Lessons that can be learnt from the Satanic Verses

I don’t know if the case of the Satanic Verses or what we Muslims call the “Gharaniq verses” is true or not, but I wonder why anyone would treat it as scandalous or use it to suspect the authenticity of prophet Muhammed (pbuh) as a Messenger of God.

Almost all modern students of Islam dispel the Gharaniq incident as a fabricated tale but it was mentioned in four early major biographies of the Prophet. It appears in al-Waqidi, Ibn Saad, al-Tabari (it appears as two different versions in Tabari), and Ibn Ishaq. It is also indirectly and in part referred to in Bukhari:

6.385 Narrated Ibn Abbas: The Prophet performed a prostration when he finished reciting Surat an-Najm, and all the Muslims and pagans and Jinns and human beings prostrated along with him.

There are two passages in the Quran that refer to the event and appear in the four biographies as part of discussion on the Gharaniq event. The first is (22:52-54) and the second passage is (17:73-75)

Authenticity of Quran

I personally think the Gharaniq event is a powerful event that carries extremely important lessons. If it is true then it only strengthens the authenticity of the Quran as the unaltered and constantly approved word of God. No one could add anything to the Quran on their own, not even the Prophet. It dispels the argument non-Muslims often put forth that Quran was written by the Prophet. Had the Prophet been the author of the Quran the Gharaniq verses would have been included in the Quran to please the pagans.

Allah’s wrath

It also proves that Allah will not pardon anyone who commits a sin against Him for He tells Muhammed (pbuh) that had he erred his punishment would have been double:

They sought to entice you from Our revelations – they nearly did -hoping that you might invent some other scripture in Our name, and thus become their trusted friend. Indeed had we not strengthened your faith, you might have made some compromise with them and thus incurred a double punishment in this life and in the next. Then you should have found none to help you against Us. (17:73-75)

Such words must have really upset the Prophet as he was cautioned so severely right in the beginning of his career even though he did not utter those two verses purposefully.

Furthermore, the credibility of the Prophet is enhanced with the inclusion of this stern reprimand (17:73-75) in the Quran. Would the Prophet have included such unsympathetic verses against him in the Quran if he was the author/editor of the Quran?

Concept of infallibility of prophets

The event also clarifies the concept of ismah (infallibility of prophets) in that infallibility does not mean that prophets were free from making mistakes, but that no mistake they ever made was left uncorrected by God because God Himself says:

We did not send before you any messenger or prophet, without having the devil interfere with his wishes. God then overrides what the devil has cast, and God secures His signs (22:52).

Prophet’s challenge and exodus

Another result of this episode was that the Prophet’s challenge became many times more difficult after he retracted the verses and openly condemned the three goddesses with the newly revealed verses:

Have ye seen Lat and ‘Uzza, And another, the third (goddess), Manat? 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! How many-so-ever be the angels in the heavens, their intercession will avail nothing except after Allah has given leave for whom He pleases and that he is acceptable to Him.  (53:19-20/23/26) 

The consequence of the retraction was that a ban was placed upon him by the Quraish which eventually led to the exodus of Muslims to Medina.

 I feel there is no reason for Muslims to apologize for the inclusion of the Gharaniq event in the four biographies because the episode only strengthens the legitimacy of the Prophet, his message and his God. 

Mary in the Quran

About a year ago someone wrote to me asking me to explain why Mary is the only woman mentioned in the Quran if Jesus is not the son of God. S/he claimed that Mary is the most important woman in the history of Islam because God had chosen her Himself:

“Behold! the angels said: ‘O Mary! God hath chosen thee and purified thee – chosen thee above the women of all nations.’” (3:42).

Mary is a very important woman in Islam but she is not the only woman mentioned in the Quran. While she is the only one mentioned by name, other women mentioned are:

·        Eve (20-120),

·        Sarah (11:71-72),

·        wives of Lot and Noah (66:10),

·        mother and sister of Moses (28:7,10,11),

·        wife of Moses (28:23-27),

·        women of Aziz (12:23, 31, 51),

·        Asiya the wife of a Pharaoh (66:11),

·        Queen Sheeba (27: 23-24, 34-35, 42-44),

·        wife of Imran (3:33-36),

·        and Khoulah bint Thalabah (58:1).  

Hagar is mentioned 21 times in the Torah, by name, but she is not mentioned in the Quran at all although like the Jewish Matriarch Sarah, Hagar is the Muslim Matriarch.

So what is it about Mary?

Mary’s name appears in the Quran many times and Jesus is called Jesus the son of Mary. The entire Surah 19 is named after Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Other places where she appears are:

·        Mary’s birth when her mother says “And not wise is the male like the female.” (3:34)

·        Gabriel comes to Mary (3:45)

·        Immaculate conception (3:47) and (66:12)

·        Her choice as mother of Jesus (3:42)

·        Her chastity and obedience to God (66:12)

Mary is mentioned by name because she is the only woman about whom truth is severely distorted in the Gospel. Not so in the Old Testament but in the New Testament, Mary is literally made the Mother of God and that is the one most serious issue with God – partnership.

If duality of God was acceptable, Abraham the great Patriarch of monotheism would have been taught that, but he wasn’t. Duality of God and the belief in Trinity is explicitly forbidden by the Quran and is called the greatest sin. God ensures in the Quran to unambiguously announce that Jesus is not the son of God and the “Holy Spirit” is but only the angel Gabriel – the Ruhul Qudus.

Thus, Quran mentions Mary by name not only because she is an important woman but also because the lie attached to her is the most important to address:

Surah Mary (34-35):

Such was Jesus, son of Mary: (this is) a statement of the truth concerning which they doubt. It befitteth not (the Majesty of) Allah that He should take unto Himself a son. Glory be to Him! When He decreeth a thing, He saith unto it only: Be! and it is.