satanic verses is a name given to a number of verses of the qur'an. these verses became famous because they were introduced into a version of the book. in a later version, they were taken out again. different groups of people have different views about these verses. according to the first biography of muhammad, "sīrat rasul allah, life of the apostle of god", by islamic authors ṭabarī (839-923) and al-wāqidī (745-822), muhammad, who struggled to convert the inhabitants of mecca, was tempted by satan ("iblis") while he was reciting the "sūra" al-najm (considered - like all the islamic sacred text - a divine revelation transmitted to him through the archangel gabriel) who suggested a phrase (v. 21) after verses 19 and 20.