The Psychological Depths of the Qur’an and Sunnah

Analysis of the Qur’an and Sunnah (the traditions and practices of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him) from a dawah perspective typically focusses on areas such as linguistics, morality, and prophecies. I wanted to take a different angle with this article in which I share some personal reflections on their psychological depths:

1. True happiness and contentment

Today Godlessness is equated with enlightenment, and religiosity with backwardness. We are conditioned to indulge our desires, not curtail them. Surrounded by endless distractions, we rarely take time out to ponder existential questions like the purpose of life. Overt and subliminal messages constantly bombard us with the notion that happiness is determined not by inner contentment but rather material possessions.

These are just some of the pressures that have led many to forego God in the pursuit of pleasure and material success. Over 2,000 years ago, the Greek philosopher Epicurus asked the question what constitutes a happy life. If one is to believe societal programming, then human beings should be in a happier and more content state than at any other point in history. We should expect to find a correlation between secularism, hedonism, and consumerism – the pillars of the New Age – and happiness. The reality is that the opposite is the case, as studies show that less religious societies tend to have higher suicide rates [1], believers in God tend to have stronger mental wellbeing [2], and depression rates are the highest among the wealthiest countries [3].

These stark realities about the nature of the human being are revealed in the Qur’an. Over 1,400 years ago, God warned us that if we turn away from Him then we will have a miserable existence: “And whoever turns away from My remembrance – indeed, he will have a depressed life…” [20:124]. The Prophet Muhammad, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, spoke about man’s insatiable appetite for wealth: “If the son of Adam had a valley full of gold, he would want to have two valleys…” [Sahih Muslim]. The Qur’an reveals that the only way human beings can achieve true inner peace and tranquillity is when one is consciousness of God: “Verily, in the remembrance of God do hearts find rest” [13:28].

2. Innate God consciousness

Despite the immense secular, hedonistic, and consumerist pressures of the modern world, religion continues to hold sway over the lives of millions. Belief in God goes as far back as humanity, and while the particulars about God vary depending on time and place, the basic concept of a higher power that is far beyond human beings a common feature of virtually every culture that has ever existed.

How can this phenomenon be explained? Some claim that such beliefs are a by-product of our primitive origins, originating during the earliest days of humanity. Faced with natural phenomena like thunderstorms and earthquakes, as well as the unpredictability of illness and food supply, the theory is that primitive man invented these beliefs as a way to deal with the ignorance and fear of the unknown. However, if such beliefs arose from nothing more than ignorance, a misunderstanding of science, and a fear of that which is unknown, then why do they still persist, even in technologically advanced and highly educated societies, hundreds of years after the Scientific and Industrial revolutions? Perhaps it can be explained sociologically, as many beliefs are passed down through generations as learned behaviours. Children observe those around them, such as their parents and peers, and adopt certain behaviours. However, there must be more to it than that, because behaviours can be unlearned and rejected when maturity is reached. Let’s consider the atheism of Communist Russia. The Soviet Union was the first state to have an ideological objective to eliminate religion and replace it with atheism. The vast majority of people in the Russian empire were, at the time of the Communist revolution, religious believers, whereas the authorities aimed to break the power of all religious institutions and eventually replace religious belief with atheism. Toward that end, the Communist regime confiscated church property, ridiculed religion, harassed believers and propagated atheism in the schools. Criticism of atheism was strictly forbidden and sometimes led to imprisonment. The fall of Communism in the 1990s saw a rapid revival of religion which is flourishing today in Russia [4]. If God is nothing more than an invention of the human mind, then these efforts by the Communist Party over the space of several generations should have undone such convictions.

