The Life of Muhammad

by M. Husayn Haykal

  The Story’s Violence to the Contextual Flow of Surah “al Najm”

  Another proof of the falsity of the story, stronger and more conclusive than the foregoing, is the fact that the contextual flow of surah “al Najm” does not allow at all the inclusion of such verses as the story claims. The surah reads:

  “He has witnessed many of the great signs of his lord. Would you consider the case of al Lat, al ‘Uzza, and of Manat, the third goddess? Would you then ascribe to God the females and to yourselves the males? Wouldn’t that be a wretched ascription? All these are nothing but names, mere names which you and your ancestors had coined. Men are so prone to follow opinion! They credulously fall for the product of their own wishful thinking. But true guidance has indeed come from the Lord.” [Qur’an, 53:18-23]

  The logical and literary flow of these verses is crystal-clear. Al Lat, and al ‘Uzza are mere names devoid of substance given by the past and present unbelievers to works of their own creation. There is no deity such as the word name. The context does not allow any such addition as is here claimed. If, assuming such addition, the text were now to read: “Would you consider the case of al Lat, al ‘Uzza, and of Manat, the third goddess? These are the goddesses on high. Their intercession is to be sought. Would you then ascribe to God the females and to yourselves the males? Wouldn’t that be a wretched ascription?” its corruption and outright self-contradiction become obvious. The text would have praised al Lat, al ‘Uzza,, and Manat as well as condemned them within the space of four consecutive verses. Such a text cannot proceed from any rational being. The contextual background in which the addition is supposed to have been made furnishes unquestionable and final evidence that the story of the goddesses was a forgery. The forgers were probably the zindiqs; and the credulous whose minds are not naturally repulsed by the irrational and the incoherent, accepted the forgery and passed it as true.

  The Linguistic Evidence

  There is yet another argument advanced by the late Shaykh Muhammad ‘Abduh. It consists of the fact 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. The fact is indubitable that the Arabs never looked upon their gods in this manner.

  The Story Contradicts the Fact of Muhammad’s Candidness

  There is yet one more final argument against the story of the goddesses that is based upon the nature of Muhammad’s personal life. Ever since his childhood and throughout his adolescence, adulthood and maturity, he was never known to lie. So truthful was he that he had been nicknamed “al Amin” before he reached his twenty-fifth year of age. His truthfulness was unquestioned by anyone. He himself once addressed the Quraysh after his commission to prophethood : “Suppose I were to tell you that an enemy cavalry was advancing on the other side of this mountain, would you believe me?” His enemies themselves answered: “Yes, indeed! As far as we are concerned, you are innocent, for we have never found you to lie at all.” How can we believe that such a man who had been known to be truthful in his relations with his fellow men from childhood to maturity, would be any less candid in his relation to God? How could such constant truthfulness allow him to lie and ascribe to his God that which He had not said? How could we believe that such a man did so in fear of the people and defiance of Almighty God? That is utterly impossible. Its impossibility is evident to all those who have studied these great; strong and distinguished souls of the prophets and religious leaders known for their dedication to the truth pereat mundus. How can we reconcile such an allegation with Muhammad’s great declaration to his uncle that he will not adjure this cause even if his foes should put the sun in his right hand and the moon in his left? How can we. accept such a claim when it imputes to the Prophet the heinous charge of attributing to God that which God had not said, of violating the very foundation of the religion he was commissioned to proclaim and teach to mankind?

  Furthermore, we may ask, when, according to the story, did Muhammad turn to praise the gods of Quraysh ? Ten years or so after his commission to prophethood, is the reply. But, then that is also after ten years of patient sufferance of all kinds of injury and harm, all kinds of sacrifices, after God had reinforced Islam with the conversion of Hamzah and ‘Umar, and, in short, after the Muslims had begun to feel themselves a significant power in Makkah and the news of their existence and exploits had begun to spread throughout Arabia, indeed to Abyssinia and other corners of the globe. Such a claim is not only uninformed, it is positively silly. The forgers of this story themselves must have realized its inadmissibility and sought to conceal its falsehood with the claim, “Muhammad hardly heard Quraysh’s words of reconciliation once he granted to their gods the honor of interceding with God, when his compromise appeared to him objectionable and he felt compelled to repent and to review the text of revelation with the angel Gabriel when he visited him that same evening.” This concealment, however, exposes the forgery rather than hides it. As long as the compromise appeared objectionable to Muhammad no later than he had “heard Quraysh’s words of reconciliation,” would he have not paused to reconsider it immediately and on the spot? How natural it would have been then for him instantly to recite the true version of the text! We may, therefore, conclude that this story of the goddesses is a fabrication and a forgery, authored by the enemies of Islam after the first century of the Hijrah.

