Islam is probably the least understood and most demonized religion today. The critics of Islam have created this persona based primarily on misconceptions, ignorance and malice. You’ve probably heard of some of the following common misconceptions about Islam.
Misconception # 1: Violence and Terrorism is the Muslim Creed
Islam and Muslims have become synonymous with terms like terrorism, extremism and fundamentalism. The involvement of some so-called Muslims in the acts of terrorism in the past few decades does not justify the labeling of a whole faith and its people as terrorists. Nobody called Timothy McVeigh a Christian terrorist after the Oklahoma bombing in the 90’s, neither is the IRA labeled as a Christian terrorist group, so why is it that when a Muslim does something wrong it is the fault of his religion?
Apparently, logical arguments do not carry any weight in this debate, which is fueled by sensationalism and vested interests at the highest levels of governments. Citing verses of the Qur’an out of the context is the favorite tactic of the proponents of this misconception. There are several verses in the Qur’an that clearly state the opposite of this misconception. For example, “Fight in the cause of God against those who fight you, but do not transgress limits. God does not love transgressors.” (Qur’an 2:190). Another verse says, “If they seek peace, then seek you peace.” (Qur’an 8:61)
Misconception #2: Jihad Means Killing Non-Muslims
If opposition to Islam can be summarized today in one word, it is ‘Jihad’; the all-inclusive term for Islam bashing. Disregarding its true meaning and historical perspective, jihad is decisively equated with the violence that has been perpetrated in the last few decades in the name of Islam by individuals. There are several forms of Jihad; an armed struggle which may involve killing the enemy is ‘Qital’, which is considered by most non-Muslims to be the only form of Jihad. However, according to Islam, one of the most important types of ‘Jihad’ is ‘Jihad bil nafs’ (struggle against the self), every other struggle stems out of this. Jihad bil nafs involves constantly struggling to overcome and control our animal desires.
Misconception #3: Women are Oppressed in Islam
Saving Muslim women from the ‘tyranny’ of Islam is one of the favorite rallying cries of the people who consider Islam an evil force. Just like many other misdeeds wrongly attributed to Islam rather than to the individuals who commit them, unfair treatment of women is also considered to be the Islamic way of treating women. Setting aside the malicious propaganda, the reason behind this misconception is probably the fact that Islamic teachings about the role, responsibilities, status and treatment of women are judged according to the western practices and beliefs. If anything, Islam liberated the women in Arabia by giving them rights that were unheard of at that time in most nations. The stereotype of veil wearing, home-bound Muslim woman is used to argue that women are oppressed. However, this viewpoint is completely devoid of the knowledge of the status and rights of Muslim women. If we look into how other major religions look at women, we will find surprising revelations. In the New Testament, St. Paul declares, “A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I don’t permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.” In contrast, this is what Qur’an has to say, “Whoever works righteousness, man or woman, and has faith, verily to him/her we will give a new life that is good and pure, and we will bestow on such their reward according to the best of their actions.” (16:97)
The right to hold property is considered to be fundamental for human beings, yet no major religion other than Islam actually allowed women to have property. Not only this but Muslim women have full control of their property and their husbands have no share in it.
Misconception #4: Muslims don’t Believe in Jesus
Many Christians are made to believe that Jesus (peace be upon him) and other prophets are not considered by Muslims as God’s messengers. A cursory reading of Qur’an or other Islamic literature shows that Muslims remember all of the prophets mentioned in the Christian and Judaic scriptures with great respect and reverence. Jesus has been mentioned in Qur’an in several places such as “O Mary, God gives you good news of a word from Him whose name shall be the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, honored in this world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near to God. He shall speak to the people from his cradle and in maturity, and shall be of the righteous.”(Qur’an chapter 3)
Misconception #5: Propagation of Islam is the result of Force
This misconception may be the result of making wrong inferences from the early Islamic history about the expansion of the Muslim state up to the time of Caliph Umar Farooq. The Muslim state indeed spread very quickly in the early years, but the conversion to Islam was never forced upon the people of the conquered territories. If anything, the Qur’an instructs Muslims to deal with them in a kind and just manner “God forbids you not, with regards to those who fight you not for [your] faith nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them; for God loveth those who are just.” (Qur’an 60:8). The most clear-cut statement against conversion by force or coercion comes straight from the Qur’an, “There is no compulsion (or coercion) in the religion (Islam)” (2:256)
The comments of T.W. Arnold on this matter are evidence of the folly of this misconception “… of any organized attempt to force the acceptance of Islam on the non-Muslim population, or of any systematic persecution intended to stamp out the Christian religion, we hear nothing. Had the caliphs chosen to adopt either course of action, they might have swept away Christianity as easily as Ferdinand and Isabella drove Islam out of Spain ….So that the very survival of these Churches to the present day is a strong proof of the generally tolerant attitude of the Mohammedan governments towards them.”
Another historian De lacey O’Leary also negates this myth, “History makes it clear however, that the legend of fanatical Muslims sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the point of the sword upon conquered races is one of the most fantastically absurd myths that historians have ever repeated.”
Furthermore, it must be pointed out that Muslims ruled and fully controlled India for 800 years and Egypt for even longer than that. Yet the vast majority of the population in India remains Hindu till today, and a small minority of Coptic Christians remains in Egypt today. If Muslims practiced forced conversions there is no way such communities could have survived for over a millennium.
Misconception #6: Islam is Intolerant of Other Religions
Religious intolerance is high on the charge-sheet against Islam and Muslims. Many non-Muslims believe that Islam does not tolerate other religions and it instructs Muslims to kill all the infidels. Equating the actions of a handful of bad apples with the teachings of Islam about people of other faiths is a grave injustice. There are numerous examples throughout Islamic history that clearly show the extent of religious tolerance in Islam. What could better exemplify it than the verses from the Qur’an and ahadith of Muhammad (pbuh).
“There is no compulsion (or coercion) in the religion (Islam)” (2:256)
“Beware! Whoever is cruel and hard on a non-Muslim minority, or curtails their rights, or burdens them with more than they can bear, or takes anything from them against their free will; I (Prophet Muhammad) will complain against the person on the Day of Judgment.” (Sunnan Abu Dawud)
Misconception #7: Muslims are Savages with no Regard for Culture and Civilization
Many texts portray Muslims as uncivilized and barbaric people but nothing could be further from the truth. Even a cursory glance at history proves otherwise. War is one instance where showing no mercy is considered to be a tactic. Islam, on the other hand, does not allow Muslim armies to mutilate the dead, kill children or elderly, destroy crops, trees, livestock etc., demolish buildings, harm civilians and break agreements/pacts. With clear rules of engagement like these for war, it would be grossly unfair to call Muslims barbaric.
The influence and contributions of Muslims towards culture and science are widely known and acknowledged by scholars. “It is highly probable that but for the Arabs, modern European civilization would never have arisen at all; it is absolutely certain that but for them, it would not have assumed that character which has enabled it to transcend all previous phases of evolution,” Robert Briffault, a social anthropologist.
Misconception #8: Islam was founded by Muhammad (peace be upon him)
Despite an abundance of literature on Islam, there are some who believe that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) founded Islam and Muslims worship him as well as Allah. Any serious attempt to learn about Islam will right away debunk this misconception. In order to enter into the fold of Islam, a person must pronounce the Shahadah (the testimony of faith); the meaning of which is
“I bear witness that there is no God worthy of worship except Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad (SAW) is His slave and messenger”..
Also in chapter 33 of the Qur’an it is stated, “O Prophet, verily We have sent you as a witness and a bearer of glad tidings and a warner and as one who invites unto God by His leave and as an illuminating lamp.”
Misconception #9: At least Four Wives for Muslim Men
Some aspects of Muslim culture have been universally accepted as the defacto standard such as four wives for Muslim men. Most westerners believe that every Muslim has a ‘harem’ with at least four wives. First of all, it should be clearly understood that it is an option not a compulsion. There are social and cultural reasons behind the practice of polygamy which can only be understood with the knowledge of Arab society at that time. There are strict conditions that must be met such as equal treatment of the wives. It surprises me that the people who make a huge fuss about polygamy in Islam, have no issue with promiscuity in western cultures where extra-marital relationships and children born out of wedlock are accepted with open arms.
Misconception #10: The Crescent and Star is the Symbol of Islam
It is a common misconception even among Muslims that the crescent moon and star is the official symbol of Islam. However, in the days of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) Muslims did not have a symbol and they used solid-colored flags. In fact, the crescent was adopted as a symbol by the Turks during Ottoman Empire’s conquest of Constantinople.
Excellent article Absar. Well done! You have always been very logical and ever-patient when explaining and talking about Islam. You inspire people to want to be better Muslims. Keep up the great work.
“O ye who believe! take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends: They are but friends to each other. And he amongst you that turns to them is of them. Verily Allah guideth not a people unjust.”
This verse has brought on many issues in our world. My professor, Charles Van Patten, who teaches a course on World Religions in our college gave our class the deeper meaning of this verse. I had a negative thought about this verse myself but when I really thought about it, it made sense. Van Patten said that Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon his generous soul) used to mention this to the people of his city and he said the following of it “Respect the Jews, Christians, and people of other beliefs. Be kind to them, and allow them their independence and freedom, BUT do not be friends with them”. Van Patten (By the way, hes Catholic) agreed with Muhammad on this because he said that in modern days, people claim to love and respect their religion and cherish it with all their hearts but how much does their religion mean to them when they befriend an individual that does not share their beliefs? How much does their path mean to them when they choose to call a person their ‘friend’ when that person criticizes their belief? How important is religion to them? (for the record, the term “religion” is a man-made term. This term “religion” does NOT exist in the Arabic language. The closest interpretation in English would mean ‘religion’. Also, religion means “the path” not a weird term that we as humans associate it with). So I am asking everyone who follow their ‘path’, how much does your path mean to you when you choose to befriend someone that does not like your path? At some point, you guys (people that are friends and follow different paths) will get into a debate about a certain thing and clash. So be respectful, be wise, be generous and kind to the whole of mankind but don’t get too close to each other.
We can all function normally with a little distance…. (Just like we can get along fine with an ex if we remain respectful and keep a little distance..get too close and they throw vases at your for dumping them).
