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Library of Professor Richard A. Macksey in Baltimore
Monday, October 1, 2012
ISLAM-The mysterious illness of the Prophet Muhammad identified
Psychological Laboratory of Leuven (Belgium)
The mysterious illness of the Prophet Muhammad identified
Theophanes, a monk (752-817), wrote in his Chronography that Muhammad suffered from epilepsy. From that time most historians repeated this opinion. When in the late 19th century better notions of psychopathology became common, this diagnosis was challenged. Some thought his disease was hysteria or hystero-epilepsy, although for most scientists epilepsy was excluded. There was no definitive answer to this question. A better scientific examination of the sources has made clear that all symptoms of acromegaly are present with some psychopathological paranoid traits. Acromegaly is caused by a small tumour of the hypophysis, beginning most of the time about the fortieth year and ending in the sixtieth year with an apoplexy of the hypophysis.
According to the hadith Muhammad suffered from a long-lasting disease, which he treated by means of bleeding. He walked as somebody who comes down from a hill. His skin-colour was peculiar, not white, not too tanned, somewhat rosy. His eyebrows were conspicuous. He was sweating heavily, especially when he was receiving revelations. He heard the noise of bells and voices. He had a great appetite and suffered from hunger. Notwithstanding his sexual relations with ten young women, he remained quasi-sterile: one only child after the age of forty years. During his last illness he suffered from intense headaches, losses of consciousness, back- and intestinal pains. He died at the age of 62 years. Psychologically he was known as trustworthy, somewhat retiring and prude. Initially, about at the age of forty years, he was depressed, retiring, and showed a tendency to suicide. He spoke slowly. Most typical were his great hands, dough feeling palms, great feet, a long fleshy nose, well developed ears and a peculiar voice.
These indications suggest that he suffered from acromegaly. This hypothesis allows to explain almost all details found in the hadith.
Acromegaly is caused by an adenoma of the pituitary, which causes an increase in growth hormone (somatotropine) and usually a deficiency or increase of other hormones such as gonadotropine. The disease begins in adult persons about the fourth decade of age. Most patients die about the age of 60 years. It is a long-lasting disease with slow progress, sometimes burning out. Most patients tolerate it reasonably well. The melanophore hormones secreted by the pituitary cause a peculiar straw-yellow skin-colour. Excessive sweating is sometimes caused by hyperthyroidism. Sweating can be oily and have an unpleasant odour. Patients suffer from high blood pressure. Some hirsutism is observed (eyebrows). The growth of all extremities after adult age causes also the vertebrae to extend and the spine to curve. This extension can cause pain as the nerves suffer pressure. Especially typical is the enlargement of the fingers and the dough like feeling of the palms when shaking hands. Rarely a bleeding of the pituitary occurs and causes dead: this apoplexy of the pituitary causes headaches, nausea, vomiting, losses of consciousness. Psychologically patients suffer initially from depression, brooding and irritability, also an increase of appetite and a loss of libido.
Some patients are anxious and are lacking in self-confidence. When the adenoma exerts pressure on the third ventricle and the optic chiasma in the brain the patients may suffer from hallucinoses. Uniformly these patients are trustworthy. Their personality is characterised by conscientiousness, reliability and industriousness.
Confronting this picture of the symptomatology of acromegaly with the tradition about Muhammad one can only state the conformity.
Moreover one understands some other traits of the personality of Muhammad. He washed himself often, till two or tree times successively. He indulged in men's scents, such as musk and ambergris; he used to burn camphor on odoriferous wood. This is understandable. He smelled the unpleasant odour of his sweat, and did not want it to be perceived by others.
The use of bleeding, as a treatment can be understood as a remedy against his high blood pressure.
His polygamy and the incessant acquisition of new young women can be explained by his wish for a masculine child. His young sons were all dead. He adopted two sons. But a son of his own was for him an absolute must. As the pituitary influences fertility his acromegaly reduced considerably the spermatogenesis.
Ten wives could only give birth to one only masculine child, which died early. Changing wives he tried desperately to engender that masculine child. He was not a sex-maniac.
His death was probably caused by a pituitary apoplexy. Psychologically he was considered as a trustworthy person. Initially depressed and devoid of self-confidence, he considered suicide. He suffered from hallucinoses and even hallucinations.
The complete report was published in Dutch: Een andere Mohammed
http://users.skynet.be/sky50779/mohammed%201.htm
The mysterious illness of the Prophet Muhammad identified
Theophanes, a monk (752-817), wrote in his Chronography that Muhammad suffered from epilepsy. From that time most historians repeated this opinion. When in the late 19th century better notions of psychopathology became common, this diagnosis was challenged. Some thought his disease was hysteria or hystero-epilepsy, although for most scientists epilepsy was excluded. There was no definitive answer to this question. A better scientific examination of the sources has made clear that all symptoms of acromegaly are present with some psychopathological paranoid traits. Acromegaly is caused by a small tumour of the hypophysis, beginning most of the time about the fortieth year and ending in the sixtieth year with an apoplexy of the hypophysis.
According to the hadith Muhammad suffered from a long-lasting disease, which he treated by means of bleeding. He walked as somebody who comes down from a hill. His skin-colour was peculiar, not white, not too tanned, somewhat rosy. His eyebrows were conspicuous. He was sweating heavily, especially when he was receiving revelations. He heard the noise of bells and voices. He had a great appetite and suffered from hunger. Notwithstanding his sexual relations with ten young women, he remained quasi-sterile: one only child after the age of forty years. During his last illness he suffered from intense headaches, losses of consciousness, back- and intestinal pains. He died at the age of 62 years. Psychologically he was known as trustworthy, somewhat retiring and prude. Initially, about at the age of forty years, he was depressed, retiring, and showed a tendency to suicide. He spoke slowly. Most typical were his great hands, dough feeling palms, great feet, a long fleshy nose, well developed ears and a peculiar voice.
These indications suggest that he suffered from acromegaly. This hypothesis allows to explain almost all details found in the hadith.
