A new understanding of the human mind sheds light on Muhammad’s mystical experiences, which he described in striking language. As usual the words are placed in the mouth of Allah.
And he is in the highest part of the horizon. Then he drew near, then he bowed. So he was the measure of two bows or closer still. And He revealed to His servant what He revealed. The heart was not untrue in what he saw. What! Do you then dispute with him as to what he saw? And certainly he saw him in another descent. At the farthest lote-tree; near which is the garden, the place to be resorted to. When that which covers covered the lote tree. The eye did not turn aside, nor did it exceed the limit. Certainly he saw of the greatest signs of his Lord. (Q.53:6-18)
In another passage he emphatically affirmed his visual experience:
“And of a truth he saw himself on the clear horizon.” (Q.81:23)
A hadith reports him recounting,
“While I was walking I heard a voice from the sky. I looked up towards the sky, and behold! I saw the same Angel who came to me in the Cave of Hira’, sitting on a chair between the sky and the earth. I was so terrified by him that I fell down on the ground. Then I went to my wife and said, ‘Wrap me in garments! Wrap me in garments!’ They wrapped me.”[1]
When someone asked, “How does the divine inspiration come to you?” Muhammad replied,
“Sometimes it is like the ringing of a bell, this form of Inspiration is the hardest of all and then this state passes, off after I have grasped what is inspired. Sometimes the Angel comes in the form of a man and talks to me and I grasp whatever he says.’ ‘Aisha added: Verily I saw the Prophet being inspired divinely on a very cold day and noticed the sweat dropping from his forehead (as the Inspiration was over).”[2]
Zayd Ibn Thabit narrated:
“I used to write down the words of wahy (revelation) for him. When wahy came to him he felt burning with heat and drops of perspiration would start rolling down on his body like pearls.” [3]
Ibn Sa’d wrote, “At the moment of inspiration, anxiety pressed upon the Prophet, and his countenance was troubled.”189 He further wrote, “When the revelation descended on the Prophet, for some hours he used to become drowsy like a sleepy person.”[4]
Bukhari says:
“The commencement of divine inspiration to Allah’s Messenger was in the form of dreams that came true like a bright light.”[5]
A hadith in Sahih Muslim reads: “A’isha, the wife of the Apostle of Allah, reported:
The first (form) with which was started the revelation to the Messenger of Allah was the true vision in sleep. And he did not see any vision but it came like the bright gleam of dawn.”[6]
Tabari reports: “The Prophet said, ‘I had been standing, but fell to my knees; and crawled away, my shoulders trembling.’”[7]
Bukhari has also recorded a long hadith that describes the entire episode of how Muhammad received his revelations.
Narrated ‘Aisha:
The commencement of the Divine Inspiration to Allah’s Apostle was in the form of good righteous (true) dreams in his sleep. He never had a dream but that it came true like bright daylight. He used to go in seclusion (the cave of) Hira’ where he used to worship (Allah Alone) continuously for many (days) nights. He used to take with him the journey food for that (stay) and then come back to (his wife) Khadijah to take his food likewise again for another period to stay, till suddenly the Truth descended upon him while he was in the cave of Hira. The angel came to him in it and asked him (the illiterate Muhammad) to read. The Prophet replied, ‘I do not know how to read.’ The angel caught me (forcefully) and pressed me so hard that I could not bear it anymore. He then released me and again asked me to read, and I replied, ‘I do not know how to read,’ whereupon he caught me again and pressed me a second time till I could not bear it anymore. He then released me and asked me again to read, but again I replied, ‘I do not know how to read (or, what shall I read?)’ Thereupon he caught me for the third time and pressed me and then released me and said, ‘Read: In the Name of your Lord, Who has created (all that exists). Has created man from a clot. Read and Your Lord is Most Generous…up to…that which he knew not.’ (Q.96:15)
Then Allah’s Apostle returned with the inspiration, his neck muscles twitching with terror till he entered upon Khadijah and said, ‘Cover me! Cover me!’ They covered him till his fear was over and then he said, ‘O Khadijah, what is wrong with me?’
Then he told her everything that had happened and said, ‘I fear that something may happen to me.’ Khadijah said, ‘Never! But have the glad tidings, for Allah will never disgrace you as you keep good reactions with your kith and kin, speak the truth, help the poor and the destitute, serve your guests generously and assist the deserving, calamity-afflicted ones.’
