Peace
Recently, I am aware of the issue with regards of the "Satanic Verses" mentioned by Salman Rushdi in which he said of the verses attributed to the sacred Quran uttered by the Prophet Muhammad p.b.u.h to get the polytheists of Mecca during that time to embrace Islam. According to Karen Armstrong's Muhmmad: A Prophet For Our Time, at first the verses mentioned whereby the intercession of the well-known idols worshipped during that time -Al-Laat, Al-'Uzza and Manaat - was accepted through the words of the Prophet and hence, pleasing the polytheists that they did not hesitate to embrace the religion.
The story was more or less described that Satan came and led the Prophet Muhammad in reciting those verses which attributed to the abovementioned idols, claiming that their intercession to God is accepted before the Prophet was rebuked by the archangel Gabriel (Jibrail) and hence, the correction of the verses which maintained the Oneness of God i.e. none has the right to be worshipped by God alone, disregarding anything which associates partners with Him.
The case narrated by Salman Rushdi, who seemed to be the original narrator, is then frequently used to disprove of Prophet Muhammad's Prophethood by many critics of Islam, mainly the non-Muslims, in a way of saying how the man Muhammad be a Prophet of God or be trusted when he is easily misguided by Satan, though Karen Armstrong provided a statement such narration is rejected by some as fabricated despite describing the incident.
However to end all doubt about the incident of the "Satanic Verses", which may be something new for Muslims who have not heard of the case, I would like to share with you an article in response of the narration;
Praise be to Allaah.
This is based on a false report. Ibn Katheer and others said:
Recently, I am aware of the issue with regards of the "Satanic Verses" mentioned by Salman Rushdi in which he said of the verses attributed to the sacred Quran uttered by the Prophet Muhammad p.b.u.h to get the polytheists of Mecca during that time to embrace Islam. According to Karen Armstrong's Muhmmad: A Prophet For Our Time, at first the verses mentioned whereby the intercession of the well-known idols worshipped during that time -Al-Laat, Al-'Uzza and Manaat - was accepted through the words of the Prophet and hence, pleasing the polytheists that they did not hesitate to embrace the religion.
The story was more or less described that Satan came and led the Prophet Muhammad in reciting those verses which attributed to the abovementioned idols, claiming that their intercession to God is accepted before the Prophet was rebuked by the archangel Gabriel (Jibrail) and hence, the correction of the verses which maintained the Oneness of God i.e. none has the right to be worshipped by God alone, disregarding anything which associates partners with Him.
The case narrated by Salman Rushdi, who seemed to be the original narrator, is then frequently used to disprove of Prophet Muhammad's Prophethood by many critics of Islam, mainly the non-Muslims, in a way of saying how the man Muhammad be a Prophet of God or be trusted when he is easily misguided by Satan, though Karen Armstrong provided a statement such narration is rejected by some as fabricated despite describing the incident.
However to end all doubt about the incident of the "Satanic Verses", which may be something new for Muslims who have not heard of the case, I would like to share with you an article in response of the narration;
Praise be to Allaah.
This is based on a false report. Ibn Katheer and others said:
There is no saheeh isnaad from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) concerning this report, which says that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) “recited Soorat al-Najm to the mushrikeen (the polytheists) until he reached the verses (interpretation of the meaning) ‘Have you then considered Al-Laat, and Al-‘Uzzaa (two idols of the pagan Arabs), And Manaat (another idol of the pagan Arabs), the other third?’ [al-Najm 53:19-20 – interpretation of the meaning]. Then the Shaytaan put words into the mouth of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and he said: ‘they are the exalted gharaneeq, whose intercession is to be hoped for.’ The kuffaar (disbelievers, which were the polytheists) were pleased with this praise of their three idols, so they prostrated.”
This report is undoubtedly false on a number of counts.
1. Its isnaad is very weak and is not saheeh.
2. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was infallible with regard to the conveying of his Message.
3. Even if this report was saheeh, for argument’s sake, the scholars have stated that it is to be understood as meaning that the Shaytaan caused the kuffaar to hear these words, not that he put them in the mouth of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), so they heard them from him.
See Ibn Katheer’s refutation of this in his tafseer of Soorat al-Hajj 22:52.
And Allaah knows best
Islam Q&A Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid
Resource: http://www.islam-qa.com/en/ref/4135/Shaytaan
This report is undoubtedly false on a number of counts.
1. Its isnaad is very weak and is not saheeh.
2. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was infallible with regard to the conveying of his Message.
3. Even if this report was saheeh, for argument’s sake, the scholars have stated that it is to be understood as meaning that the Shaytaan caused the kuffaar to hear these words, not that he put them in the mouth of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), so they heard them from him.
See Ibn Katheer’s refutation of this in his tafseer of Soorat al-Hajj 22:52.
And Allaah knows best
Islam Q&A Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid
Resource: http://www.islam-qa.com/en/ref/4135/Shaytaan
----------------------------------------------------------------
Some of you may have been new to certain terminologies such as kuffar, isnad and saheeh. For such, I will clarify with you;
Kuffar is certainly referring to disbelievers
Isnad is basically related to the chain of narration(s)
Saheeh means authentic –which explains why there are books of Hadeeths titled Saheeh Bukhari and Saheeh Muslims due to the huge credibility of these books
As regards to how narrations are studied in Islam, though I know of it I must foremost confess that I am not a scholar of Hadeeth and hence do pardon me if I am not able to provide or describe in detail specifically as to how certain narrations are regarded as weak or strong or authentic (saheeh) in fear of misguiding readers.
In conclusion, we should all know where our resources come from. At times we do believe them as credible, though we know the author(s), books or positions of the articles yet forget certain details e.g. the page of a specific book etc. However, these references may actually shed a light on researchers and future generations in hopes of seeking truth.
And the bottom line is; the “Satanic Verses” incident is an unreliable source based on the abovementioned scholars. Should there be any mistakes, do feel free to correct me, for verily the goodness comes from God and bad and mistakes have only been mine.
And Allah knows best
Just a stranger; just a wanderer
Kuffar is certainly referring to disbelievers
Isnad is basically related to the chain of narration(s)
Saheeh means authentic –which explains why there are books of Hadeeths titled Saheeh Bukhari and Saheeh Muslims due to the huge credibility of these books
As regards to how narrations are studied in Islam, though I know of it I must foremost confess that I am not a scholar of Hadeeth and hence do pardon me if I am not able to provide or describe in detail specifically as to how certain narrations are regarded as weak or strong or authentic (saheeh) in fear of misguiding readers.
In conclusion, we should all know where our resources come from. At times we do believe them as credible, though we know the author(s), books or positions of the articles yet forget certain details e.g. the page of a specific book etc. However, these references may actually shed a light on researchers and future generations in hopes of seeking truth.
And the bottom line is; the “Satanic Verses” incident is an unreliable source based on the abovementioned scholars. Should there be any mistakes, do feel free to correct me, for verily the goodness comes from God and bad and mistakes have only been mine.
And Allah knows best
Just a stranger; just a wanderer