Acromegaly is caused by an adenoma of the pituitary, which causes an increase in growth hormone (somatotropine) and usually a deficiency or increase of other hormones such as gonadotropine. The disease begins in adult persons about the fourth decade of age. Most patients die about the age of 60 years. It is a long-lasting disease with slow progress, sometimes burning out. Most patients tolerate it reasonably well. The melanophore hormones secreted by the pituitary cause a peculiar straw-yellow skin-colour. Excessive sweating is sometimes caused by hyperthyroidism. Sweating can be oily and have an unpleasant odour. Patients suffer from high blood pressure. Some hirsutism is observed (eyebrows). The growth of all extremities after adult age causes also the vertebrae to extend and the spine to curve. This extension can cause pain as the nerves suffer pressure. Especially typical is the enlargement of the fingers and the dough like feeling of the palms when shaking hands. Rarely a bleeding of the pituitary occurs and causes dead: this apoplexy of the pituitary causes headaches, nausea, vomiting, losses of consciousness. Psychologically patients suffer initially from depression, brooding and irritability, also an increase of appetite and a loss of libido.
Some patients are anxious and are lacking in self-confidence. When the adenoma exerts pressure on the third ventricle and the optic chiasma in the brain the patients may suffer from hallucinoses. Uniformly these patients are trustworthy. Their personality is characterised by conscientiousness, reliability and industriousness.
Confronting this picture of the symptomatology of acromegaly with the tradition about Muhammad one can only state the conformity.
Moreover one understands some other traits of the personality of Muhammad. He washed himself often, till two or tree times successively. He indulged in men's scents, such as musk and ambergris; he used to burn camphor on odoriferous wood. This is understandable. He smelled the unpleasant odour of his sweat, and did not want it to be perceived by others.
The use of bleeding, as a treatment can be understood as a remedy against his high blood pressure.
His polygamy and the incessant acquisition of new young women can be explained by his wish for a masculine child. His young sons were all dead. He adopted two sons. But a son of his own was for him an absolute must. As the pituitary influences fertility his acromegaly reduced considerably the spermatogenesis.
Ten wives could only give birth to one only masculine child, which died early. Changing wives he tried desperately to engender that masculine child. He was not a sex-maniac.
His death was probably caused by a pituitary apoplexy. Psychologically he was considered as a trustworthy person. Initially depressed and devoid of self-confidence, he considered suicide. He suffered from hallucinoses and even hallucinations.
The complete report was published in Dutch: Een andere Mohammed
http://users.skynet.be/sky50779/mohammed%201.htm
ISLAM-Muhammad’s Temporal Lobe Epilepsy
Islam , Immoral Theology of a Sick Arab
That is what The great Attaturk, father of the Turkish republic had said about Islam over 80 years ago . Although he had no training in Neurology but now the modern Neurologists agree with his diagnosis that Mohammad was a sick Arab and that his sickness resulted in islam.
It has been long known and acknowledged by Muslims and non Muslims alike that Mohammad suffered from frequent epileptic seizures. Only in recent times Neurologists gathered enough clinical evidence about various forms of epilepsy to categorically identify the type with which Mohammad was afflicted.
Well known Neourologist Dr Dede Korbut M.D. (1) studied Mohammad’s life and his writings through Hadiths, Sira and Quran confirmed that indeed Mohammad had Temporal Lobe Epilepsy ( TLE) and experienced Complex Partial Siezures(CPS ). He concluded that Islam was the brain child of this sick Arab.
Data from a large number of TLE/CPS patients show that their brain defect results in the following abnormal behaviours and traits.
Obsessionalism:
This behavior causes ritualism, orderliness, compulsive attention to detail. Patient carries out repetitive rituals. Mohammad himself practiced wudu , salat and recitation of ayas all day and made it compulsory for all the Muslims to do the same . Because of mental sickness of Mohammad all Muslims act as if they also have the same sickness and keep repeating these senseless rituals all their lives.
Hydrocephalus:
The communicating cavities in the brainI of the patient become enlarged which distorts various brain structures damaging among other things , motor control brain cells. This anatomical distortion results in dementia, his motor control and gait disturbance. The evidence for hudro cephalus in Mohammad was the noted large size of his head and his gait which looked as if he is rushing down hill and his faulty motor controls.
There is strong evidence that Mohammad had problem with his motor controls like shaking hands and conrol while urinating. It seems that he leaked upon himself while urinating and he assumed it happens to all, that is why he required all to wash after urination and gave special instruction urination . He also said that people who do not wash after urinatiom burn in hell.
Aggresion:
CPS patients show disproportionate hostility, rage attacks, violent crimes, brutality and even murders. Mohammad showed all these traits to all extremes. He had 900 innocent Quraizans beheaded and personally raped the wife of the chief teenager Rehana the same night. After Khaybar raid he had Kinana , chief of Khaybar, tortured to death and later raped his 17 year old wife Safia.. He had Uraina tribesman tortured to death for stealing some of his camels which he himself had robbed from others..
Hypermoralism :
Attention to rules with inability to distinguish significant from minor infractions and desire to punish .
Mohammad had petty thief’s hands cut , had alcohol drinkers whipped severely ,had his critics beheaded and had apostates killed. He also prescribed death penalty for criticizing him or his sayings..
Hypergraphia;
it is the expression of viscosity in the written mode. Many evaluators of quran have superficially noted this without realizing it’s true neurological significance. It is the defect in the temporal lobe causing reverberation of memory tapes resulting in continuous repetitions , incoherence, endlessly drawn out laws, exhortations,protestations ,proclamations and unnecessary excessive verbage .
Religiosity:
It is a demonstrable fact that CPS patients exhibit an inordinate interest in religious matters.CPS patient thinks that he is getting messages from God. As modern medical research has shown that these messages are simply fresh associations produced by the unconscious workings on things which have been seen or heard before but forgotten . Through faulty wiring the defective brain network produces new productions.
