Prophet Muhammad, may Allah grant and bless him peace, always spoke the truth and never uttered anything contrary to his message. He was protected from doing or saying otherwise. He stood firm to his basic stand in his life as a messenger of Allah in all conditions, be that in his personal life, familial affairs, or social engagements. He never contradicted himself, even by slip of tongue, forgetfulness, or error. No human being, save the Prophets, may Allah bestow peace on them, who are protected by Allah in this matter, can achieve this level of truthfulness. This can be considered a miracle from Allah, a special favour to His chosen entities.
Abdullah, son of Amr, may Allah be pleased with him, reported: “I would write down everything I heard from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah grant and bless him peace, wanting to memorise it, but the Quraysh told me not to do it. They said, ‘Do you write down everything you hear from him? He is a human being! He speaks when he is angry and pleased.’ So, I stopped writing things down. I mentioned it to the Prophet ﷺ, and he pointed to his mouth and said, ‘Write, for by the One in whose hand is my soul, nothing comes out of it but the truth.”
Allah said in the Qur’an:
“Nor does he speak from [his own] inclination. It is not but a revelation revealed.” (The Qur’an 53:3-4)
“O mankind, the Messenger has come to you with the truth from your Lord, so believe; it is better for you.” (The Qur’an 4:170)
“And whatever the Messenger has given you – take; and what he has forbidden you – refrain from.” (The Qur’an 59:7)
Hence, the truth that came through the Prophet is pure and is not marred with any iota of falsehood.
At this stage, there is a need to refute any report that is not consistent with the facts discussed above.
A False Story
One day, while the Prophet ﷺ was sitting in a large gathering of the Quraysh, he recited Surah An-Najm (Chapter 53 of the Qur’an). He recited till the end of the Surah and performed prostration after it. The recitation was so moving that everyone in the audience, including the elites of the Quraysh, prostrated. Later, they felt embarrassed to have prostrated along with the Muslims. The Surah included the verses, “Have you ever thought about al-Lat and al-Uzza, and about the third deity, al-Manat?” (The Qur’an 53:19-20). The Quraysh made a plea that the Prophet ﷺ had recited an additional sentence after verses 19 and 20 that was in praise of their three deities. The extra sentence they concocted was: “These are exalted goddesses; indeed, their intercession may be expected.”
This story became popular and is also reflected in some traditions. Further, layers of story got added, and it was said that the Prophet ﷺ was perturbed by this, and to console him, Allah revealed the following Qur’anic verses:
“They definitely (thought they) were about to lure you away from what We have revealed to you (O Prophet), hoping that you would attribute something else to Us falsely – and then they would have certainly taken you as a close friend. Had We not made you steadfast, you probably would have inclined to them a little, and then We truly would have made you taste double (punishment) both in this life and after death, and you would have found no helper against Us.” (The Qur’an 17:73-75)
“And We did not send before you any Messenger or Prophet except that when he spoke [or recited], Shaytan threw into it [some misunderstanding]. But Allah abolishes that which Shaytan throws in; then Allah makes precise His verses. And Allah is Knowing and Wise.” (The Qur’an 22:52)
There is no worth in the story, and it is totally fabricated. QāḍīʻIyāḍ has gone at great length to refute it. He discussed the story from two angles: First, that it is not authentic, and second, that even if there is any merit in any part of it, what was the possible course that happened? Other scholars have also refuted it, and their arguments may be summarised as under:
- This tradition is neither contained in any of the six authentic collections of Hadith nor has it been related in an authentic way by authentic reporters.
- The wording ascribed to the Prophet in praise of the idols in each tradition is different from that of others.
- There are many major discrepancies and variations in its details, including the period in which this occurred. According to the story, the incident occurred after the first migration to Habash that took place in the month of Rajab of the fifth year of prophethood. But Chapter 17 of the Qur’an, which is part of the story, was revealed five or six years later in the eleventh or twelfth year of the prophethood. Further, chapter 22, which is also part of the story, was revealed after two further years.
The story makes no sense. This is an outcome of the embarrassment that the Quraysh of Makkah felt on prostrating on hearing the recitation of the Qur’an. This story was concocted to justify their action. Further, it had been their practice to create hue and cry to counter the powerful message of the Qur’an. Allah has described their approach in many verses, including this: “And those who disbelieve say, Do not listen to this Qur’an and speak noisily during [the recitation of] it that perhaps you will overcome.” (The Qur’an 41:26)
Other Refutations
Two other false reports need to be refuted at this stage. One relates to a Prophet and the other to a dubious person.
It is reported that Prophet Yunus, may Allah bestow peace on him, had left his place angrily after proclaiming that Allah would destroy its inhabitants. But the fact is that Allah did not bring destruction to that place and, instead, pardoned them as is evidenced by His words, “Then has there not been a [single] city that believed so its faith benefited it except the people of Jonah? When they believed, We removed from them the punishment of disgrace in worldly life and gave them enjoyment for a time. (The Qur’an 10:98). Their repentance in the face of the upcoming punishment was accepted by Allah. In other words, it means that the Prophet had said the wrong thing. A prophet has always to be truthful. But, none of the reports suggests that the Prophet said that the punishment would be there. It was his supplication to Allah and the possibility of its acceptance on the face of denials of the message of the Prophet. The expression of possibility and the related supplication to Allah by the Prophet cannot be referred to as a statement of fact by him.
The second report requiring refutation is the statement of Abdullah, son of Sa’d, son of Sarh, who was one of the scribes to whom the Prophet dictated verses of the Qur’an after their revelation. He later left Islam and went back to the Quraysh as an idolater. It is said that he told the Quraysh that the reason of his leaving Islam was that the Prophet was not genuine while dictating the verses. He, reportedly, said that the Prophet ﷺ dictated the word, Mighty, Wise’ and he (ibn Sarh) suggested the words ‘Knowing, Wise’ and the Prophet agreed to his suggestion. Likewise, the Prophet dictated ‘Knowing, Wise’ and accepted the words ‘Hearing, seeing’, saying, ‘Write as you like.’
It is reported that another person, who was a Christian earlier, who accepted Islam and then left Islam, said that the Prophet ﷺ only knew what he wrote for him.
Stories like these, which originated from someone who rejected the Prophet ﷺ, have no face value, and they cannot cast any aspersion in the hearts of the believers. Such persons are capable of fabricating lies. There were several scribes, including the persons mentioned above, and no one else reported anything like this. Allah has said, “They only invent falsehood who do not believe in the verses of Allah, and it is those who are the liars.” (The Qur’an 16:105)