Muhammad Bears Witness: Allah is an Imperfect and Mutable Deity!

Muhammad boasted about being inspired with the key of eloquence:

Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, “I have been given the keys of eloquent speech and given victory with awe (cast into the hearts of the enemy), and while I was sleeping last night, the keys of the treasures of the earth were brought to me till they were put in my hand.” Abu Huraira added: Allah’s Apostle left (this world) and now you people are carrying those treasures from place to place. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 87, Number 127 https://www.searchtruth.com/book_display.php?book=87&translator=1&start=0&number=127)

Abu Burda reported on the authority of his father… Thereupon, Allah’s Messenger, who had been gifted with the most eloquent and pithy expressions, said: I forbid you from every intoxicant that keeps you away from prayer. (Sahih Muslim, Book 023, Number 4961 https://www.searchtruth.com/book_display.php?book=023&translator=2&start=0&number=4961)

Narrated Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-‘As: I used to write everything which I heard from the Apostle of Allah. I intended (by it) to memorise it. The Quraysh prohibited me saying: Do you write everything that you hear from him while the Apostle of Allah is a human being: he speaks in anger and pleasure? So I stopped writing, and mentioned it to the Apostle of Allah. He signalled with his finger to his mouth and said: write, by Him in Whose hand my soul lies, ONLY RIGHT COMES OUT FROM IT. (Sunan Abu Dawud, Volume 1, Book 25, Number 3639 https://www.searchtruth.com/book_display.php?book=25&translator=3&start=0&number=3639)

He further bragged that the wahy (inspiration), e.g., the Quran, was his chief, in fact only, miracle:

Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, “There was no prophet among the prophets but was given miracles because of which people had security or had belief, but what I was given was the Divine Inspiration which Allah revealed to me. So I hope that my followers will be more than those of any other prophet on the Day of Resurrection.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 92, Number 379 https://www.searchtruth.com/book_display.php?book=92&translator=1&start=0&number=379)

In light of such assertions, we should, therefore, expect Muhammad to say what he means, and mean what he says, in the clearest, most explicit manner. His claims further imply that his statements do not need clarification since there is no individual inspired or more eloquent than him. As such, there is no person who is qualified to interpret or explain the teachings of Islam’s so-called prophet better than Muhammad himself.

With the foregoing in perspective, let us now see what Muhammad taught concerning the nature of his deity.

According to the Quran, Allah is light and his light is which illuminates the entire creation, both spiritually and physically:

Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The similitude of His light is as a niche wherein is a lamp. The lamp is in a glass. The glass is as it were a shining star. (This lamp is) kindled from a blessed tree, an olive neither of the East nor of the West, whose oil would almost glow forth (of itself) though no fire touched it. Light upon light. Allah guideth unto His light whom He will. And Allah speaketh to mankind in allegories, for Allah is Knower of all things. S. 24:35

And they esteem not Allah as He hath the right to be esteemed, when the whole earth is His handful on the Day of Resurrection, and the heavens are rolled in His right hand. Glorified is He and High Exalted from all that they ascribe as partner (unto Him). And the trumpet is blown, and all who are in the heavens and all who are in the earth swoon away, save him whom Allah willeth. Then it is blown a second time, and behold them standing to wait! And the earth shineth with the light of her Lord, and the Book is set up, and the prophets and the witnesses are brought, and it is judged between them with truth, and they are not wronged. And each soul is paid in full for what it did. And He is Best Aware of what they do. S. 39:67-70

Here’s renowned Muslim commentator Ibn Kathir’s exposition of the foregoing passage:

(And the earth will shine with the light of its Lord,) means, it will shine brightly on the Day of Resurrection when the Truth (Allah), may He be glorified and exalted, manifests Himself to His creation, to pass judgement. (Tafsir Ibn Kathir http://www.alim.org/library/quran/AlQuran-tafsir/TIK/39/68)

The ahadith report that Muhammad claimed that Allah literally exists as light and that he actually saw his light when he was allegedly taken on a tour of the seven heavens while riding a beast named buraq, which is said to be smaller than a mule and bigger than a donkey:

Chapter 79: PERTAINING TO HIS (PROPHET’S) WORDS: HE IS A LIGHT; HOW COULD I SEE HIM? – AND HIS WORDS: I SAW THE LIGHT

It is narrated on the authority of Abu Dharr: I asked the Messenger of Allah: Did you see thy Lord? He said: HE IS A LIGHT. How could I see Him? (Sahih Muslim, Book 001, Number 0341 https://www.searchtruth.com/book_display.php?book=001&translator=2&start=0&number=0341)

