This episode is the second installment in the series ‘The Epileptic Prophet’ in which we discuss Muhammad’s neurological condition and possible epilepsy. We were joined by Dr. Ali A. Rizvi to help us with his take on this topic based on his experience as a medical doctor specializing in pathology. 

We kicked off the discussion by giving a quick recap of the first episode in this series. We then move moved on to talk about Muhammad’s postictal psychosis symptoms while he was receiving revelation. We then compared the descriptions of Muhammad’s condition in the Islamic literature to the symptoms of contemporary epilepsy patients. Additionally, we listened in on an interview by Dr. Dede Korkut in which he explains psychosis and behavioral changes in epilepsy patients.

The conversation then moved on to how Islamic scholars and the Muslim population in general attribute epilepsy to jinn possession. We went through various hadith, Quranic verses, and other Islamic literature that support this idea. We also responded to Farid’s assertion that people around Muhammad did not notice or record any accounts of Muhammad having seizure-like symptoms or epilepsy. We presented numerous Quranic verses and hadith in which people thought that Muhammad was crazy, mad, or jinn possessed.

Finally, we discussed Muhammad’s conditions while receiving revelation. We talked about Muhammad’s auditory hallucinations, his convulsive seizures, and his paroxysm. To support our claims we went through a vast number of Quranic verses, Seerah, Hadith, and tafsir and we compared them to the books on Muhammad written by neuroscience experts. A full list of resources referenced in this presentation can be found on the link in the description below. 

I urge you to take a listen and also to check out the sources we used. 

Epileptic Prophet Part 1: https://youtu.be/WlO4nZUGVf4

YouTube version of this episode: https://youtu.be/ZI16w6Sl3DE

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Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction

1:42 A quick recap of part 1

5:07 Post Ictal psychosis of Muhammad

12:48 Pyschosis and behavioral changes - Dr. Dede

17:33 Delusions and how they are directly linked to trauma genies Mairaj - Dr. Abbas.

21:10 Muslim scholars’ opinion on the causes of epilepsy - Jinns causing epilepsy?

26:43 Responding to Farid - The black woman was possessed by jins.

33:07 The Shaman healer - Meccans offered medical help

35:00 Did people around Muhammad notice any seizures? - Responding to Farid’s claims.

44:16 Ringing bells aura - an explanation by Dr. Abbas.

46:25 Channel announcements

46:45 Ringing, buzzing auditory hallucinations.

50:21 Epilepsy patient describing her personal experiences with ringing bells aura

52:52 Hearing bells and seeing humanoid figures - Dr. Dede

56:35 Farid and ringing bells - secondary generalizations

1:01:46 Islamic Scholar’s explanation of Muhammad’s symptoms after hallucinations

1:03:25 Dr. Matthew Wood’s take on the epilepsy of Muhammad.

1:08:31 Comments from the live chat.

1:13:24 Dr. Abbas explaining seizures

1:16:18 ‘BURAHAA’ of revelation

1:17:40  Generalized seizures.

1:22:43 Where are the secondary generalization? - Responding to Farid.

1:31:18 Comments from the live chat

1:35:13 Introducing Ali Rizvi 

1:37:28 Dr. Ali Rizvi - symptoms of epilepsy 

1:42:00 Is it possible to do a posthumous diagnosis for epilepsy?

1:47:30 Is it possible that trauma contributed immensely to Muhammad’s possible epilepsy?

1:52:22 Feverish trembling - Seerah Ibn Kathir. Anxiety and anxiety disorder.

1:57:36 Muhammad’s psychosis during the first revelation

1:58:42 Muhammad trembling and red face

2:00:28 Kitab Al Maghazi - Muhammad having convulsions before revelations

2:02:27 Muhammad’s condition during revelations - Trembling,