Satanic Verses (Gharaniq Incident): Difference between revisions

The''' Satanic Verses''' (also the حديثة الغرانيق ''Gharaniq incident'') was an incident where Prophet [[Muhammad]] reportedly acknowledged Allat, Manat, and al-Uzza, three deities or angels of the [[Pre-Islamic Arab Religion in Islam|Pagan]] Meccans in a [[Qur'an|Qur'anic]] [[revelation]], only to later recant and claim they were the words of the Devil.

In another passage ({{Quran|22|52}} and surrounding context), Satan is blamed for verses which were interpreted in a regrettable way by Muhammad's enemies and then abrogated. {{Quran-range|17|73|74}} in an [[Chronological Order of the Qur'an|earlier]] surah mentions an occasion when they had almost tempted him to compromise his message a little.

Among the sira literature to record the story are four early major [[Sirat Rasul Allah|biographies of Muhammad]]; al-Waqidi,<ref name="Uri">Rubin, Uri (14 August 2008), "[http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/entry?entry=q3_COM-00126 Muhammad]", in Dammen McAuliffe, Jane, ''Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān'', Georgetown University, Washington DC: Brill</ref> Ibn Saad,<ref>Ibn Sa'd's "Kitab al Tabaqat al Kabir" (Book of the Major Classes), Volume 1, parts 1 and 2, pp. 236 - 239, translated by S. Moinul Haq, published by the Pakistan Historical Society.</ref> al-[[Tabari]],<ref>Al-Tabari (838? – 923 A.D.), The History of al-Tabari (Ta’rikh al-rusul wa’l-muluk), Vol. VI: Muhammad at Mecca, pp. 107-112. Translated by W. M. Watt and M.V. McDonald, State University of New York Press, Albany, NY, 1988, ISBN: 0-88706-707-7, pp. 107-112.</ref> and Ibn Ishaq.<ref>Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah, Translated by A. Guillaume, Oxford University Press, Oxford, England, (Re-issued in Karachi, Pakistan, 1967, 13th impression, 1998) 1955, p. 146-148.</ref> In [[Sahih]] Bukhari and other major hadith collections, it is recorded that Muhammad performed a prostration when he finished reciting Surat-an-Najm, and all the Muslims and pagans prostrated, though the Satanic verses are not mentioned.<ref>"''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.''" - {{Bukhari|6|60|385}}</ref> Another version includes the element in which one man puts dust to his forehead instead of prostrating, though here it is portrayed as an act of disrespect instead of infirmity.<ref>"'' Narrated `Abdullah bin Mas`ud: The Prophet (ﷺ) recited Surat-an-Najm (53) and prostrated while reciting it and all the people prostrated and a man amongst the people took a handful of stones or earth and raised it to his face and said, "This is sufficient for me. Later on I saw him killed as a non-believer."''" - {{Bukhari|2|19|176}}</ref> Professor Sean W. Anthony writes that these are truncated versions of the story with the Satanic verse elements expurgated, though that foundational narrative remains their implicit context.<ref name="Anthony2019">{{Cite journal |last=Anthony |first=Sean W. |date=2019 |title=The Satanic Verses in Early Shiʿite Literature: A Minority Report on Shahab Ahmed’s Before Orthodoxy |url=https://www.academia.edu/38941116/_The_Satanic_Verses_in_Early_Shi%CA%BFite_Literature_A_Minority_Report_on_Shahab_Ahmed_s_Before_Orthodoxy_Shii_Studies_Review_3_2019_215_252 |journal=Shii Studies Review |volume=3 |pages=226-27.}}</ref>