How Allah killed his prophet
From Inspiration to Expiration
Abstract
Muhammad fails the
prophetic criteria of the Hoy Bible (http://answering-islam.org/Green/test.htm;
http://answering-islam.org/Quran/Bible/criterion.html;
http://answering-islam.org/Campbell/s6c1.html;
http://answering-islam.org/Shamoun/true_seal.htm; http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Menj/fatrah2.htm) showing that, from a biblical perspective, the
Allah of the Quran is not God, the Quran is not God’s Word, and Muhammad is not
God’s prophet. Moreover, as astonishing as this may sound, Muhammad fails his
own test, his own criteria of prophethood, and
actually came under the very condemnation he warned of in the case of anyone
who would want to tamper with God’s Word and/or concoct words in the name of
God. This means that not only was Muhammad not a legitimate messenger of the
true God according to the Holy Bible but that by his own standard which he set
up in the Quran he was a person whom his own god rejected and condemned.
The aim of this present article is to document in what way Muhammad
violated his own criteria and how he suffered the consequences as a result of
it.
The Evidence
The Quran warned Muhammad not to change the so-called revelation or invent
sayings since Allah would punish him:
And when Our signs are recited to them, clear
signs, those who look not to encounter Us say, 'Bring a Koran other than this,
or alter it.' Say: 'It is not for me to alter it of my own accord. I follow
nothing, except what is revealed to me. Truly
I fear, if I should rebel against my Lord, the chastisement of a dreadful day.'
S. 10:15 Arberry
it is the speech of a noble Messenger. It is not the
speech of a poet (little do you believe) nor the speech of a soothsayer (little
do you remember). A sending down from the Lord of all Being.
Had he invented against Us any sayings, We
would have seized him by the right hand, then We would surely have cut his
life-vein. S. 69:40-46 Arberry
Consider how harsh these
warnings are… Allah threatens to kill Muhammad if he dared to concoct
statements in his deity’s name or change the inspiration which supposedly came
to him.
These threats
become all the more intriguing in light of the fact that, according to Muslim
sources, Muhammad did change the message of the Quran due to the suggestions of
one of his scribes who then apostatized as a result of it! In fact, according
to Muslim sources, the following text:
Who is more wicked than the man who invents a falsehood about God,
or says: “This was revealed to me”, when nothing was revealed to him? Or the
man who says, “I can reveal the like of
what God has revealed”? S. 6:93 N.J. Dawood
Was “revealed” in
reference to this event:
(Who
is guilty) who is more tyrannical and more daring (of more wrong than he who forgeth a lie against Allah, or saith)
Allah did not reveal anything, this is Malik Ibn al-Sayf, or him who says: (I
am inspired) with a Scripture, (when he is not inspired in aught) with any
Scripture, this is Musaylimah, the liar; (and who saith: I will reveal the like of that which Allah hath
revealed) I will say the like of what Muhammad (pbuh)
is saying: this is 'Abdullah Ibn Sa'd
Ibn Abi Sarh.
(If thou couldst see) O Muhammad, (when the wrong-doers) the idolaters and the
hypocrites, on the Day of Badr (reach the pangs of
death and the angels stretch their hands out) to take out their souls, (saying:
Deliver up your souls) your spirits. (This day) the Day of Badr,
as it is said it is the Day of Judgement (ye are
awarded doom of degradation) a severe doom (for that ye spake
concerning Allah other than the Truth, and scorned) you thought yourselves too
great to believe in Muhammad (pbuh) and the Qur'an,
(His portents) Muhammad (pbuh) and the Qur'an. (Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs: http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=73&tSoraNo=6&tAyahNo=93&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0; bold, italic and underline
emphasis ours)
This
same commentary asserts that Q. 16:106:
Whoever disbelieved in Allah after his belief, except him who is forced thereto and whose heart is at rest with Faith but such as open their breasts to disbelief, on them is wrath from Allah, and theirs will be a great torment. Hilali-Khan
Also
refers to Ibn Abi Sarh’s apostasy:
(Whoso disbelieveth
in Allah after his belief) in Him, deserves Allah's wrath (save him who is
forced thereto) except the person who is coerced into disbelief (and whose
heart is still content with Faith). This verse was revealed about 'Ammar Ibn Yasir
(but whoso findeth ease in disbelief) whosoever
utters words of disbelief willingly: (On them is wrath from Allah. Theirs will
be an awful doom) the most awful torment in this worldly life. This verse was revealed about ‘Abdullah Ibn Sa'd
Ibn Abi Sarh. (Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr
Ibn ‘Abbâs: http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=73&tSoraNo=16&tAyahNo=106&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0;
bold emphasis ours)
Other
exegetes who concur with the foregoing tafsir
regarding Abi Sarh being the
one spoken of in Q. 6:93 include the following:
(Who is guilty of more wrong than he who forgeth a lie against Allah, or saith:
I am inspired…) [6:93]. This was revealed about the
liar, Musaylimah al-Hanafi.
