The alleged Ascension of Mohammed to heaven
By Dr. Rafat Amari
Did Mohammed ascend to heaven as the Qu’ran states? Did he do so in a trance? How much was he influenced by the occult? These questions, which are important to the credibility of Islam, are the subject of our study today.
Ascending into heaven was the common way Middle Eastern sects explained how their leaders obtained the religious laws they taught.
Sects
that arose in the
Yima, a mythological Persian figure who represented the sun, was visited by the angel Sraosha who accompanied Yima to heaven. Yima was subsequently commissioned to spread the religion on earth.[i][1]
Zoroaster claimed to have ascended into heaven to obtain a religious law from Ahura Mazda for the nation of Iran.[ii][2] In like manner, Mohammed claimed to have visited heaven where he was commissioned with a religious law for the nation of Islam.
Vohuman, who was the angel that accompanied Zoroastrian figures in their ascension to heaven, is easily compared to Gabriel, the angel of ascension in the Qu’ran.
The angel Vohuman was aledged to have accompagny Zoroaster to heaven.[iii][3] Vohuman has many affinities with Gabriel in the Quran. First of all, he is the angel who accompagnies those who ascend to heaven. We find Vohuman descending from his golden throne to accompany Viraz to heaven into the presence of Ahuramazda.[iv][4]
The same thing is said concerning Gabriel in the Qu'ran. In Surah 81 and verse 20, Gabriel is described as “the personality with rank who stood before the lord of the throne.” He is the one Islam claims accompanied Mohammed in his ascension.
Another similarity between Vohuman and Gabriel is they were both huge in stature.[v][5] Vohuman is portrayed in the sacred Zoroastrian books as the judge who condemned sinners.[vi][6] In the Qu’ran, Gabriel is the judge who condemns the nations and the cities.
The word “spirit” is used of both personalities. Vohuman is called “spirit,” and the Dinkard, book nine, stresses the importance of loving Vohuman.[vii][7]
Likewise, in the Qu’ran, we find Gabriel referred to as the “spirit” and sometimes as the “holy spirit.” Many of Mohammed’s Hadiths stress or focus on the love of Gabriel for mankind even for those in heaven.[viii][8]
The angels in the Bible are agents who proclaimed a message to a few individuals, then they returned to heaven. They never drew attention to themselves or claimed a relationship with men. The angels hide themselves, pointing only to God.
But in the case of
Vohuman and the spirit who claimed to be Gabriel in the Qu'ran, they both
called attention to themselves connecting men to themselves. This indicates they
were negative spirits competing with God rather than affirming Him. In
reality, they behaved like the malignant spirits that possess mediums.
Occult
characteristics of Vohuman in Zoroastrianism and Gabriel in the Qu’ran point to
the true identity of both spirits.
We find Vohuman enters the mind of Zoroaster and mingled with his
mind.[ix][9] Likewise, Gabriel is
described by Mohammed’s biographers as entering the bodies of humans.[x][10]
On the other hand, angels never
entered the bodies of humans. Other than demons, the only one who enters the
body of a human is God, the Holy Spirit. He gently makes His home in the soul
of a person when he is saved through the redemptive work of Christ. The Holy
Spirit gives peace, joy and tranquility to human souls. But demons enter the
bodies of people who invite them in or by people who are involved with magic
and the occult. People who are demon possessed have signs such as convulsions,
a feeling of terror, sweating, and they may lapse into a coma which is something
that also plagues mediums who receive oracles from devils.
Mohammed claims Gabriel inspired
Mohammed to write the Qu’ran. But if Gabriel was a true angel, why did Mohammed
suffer from the same symptoms as those who are demon possessed when he received
the Qu'ran? Mohammed experienced convulsions, a feeling of terror, comas
and severe sweating. These symptoms were never encountered by any prophet in
the Bible.
We also find Vohuman changing his
shape and adopting the personality of
another man.[xi][11] And Gabriel changed himself
into the form of a man Mohammed knew personally, a man was named Dahieh دحية.[xii][12]
We know that true angels do not plagiarize the personality of another person.
