Thursday, January 30, 2014

Muhammad's First Encounter with Gabriel

Some Muslims get quite upset when I say that Muhammad wasn't actually getting revelations from God through the angel Gabriel. However, when he began receiving verses, Muhammad himself didn't believe they were from God. Why would Muslims get angry with us for taking Muhammad's first impression of his encounter seriously?



Here's the quotation from Ibn Ishaq on Muhammad's first meeting with Gabriel:

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.

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." (Ibn Ishaq, Sirat Rasul Allah, p. 106)

30 comments:

Excalibur said...

Isn't there also another version where Muhammad sees the spirit being floating in the air, seated atop a chair?

Anthony Rogers said...

There is such a story, and according to all kinds of evidence it was originally circulated as an appearance of Allah. It was later changed to one of the two times Gabriel appears to Muhammad in his "true" form.

Anonymous said...

The reason Kadijah and her cousin told Muhammad was seeing an angel instead of being demon possessed was to stop him for despairing ad trying to kill himself.

Anonymous said...

The account in sirat al rasul Allah as posted makes it quite clear that this was not a live encounter but a dream. It reads: "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!’

Then after the encounter, it reads: So I read it, and he departed from me. And I awoke from my sleep

Muhammad also stated that if anyone has a dream which they do not like, then it is from Satan.(Bukhari vol 9 book 87 number 114)

Narrated by Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri

The Prophet said, "If anyone of you sees a dream that he likes, then it is from Allah, and he should thank Allah for it and narrate it to others; but if he sees something else, i.e., a dream that he dislikes, then it is from Satan, and he should seek refuge with Allah from its evil, and he should not mention it to anybody, for it will not harm him."

We know Muhammad did not like this dream, thinking he was demon possessed and that something terrible would happen to him. Therefore, such a dream, but Muhammad's own criteria was from Satan.

One another quick sidenote, Ishaq's biography (as quoted above) tells us that a coverlet of brocade with writing on it was brought to Muhammad and He was told to READ. This alone makes it quite emphatic that the rendering of Iqra here must indeed be READ and not RECITE since it is the writing which is brought to him and he's told to IQRA it.

This entity is obviously not from God, otherwise he wouldn't be asking an illiterate man to read. But perhaps we shouldn't be "shooting the messenger" since he was sent by Allah, who must have been equally unaware that this 2-right hand-picked prophet was a very poor choice.

punkdramallama said...

Just because his first impressions were that the messages may have been demonic, it does not mean that they were. That is not a "reason" at all for him not being a prophet. When I first started being attacked by demons, I would get taps on different parts of my body when I would do certain things, on the left side when I would do things my demons wouldn't want me to do or think, and on the right when my angels were making me aware what I was doing or thinking wasn't right. I didn't know what the taps meant and I thought they were all demonic, until I figured out that if demons exist, then surely angels must as well, and so I started believing they were there to help, and that led me to communicating with them. Just because he didn't know it was God (many times when we think it's God we're talking to, it's just angels by the way), well just because he didn't know, and was skeptical, it doesn't mean they were demons, it means he had a inquisitive mind, and didn't take any being talking to him as an authority, and furthermore, it meant he was human. When we don't understand something, we fear it, and then sometimes fight against it before accepting it. Just because God speaks to us, doesn't mean we will recognize him/her when he/she does, and doesn't mean we will purport the correct message from him even then. We have our own issues, and God & the angels work with our mortal fears and help us overcome them, but know that God isn't always so recognizable to those he speaks to, as is this case is a prime example here.

Unknown said...

Punkdramallama: It also doesn't mean he didn't get possessed by Satan or a demon! Besides, you have to look at the fruit in his life after these encounters, he went around slaughtering people unprovoked!

Unknown said...

Nowhere in the Bible someone encountered an angel of God and went around acting like they have been possessed with Satan, producing his fruit i.e. kill, steal and destroy! Yes people were terrified and nervous but the angel or angel calmed them, comforted them! I believe Mohammad did encounter Satan or one of his demons in the cave of Hira!

A Friend in GOD said...

Mr. Wood,

I have watched many of your debates. You are fantastic!

