Montgomery Watt & His Criticism on Wahy

1

Montgomery Watt and His Criticism on Wahy

Mohammad Fazril Bin Mohd. Saleh

International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM)

Introduction

„Abdullah Ibn Amr reported that the Holy Prophet said: “Allah will not take away knowledge

(la yaqbidu al „ilma) by taking it away from the servants, but He will take away the learned (wa lakin

yaqbidu al-„ilma bi qabdi al-„ulama`);1 so that when no learned man remains, the people will take the

ignorant as their leaders. They will seek religious opinion from them and these ignorant (leaders) will

deliver opinions without knowledge, when they would go astray and lead other to astray.2

If one look carefully at our world today, one can see the messages floating around from all

directions, each try to communicate something for us to see, to hear, to feel and to accept. Some

messages may convey something positive or something wrong, negative and harmful. It is our

responsibility to develop within ourselves the ability to filter information in order to ensure that it does

not negatively affect our life. The ability to make use of messages positively and protect oneself against

their adverse effect depends upon one‟s perceptual understanding of realities and truth in their relative

as well as their absolute nature.3 As a Muslim, we have to be aware and remain constantly conscious of

the truth and reality of our religion which is Islam. Indeed, we need to search for reliable sources and

information which interpreting the heart of religion, The Holy Quran and The Tradition of The Prophet

SAW which are known as wahy.

Since after the Medieval age, thousands of Occidental Intellectuals has been working hardly,

systematically, and creatively to produce a lot of works about Islam with prejudice and unfair

conclusion. This phenomenon is a result of confrontation between The West and Islam where the basis

of this clash is religion. It is exactly this relationship which inspires a permanent deepening of

ideologically fabricated misunderstandings between Islam and Christianity, leading to intensification of

dramatic confrontation these two religions. 4 Those works on Islam by the Westerners are known as

1 Narrated by Imam Bukhari and Muslim

2 Wali al-Din Muhammad Abdullah al-Khatib al-Tabrizi, Mishkat al-Masabih. Translation by abdul Hameed Siddiqi, (Lahore: Islamic

Publication, 1976), chap. 1 pg. 29 3 Omar Jah, “Al Balagh”, Knowledge, Language, Thought & The Civilization of Islam, (Johor Bharu: UTM Press, 2010), pg. 83.

4 Ferid Muhic, “Dialogue of Civilizations Through The Corridors of Faith and Mind”, Knowledge, Language, Thought & The Civilization of

Islam, (Johor Bharu: UTM Press, 2010), pg. 200.

2

“Orientalism”. According to Edward W. Said, Orientalism is “anyone who teaches, writes about, or

researches the Orient either in its specific or its general aspect, is an Orientalist, and what he or she

does is Orientalism”.5 Orientalism also refers to “a style of thought based upon an ontological and

epistemological distinction made between the Orient and the Occident”. 6

Actually, the intention of this paper is to discuss briefly about the criticism on wahy by the

Orientalist in general and William Montgomery Watt (d. 2006) in particular. It is well known that some

Orientalist have been instrumental in discovering, editing, and publishing a number of original Arabic

works and manuscripts.7 In the past as well as in modern times, scholars have dealt with it from time to

time. Some serious studies have appeared on the method and approaches of the Orientalist with regards

to Islamic themes in general and the wahy in particular. Those studies are among our references besides

several genuine works of W. Montgomery Watt (Watt) in order to discuss about the subject matter.

This paper will firstly discuss about Watt‟s biographical background, consists of, his life,

education, experiences and works. Watt is acknowledged as a leading European authority on Islam and

the Prophet at the present time. His works such as Muhammad at Mecca (1953), Muhammad at Medina

(1956), and Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman (1980) have been republished a number of times.8

They have also been translated in a number of European Languages and also in Arabic and other world

languages. His works are among the most influential “interpretation of Islam” in Europe. Secondly,

about the reality of Islam under the topic of “The Worldview of Islam”. It is important to discuss about

world view as it projects the nature and reality of Islam, like mentioned by Syed Muhammad Naquib

al-Attas (al-Attas): “a methaphysical survey of the visible as well as the invisible worlds including the

perspective of life as a whole”9 based on the true understanding of wahy as taught by Prophet

Muhammad SAW and the authority in Islam.