Yet such beliefs persist in all cultures, despite the world and everything else around us changing. It has survived scientific advancement, political change, economic growth and decline, wars on a global scale as well as sexual and cultural revolutions. What can explain this phenomenon? Rather than looking to external causes and factors, perhaps we should look within. There seems to be something embedded deeply in human nature which resonates with the divine. This would explain why such beliefs are a common feature of humanity. It even comes spilling out of those who outwardly reject God, who when they find themselves in a dangerous situation like a burning building, falling plane or sinking ship, cry out to be saved by a higher power. Psychological studies support these notions. Oxford University psychologist Dr Olivera Petrovich, an expert in psychology of religion, conducted some studies concerning human psychology. She discovered that infants are hard-wired to believe in God, and atheism has to be learned [5]. In another study, Professor Justin Barrett concluded that children naturally believe in God as a creative force, calling the belief “natural religion”:

All these various sociological, anthropological, and psychological findings that we’ve covered support the Qur’an’s claims about the nature of human beings: “So direct your face toward the religion, inclining to truth. [Adhere to] the fitrah of God upon which He has created [all] people…” [30:30]. Here the Arabic word ‘fitrah’ can be translated as “original disposition”, “natural constitution” or “innate nature”. It’s the idea that every child who is born possesses a natural belief in God. If the child were to be left alone, they would continue to be aware of God. It is outside forces that can affect this natural belief. The Prophet Muhammad said: “Each child is born in a state of “Fitrah”, but his parents make him a Jew or a Christian… [7].

3. The Qur’an as a living text

The Qur’an is truly a living text when it comes to the manner in which it was revealed. Most religious scriptures are either revealed all in one go at the outset of a religion, or they are created after its founder has died. The Qur’an, however, is different. It was not revealed all in one go at the start of Muhammad’s prophethood, nor was it revealed after he died. Rather, it was gradually revealed over the span of 23 years throughout his prophethood, with its content mirroring the circumstances and challenges of Muhammad and his Companions as they experienced them. Another unique aspect of the Qur’an which makes it a living text is its universal applicability. The Qur’an is nuanced, it provides fundamental principles that take into account circumstance. Muslim jurists use these principles when making rulings and thus Islam is adaptable enough to be applied to any situation that arises.

This is all reflected in the reality of the world we live in. There are very few rules in life that are absolute. Not everything is black or white, and just about every rule has exceptions, with different circumstances calling for different rules. These facts are recognised in legal theory and is why man-made laws and regulations are constantly evolving, being re-written with new amendments, and even torn up and completely overhauled. Laws and regulations need to adapt in order to take into account new situations and scenarios that arise as time passes by, society evolves, and the circumstances and behaviours of human beings change. The wisdom of the Qur’an as a living text is demonstrated beautifully with its approach to the prohibition of alcohol. Prophet Muhammad was born into a society where alcohol consumption was prevalent. Alcohol is a harmful intoxicant and is therefore impermissible to consume according to the laws of Islam. But the Qur’an did not ban alcohol from the beginning, as quitting cold turkey would be difficult as it was so ingrained in society at the time. The prohibition came gradually in three separate phases in the following order:

We can see that initially the Qur’an discouraged alcohol consumption but stopped short of prohibiting it outright. Next, the Qur’an revealed the following:

The original rule of discouragement was now replaced with a limited, contextual prohibition. Muslims were still allowed to drink as long as they did not come to prayer drunk. Finally, the Qur’an revealed the following:

The final verse took an unequivocal tone, forbidding it outright. This gradual changing of the laws of the Qur’an is an example of what is known as abrogation, where the revelation of a later verse changes a ruling established by an earlier verse. Abrogation may completely remove the previous ruling, or it might partially amend it with exceptions or conditions. Some critics of Islam cite abrogation as contradictions or an arbitrary changing of law. But this demonstrates an ignorance of the sublime divine wisdom of delivering different teachings to suit each appropriate context. The Qur’an states:

There is nothing arbitrary about the Qur’an’s changing laws relating to alcohol. The ultimate objective was always to rid society of alcohol, and Islam went about tackling this problem in a practical way. At the beginning stages of the Prophet’s mission, people were simply not ready to give up alcohol, even if it was for the sake of a greater purpose. They needed to change spiritually first, they needed to strengthen their faith in order to overcome their desire to drink. Aisha, the wife of Prophet Muhammad, said:

Other religions, such as Christianity, take a very different attitude when it comes to vices like alcohol. The New Testament does not offer any practical approach to overcoming societal problems such as alcohol. Rather, it claims that all believing converts will experience a sudden transformation when they embrace Christianity, being “born again”. This is touted as a metaphysical change in one’s being which results in a “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Such a person is said to have the Holy Spirit dwell within them (Romans 8:9) and they will become one who “does not continue to sin” (1 John 5:18). In fact, one who does continue in past sins is said to have “fallen away” as they are guilty of “crucifying the Son of God all over again” (Hebrews 6:6). Contrast this with the Qur’an, which does not claim that a believing convert’s vices will all suddenly disappear in an instant. Islam is a practical religion which offers practical solutions to solving society’s problems.

