Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Peter J. Awn, Satan’s Tragedy and 

Redemption: Iblis in Sufi Psychology (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 

1983); Fazlur Rahman, Major Themes of the Quran

(Minneapolis, Minn.: Bibliotheca Islamica, 1980); 

Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Thalabi, Arais al-majalis fi 

qisas al-anbiya, or “Lives of the Prophets.” Translated by 

William M. Brinner (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2002): 43–57; 

Alford T. Welch, “Allah and Other Supernatural Beings: 

The Emergence of the Quranic Doctrine of Tawhid.” 

Journal of the American Academy of Religion 47 (1979): 

733–758; T. J. Wray and Gregory Mobley, The Birth of 

Satan: Tracing the Devil’s Biblical Roots (New York: Pal-

grave Macmillan, 2005).

Satanic Verses

Euro-American Islamic studies scholars in the 20th 

century coined the term Satanic Verses for certain 

verses Muslim sources say s

atan

 attempted to have 

m

Uhammad

 include in the q

Uran

. A number of 

respected early Quran commentaries and historical 

writings provide testimonies about this incident, 

including Said ibn Jubayr (d. 714,), Ikrima (d. 

723), al-Suddi (d. 745), Ibn Ishaq (d. 767), al-

Waqidi (d. 823), and al-Tabari (d. 923). Although 

they differ in detail, these accounts state that when 

Muhammad was still preaching in m

ecca

, Satan 

deceived him into delivering “false” revelations that 

recognized the existence of Allah’s three daughters. 

After reciting Q 53:19–20 (“Have you seen al-Lat, 

al-Uzza, and another, Manat, the third?”), Muham-

mad reportedly said, “Indeed, these are the exalted 

cranes/the exalted maidens (gharaniq), and their 

intercession is desired.” (The double meaning of 

gharaniq here may have been a rhetorical device, or 

it may indicate that the cranes were symbols for the 

goddesses. Birds in Middle Eastern lore are 

animals

that link heaven and earth.) By mentioning the three 

goddesses, Muhammad appears to admit that they 

had the power to act for the benefit of those who 

worshipped them. This has been seen as an effort 

to appeal to members of the q

Uraysh

  who were 

unhappy with Muhammad’s attacks against their 

gods and goddesses. The historical reports go on to 

say that Muhammad later realized he had made a 

mistake and repudiated the verses in question. They 

also indicate that he received a subsequent revela-

tion in which God declares that Satan was respon-

sible for his error, and that he (God) had allowed it 

to happen as a test of faith (Q 22:52–54).

Muslim scholars increasingly rejected the his-

torical truth of this incident and their views have 

prevailed until the present time among most Mus-

lims. The first generations of scholars opposed to 

the veracity of the Satanic Verses incident included 

such notable Quran commentators as Abu Bakr ibn 

al-Arabi (d. 1148), Fakr al-Din al-Razi (d. 1210), 

and Ibn Kathir (d. 1373). They argued that the 

incident portrayed Muhammad as a flawed prophet,

one who made a mistake by recognizing that there 

were other deities besides God and who could not 

tell the difference between the word of God and the 

word of Satan. The correct doctrine in their view, 

which was gaining widespread acceptance, was that 

God had made all prophets, including Muhammad, 

incapable of error and free of sin. Muhammad, 

therefore, could never have been misled by Satan 

and would never have endorsed 

idolatry

. The attri-

bution of infallibility (isma) to Muhammad affirmed 

the truth of the Quran and Muhammad’s 

sUnna

,

both of which had already become essential bases of 

Islamic law (

fiqh

). Moreover, the doctrine was rein-

forced by the popular veneration for Muhammad 

and other Muslim holy men and women connected 

with the spread of s

UFism

.

In 1988 the award-winning Indian author 

s

alman

 r

Ushdie

 (b. 1947) published an English-

language novel entitled The Satanic Verses, which