This episode is the 7th and final installment in the series ‘The Epileptic Prophet’ in which Abdullah Gondal and I tackle the question of Muhammad’s mental health and possible epilepsy. Our aim is to provide an alternative explanation to Muhammad’s supposed prophethood from a neurological perspective. In this episode, we go through famous cases and interviews of people with epilepsy.

We kicked off the episode by discussing Dr. Karen Armstrong, a British author and distinguished academic who is also an epileptic. We presented an excerpt from an interview she had with Oprah Winfrey in which she explained her struggles before she was diagnosed with epilepsy. She also explained the symptoms that she experienced during seizures. 

Gondal and I went on to present various cases of famous people from different walks of life who have enjoyed success in their respective fields. Some of the famous army leaders and politicians we discussed include  Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt Jr.(both former US presidents), Joan of the Arc, Laura Sandys and Paul Maynard (both members of the British Parliament), and Julius Caesar. We also discussed cases of people in the arts and entertainment industry who are very successful inspite of epilepsy including Lil Wayne, Van Gogh, and Prince. We also discussed Fyodor Dostoevsky’s case and its parallels to the story of Muhammad.

The main aim of this episode was to destigmatize epilepsy and show people that epileptics can enjoy high levels of success in life if epilepsy is managed and treated. We wrapped up the show by giving a recap of the main arguments that we raised throughout the series.

We hope you will enjoy this episode and share the series with your friends.

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Full Series Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBhSsGcWqsZ7Z--bKEjzqHlRyD6IhN25d

Timestamps:

0:00 Introductions

1:52 Famous cases of epileptic patients - Karen Armstrong

11:55 Alyssa D'AMico - Epileptic poet

13:06 Socrates had epilepsy?

15:10 Caligula (Gaius Caesar) - Roman emperor 

16:24 Prince Erik 

17:22 Joe Doyle - British politician.

19:00 Neil Abercrombie - Governor of Hawaii (2010 - 2014)

21:28 Tony Coelho - Lawyer to priest to congressman

30:10 Chief Justice John Roberts

32:46 Laura Sandys - British member of parliament

37:12 Paul Maynard

39:19 Elliott Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Former US president), Theodore Roosevelt Jr.(Former US president)

44:46 Lil Wayne

48:28 Prince - a famous musician/music writer-actor

50:33 Edward Lear

52:08 Alfred Lord Tennyson - A genius poet.

53:36 Did Julius Caesar suffer from epilepsy

54:35 Pope Pius IX

55:40 George Inness

56:14 Edgar Allan Poe - Poet and storyteller

*57:18 Gustav Flaubert

1:00:18 Machado De Assis

1:02:09 Kumagusu Minakata - Japanese genius devoted to natural history and folklore.

1:03:35 John Nash - founder of game theory, 

1:04:11  Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Farid’s strawman.

1:17:24 Emperor Michael IV, Paphlagonia

1:18:04 Joan of Arc

1:22:15 Mirza Ghulam Ahmed - Founder of the Ahmadi Islamic sect.

1:27:20 Richard Doddridge Blackmore

1:28:06 Fyodor Dostoevsky’s case and its parallels to the story of Muhammad

1:32:10 Van Gogh, Lorna Byrne

1:38:32 Ron Hubbard - hypergraphia.

1:39:50 St. Birgitta case

1:43:58 Lies of Dr. Hassan Aziz - Did Muhammad have epilepsy?

1:49:26 The role of psychotic disorders in religious history considered. 

1:51:00 A quick summary of the stream

1:53:49 Gondal’s future plans

1:59:46 Channel comments

2:01:22 Responding to comments - Is this series the final nail in the coffin for Islam?

2:03:03 Recap of the series 

2:07:30 Is there a clear distinction between demonic possession and psychological problems?

2:16:40 Final remarks

List of Resources:

Karen Armstrong - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Armstrong