But this phenomenon does exist in Satanism, or Demonology, where the malignant
spirits change their form and take on the guise of other humans who are known
to the magician or to the medium to whom
the malignant spirits give oracles
in order to deceive many.[xiii][13] The Jinn/devils of Arabia were known to change
their forms and appear in the guise of a man known to the Kuhhan or priests of
the Jinn/devils.[xiv][14]
The trance of the medium causes occult hallucinating. They call it the “journey of the soul.”
We see that Vohuman caused Zoroaster to fall into trance before he
could go to heaven.[xv][15] We know that the trance is
the condition through which Mediums of malignant spirits travel through what
they call “the journey of the spirit,” leaving their bodies. Their souls as
stolen from them to commune with spirits. It is an hallucinative journey under
the power of Satan, through which the victim sees things that are not real.
Occult Literature is full of
names of people who were in trances and claimed to travel to heaven or other
distant places. Often these alleged ascension are connected with people who
have religious oracles. They are known to fall into comas. Richard Mainey is an
example someone who claims to have passed to heaven in a trance. In the year
1586, he claimed to go to heaven passing through purgatory. He laid in a
comatose state for two hours.[xvi][16]
Those claiming to have ascended to
heaven often did so while comatose or in a state of ecstasy. Mohammed claimed
he obtained verses of the Qu’ran this way.
While receiving the Quran, he also experienced other negative
symptoms such as convulsions, sweatings and feelings of terror.
One example of 18th century people
who suffered trances was Emanual Swedenborg, the swedish visionary. He was
known to be heavily demon possessed. While in a state of ecstasy, he claimed to
see visions and tell about how hell and heaven were opened to him. He said God
enabled his spirit to go to the other world where he encountered the souls of
humans and met angels.[xvii][17]
Many of the founders of “Spiritism,”
which is one of the Satanic movements, claimed they journeyed while their souls
were separated from their bodies. They flew in the company of malignant spirits
to distant places experiencing a “spirit journey.”
An example of this demon possession
is a man named Davis who claimed to have been carried 40 miles from his home to
the mountains where he spent the whole night with others discussing medicine
and ethics.This hallucinative journey was performed while he was in a trance
and experienced ecstasy. In reality, as demon possessed, he communicated in a
trance with his devil.[xviii][18]
Zoroaster as a Medium for a spirit named Vohman. Zoroaster also was a witch doctor,or shaman, for his tribe
Now, I would like you to return with
me to Zoroaster who claims to have fallen in a trance in which he was
transported to heaven. The symptoms he experienced causes us to classify him
with the mediums who serve the devil. He claims that when he was put in prison
by Vistaspa, the king of an
Iranian tribe,
Zoroaster bound the legs of Vistaspa’s horse so the horse could not move,
then he released it. What Zoroaster claims to have
done was a practice of the devil’s magicians. Through this magic,
Zoroaster impressed Vistaspa so much he became Zoroaster’s follower.
By analyzing the oldest Zoroastrian literature, the scholar Nyberg reached the
conclusion that Zoroaster was a witch doctor or medicine man to his own tribe
who’s religion was a form of shamanism.
A shaman is a magician who claims
the ability to heal with the help of the spirits to whom he is connected. The
main characteristic of shamanism is the ecstatic trance experience through
which he communicates with spirits which are surely devils. In this state, they
claim their souls leave their bodies and go to other places such as remote places of the universe. Shamanism
flourished mainly in South and East Asia, some parts of Africa, and among the
Indians of North and South America .
Zoroaster, according to Nyberg's
point of view, led his tribe as chief shaman, to reach the state of ecstasy.
Once in this state, they were in contact with the god Vohu Manah,[xix][19] who we previously identified as Vohuman, who
later is said to have accompagnied Zoroaster to heaven to meet with Ahura Mazda. Vohuman
eventually became a strong angel in Zoroastrianism. We also saw that Vohuman had things in common
with the malignant spirits. His behavior doesn’t vary from that of the
malignant, diabolic spirits with which modern mediums are connected. This leads
us to conclude that Vohuman was a devil the tribe of Zoroaster worshiped, and that Zoroaster was a medium to this
malignant spirit. We already saw the similarities between Vohuman in
Zoroastrianism and Gabriel in the Qur’an.
