In the name of Allāh,
the Beneficent, the Merciful.
Peace and Blessings of Allāh on Mohammad.
DEDICATED TO
Allāh–the Glorious and the High,
Lord of the worlds
AND TO
Mohammad–who brought the world
to our feet and eternity to our arms
*
MOHAMMAD & ABI SARH
Ibn Warraq qrote in his book Why I am Not a Muslim: “We also have the story of Abd Allah b. Sa’d Abi Sarh;” who ““had for some time been one of the scribes employed at Medina to write down the revelations. On a number of occasions he had, with the Prophet’s consent, changed the closing words of verses. When the Prophet had said “And God is mighty and wise,” Abd Allah suggested writing down “knowing and wise” and the Prophet answered that there was no objection. Having observed a succession of changes of this type, Abd Allah renounced Islam on the ground that the revelation, if from God, could not be changed at the prompting of a scribe such as himself. After his apostasy he went to Mecca and joined the Qoorayshites.” (pp.113-114).
Response: It is incredible that Mohammad would consent on many occasions to the scribe Abd Allah b. Sa’d Abi Sarh changing the closing words of verses of the Qur’an reflecting the status of Allah –from “mighty and wise” to “knowing and wise.” (With all the ingenuity ascribed to Mohammad as him writing the Qur’an and deceived the world that it was the Word of Allah, you would think he’d be smart enough to know what consequences such pandering to the whims of a scribe might entail).
Never mind the statement of Allāh that Mohammad “errs not, nor does he deviate. Nor does he speak out of desire. It is naught but revelation that is revealed–(53:2-4]. The critics, as usual, may say that Mohammad wrote that himself. (With all the rejecting of the Qur’an as the Word of God and Mohammad as the Prophet of God, the critics have yet to explain away the scientific truths expounded in the Qur’an. Those critics who lived and died before scientific confirmations of Qur’anic truths may be excused for some of their ignorant statements against Islam, but what about modern critics who reject Mohammad as Prophet of God and the Qur’an as the Word of God; and even deny the very existence of God?)
Mohammad was constantly surrounded by several of his companions. It is highly unlikely that this man, Abd Allah b. Sa’d Abi Sarh, was alone with Mohammad and that no one else knew about these changes, and not only on one occasion but on “a number of occasions.”
It is rather strange that this man would leave Islam because of these changes and would not alarm the other scribes and companions of the Prophet, and neither informed the Quraish, who in all likelihood would not miss such a grand opportunity to expose Mohammad as a fraud, and broadcast it to all.
Significantly, the Angel Gabriel rehearsed the Qur’an with the Prophet Mohammad on a yearly basis–(Bokhari Vol. 4, #819), it is doubtful that Gabriel also pandered to the whims of this scribe, Abd Allah b. Sa’d Abi Sarh.
And Allah also must have pandered to Abi Sarh.
(If a grade-school novice as I should make such statements it would be overlooked and even snickered at. But coming from supposed academics one is hard pressed to not wonder which end these critics were sitting on when they penned such stupidity about Islam. Or what they must have been smoking. Locoweed, perhaps.
Rather than seek knowledge about Islam [and/or rationalize what they read/are told] and not content with dwelling in their ignorance of Islam these critics don the crown of “experts on Islam” and embark on the Hellish path of trying to lead the unschooled astray. How lucidly and precisely Allāh God conveys: “And when it is said to them, What is it that your Lord has revealed? they say, Stories of the ancients! That they may bear their burdens in full on the day of Resurrection, and also of the burdens of those whom they lead astray without knowledge. Ah! evil is what they bear”–(Qur’an 16:25).