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]
Zoroaster claimed to have ascended into heaven to obtain a religious law from
Ahura Mazda for the nation of
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] 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]
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] Vohuman is portrayed in the sacred
Zoroastrian books as the judge who condemned sinners.[vi]
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]
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]
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]
Likewise, Gabriel is described by Mohammed’s biographers as entering the bodies
of humans.[x]
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] And Gabriel changed himself into the
form of a man Mohammed knew personally, a man was named Dahieh ÏÍíÉ.[xii]
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] The Jinn/devils of
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]
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 a
hallucinate 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
ascensions 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]
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 Qu’ran, he also experienced other negative
symptoms such as convulsions, sweating 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]
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
Zoroaster
as a Medium for a spirit named Vohuman. 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
cause 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
whose 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
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] who we previously identified as
Vohuman, who later is said to have accompanied 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
Vohuman. Through these experiences Vistaspa was able to see unusual things.[xx]
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
There are many similarities between the way Mohammed spread his
religion and the way Zoroastrianism spread. We also compare the
role of Mohammed as a witch doctor in
First of all,
the witch doctor or “shaman”, in
Ibn 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
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 Jinn. Mohammed confirmed that his uncle recited the poetry
about him and boasted about its contents.[xxii]
Another similarity between Zoroaster and Mohammed is that Mohammed also
emigrated from his own city to
The rukhah, plural of rakhi, were known to be among the Kuhhan or priests of
the Jinn religion of
The trances
and comas that Mohammed experienced produced the same symptoms that affected
the priests of Jinn in
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]
Sahih AlBukhari, reports one occasion on which Mohammed fell in trance while he
was a youth before he claimed to receive the Qu'ran.[xxiv]
Mohammed was known to have suffered from trances since his childhood because
Amneh, his mother, brought on him a ruchieh, or bewitching.[xxv]
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
Someone may ask why Amneh bewitched Mohammed when he was a small infant.
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 speaks in a loud voice through the tongue of her son.
This phenomenon is reported in spiritism worship in
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
Anthropologists believe that, like a hereditary disease, the priesthood
which serves the devil is transmitted from individual to individual in the same
family.[xxix] 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 sweating. These symptoms were also experienced by Mohammed as a
child after his mother bewitched him.
The Jinn religion in
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]
The trance was communicated to children who were born in Kuhhan families under
servitude to Jinn.
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] Khater, Kahen of the Jinn, went into to
a coma for three days while he said the rhymed prose exalting Mohammed.[xxxii]
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
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] 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]
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 AlBukhari, mentioned that Asmaa, the sister of Aisheh, the youngest wife
of Mohammed, fell in trance on at least in one occasion.[xxxv]
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
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]
The book of Halabieh describes his journeys in spirit claiming Mohammed used to
“sleep in the spirit.”[xxxvii]
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.[xxxviii] 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.[xxxix]
So we see what the Qu’ran claims happened to Mohammed when he boarded the
Baraq, or winged camel, to go to
Though Muslims want us to think that Mohammed really was carried bodily in the
company of Gabriel by a winged camel to
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 hallucinate journeys.
We have more testimony about Mohammed’s claim from his cousin, Fatikheh ÝÇÊÎÉ, with whom he spent the night when he claimed to journey
with the angel Gabriel to
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.”[xli]
He claims to have prayed the Islamic prayer in the evening, slept under the
watchful eyes of his cousin, woke early in the morning and prayed again. After
this he claimed to have visited the
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 will continue in the
next edition to write about the alleged ascension of Mohammed to heaven
Religion Research Institute -Home
[i] R.C. Zaehner, The Dawn and Twilight
of Zoroastrianism, Weidenfeld And Nicolson,
[ii] 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] 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] Textual sources for the study of
Zoroastrianism, edited and translated by Mary Boyce, Manchester University
Press, 1984, page 86
[v] 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] 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,
[vii] 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,
[viii] Sahih al-Bukhari, 7, page 83; and 8,
page 195
[ix] 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,
[x] Halabieh, 1, page 412
[xi] 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,
[xii] Sahih al-Bukhari, 6, pages 96 – 97; 1, pages 2-3; and
4, page 80; Halabieh, 1, page 408
[xiv] 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] 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 Prophet of Ancient Iran, by A.V. Williams Jackson, AMS Press
INC,
[xvi] Unclean spirits, pages 48-49
[xvii] See, Arthur C. Doyle, History of
Spiritualism , ( New York : George Doran, 1926)
[xviii] Arthur C. Doyle, History of
Spiritualism ( New York : George Doran, 1926), I, page 45
[xix] R.C. Zaehner, Weidenfeld And Nicolson,
The Dawn and Twilight of Zoroastrianism,
[xx] 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] Ibn Hisham, 1 pages 189 and 218
[xxii] Ibn Hisham, 1 page 225
[xxiii] Halabieh, 1, pages 406-407
[xxiv] Sahih al-Bukhari, 1, page 96
[xxv] Halabieh, 1, page 75
[xxvi]
[xxvii] Blacker, pages 252-53; quoted by
Godman, How about the Demons, page 77
[xxviii] The Catalpa Bow , a study of
Shamanistic practices in
[xxix] Demonolgia , a discourse on Witchcraft,
pages 32-33
[xxx] Taj al-Arus, 5, page 381
[xxxi] Halabieh, 1, page 405
[xxxii] Halabieh, 1, page 338
[xxxiii] Halabieh, 1, page 415
[xxxiv] Ibn
Hisham, 3 page 236
[xxxv] Sahih
al-Bukhari, 2, page 28
[xxxvi] Halabieh , 2, page 71
[xxxvii] Halabieh , 2, page 71
[xxxviii] Halabieh , 2, page 71
[xxxix] Halabieh , 2, page 71
[xl] Ibn Hisham, 2, page
31
[xli] Halabieh , 2, page
72; Ibn Hisham, 2, page 33