Zoroaster emigrated to the tribe led
by Vistaspa which was impressed by his magic, such as the binding of Vistaspa's
horse's legs. Vistaspa was introduced in an ecstatic shaman-induced diabolic
trance experience with the spirit Vohman. Through these experiences Vistaspa
was able to see unusual things.[xx][20] Certainly this was a kind
of hallucination under the influence of the diabolic spirits to which Zoroaster
was connected.
After this, Zoroaster claimed that
Ahura Mazda ordered Vistaspa to wage war to subdue the Iranian nations to his
religion. To do this, Zoroaster, had to
incorporate some of the creeds of the tribe of Vistaspa, which is of Ayro
Iranian back ground, into his creed system. Zoroaster also copied many ideas from
the Israelites who were dispersed by Sargon II to Madi, the homeland of
Zoroaster before he migrated to Vistaspa's tribe. The Assyrian king, Sargon II,
occupied Samaria around 722 , at least half a century before Zoroaster was
born.
There are many similarities between the way Mohammed spread his
religion and the the way Zoroastrianism spread. We also compare the
role of Mohammed as a witch doctor in Mecca and the life of Zoroster.
First of all, the witch doctor or “shaman”,
in Arabia is equivalent to the “rakhi,” الراقي the one who brings the powers of the spirits to which he is
connected to the bodies of others, claiming to heal them .
Ibin Hisham, the oldest and
the most authoritative Islamic biographer of the life of Mohammed, wrote the
very famous poem, “Abu Taleb.”, the uncle of Mohammed recited. The leaders of Mecca came to Abu Taleb asking
him to give Mohammed to them to be judged by them. Abu Taleb refused, and
recited a poem lauding and praising Mohammed.
There is a stanza in this poem in which he described Mohammed
as "a Rachi, or conjurer who conjures spells in Harra
where he dwells."[xxi][21] Harra’ is the caves near
Mecca where Mohammed used to spend his time before he claimed to have been
visited by the angel Gabriel and allegedly entrusted with the role of prophecy.
For Abu Taleb and in the eyes of
many Arabians, the witch doctor, or rakhi, was a benevolent occupation because
of the Jinn religion’s influence and the reputation that rakhis had for
evicting the spirits that caused disease through their own Jinns.
Mohammed confirmed that his uncle recited the poetry about him and boasted
about its contents.[xxii][22]
Another similarity between Zoroaster
and Mohammed is that Mohammed also emigrated from his own city to Medina, where
he convinced two savage tribes, Oas and Khasrej, to rage war against the
Arabian tribes in order to subdue them and convert them to Islam.
The rukhah, plural of rakhi,
were known to be among the Kuhhan or priests of the Jinn religion of Arabia.
The trances and comas that Mohammed experienced produced the same symptoms that affected the priests of Jinns in Arabia.
Mohammed used to go into a
coma before he wrote the Qu'ran, which reveals his involvement with Kahaneh.
When he started receiving the Qu’ran he fell into a coma.[xxiii][23]
Sahih Al Buchari, reports one
occasion on which Mohammed fell in trance while he was a youth before he
claimed to receive the Qu'ran.[xxiv][24]
Mohammed was known to have suffered
from trances since his childhood because Amneh, his mother, brought on him a
ruchieh, or bewitching.[xxv][25] In the ruchieh a
Kahan priest of Jinn brings the spirit of Jinn to a person to whom the Kahen is
connected as a medium. Amneh was the niece of Soda Bent Zahreh, the priest of
Jinn at Mecca. This may explain why she was able to practice occult over her
son, Mohammed.
Someone may ask why Amneh bewitched
Mohammed when he was a small infant. Walker in his book, Unclean Spirits, says
that many dangerous magicians and mediums of the devil were exposed to magic in
their infanthood.[xxvi][26] Most of them were exposed
by their parents who were known to be in service to the devil.
