Criticism
As we have already said, this narration in this form is not acceptable. The following reasons show that it lacks the required authenticity:
(1) The narrator is `ª’ishah who was born in the fourth (or fifth) year after prophethood.[1] Therefore, she was not mature enough at that time to have reported this account and since she does not mention the name of the original narrator, her reporting lacks the required authenticity.
(2) According to this narration, the angel of revelation forced Mu¦ammad (¥) to read while he was illiterate! If we assume that Mu¦ammad (¥) had to read God's verses, a written plate, it is neither natural nor logical, since God and the angel knew that he was illiterate and he did not have the skill of reading. If it is meant that the Prophet had to repeat the verses after the angel, this should not have been very difficult for Mu¦ammad (¥) who was mentally mature and advanced at that age.
(3) What is meant by the angel's persistence in putting pressure on the Prophet? This is absurd when we realize that learning is a mental act; therefore, bodily pressure would not have any effect on it. If we assume that the Prophet could have suddenly become capable of reading through God's Power, God's determination would have sufficed and these arrangements would have looked absurd. Even if we assumed that the source of this bodily pressure had been due to Mu¦ammad's relationship to the unknown world and the source of creation (This is because he, with all his grandeur, was earthly and had an earthly and mundane origin), this assumption would be hard to justify. This is because, according to the Holy Qur’¡n, the revelation of God’s word to the Prophets happens in the following ways:
pa) Direct connection and the receipt of the Divine Revelation without any intermediary,
b) Through hearing the voice without observing the owner of the voice, and
c) Through Gabriel or the Angel of Revelation.[2]
The Holy Prophet suffered a lot of pressures only when he was receiving the revelations; in accordance with some narrations, he suffered such tremendous amount of pressures that he would lose the color of his face and perspire a great deal so much so that the drops of sweat would fall from his complexion.[3] However, if he received the revelations indirectly through the angel, he would not undergo any drastic bodily changes. This state is reported by Imam al-¯¡diq (s) who said,
Whenever the revelation came through Gabriel; he said so and so; however, if he received the revelation directly, he would show the pressures he was under and sometimes he would become unconscious.[4]
Meeting with Gabriel did not produce any special emotional reaction in the Holy Prophet and Gabriel would never enter his presence without permission. He would sit in front of him quite politely.[5]
Historians unanimously contend that since the first verses of the Holy Qur’¡n were revealed in the °ar¡’ cave by Gabriel, the Holy Prophet did not suffer any unusual pressure. Of course, this does not negate the worry which the Holy Prophet had vis-à-vis the idolaters and their animosities.
(4) Taking into consideration the fact that the Holy Prophet received the revelations continuously, there is no need to assume that he would be taken by surprise or have been perplexed. Besides, in most records, Gabriel attended the Holy Prophet’s presence for the first time on Saturday night, Sunday night and Monday night to ascend revelations to him.[6]
So, Gabriel’s visit in °ar¡’ was not the first so that he might have been perplexed. Generally, it is the case that a person would not receive God's revelation unless he was quite prepared for such a huge position.
(5) How could it happen for Khad¢jah to have known more than the Holy Prophet and to have comforted him when she had seen him anxious?
(6) The worst part of the above fable is the assumption that the Holy Prophet had been raised to this position of prophethood without previous knowledge; and that he had not recognized Gabriel and could not have recognized him or his Message until an old Christian confirmed; and Mu¦ammad (¥) had relied on his prediction and had been assured of his prophethood and had become quiet! We do not need to elaborate on this story because it is so absurd that it would not need to be criticized.
(7) It is noteworthy that such unfounded myths have never been presented for the prophethood of the previous prophets.
