Mohammed Deceived by Fake Gabriel & Muslims Decieved by Mohammed

Ibn Hisham and al-Tabari The story appears in al-Tabari, who includes Ibn Ishaq in the chain of transmission, but not in Ibn Hisham , who admits in the preface of his text that he omitted matters from Ibn Ishaq's biography that "would distress certain people". Welch holds the report has not been presumably present in the Ibn Ishaq. Due to its defective chain of narration, the tradition of the Satanic Verses never made it into any of the canonical hadith compilations though see below for possible truncated versions of the incident that did.

The second was that the descriptions of the chain of transmission extant since that period are not complete and sound sahih. Imam Fakhr al-Din al-Razi commenting on Surah He then reported that the preeminent Muhaddith Ibn Khuzaymah said: Al-Razi also recorded that al-Bayhaqi stated that the narration of the story was unreliable because its narrators were of questionable integrity. Those scholars who acknowledged the historicity of the incident apparently had a different method for the assessment of reports than that which has become standard Islamic methodology.

For example, Ibn Taymiyyah took the position that since tafsir and sira-maghazi reports were commonly transmitted by incomplete isnads, these reports should not be assessed according to the completeness of the chains but rather on the basis of recurrent transmission of common meaning between reports. While Ibn Hajar al-Asqallani wrote: And when one incident is reported from many different chains, then it means there is something real in this incident. Moreover, this incident has also been narrated through 2 Mursal where chain goes upto Successer i. Tabai traditions, whose chains of narration are authentic according to the standards of Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim.

Ibn Arabi and Qadhi Ayyad say there is no proof of this incident, but contrary to their claim when one incident comes through different chain of narrations, then it means that this incident is real.

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While there are not only multiple chain of narrations about this incident, but also 3 of them are authentic while 2 of them are Mursal narrations. While the authors of the tafsir texts during the first two centuries of the Islamic era do not seem to have regarded the tradition as in any way inauspicious or unflattering to Muhammad, it seems to have been universally rejected by at least the 13th century, and most modern Muslims likewise see the tradition as problematic, in the sense that it is viewed as "profoundly heretical because, by allowing for the intercession of the three pagan female deities, they eroded the authority and omnipotence of Allah.

But they also hold All modern Muslim scholars have rejected the story. Haykal points out the many forms and versions of the story and their inconsistencies and argues that "the contextual flow of Surah 'al Najm' does not allow at all the inclusion of such verses as the story claims". Haykal quotes Muhammad Abduh who pointed out that the "Arabs have nowhere described their gods in such terms as 'al gharaniq'. Neither in their poetry nor in their speeches or traditions do we find their gods or goddesses described in such terms.

Rather, the word 'al ghurnuq' or 'al gharniq' was the name of a black or white water bird, sometimes given figuratively to the handsome blond youth. Aqa Mahdi Puya has said that these fake verses were shouted out by the Meccans to make it look like it was Muhammad who said it; he writes:. Some pagans and hypocrites planned secretly to recite words praising idolatry alongside the recitation of the Holy Prophet, while he was praying, in such a way that the people would think as if they were recited by him. Once when the Holy Prophet was reciting verses 19 and 20 of Najm one of the pagans recited: As soon as this was recited the conspirators shouted in delight to make the people believe that it was the Holy Prophet who said these words.

Here, the Quran is stating the general pattern the enemies of the messengers of Allah followed when they were positively convinced that the people were paying attention to the teachings of the messengers of Allah and sincerely believing in them. They would mix their false doctrines with the original teachings so as to make the divine message a bundle of contradictions.

This kind of satanic insertions are referred to in thus verse, and it is supported by Ha Mim: It is sheer blasphemy to say that satanic forces can influence the messengers of Allah. This entire matter was a mere footnote to the back-and-forth of religious debate, [ citation needed ] and was rekindled only when Salman Rushdie 's novel, The Satanic Verses , made headline news. The novel contains some fictionalized allusions to Islamic history, which provoked both controversy and outrage.

Muslims around the world protested the book's publishing, and Iran 's Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa sentencing Rushdie to death, saying that the book blasphemed Muhammad and his wives. Since William Muir, the historicity of this episode has been largely accepted by orientalists. William Montgomery Watt and Alfred Guillaume claim that stories of the event were true based upon the implausibility of Muslims fabricating a story so unflattering to their prophet: Welch , in the Encyclopaedia of Islam , argues that the "implausibility" argument alone is insufficient to guarantee the tradition's authenticity.

