The incident of ‘Abdullah Ibn Sa’d Ibn Abi Sarh is equally important as the incident of “Satanic Verses”, while the drama of revelation was exposed in both these incidents.
‘Abdullah Ibn Sa’d accepted Islam in Mecca, and became a Companion of Muhammad, which is a high rank according to Islam.
Later, he became the Scriber of the Quran (كاتب الوحي) too, which is even a higher rank than being a Companion.
Muhammad dictated to him the revelation, and he wrote it down. But then happened one accident one day, which opened the eyes of ‘Abdullah Ibn Sa’d, and he realized that the revelation was not coming from any divine god in the heavens, but Muhammad was making the revelation himself.
After realizing that Muhammad was making the revelation on his own, he left Islam and became an apostate.
1st Proof:
"Asbaab Al-Nuzool" by Al-Wahidi Al-Naysaboori - Page 126 - Beirute's Cultural Libary Edition "Tub'at Al-Maktabah Al-thakafiyyah Beirute" (link):
عَن الْكَلْبِيّ عَن أبي صَالح عَن ابن عباس: " قَوْلُهُ تَعَالَى: ( وَمَنْ قَالَ سَأُنْزِلُ مِثْلَ مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ ) الأنعام/ 93 .نَزَلَتْ فِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ سَعْدِ بْنِ أَبِي سَرْحٍ، كَانَ قَدْ تَكَلَّمَ بِالْإِسْلَامِ، فَدَعَاهُ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ- صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - ذَاتَ يَوْمٍ يَكْتُبُ لَهُ شَيْئًا، فَلَمَّا نَزَلَتِ الْآيَةُ الَّتِي فِي الْمُؤْمِنُونَ: (وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنْسَانَ مِنْ سُلَالَةٍ) أَمْلَاهَا عَلَيْهِ، فَلَمَّا انْتَهَى إِلَى قَوْلِهِ: (ثُمَّ أَنْشَأْنَاهُ خَلْقًا آخَرَ) عَجِبَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ فِي تَفْصِيلِ خَلْقِ الْإِنْسَانِ، فَقَالَ: تَبَارَكَ اللَّهُ أَحْسَنُ الْخَالِقِينَ، فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ - صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - (هَكَذَا أُنْزِلَتْ عَلَيَّ)، فَشَكَّ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ حِينَئِذٍ وَقَالَ: لَئِنْ كَانَ مُحَمَّدٌ صَادِقًا لَقَدْ أُوحِيَ إِلَيَّ كَمَا أُوحِيَ إِلَيْهِ ، وَلَئِنْ كَانَ كَذَّابًا لَقَدْ قُلْتُ كَمَا قَالَ ، وَذَلِكَ قَوْلُهُ: ( وَمَنْ قَالَ سَأُنْزِلُ مِثْلَ مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ ) وَارْتَدَّ عَنِ الْإِسْلَامِ ،
Translation:
This verse was revealed about 'Abd Allah ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Sarh. This man had declared his faith in Islam and so the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, called him one day to write something for him. When the verses regarding the believers were revealed (Verily, We created man from a product of wet earth…) [23:12-14], the Prophet dictated them to him. When he reached up to (and then produced it as another creation), 'Abd Allah expressed his amazement at the precision of man's creation by saying (فتبارک اللّٰہ احسن الخالقین So blessed be Allah, the Best of Creators!). The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: “This ['Abd Allah's last expression فتبارک اللّٰہ احسن الخالقین So blessed be Allah, the Best of Creators!] is how it was revealed to me (so write them too in Quran)”. At that point, doubt crept into 'Abd Allah. He said: “If Muhammad is truthful, then I was inspired just as he was; and if he is lying, I have uttered exactly what he did utter”. Hence Allah's words (and who saith: I will reveal the like of that which Allah hath revealed). The man renounced Islam.
This is also the opinion of Ibn 'Abbas according to the report of al-Kalbi. 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Abdan informed us> Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Nu'aym> Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Umawi> Ahmad ibn 'Abd al-Jabbar> Yunus ibn Bukayr> Muhammad ibn Ishaq> Shurahbil ibn Sa'd who said:
“This verse was revealed about 'Abd Allah ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Sarh. The latter said: 'I will reveal the like of that which Allah has revealed', and renounced Islam. When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, entered Mecca, this man fled to 'Uthman [ibn 'Affan] who was his milk brother. 'Uthman hid him until the people of Mecca felt safe. He then took him to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and secured an amnesty for him”.
These words of ‘Abdullah Ibn Abi al-Sarh {فتبارک اللّٰہ احسن الخالقین So blessed be Allah, the Best of creators!!} are present in the Quran even today (Verse 23:14).