This man was a soothsayer who composed rhymed speech and claimed prophethood. He claimed that he was inspired by Allah. (…
and who saith: I will reveal the like of that which
Allah hath revealed?) [6:93]. This verse
was revealed about ‘Abd Allah ibn
Sa‘d ibn Abi Sarh. This man had
declared his faith in Islam and so the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, called him one day to write
something for him. When the verses regarding the believers were revealed
(Verily, We created man from a product of wet earth…) [23:12-14], the Prophet
dictated them to him. When he reached up to (and then produced it as another
creation), ‘Abd Allah expressed his amazement at the
precision of man’s creation by saying (So blessed be Allah, the Best of
Creators!). The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and
give him peace, said: “This [‘Abd Allah’s last
expression] is how it was revealed to me”. At
that point, doubt crept into ‘Abd Allah. He said: “If
Muhammad is truthful, then I was inspired just as he was; and if he is lying, I
have uttered exactly what he did utter”. Hence Allah’s words (and who saith: I will reveal the like of that which Allah hath
revealed). The man renounced Islam. This is also the opinion of Ibn ‘Abbas according to the
report of al-Kalbi. ‘Abd
al-Rahman ibn ‘Abdan informed us> Muhammad ibn
‘Abd Allah ibn Nu‘aym> Muhammad ibn Ya‘qub al-Umawi>
Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Jabbar> Yunus ibn Bukayr> Muhammad ibn Ishaq> Shurahbil
ibn Sa‘d who said: “This verse was revealed about ‘Abd Allah ibn Sa‘d
ibn Abi Sarh.
The latter said: ‘I will reveal the like of that which Allah has revealed’, and
renounced Islam. When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give
him peace, entered
The
commentator Al-Qurtubi said,
The pronoun "man" is grammatically in the jarr case. The meaning is who is more
wicked than he who said I can reveal; the person addressed here is ‘Abdullâh Ibn Sâd
Ibn Abî Sarh
who used to write the revelation for the Prophet of God, later on he
apostatized and joined the pagans. The reason given by the commentators is that
when the verse 23:12 {We created man of an extraction
of clay} was revealed, the Prophet called him and dictated it to him and when
the Prophet reached the end of 23:14 {... thereafter We produced him as another
creature} ‘Abdullâh
said in amazement {So blessed be God the fairest of creators!}. The Prophet
said: (and thus it was revealed to me) which made ‘Abdullâh
doubt and say: “If Muhammad is truthful then I received the revelation
and if he lied I say of the like of his speech.” So he
apostatized and joined the pagans and this is
concerning the segment {Or the man who says, “I can reveal the like of what God
has revealed”}, narrated by Al-Kolaby from Ibn ‘Abbâs. It
was also narrated by Muhammad Ibn Ishâq who said Sharahbîl said:
{Or the man who says, “I can reveal the like of what God has revealed”} was revealed concerning ‘Abdullâh Ibn Sâd
Ibn Abî Sarh
who apostatized. When the Prophet entered
Another famous Tafsir states:
“‘To me it has
been revealed, when naught has been revealed to him’ refers to 'Abdallah Ibn
Sa'd Ibn Abi Sarh, who used to write for
God's messenger. The verse (23:12) that says, ‘We created man of an
extraction of clay’ was revealed, and when Muhammad reached the part that says,
‘… thereafter We produced him as another creature’
(23:14), ‘Abdallah said, ‘So blessed be God the
fairest of creators!’ in amazement at the details of man's creation. The prophet said, ‘Write it down; for
thus it has been revealed.’ ‘Abdallah doubted and
said, ‘If Muhammad is truthful then I receive the revelation as much as he
does, and if he is a liar, what I said is a good as what he said.’” (Anwar al-Tanzil wa Asrar
al-Ta‘wil by 'Abdallah Ibn 'Umar al-Baidawi;
bold emphasis ours)
Ibn
al-Athîr said regarding Ibn Abi Sarh
that:
He converted to
Islam before the conquest of
We read in Alfiyyat us-Sîrat in-Nabawiyyah by al-Hâfidh al-‘Iraqî that:
The scribes of
Muhammad were 42 in number. `Abdallah
Ibn Sarh al-`Amiri was one of them, and he was the first Quraishite among those who wrote in
The biography of Ibn Abi
Sarh, titled Al-Isaabah fi Tamyeez
Al-Sahabah (Volume 4, p. 109, kaf
= 0, ba' = 0, ha' = 4714) states:
Abdullah bin
Sa'd bin Abi Sarh bin Al-Harith Abu Yahya Al-Qurashi Al-Amiri
4714 ---- Abdullah bin Sa'd
bin Abi Al-Sarh bin Al-Harith bin Habeeb Bilmuhmlah Musghira bin Huthafah bin
Malik bin Hasl bin Amir bin Lu'ai Al-Qurashi Al-Amiri, and some inserted [into
his genealogy] Huthafa and Malik Nasra. The first one is more famous and his Kunyah is Aba Yahya.