Welch states that the story falsely claims that the chapter Several other details in the setting of the story, such as the mosque and the sajda, do not belong to the Meccan phase of Muhammad's career. He says that the above analysis does not rule out "the possibility of some historical kernel behind the story. John Burton argued for its fictitiousness based upon a demonstration of its actual utility to certain elements of the Muslim community — namely, those legal exegetes seeking an "occasion of revelation" for eradicative modes of abrogation.

Burton further notes that different versions of the story are all tracable to one single narrator Muhammad ibn Ka'b, two generations removed from Ibn Ishaq, but not contemporary with the event. Hawting writes that the satanic verses incident would not serve to justify or exemplify a theory that God reveals something and later replaces it himself with another true revelation.

Maxime Rodinson finds that it may reasonably be accepted as true "because the makers of Muslim tradition would never have invented a story with such damaging implications for the revelation as a whole. Further, it diminished Muhammad's own authority by giving the priests of Uzza, Manat, and Allat the ability to pronounce oracles contradicting his message. Disparagement from Christians and Jews, who pointed out [ where? However, in doing so he denounced the gods of Mecca as lesser spirits or mere names, cast off everything related to the traditional religion as the work of pagans and unbelievers, and consigned the Meccan's pious ancestors and relatives to Hell.

This was the final break with the Quraysh. Fred Halliday states that rather than having damaging implications, the story is a cautionary tale, the point of which is "not to malign God but to point up the frailty of human beings," and that even a prophet may be misled by shaytan — though ultimately shaytan is unsuccessful. Since John Wansbrough 's contributions to the field in the early s, though, scholars have become much more attentive to the emergent nature of early Islam, and less willing to accept back-projected claims of continuity:.

To those who see the tradition as constantly evolving and supplying answers to question that it itself has raised, the argument that there would be no reason to develop and transmit material which seems derogatory of the Prophet or of Islam is too simple. For one thing, ideas about what is derogatory may change over time.

We know that the doctrine of the Prophet's infallibility and impeccability the doctrine regarding his 'isma emerged only slowly.

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For another, material which we now find in the biography of the Prophet originated in various circumstances to meet various needs and one has to understand why material exists before one can make a judgment about its basis in fact In Rubin's recent contribution to the debate, questions of historicity are completely eschewed in favor of an examination of internal textual dynamics and what they reveal about early medieval Islam.

Rubin claims to have located the genesis of many prophetic traditions and that they show an early Muslim desire to prove to other scriptuaries "that Muhammad did indeed belong to the same exclusive predestined chain of prophets in whom the Jews and the Christians believed. He alleges that the Muslims had to establish the story of Muhammad's life on the same literary patterns as were used in the vitae of the other prophets". Although there could be some historical basis for the story, in its present form it is certainly a later, exegetical fabrication.

Rubin also claimed that the supposed temporary control taken by Satan over Muhammad made such traditions unacceptable to early hadith compilers, which he believed to be a unique case in which a group of traditions are rejected only after being subject to Qur'anic models, and as a direct result of this adjustment. Muhammad is persecuted by the Meccans after attacking their idols, during which time a group of Muslims seeks refuge in Abyssinia. After the cessation of this first round of persecution fitna they return home, but soon a second round begins. No compelling reason is provided for the caesura of persecution, though, unlike in the incident of the satanic verses, where it is the temporary fruit of Muhammad's accommodation to Meccan polytheism.

The traditions actually state that all cognizant creatures took part in it, humans as well as jinns. Rubin further argues that this is inherently illogical without the Satanic Verses in the recitation, given that in the accepted version of verses Q. Some traditions even describe his eventual comeuppance, saying he is later killed at the battle of Badr. And "traditions which originally related the dramatic story of temptation became a sterilized anecdote providing prophetic precedent for a ritual practice".

I circa CE:. The prophet was eager for the welfare of his people, desiring to win them to him by any means he could. When the prophet saw his people turning away from him, and was tormented by their distancing themselves from what he had brought to them from God , he longed in himself for something to come to him from God which would draw him close to them.

