The most truthful of men, or the greatest liar
Whoever says “God speaks to me” is either the most truthful of men or the greatest liar. Heraclius, emperor of the Romans, applied this reasoning when he questioned Abu Sufyan about the Prophet ﷺ: a man who did not lie to people would not lie about God (Bukhari 7).
Now this Prophet ﷺ did not lie to people, and his enemies knew it.
Al-Amin ﷺ, the trustworthy
Before the revelation, “his name among his people was none other than al-Amin”, the trustworthy (Ibn Hisham, I, 183 and 198). When he called to Quraysh from the top of al-Safa, they answered him: “we have known nothing from you but the truth” (Bukhari 4770). Umayya ibn Khalaf, who fought him, swore: “by God, Muhammad ﷺ does not lie when he speaks”; and he was killed as the Prophet ﷺ had foretold (Bukhari 3632).
The Qur’an affirms it: his enemies do not accuse him ﷺ of lying; they deny the signs of God.
﴿ قَدْ نَعْلَمُ إِنَّهُۥ لَيَحْزُنُكَ ٱلَّذِى يَقُولُونَ فَإِنَّهُمْ لَا يُكَذِّبُونَكَ وَلَٰكِنَّ ٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ بِـَٔايَٰتِ ٱللَّهِ يَجْحَدُونَ ﴾“We know well that what they say grieves you. It is not you whom they call a liar: it is the signs of God that the wrongdoers deny.”
The Qur’an rebukes him ﷺ
A man composing a book in the name of God would put his own glory into it. The Qur’an that the Prophet ﷺ recited rebukes him, in front of everyone, and his Companions handed down these verses like all the others:
﴿ عَبَسَ وَتَوَلَّىٰٓ أَن جَآءَهُ ٱلْأَعْمَىٰ وَمَا يُدْرِيكَ لَعَلَّهُۥ يَزَّكَّىٰٓ أَوْ يَذَّكَّرُ فَتَنفَعَهُ ٱلذِّكْرَىٰٓ أَمَّا مَنِ ٱسْتَغْنَىٰ فَأَنتَ لَهُۥ تَصَدَّىٰ وَمَا عَلَيْكَ أَلَّا يَزَّكَّىٰ وَأَمَّا مَن جَآءَكَ يَسْعَىٰ وَهُوَ يَخْشَىٰ فَأَنتَ عَنْهُ تَلَهَّىٰ ﴾“He frowned and turned away, because the blind man came to him. And what do you know? Perhaps he sought to purify himself, or to be reminded, and the reminder would have benefited him. As for the one who thinks himself self-sufficient, you go out to meet him; and it is no concern of yours if he does not purify himself. But the one who comes to you eagerly, and who fears God, from him you turn away.”
Elsewhere, the reproach is just as plain:
- on the exemptions he ﷺ granted: “May God pardon you! Why did you give them leave, before those who spoke the truth had become clear to you and you had come to know the liars?” (9:43);
- on the captives of Badr: “It is not for a prophet to have captives until he has prevailed in the land. You desire the goods of this world, and God desires the hereafter” (8:67).
Revelation does not come on demand
When Aisha was slandered, on the return from the expedition against the Banu al-Mustaliq, in the year 6 according to Ibn Ishaq, in the year 5 according to Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, the Prophet ﷺ waited a month with nothing revealed to him about her (Ibn Hisham, II, 297; Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, II, 352; research file v1, part 4). It concerned his own wife, and suspicion hung over his house; he did not settle the matter. The Qur’an came down at last, and declared her innocent (24:11; Ibn Hisham, II, 303).
A man who composed the revelation himself would not have waited a month.
His opinion ﷺ is not revelation
About the pollination of the palm trees, he ﷺ told his Companions: “you know better the affairs of your world” (Muslim 2363). He kept what he thought apart from what was revealed to him, instead of covering everything with the authority of God.
A death without wealth
He ﷺ died with his armor pledged to a Jew (Bukhari 2916). Already in Mecca, according to Ibn Ishaq, Utba ibn Rabi’a had offered him wealth, honor, kingship, or a physician; he had answered by reciting sura 41 (Ibn Hisham, I, 293-294). Ibn Ishaq traces this account back to Muhammad ibn Ka’b al-Qurazi, who does not name his informant; another version, from Jabir, has a chain that al-Salihi judges good (al-Salihi, II, 335). He refused the kingship he was offered, and he died without wealth.