It makes sense to me because I know a beautiful Christian (He believed in the Trinity) that has so much knowledge of both the New and Old Testament. One day we were chatting online about all these different religions and how they all connect and it just happened that the matter got to Jesus/Isa (peace and blessings be upon him). We kept trying to convince each other of who Jesus/Isa (peace be upon him) was and we kept arguing over his identity. It hit me then that we were both such fools because we spend at least an hour debating (Oh it got ugly in the end). I know that the path of Christianity does not teach the world to force an idea and nor does the path of Islam. Jesus/Isa (peace and much blessings be upon him) thought us better than that.
The lesson I learned from my debate was “Respect this persons views, Be kind to him, be understanding, BUT do not take him as a friend Because it would not be a healthy nor a normal friendship, it would always consist of debates and clashes”. I learned to be a kind and a true person to all of mankind but i will not associate with them too much nor will i get too close.
The Qur’an is not biased and it teaches mankind to be tolerant, to be good to each other just like all other scriptures.
I mean, if we remove all paths of life and any trace of ‘path’. we’d all be human. If a tiger attacked a Muslim kid or atheist kid, we’d all jump and try to help right? Then why is is that we let our ‘paths’ be an issue for us. I know that there are a lot of corrupt people in the world that abuse their ‘paths’ and associate wrong things with a certain ‘path’. But when you remove religion from the world, we’d all be bare humans. That is what the Qur’an and the Bible and the Torah and others are trying to tell us foolish mankind.
“There is no compulsion (or coercion) in the religion (Islam)” (2:256)
“You shall have your religion and I shall have my religion” (109:6) Qur’an.
And when Muslims say “Allah’s Will” it does NOT mean that man has no will. What does Allah Will? What does ‘His Will’ mean? Allah’s Will is for man to worship him. The term for worship in Arabic is “Ibaadah” the closest English meaning is ‘Worship’. But “Ibaadah” does NOT mean worship, it has a deeper meaning. Allah’s Will for man is: to love, to be generous, to be compassionate, to live and love this world and His creations in a good way, to marry and have a beautiful family, to be good to earth and everything that dwells in it. THIS is Allah’s Will and what it means to worship Him. So why shouldn’t mankind follow His Will? What is so bad about it? truth is, we live Allah’s Will each and every day whether you believe it or not. We do nice things all the time, cry when we do bad things (feelings guilt? thats Allah’s mercy. He had breathed kindness into your soul and your using it) when a loved one is hurt or dead, we promise ourselves to care for the alive ones. Trust me, I used to have a negative perspective about this whole Allah’s-Will-And Worship-Me thing. It made me so mad that I just wanted to study it and get to the bottom of Islam and “Religion”. Well, in the end, i felt foolish. I felt foolish about not knowing anything about Islam and assuming my own opinion. I felt ashamed of myself and how I boasted that Islam was a biased path.
I used to be an atheist, It’s been 8 months that Ive been studying Islam and with one purpose; to seek the truth. The truth about the 3 religions of Abraham (Peace and blessings be upon his wise soul). The 3 religions of Abraham are all semitic, they all follow the same path and believe in the same things. It is man that polluted each other, it is man that created sects in their path, it is man that back bite and act inhumane, not a certain path. NO path (3 religions of Abraham) teaches wrong things, and no path promotes inhumane behavior. It is man, the individual man that practice filth and evil that leads to barbaric scenes.
Everyone, take your time and think about how strange we are, we are so high off of religion that we forget that were human. This isn’t about proving the Qur’an right nor is it about proving Islam right, its about correcting each other, as a whole, as mankind right.
The motive here is unity, not compulsion in religion. We were here to correct a misunderstand. not point fingers. The author of this page is being very patient with us, respect him as a human, do not look at his religion. Why are you guys arguing with him for what happened in history? and why are you guys arguing with each other. Do you guys even care for who’s lives were lost? NO! you all just point out the amount of dead from your own countries, your own people. Look at your posts again, re read them, your all being biased about your own losses and what matters to you. Think as a human for human kind instead.
we cannot undue history nor can we bring back the lost lives. But what we can do is unite and create stronger and wiser men to enforce humanity. And this my brothers and sisters is our primary duty to each other. This is what religion teaches.
@The Seeker,
My reference to verse 5:51 was not to imply its historical background, I am sure when the prophet said that he would have his reasons and within a group it is always necessary, that is fine. What I was pointing at is how the verse is being used to plant hatred today and of course if you read my post you will find that i was clear about not promoting hate.
The problem with todays interpretations is that you can only judge or should I say try to Judge by words of what really was the author’s intention. This is sadly no conclusive way to define since it is subjective to interpretation, not to mention that the variants of meaning in the semitic languages also pose a problem. Classical Arabic words are constructed from three-letter “roots” which convey a basic idea. For example, k-t-b conveys the idea of writing. Addition of other letters before, between and after the root letters produces many associated words: not only “write” but also “book”, “office”, “library”, and “author”.
About the article written by Absar, I pointed him out where I think he was wrong. I see no reason to stir hatred or criticizing him just for the sake of it. we all learn from each other. I know how people bash Islam for the fun of it, I made it clear that this is not my intention. And I commend his tolerance as well. And for the most part I agree with you. Still an emotional plea is not justification for something that is objectionable. I had a few questions, i asked him respectfully, of course it is up to him to decide if he wishes to reply or not.
I agree with you that we all will try to save the kid no matter he is Christian, Hindu, Jew or Muslim. ‘Ibaadah’ also in a variant meaning, means servant, in that way, you are a servant to Allah. And if so you have no will, a servant doesn’t have one. Whatever the will of the master so shall be the will of the slave. This is not a fundamentally wrong association if we are to look at it peacefully, but in a militant mentality this type of reasoning produces what today Islam is facing, a pure left hand radical Islam. And I sometimes wonder peace loving Muslims like your self must be worried. No one is safe from these kind of idiots. Anyone who kills in the name of pleasing God is a fool.
But tell me, when someone says something against Muhammad, Muslims do charge Fatwa’s, orders of killing that said person under the blasphemy is supported from almost everyone, Ahadiat’s are quoted, etc etc. If you are truly peace loving people of book then stop evil practices like this. no one should have the authority to judge a man on his opinion or views. No one is above the book. And in that case, even no prophet is above the book or God. if killing in the name of God is wrong, then killing in the name of your prophet is preposterous. I am baffled when people come up with idiot logical reasons to support the idea of honor killings and killing someone for blasphemy.
I AM IN NO WAY SAYING THAT ANY PROPHET OR GOD SHOULD BE MOCKED OR MADE FUN OF. BUT IF YOU ARE TRULY LOVING AND PEACEFUL THEN YOU SHOULD TOLERATE IT AND OBJECT WITHIN A LIMIT OF HUMANITY AND JUSTICE. I KNOW A LOT OF MUSLIMS WHO MOCK CHRISTIANITY, A LOT OF ATHEISTS WHO OPENLY MOCK OUR PROPHETS AND GOD. BUT I AM IN NO WAY GOING TO KILL THEM FOR IT. LET GOD DECIDE THEIR FATE. WE ARE BUT MEN ONLY.
But here is the dilemma, such values of tolerance are only in a democratic society. Islam is not democracy, it has its own sharia rule and in that you are to follow it without questions. So the moral choice is no more resting in the humanitarian cause but rather a religious cause. And I have heard many times the argument given for the brutal Arabic laws and how they are very useful in detaining crime and other things but then it clashes with peace and loving religion, a religion that forgives and unites. well let me tell you, it only unites the strong, the weak it doesn’t. according to sharia a person convicted of theft should have his hand(s) cut off. the prostitute, if caught should be whipped. Tell me is this your love and unity and peace. This is totalitarian-ism and this is what is causing trouble. And now some one can say that such practices reduce crime, yes they do, but at what cost? imposed will. if a person who made a theft has had his hands cut off, what do you think he lost, he not only lost his hands, he lost his way of earning and going back. even if he repents, what can he do with disability. can he be a normal citizen again? No. You can say he will never steal again, yeah sure, but he won;t be able to do any other thing as well.
Now don’t take me wrong, this is not a debate about capital punishment or anything like that, the law of the state is made with vote of the people. of people agree that some law is not right than they could amend, improve or change it. However when a law is brought from a religious book like quran, it is unquestionable and objective, you can’t change it. it is god’s will or something like that. and you will have to carry it out regardless of your own moral position in the matter. You with me? it is like being in a box, you can’t go out of without the possibility of being charged as a heretic. Man made laws can always be challenged, but you will not challenge your book, even if sounds wrong. this is the mentality that broods militancy and injustice in Islam. You can’t think objectively, you are told you follow and you can not go against the book or prophet.
Islam is for the strong, not for the weak, it doesn’t grant forgiveness, neither does it offers a path for redemption. if you screwed up, your problem, you reap what you sow, fine. But then please do not sugar coat it, do not make it sound like “love all” kind of thing. it doesn’t fit, Islam contradicts it self on a theological level when such contrary statements are produced.
And here is the problem, if you are a peace loving person and you are a Muslim, would you follow the quran and cutoff the hands of a man, who (you have no way of knowing), may repent. or would you give him punishment in a humane way, but in doing so you will not be following Islam. and remember, in Islam you follow Allah’s will. and in this case you are to choose between your moral sense and a order of a book. I am interested to see how will you approach this. But even if you don’t, you do get my point? There are some fundamental problems in the way Islam teaches, it not humanist, it is a strict code, there are hardly any margins available.
This is the problem that peace loving good Muslims are facing from the extremists who take these orders word for word. Your idea of a peaceful, loving humanity is noble and well worth praise but Islam is sadly not perfect way to achieve this. In order for everyone to gather, they either must be all Muslim or else it is a democracy, but if Islam is the way that such a world state should be achieved that there is a problem. Islam doesn’t support democracy, it is not for everyone. Let me refer it to a point in the original article that Absar wrote. Why the Indians despite being under the Muslim rule, remained Hindus, his point was in support that Islam didn’t force religion by force or sword. And here is my point, even if I believe it that this is the way it happened that would mean that Hindus were least impressed by Islam, The majority despite being 800 years in servitude never converted.