With his love for his people and his eagerness for them, it would gladden him if some of the hard things he had found in dealing with them could be alleviated. He pondered this in himself, longed for it, and desired it. Then God sent down the revelation. Your companion has not erred or gone astray, and does not speak from mere fancy…' [Q. The ignorant Ozim believes him to be the same angel that spoke to Osius before. The evil angel modifies and corrupts the original message given to Ozim by Osius, and renames Ozim Muhammad.

From this followed the erroneous teachings of Islam, according to the Tultusceptrum. Thomas Aquinas was highly critical of Muhammad's character and ethics, claiming that his teachings were largely in conformity to his immoral lifestyle. He wrote in Summa Contra Gentiles:. His teaching also contained precepts that were in conformity with his promises, and he gave free rein to carnal pleasure. In all this, as is not unexpected, he was obeyed by carnal men.

As for proofs of the truth of his doctrine, he brought forward only such as could be grasped by the natural ability of anyone with a very modest wisdom Nor do divine pronouncements on the part of preceding prophets offer him any witness. On the contrary, he perverts almost all the testimonies of the Old and New Testaments by making them into fabrications of his own, as can be seen by anyone who examines his law.

It was, therefore, a shrewd decision on his part to forbid his followers to read the Old and New Testaments, lest these books convict him of falsity. It is thus clear that those who place any faith in his words believe foolishly. Martin Luther referred to Muhammad as "a devil and first-born child of Satan. In the early 20th century Western scholarly views of Muhammad changed, including critical views. In the Catholic Encyclopedia Gabriel Oussani states that Muhammad was inspired by an "imperfect understanding" of Judaism and Christianity, but that the views of Luther and those who call Muhammad a "wicked impostor", a "dastardly liar" and a "willful deceiver" are an "indiscriminate abuse" and "unsupported by facts.

Margoliouth "give us a more correct and unbiased estimate of Muhammad's life and character, and substantially agree as to his motives, prophetic call, personal qualifications, and sincerity. Muir, Marcus Dods and others have suggested that Muhammad was at first sincere, but later became deceptive. Koelle finds "the key to the first period of Muhammad's life in Khadija , his first wife," after whose death he became prey to his "evil passions. Muhammad's] own devoted adherents. In his work Satyarth Prakash , Dayanand Saraswati , the founder of Arya Samaj , quoted and interpreted several verses of the Koran and described Muhammad as "pugnacious", an "imposter", and one who held out "a bait to men and women, in the name of God, to compass his own selfish needs.

Sharma examined in detail the "marvelous powers" of Muhammad, the "products of his body", and every feature of his "marital and sexual relations", and ended the book by saying that such a person could not have been a divine messenger. Described as a "brutal satire" by Gene Thursby, it described a dream purportedly experienced by the author in which he mounts a mysterious animal and sees various Hindu and Sikh deities and Gurus in the realm of salvation.

Criticism of Muhammad

Jai Maharaj, sponsor of the Satyameva Jayate website, wrote that Muhammad was "in fact a terrorist, criminal and murderer whose entire life was based on victimizing innocents and indulging in mindless violence, carnage and massacre. It made its debut performance in Lille on 25 April The play is a study of religious fanaticism and self-serving manipulation based on an episode in the traditional biography of Muhammad in which he orders the murder of his critics.

Voltaire described the play as "written in opposition to the founder of a false and barbarous sect to whom could I with more propriety inscribe a satire on the cruelty and errors of a false prophet". In a letter to Frederick II of Prussia in Voltaire ascribes to Muhammad a brutality that "is assuredly nothing any man can excuse" and suggests that his following stems from superstition and lack of Enlightenment. Modern critics have criticized Muhammad for preaching beliefs that are incompatible with democracy ; Somali - Dutch feminist writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali has called him a "tyrant" [55] and a "pervert".

Neuroscientist and prominent ideological critic Sam Harris contrasts the example of Muhammad with that of Jesus Christ. While he regards Christ as something of a "hippie" figure, Muhammad is an altogether different character and one whose example "as held in Islam is universally not [that of] a pacifist," but rather one of a "conquering warlord who spread the faith by the sword. Harris says that the example of Muhammad provides an imperative to "convert, subjugate, or kill" and "the core principle of Islam is Jihad. A Vanity Fair article described the video as "Exceptionally amateurish, with disjointed dialogue, jumpy editing, and performances that would have looked melodramatic even in a silent movie, the clip is clearly designed to offend Muslims, portraying Mohammed as a bloodthirsty murderer and Lothario and pedophile with omnidirectional sexual appetites.

