The aim of Muhammad had been the regeneration of his people but he had fallen miserably short of it. The conversion of forty or fifty souls ill compensat ed for the bitter alienation of the whole community. His heart was vexed and his spirit chafed, by the violent opposition of the most respected and influential chiefs. Sad and dispirited, the Prophet longed for reconciliation, and considered how it could be effected, this gave entrance to the famous Satanic verses. If the Qu ran were in truth His oracle, Muhammad would never be reduced to the petty shift of retracting as a mistake such verses which had once been given forth as a message from heaven. The Qurraish laughed to scorn the futile endeavour of the Prophet to effect a compromise which should draw them away from idolatry.
Return of the Abyssinian Refugees A. D. 615
Three months had not elapsed since the little groups departure to Abyssinia, when, notwithstanding the hospitable reception at the court of Negus, the refugees again returned to Mecca. Their return is linked with one of the strangest episodes in the life of the Prophet. Hishami contents himself with saying that they came because news reached them of the conversion of the Qurraish. But Wackidi and Tabarl narrate a story, of which the following is an outline.
The lapse of Muhammad (Narrative by Wackidi and Tabari).
On a certain day the chief men of Mecca, assembled in a group beside the Ka‘aba, discussed, as was their custom, the affairs of the city. Muhammad appeared and seating himself by them in a friendly manner, began to recite in their hearing Sura 53. The chapter opens with a description of Gabriel and then there unfolds a vision of that angel, at which certain heavenly mysteries were revealed.
Satan suggests an idolatrous concession
When he had reached this verse, the devil suggested to Muhammad an expression of thoughts which had long possessed his soul; and put into his mouth words of reconciliation and compromise such as he had been yearning that God might send unto his people, namely:
> “These are exalted Females, And verily their intercession is to be hoped for,”
The Qurraish were astonished and delighted with this acknowledgement of their deities; and as Muhammad wound up the Sura with these closing words, Wherefore bow down before God, and serve Him, the whole assembly prostrated themselves with one accord on the ground and worshipped. Walid alone, unable from the infirmities of age to bow down, took a handful of earth and worshipped, pressing it to his forehead. All the people were pleased at that which Muhammad had spoken and they began to say: “Now we know that it is the Lord alone that giveth life and taketh it away, that createth and supporteth. And as for these our goddesses, they make intercession with Him for us; wherefore, as thou hast conceded unto them a portion, we are content to follow thee.” But their words disquieted Muhammad, and he retired to his house.
In the evening Gabriel visited him; and the Prophet (as he often did) recited the Sura to him. And Gabriel said: What is this that thou hast done? Thou hast repeated before the people words that I never gave unto thee. So Muhammad grieved greatly and said, I have spoken of God that which He hath not said. But the Lord comforted his Prophet, and restored his confidence, and cancelled the verse, and revealed the true reading of it, (i.e. as it now stands) namely-
> “And see ye not Lat and Uzza, and Manat the third beside? What! shall there be male progeny unto you, and female unto Him? That were indeed an unjust partition! They are naught but names, which ye and. Your fathers have invented, & etc”.
Tradition tells us that Muhammad was consoled by the following passage in Sura 22:
> “And we have not sent before thee any Apostle, nor any Prophet, but when he longed, Satan cast suggestions into his longing. But God shall cancel that which Satan suggesteth. Then shall God establish His revelations, that He may make what Satan hath suggested a trial unto those whose hearts are diseased and hardened”.
Now when the Qurraish heard this, they spoke among themselves, saying: Muhammad hath repented his favourable mention, of the rank of our goddesses with the Lord. He hath changed the same, and brought other words instead. So they increased their malice and began to persecute the faithful with still greater severity.
The Satanic Verses founded on fact.
Previously, pious Muslims scandalised at the lapse of their Prophet into so flagrant a concession, would reject the whole story. But the authorities are too strong to be impugned. It is hardly possible to conceive how the tale, if not in some shape or other founded in truth, could ever have been invented. The stubborn fact remains, and is by all admitted, that the first refugees did return about this time from Abyssinia; and that they returned in consequence of a rumour that Mecca was converted. To this fact the narrative of Wackidi and Tabari afford the only intelligible clue.
