Joan of Arc may have suffered temporal lobe epilepsy. I remember reading the symptoms, some of which I will list for you in a moment, and thinking, those symptoms describe Muhammad to a tee.
Some of the symptoms of TLE include:
Visual Hallucinations [9]
Muhammad was reported to have seen and spoken with Gabriel, the mythical angel from the bible. [9] At first Muhammad thought he was being possessed by a devil, which is rather humorous given the Jewish and Christian traditions surrounding this particular angel, but needless to say, Muhammad is reported to have experienced this symptom of TLE.
Auditory Hallucinations [10]
In Ladio, Moien-Afshari and Tellez-Zenteno’s ‘A Comprehensive Review of Temporal Lobe Epilepsy,’ they say: Auditory auras usually manifest as auditory hallucination such as sounds, which are generated by activation of the Heschl’s gyrus. Complex auditory hallucinations, such as hearing voices or tunes, can also occur. They are attributed to activation of the temporal association cortex (Loddenkemper & Kotagal, 2005). [11]
When we read of Muhammad allegedly receiving the Qur’an from Allah, we discover that Muhammad suffered severe auditory hallucinations.
The Sahih Bukhari reports:
Allah's Apostle replied, "Sometimes it is (revealed) like the ringing of a bell, this form of Inspiration is the hardest of all and then this state passes ' off after I have grasped what is inspired. [12]
Intense Fear [13]
Intense fear is one of the common emotional symptoms of temporal lobe seizures. Once again, drawing from the Sahih Bukhari we read:
Then Allah's Apostle returned with the Inspiration and with his heart beating severely. Then he went to Khadija bint Khuwailid and said, "Cover me! Cover me!" They covered him till his fear was over and after that he told her everything that had happened and said, "I fear that something may happen to me." [14]
Elevated Heart Rate [15]
Temporal lobe seizures frequently result in an elevated heart rate, which can cause sweating and heavy breathing. [16] Regarding this symptom, the Bukhari relays the words of Muhammad’s child-bride Aisha:
bride Aisha:
Verily I saw the Prophet being inspired Divinely on a very cold day and noticed the Sweat dropping from his forehead (as the Inspiration was over). [17]
Lip Smacking [18]
Lip smacking refers to the vigorous smacking and moving of the lips, and it is a common automatism associated with temporal lobe epilepsy.
In the Bukhari it is reported that: "Allah's Apostle used to bear the revelation with great trouble and used to move his lips (quickly) with the inspiration." [19]
Hypersexuality [20]
The last symptom of temporal lobe epilepsy I wish to discuss is hypersexuality.
In an article published by the Psychology Department at the University of British Colombia entitled, ‘Pedophilia and Brain Function,’ it says:
…pedophilia may be related to abnormalities within structures in the temporal lobe, which has been associated with hypersexuality. Hypersexuality is the tendency to seek out sexual activity with both appropriate and inappropriate partners or objects at appropriate or inappropriate times. [21]
On this issue we note that Muhammad wasn’t only having inappropriate sexual relations with a child, but he was also having sex with women closer to his age, and much older, a fact Muslim and Western liberal apologists love to produce as a kind of Get-Out-Of-Pedophilia-Free-Card for Muhammad. [22] According to the Bukhari, Muhammad was married to either nine or eleven women at the same time and if that isn’t shocking enough, it’s also recorded that he would have sex with each and every one of them in marathon twenty-four hour stints. [23] But his hypersexuality didn’t stop there, for it is also reported that he raped a seventeen-year-old Jewish girl on the same night that his men had killed her husband and her family. [24] The Bukhari also says that he had the sexual strength (appetite) of 30 men. [25] Further, from this same “secondary pillar of Islam” we read:
Narrated Sulaiman bin Yasar:
I asked 'Aisha about the clothes soiled with semen. She replied, "I used to wash it off the clothes of Allah's Apostle and he would go for the prayer while water spots were still visible." [26]