Humourless Sobriety
Another aspect of personality dysfunction in CPS patients is a humourless and overly determined attitude of sobriety. A sense of humour is lacking. Mohammad had any one making fun of his rules killed in cold blood.
Paranoia:
Paranoia is a prevalent feature of a CPS patient. Many CPS patients have grandoise ideation when in fact they are not. Mohammad thought that he was actually God’s equal . Quran says “obey Allah and obey Mohammed over 40 times and once said “obeying Mohammad is obeying Allah” (4.80)
The messenger of God claimants cannot tolerate any competition in their status.. He mentioned that Allah created world for him and that he will be sitting with God on the judgement day and will be able to do intercession for any one he wanted. In his story of shab e Meiraj he claimed to have lead prayer of all prophets and then went to the 7th heaven to meet Allah personally, a priviledge only given to mohammed.
Cognitive Dissonance
It is a another known attribute of CPS patients. This term means logical inconsistency, a thought production in which mutually contradictory ideas are held. The reason is that the temporal lobe of the patient is defective and abnormal. Glaring contradictions in his life as well as in Quran and Hadiths are proof of Mohammad’s cognitive dissonance. He himself robbed for living but had the hands of petty thiefs cut. He raped the wives and daughters of his jihad victims but prescribed death penalty for adultery.He demanded Muslims to earn honest living but himself indulged in dishonest earnings. At one place he writes in Quran “there is no compulsion in religion” ,another place he writes “slay the infidels unless they convert to slam”. At one place he writes “to you your religion and to me my religion” and another place he writes “only Islam is acceptable”
Faulty Memory:
Temporal Lobe Epilepsy patients (CPS) have very inferior memory recall system. That is exactly what happenened when he recalled the material he had heard from Jewish Christian sources and put it in Quran. He got all the material mixed up and wrote very corrupted version of the original biblical stories. When Christians and Jews asked why the narrations of the same stories differ in Quran , he accused that bible is corrupted.
(1) Dede Korbut M.D. , “Life Alert,The Medical Case of Muhammad”
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Muhammad and Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE)
By Ali SinaThe Physical Effects of Muhammad's Ecstatic Experiences: 'The Revelation is always brought to me by an angel: sometimes it is delivered to me as the beating sound of the bell--and this is the hardest experience for me; but sometimes the angel appears to me in the shape of a human and speaks to me.' [40] 'Those who saw the Prophet (pbuh) in this state relate that his condition would change. Sometimes he would stay motionless as if some terribly heavy load was pressed on him and, even in the coldest day, drops of sweat would fall from his forehead' [41] At other times he would move his lips. Ibn Sa'd says, "at the moment of inspiration, anxiety pressed upon the Prophet, and his countenance was troubled" [1] "He fell to the ground like one intoxicated or overcome by sleep; and in the coldest day his forehead would be bedewed with large drops ofperspiration. Inspiration descended unexpectedly, and without any previous warning." [2]
All the above symptoms were present in Muhammad during the moments that he was allegedly receiving revelations.
Muhammad's belief in Satan was such that he seemed to think that not even he is immune from his whisperings. [7] One of the embarrassing events in Muhammad's life occurred when Satan put words in his mouth. Tabari says: �When the messenger of God saw how his tribe turned their backs on him and was grieved to see them shunning the message he had brought to them from God, he longed in his soul that something would come to him from God which would reconcile him with his tribe. With his love for his tribe and his eagerness for their welfare it would have delighted him if some of the difficulties which they made for him could have been smoothed out, and he debated with himself and fervently desired such an outcome. Then God revealed: "By the Star when it sets, your comrade does not err, nor is he deceived; nor does he speak out of (his own) desire..." Have you thought upon al-Lat and al-Uzza and Manat, the third, the other? "These are the high flying cranes; verily their intercession is accepted with approval. In the Quran there are several mentions of Jinns. Surah 72 narrates a conversation between Jinns where they comment about the Quran, call it 'a wonderful Recital' and convert to Islam. Their role is described as prying into the secrets of heaven and eavesdropping to the conversation of the exalted assembly. Which since the apparition of Muhammad, they found it filled with stern guards and flaming fires. 'We used, indeed, to sit there in (hidden) stations, to (steal) a hearing;" Quran quotes one Jinn saying to others, "but any who listen now will find a flaming fire watching him in ambush. And we understand not whether ill is intended to those on earth, or whether their Lord (really) intends to guide them to right conduct". It is not difficult to see that Muhammad suffered from Temporal Lobe Epilepsy. In fact TLE was just one of his ailments. The prophet suffered from other mental disorders and physical complications. I will speak about them in future. The real miracle is in the fact that a billion people follow a sick man for so long. |
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Further studies:
TLE was first recognized in 1881 by John Hughlings Jackson, who described "uncinate fits" and the 'dreamy state." In the 1940s, Gibbs et al introduced the term "psychomotor epilepsy." The international classification of epileptic seizures (1981) replaced the term psychomotor seizures with complex partial seizures. The ILAE classification of the epilepsies uses the term temporal lobe epilepsy and divides the etiologies into cryptogenic (presumed unidentified etiology), idiopathic (genetic), and symptomatic (cause known, eg, tumor). Pathophysiology: Hippocampal sclerosis is the most common pathologic finding in TLE. Hippocampal sclerosis involves hippocampal cell loss in the CA1 and CA3 regions and the dentate hilus. The CA2 region is relatively spared. For more information, see Pathophysiology in the article Seizures and Epilepsy: Overview and Classification. Frequency: In the US: Approximately 50% of patients with epilepsy have partial epilepsy. Partial epilepsy is often of temporal lobe origin. However, the true prevalence of TLE is not known, since not all cases of presumed TLE are confirmed by video-EEG and most cases are classified by clinical history and interictal EEG findings alone. The temporal lobe is the most epileptogenic region of the brain. In fact, 90% of patients with temporal interictal epileptiform abnormalities on their EEG have a history of seizures.History:
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ISLAM-Examining Muhammad’s Psychological and Spiritual Stability
A Bewitched Prophet?