Also in this paper, wahy is being defined in the light of authenticity scholarship in Islam under

the topic “Concept of Wahy”. The concept and process of wahy in Islam is based on authentic reports.

The worldview of Islam reveals that the authorship of The Qur`an could only be ascribed to Allah.10

Some author especially Orientalist including Watt declare that the Qur`an has been composed by the

5 Edward W. Said, Orientalism, (New York: Vintage Books, 1929), pg 204.

6 Ibid.

7 Muhammad Mohar Ali, Sirat al-Nabi And The Orientalist, (Madinah: King Fahd Complex of Printing The Holy Quran, 1997), pg. 23.

8 Ibid. pg. preface.

9 Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas, “The Worldview of Islam: An Outline”, Islam and the Challenge of Modernity, (Kuala Lumpur: ISTAC,

1994) 10

Thameem Ushama, Issues in The Study of The Qur`an, (Kuala Lumpur: Ilmiah Publisher, 2002), pg. 71

3

Prophet on his own or with the help of ohers.11

Watt said that Prophet Muhammad SAW may have

been mistaken in believing The Qur`an to be a divine message12

and described The Qur`an as “the

Product of Creative Imagination”.13

Watt in his works also mentioned about the nature of Islam in his

perspective.14

He reiterates it as the “Islamic Vision” which he said is contained in wahy (the Qur`an),

came to Prophet Muhammad SAW and was shared by him with some of his fellow-citizen.15

But the

problem with his understanding of Islamic Vision is absolutely contradicted with the reality of Islam

and this matter will be discussed under the topic “Watt‟s Treatment of Wahy”.

Biographical background

Professor William Montgomery Watt is one of the most famous scholars especially in field of

Islamic studies. Watt is acknowledged as a leading European authority on Islam and the Prophet at the

present time. He has died in age of 97 (24th

October 2006)16

The most famous three books written by

him focus on one person that is The Prophet Muhammad, acknowledged by experts to be classics in the

field.17

Watt was born in Ceres, Fife where his father died when he was 14 months old. His father was a

Minister. He was educated at George Watson‟s College, Edinburgh and continued taking degree at

Edinburgh and Oxford Universities where he took three degrees in six years.18

In year 1937, Watt

discovered Islam that took him to a Muslim lodger, KA Mannan, a veterinary student from Pakistan.

According to Watt, he began to learn something about Islam that he had been largely ignorant about it.

But then Watt wrote that stated “the dominant impression was that I was engaged not merely in

arguing with this individual but in confronting a whole, century-old system of thought and life”19

.

This discovery also has led him to the Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem, George Francis Graham

Brown. Brown has became the father figure to Watt, who agreed to join him in Jerusalem as his

chaplain, working on the intellectual approach to Islam. This also meant that he had to seek ordination

11

Ibid. 12

Ibid. pg. 73 13

W. Montgomery Watt, Muhammad: Prophet and The Statesman, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1948), pg. 15 14

W. Montgomery Watt, What Is Islam, (Beirut: Library of Lebanon, 1990), pg. 9 15

Ibid, pg. 13 16

Richard Holloway, “William Montgomery Watt” The Guardian. Edition 14th

Nov. 2006. 17

Carole Hillenbrand, “article on Professor W. Montgomery Watt”, Edinburgh Middle East Report Online, Winter 2006 18

Richard Holloway, op.cit. 19

see website : www.alastairmcIntosh.com, An interview with “the Last Orientalist” - the Rev Prof William Montgomery Watt by Bashir Maan & Alastair McIntosh