  Attack upon Tawhid [Literally, unitization of God or conviction of His unity, transcendence and absolute uniqueness. Often the term applies to Islam as a whole, to Islamic theology and to monotheism. -Tr.]

  The forgers must have been extremely bold to have attempted their forgery in the most essential principal of Islam as a whole: namely, in the principle of tawhid, where Muhammad had been sent right from the very beginning to make proclamations to all mankind in which he has never accepted any compromise whatever; he was never swayed by anything the Quraysh had offered him whether by way of wealth or royal power. These offers had come, it must be remembered, at a time when Muhammad had very few followers within Makkah. Later persecution by the Quraysh of his companions did not succeed in swaying Muhammad away from the call of his God or away from his mission. The zindiqs’ strategy to work their forgery around the first principle of the faith, where Muhammad was known to be the most adamant, only points to their own inconsequence. Acceptance of the forgery by the credulous only points to their naiveté in the most conspicuous of cases.

  The story of the goddesses, therefore, is absolutely devoid of foundation. It is utterly unrelated to the return of the Muslims from Abyssinia. As we said earlier, the latter returned after the conversion of ‘Umar, the strengthening of Islam with the same tribal solidarity with which he used to fight Islam hitherto, and the compulsion of Quraysh to enter into an armistice with the Muslims. Moreover, the Muslims’ return from Abyssinia was partly due to the revolution which had broken out in that country and to their consequent fear of losing the Negus’s protection. When the Quraysh learned of the Muslims’ return, their fears reached a new level of intensity with the increase of Muhammad’s followers within the city, and, therefore, they sought a new strategy. Their search for a new strategy was concluded with the signing of a pact in which they and their allied clans and tribes resolved to boycott the Banu Hashim in order to prevent any intermarriage with them, to stop all commercial relations and finally, to seek to kill Muhammad if they could only find the means.

  Chapter 7

  The Malevolent Conduct of Quraysh

  The conversion of ‘Umar to Islam reduced the power of Quraysh significantly in that ‘Umar brought with him to the faith the tribal loyalties with which he had fought Islam earlier. He did not hide himself or conceal his Islam. On the contrary he proclaimed it to all the people and fought them for not joining him. He did not at all ap
prove of the Muslims’ hiding themselves or holding prayers in the outskirts of Makkah far beyond the Quraysh’s reach. He continued to struggle against the Quraysh until he could pray near the Ka’bah where his fellow Muslims joined him. Henceforth, Quraysh became certain that no injury inflicted upon Muhammad or his companions would stop men from entering the religion of God since they could now rely upon the tribal protection of ‘Umar, Hamzah, the Negus of Abyssinia, or others capable of protecting them. The Quraysh then sought a new strategy, and agreed among themselves to a written pact in which they resolved to boycott Banu Hashim and Banu ‘Abd al Muttalib completely, prevent any intermarriage with them, and stop all commercial relations. The written pact itself was hung inside the Ka’bah, as was then the practice, for record and sanctification. They thought that this negative policy of boycott, isolation, and starvation would be more effective than the previous policy of harm and injury, though the latter was never stopped. The Quraysh blockaded the Muslims as well as the Banu Hashim and Banu ‘Abd al Muttalib for two or three years during which time they hoped that these tribes would renounce Muhammad and thus cause him to fall under the hand of Quraysh. They had hoped that such a measure would isolate Muhammad and remove all danger from his mission.

  The new strategy of Quraysh served only to strengthen Muhammad’s faith in God and his followers’ determination to protect his person and God’s religion against attack. It did not prevent the spreading of Islam, not only within the bounds of Makkah but outside of it as well. Muhammad’s mission became widely known among the Arabs of the Peninsula, and the new religion became the subject of conversation everywhere. This growth, in turn, increased the fury and determination of Quraysh to oppose and fight the man who abandoned and blasphemed her gods and to prevent the spread of his cause among the Arab tribes. Loyalty of these tribes was indispensable for Makkan commerce and trade relations with other people.

  The Arm of Propaganda

  It is nearly impossible for us to imagine the intensity and extent of the efforts which Quraysh spent in its struggle against Muhammad, or its perseverance during many long years in that struggle. The Quraysh threatened Muhammad and his relatives, especially his uncles. It ridiculed him and his message, and it insulted him as well as his followers. It commissioned its poets to revile him with their sharpest wits and to direct their most caustic sting against his preaching. It inflicted injury and harm on his person and on the persons of his followers. It offered him bribes of money, of royalty and power, of all that which satisfies the most fastidious among men. It not only banished and dispersed his followers from their own country but injured them in their trade and commerce while impoverishing them. It warned him and his followers that war with all its tragedies would fall upon them. As a last resort, it began a boycott of them designed to starve them. All this notwithstanding, Muhammad continued to call men with kind and gentle argument unto the God of truth who sent him as a prophet and a warner. Would Quraysh lay down its arms and believe the man whom it had always known to be truthful and honest? Or would they, under the illusion that they could still win, resort to new means of hostility to save the divine status, of their idols and the hallowed position of Makkah as their museum?

  No! The time had not yet come for the Quraysh to submit and to convert to the new faith. Rather, they were more apprehensive than ever when the religion began to spread outside of Makkah within the Arab tribes. They had still another weapon which, though they had used it right from the very beginning, was yet capable of more power and damage. That was propaganda, or mental warfare, with all it implies by way of debate, counterargument, spreading of false rumors, ridicule of the opponent’s point of view, and positive apologetics in favor of their own view. The development of this weapon was not to be limited to Makkah but would apply to the whole countryside, to the whole desert, and to the tribes of the Peninsula. Threat, bribery, aggression, and gangsterism allayed the need for propaganda within Makkah. There was a great need for it, however, among the thousands who came into Makkah every year for trade or pilgrimage, and among the attendants of the markets of ‘Ukaz, Majannah, and Dhu al Majaz, who later arrived at the Ka’bah for thanksgiving and worship near the Ka’bah idols. Therefore, it was expedient for the Quraysh, the moment the lines of battle against Muhammad were clearly drawn, to plan and organize its propaganda forces. It had all the more reason to do so since Muhammad himself had always taken the initiative of approaching the pilgrim and addressing him on the subject of restricting worship to God alone without associates. The idea of such initiative did not occur to Muhammad until years after his commission to prophethood. At the beginning, revelation had commanded him to warn his nearest relatives. It was only after he had warned Quraysh and those who wanted to convert had converted that his revelation commanded him now to address his warning to the Arabs as a whole. He was later to be commanded to address his call to all mankind.

  The Charge of Magical Eloquence

  As Muhammad began to approach the pilgrims coming from various corners of Arabia with his call to God, a number of Quraysh leaders met with al Walid ibn al Mughirah to consult for a possible strategy. What would they say regarding Muhammad to the Arabs coming for pilgrimage? Their answers to this question should be universally the same; otherwise they would constitute arguments in favor of Muhammad’s claims. Some suggested that they should claim that Muhammad was a diviner. Al Walid rejected this suggestion on the grounds that what Muhammad recited was unlike the secret formulae of common diviners. Others suggested that they should claim that Muhammad was possessed or mad. Al Walid again rejected this view on the grounds that the symptoms of madness or possession were not apparent in Muhammad. Still others suggested that they should claim that Muhammad was a magician, but al Walid again rejected this view on the grounds that Muhammad did not practice the common tricks of magicians. After some discussion, al Walid suggested that they should tell the non-Makkan Arab pilgrim that Muhammad was a magician whose craft was eloquence that by means of eloquent words he was capable of dividing the man against his father, his brother, his spouse and his own tribe. Al Walid advised that they could produce evidence for such nefarious eloquence by pointing to the division which befell Makkah after Muhammad began to practice his craft. Any consideration of the present division, internal struggle, and internecine fighting raging among the Makkans who were once the exemplars of tribal solidarity and social unity would convince the observer that Muhammad’s influence had brought the worst. During the pilgrimage season the Quraysh made a special effort to warn every visitor to Makkah against ever lending his ear to Muhammad for fear that he would be mesmerized by his magic eloquence and then suffer in turn the same evils that had befallen Makkah and thus bring about a general war in Arabia detrimental to all.