I agree we can not undo history and so we should never alter or or sugar coat it to prove our points. I just showed you from some examples. Muslims are good people at large, but you need to change some things in understanding of your own book if you want people to see Islam as the religion you say it is. This world is at each others throat we should all do the best we can to make peace.
God bless you
Dear Absar,
I have just come across this blog of yours and found it very engaging. It is certainly hard to find Muslims who are open to criticism. I applaud the way you have held up the end. Perhaps from this people may see that somewhere in Islam people are still rational.
While I agree with you that you can find bad people in every religion and the mass actions of a religious gathering doesn’t always mean that their religion says or promotes it, Islam tends to have a higher percentage of the said bad people. Now I’m no way saying that there is something inherently bad in the Muslim people itself but it is quite hard to overlook the fact that Muslims tend to be militant the very instant they have a reason. It is kind of a priority action even when the reason could be addressed via other means.
I know a lot Muslims who would rather spit on my face than eat with me. I find this troubling because Muslims are trying their best to enter in the non-Muslim countries where they enjoy the privileges but sadly they have a looter mentality, the same that Europeans had when they first started colonizing Americas. They are trying to take over in a very strange weird kind of way. I have been thinking about this for some time now and I figured that the whole problems is in your teaching process. May be it is the interpretations or the opinion of the Mullah but nonetheless there is a planted bias towards others from a small age. Now I hate cliches but just for reference
5:51
“O ye who believe! take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends: They are but friends to each other. And he amongst you that turns to them is of them. Verily Allah guideth not a people unjust.”
Now however you may look at it, historically or literally (even if you cite a different tafseer), when you teach a child who is in his 1st or 2nd grade and recite him this verse, what do you expect him to learn from it? of course no child is taught in their infancy the tafseer, and this is just one example, there are others which i haven’t touched. When a young mind absorbs this kind of hate, they are bound to grow with a certain bias. And I am afraid this is the kind of problem that Muslims are facing throughout the world.
The Quran has verses that can be translated and swayed both ways and I suppose this is something that no one can really control, every Holy Book, the bible or quran have versus that can be used against their own meaning but Muslims are frantically turning fanatics or militant and as a result now the rest of the world is returning that favor. it is just all bad. more hate and hate.
About your article, I would just say that women do not have equal rights to men in Islam, they just have some rights. the property they inherit is not equal to a male. you should have mentioned that. As far as property in other religions is concerned, ancient Persia, Greece, Rome and Egypt and even the Jews also had rights for women including will and property, so this is not something very spectacular or new that only Islam produced. It was certainly something new for the Bedouins, because they were real savages. But not to the rest of the world.
You have taken the new testament verse to cite an example, but may i remind you that you are grossly mistaken. first women in Islam are forbidden to have a role in religious leadership, they can’t be an Imam, can they? second when Paul was writing this to the church – which were converts from the Greek and were famous for their female priests. Their religious practices prior to becoming Christian was to perform idol worship and engage in immoral acts since that was the crux of Greek worship. Keeping this in mind Paul wrote them that the women in that church should not dictate others what to do or how to worship since they do not know and will probably mislead others so they should learn. so please dig into a reference before you use it for the wrong purpose. Christians have a very high number of female pastors, evangelists and other religious roles.
About point 8: Islam was founded by Muhammad, Islam did not exist prior to that. there is not proof of what you are saying. i suggest you take history’s view. Jesus wasn’t Muslim, no matter how you come about it, you cant prove it. And Muhammad himself said he was commended by Allah to be the First Muslim. Given your knowledge it wont be hard to fetch that verse “…have I been commanded: I am THE FIRST MOSLEM” 6:14.
About the question of four wives, may I ask you why the women aren’t allowed to 4 marriages? why men alone? It is actually not your fault Absar, so I can see how you will answer this. But then please do not say that women have equal rights. That makes all of your hard reasoning a hypocrite stance. Though I am sure that is not your intention.
the Prophet and Ali had more wives than four upto 13 or some source cite Ali had 18 wives, why? are these gentlemen above the law of quran or Allah. I know the usual response that it was done out of charity, but please, you can also make somebody a daughter, do you have to make her your own bride in order to safe gaurd her? I dont see that as necessary. Not to mention Ayesha was wedded when she was below 10 years old. can you throw some light to it. is this normal behavior? can you wed a 7 or 8 year old girl? does the quran allow it? I hope you see the contradiction I am trying to point out. Islam has some real problems when these facts are pointed out.
One more question, can you tell me how Muhammed married Khadija before the advent of islam or quran, He was 25, khadija was forty, what Nikkah ceremony did they perform. It certainly wasn’t a muslim nikkah since there was no imam or quran, in fact the prophet himself had not seen any angel or heard a “wahi” at that age. So how did they marry? who performed the nikkah? and what religious nikkah was used? and mind you Khadija was a Jew.
Tc. I hope for a reasonable answer.
PS: Please my mentioning of these things is not to stir hurt in you or any fellow Muslims. I am just asking for a justified response with regards to your claim. Every Major religion has its problems, you have yours. but it is time you make them right or else the world is looking at a very extremist type of Islam, one that only promotes hate. I know a lot of fantastic Muslims, many are nice and good people. In fact some of the most mannered and loving families i know are Muslim, For my self, i am a teacher of comparative studies and a third generation Christian, my family converted to Christianity some 100 years ago. we are descendants of Syeds and direct in line from Al-e-Muhammad. it is thus with respect that I reach this issue.
God bless all.
Dear Brother John.
I thank you dearly for your questions… and I will try and respond to each to the best of my ability… and may Allah make my words true and clear, and free from error.
I apologize for the length… But your questions required a bit of explanation.
I would firstly like to give a bit of a background which will hopefully put some of the other items in proper context.
1. Brief History according to Islam –
According to Islam, Allah created humans only for His worship and for no other reason. In Surah Dhariat, Allah says: “And I did not create the jinn or mankind except that they should worship me”. The word for worship in Arabic is ‘Ibaadah… though ‘Ibaadah has a much deeper meaning. ‘Ibaadah is not at all limited to rituals of worship, rather it means living ones entire life in accordance with the will and commandments of Allah. It means to do all those things that Allah has commanded and to leave off all those things which He has forbidden.
Although man can learn many things through his senses, e.g. how the world works and how to survive in it (in fact purely through reason and logic a man of sound mind and intellect will even conclude that there must be a creator, a God, behind all this, and that he should thank Him for all that He has given me). Still, there are certain questions man cannot learn through intuition, i.e. where did I come from? Why did the Creator place me on earth? What is my purpose? Where will I go from here? Similarly, man, simply through his intuition, cannot learn How to worship Allah and what is Allah’s will. Man is need of being taught these things. For this purpose Allah, in His infinite Mercy, sent the Prophets in order to show men how to live their lives according to Allah’s will. However, a few generations after a prophet came and went, people fell back into their disbelief, or began worshipping other Gods besides Allah. Thus, Allah sent new prophets in order to renew the message.
According to Islam, the prophets were not average men… they were the best of men. They were the most pious, truthful and righteous, and often the most respected of their people. I would like to point out here that the Islamic teachings here are very different from the Bible. According to the Old Testament, the Prophet Lot (PBUH) committed incest with his own daughter… and Noah (PBUH) was a drunkard. Such beliefs are not acceptable in Islam… and Allah refutes such claims in the Qur’an and absolves the prophets of such heinous sins.
Every single Prophet was sent to His own people in his own land and he/they were not permitted or required to preach to other people… They were responsible for their own flock. However, the belief system that every single Prophet was sent with was exactly the same, i.e. Belief in the One Single God, and that only He is worthy of Worship; Belief in the Angels, Belief in the Heavenly Books, Belief in the Prophets, Belief in the Day of Judgement. I hope you will agree that none of the Prophets mentioned even in the Bible ask people to believe in any different than the above. Yet, the day-to-day laws, or shariah, that each Prophet was sent with was slightly different, based on his time and place. Thus with each Prophet, some minor changes were made to the laws, e.g. during the Prophet Adam’s time… brothers could marry their own sisters… because this was the need of the hour… but this was forbidden in the laws brought by the later Prophets.
It is precisely because the belief system of all the Prophets was exactly the same do we say that they were all Muslim. You see, the Arabic word Muslim means one who submits/surrenders completely and wholeheartedly to Allah and Allah alone. Further, the Arabic word Islam comes from the same root word as Muslim and means ‘Complete Submission/Surrender to Allah’. And it is this act of complete submission – to the extent that Abraham was willing to sacrifice his own son at the slightest command of Allah – furthermore having the same belief system; this is what made all the Prophets Muslim.
Furthermore, it was the act of submission to Allah that made people Muslim or non-Muslim. Regardless of what day-to-day laws or shariah, the important thing was that when a Prophet was sent to them from God, they were obliged to follow the Prophet and accept the new law that he brought… this was their submission to Allah. Those who refused to accept the new Prophet were no longer Muslims, thus no longer believers, regardless of whether or not they stuck to their previous laws or shariah.
I have included the following verses of the Qur’an to help you see how the other Prophets were also Muslim:
Sura 3 – Al-E-Imran : Verse 52
Then when ‘Īsā (Jesus) came to know of their disbelief, he said: “Who will be my helpers in Allâh’s Cause?” Al-Hawâriyyûn (the disciples) said: “We are the helpers of Allâh; we believe in Allâh, and bear witness that we are Muslims (i.e. we submit to Allâh).”
Sura 22 – Al-Hajj : Verse 78
And strive hard in Allâh’s Cause as you ought to strive (with sincerity and with all your efforts that His Name should be superior). He has chosen you (to convey His Message of Islâmic Monotheism to mankind by inviting them to His religion, of Islâm), and has not laid upon you in religion any hardship,[] it is the religion of your father Ibrahim (Abraham) (Islâmic Monotheism). It is He (Allâh) Who has named you Muslims both before and in this (the Qur’ân),
Sura 16 – An-Nahl: Verse 123
So We have taught thee the inspired (message), “Follow the ways of Abraham the True in faith, and he joined not gods with Allah.” (Thus Muhammad (PBUH) was on the religion of Abaraham)
Sura 12 – Yusuf : Verse 38
(Yusuf said) And I have followed the religion of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. It never was for us to attribute aught as partner to Allah. This is of the bounty of Allah unto us (the seed of Abraham) and unto mankind; but most men give not thanks.