Examining Muhammad’s Psychological and Spiritual Stability
By David Wood
The validity of Islam is intimately linked to the reliability of Muhammad. That is, if there are solid reasons to conclude that Muhammad was a reliable messenger of God, we may reasonably suppose that Islam is true. However, if there are strong reasons to question Muhammad’s trustworthiness, Islam self-destructs.
The earliest Muslim writings and traditions, including the Qur’an, Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah, the Sahih Al-Bukhari, and the Sahih Muslim, provide abundant warrant for rejecting Muhammad as a prophet. The primary source documents show that Muhammad was often violent and ruthless towards those who insulted him, that he received revelations allowing him to transgress other revelations in the Qur’an, that he had a contemptible opinion of women, that he participated in slave-trading, that he permitted violence towards women, and that one of his sexual partners was a nine-year-old girl. (For more on these facts, see "Islam Beheaded.") Further, Muhammad declared that lying is acceptable if it is used to make peace, a statement that should make us wonder how often Muhammad took advantage of this principle while preaching his message.[1]
In addition to all this, we have reason to suspect that Muhammad suffered from either mental disease or demonic influence. The evidence from the earliest accounts of his life shows that he may have been psychologically or spiritually unstable before, during, and after his conversion to Islam. When this instability is combined with other facts surrounding the life of Muhammad, it is difficult to fathom how Muslim apologists have managed to convince millions of adherents that Islam is a rational system of belief.
Data suggesting that Muhammad was imbalanced goes all the way back to his childhood. His parents died when he was young, so he was brought up by his grandfather and his uncle. Muhammad had a nurse who took care of him prior to his mother’s death. This nurse relates the following account of a strange event that occurred during Muhammad’s childhood:
Some months after our return [Muhammad] and his brother were with our lambs behind the tents when his brother came running and said to us, "Two men clothed in white have seized that Qurayshi brother of mine and thrown him down and opened up his belly, and are stirring it up." We ran towards him and found him standing up with a livid face. We took hold of him and asked him what was the matter. He said, "Two men in white raiment came and threw me down and opened up my belly and searched therein for I know not what." So we took him back to our tent.His father said to me, "I am afraid that this child has had a stroke, so take him back to his family before the result appears." So we picked him up and took him to his mother who asked why we had brought him when I had been anxious for his welfare and desirous of keeping him with me. I said to her, "God has let my son live so far and I have done my duty. I am afraid that ill will befall him, so I have brought him back to you as you wished." She asked me what happened and gave me no peace until I told her. When she asked if I feared a demon possessed him, I replied that I did."[2]
Muhammad’s nurse wasn’t the only one to fear demonic possession on the part of Muhammad; the Prophet himself came to the exact same conclusion when he began receiving revelations from Gabriel. A full account of Muhammad’s first encounter with Gabriel is given in the Sirat Rasul Allah:
When it was the night on which God honoured him with his mission and showed mercy on His servants thereby, Gabriel brought him the command of God. "He came to me," said the apostle of God, "while I was asleep, with a coverlet of brocade whereon was some writing, and said, ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What shall I read?’ He pressed me with it so tightly that I thought it was death; then he let me go and said, ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What shall I read?’ He pressed me with it again so that I thought it was death; then he let me go and said ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What shall I read?’ He pressed me with it the third time so that I thought it was death and said ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What then shall I read?’—and this I said only to deliver myself from him, lest he should do the same to me again. He said:
‘Read in the name of thy Lord who created,Who created man of blood coagulated.Read! Thy Lord is the most beneficent,Who taught by the pen,Taught that which they knew not unto men.’So I read it, and he departed from me. And I awoke from my sleep, and it was as though these words were written on my heart."[3]
So far so good, except for the violent manner in which Gabriel brought the message to Muhammad. But Muhammad’s interpretation of the event is quite revealing. His first impression of his encounter was that he had been possessed; as a result, Muhammad quickly became suicidal:
Now none of God’s creatures was more hateful to me than an (ecstatic) poet or a man possessed: I could not even look at them. I thought, Woe is me poet or possessed—Never shall Quraysh say this of me! I will go to the top of the mountain and throw myself down that I may kill myself and gain rest.[4]
Muhammad tried to throw himself off a cliff, but he was stopped by Gabriel. He later became suicidal again when no additional revelations came. Yet he was sometimes even more terrified when Gabriel did speak to him, and his revelations seem to have been very stressful situations:
[Muhammad said]: "The Divine Inspiration was delayed for a short period but suddenly, as I was walking, I heard a voice in the sky, and when I looked up towards the sky, to my surprise, I saw the angel who had come to me in the Hirra Cave, and he was sitting on a chair in between the sky and the earth. I was so frightened by him that I fell on the ground and came to my family and said (to them), Cover me! (with a blanket), cover me!"[5]When the Ka’ba was rebuilt, the Prophet (The blessing and peace of Allah be upon him) and Abbas went to carry stones. Abbas said to the Prophet (The blessing and peace of Allah be upon him): "(Take off and) put your waist sheet over your neck so that the stones may not hurt you." (But as soon as he took off his waist sheet) he fell unconscious on the ground with both his eyes towards the sky. When he came to his senses, he said: "My waist sheet! My waist sheet!" Then he tied his waist sheet (round his waist).[6]Allah’s Apostle (may peace be upon him) sweated in cold weather when revelation descended upon him.[7]A’isha reported: When revelation descended upon Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) even during the cold days, his forehead perspired.[8]A’isha reported that Harith bin Hisham asked Allah’s Apostle (may peace be upon him): How does the wahi (inspiration) come to you? He said: At times it comes to me like the ringing of a bell and that is most severe for me and when it is over I retain that (what I had received in the form of wahi), and at times an Angel in the form of a human being comes to me (and speaks) and I retain whatever he speaks.[9]Ubada bin Samit reported that when wahi (inspiration) descended upon Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him), he felt a burden on that account and the colour of his face underwent a change.[10]
