Editing Satanic Verses (section)

==Related traditions==
Several related traditions exist, some adapted to Qur'ānic material, some not. One version, appearing in Tabarī's {{transliteration|ar|tafsīr}}<ref>''Tafsir'', Vol. IX</ref> and attributed to [[Urwah ibn Zubayr]] (d. 713), preserves the basic narrative but with no mention of satanic temptation. Muhammad is persecuted by the Meccans after attacking their idols, during which time a group of Muslims seeks refuge in Abyssinia. After the cessation of this first round of persecution ({{transliteration|ar|[[fitna (word)|fitna]]}}) they return home, but soon a second round begins. No compelling reason is provided for the caesura of persecution, though, unlike in the incident of the Satanic Verses, where it is the (temporary) fruit of Muhammad's accommodation to Meccan polytheism. Another version attributed to 'Urwa has only one round of {{transliteration|ar|fitna}}, which begins after Muhammad has converted the entire population of Mecca, so that the Muslims are too numerous to perform ritual prostration ({{transliteration|ar|[[sujud|sūjud]]}}) all together. This somewhat parallels the Muslims and {{transliteration|ar|mushrikūn}} prostrating themselves together after Muhammad's first, allegedly satanically infected, recitation of {{transliteration|ar|[[Sura 53|Sūra al-Najm]]}}, in which allegedly<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Surah An-Najm - 1-62 |url=https://quran.com/an-najm |access-date=2023-08-24 |website=Quran.com }}</ref> the efficacy of the three pagan goddesses is acknowledged.<ref>Rubin, pp.&nbsp;157–158</ref>

The image of Muslims and pagans prostrating themselves together in prayer in turn links the story of the satanic verses to very abbreviated {{transliteration|ar|sūjud al-Qur'ān}} (i.e. prostration when reciting the Qur'ān) traditions found in the authoritative {{transliteration|ar|[[mussanaf]] hadīth}} collections, including the Sunni canonical ones of [[Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari|Bukhāri]] and [[Tirmidhi|Tirmidhī]]. Rubin claims that apparently "the allusion to the participation of the {{transliteration|ar|mushrikūn}} emphasises how overwhelming and intense the effect of this {{transliteration|ar|sūra}} was on those attending". The traditions actually state that all cognizant creatures took part in it, humans as well as jinns.<ref>Rubin, p. 165.</ref>

Rubin further argues that this is inherently illogical without the Satanic Verses in the recitation, given that in the accepted version of verses Q.53:19–23, the pagans' goddesses are attacked. The majority of traditions relating to prostration at the end of {{transliteration|ar|Sūra al-Najm}} solve this by either removing all mention of the {{transliteration|ar|mushrikūn}}, or else transforming the attempt of an old Meccan to participate (who, instead of bowing to the ground, puts dirt to his forehead proclaiming "This is sufficient for me") into an act of mockery. Some traditions even describe his eventual comeuppance, saying he is later killed at the [[battle of Badr]].<ref>
{{Cite web |title=Prostration During Recital of Qur'an |url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/019.sbt.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000818092203/http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/019.sbt.html |archive-date=18 August 2000 |website=University of Southern California}}</ref> Thus, according to Rubin, "the story of the single polytheist who raised a handful of dirt to his forehead… [in]… attempt of an old disabled man to participate in Muhammad's {{transliteration|ar|sūjud}}… in… a sarcastic act of an enemy of Muhammad wishing to dishonor the Islamic prayer". And "traditions which originally related the dramatic story of temptation became a sterilized anecdote providing prophetic precedent for a ritual practice".<ref>Rubin, p. 166</ref>