Did Ibn Abi al-Sarh wrongfully accuse Muhammad? Certainly not!
The truth is that Muhammad took possession of his words without taking care of any copyrights, and he forgot that he himself earlier challenged the pagans of Mecca that they could not make even a single verse like Quran.
Thus, Ibn Abi al-Sarh saw with his own eyes that Muhammad was making revelations on his own, and he became aware of this lie. Nevertheless, he decided to further test Muhammad in order to testify his doubts. Muslim historians like Waqidi, Ibn Athir and Tabari wrote when Muhammad dictated to him (عليم حکيم i.e. Allah is All-Knowing All-Wise"), then he wrote it in the opposite order (i.e. حکيم عليم All-Wise All-Knowing). Then he used to recite it to Muhammad, and he didn’t detect those changes.
2nd Proof:
Waqidi recorded a comment by Ibn Abi al-Sarh upon this (link):
ما يدري محمد ما يقول! إني لأكتب له ما شئت، هذا الذي كتبت يوحى إلي كما يوحى إلى محمد
(Ibn Abi Sarh said): Muhammad didn’t know what he dictated, and I wrote (in Quran) whatever I wished. And what I wrote, it was a revelation upon me, just like it was a revelation upon Muhammad.
After leaving Islam, Ibn Abi al-Sarh told the Meccans دينكم خير من دينه (i.e. Your religion is better than Muhammad’s religion).
When Muhammad came to know about it, he became mad at him as it was impossible to know at which places Ibn Abi al-Sarh made the distortions in the Quran.
This Muhammad tried to blame Ibn Abi al-Sarh to be a liar, and claimed the revelation of the following verse:
Quran 6:93:
ومن أظلم ممن افترى على الله كذبا أو قال أوحي إلي ولم يوح إليه شيء ومن قال سأنزل مثل ما أنزل اللهAnd who is more unjust than one who invents a lie about Allah or says, "It has been inspired to me," while nothing has been inspired to him, and one who says, "I will reveal [something] like what Allah revealed."
Muhammad wanted to defend himself against the accusations of Ibn Abi al-Sarh. Nevertheless, all his excuses went to waste, and this verse now serves as PROOF against him for all those wise people who have the ability to think. We should be thankful for this verse, while without this Islam apologists would have certainly completely denied even the existence of ‘Abdullah Ibn Abi al-Sarh by declaring all the traditions about him to be “weak”.
3rd Proof:
Ibn Jarir al-Tabari recorded the following tradition from ‘Ikrama in his Tafsir of Quran (link):
حدثنا القاسم، قال: ثنا الحسين، قال ثني حجاج، عن ابن جريج، عن عكرمة، قوله: { وَمَنْ أظْلَمُ مِمَّنِ افْتَرَى على اللّهِ كَذِباً أوْ قالَ أُوحِيَ إليَّ وَلَمْ يُوحَ إلَيْهِ شَيْءٌ } قال: نزلت في مسيلمة أخي بني عديّ بن حنيفة فيما كان يسجِّع ويتكهن به. { وَمَنْ قالَ سأُنْزِلُ مِثْلَ ما أنْزَلَ الله } نزلت في عبد الله بن سعد بن أبي سَرْح، أخي بني عامر بن لؤي، كان يكتب للنبي صلى الله عليه وسلم، وكان فيما يُملِي «عزيز حكيم»، فيكتب «غفور رحيم»، فيغيره، ثم يقرأ عليه كذا وكذا لما حوّل، فيقول: «نَعَمْ سواء» فرجع عن الإسلام ولحق بقريش وقال لهم: لقد كان ينزل عليه «عزيز حكيم»، فأحوّله ثم أقول لما أكتب، فيقول نعم سواء
Al-Qasim told us: Al-Hussein narrated: Al-Hajjaj narrated: by Ibn Jurayh, by Ikrimah:
His saying [Allah's saying in the Quran], "Who doth more wrong than such as invent a falsehood against Allah, or said: 'I have received inspiration,' when he hath received none". He [Ikrimah] said: This verse was revealed about Musaylamah the brother of Bani (children of) Uday bin Haneefah, for he [Musaylamah] was reciting poetry and prophesying. And "I can reveal like what Allah hath revealed" was revealed about Abdullah bin Sa'd bin Abi Al-Sarh, the brother of Bani (children of) Amir bin Lu'ai. He [Abdullah] used to write for the Prophet (SAW), and while he [Mohammad] was dictating "Exalted in power, full of Wisdom'', he [Abdullah] would write it "Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful", thus changing it. Then he [Abdullah] would read the changed verses to him [Mohammad], and he [Mohammad] would say, "Yes [in approval], it's like this". So, he [Abdullah] reverted from Islam and followed Quraysh telling them, "He [Mohammad] used to recite to me Exalted in power, full of Wisdom', and I would change it when I write it down, and he would tell me, 'Yes [in approval], it's the same [meaning]."