There is one consideration when it comes to the angel Gabriel that I haven't heard mentioned... could it be it's really a demon that lied about who he is? Even Muhammad thought this at first.

Also, I am wondering if it's Satan himself who has assumed the identity of "Allah". The attributes muslims use to describe Allah sound more like a dictatorial enforcer then a loving God. From our Christian teachings we know Satan want's to de-throne God. If he assumes the identity of Allah he gets to impersonate the real God, and be a dictatorial A-hole all at the same time. Candy for him.

Just a thought. I'm very interested in your comments. Keep up the fantastic work!

Ccpsucks said...

It had to be a dream because everyone knows that imbecile Mohammed couldn't read or write. Also the imbecile NEVER prophesied a single event. Some prophet.

redglacie said...

Even what Muhammad proclaimed that the "angel" MADE him confess is of demonic origin. Consider the forming of man in Genesis: GOD did not create Adam from blood, HE simply took clay, formed it, then BREATHED life into Adam. Also, there is never any GODLY angelic encounter where the person is confronted with death and FORCED to DO anything. Instead, the encountered is consoled to peace and a proclamation of GOD'S WORD is announced. When GOD wants us to understand something we do not recognize, HE will revisit us many more times until we take HIS message to heart. THE GREAT I AM never forges anything upon us; HE only warns of what will come from our disobedience to HIM only, and not another man. This is the case even in the Tora, which is supposedly the basis of Islam belief.

redglacie said...

Muhammad's vision has TWO vey clear indications that it did NOT come to him through GOD. First, GOD sends an angel to a person to COMPEL them to do, think(know), or say what HE wants to happen, NOT to FORCE them by fear of immediate death if they do not comply. Even Moses was not threatened when God came to him, and Jonah only got scared to death after telling God that he would obey, and then tried to hide when going the opposite direction. Also. when Gabriel shows up in your life, there is NO question that he has been sent by GOD ALMIGHTY, and, as Cool Breeze says, you will be comforted so that GOD's proclamation may be heard. If the intended person does not "get it", GOD will come back to them many times to allow them the opportunity to understand and act. Secondly, in the account of creation of man in Genesis, which is SUPPOSED to be the basis of Muslim beliefs, God did NOT create life in man through "coagulated blood", but by gathering clay, forming it in HIS Glorious image, and breathing HIS LIFE into it. Lastly all mankind needs to know that THE GREAT I AM does not need any mortal (HIS creations) to bring about HIS works, He just delights in our acceptance of HIS wishes and our obedience.

Unknown said...

What is the demonic origin?! Worship God alone ... or three gods in one constitution?! Was Moses worship son of god?! Then he must be the demonic origin! No?! Then Saul's created religion is the demonic origin! B/c Muhammad saw.was as same as Moses, not Saul's version of JC.
Can you believe Gen.'s: sun after earth?! Can't.Than u can't use Gen..
Aha, Adam was from clay, so all his children!? No?! Where those Adam's all children came from?! Gen. can't explain that!
Wkwkwk, u said urself glacie: "and Jonah only got scared to death ..." Is that the demonic origin, indeed? No!? Why is it double standards!? -_-
No demonic origin in Muhammad saw. N Islam is never based from Torah ... but an independent Qur'an alone. Hadza.

Unknown said...

HI Reeve, read the Quran 5:44-48..lots stories of Quran only been taken from The Torah and the Injil - and they (not Muhammad) but Uthma and the rest as Quran was not available until 7th century...even from the beginning Ibrahim's son Isaac who YHWH (all Abrahamic religion do not recognise who ALLAH even up to now) like to be sacrified..but Islam changed it into Ismail...
Please re-red your Quran over and over..is just do not make sense on what its written there.for high being commanding his creation to kill, rape, slaughter another of his creation...or ask one religion to torture another religion...which common sense..it is against human right..is there diffrent Quran then???

Unknown said...

is there different Quran in this w orld..between ISIS, HAMAS, Hezbullah and the other Muslims?

Unknown said...

