The Satanic Verses and the Arabian triple goddess

NOTE that only Jesus Christ is raised from the dead and ascended into heaven and shall return from heaven in the same flesh - His Parousia, Nuzul i Isa-Qiyamah - to raise and judge all men.


Traditional Catholic Prayers: The Miracles of Jesus

Gospel of John 14:6

Yeshua said to him, “I AM THE LIVING GOD, The Way and The Truth and The Life; no man comes to my Father but by me alone.”

Jesus saith to him: I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me.

We absolutely center on Jesus Christ, the Word of God because all knowledge of God the Father in the Holy Spirit is through Him, the pre-existent Immortal Word, Wisdom, Power, Son of God.

The Major miracles of Jesus Christ, the Word of God.

1) Creation of all that has been created, from nothing. Creatio ex nihilo. This happened just like He, the Word of Truth said it did. See Genesis and Gospel of John at the beginning.

2) His Incarnation by the Holy Spirit and the blessed virgin Mary.

3) The Epiphany

4) The Transfiguration

5) The Crucifixion - that is the self willed Sacrifice of the Son of God, who couldn't die of His nature as God, for our Salvation by His Kenosis.

6) The Resurrection in the Flesh of the Immortal Son of God.

7) The Ascension in the Flesh into the third heaven, to the right hand of God the Father, of the Immortal Son of God.

8) Pentecost.

9) His pure and undefiled Eucharist.

future:

10) His Second Coming from heaven with all of His elect angels.

11) The General Resurrection and Judgement of all men.

12) The recreation of the heavens and earth.

Pray the: Prayer Against Evil

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Iran, home of the real Saracens - the willing Arab Persian set up of the whole Middle East
 
click on picture

The Vatican and the American and French CIAs created the Iran of the Ayatollah and just in time to help promote the idea of total intolerance on the part of Muslims, Salman Rushdie walked right into a long held discussion within Islam and outside of it that hitherto had provoked no rash nor hateful reactions, the discussion on the Satanic verses in the history of Islam and the Quran. The Fatwa on Rushdie is history.


Actually, a wide range of conclusions were allowed within Islam on this subject of the Satanic verses.

Briefly here are the basics.

The Satanic verses are held to be a temptation of Satan to take Muhammad away from truth and into error.

They concern the pagan triple goddess of pre-Islamic idolatry, which was Al-Lat and Al-'Uzza and Manat. The triple goddess was in many forms throughout the ancient world. Today the neo-pagan, that is the Ecumenical form, is a totally false version of the blessed virgin Mary as a goddess ascended and the fourth person of the Trinity and the essence of the Trinity according to Sergei Bulgakov (adopted by the Vatican II council of Satan) of the Russian Nationalist Communist Pantheist false christian Russian State Church (condemned by the Russian Orthodox Church when they still retained Christian faith - that Church went into exile and still is not present again in Russia). Beware!, this will be used by Russian Nationalists like Putin to subvert both Christians and Muslims to the Dajjal, the Antichrist.

The basic problem for Islam in the matter lies in pre-Islamic Arabian idolatry. The Ishmaelites do not fare well in this - but when one reads he prophets of Israel, neither did the Israelites.

Chapter II: Mahound

Islamo-Biblica-Isra

THE BOOK OF IDOLS BEING A TRANSLATION FROM THE ARABIC OF THE KITAB AL-ASNAM BY HISHAM IBN-AL-KALBI TRANSLATED WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES BY NABIH AMIN FARIS 1952.

http://www.answering-islam.org/Books/Al-Kalbi/

Excerpts from The Book of Idols (a history written by an Arab, Ibn al-Kalibi that does not condone the idols but only recounts their history in Arabia)

12	Manah The most ancient of all these idols was Manah[1]. The Arabs used to name [their children] 'Abd-Manah[2] and Zayd-Manah[3]. Manah was erected on the seashore in the vicinity of al-Mushallal[4] in Qudayd[5], between Medina and Mecca. All the Arabs used to venerate her and sacrifice before her. [In particular] the Aws[6] and the Khazraj[7], as well as the inhabitants of Medina and Mecca and their vicinities, used to venerate Manah, sacrifice before her, and bring unto her their offerings. The children of the Ma'add[8] were followers of a faith which still preserved a little of the religion of Ishmael. The Rabi'ah[9] and the Mudar[10], too, were followers of a similar faith. But none venerated her more than the Aws and the Khazraj. Abu-al-Mundhir Hisham ibn-Muhammad said: I was told by a man from the Quraysh on the authority of abu-'Ubaydab 'Abdullab[11] ibn-abi-'Ubaydah ibn-'Ammar ibn-Yasir who was the best informed man on the subject of the Aws and the Khazraj, that the Aws and the Khazraj, as well as those Arabs among the people of Yathrib[12] and other places who took to their way of life, were wont to go on pilgrimage and observe the vigil at all the appointed places, but not shave their heads. At the end of the pilgrimage, however, when they were about to return home, they would set out to the place
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	where Manah stood, shave their heads, and stay there a while. They did not consider their pilgrimage completed until they visited Manah. Because of this veneration of Manah by the Awa and the Khazraj, 'Abd-al-'Uzza ibn-Wadi'ah al-Muzani, or some other Arab, said:  "An oath, truthful and just, I swore By Manah, at the sacred place of the Khazraj." During the Jahiliyah days, the Arabs were wont to call both the Aws and the Khazraj by the single generic name, al-Khazraj. For this reason the part said, "at the sacred place of the Khazraj." This Manah is that which God mentioned when He said, "And Manah, the third idol besides[13]." She was the [goddess] of the Hudhayl[14] and the Khuza'ah[15].The Quraysh as well as the rest of the Arabs continued to venerate Manah until the Apostle of God set out from Medina in the eighth year of the Hijrah[16], the year in which God accorded him the victory[17]. When he was at a distance of four or five nights from Medina, he dispatched 'Ali to destroy her. 'Ali demolished her, took away all her [treasures], and carried them back to the Prophet. Among the treasures which 'Ali carried away were two swords which had been presented to [Manah] by al-Harith ibn-abi-Shamir al-Ghassani, the king of Ghassan[18]. The one sword was called Mikhdham and the other Rasub. They are the two swords of al-Harith which 'Alqamah mentions in one of his poems. He said: "Wearing two coats of mail as well as Two studded swords, Mikhdham and Rasub [19]."
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	The Prophet gave these two swords to 'All. It is, therefore, said that dhu-al-Faqar, the sword of 'Ali, was one of them[20]. It is also said that 'Ali found these two swords in [the temple of] al-Fals[21], the idol of the Tayyi', whither the Prophet had sent him, and which he also destroyed.
	FOOTNOTES 1. Surah liii, 20; Ryckmans, vol.i, pp 18-19; Wellhausen, pp.25-29. 2. Ishtiqaq. pp. ; 105, 144. 3. ibid., pp.133, 284. 4. Sifah, p 214; Buldan, vol. iv, p.543. 5. Sifah, pp.120, 185, 218: Buldan, vol. iv, p.42. 6. One of the main groups of South Arabian tribes. Ishtiqaq, pp. 83, 259. 7. One of the main groups of South Arabian tribes. Ishtiqaq, p. 259. 8. One of the main groups of North Arabian tribes. Ishtiqaq, p.20. 9. One of the main groups of North Arabian tribes. Ishtiqaq, p.20. 10. One of the main groups of North Arabian tribes. Ishtiqaq, p.20. 11. ibn-Abdullah" in text. Cf. al-Tabari, vol. ii, 863, 868; Buldan, vol. iv, p. 653. 12. The old name of Medina: Sifah, pp.2, 124; Buldan, vol. iv, pp. 1009-1010, 458-468. 13. Surah liii: 20. 14. Ishtiqaq, pp. 108-110. 15. ibid., p. 276. 16. A.D.629-630. 17. i.e. the capture of Mecca. 18. The same as a1-Harith ibn-Jabalah. See Theodore Noldeke, The Princes of Ghassan from the House of Gafna, Ar. tr. Pendali Jouse and Costi K. Zurayk, Beirut, 1933, pp.22, 58-60. 19. W. Ahlwardt, < i>The Diwans of the Six Ancient Arabic Poets, London. 1870, p. 107 ['Alqamah, 2:27]. 20. cf. al-Tabari, vol. i, pp. 1706-1710. 21. cf. Ryckmans, vol.i, p.179; Buldan, vol. iii, pp.911-913.