4

in the Anglican Church, he was fast-tracked through Cuddesdon Theological College in a year and

ordain deacon in 1939. He was ordained in 1940, and after St Mary‟s was closed because of bomb

damage, Watt returned to Edinburgh to finish his training as a curate at Old St Paul‟s, and begin work

on his doctoral thesis, “Free Will and Predestination in Early Islam”.20

Returning to Scotland in year 1946, Watt became a lecturer in Arabic at Edinburgh, University

where he remained there until his retirement in 1979. He was given a personal chair in Arabic and

Islamic Studies in 1964.21

Watt has wrote 30 books and scores of articles. He was towering figure in the

history of Edinburgh University Press, establishing the highly successful Islamic Surveys series in 1962

to bring the subject to a wider readership, and writing seven books for that press, all which are still in

print and are amongst the bestsellers. His other books have been translated into a vast array of other

languages. William was awarded many academic honors, he had visiting Professorships at the

University of Toronto, the College de France, and Georgetown University, and received the American

Giorgio Levi Della Vida Medal and was, as his first recipient, the British Society for Middle Eastern

studies award for outstanding scholarship.22

Among his works are The faith and practice of al-Ghazālī (1953), Muhammad at Mecca

(1953), Muhammad at Medina (1956), Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman (1961), Islamic Philosophy

and Theology (1962), Islamic Political Thought (1968),Islamic Surveys: The Influence of Islam on

Medieval Europe (1972), The Majesty That Was Islam (1976), What Is Islam? (1980), Muhammad's

Mecca (1988), Muslim-Christian Encounters: Perceptions and Misperceptions (1991), Islamic

Philosophy And Theology (1987), Islamic Creeds (1994), History of Islamic Spain, Islamic Political

Thought (1998) and A Christian Faith For Today (2002).23

Watt‟s stated that he doubted the appropriateness of conversion and felt that those of all faiths

should collaborate in friendship to stern the tide of materialism and secularization. He was not afraid to

express his radical theological opinions. The controversial ones in some Christian ecclesiastical circles.

He often pondered on the question of what influence his study of Islam had exerted on him in his own

Christian faith. As a direct result, he came to argue that the Islamic emphasis on the uncompromising

oneness of God had caused him to reconsider the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, which is vigorously

attached in the Qur‟an as undermining true monotheism.24

20

Carole Hillenbrand, op.cit. 21

Ibid. 22

Ibid. 23

See website : www.wikipedia.com/williammontgomerywatt 24

see website : www.alastairmcIntosh.com, An interview with “the Last Orientalist”, op.cit.

5

His aspirations to the highest degrees of objectivity are apparent in statements like “I am not a

Muslim in the usual sense, though I hope I am a “Muslim” as “one surrendered to God”; but I believe

that embedded in the Qur‟an and other expressions of the Islamic vision are vast stores of divine truth

from which I and other occidentals have still much to learn”25

. This statement projects his love towards

knowledge and truth, even though some of his views on Islam is controversial and absolutely contradict

to the reality of Islam.

The Worldview of Islam

The worldview of Islam is the „aqidah of Islam itself26

. It projects the vision of the one reality

and truth. It encompasses both dunya and akhirah in which, as al-Attas put it, “the dunya-aspect must

be related in a profound and inseparable way to the akhirah-aspect and in which the akhlak aspect was

ultimate and final significance. The dunya aspect is seen as preparation for the dunya-aspect.

