Convenient Revelations: Difference between revisions

According to traditional Islamic scholars and perhaps the Quran itself, while these "convenient revelations" may appear superficially to be of no use to individuals other than Muhammad, they are in fact spiritually, legally, or theologically instructive in some manner and are thus God is entirely justified to include them in the Quran.

According to critics, this variety of revelation scarcely merits inclusion in a eternal document of divine importance that conceives of itself as "guidance for all of mankind". In this vein, critics often cite the hadith in Sahih Bukhari according to which Aisha, Muhammad's favorite wife, once said to him after such revelation, "I feel that your Lord hastens in fulfilling your wishes and desires."<ref>{{Bukhari|6|60|311|}}</ref> To critics, these highly-personal and suspiciously convenient revelations are evidence that Muhammad simply employed God's voice to get what he wanted, such as, for instance, an exemption from the four-wife limit imposed by Islamic law as well as a last-minute clarification that marrying the ex-wife of one's adopted son was permissible.

According to most historians, the highly convenient revelational circumstance attributed to certain Quranic verses are no more, or even far less reliable as historical documentation than the typical variety of revelational circumstance used to explain the meaning of any other verse in the Quran. To these historians, the vast majority of the hadith corpus was generated many decades after Muhammad's death in order to justify competing legal preferences and in order to explain otherwise context-bereft and incomprehensible passages in the Quran, of which there are many (this end being not entirely distinct from the former). Some other historians, however, prefer to view the the convenient revelational circumstances reported in the hadith as being exceptionally reliable due to their apparently condemnatory nature. The reasoning with these historians is that anecdotes which appear to cast Muhammad in an often negative light could not have been made up by devout Muslims, and thus may actually have historical basis. These two interpretations advanced by historians are not mutually exclusive and are often considered in tandem, with the explanations of some passaged being later inventions and some being historically plausible.

[[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Muhammads Wives and Concubines#Zainab_bint_Jash|Zaynab]] was initially married to Zaid ibn Haritha, Muhammad's adopted son. One day Muhammad paid a visit to Zaid's house to consult with him about a matter, but he was not home. Not expecting Muhammad to be at the door, Zaynab answered the door instead, dressed in a revealing garment. At this moment, Muhammad developed a desire for her. When Zaid learned of his father's infatuation, he divorced Zaynab so Muhammad could marry her. This turned into a scandal among the Arabs, who equated Muhammad's actions with incest. Soon thereafter, Muhammad received the following revelation:

Another passage related to this topic and to Muhammad's marriage of Zaynab in commentaries (such as Tafsir al-Jalalyn [https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=33&tAyahNo=4&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2 here] and Tafsir Ibn Kathir [http://m.qtafsir.com/Surah-Al-Ahzab/Abolition-of-Adoption here] and [http://m.qtafsir.com/Surah-Al-Ahzab/An-Adopted-Child-should-be-nam--- here]) is the following:

When Hafsah found this out and questioned him, Muhammad promised (on oath) not to touch Mary again if Hafsah would keep the occurrence a secret, and promised that Umar (Umar's dad) and Abu Bakr (Aisha's dad) would be his successors. Hafsah, however, did not keep quiet and told Aysha about this event. As a result Muhammad had no interactions with any of his wives for a full month during which he lived with Mary alone.<ref>Gerhard Nehls & Walter Eric - [http://answering-islam.org/Nehls/tt1/tt2.html The Challenge of Islam/ Chapter II] - English Press Limited Nairobi, New Revised Edition 1996, ISBN 9966 895 16 7</ref> In response, Aisha and Hafsa conspired with the rest of the prophet's wives against Muhammad and isolated him from physical relations.

Christian and Jewish polemicists would later mount criticism of Islam on the basis of these story, citing the fact that no such instance of prophets succumbing to Satan's trickery and pronouncing false revelations was found in either the Bible or in Jewish literature. Indeed, Christian and Jewish scripture (scriptures recognized by the Qur'an as containing the words of other prophets) were quoted by these polemicists to the contrary:  

Historians have noted that this exchange is historically suspect because it would not have been possible to confirm whether Muhammad had in fact given the correct responses to these questions regarding the hereafter and the science of reproduction ''if only a prophet could know them.'' Abdullah bin Salman wanted to confirm whether Muhammad was a prophet. To do this, he supposedly asked Muhammad questions only a prophet could answer. But Abdullah bin Salman should then have been unable to verify the correctness of these responses, rendering the questions pointless. To historians, this hadith is thus likely later fabrication.

Muhammad, having received the version of {{Quran|4|95}} contained in the Quran today, called on Zaid to write down the revelation. Muhammad began to recite the verse about the superiority of those who participate in [[Jihad in Islamic Law|jihad]] to Zaid. A blind man, overhearing the verse, asked if the verse applied to him, considering that he was blind and could not participate in jihad. Muhammad then immediately received revelation exempting disabled persons from partaking in Jihad.{{Quote|{{Bukhari|6|61|512}}|Narrated Al-Bara:<br/>

Once, major Meccan chiefs were sitting in the assembly of Mohammad, and he was earnestly engaged in trying to persuade them to accept Islam. At that point, a blind man, named Abdallah ibn Umm Makhtum, approached seeking explanation of some point concerning Islam. Muhammad disliked this interruption and ignored the blind man. Later, remorseful, Muhammad received a revelation acknowledging the blind man's plight. The blind man was thus made to feel better about his unpleasant encounter with Muhammad.