Rushdie Haunted by his unholy Ghosts — Page 99
Rushdie: Haunted By His Unholy Ghosts 99 sincerely talks of the opportunity that it afforded the enemies of Islam to take advantage of : ‘We have to be clear here that many Muslims believe this story to be apocryphal. They point out that there is no clear reference to it in the Qur’an. . . nor in the great collections of traditions (ahadith) about Muhammad. . . by Bukhari and Muslim. Muslims do not reject traditions simply because they could be interpreted critically, but because they are insufficiently attested. Western enemies of ‘Islam’, however, have seized upon it to illustrate Muhammad’s manifest insincerity: how could a man who changed the divine Word to suit himself be a true prophet? Surely any genuine prophet would be able to distinguish between a divine and a satanic inspiration? Would a man of God tamper with his revelation merely to attract more converts?’ (p. 109). And this is exactly the argument that the ‘Western enemies of Islam’ have employed to cast doubts and aspersions on the authen- ticity of the verses in question and the faith and character of the Holy Prophet(sa).