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Comment on Koran 53:21:

Footnote 2882. Some prejudiced critics of the Holy Prophet have woven quite a fantastic story of his having once fallen a victim to the machinations of Satan. It is stated that one day at Mecca, when the Holy Prophet recited this Sarah before a mixed assembly of Muslims and disbelievers and during the recitation he came to these verses, Satan contrived to put in his mouth the words : Tilka al-Ghardniq al-'uld wa inn' Shaja 'atahunna Laturtajd, i.e., these are exalted goddesses and their intercession is hoped for (Zurgani). The critics call it the "lapse of Muhammad" or his "compromise with idolatry" and seem to rely for this entirely baseless story upon Wagidi, that inveterate liar and fabricator of reports, and on Tabari, who is generally regarded as a credulous and indiscriminate narrator of events. These gentlemen have the audacity to attribute this blasphemous utterance to that great iconoclast (the Holy Prophet) whose entire life was spent in denouncing and condemning idolatry and who carried out his noble mission with unremitting vigour and fearless devotion, spurning all offers of compromise with idol-worship, and whom blandishments, bribes cajolery or intimidation failed to move an inch from his set purpose, and to whose unshakable firmness against idolatry the Almighty Himself has borne testimony (18 : 7; 68 : 10). More-over, the whole context belies this baseless assertion. Not only do the verses that follow but the entire Sarah contains an unsparing condemnation of idolatry and an uncompromising insistence on Divine Unity. It is strange that this patent fact should have escaped the notice of the Holy Prophet's critics and carpers. Historical data, too, lend no support whatever to this so-called "lapse." The story has been rejected as completely unreliable by all the learned Commentators of the Qur'an, Ibn Kathir and Razi among them. The renowned leaders of Muslim religious thought, well-versed in the science of Hadith, such as 'Aini, Qadi 'Ayyad and Nawawi, have regarded it as pure invention. No trace of this story is to be found in the Six Reliable Collections of Hadith. Imam Bukhari, whose collection, the $abih Bukhari, is regarded by Muslim scholars as the most reliable book of Hadith and who himself was a contemporary of Waqidi to whom goes the unenviable credit of forging and reporting this story, makes no mention of it, nor. does the great historian, lbn Ishaq, who was born more than 40 years before him. It may be. as stated by Qaslalani and Zurgant and supported by some other eminent scholars, that when the Holy Prophet, during the recital of the present Surah before a mixed asisembly of M uslims and disbelievers. recited these verses, some evil-minded person. from among the disbelievers might have loudly interjected the above-mentioned words, as was the disbelievers' wont to create confusion by resorting to such low tactics when the Qur'an was being recited (41 : 27). It is also on record that in the "Days of Ignorance," the Quraish, when making a circuit of the Ka'bah used to recite these words (Mu'jam al-Buldan, vol. 5, under 'Uzza). It is further alleged that the 53rd verse of Surah Al-Hajj was revealed in connection with this incident. The fact that the present Sarah was revealed in the 5th year of the Call and Surah AI-Hajj in the 12th or 13th year, takes'the bottom completely from under this baseless assertion.

Comment on 7:125 'Most surely will I cut off your hands and your feet on account of your disobedience. Then will I surely crucify you all together.''

Footnote 1033. Although crucifixion meant painful death, the punishment of cutting off the hands and feet was added to make the infliction all the more exemplary and death all the more painful. Incidentally, the verse shows that even as early as in the time of Moses the punishment of death by crucifixion was in vogue.