Note above: The disciples of Jesus literally use the word Muslims, for themselves (i.e. they submit completely to Allah alone). In Arabic, the verse is ‘Fash-had bi annaa MUSLIMOON’
Finally, as the world progressed, people of different races, nationalities, and cultures came close together and began closely interacting with one another… a final Message was needed for all of humanity. Thus, Muhammad (SAW) was sent as a Messenger for the entire human race. The proof of this is also in the Qur’an, where Allah commands Muhammad (PBUH) to say:
“Say (O Muhammad): O Mankind, verily I am the Messenger of Allah sent to all of you”.
The message he brought, i.e. the Qur’an was the final revelation of God sent for the entire human race up to the Day of Judgement. Allah refers to the Qur’an as: “A Reminder for all the Worlds”. Although the Qur’an confirms the earlier books and laws, they have been superceded and abrogated by the laws brought by the Qur’an.
Thus, just as with earlier Prophets, those who believe in the Message of Muhammad (PBUH) accept him and follow him are now the Muslims, as they have submitted…. Those who reject him and say we believe in some Prophets but not others… they have left the fold of Islam.
2. Taking the Jews and Christians as friends:
This is an often misunderstood verse. I would like to point out that the word used in this verse is not asdiqaa (friends), rather it is awliyaa, which means protectors or helpers or allies or intimate friends. Thus a more correct translation of the verse would be:
“O ye who believe! take not the Jews and the Christians for your protectors/helpers/allies: They are but protectors/helpers/allies to each other. And he amongst you that turns to them is of them. Verily Allah guideth not a people unjust.”
The above is plain Arabic… you may ask any Arab about it. Don’t take my word.
The Prophet made it very clear during his lifetime that making friends with Jews and Christians, or Polytheists for that matter is not a problem. He commanded people to be kind to their neighbors regardless of their religion and not to disturb them or hurt them. There is the very famous hadith that relates how a Jewish woman used to throw garbage on the Prophet (PBUH) on a regular basis. One day she didn’t throw garbage so he went to inquire about her. He was told that she was very sick. Thus he visited her and said that since she didn’t thrown garbage on him he decided to visit to make sure she’s okay. She accepted Islam at that very moment.
The point is… Muslims are sent on earth to invite others to Islam… this is also a part of their worship. How can we invite others to Islam if we treat them in a cruel manner? It defies logic.
Allies or protectors or intimate friends, who we confide our secrets to is something entirely different. For this we need to seek out those whom we can trust with our lives… and I’m sure you’ll agree that if I want to trust someone with my life.. then more than likely I will seek out someone who atleast has the same beliefs as I do.
Further, and this is important… when we look at the world today.. we see that the Jews and Christians have allied themselves against the Muslims all across the world. They are both helping one another in order to capture and rule Muslim lands, whether directly or through proxies. This is very significant because the beliefs held by the Jews and Christians are diametrically opposed to one another. Christians believe Jesus (PBUH) is the Son of God, or God incarnate, and His mother Mary (PBOH) is worshipped by many Christians. Yet, Jews belief Jesus (PBUH) is an illegitimate child, and his mother was a prostitute, and they are both in Hell. Yet, despite this, they are willing to put aside their differences and join forces against the Muslims, who love and revere both Jesus (PBUH) and his holy mother (PBUH). This is a fulfillment of the Qur’anic verse that you quoted.. but don’t you find this phenomenon strange???
3. Do Women have equal rights in Islam?
In order to explain the above, a belief in God is very important… which Alumdulillah you have. Therefore we know that God has created each of His creatures with a unique purpose in life. Similarly men and women have been created each with their own roles to play. The primary purpose of both men and women is to worship Allah, and within that worship are defined their distinct roles in life. Men have been described in the Qur’an as the protectors and care-takers of the women. They are the bread winners and and must use what wealth they have to clothe and feed their families, because this is in the very nature of a man. No true man can feel fulfilled sitting at home while his wife goes out and earns for the family. Women on the other hand are in charge of domestic affairs and the primary upbringing of the children. Because this is in the nature of women. A woman does not think twice about staying up all night looking after a crying baby.. because this is part if her maternal instinct to sacrifice herself for her child. A man cannot do this… He will usually (eventually) get upset. Furthermore, women by nature tend to be more emotional, while men tend to be more rational. Thus… because of these different natures, Allah has chosen men as the head of the household and the ones with the final say in all decision making. Although, the Prophet (PBUH) gave us a beautiful example of how this is done… he often used to seek consultation from his wives on how to go about matters. Though the final decision was his.
It is because of the above that men and women have different rights in Islam, because Allah has defined their rights according to their purpose and roles in life. I will emphasize here, their rights are different, but that does not mean they are not equal! Women are equally responsible in front of Allah for carrying out their duties in life as men are. We say, they have equal rights… but not the same rights. Similar to how a principle of a school has equal rights to the teachers and students, but not the same rights.
4. Difference in inheritance laws between men and women:
This follows from my explanation of the different roles played by men and women in life. As I explained, men are in charge of the upkeep, clothing and feeding of their families… their wealth is not their own. On the other hand, a woman’s wealth belongs to her and her alone. She is not in any way obliged by Islamic law to hand that money over to her husband for purchasing food or whatever else. Interestingly, a Muslim woman, by Islamic law, can refuse to breastfeed her child, and it is the husband’s duty to purchase milk for the child. It is because of the above, that shariah has shown practicality in the laws of inheritance. The man is given more in inheritance because he is responsible for himself and his family… the woman can freely spend that money on herself. I would like to emphasize again, the laws of shariah, because they are divine, are the most practical. It is divine wisdom that shows it is practical for the man to be given more in inheritance due to the level of responsibility on his shoulders… It would be purely emotional to split it half way and not consider the implications of that.
5. Why can’t women marry more than one husband?
This again follows from the earlier explanations I gave about the purpose of men and women.
Firstly, I would like to explain that Islam is probably the only religion that restricted the number of wives a man may have to 4 maximum. The other religions including Judaism and Christianity do not restrict this to the best of my knowledge. I do not claim to be a Bible scholar, so if you can provide me evidence to the contrary then I will take it. However, when great Prophets like Abraham and Solomon and others had more than one wife, then I don’t see how Jews or Christians can look down on this practice.
Previously, the Arabs could take as many wives as they wanted… Islam limited the number to no more than 4. And even this, the Qur’an says that if men are not able to do justice between their wives, then only one. This was actually very important, especially during the early period of Islam, because many Muslim men were dying due to battle or persecution and thus their widowed wives and children were left alone. Further, many pious Muslim women had been divorced by their non-Muslim husbands for converting to Islam. Thus, taking these women into marriage, so that they and their children could have shelter and inheritance were all very important.
Furthermore, the Prophet (PBUH) exclusively was permitted to marry more than 4 wives at a single time in the Qur’an. This was in addition to other responsibilities which were exclusively placed by God on the Prophet and not on other Muslims. For example, the Prophet used to fast the entire last few days of Ramadan without eating or drinking at all. No other men could do this.. in fact they were forbidden. This was something only a personality such as the Prophet could bear.
I will need to do a more careful study of Ali (May Allah be Pleased with Him) in order to determine how many wives he had all together… however without a shred of doubt he did not have more than 4 wives at a single time. This is clearly forbidden.
Next, why can’t women have more than one husband? As I explained above, it is in the nature of man to want to be the head of the household. So who will lead the household if there are four men in the home? And a real man will fight to the death before allowing another man to have sexual relations with his wife. Furthermore, how will this couple or family know who is the father of the child/children? How will inheritance work?? This is a very impractical setup I think.
Finally, I will emphasize that although polygyny is permitted in Islam for any man… it is still an exception, not the rule. Women outnumber men in this world by only a bit… so it is not practical for all men to have more than one wife… as this will leave many men as permanent bachelors.
6. Marriage to Ayesha (RAA):
Firstly, I would like to clarify, that the Prophet (PBUH) married Ayesha when she was six (6). The consummation of the marriage was after either the age of 9 or 11 according to various sources.
The reason behind this is quite simple. If we go back 1,000 years in human history… in fact even if we go back 200-300 years, we find that there was no such concept as adolescence. This is something new which has been introduced that between childhood and adulthood there is a middle age called adolescence…. I don’t know who introduced this concept. But, a few hundred years ago, once a child reached the age of puberty, they were treated as adults for all sakes and purposes. They would go out and begin working with the elders… and would even get married at very young ages. The evidence of this is very clear from religions such as Judaism and Islam. In Judaism, at the age of 13 a boy undergoes the Barmitzvah, which means that he is now a man. Although in today’s world it might just be a formality or ritual, in earlier days this was actually a reality… that the boy/girl is now an adult. Similarly in shariah law, a boy or girl who is passed the age of puberty is now responsible in front of Allah for any sins that they commit and can also be persecuted for any crime they commit (a child who is below the age of puberty is sinless in Islam). There is no such thing as reaching the age of 18…
Thus, when we study the seerah (history) of the Prophet, we find that despite all the accusations raised against him by the Polytheists, Jews and Christians… no one accused him of anything when he married Ayesha at such a young age. Which means this was something common at the time and not at all something to raise eyebrows about.
Furthermore, I would like to point out that some Bible scholars have even suggested that when Mary (PBUH) gave birth to Jesus (PBUH) she was possibly the age of 11 or 13. Interestingly, despite all the accusations the people of her time raised against her… no one objected to her age.
7. Marrying Khadija (RAA):
I will have to do a bit more research in order to determine precisely what ceremony was carried out when the Prophet (PBUH) married Khadija. Although I’m not quite sure why this is significant. Many of the Prophet’s companions were already married before they accepted Islam… but as long as both husband and wife accepted Islam their marriage remained in tact. Islam did not come to cut of ties of kinship or marriage…
As far as your believing that Khadija (RAA) was Jewish… I would appreciate it if you could again cite some evidence for this. As far as I know she was from Quraish and Quraish was an Arab tribe. Still, I’m not sure why you feel this is significant… even if she was Jewish, the Prophet also married another Jewish wife, Safiyah (RAA). Islam does not differentiate between races and nationalities.. All who wish to submit themselves to the One True God, they will find God waiting with open arms.
