Exposing Islam

Part 16 – The Satanic Verses Incident

When Muhammad Spoke Words From Satan: Islam’s Most Embarrassing Story

Introduction: Why This Incident Matters

In Islamic history, few episodes are as controversial and damaging to the claim of divine perfection as the so-called Satanic Verses incident — known in Arabic as Qissat al-Gharaniq.

According to multiple early Islamic sources, Muhammad mistakenly recited verses from Satan, presenting them as revelations from Allah. These verses endorsed pagan deities, and Muhammad’s followers and enemies alike believed them to be genuine Qur’anic revelation — until he later retracted them, claiming they came from the devil.

For a religion that rests on the doctrine of ʿIsmah (the prophetic infallibility of Muhammad in conveying revelation), this is catastrophic. If Satan could trick Muhammad once, what stops it from happening again?

Section 1 – The Story According to Early Islamic Sources

The incident is narrated in the works of:

Al-Tabari (Ta’rikh al-Rusul wa’l-Muluk, d. 923 AD)
Ibn Ishaq (Sīrat Rasūl Allāh, via Ibn Hisham)
Ibn Sa’d (Kitāb al-Ṭabaqāt al-Kabīr, d. 845 AD)
Al-Waqidi (d. 823 AD)
Early tafsir (commentary) literature, e.g., al-Baydawi, al-Suyuti.

The Event

Muhammad was reciting Surah an-Najm (53) to the Quraysh in Mecca. When he reached verses 19–20, which mention the pagan goddesses al-Lat, al-Uzza, and Manat, Satan allegedly caused him to utter additional lines:

“These are the exalted gharaniq (lofty cranes),
whose intercession is to be hoped for.”

These verses appeared to endorse pagan intercession — directly contradicting Islam’s core monotheistic message.

The Quraysh, previously hostile to Muhammad, prostrated with him at the end of the surah. Peace briefly reigned between Muslims and Meccans.

Later, the angel Jibril (Gabriel) allegedly corrected Muhammad, telling him these words did not come from Allah but from Satan. The verses were removed from the Qur’an and replaced with the current form of Surah 53.

Section 2 – Why This is So Damaging

1. Breakdown of Infallibility

Islam teaches that prophets are protected from delivering false revelation. This incident directly contradicts that doctrine.

2. Trustworthiness of the Qur’an

If Satan could insert false verses once, the possibility exists that other parts of the Qur’an could also be corrupted.

3. Contradiction with Qur’anic Claims

The Qur’an asserts:

“Falsehood cannot approach it from before or behind” (41:42).
“It is nothing but revelation sent down” (53:4).
The Satanic Verses show that falsehood did approach it.

4. Theological Consequences

If Muhammad could be tricked, then the Qur’an’s divine preservation is not supernatural, but vulnerable to human error and satanic influence.

Section 3 – The Original Historical Context

Tensions in Mecca

Muhammad’s early preaching had alienated the Quraysh.
His followers were small in number and facing persecution.
The Meccan economy was heavily tied to the Kaaba’s pagan worship.

By endorsing the pagan goddesses (even briefly), Muhammad seemed to offer a compromise — monotheism without completely erasing the old religion.

Impact

The Quraysh saw Muhammad as less of a threat.
Muslims in exile (in Abyssinia) allegedly began returning to Mecca after hearing of the reconciliation.

This was short-lived. Once Muhammad retracted the verses, hostilities resumed — and the persecution of Muslims intensified.

Section 4 – Early Muslim Acceptance of the Story

What makes this incident impossible to dismiss as an “Orientalist fabrication” is that early Muslim historians themselves recorded it without shame.

Al-Tabari writes in detail about the satanic insertion, citing multiple chains of narration (isnads).
Ibn Ishaq (via al-Tabari) gives similar details.
Al-Waqidi and Ibn Sa’d also preserve the account.
Tafsir al-Baydawi (13th century) openly discusses it.

The very fact that Muslim historians preserved this embarrassing account makes it more likely to be historical — because fabricating a story that damages Muhammad’s reputation would serve no purpose for early Muslim apologists.

Section 5 – Attempts to Erase the Story

Later Muslim scholars, realizing the theological danger, tried to suppress or reinterpret the story.