He [Abdullah] was Othman's [the fourth Caliph]
brother by nursing (rida'ah), and his mother was Ash'ariyyah (Al-Zubayr bin Bikar said that). Ibn Sa'd said that her mother is Muhabah bint Jaber.
Ibn Habban said that his
father was one of Quraysh's hypocrite infidels -
that's what he said and I haven't seen any other [view]. Al-Hakim narrated from
al-Suday, by Mus'ab bin Sa'd by his father, “When it was the day of the conquering
(fath) of Mecca, the Prophet gave safety to all its
people except for four men and two women; Ikrimah, Ibn Khatl, Maqees
bin Subabah, and Ibn Abi Al-Sarh.” He went on with the
Hadeeth and said, “As for Abdullah, he hid with
Othman, so he [Othman] came to the Prophet with him, while he [Mohammad] was
making vows of allegiance (bay'ah) with the people.
So Othman said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, make a vow of allegiance (bay'ah) with Abdullah.’ And so he did after three attempts.
Then he [Mohammad] went to his companions and said, ‘Isn't there any honorable
man among you who would stand and kill him [Abdullah] when he saw me refusing
to make the vow with him?’” And from Yazeed Al-Nahwi by Ikrimah by Ibn Abbas who said, “Abdullah bin Sa'd used to write for the Prophet, so Satan made him
err and he followed the infidels. The Prophet ordered his death
(meaning of the day of Conquering Mecca), but Othman intervened and asked for
his safety, so the Prophet kept him safe [didn't kill him].” (Taken from the Encyclopedia of the Prophet’s Hadeeth
Mawsoo'at Al-Hadeeth
Al-Nabawi - Al-Areesh Company
for Computers "Sharikat Al-Areesh
lil-computer" - Beirut – 1998; bold and
underline emphasis ours)
One modern Shia commentary admits:
This verse was revealed to condemn the half brother of Uthman, Abdullah bin abi Sarah
(and men like him). He was a Jew but joined the group of pagans after
renouncing his faith. After becoming Muslim he was sometimes asked to write
down the revealed verses but he used to
change the words of the revealed verses while writing them, and then claimed
that whatever he had composed should have also been accepted as revelation.
(Pooya/Commentary: http://www.al-islam1.org/quran/process.asp?tAliCommentary=on&Sura=6&SavedSura=1&fAya=93&tAya=93&searchText=&arabicdisplay=windows; bold emphasis
ours)
The late Iranian
Islamic scholar Ali Dashti, in his masterful
examination of Muhammad’s prophetic career, wrote:
When
The last named had for some time been one of the scribes employed at Madina to write down the revelations. On a number of
occasions he had, with the Prophet’s consent, changed the closing words of
verses. For example, when the Prophet had said “And God is mighty and wise” (‘aziz, hakim), ‘Abdollah
b. Abi Sarh suggested
writing down “knowing and wise” (‘alim, hakim), and
the Prophet answered that there was no objection. Having observed a succession of changes of
this type, ‘Abdollah renounced Islam on the ground
that the revelations, if from God, could not be changed at the prompting of a
scribe such as himself. After his apostasy he went to
‘Abdollah b. Abi Sarh was a foster-brother of ‘Othman. He took refuge with
‘Othman, who kept him hidden for several days until the commotion subsided, and
then brought him to the Prophet and requested pardon for him. After a long
silence, the Prophet said, “Yes”, meaning that he reluctantly accepted ‘Othman’s intercession. Thereupon ‘Abdollah
b. Abi Sarh professed Islam
again and ‘Othman and he departed. The Prophet, when asked the reason for the
long silence, replied, “His Islam was not voluntary but from fear, so I was
reluctant to accept it. I was expecting one of you to stand up and behead him.”