Khadijah then accompanied him to (her cousin) Waraqa bin Naufal bin Asad bin ‘Abdul ‘Uzza bin Qusai. Waraqa was the son of her paternal uncle, i.e., her father’s brother, who during the Pre-Islamic Period became a Christian and used to write the Arabic script and used to write of the Gospels in Arabic as much as Allah wished him to write. He was an old man and had lost his eyesight. Khadijah said to him, “O my cousin! Listen to the story of your nephew.” Waraqa asked, ‘O my nephew! What have you seen?’ The Prophet described whatever he had seen.
Waraqa said, ‘This is the same Namus (i.e., Gabriel, the Angel who keeps the secrets) whom Allah had sent to Moses. I wish I were young and could live up to the time when your people would turn you out.’ Allah’s Apostle asked, “Will they turn me out?” Waraqa replied in the affirmative and said: ‘Never did a man come with something similar to what you have brought but was treated with hostility. If I should remain alive till the day when you will be turned out then I would support you strongly.’ But after a few days Waraqa died and the Divine Inspiration was also paused for a while and the Prophet became so sad as we have heard that he intended several times to throw himself from the tops of high mountains and every time he went up the top of a mountain in order to throw himself down, Gabriel would appear before him and say, ‘O Muhammad! You are indeed Allah’s Apostle in truth!’ whereupon his heart would become quiet and he would calm down and would return home. And whenever the period of the coming of the inspiration used to become long, he would do as before, but when he used to reach the top of a mountain, Gabriel would appear before him and say to him what he had said before.[8]
The claim that Waraqa, based on his studies of the scriptures recognized Muhammad as a prophet is balderdash. There is nothing in any scripture that points to Muhammad. Waraqa was dead and Muhammad felt free to make wild claims just as he claimed that his grandfather predicted his great destiny. It is not unlikely that Khadijah, as his co-dependent corroborated his lies, unless this claim is entirely a later fabrication. There is a similar claim made by Muhammad pertaining to the time he went to Busra. He said that as caravans entered the outskirts of Busra, he sat beneath the shade of a tree and was spotted by a Nestor monk. “Who is the man beneath that tree?” the monk reportedly inquired of Maysarah, the young servant of Khadijah who was accompanying Muhammad in this trade expedition. “A man of Quraish,” the lad responded. “None other than a Prophet is sitting beneath that tree,” said the monk. According to this story, the monk noticed his rank by observing two small clouds shading him from the oppressive heat of the sun. “Is there a glow, a slight redness, around his eyes that never parts with him?” asked the monk. When Maysarah answered in the affirmative, he said, “He most surely is the very last Prophet; congratulations to whoever believes in him.”[9]
In another place he claimed that the big mole that he had between his shoulders was the sign of his prophethood. I have not yet come across any scripture confirming that a mole between shoulders and redness around eyes are signs of prophethood.
Chronic redness of the eye is a medical condition called blepharitis caused by inflammation of the eyelids. In one kind of blepharitis, meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) patients frequently have a co-existing skin disorder known as rosacea and seborrheic dermatitis. Rosacea is also characterized by redness of the face.
Ali ibn Abu Talib described Muhammad’s face as reddish-white.[10]
Relying on the credulity of his followers, Muhammad told them anything he fancied. Even the symptoms of his diseases were claimed as signs of his prophethood. Had the story of the Busra Monk been true, Maysarah should have been the first to believe, but there is no mention of him again accepting Islam.
The above hadith shows the important role that Khadijah played in Islam.
When Muhammad had his vision, he thought that he had become demon-possessed. It was Khadijah who reassured him that he had been chosen to be a prophet and encouraged, what otherwise should have been dismissed as hallucination.
Some of Muhammad’s hallucinations were visual, some were somatic and others were auditory. Ibn Ishaq writes: “The apostle, at the time when Allah willed to bestow His grace upon him and endow him with prophethood, would go forth for his affair and travel far afield, until he reached the glens of Mecca and the beds of its valleys, where no house was in sight, and not a stone or tree that he passed by, but would say, ‘Peace unto thee, O apostle of Allah.’ And the apostle would turn to his right and left and look behind him, and he would see nothing but trees and stones.”[11]
Muhammad had several other hallucinations:
The Prophet once offered the prayer and said, ‘Satan came in front of me and tried to interrupt my prayer, but Allah gave me an upper hand on him and I choked him. No doubt, I thought of tying him to one of the pillars of the mosque till you get up in the morning and see him. Then I remembered the statement of Prophet Solomon, ‘My Lord! Bestow on me a kingdom such as shall not belong to any other after me.’ Then Allah made him (Satan) return with his head down.”[12]
It is important to note that Muhammad was ignorant of the Bible. Solomon was a king, not a prophet, and he never made such a statement or prayer as stated by Muhammad. He did, however, ask God for wisdom rather than riches. Muhammad here reveals his own craving for kingdom and power.
