Is It True That “Muhammad Is Not Mad”?――A Warning Sounded by Ḍād (ض): Reflections on Qurʾān, Sūrat al-Takwīr (81):22–25
Abstract
This essay offers a close reading of Qurʾān, Sūrat al-Takwīr (81):22–25, focusing on the declaration that Muhammad “is not mad” (mā ṣāḥibukum bi-majnūn). Rather than treating this statement as a simple apologetic denial, the essay explores its deeper linguistic, phonetic, and theological implications.
By examining the Arabic term majnūn — derived from the root meaning “to cover” or “to conceal” — the essay reconsiders the relationship between madness, possession, and reason, showing that the Qurʾānic negation of madness presupposes not confusion but an exceptionally lucid and resilient consciousness. This argument is further developed through an analysis of related concepts such as jinn, janna, and ghayb (the unseen), highlighting the role of language in rendering the invisible intelligible.
Central to the discussion is the Arabic consonant ḍād (ض), especially as it appears in the verb ḍanīn (“to withhold”). Through phonetic and semantic analysis, the essay argues that ḍād embodies a dangerous internal pressure — one that can lead to repression, monopolization of knowledge, and religious authoritarianism if left unchecked. The Qurʾān’s insistence that Muhammad does not withhold knowledge of the unseen is thus read as a critical safeguard against the transformation of revelation into domination.
Ultimately, the essay proposes that Arabic, as the “language of ḍād,” is both inherently risky and profoundly self-reflective. The Qurʾān is presented as a text that neither denies pressure nor erases it, but instead redirects it toward disclosure, circulation, and ethical responsibility, transforming the potential for deviation (ḍalāl) into an opening toward understanding and shared meaning.
“Is the Prophet mad?”
This is a suspicion that has been directed, in every age, at those who cast new words into the world.
They Call It Majnūn
In Sūrat al-Takwīr, the Qurʾān first swears to the absolute trustworthiness and reliability of Jibrīl (Gabriel) at the moment when the reader’s nafs — the inner tension of the self — has been loosened (v. 19).¹
Then, at last, it turns to Muhammad (may God’s blessings and peace be upon him).
Muhammad was a member of the Quraysh, a man well known to his people. The Exalted One addresses them by saying, “your companion (ṣāḥibukum).” And then comes the solemn declaration: he is not mad.
After the sequence of qasam-oaths, the chapter as a whole centers on “the word of a noble messenger” (generally understood to refer to Jibrīl). Yet when it comes to Muhammad, what must be made absolutely clear is precisely this: that he is not mad.
What Does Majnūn Mean?
In the Arabic text, the word rendered as “mad” is majnūn. This is the passive participle of the verb janna, meaning “to cover” or “to conceal.” Literally, majnūn means “one who is covered.”
The same root is shared with jinn, and it is easy to slip into the assumption that “being mad” means “being possessed by a jinn.” But that assumption itself is, in a sense, jinn-possessed — a misunderstanding driven by the very confusion it claims to explain.
What Jinn and Paradise Have in Common
Why is this so? Let us note that jinn, janna (paradise), and the verb janna (“to cover, to conceal”) all derive from the same triliteral root.
First, consider the consonant jīm. Its articulation is slightly forward of the center of the oral cavity. It is a sound produced internally and released forward, accompanied by a light burst and friction. As a bodily sensation, it feels like something enclosed within, opening toward an exit.
From the triliteral root jīm–nūn–nūn, we find words such as:
جَنّة (janna) — a garden covered with trees; paradise
جِنّ (jinn) — beings that exist but are not visible
جَنِين (janīn) — a fetus
مَجْنُون (majnūn) — one whose reason is covered
All of these share a core meaning: to cover, to envelop, to protect.
Should the Jinn Be Exorcised?
Jinn are unseen because they are “covered.” This does not contradict the Qurʾānic statement that some jinn are righteous and others are not. Likewise, janna (as a noun) refers to something “covered” by trees, and can be used not only for the afterlife but also for this world.