Among the reasons for which parents
bewitch their infants is that the mother wanted to have the opportunity to
speak with the devil when he enters the body of the infant. In other words, she
does so in order to take direct information from the devil when he speak in a
loud voice through the tongue of her son. This phenomenon is reported in
spiritism worship in China and India.[xxvii][27]
Another reason for bewitching
infants is to ensure the continuity of the priesthood for the devil in the
family. Sometimes, under orders from the devil, the child is prepared to have a
future occult oracle.
In satanic worship in Japan, the founders of the worship were called as
children and prepared by the devils for the role they would assume. The
British anthropologist, Carmen Blacker, who did important research on the lives
of the founders of religions that venerate wicked spirits in Japan, revealed
how the devils took hold of the children through dreams or through bewitchment
induced by their parents. Then, the devils announced that those children are
dedicated to them for
future goals or purposes. As a result, special power
was given to those who were bewitched since childhood. They were given magical
powers. Many believed in them, followed them and helped them establish a
religion.[xxviii][28]
Anthropologists believe that,like
a hereditary disease, the priesthood which serves the devil is
transmitted from individual to individual in the same family.[xxix][29] Could it be that the Jinn
priesthood was transmitted from Amneh to her son Mohammed? A study of
Islamic sources supports this idea.
While Mohammed was receiving the Qu’ran, he was afflicted
with the same symptoms the Kuhhan were afflicted with when they received
oracles from devils. Both Mohammed and the Kuhhan experienced comas,
convulsions and sweatings. These symptoms were also experienced by Mohammed as
a child after his mother bewitched him.
The Jinn religion in Arabia was the
strongest and the most wide spread. It had a huge number of Kuhhan who
represented the religion in each city. Many Arabians at the time of Mohammed
suffered from severe symptoms like ones Mohammed experienced. This is due to
the Kuhhan who cast spells on children and on sick people.
The Kuhhan claimed that the diseases
were caused by Jinn/devils brought by other Kuhhan. Therefore, Arabians used
to go to different Kuhhan to treat diseases through their devils. The
Kuhhan boasted that their devils were stronger than the devils that caused the
diseases in the first place. The diseases were believed to be caused by “the
look of a Jinn or his medium or Kuhhan.” So the patients went to the Kuhhan who
practiced rukieh by conjuring spells on the body of their patients. The result
was that the devils of the Kuhhan through the rukieh take hold of the body of
the sick person, and the poor sick person exhibited convulsions and other
symptoms like Mohammed suffered when his mother conjured spells on him.
The Arabians at the time of Mohammed
recognized the symptoms the Kahen caused when he conjured spells on a
person. For example, the Arabians recognized the trance as an affliction from a devil. They called it “affection
through Ain,” or the eye. The eye of the Jinn looked at a person and caused the trance
to happen.[xxx][30] The trance was communicated to children who
were born in Kuhhan families under servitude to Jinns.
Trances and comas were common
occurrences for the Kuhhan and for the founders of the occult religions through
which they received their oracles. For example, the Kuhhan of Arabia would go
into a comatose state when receiving oracles from their devils.[xxxi][31] Khater, Kahen of the Jinns, went into to a
coma for three days while he said the rhymed prose exalting Mohammed.[xxxii][32]
There is a common phenomenon among
the founders of religions that venerate the malignant spirits. They
receive their oracles through trances or comas.
We also see this in the founders of the occult religions in Japan. For
example, Deguchi Nao, the founder of the religion called Omoto, received her
oracles during a trance. Okada Yoshikazu, founder of Sukyo Mahikari, wrote his
sacred book while in trance.(33)
Trances were a significant part of
occult worship. Mohammed fell into a trance before claiming the role of a
prophet as manifestation of his occult relationships and practices. This occurred
again when he received verses of the Qu’ran.[xxxiii][33] Aisheh, his youngest wife, mentioned how
Mohammed suffered from severe comas and sweating, often falling on the ground
with severe symptoms as he received the Qu'ran.[xxxiv][34]
In the Bible, these things were
never reported in the lives of the prophets, but they were common in the lives
of the Kuhhan of the Jinn of Arabia .