Thank you for your questions again… I hope I have helped to clarify..
Absar.
Dear Absar,
thank you for your reply, the length I admit was necessary since the questions required details.
Well, about the way you describe prophets, I would say that it is mere speculation. It is only based in Quran and in that as a Muslim you respect it and take it, i do not have a problem with that, it shows you are sincere. however historical context is something that quran really misses having only some 6200(+ some more perhaps) verses. It takes large liberties in describing events. while the same history is mentioned in the bible is a more elaborative form and even a lot of it is supported by secular findings. so i would not take quran’s word authentic when contradictory evidence exists, however i do acknowledge that such point are open to large debates and that is not my intention to get into. you should though read the other holy books or the Torah since the quran is telling you full page stories in a single line and doing so misses out a lot of detail and information. I myself studied various qurans for the sake of interpretation and translation.
The bible lists men as men, they are not extraordinary, the can error and they all need grace of God. while Islam says that prophets are unable to sin, i think it is fantasy idealism at its best (no offense). Any one can error. But even if prophets error that doesn’t make their importance less.
I do not agree with your definition of Muslim, while in the literal sense anyone could be a Muslim if they follow the definition you provided, but strictly a Muslim would be who accepts Allah and believes that Muhammad is the last prophet. this is the definition that Islam provides and by this, no one else except Muhammad was the first Muslim.
I had read the verse about friends with Jews and Christians and its associated commentaries, nonetheless it was thoughtful of you to explain it. However my point was not this, but how it is generally being taken. that is why i said that a 5 year old child doesn’t know the true meanings or tafseer, not every child, unless this message is used as a standard.
About Christians siding with Jews is something not necessarily religious in its roots, Jews in principle hate Christians. This is a political or financial allied form, much like Muslims did with Christians when they performed the Hijrat and went to Ethiopia. and even in Medina, much of the time there were peace and defensive treaties between Jews and Muslims. There is no global conspiracy against Islam, if that is what you are implying. I can eat with a Jew and a Muslim and be friends with both. I don’t see any problem with that. If we look in history, every nation, whether that be Jews, Christians or Muslims, all have butchered each other when they got the chance. The problem of land is what it is, as you put it. But when there were no Christians and Jews to snatch said Muslim lands, the Muslims were fighting in between themselves for it. The problem is land.
There are plenty of other historical examples you can just Google-up, but for a single reference the first Islamic expansion under Abu bakar and later carried on by various Muslim leaders show the problem of land and dominion. I am in no way saying that any of this not matter who does it, is right. but what i a saying is that this is a human problem not a religious one. if you look at it through that filter you will only end at erroneous conclusions.
The view about women is not right, it makes her inferior even if you say it is equal. but i understand from where you are coming. Your book teaches you that, obviously you will be thinking it as right. The laws of sharia are problematic in today’s society. the fact is that the sharia was written for Bedouins, most of the laws only apply to them or their immediate culture. Even a lot of modern day Islamic scholars which are more liberal think that such laws were biased in the favor of man ruling society.
For the mention of wives having multiple husbands, i know that it is not a very ideal setup, but the point was given for the sake of argument of equal rights, nothing more.
In my personal study I have found the Ahdiat’s to be very contradictory to out right against the core aspects of Islam, yet only some are counted as authentic among some hundreds of thousands. I would rather have a verse from Quran than ten Ahadiats because they were later written and upon witnesses, that is a huge question on authenticity itself. Anyways about Ali you should read I think he had more than 4 at a given time.
About Khadija, the seera does not state her religion, only her tribe, but that tribe was idol worshipers. contradictory evidence suggests that she was Jew or at least close to Christian since upon hearing about the angel she took Muhammad to Waraqa bin Neufel, who was a Christian converted from Jews. My point was that if the prophet was not idol worshiper he must have married Khadija using some nikkah, but it could not have been a Muslim nikkah. since you claim he never did anything remotely wrong, i wonder if marrying through a different nikkah is counted as wrong or is the prophet given the benefit again and is allowed to do so, even if the nikkah was Jewish, Christian or pagan.
by the way, Christianity commands a single wife, you can’t have multiples, this is very easy to find is you just search it on the web, you do not have to be a bible scholar to know this, you know. when Solomon and other people had multiple wives, it was just wrong and it got them into trouble too. in the law of moses multiple wives were allowed but with caution that they should not be in excess and also they had rights and privileges. on a personal note i think this was just the culture of the middle east, both Jews and Muslims are allowed to have multiple wives and were thus supported religiously.
If you read history you will know, or even if you had read the Torah you would have known that there was a certain age described when it was accounted for a boy or girl to be adult. it was 30 years for a very long time, after a lot of war, the age was reduced to 25 and later 18 years to support and spread the generation. while child marriage is a common practice, even in the ancient world, its roots were not in religion. so that would make your argument weak. About the age of Mary, no specific record exists, but one thing makes it easy is the roman census which they partook in, of course this is not mentioned in the quran, but in a roman culture she was listed as adult so i think she must be around or above 16 which is a close age to marry. but largely majority of orthodox Christian scholars would disagree, i know some Jewish scholars who think like what you have said about mary’s age.
about marriage to ayesha, i was saying in the present world such practice is abhorrent, none the less it is still carried out. there were criticisms on Muhammad’s marriages and mostly among the Muslims in his time but later verses revealed that he was allowed. those who probably didn’t conform to this were either ruled out of favor or silenced by force. you can read about it in the seera’s of mulana madoodi and shabli nomani too, however i am just going by memory here.
About the prophet fasting for lengthy days, believe me Christian fasts are for forty days and we have a 24 hours fast unlike the Muslim fast which is for 12 hours and i have seen a lot of people fasting for many days, so i do not think that only one personality could do it. as i said, much of this seems exaggerated, possibly by later editions to the Ahadiats. the quran to my knowledge doesn’t say anything like this, as a matter of fact it cites the prophet as very much like simple man,
Consider that we see that Allah admonishes and corrects the Prophet in the Qur’an in several places. Here are a few examples:
“Nor does he say (aught) of (his own) Desire. It is no less than inspiration sent down to him” (53:3-4)
In the Qur’an it is explained very clearly that the inspired speech of the Prophet that is the Qur’an and nothing else. It makes a clear distinction between the Prophet’s ordinary speech and the revelation that he recites.
“Allah pardon you! Why did you give them leave until those who spoke the truth had become manifest to you and you had known the liars?”
(9:43)
“O Nabi! Why do you forbid (yourself) that which Allah has made lawful for you; you seek to please your wives; and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.”
(66:1)
Here Allah admonishes the Prophet for forbidding something for himself that Allah DID NOT forbid. This verse again establishes that the Prophet often acted on his own initiative as a human being WITHOUT the revelation of Allah. If everything he did or said was by revelation, he would NOT be admonished by Allah in the Qur’an for saying something that Allah did not want him to say.
Another example is
“(The Prophet) frowned and turned away,
Because there came to him the blind man.
What could inform thee but that he might grow (in grace)?
Or take heed and so the reminder might avail him?
As to one who regards Himself as self-sufficient,
To him do you address yourself.
And no blame is on you if he would not purify himself
And as to him who comes to you striving hard,
And with fear (in his heart),
Of him you were unmindful.”
(80:1-10)
Here we see Allah admonishing the prophet for acting incorrectly by focusing his attention on a kafir when a sincere Muslim who wanted guidance was seeking his guidance. So this would be an example of bad sunnah if we want to look at it in this way.
Say, “I am not something original among the messengers, nor do I know what will be done with me or with you. I only follow that which is revealed to me, and I am not but a clear warner.” (46:9)
this verse clearly speaks for itself. anyways this is what i think.
Take care and God bless you.
Dear David..
Thank you for your response..
Okay.. after reading your response I am left a bit confused on certain things. Would appreciate it if you could kindly clear my confusions:
1. The Prophets – Fine… I am willing to agree that my perspective of the Prophets may be highly influenced by what I have read in the Qur’an. I have done some reading of the Bible.. but certainly not enough to be able to compare religions. Can you tell me where in the Bible God says its okay to worship other things than God alone? Or which Prophet said the same? Which of the Prophets of the Bible said one doesn’t have to believe in all the heavenly scriptures or all the true Prophets of God? Please provide references… this is very interesting.
2. Supposed Sins of the Prophets – Yes… the Qur’an absolves the Prophets from committing any major sins… but you suggest this is ideal fantasy. Okay.. I’m willing to consider this. So, if you knew that your church minister is a womanizer, regularly sleeps around, and can’t even keep his hands off his own daughters… would you be okay with this? And allow him to maintain his moral position? Please excuse my question here.. I am just trying to understand the mindset of the person with whom I’m having a discussion. I frankly would like to see such a minister undergo psychological evaluation and possibly be placed behind bars. If government ministers in western countries have to resign their positions after admitting a few affairs, I find it hard to believe Christians would be willing to excuse their Prophets for incest. I personally think this would lead to many people justifying their own deviant behaviours by pointing to the Bible and saying: “Look if that Prophet can commit incest and get away with it then why can’t I just sleep around a bit?”
3. Jews and Christian allies – I’m glad you understood what the correct meaning of the verse is. You can’t hold the Qur’an responsible for people putting their own meanings into it and justifying their acts. Fine.. you have a difference of opinion on current world events..
4. Regarding the Inferiority of Women – I clearly tried to explain the Islamic position and you still have differences. You are entitled to your opinion then. But please make it clear what your opinion is on this matter and how you justify it from the Bible and what Christ and the other Prophets said. For obvious reasons I do not take the opinions of people such as Paul.. so kindly make your position clear based on what the God and His Prophets have said.
5. Christianity forbids more than one wife – I agree Christians forbid more than one marriage.. but Christians permit/forbid many other things that God and His Prophets never permitted or forbade, e.g. using interest, eating pork. Nowhere in the Bible do either God or His Prophets permit the use of usury or consuming the meat of swine… but Christians permit it. So please cite some verses from God and His Prophets where they forbade more than one wife. I see you say you do not agree with some of the Prophets including Abraham for marrying more than one… so then who is your moral authority? Who decides then?