Everything in Islam is ultimately focused on the akhirah aspect without thereby implying any attitude of

neglect or being unmindful of the dunya aspect”.27

The worldview of Islam is a fixed unchanging, final and absolute vision because it is grounded

in and derived from wahy.28

This is not merely a theoretical claim, for Muslim historical experience has

shown that the fundamental element of the worldview such as the conception of God, of the nature of

man and of the psychology of the human soul, and the meaning of knowledge, of happiness, of virtue

and vices, and of prophethood have no change throughout the long ages of Islamic epoch.29

In the book “What is Islam” (1990), Watt stated that: “while much of what valuable in the

nomadic Arabic outlook has been taken into the central core of Islam and there transformed, there

would also appear to be matters which have been given an Islamic dress without any fundamental

change…”30

It is absolutely a false statement which describes Islam as a derivation of cultural and

philosophical elements but it is one whose source is wahy, confirmed by religion, affirmed by

25

W. Montgomery Watt, What Is Islam, pg. 21. 26

Omar Jah, op.cit, pg. 83 27

Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, “Islamic Weltanschauung: A Brief Overiew”, Forum ISTAC al-Hikmah, (Kuala Lumpur: ISTAC, 1999), yr. 5 issue no.1, pg. 3 28

Adi Setia Mohd Dom, Worldview of Islam Academy: The Concept, (Kuala Lumpur: HAKIM, 2010), pg. 7 29

Ibid. 30

W. Montgomery Watt, What Is Islam, (Beirut: Library of Lebanon, 1990), pg. 23

6

intellectual and intuitive principles.31

This wahy is final, an it not only confirms the truth of preceding

revelations in their original forms, but includes their substance, separating the truth from cultural

creation and ethnic inventions.32

The worldview of Islam consist of 33

: (1) belief in the oneness of Allah; (2) belief that Allah is

the creator of this universe; (3) belief that Allah is the sustainer of the world; (4) belief in the unseen

realities and the life to come; (5) recognition of the Holy Prophet Muhammad as the Messenger of

Allah, and (6) belief in the angels of Allah and the authority that defines the truth as separate from

falsehood (Qur`an: Yunus: 32).34

For Muslims, Islam represents a way of life guided by proper

knowledge and ethical principles outlined in The Holy Qur`an and exemplified in the practical life of

The Holy Prophet35

. As explain by al-Attas: “the man of Islam has with him The Qur`an which is itself

unchanged, unchanging, and unchangeable; it is a Speech of God revealed in complete and final

form.”36

Concept of Wahy

God sends His words to His creation through an imperceptible message called as wahy.37

The

imperceptible message has played a role in the formation of Islamic civilization and also like many

other concepts in terminology of Islam. Wahy has also be part of victim to the innumerable

misunderstanding.38

In the ancient as well as the modern period, people were continuously occupied in generating

ambiguity on the overall concept, background and forms of wahy. There are many false perception and

accusations. It is due to the result of totally erroneous statements made about Islam in the West and

disseminated in the East either being a systematic denigration or is based on preposterous evidence.

There are many untruths were fabricated and the most dangerous was that the Qur‟an was authored by

the Prophet. According to the western scholars the Prophet invented it is wording and formulated it

31

Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, Prolegomena to The Metaphysics of Islam: An Exposition of The Fundamental Elements of The Worldview of Islam, (Kuala Lumpur: ISTAC, 1995), pg. 4 32

Ibid. pg. 6 33

Omar Jah, op.cit, pg. 85 34

Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, Prolegomena, pg. 78 35

Israr Ahmad Khan, Qur`anic Studies: An Introduction, (Kuala Lumpur: Zaman Islam Media, 2000), pg. Introduction 36

Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, Prolegomena, pg. 78 37

Israr Ahmad Khan, op.cit, pg. 35 38

Ibid.

7

style. The true perception of wahy must be explained to others and it will help one to understand the

position of Islam in the midst of other philosophies and way of life.

