During my childhood, I learned of the Prophet Muhammad's life in religious studies classes, and I was acquainted with some of his teachings. Later on during my undergraduate years, while working in Tehran's psychiatric hospitals, I had an eye-opening experience when I met a couple of schizophrenic patients who claimed to be the Messiah.
However, with more experience and more education, I realized that a Schizophrenic patient does not have the ego strength to tolerate without Decompensation the stressors that Muhammad tolerated on his road to becoming a prophet. I decided then that someday, when I had enough Knowledge and time, I would study Muhammad's personality in depth, To explore the existence of any psychopathology.
In 1995, I took a detour from practicing clinical psychology to Clinical neuropsychology. This detour required additional training, including a two-year postdoctoral study at the New York University's branch of the Fielding Institute. This course of study provided me with the additional knowledge that I needed regarding the workings of the human brain.
While studying the topic of seizure disorder, I came across a nineteenth-century book called The Blot upon the Brain. In this book, there was a section in which the author discussed the possibility that the Prophet Muhammad suffered from seizure disorder. I began to wonder what sources the author had used to make such claims. As some have a tendency to think that if they discredit Islam they will somehow add to the validity of their own religion, I assumed that the author's hypothesis was based on a religious prejudice.
I did some more research and soon found an article written by Frank Freeman titled "Differential Diagnosis of the Muhammad the Prophet of Islam"
Although the article did not answer my questions, it rewarded me by pointing me in the direction of other early Islamic sources that could be used in my study.
I decided that the time had come to study the original sources of Islam and to educate myself on Muhammad, Islam and the Quran.
As I began to study these sources, I soon learned that the people who lived around Muhammad were aware that they were witnessing history in the making, and they did their best to preserve his teachings. In later years, several authors wrote his biography in detail; these biographies, along with the Quran, make up the foundations of Islamic theology.
Therefore, if I was going to be able to know Muhammad, I had to have access to these ancient books.
Some of the books that I needed were available in English: (1) The Quran, which is the holy book of Islam. (2) Sirat Rasul Allah, the most famous of biographies of Mohammad originally written by Ibn Ishaq (3) Al Sahih by Al-Bukhari (died A.D.892).
A couple of these original sources of Islam were available in my native tongue of Persian: (4) Al-Tabari's 14 volumes on the history of Islam (5) Al-Moghazi, by Al Waghedy (died A.D.823).
I was also fortunate to find all nine volumes of Al-Tabaghat Al-cobra by Ibn Saad (died A.D.845), written in Arabic.
While researching the life of Muhammad, I studied seizure disorders and their impact on human religiosity. Once the project was reasonably completed, I presented the topic to the department of neuropsychology of New York University. The response was positive and humbling. Up to that point, my intention had been only to print a research article in a psychology journal. However, my colleagues encouraged me to expand the writings and publish them in a book form.
Sword and Seizure is the final product of this endeavor. While writing this book, I had the opportunity to read many books and articles both for and against Muhammad. The pro-Islam books have a tendency to be too nice, minimizing the problems in Muhammad's life and attribute abilities to him that he never had or claimed to have. Some of these books are so far-fetched that they are totally contradictory to Muhammad's teachings (e.g., Bahar Alanvar by Majlesi). The books written against Islam are mostly insulting and biased, as they disregard Muhammad's extraordinary attributes and concentrate on his deficits (e.g., Muslim Studies by Goldziher and Sketches from Eastern History by Noldeke).
However, a common denominator in both sides is a total disregard of the person of Muhammad-why a small-time merchant would pick up such a tremendous task, and why was he able to do it.
My name is Dr Abbas Sadeghian. I Am a Clinical Neuropsychologist. I work mostly with people who have suffered from stroke or other neurological conditions. My minor in college was History. I am an Assistant Professor of Psychology in Northeastern Ohio University College of Medicine.
how this information about the personality of Muhammad, though valuable can have anything to do with the current situation. Psychological portraits of great historical figures are numerous, there are even attempts to drwa such portraits of the mystical figures such as Jesus Christ, Muhammad or Moses. Still, those portraits cannot be used to explain the current religious beliefs of the people and have to be used with caution. Religions cannot be characterised by certain definitions. Chrisrtianity surely is not a religion of Love,although Love is a cornerstone of Jesus's teachings. Islam is not a religion of the Sword although sword is a part of it..
by
Mark Sashine (55 articles, 19 quicklinks, 256 diaries, 3704 comments)
on Thursday, December 14, 2006 at 11:35:12 AM
Religion of the Sword
Although, it is quiet accurate to claim that the major religions of the world, have been modified significantly through out the history, it is indisputable that Islam Started with the sword ruled by the sword and exists by the sword.