The circumstances may be conceived of like this: Up to this point Muhammad’s was a spiritual religion, of which faith, and prayer and the inculcation of virtue, formed the prominent features. The Ka’aba and its ancient rites were held to have been founded by the patriarch Abraham. Was not the worship of the Ka’aba, after all, a divine institution? The temple was built at the command of God; the compassing of it symbolised the circling course of the heavenly bodies and the obedience of all creation to the Deity. Pious devotion was nurtured by kissing the sacred corner-stone; the slaying of sacrifices, in commemoration of Abraham’s readiness to offer up his son, signified a like s
ubmission; the pilgrimage to Arafat, the shaving of the head, and other popular observances, were innocent, if not directly religious in their tendency. But how shall he treat the idols and worship rendered to them? In their present mind the Qurraish would never abandon these.
If, however (as they now professed their readiness), they would acknowledge the one true God as the supreme Lord, and look to the idols as only symbolical of the angels, what harm would result from their continuance? Incredible as the concession may appear and irreconcilable with his first principles Muhammad acceded to it, and consented to maintain the heathen deities as representatives of heavenly beings whose intercession was to be hoped for with the Deity. If Muhammad stipulated any safeguards against the abuses of idolatry, no trace of them can be now discovered. We only know that the arrangement, of whatever nature, gave satisfaction to the chiefs and people, and produced a temporary union. But Muhammad was not long in perceiving the inconsistency into which he had been betrayed. The people worshipped images, and not God. No reasoning on his part or no assurance from them, could dissemble the galling fact that idolatry was as gross and prevalent as ever.
His only safety now lay in disowning the concession. The devil had deceived him. The words of compromise were no part of the divine faith received from God through his heavenly messenger. The lapse was thus atoned for. The heretical verses spoken under delusion were cancelled, and others revealed instead, denying the existence of female angels such as Lat and Uzza, and denouncing idolatry with a sentence of irrevocable condemnation. From now on the Prophet wages mortal strife with images and their supporters. His system gathers itself up into a pure and stern theism. The following passage, produced shortly after his lapse shows how Muhammad refuted his adversaries, and adroitly turned against them.
> “And if thou askest them who created the Heavens and the Earth, they will surely answer God. Say, what think ye then? If the Lord be pleased to visit me with affliction, can those upon whom ye call besides God what could they remove the visitation? Or if He visit me with mercy, could, they withhold His mercy? Say, God sufficeth for me, in Him alone let those that put their trust confide.” (Az-Zumar 39:38)
However short his fall, Muhammad, retained a keen sense of his disgrace, and of the danger which, lay in parleying with his adversaries:
>”And truly they were near tempting thee aside from what We revealed unto thee, that thou shouldest fabricate regarding Us a different revelation; and then they would have taken thee for a friend. And if it had not been that We established thee, verily thou hadst nearly inclined unto them a, little. Then verily We had caused thee to taste both of the punishment of Life and the punishment of Death; Then thou shouldest not have found against Us any helper.” (Al-Isra 17:73-75)
Muhammad’s position injured by the lapse.
But although Muhammad may have completely re-established his own convictions, and regained the confidence of his adherents, there is little doubt that the concession to idolatry, followed by a recantation so sudden and peremptory, seriously weakened his position with the people at large. They would not readily credit the excuse, that words of error had been ‘cast by the devil into the mouth of Muhammad.’ If the Quran were in truth His oracle, Muhammad would never be reduced to the petty shift of retracting as a mistake what had once been given forth as a message from heaven. The Qurraish laughed to scorn the futile endeavour of the Prophet to effect a compromise which should draw them away from idolatry.
Return of the Abyssinian Emigrants A. D. 615
The little band of emigrants returned after only two months in Abyssinia. Approaching the city of Mecca, they met a party of travellers who told them that Muhammad had withdrawn his concession and that the Qurraish had resumed their oppression. After consulting as to what should now be done, they resolved to go forward and visit their homes. If things came to the worst they could again escape to Abyssinia. So they entered Mecca each under the protection of a relative or friend.
Second Emigration to Abyssinia A. D. 615 – 616.
The report brought by the emigrants of their kind reception by the Negus annoyed the Qurraish and the persecution became hotter than ever so Muhammad again recommended his followers to take refuge in Abyssinia. The first party of the new expedition set out about the sixth year of the mission after this they returned at intervals in small groups of converts, accompanied sometimes by their wives and children, making a number of 101. Of these, eighty-three were men. Among the women, eleven were of the Qurraish, and seven belonged to other tribes. Thirty-three of the men, with eight women (including Uthman and his wife Rockeya the daughter of Muhammad), again returned to Mecca, and eventually emigrated to Medina. The rest of the refugees remained in Abyssinia for several years, and did not rejoin Muhammad until his expedition to Kheibar, in the seventh year of the Hegira.
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