The literal meaning of wahy, according to Thameem Ushama, derives from the root or semantic

meaning of sur‟ah (quickness or promptness) and khafyah (secrecy). These two meanings describe the

real nature of wahy as it is revealed through human prophets and messenger. Literally the word wahy

also derives from “aiha” which is means revelation, inspiration, quick signal, animal natural instinct

and etcetera. The lexical meaning of the Arabic word wahy is the secret inspiration that is felt only by

the one who inspires and the other who is inspired. The Qur‟an has used this word both for instinctive

inspiration by Allah to His creation in general and for the revelation towards His prophets in

particular.39

As mentioned by Israr Ahmad Khan, wahy means communication. It is taken by verbs from

“ahwa” that is for instances, denotes sentence of “he communicated”.40

Communication is the

backbone of life. It provides the means through which people can communicate to learn from one

another and exchange ideas in organizing normal life in which groups and individuals can live in peace,

harmony, security and prosperity.41

According to Omar Jah, the first meaningful line of communication

to help men organize life on earth came in a dialogue between God and the Angles, when Allah

communicated to them His decision to appoint a khalifah to be entrusted with responsibility, to

administer the affairs of creatures on earth, to maintain law and order, to establish peace, security and

harmony.42

The Khalifah appointed by Allah is properly equipped with divine knowledge to discern

truth from falsehood in belief, right from wrong in judgement and good from evil in action. This was

wahy (the divine message) communicated to all Messenger of Allah. The Holy Qur`an says “O ye the

Messenger of Allah, do communicate what is being sent to down you, if you do not, you would not have

fulfilled your mission”.43

Wahy also bring the meaning that it is certainly message from the heaven (Allah). This meaning

agreed by Muhammad „Abduh, who is according to him wahy it is a sublime knowledge („irfan)

imported in one‟s heart (qalb) with absolute conviction and also it must be from Allah. Furthermore,

the wahy in the meaning above may be derived either through a medium (wasitah) and it is therefore

audible in nature by using a voice or it maybe without a medium and it was therefore requested directly

39

Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur’an: Translation and Commentary, (U.S.A: Amana Corporation Maryland, 1983) 40

Israr Ahmad Khan, op.cit, pg. 35-36 41

Omar Jah, op.cit, pg. 92-93 42

Surah al-Baqarah (2): 30-35 43

Surah al-Maidah (5): 69

8

to the heart of prophets. It is inaudible that is mean without a voice.44

Watt described that Muslims take

what is revealed to human beings is also called as “the word of God”. The Arabic term is „kalam‟, and

this can be correctly translated „speech‟, since it also being used for God‟s attribute to speech, while

„kalima‟ represented the single word.45

Meanwhile, Al-Attas refers wahy as “speech of God concerning Himself, His creation, the

relation between them, and the way to salvation communicated to His chosen Prophet and Messenger,

not by sound or letter, yet comprising all that He has represented in words, then conveyed by the

Prophet to the mankind in the linguistic form new in nature (Arabic Language of Qur`an) yet

comprehensible, without confusion with the Prophet‟s own subjectivityand cognitive imagination. This

wahy is final, an it not only confirms the truth of preceding revelations in their original forms, but

includes their substance, separating the truth from cultural creation and ethnic inventions.”46

Wahy projects the „worldview of Islam‟ as mention in the sub-topic before,47

“the worldview of

Islam is a fixed unchanging, final and absolute vision because it is grounded in and derived from

wahy.48

This is not merely a theoretical claim, for Muslim historical experience has shown that the

fundamental element of the worldview such as the conception of God, of the nature of man and of the

psychology of the human soul, and the meaning of knowledge, of happiness, of virtue and vices, and of

prophethood have no change throughout the long ages of Islamic epoch.”49

Islamic perspective towards Divine Revelation is that God has not only created human beings,

but also continually guided them by raising series of prophethood since time immemorial starting with

Adam and ending it with the last Prophet Muhammad SAW and it stated that every prophet or

messenger must have received revelation (wahy) from God, which His Divine guidance (huda or

hidayah) directing people to lead their lives in accordance with the absolute command of God. The

command is of two kinds, that it is the instructions (al-awamir) and the prohibitions (al-nawahi). Those

who believed and obeyed the command are believers, and those who rejected are condemned as

unbelievers.

