Why did Muhammad Sven Kalisch come to this conclusion? Find out in Did Muhammad Exist?.
“Professor Hired for Outreach to Muslims Delivers a Jolt,” by Andrew Higgins, Wall Street Journal, November 15, 2008:
MÜNSTER, Germany — Muhammad Sven Kalisch, a Muslim convert and Germany’s first professor of Islamic theology, fasts during the Muslim holy month, doesn’t like to shake hands with Muslim women and has spent years studying Islamic scripture. Islam, he says, guides his life.
So it came as something of a surprise when Prof. Kalisch announced the fruit of his theological research. His conclusion: The Prophet Muhammad probably never existed.
Muslims, not surprisingly, are outraged. Even Danish cartoonists who triggered global protests a couple of years ago didn’t portray the Prophet as fictional. German police, worried about a violent backlash, told the professor to move his religious-studies center to more-secure premises.
“We had no idea he would have ideas like this,” says Thomas Bauer, a fellow academic at Münster University who sat on a committee that appointed Prof. Kalisch. “I’m a more orthodox Muslim than he is, and I’m not a Muslim.”…
Walter Sieruk says
It’s worth reiterating that the former US President ,Abraham Lincoln, had ,wisely , said “History isn’t history unless it’s truth.”
Infidel says
I once had a tough time convincing some leftist friends that history is what happened, as opposed to one’s interpretation of what happened. Couldn’t get them to agree. That explains why history education is crap so many places in the world
James Lincoln says
Infidel,
Merriam-Webster tends to agree with you:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/history
gravenimage says
True, Infidel.
gravenimage says
Islamic theologian concludes: Muhammad probably never existed
…………………………….
Interesting. Of course, if a Christian theologian said this about Jesus, or a Jew about Moses, or a Buddhist about Gautama, many of the faithful would be upset.
But Muhammad Sven Kalisch is probably in danger from his violent coreligionists. I hope he stays safe.
Ruislamicky? says
This is how the war is won. God bless him!! Praise the Lord and pray for him.
Ray Jarman says
+1 People have stood outside my church building protesting Christianity and my faith in particular but we did not try to harm anyone. Instead, we invited them to enter and watch our service and they left.
gravenimage says
Great to hear that, Ray! I wish the protestors had taken you up on your invitation, though. 🙂
tim gallagher says
This makes no sense to me at all. If Muhammad didn’t exist, and I don’t believe that he did, then allah doesn’t exist because Muhammad, who didn’t exist, could not have been chosen by allah to be his prophet and there could be no revelations from allah because all those supposed revelations come from the non-existent Muhammad. How could this man remain a Muslim when all of islam is lies, which is surely the case if Muhammad didn’t exist? I consider that this strange man has no integrity whatsoever. If I found that something I believed in was all lies and rubbish, I would leave it immediately. I cannot understand this man’s mentality at all. Maybe I’m missing something, but If he discovered that Muhammad most probably didn’t exist, if he had any integrity, he would leave Islam, because all of Islam’s foundations have fallen down..I don’t get why anyone chooses to join islam anyway, because Muhammad, if he existed was such a low life, evil creature and his made up god, allah, is a vicious and evil type of god as well.
ruislamicky? says
Tim by saying that MO didn’t exist he did leave Islam.
James Lincoln says
tim gallagher says,
“If I found that something I believed in was all lies and rubbish, I would leave it immediately.”
Yes, that’s what any rational person would do.
And that rational person would also be very angry with the fact that they had been lied to…
roberta says
Not sure about this guy, but with some I think it is the idea of Islamic Supremacy.
I’d bet many are out there that in a sense (the logical half their brains knows its bs,
the other half still has a need to feel as if they are on the top of the food chain.)