6. The Prophet’s marriages – The only fingers that were raised regarding any of the Prophet’s marriages was on the occassion of his marriage to Zainab (RAA).. and having done quite a bit of reading I think you know what the issue there was. It was because the Prophet’s adopted son Zaid (RAA) had just divorced Zainab. But in order to show the world that an adopted son is not the same as one’s own offspring, Allah commanded the Prophet to marry Zainab in order to remove this taboo from society. So what does that have to do with the original question about Ayesha?
7. The Prophet being corrected in the Qur’an – Yes.. the Prophet was on more than once corrected in the Qur’an.. this is common knowledge amongst the Muslims. In fact, Muslims all over the world are proud of these verses, because they are a testament to the Prophet’s honesty and integrity, as well as the authenticity of the Qur’an. Being the undisputed head of society, the Prophet could have easily hid these verses if he wanted… but he didn’t. They are in front of every Muslim to read and read again and be amazed as to the greatness of character of the Messenger of Allah. And since revelation was still under process when he made these mistakes, through these verses Allah corrected any such mistakes and the final revelation remained free from any errors.
8. Khadija (RAA) – This was the most confusing of all I think. In your earlier post, you stated very confidently that ‘Khadija was a Jew’. When I asked for some evidence you suddenly didn’t seem so confident in your response. So what was the point of the original question then? That really came out of left field didn’t it? Were you throwing a bluff? I’m just trying to gauge your intentions for getting in to this discussion.
Brother David, this forum is for having open discussions where we can learn from one another. However, in order to have any meaningful discussion we need to be open and honest with one another as to what our position is. I am being, or trying to be, quite clear where I stand, but I find you going back and forth. Not really firmly standing for anything. So please clarify the following:
1. Do you consider yourself to be a strong, believing Christian? Which denomination do you belong to by the way?
2. Do you believe everything that Christianity preaches?
3. Do you believe that Christianity is the only way to salvation? Because at the end of the day that is what matters..
4. Do you believe that the Bible, the whole of it, is the unadulterated word of God?
5. Do you believe it is ok to make changes to the Bible whenever one sees fit?
6. Do you believe human beings can, if they choose, override the injunctions of the Bible, e.g. the forbidding of usury and interest?
7. Do you believe the Prophets were the ideal human beings to be followed, despite having faults like sometimes committing adultery, sometimes incest, and in some cases being drunkards?
Thanks much.. and may Allah guide us all towards the Truth and towards His Pleasure.
Dear Absar, i do not understand what you mean by your first point,
your questions
” Can you tell me where in the Bible God says its okay to worship other things than God alone? Or which Prophet said the same? Which of the Prophets of the Bible said one doesn’t have to believe in all the heavenly scriptures or all the true Prophets of God?”
were these rhetorical or you wanted to ask something I didn’t get? please let me know. providing verses is not a problem once I know what exactly are you asking for. Clearly God doesn’t say to worship other things, or one doesn’t need to believe in the scriptures.
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2. About sins of prophets,
You are scratching the surface and not digging in, that in all honesty I didn’t expect but to clarify. When someone sins, whether that be prophet or man, he doesn’t go off the hook. when you wrong, you pay for it, simple as that, no prophet who ever did something wrong – was let go by God. Every one is accountable to him. The beauty of grace is that if you sin, you can repent. If someone doesn’t repent he has clearly lost it. The Bible tells that Moses at the end of his life did only one disobedience and he was punished by God who did not let him go into the promised land because of that. King David committed one fault and God did not let him go unanswerable. The point is this makes God more just than ever and not a hypocrite. The prophets were born like ordinary men, they died like them, they were buried in earth, earth to earth, ashes to ashes. God doesn’t indulge in favoritism. which is quite the case Islamic teachings present.
you have to remember that not everything that is recorded in the Bible is by default approved by God to be a moral yardstick, the bible lists good and bad things which man did and how God responded to them. It is common sense that if someone was to do something wrong and he was a prophet, a state in which God can speak with him, he is in direct supervision of God. And if he does something wrong, he either repents or God takes his position away and mind you this has happened according to the Bible, if you read. Sin in practice is not something that can go unheeded. If someone commits such crime he should be absolved from his position. About prophets, they didn’t sin a lot, only rare cases, but the point was not that whether they sin or not, they point was that they can, they are men, much like the priest or the mullah. they have desires and they have bodies. It is the price that they pay by not going into temptation is what keeps them have a contact with God. But somewhere along the line, someone can stumble, there is always a chance. and to think no one ever did is far from truth because the Torah and the whole Bible are centuries old before quran and they are more detailed about such facts. to put it roughly in Jesus’ words – Without God you can not do any of his work, not even prophecy.
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on rights of women, the N.T clearly says that all are equal spiritually in the eyes of God. women as men. Of course when you cited the verse I told you the original context.
Galatains 3:27-29:
“for all or you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
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on having more than one wife,
Malachi 2:15
Didn’t the LORD make you one with your wife? In body and spirit you are his. And what does he want? Godly children from your union. So guard your heart; remain loyal to the wife of your youth.
1 Timothy 3:12
It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach”.
Deuteronomy 17:16-17
Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.
READ Mark 10:1-12, the excerpt is large so I am not pasting it here, you can though just search it online in any electronic Bible.
But to surmise even going back to Adam and Eve, polygamy was not God’s original intent. Other wise he must have started a world with one Adam and multiple eves. As I said, it is more of a middle eastern culture to have multiple wives and it is pretty old.
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If God corrected the prophet on multiple occasions that means he could be wrong or could go wrong, this is not the way seera and other Ahadiat portrays him.
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about marriage to zainab, there are conspiracies about it but hey, a conspiracy theory can be anywhere, and without definitive proof, it would just be slandering, so i do not hold to it. The original point was plain, i quote my self
“I know the usual response that it was done out of charity, but please, you can also make somebody a daughter, do you have to make her your own bride in order to safe gaurd her? I dont see that as necessary. Not to mention Ayesha was wedded when she was below 10 years old. can you throw some light to it. is this normal behavior? can you wed a 7 or 8 year old girl? does the quran allow it? I hope you see the contradiction I am trying to point out. Islam has some real problems when these facts are pointed out.”
was it normal behavior? to marry a six year old. that is plain wrong in pov.
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About Khadija,
you think I was just bluffing, well I wasn’t. it common concept in secular history sources. just look up a encyclopedia or a dictionary. the Webster dictionary says this
“Khadija (Arabic: خديجه ) was the first wife of the Prophet Muhammad. A Jew, according to traditions she became the first female convert to Islam, the new religion Muhammad had begun to preach”
but again Islamic sources say she was from the tribe of quresh. but then her association with her Christian cousin and also her knowledge of the Jewish theology makes it questionable, in the end we will have a difference of sources. I will cite one, you another contradicting each other.
take care
Dear John…
Thank you sincerely for the brilliant conversation… I am really learning a lot here…
RE: Rhetorical questions
Never mind those.. I apologize for that. I thought there was a difference of opinion regarding the belief system of the Prophets. Thus we are both agreed that all of them called towards worshipping One God alone.
RE: Sins of the Prophets
I agree wholeheartedly with your statement that the Prophets did err. Since you have read the Qur’an you will remember that Abraham told 3 lies, Moses killed an Egyptian by mistake while trying to protect an Israelite, and Jonas abandoned his people before God had permitted him and thus Jonas was put in the belly of the whale… However, in the Qur’an even these small mistakes that they made were out of their anger for the sake of their God and religion. It was not because they were overcome with temptation and lost control of themselves.
The above mistakes of the Prophets stand again in stark contrast with the sins associated with them in the Bible… which Muslims reject. The Prophets on some occassions may have committed some minor mistakes, but not major ones.
And I agree wholeheartedly again that God is the Most Merciful and Most Forgiving… He is willing to forgive all sins no matter how large or small.
However, thats not my point. I wasn’t suggesting that someone who has sinned cannot be forgiven or cannot come back on the straight path, or enter Paradise… Allah forgives whom He Wills.
The point is that would you take a person who you know is a drunkard, or an adulterer, or one who commits incest… would you take such a person as a role model for yourself or your children? Yes.. we hope and pray that such a person is forgiven and enters Paradise.. but is he worthy of being a spiritual guide for humanity??
You might say yes.. absolutely. With all due respect, I reject that. No doubt, the Prophets were also subject to temptation, however what made them stand out in human history is their righteousness and their self-control and their refusal to be subdued by temptation. They practically showed humanity that it is possible to live this life and remain in control of yourself and not give in to Satan. Else, they wouldn’t be in any way inspirations for the rest of humanity. Allah only chooses those who prove themselves to be pious and righteous to carry His message… not those who cannot even control themselves with their children.
Still, whoever seeks forgiveness, Allah is ready to forgive.
I am not sure what you mean RE: favoritism?? I didn’t mean to suggest that anyone is Allah’s favorite in the sense that he/she gets a free ride. The Qur’an doesn’t in anyway suggest that. Rather it clearly says that each person is responsible for their own behaviour and will have to pay for their own sins… and who their father was or father’s father was makes no difference. I don’t see where the favoritism is playing out…
Regarding the Rights of Women…
I read the verse you sent… however it seems to me that this is actually referring to equality in terms of reward. It does not talk of rights.. its saying that no matter who it is, slave or free, man or woman, those who believe in Christ will have their reward.
There are similar verses in the Qur’an:
Sura 33 – Al-Ahzab (MADINA) : Verse 35
For Muslim men and women― for believing men and women, for devout men and women, for true men and women, for men and women who are patient and constant, for men and women who humble themselves, for men and women who give in charity, for men and women who fast (and deny themselves) for men and women who guard their chastity and for men and women who engage much in Allah’s praise― for them has Allah prepared forgiveness and great reward.
On the other hand, the following are some verses I did find in the Bible, RE: women’s status:
1 Timothy 2:11-14 – “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.”
1 Corinthians 14:34 – “Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.”
GENESIS 3:16 – “To the woman he said, ‘I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”
So, how do we reconcile?? In many ways, I think when compared to the Bible, Islam has given a better status to women and is easier on them. Since according to Islam, both Adam and Eve both erred… Islam doesn’t place the blame on Eve.
However, perhaps you think that the above verses don’t apply.. Would appreciate an explanation.