Sister, we read & memorized our Qur'an ... mostly. Can u mention any single Jesus who memorized his own Bible, or Torah?! In its original language?! Never. Our Prophet was illiterate ... generally, to his own original language Arabic; then how could he copied stories from Torah's Hebrew?! Never. So ur argument has collapsed for itself. In fact, our Qur'an is so independently ... corrects all mistaken in this world, biblically or/& science.
Sister, in 80s may someone had hand phone in this world but is it common!? Moreover now ... already common in android / smart phone. Believe it or not, paper was including expensive in that era, 5-7 century, in Arabia. Even our Prophet was commonly known as a leader of an illiterate community of Arabia. They used to memorize .... In fact, one of our khalif: Omar ra.'s consideration was the lacking of Muslims to memorized their Qur'an if it has already common in written book; which now proven, +- just 1 million Muslims who Hafiz Qur'an; however it's still +-1 million better than Christianity. We Muslims didn't depend to a written Qur'an scripture (like all Christianity depended deathly to written Bible). So, written Qur'an in 7 or 9c ... didn't matter.
Sister, even in your Aramaic ... they have found "Aloha"; " Alleluyah"?! So on. Islam, or Qur'an, didn't change any ... no straight verse has mentioned Isma'il as. literally. Even in/among Muslims scholars ... still by Isaac as. but mostly: is Isma'il as..
Sister, we did, re-read ours ... over n over. How do you think we can memorize it?! How about u? Have u read ur own bible fully?! Or, I challenge all Christians here, even to Jay Smith, any memorize his own Bible at least 1/10 of it, in original language (if there's any original language of Bible)!? None! We Muslims won, always.
Sister, no single verse in Qur'an that does not make any sense, at least 80% of it. The rest 20%, like satans, angels, even heaven, hell, or life after death ... how absurd they're but that doesn't mean that they're wrong. It's our brain which can't achieve it. That's why we all still need: believe.
Sister, as Naik's challenging, so we: no single verse in Qur'an is against human rights. If u still in doubt then what's human's rights!? -_- Is abortion against it or not!? Now, u r in forever doubt! Wanna ask ur Jesus's Bible?! Even no children's marriage prohibition ... in it.
No, no different Qur'an ... but understanding of ....
Hadza.

Unknown said...

Definitely, I name this site officially as ... "Can't Answering just a single Muslim!" -_- Biidznillah.
Happy Ramadhan Kariim.

jjjjeeeesue said...

Reeves your argument makes no since your prophet was a murderand you argue that the fact that that he couldn't copy the Torah he borrowed from the Jews and Christians all the time arabics spoke Hebrew so yeah it would be easy to steal

Unknown said...

As a modern human, can you translate this?! Matsalulladziina hummiluttauroota tsummalamyahmiluuha kamatsalilhimaari yahmiluasfaaran ....
True ... it's not easy!
Hadza. ۚ ۚ

Smokiebad said...

why are so many prophecies of Mohammed in Bible.
Deuteronomy 33:2-
He said, "The Lord came from Sinai and dawned from Seir upon us; he shone forth from Mount Paran; he came from the ten thousand of holy ones, with flaming fire at his right hand."
Deuteronomy 33.2 is a prophecy pertaining to the places where the light of god i.e the strongest messengers of god had or will come forth from, that is why it is written in the very sequence in which these Messengers came. First Moses, so Sinai is mentioned, then Jesus came, so Seir is mentioned & finally Mohammed came, so Mt. Paran(located on outskirts of Mecca) is mentioned in the last. The "ten thousand of holy ones" are the ten thousand companions of Muhammad.
Deuteronomy 33:2 doesn't mention any city or town's name, it (Deuteronomy 33:2) mentions only the mountain names where the prophets would come forth from. Mount Sinai refers to Moses, Mount Seir "the Mount of Esau" refers to Jesus, and Mount Paran "the Mount of Ishmael" refers to Mohammed (as there is no other prophet who came from Mt. Paran).
Habakkuk 3:3 stated -
God comes from the south (Teman) , and the holy one from mount Paran (Mecca): His glory covered the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise.
According to J. Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible, Teman is an Oasis in Northern outskirts of Medina.
And so, Mohammed has been prophesized as The holy one in the Bible.
And, unless you have a better explanation for Deuteronomy 33:2 or Habakkuk 3:3, you cannot doubt this.
While Isaiah 42 has lots of open prophecies about Mohammed -
Isaiah 42:11 - Join in the chorus, you desert towns; let the villages where Kedar lives rejoice! Let the people of Sela sing for joy; shout praises from the mountaintops!
KEDAR is a forefather of Prophet Mohammed & grandson of Ishmael.(Genesis 25:13)(www.bibleinfo.com) (Wikipedia)
SELA is a mountain of Medina. (Wikipedia)
Hence, BIBLE has prophesized about both MECCA & MEDINA as the places from where the message of God would spread from....! Here, Mt. Paran is referring to Mecca & Sela is referring to Medina.

