Satanic Verses

Satanic Verses is an expression coined by the historian Sir William Muir in reference to the inclusion in the Qur'an of a small number of apparently pagan verses said to have been uttered by Muhammad . Some Muslims refer to the utterance of the two verses as the Gharaniq incident. Narratives involving these verses can be read in, among other places, the biographies of Muhammad by al-Wāqidī , Ibn Sa'd , al-Tabarī , and Ibn Ishaq (the latter as reconstructed by Alfred Guillaume ).

The Satanic Verses are a small number of verses that, in traditional Islamic interpretation, were said to have been temporarily included in the Qur'an by the Islamic prophet Muhammad , only to be later removed. Narratives derived from hadith involving these verses can be read in, among other places, the biographies of Muhammad by al-Wāqidī , Ibn Sa'd (who was a scribe of Waqidi), al-Tabarī , and Ibn Ishaq (the last as reconstructed by Alfred Guillaume ). The Oxford dictionary of Islam .

Mistaken by the Islamic Prophet Muhammad for divine revelation This article is about the religious verses. Satanic Verses refers to words of "satanic suggestion" which the Islamic Prophet Muhammad is alleged to have mistaken for divine revelation. The alleged verses can be read in early biographies of Muhammad by al-Wāqidī , Ibn Sa'd and Ibn Ishaq , and the tafsir of al-Tabarī . The first use of the expression is attributed to Sir William Muir in 1858. While the historicity of the incident is rejected today by Muslim scholars on the basis of the theological doctrine of moral infallibility ( 'isma ) of Muhammad, that is. Muhammad would never have been fooled by Satan, some secular scholars have accepted it, citing the implausibility of early Muslim biographers fabricating a story so unflattering about their prophet . The Oxford dictionary of Islam . What is the Myth of Gharaniq or ‘The Satanic Verses’? . Islam Question and Answer .

Retracted false revelation in Islamic tradition This article is about the religious verses. The Satanic Verses are words of "satanic suggestion" which the Islamic prophet Muhammad is alleged to have mistaken for divine revelation. The words praise the three pagan Meccan goddesses: al-Lāt , al-'Uzzá , and Manāt and can be read in early prophetic biographies of Muhammad by al-Wāqidī , Ibn Sa'd and the tafsir of al-Tabarī . The first use of the expression in English is attributed to Sir William Muir in 1858. The incident is accepted as true by some modern scholars of Islamic studies under the criterion of embarrassment , citing the implausibility of early Muslim biographers fabricating a story so unflattering about their prophet. Welch , however, argues that this rationale alone is insufficient but does not rule out the possibility of some historical foundation to the story. He proposes that the story may be yet another instance of historical telescoping, i.e., a circumstance that Muhammad's contemporaries knew to have lasted for a long period of time later became condensed into a story that limits his acceptance of the Meccan goddesses’ intercession to a brief period of time and assigns blame for this departure from strict monotheism to Satan . Religious authorities embraced the story for the first two centuries of the Islamic era. However, beginning in the 13th century, Islamic scholars ( Ulama ) started to reject it as being inconsistent with Muhammad's "perfection" ( 'isma ), which meant that Muhammad was infallible and could not be fooled by Satan. The Oxford dictionary of Islam .

Retracted false revelation in Islamic tradition This article is about the religious verses. The Satanic Verses are words of "satanic suggestion" which the Islamic prophet Muhammad is alleged to have mistaken for divine revelation. The first use of the expression in English is attributed to Sir William Muir in 1858. According to early prophetic biographies of Muhammad by al-Wāqidī , Ibn Sa'd and the tafsir of al-Tabarī , Muhammad was manipulated by Satan to praise the three chief pagan Meccan goddesses— al-Lāt , al-'Uzzá , and Manāt —while preaching Islam to an audience in Mecca . Religious authorities recorded the story for the first two centuries of the Islamic era. The words of praise for the pagan deities allegedly elicited by Satanic temptation are known as the Satanic Verses. A version of this episode, in which Muhammad does not issue the purported Satanic Verses, takes place in surah 53 of the Qurʾan . Strong objections to the historicity of the Satanic Verses incident were raised as early as the tenth century. By the 13th century, most Islamic scholars ( Ulama ) started to reject it as inconsistent with the theological principle of 'iṣmat al-anbiyā (impeccability of the prophets) and the methodological principle of isnad-criticism. According to some Islamic traditions, God sent Satan as a tempter to test the audience. Others categorically deny that this incident ever happened. Some modern scholars of Islam accept the incident as historical, citing the implausibility of early Muslim biographers fabricating a story so unflattering to their prophet. Welch considers this argument insufficient, but does not dismiss the possibility that the story has some historical basis. He proposes that the story may reflect a longer period of Muhammad's acceptance of the Meccan goddesses, known by his contemporaries and later condensed into a story that limits his acceptance of the Meccan goddesses’ intercession to a single incident and assigns blame for this departure from strict monotheism to Satan. Ernst writes that the existence of later insertions in early Meccan surahs indicates that the Qurʾan was revised in dialogue with its first audience, who recited these surahs frequently in worship services and asked questions about difficult passages. A reading of surah 53 with this in mind leads Ernst to conclude that the Satanic Verses likely never existed as part of the Qurʾan. He argues that the surah is heavily focused on rejection of polytheism , which makes the inclusion of the Satanic Verses quote unrealistic. Its absence from the canonical hadith collections supports his claim. Others have suggested that the story may have been fabricated for theological reasons. The Oxford dictionary of Islam . Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān: EQ . How to read the Qur'an: a new guide, with select translations .