Watt’s Treatment of Wahy

44

Thameem Ushama, Issues in The study of The Qur’an, (Kuala Lumpur: Ilmiah Publisher, 2002), pg. 44-46 45

W. Montgomery Watt, Islam and Christianity today: A Contribution to Dialogue, (Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh Press, 1991) chap. 4, pg introduction 46

Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, Prolegomena, pg. 6 47

See subtopic “The Worldview of Islam” of this paper, pg. 5 48

Adi Setia Mohd Dom, op.cit, pg. 7 49

Ibid.

9

We have discussed in the subtopics before about the nature of Islam and of wahy. Actually the

discussion before are quite clear to answer most of Watt‟s accusations and false statements about wahy.

In several works of Watt, he has arrived at some conclusion about wahy. Major points raised by him

that will be discussed here are: (1) wahy is a projection of Prophet‟s ideas of socio-religious reforms

arising out of his time, environment and circumstances50

; (2) wahy is derived from the ancient Arab

(pagan) poet has been influenced by the ideas and facts of other religions such as Christianity, Jews and

Zoroastrians which prevailing in Arabia at the time; (3) the wahy does not mean verbal communication

of a text, but suggestion or inspiration to give out the Qur`an and Jibril A.S was introduced at a later

stage as a conveyer of way; and (4) Satan has outsmarted the Prophet by putting into his mouth some

polytheistic ideas.

Watt admitted some similarities between wahy (which he mentioned as the work of the

Prophet) and works of man‟s creative imagination such as drama and poetry in the sense that both type

of works have a wide appeal and producing material from the collective unconscious.51

Thameem

Ushama mentioned52

that Watt has arrived at conclusion that Prophet Muhammad SAW may have been

mistaken in believing The Qur`an to be a divine message53

and described The Qur`an as “the Product of

Creative Imagination”.54

The fact is wahy is neither the sudden visions of great poets and artists claim

for themselves; nor the apostolic inspiration of the writers of sacred scripture; nor the illuminative

intuition of the sages and people of discernment.55

Israr Ahmad Khan put a question for this allegation:

“if it was Muhammad himself who developed the book, why he did not, the attribute it to his name?”56

Prophet would have undoubtedly hailed by his compatriots as well as the world today as the most

remarkable literary genius for producing the work with extraordinary language and messages.57

Watt seems to have accepted the view the continuance of pre-Islamic (Jahiliah) attitudes

happened in the Qur`an as he try to find similarity of messages in both the Qur`an and the pagan

poetry58

Also, he try to make conclusion that Qur`an in the earliest passage have no insistence on the

50

W. Montgomery Watt, What Is Islam, pg. 223. See also W. Montgomery Watt, Muhammad: Prophet and The Statesman, pg. introduction, see also pg. 19-20. 51

Ibid, pg. 223 52

Thameem Ushama, Issues in The Study of The Qur`an, (Kuala Lumpur: Ilmiah Publisher, 2002), pg. 71 53

Ibid. pg. 73 54

W. Montgomery Watt, Muhammad: Prophet and The Statesman, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1948), pg. 15 55

Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, Prolegomena, pg. 6 56

Israr Ahmad Khan, op.cit, pg. 16 57

Ibid. pg. 49 58

W. Montgomery Watt, What Is Islam, pg. 23

10

truth that there is no deity but God.59

He claimed that in the early time of Islam, the doctrine of

monotheism is vague and admiration for superior culture like the people of Syria and Iraq (who believe

in one God) and influence of Judaism and Christianity made the acceptance of monotheism become

easier.60

Firstly, as mentioned by M. Mohar Ali, for Muhammad‟s emergence as Prophet must have

been marked by something new and better on his part than what was already known. None would paid

any attention to him and become his followers if his ideas were not clearly in advance of those of the

enlightened Meccans.61

Secondly, the message of Tawhid and its principles in the Qur`an is very clear

as mentioned for instance in Surah al-Ikhlas(Qur`an: 112) and surah al-Kafirun(Qur`an: 109). Thirdly,

it is clear that Islam by its nature was conscious of his own identity from the time of its revelation.62