Even the flag of the Saudi Arabia depicts a sword which resembles the sword that Muhammad carried and killed his enemies with.
History books are filled with the stories associated with Muhammad's brutality and massacres of other peoples by Muhammad's followers during Islamic conquest. I have mentioned some of these events in "Sword and Seizure" and just defer you to the book.
by
Abbas Sadeghian, Ph.D. (8 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 18 comments)
on Thursday, December 14, 2006 at 10:35:10 PM
Oh, Boy ( in response to the Religion by the Sword comment)
Religions are not only to be taken in moderation:) but they have to be evaluated ONLY in comparison. If you take the nations and their flags to prove things... Say, Union Jack surely seems benigh but in reality it is as murderous as Jolly Rodger. Islam lives by the sword? I doubt if Abu-Ibn Sina, the great islamic mathematician or Firdousi or Chaiam would agree with you. I doubt if the one who said 'An ounce of peace is better than the ton of war' would agree with you. I doubt if they would give a damn( sorry) for all your licenses.
Folks, why won't we all admit the truth that if it was not for the 9/11 we even would not have such strange conversation. Also, if 9/11 perpetrators would be, say, Irish I am sure there would be researchers who would find irrationality and ' swordsmanship' complex in the history of Irish nation starting from the St. Patrick, the drunkard.
Supply and demand...
Take it or leave it the real understanding of the behavior of the people starts with looking in the mirror. Have we done that?
by
Mark Sashine (55 articles, 19 quicklinks, 256 diaries, 3704 comments)
on Friday, December 15, 2006 at 7:12:45 AM
This comment clearly shows that the author has difficulty accepting the brutality of history of Islam. It is easy to live in a free country and conjure up these illusions. Let's get a few facts right first:
(1) The reference to "Abu-Ibn Sina" is inaccurate. He is known as Avicenna in Europe, He is known as Ibn Sina in the Middle East. He was born in eastern part of Iran and died in Hamedan in central Iran. I have been to his grave site. Although he has written books on philosophy; his main contribution to the world of science is his work in the area of medicine. He had nothing to do with mathematics .Although like all Iranians he was forced to the world of Islam, he drank wine and has nice poetry on it. Since the language of science at that time was Arabic most of his writings are in Arabic.
(2) The name "Firdousi" is inaccurate again .His correct name is"Aboulghasem Ferdosi" he is an Iranian. He was a poet and he is a hero for us Iranians. He hated the Arab invasion and their influence on our language, he wrote a book called "Shahnameh" or the "book of the kings" .he tried very hard to clean Persian from Arabic words, and nobody with his sane mind would consider him a friend of Arabs. He was a Moslem; however you should remember that if you would not accept Islam at that time, you would endure a lot of hardship or death.
(3) There is not a person in our history called Chaiam. The person you are referring to is "Omar Khayyam", he was a great mathematician and made great discoveries, his poems are delightful and he was the first atheist of Middle East that I know of.
Of Course I would not ever put myself at the level of Ibn Sina, Khayyam or Ferdosi. However I would like to make a simple suggestion to the author and that is that you should learn more about these great scientists before you use them as your references. To finish this comment on a friendly note I will write my most favorite poem from Khayyam:
The secrets eternal neither you know nor I
and answers to the riddle neither you know nor I
Behind the veil there is much talk about us, why
When the veil falls, neither you remain nor I.
by
Abbas Sadeghian, Ph.D. (8 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 18 comments)
on Saturday, December 23, 2006 at 11:30:58 PM
As an ex-Catholic, I find the path that many of us have taken as we outgrow the jar we were raised in, leaves us with a personal history that is often similar: Guilt, fear, endless questioning, worry about what family and friends may say, concern with an afterlife, etc., etc. I think it's worse for Muslims, since death here and now is their reward, according to many other Muslims (which is why Ibn Warraq is a psuedonym).
Most religions are so lost in the midsts of antiquity that there is no possible way to get to the bottom of what really went on and how the religion formed. Mormonism is the exception, since it is fairly recent, and there were newspapers and many literate people around in the mid 1800's, not to mention a young country that opposed Mormonism.