Yet interpretation is easily pulled toward the image of madness or possession — toward jinn as an explanation for disorder. That is precisely a state of being “possessed by jinn” in interpretation.
If we follow the verb janna (“to cover”), what emerges is this: if reason is covered, then the negation of that state must be the removal of the covering. And when the covering is removed, what we find is not a shaman muttering under possession, nor a person who has lost reason to madness. On the contrary, his consciousness and reason are fully functioning — indeed, as the following verses show, functioning at an exceptional level.
Perhaps it is the reader, not Muhammad, who must expel the jinn from the interpretation of madness and recover reason.
A World That Is Unhidden Yet Unseen
On the premise that the covering over consciousness has been removed, God swears that Muhammad saw Jibrīl on a clear and exalted horizon, utterly distinct from all else. This fact itself presupposes a sharpened consciousness and linguistic capacity. It is not the delirium of a madman, nor a hallucination born of possession.
According to hadith reports, Jibrīl at that moment was upon a seat (kursī) spanning the sky, possessing six hundred wings that filled the space between East and West.² That Muhammad could behold this and yet retain himself shows a consciousness of extraordinary strength — one that may be said to indicate the limits of human awareness. Al-ḥamdu li-llāh.
The passage then continues with another oath: that Muhammad does not withhold anything regarding the ghayb, the unseen realm.
What Is Ghayb?
Ghayb means absence — being absent, not being there. It is fundamentally different from things that can be seen once a covering is removed. It refers to the invisible, the unseen realm.
What is crucial here is Muhammad’s sharpened consciousness. Reason alone, regrettably, is insufficient for approaching the unseen. What becomes indispensable is language, and the making-conscious through language. If one wishes to include this within an expanded notion of reason, one may speak of a refined or sharpened rationality.
As for whether something “exists” or not, contemporary results in quantum computing suggest that existence and non-existence come as a pair.³ If we regard only the “visible world” as what exists, then the “invisible world” on its reverse side must be rendered visible — through language. In any case, speaking of it without linguistic articulation is difficult.
Pronouncing Ḍād (ض)
What is even more difficult, however, is that matters of this kind are often enclosed and withheld by particular groups or strata — especially by authoritarian or esoteric circles. This is precisely why the oath that Muhammad does not withhold knowledge of the unseen shines so brightly.
Let us therefore approach the verb “to withhold” from the level of consonants. In ḍanīn (“to be stingy, to withhold”), the initial consonant is ḍād (ض), a letter so distinctive that Arabic is sometimes called “the language of ḍād.”
The triliteral root of ḍanīn is ḍād–nūn–nūn.
Consider the phonetic nature of ḍād. It is among the most difficult consonants in Arabic. The place of articulation involves the side of the tongue against the molars, with strong compression, holding air within the oral cavity and releasing it laterally. As a bodily sensation, it feels like pressure retained inwardly, hesitant to exit — an extreme compression, circulation, and suppression of force.
An Unparalleled Withholding
The word used here is ضَنِين (ḍanīn), meaning “stingy” or “withholding.”
It is derived from ضَنّة (ḍanna), which conveys the sense of “scarcity” or “constriction.”
To withhold, to hoard inwardly without release — this word carries exactly the sense suggested by ḍād: force held inside, not released outward, not allowed to circulate. Therefore, the negation of this verb in the verse presupposes an intensity of withholding far beyond what is suggested by ordinary expressions such as “not being stingy.”
Thus, Muhammad does not store the ghayb as inward pressure, nor does he turn accumulated inner force into an instrument of domination. God solemnly declares this to be so.
The Consonant Ḍād
In light of these phonetic features, ḍād symbolizes a pressure that is dangerous both inwardly and outwardly. Arabic is called the “language of ḍād” not only because of the uniqueness of this consonant, but also because it bears a warning: of compression, repression, inner pressure, and the transformation of knowledge into monopoly.