14	Allat They then adopted Allat[1] as their goddess. Allat stood in al-Ta'if[2], and was more recent than Manah. She was a cubic[3] rock beside which a certain Jew used to prepare his barley porridge (sawiq). Her custody was in the hands of the banu-'Attab ibn-Malik[4] of the Thaqif[5], who had built an edifice over her. The Quraysh, as well as all the Arabs, were wont to venerate Allat. They also used to name their children after her, calling them Zayd-Allat[6] and Taym-Allat[7]. She stood in the place of the left-hand side minaret of the present-day mosque of al-Ta'if. She is the idol which God mentioned when He said, "Have you seen Allat and al-'Uzza[8]?" It was this same Allat which 'Amr ibn-al-Ju'ayd[9] had in mind when he said: "In forswearing wine I am like him who hath abjured Allat, although he had been at one time her devotee." Likewise it was the same idol to which al-Mutalammis[10] alluded in his satire of 'Amr ibn-al-Mundhirt[11] when he said:
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	"Thou hast banished me for fear of lampoon and satire. No! By Allat and all the sacred baetyls (ansab)[12], thou shalt not escape[13]." Allat continued to be venerated until the Thaqif embraced Islam[14], when the Apostle of God dispatched al-Mughirah ibn-Shu'bab[15], who destroyed her and burnt her [temple] to the ground[16].In this connection, when Allat was destroyed and burnt to the ground, Shaddid ibn-'Arid al-Jushami'[17] said warning the Thaqif not to return to her worship nor attempt to avenge her destruction: "Come not to Allat, for God hath doomed her to destruction; How can you stand by one which doth not triumph? Verily that which, when set on fire, resisted not the flames, Nor saved her stones, is inglorious and worthless. Hence when the Apostle in your place shall arrive And then leave, not one of her votaries shall be left."[18] Aws ibn-Hajar[19], swearing by Allat, said: "By Allat and al-'Uzza and those who in them believe, And by Allah, verily He is greater than both."
	FOOTNOTES 1. Ryckmans. vol. I, p. 3; Wellhausen, pp.29-34. 2. Sifah, pp. 120-121. 3. "Square" in text. 4. cf. "Jambarab" (Br. Mus. MS), p. 154. 5. Ishtiqaq, p. 183. 6. ibid., p.315. 7. ibid., p. 315. 8. Surah LII: 19. 9. Al-Aghani, vol. xv, pp.75-77, vol. xxi (ed. It. S. Brunnow, Leyden, 1888), p. 186. 10. Ibn-Qutaybah, al-Shi'r w-al-Shu'ara', ed. M. J. de Goeje, Leyden, 1902-1904, pp. 85-88; al-Aghani, vol. xxi, pp. 185-210. 11. King of Lakhm, better known as 'Amr ibn-Hind. See al-Isfahini, pp 109-110. 12. Heb. massebhah, usually translated "pillars." See Gen xxxv: 20:11; Sam. xviii: 18; cf. Gen. xxviii: 18, 22, xxxi: 13,45, xxxv: 14; Josh. xxiv: 27; George A. Barton, "Poles and Posts" in James Hastings, Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, New York, 1908-1927; D.M. Kay "Massebhah" in ibid.: George A. Barton, Semitic and Hamitic Origins, Philadelphia, 1934 pp 150ff. 13. A1-Aghani vol xxi p.207; Die Gedichte des Mutalammis, ed. R. Vollers, Leipzig, 1903, p.23. 14. AH. 9/A.D. 630-631 See Sirah, pp.914-917. 15. Later became the governor of al-Basrah and al-Kufah; d. A.H. 50 / AD. 670; al-Ma'arif pp 150-151. 16. cf. Sirah pp 917-919. 17. ibid., p.871. 18. Buldan vol iv pp 337-338; cf. Sirah, p.871. 19. Al-Aghani vol x pp. 6-8; al-Shi'r w-al-Sh'ara', pp.99-102. Also Rudolf Geyer, Gedichte und Fragmente des "Aus ibn Hajar" in Sitzungsberichte der Philosophisch-Historischen Classe der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, vol.126, Vienna, 1892, Pt. xiii, see. xi, line 2.