What I find profoundly disturbing is that religion is so often the wall that separates "us" and "them." It is inconceivable to me that Shiites and Suunis are still killing each other off because of a fundamental disagreement about who is their leader! Yet we read about the consequences daily.
Ironically, virtually all religions preach the importance of kindness and peacefulness, though rarely is that truly practiced, as far as I can tell.
Sadder still, most religions limit people from thinking for themselves, learning about the natural history of how we got here--which is a "spiritual experience" in itself!--, and, all too often, limiting their education generally.
Teachers are in a unique position to encourage children to open their minds and eyes and to think and ponder on their own, without directly attacking any religion. I only wish more of them would do that.
Not long ago a loquacious dental assistant asked me if I believed in God, while she had my mouth open and several lethal instruments probing deep inside it. I managed to mumble some vague answer, but next time I went there, I asked her what her conception of God was. She seemed rather embarrassed when she answered, "Well, I think he's human." Then she appropriately added, "But of course it's all a matter of faith."
I'll end my rambling by quoting a bumper sticker I saw a few years ago: "Militant agnostic: I don't know and you don't either!"
by
Daniel Geery (26 articles, 81 quicklinks, 125 diaries, 775 comments)
on Thursday, December 14, 2006 at 11:45:57 AM
There is a fundamental difference between my book and your article. I do believe that careful examination of the character of the prophets of recent religions can provide us with much better understanding of underling motivation or psychopathology of the prophet of that religion. However, this is hard work and requires years of research .In the case of "Sword and Seizure" more than five years research was needed to be able to make the case.
by
Abbas Sadeghian, Ph.D. (8 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 18 comments)
on Thursday, December 14, 2006 at 11:15:20 PM
I could not help but notice that all the sources you reference are dated 150 years after Mohamed died, except of course the Koran, which was compiled by Ali, 50 some years AFTER Mohamed's death.
If you claim to be a scholar, you certainly must have more verifiable proof than words written on paper, of the recollections of ancient men, transcribed by a relative with a set bias.
Am I wrong?
Or are you really not deserving of the moniker of 'scholar' ?
Make believe I'm from Missouri, Show Me.
Show me one piece of DIRECT evidence,
Or Shut Up With the Professor sh*t.
..
.
by
cliff567 (6 articles, 0 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 165 comments)
on Thursday, December 14, 2006 at 12:04:19 PM
The writer clearly states this is an excerpt from a book. He refers to a whole book's worth of discussion. And you respond as you did? Your rude response suggests you didn't even read what was written. And you don't state just what would satisfy you. I'm not impressed with your comment at all, and considered flagging it. We don't need nasty attacks here when intelligent comments and questions are possible.
by
Rob Kall (890 articles, 4057 quicklinks, 350 diaries, 1924 comments)
on Thursday, December 14, 2006 at 1:26:12 PM
Rob;
I have reread the Article and will accept your admonishment.
It is not clear to me now who actually wrote the book. My original ire was raised by this list of references the Articles' author included in HIS research to Know what Mohammad's life was like. It seemed to me that he was offering these Ancient Writings as factual reference sources to validate authenticity to actions and words attributed to Mohammad.
============
The author of this article said;
Therefore, if I was going to be able to know Muhammad, I had to have access to these ancient books.
Some of the books that I needed were available in English:
(1) The Quran, which is the holy book of Islam.
(2) Sirat Rasul Allah, the most famous of biographies of Mohammad originally written by Ibn Ishaq
(3) Al Sahih by Al-Bukhari (died A.D.892).
A couple of these original sources of Islam were available in my native tongue of Persian:
(4) Al-Tabari's 14 volumes on the history of Islam
(5) Al-Moghazi, by Al Waghedy (died A.D.823).
I was also fortunate to find all nine volumes of Al-Tabaghat Al-cobra by Ibn Saad (died A.D.845), written in Arabic.
===========
Now correct me if I am wrong in this, but Mohammad died in 632 AD. None of his sited authors were alive 100 years after he died ILLITERATE, if they lived to 100 years old themselves.
The author does not date the Holy Quran, The Othman Koran was compiled in Medina by Othman, the third caliph or Muslim leader.
Before him, the sacred verses which Muslims believe God gave to Muhammad were memorized, or written on pieces of wood or camel bone.