Pride is very important in muslim cultures, the sickness goes beyond the religion.
tim gallagher says
That could be the case, Roberta. I suppose, on the issue off pride, many Muslims might be far too proud to admit that Islam is all lies, even if they do realise it themselves. Also, as you say, the supremacist Muslims want to take over and run the world with their barbaric garbage, so the benefits of belonging to Islam, and trying to take over and impose Islam, even if it is all lies, would cause them to remain Muslims. If that is the case, what a bunch of hypocrites.
tim gallagher says
Yes, James, this man would have to be a person totally lacking in integrity to stay in an religion that he knows to be bullshit. A person would have to be quite a hypocrite to stick around. And, as you say, most people would be pretty angry about having been lied to. Then again, I did also think that, maybe not in this man’s case, but for many Muslims in Muslim countries, if you try to leave Islam you are likely to be murdered. It is a bit like being in the Mafia or one of those outlaw bikie gangs and, if you try to leave, they are likely to kill you. I think most people would leave any movement that they no longer believed in as soon as they could.
roberta says
Ive always thought the same about many muslims, that being they are not so muslim.
Its the boat they were born in, and they better pick up and oar and start rowing, or else.
Its a life or death game of go along to get along.
gravenimage says
The death penalty for those who leave Islam does not help…
tim gallagher says
Yes, that death penalty for people who decide to leave Islam is one of the most amazing aspects of Islam. Islam is full of so much evil and barbarity, but the idea that, if a member tries to leave,then they should be killed is extraordinary. It is pure gangster thuggery and it seems to me to be an admission of what a load of crap Islam is. It has to threaten people with death in order to keep them in the vile ideology.
saturnine says
The referenced article is from 2008. How does one remain a Muslim while believing Muhammad is fictional? One doesn’t. He apostatized in 2010.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sven_Kalisch
gravenimage says
Thanks for that link, saturnine.
SKA says
“I’m a more orthodox Muslim than he is, and I’m not a Muslim.”…
What on Earth is that supposed to mean?
Jayell says
I think someone is trying to suggest that someone else is a fraud. So one wonders why that ‘someone else’ continues to proclaim themselves a member of a religion that they themselves say is inherently fraudulent. Must be because it literally lets them get away with murder (can’t think of anything else). That would be a good reason to be a believer, woudn’t it?
gravenimage says
It means that he bows to the Islamic stricture that no one be allowed to question Islam, even though he is not Muslim. He isn’t Muslim, but he *is* a dhimmi.
SKA says
Oh I get it now! He is “more Islamic than the Kaaba!”
Cannot say it like “more Islamic than Khomeini” because it seem Muslims cannot agree on who is actually “Islamic.” But they can agree that a pagan desert shrine to Huba’al is Islamic(!)
Ade Fegan says
islam has half the world paralysed with fear
but it’s sham of wide eyed innocence is believed
vile, detestable religion
Otis says
Counter-jihadists should be praised by all humanity.When news like these come out it indeed makes the fruits of your work count.I would encourage any person who’s opposed this archaic ideology called Islam to know that alot of work is yet to be accomplished.The enormous amount of work ahead shouldn’t discourage us.Islam is a house built on sand and can fall down any time.The biggest obstacle in the fight against Islam is politicians and naive journalists.I would emphasize that it’s a high time that elections of leaders of various non Islamic countries shouldn’t be taken for granted.It has reached appoint whereby we should demand to know the knowledge of Islam from any candidate contesting any election.Those who know nothing about Islam and those who show a slim pandering to moslems should be voted out immediately.Rogue journalists who are covering up mayhems caused by Islam should be pointed out and be told that they have blood on their hands and none is happy with their work.Counter jihadists should start up various media houses and hire those who are yearning to tell the truth about islam.Masses should be educated about what Islam is. Mockery of it should also be encouraged.Above all , people should be told that Mohammed is a myth and Islam is a lie.Lagislators in many countries should come up with laws to prescribe Islam what it is: a violent conquest ideology and bann it forever from civilized countries.
Hank says
Whether Mr Mohammed existed or not, it is obvious that some deceiver practicing Occultism, Spiritism in the 7th century took the Torah and the Bible and seriously altered it. Then added Arab stories, fiction, 1001 fairy tales and demonic-medium dictated passages and invented Islam. The deceiver even added female circumcision, which was never done by Abraham or Mosaic Law, thinking that he would outshine them. And thus, the deceiver from the 7th century left a viper’s egg that hatched and has been biting for 700 years the non-Islamic world. Even just a few centuries later the East Roman Empire (Byzantine) was lost to this venom, not to mention the infected areas in North Africa.