When it appeared on the stage of the world history. Islam is already „mature‟, needing no process of

growing up to maturity. Al-Attas stressed that wahy religion („revealed religion‟) can only be that

which known itself from the very beginning and that self-knowledge comes from wahy itself, not from

history.”63

Israr Ahmad Khan argued that the Qur`anic account of many stories is essentially

different from the Biblical account, in many respect.64

Also, the Qur`an states clearly about the

differences between Islam and Judeo-Christian traditions and religions.65

In translating surah al-Najm Watt adopts Bell‟s rendering of the expressions wahy and awha as

“suggestion” and “suggested”. These meaning are not all correct for Qur`anic wahy.66

The meaning of

the word change with the change of the context. Indeed, a common English equivalent for wahy should

be communication rather than suggestion.67

This meaning would fit in all situation.68

Wahy maybe of

different types depending on the nature of the matter communication. Watt mentoned “There is no

mention of Gabriel (Jibril A.S) in the Qur`an until the Medinan period”.69

According to M. Mohar Ali,

Watt invoked the opinion of Karl Ahrens who said that there is no mention of Jibril in the Meccan

passages of the Qur`an. Actually, Watt has misinterpreted the Qur`anic terms, words and passages.

Jibril is mentioned several times in the Qur`an (especially in Meccan passages) by several names which

refers to the Archangel Jibril A.S such as “Rasul Karim”70

and “al-Ruh”.71

Both names are refers to

the same individual whom mentioned as the conveyer of wahy who is also described as al-

59

Ibid. pg. 46 60

Ibid. 61

Muhammad Mohar Ali, op.cit. pg. 216 62

Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, Prolegomena, pg. 4 63

Ibid. 64

Israr Ahmad Khan, op.cit, pg. 49 65

Surah al-Baqarah(2): 135 66

Muhammad Mohar Ali, op.cit. pg. 454 67

Israr Ahmad Khan, op.cit, pg. 35 68

Muhammad Mohar Ali, op.cit. pg. 435 69

W. Montgomery Watt, Muhammad at Mecca, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988), pg. 16 70

Surah al-Takwir(81): 19 71

Surah al-Qadr(97): 4, Surah al-Ma’arij(70): 4, Surah al-Naba(78): 38

11

amin72

(nazzala bihi al-ruh al-amin) which means faithful and having been employed as a messenger by

God. Moreover, the specific mention of him by name Jibril as a conveyer of wahy can be found for

example in surah al-Baqarah(2): 97.

Watt‟s most controversial view is his theory of „Satanic versus‟.73

He claimed that ayat 19-23 of

surah al-Najm is those verses. Watt said that: “it is assumed in Islam that all such Satanic alterations in

the Qur`an have been discovered and corrected…”74

and “…Satan had managed to slip in the false

versus of the first version without Muhammad noticing it...”75

But the Qur`an already stated that it is

impossible.76

According to Israr Ahmad Khan, the incident involving those versus is totally different

with the story rose by Watt. He corrected Watt as in 5A.H., when a number of early Islamic community

took refuge in Abbysina, Prophet after having received the complete surah al-Najm (the Qur`an: 53)

from Allah, recited it to a large audience comprising the companions and non-believers. In the end as

the last word demand for doing prostration, Prophet made it and followed by the others including the

non-believers. The Quraysh, later on felt ashamed of their joining in doing prostration to Allah with

Prophet S.A.W, and to wash off this stigma fabricated the story that they follow the later in prostration

because they heard Prophet Muhammad praising their idol.77

Israr Ahmad Khan also in his commentary

to this matter said that almost all the Orientalists described the Prophet as a genius, but Muhammad