(This was because it had been proclaimed that his blood might be lawfully shed
in any place where he might be found, “even if clinging to the covering of the K‘aba”). One of the Ansar asked
the Prophet why he had not winked, and received the answer that “God’s Apostle
cannot have false eyes”, meaning that he could not falsely pretend silence
while giving a sign with the eyes to kill… (Dashti, 23 Years: A Study of the Prophetic Career of
Mohammad, translated from the Persian by F.R.C. Bagley [Mazda Publishers,
Costa Mesa, CA 1994], pp. 98-99; bold emphasis ours)
Finally, the hadith compiler Abi Dawud provides implicit corroboration for this story’s
veracity since he narrates the following:
Narrated
Abdullah ibn Abbas:
Abdullah ibn AbuSarh used to write (the revelation) for the Apostle of
Allah (peace_be_upon_him). Satan
made him slip, and he joined the infidels. The
Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) commanded to
kill him on the day of Conquest (of
Ibn Abi
Sarh wasn’t the only scribe who defected as a result
of influencing Muhammad to change the Quran; a Christian did as well:
Narrated Anas:
There was a Christian who embraced Islam and read Surat-al-Baqara and Al-Imran, and he used to write (the revelations) for the Prophet. Later on he returned to Christianity again and he used to say: “Muhammad knows nothing but what I have written for him.” Then Allah caused him to die, and the people buried him, but in the morning they saw that the earth had thrown his body out. They said, “This is the act of Muhammad and his companions. They dug the grave of our companion and took his body out of it because he had run away from them.” They again dug the grave deeply for him, but in the morning they again saw that the earth had thrown his body out. They said, “This is an act of Muhammad and his companions. They dug the grave of our companion and threw his body outside it, for he had run away from them.” They dug the grave for him as deep as they could, but in the morning they again saw that the earth had thrown his body out. So they believed that what had befallen him was not done by human beings and had to leave him thrown (on the ground). (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 56, Number 814: http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/056.sbt.html#004.056.814)
Putting aside the
obvious legendary embellishments, it is rather evident from the above narration
that there was a growing problem of people claiming to have influenced Muhammad
in composing the Quran which the Muslims had to address and explain away. The
Quran itself refers to this problem:
And indeed We know that they (polytheists and
pagans) say: “It is only a human being who teaches him (Muhammad SAW).” The
tongue of the man they refer to is foreign, while this (the Qur'an) is a clear
Arabic tongue. S. 16:103 Hilali-Khan
Those who disbelieve say: “This (the Qur'an) is nothing but a lie that
he (Muhammad SAW) has invented, and others have helped him at it, so
that they have produced an unjust wrong (thing) and a lie.” And they say:
“Tales of the ancients, which he has written down, and they are dictated to him
morning and afternoon.” Say: “It (this Qur'an) has been sent down by Him
(Allah) (the Real Lord of the heavens and earth) Who
knows the secret of the heavens and the earth. Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most
Merciful.” S. 25:4-6
In light of the
foregoing, we must ask the following questions: If these were in fact God’s words how could Muhammad even allow an uninspired
scribe to change them? How could Muhammad replace divinely revealed statements
with the words of a fallible human being?
___________________________________________________________________________
At the beginning of
this paper we referred to a warning of the Quran against changing any of its
contents:
And when Our clear revelations are recited unto them, they who look
not for the meeting with Us say: Bring a Lecture other than this, or change it.
Say (O Muhammad): It is not for me to
change it of my accord. I only follow that which is inspired in me. Lo! if I disobey
my Lord I fear the retribution of an awful Day. S. 10:15 Pickthall
That it is indeed the speech of an illustrious messenger. It is not
poet's speech - little is it that ye believe! Nor diviner's speech - little is
it that ye remember! It is a revelation from the Lord of the Worlds. And if he had invented false sayings
concerning Us, We assuredly had taken him by the right hand And
then severed his life-artery, S. 69:40-46 Pickthall
Then we reviewed
the reports about Abdullah ibn Sa’d Abi Sarh suggesting changes to certain formulations in the
Quran and Muhammad approving his suggestions.
The punishment
announced in these verses is quite specific. Having seen that Muhammad clearly
violated the command against meddling with the alleged divine revelation, it is
even more amazing to see the manner in which Muhammad expired. According to
Muslim tradition Muhammad died a very painful death due to the effects of
poison, effects that he claimed cut at his jugular vein:
The messenger of
God said during the illness from which he died - the mother of Bishr had come in to visit him – “Umm Bishr,
at this very moment I feel my aorta
being severed because of the food I ate with your son at Khaybar.” (The
History of Al-Tabari: The Victory of Islam,
translated by Michael Fishbein [State University of
New York (SUNY), Albany 1997] Volume VIII, p. 124)
In a footnote the
translator of al-Tabari writes that the expression,
“it severed his aorta” need not be taken literally since it can be an
expression denoting extreme pain. Other sources corroborate that Muhammad ‘s painful death was due to the poison he had
ingested years before his demise:
Anas reported that a Jewess came to Allah's Messenger (may
peace be upon him) with poisoned mutton and he took of that what had been brought to
him (Allah's Messenger). (When the effect of this
poison were felt by him) he called for her and asked her about that,
whereupon she said: I had determined to kill you. Thereupon he said: Allah will
never give you the power to do it. He (the narrator) said that they (the
Companion's of the Holy Prophet) said: Should we not kill her? Thereupon he
said: No. He (Anas) said: I felt (the affects of this
poison) on the uvula of Allah's Messenger. (Sahih Muslim, Book 026, Number 5430: http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/muslim/026.smt.html#026.5430)
… The apostle of
Allah lived after this three years till in consequence
of his pain he passed away. During his illness he used to say, “I did not cease
to find the effect of the (poisoned) morsel, I took at Khaibar
and I suffered several times (from its effect) but now I feel the hour has come of the cutting of my jugular vein.”
