Sam Shamoun

This is a continuation of our response (*) to Bassam Zawadi’s reply (*) to our articles concerning the Quran’s emphatic teaching that Jesus and his mother are vastly superior to everyone, especially to Muhammad and his family which includes his own mother as well (1, 2).

Satan’s touch and Jesus’ Sinlessness Revisited

In response to the hadith I sourced which stated that Jesus and Mary were the only individuals that Satan wasn’t able to prick at their births, Zawadi says:

This cited hadith has nothing to do with sinfulness or sinlessness; because Satan only misguides those who can distinguish between what is good and evil. At the time of birth, any person including Maryam and 'Isa is unable to recognize good and evil, so this touch has no effect on his/her sinfulness or sinlessness.

In his haste to refute the significance that this hadith has on the status and impeccability of both Jesus and his blessed mother Zawadi conveniently fails to explain to his readers the import and meaning of this narrative. Zawadi tells us what it doesn’t mean but doesn’t bother to explain what it does mean and what relevance Satan’s failure in touching Jesus and Mary has on their status and uniqueness. In light of his failure it is up to us to educate Zawadi and to explain to his readers why this narrative is so significant in establishing the sinlessness of both Jesus and Mary.

According to the hadith literature every person has a satan or jinn attached to him, including Muhammad:

Chapter 14: THE MISCHIEF OF SATAN IN THE MUSLIM SOCIETY AND SENDING HIS DETACHMENTS FOR THE CREATION OF TURMOIL, AND THERE IS A DEVIL ATTACHED TO EVERY PERSON …

Abdullah b. Mas'ud reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: There is none amongst you with whom is not an attaché from amongst the jinn (devil). They (the Companions) said: Allah's Messenger, with you too? Thereupon he said: Yes, but Allah helps me against him and so I am safe from his hand and he does not command me but for good. (Sahih Muslim, Book 039, Number 6757)

Narrated Aisha:
Aisha said: One day Allah's Apostle (peace be upon him) went out of her (Aisha's apartment) during the night and she felt jealous. Then he came and he saw me (in what agitated state of mind) I was. He said: Aisha, what has happened to you? Do you feel jealous? Thereupon she said: How can it be (that a woman like me) should not feel jealous in regard to a husband like you? Thereupon Allah's Apostle (peace be upon him) said: It was your devil who had come to you, and she said: Allah's Apostle (peace be upon him) is there along with me a devil? He said: Yes. I said: Is devil attached to everyone? He said: Yes. I (Aisha) again said: Allah's Apostle (peace be upon him) is it with you also? He said: Yes, but my Lord has helped me against him as such I am absolutely safe from his mischief. (Sahih Muslim, Book 039, Number 6759)

Note carefully what Muhammad is reported to have said… Allah helped him against his satan’s mischief. This implies that, a) a person’s satan causes that individual to do what is wrong, and b) Muhammad’s devil was causing him to commit sins and mischief up until Allah helped his "messenger" against his demon.

We know that Muhammad’s demon was guiding him into error because both the Quran and Islamic narratives mention that Satan deceived Muhammad and had tainted his heart (meaning his inner being). This necessitated that his heart be purified in order to remove Satan’s influence and control upon him:

Anas b. Malik reported that Gabriel came to the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) while he was playing with his playmates. He took hold of him and lay him prostrate on the ground and tore open his breast and took out the heart from it and then extracted a blood-clot out of it and said: That was THE PART OF SATAN IN THEE. And then he washed it with the water of Zamzam in a golden basin and then it was joined together and restored to its place. The boys came running to his mother, i.e. his nurse, and said: Verily Muhammad has been murdered. They all rushed toward him (and found him all right). His color was changed, Anas said. I myself saw the marks of a needle on his breast. (Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Number 311)

Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Habib al-Tusi – Abu Daud al-Tayalisi – Ja‘far b. ‘Abdullah b. ‘Uthman al-Qurashi – ‘Umar b. ‘Urwah b. al-Zubayr – ‘Urwah b. al-Zubayr – Abu Dharr al-Ghifari: I said, "O Messenger, how did you first know with absolute certainty that you were a prophet?" "Abu Dharr," he replied, ‘Two angels came to me while I was somewhere in the Valley of Mecca. One of them came down to earth, while the other remained between heaven and earth… Then one said to the other, ‘Open his breast.’ He opened my breast, and then he said, ‘Take out his heart’ or ‘open his heart.’ He opened my heart, and took out from it the pollution of Satan and a clot of blood, and threw them away. Then one said to the other, ‘Wash his breast as you would a receptacle–or, wash his heart as you would a covering.’" … (The History of al-Tabari – Muhammad at Mecca, translated and annotated by W. Montgomery Watt and M. V. McDonald [State University of New York Press (SUNY), Albany 1988], Volume VI (6), p. 75; bold and underline emphasis ours)