From a scientific perspective, we have come a long way since the seventh century in our understanding of the psychology of addiction. Yet modern methods of treating alcohol addiction are very much in line with Islam’s gradual approach. We also know from medical studies that it can be very dangerous for people who are heavily alcohol dependent to suddenly stop drinking. Such individuals must gradually wean themselves off alcohol. Today we may consider the Qur’an’s gradual approach to tackling alcohol to be obvious and take it for granted. But as recently as the twentieth century, people were still adopting very different strategies to solve this challenge, and with disastrous consequences. Let’s look at a recent attempt by the United States government as an example. The prohibition movement in 1920s America sought to criminalise alcohol consumption for moral and medical reasons. The manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcohol were all criminalised. Although the consumption of alcohol fell at the beginning of the Prohibition, it subsequently increased. It also led to the rise of black-market alcohol sales which strengthened organised crime syndicates. Congress was eventually forced to repeal the amendment due to this widespread unintended harm. Supporters of the amendment surely meant well, but American society was not ready for such a drastic change. The strategy failed miserably because it came too suddenly upon an entrenched drinking culture. Such experiences highlight the wisdom of the Qur’anic approach over 1,400 years ago and demonstrate that its author has a deep insight into human beings.

4. Certainty in the age of doubt and confusion

Human beings are social creatures, we are inquisitive and have an innate desire to share knowledge and exchange ideas. The internet taps into this primordial desire, it is a powerful tool that allows us to reach the masses on an unprecedented scale. Whereas in the past such an endeavour would be expensive and require huge sacrifices such as travel to remote lands, interacting with alien cultures, and learning exotic languages, thanks to the internet it can now all be done from the comfort of one’s own bedroom. The digital world is the new missionary frontier of the 21st century, today it is the key battle ground for the hearts and minds of people.

The internet can be a dangerous place for the average person of faith. This is because most peoples’ religions boil down to blind-following, they will be upon a certain religion because that’s what their parents indoctrinated them with. This is also the case with the average person who does not take religion seriously or even rejects the notion of God, most often you will find that they have not reasoned themselves into such a position but rather they are a product of their surroundings, just like the religious. This is a major reason why many people, when confronted with intellectual criticisms or when put into a situation where they have to think critically of their religion for the first time, end up having a crisis of faith. With the internet and social media, gone are the days when a person can go through life in blissful ignorance.

The fact is that the vast majority of religions out there do not equip followers with the tools needed to navigate and survive this new landscape in which one is constantly bombarded with doubt and confusion. Religious texts typically engage with their readers in monologue fashion. They do not encourage critical thought, often assuming a default position of faith. If the reader happens to be a non-believer then the expectation is that one will blindly accept the claims that are being made. The Qur’an is different, it encourages people to ponder and reflect on its verses: “Then do they not reflect upon the Qur’an, or are there locks upon [their] hearts?” [47:24]. The Arabic word used in the verse above is ‘tadabbur’, which means deep contemplation and understanding of its meanings. The Qur’an also puts forward objective arguments for the veracity of its claims. One example is the lack of contradictions in the text: “Then do they not reflect upon the Qur’an? If it had been from [any] other than God, they would have found within it much contradiction” [4:82]. When one understands the unconventional nature of the Qur’an’s revelation together with the lack of literary experience and knowledge of poetry on the part of its recipient Muhammad, then one will appreciate just how much a sheer impossibility this is. The Qur’an even provides sceptics with falsification tests: “And if you are in doubt about what We have sent down upon Our Servant [Muhammad], then produce a chapter the like thereof and call upon your witnesses other than God, if you should be truthful” [2:23].