Regarding One Wife:
I reviewed the verses you sent me in regards to one wife. I am a bit confused here… please see below:
1. Malachi (2:15) – I see what the verse says, but when you go to the beginning of Malachi 2.. it clearly says: “And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you”. I.e. this whole chapter seems to be speaking only to priests.
2. Timothy (3:12) – As above… if you read the entire verse, this doesn’t seem to be addressing the general masses… only ‘overseers’.. which in another place is translated as deacons.
3. Deuteronomy (17:16-17) – If you read the whole verse you’ll find that this is only addressed to kings.. I.e. that kings may not multiply wives for themselves.
4. Mark (10:1-12) – This is talking about divorcing and taking another wife after that… it has nothing to do with taking more than one wife. I suppose if you really try hard you might be able to come up with something here… but there is nothing here forbidding more than one wife apparently.
Thus, from what I’ve concluded the above verses don’t apply to the general masses.. they are only for priests/deacons or kings. Thus I am still unclear/unconvinced on the topic of one wife only for Christians. I seriously doubt it was simply a middle-eastern custom. I am now more convinced then ever that it was quite common and not forbidden by the Bible.
However, this does bring up an interesting question. In the above verses God seems to permit priests to have wives, so why do many Christian priests not have wives??
RE: Eating Swine
Another question… Since you believe in the above verses, Leviticus says the following:
Leviticus (11: 1-7) – “And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them….. And the pig, because it parts the hoof and is cloven-footed but does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. You shall not eat any of their flesh, and you shall not touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you”
So why do Christians eat the pig then? If the earlier verses regarding wives – however you choose to interpret them – apply to Christians, then don’t the verses forbidding the eating of pig also apply??
RE: Using Usury:
Furthermore, the following are all verses speaking of usury:
“If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury “(Exodus 22:25).
“Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon usury “(Deut. 23:19).
Why do Christians permit dealing in bank interest then??? I’m just a bit confused.. that’s all.
The way I see it… all these laws should be applying to Christians.. so why is it that Christians only seem to follow some and ignore the rest??
RE: Adultery:
The following are verses I found in the Bible regarding adultery:
Deuteronomy 22:22 “If a man is found sleeping with another man’s wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die.”
Leviticus 20:10 “If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife–with the wife of his neighbor–both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.”
So.. if the verses you quoted from Deuteronomy regarding the forbidding of marrying more than one wife applies to Christians.. then I can only assume the above verse from Deuteronomy atleast would also apply no??
Since I believe Jesus said: “Do not think that I [Jesus] have come to abolish the Law (the Old Testament) or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. (Matthew 5:17-18)”
So, why are some verses applied, and some not applied?? Who makes the decision?? Jesus never encouraged Christians to use interest/usury… So why is their entire financial system based upon it??
The Prophet Making Mistakes:
Yes, the Prophet could make mistakes… and as you rightly pointed out, the Qur’an corrected him. Furthermore, the seerah and ahadith talk about this issue on multiple occassions. On the conquest at Badr, in the case of Abdullah ibn Maktum (Surah Abasa), in the case of forbidding honey on himself (Surah Tahreem)… all these things are discussed in both seerah and hadith in great detail. Else there is no way we would know the names of the people who were involved on these occassions… it is only through hadith that we find out.
However, Allah corrected those mistakes when and as they happened. And the truthfullness and integrity of the Prophet (PBUH) was such that he did not command any of these episodes to be hidden away… they are there for the whole world to read.
Ayesha’s marriage:
I’ve never heard that Ayesha’s marriage to the Rasool was done for charity’s sake… Abu Bakr was a wealthy merchant… why would he need to do that??
Regarding taking her as a daughter, this would be impossible because as you are probably aware when a child is adopted in Islam, he/she does not become the actual child of the adoptive parents. Nor do they change their names. It is more of a brotherly relationship if anything. Thus, she would never be able to be his daughter.
Furthermore, why should he have not taken her as his wife?? The customs of the time completely permitted it… So there was absolutely no reason for him not to. It would only be 1300 years later that people would have problems with such a setup. However, for Muslims our moral compass is the Prophet (PBUH) so if he did it.. we are proud to say that our mother was Ayesha (RAA) who was married to the Prophet at the age of 6 and they consummated the marriage when she was 9 or 11. We love our mother Ayesha, the favorite wife of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH), the mother of the believers, the scholar of the Muslim Ummah.
Regarding Khadija:
I’m not sure what sources other than the Islamic ones Webster’s dictionary would have used. The only way we know of the existence of Khadija (RAA) is from the ahadith of the Rasool. Its not as though journalists from major magazines were surrounding the Prophet taking down his biography… It was only his companions. So, Webster’s must have referred either to ahadith, or decided to make up the story. Maybe, as many others have tried, they are trying to suggest that the Prophet learned everything about this ‘new religion’ from Khadija the Jewess who instructed him in religion. If you do have any evidence, would appreciate it.
Thanks again…
Absar.
well written GOOD ARTICLE i like it most
hi absar
that was an excellent reply :)
1. Muhammad’s (however it is spelled) crimes against humanity are clearly documented in secular history. his exploits as a warlord have served as a model for muslims for centuries. when will the violence end ? Muhammad’s definition of “peace” means that islam rules the world and all bow down to worship Allah. this is incompatible with western society and well deserving of as many insults as there are infidel mouths keep hurling them.
2. yes western tolerance has limits & many topics are not acceptable in polite conversation. if you wish to discuss holocaust conspiracies not everybody will want to listen and yes in some european countries such speech is outlawed but not USA. and yes western society has a long history of mocking religion just check some atheist websites for countless quotes. do you really want to forbid free speech to stop mocking & ridicule of topics dear to your heart ? such an approach is totally incompatible with western society which prefers to ignore such idiots or counter their drivel with yet more free speech instead of trying to suppress them.
3. just because xnity or judaism or hinduism or buddism or whatever religion has similar problems does not make islam any better yes ? who speaks for god ? why is god silent ? perhaps the real problem is with humans instead of religion ? religious ideologies have many problems and it’s followers cause alot of them. but again islam leads the pack in violent tenets for its theology because islam is based on the life of muhammad yes ?
otherwise my efforts here have to end soon thanks again for your thoughtful and passionate replies to my posts !!
Replying to “ecks why”:
“1. Muhammad’s (however it is spelled) crimes against humanity are clearly documented in secular history.”
You would need to do better than to allege that the Prophet Muhammad (upon whom be peace) was guilty of the so-called “crimes against humanity”. What were those crimes and where were they committed against? How could he have committed any “war crime” when the Geneva Conventions did not exist during his time?
“his exploits as a warlord have served as a model for muslims for centuries. when will the violence end ? Muhammad’s definition of “peace” means that islam rules the world and all bow down to worship Allah.”
The Prophet Muhammad, like all the Prophets before him, stand only for God and to bring mercy and compassion to mankind. Violence is not a teaching of Islam. As to the question when the violence in the world will end, it will only end under Pax Islamica, and until that happens violence will always be a feature of human beings who are ignorant of what is Islam and what Islam stands for.
“this is incompatible with western society”
If it is “incompatible with Western society”, then who was responsible for the two World Wars, the Viet Nam war, the Korean war, the Iraq war, the Afghanistan war (and the list goes on)?
“2. yes western tolerance has limits & many topics are not acceptable in polite conversation. if you wish to discuss holocaust conspiracies not everybody will want to listen”
Drawing offensive cartoons is considered “free speech” but discussing about the Holocaust in an academic and civil manner will land you in jail. Yeah, paying lip-service to “free speech” only when it suits the West is hypocrisy of the highest order.
“3. just because xnity or judaism or hinduism or buddism or whatever religion has similar problems does not make islam any better yes ?”
Islam does not have any of the perceived problems in the religions you list here, so what you are talking about? Comparing Islam to other religions is like comparing gold to swine.
– MENJ
great one…
This comment is for Absar,
Patience is a virtue; and quite a rare quality. If for nothing else, your patience in answering the many questions and views on this forum is more than commendable. and just in case you ever lose your patience :) remember that at the end of the day, that if you have helped one individual in finding their way then it has been worth it.
Keep up and the good work and all the best!
P.S. This is the best written paper I have seen by a software developer :)
@Ahmed
Thank you very much brother Ahmed.. And thank you also for the important reminder…
Please keep us in your prayers… and keep asking Allah to grant us patience and perseverence on His Deen…
Absar ima so happy 2 hear u reliable and valuable coments jazalaahu khayr, my all pless u, i’am encouraging the muslims 2 take this valuable advice and spread about the islamic religon where ever they r in da word thanks and jazakaalaah khayr.
MA.very nice piece of information.:)
Dear Absar,
Congratulations for showing such great maturity and managing this beautiful blog. I have gone through most of it and have been impressed by
a) your knowledge of Islam
b) openness to a dialogue and handling all responses with politeness
c) balanced view
I am not against any religion and firmly believe that all human beings have the freedom to believe and follow their faith.. but here are my views of what ails religion today
– religions has failed to evolve with time – Islam is not alone here all religions which base them on “absolute” teachings will have this problem so the same problem is there with Christianity and Hinduism – humanity’s thirst for knowledge is going to propel it forward and religions will find it difficult to evolve as they claim to have absolute knowledge
– somewhere you mentioned how silly the idea that man has descended from monkey is – in my view a religion should limit itself to being a religion – whether man has descended from ape or from heavens or was transported from another planet are subjects which each field (religion / science / UFO believers) has a right to have a view on but they don’t have a right to deride someone else’s view – my point is that if a human being start using religion as the only guiding force for his ideas and what he needs to believe in then it becomes rather limiting
Islam as a religion is facing tough times and my support and best wishes to all genuine believers like you that through the hard work of people like you the positives of a religion are understood by all…
Dear Brother/Sister….
I am humbled and flattered by your comments… Thank you for your thoughtful feedback and support!
