Rattibha

The Story Of Al Gharānīq: Did the Prophet ﷺ Recite "Satanic Verses"?
[1] Context of the Story and Claim
[2] Refuting the Claim
[3] Final Conclusion
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بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

[1] Context of the Story and Claim
For many years, anti-Islamic polemicists have tried to undermine Islām, and use many weak or even fabricated reports to attack the Prophet ﷺ and convince people to abandon Islām. One such example is the Gharānīq story.

In this story, it is said that the Prophet ﷺ was reciting Sūrah al Najm and recited some "Satanic Verses" and was eventually reprimanded by Jibrīl, causing Sūrah al Hajj Āyah 52 to be revealed.
I will refute this claim إن شاء الله

[2] Refuting the Claim
This claim is totally baseless.
Al Ĥāfidh Ibn Kathīr says:
"Many of the commentators of the Qur'ān mentioned the Gharānīq story... all of which come through disconnected chains, and I don't view any of them to be Şaħīħ, and Allah knows best."

End quote from "Tafsīr al Qur'ān al-'Adhīm" by Ibn Kathīr

Imām Ibn al Jawzī says:
"And the scholars of verification (i.e. those who verified the authenticity of reports) said this is not Şaħīħ."

End quote from "Zād al Masīr fī 'Ilm al Tafsīr" by Ibn al Jawzī

Imām al-Shawkānī says:
"And nothing from this (Gharānīq story) is Şaħīħ, nor is it proven [except for] its lack of authenticity and falsehood as the scholars of verification have said for it contradicts the Book of Allāh the Exalted."

Imām al-Shawkānī then cites Imām al Bazzār who says, "We do not know of this Ĥadīth being narrated with a connected chain back to the Prophet ﷺ."
He cites Imām Al-Bayhaqī who says, "This Ĥadīth is not Şaħīħ from any place where it has been transmitted."

He then cites Imām Ibn Khuzaymah who says that this story is from the fabrications of the Zanādiqah (heretics).

End quote from "Fatħ al Qadīr" by Imām al-Shawkānī

Al Ĥāfidh Ibn Kathīr mentions the story and quotes Al Ťabarī's account, saying it is disconnected.
He then quotes Al Bazzār's account, which contains Umayya Ibn Khālid.

Umayya Ibn Khālid was a narrator who was truthful but accused of being part of the Shī'ī sect, who are well-known for their falsehood.
He then quotes Al Bazzār who says, "This story is not reported with a connected chain apart from Umayya's except by way of Al Kalbī."

Now, the question is, who was Al Kalbī?
Ibn Ĥibbān mentions that he was a Saba'ī and was a companion of 'Abdullāh Ibn Sabā', a very well-known heretic.

End quote from "Al Majrūħīn Min Al-Muħaddithīn" by Ibn Ĥibbān

The editor of Ibn Ĥibbān mentions in the footnotes numerous other sources of where Al Kalbī's biography may be found and what the scholars said about him.

Even though this chain with Al Kalbī is connected, there arises a serious problem for anyone using him as evidence.
Al Kalbī HIMSELF admits what he reported was a lie.

Ibn Ĥibbān mentions Sufyān al Thawrī talking to Al Kalbī, where he says, "Whatever you have heard from me, from Abū Şāliħ, from Ibn 'Abbās, all of that is a lie, so do not narrate from me."

Ibn Ĥibbān also mentions 'Abd al Şamad Ibn al Fađl reporting from Imām Aħmad Ibn Ĥanbal that he called whatever Al Kalbī narrated as lies and said that it is not permissible to take from him.

End quote from "Al Majrūħīn Min Al-Muħaddithīn" by Ibn Ĥibbān

Imām Al-Qurţubī cites Al-Qāđī 'Ayyāđ, Al-Naħās and Ibn 'Aţiyya who also say that this story isn't authentic; that none of the well-known Ĥadīth compilers mentioned it in their works and that these reports of the story are odd and interrupted.

End quote from "Al Jāmi' li-Aħkām al-Qur'ān " by Imām Al-Qurţubī

Anti-Islamic polemicists will then respond with, "But what is this verse about? The verse clearly says that Shaytan influenced your Prophet's recitation, so this story has to be true!"

There's several problems with this.
Most of the reports only go back to Tābī'īn, who are 2nd-generation Muslims. It is impossible for them to have witnessed the event if they were born many years after it.

Now that the reports from the Tābī'īn aren't of use, they can only go to the reports of the Şaħāba. Unfortunately for them, only one Şaħābī narrated this incident - Ibn 'Abbās.
This is problematic because Ibn 'Abbās was born years after the incident and so couldn't be a witness.

There are historical problems also with the story. In the report, it states that this event happened in Makkah. Sūrah al Ĥajj was revealed in Madīna. There is almost a decade between when the event happened and when Sūrah al Ĥajj was revealed.

Muslims would have been reciting the so-called "Satanic Verses" for ten years if this happened. It would be nonsensical to suggest that no one would notice something was wrong.

The argument of anti Islamic polemicists is built on the meaning of the word تمنى, meaning "to wish", which is translated as "recited" in Sūrah al Ĥajj Āyah 52.
In several places in the Qur'ān, the word تمنى has been used to refer to wishing, such as in Chapters 63 and 49.

With this in mind, Al-Shawkānī and Al-Rāzī explain the verse to mean that if the Prophet wished for some things, Shaytan would try to tempt him with falsehood and Allāh would prevent this and guide him away from these temptations.

In addition to this, Al-Shawkānī and Ibn Kathīr weaken all the reports for this incident while also saying that these verses were fabricated by Satan and were not from the Prophet's mouth.

[3] Final Conclusion
It should now be clear that the sources used by anti Islamic polemicists are all weak, disconnected and fabricated lies. It should also be clear by now that their claim is based on misunderstanding Verse 22:52 that they always cite.

وبالله التوفيق
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

@rattibha رتب

The editor of Ibn Ĥibbān's work mentions in the footnotes numerous other sources of where Al Kalbī's biography may be found and what the scholars said about him.

Even though this chain with Al Kalbī is connected, there arises a serious problem for anyone using him as evidence.
Al Kalbī HIMSELF admits what he reported was a lie.

Ibn Ĥibbān mentions Sufyān al Thawrī talking to Al Kalbī, where he says, "Whatever you have heard from me, from Abū Şāliħ, from Ibn 'Abbās, all of that is a lie, so do not narrate from me."

Ibn Ĥibbān also mentions 'Abd al Şamad Ibn al Fađl reporting from Imām Aħmad Ibn Ĥanbal that he called whatever Al Kalbī narrated as lies and said that it is not permissible to take from him.
End quote from "Al Majrūħīn Min Al-Muħaddithīn" by Ibn Ĥibbān

Imām Al-Qurţubī cites Al-Qāđī 'Ayyāđ, Al-Naħās and Ibn 'Aţiyya who also say that this story isn't authentic; that none of the well-known Ĥadīth compilers mentioned it in their works and that these reports of the story are odd and interrupted.

End quote from "Al Jāmi' li-Aħkām al-Qur'ān" by Imām Al-Qurţubī

Anti-Islamic polemicists will then respond with, "But what is this verse about? The verse clearly says that Shaytan influenced your Prophet's recitation, so this story has to be true!"
There's several problems with this.

Most of the reports only go back to Tābī'īn, who are 2nd-generation Muslims. It is impossible for them to have witnessed the event if they were born many years after it.