16	Al-Uzza They then adopted al-'Uzza[1] as their goddess. She is, in point of time, more recent than either Allat or Manah, since I have heard that the Arabs named their children after the latter two before they named them after al-'Uzza. Thus I have found that Tamim ibn-Murr[2] had called his son[s] Zayd-Manah ibn-Tamim ibn-Murr ibn-Udd ibn-Tabikhah'[3] and 'Abd-Manah ibn-Udd[4]. Similarly Tha'labah ibn-'Ukabah[5] named his son after Allit, calling him Taym-Allat[6]. [Others were] : Taym-Allat ibn-Rufaydah ibn-Thawr, Zayd-Allat ibn-Rufaydah ibn-Thawr ibn-Wabarah ibn-Murr ibn-Udd ibn-Tabikhah. Taym-Allat ibn-al-Namir ibn-Qasit, and 'Abd-al-'Uzza ibn-Ka'b ibn-Sa'd ibn-Zayd-Manah ibn-Tamim[7]. It is therefore more recent than the first two. 'Abd-al-'Uzza ibn-Ka'b is among the earliest compounded names the Arabs used in conjunction with al-'Uzza. The person who introduced al-'Uzza was Zilim ibn-As'ad[8]. Her idol was situated in a valley in Nakhlat al-Sha'miyah[9]called Hurad[10], alongside al-Ghumayr'[11] to the right of the road from Mecca to al-'Iraq, above Dhat-Irq[12] and nine miles from al-Bustin[13]. Over her [Zalim] built a house called Buss[14] in which the people used to receive oracular communications. The Arabs as well as the Quraysh were wont to name their children 'Abd-al-'Uzza. Furthermore al-'Uzza was the greatest idol among the Quraysh. They used to journey to her, offer gifts unto her, and seek her favours through sacrifice. We have been told that the Apostle of God once
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	mentioned al-Uzza saying, "I have offered a white sheep to al-'Uzza, while I was a follower of the religion of my people." The Quraysh were wont to circumambulate the Ka'bah and say: "By Allat and al-'Uzza, And Manah, the third idol besides. Verily they are the most exalted females[15] Whose intercession is to be sought[16]." These were also called "the Daughters of Allah[17]," and were supposed to intercede before God. When the Apostle of God was sent, God revealed unto him [concerning them] the following: Have you seen Allat and al-'Uzza, and Manah the third idol besides? What? Shall ye have male progeny and God female? This indeed were an unfair partition! These are mere names: ye and your fathers named them thus: God hath not sent down any warranty in their regard[18]." The Quraysh had dedicated to it, in the valley of Hurad, a ravine (shi'b) called Suqam[19] and were wont to vie there with the Sacred Territory of the Ka'bah. Abu-Jundub al-Hudhali[20] (also al-Qirdi), describing a woman with whom he was in love, composed the following verses and mentioned in them a vow which she made to him swearing by al-'Uzza: "She swore an earnest and solemn oath By her to whom the vales of Suqam were dedicated:
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	If thou wouldst not return my clothes, go, For the rest of my life I would hate thee. Since it was hard for him to part with umm-Huwayrith, He became eager to fulfil her desire[20]." Dirham ibn-Zayd al-Awsi[21] also said: "By the Lord of al-'Uzza, the propitious, And by God betwixt whose House [and Suqam] Sarif[23]stands[24]." She also had a place of sacrifice called al-Ghabghab[25] where they offered their oblations. Hudhali[26] speaks of it in a satire which he composed against a certain man who had married a beautiful woman whose name was Asmr. He said: "Asmi' was married to the jawbone of a little cow Which one of the banu-Ghanm'[27] had offered for sacrifice. As he led it to the Ghabghab of al-'Uzza, He noticed some defects in its eyes; And when the cow was offered upon the altar, And its flesh divided, his portion was foul." It was customary to divide the flesh of the sacrifice among those who had offered it and among those present at the ceremony.Nuhaykah al-Fazari[28], addressing 'Amir ibn-al-Tufayl[29], speaks of al-Ghabghab saying:
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	"O 'Amir! If we had but overtaken thee with our spears, By the stars that [watch over] Mina[30] and al-Ghabghab! Thou wouldst have avoided the thrust of a bold warrior by turning thy hind part, Or thou wouldst have taken thy resting place with neither honor nor shroud[31]." Qays ibn-Munqidh ibn-'Ubayd ibn-Datir[32] ibn-Hubshiyah[33]ibn-Salul al-Khuza'i (born to a woman of the banu-Hudad of the Kinanah while others hold that she was of the [banu-] Hudad of the Mubarib) who is [the same as] Qays ibn-Hudadiyah[34], speaking of it, said: "We swore first by the House of God, And failing that, by the baetyls which in al-Ghabghab stand." The Quraysh were wont to venerate her above all other idols. For this reason Zayd ibn-'Amr ibn-Nufayl[35], who, during the Jahiliyah days, had turned to the worship of God and renounced that of al-'Uzza and of the other idols, said: "I have renounced both Allat and al-'Uzza, For thus would the brave and the robust do. No more do I worship al-'Uzza and her two daughters, Or visit the two idols[36] of the banu-Ghanm; Nor do I journey to Hubal[37] and adore it, Although it was our lord when I was young[38]."The custody of al-'Uzza was in the hands of the banu-Shayban ibn-Jabir ibn-Murrah ibn-'Abs ibn-Rifa'ah ibn-al-Harith ibn-'Utbah ibn-Sulaym ihn-Mansur of the banu-
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	Sulaym[39]. The last of them to hold its custody was Dubayyah ibn-Harami al-Sulami[40]. In connection with a visit to Dubayyah, in which he was given a good pair of shoes, abu-Khirash said: "When my old slices went to pieces, Dubayyah gave me a new pair. The best friend is he. Carefully and evenly made of the hide of a full-grown ox, Truly they are a worthy present to give. How excellent is the place where his guests rest, While the refreshing north winds lash their tents. Their hunger he satisfies with cakes Steeped in butter, tasty and sweet[41]."Al-'Uzza continued to be venerated until God sent His Prophet who ridiculed her together with the other idols and forbade her worship. At the same time a revelation concerning her came down in the Koran[42]. This proved very hard upon the Quraysh. Then abu-Uhayhah (Sa'id ibn-al-'As ibn-Umayyah ibn-'Abd-Shams ibn-'Abd-Manaf)[43] was taken sick by what proved to be his last and fatal sickness. As he lay on his deathbed, abu-Lahab[44] came to visit and found him weeping. Thereupon abu-Lahab asked, "What makes you weep O abu-Uhayhah? Is it death which is inevitable?" Abu-Uhayhah replied, "No. But I fear that al-'Uzza will not be worshipped after I depart." Abu-Lahab answered and said, "By God! Al-'Uzza was not worshipped during your lifetime for your sake, and her worship will not be discontinued after you depart because of your death." Abu-Uhayhah then said, "Now I know that I have a successor," and was well pleased with abu-Lahab's intense loyalty to al-'Uzza[45].
