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Satanic Verses (Gharaniq Incident): Difference between revisions
Other verses bolster a potential historical kernal
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[[File:Al-Uzza with Zodiac.jpg|right|170px|thumb|The goddess al-Uzza at the Temple of Winged Lions in Petra.]] | [[File:Al-Uzza with Zodiac.jpg|right|170px|thumb|The goddess al-Uzza at the Temple of Winged Lions in Petra.]] | ||
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. | 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. | ||
{{Quran-range|53|19|20}} mentions their names: "So have you considered al-Lat and al-'Uzza? And Manat, the third - the other one?". One day when reciting these verses in the presence of the Meccan disbelievers while eager to gain acceptance from them, Muhammad reportedly succumbed to temptation from Satan, adding a verse, "They are the exhalted ''gharaniq'' whose intercession is | {{Quran-range|53|19|20}} mentions their names: "So have you considered al-Lat and al-'Uzza? And Manat, the third - the other one?". One day when reciting these verses in the presence of the Meccan disbelievers while eager to gain acceptance from them, Muhammad reportedly succumbed to temptation from Satan, adding a verse, "They are the exhalted ''gharaniq'' whose intercession is hoped for". Gharaniq is thought to mean cranes (the bird), though some interpret it simply to mean female deities or angels. | ||
The report was apparently uncontroversial in the early centuries of Islam, though widely rejected by later Muslim scholars. Modern academic scholars today also generally reject the story, at least in terms of detail, though most agree that an interpolation of verses has occured at almost the same point in the surah. | |||
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. | |||
The report of the satanic verses incident was apparently uncontroversial in the early centuries of Islam, though widely rejected by later Muslim scholars. Modern academic scholars today also generally reject the story, at least in terms of detail, though most agree that an interpolation of verses has occured at almost the same point in the surah. | |||
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In terms of modern historical-critical methods, Sean W. Anthony writes on early and more recent academic trends: "Western scholars subsequently divided into two camps, either affirming or denying the historicity of the story. Nowadays, however, the denialist camp has won the day, as a steady stream of studies by the likes John Burton, Uri Rubin, Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila, Gerald Hawting, Nicolai Sinai, and Patricia Crone have all expressed profound reservations about the historicity of the story."<ref>Anthony, ''The Satanic Verses in Early Shiʿite Literature''. pp. 215-252</ref> | In terms of modern historical-critical methods, Sean W. Anthony writes on early and more recent academic trends: "Western scholars subsequently divided into two camps, either affirming or denying the historicity of the story. Nowadays, however, the denialist camp has won the day, as a steady stream of studies by the likes John Burton, Uri Rubin, Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila, Gerald Hawting, Nicolai Sinai, and Patricia Crone have all expressed profound reservations about the historicity of the story."<ref>Anthony, ''The Satanic Verses in Early Shiʿite Literature''. pp. 215-252</ref> | ||
Some of these scholars have proposed theories as to why such a story may have been concocted (Rubin; Burton). Anthony himself agrees with Rubin that earlier traditions attributed to ʿUrwa b. al-Zubayr about the mass conversion of the Meccans but which do not mention the satanic verses were at a later stage elaborated using elements from the Quran (and presented as the occasion of revelation for Q. 22:52): {{Quran|22|52}} itself which mentions Satan throwing words into the mouths of previous prophets; {{Quran-range|53|19|20}} which mentions the three female deities | Some of these scholars have proposed theories as to why such a story may have been concocted (Rubin; Burton). Anthony himself agrees with Rubin that earlier traditions attributed to ʿUrwa b. al-Zubayr about the mass conversion of the Meccans but which do not mention the satanic verses were at a later stage elaborated using elements from the Quran (and presented as the occasion of revelation for Q. 22:52): {{Quran-range|17|73|74}} which mentions that the Meccans tried to tempt Muhammad into attributing false words to Allah; {{Quran|22|52}} itself which mentions Satan throwing words into the mouths of previous prophets and implicitly the mouth of Muhammad, which were then abrogated; and {{Quran-range|53|19|20}} which mentions the three female deities.<ref>Anthony, ''The Satanic Verses in Early Shiʿite Literature'' pp. 241–245</ref><ref>Rubin, Uri (1995), [https://www.urirubin.com/assets/docs/THE_EYE_OF_THE_BEHOLDER_-_SEARCHABLE.32644548.pdf The eye of the beholder: the life of Muḥammad as viewed by the early Muslims: a textual analysis] Princeton, NJ: Darwin Press, p. 157-61</ref> The observations of Nicolai Sinai, Patricia Crone, and (writing in 2021, a couple of years after Anthony's assessment) Tommaso Tesei all make arguments based on a literary analysis of the text, which either undermine or (Tesei) implicitly support the likelihood of a historical kernal to the story and are discussed below. | ||
Firstly, here are verses 19-32 of Surah an-Najm. The rest of the surah (62 verses) is entirely composed of short verses with three or four Arabic words each on average, though verses 23 and 26-32 shown here in contrast are long verses. | Firstly, here are verses 19-32 of Surah an-Najm. The rest of the surah (62 verses) is entirely composed of short verses with three or four Arabic words each on average, though verses 23 and 26-32 shown here in contrast are long verses. | ||