So this Articles' author, who claims to have done advanced study as a medical doctor, would be assumed to know enough to authenticate his reference material before absorbing it as a part of his knowledge base when evaluating a patients symptoms.
Yet the information he sites, and passes on to others, is referenced from hearsay tales 50 years after their first telling. And He purports them to be THE WORD OF GOD!!!.
AS I SAID;
Make Believe I'm From Missouri, SHOW ME !!
I do Apologize if my animosity for religious shills has upset the sensibilities of any of our reading citizens who also belief the printed words in un-sourced books are the WORDS OF GOD.
I realize they are soldiers working for clergy who have a species to manipulate towards their LEADER'S ends and a request for facts or proof of the book they claim offers legitimacy to their edicts, may cause a ground swell of questions from those already docilely accepting the control they have over their ' flocks '.
That would be ANARCHY, we should retain religion and the death it has always brought in it's wake, rather than EVER to try living in a society governed by LOGIC.
by
cliff567 (6 articles, 0 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 165 comments)
on Friday, December 15, 2006 at 4:34:55 AM
It is quiet disappointing to see that at times, people who define themselves as religious use the kind of vocabulary unacceptable by the god they worship.
There are many errors in your brief article. I will respond to a few of them and the rest you should just study with time.
(1)The Quran was collected by Othman the Third caliph of Islam, not Ali Ibn Abutaleb. Ali was the prophet's cousin and one of the writers of the Quran helping the prophet in his work as Muhammad was illiterate.
(2)There are about ten books, all written after Muhammad's death , which are considered the original sources of Islam ,and all Islamic Clergymen use them
In their studies of Islamic theology. The combination of the Quran and these ten books are foundations of Islam and if you are a devout Moslem you should not refer to them in such disrespectful manner
by
Abbas Sadeghian, Ph.D. (8 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 18 comments)
on Thursday, December 14, 2006 at 11:57:22 PM
One approach to illness and adversity is to accept ANYTHING that happens to you as a gift from God that sets you off into a new direction. This would apply to epilepsy too.
by
Rob Kall (890 articles, 4057 quicklinks, 350 diaries, 1924 comments)
on Thursday, December 14, 2006 at 1:03:18 PM
Different people deal with problems of life in different ways and of course if they can turn it into a learning experience that would be of great value. However here we have a situation that one person's seizure disorder has caused significant dificulties in other people's lives
by
Abbas Sadeghian, Ph.D. (8 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 18 comments)
on Friday, December 15, 2006 at 12:07:09 AM
The author is entitled to his opinion. The question I have is what really the goal of the study?
Is it to prove that one fifth of the world population is following an evil religion? or to prove that the leader of the religion was sick?
If it is the first then the conclusion is faulty because the messenger is separate from the message.
If the second, then it is faulty because the analysis is without evidence other than the interpretation of a student with an agenda (receiving PhD degree).
If you are looking for books about the prophet there are many studies that proves the exact opposite such as "A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History" by Michael H. Hart's.
One last thing I think we need all to agree on, it is very dangerous to judge other's believes.
by
sameh abdelaziz (43 articles, 10 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 38 comments)
on Thursday, December 14, 2006 at 9:52:40 PM
(1) Regarding your question "The question I have is what really the goal of the study? Is it to prove that one fifth of the world population is following an evil religion? or to prove that the leader of the religion was sick?"
I should mention that the purpose of this research was to answer a scientific question which has been debated for more than a thousand years. Many times in human history the results of scientific research have been contradictory to public believes, and there are many instances that the researcher was just wrong. I suggest that you read the book and see if it makes sense or not
(2)Regarding my educational ambitions, I should clarify for you that the purpose of writing this book was not to put together a dissertation to get a Ph.D. I received my Ph.D in Psychology in 1984, I received my license in psychology in 1988 and I received my post doctoral certificate in Clinical Neuropsychology in 2002.I am currently an assistant professor of Psychology, in a school of medicine.
by
Abbas Sadeghian, Ph.D. (8 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 18 comments)
on Friday, December 15, 2006 at 12:45:39 AM
I'm not talking to the world here, I'm asking YOU the person reading this now.
I ask you to look back over your earliest memories. Your upbringing either included a religious bent that was instilled to give a reason to your ' WHY ' questions, or you were instilled to govern your actions because society followed those precepts and to voice or exhibit contrary views would be disdained by your peers and create a ' hard row to hoe '.
