Mohammad Mustafa Ali

Qisah al-Gharānīq – Research Paper

Mawlānā Abd al-Rahmān Ya’qūb

Question: What is the incident regarding “al-Gharānīq”?

Answer:

‫بسم هللا الرحمن الرحيم‬

‫والصالة والسالم على رسوله األمين‬

The incident regarding Qisah al-Gharānīq (The Story of the Cranes), also dubbed “The Satanic Verses,” is

a widely discredited event that supposedly took place during the life of the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬, in which he

allegedly praised the idols of the Meccan polytheists. alleged

The incident is as follows, Imām Jarīr al-Tabarī1 writes in his tafsīr2:3

“Whilst the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬was in Mecca, he was reciting Surah al-Najm until he reached the verse4:
‫أَف ََرأَ ْيتُم الالت والعزى َو َمنَاة الثَّا ِلثَة ْاأل ُ ْخ َرى‬
Shaytān then made ‘the following verses’ cast on the tongue of the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬:
‫عتَ ُهنَّ لَتُرْ تَ َجى‬ َ َّ‫ِت ْلكَ ا ْلغ ََرانِي ُق ا ْلعُلَى َوإِن‬
َ ‫شفَا‬
The ‘Meccan’ polytheists ‘rejoiced’ and said, “He has never mentioned anything good about our gods
before today!” He (The Prophet ‫ )ﷺ‬prostrated, and they prostrated. Then, the following verse was
revealed:
5
‫وما أرسلنا من قبلك من رسول وال نبي إال إذا تمنى ألقى الشيطان في أمنيته فينسخ هللا ما يلقى الشيطان ثم يحكم هللا آياته‬
For never have We sent any messenger or prophet before you, but that when he recited ‘God’s
revelation’, hoping ‘ardently’ to guide ‘people,’ Satan cast ‘evil whisperings into people’s thoughts’ about
what, in hope, he had recited. However, God annuls whatever Satan may cast ‘to obscure truth’. Then
God confirms His ‘revealed’ signs.”6

1
Imām Jarīr al-Tabarī (d. 310)
2
Tafsīr al- Tabarī, Imām Jarīr al-Tabarī, Dār Hajr, Vol. 16 Pg. 604-614
3
DISCLAIMER: This is a compilation of all the narrations mentioned by Imām al-Tabarī in his tafsīr – I have
mentioned them all together so that the reader may gain a more holistic understanding of the alleged incident.
4
Sūrah al-Najm (53:19-20)
5
Sūrah al-Hajj, (22:52)
6
The Gracious Quran: A Modern-Phrased Interpretation in English, by Dr. Ahmad Zaki Hammad
Most scholars hold the opinion that this incident did not occur and is completely baseless, such as Qādī

‘Iyād7, Ibn al-‘Arabī,8, Imām Abū Mansūr al-Māturīdī9 and many others.

This claim is also refuted through evidence from the Qur’ān:

َ ‫ع ِن ا ْل َه َو‬
‫ى‬ َ ‫َو َما يَ ْنطِ ُق‬
10

11
‫ض ْاألَقَا ِوي ِل ألخذنا منه باليمين ثم لقطعنا منه الوتين‬
َ ‫علَ ْينَا بَ ْع‬
َ ‫َولَ ْو تَق ََّو َل‬

This incident also goes against basic Islamic Principles regarding the infallibility of the Prophets. If one

was to accept this narration, then it would be no more than a Khabar al-Wāhid, to say that Shaytān

brought these words on the tongue of the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬would go against the said principle.

However, the question remains as to why some reputable scholars mention this hadith. Many major

works of ahādīth also relate this incident, such as:

1. Sahīh al-Bukhārī12

2. Sunan al-Thirmidhī13

3. Sunan al-Dāruqutnī14

4. Musnad al-Bazzār15

5. Sahīh ibn Hibbān16

7
Abd al-Kareem al-Kudhayr, Al-Ta’līq ‘alā Tafsir al-Qurtubī
8
Ibid
9
Imām Abū Mansūr al-Māturīdī (d. 333), Tafsīr al- Māturīdī, Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah, Vol. 7 Pg. 91
10
Surah al-Najm (53:3) – Interestingly, brought in the same surah
11
Surah al-Hāqqah (69:41-43)
12
Hadīth #1071 & #4862
13
Hadīth # 575
14
Hadīth #1524 & #1525
15
Hadīth #5096
16
Hadīth #2763
Regarding the different chains of transmission, their narrators, and the different gradings about this

hadīth, Hāfidh Ibn Hajar mentions in Fath al-Bārī17:

“Al-Bazzār and Ibn Mardawayh narrate from the chain of Umayyah b. Khālid, from Shu’bah, from Sa’īd b.
Jubayr from Ibn ‘Abbās (based on what I have accumulated), then he (al-Bazzār) presented the
hadith. Al-Bazzār continues to say that this hadīth is not soundly transmitted except through this chain.
Umayyah b. Khālid is extremely reliable and is the only one to narrate this hadith without any breaks in the
transmission.

