While many scholars as I have previously mentioned, stated (incorrectly) that the story is fake based on unreliable chains, there were some scholars that at least admitted the truth of the incident. With the exception of the Tabi’un Sayd Bin Jubayr, Abu Bakr b. ‘Abd al-Rahman, Abu al-‘Aliyah Al-Basri as well as As-Suyuti, other scholars also supported the story:

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Ibn Hajar:

All the paths of this hadith are either weak or cut off, except for that of Sa`id ibn Jubayr… However, the profusion of the chains show that the story has a basis, furthermore, there are two other “mursal” chains whose narrators are those of Bukhari and Muslim. The first one is that narrated by al-Tabari through Yunus ibn Yazid from Ibn Shihab [al-Zuhri]: “Abu Bakr ibn `Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Harith ibn Hisham narrated to me,” etc. The second is what al-Tabari also narrated through al-Mu`tamir ibn Sulayman and Hammad ibn Salama from Dawud ibn Abi Hind from Abu al-`Aliya…. Contrary to what Abu Bakr ibn al-`Arabi and al-Qadi `Iyad have claimed whereby the story has no basis at all…. When the paths of a hadith are many and distinct, it shows that the report has a basis…. So, as I said, there are three sound but ‘mursal‘ chains for it, among them what meets the criteria of the two Sahihs but for the fact that they are ‘mursal‘. These constitute proof for both those that accept ‘mursal’ reports as proofs and those that do not, due to the mutual strengthening of the chains. This said, it is required to interpret the incident and address what appears to be reprehensible, namely the statement “the devil interjected upon the Prophet’s tongue – Allah bless and greet him – the words ‘Those are the elevated cranes: truly their intercession is dearly hoped.’” Such a thing is precluded from being accepted in literal terms for it is impossible for the Prophet – Allah bless and greet him – to add something to the Qur’an that does not belong to it whether deliberately (`amdan) or erroneously (sahwan). … Al-Qadi `Iyad did well when he said: “It is possible the Prophet – Allah bless and greet him – was mentioning the belief of the pagans by way of derision, noting that at that time it was permitted to speak in the midst of prayer. To this position leaned Ibn al-Baqillani. It was also said that when he reached the words { Have ye thought upon Al Lat and Al Uzza? And Manat, the third, the other?} the pagans feared lest he would add something to mock their gods, so they hastened to interject and jeer so as to cover up what was coming next, as was their habit stated in the verse { Those who disbelieve say: Heed not this Quran, and drown the hearing of it; haply ye may conquer} (41:26). This act on their part was attributed to the devil as it was he that inspired it to them. Or, what was meant by the devil was the devil of humankind…. It was also said that the Prophet – Allah bless and greet him used to recite the Qur’an slowly, so that the devil lay in wait for one of the pauses and uttered the words in question with the same timbre of voice. Those that were near him heard it as if coming from the Prophet – Allah bless and greet him – and attributed it to him. This is the best of all interpretations.” Ibn al-`Arabi also approved of the latter interpretation, saying: “This verse [{ Never sent We a messenger or a Prophet before thee but when He recited (the message) Satan proposed (opposition) in respect of his amaniyya (=”that which he recited thereof”)} (22:52)] is an explicit proof-text, in our school, to the innocence of the Prophet – Allah bless and greet him – of what was imputed to him. The meaning of ‘amaniyya‘ in the verse being: ‘recitation’. Allah Almighty therefore informed us in this verse that His way with His Messengers is that when they say something, Satan adds something to it on his part. This is an explicit proof-text that it is Satan that conveys this statement inside the Prophet’s words – Allah bless and greet him – and it is not the latter that says it. A precedent for this view was given by al-Tabari, in keeping with his high erudition, vast learning, and perspicuous analysis, and he declared it the correct interpretation and settled on it.”

Fath al Bari 8/439

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Qadhi Uthmani:

“..However the tradition we previously mentioned from Sayd bin Jubayr by Bazaar, Ibn Mardwaeh and Tabarani is indeed successive [Mutawatur] and strong [Qawi]. Ibn Hajar Asqalani has stated that from the abundance of traditions reported, it is deemed that there is some truth in it…”

Tafsir Mazhari 22:52

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Ibn Taymiyyah:

The principle established by the agreement of the Community is that the Prophets (God’s Peace be upon them) are Protected in that which they convey from God (Glory be to Him) and in imparting his Messages. And it is by this firmly established Protection of the Prophets that the purpose of Prophethood and Messengership is obtained. A Prophet is someone who conveys communications from God and a Messenger is someone sent by God with a mission; and while every Messenger is a Prophet not every Prophet is a Messenger. Protection in regard to that which they impart from God is firmly established and the Muslims are agreed that no error may come to lodge therein. But: Can something issue forth which God then corrects, such that God removes that which Satan casts and establishes His Signs clearly? There are two opinions in regard to this and the Quran is in agreement with the one that has been transmitted from the early Muslims. Those later Muslims who forbid this position attack what has been transmitted about the Prophet uttering the additional words, “Indeed, they are as high-flying cranes And, indeed, their intercession is hoped for”, in Sirat al-Najm, saying that the transmission of the accounts is not established as reliable. Those of them who recognize that the transmission is reliable say: “Satan cast this into their hearing but the Prophet (God’s Peace and Preservation be upon him) did not utter it”; but the question remains unresolved in this interpretation too, so they also say in regard to God’s words, “‘illa idha tamanna alqa ‘l-shaytainu fi umniyyati-hi”, that this refers to inner thoughts. Those who affirm what has been transmitted from the early Muslims, say: This has been reliably transmitted and it is not possible to discredit it, and the Quran furnishes evidence for it by saying: “We have not sent before you a Prophet or a Messenger but that when he recited/desired, Satan cast something into his recitation, but God annuls that which Satan casts and then establishes His Signs [ayat] clearly – and God is All- Knowing, All-Wise – to make what Satan casts a trial for those in whose hearts is sickness and those whose hearts are hardened- for indeed the wrong-doers are in far dissension – and to teach those