Try to imagine a world that ENCOURAGED scholarly research into the authenticity of ALL religions by our best minds. A society that published those extensively documented reports to the world's citizens. Look over recorded history, and strike out all the WAR, DEATH, and SUPPRESSION of RIGHTS religious interpretation has instigated and profited from. Then imagine the state the society of MAN would live in today if we had never been blighted with religion.
That's all I have to say.
..
.
by
cliff567 (6 articles, 0 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 165 comments)
on Friday, December 15, 2006 at 5:11:04 AM
It is true that facts are fact, but all facts are not reality. There was a time that almost all of the people living on the planet earth thought that the sun circulated around the earth. And now all of the people living on the planet earth know that earth circulates around the sun. So all facts are not necessarily true and large quantities of believers do not change an inaccurate fact to reality. There are many times in human history that all humans were just totally wrong.
Same concept applies to religions today , almost all members of all religions think that they are right, while the new research using SPECT studies ,PET Scans and functional MRIs show that there is a high likelihood that human religiosity is an instinct like aggression or sexuality. The first person to discover this notion was Darwin himself 150 years ago:
This Conclusion was strong in my mind
About the time, as far as I can remember, when I
Wrote the Origin of Species; and it is since that time
That it has very gradually with many
Fluctuations become weaker. But then arises the doubt-
Can the mind of man, which has, as I fully believe, been developed from a mind as low as that possessed by the lowest animal,
Be trusted when it draws such grand conclusions?
May not these be the result of the connection between cause and effect, which strikes us as a necessary one, but probably depends merely on inherited experience? Nor must we overlook the probability of the constant inculcation in a
Belief in God on the minds of children producing so strong and perhaps an inherited effect on their brains not yet fully developed, that it would be as difficult for them to throw off their belief in God, as for a monkey to throw off its instinctive
Fear and hatred of a snake.
Charles Darwin, Autobiography,1887
by
Abbas Sadeghian, Ph.D. (8 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 18 comments)
on Sunday, December 24, 2006 at 12:23:15 AM
I agree as you say, "it is very dangerous to judge other's beliefs". As the Prophet said according to Sura 9:5,
"Fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war)....." and Sura 5:33: "For those who do not submit to Allah their punishment is . . . execution or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet, from the opposite sides, or exile from the land".
[See: Ibn Hazm al-Andalusi, An-Nasikh wal- Mansukh, Dar al-Kotob al-'Elmeyah, birute, 1986 p.27]
Of course in place of conversion, Jews and Gentiles were and are allowed under Sharia Law to pay the poll tax of submission to show that Islam is superior to them. The Prophet really loved and respected Jews and Christians.
By the way the Sura I just quoted abrogates all previous writings and sayings of the Prophet and these two Suras (5, 9) were received just a year before he died and have never been abrogated according to Islamic scholarship.
Phil.
by
pratliff94 (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 970 comments)
on Friday, December 15, 2006 at 2:42:43 PM
The War Prayer
by Mark Twain
It was a time of great and exalting excitement. The country was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism; the drums were beating, the bands playing, the toy pistols popping, the bunched firecrackers hissing and spluttering; on every hand and far down the receding and fading spread of roofs and balconies a fluttering wilderness of flags flashed in the sun; daily the young volunteers marched down the wide avenue gay and fine in their new uniforms, the proud fathers and mothers and sisters and sweethearts cheering them with voices choked with happy emotion as they swung by; nightly the packed mass meetings listened, panting, to patriot oratory which stirred the deepest deeps of their hearts, and which they interrupted at briefest intervals with cyclones of applause, the tears running down their cheeks the while; in the churches the pastors preached devotion to flag and country, and invoked the God of Battles beseeching His aid in our good cause in outpourings of fervid eloquence which moved every listener. It was indeed a glad and gracious time, and the half dozen rash spirits that ventured to disapprove of the war and cast a doubt upon its righteousness straightway got such a stern and angry warning that for their personal safety's sake they quickly shrank out of sight and offended no more in that way.
Sunday morning came -- next day the battalions would leave for the front; the church was filled; the volunteers were there, their young faces alight with martial dreams -- visions of the stern advance, the gathering momentum, the rushing charge, the flashing sabers, the flight of the foe, the tumult, the en