Muhammad also believed that Satan circulates in a person’s body, himself included:

Narrated Safiya bint Huyai:
The wife of the Prophet that she went to Allah's Apostle while he was in Itikaf (staying in the mosque) during the last ten nights of the month of Ramadan. She spoke to him for an hour (a while) at night and then she got up to return home. The Prophet got up to accompany her, and when they reached the gate of the mosque opposite the dwelling place of Um Salama, the wife of the Prophet, two Ansari men passed by, and greeting Allah's Apostle , they quickly went ahead. Allah's Apostle said to them, "Do not be in a hurry. She is Safiya, the daughter of Huyai." They said, "Subhan Allah! O Allah's Apostle (how dare we suspect you)." That was a great thing for both of them. The Prophet then said, "Satan runs in the body of Adam's son (i.e. man) as his blood circulates in it, and I was afraid that he (Satan) might insert an evil thought in your hearts." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 73, Number 238)

Muhammad also came under the control of magic, a Satanic art, to such an extent that he actually thought he was having sex with his wives when he wasn’t!

Narrated 'Aisha:
The Prophet continued for such-and-such period imagining that he has slept (had sexual relations) with his wives, and in fact he did not. One day he said, to me, "O 'Aisha! Allah has instructed me regarding a matter about which I had asked Him. There came to me two men, one of them sat near my feet and the other near my head. The one near my feet, asked the one near my head (pointing at me), 'What is wrong with this man? The latter replied, 'He is under the effect of magic.' The first one asked, 'Who had worked magic on him?' The other replied, 'Lubaid bin Asam.' The first one asked, 'What material (did he use)?' The other replied, 'The skin of the pollen of a male date tree with a comb and the hair stuck to it, kept under a stone in the well of Dharwan.’" Then the Prophet went to that well and said, "This is the same well which was shown to me in the dream. The tops of its date-palm trees look like the heads of the devils, and its water looks like the Henna infusion." Then the Prophet ordered that those things be taken out. I said, "O Allah's Apostle! Won't you disclose (the magic object)?" The Prophet said, "Allah has cured me and I hate to circulate the evil among the people." 'Aisha added, "(The magician) Lubaid bin Asam was a man from Bani Zuraiq, an ally of the Jews." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 73, Number 89)

If this weren’t bad enough Satan even inspired Muhammad!

We sent not ever any Messenger or Prophet before thee, but that Satan cast into his fancy, when he was fancying; but God annuls what Satan casts, then God confirms His signs -- surely God is All-knowing, All-wise -- S. 22:52

The expositors say that this was "revealed" in connection with Satan causing Muhammad to recite verses from the devil:

And We did not send before you any messenger (rasul) — this is a prophet who has been commanded to deliver a Message — or prophet (nabi) — one who has not been commanded to deliver anything — but that when he recited [the scripture] Satan cast into his recitation, what is not from the Qur’an, but which those to whom he [the prophet] had been sent would find pleasing. The Prophet (s) had, during an assembly of the [men of] Quraysh, after reciting the [following verses from] surat al-Najm, Have you considered Lat and ‘Uzza? And Manat, the third one? [53:19-20] added, as a result of Satan casting them onto his tongue without his [the Prophet’s] being aware of it, [the following words]: ‘those are the high-flying cranes (al-gharaniq al-‘ula) and indeed their intercession is to be hoped for’, and so they [the men of Quraysh] were thereby delighted. Gabriel, however, later informed him [the Prophet] of this that Satan had cast onto his tongue and he was grieved by it; but was [subsequently] comforted with this following verse that he might be reassured [of God’s pleasure]: thereat God abrogates, nullifies, whatever Satan had cast, then God confirms His revelations. And God is Knower, of Satan’s casting of that which has been mentioned, Wise, in His enabling him [Satan] to do such things, for He does whatever He will. (Tafsir al-Jalalayn; source; bold and underline emphasis)