The objection that remains: the sincere error
“He was sincere, but he was mistaken.” Once the lie is ruled out, this is the objection that remains: W. Montgomery Watt held his sincerity ﷺ to be established (research file v1, part 4). The Qur’an answers each hypothesis.
To the charge of lying:
﴿ قُل لَّوْ شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ مَا تَلَوْتُهُۥ عَلَيْكُمْ وَلَآ أَدْرَىٰكُم بِهِۦ فَقَدْ لَبِثْتُ فِيكُمْ عُمُرًا مِّن قَبْلِهِۦٓ أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ ﴾“Say: ‘Had God willed, I would not have recited it to you, nor would He have made it known to you. I have lived among you a whole lifetime before it. Will you not then use your reason?’”
﴿ وَلَوْ تَقَوَّلَ عَلَيْنَا بَعْضَ ٱلْأَقَاوِيلِ لَأَخَذْنَا مِنْهُ بِٱلْيَمِينِ ثُمَّ لَقَطَعْنَا مِنْهُ ٱلْوَتِينَ ﴾“Had he ascribed to Us some sayings, We would have seized him by the right hand, then We would have severed his aorta.”
To the charge of madness:
﴿ قُلْ إِنَّمَآ أَعِظُكُم بِوَٰحِدَةٍ أَن تَقُومُوا۟ لِلَّهِ مَثْنَىٰ وَفُرَٰدَىٰ ثُمَّ تَتَفَكَّرُوا۟ مَا بِصَاحِبِكُم مِّن جِنَّةٍ إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا نَذِيرٌ لَّكُم بَيْنَ يَدَىْ عَذَابٍ شَدِيدٍ ﴾“Say: I exhort you to one thing only: that you stand up for God, in pairs or alone, and then reflect. Your companion is not possessed: he is only a warner to you, ahead of a terrible punishment.”
To the charge of going astray:
﴿ مَا ضَلَّ صَاحِبُكُمْ وَمَا غَوَىٰ وَمَا يَنطِقُ عَنِ ٱلْهَوَىٰٓ ﴾“Your companion has not gone astray, nor has he erred; he does not speak out of his own desire.”
And sincere error does not explain the prophecies that came to pass. A man mistaken about his own inspiration does not predict the victory of the Romans, the death of Abu Lahab in unbelief, or the places where the dead of Badr would fall. This is the test of Deuteronomy, with which this part begins: the prophet’s word comes to pass.
How this page connects to the others
- The test of the Bible and the date of the collections: The test of a true prophet.
- The admission of Umayya ibn Khalaf: page 2, Fulfilled in his lifetime.
- Al-Amin ﷺ before the mission: Khadija, the Ka’ba and al-Amin; the offer of Utba: The preaching in Mecca.
- The objections: the sincere error; power and wealth.
Sources for this page
- Qur’an: Tanzil text (Uthmani); translation of the meaning by the site.
- Hadiths: Bukhari 7 (Heraclius and Abu Sufyan); Bukhari 4770 (al-Safa); Bukhari 3632 (Umayya ibn Khalaf); Bukhari 2916 (the armor in pledge); Muslim 2363 (the pollination of the palm trees).
- Ibn Hisham, al-Sira al-nabawiyya, ed. Mustafa al-Saqqa, Ibrahim al-Abyari and Abd al-Hafiz Shalabi, al-Babi al-Halabi, Cairo, 2nd ed., 1955, I, 183, 198 and 293; II, 297 and 303 (Shamela 23833).
- Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, Uyun al-athar, Dar al-Qalam, Beirut, 1993, II, 352 (Shamela 23653).
- Al-Salihi al-Shami, Subul al-huda wa-l-rashad, ed. Adil Abd al-Mawjud and Ali Mu’awwad, Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyya, Beirut, 1993, II, 335 (Shamela 1693).
- Research file “The Prophet ﷺ Foretold”, v1.0, 14 October 2026, part 4, “Indications drawn from his person”.
- Research files “His birth and life before the message” (al-Amin) and “The message and the Hijra” (the offer of Utba, the slander), v1.0, 2 November 2026.