While the exact nature of these encounters cannot be determined historically, the evidence shows that Muhammad couldn’t always tell the difference between revelations from God and revelations from Satan. The most famous example of Muhammad’s inability to distinguish the true from the false is the embarrassing account of the notorious "Satanic Verses":
Now the apostle was anxious for the welfare of his people, wishing to attract them as far as he could. . . . When the apostle saw that his people turned their backs on him and he was pained by their estrangement from what he brought them from God he longed that there should come to him from God a message that would reconcile his people to him. Because of his love for his people and his anxiety over them it would delight him if the obstacle that made his task so difficult could be removed. . . . Then God sent down "By the star when it sets your comrade errs not and is not deceived, he speaks not from his own desire," and when he reached His words "Have you thought of al-Lat and al-Uzza and Manat the third, the other", Satan, when he was meditating upon it, and desiring to bring it to his people, put upon his tongue "these are the exalted Gharaniq [Numidian cranes] whose intercession is approved." When the Quraysh heard that, they were delighted and greatly pleased at the way in which he spoke of their gods and they listened to him; while the believers were holding that what their prophet brought them from their Lord was true, not suspecting a mistake or a vain desire or a slip, and when he reached the prostration and the end of the Sura in which he prostrated himself the Muslims prostrated themselves when their prophet prostrated confirming what he brought and obeying his command, and the polytheists of Quraysh and others who were in the mosque prostrated when they heard the mention of their gods, so that everyone in the mosque believer and unbeliever prostrated . . . Then the people dispersed and the Quraysh went out, delighted at what had been said about their gods, saying, "Muhammad has spoken of our gods in splendid fashion. He alleged in what he read that they are the exalted Gharaniq whose intercession is approved."The news reached the prophet’s companions who were in Abyssinia, it being reported that Quraysh had accepted Islam, so some men started to return while others remained behind. Then Gabriel came to the apostle and said, "What have you done, Muhammad? You have read to these people something I did not bring you from God and you have said what He did not say to you." The apostle was bitterly grieved and was greatly in fear of God. So God sent down (a revelation), for He was merciful to him, comforting him and making light of the affair and telling him that every prophet and apostle before him desired as he desired and wanted what he wanted and Satan interjected something into his desires as he had on his tongue. So God annulled what Satan had suggested and God established His verses, i.e. you are just like the prophets and apostles. Then God sent down: "We have not sent a prophet or apostle before you but when he longed Satan cast suggestions in his longing. But God will annul what Satan has suggested. Then God will establish his verses, God being knowing and wise."[11]
This passage shows:
- Muhammad’s reception of revelations was influenced by his personal desires;
- He received a revelation from Satan;
- He proclaimed the revelation as a message from Allah;
- He and his followers bowed down in honor of receiving the revelation; and
- God’s response was, in effect, "Don’t worry about it Muhammad. All prophets proclaim Satanic messages from time to time."
Indeed, God’s response to Muhammad was incorporated into the Qur’an:
"And We did not send before you any apostle or prophet but when he desired, the Shaitan made a suggestion respecting his desire; but Allah annuls that which the Shaitan casts, then does Allah establish His communications, and Allah is Knowing, Wise."[12]
Hence, Satan was capable of influencing both Muhammad and, allegedly, all the prophets before him. But Satan wasn’t the only influence on Muhammad. A Jewish magician named Labid was also able to exercise control over the "Seal of the Prophets."
Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated: "Once the Prophet (the blessing and peace of Allah be upon him) was bewitched so that he began to imagine that he had done a thing which in fact, he had not done."[13]Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated: Magic was worked on Allah’s Apostle (may the blessing and peace of Allah be upon him) so that he used to think that he had had sexual relations with his wives while he actually had not. Then one day he said, "O Aisha, do you know that Allah has instructed me concerning the matter I asked Him about? Two men came to me and one of them sat near my head and the other sat near my feet. The one near my head asked the other: ‘What is wrong with this man?’ The latter replied, ‘He is under the effect of magic.’ The first one asked, ‘Who has worked magic on him?’ The other replied, ‘Labid bin Al-Asam, a man from Bani Zuraiq who was an ally of the Jews and was a hypocrite.’ The first one asked, ‘What material did he use?’ The other replied, ‘A comb and the hair stuck to it.’"[14]
Ibn Ishaq also reports that "Labid bin A’sam . . . bewitched the apostle of God so that he could not come at his wives."[15] Guillaume adds a note saying that, according to tradition, "the spell lasted for a year."[16]
Assessment
According to the earliest and most reliable Muslim writings and traditions, Muhammad’s first impression of his divine encounter was that he had been possessed by demons. This encounter disturbed Muhammad so much that he became suicidal. Further, we have a story in Ibn Ishaq, the earliest biography of Muhammad, maintaining that the childhood nurse of the Prophet also thought that he might be demon-possessed. Some of the details of Muhammad’s encounter seem to support this conclusion. He was sometimes terrified of his revelations, screaming for someone to cover him. He would sweat profusely even in the cold, and his face would change color. Additionally, Muhammad could not distinguish genuine revelations from Satanic revelations, and he was the victim of a debilitating magic spell that probably lasted a year.
In the West, Muhammad’s critics are quick to claim that he was possessed by demons. Although we have some evidence to support this claim, the conclusion is perhaps too hasty. We know that there was certainly something wrong with Muhammad, but we don’t have data sufficient to warrant such a harsh judgment. However, the evidence is entirely sufficient for a rational person to seriously doubt Muhammad’s reliability as a prophet. A man who (admittedly) proclaimed verses from Satan and fell victim to sorcery while declaring himself to be God’s greatest messenger should not be trusted without exceptionally good evidence to support his claim. Since no such evidence for Islam exists, we are justified in questioning his role as God’s messenger.