Sahih Al Buchari, mentioned that
Asmaa, the sister of Aisheh, the youngest wife of Mohammed, fell in trance on
at least in one occasion.[xxxv][35] This may shed light on the occult experiences
of those who were close to Mohammed .
While in trances, Mohammed
often had “occult journeys” before his famous “night journey on the winged
camel” to visit Jerusalem.
Mohammed, like Zoroaster and other
mediums who through trances and ecstasy had shamite-type experiences
leading to occult journeys with the spirits. The books that narrate the life of
Mohammed confirmed that he used to have such experiences before he claimed to
become a prophet.[xxxvi][36] The book of Halabieh describes his journeys in
spirit claiming Mohammed used to “sleep in the spirit.”[1][37]
This expression “sleeping in the
spirit” endeavors to describe the deep coma and trance in which Mohammed fell
when he was experiencing such hallucinations. All who claim to have such occult
journeys pass through trances and comas.In the life of Mohammed we see several
experiences like this. The book of Halabieh states that Al Israa', occurred to Mohammed 30 times.[xxxvii][38] Al Israa, is a journey of the
soul to distant places. This is actually the occult journey known to all
mediums who through trances were under the hallucinate power of the
spirits. Sheik Abdel Wahab Al Sharani said that the number was 34.[xxxviii][39]
So we see what the Qu’ran claims
happened to Mohammed when he boarded the Baraq, or winged camel, to go to
Jerusalem. He was not in reality having a real experience, but it was just part
of Mohammed’s occult life before he claimed to have the role of prophecy.
Though Muslims want us to think that
Mohammed really was carried bodily in the company of Gabriel by a winged camel
to Jerusalem, Aisheh the youngest wife of Mohammed and the most reliable
reporter of his life and Hadith says, “The body of the prophet of Allah was
never missed or carried, but Allah journeyed with his soul.”[1][40]
So we see that the report, claiming
to be a true experience of Mohammed, only confirms the nature of his journey
which was part of his past occult routine, something that had occurred for many
who were connected as mediums to
malignant spirits. At the same time, they claimed to receive oracles or
important wisdom through hallucinative journeys.
We have more testimony about
Mohammed’s claim from his cousin, Fatikheh فاتخة, with whom he spent the night when he claimed
to journey with the angel Gabriel to Jerusalem . She confirmed that he was
asleep in her house that night.
She was called also Um
Hani, the mother of Hani. She was the daughter of his uncle Abu Taleb. She
said,” the prophet of Allah was transported while he was in my house. He slept
in my house that night and prayed at night, then slept and we also slept
. When it was dawn, he woke us. Then, after we prayed together, he said,” Oh,
Um Hani I prayed with you the evening prayer as you saw in this valley, then I
went to the temple of Jerusalem and prayed in it. This morning I prayed with
you.”[1][41]
He claims to have prayed the Islamic
prayer in the evening, slept under the watchful eyes of his cousen, woke early
in the morning and prayed again. After this he claimed to have visited the
temple of Jerusalem during the night. What he does not tell us is that the
temple was destroyed by the Romans six centuries earlier. He could not have
made that visit.
Muslims need to revaluate the claims of their religion. Then need to
take the time to compare what they have been taught to what anthropologists
tell us today. This will help them to understand the nature of such phenomena
and avoid relying on them or giving them spiritual significance as if they were
authentic inspiration or part of God's truth.