Bukhari reports,
“When Gabriel revealed the Divine Inspiration in Allah’s Apostle, he (Allah’s Apostle) moved his tongue and lips, and that state used to be very hard for him, and that movement indicated that revelation was taking place.[13]
Here is a list of psychological and physical effects of “revelation” on Muhammad reported in various hadiths.
- visions (hallucinations) of seeing an angel or a light and of hearing voices
- bodily spasms and excruciating abdominal pain and discomfort
- overwhelmed by sudden emotions of anxiety and fear
- twitching in neck muscles
- uncontrollable lip movement, lip smacking
- sweating even during cold days
- face flushed
- countenance was troubled
- rapid heart palpitation
- snorting like a camel
- drowsiness
- suicidal thoughts
These are also symptoms of Temporal Lobe Epilepsy. TLE happens unexpectedly with no prior warning to the patient. This too was true in the case in Muhammad.
Suicidal Thoughts
The chroniclers say that Muhammad attempted suicide on several occasions, only to be stopped by Gabriel every time.
I have never abhorred anyone more than a poet or a kahin. I cannot stand looking at either of them. I will never tell anyone of Quraish of my Revelation. I will climb a mountain and throw myself down and die. That will relieve me. I went to do that, but halfway up the mountain I heard a voice from the sky saying ‘O Muhammad! You are the Messenger of Allah and I am Gabriel.’ I looked upwards and saw Gabriel in the form of a man putting his legs on the horizon. He said: ‘O Muhammad! You are the Messenger of Allah and I am Gabriel.’ I stopped and looked at him. His sight distracted my attention from what I had intended to do. I stood in my place transfixed. I tried to shift my eyes away from him, but towards whatever region of the sky I looked, I saw him as before.[14]
The only way one can make sense of this vision is that the image that Muhammad saw was in his head. That is why in whichever direction he turned his head it always appeared in front of him. Visual hallucinations occur in various nonpsychiatric conditions including cerebral lesions, sensory deprivation, the administration of psychedelic drugs and migraine. Some hallucinations are elementary, (i.e. the patient sees light, colors or simple geometrical forms). These kinds of hallucinations often occur in occipital lobe epilepsy. Complex visual hallucination and delusions, such as those experienced by Muhammad, occur in temporal lobe seizures and other neurological disorders like Parkinson’s disease and Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. These hallucinations are usually vivid images of animals, humans or mythical creatures such as angels and jinns. They can be accompanied by auditory, gustatory, olfactory and somatosensory hallucinations. The somatosensory and kinesthetic hallucinations are mostly associated with temporal lobe seizures. This explains Muhammad’s experience in the cave Hira where he felt that Angel Gabriel squeezed him so hard until he felt an excruciating pain in his abdomen and thought that he would die. Unless you believe that Archangel Gabriel is a bit crazy, TLE, satisfactorily explains what happened to Muhammad in that cave.
Temporal Lobe Epilepsy
The first to suspect that Muhammad had epilepsy was Halima, or her husband, when Muhammad was just five years old. Theophanous, (752-817) a Byzantine historian was the first recorded scholar to claim that Muhammad suffered from epilepsy.[15] Today, we can confirm that claim.
Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) was defined in 1985 by the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) as a condition characterized by recurrent unprovoked seizures originating from the medial or lateral temporal lobe. The seizures associated with TLE consist of simple partial seizures without loss of awareness (with or without aura) and complex partial seizures (i.e., with loss of awareness). The individual loses awareness during a complex partial seizure because the seizure spreads to involve both temporal lobes, which in turn causes impairment of memory.[16]
Muhammad’s seizures were of both kinds. Sometimes he fell and lost consciousness and at other times he did not. One hadith reports that during the construction of the Ka’ba, before he received his prophetic intimation, Muhammad fell unconscious on the ground with both his eyes towards the sky. At that time he lost his senses.[17] This is very much an epileptic seizure.