4th Proof:
Imam Tabari recorded the following tradition in his Tafsir from as-Sudy (link):
حدثني محمد بن الحسين، قال: ثنا أحمد بن المفضل قال: ثنا أسباط، عن السديّ: { وَمَنْ أظْلَمُ مِمَّنِ افْتَرَى على اللّهِ كَذِباً أوْ قالَ أُوحِيَ إليَّ وَلمْ يُوحَ إلَيْهِ شَيْءٌ... } إلى قوله: { تُجْزَوْنَ عذَابَ الهُونِ } قال: نزلت في عبد الله بن سعد بن أبي سرح أسلم، وكان يكتب للنبيّ صلى الله عليه وسلم، فكان إذا أملى عليه «سميعاً عليماً»، كتب هو: «عليماً حكيماً» وإذا قال: «عليماً حكيماً» كتب: «سميعاً عليماً». فشكّ وكفر، وقال: إن كان محمد يوحى إليه فقد أوحيَ إليّ، وإن كان الله ينزله فقد أنزلت مثل ما أنزل الله، قال محمد: «سميعاً عليماً»، فقلت أنا: «عليماً حكيماً». فلحق بالمشركين ، ووشى بعمار وجبير عند ابن الحضرميّ أو لبني عبد الدار، فأخذوهم فعذّبوا حتى كفروا. وجُدع أذن عمار يومئذ، فانطلق عمار إلى النبيّ صلى الله عليه وسلم، فأخبره بما لقي والذي أعطاهم من الكفر، فأبى النبيّ صلى الله عليه وسلم أن يتولاه، فأنزل الله في شأن ابن أبي سَرح وعمار وأصحابه: مَنْ كَفَرَ باللّهِ مِنْ بَعْدِ إيمَانِهِ إلاَّ مَنْ أُكْرِهَ وَقَلْبُهُ مُطْمَئِنٌّ بالإِيمَانِ وَلَكِنْ مَنْ شَرَحَ بالكُفْرِ صَدْرًا فالذي أُكره عمار وأصحابه، والذي شرح بالكفر صدراً فهو ابن أبي سرح.
Mohammad bin Al-Hussein spoke to me, he said: Ahmad bin Al-Mufdil narrated: Asbat narrated from As-Sudy: "Who doth more wrong than such as invent a falsehood against Allah, or said: "I have received inspiration,' when he hath received none" until his [Allah] saying, "ye receive your reward, a penalty of shame". He [Al-Sudy] said: This verse was revealed about Abdullah bin Sa'd bin Abi Al-Sarh, he embraced Islam, and used to write [Quran revelations] for the Prophet (SAW). So, when the Prophet dictated him: "Who heareth and knoweth all things", he'd write it: "All-Knowing, All-Wise". So, he doubted and reverted. Then he said, "If Mohammad gets inspiration, then I get inspiration too, and if Allah sent him his revelation, then I was sent the same thing. For when Mohammad said, 'Who heareth and knoweth all things' I'd say, 'All-Knowing, All-Wise'" So he followed the Pagans, and he blew the cover of Ammar and Jubar [secret Muslims] to Ibn Al-Hudrumi or to Bani Abd Al-Dar, so they took them and tortured them until they reverted. Ammar's ear was cut off that day, so he [Ammar] went to the Prophet (SAW) and told him what had happened to him, but the Prophet (SAW) refused to handle his issue. So, Allah revealed about [Abdullah] Ibn Abi Al-Sarh and his companions, "Anyone who, after accepting Faith in Allah, utters Unbelief, - except under compulsion, his heart remaining firm in Faith - but such as open their breast to Unbelief, on them is Wrath from Allah, and theirs will be a dreadful Penalty" Who was "under compulsion" is Ammar and his companions, and who "open their breast to Unbelief" is [Abdullah] Ibn Abi Al-Sarh.