All of this backs up the Qur’an’s claims of divine authorship. God understands that human beings are naturally inquisitive, exchange ideas, and share knowledge. The general monologue style of other religious texts is fine for the communities of the past who existed in homogenous bubbles. But they are ill-suited to the 21st century in which the world has become a global village where everyone is inter-connected at the click of a finger and we are constantly bombarded with doubt and confusion. We’ve seen that the Qur’an uniquely engages the reader’s intellect, encourages us to ponder and reflect, and puts forward objective evidences for its divine origins. Thus, it allows a human being to become intellectually convinced of its veracity and does not leave believers at the mercy of doubt and confusion as and when it appears: “This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for those conscious of God” [2:2].

This engaging and intellectual style of the Qur’an also serves as an evidence that it is the only timeless scripture revealed by God. Earlier scriptures, such as those revealed to Moses and Jesus, are timebound, meaning that they were intended for a specific group of people, for a temporary period of time. As such, they did not need to engage or intellectually convince their readers; their followers’ faith was based on the miracles that their appointed messengers performed. No blind following was needed because their followers had personally witnessed such miracles with their very own eyes. The Qur’an, however, is different; God endowed it with internal mechanisms such as its engaging and intellectual style in order to ensure that it serves as evidence to the entire world, for people at all times and in all places, until the end of time.

5. Sexual temptations

The world is in the grip of a sexual crisis. Using the United States as a case study, the most commonly reported STDs—chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis—have reached a record high level in recent years. In fact, it is estimated that 110 million people, that’s nearly one in three Americans, have an STD [9]. The 2016 Uniform Crime Report (UCR), which measures rapes that are known to police, estimated that there were 90,185 rapes reported to law enforcement in 2015 [10]. That’s 10 rapes every hour. Adultery now accounts for around 20-40% of divorces [11], with an estimated 25 percent of married men and 15 percent of married women having had extramarital affairs [12].

How can we account for what can only be described as sexual anarchy? When one takes into account the highly sexualised state of modern culture then perhaps we should not be surprised at such statistics: film, TV, and advertising is saturated with sexual imagery, with as much as 80% of all films shown on TV having sexual content [13]. An analysis of music videos indicates that 60% portray sexual feelings and impulses, and a substantial minority display provocative clothing and sexually suggestive body movements [14]. With the advent of the internet, pornography consumption has sky-rocketed. Around 40 million Americans now regularly visit porn sites, that’s more than one in ten people. Approximately 35% of all internet downloads are related to pornography, and every day 68 million search queries relate to pornography which accounts for 25% of all internet searches [15]. Shockingly, these statistics aren’t just restricted to adults. The average age of first exposure to porn is 11 years old. Research shows that children are accessing hardcore porn sites earlier than ever, with one in 10 visitors to graphic porn websites being under the age of 10 years. Research also shows that under-10-year olds now account for 22% of online video porn consumption among the under 18 age [16].

Society’s efforts to try and solve many of these ills tend to focus on sex education around contraception and consent. Contraception is effective at preventing issues like STDs and unwanted pregnancies if the participants actually make use of it. But this is often not the case as many sexual encounters involve alcohol or other intoxicants. In a survey of college women, it was discovered that when a sexual partner was a random stranger, then 89% of such encounters involved drinking [17]. Education about contraception does not even necessarily lead to safe sex practices, as only one in three Americans use condoms [18] despite studies showing that 98.9% of participants believing that condom use constituted safer sex behaviour [19]. The concept of consent does little to solve the problem of rape as studies have found that up to 70% of victims receive no physical injury during an attack [20]. In other words, proving that rape has taken place often comes down to one person’s word against another. This presents courts with the problem of either not taking the accusations of the victim seriously or assuming guilt on the part of the accused. This crisis engulfing the criminal justice system over its approach to rape cases is revealed by the startling figures that less than 1% of rapes lead to conviction [21]. There is also the problem of people lying about sex attacks, as getting consent does not stop a willing partner from making false accusations at a later point in time.