According to the website http://www.emedicine.com, “90% of patients with TLE have a history of seizures.” Muhammad had seizures since his childhood. He saw two men in white opening his chest and washing his heart with snow. American neurosurgeon and a pioneer of brain surgery, Harvey Cushing, reports of a boy with a cystic glioma in the right temporal lobe resulted in a vivid three dimensional vision of a man dressed in white.[18] The Irish-American neurologist Robert Foster Kennedy (1884-1952) was one of the first to identify vividly real hallucinations of an audio-visual nature, localized outside of the body as being temporal lobe in origin.[19]
Talking about his youth, Muhammad said, “I found myself among the boys of Quraish, carrying stones such as boys play with. We had all uncovered ourselves, each taking his shirt [a cloth wrap] and putting it round his neck as he carried the stones. I was going to and fro in the same way, when an unseen figure slapped me painfully saying, ‘Put your shirt on’ so I took it and fastened it on me, then began to carry the stones upon my neck, wearing my shirt, alone among my fellows.”[20]
It is interesting to note that Muhammad’s imaginary friends were just as rough and violent as he was. However, science gives us a better explanation. Emotional pain can exacerbate physical pain. Sadness, unexpressed anger, anxiety, shame and guilt can cause physical pain. Anger releases adrenaline, which increases muscle tension and speeds up breathing. Without being expressed, it can cause long-term tension. Anxiety, worry and fear also release adrenaline. This generally results in jumpiness, a tendency to startle easily and the inability to relax. Shame and guilt often result in a feeling of “butterflies” or weight in the stomach. Muhammad was an emotional wreck.
Symptoms of Temporal Lobe Seizure
A seizure originating in the temporal lobe may be preceded by an aura or warning symptom, such as abnormal sensations, epigastric sensations (a funny feeling in the stomach), hallucinations or illusions (vision, smells, tastes, or other sensory illusions), sensation of déjà vu, recalled emotions or memories, or sudden and intense emotion not related to anything occurring at the time. All these symptoms were present during Muhammad’s seizures.
The epileptic experience can be partial, during which consciousness is maintained or partial complex, resulting in the loss or reduction of consciousness during the seizure or spell. Other symptoms include abnormal head movements and forced turning of the eyes. This kind of seizure happened to Muhammad during the construction of Ka’ba.
Repetitive movements and rhythmic muscle contraction affecting one side of the body, one arm, one leg, part of the face, or other isolated area are also symptoms of TLE. Other symptoms include, abdominal pain or discomfort, nausea, sweating, flushed face, rapid heart rate/pulse and changes in vision, speech, thought, awareness and personality. Of course, sensory hallucinations (visual, hearing, touch, etc.) are major symptoms.[21]
Dr. Mogens Dam, an internationally noted Danish epileptologist and the author of many books on the subject, defines simple partial seizures as follows: “Simple partial seizures with mental symptoms, which can be remembered, afterwards, have from ancient times been known as ‘aura’. They are often followed by a convulsion. They are often dream-like… He thinks that he is going mad.”[22] Muhammad actually did think that he was going mad. It was Khadijah who persuaded him otherwise.
Dr. Dam writes, “It has long been debated as to whether persons with epilepsy have particular personality traits, which are different from other peoples. It has particularly been singled out that people with temporal lobe epilepsy are more emotionally unstable than others, perhaps with a tendency towards aggression. Some people were said to be self-centered, they could be sensitive to the point of paranoia, and took every chance remark as a personal slight. They were described as being given to brooding over things, and were particularly interested in religious, mystic, philosophical and moral issues.”[23]
Dam further explains that people suffering from TLE are more likely to become depressed, have suicidal thoughts, and hallucinate. The person gets the feeling that he is being persecuted. His emotional contact with other people, however, is always much better than in cases of true schizophrenia. Unlike schizophrenia, TLE often resolves on its own. This must have happened to Muhammad as in later years of his life there were fewer fits of seizure. However, this did not stop him from “revealing” verses as situations dictated and the needs arose.
Other Symptoms of TLE
People with TLE tend to demonstrate some of these five interictal traits (between rather than during seizures).
- Hypergraphia: Hypergraphia is an obsession phenomenon manifested by writing extensive notes and diaries. Even though apparently illiterate, Muhammad composed the Quran, asking others to write it down for him.
