But Zams2001,
That is the big problem.. if he made a mistake at that point and was caught out, how do you know that other things were not also fabrications of his thinking? Reactions to the situations he was in at the time of the revelation?
This is a genuine question. One helpful thing about the Bible being written by so many different authors, is that each one quotes from and uses each other to confirm their own writings.. you get the same message from different sources throughout the entire Bible.
Now, let's see what God says of His own word
Proverbs 30:5-6 "Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar."
Now.. let's look at the implications of this verse and this "revelation" from the Qur'an itself. My reading on this subject has shown me this.
Many passages in the Qur’an say Mohammed could not say any false sayings
Sura 10:15b: "Say; It is not for me, Of my own accord, To change it: I follow Naught but what is revealed unto me…"
Sura 41:42: "No falsehood can approach it From before or behind it: It is sent down By One Full of Wisdom Worthy or all Praise."
Sura 15:9: "We have, without doubt, Sent down the Message; And We will assuredly Guard it (from corruption)."
Sura 60:44-46: "If he (Messenger) were to invent any saying in our name, We should certainly have seized him by the right hand and We should then have surely cut off the artery of his heart"
Response: On one hand, it is claimed that Satan, not Mohammed invented the Satanic verses, and protection for the Qur’an does not negate a false teaching slipping in and Allah correcting it. On the other hand, if a Muslim interprets these verses as saying nothing false would ever get in a prophet’s message, then regardless of the Satanic verses, this would be a contradiction of Satan’s whisperings mentioned in the Qur’an.
Also, this is not the only instance of a verse of the Qur’an "disappearing completely" because it was abrogated. Sahih Muslim 1:1433 (p.329-330) is an important hadith because it shows that a verse not only was abrogated, but after it was abrogated it disappeared completely.
Sura 85:20-22 speaks of the Qur'an in the original being on tablets of clay. Now, if that is so, they are forever the same and unchangable. So what do we do about these verses that are abrogated? As a person looking on Islam, I'm left wondering if...
a) The Qur’an on a tablet in heaven contained the earlier version, and the later version differs from the tablet. The Qur’ans today do not match the tablet in heaven.
b) The Qur’an on a tablet in heaven contained the later version, and the earlier version differs. Thus the original recitation was given as representing the tablet in heaven when in fact that was a lie.
Can you answer those questions?