(Ibn Sa’d, Kitab
Al-Tabaqat al-Kabir, Volume II, pp. 251-252)
Narrated Ibn Abbas:
‘Umar bin Al-Khattab
used to let Ibn Abbas sit
beside him, so ‘AbdurRahman bin ‘Auf said to ‘Umar, “We have sons similar to him.” ‘Umar
replied, “(I respect him) because of his status that you know." 'Umar then asked Ibn 'Abbas about the meaning of this Holy Verse:-- "When comes the help of Allah and the conquest of
Ibn ‘Abbas
replied, “That indicated the death of Allah's Apostle which Allah informed him
of.” ‘Umar said, “I do not understand of it except
what you understand.” Narrated ‘Aisha: The Prophet in his ailment in which he
died, used to say, “O ‘Aisha! I still feel the pain caused by the food I
ate at Khaibar, and at this time, I feel as if my
aorta is being cut from that poison.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 5, Book 59, Number
713: http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/059.sbt.html#005.059.713)
Compare the foregoing statements with the following Quranic
citation:
We indeed created man; and We know what his
soul whispers within him, and We are nearer to him than the jugular
vein. When the two angels meet together, sitting one on the right, and
one on the left, not a word he utters, but by him is an observer ready. And
death's agony comes in truth; that is what thou wast
shunning! S. 50:16-19 Arberry
Allah warns those
who disbelieve that he is nearer to them than their jugular vein, an obvious
threat that he has the power to kill them, and further threatens that they
would experience an agonizing death.
The fact that
Islamic narrations state that Muhammad died a severe death, describing his
death in language that is reminiscent of Q. 69:45-46 and 50:16-19, supports the
position that he was being punished for some heinous sin.
Moreover, when we
tie this in with the story of Ibn Abi
Sarh it makes it difficult not to conclude that Allah
was punishing his prophet for changing the Quran at the suggestions of an
uninspired scribe.
The
foregoing is simply more evidence that Muhammad was a false prophet who came
under the judgment of God.
For
more details on the death of Muhammad, see this article: http://answering-islam.org/Silas/mo-death.htm
___________________________________________________________________________
Is This Story Based on Fact?
Some Muslims have
taken to deny the veracity of this story (obviously due to its rather
embarrassing nature and the damage it does to Muhammad’s credibility) on the
grounds that it is based on questionable chains of transmission and/or sources.
This oft-repeated
Muslim rebuttal fails to explain why Muslim historians, scholars, expositors
etc., would include this report when it does great damage to Muhammad’s
credibility. In fact, the most unpleasant events in early Islam have the
strongest probability of really having occurred because it is inconceivable
that Muslims would make them up on their own or adapt them from non-Muslims.
After all, if the enemies of Islam created these reports to discredit Muhammad
why would respectable Muslims such as al-Tabari and
al-Qurtubi include them? Why didn’t they simply omit
such details especially when they make Muhammad look so bad?
Moreover, one
argument that Muslims often use to demonstrate the veracity of the Quran is to
single out passages rebuking Muhammad for some mistakes or sins he committed
(cf. Q. 9:43; 40:55; 47:19; 8:1-2; 80:1-10). Muslims see in these texts
evidence that Muhammad couldn’t have authored the Quran since he wouldn’t
rebuke himself if he did.
Yet this same logic
would equally apply to the story of Ibn Abi Sarh changing the revelations
with Muhammad’s approval, since it is highly unlikely that god-fearing Muslims
would concoct such a story. Thus, the embarrassing nature of this narration
provides strong corroboration for its historical veracity, especially when we
recall that Muslim historians and scholars had the tendency to omit such
negative portrayals of their prophet.
Another Islamic site offers an answer as to why Muslims would circulate
and retain such a story, even if it were deemed fraudulent:
Many of the early writers were concerned
by the compilation only. Fearing that the material available could be lost,
they collected whatever reports they could find without authenticating them.
