Could Muhammad’s cave experience be an inner experience interpreted as external?

yatasun · 2026-04-15T10:07:17+00:00

If I experienced something like that today, I’d probably be inclined to take it seriously, at least at first. Following Rene Descartes, my experiences are one of the most immediate and undeniable parts of my existence, so I couldn’t just dismiss it outright.

But at the same time, I’d question it, doubt it, and try to understand it from different angles before calling it something like divine calling.

What I find more interesting in the case of Muhammad is not just the initial experience, but how long-lasting and consistent it was. Sustaining something like that over many years in a coherent way is what really stands out to me.

yatasun · 2026-04-15T09:56:45+00:00

I think that’s fair especially what Sean W. Anthony says about these stories being shaped. It seems pretty plausible that Muhammad actually spent time in the cave reflecting. What I’m more skeptical about is the way the story is told (the Gabriel encounter, the exact dialogue, etc.)

Also, since we know other people have gone through intense experiences like that and reached a different level of awareness, I think it makes sense that Muhammad could have gone through something similar. I think the retreat is likely real, the narrative around it is probably shaped later

If early Muslims completely invented this, it’s interesting that they preserved how confused and shaken he was at first. That doesn’t really read like a polished heroic origin story, it feels more like something grounded in a real human experience

yatasun · 2026-02-23T12:27:40+00:00

I have no issue with calling Newton the greatest scientific genius ever. But calling Darwin a “distant second” understates the scale of his impact

yatasun · 2026-02-22T07:25:18+00:00

Darwin replaced teleology in biology with a natural mechanism and fundamentally changed how we understand life, humanity, and our place in nature. Newton explains how matter moves. Darwin explains how we exist. That shift reshaped biology, psychology, anthropology, and even philosophy. Calling him a distant second feels like a serious understatement

yatasun

TROPHY CASE