Where there is no belief, there is no blasphemy. – Salman Rushdie

When most people hear of Satanic Verses, they usually think about author Salman Rushdie and the controversy surrounding his novel, which inspired a fatwa against him. He had to fear for his life for years for writing a novel that mocked Muhammad and his wives. But the novel Satanic Verses takes its title from one of the controversial historical events in Muhammad’s prophetic career.

I first read about the Satanic verses in Ibn Warraq’s Why I Am Not a Muslim. Answering Islam also has a page on it. Here’s what happened: for some time, Muhammad was attempting to negotiate a truce with the practitioners of Arabia’s aboriginal Pagan religion. In one instance he revealed a verse saying that the three Goddesses Allat, Al-Uzza and Manat were worthy intercessors before Allah, which allowed Pagans to prostrate together with the Muslims. Here was the original revelation:

Have ye thought upon al-Lat and al-Uzza and Manat, the third, the other? These are the exalted intermediaries whose intercession is to be hoped for. – Qur’an 53:19-20

Word began to spread that Pagans were converting to Islam, but then a few days later Muhammad admitted that the revealed verse on the three Goddess had been inspired by Satan (hence the name “Satanic Verses” for this unfortunate episode), and that God had now “revealed” these verses to replace them:

Have ye thought upon al-Lat and al-Uzza and Manat, the third, the other? Are you to have the males, and He the females? What a bizarre distribution. These are nothing but names, which you have devised, you and your ancestors, for which God sent down no authority. They follow nothing but assumptions, and what the ego desires, even though guidance has come to them from their Lord. – Qur’an 53:19-23

Allat (=Goddess) is the feminine form of the name Allah (=God) and Uzza of Azziz (Strong One), which are recognized names of Allah. Now, the Qur’an says that “to God belong all the most beautiful names“–but apparently this is only true as long as they’re not female names. Muslim theologians may deny this, but Allah is gendered and male–even if only because in the Arabic language all words must have one of two genders, which creates gendered restrictions in Arabic thought.

The “Are you to have the males, and He the females?” portion is meant to reproach Arabs for wanting sons, while attributing daughters to God. Muhammad himself had only daughters (his sons died in infancy), and took issue with the devaluation of female offspring.

Naturally, this event has cast doubt into the supposed divinely revealed nature–and infallibility–of the entire Qur’an to this day. If the prophet can be swayed to reveal verses by Satan himself, this contradicts his own doctrine that Satan does not have power over the faithful (38:82-83, and 17:65), and this other revelation where God speaks in the plural:

Had he (Muhammad) falsely attributed some statements to Us, We would have seized him by the right arm, then slashed his lifeline. And none of you could have restrained Us from him. – Qur’an 69:44-47

Presumably this means that Allah would have killed Muhammad if he had made up verses. But the Satanic Verses episode proves that Muhammad DID produce verses that weren’t “from God” and wasn’t killed by Allah, so this other verse is also in question. (I’d hate to attribute these verses to the devil, when Muhammad clearly saw the advantages of praying with Pagans and allowing them to convert to Islam). So this is the Qur’an’s version of Jeremiah 8:8–the Bible verse that curiously admits that the Bible has been falsified.

We must add to the Satanic Verses scandal, the belief expressed in the Qur’an that the messages of all the previous prophets had been corrupted by Satan (who–remember!–is not supposed to have power over God’s devotees as per 38:82-83 and 17:65), which explains the sectarian divisions in Christianity and other faiths, and even in Islam immediately after the prophet’s death so that, in the end–if we are to believe that Satan is more than a convenient scapegoat–Satan supposedly gains mastery over everyone.

By God, We sent messengers to communities before you, but Satan made their deeds appear alluring to them. He is their master today, and they will have a painful punishment. – Qur’an 16:63

And so there’s a lesson here on the importance and the maturity of assuming ownership for one’s own mistakes, thoughts, and ideas–rather than blaming a scapegoat or imagining that a God is pulling the strings. This process of revelation, while promising “clear guidance” from the onset in the very first surah of the Qur’an, confesses its own imperfections and even its own inability to self-correct, or to admit error. If Muhammad had been willing to admit he had been mistaken, rather than blaming Satan or some other agency, he would have been pliable to reform or moral development. But the nature of what he was claiming–that it was Allah who spoke–was such that it impeded a frank conversation about what inspired his verses (perhaps the mutual advantage he perceived in converting the Pagans?, perhaps the semi-divine quality he still conceded to the three Goddesses?, etc.)

Muhammad’s Satan Versus Anatole France’s Satan

I took an interest in the literary figure of Satan while reading Revolt of the Angels, which is considered canon by The Satanic Temple. So when I found Muhammad speaking for Satan in the Qur’an, my expectations were high and, unfortunately, unmet. Here is what Muhammad’s Satan says:

And Satan will say, when the issue is settled, “God has promised you the promise of truth, and I promised you, but I failed you. I had no authority over you, except that I called you, and you answered me. So do not blame me, but blame yourselves. I cannot come to your aid, nor can you come to my aid. I reject your associating with me in the past. The wrongdoers will have a torment most painful.” – Qur’an 14:22

Very out of character for the romanticized arch-rebel. Let’s compare this brief speech to the one at the end of Revolt of the Angels, which beautifully illustrates the anarchic and libertarian spirit of freedom he embodies. After dreaming the he had successfully gained victory over Ialdabaoth (the God of the Bible) and assuming his throne in heaven, and dreaming that he had become all the things that he had originally rebelled against–a pitiless, unconcerned, unearthly, bland God with no curiosity, while the God he had replaced was now an earthly hero who embodied freedom–he awakened and said:

“Comrades,” said the great archangel, “no—we will not conquer the heavens. Enough to have the power. War engenders war, and victory defeat. “God, conquered, will become Satan; Satan, conquering, will become God. May the fates spare me this terrible lot; I love the Hell which formed my genius. I love the Earth where I have done some good, if it be possible to do any good in this fearful world where beings live but by rapine. Now, thanks to us, the god of old is dispossessed of his terrestrial empire, and every thinking being on this globe disdains him or knows him not. But what matter that men should be no longer submissive to Ialdabaoth if the spirit of Ialdabaoth is still in them; if they, like him, are jealous, violent, quarrelsome, and greedy, and the foes of the arts and of beauty? What matter that they have rejected the ferocious Demiurge, if they do not hearken to the friendly demons who teach all truths; to Dionysus, Apollo, and the Muses? As to ourselves, celestial spirits, sublime demons, we have destroyed Ialdabaoth, our Tyrant, if in ourselves we have destroyed Ignorance and Fear.” And Satan, turning to the gardener, said: “Nectaire, you fought with me before the birth of the world. We were conquered because we failed to understand that Victory is a Spirit, and that it is in ourselves and in ourselves alone that we must attack and destroy Ialdabaoth.”

Further Reading:

Review of Revolt of the Angels