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The Sealed Nectar

 The Sealed Nectar by Shaykh Safi ur-Rahman

THE INTERNAL EVIDENCE OF SURA AL NAJM (53)

The surah starts emphasizing that,

He (the Prophet) does not speak out of his desire. It is naught but wahy (revelation) communicated to him. In verses 3-4. The Surah declares that the Prophet (Peace and Blessings be upon him) has not gone astray, nor erred, nor does he speak out of his own desire, but what he gives out is only revelation communicated to him. It is impossible to think that the Prophet (Peace and Blessings be upon him) would immediately add the alleged two verse within this sura itself, thus contradicting the very essence of the surah. Though there are over 15 version of the allegation, all the versions agree that the Prophet(Peace and Blessings be upon him) recited the whole of surah al Najm on this occasion and prostrated himself at the end of it.

The alleged verses as follows:

Those are swans exalted. Whose intercession is to be expected.

These alleged two verses do not fit in any place in the Surah. If we simply insert them after verse 19 and 20 they will read as follows:

Have you then considered Al-Lat and Al-Uzza (two idols of the pagan Arabs)"

[v.19]

 

And Manat (another idol othe pagan Arabs), the thir?

 

[v.20]

 

Those are swans exalted. Whose intercession is to be expected.

 

[???]

 

Is it for you the males and for Him the females?

 

[v. 21]

 

That indeed is a division most unfair

 

[v.22]

 

They are but names, which you have named, - you and your fathers- for which Allah has sent down no authority. They follow but a guess and that which they themselves desire, whereas there has surely come to the Guidance from their Lord.

 

[v.23]

 

Or shall man have what he wishes?

 

[v.24]

 

But to Allah belongs the last (hereafter) and the first (the world)

 

[v.25]

 

A simple glance shows that the alleged satanic verses shown in bold above do not fit in any place in the surah al-Najm. The whole text from verses 19 to the end of the surah has a unity and continuity on both theme and sequence. There is no giving-in on the question of intercession by anyone; no relaxation of the principle of individual and personal responsibility, no softening down of denunciation of the conduct of the unbelieving leaders and no room given to accommodating their attitudes.

 

The following additional information should be noted on this insinuation.

 

The story has come down in about a dozen varying versions and does not have a strong chain of narrators (isnad). It is technically regarded as MurPeace and Blessings be upon him i.e. its isnad does not go up beyond the second generation (tabiun) after the Prophet (Peace and Blessings be upon him). One of the versions traces back to Abd Allah Ibn Abbas as eye-witness, who was born some five years after the alleged event was said to have taken place. Apart from this, all the persons in the isnad have names who are considered weak, unreliable or unknown.

 

The report itself suffer from grave differences and disagreements in all the four essential respects, namely:

 

The occasion of the incident;

 

Nature of the Prophets alleged act;

 

The wording of the alleged satanic verses- as many as 15 different texts;

 

The effect or sequel of the alleged incident.

 

There are reports that say, more significantly, that while the unbelievers heard the alleged satanic verses, the believers did not at all hear them. All the versions unanimously show that no objection or uneasiness was expressed by any of the believers at the Prophet (Peace and Blessings be upon him) alleged utterance of the verses, nor to his alleged dropping of them subsequently. If such an unusual incident as the giving out of some compromising verses and their subsequent withdrawal had at all taken place, it would have been narrated by some of the many companions of the Prophet (Peace and Blessings be upon him).

 

Abdallah Ibn Masud says that Surah al-Najm was the first surah, which the Prophet (Peace and Blessings be upon him) recited in front of a gathering of believers and non-believers at the Kaaba compound. When he finished it and went into prostration, all those who were present, believers and non-believers also prostrated themselves. It is an acknowledged fact that the Prophet (Peace and Blessings be upon him) and the Muslims could not publicly and in a body perform prayer or recite the Quran at the Kaaba before the conversion of Umar (ra), and the revelation of Sura al-Najm took place after his conversion. Conversion of Umar (ra) was a great gain to Islam.

 

The Quran has the stunning effect on every non-believing Quraish who heard it and their leaders such as Utbah ibn Rabiah themselves had confessed to this. As such, the non-believers without realizing what they were doing would have gone to prostration as commanded in the last verse of the surah, together with the Muslims. Since the Quraish leaders prostrated themselves or made a show of prostration, they must have been pressed by their followers to explain their act. When they realized what they have done, they would have tried to find a justification for their unintentional act of abiding by the Quranic command.

 

The other fact that needs emphasizing in this connection is that the text of the so-called satanic verses was no new composition made on the occasion. It was an old couplet that the Quraish pagans used to recite in praise of their goddess while circumambulating the Kaaba. It is also to be remembered that the unbelievers used to create noise and disturbances whenever the Prophet (Peace and Blessings be upon him) or Muslims recited the Quran publicly. Therefore, it is very likely that when the Prophet (Peace and Blessings be upon him) recited the surah and mentioned al-Lat and al-Uzza in the course of his recitation and in a denunciatory strain, some of the Quraish unbelievers instantly interrupted and protested by shouting out the couplets. Significantly enough, some versions of the story clearly state that the satanic verses were uttered not by the Prophet (Peace and Blessings be upon him) but by Satan or some unbelievers, and they specifically state that the Muslims did not hear it.

 

Skirts of Makkah. He used to go and with him do his work. The Quran dismissed the charge by pointing out that the man they pointed to spoke a foreign tongue and the Quran was pure Arabic.We know indeed that they say, It is a man that teaches him.

 

But they had neither church nor scripture. In fact the critics of his time never thought of accusing him to have learned form the Hanifs, the Christians or the Jews but they accused him of learning it from a Roman black-smith in the out skirts of Makkah. He used to go and with him do his work. The Quran dismissed the charge by pointing out that the man they pointed to spoke a foreign tongue and the Quran was pure Arabic. We know indeed that they say, It is a man that teaches him.

 

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