Unknown said...

@Reeves R You are so ignorant of your wonderful Quran you are not even aware it was not written in Arabic but in Aramaic, a dead language which did not even have vowels which makes it so much harder to make an ACCURATE interpretation. The Quran is full of scientific errors and bible stories which your illiterate prophet did not have to know how to read to have heard, PROBLEM WAS HE DID NOT HAVE A GOOD MEMORY FOR WHAT HE HEARD BECAUSE HE GOT THEM WRONG. HE EVEN MISTAKES MARY THE MOTHER OF JESUS WITH MARY THE SISTER OF AARON AND MOSES! Ever hear of 'word of mouth'? You are obviously ok with it as you said so yourself that it didn't matter that there is NO WRITTEN RECORD OF MUHAMMAD'S EXISTENCE UNTIL ALMOST 800 AD, ALMOST 300 YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH. THE GOSPELS WERE NOT WRITTEN BY JESUS YOU FOOL, YOU BELIEVE THE FALSE GARBAGE ISLAM TEACHES YOU, IT'S NOT IN THE QURAN SO YOU DIDN'T GET THAT INFO THERE, YOU HEARD IT FROM SOME ILLITERATE MUSLIM SOMEWHERE. How could Jesus write the Gospels which are the STORY OF HIS LIFE, DEATH, AND RESURRECTION? Use the small brain Satan (you call him Allah) GAVE YOU! The gospels were written within less than 20 to 30 years after the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, 2 of the Gospels were written by men WHO ACTUALLY KNEW HIM AND THE OTHER TWO BY MEN WHO KNEW MEN WHO ACTUALLY KNEW HIM. So who do you believe, those who are going on information not written down for almost 300 YEARS AFTER THE DEATH OF YOUR SATANIC PROPHIT or those written by men who KNEW JESUS CHRIST AN WROTE THEM WITHIN LESS THAN 30 YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH. IT ISN'T ROCKET SCIENCE.

Unknown said...

Wkwkwk, since when Qur'an was originally written in Aramaic?!
Not enough memory?! He memorized Qur'an fully! So am I ... n other millions Muslims; can you mention any single Jesus, or Pope, who could memorize 10++ Commands ... in original language?! Zero Jesus! "_" There, I just beat your gods even combined in one Trinity power! :-) Hamdan.
"Mary vs Maryam"? Where have you been?! That was an old issue of your orientalist! *_* N it has been answered correctly & perfectly. Don't you have any relative who his name is Jesus?! Is he biblical Jesus?! Similarly.
Qur'an scientific error?! = Zero! :-)
But 520 scientific signs with 100% correctness to modern science truth, including the famous Qur'an's embryology.
Compare to +-2,000 bible scientific errors for sure! "_" Including the famous idiotic Genesis: sun after earth, plants, n animals?! Geeh, forget why Jesus who could write, n read Hebrew (?!) n not illiterate, still, not write his own journey, n important messages (in verses) of his Father?! Even I sometimes wrote my father message. Yea, Jesus forgot about chlorophyll system...! *_*
But 800AD.?! Well, your record is suck as same as your chaotic bible! :-)
Wkwkwk, 30 years of completed books?! Or a little piece of paper?! -_-
Where's Bible according to Jesus?! None!
But in ours.

Hadza.

singh said...

