Question:
before prophet Muhammed (pbuh) was born, the moon god “al-Ilah” (Allah) had three daughters named al-Lat, al-Uzza and Manat. The first two were even named after their father. Each daughter had a separate shrine near Mecca, where Allah’s shrine was located.
As Muhammad (pbuh) grew weary from evangelizing his new religion with little success, he was tricked by the devil into adding a verse in the Koran that commanded Muslims to pray to Allah’s three pagan daughters Lat, Uzza and Manat.
Answer:
wa `alaykum salam,
The Internet should not be the source of your understanding of Islam, and certainly not your daughter’s. Find a qualified knowledgable teacher and let her learn from him or her.
Regarding the nonsensical and flagrant mendacity that says Muslims worship a ‘moon-God’, please see the discussion of this “Reply To Robert Morey’s Moon-God Allah Myth: A Look At The Archaeological Evidence“.
Regarding the story of the “Crane Verses”, our belief is that our Master, Sayyidina Muhammad (s) was ma`sum – innocent, pure and infallible – as were all the prophets of Allah. Allah said in His Holy Book, of which each Word, and even each Letter is a Fountain of Truth:
{Nor does he say (aught) of (his own) Desire.} (Surat an-Najm, 53:3)
and Allah, Glorified and Exalted, said:
{He [Iblis] said: Then, by Thy might, I surely will beguile them save Thy single-minded slaves among them.} (Surah Sad, 55:82-83)
How then, could our Prophet (s), the Master of all Prophets and Messengers be beguiled by Satan?
As regards this story, about which a certain non-Muslim author wrote a book titled The Satanic Verses, with the intention of harming Islam, please read a comprehensive discussion of this topic by Dr. Gibril Haddad titled “Story of the Cranes (al-Gharaniq) “The Satanic Verses” where he cites one of the greatest scholars of Islam, Ibn Hajar who wrote:
All the paths of this hadith are either weak or cut off, except for that of Sa`id ibn Jubayr… However, the profusion of the chains show that the story has a basis…
This said it is required to interpret the incident and address what appears to be reprehensible, namely the statement “the devil interjected upon the Prophet’s tongue – Allah bless and greet him – the words ‘Those are the elevated cranes: truly their intercession is dearly hoped.’” Such a thing is precluded from being accepted in literal terms for it is impossible for the Prophet – Allah bless and greet him – to add something to the Qur’an that does not belong to it whether deliberately (`amdan) or erroneously (sahwan)…
…
It was also said that the Prophet – Allah bless and greet him used to recite the Qur’an slowly, so that the devil lay in wait for one of the pauses and uttered the words in question with the same timbre of voice. Those that were near him heard it as if coming from the Prophet – Allah bless and greet him – and attributed it to him. This is the best of all interpretations.”
Ibn al-`Arabi also approved of the latter interpretation, saying: “This verse [{ Never sent We a messenger or a Prophet before thee but when He recited (the message) Satan proposed (opposition) in respect of his amaniyya (=”that which he recited thereof”)} (22:52)] is an explicit proof-text, in our school, to the innocence of the Prophet – Allah bless and greet him – of what was imputed to him. …Allah Almighty therefore informed us in this verse that His way with His Messengers is that when they say something, Satan adds something to it on his part. This is an explicit proof-text that it is Satan that conveys this statement inside the Prophet’s words – Allah bless and greet him – and it is not the latter that says it.
And Allah knows best,
Taher Siddiqui