Hence revelation must not be monopolized; the ghayb must not be withheld; Islamic teaching must not be closed. The language of ḍād is inherently dangerous, and precisely for that reason it calls for internal regulation of its religious tendencies.
The Crisis of Self-Referentiality
Because it is the language of ḍād, Arabic is also capable of profound self-reflection. Yet it can be armored by thick barriers that raise internal pressure and block that reflection: the enclosure of religion as the esoteric domain of specialists, or the spread of uncritical taqlīd that increases pressure inside thick walls.
This is the ḍād-ification of knowledge: revelation is open, but interpretation is compressed and understanding monopolized.
Knowledge should always be renewed. The Qurʾān, as dhikr, is to be shared on the premise of renewal. Each āyah is a sign that renders the unseen visible through language and consciousness.
If, however, knowledge is enclosed in technical terms, sealed by authority, and dismissed with “you would not understand,” this becomes ḍād turned into an end in itself — both revelationally and phonetically.
The Path of Error
This is the reality of ḍalāl — error, deviation — when viewed from ḍād and from words that begin with it. To stray from God’s guidance, to lose the way, to deviate from the proper direction.
Phonetically, it is the state in which the pressure of ḍād remains, while the lām that should indicate direction and purpose fails to do so. Pressure without destination.
When religion possesses pressure, authority, and influence, yet does not enliven people, open understanding, or foster recognition — when it spreads only fear — then it is, in an ontological sense of sound, ḍalāl.
Thus, Arabic being the language of ḍād is inseparable from the Qurʾān being a book that releases the pressure of ḍād in the proper direction.
Not by denying pressure, nor by erasing it, but by transforming it into disclosure, breath, and circulation.
This may seem a leap, but it is a movement from ḍād to jīm — from error to janna.
Ḍād Warns
From Jāhiliyya to Islam. Believers may think that, having become Muslims, they have already broken with Jāhiliyya.
Yet when we listen phonically, the language of ḍād always contains an inner pressure capable of drawing believers and the world back toward Jāhiliyya. Those who lack resonance with the bodily experience of desert life — stars withdrawing, night roaming, dawn breathing — must at least heed the warning sounded by ḍād, and resist regression.
Revelation swears that this word is not the word of Satan, and asks: “Where are you going?” Al-Ṣābūnī reads this as “How will you live?”⁴ To me, it sounds like a rhetorical question: the moat has been filled in; one can only believe these words. And yet, even so, to try to go elsewhere — that is the mark of those who stray. This is not someone else’s problem.
Allāhu aʿlam (God knows best).
Notes
See my earlier essay, “The Smile of the Angel — The Attributes of Jibrīl Illuminated: On Takwīr 81:19–21.”
Al-Ṣābūnī cites this hadith from the 13th-century commentary al-Baḥr. Muḥammad ʿAlī al-Ṣābūnī, Ṣafwat al-Tafāsīr (Beirut, 2002), pp. 1652ff.
On quantum theory and the oneness of monotheism, see my essay “A World of ‘One’ That Is Both 1 and 0: Qubits and Monotheism.”(only in Japanese) On the pairing of zero and one, see “Listening to the Voice of Quantum Entanglement.”
Muḥammad ʿAlī al-Ṣābūnī, Ṣafwat al-Tafāsīr (Beirut, 2002), pp. 1652ff.
Special Thanks to: ChatGPT-5.2
Title Image:
Superluminalmotion.gif (via WikiMediaCommons)
Acknowledgements
This English version was prepared with the support of ChatGPT-5.2.
The author expresses sincere gratitude for its assistance in translation, lexical analysis, and the careful articulation of Qur’anic nuance.
Original Version in Japanese:
「ムハンマドは気が狂っているのではない」は本当か？――「ض (ダード)」の警鐘：「タクウィール章」第22～25節をめぐって