- Hyper religiosity: Religious beliefs not only are intense, but may also be associated with elaborate theological or cosmological theories. Patients may believe that they have special divine guidance. Muhammad obviously had an unusual degree of concern with philosophy and mysticism, which led him to invent a new religion.
- Clingingness: From the stories that talk about Muhammad’s attachment to his uncle, when he was a boy and from other stories we can determine that Muhammad was emotionally needy and that he was very offended when rejected or abandoned.
- Altered interest in sex: Muhammad’s obsession with women indicates that his interest in sex was heightened even though, as we shall see later, his abilities may have diminished or entirely disappeared in his later years.
- Aggressiveness: Intense emotions are often labile, so that the patient may exhibit great warmth at one time, whereas at another time, anger and irritability may evolve into rage and aggressive behavior. Muhammad was at times friendly, particularly to his companions, but extremely short-tempered and irritable to those whom he perceived as resisting his demands. Bukhari says: “If the Prophet disliked something, the sign of aversion would appear on his face.” [24]
The Heavenly Night Journey
There are various versions of the story of Muhammad’s Mi’raj, his alleged night journey to heaven. Ibn Ishaq has woven together these traditions stemming from stories told by his companions, particularly his wife Aisha. According to the narrative, Muhammad reported:
While I was asleep in the hijr, Gabriel came and stirred me with his foot. I sat up, but saw nothing and lay down again. He came a second time and stirred me with his foot. I sat up, but saw nothing and lay down again. He came to me a third time, and stirred me with his foot. I sat up, and he took hold of my arm and I stood beside him. He brought me out to the door of the mosque, and there was a white animal, half mule, half donkey, with wings on its sides with which it propelled its feet, putting down each forefoot at the limit of its sight. He mounted me on it. Then he went out with me, keeping close to me. When I came up to mount him, he shied. Gabriel placed his hand on its mane and said, are you not ashamed, O Buraq, to behave in this way? By Allah, none more honorable before Allah than Muhammad has ever ridden you before. The animal was so ashamed that he broke out into a sweat, and stood so that I could mount him. The apostle and Gabriel went their way, until they arrived at the temple at Jerusalem. There he found Abraham, Moses, and Jesus among a company of the prophets. The apostle acted as their imam in prayer. Then he was brought two vessels, one containing wine and the other milk. The apostle took the milk and drank it, leaving the wine. Gabriel said, ‘You have been rightly guided to the way of nature, the true primeval religion, and so will your people be, Muhammad. Wine is forbidden to you.’ Then the apostle returned to Mecca, and in the morning he told Quraish what had happened. Most of them said, ‘By Allah, this is a plain absurdity! A caravan takes a month to go to Syria and a month to return. How can Muhammad do the return journey in one night? [25]
Ibn Sa’d says; “Upon hearing this story many who had prayed and joined Islam became renegades and left Islam.” And this Quranic verse was revealed in response: “We made the vision which we showed you only for a test to men.”[26]
Muslim chroniclers have gone out of their way to embellish this story and give it credibility. Ibn Ishaq added that people asked for proof and Muhammad replied that he had passed the caravan of so-and-so in such-and-such a valley, and the animal he rode scared them and a camel bolted. Then Muhammad is quoted as saying:
And I showed them where it was, as I was on the way to Syria. I carried on until, in Dajanan, a mountain near Tihama, some 25 miles from Mecca. I passed by a caravan of the Banu so-and-so. I found the people asleep. They had a jar of water covered with something. I took the covering off and drank the water, replacing the cover. The proof of that is that their caravan is this moment coming down from al-Baida’ by the pass of al-Tan’im, led by a dusky camel loaded with two sacks, one black and the other multihued.’ Baida is a hill near Mecca, on the Medina side. Tan’im is on the high ground near Mecca. The people hurried to the pass, and the first camel they met was as he had described. They asked the men about the vessel, and they told them that they had left it full of water and covered it, and that when they woke, it was covered but empty. They asked the others too, who were in Mecca and they said that it was quite right, they had been scared, and a camel had bolted. They had heard a man calling them to it, so that they were able to recover it.”[27]
These traditions were written down more than a hundred years after the death of Muhammad. There was no way to prove the authenticity of such claims after the lapse of this much time. However, what Muslims in general have missed is that at the time that Muhammad allegedly visited the Temple in Jerusalem, there was no temple in Jerusalem. Six centuries before al-Buraq took his flight, the Romans had destroyed it. By 70 A.D. not one stone stood upon another. The Temple of Solomon was built around 10th century BC, according to the Bible. The Dome of the Rock was raised on the foundations of the Roman Temple of Jupiter in 691 A.D. Al-Aqsa mosque was constructed over a Roman basilica on the southern end of the Temple Mount by the Umayyads in 710 AD. It is ironic that Muhammad saw the caravan of the tribe of so-and-so on his way, but failed to see that the temple, in which he claimed to have prayed, did not exist. The fact that some of his followers left him on this account and he said this happened only for a test to men is evidence that the veracity of his claim could not be proven. If it could have been verified, people’s faith would have been reconfirmed, not lost.