Moreover, when we examine the life of another messenger of God, Jesus of Nazareth, we find that Muhammad is to be utterly rejected. Consider one of Jesus’ many encounters with demons:
They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!""Be quiet!" said Jesus sternly. "Come out of him!" The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of the man with a shriek.The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, "What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him."[17]
Contrary to what the Qur’an suggests, not all of God’s messengers were the occasional puppets of Satan. We know of at least one who had complete authority over demons. If we have to choose which messenger to listen to (and this is a decision that Christians and Muslims must make), is it not reasonable to trust the one who terrified demons with his presence? Furthermore, Jesus warned his followers that "many false prophets will appear and deceive many people."[18] Not all false prophets deliberately deceived their disciples, however. Some were led by Satan to do so, and the evidence strongly suggests that Muhammad falls into this category. Even his own followers said that he was bewitched.
Notes:
1 In Sahih Al-Bukhari [Dr. Muhammad Matraji, tr. (New Delhi: Islamic Book Service, 2002), Number 2692], Muhammad said that he “who makes peace between the people by inventing good information or saying good things, is not a liar.”
2 Ibn Ishaq, Sirat Rasul Allah (The Life of Muhammad), A. Guillaume, tr. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1980), p. 71-72.
3 Ibid., p. 106.
4 Ibid., p. 106.
5 Sahih Al-Bukhari , Number 3238.
6 Sahih Al-Bukhari , Number 3829.
7 Sahih Muslim, Abdul Hamid Siddiqi, tr., Number 5763.
8 Ibid., Number 5764.
9 Ibid., Number 5765.
10 Ibid., Number 5766.
11 Ibn Ishaq, 165-166.
12 Qur’an 22:52, M. H. Shakir Translation.
13 Sahih Al-Bukhari , Number 3175.
14 Ibid., Number 5765.
15 Ibn Ishaq, p. 240.
16 Ibid., p. 240.
17 Mark 1:21-27, New International Version.
18 Matthew 24:11.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
“JOURNEYS INTO THE HEART AND THE HEARTLAND OF ISLAM: VICTIMS SPEAK OUT”
A Review Article by Jacob Thomas
Even though Islam has been explored by various authors in recent years, one wonders if the doctrines and worldview of this religion have been fully grasped by those reading such books. We certainly hope enlightenment is growing. Among electorates in various nations this appears to be the case. Yet, actions by many leaders of Western nations and liberal intellectuals the world over often indicate willful blindness to Islam’s teachings and desire for world conquest.
Therefore another book on Islam is in order. Marvin W. Heyboer has written a timely book reflecting upon his travels in several Muslim countries in order to find out for himself the condition of non-Muslim people living under Islamic rule. It is a sad story. He was moved to embark on his project soon after 9/11/2001; seeking to understand what impelled young Muslim men to attack important centers of America, killing thousands in the most fiendish manner.
Before Heyboer gets to the personal details of his journey, he sets forth the background of Islam. He has made an effort to study the authoritative texts of Islam: the Qur’an, the Hadith, and Sirat (Life) of Muhammad. Islamic aggressiveness in doctrine and life is outlined in the first three chapters of the book. While these facts are generally well known, they bear reiterating, because they still hold sway in the Islamic mind.
Muhammad began his mission in Mecca (610 A.D.) as a preacher of monotheism, and after moving to Medina (622) he became a successful military commander launching several raids on the Meccan caravans on their way to Syria. He became the absolute ruler of the territory he commanded, and went on to eliminate Jews and Christians from Arabia, finally decreeing that the Islamic Umma, the community of true believers, must involve itself in Jihad. Non-Muslims coming under Islamic rule, and who desired to remain in their own religions, had to pay the Jizya tax, and were designated as Dhimmis. Heyboer explains this dual aspect of Islamic Imperialism: Jihad and Dhimmitude.
In the final seven chapters devoted to Heyboer’s “Journeys into the Heartland of Islam”he relates the many obstacles he had to overcome in order to interview the victims of Islamic persecution.
In the spring of 2004, the author arrived in Nigeria and began his visit to the northern part of the country, where the population is predominantly Muslim. The authorities had been persecuting Christians for decades. I can attest to this because in May, 1966, I happened to be in Kano, one of the major cities in Northern Nigeria. I witnessed firsthand the beginning of the riots that were to result in the killings of many Christians who lived in the area. I shall never forget my ride to Kano’s International Airport, as I attempted to escape the dangerous situation. Eventually I did manage to escape to Lagos. The native Christians, however, could not escape.
Heyboer almost 40 years later ventured into Nigeria and met a pastor in the town of Gillian. How little things had changed. Marvin listened to a shocking account of a tragedy that took place in 2002:
“Several church members were killed as they rushed through here to escape the armed Muslims. This is where we lost ten of our smallest children. They ran here for safety. They locked the door for protection. All of them died from burns and suffocation.” P. 95
Marvin later visited the Sudan and his account of his travels there reads like a thriller. It is almost impossible to obtain a visa to the country; but having finally succeeded and gotten into the country, Heyboer’s difficulties mounted.
“Hotel registration was no formality. Front desk personnel were pushed aside, and I faced a second port of ‘official’ immigration. My passport with visa was withheld. I was not to venture beyond the Khartoum city limits during my stay in Sudan!” P. 156
Before too long, Marvin discovered that a Sudanese woman with a gold colored jacket showed up wherever he went. He later learned that she was from the Sudanese Intelligence and was assigned to keep a watch on his movements. However, with the help of a Christian Sudanese, he managed to escape her surveillance. In a visit to a Christian home, he heard the heart-rending story of John, a young Christian, who one day, was caught by Sudanese soldiers and sold into slavery. Eventually, John managed to escape, but still suffers physically and mentally, from his time of captivity.
Finally, Marvin ended his journey in Egypt. Whether he was in Cairo, Alexandria, or in Upper Egypt,2 he learned about the almost unbearable conditions that the Copts (Egyptian Christians who are the original inhabitants of the land) have undergone for decades.
A young Christian, Brahim, shared his frustrations with Heyboer, and described the plight of Coptic Christians in the land of his forefathers.
“In America, Muslims have the freedom to build mosques. In Upper Egypt, Christians cannot even use a speaker system to address an audience in their local church building.” P. 205
The list of indignities suffered by Copts is long, and somehow the West seems to be blissfully ignorant of it!