Society’s best efforts at preventing the sexual ills that are currently befalling it are ineffective. By removing morality from the equation, in taking the liberal attitude that there’s nothing wrong with having sex with who you want, when you want, and how you want, you’re left in the position of trying to treat the symptoms and fallout of rampant sexuality, rather than tackling the source and preventing the problems from occurring in the first place. The situation is clearly spiralling out of control, and trends over the span of generations show that things are only getting worse. Like most religions, the Qur’an ring fences sexual activity within the confines of marriage. However, it takes things a step further with the attitude it adopts to the causes and factors that can lead to unlawful sex: “And do not approach unlawful sexual intercourse. Indeed, it is ever an immorality and is evil as a way” [17:32]. Notice in this verse that God does not say “do not commit unlawful sexual intercourse”. God understands that sexual activity is not something that just spontaneously happens without any outside causal factors. Sex does not just suddenly happen, there are many routes that lead to it. As the creator of human beings, God has an insight into human sexuality and the laws of attraction. As we shall see, the Qur’an does not just discourage the physical act but also has practical rules and regulations in order to block off all the routes that lead to it:

Here God commands both men and women to lower their gazes when it comes to the opposite sex. The sight of a person is often the first sensory cue you will get of them and visual stimuli serve as powerful triggers when it comes to sexual arousal. Furthermore, the Qur’an, and in particular the prophetic traditions of Muhammad, go into great detail when it comes to the dress code of men and women, with an emphasis placed on modesty.

The Prophet Muhammad taught that a man and woman should not be alone together: “No man is alone with a woman but Satan is the third one present.” [22]. Satan is an agent of temptation to evil. So, the apparent meaning here is that Satan will tempt them to commit the act of illegal sex. Situations that involve a man and a woman being alone together only serve to facilitate such acts. But this is not the only harm that can result from such a situation, as it creates an opportunity for an assault to take place as well as false accusations of sexual misconduct.

The Qur’an also prohibits intoxicants: “O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than God], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful” [5:90]. God wants believing men and women to be of sound mind and in full control of their actions, anything that negatively impacts the reasoning capacity of people is prohibited for consumption.

The Prophet Muhammad advised people to get married at a young age as a means of protecting oneself from falling into sin: “O young men, whoever among you can afford to get married, let him do so, and whoever cannot afford it, let him fast, for that will be a shield for him” [23]. God understands the powerful influence that sex has on human beings, especially young people whose sexual desires are at their peak.

6. Muhammad the source of the Qur’an?

The previous examples in this article have focussed on the psychological relationship between the Qur’an, Sunnah and their target audience, humanity in general. We will now analyse the psychological relationship between the Qur’an and Sunnah. Sceptics put the Qur’an down to being nothing more than a product of Muhammad’s imagination. If this really is the case, then wouldn’t you expect its style to be similar to his personal speech? Recently linguistic research has been conducted to compare the style of speech found in the Qur’an with thousands of statements made by Muhammad from the Sunnah, in particular the collection of Sahih Al-Bukhari which happens to be the most authentic collection in existence. Studies were performed and all the results of this investigation from a linguistic perspective have shown that the two works must have different authors. Some of the results that form the basis of this conclusion include [24]:

– Words composed of a single letter are much more frequently used in the Qur’an than in Sahih Al-Bukhari.

– The Qur’an contains approximately twice the number of words with nine and ten letters than Sahih Al-Bukhari. This fact shows that the Qur’anic vocabulary contains longer words than Sahih Al-Bukhari, words longer than eight letters.

– Most importantly, 62 per cent of the words from Sahih Al-Bukhari are not found in the Qur’an and 83 per cent of the Qur’an words are not found in Sahih Al-Bukhari. This conclusion of differing vocabulary is also reinforced by the above mentioned results.

Note that many verses of the Qur’an were revealed instantaneously in response to unexpected events, so there was no opportunity to take time and carefully plan what was being said in order to maintain the different styles. To concoct such a distinction, Muhammad would have to maintain two completely different styles of speech over a period of 23 years, without ever mixing up the styles, an impossibility from a psychological perspective. Moreover, Muhammad experienced many trials and tribulations during the course of his Prophetic mission. For example, his children died, his beloved wife Khadija passed away, he was boycotted, and his close companions were tortured and killed. These emotions come through in the Sunnah. You find some instances of sadness and anger in his personal statements due to the extreme situations he faced. However, the Qur’an consistently remains Divine in voice and character [25].