(Never sent We a messenger or a prophet before thee…) [22:52]. The commentators of the Qur’an said: "When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, saw that his people were shunning him, he was aggrieved by their rejection of the message he brought them and he secretly wished that Allah, exalted is He, reveals something to him which would bring him and his people closer to each other, keen as he was to see them accept faith. One day, he sat in one of the congregations of Quraysh which attracted a huge number of its members, and he wished that Allah, exalted is He, does not reveal to him on that day anything that might repel them from him. Allah, exalted is He, revealed to him then Surah al-Najm (By the star when it stetteth…) [Surah 53]. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, recited it but when he reached (Have ye thought upon al-Lat and al-‘Uzza, and Manat, the third, the other) [53:19-20], the devil put on his tongue what he had secretly wished and hoped for and said ‘these are the mighty cranes (gharaniq) and their intercession is hoped for’. When the Quraysh heard this, they were very pleased. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, carried on reciting until the end of the Surah and then prostrated. All the Muslims followed suit and prostrated, and all the idolaters who were present prostrated too. All those who were present, whether Muslim or disbeliever, prostrated except al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah and Abu Uhyahah Sa‘id ibn al-‘As who were too advanced in age and could not prostrate, but they both grabbed a handful of dust and put their foreheads on it. The Quraysh then dispersed, happy with what they heard. They said: ‘Muhammad has mentioned our idols with complimentary terms. We know that Allah gives life and takes it away, He creates and provides sustenance, but these idols of ours will intercede for us with Him. Now that Muhammad has associated them, we are all with him’. That evening, Gabriel, peace be upon him, went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and said: ‘What have you done? You recited to people that which I did not bring from Allah, glorified is He, and you said what I did not say to you’. ('Ali ibn Ahmad al-Wahidi, Asbab Al-Nuzul; source; underline emphasis ours)

The Quran further says that Muhammad was actually lost and was going astray when Allah guided him:

He found you astray, and guided you. S. 93:7 Khalifa

The Muslim scripture even claims that Muhammad didn’t even know what faith was until Allah decided to reveal it to him:

Even so We have revealed to thee a Spirit of Our bidding. Thou knewest not what the Book was, nor belief; but We made it a light, whereby We guide whom We will of Our servants. And thou, surely thou shalt guide unto a straight path -- S. 42:52

It is therefore abundantly clear that Muhammad’s satan caused him major problems, especially during the period before his so-called prophetic ministry began since this is when he would have been lost and misguided according to the Quran.

With the foregoing in perspective we are now in a position to more fully appreciate the teaching of both the Quran and the ahadith that Allah prevented Satan from touching Mary and her blessed Son:

When she was delivered, she said: "O my Lord! Behold! I am delivered of a female child!" - and God knew best what she brought forth - "And no wise is the male like the female. I have named her Mary, and I commend her and her offspring to Thy protection from the Evil One, the Rejected." S. 3:36 Y. Ali

Narrated Said bin Al-Musaiyab:
Abu Huraira said, "I heard Allah's Apostle saying, 'There is none born among the off-spring of Adam, but Satan touches it. A child therefore, cries loudly at the time of birth because of the touch of Satan, EXCEPT MARY AND HER CHILD." Then Abu Huraira recited: "And I seek refuge with You for her and for her offspring from the outcast Satan" (3.36) (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 55, Number 641; see also Volume 4, Book 54, Number 506)

Since Allah granted the request of Jesus’ grandmother by protecting him and his beloved mother from the taint and stain of Satan this means that, unlike Muhammad and his family, Jesus and the blessed Mary are the only human beings who were absolutely free from any satanic influence. The Lord Jesus and his holy mother were the only ones whom Satan could not control, could not touch, could not influence.

Hence, contrary to Zawadi’s assertion, the hadith regarding Jesus and Mary being protected from Satan has everything to do with sinfulness/sinlessness. The narrative establishes the fact that Allah eliminated from the lives of Mary and her holy Son a chief and main cause that leads people to commit sin and evil, namely, Satan’s control and influence. This is something that Allah did not do for anyone else, not even for Muhammad whom Muslims erroneously believe was the greatest human being ever created.

John the Baptist’s Sinlessness Examined

Zawadi mentions that John the Baptist is also sinless according to the Quran: