What Changed? Why Is the Satanic Verses Incident Now Totally Rejected?

The rejection of the Satanic Verses incident didn’t happen overnight. It was the result of a gradual evolution in Islamic theology, politics, and scholarship, which led to the complete erasure and denial of the event in modern Islam. Below are the key reasons why it was once widely accepted but is now considered false.

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1. Theological Development: Muhammad’s Infallibility (Ismah)

One of the biggest shifts in Islamic theology after Muhammad’s death was the increasing deification of his character—not in the Christian sense, but in the sense that he became seen as incapable of error in conveying revelation.

• Early Islam (7th–8th century): Muhammad was seen as a prophet who could make human mistakes but was ultimately guided by Allah.

• Later Islam (9th century onward): The doctrine of Ismah (prophetic infallibility) became standardized, making it impossible for Muhammad to have mistakenly recited verses from Satan.

🚨 Why this matters:
If Muhammad had recited Satanic verses, even temporarily, it would mean that:

• The Quran was not perfectly preserved.

• Muhammad could be deceived by Satan.

• Islam was, at one point, compromised with paganism.

To protect the image of Islam, scholars had to erase this episode from Islamic history.

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2. The Abbasid Caliphate’s Theological Control (8th–10th Century)

During the early Islamic period, there was a diversity of beliefs about Muhammad’s life. However, under the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258 CE), there was a strong effort to standardize Islamic doctrine.

• The Abbasids sought to present Islam as a flawless, final revelation.

• This meant removing anything that could be used by critics (especially Christians and Jews) to argue that Muhammad was a false prophet.

• The Satanic Verses incident was too damaging, as it suggested that Muhammad was briefly a false prophet under Satan’s influence.

🚨 Why this matters:
The Abbasids began suppressing narratives that contradicted the doctrine of a perfect Islam. This included:

• Removing or declaring weak any hadiths that supported the Satanic Verses.

• Elevating hadiths that made Muhammad seem infallible.

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3. The Shift in Hadith Authentication (9th–10th Century)

During the 9th and 10th centuries, Bukhari (d. 870), Muslim (d. 875), Ibn Kathir (d. 1373), and others compiled the canonical hadith collections. These scholars made decisions on which hadiths were “authentic” (sahih) and which were “weak” (da’if).

• Hadiths that mentioned the Satanic Verses were gradually excluded from major collections.

• Instead, new hadiths were emphasized that portrayed Muhammad as completely protected from error.

🚨 Why this matters:
By the 10th century, the Satanic Verses had been erased from mainstream Sunni Islam. This means that modern Muslims never encounter it in their standard religious education—they only hear about it from Western scholars or critics of Islam.

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4. The Growing Muslim-Christian Polemics (11th–13th Century)

Between the 11th and 13th centuries, Islamic-Christian debates became more intense. Christian scholars used Islam’s early sources to argue that:

• Muhammad was deceived by Satan.

• The Quran was not a perfect revelation.

• Islam’s claim to be a restoration of pure monotheism was false.

🚨 Why this matters:
To counter these attacks, Muslim apologists outright denied the Satanic Verses ever happened. Instead, they began saying it was a lie invented by Christian polemicists, despite the fact that it was recorded in Islam’s own earliest sources.

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5. The Standardization of the Quran & Islamic Narrative (13th Century Onward)

• After the 10th century, Islamic scholars standardized Quranic interpretation.

• By the 13th century, there was only one official narrative of Islam:
  Muhammad was perfect, the Quran was perfectly preserved, and the Satanic Verses incident never happened.

• Any Muslim who accepted the Satanic Verses was seen as going against Islamic orthodoxy.

🚨 Why this matters:
This was not based on evidence but on the need to maintain religious authority. The more Islam became a politically and theologically unified system, the more anything damaging to its image was systematically erased.

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6. The Modern Era (20th Century–Present)

Muslim Scholars Today: Total Denial

• Today, almost all Muslim scholars completely deny that the Satanic Verses incident ever happened.

• They claim it was a fabrication by Orientalists or enemies of Islam.

• Any Muslim scholar who acknowledges it risks being attacked or even excommunicated.

🚨 Why this matters:
Modern Muslims have been trained to reject the Satanic Verses without ever engaging with the evidence. This is not based on research but on religious dogma.

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Conclusion: How Islam Rewrote Its Own History

The Satanic Verses incident was fully accepted in early Islam, but over time, Islamic authorities rewrote history to protect Muhammad’s image. The shift happened due to:

1. The rise of Muhammad’s infallibility doctrine (Ismah).

2. The Abbasid Caliphate’s control over Islamic theology.

3. Hadith authentication suppressing “embarrassing” stories.

4. Muslim-Christian polemics forcing Muslims to defend Islam at all costs.

5. The standardization of Islam’s narrative from the 13th century onward.

6. Modern Muslims being taught total denial without examining early sources.

Today, Muslims who hear about the Satanic Verses for the first time react with shock and disbelief—not realizing that their own scholars once accepted it as historical fact.