Approach 1 – Total Denial

Scholars like Ibn Kathir (14th century) declared the story fabricated.
They attacked the chains of narration, claiming weaknesses.
Problem: The story exists in multiple early, independent chains — making total fabrication improbable.

Approach 2 – Reinterpretation

Some tried to argue:

Muhammad never said the verses aloud; Satan whispered them into the ears of the listeners.
Or the words were hallucinated by the Quraysh, not uttered by Muhammad.

These explanations strain credibility — they contradict the plain wording of the early sources, where Muhammad himself recited the words.

Section 6 – Qur’anic “Confirmation” of the Incident

Ironically, the Qur’an itself appears to acknowledge the possibility of prophetic error due to satanic interference:

“Never did We send a messenger or prophet before you but that when he recited (the message), Satan threw into his recitation. But Allah abolishes that which Satan throws in, then Allah makes precise His verses.”
— Qur’an 22:52

This verse, revealed according to Islamic tradition immediately after the Satanic Verses incident, is interpreted by many early commentators as referring to that exact event.

This admission undercuts later Muslim denials — the Qur’an itself concedes that Satan’s interference in prophetic recitation is real.

Section 7 – Scholarly Assessment

Muslim Scholarship

Early scholars: Recorded the story without much theological panic — perhaps because prophetic infallibility doctrine was less developed in the first century of Islam.
Later scholars: Embarrassed by the implications, they attacked the isnads and promoted alternative readings.

Non-Muslim Scholarship

Western historians like William Muir, Montgomery Watt, and Patricia Crone accept the event as historically plausible.
It fits the principle of embarrassment — no believer would invent it.
It explains the brief Quraysh-Muslim reconciliation mentioned in early sources.

Section 8 – Logical Implications

Let’s break it down logically:

Premise 1: The Qur’an is supposed to be perfectly protected from error or satanic influence.
Premise 2: Multiple early Islamic sources record Muhammad delivering satanically inspired verses.
Premise 3: The Qur’an itself (22:52) admits Satan can “throw into” prophetic recitation.
Conclusion: The Qur’an’s claim to perfect divine protection is contradicted by Islamic tradition and its own text.

Section 9 – Apologetic Rebuttals and Counter-Responses

Rebuttal 1: “The story is weak in hadith terms.”

Counter: Weakness in some chains doesn’t erase multiple early attestations from different authors — all from within the Muslim tradition.

Rebuttal 2: “It was Satan whispering to listeners, not Muhammad speaking.”

Counter: The earliest sources explicitly say Muhammad spoke the words and that Gabriel corrected him.

Rebuttal 3: “This was a test from Allah.”

Counter: A test involving the prophet delivering false revelation undermines the claim that Allah’s word is perfectly safeguarded.

Section 10 – Why Muslims Avoid This Topic

Many Muslims today have never heard of the Satanic Verses incident. Reasons:

Deliberate censorship in Islamic education.
Fear of theological collapse if it becomes widely known.
The association with Salman Rushdie’s book has made even academic discussion dangerous in some countries.

Section 11 – The Cumulative Damage to Islam

The Satanic Verses incident is not an isolated flaw. It connects to:

Part 15 (The Problem of Muhammad’s Late Biography) — because the story survives only through later, politically shaped sources.
Part 2 (Variant Qur’ans) — showing that the Qur’anic text was not as fixed as claimed.
Part 18–19 (Hadith reliability and fabrication) — since later scholars tried to erase this episode from the record.

It represents a real-time breach in the wall of prophetic infallibility, caught in the act — and documented by Islam’s own historians.

Conclusion: A Prophet Fooled by Satan

The Satanic Verses incident shatters one of Islam’s central claims: that Muhammad delivered Allah’s message without error or interference.

Instead, it paints a picture of:

A prophet under immense social and political pressure.
Willing to compromise his message to gain temporary peace.
Later claiming divine correction to cover the error.

Whether viewed historically or theologically, this event fatally undermines the Qur’an’s claim of divine immunity from corruption.

If Satan could insert false verses once — verses that were publicly recited, accepted by Muslims, and integrated into worship — then the claim that “falsehood cannot approach it” is simply untrue.

Next in series Part 17: Contradictory Alcohol Rulings