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	In the year of the victory ('am al-fath)[46], the Prophet summoned Khalid ibn-al-Walid[47] and said unto him, "Go unto a tree in the valley of Nakhlah[48] and cut it down." Khalid went thereto, captured Dubayyah, who was the custodian of al-'Uzza, and killed him. Abu-Khirash al-Hudhali said lamenting Dubayyah: "What is wrong with Dubayyah? For days I have not seen him Amid the wine-bibbers; he drew not nigh, he did not appear. If he were living I would have come with a cup Of the banu-Hatif[49] make, filled with Bacchus oil. Generous and noble is he; no sooner his wine cups Are filled than they become empty, like an old tank full of holes in the midst of winter. Suqam[50] has become desolate, deserted by all of its friends, except the wild beasts and the wind which blows through its empty chambers[52]."(Said abu-al-Mundhir: Al-Hatif is a clan of the banu-'Amr ibn-Asad.)" - . . . [53] Abu-al-Mundhir said: Sa'id ibn-al-'As abu-Uhayhah was wont to don a turban while in Mecca. Whenever he donned his turban no one ever dared don another of the same color. We were told by al-'Anazi abu-'Ali that 'Ali ibn-al-Sabbah had told him that he himself was informed by abu-al-Mundhir, who reported that his father had related to him on the authority of abu-Salih that ibn-'Abbas said: Al-'Uzza was a she-devil which used to frequent three trees in the valley of Nakhlah. When the Prophet captured Mecca, he dispatched Khalid ibn-al-Walid saying, "Go to the valley of Nakhlah; there you
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	will find three trees. Cut down the first one." Khalid went and cut it down. On his return to report, the Prophet asked him saying, "Have you seen anything there?" Khalid replied and said, "No." The Prophet ordered him to return and cut down the second tree. He went and cut it down. On his return to report the Prophet asked him a second time, "Have you seen anything there?" Khalid answered, "No." Thereupon the Prophet ordered him to go back and cut down the third tree. When Khalid arrived on the scene he found an Abyssinian woman with dishevelled hair and her hands placed on her shoulder[s], gnashing and grating her teeth. Behind her stood Dubayyah al-Sulami who was then the custodian of al-'Uzza. When Dubayyah saw Khalid approaching, he said: "O thou al-'Uzza! Remove thy veil and tuck up thy sleeves; Summon up thy strength and deal Khalid an unmistakable blow. For unless thou killest him this very day, Thou shalt be doomed to ignominy and shame."Thereupon Khalid replied: "O al-'Uzza! May thou be blasphemed, not exalted! Verily I see that God hath abased thee."Turning to the woman, he dealt her a blow which severed her head in twain, and lo, she crumbled into ashes. He then cut down the tree and killed Dubayyah the custodian, after which he returned to the Prophet and reported to him his exploit. Thereupon the Prophet said, "That was al-'Uzza. But she is no more. The Arabs shall have none after her. Verily she shall never be worshipped again." Consequently abu-Khirash composed the preceding verses in lamentation of Dubayyah. Abu-al-Mundhir said: The Quraysh as well as the other Arabs who inhabited Mecca did not offer to any of the idols anything similar to their veneration of al-'Uzza. The next in order of veneration was Allat and then Manah. Al-'Uzza,
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	however, received from the Quraysh the exclusive honor of visitation and sacrifice. This, I believe, was because of her close proximity. The Thaqif, on the other hand, were wont to offer Manah the exclusive honor [of visitation and sacrifice], in the same way the Quraysh offered it to al-'Uzza, while the Aws and the Khazraj favored Manah therewith. All of them, though, venerated al-'Uzza. They did not, however, hold the same regard, or anything approaching it, for the five idols which were introduced by 'Amr ibn-Luhayy. These are the five idols which God mentioned in the glorious Koran when He said, "Forsake not Wadd nor Suwa', nor Yaghuth and Ya'us and Nasr[54]." This, I believe, was because of their distance from them. The Quraysh were wont to venerate [al-'Uzza]. The Ghani[55] and the Bihilah[56], too, joined the Quraysh in her worship. The Prophet, therefore, dispatched Khalid ibn-al-Walid, who cut down the trees, destroyed the house, and demolished the idol[57]. The Quraysh had also several idols in and around the Ka'bah. The greatest of these was Hubal[58]. It was, as I was told, of red agate, in the form of a man with the right hand broken off. It came into the possession of the Quraysh in this condition, and they, therefore, made for it a hand of gold. The first to set it up [for worship] was Khuzaymah ibn-Mudrikah ibn-al-Ya's'[59] ibn-Mudar[60]. Consequently it used to be called Khuzaymah's Hubal. It stood inside the Ka'bah. In front of it were seven divination arrows (sing. qidh, pl. qidah or aqduh). On one of these arrows was written "pure" (sarih), and on another "consociated alien" (mulsag). Whenever the lineage of a new-born was doubted, they would offer a sacrifice to it [Hubal] and then shuffle the arrows and throw them. If the arrows showed
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	the word "pure," the child would be declared legitimate and the tribe would accept him. If, however, the arrows showed the words "consociated alien," the child would be declared illegitimate and the tribe would reject him. The third arrow was for divination concerning the dead, while the fourth was for divination concerning marriage. The purpose of the three remaining arrows has not been explained. Whenever they disagreed concerning something, or purposed to embark upon a journey, or undertake some project, they would proceed to it [Hubal] and shuffle the divination arrows before it. Whatever result they obtained they would follow and do accordingly. It was before [Hubal] that 'Abd-al-Muttalib[61] shuffled the divination arrows [in order to find out which of his ten children he should sacrifice in fulfilment of a vow he had sworn], and the arrows pointed to his son 'Abdullah, the father of the Prophet[62]. Hubal was also the same idol which abu-Sufyan ibn-Harb[63] addressed when he emerged victorious after the battle of Uhud[64], saying: "Hubal, be thou exalted" (i.e. may thy religion triumph);To which the Prophet replied: "Allah is more exalted and more majestic[65]."Among their idols, the Quraysh also had Isif and Na'ilah[66]. On being transformed into petrified form, they were placed by the Ka'bah in order that people might see them and be warned. Finally, as their origin became remote and, therefore, forgotten, and idol worship came into vogue, they were worshipped with the other idols. One of them stood close to the