[i][1] R.C. Zaehner, The Dawn and Twilight of Zoroastrianism, Weidenfeld And Nicolson, London 1975, pages 137 and 138
[ii][2] Dinkard-Book IX, Chapter XXVIII, 3-4, Pahlavi Texts, Part IV, Translated by E.W. West, The Sacred books of the East, Volume 37, Published by Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1969, page 235
[iii][3] Dincard, book VII, Chapter III: 61, Pahlavi Texts, Part V, Translated by E.W. West, The Sacred books of the East, Volume 47 ,Published by Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1969, page 50
[iv][4] Textual sources for the study of Zoroastrianism, edited and translated by Mary Boyce, Manchester University Press, 1984, page 86
[v][5] Dincard, book VII, Chapter III:52, Pahlavi Texts, Part V, Translated by E.W. West, The Sacred books of the East, Volume 47 ,Published by Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1969, page 48
[vi][6] Dinkard-Book IX, Chapter LXIII, 7, Pahlavi Texts, Part IV, Translated by E.W. West, The Sacred books of the East, Volume 37, Published by Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1969, page 372
[vii][7] Dinkard-Book IX, Chapter LVIII, 5, Pahlavi Texts, Part IV, Translated by E.W. West, The Sacred books of the East, Volume 37 ,Published by Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1969, page 354
[viii][8] Sahih al-Bukhari, 7, page 83; and 8, page 195
[ix][9] Selections of Zad-Sparam, Chapter XIV, 12-13, Pahlavi Texts, Part V, Translated by E.W. West, The Sacred books of the East, Volume 47 ,Published by Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1969, page 142
[x][10] Halabieh, 1, page 412
[xi][11] Selections of Zad-Sparam, Chapter XXI, 8, Pahlavi Texts, Part V, Translated by E.W. West, The Sacred books of the East, Volume 47, Published by Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1969, page 156
[xii][12] Sahih al-Bukhari, 6, pages 96 – 97; 1, pages 2-3; and 4, page 80; Halabieh, 1, page 408
[xiii][13] Demonolgia , a discourse on Witchcraft, page 45
[xiv][14] Robertson Smith, lectures on the Religion of the Semite, p. 120; Jawad Ali, al-Mufassal Fi Tarikh al-Arab khab al-Islam, 6, page 717
[xv][15] Dinkart 7.3.55; Yasna 43.5 ;Selections of Zat-sparam 21.9-10 quoted by ( but you have to check the references )
Zoroaster, The Profet of Ancient Iran, by A.V. Williams Jackson, AMS Press INC, New York, 1965, pages 40 -41
[xvi][16] Unclean spirits, pages 48-49
[xvii][17] See, Arthur C. Doyle, History of Spiritualism , ( New York : George Doran, 1926)
[xviii][18] Arthur C. Doyle, History of Spiritualism ( New York : George Doran, 1926), I, page 45
[xix][19] R.C. Zaehner, Weidenfeld And Nicolson, The Dawn and Twilight of Zoroastrianism, London 1975, pages 352-359
[xx][20] Dincard, book VII, Chapter IV: 84, Pahlavi Texts, Part V, Translated by E.W. West, The Sacred books of the East, Volume 47, Published by Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1969, page 70
[xxi][21] Ibn Hisham, 1 pages 189 and 218
[xxii][22] Ibn Hisham, 1 page 225
[xxiii][23] Halabieh, 1, pages 406-407
[xxiv][24] Sahih al-Bukhari, 1, page 96
[xxv][25] Halabieh, 1, page 75
[xxvi][26] Walker, Unclean Spirits, page 26
[xxvii][27] Blacker, pages 252-53; quoted by Godman, How about the Demons, page 77
[xxviii][28] The Catalpa Bow , a study of Shamanistic practices in Japan by Carmen Blacker, page 129
[xxix][29] Demonolgia , a discourse on Witchcraft, pages 32-33
[xxx][30] Taj al-Arus, 5, page 381
[xxxi][31] Halabieh, 1, page 405
[xxxii][32] Halabieh, 1, page 338
[xxxiii][33] Halabieh, 1, page 415
[xxxiv][34] Ibn Hisham, 3 page 236
[xxxv][35] Sahih al-Bukhari, 2, page 28
[xxxvi][36] Halabieh , 2, page 71
[xxxvii][38] Halabieh , 2, page 71
[xxxviii][39] Halabieh , 2, page 71