5th Proof:
Imam Ibn Abi al-Hatim recorded the following tradition in his Tafsir (link):
7624 حدثنا أبي ثنا ابن نفيل الحراني ثنا مسكين بن بكير عن معان رفاعة قال: سمعت ابا خلف الأعمى قال: كان ابن أبي سرح يكتب للنبي صلى الله عليه وسلم الوحي، فاتى أهل مكة فقالوا: يا ابن أبي السرح، كيف كتبت لابن أبي كبشة القران؟ قال: كنت اكتب كيف شئت. فانزل الله تعالى: ومن اظلم ممن افترى على الله كذبا. قوله تعالى: أو قال أوحي إلي ولم يوح اليه شيء
Abi Thana ibn Nufayl al-Hirani — Maskeen bin Bukayr — Ma’an Rifah – Aba Khalf al-Aami, who said:
Ibn Abi Sarh used to write down the revelation for the prophet. Then some people of Mecca came to him and asked him why he write the Quran for Ibn Abi Kubsha (i.e. Muhammad). Ibn Ibi Sarh replied that he writes Qruan according to his own wishes. Upon that Allah revealed this verse (Quran 6:93: And who is more unjust than one who invents a lie about Allah or says, "It has been inspired to me," while nothing has been inspired to him, and one who says, "I will reveal [something] like what Allah revealed.")
6th Proof:
Imam al-Hakim recorded the following tradition in his book al-Mustadrak ‘ala al-Sahihain (link):
4419 - فحدثنا أبو العباس محمد بن يعقوب ، ثنا أحمد بن عبد الجبار ، ثنا يونس بن بكير ، عن ابن إسحاق قال : حدثني شرحبيل بن سعد قال : " نزلت في عبد الله بن أبي سرح " ومن أظلم ممن افترى على الله كذبا أو قال أوحي إلي ولم يوح إليه شيء ومن قال سأنزل مثل ما أنزل الله فلما دخل رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم مكة فر إلى عثمان بن عفان رضي الله عنه ، وكان أخاه من الرضاعة ، فغيبه عنده حتى اطمأن أهل مكة ، ثم أتى به رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم فاستأمن " .
Abu al-Abbas Muhammad bin Yaqoob – Ahmad bin ‘Abd al-Jabbar – Younus bin Bukayr — Ibn Ishaaq — Sharjeel bin S’ad:
This verse was revealed for Abdullah Ibn S’ad Ibn Abi Sarh (Quran 6:93: And who is more unjust than one who invents a lie about Allah or says, "It has been inspired to me," while nothing has been inspired to him, and one who says, "I will reveal [something] like what Allah revealed."). When Muhammad entered Mecca (after it’s victory), then he hid in the house of ‘Uthman Ibn Affan (the 3rd Caliph) who was his cousin. And when the situation in Mecca became calmer, he sought refuge for himself.
Off course, ‘Abdullah Ibn S’ad brought a great insult to Muhammad, and he was not ready to spare his life. But due to the intercession of ‘Uthman, finally Muhammad had to grant ‘Abdullah refuge. Later ‘Abdullah bin S’ad joined the army and looted the people in the wars. The looted goods were more important thing than Muhammad being a true prophet, while looted goods involved slave women and booty of war.
Islam Apologists: The tradition about Verses 23:12-14 is not correct
We have already presented the tradition about verses 23:12-14 (see above in Proof Nr. 1, in which Muhammad included the words of ‘Abdullah Ibn S’ad as the part of Quran).
Nevertheless, Islam apologists (link) have claimed that this tradition could not be correct while Surah Muminun (in which these verses 23:12-14) was revealed in Mecca, and ‘Abdullah Ibn Abi Sarh accepted Islam later in the Medinan period. And as proof, they present the following tradition from the book “Asad-ul-Ghaba'' of Ibn Athir (link):
أسلم قبل الفتح، وهاجر إِلَى رَسُول اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وكان يكتب الوحي لرسول اللَّه صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ثم ارتد مشركًا، وصار إِلَى قريش بمكة
He (‘Abdullah Ibn S’ad Ibn abi Sarh) accepted Islam before the “Victory of Mecca”. He migrated to the Prophet (when he was already in Medina). He was a scriber of revelation, but later he apostated and went back to Quraysh in Mecca.
Answer:
During the initial period of Islam, many people knew about the Truth of different incidents, which happened during the time of Muhammad, and how the related Quranic verses were revealed. And these people narrated those true traditions further.
Nevertheless, many of those traditions were exposing Islam and Muhammad badly, and later coming Muslims wanted to get rid of them in order to save the honour of their religion. Therefore, those later coming Muslims did the following 2 things:
- They fabricated thousands of Ahadith on their own in order to counter those traditions, which were telling the actual truth.
- And not only the Ahadith, but those later coming Muslims also fabricated the so-called 'Ilm-ul-Hadith (Science of Hadith), through which they declared those traditions to be 'weak' which went against the Honor of Islam.