They left the authentication process to the following generations… (http://www.islamic-awareness.org/Quran/Sources/Sarh/)
This response fails
to take into consideration that the Muslim expositors and exegetes didn’t
merely narrate the story of Ibn Abi
Sarh as part of a body of material which needed to be
carefully examined for authenticity; rather some of them expressly stated that
the report of Ibn Abi Sarh changing the texts of the Quran is actually a sound report,
and believed that Q. 6:93 does in fact refer to this specific event. For
instance, here is what the renowned Sunni exegete and historian al-Tabari said was the position of the scholars regarding Ibn Abi Sarh
tampering with the Quran:
The One whose name is Exalted (Allah) means in his
saying "Who doth more wrong than such as invent a falsehood against
Allah" and "Who doth more wrong and who is more ignorant
than such as invent a falsehood against Allah" referring to those who
invent falsehood against Allah and claim to be a Prophet and a Warner, and he
[the person who claims] is false in his claims, and lying in his sayings. In
this, God is ridiculing the Pagan Arabs, and
(ridiculing) the opposing of Abdullah
bin Sa'd bin Abi Al-Sarh and the Hanafite
Musaylamah to the Prophet of Allah. For one of them
claimed prophethood and the other claimed
that he came up with something similar to what the Messenger of Allah (SAW)
came with [the Quran], and at the same time denying the lying and false claims
against his Prophet Mohammad.
The people of the interpretations (scholars) had
different opinions about that; some of
them said what we said [agreed with us]. Among those are:
Al-Qasim told us:
Al-Hussein narrated: Al-Hajjaj narrated: by Ibn Jurayh, by Ikrimah:
His saying [Allah's saying in the Quran], "Who
doth more wrong than such as invent a falsehood against Allah, or said: 'I have
received inspiration,' when he hath received none". He [Ikrimah] said: This verse was revealed about Musaylamah the brother of Bani
(children of) Uday bin Haneefah,
for he [Musaylamah] was reciting poetry and
prophesying. And “I
can reveal like what Allah hath revealed” was revealed about
Abdullah bin Sa’d bin Abi Al-Sarh, the brother of Bani (children of) Amir bin Lu'ai. He [Abdullah] used to write for the Prophet (SAW), and while he
[Mohammad] was dictating “Exalted
in power, full of Wisdom”, he [Abdullah] would write it
“Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful”, thus changing it. Then he [Abdullah] would read
the changed verses to him [Mohammad], and he [Mohammad] would say, “Yes [in
approval], it's the same [meaning].” So he [Abdullah] reverted from Islam and
followed Quraysh telling them, “He [Mohammad] used to
recite to me ‘Exalted in power, full of Wisdom’, and I would change it when I
write it down, and he would tell me, ‘Yes [in approval], it’s the same
[meaning].” But then he
[Abdullah] came back to Islam before the conquering (fath) of
And some said: This verse was indeed revealed
about Abdullah bin Sa'd in
particular. Among those are:
Mohammad bin Al-Hussein spoke to me, he said: Ahmad bin Al-Mufdil narrated: Asbat narrated from Al-Sudy: "Who doth more wrong than such as invent a falsehood against Allah, or said: "I have received inspiration,' when he hath received none…” until his [Allah] saying, “ye receive your reward, a penalty of shame”. He [Al-Sudy] said: This verse was revealed about Abdullah bin Sa'd bin Abi Al-Sarh, he embraced Islam, and used to write [Quran revelations] for the Prophet (SAW). So when the Prophet dictated him: “Who heareth and knoweth all things”, he'd write it: “All-Knowing, All-Wise”. So he doubted and reverted. Then he said, “If Mohammad gets inspiration, then I get inspiration too, and if Allah sent him his revelation then I was sent the same thing. For when Mohammad said, ‘Who heareth and knoweth all things,’ I’d say, ‘All-Knowing, All-Wise.’” So he followed the Pagans, and he blew the cover of Ammar and Jubar [secret Muslims] to Ibn Al-Hudrumi or to Bani Abd Al-Dar, so they took them and tortured them until they reverted. Ammar’s ear was cut off that day, so he [Ammar] went to the Prophet (SAW) and told him what had happened to him, but the Prophet (SAW) refused to handle his issue. So Allah revealed about [Abdullah] Ibn Abi Al-Sarh and his companions, “Anyone who, after accepting Faith in Allah, utters Unbelief, - except under compulsion, his heart remaining firm in Faith - but such as open their breast to Unbelief, on them is Wrath from Allah, and theirs will be a dreadful Penalty.” Who was “under compulsion” is Ammar and his companions, and who “open their breast to Unbelief” is [Abdullah] Ibn Abi Al-Sarh… The opinion I believe which has more credibility than the others is to say: Allah said, “Who can be more wicked than one who inventeth a lie against Allah, or said: 'I have received inspiration,’ when he hath received none.” THERE IS NO DISAGREEMENT BETWEEN THE SCHOLARS OF THE UMMAH (nation) THAT IBN ABI SARH WAS ONE OF THOSE WHO SAID, “I had said like [what] Mohammad [said]”, and that he reverted from Islam and followed the Pagans. There is no doubt that what he said was lies. And there is also no disagreement between all [the Scholars] that Musaylamah and Al-Ansi the Liars claimed falsehood against Allah by saying that he sent them as Prophets; for each of them had said that Allah inspired them, and they are lying in their claims. (Bold and capital emphasis ours)
Al-Tabari emphatically claims that all the scholars of Islam
concurred that Q. 6:93 refers to Ibn Abi Sarh’s assertion that he
changed the words of the Quran with Muhammad’s approval. What al-Tabari’s statements presuppose is that Muslim scholars had
already carefully examined the story of Ibn Abi Sarh
and concluded that it was sound. Thus, Muslims themselves, not Orientalists or Christians, have affirmed the historical
veracity of this event.
