وَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ مِن رَّسُولٍ وَلَا نَبِىٍّ إِلَّآ إِذَا تَمَنَّىٰٓ أَلْقَى ٱلشَّيْطَٰنُ فِىٓ أُمْنِيَّتِهِۦ فَيَنسَخُ ٱللَّهُ مَا يُلْقِى ٱلشَّيْطَٰنُ ثُمَّ يُحْكِمُ ٱللَّهُ ءَايَٰتِهِۦ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ
Important Words:
تمنی (he sought or desired to obtain). تمنی الشیء means, he desired the thing. تمنی الرجل means, the man lied. تمنی الکتاب means, he read or recited the book. أمنیة (أمانی plural) means, what is desired; a lie; an object of wish (Aqrab).
Commentary:
This verse has been subjected to much conjecture and speculation by some ignorant and careless commentators and has been deliberately misinterpreted and its meaning purposely distorted by prejudiced Christian writers. It is said that one day at Mecca when the Holy Prophet recited the Quranic verse, أفرأیتم اللات والعزی و مناة الثالثة الاخری i.e. "now tell me about Lat and ‘Uzza, and Manat, the third one, another goddess" (53:21), Satan put in his mouth the words تلک الغرانیق العلی وان شفا عتھن لترتجی i.e. these are exalted goddesses and their intercession is hoped for. They call it the 'lapse of Muhammad' or his 'compromise with idolatry'. In fact the Holy Prophet never made any compromise with idolatry nor was there any lapse on his part. The lapse, if any, occurred in the minds of these hostile critics of Islam. It is a case of wish being father to the thought. These people are always on the lookout to discover a lapse in the Holy Prophet and when they find none, they invent one and impute it to him.
They say that the verse under comment refers to the above incident. We shall deal at length with the whole episode when we come to the relevant verse i.e. 53:21. Suffice it here to say that the whole story is belied by the fact that 53rdchapter was, according to consensus of scholarly opinion, revealed in the 5th year of the Call at Mecca while the present Surah was revealed at Medina or on the eve of his departure from Mecca. It is inconceivable that God should have waited for eight long years to refer in this verse to that incident. Moreover, the story has been rejected as totally unfounded by all learned commentators of the Quran, Ibn Kathir, being one of them. It appears to have been based on some reports narrated by Waqidi, whom all competent authorities regard as quite untrustworthy. It seems strange that the utterance of this blasphemy should have been attributed to that great and uncompromising iconoclast i.e. the Holy Prophet, whose whole life was spent in denouncing and condemning idolatry and idol worship. Besides this the whole context of 53:21 belies this story. The verses preceding and succeeding 53:21 contain an unsparing denunciation of idolatry. In fact the whole Surah (53) is a condemnation of شرک (idol worship).
Moreover, there is nothing in the words of the verse itself to warrant the forging of such a blatant lie. The meaning of the verse is quite clear. It purports to say that whenever a Prophet desires to attain his object, i.e. whenever he preaches the message of truth and desires that Divine Unity may be established on earth, Satan places all sorts of obstacles and impediments in his way, i.e. wicked people seek to retard the progress of truth by putting all sorts of obstacles in the way of the Prophet. They wish to see his mission fail. But they cannot frustrate the Divine plan and God removes all those impediments and makes the cause of truth prevail and triumph. This meaning of the verse is quite simple and clear and is in perfect harmony with the text. The words "But Allah removes the obstacles placed by Satan," lend powerful support to this meaning. The verse is of general import. What it refers to happens in the case of every prophet. There is no warrant for suggesting that the verse applies exclusively to the Holy Prophet. History too supports the view that the verse is of general application. In their impatience to find fault with the Holy Prophet, however, hostile Christian writers have singled him out, and, misinterpreting the verse, have attributed a supposed lapse to him.
Moreover, it is wrong to suggest, as some commentators have done, that it is possible for Satan to interfere with the purity of the Quranic revelation. God has taken upon Himself to protect and safeguard it against all interference and interpolation. See also 15:10 & 72:27-29.
This verse has been deliberately misinterpreted and its meaning purposely distorted by prejudiced Christian writers. They say that one day at Mecca when the Holy Prophet recited the 20th and 21st verses of Surah An- Najm: Now tell me about Lat and ‘Uzza, and Manat, the third one, another goddess, Satan put in his mouth the words Tilkal-Gharaniqul-‘Ula, wa Inna Shafa‘atahunna Laturtaja, i.e. these are exalted goddesses and their intercession is hoped for. They call it the 'Lapse of Muhammad' or his 'Compromise with idolatry.' The Holy Prophet never made any compromise with idolatry nor was there any lapse on his part. The charge is a case of wish being father to the thought. These critics are always on the lookout to discover a lapse in the Holy Prophet and when they can find none, they invent one and impute it to him. They say that the verse refers to the above incident. We shall deal at length with the whole episode when we come to the relevant verses (53:20, 21). Suffice