Even the Persians were duped by this Arab. A 3000 year history and historically the largest non-Muslim Empires on the planet (Cyrus the Great) with Arabs under their thumbs. Then along comes an Arab with Islam and wham!, the Persians get duped after 3000 years of non-Islamic history. The ongoing Islamization continues to this very day in shock and awe.
With reference to another article in Jihadwatch, there are hopeful signs that the military generals in France (at least) are getting fed up with the ongoing Islamization of France promoted by dhimmis in top positions.
Otis says
Yes the first defeat of Islam in this century is yet to occur in France. I earnestly urge all peace loving patriotic French people not to surrender their country to this vile ideology.You should heed the warning of those brave generals and take them seriously.Love your country and be ready to defend it from Islamic criminals.And to those corrupt politicians who are trading their countries for votes, your days are numbered.The future looks bleak for corrupt politicians.CORRUPT POLITICIANS WILL SUBJUGATE THE WHITE RACE and enable them to disappear from the face of the earth.Drastic measures should be put in place to stop it
Beneath the Veil of Consciousness says
Do I see cracks in the dam of Islam ready to burst open flooding the world with the truth?
As for Mr. Kalisch, I would think it prudent of him to access some old blueprints and build himself a German bunker from which to shelter during this cold winter of Islamic threats to himself and his nation.
Kepha says
I’ll have to look up some of Kalisch’s writings, if they’ve been translated into either English or Chinese (then again, maybe I could use Google Translate on the German). However, I have a few suspicions about this statement…
The official Communist line was that Jesus never existed, and was invented by the early Christians of Asia Minor as a mythical saviour. Moscow loquitur; causa finita est. The idea probably remains among those influenced by that bold, radical, progressive religion–oops, ideology. Further, Marxism-Leninism of the supposedly independent kind has long had a strong influence on the academy in Western countries. While Kalisch had a Protestant upbringing, it is quite within the realm of possibility that he came under Marxist influence and ultimately tried to use its “radical criticism” (of everything save Marx and the “oppressed” du jour) that he decided to pull one on the other big traditional theism.
It could also be well within the realm of possibility that Kasisch’s “conversion” was simply the play of a young, late-20th century middle class Westerner rather than anything more serious than an “in” into learning Arabic (and far be it from Uncle Kepha to condemn studying a second language).
I’m far from convinced of the a-historicity of Muhammad, even if I have a lot of respect for what Spencer and the much younger Crone have tried to do. As for the idea that Jesus never existed, I’m more of the mind that Marxist truthfulness is only marginally more real a thing than a blue unicorn (a great Indian rhinoceros or Javan rhinoceros with a bluish tint to its hide doesn’t count). But, since I’ve read Crone’s Hagarism and Spencer’s Did muhammad Exist? (2012 edition), I’ll try to get my mits on Kalisch’s book.
Kepha says
BTW, it seems that Kalisch apostasized from Islam a number of years ago, so he is technically not an Islamic theologian.
@Gravenimage: Uncle Kepha is of the mind that if a Christian seminary professor suddenly declared that he disbelieved in the historicity of Jesus Christ, the honorable thing for him to do would be to resign his position and find other work. Failing that, ecclesiastical councils should censure him, and the board of trustees should fire him.
gravenimage says
Dear Kepha, I did not say that a person who disbelieved in Jesus would still be a Christian in any meaningful way. I just meant that devout Christians would not threaten harm to them because of it.
Keys says
Second Occasional Draw Mohammad Contest
1st Place: “Empty Blood-Spattered Wood Frame”
2nd Place: “White Oil Paint Sprayed on White Canvas”
3rd Place: “Black Charcoal Smeared on Black Cardboard”
**Dishonorable Mention: Hunter Biden’s “Hi Ho Mohammud” (indescribable)
** SOLD for an undisclosed amount to an undisclosed patron
Kepha says
**Sold to the Chinese government for reproduction and publication in Eastern Turkistan….
Keys says
?