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	Ka'bah while the other was placed by Zamzam[67]. Later, the Quraysh moved the one which stood close to the Ka'bah to the side of the other by Zamzam where they sacrificed to both. Of them abu-Talib[68] said, swearing by them when the Quraysh united against the banu-Hishim[69] in connection with the rise of the Prophet: "Unto the house [of God) I brought my men and my kin, And held fast to the veils of its curtains; Yea, where the banu-al-Ash'ar halt I brought them all, Where the valleys meet and Isaf and Na'ilah stand[70]."Bishr ibn-Khazim al-Asadi[71], speaking of Isaf, says: Full of awe, they draw not nigh unto it, But stand afar off like the menstruating women before Isa.The Arabs were wont to use other names in conjunction with 'Abd; yet I do not know whether they were after names of idols or not. Among these names were: 'Abd-Yalil[72], 'Abd-Ghanm[73], 'Abd-Kulal[74], and 'Abd-Ruda[75]. Some of the traditionists related that Ruda[76] was a temple which belonged to the banu-Rabi'ah ibn-Sa'd ibn-Zayd ibn-Manih[77]. It was destroyed by al-Mustawghir [whose real name] was 'Amr ibn-Rabi'ah ibn-Sa'd ibn-Zayd ibn-Manah
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	ibn-Tamim[78]. He was called al-Mustawghir (irascible, choleric) because he once said the following: "The water gurgles in the water-skins Like the gurgling (waghir) of the milk when the hot stone is in it thrown."When, in the early days of Islam, al-Mustawghir destroyed Ruda, he said: I marched against Ruda and burnt it down, And left it a heap of ashes, charred and black. I called upon 'Abdullah's aid for its destruction; Verily if is one like 'Abdullah who would dare unlawful things to do[79]."Ibn-Adh'am[80], a man of the banu-'Amir ibn-'Awf of the Kalb [tribe], said: "When one day thou met some of our knights, They cornered thee, but thou slipped out of their hands As a locust once slipped out of al-'Ayyar's [toothless mouth]. Henceforth when thou seest their place thou hiest away, As the pig fleeth the boiling water[81]."Al-'Ayyar was a man of the Kalb [tribe] who came upon some locusts and sat down to eat a few of them. Being, how- ever, toothless one locust slipped out of his mouth. Thereupon he cried out saying, "By God, it is alive!" in other words the locust did not die, but slipped out.)
27
	When, on the day he conquered Mecca, the Apostle of God appeared before the Ka'bah, he found the idols arrayed around it. Thereupon he started to pierce their eyes with the point of his arrow saying, "Truth is come and falsehood is vanished. Verily, falsehood is a thing that vanisheth." He then ordered that they be knocked down, after which they were taken out and burned. In this connection, Rashid ibn-'Abdullah al-Sulami[83] said: "She asked me to speak, hut I said, 'No. Neither God nor Islam would approve our speech. Hast thou not seen Muhammad and his men On the day of victory, when the idols were demolished? Then the light of God shone with all its brilliance, And polytheism was submerged in a sea of darkness.'"[84]Said [abu-al-Mundhir: The Quraysh] had another idol [called] Manaf[85]. They were wont to call their children 'Abd-Manaf[86], after it. I do not, however, know where it stood, or who erected it. The menstruating women were not allowed to come near the idols or to touch them. Rather, they stood far off. In this connection, Bal'a' ibn-Qays ibn-'Abdullah ibn-Ya'mar'[87] (Yamar is al-Shuddakh[88] al-Laythi), who was afflicted with alphosis[89] (Hisham ibn-Muhammad abu-al-Mundhir related that Khalid ibn-Sa'id ibn-al-'As[90] had told him on the authority of his father[91] that Bal'a' was once asked
28
	about his affliction and replied, "The sword of God has been polished."), said: "A matchless peer. I no longer augur at its shrine, But stay away as the menstruating women stand afar off from Manaf."[Abu-al-Mundhir] also said : Every family in Mecca had at home an idol which they worshipped. Whenever one of them purposed to set out on a journey his last act before leaving the house would be to touch the idol in hope of an auspicious journey; and on his return, the first thing he would do was to touch it again in gratitude for a propitious return. When God sent His Prophet, who came preaching the Unity of God and calling for His worship alone without any associate, [the Arabs] said, "Maketh he the god to be but one god? A strange thing forsooth is this[92]." They had in mind the idol. The Arabs were passionately fond of worshipping idols. Some of them took unto themselves a temple around which they centered their worship, while others adopted an idol to which they offered their adoration. The person who was unable to build himself a temple or adopt an idol would erect a stone in front of the Sacred House or in front of any other temple which he might prefer, and then circumambulate it in the same manner in which he would circumambulate the Sacred House. The Arabs called these stones baetyls (ansab). Whenever these stones resembled a living form they called then' idols (asnam) and images (awthan). The act of circumambulating them they called circumrotation (dawar). Whenever a traveler stopped at a place or station in order to rest or spend the night, he would select for himself four stones, pick out the finest among them and adopt it as his god, and use the remaining three as supports for his cooking-pot.
29
	On his departure he would leave them behind, and would do the same on his other stops.[93] The Arabs were wont to offer sacrifices before all these idols, baetyls, and stones. Nevertheless they were aware of the excellence and superiority of the Ka'bah, to which they went on pilgrimage and visitation. What they did on their travels was a perpetuation of what they did at the Ka'bah, because of their devotion to it. The sheep which they offered and slaughtered before their (34 idols and baetyls were called sacrifices (ata'ir, sing.atirah); the place on which they slaughtered and offered the sacrifice was called an altar, ('itr). In this connection Zuhayr ibn-abi-Sulma[94] said: "He moved therefrom and reached a mountain top, Like a high altar sprinkled with the blood of sacrifice."The banu-Mulayh[95] of the Khuza'ah [tribe] (they are the kindreds of Talhat a-Talahat[96] [or al-Talhat]) were wont to worship the jinn. In reference to them the following verse was revealed: "Truly they worship ye call on besides God, are, like yourselves, his servants[97]."