Summarizing his experiences in the African “Heartland of Islam,” Marvin Heyboer writes:
“At journey’s end, I have seen the wounded, broken victims easily camouflaged by Islam behind the Crescent curtain. Many suffer in tears of silent dignity. Why do some religious leaders praise a religion of such oppression? Why do they argue that only some of the more radical Muslims perpetrate such violence? That is exactly not the point. It is not about what every Muslim does or does not do. It is about what Islam (sharia) instructs them to do. In my visits and studies, I did not once, not once uncover leaders of Islam (political or religious) who seriously condemned terror jihad and compensated those looted or offered healing to those wounded. The point is Islam teaches terror behavior.” P. 283
“JOURNEYS INTO THE HEART AND HEARTLAND OF ISLAM” is a timely book that serves as a corrective to the superficial and deceptive accounts of Islam that depict it as a “religion of peace,” which has been highjacked by extremists. I am thankful to the author for undertaking his journey “into the heartland of Islam,” and providing us with this much-needed account of the sufferings of Christians under Islam. It should further persuade Western readers particularly of Islam’s intolerance toward other religious beliefs. It should prevent them from being fooled by the political correctness that appears to have paralyzed so many others in political and journalistic circles in the West hindering them from grasping the inherent danger of Islam and its relation to world-wide terrorism.
The book suffers from the lack of a Table of Contents and Index and some misspellings. But this should not distract from its overall importance.
Footnotes
1 Marvin W. Heyboer, Journeys into the Heart and Heartland of Islam: Victims Speak Out. Published by Dorrance Publishing Co., Inc., 701 Smithfield Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222.
2 Upper Egypt stands for the south of the country, while Lower Egypt designates the area from Cairo all the way to the Mediterranean Sea. A few miles north of Cairo, the Nile River divides into two branches, thus forming the Delta region.
ISLAM-“The Muslim in the West”
“The Muslim in the West”
مسلم في الغرب
By Jacob Thomas in Collaboration with June Engdahl
Throughout most of their history, Muslims have lived within their homelands, known as“Dar’ul Islam,” (House of Islam). Between the 11th and 15th centuries, with the reconquest of southern Italy and the Iberian Peninsula, Muslims found themselves in a totally new environment. As Bernard Lewis put it,
In all these countries the reconquest was followed – sometimes after an interval of tolerance – by a determined effort on the part of Christian rulers to convert or else evict their Muslim subjects. In these efforts they were, in the long run, successful. In general, Christian unwillingness to tolerate Muslims was matched by Muslim unwillingness to remain under Christian rule. Most Muslim jurists held that it was impossible for a Muslim to live under a non-Muslim government. If an infidel in the lands of the infidels was converted to Islam it was his duty to leave his home and country and travel to a land where Muslims ruled and Muslim law prevailed. The scriptural authority for this doctrine was the migration (hijra) of the Prophet Muhammad and his companions from Mecca to Medina – the event which marked the birth of the Muslim state and the beginning of the Muslim era. Where the Prophet had led, others were expected to follow. (Bernard Lewis, The Muslim Discovery of Europe, W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 1982, pp. 66-67)
This historic tradition underwent a drastic change after World War II. The European nations had suffered the loss of millions of their citizens during the war and their economies were devastated. The post-war years also saw increasingly low birthrates in these war-torn lands. It is not difficult to understand then why European governments encouraged the influx of a large number of foreign workers to help reinvigorate their economies.
Immigrants from North Africa, the Middle East, the Indian sub-continent, and south-east Asia flocked in large numbers and settled in several parts of Western Europe. Many of these foreign workers were of the Muslim faith; and before very long, a few short decades, it became evident that the integration of Muslims in particular into the European societies that had welcomed them, would prove very problematical. Immigrants of other religious beliefs made much smoother transitions to Western values and traditions without losing their religious identities.
Quite often, criticisms were levelled against Western societies for their unwillingness to facilitate the assimilation of Muslim immigrants. But when one studied the problem, it became soon evident that it was the Muslim side that was unwilling, or unable to integrate within the societies that had welcomed them. Their unwillingness or inability was due to the fact that these immigrants brought with them a religious baggage that was antithetical to Western culture.
The year 2010 marks more than half a century since the arrival of large numbers of Muslims to the West. Several high profile events have taken place during this period that requires an examination of the specific problems that have accompanied “The Muslim in the West.” It was not only Western writers that have pointed to this situation, but some Arab reformist intellectuals have contributed articles that dealt with this troubling and alarming phenomenon.
For example, the Arabic-language reformist website, al-Awan published a book in September, 2009 with the title, “The Muslim in the West.” On 8 September of that year, it posted a portion of the Introduction to this book giving a brief summary of its contents. The following excerpts detail some of the serious problems that confront Muslims living in the West, as they seek to remain faithful to their traditions within a culture that adheres to a totally different worldview.
It is quite evident that most Islamic states, and especially those of the Arab world, suffer from chronic underdevelopment, violence, and intolerance. Furthermore, they have in recent times, experienced civil wars, ethnic cleansings, confessional strife, and bloody dictatorships which practice barbaric physical torture. Women suffer from discriminatory laws of various degrees, with respect to marriage, divorce, and inheritance. Forced marriages are still tolerated, and when it comes to crimes of honour, it is always the (woman) victim that is punished, while the aggressor goes free!
Almost daily, new fatwas are issued which advocate violence and hatred directed against non-Muslims; even a Muslim, who happens to disagree with their opinions, becomes a target of their attacks. Some religious leaders have transformed mosques into pulpits that encourage the young to engage in terrorist and suicidal attacks, promising them the prize of martyrdom as the shortest route to Paradise!