This hadīth is also narrated on the authority of al-Kalbī, from Abū Salih, from Ibn Abbās However,
al-Kalbī is extremely unreliable.

Likewise, al-Nahhās narrates from another chain of transmission, on the authority of Al-Wāqidī, this chain
is mentioned in length by Ibn Ishāq in his work,18 narrating from Muhammad b. Ka’b and Mūsā b. ‘Uqbah
in al-Maghāzī19 on the authority of Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī.

Similarly, Abū Mūsā in his biographical account on the life of the Prophet Muhammad ‫ﷺ‬, narrating from
Muhammad b. Ka’b al-Quradhī and Muhammad b. Qays, as well as narrating from Imām al-Tabarī and
Abū Hātim, from Asbāt, from Al-Sudī.

Abū Mūsā also narrates from Ibn Mardawayh, from the chain of Abbād b. Suhayb, from Yahyā b. Kathīr,
from al-Kalbi, from Abū Sālih, Abū Bakr al-Hudalī, and Ayyūb, from ‘Ikrimah and Sulaymān al-Taymī, from
the one who narrated it to him, from Ibn ‘Abbās.

Imām al-Tabarī also narrates from the chain of al-‘Awfī, from Ibn ‘Abbās, and these narrations all had the
same meaning, and all of these chains are either weak or incomplete in transmission except for the chain
of Sa’īd b. Jubayr.

Yet, due to the multitude of chains of transmissions, this alludes that this incident has some sort of
credibility.

There are also two mursal20 narrations whose transmitters fulfill the conditions of sihah. One is mentioned
by Imām al-Tabarī on the authority of Yūnus b. Yazīd, from Shihāb, from Abū Bakr b. Abd al-Rahmān b. al-
Hārith b. Hishām. The second, Imām al-Tabarī also narrates on the authority of al-Mu’tamir b. Sulaymān
and Hammād b. Salamah, both narrating from Dāwūd b. Abū Hind, from Abū al-‘Āliyah.

Abū Bakr b. al-‘Arabī claims, “Imām al-Tabarī mentions many chains of transmissions that are untrue,
completely baseless, and utterly rejected.

Likewise, ‘Iyād says that this hadith is not narrated by anyone who fulfills the condition of sihah, nor has
anyone narrated it who is reliable, as part of a sound, complete sanad.

17
Fath al-Bārī, Dār al-Ma’rifah Vol. 8 Pg. 439
18
Sīrah Ibn Ishāq (i.e. Kitāb al-Siyar wa al-Maghāzī), Ibn Ishāq (d. 151)
19
Ibid
20
Mursal – An expedient report
 ‘The narrations consist of’ weak transmission, either through idtirāb21 in its narrators and/or inqitā’.22

Likewise, this is the opinion held by many of the Tāb’īn and Mufassirūn, none ‘from these two groups’ has
narrated this hadīth with a complete transmission, and most of the chains of transmission are weak ‘at
best’.

Al-Bazzār elucidates: Indeed, this ‘hadīth’ is not known to have a chain of transmission whose mention is
permissible, except through the chain of Abū Bashr from Sa’īd b. Jubayr, but even in this chain, there are
discrepancies. As for al-Kalbī, narrating from him is not permissible due to his weakness. His opinion was
that if this incident took place, many Muslims would have turned away from the religion towards
apostasy, but the believers did not turn away, thus, this incident did not occur.”

All of these narrations do not correspond with the rules and principles ‘stipulated by the scholars of
ahādīth, however, the sheer amount of chains regarding this incident indicates that this story has some
sort of credibility. I have mentioned three mursal narrations which are sound in transmission that can be
used as proof.”

However, many scholars refute this claim by saying that there are no Sahih narrations that are

attributed with a complete sanad to the Prophet of Allah ‫ﷺ‬, such as Imām al-Shawkānī, Ibn Khuzaymah,

and al-Bayhaqī.23

As for the scholars that mention these narrations, they do not accept the apparent meaning but rather

provide an interpretation. Imām al-Shawkānī beautifully mentions24:

“The Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬was reciting very slowly, taking breaks in between the verses, and when he

reached the verses (mentioned above) Shaytān – May the curse of Allāh be upon him – mimicked

the voice of the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬and recited the Satanic Verses. Thus, causing the disbelieving

polytheists to think it was the Prophet’s ‫ ﷺ‬voice.”

And Allāh Ta‘ālā knows best.

21
Idtirāb – An inconsistent report
22
Inqitā’ – A broken-chain report
23
Al-Shanqītī, Adwā’u al-Bayān
24
Al-Shanqītī, Adwā’u al-Bayān