān 53:23)
This āya, a clear admonishment of the idol worshippers and their practices, would have been in complete contradiction to any satanic verses that the Prophet (saw) would have recited; thus it would seem foolish that the idolaters would have rejoiced and joined in the sajda at the end of the sūra when their beliefs were criticized directly after the alleged praise, not to mention all the previous denouncements that had been made by the Prophet (saw).
Another questionable point that arises is the very word gharaniq itself. Gharāniq was never used to indicate anything divine, or when discussing the pagan gods, rather the word only occurs in this story and the closest words to it are gharnuq and gharniq, which “mean a particular aquatic bird or a fair and handsome young man, and neither of these conveys the meaning of ‘gods’.”[12] This poses a problem as to whether or not the verses really say anything praise worthy about the idols. That is why some orientalists have been liberal with its translation: Muir translates it as “females”[13], whereas Watt translates it as “swans”[14] and so forth. This too would suggest that the story of the gharāniq is a fabrication.
The story also claims that, because the Prophet (saw) desired to make peace with the pagans and reconcile with them, this desire gave the devil the chance to whisper the verses. Not only would this compromise the Prophet’s infallibility and his whole message, which is probably why the orientalists are so keen to purport it, but even from a historical perspective it is an unjustifiable assumption. The Prophet (saw) had previously turned down all offers of wealth, leadership, status, wives, etc. when the polytheists asked him to compromise his message. Such a man would not all of a sudden, with no apparent incentive, give the polytheists what they so dearly wanted. Not only that, but he would also most likely have lost the following that he had managed to build up, and many of the companions would have left him upon witnessing his recognition of pagan ways.
The order of the revelation of the verses (tartib an-nuzool) is also flawed, as the chapters al-Israa’ and al-Hajj that were allegedly revealed to console the Prophet (saw), in the various stories, were the 50th and 104th sūras to be revealed (with al-Hajj being a Madani sūra), whereas an-Najm was 23rd sūra to be revealed.[15] This would mean that if the story were true the Muslims and polytheists would have worshipped idols together for years, before Gabriel corrected them, which would be an astounding claim to make, and if true, would certainly have been recorded by more trustworthy sources.
It has been suggested by
“It is thus clear that that what the devil had cast into that revealed Book is precisely what God announces that he has removed from it and suppressed. God then endorsed His book by removing that utterance from it.”[18]
A clue to Tabari’s motives are given by noting that he doesn’t discuss the story in his exegesis of the verse 53:20, but rather in 22:52, which uses the root n.s.kh.[19]. In this way he is trying to show proof of historical occurrence of abrogation.
As shown, there are many faults and flaws in the story of the satanic verses, and scholars have rejected it on basis of isnād, Qur’ān, tartib an-nuzool, and logic. With this overwhelming amount of evidence it is hard for an objective academic to accept it as having any sort of factual basis, and therefore it must be rejected. The sole reason for its widespread appearance is because of the Western “hostility and contempt for their [the Muslims’] Prophet and their religion which is so deeply embedded in Western culture.”[20] The orientalists espouse, disseminate and validate this lie because “for centuries Muhammad has been seen as the antithesis of the religious spirit and as the enemy of decent civilization.”[21]
[1] Rushdie, The Satanic Verses, 1989, Viking Adult
[2] Tabari, 1988, The History of al-Tabari
[3] Ibn-Sa’d, 1968, al-Tabaqat al-Kubra, Dar Sadir
[4] For example Ibn Hajar in Fath al-Bari, 1959
[5] Watt, 1974, Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman, p.61
[6] Hawting, 1999, The Idea of Idolatry and the Emergence of Islam: from polemic to history
[7] http://www.islamonline.net/English/In_Depth/mohamed/1424/misconception/article04.shtml
[8]
[9] http://www.livingislam.org/n/stcr_e.html
[10] Ibid.
[11] From the tafsir of Ibn-Kathir at http://www.tafsir.com/default.asp?sid=22&tid=34398, also see article by Haddad
[12] Subhani, 1995, The Message, p.258-259
[13] Muir, 2003, Life of Mahomet, p. 87
[14] Watt, 1974, Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman, p.60
[15] Araste, 2000, Darsnameye Uloome Qur’āni, p.134 - 136
[16]
[17] Ibid. p.365
[18] Ibid. p.366: quoting from the Tafsīr of Tabari.
[19] Ibid p.350
[20] Armstrong, 2001, Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet, p. 42
[21] Ibid. p.44
References
- Al-Tabari, Muhammad ibn-Jarir, trans. W. M. Watt and M. V. McDonald, The History of al-Tabari, Volume VI: Muhammad at
· Haddad, G. F., STORY OF THE CRANES or "SATANIC VERSES" (article)
- Subhani, Jafar, The Message, 1995, Ansariyan Publications
- Watt, W. Montgomery, 1974, Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman,
· Hawting, Gerald R., 1999, The Idea of Idolatry and the Emergence of Islam: from polemic to history, Cambridge University Press
· Araste, Hussein J., 2000, Darsnameye Uloome Qur’āni, Chapkhaneye Daftar Tabliqat Islami
·
· Muir, William, 2003, Life of Mahomet, Kessinger Publishing
· Armstrong, Karen, 2001, Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet,
- Article by Hajj Gibril Haddad at: http://www.livingislam.org/n/stcr_e.html
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