The same authors
propose another argument which, on the surface of it, seems to carry weight:
According to the critic, the revelation of verse 23:12 and
the amazed anticipation of cAbdullâh Ibn Sâd Ibn Abî
Sarh on the end of
verse 23:14 triggered his apostasy. Many books about the cUlűm al-Qur'ân have made an
accurate classification of the Chapters and verses that were revealed in
The authors are
basically insinuating that the story of Ibn Abi Sarh cannot be true on the grounds
that he became a Muslim during the time Muhammad was at Medina, whereas the
text that Ibn Abi Sarh changed, i.e. Q. 23:12-14, was composed in Mecca, long
before his conversion.
There are two
fundamental problems with the above reasoning. First, citing
sources which place the date of Q. 23 at a time before Ibn
Abi Sarh’s conversion
doesn’t resolve the issue, but merely proves that the primary source materials
of Islam cannot be trusted since they are full of contradictions and mistakes.
Secondly, and more
importantly, the narrators do not say that Abdullah made changes to Q. 23:12-14
when they were first “revealed” to Muhammad. Rather, a careful reading of the
sources suggests that these changes were made during the time that Ibn Abi Sarh
had first heard them for himself, long after they were composed, an even more damaging position to Muhammad’s prophethood! To put it rather simply, the narratives may
actually be implying that Muhammad allowed changes to be made to a text that
had been recited and composed many years prior to Ibn
Abi Sarh’s conversion!
Thus, the preceding
factors give us good grounds for assuming that this story of Muhammad
permitting Ibn Abi Sarh to change the so-called revelations is based on actual
history. The report cannot simply be explained away in terms of the (alleged)
unreliability of the source documents.
Yet if it is a
genuine historical event then Muhammad turns out to be a false prophet who was
punished for inventing revelations and changing the Quran. No wonder Muslims
try to find any excuse to dismiss this story!
Note: Apart from
the quotes from Sunan Abu Dawud,
Ali Dashti, Pooya-Ali, and
the commentaries from www.altafsir.com,
the preceding Islamic references regarding Abdullah ibn
Sa’d Abi Sarh were adapted from the following articles:
http://answering-islam.org/Quran/Sources/sarh.html
http://answering-islam.org./Quran/Sources/sarhr.html
http://answering-islam.org/Quran/Sources/sarhrr.html
http://www.islamic-awareness.org/Quran/Sources/Sarh/qurtubi.html
http://www.islamic-awareness.org/Quran/Sources/Sarh/
With the exception of the last two, the above links provide more details
regarding this subject and address the Muslim responses which call into
question the veracity of this story.
___________________________________________________________________________
So was he a Prophet or Not?
We have shown that
the manner in which Muhammad died is a rather strong indication that he had
come under the wrath and judgment of his own god. As we examined the Muslim
sources we discovered that Muhammad permitted changes to be made to the Quran
at the suggestion of his scribe, and how such changes violated the Quran’s
express warning to Muhammad that if he tampered with the “revelations” he would
be severely punished.
When all of these
factors are kept in mind it seems hard to escape the conclusion that Muhammad’s
extremely painful death was a sign that he was being punished for making
changes to the Quran.
The
reader at this point may be wondering whether the foregoing implies that
Muhammad was indeed a true prophet of God, or at least started out as one, due
to the fact that his punishment was in direct fulfillment of the Quran’s
warnings to him. In other words, wouldn’t the fulfillment of these warnings
provide attestation that the Quran is indeed God’s Word, or at least parts of
it are, since they came to pass as announced?