According to contemporary historians, Muhammad had no intention to abolish slavery, [17] [62] which was already practiced in pre-Islamic Arabia , as he saw it "as part of the natural order of things", [17] [62] but rather he wanted to reform it to improve the condition of slaves, and exhorted his followers to treat them more humanely. They are God's people like unto you and be kind unto them".

In addition, Stark contrasts Islam with Christianity, implying that Christian theologians wouldn't have been able to "work their way around the biblical acceptance of slavery" if Jesus had owned slaves like Muhammad did. Some Western thinkers and Christian evangelicals [ who? Sources, including Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya claim that she was a concubine and not a slave. One of the five pillars of Islam according to the Sunnis , or one of the five Furoo-e-Deen "Branches of Religion," according to Shi'as , Zakat is meant to encourage Muslims to donate money to free slaves and bonded labourers in countries where slaves and bonded labourers may have existed.

The amount of zakat to be paid on capital assets e. Muhammad would send his companions like Abu Bakr and Uthman ibn Affan to buy slaves to free. Many early converts to Islam were the poor and former slaves like Bilal ibn Rabah al-Habashi. Muhammad emphasized the kind treatment of slaves and torturing or mistreating them was forbidden in Islam.

Norman Geisler accuses Muhammad of "mercilessness" towards the Jewish tribes of Medina. Magnanimity or moderation are nowhere discernible as features in the conduct of Mahomet towards such of his enemies as failed to tender a timely allegiance. Over the bodies of the Coreish who fell at Badr, he exulted with savage satisfaction; and several prisoners,—accused of no crime but that of scepticism and political opposition,—were deliberately executed at his command.

The Prince of Kheibar, after being subjected to inhuman torture for the purpose of discovering the treasures of his tribe, was, with his cousin, put to death on the pretext of having treacherously concealed them: The perfidious attack at Nakhla, where the first blood in the internecine war with the Coreish was shed, although at first disavowed by Mahomet for its scandalous breach of the sacred usages of Arabia, was eventually justified by a pretended revelation.

And what is perhaps worst of all, the dastardly assassination of political and religious opponents, countenanced and frequently directed as they were in all their cruel and perfidious details by Mahomet himself, leaves a dark and indelible blot upon his character. Jean de Sismondi suggests that Muhammad had a specific animosity against Jews, because of the few differences that separated two mostly similar cults. He is among the historians suggesting that he killed many Jews through supplice, whereas he was usually known for his clemency.

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Muhammad has been often criticized outside of the Islamic world for his treatment of the Jewish tribes of Medina. The tribe was accused of having engaged in treasonous agreements with the enemies besieging Medina in the Battle of the Trench in Ibn Ishaq writes that Muhammad approved the beheading of some — in all, with some saying as high as —, who surrendered after a siege that lasted several weeks.

According to Norman Stillman , the incident cannot be judged by present-day moral standards. Some historians, such as W. Arafat and Barakat Ahmad , have disputed the historicity of the incident. Robert Spencer pointed out that Muhammad said in one Sunni Hadith: Furthermore, Muhammad said in another Sunni Hadith: And another Sunni Hadith: According to one account, after the last fort of the Jewish settlement called Khaybar was taken by Muhammad and his men, the chief of the Jews, called Kinana ibn al-Rabi , was asked by Muhammad to reveal the location of some hidden treasure.

When he refused, Muhammad ordered a man to torture Kinana, and the man "kindled a fire with flint and steel on his chest until he was nearly dead. Critics take these events, especially the story of the torture of Kinana, to be another blot on Muhammad's character. Some claim that this was yet another story that Ibn Ishaq heard second-hand from Jewish sources, casting doubt on its authenticity. John Esposito , Islam: The Straight Path [].

One of the popular historical criticisms of Muhammad in the West has been his polygynous marriages. Muslims have often pointed out that Muhammad married Khadija a widow whose age is estimated to have been 40 , when he was 25 years old, and remained monogamous to her for more than 24 years until she died. From the 20th century onwards, a common point of contention has been Muhammad's marriage to Aisha , who was said to have been six or seven when betrothed to Muhammad in traditional Islamic sources, [] and nine, or according to Ibn Hisham , ten, when the marriage was consummated upon her reaching puberty.