Satellite television stations play a major role in the spread of a culture of hatred through the preaching of Imams who quote Qur’anic texts out of their contexts, in support of their inflammatory sermons. Radical Muslim propagandists carry these messages to the West to influence the young Muslims who were born and brought up there. They push the youth to live within ghettos in total isolation from the larger Western societies. Thus, Islam has been hijacked in the service of political ideologies that seek to bring about totalitarian regimes, through the application of ‘Shari’ah Law under the rule of Allah.’
When we take these factors into consideration, we become aware of the many obstacles and challenges that face the Muslim living in the West, such as: “How to harmonize Islamic and Western values; how to succeed in education and work; how to re-educate young Muslims with respect to the relations between the sexes; and how to inculcate healthy and sane rules regarding courtship and marriage, that would allow the younger generation to live harmoniously within democratic and open societies.”
The author, having shared with us a portion of the Introduction, ended with these words:
It is for the sake of young Muslims living in the West that I decided to write “The Muslim in the West,” armed with my knowledge of Islam, its history, having lived around twenty years in Syria and Lebanon; and for the last forty years, in various Western lands. How I wish that those Muslims now living in the West could free themselves from those mediaeval and antiquated traditions, and bring about an open, modern, and civilized Islam! (Arabic source; translation ours)
Analysis
The Introduction to “The Muslim in the West” in its stark presentation of the cultural milieu that is operative in Muslim societies makes it easy to understand why any Muslim, whether young or old, might experience intellectual and emotional turmoil in varying degrees when living in Western societies. Freedom, while liberating to most people, for many Muslims is fraught with fearful possibilities to them personally, as well as causing complications in their belief system. Islam has difficulty tolerating other religions, even in the West where it must do so. The author laments the plight of young Muslims particularly, who, even though born in the West, are not always willing to accept its freedom, equality and tolerance. His desire for them is to free themselves from their religion’s outmoded traditions and evil practices and strive to make it “open, modern and civilized.”
Comments
One cannot know all the things covered in a book when it is only the Introduction that is under review. But one can at least appreciate the good start this author makes in frankly setting forth the kind of culture that Islam has created where it is the dominant (and only allowable) religion. It is an exclusive faith claiming to be Allah’s final truth for mankind. Christianity is also an exclusive faith claiming that Christ alone is the way, the truth and the life. The difference between these two exclusive faiths in particular is that Islam seeks to compel faith and Christianity seeks to persuade. The other world religions claiming their own brands of exclusivity have been able to live peaceably with the rest of mankind. This situation has arisen for the most part through the influence of Christianity and the Enlightenment. Islam is not yet at peace with that pervasive influence. Thus any soul heavily indoctrinated with the more intolerant aspects of Islam, whether living in the Daru’l Islam or in the West, will often view the principles of freedom, equality and tolerance so dear to Westerners, as concepts to be undermined, by forcing what they believe is a superior faith upon the whole world.
Missing in the “Introduction” was any reference to the root cause of many of the problems experienced by Muslims everywhere as they interact with the “Other.” That root cause could be said to reside in the sacred and authoritative texts of Islam themselves: the Qur’an, Hadith, and Sirat (Life of the Prophet.) History has shown how those attempting to enforce such teachings on unbelievers have wrought havoc to their souls and bodies. Examples are too many to even list, but 9-11 comes to mind for Americans, and every day in Africa, and the Middle East unbelievers, particularly Christians, are subject to violence and death. It is to be hoped that the author would have covered this in the body of the book.
Another aspect of Islam was brought into play about a month after the original article appeared when this telling response to it, was posted on al-Awan’s website:
The problem of young Muslims living in the West is very complex. For them, Islam remains both a national and a religious identity. They have inherited a simplistic and illogical outlook on life from their parents, who are basically illiterate immigrants. Most of them belonged to the poor classes in their original homelands, and are thus a fertile ground for the growth of radical Islamist positions.
Indeed, how true this is. “Islam remains both a national and a religious identity” for all Muslims wherever they settle outside Daru’l Islam. This basic fact of every true Muslim’s thought world parallels Bernard Lewis’ observation:
For the Muslim, religion was the core of identity, of his own and therefore of other men’s. The civilized world consisted of the House of Islam, in which a Muslim government ruled, Muslim law prevailed, and non-Muslim communities might enjoy the tolerance of the Muslim state and community provided they accepted the conditions. The basic distinction between themselves and the outside world was the acceptance or rejection of the message of Islam. … The real difference was religion. Those who professed Islam were called Muslims and were part of God’s community, no matter in which country or under what sovereign they lived. Those who rejected Islam were infidels. The Arabic word is kafir, from a root meaning to disbelieve or deny, normally used only of those who disbelieve in the Islamic message and deny its truth. (Ibid., pp.171-172)
As long as Muslim immigrants and their children born in the West continue to regard Islam as the core and basis of their identity, they will find it difficult to become fully integrated into the West’s liberal democracies, whether in Europe or in America. At the very least, they need to come to terms with the concept of toleration of the religious beliefs of the“Other.” Likewise, they need to interact with the “infidels” in their new homelands with all due respect. They have every right in these lands to propagate their faith. But so do others have reciprocal rights to propagate different faiths. There is much that needs to happen before things get better. Too many mosques have imams who preach hate at the Friday prayer services. Not much has changed over the years from when I used to listen on short wave radio to the Friday sermons from North African or Middle Eastern lands. Then, as now, the contents of these khutbas (official message of the imam) tended to be mostly political, rather than mainly religious or moral. Reformist Muslim intellectuals do draw our attention to the problems that accompany Muslims who have settled in the West, and how change is urgently needed. Yet they remain unable to bring about any major reform of the Islamic homelands, where intolerance and radicalism is on the rise. Thus, if Islamic houses of worship in the West keep “importing” radical imams from these places, we can expect little change in the situation among the Muslim youth in Europe and America. They will remain alienated and prone to intolerance of the “Other,” even liable to committing acts of violence against them. One can still hope that someday a more grateful attitude will be exhibited by Muslim youths toward the countries that first welcomed their parents and gave them employment and freedom to practice their religion in peace. They still enjoy that freedom as well as even more possibilities to improve their material lives in every respect.
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