There are
several reasons why this doesn’t follow. In the first place, as we have already
mentioned Muhammad fails the biblical criteria of being God’s true prophet,
criteria presupposed and accepted by the Quran itself. See above for the links.
This by
itself is sufficient to show that Muhammad wasn’t God’s prophet and that the
Quran is not his word.
Secondly,
the Bible itself speaks of false prophets and messengers making accurate
predictions as a means of testing God’s elect:
“If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and
announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder of
which he has spoken takes place, and he says, ‘Let us follow other gods’ (gods
you have not known) "and let us worship them,’ you must not listen to the
words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out
whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. It is the LORD
your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey
him; serve him and hold fast to him. That prophet or dreamer must be put to
death, because he preached rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you
out of
“At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look,
here is the Christ!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great
signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible.” Matthew 24:23-24
Hence,
just because what Muhammad may have said about the consequences of tampering
with the Quran came to pass this doesn’t mean that the true God inspired him.
It merely shows that God was testing true believers to see whether they would
be misled by the teachings of the Quran.
The above
demonstrates that according to the Biblical standard, he is a false prophet
because his message contradicts the established Word of God, and even one or
two accurate predictions do not change that verdict.
However, Muhammad
is not only exposed based on the Bible, but he is judged also based on the
Quran. According to Quranic criteria, the manner of
Muhammad’s death is a clear sign of his deity punishing him for tampering with
the Quran. This implies that, at the very least, Allah later rejected him from
being his spokesperson. After all, note once again what the passages say:
But when Our Clear Signs are rehearsed unto them, those who rest not
their hope on their meeting with Us, Say: "Bring us a reading other than
this, or change this," Say: "It is not for me, of my own accord, to
change it: I follow naught but what is revealed unto me: if I were to disobey my Lord, I should myself fear the penalty of a
Great Day (to come)." S. 10:15 Y. Ali
That this is verily the word of an honoured
apostle; It is not the word of a poet: little it is ye
believe! Nor is it the word of a soothsayer: little admonition it is ye
receive. (This is) a Message sent down from the Lord of the Worlds. And if the apostle were to invent any
sayings in Our name, We should certainly seize him by his right hand, And We
should certainly then cut off the artery of his heart: S. 69:40-46 Y. Ali
The
first text warns Muhammad to fear the penalty of that great day, an obvious
reference to the Day of Judgment, showing that he would be condemned not just
in this life but for all eternity as well. Thus, even if a Muslim wants to use
these verses as proof of the Quran’s inspiration s/he must contend with the
fact that their fulfillment means that Muhammad’s death was a sign that Allah
was displeased and abandoned him, and that Muhammad was no longer functioning
as Allah’s messenger. It further shows that Muhammad actually ended up in hell
for changing the Quran!
This
leads us to our final point. The fulfillment of the Quran’s warnings may have
been God’s way of showing even to Muslims that Muhammad wasn’t his prophet. The
true God may have punished Muhammad in a manner prescribed by the Quran in
order to get the people’s attention that Muhammad wasn’t being punished merely
for tampering with the Quran, but for claiming that the Quran itself is
revelation from the God of Abraham. God’s true Word, the Holy Bible, does warn
those who would dare attribute to God words not uttered by him and/or tamper
with those words which were inspired by him:
“Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep
the commands of the LORD your God that I give you.”
Deuteronomy 4:2
“See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from
it.” Deuteronomy 12:32
“Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge
in him. Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.” Proverbs 30:5-6
“I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If
anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this
book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take
away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are
described in this book.” Revelation 22:18-19
Hence, God causing
Muhammad to die in the manner prescribed by the Quran wouldn’t imply the
Quran’s divine origin and veracity, but would be a supernatural sign that
even by the Quranic standard Muhammad died the death
of one accursed and condemned by God; yet not for changing the Quran but for
perverting the teachings of the true prophets and messengers as recorded in
God’s true Word, the Holy Bible.
Lest the reader
think that we are stretching things a bit, note that God even caused a false
prophet named Balaam to utter true oracles and prophecies (cf. Numbers 22-24).
Now this doesn’t mean that God inspired these particular Suras
but that God could have permitted an evil spirit to utter these warnings which
God caused to be fulfilled in order to expose Muhammad. After all, even evil
spirits are used by God to accomplish his purposes! (cf. Job 1:6-12, 2:1-6; 1
Kings 22:19-24; 1 Chronicles 21:1- cf. 2 Samuel 24:1)
The foregoing shows
that, no matter from what angle one looks at this, the conclusion comes out to
be the same: Muhammad died the death of one who was displeasing to God and
condemned by him.