Many Christian critics have alleged that the revelation received
by Muhammad (e) were, in fact, from the Satan himself. It has been
the endeavour of the Christian writers like C.D. Fander, Claire Tisdal,
Joshmach Dowell, John Gilchrist and G. Nehless to portray the
revelations received by Muhammad (e) as being the insinuations of
the Devil. They advocate the idea that it had been the attempt of the
Devil to confine man within the pitfalls of sin by way of denying the
cruicifixion of Jesus Christ and the atonement of sin through it, that
stands behind the verses of the Qur'an. Can the Devil infest the human
body? Can a person be afflicted with disease owing to his possession
by the Devil? Will a person possessed by the Devil have the experience
of revelation? Such discussions are irrelevant here. By the dictum of
the Bible, then, let us consider the disorders that manifest themselves
in the person possessed by the Devil :
1. Screaming aloud owing to the affliction of the brain (Mark 1:24,
Luke 9:39, John 10:20)
2. Suicidal tendency (Mathew 9,18:17, 15:32, Mark 5:13, Luke 8:33)
3. Tendency to walk naked (Luke 8:2, 8:35)
4. To be pushed aside by the Devil (Mathew 17:15, Mark 1:26, 9:18,
9:20, 9:26)
5. Dumbness (Mark 9:25, 9:32, 12:22, Luke 11:14)
6. Deafness (Mark 9:25)
7. Blindness (Mathew 12:22)
8. To see that which others do not and to know that which others
don’t (Mark 1:24, Luke 4:3, Mathew 8:29)
None of the symptoms of the one possessed by the Devil, which
are described in the Bible, is seen in the person of Muhammad (e).
One of the evidences cited by those who allege that Muhammad (pbuh)
was possessed by the Devil has been his own statement that the divine
revelation sometimes came to him in the form of the ringing of a bell
and that this form of revelation was the hardest for him. Another
evidence cited has been the saying of Aysha (r), the wife of the Prophet,
that she saw beads of perspiration on the forehead of the Prophet
when the revelation came upon him on a very cold day. Here, there is
an important question that is to be considered. Does the Bible say, in
any place, that the one possessed by the Devil feels the ringing of a
bell in his ears or that his forehead is dampened with the wetness of
perspiration even in extreme cold? If it does not, then what, indeed, is
the basis on which the followers of the Bible allege satanic possession
against the Prophet?
Those who say that the divine message received by the Prophet
was the production of a Devilish possession, are, in fact, actually
forced to say that their own holy men are themselves possessed by
the Devil.
‘St. Paul’ had been the one who had actively laboured to destroy
Jesus as well as the ideals that he propagated (Acts of the Apostles
9:1, 26:10, 8:1) as long as he remained on the earth, after which it was
that he came forward with the claim that Christ had appeared to him
in a vision. Observe the description in the Bible of the way in which he
had received this vision of Christ: “As he neared Damascus on his
journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He
fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why
do you persecute me?’
‘Who are you, Lord ?’ Saul asked. ‘I am Jesus, whom you
are persecuting.’ He replied. ‘Now get up and go into the city,
and you will be told what you must do.’
The men travelling with Saul stood there speechless, they
heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the
ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So
they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was
blind, and did not eat or drink anything.†(Acts of the Apostles
9:3-9)
We have seen that the Bible indicates the falling down to the
ground, seeing that which others do not see and hearing that which
others do not hear as being the symptoms of a devilish possession. In
the incident wherein Paul claimed that he saw Christ, he had
experienced all these symptoms too. But will the Christian world
accept it if it was now claimed that Paul himself had been possessed
of the Devil? The Christian critics will never be able to produce even
a single shred of evidence from the Bible to conclusively assert that
Muhammad (e) was possesed by the Devil. On the other hand,
however, it can be shown, using the Bible, that Paul, the real founder
of the present-day Christian faith, had been subjected to the
insinuations of the Satan. Then who is it, now, who was actually
possessed of by the Devil ?
Now, examine the very corner-stone of the Christian allegation
that the Qur'an had come to be written because of the Satanic influences
that moved Muhammad (e). After all, it has been only because of the
Qur'anic denunciation of the concept of salvation through the
crucifixion of Jesus Christ that the Qur'an has been alleged to be a
satanic creation. What, then, is the reality? Both Christians and
Muslims believe that Jesus was of a pure and unblemished character.
Both groups are agreed upon the fact that he had been appointed by
God Almighty Himself. Further still, both affirm that he was not
possessed by the Devil. If such is the case, then why should we not
compare the teachings of Jesus Christ with those of Paul and
Muhammad (e) in order to analyze as to who it was - Paul or
Muhammad (e) - who was afflicted by the insinuations of the Satan.
For any person in receipt of a revelation from the Devil must, of a
necessity, be an enemy of Jesus; going by the consideration that the
antagonist of a messenger from God will naturally be the antagonist of the message that he conveys.