Abdullah b. Shaqiq reported: I said to Abu Dharr: Had I seen the Messenger of Allah, I would have asked him. He (Abu Dharr) said: What is that thing that you wanted to inquire of him? He said: I wanted to ask him whether he had seen his Lord. Abu Dharr said: I, in fact, inquired of him, and he replied: I SAW LIGHT. (Sahih Muslim, Book 001, Number 0342 https://www.searchtruth.com/book_display.php?book=001&translator=2&start=0&number=0342)

Jami` at-Tirmidhi

Chapters on Tafsir

Narrated ‘Ikrimah:

that Ibn ‘Abbas said: “Muhammad saw his Lord.” I said: “Did Allah not say: No vision can grasp Him, but He grasps all vision (6:103). He said: “Woe unto you! That is when He manifests His Light. But Muhammad saw his Lord two times.”

Grade: Hasan (Darussalam)

English reference: Vol. 5, Book 44, Hadith 3279

Arabic reference: Book 47, Hadith 3590 (sunnah.com https://sunnah.com/urn/643160; underline emphasis mine)

Jami` at-Tirmidhi

Chapters on Tafsir

Narrated ‘Abdullah bin Shaqiq:

“I said to Abu Dharr: ‘If I saw the Prophet then I would asked him.” He said: ‘What is it that you would have asked him about?’ I said: ‘I would have asked him if Muhammad saw his Lord?’ He said: ‘I did ask him that, and he said: I SAW LIGHT.'”

Grade: SAHIH (Darussalam)

English reference: Vol. 5, Book 44, Hadith 3282

Arabic reference: Book 47, Hadith 3593 (sunnah.com https://sunnah.com/urn/643190; capital and underline emphasis mine)

Other reports claim that Allah’s light is his veil which he clothes himself with, and that under the veil is the fire of Allah’s face which consumes all that falls within the purview of Allah’s sight:

Abu Musa reported: The Messenger of Allah was standing amongst us and he told us five things. He said: Verily the Exalted and Mighty God does not sleep, and it does not befit Him to sleep. He lowers the scale and lifts it. The deeds in the night are taken up to Him before the deeds of the day. and the deeds of the day before the deeds of the night. His veil is the light. In the hadith narrated by Abu Bakr (instead of the word “light”) it is fire. If he withdraws it (the veil), the splendour of His countenance would consume His creation so far as His sight reaches. (Sahih Muslim, Book 001, Number 0343 https://www.searchtruth.com/book_display.php?book=001&translator=2&start=0&number=0343)

Sunan Ibn Majah

The Book of the Sunnah

It was narrated that Abu Musa said:

“The Messenger of Allah said: ‘Allah does not sleep, and it is not befitting that He should sleep. He lowers the Scales and raises them. His Veil is Light, and if He were to remove it, the glory of his Face would burn everything of His creation, as far as His gaze reaches.'” Then Abu ‘Ubaidah recited the verse: ‘Blessed is whosoever is in the fire, (i.e. the light of Allah) and whosoever is round about it! And Glorified is Allah, the Lord of all that exists.”

Grade: SAHIH (Darussalam)

English reference: Vol. 1, Book 1, Hadith 196

Arabic reference: Book 1, Hadith 201 (suunah.com https://sunnah.com/urn/1251950; capital and underline emphasis mine)

This is precisely why an-Nur (“the Light”) happens to be one of the essential names and characteristics of Allah:

An-Nûr: The Light

The light, guide, the One who illuminates; the One who is manifest, clear.

An-Nur is one of the Ninety-Nine Names. (Aisha Bewley, The Divine Names https://bewley.virtualave.net/names.html)

Here is where the problem lies for Muslims.

According to Muhammad, Allah is an imperfect Light that needed to be perfected:

Fain would they put out the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah disdaineth (aught) save that He shall perfect His light, however much the disbelievers are averse. S. 9:32

Fain would they put out the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah will perfect His light however much the disbelievers are averse. S. 61:8

The fact that Allah had to make his light perfect implies that he was incomplete at some point, and therefore lacked something essential to his own being. This required Allah to undergo a profound change in order to become perfect, a change that took place in time and relation to creation.

This means that Allah was an imperfect, changeable being who needed creation to become complete and immutable. This, in turn, shows that Allah is not an all-sufficient being since he needed time and creation to truly become a perfect deity.

So much for Muhammad’s eloquence and alleged inspiration!

All quranic citations taken from the Muhammad M. Pickthall version.

Further Reading

Allah’s Mutability and Imperfection Revisited (https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2020/04/08/allahs-mutability-and-imperfection-revisited/)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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