	FOOTNOTES 1. Ryckmans. vol 1, p. 26; Wellhausen, pp.34-45. 2. Ishtiqaq,p. 123. 3. ibid., p.133. 4. ibid.,p. 144. 5. Unidentified. 6. Ishtiqaq, p.315. 7. The last four names unidentified. 8. Taj al-'Arus, entries bss and zz. 9. Buldan, vol. iv, p.769. 10. ibid., vol. ii, p.229. 11. ibid., vol. iii, p. 816. 12. ibid., vol. iii, pp. 651-652. 13. ibid., vol. i,pp. 611-612. 14. Buldan, vol. i, pp. 622-623; Taj al-'Arus, entries bss and zz. 15. Ar. ghardniq, lit. Numidian cranes, 16. Said to be one of the "abrogated" verses of the Koran; cf. Tabari, vol.1, pp. 1192-1196. 17. Al-Tabari, Jami' al-Bay'dn fi Tafsir al-Qur'an, Cairo, 1323-1330, vol. xxvii, pp.34-36. Also F. V. Winnett, "The Daughters of Allah," in The Moslem World, vol. xxx (1940), pp. 113-130. 18. Surah LIII: 19-20. For Muhammad's compromise with these deities and his subsequent repentence, see Tabari, vol. i, pp. 1192-1196; cf. also Surah xvii: 75-76. 19. Buldan, vol. III. p.100. 20. Kosegarten, Ash'ar al-Hudhaliyin, pp. 79-99. 21. cf. Buldan, vol. iii, p. 100. The verses are not mentioned in Kosegarten's edition. 22. cf. al-Aghani, vol. ii, pp. 166, 168. 23. Sifah, p.120; Buldan, vol. III, pp. 77-78. 24. Buldan, vol. iii, p.665; cf. al-Aghani', vol.II p. 168, line 4. 25. cf. Sifah, p.177; Buldan, vol. iii, pp.772-773. 26. Abu-Khirash Khuwaylid ihn-Murrah; al-Shi'r w-al-Shu'ara' p.48; al-Aghani, vol. xxi, pp.54-70. 27. Ishtiqaq, p. 87, line 15. 28. Nahik in Lisan al-'Arab, entry hsb See Khizanat al-Adab, vol. iv, p. 164, where his name is Nuhaykah ibn-al-Harith al-Mizini of the Fararah tribe. 29. d. A.H. 10 / A.D. 631-632. Tabari, vol.1, pp. 1443-1448, 1745-1747; al-Aghani. vol. xv, p.52; al-Shi'r w-al-Shu'ara; pp.191-192. 30. Buldan, vol. iv, pp.642-643. 31. cf. Buldan, vol.III, p.773. 32. cf. al-Aghani, vol. xiii, p. 2, where it is Dayatir. 33. Ishtiqaq, p.276. 34. Al-Aghani, vol: xiii, pp. 2-8. 35. One of four men who are supposed to have renounced idolatry during the Jahiliyah days. See Surah, pp. 143-149. Muhammad is said to have declared him one of the ten promised Paradise. See al-Ma'arif, p. 29. 36. Unidentified. 37. Ryckmans, vol.I, pp.9, 71. 38. cf. al-Aghani, vol.III, pp.15-16. 39. Ishtiqaq, p 187. 40. Al-Aghani, vol. xxi, p.57. 41. cf. ibid., vol. xxi, pp.57-58. 42. Surah LIII: 19. 43. d. A.H. 1/ A.D. 622-623; Ishtiqaq, p.49; Tabari, vol.I, p.1261. 44. cf. Surah cxi; Sirah, pp. 231, 233, 276; Tabari, vol.I, pp. 1170-1172; al-Marif, pp. 60-61. 45. cf. Buldan, vol.III, pp. 665-666. 46. A.H. 8 / A.D. 629-630, the year Mecca was captured. 47. The greatest Muslim general ; d. A.H. 21 / A.D. 642; see ibn-Sa'd, vol. iv, Pt. 2, pp.1-2, vol. vii, pt. 2, pp.118-121;aI-Ma'drif, p.136. 48. Sifah, p.127, line 1; Buldan, vol. iv, pp.769-770. 49. Taj al-'Arus, entry htf. A sub-tribe of the Kinanah. 50. Buldan, vol.III, p. 100. 51. cf. al-Aghani; vol. xxi, p. 58. 52. Ishtiqaq, p.110. 53. Linguistic notes precede and follow this sentence. 54. Surah LXXI: 22-23. 55. Ishtiqaq, p. 164. 56. ibid., p. 164. 57. Ibn-Sa'd, vol. ii, pt 1, p.105. 58. See above, p.19. 59. Also Alyas; cf. Ishtiqaq, p.20. 60. Ishtiqaq, pp. 19-20. 61. Grandfather of the Prophet. 62. For details, see Sirah, pp. 91-100. 63. One of "those whose hearts are reconciled" to Islam (al-mu'allafah qulubuhum), namely Arab chiefs with whom the Prophet made terms after the battle of Hunayn, A.H. 8 / A.D. 629. in order to secure their aid. Sirah, pp. 880-883; cf.Sirah ix: 60. His son, Mu'awiyah, who later founded the Umayyad dynasty. was another. 64. Sirah, pp. 555-592. In this battle, A.H. 3 / A.D. 625, Muhammad himself was wounded. See also Tabari, vol.I, pp. 1383-1431. 65. cf. Ishtiqaq, p. 316. 66. See above, p. 8. 67. The sacred well within the precincts of the Sacred Mosque, supposed to he identical with the well from which Hagar and Ishmael drank while in the wilderness. Buldan, vol.II, pp. 941-944; cf. Gen. xvi: 4. 68. The uncle and guardian of Muhammad. Sirah, pp. 114-117. 69. The family of the Prophet. 70. Sirah, pp. 172-177. The banu-al-Ash'ar (al-Ash'arun in the text) were a South Arabian tribe, See Lisan al-'Arab, entrysh'r. They were also known as al-Ashair; see Shams al-Ulam, p. 56. 71. Al-Shi'r w-al-Shu'ara, pp. 145-147. See also Gustav von Grunebaum, Bishr b. abi Khazim: Collection of Fragments," in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1939), pp. 533-567. For the verse see no. xxvi, on p. 558. 72. Ryckmans, vol. I, p. 111. 73. ibid., vol.I, p. 175. 74. ibid., vol. 5, p. 267. 75. ibid., vol. I, p. 32. 76. Buldan, vol. II, p. 789. 77. Ishtiqdq, p. 154. 78. ibid, p. 154. 79. cf Sifah p. 56; Buldan, vol. ii, p. 789. 80. In al Maydini, Majma' al-Amthal, Cairo, 1310, the poet is Masruh al Kalbi and in Taj al-'Aras, entry ghnz, he is Masruh ibn-Adham al-Na'ami (a sub-tribe of the KaIb), and the verses are said against Jarir. 81. In Lisan al-'Arab, entry ghnz," these verses are ascribed to Jarir; entry yr at Ayy'ar is supposed to be a horse, and the verses are ascribed to abu 'Ubayd, perhaps ibn-abi-Wajzab; cf. also Taj al-'Aras, entries jrd and yr. In the "Jambarah" (Escurial MS), folio 215, the verses are said against al-Nabighah al-Dhubyani. 82. Surah xvii 83. 83. cf. ibn-Hajar al-'Asqalani, al-Isabah fi Tamyiz al-Sahabah, Cairo, 1327, vol. ii, p. 185. 84. cf. Buldan, vol. iv, p. 950. 85. Ryckmans, vol.1, pp. 18, 129. 86. Ishtiqaq, p. 10. 87. ibid., p. 106. 88. Also al-Shaddakh; see Ishtiqaq, p 106; Lisan al-Arab, entry shdkh; Tabari vol. i, p.1097. 89. Ar. abras, which literally means a leper. But the malady was probably the very common bahaq which resulted in the loss of pigment. 90. d. A.H. 14 / A.D. 635; al-Baladhuri, Futah al-Buldan, ed. M. J. de-Goeje, Leyden, 1866, p. 119; cf. al-Ma'arif, p. 151;Istiqaq, p.49. Since ibn-al-Kalbi flourished almost two centuries later, there must be a lacuna in the chain of transmission. 91. Abu-Uhayhab; see above, p. 20. 92. Surah xxxviii: 4. 93. This recalls to one's mind the stone which Jacob set up and anointed at Bethel. See Gen. xxviii: 18-22. 94. Al-Shi'r w-al-Shu'ara, pp. 57-67; al-Aghani, vol. ix, pp. 146-158. 95. Ishtiqaq, pp. 276, 280. 96. His real name was Talhah ibn-'Abdullah ('Ubayd-Allah in Lisan al-'Arab, entry thl) ibn-Khalaf al-Khuza'i. See al-Ma'arif, p. 214; Ishtiqaq, p.280. 97. Surah vii: 193.