S.A.W as an intelligent person cannot realize the nature of the two opposite messages which one is

allegedly Satanic versus and the other is genuinely divine versus: the former appreciates the Arab‟s

chief goddesses and the latter condemn them as falsehood. These two views are too distinct to escape

even an ordinary person‟s mind.78

Conclusion

From our brief survey, we can see that William Montgomery Watt (Watt) is one of the

westerners whose works (most of them) are systematically and scientifically written about Islam. As

stated by Edward Said: „Orientalism‟ is “anyone who teaches, writes about, or researches the Orient

either in its specific or its general aspect, is an Orientalist, and what he or she does is Orientalism”.79

Watt was absolutely belongs to them. However, his statements, theories, interpretations and

72

Surah al-Syu’ara(26): 193 73

W. Montgomery Watt, What Is Islam, pg. 46 74

W. Montgomery Watt, What Is Islam, pg. 223. See also pg.42 75

W. Montgomery Watt, Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman, pg. 61 76

Surah al-Haqqah(69): 44-46 77

Israr Ahmad Khan, op.cit, pg. 50 78

Ibid. pg. 51 79

Edward W. Said, Orientalism, (New York: Vintage Books, 1929), pg 204.

12

assumptions about Islam at certain extent look contradict with the truth and reality of Islam (as

discussed before),80

its Holy Prophet, its Holy Scripture, and Islamic themes including wahy, which

have became our primary subject of this paper. Also, at certain places, his conclusion are contradict and

irrelevant between one to another as for example criticized by M. Mohar Ali in the problem rose by

Watt about the Prophet‟s literacy: “…what Watt says in his first paragraph is in fact rendered

irrelevant with what he says in his second paragraph dealing with the origin and meaning of iqra`”81

However, there are also positive aspect and effect of his works. He was known by many

scholars of the west as a legendary figure among scholars who in the field of Islamic studies. Also, he

dedicated his life to the promotion of dialogue between Christians and Muslims.82

Before his death, he

came to argue that the Islamic emphasis on the uncompromising oneness of God had caused him to

reconsider the Christians doctrine of the Trinity, which is vigorously attacked in the Qur‟an as

undermining the monotheism.83

Influenced by Islam with its 99 names of God, each expressing specials

attributes of God, Watt returned to the Latin word “persona” which meant a “face” or “mask”, and not

“individuals” as it now means in English in order to explain the doctrine of Trinity in Christianity.84

It

means, he tried to rationalized the concept as God is the only One not three but there are three faces of

one single God.

About wahy, it is clear to us that it is a medium of communication between God and mankind.

Wahy project the worldview of Islam which is the information of the absolute truth and reality. Wahy is

a kind of man‟s behavioral and spiritual needs. Man stands almost identical to animals without those

wahy.

Lastly, based on this survey, we arrived at the conclusion that Watt was a very famous figure in

Islamic studies especially in the West but his criticism to Islam and its themes especially wahy is

invalid, contradictory and irrelevant as it is disable to show the nature of Islam itself unlike the believe

of true Muslim. Hence, as a Muslim, we have to search for the true knowledge from authentic and

reliable people and sources especially in the world today. 85

80

See topics before 81

Muhammad Mohar Ali, op.cit. pg. 474 82

Richard Holloway, “William Montgomery Watt” The Guardian. Edition 14th

Nov. 2006. 83

see website : www.alastairmcIntosh.com, An interview with “the Last Orientalist”, op.cit. 84

Carole Hillenbrand, “article on Professor W. Montgomery Watt”, Edinburgh Middle East Report Online, Winter 2006 85

‘Abdullah Ibn Amr reported that the Holy Prophet said: “Allah will not take away knowledge (la yaqbidu al ‘ilma) by taking it away from the servants, but He will take away the learned (wa lakin yaqbidu al-‘ilma bi qabdi al-‘ulama`); Narrated by Imam Bukhari and Muslim

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