For the sake of comparison, let’s look at the traditions attributed to Jesus in the New Testament. The New Testament is a collection of books written by different authors. Taking the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John as a case study, let’s compare the profiles of Jesus. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are very similar when it comes to their portrayal of Jesus, so much so that they are collectively known as the Synoptic Gospels. However, the figure of Jesus presented in John is different, and indeed irreconcilable, with that presented in the Synoptic Gospels. In the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus preaches in narrative parables and in short compact sayings. Whereas in John the method is with long discourses – Jesus has effectively become a Greek. If the Gospel of John were to be read in isolation then one would never guess that the parable was a common teaching method of his (John 15:1-8 being a rare example of a parable). Using the same psychological standard that was applied to the Qur’an and Sunnah, we can see that these different New Testament accounts cannot be about the same historical Jesus. They are either portraying different people, or they contain manipulated accounts about Jesus.

Conclusion

In analysing the Qur’an and Sunnah from a psychological perspective, we have seen that the source of both has an immense insight into how we think and feel. These are texts that read the human being. The Qur’an boldly proclaims: “And We have already created man and know what his soul whispers to him, and We are closer to him than [his] jugular vein” [50:16]. Unlike many religious texts, the Qur’an and Sunnah are not divorced from reality. As the creator of man, God is closest to us, in the sense that He is the most intimately familiar with our innermost thoughts and nature. It logically follows then, that we should take our guidance from the one who knows us best.

Learn more

To learn more about the miracles of the Qur’an you can order and download the free book “The Eternal Challenge: A Journey Through The Miraculous Qur’an” from the One Reason website (click on the image below):

References

1 – See website: https://news.gallup.com/poll/108625/more-religious-countries-lower-suicide-rates.aspx

2 – See one example of study here, American Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 187, Issue 11, November 2018, pp. 2355–2364:

https://academic.oup.com/aje/article/187/11/2355/5094534

3 – See research paper “Cross-national epidemiology of DSM-IV major depressive episode”:

https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/1741-7015-9-90

4 – Paul Froese, “Forced secularization in Soviet Russia: Why an atheistic monopoly failed”, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 43.1 (2004): 35-50.

5 – Infants ‘have natural belief in God’, The Age National (Australia). Accessed 1st November 2017:

http://www.theage.com.au/national/infants-have-natural-beliefin-god-20080725-3l3b.html

6 – Justin L. Barrett, Born Believers: The Science of Children’s Religious Belief, Free Press, 2012, pp. 35 – 36.

7 – Sahih Bukhari.

8 – Sahih Bukhari.

9 – See website: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/29/health/chlamydia-syphilis-gonorrhea.html

10 – See website: https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2015/crime-in-the-u.s.-2015/offenses-known-to-law-enforcement/rape

11 – See website: https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/features/cfp-0000012.pdf

12 – See website: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/22/well/marriage-cheating-infidelity.html

13 – Kunkel D, Cope KM, Maynard-Farinola WJ, et al. Sex on TV: content and context. Menlo Park (CA): Kaiser Family Foundation; 1999.

14 – Baxter RL, De Riemer C, Landini A, et al. A content analysis of music videos. J Broadcast Electronic Media 1985;29: 333-340.

15 – See website: https://www.webroot.com/us/en/resources/tips-articles/internet-pornography-by-the-numbers

16 – See website: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320348983_Evaluating_the_impact_of_pornography_on_the_lives_of_children_and_young_people

17 – See website: https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/strictly-casual/201401/in-hookups-alcohol-is-college-students-best-friend

18 – See website: https://www.webmd.com/sex/news/20170810/only-about-one-third-of-americans-use-condoms-cdc#1

19 – Horan, S. M. (2016). Further understanding sexual communication: Honesty, deception, safety, and risk. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 33, 449-468

20 – See website: https://mainweb-v.musc.edu/vawprevention/research/healthimpact.shtml

21 – See website: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/10/06/less-than-percent-rapes-lead-felony-convictions-least-percent-victims-face-emotional-physical-consequences/

22 – Tirmidhi.

23 – Sahih Bukhari.

24 – Halim Sayoud, Author discrimination between the Holy Quran and Prophet’s statements, Literary and Linguistic Computing, 2012, vol. 27, #4.

25 – Martin Lings, Muhammad: his life based on the earliest sources, 2nd Revised Edition. The Islamic Texts Society, 1983, pp. 53 – 79.