Title: Authenticity of the Prophet's Experience of Revelation Question: Assalam-u-alaikum, Can you demonstrate how the Prophet (p) tested the voices that brought him the revelation to be genuinely from God? The implication of course is that the voices could have been from some other outside/metaphysical source, which is usually an argument some Christian groups use as reason to reject the Qur'an as revelation. Nevertheless, we must be able to show how it was accepted in the Prophet's mind that the revelation[s] were truly genuine, and how he, presumably after testing the voices, arrived at the conclusion that they were indeed divine in origin. Please give a full analysis. Regards Answer: No one can demonstrate that how the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) or any other prophet tested the voices to be genuinely from God. The reason is that it is completely based on strictly personal and internal experiences of a prophet. The 'voice' is so different and powerful that there is no doubt in the prophet's mind regarding its divine origin. It is impossible for us - ordinary humans - to demonstrate or even fully comprehend the method through which a prophet of God reaches the level of satisfaction and conviction in the source of the message that is delivered to him, as this satisfaction and conviction relates to an 'experience' of a prophet. It should be noted that the point, that this particular experience of the prophets of God is indemonstrable for ordinary human being, is equally applicable to each of the prophets of God. In view of this fact no person believing in any one of the prophets of God can claim to be able to demonstrate the experience of that particular prophet to be truly and verifiably from God. Thus, being skeptical about the experience of any one of the prophets of God merely on the ground of its being indemonstrable or non-verifiable can only be the result of being a victim of double standards in accepting a prophet of God to be guided by truly divine revelation. Ameer Abdul Basit 25 th May, 2002