  Al Nadr ibn al Harith

  A mental warfare of such order could not be expected to withstand or counteract Muhammad’s so-called magic eloquence all alone. If genuine truth were to come on the wings of this so-called magic eloquence, what would prevent the people from accepting it? Is the acknowledgment of the distinction of the antagonist and the acknowledgment of the inferiority of the protagonist ever successful as a propaganda weapon? There must needs be other fronts on which to attack Muhammad in addition to this proposed mental warfare. Let the Quraysh seek this second front with al Nadr ibn al Harith. The said al Nadr was one of the sophisticated geniuses of Quraysh. He had studied at al Hirah the history, religion, wisdom, theories of good and evil, cosmology, arid other literature of the Persians. Whenever Muhammad finished preaching his faith in an assembly calling men to God, and warning them of the consequences on the Day of Judgment taking the bygone peoples and civilizations as examples of such divine punishment for failure to worship God-al Nadr would rise and tell his fellow Makkans about Persia and its religion. He would conclude by asking the assembly, “Why is Muhammad’s speech better than mine? Does he not draw from the tales of antiquity just as I do?” The Quraysh used to memorize al Nadr’s speeches and stat
ements and circulate them around and outside Makkah as countermeasures to the claims of Muhammad and his message.

  Jabr, the Christian

  Muhammad used to tarry at the shop of a Christian youth called Jabr whenever he passed by the Marwah quarter of Makkah. The Quraysh took advantage of the fact and began to spread the rumor that this Christian Jabr had taught Muhammad all that he knew and that if anyone were expected to apostatize from the religion of his ancestors, the Christian should be the first one to do so. As this rumor spread, revelation itself answered the claim in the verse: “We know they claim that the Qur’an is taught to him by another man. But the man whom they suspect is Persian of tongue, whereas the tongue of this Qur’an is pure and clear Arabic.”[Qur’an,16:103]

  Al Tufayl ibn ‘Amr al Dawsa

  With this and like feats of propaganda the Quraysh sought to fight Muhammad in hope of achieving by these means more than they did by means of injury and harm to his person and followers. The clear and simple might of truth, however, shone brilliantly in Muhammad’s preaching. While the struggle between the two forces continued, Islam spread more and more widely among the Arabs. When al Tufayl ibn ‘Amr al Dawsi, a nobleman of great poetic talent, arrived in Makkah, he was immediately approached by the Quraysh and warned against Muhammad and his magical eloquence. They admonished him that Muhammad’s craft might well divide him and his people and that his tribe might well suffer the same evil as had befallen Makkah. They asked him not to visit Muhammad or hear him if he wanted to avoid the evil. Al Tufayl, however, went one day to the Ka’bah and there heard a little of the preaching of Muhammad and liked it. He then thought, “Woe to me! Am I, the intelligent poet, the mature man, to fear that I may not distinguish between the genuinely beautiful and the really ugly in human discourse? Shouldn’t I go to Muhammad, hear all that he has to say and apply my own judgment? If I should find it good, why shouldn’t I accept it? And if I find it evil, surely I shall avoid it.” He followed Muhammad one day to his house and there told him exactly what. he thought and what he had decided. Muhammad welcomed him, presented to him the new religion, and recited for him the Qur’an. Al Tufayl was immediately converted, recited the confession of truth, and returned to his people a missionary for Islam. He was responsible for the conversion of many, though not all, of his tribesmen. For many years, he continued his missionary activity and succeeded in converting the greater number of them. He and they joined themselves to the forces of Muhammad after the conquest of Makkah once the political structure of the Islamic community began to crystallize.