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This whole Surah is problematic and needs to be carefully redacted. The Satanic verses Ayah 19 and 20 (highlighted) and the redaction assumed to be Muhammad's are here shown.

Translations of the Qur'an, Chapter 53:
AN-NAJM (THE STAR, THE STARS)
Total Verses: 62
Revealed At: MAKKA
Order in which revealed: 23 

http://www.universalunity.net/quran4/053.qmt.html

053.019
Afaraaytumu allata waalAAuzza
YUSUFALI: Have ye seen Lat. and 'Uzza,
PICKTHAL: Have ye thought upon Al-Lat and Al-'Uzza
SHAKIR: Have you then considered the Lat and the Uzza,
KHALIFA: Compare this with the female idols Allaat and Al-`Uzzah.


053.020
Wamanata alththalithata al-okhra

YUSUFALI: And another, the third (goddess), Manat?
PICKTHAL: And Manat, the third, the other?
SHAKIR: And Manat, the third, the last?
KHALIFA: And Manaat, the third one.


053.021
Alakumu alththakaru walahu al-ontha

YUSUFALI: What! for you the male sex, and for Him, the female?
PICKTHAL: Are yours the males and His the females?
SHAKIR: What! for you the males and for Him the females!
KHALIFA: Do you have sons, while He has these as daughters?


053.022
Tilka ithan qismatun deeza

YUSUFALI: Behold, such would be indeed a division most unfair!
PICKTHAL: That indeed were an unfair division!
SHAKIR: This indeed is an unjust division!
KHALIFA: What a disgraceful distribution!


053.023
In hiya illa asmaon sammaytumooha antum waabaokum ma anzala Allahu biha min sultanin in yattabiAAoona illa alththanna wama tahwa al-anfusu walaqad jaahum min rabbihimu alhuda

YUSUFALI: These are nothing but names which ye have devised,- ye and your fathers,- for which Allah has sent down no authority (whatever). They follow nothing but conjecture and what their own souls desire!- Even though there has already come to them Guidance from their Lord!
PICKTHAL: They are but names which ye have named, ye and your fathers, for which Allah hath revealed no warrant. They follow but a guess and that which (they) themselves desire. And now the guidance from their Lord hath come unto them.
SHAKIR: They are naught but names which you have named, you and your fathers; Allah has not sent for them any authority. They follow naught but conjecture and the low desires which (their) souls incline to; and certainly the guidance has come to them from their Lord.
KHALIFA: These are but names that you made up, you and your forefathers. GOD never authorized such a blasphemy. They follow conjecture, and personal desire, when the true guidance has come to them herein from their Lord.


053.024
Am lil-insani ma tamanna
YUSUFALI: Nay, shall man have (just) anything he hankers after?
PICKTHAL: Or shall man have what he coveteth?
SHAKIR: Or shall man have what he wishes?
KHALIFA: What is it that the human being desires?

053.025
Falillahi al-akhiratu waal-oola
YUSUFALI: But it is to Allah that the End and the Beginning (of all things) belong.
PICKTHAL: But unto Allah belongeth the after (life), and the former.
SHAKIR: Nay! for Allah is the hereafter and the former (life).
KHALIFA: To GOD belongs both the Hereafter, and this world.

053.026
Wakam min malakin fee alssamawati la tughnee shafaAAatuhum shay-an illa min baAAdi an ya/thana Allahu liman yashao wayarda
YUSUFALI: How many-so-ever be the angels in the heavens, their intercession will avail nothing except after Allah has given leave for whom He pleases and that he is acceptable to Him.
PICKTHAL: And how many angels are in the heavens whose intercession availeth naught save after Allah giveth leave to whom He chooseth and accepteth.
SHAKIR: And how many an angel is there in the heavens whose intercession does not avail at all except after Allah has given permission to whom He pleases and chooses.
KHALIFA: Not even the angels in heaven possess authority to intercede. The only ones permitted by GOD are those who act in accordance with His will and His approval.

053.027
Inna allatheena la yu/minoona bial-akhirati layusammoona almala-ikata tasmiyata al-ontha
YUSUFALI: Those who believe not in the Hereafter, name the angels with female names.
PICKTHAL: Lo! it is those who disbelieve in the Hereafter who name the angels with the names of females.
SHAKIR: Most surely they who do not believe in the hereafter name the angels with female names.
KHALIFA: Those who disbelieve in the Hereafter have given the angels feminine names.

053.028
Wama lahum bihi min AAilmin in yattabiAAoona illa alththanna wa-inna alththanna la yughnee mina alhaqqi shay-an
YUSUFALI: But they have no knowledge therein. They follow nothing but conjecture; and conjecture avails nothing against Truth.
PICKTHAL: And they have no knowledge thereof. They follow but a guess, and lo! a guess can never take the place of the truth.
SHAKIR: And they have no knowledge of it; they do not follow anything but conjecture, and surely conjecture does not avail against the truth at all.
KHALIFA: They had no knowledge about this; they only conjectured. Conjecture is no substitute for the truth.






