So not only does the Quran refute the claim but the Christian’s holy book, the Bible refutes the claim Muhammad ﷺ was deceived from the devil.[3] Now that objection has been dealt with. We can move onto the others.
OBJECTION 2 – MUHAMMAD ﷺ WAS A LIAR HE WAS IN IT FOR MATERIAL GAIN
An interesting objection levied by some people is that Muhammad ﷺ was a liar. He lied about his claim of being a prophet. Why would one lie? They would lie for material gain such as money, power and women. So, one has to question if this is what Muhammad ﷺ was after. Well let’s see shall we.
In “The Sealed Nectar” page 103 and 104 we read. The Quraysh made Muhammad ﷺ many offers. If you read “The Sealed Nectar” page 103 to 104. Where Utbah approached Muhammad ﷺ and offered him riches “Oh nephew if you are doing all this with a view to getting wealth, we will join together to give you greater riches than any Qurayshite has possessed. If ambition moves you, we will make you our chief. If you desire kingship, we will readily offer you that. “Muhammad ﷺ then replied reciting from the Quran chapter 41 verse 1-5. He then told Utbah “You have heard my reply. You are now free to do whatever you please. [4]
There you go. He was offered riches, to be the richest Qurayshite in fact and he rejected. He was offered power and he rejected. It needs to be noted that was very early on in his prophetic career as well. If he was a liar, he would have eaten this offer up. But he rejected.
What else could people say he could have done it for? Women? Ok I will address that as well. He married more than four wives in his life time. The only virgin he married was Aisha RA. Everyone else was not. Some were older than him like Khadijah and Sawda and others were younger. Critics refer to the report in Tabari. Now this is not authentic due to Al-Kalbi being in the chain of narration and he was known to be a liar, but let’s assume it is authentic.
They say this report calls him a “womaniser”. [6] The issue is if you read the Arabic, the word used is not womaniser and the footnote you see above says that Muhammad ﷺ has “wives”. Moreover, this report refutes the claim of the people who say he was in it for women. Why? Because if you read the report a woman called Layla offered herself in marriage to him, the prophet responded yes. When Layla went back to her people and told them they said that you are a jealous woman and that you will be jealous because Muhammad ﷺ had other wives. So, she went back and asked to cancel the marriage and the Prophet said “YES!” why would he reject if he was in it for the women as people try and say it does not make any sense.
Moreover, there is a reason why he married different women, why? To consolidates relationships with others. He did not marry more women out of his physical desires for he had only one wife even till the age of 54. Till 50 he had only one wife Sayyidah Khadija who was 15 years elder to him and was twice widowed before. And for next 4 years his only wife was Sayyidah Sawda, also an aged lady. All, but one, of his wives were either widows or divorced. It was only at the age of 55 that four wives gathered in his marriage.
John Bagot Glubb states this fact in the following words;
“It is, however, worthy to note that of all his wives, only Aisha was a virgin when he married her. Zainab bint Jahash was a divorced wife and all the rest were widows, some of them, IT WOULD SEEM, NOT PARTICULARLY ATTRACTIVE. Moreover, the Apostle had married Khadija when he was twenty-five and SHE WAS A WIDOW CONSIDERABLY OLDER THAN HE WAS. He had remained completely faithful to her for twenty-four years until her death.” [7]
Further he says;
They say this report calls him a “womaniser”. [6] The issue is if you read the Arabic, the word used is not womaniser and the footnote you see above says that Muhammad ﷺ has “wives”. Moreover, this report refutes the claim of the people who say he was in it for women. Why? Because if you read the report a woman called Layla offered herself in marriage to him, the prophet responded yes. When Layla went back to her people and told them they said that you are a jealous woman and that you will be jealous because Muhammad ﷺ had other wives. So, she went back and asked to cancel the marriage and the Prophet said “YES!” why would he reject if he was in it for the women as people try and say it does not make any sense.
Moreover, there is a reason why he married different women, why? To consolidates relationships with others. He did not marry more women out of his physical desires for he had only one wife even till the age of 54. Till 50 he had only one wife Sayyidah Khadija who was 15 years elder to him and was twice widowed before. And for next 4 years his only wife was Sayyidah Sawda, also an aged lady. All, but one, of his wives were either widows or divorced. It was only at the age of 55 that four wives gathered in his marriage.
John Bagot Glubb states this fact in the following words;
“It is, however, worthy to note that of all his wives, only Aisha was a virgin when he married her. Zainab bint Jahash was a divorced wife and all the rest were widows, some of them, IT WOULD SEEM, NOT PARTICULARLY ATTRACTIVE. Moreover, the Apostle had married Khadija when he was twenty-five and SHE WAS A WIDOW CONSIDERABLY OLDER THAN HE WAS. He had remained completely faithful to her for twenty-four years until her death.” [7]
Further he says;