Nevertheless, these Muslim factories of fabricated Ahadith still made mistakes in some cases, and they were not able to fabricate enough lies to hide the truth.
The situation in the case of Ibn Abi Sarh is like this:
- This tradition of Ibn Atheer (which Muslims quote, and which claims that Ibn Abi Sarh accepted Islam later during the Medinian period) is a 'singular' tradition, and it has not even any chain of narration.
- And the next issue is that Surah Muminun (Verse 23:12-14) was revealed in Mecca, which proves that the claim in the tradition of Ibn Atheer is wrong.
- And not only Surah Muminun, but also Surah al-Inam (Verse 6:93) was also revealed in Mecca, where Allah is himself testifying the presence of a person who claimed to make the revelation on his own. Thus, it also becomes an ultimate proof that indeed 'Abdullah Ibn Abi Sarah accepted Islam during the Meccan period and this whole incident of his apostasy happened in Mecca.
- Similarly, the tradition in proofs 3, 4, 5 and 6 are also about Surah al-Inam (Verse 6:93), and all of them are also a witness that indeed this incident of Abdullah Ibn Abi Sarh happened during the Meccan period.
- And lastly, in proof 4, we see that Ammar Yasir and his companions were tortured, and we definitely know that this happened during the Meccan period too. Therefore, it also proves that the incident of Ibn Abi Sarh happened during the Meccan period.
Therefore, these are only the “double standards” of Islam apologists, where they deny all these proofs, but accept the singular report of Ibn Athir, which goes not only against other traditions but also against the Quran.
If the Quran is itself really a miracle, why then even its SCRIBER declared it to be a human drama?
Muslims come up with a long list of claims of how the Quran is itself a miracle etc.
But on the other hand, we see a Sahabi (a companion of Muhammad), who was also the Scriber of the Quran, himself declared this Quran to be a human drama, and he left Islam.
Muslims are still unable to tell, why this so-called MIRACLE of the Quran was unable to show the right path to that companion and to stop him from going astray, and from making such a big claim that there exists no Allah, but this Quran is a fabrication of Muhammad himself.
Muhammad wanted to kill Ibn Abi Sarh even through deception
Narrated Sa'd:
On the day when Mecca was conquered, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) gave protection to the People except four men and two women and he named them. Ibn AbuSarh was one of them.
He then narrated the tradition. He said: Ibn AbuSarh hid himself with Uthman ibn Affan. When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) called the people to take the oath of allegiance, he brought him and made him stand before the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). He said: Messenger of Allah, receive the oath of allegiance from him. He raised his head and looked at him thrice, denying him every time. After the third time he received his oath. He then turned to his Companions and said: Is not there any intelligent man among you who would stand to this (man) when he saw me desisting from receiving the oath of allegiance, and kill him? They replied: We do not know, Messenger of Allah, what lies in your heart; did you not give us a hint with your eye? He said: It is not proper for a Prophet to have a treacherous eye.
Abu Dawud said: 'Abd Allah (b. Abi Sarh) was the foster brother of 'Uthman, and Walid b. 'Uqbah was his brother by mother, and 'Uthman inflicted on him hadd punishment when he drank wine.Grade: Sahih
Let's read one comment on this tradition:
It shows the true nature of Mohammad. We have to admit that he was a very shrewd leader. He knew how to secure his alliances. Uthman was too important an ally for Mohammad to upset. He inwardly still wanted the scribe to be killed even though it was politically expedient for him to spare him. This was Mohammad's inner struggle that he wanted his followers to solve for him by killing the scribe without any trial. This would save face in front of Uthman as he could claim that he didn't want to kill him but some hothead follower did it anyway. His followers had the decency to not rush to judgement before their leader had made a clear call. Mohammad after accepting the scribe's pledge still bore enough enmity for him to ask his followers why they didn't kill him? They said they didn't get a sign. Mohammad told them that prophets can't make a treacherous signal with their eye.
This excuse from Muhammad is ridiculous. It means only that prophets can be treacherous in their heart but making an outward sign is what he considers treachery. An outward sign of treachery would have alerted Uthman and that is what Mohammad couldn't risk. He wanted his followers to read his mind and the treacherous intentions of his heart.
This is the man that 1.8 billion muslims follow. It shows how gullible they are. Then again they are never shown these hadiths or even if they are shown these hadiths they read them with the blindfolds of devotion on.
This was the scribes forced conversion back in to the fold of Islam and to the credit of the scribe he was very grateful to his foster brother Uthman for saving his life. He remained a loyal ally of his foster brother. (Credit: curiousjack6)