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Note on the “Satanic Verses”

http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/anglophone/satanic_verses/2.html

by Joel Kuortti

One of the most controversial topics in the Satanic Verses “affair” is the question of the “satanic verses” themselves. The title of the novel refers to an incident which is on the disputed terrain between fiction and fact. The “satanic verses” are, in transliteration from Arabic, tilk al-gharaniq al-’ula wa inna shafa’ata-hunna la-turtaja, and translate into English as “these are exalted females whose intercession is to be desired” (Satanic Verses p. 340). (Note on the translation of these verses.) The verses comprising this sentence are said to have been added to the 53rd sura of the Qur’an entitled Surat-annajm, The Star(53:19ff)in order to acknowledge the validity of the goddesses Lat, Manat, and ‘Uzza. The tradition goes on to say that the verses were later withdrawn and denounced as “satanic.”

But the historicity of the incident is disputed by some of the early Muslim historians, especially (Muhammad ben Yasar) Ibn Ishaq (d. 768 CE), (Muhammad Abu ‘Abdullah Ibn Umar) al-Waqidi (747-822 CE), (Muhammad Ibn Muslim Ibn Shihab) al-Zuhri (d.741 CE), Muhammad Ibn Sa’d (d. 845 CE), al-Tabari (c. 839-923 CE), Ibrahi. Ibn Hisham, Ibn Ishaq’s editor, omits the passage, but it is preserved as a quotation from al-Tabari, in Guillaume’s translation of Ibn Ishaq (Ishaq 165-166. See Muir, pp.lxxix-lxxx).

Some Islamic and most non-Muslim Western commentators on the Qur’an have accepted this story of Muhammad’s momentary acceptance of the verses; others have repudiated it. But the prevailing Muslim view of what is called the “Gharaniq” incident is that it is a fabrication created by the unbelievers of Mecca in the early days of Islam, and, Haykal comments, afterwards the “story arrested the attention of the western Orientalists who took it as true and repeated it ad nauseam.” (Haykal 105) The main argument against the authenticity of the two verses in Haykal and elsewhere is that “its incoherence is evident upon the least scrutiny. It contradicts the infallibility of every prophet in conveying the message of His Lord.” (Haykal 107) In other words, since Muslims believe Muhammad to have faithfully reported God’s word, it is surprising that Muslim scholars have accepted such a discreditable story, and not at all surprising that it might have been invented by Islam’s enemies. In his analysis of the passage, Haykal comes to the conclusion that “this story of the goddesses is a fabrication and a forgery, authored by the enemies of Islam after the first century of Hijrah” (Haykal 144). Zakaria Bashier shares this view, though he further argues that even if the verses were to be regarded as being genuine, they would not impugn the Prophet’s infallibility because they were in fact uttered by Satan. (Bashier 175). He also refers to similar observations by al-Suhayili (see Bashier 173).

The argument that W.M. Watt, for his part, provides for the inarguable authenticity of the verses is that “it is inconceivable that any Muslim would invent such a story, and it is inconceivable that a Muslim scholar would accept such a story from a non-Muslim.” (Watt xxxiv). Similarly, in his highly controversial book Twenty-Three Years, the Iranian ‘Ali Dashti concludes that “the evidence given in well-attested reports and in the interpretations of certain commentators makes it likely that the incident occured.” (Dashti 32). As evidence for the possibility of such a recitation and its subsequent withdrawal, the following passage from the Qur’an is often cited: “And We did not send before you any apostle or prophet, but when he desired, the Shaitan made a suggestion respecting his desire; but Allah annuls that which is cast” (22:52). As the suras of the Qur’an are traditionally not presented in chronological order (and just what that order might be is generally under dispute), it could be possible that this passage is referring to such a withdrawal.

The verses were perhaps first named “satanic verses’ by Sir William Muir, as Ahsan notes (Ahsan 139, footnote 2). Later the term was widely adopted, for example by Watt in his book Muhammad at Mecca. Daniel Pipes explains that as the term “satanic verses” does not occur anywhere else than in Western Orientalists’ works, and states that Rushdie “unwittingly adopted a part of the orientalist tradition.” (Pipes116) Rushdie maintains that the term “comes from al-Tabari, one of the canonical Islamic sources.” (Rushdie: “Choice between Light and Dark“ 11)

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One of the most respected commentators within Islam is Tabari

Tabari, Annals 1.1192-1193 = Tabari vi: 108-109

       "When the Messenger of Allah saw how his tribe turned their backs on him and was grieved to see them shunning the message he had brought to them from Allah, he longed in his soul that something would come to him from Allah that would reconcile him with his tribe.

       With his love for his tribe and his eagerness for their welfare, it would have delighted him if some of the difficulties which they made for him could have been smoothed, and he debated with himself and fervently desired such an outcome. Then Allah revealed (Sura 53) ... and when he came to the words "Have you thought al-Lat and al-Uzza and Manat, the third, the other?" (VV. 19-20) Satan cast on his tongue - because of his inner debates and what he desired to bring to his people - the words: "These are the high-flying cranes; verily their intercession is to be hoped for."

       When the Quraysh heard this, they rejoiced and were happy and delighted at the way in which he had spoken of their gods, and they listened to him, while the Muslims, having complete trust in their Prophet with respect of the message which he brought from Allah, did not suspect him of error, illusion or mistake.

       When he came to the prostration, having completed the Sura, he prostrated himself and the Muslims did likewise.... The polytheists of the Quraysh and others who were in the mosque [that is, the Meccan Haram] likewise prostrated themselves because of the reference to their gods which they heard, so that there was no one in the mosque, believer or unbeliever, who did not prostrate himself ... Then they all dispersed from the mosque. The Quraysh left delighted at the mention of their gods."

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David in the Bible, in Psalm 51, confessed his sin.

Muhammad confesses his sin, the "Satanic verses," via his redaction of two earlier Surah

"And their purpose was to tempt thee away from that which We had revealed unto thee, to substitute in our name something quite different; (in that case), behold! they would certainly have made thee (their) friend! And had We not given thee strength, thou wouldst nearly have inclined to them a little. In that case We should have made thee taste an equal portion (of punishment) in this life, and an equal portion in death: and moreover thou wouldst have found none to help thee against Us!" (Qur'an 17:73-75)

"Never sent We a messenger or a prophet before thee but when He recited (the message) Satan proposed (opposition) in respect of that which he recited thereof. But Allah abolisheth that which Satan proposeth. Then Allah establisheth His revelations. Allah is Knower, Wise; That He may make that which the devil proposeth a temptation for those in whose hearts is a disease, and those whose hearts are hardened - Lo! the evil-doers are in open schism" (Qur'an 22:52-53)

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