And Allah said:
verse 33:53:
O you who believe! Enter not the Prophet's houses, except when leave is given to you for a meal, (and then) not (so early as) to wait for its preparation. But when you are invited, enter, and when you have taken your meal, disperse, without sitting for a talk. Verily, such (behaviour) annoys the Prophet, and he is shy of (asking) you (to go), but Allah is not shy of (telling you) the truth.

Allah was worried about Mohammad privacy and wanted no one disturbs him while he is F**king.

Unknown said...

Wkwkwk, what, ur guest can enter ur mother's private room freely while she was being f*?! "_" B/c all marries out of Islamic law r adultery! Hz.

Smokiebad said...

We absolutely expect you people to make colourful interpretations of Quran, even though the meaning at times is very simple. Isn't the Quran verse 33:53 clearly telling believers that they should not aimlessly sit around in the house of the prophet in order to indulge the Prophet in useless chatter, which would naturally annoy the Prophet but he would still patiently talk to you rather than ask you to leave.

Unknown said...

so Muhammad infidel and kafir for 40 years of his life ? hahahaha

Alexander Reeve said...

Only in ur hallucination alone, bro.... But u r an infidel ... for a life time!? -_-
Amen.

Dale Little said...

I personally believe he encountered a demon while he was high on some kind of opioid.

Unknown said...

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Unknown said...

Prophet Muhammad was scared of angel Gabriel out of normal human behaviour.What would you have done if you saw a creature you havent seen before with 600 wings each covering the horizon.
Muhammad was known not to be a liar hence his titles the honest,the trustworth so then why would he lie about God or being a prophet if he had no clue of any religious scripture nor could he read them.
The Quran is not like any other book revealed to man.And it explicitly states that the prophet was not mad neither did he invent it nor was he a liar nor possessed nor was iat the word of satan.It is simply a warning amd a reminder to mankind.
If you are in doubt look at the scientific facts in it .For example, it briefly but accurately mention how the big bang happened in 21:30 "Do the unbelievers not see that the heavens and the earth were joined (as one unit of creation)before We(Allah) seperated them. Then from water We created every living thing.Will they not believe?."
It also identifies mountains as pegs(having roots) and even stated their functions as they stabilize the earth lest it should sway.It also accurately defines the stages of creation of man(both Adam and his descendants),it also proves that honey comes from the stomach of bees and also proved that the sun also moves which was not discovered until recently that not only the sun but the whole solar system revolves around the center of our galaxy do your research well.
The prophet also gave us signs of the day of judgement some of which have already happened.Like when he said the barefooted bedouin arabs will soon become rich and start competing for building the tallest buildings,is this a lie? Try looking into the history of those arabs before they discovered the oil and see how poor they were.He also said that a slave woman will give birth to her master and also children will become angry.The slave girl stands for any mother wjo gives birth and her child starts to control her without obeying her to the extent some call their mothers dogs(bitch) ,is this a lie ? Open your eyes. As for the 2nd part it needs no explanation just observe the kids today ,is it a lie ? He also said that women will be dressed but will still be naked. Just look at womens fashion trends of today ,is it a lie?
Islam doesnt hold any grudge against Jesus(if you are christian) nor against any other prophet,we just say the truth about them . Let those with ears listen. Jesus was not ,is not and will never God's son. It is just a falsehood invented by people because of the miracles he performed by God's permission . You should also know he is not the first person to be called son of God falsely .The jews also called another(Ezra) son of God without right nor reason except that God caused him to die 100 years and woke him up.And Jesuswas not crucified but God saved him and he will return him.
You should all know that Islam, the Prophet and the Quran all taught what Abraham, Moses, Noah,Jesus and all the other prophets taught ;that there is no god but Allah/God/The Creator. If you are in soubt check the old testament if you are truthdu

Unknown said...

Will any Muslim please tell me what Adam or Noah prophesied to make them a prophet in islams eyes???
I would ask any Muslim to go through the topics posted by David Wood and they will have everything answered to them.
If and when you come to the Koran you will see that even your Muslim scholars agree that there are different korans and that there are lots of verses missing from the Koran even moo's child wife tells that when they were grieving at moo's Death a sheep came in and ate the sura about stoning and breastfeeding.
John 1=1