The Prophet used to lean on my lap and recite Qur'an while I was in menses. The Prophet used to embrace me during my menses. He also used to put his head out of the mosque while he was in Itikaf, and I would wash it during my menses. Colin Turner, a UK professor of Islamic studies , [] states that marriages between an older man and a young girl, consummated once the wife reached what was considered at the time to be adult age, were customary among the Bedouins , and hence Muhammad's marriage would not have been considered improper by his contemporaries. Marriages conducted in absentia to seal an alliance were often contracted at this time between adults and minors who were even younger than Aisha.

This practice continued in Europe well into the early modern period. Critics such as Baptist pastor Jerry Vines and the Dutch Party for Freedom leader Geert Wilders have cited the age of Aisha to denounce Muhammad for having had sex with a nine-year-old, referring to Muhammad as a pedophile. Western criticism has focused especially on the marriage of Muhammad to his first cousin Zaynab bint Jahsh , the divorced wife of Zayd ibn Harithah , an ex-slave whom Muhammad had adopted as his son. There was a covering of haircloth over the doorway, but the wind had lifted the covering so that the doorway was uncovered.

Zaynab was in her chamber, undressed, and admiration for her entered the heart of the Prophet. After that Allah made her unattractive to Zayd and he divorced Zainab. Muhammad seems to have seen her with new eyes and to have fallen in love quite suddenly when he had called at her house one afternoon to speak to Zayd, who happened to be out.

Not expecting any visitors, Zaynab had come to the door in dishabille, more revealingly dressed than usual, and Muhammad had averted his eyes hastily, muttering 'Praise be to Allah, who changes men's hearts! According to William Montgomery Watt, Zaynab herself was working for marriage with Muhammad and was not happy being married to Zayd.

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Since Zaynab was the wife of Muhammad's adopted son, pre-Islamic practices frowned upon such her marriage with the prophet. The marriage was used by Munafiqs of Medina to discredit Muhammad on two fronts, one of double standards as she was his fifth wife, while everyone else was restricted to four, and marrying his adopted son's wife. This was exactly what Muhammad feared and was initially hesitant in marrying her. The Qur'an, however, confirmed that this marriage was valid.

Thus Muhammad, confident of his faith in the Qur'an, proceeded to reject the existing Arabic norms. Thou didst say to one who had received the grace of Allah and thy favour: Then when Zaid had dissolved his marriage with her, with the necessary formality , We joined her in marriage to thee: And Allah's command must be fulfilled. After this verse was announced, Muhammad proceeded to reject the existing Arabic norms on the prohibition to marry the wives of adopted sons, which was considered extremely wrong and incestuous among Arabs.

Zayd reverted to being known by his original name of "Zayd ibn Harithah" instead of "Zayd ibn Muhammad". Orientalists and critics have pointed to this Sura as an example of a self-serving revelation that merely reflects Muhammad's own lust and sexual desires rather than the will of God. John Mason Neale — accused Muhammad of pandering to his followers, arguing that he constructed Islam out of a mixture of beliefs that provided something for everyone.

That Mahomet was not the enthusiast which some semi-infidel or latitudinarian authors have considered him, is evident from the ingenuity with which, while he panders to the passions of his followers, he also infuses into his religion so much of each of those tenets to which the varying sects of his countrymen were addicted, as to enable each and all to please themselves by the belief that the new doctrine was only a reform of, and improvement on, that to which they had been accustomed.

The Christians were conciliated by the acknowledgment of our LORD as the Greatest of Prophets; the Jews, by the respectful mention of Moses and their other Lawgivers; the idolaters, by the veneration which the Impostor professed for the Temple of Mecca, and the black stone which it contained; and the Chaldeans, by the pre-eminence which he gives to the ministrations of the Angel Gabriel, and his whole scheme of the Seven Heavens.

To a people devoted to the gratification of their passions and addicted to Oriental luxury, he appealed, not unsuccessfully, by the promise of a Paradise whose sensual delights were unbounded, and the permission of a free exercise of pleasures in this world. Thomas Patrick Hughes b. The Makkan pilgrimage admits of no other explanation than this, that the Prophet of Arabia found it expedient to compromise with Arabian idolatry. Abraham, the true Muslim, was his prototype, Moses his law-giver, and Jerusalem his Qiblah.

Islamic scholar Yasir Qadhi stated that while non-Muslims believe Muhammad "adopted certain things from paganism and then added his own two cents for us", he instead states that Muhammad resurrected the original teachings of the Islamic prophet Ibrahim , citing an Islamic narrative of a man named Amr Ibn Luhay who later introduced paganism in Arabia.