(8) This myth is incompatible with what the Holy Qur’¡n states about the Holy Prophet:
The heart was not untrue making him see what he saw. (53:11)
±abirs¢, well-known Sh¢`ite scholar and interpreter of the Holy Qur'¡n, writes:
God would not reveal anything to His Prophet unless His revelations are accompanied by some vivid reasons and unless He assures to the Prophet that what is revealed unto him is from God. The Prophet would not need anything more and he does not need to be worried.[7]
When Imam al-¯¡diq (s) was asked by one of his followers, “Why didn't the Holy Prophet assume that the revelation could have been nothing but Satan’s temptations when he received them?” The Imam answered,
“When God appoints a servant of His as a prophet, He would give him the required assurances in such a way that he would vividly observe what is revealed unto him.”[8]
Although they are distinguished scholars, the interpreters of ¯a¦¢¦ al-Bukh¡r¢ and ¯a¦¢¦ Muslim (in which `ª’ishah’s account appears) have taken the narration as authentic and then tried to explain it, but they resorted to spurious reasoning which at times seems irrational.[9]
Similar narrations have been reported by narrators such as `Abdull¡h ibn Shadd¡d, `Ubayd ibn `Umayr, `Abdull¡h ibn `Abb¡s and `Urwah ibn al-Zubayr. However, since their accounts are baseless and invented, we will not deal with them.[10] These spurious and unfounded accounts have penetrated into some Christian sources and misused against the Holy Prophet.[11] This critique of ours would make them useless
[1] Al-`Asqal¡n¢, al-I¥¡bah f¢ Tamy¢z al-¯a¦¡bah 4:359.
[2] Bi¦¡r al-Anw¡r 18:246, 254, 257.
[3] Ibn Sa`d, op cit, 1:197; Ibn Shahr¡sh£b, Man¡qib, op cit, 1:43; al-Majlis¢, op cit, 18:271.
[4] al-Majlis¢, op cit, pp 268, 271; ¯ad£q, al-Taw¦¢d, pp. 115.
[5] ¯ad£q, Kam¡l al-D¢n 1:85; `Ilal al-Shar¡'i` 7:7.
[6] ±abar¢, op cit, 2:207; al-Bul¡dhar¢, op cit, 1:105; Mas`£d¢, Mur£j al-Dhahab 2:276; T¡r¢kh al-Ya`q£b¢ 2:17.
[7] Majma` al-Bay¡n 10:384.
[8] al-Majlis¢, Bi¦¡r al-Anw¡r 18:262; Mu¦ammad H¡d¢ Ma`rifat, al-Tamh¢d f¢ `Ul£m al-Qur'¡n 1:49.
[9] As far as we know, the first person who realized the lack of authenticity of this narration was Sayyid `Abd al-°usayn Sharaf al-D¢n al-M£saw¢ (1390-1377 AH), one of the distinguished Sh¢`ite scholars of Jabal `ªmil, who discussed and criticized it in his epistle to the Arab Scientific Congress in Damascus, and in his book al-Na¥¥ wa’l-Ijtih¡d, pp 319-322. Then other scholars, such as `Al¢ Daw¡n¢, criticized this narration in the following sources: The Rays of revelation over Mount °ar¡', pp 70-108; the history of Islam from the start up to the prophet's Migration, pp 98-110; the role of the Imams In the revival of the religion 4:6-44; al-¯a¦¢¦ min S¢rat al-Nab¢ al-A`¨am 1:216-232, Treason in the historical accounts 2:3-23; al-Tamh¢d 1:52-56; Some Analytical Lessons From The History Of Islam 2:196-236.
[10] Murta¤¡ `ªmil¢, The role of the Imams In the revival of the religion 4:12.
[11] Islamic Encyclopedia 3:398. Montgomery Watt, the head of the Arabic department of Edinburgh University, is one of those who insinuates against Islam. He writes, “It is amazing for a man who used to live in a far-away city, like Mecca in the seventh century AD, to have been appointed as a prophet by God. Therefore, we are not amazed when we hear that Mu¦ammad was frightened and worried when he became aware of this issue. Regarding this, there are some hints and documents in the Qur'¡n and in other narrations related to his life. It is not clear at what time he realized that God had not forgotten him. His other fear was the fear of mental breakdown; this is because in those days Arabs assumed that persons like him were under the domination of jinn or spirits. Some Meccan Arabs interpreted Mu¦ammad's revelations in this way and he himself at times doubted whether people were right or wrong in their assumptions.” See Mu¦ammad, the prophet and the politician, pp 26-27.