Another hadith says that to test the truth of Muhammad’s claim Abu Bakr asked him to describe Jerusalem and when he did, Abu Bakr said “That’s true. I testify that you are the apostle of Allah.” Jerusalem was a city in ruins and not a commercial destination for Meccans to visit. Assuming Abu Bakr had been there, it is surprising that he did not notice that the temple in which Muhammad claimed to have led the prophets in prayer did not exist.
There is another version of this story that is probably more reliable, as it is ratified in the Quran. In this version Muhammad says:
After the completion of my business in Jerusalem, a ladder was brought to me, finer than any I have ever seen. It was that to which the dying man looks when death approaches. My companion mounted it with me, until we came to one of the gates of heaven, called the Gate of the Watchers. An angel called Isma’il was in charge of it, and under his command were twelve thousand angels, each of them having twelve thousand angels under his command.
When Gabriel brought me in, Isma’il asked who I was, and when he was told that I was Muhammad, he asked if I had been given a mission, or sent for, and on being assured of this, he wished me well.
All the angels who met me when I entered the lowest heaven smiled and wished me well, except one who said the same things, but did not smile or show that joyful expression which the others had. And when I asked Gabriel the reason, he told me that if he had ever smiled on anyone before, or would smile on anyone hereafter, he would have smiled on me. He does not smile, because he is Malik, the Keeper of Hell. I said to Gabriel, he holding the position with regard to Allah, which he has described to you ‘obeyed there, trustworthy.’ (Surah 81:21) ‘Will you not order him to show me hell?’ And he said, ‘Certainly! O Malik, show Muhammad Hell.’ Thereupon he removed its covering, and the flames blazed high into the air, until I thought that they would consume everything. So I asked Gabriel to order him to send them back to their place, which he did.
I can only compare the effect of their withdrawal to the falling of a shadow, until, when the flames retreated whence they had come, Malik placed their cover on them.
When I entered the lowest heaven, I saw a man sitting there, with the spirits of men passing before him. To one he would speak well and rejoice in him, saying, ‘A good spirit from a good body.’ Of another, he would say ‘Faugh’ and frown, saying: ‘An evil spirit from an evil body.’
In answer to my question, Gabriel told me that this was our father Adam, reviewing the spirits of his offspring. The spirit of a believer excited his pleasure, and the spirit of an infidel excited his disgust. ‘Then I saw men with lips like camels. In their hands were pieces of fire, like stones, which they used to thrust into their mouths, and they would come out of their posteriors. I was told that these were those who sinfully devoured the wealth of orphans.[28] Then I saw men in the way of the family of Pharaoh, with such bellies as I have never seen, there were passing over them, camels maddened by thirst when they were cast into hell, treading them down, they being unable to move out of the way. These were the usurers.