Muhammad is reported to have had mysterious seizures at the moments of inspiration. According to Philip Schaff — , during his revelations Muhammad "sometimes growled like a camel, foamed at his mouth, and streamed with perspiration.

Why I believe Islam and Islamic belief are false

According to Welch, these seizures should have been the most convincing evidence for the superhuman origin of Muhammad's inspirations for people around him. Others adopted alternative explanations for these seizures and claimed that he was possessed, a soothsayer, or a magician. Welch states it remains uncertain whether Muhammad had such experiences before he began to see himself as a prophet and if so how long did he have such experiences.

The political hostility between Islam and Christianity contributed to the continuation of the accusation of epilepsy throughout the Middle Ages. He pretended to receive all his revelations from the Angel Gabriel , and that he was sent from God of purpose to deliver them unto him. And whereas he was subject to the falling-sickness, whenever the fit was upon him, he pretended it to be a Trance, and that the Angel Gabriel comes from God with some Revelations unto him.

Some modern Western scholars also have a skeptical view of Muhammad's seizures. Freemon states Muhammad had "conscious control over the course of the spells and can pretend to be in a religious trance. Sprenger attributes Muhammad's revelations to epileptic fits or a " paroxysm of cataleptic insanity. Dostoyevsky claimed that his own attacks were similar to those of Muhammad: In an essay that discusses views of Muhammad's psychology, Franz Bul is said to have observed that "hysterical natures find unusual difficulty and often complete inability to distinguish the false from the true", and to have thought this to be "the safest way to interpret the strange inconsistencies in the life of the Prophet.

Modern Western scholars of Islam have rejected the diagnosis of epilepsy. Andrae writes that "[i]f epilepsy is to denote only those severe attacks which involve serious consequences for the physical and mental health, then the statement that Mohammad suffered from epilepsy must be emphatically rejected. Maxime Rodinson says that it is most probable that Muhammad's conditions was basically of the same kind as that found in many mystics rather than epilepsy. Muhammad's condition begins with his career at the age of 40; according to the tradition seizures are invariably associated with the revelation and never occur by itself.

Lastly, a sophisticated society like the Meccan or Medinese would have identified epilepsy clearly and definitely. William Montgomery Watt also disagrees with the epilepsy diagnosis, saying that "there are no real grounds for such a view. Freemon thinks that the above reasons given by modern biographers of Muhammad in rejection of epilepsy come from the widespread misconceptions about the various types of epilepsy.

Freemon cites evidences supporting and opposing this diagnosis. From a Muslim point of view, Freemon says, Muhammed's mental state at the time of revelation was unique and is not therefore amenable to medical or scientific discourse. Megahed, a Muslim neurologist criticized the article arguing that there are no scientific explanations for many religious phenomena, and that if Muhammad's message is a result of psychomotor seizures, then on the same basis Moses' and Jesus' message would be the result of psychomotor seizures.

In response, Freemon attributed such negative reactions to his article to the general misconceptions about epilepsy as a demeaning condition. Freemon said that he did plan to write an article on the inspirational spells of St. Paul , but the existence of such misconceptions caused him to cancel it. Muhammad has been criticized for several omissions during his prophethood: William Muir, like many other 19th-century scholars divides Muhammad's life into two periods— Meccan and Medinan.

He asserts that "in the Meccan period of [Muhammad's] life there certainly can be traced no personal ends or unworthy motives," painting him as a man of good faith and a genuine reformer. However, that all changed after the Hijra , according to Muir. Philip Schaff says that "in the earlier part of his life he [Muhammad] was a sincere reformer and enthusiast, but after the establishment of his kingdom a slave of ambition for conquest" and describes him as "a slave of sensual passion.

Clair Tisdall also accused Muhammad of inventing revelations to justify his own desires. But at Medina he seems to have cast off all shame; and the incidents connected with his marital relations, more especially the story of his marriage with Zainab the wife of his adopted son Zaid, and his connexion with Mary the Coptic slave-girl, are sufficient proof of his unbridled licentiousness and of his daring impiety in venturing to ascribe to GOD Most High the verses which he composed to sanction such conduct.

Margoliouth , another 19th-century scholar, sees Muhammad as a charlatan who beguiled his followers with techniques like those used by fraudulent mediums today.

