žižek archive
archive / stories / Mohammed becomes prophet through his wife Khadijah

Mohammed becomes prophet through his wife Khadijah

anecdote · Islamic tradition · retold in 3 talks

When Mohammed first hears the archangel Gabriel he thinks it must be the Devil; his wife Khadijah convinces him it is the divine voice. Žižek reads this as showing that in Islam the woman is the ultimate ethical agent who orients the confused man.

2010: 1 talk 2011: 1 talk 2013: 1 talk
≤2000talks it is told in, per year2026

As told 3

“it is as if men are confused the ultimate ethical agent is the woman”
1:16:58 God Without the Sacred2010-11-09 · 1:40:54
“Muhammad first thought this is the voice of the devil and then it's his wife Khadija who convinced him that this is the truth”
34:11 The Year of Dangerous Dreams2013-02-25 · 1:21:32
“you have in Islam this very interesting moment that men do not have access to truth without feminine mediation”

What it carries

one story, many jobs: the ideas this anecdote is deployed to argue, one tally mark per use (an idea page shows the same relation from the other end, as its shelf of stories)

contents · one story, 2 jobsuses
the big Other ×1 sexual difference ×1

Its cast and sources

populated by
alongside works

Every retelling 3

1:16:58 God Without the Sacred2010-11-09 · 1:40:54
When Mohammed first hears the archangel Gabriel he thinks it must be the Devil; his wife Khadijah convinces him it is the divine voice. Žižek reads this as showing that in Islam the woman is the ultimate ethical agent who orients the confused man., illustrating Islam's ambiguity,the woman as ethical agent
34:11 The Year of Dangerous Dreams2013-02-25 · 1:21:32
According to Islamic tradition, Muhammad initially thought the angel Gabriel's messages were the voice of the devil; it was his wife Khadija who convinced him of their truth, Žižek uses this to show that in Islam, man cannot access truth without woman as mediating Big Other., illustrating the Big Other,woman as mediator,Islam and ethical subjectivity
When Gabriel appeared to Muhammad, he thought it was the devil; his first wife Khadijah convinced him it was God, Žižek uses this to argue Islam contains a moment where men cannot access truth without feminine mediation., illustrating Islam's emancipatory potential,feminine mediation of truth