Ebook: Before orthodoxy: the Satanic Verses in early Islam

One of the most controversial episodes in the life of the Prophet Muhammad concerns an incident in which he allegedly mistook words suggested by Satan as divine revelation. Known as the Satanic verses, these praises to the pagan deities contradict the Islamic belief that Allah is one and absolute. Muslims today--of all sects--deny that the incident of the Satanic verses took place. But as Shahab Ahmed explains, Muslims did not always hold this view. Before Orthodoxy wrestles with the question of how religions establish truth--especially religions such as Islam that lack a centralized authority to codify beliefs. Taking the now universally rejected incident of the Satanic verses as a case study in the formation of Islamic orthodoxy, Ahmed shows that early Muslims, circa 632 to 800 CE, held the exact opposite belief. For them, the Satanic verses were an established fact in the history of the Prophet. Ahmed offers a detailed account of the attitudes of Muslims to the Satanic verses in the first two centuries of Islam and traces the chains of transmission in the historical reports known as riwāyah. Touching directly on the nature of Muhammad's prophetic visions, the interpretation of the Satanic verses incident is a question of profound importance in Islam, one that plays a role in defining the limits of what Muslims may legitimately say and do--issues crucial to understanding the contemporary Islamic world.--;How to Read the Earliest Sources? -- The Earliest Narrative Reports (Riwayahs) and Their Transmitters -- From Muhammad b. Ka'b Al-Qurazi -- From the Rayy Recension of the Sirah of Muhammad Ibn Ishaq -- Abu Ma'shar's Report from Muhammad b. Ka'b and Muhammad b. Qays -- al-Waqidi's Report from al-Muttalib b. Hantab and the Banu Zafar -- Summary Reports from Muhammad b. Ka'B Al-Qurazi -- A Summary Report from Muhammad b. Ka'b in the Tafsir of Abu al-Layth al-Samarqandi -- A Summary Report from Muhammad b. Ka'b in the Tafsir of Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi -- A Summary Report from Muhammad b. Ka'b in the Tafsir of Abu al-Shaykh al-Isbahani -- From the Maghazi of Yunus b. Bukayr -- From 'Urwah b. Al-Zubayr -- From Abu al-Aswad's Egyptian Recension of 'Urwah's Maghazi -- al-Bayhaqi's Citation of the Maghazi of Musab. 'Uqbah, and Ibn Kathir's Citation from Ibn Abi Hatim of the Maghazi of Musa b. 'Uqbah -- al-Dhahabi's Citation of the Maghazi of Musa b. 'Uqbah -- Abu Nu'aym al-Isbahani's Citation of the Maghazi of Musab. 'Uqbah -- al-Suyuti's Citation from Ibn Abï Hatim's Tafsir of the Maghazi of Musa b. 'Uqbah -- al-Kila'i's Citation of the Maghazi of Musa b. 'Uqbah -- Conclusions -- Al-Zuhri from Abu Bakr 'Abd Al-Rahman b. Al Harith -- Probably from al Zuhrl's Tafsir with a sahih mursal isnad -- Probably from al-Zuhri's Kitab al-maghazi -- Conclusions -- From Abu Al-'Aliyah Al-Basri -- Cited by al-Tabari with a sahih mursal Basran isnad -- Also Cited by al-Tabari with a sahih mursal Basran isnad -- Cited by al-Suyuti in the Durr from the Tafsirs of al-Tabari, Ibn al-Mundhir and Ibn Abi Hatim by an Unspecified sahih isnad -- Cited by al-Suyuti in the Durr from the Tafsirs of al-Tabari, Ibn al-Mundhir and Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi -- Cited by Yahya b. Sallam al-Basri in his Tafsir -- Conclusions -- From Al-Suddi -- In the Tafsir of 'Abd b. Humayd al-Samarqandi -- In the Tafsir of Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi -- From Muhammad b. Al-Sa'ib Al-Kalbï -- From Qatadah b. Di'Amah -- Cited by Yahya b. Sallam al-Basri in His Tafsir -- al-Tabari's Citation of Tafsir Muhammad ibn Thawr 'an Ma'mar 'an Qatadah, and of al-Hasan b. Yahya's Citation of Qatadah in the Baghdadi Transmission of the Tafsir of 'Abd al-Razzaq al-San'ani -- From the Tafsir of 'Abd al-Razzaq al-San'ani -- Conclusions -- From Muqatil b. Sulayman -- Muqatil's Commentary on Qur'an 22:52 al-Hajj -- Muqatil's Commentary on Qur'an 53:19-26 al-Najm -- Muqatil's Commentary on Qur'an 109 al-Kafirun -- Muqatil's Commentary on Qur'an 39:43-45 al-Zumar -- Conclusions -- From Mujahid b. Jabr -- From Mujahid's Commentary on Qur'an 22:52 al-Hajj Cited by Ibn 'Aqilah -- From Mujahid's Commentary on Qur'an 39:45 al-Zumar Cited by al-Wahidi -- From Mujahid's Commentary on Qur'an 17:73 al-Isra' Cited by al-Tha'labi -- From Al-Dahhak b. Muzahim Al-Balkhi -- Attributed to 'Abd Allah b. 'Abbas -- From 'Atiyyah b. Sa'd al-'Awfi -- From Abu Salih -- From 'Ata' b. Abi Rabah al-Makki -- Cited Directly from Ibn 'Abbas in the Ghara'ib al-Qur'an of Nizam al Din al-Naysaburi -- From Abu Salih; from 'Ikrimah the mawla of Ibn 'Abbas; and from an Unnamed Source -- Sa'id b. Jubayr from IBN 'Abbas -- 'Uthman b. al-Aswad ←Sa'id b. Jubayr -- In the Mukhtarah of al-Diya' al-Maqdisi with a Deficient isnad -- In the Tafsir of Abu al-Layth al-Samarqandi with an Unacknowledged sahih isnad -- In the Ashab al-nuzul of al-Wahidi with an isnad Stopping at Sa'id b. Jubayr -- Shu'bah ←Abu Bishr ←Sa'id b. Jubayr ← Ibn 'Abbas -- Cited from Yusuf b. Hammad al-Basri in the Musnad of al-Bazzar with Two Cautionary Remarks -- Cited from Yusuf b. Hammad al-Basri in the Mu'jam al-Kabir of al-Tabarani and in the Tafsir of Ibn Mardawayh, with an Interesting Remark -- Conclusions -- From Sa'Id b. Jubayr without Attribution to IBN 'Abbas -- Cited by al-Tabari from Sa'id b. Jubayr via Shu'bah and Abu Bishr Ja'far b. Abi Wahshiyyah -- Cited by Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi from Sa'id b. Jubayr via Shu'bah and Abu Bishr Ja'far b. Abi Wahshiyyah -- Cited by al-Suyuti in the without an isnad -- Conclusions -- From 'Ikrimah, The Mawla of IBN 'Abbas -- From AL-Hasan Al-Basri -- Cited from al-Hasan al-Basri in al-Nukat wa-al-'uyun of al-Mawardi -- Cited from al-Hasan al-Basri in Ahkam al-Qur'an of al-Jassas -- Conclusions: The Satanic Verses, Riwayahs 1 to 50 -- Why Did the Early Muslim Community Accept the Satanic Verses Incident as Truth?.