Koranlore
Chapter 8 The Connection of the Would-Be Prophet to the God of Islam
Was Muhammad a real prophet of God, the last prophet, the Seal of the Prophets as he was claimed to be -- or did he pose as the would-be last prophet? How did he see his connection to God and was it real or just a figment of Muhammad's imagination, a product of his subconscious mind?
Another question to be answered is whether Allah spoke to Muhammad in his visions by "sending down" through the angel Gabriel to Muhammad the in the Koran, or whether Muhammad merely imagined he received the Allah's revelations.
In Chapter 7 of Koranlore, reference was made to historian Carl Stephenson who in his book Medieval History discussed Muhammad's subconscious mind.. According to Stephenson, the subconscious mind can perform marvels, especially in the case of Muhammad, who, he says, was nervously high-strung, extremely sensitive, and prone to attacks of hysteria, which Muhammad and others considered clear evidence that he possessed supernatural powers. ( Cf. C. Stephenson, op. cit., p.134.)
Did Muhammad have a special connection to the God of Islam? Let's examine that connection as he saw it.
The second Sura of the Koran, entitled "The Cow" (cf.
Sura 2:63-68, which speaks of what Moses said to his people, "Verily, God bids you sacrifice a COW" in order that a murderer might be discovered, (according to note 30, Rodwell, The Koran) is replete with references to the hypocrites and Jews who antagonized Muhammad by their rejection of his new religion and of him as the awaited prophet (Messiah) of the Jews. (Cf. pages 247-270, A. Guillaume, The Life of Muhammad.).Guillaume's translation of Ishaq's
Sirat Rasul Allah notes that the first 100 verses of Sura 2 "came down" in reference to the Jewish rabbis and hypocrites of Aus and Khazraj. The manner in which Muhammad received word from Allah --which came down -- appears to be Muhammad's way of dealing with the criticism of those who disbelieved his special relationship with Allah. Like so many puerile religionists, he thought of Allah as located "up there in heaven" and himself "down here on earth."A few examples from Sura 2 will suffice to illustrate the nature of how Muhammad's mind worked:
In Sura 2:83 Muhammad chastised the Jews for not believing in the Book (Bible) given to Moses and the apostles raised up after him. He rebuked the Jews for not recognizing
The Koran in verses 2: 84-85:"They have sold themselves for a vile price by not believing what God has sent down, jealous of God's sending down his grace as he pleases on one of his servants.( cf. Rodwell, The Koran, note 38, the gift of the prophetic office, etc., to a pagan Arab rather than a Jew); and they have brought themselves anger on anger. And the unbelievers face a disgraceful chastisement.
"And when they are told to believe in what God has sent down, they say they do believe in what has already been sent down to them but they disbelieve what has since been sent down, although it is the truth that confirms their own Scriptures."
Ishaq relates that to the last of the four questions posed to Muhammad by a number of Jewish rabbis, "Tell us about the Spirit," Muhammad answered with a question whether they knew the Spirit was Gabriel who comes to him. Their answer was that they agreed, saying Gabriel is an enemy to them, an angel who comes only with violence and the shedding of blood, except for which they would follow Muhammad. Ishaq continues the story: "
So God sent down concerning them" words (cf. p. 255, op cit., A. Guillaume) to the effect of what follows in Sura 2 verses 91-96:"SAY: Who is the enemy of Gabriel? Because it is he who by God's permission has brought down the Koran confirming previous revelations with guidance and good tidings to the believers.
"Whoever is an enemy to God or his angels or to Gabriel, or to Michael shall have God as his enemy: for truly God is an enemy to the Infidels.
"As often as they have formed an engagement with you, will some of them set it aside? But most of them do not believe.
" And when an apostle came to them from God, affirming the previous revelations made to them, some who were given the Scriptures discarded the Book of God as if they didn't know it:
" And they followed what the Satans read during Solomon's reign: the Satans, not Solomon, were unbelieving (teaching sorcery to men)."
Another example from Ishaq's account: Two Jewish rabbis, Rafi b. Huraymila and Wahb b. Zayd, asked Muhammad to bring them a book down from heaven that they may read it and to bring out rivers for them from the earth, then they would follow him and believe in him. So God sent down concerning them words (cf. p. 257f, op cit., A Guillaume) to the effect of what follows in Sura 2 verse 102:
"Would you ask of your apostle what formerly was asked of Moses? But he who exchanges faith for unbelief, has already strayed from the even path."
Again, for example, Ishaq relates that Huyayy and Abu Yasir were the most implacable enemies of the Arabs when God chose to send them an apostle from among themselves, and they used to do everything possible to turn men away from Islam. Again the familiar phrase: So God sent down concerning them words (cf. p. 258, op cit., A Guillaume) to the effect of what follows in verse 103 of Sura 2 (Rodwell's version of The Koran):
"Many of the scriptural people wish to make unbelievers of you after you have believed, out of envy even after the truth has been clearly shown to them. But forgive them and avoid them until God comes in with His orders. Truly God has power over all things."
Many more illustrations like the above abound in The Life of Muhammad. In many of them Muhammad answered the queries of his opponents, after some thought (sometimes quickly, sometimes hesitantly), by phrasing his answers as if they "came down" from Heaven through God's spokesman Gabriel. And Muhammad may have really believed the answers came from God rather than from his own invention. At least that was his story and he stuck to it.
Thus Muhammad fashioned his special connection to God, whether real or imagined: God sent down the verses to Muhammad which he accumulated over 23 years into 114 suras or chapters to form the Koran.
Was Muhammad a real prophet of God, the Seal of the Prophets as he claimed to be, or was he the would-be last prophet of God? Skeptics may take him at his word, or may find it hard to believe and reject his claims. Again, readers of Koranlore must decide for themselves.
NEXT , Chapter 9 will discuss the Islamic Principle of Deception.