He has expressed a view that Muhammad faked his religious sincerity, playing the part of a messenger from God like a man in a play, adjusting his performances to create an illusion of spirituality. In order to gain his ends he Muhammad recoils from no expedient, and he approves of similar unscrupulousness on the part of his adherents, when exercised in his interest. He profits to the utmost from the chivalry of the Meccans, but rarely requites it with the like For whatever he does he is prepared to plead the express authorization of the deity.

It is, however, impossible to find any doctrine which he is not prepared to abandon in order to secure a political end. In contemporary terms, Muhammad might have mistaken for divine revelation his own unconscious. Only a profound belief in himself and his mission explains Muhammad's readiness to endure hardship and persecution during the Meccan period when from a secular point of view there was no prospect of success. Without sincerity how could he have won the allegiance and even devotion of men of strong and upright character like Abu-Bakr and 'Umar?

There is thus a strong case for holding that Muhammad was sincere. If in some respects he was mistaken, his mistakes were not due to deliberate lying or imposture [] He believed that he could easily distinguish between his own thinking and these revelations. His sincerity in this belief must be accepted by the modern historian, for this alone makes credible the development of a great religion. The further question, however, whether the messages came from Muhammad's unconscious, or the collective unconscious functioning in him, or from some divine source, is beyond the competence of the historian.

A conviction such as this, which, once firmly established, does not admit of the slightest doubt, exercises an incalculable influence on others. Bernard Lewis , another modern historian, commenting on the common Western Medieval view of Muhammad as a self-seeking impostor, states that [].

The modern historian will not readily believe that so great and significant a movement was started by a self-seeking impostor. Nor will he be satisfied with a purely supernatural explanation, whether it postulates aid of divine or diabolical origin; rather, like Gibbon, will he seek 'with becoming submission, to ask not indeed what were the first, but what were the secondary causes of the rapid growth' of the new faith. Watt rejects the idea that Muhammad's moral behavior deteriorated after he migrated to Medinia. He argues that "it is based on too facile a use of the principle that all power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely".

Watt interprets incidents in the Medinan period in such a way that they mark "no failure in Muhammad to live to his ideals and no lapse from his moral principles.

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June Learn how and when to remove this template message. Mosque of the prophet Possessions Relics. Criticism of Islam and List of critics of Islam. Judaism's views on Muhammad. Christianity and Islam and Muhammad's views on Christians. Medieval Christian views on Muhammad. Islamic views on slavery , Ma malakat aymanukum , and Mukataba.

Arab slave trade , Barbary slave trade , History of slavery in the Muslim world , Slavery in 21st-century Islamism , and Slavery in the Ottoman Empire. Prisoners of war in Islam. War in Islam and Islam and violence. Invasion of Banu Qurayza. Muhammad's marriages have long provided another source of Western criticism of the moral character of the prophet.

And the Prophet ordered them to go where the camels given in alms were assembled, and to drink their milk, which they did, and recovered from their sickness. Then the Prophet ordered their hands and their feet to be cut off as a punishment for theft, and their eyes to be pulled out. But the Prophet did not stop the bleeding, and they died.

In A Dictionary of Islam: Once the natural limits of restraint were overpassed, Mahomet fell an easy prey to his strong passion for the sex. In his fifty-sixth year he married Haphsa; and the following year, in two succeeding months, Zeinab bint Khozeima, and Omm Salma. But his desires were not to be satisfied by the range of a harem already greater than was permitted to any of his followers; rather, as age advanced, they were stimulated to seek for new and varied indulgence. A few months after his nuptials with Zeinab and Omm Salma, the charms of a second Zeinab were by accident discovered too fully before the Prophet's admiring gaze.

She was the wife of Zeid, his adopted son and bosom friend; but he was unable to smother the flame she had kindled in his breast; and, by divine command she was taken to his bed. In the same year he married a seventh wife, and also a concubine. And at last, when he was full threescore years of age, no fewer than three new wives, besides Mary the Coptic slave, were within the space of seven months added to his already well filled harem.

The Life of Mahomet Vol. Smith, Elder and Co. He thus rejects schizophrenic hallucinations thesis arguing that the blunted affect of the schizophrenic can hardly inspire the tenacious loyalty of the early followers. It can not justify the rapid, almost paroxysmal onset of these spells.