Then I saw women hanging by their breasts. These were those who had fathered bastards on their husbands.[29]
Then I was taken to the second heaven, and there were the two maternal cousins, Jesus, son of Mary, and John, son of Zakariah. Then to the third heaven, and there was a man whose face was as the moon at the full. This was my brother Joseph, son of Jacob. Then to the fourth heaven, and there as a man called Idris. ‘And we have exalted him to a lofty place.’ Surah 19:58 Then to the fifth heaven, and there was a man with white hair and a long beard, never have I seen a more handsome man than he. This was the beloved among his people, Aaron, son of ‘Imran. Then to the sixth heaven, and there was a dark man with a hooked nose, like the Shanu’a. This was my brother Moses, son of ‘Imran. Then to the seventh heaven, and there was a man sitting on a throne at the gate of the immortal mansion, Paradise. Every day, seventy thousand angels went in, not to come back until the resurrection day. Never have I seen a man more like myself. This was my father, Abraham. Then he took me into Paradise, and there I saw a damsel with dark red lips and asked her to whom she belonged, for she pleased me much when I saw her, and she told me ‘Zayd b. Haritha.’ The apostle gave Zayd the good news about her.[30]
One tradition says that when Gabriel took Muhammad up to each heaven and asked permission to enter, he was asked to introduce his companion, and whether his guest had received a mission or had been sent for, after which the gatekeepers would respond “Allah grant him life, brother and friend!” and let them pass, until they reached the seventh heaven and there Muhammad met Allah. During his interview with the Creator, the duty of fifty prayers per day was laid upon his followers. On his return he met Moses and this is what he said happened:
On my return, I passed by Moses, and what a fine friend of yours he was! He asked me how many prayers had been laid upon me, and when I told him fifty, he said, ‘Prayer is a weighty matter, and your people are weak, so go back to your Lord and ask him to reduce the number for you and your community.’ I did so, and He took off ten prayers. Again I passed by Moses, and he said the same again, and so it went on, until only five prayers for the whole day and night were left. Moses again gave me same advice. I replied that I had been back to my Lord and asked him to reduce the number until I was ashamed, and I would not do it again. He of you who performs them in faith and trust will have the reward of fifty prayers.
Muhammad Was Not Lying (Sometimes)
The Russian existential writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky thought that Muhammad was telling the truth. He believed that Muhammad’s experiences were real, at least to him. Dostoyevsky himself suffered from temporal lobe epilepsy. He revealed, via one of his characters, that when he had a seizure the gates of Heaven would open and he could see row upon row of angels blowing on great golden trumpets. Then two great golden doors would open and he could see a golden stairway that would lead right up to the throne of God.[1]
In an article titled “Religion and the Brain” published in Newsweek, on May 7, 2001, a Canadian neuropsychology researcher explained:
When the image of a cross, or a Torah crowned in silver, triggers a sense of religious awe, it is because the brain’s visual-association area, which interprets what the eyes see and connects images to emotions and memories, has learned to link those images to that feeling. Visions that arise during prayer or ritual are also generated in the association area: electrical stimulation of the temporal lobes (which nestle along the sides of the head and house the circuits responsible for language, conceptual thinking and associations) produces visions.
Temporal-lobe epilepsy—abnormal bursts of electrical activity in these regions — takes this to extremes. Although some studies have cast doubt on the connection between temporal-lobe epilepsy and religiosity, others find that the condition seems to trigger vivid, Joan of Arc-type religious visions and voices.
Although temporal-lobe epilepsy is rare, researchers suspect that focused bursts of electrical activity called “temporal-lobe transients” may yield mystical experiences. To test this idea, Michael Persinger of Laurentian University in Canada fits a helmet jury-rigged with electromagnets onto a volunteer’s head. The helmet creates a weak magnetic field, no stronger than that produced by a computer monitor. The field triggers bursts of electrical activity in the temporal lobes, Persinger finds, producing sensations that volunteers describe as supernatural or spiritual: an out-of-body experience, a sense of the divine. He suspects that religious experiences are evoked by mini electrical storms in the temporal lobes, and that such storms can be triggered by anxiety, personal crisis, lack of oxygen, low blood sugar and simple fatigue— suggesting a reason that some people “find God” in such moments.[32]
Explanation of Muhammad’s Ecstatic Experiences
Scientists have found that electrical stimulation of the brain can create the sensation of a “shadow person” mimicking one’s bodily movements, according to a brief report in the journal <ature and in an article entitled “Brain stimulation creates shadow person” appearing in the on-line science journal Physorg.com:
Olaf Blanke and colleagues at the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne say their discovery might help shed light on brain processes that contribute to the symptoms of schizophrenia, which can include the sensation that one’s own actions are being performed by someone else.
Doctors evaluating a woman with no history of psychiatric problems found stimulation of an area of her brain called the left temporoparietal junction caused her to believe a person was standing behind her.
The patient reported that “person” adopted the same bodily positions as her, although she didn’t recognize the effect as an illusion. At one point in the investigation, the patient was asked to lean forward and clasp her knees: this led to a sensation that the shadow figure was embracing her, which she described as unpleasant.
The finding could be a step towards understanding psychiatric affects such as feelings of paranoia, persecution and alien control, say neuroscientists.