who have been endowed with knowledge that this is the Truth from your Lord, that they believe in it and humble their hearts to Him, for God guides those who believe to a straight path”. They say: The reports in explanation of this verse in the books of Tafsir and hadith are well-known and reliable and the Quran is in agreement with these reports.For God’s abrogation of what Satan casts and His establishing His Signs is precisely so as to remove what has fallen into His ayat and to distinguish Truth from Falsehood so that His diyat are not confused with anything else; while the making of that which Satan cast as a trial for those in whose hearts there is sickness and for those whose hearts are hardened” can only happen if what was cast was something external which the people heard and not something internal to the soul. The trial that results from this is the kind of trial that arises from the second category of abrogation and this category of abrogation is even stronger proof of the Veracity of the Messenger (God’s Peace and Pre-

servation be upon him ) and of how far removed he is from following

false desire than is the other category of abrogation. For, surely, if he enjoined that something be done and then enjoined something else that contradicted it, both commands being from God, and is considered as veracious in that; then when he said of his own volition that the second and abrogating command was from God and that the thing that was being removed and abrogated by God was not from God, this is an even greater proof of his purposing Veracity and of his speaking the Truth. This is similar to what ‘A’ishah (may God be pleased with her) said: “If the prophet had wanted to conceal any part of the Revelation, he would have concealed this verse: “And you concealed in yourself that which God was bringing to light and you feared the people when God is more to be feared”. Do you not think the person who seeks his own aggrandizement through falsehood would want to back up everything he says, even if it is wrong? So the Prophet’s proclaiming that God had established his ayat and removed that which Satan cast is a yet greater proof of his striving for Veracity and his innocence from lying. It is this that achieves the purpose of Messenger ship for indeed he is the Truthful, the Veracious, which is why calling him a liar is, without doubt, sheer Unbelief.

Ibn Taymiyyah and the Satanic verses, Pg. 75

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Al-Zamakshari:

We have never sent any messenger of prophet before thee, but that Satan cast into his fancy, when he was fancying; but God annuls what Satan casts, then God confirms His signs – surely God is All-knowing, All-wise... The occasion of the sending down of the present verse is the following: As the members of the tribe of the messenger of God turned away from him and took their stand against him and his relatives also opposed him and refused to be guided by what he brought to them, then, as a result of the extreme exasperation concerning their estrangement and as a result of the eager desire and longing that they be converted to Islam, the messenger of God sheltered the wish that nothing would come down to him that could make them shy away. Perhaps he should have been able to use that for the purpose of converting them and causing them to be dissuaded from their error and obstinacy. Now this wish continued in him until the sura called “The Star” (that is, Sura 53) came down. At that time he found himself with this wish in his heart regarding the members of his tribe. Then he began to recite, and when he came to God’s words “and Manat, the third, the other” (Sura 53:20), Satan substituted something in accordance with the wish which the messenger of God had sheltered, that is, he whispered something to him which would enable the messenger to announce his wish. In an inadvertent and misleading manner, his tongue hurried on ahead of him, so that he said: “These (goddesses are the) exalted cranes. Their intercession (with God) is to be hoped for.”…Yet, the messenger of God was not clear at this point until the protection of God “isma” reached him and he then became attentive again. Some say that Gabriel drew his attention to it, or that Satan himself spoke those words and brought them to the people’s hearing. As soon as the messenger of God prostrated (for prayer) as the end of the sura, all who were present did it with him and felt pleased (that is, the unbelievers felt pleased that their goddesses had been accepted as intercessors with God).

The Quran and its Exegesis”, by Helmut Gatje, pages 53 – 55

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Muqatil Sulayman:

Say: O, you Unbelievers!”: this came down in regard to the Mockers from among Quraysh. This was because the Prophet recited, in Mecca, “By the star when it sets!” and when he recited “Have you seen al-Lat, al-‘Uzza and Manat, the third, the other?,” Satan cast onto his tongue: “Those high gharaniq! Intercession from them is to be sought.” That evening, at the rear of the Ka‘bah, Abu Jahl b. Hisham, and Shaybah, and ‘Utbah, the sons of Rabi’ah, and Umayyah b. Khalaf, and al-‘As b. Wa’il, and the Mockers from among Quraysh said, “Muhammad! Do not leave us until one of two conditions is fulfilled: either we enter with you into part of your religion and worship your god and you enter with us into part of our religion and worship our gods, or you dissociate yourself from our gods and we dissociate ourselves from your god.” Within the hour, God sent down in regard to them: “Say: O, you Unbelievers!” to the end of the surah.

Tafsir Muqatil 109:1

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This is not a conclusive list of all the scholars who endorsed the incident, rather this list is to be added on any time another scholar is found.