Rushdie Haunted by his unholy Ghosts — Page 94
94 Mohamed Arshad Ahmedi compromise with idol-worship, and whom blandishments, bribes, cajolery or intimidation failed to move an inch from his set purpose, and to whose unshakeable firmness against idolatry the Almighty Himself has borne testimony (Ch. 18, v. 7). Moreover, the whole context belies this baseless assertion. Not only do the verses that follow but the entire Surah contains an un- sparing condemnation of idolatry and an uncompromising insist- ence on Divine Unity. It is strange that this patent fact should have escaped the notice of the Holy Prophet’s critics and carpers. Historical data too lend no support whatever to this so-called ‘lapse’. The story has been rejected as completely unreliable by all the learned Commentators of the Qur’an, Ibn Kathir and Razi among them. The renowned leaders of Muslim religious thought, well- versed in the science of Hadith (the sayings of the Holy Prophet(sa)), have regarded it as pure invention. No trace of this story is to be found in the Six Reliable Collections of Hadith. Imam Bhukari, whose collection the ‘Sahih Bukhari’ is regarded by Muslim scholars as the most reliable book of Hadith and who himself was a contemporary of Waqidi to whom goes the unenviable credit of forging and report- ing this story, makes no mention of it, nor does the great historian, Ibn Ishaq, who was born more than 40 years before him. But to the hardened critics and enemies of Islam this presented an opportunity for them to use their guile and deceit to the full and thus continue their vindictive assault on the Founder of Islam. The critics have always been on the look-out to discover a lapse on the part of the Holy Prophet(sa) and when they can find none, they invent one and impute it to him, like the one that relates to the sub- ject in hand. For some reason this certain lie appealed to many of the orientalists who have used it in their respective books in almost carbon-copy fashion. Note the reference to this subject by just some of these Western writers and how similar they are in dealing with it and also the way that Rushdie insinuates the satanic thoughts to the Holy Prophet(sa).