The discovery is reported in a Brief Communication in this week’s issue of the journal Nature.[33]
Could these findings explain what Muhammad heard, saw and felt during his epiphanic experiences? Muhammad came from a culture that believed in jinns, angels, ghouls and demons and these were the creatures that he saw in his hallucinations. The dispute about whether there is one God, as the Jews, the Christians and the Hanifis believed, or whether there are many gods, as Muhammad’s clan thought, was an ongoing debate. Muhammad sided with the more “exotic” belief of monotheism, instead of the traditional religious concept endorsed by his own people. It is also important not to undermine the influence that Khadijah exerted on him in interpreting his hallucinatory experiences. She was a monotheist.
What Muhammad experienced was real to him, but it was only mental. When he relayed his story to Khadijah, all she could think of was that her beloved husband had either become possessed by demons or had been touched by angels. So when Muhammad told her “I fear that something may happen to me”, she replied, “Never! Allâh will never disgrace you.” Since she could not accept that Muhammad had gone mad, she was left with the only alternative that she could think of and therefore she concluded that he must have been chosen to be a prophet. If it had not been for Khadijah’s unconditional support and encouragement, Muhammad might have continued thinking that he had become possessed, and he might have grasped the reality of his condition as most epileptics do.
Reference:
[1] Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 6, Book 60, Number 448:
[2] Sahih al-Bukhari Volume 1, Book 1, Number 2
[3] Majma’uz Zawaa’id with reference to Tabraani 189 Tabaqat Volume 1 page 184 English translation
[4] Ibid.
[5] Bukhari Volume 1, Book 1, Number 3:
[6] Sahih Muslim Book 001, Number 0301:
[7] Tabari VI:67
[8] Sahih Bukhari Volume 9, Book 87, Number 111
[9] Tabaqat Vol. 1. p. 119
[10] Tirmidhi Hadith, Number 1524
[11] Sira Ibn Ishaq, p. 105
[12] Sahih Bukhari Volume 2, Book 22, Number 301
[13] Sahih Bukhari Volume 6, Book 60, Number 451
[14] Sira Ibn Ishaq p. 106
[15] Theophanes, 1007, Chronographia, vol. 1, p334
[16] http://www.emedicine.com/NEURO/topic365.htm
[17] Sahih Bukhari, Volume, Book 26, Number 652
[18] Cushing: Brain 1921-1922 xliv p341
[19] Kennedy: Arch Int Med 1911 viii p317.
[20] Sirat Rasoul p. 81
[21] http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001399.htm
[22] http://www.epilepsy.dk/Handbook/Mental-complications-uk.asp
[23] Ibid.
[24] Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 56, Number 763.
[25] Sira: Ibn Ishaq:182
[26] Quran: Sura 17, Verse 60
[27] Sirat; Ibn Ishaq. p. 184
[28] Some years later, when Muhammad came to power, he reduced children to orphans by killing their fathers, enslaving their mothers and taking their belongings. The allusion is to Surah 40:46, ‘Cast the family of Pharaoh into the worst of all punishments
[29] Sahih Bukhari Volume 1, Book 6, Number 301 reports Muhammad saying “I have seen that the majority of the dwellers of Hell-fire were you (women).” They asked, “Why is it so, O Allâh’s Apostle?” He replied, “You curse frequently and are ungrateful to your husbands. I have not seen anyone more deficient in intelligence and religion than you. A cautious sensible man could be led astray by some of you.” The women asked, “O Allâh’s Apostle! What is deficient in our intelligence and religion?” He said, “Is not the evidence of two women equal to the witness of one man?” They replied in the affirmative. He said, “This is the deficiency in her intelligence. Isn’t it true that a woman can neither pray nor fast during her menses?” The women replied in the affirmative. He said, “This is the deficiency in her religion.”
[30] This story is also repeated in Sira of Ibn Ishaq p. 186. Some years later in Medina Muhammad fell in love with Zayd ’s wife and made his lust known. Zayd felt compelled to divorce his wife so Muhammad could marry her. Bukhari Volume 9, Book 93, Number 608
[31] http://www.emedicine.com/neuro/topic658.htm
[32] Newsweek May 7, 2001, U.S. Edition; Section: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; Religion And The Brain By Sharon Begley With Anne Underwood
[33] http://www.physorg.com/news77992285.html, published 17:31 EST, September 20, 2006, copyright 2006 by United Press International, accessed June 21, 2007
RATIONALIST DEBASHIS 