Please let me try and clarify a few points:
1. Is Islam a Religion? – This is a question that often arises… you see Islam cannot really be compared with many religions as they exist in the world today. Most religions limit themselves to individual issues, i.e. religious beliefs, acts of worship, and certain rituals, e.g marriage. However, in the Qur’an Allah refers to Islam as ‘Deen’, which is best translated as system of life. And Allah constantly commands people to live their lives according to the Deen of Islam, i.e. that their whole lives must be in accordance with Islam… I.e. one’s whole life must be an act of submission to Allah. Thus Islam does not only limit itself to the individual issues mentioned above, but also provides a framework for collective issues such how the economy should function and how politics and legislation should function and how our social affairs should be conducted. However, does that mean that Muslims cannot progress? Certainly not… You see… when it comes to the collective issues, Islam mostly provides a framework, or a boundary. For example, Islam does not dictate the nitty gritties of how the economy should function… rather it lays down certain boundaries and forbids things which would prove harmful to the progress of society, e.g. usury/interest is forbidden, trading of certain immoral items e.g. pornography, harmful drugs, etc. Thus Islam may be applied in any modern society simply by establishing these boundaries.
2. Do Muslims claim to have all knowledge? – Muslims believe that Allah is the All-Knowing, All-Wise… however we do not claim to have all knowledge at all. In fact, when we read the Qur’an, Allah is constantly encouraging human beings to study and reflect upon the magnificent world around them, reflect on the events of history, reflect on the creatures around them in order to learn about them and through them discover the beautiful and amazing world around them and conclude for themselves that there must be an intelligent creator behind all these things. Thus, even the Qur’an does not claim to contain all knowledge. You see, the Qur’an claims to be a book of guidance; it provides man with a moral compass, tells him the difference between right and wrong so that he can fulfill his purpose in life, i.e. to worship his Lord. It does however, as mentioned above, provide man with a moral framework through which he can differentiate between right and wrong for all times to come. Even though the Qur’an at certain points delves into science and explicitly states facts that scientists have only discovered today, we do not say the Qur’an is a book of science. The Qur’an often tells us about certain events in history, however we do not say that the Qur’an is a book of history, or stories. Because whenever the Qur’an mentions any of these things it is not just for the sake of mentioning them, rather there is a moral lesson behind them that it wishes to teach us. However, I cannot read the Qur’an and figure out how to program a computer, or perform a surgery. It is because of all these things I have mentioned above that during the middle ages, Muslim scholars were busy learning and researching on mathematics, physics, chemistry and astronomy… because the Qur’an encouraged them to. Discipline such as chemisty (Alchemy), Algebra, trigonometry, and many others were introduced by very practising Muslims. And when they conducted their research with an open mind, what did they find? They discovered the marvellous design of the universe around them and realized that this could not have happened by chance…. thus they humbled themselves and submitted themselves to the creator.
3. The Existence of the Creator – Dear brother/sister… my writing has involuntarily brought me back to this same topic. I don’t know about you, but I often reflect upon the amazing world around me and I am unable to accept that it could have occurred simply by chance. I reflect on the Sun; for the passed billions of years this same Sun has been rising and setting in a consistent pattern, every day, every month, every year. So much so that we say that the likelihood of something happening is ‘certain as the Sun’. Now, look at the inventions of mankind. Man has placed so much thought and research behind what he develops yet the most technologically advanced of his inventions don’t last longer than perhaps a few decades. When you turn your computer on, how many times does Windows crash? How often do you have to replace your computer? Does a BMW (the ultimate driving machine) last longer than 50 years? No… yet imagine the amount of intelligence it took to develop these machines. You would never bet your life that your computer starts up properly next time, but you would probably bet your life the sun will come up tomorrow… So all of these amazing inventions cannot compete with the Sun and Moon and Solar System which has been working like clockwork for the past billions of years… yet … we say that this magnificent solar system and universe is nothing but the result of random chance.
Tell me… and I’ve mentioned this before… have you ever reflected on the beautiful world around you? The sun on a winters day? A waterfall in the Amazon rainforest? Dew on a leaf? A bud opening in spring? A colorful bird of paradise? The northern lights? Even a beautiful woman!… Many artists have tried – and tried hard – to capture this beauty on paper and other mediums, but you and I both know that the real thing is more beautiful… Even after all his hard work the artist couldn’t compete with ‘nature’… But we applaud the work of the artist, but pass off the real thing as a coincidence… something that happened by pure chance.
All the above things make it impossible for me to believe that the world around me came about through random chance… I cannot believe it… Its not LOGICAL… if you’ll allow me.. All these things make me realize that there is an impossibly intelligent, All-Knowing, All-Wise creator, who loves His creation and loves giving beauty to His creation…
When I reflect on my own body, its beauty, its amazing design, how many things have been made easy for me… e.g. my heart beats on its own, I do not have to force myself to breath air…. I cannot help but think that it has been designed by a Merciful creator who cares very much for me…
This is why I believe in God… And I hope some of what I have said above will at least make you re-consider your reasons for not believing in a Him. I hope and pray that if I cannot convince you about Islam, perhaps I might atleast convince you to leave atheism and at least become an agnostic ;)
Absar.
Also, I don’t know enough is not an impressive excuse to me..
Any rational and sincere muslim (and esp one writing an article on islam) should hold their faith sufficiently serious so as to desire and/or need to find out these things.
However when discussing basic aspects of islam, most muslims seem happy to profess not to know or care too much. I find myself with many other people who profess to be muslim, and if asked “What do you know about Islam/have you read the Quran?” it becomes painfully obvious that the answer is very little…. A large majority confess that they have only read bits of it… Surely the most important book of your life, you should have at least read it in full! And seeing as understanding the various nuances seems to be so difficult, all the more reason to devote time to sufficiently study it.. Otherwise, you are just quoting random verses to suit the circumstances. Something critics are accused of when we dare to ask questions..
Personally, I not satisfied with not knowing… I take the subject seriously, and have been studying my whole life… Unfortunately the more I learn, the less I like… so I ask more questions… but I only get apologetics…
Perhaps some responsibility for these “misconceptions” can be directed towards the large numbers of muslims that don’t really know/care what it means to be muslim… Because the “extremists” sure seem to have devoted a lot of time studying the subject…!
Bro…
I am happy for you that you aren’t satisfied with not knowing… none of us should be! No one is preventing you from going out and reading the books of knowledge and finding out what the wisdom behind certain rulings are. Become a scholar of Islam!!!
We should all ask ourselves, if we went to university, learned under PhD’s, worked hard in order to become engineers and doctors and whatever, then why not do the same for Islam??? Go and study in a renowned university like Al Azhar or Madinah University…. learn from the PhD’s of Islam… ask them till they can’t take it any more and turn you away…. Then perhaps you will be justified in feeling a bit frustrated and angry…. but if you haven’t done the above… then you haven’t been fair with Islam.
If you ask a scientist when you don’t understand how something in the world works… then at least you should go to a scientist of Islam to find out why Islam says this or that. After all… the implications are much further reaching than just this world… they will determine where you and I are in the everlasting life…
Absar.
just because i am a law abiding citizen that does not make me a judge let alone a lawyer.eventhough we have the constitution yet we need lawyers and not just lawyers we need judges to give us rulings. thus in the same way interpretation of the quran is needed and we need scholars to interpret it for us the comman layman.
My questions are those which I consider to be quite reasonable, and to be expected from a rational and sincere person seeking to understand further.
I am ordered to believe that the Quran is the word of God. Also, Muhammad states numerous times that the utterances are clear and precise. So it is difficult to understand how a God would require his words to be “translated” or “interpreted” by men…? Are not the pronouncements of Mohammed the best of the best language, law and wisdom? Is it not stated that its words are unchangable and applicable to all people, for all time?
However, it seems to be unclear enough so that imams, mujtahids and other scholars of Islam disagree on the meanings of verses in the quran, and as a result there is much distortion of “Gods word”… even relating to internal muslim relations (Sunni/Shia/Ahmaddi/Ibadi…etc).
Surely it is much easier to assume that the Quran is clear and precise, and also that it means what it says. If God had wanted to say that killing was not allowed, why did Mohammed never state that “O believers, Killing is not allowed.” or words to that effect. That would have cleared up the confusion, don’t you think.
Why is there no dispute among scholars, and the whole Ulema, for example how many wives a man may have, or whether eating pork is allowed or if you should be kind to your parents… and thousands of other things in the Quran? It means what it says and it is clear and precise..
It always seems only “controversial” verses are those which require further interpretation… and the “extremists” are always those that seem to take these verses to be clear and precise, exactly like the Quran states that muslims should.. and how ALL muslims take the other verses..
The simplest answer is that it does not state this in the Quran, because Islam does not prohibit killing.. I do agree with you that muslims and non-muslims have to abide by verse 5.32 as Gods law applies to all. Hence killing for murder and mischief spreading is allowed.. It is a wasted exercise to try to twist and change and deny that is is not allowed when it is patently obvious.
And this is just one example of the “misconceptions”, others eg sexual equality are perhaps for another time..
Is it now so difficult to understand why there are misconceptions of Islam, and (like I stated originally) misconceptions of misconceptions…??
My brother Ahmet…
Your concerns are quite valid… and your sincerity to seek out the truth is quite clear…
1. You are right… the Qur’an states that it is the clear book. It is the book in which there is ‘No doubt’. Further Allah has stated that He has made the Qur’an ‘easy’. However, tell me, do you understand the Arabic language so that you can read the Qur’an without a translation? I may be wrong, but I’m guessing you are not of Arab origin and thus Arabic is not your native tongue? So does that mean that Allah lies when He says that the Qur’an is easy and straightforward? Because obviously a non-Arab cannot just pick up the Qur’an without a translation. No… it doesn’t. If you look at the world today, Arabic is perhaps the easiest and cheapest language in the world to learn… In countries like Pakistan (non-Arabic) you can learn it for free. Furthermore, the Arabic language is alive and well, whereas the languages of the bible, i.e. Aramaic, etc have long since stopped being used. Thus, it is much easier to understand and learn the Qur’an than many other books. But the fact is that the translation of the Qur’an that you and I read have been translated by a scholar… the translation was not sent down from heaven… someone had to do it for us. So it isn’t fair to put down the importance of the scholars.
2. Is every verse in the Qur’an for all times? If you study the Qur’an you will find that many verses were abrogated and replaced with other verses during its revelation for various reasons. This includes the verse where Allah commands the Muslims not to come to prayer in a drunken state. This was replaced with the verses that outright forbid the alcohol. If it was the case that every single verse is still valid then some Muslims could have claimed that it is ok to drink alcohol as long as you don’t come to prayer drunk.
3. Furthermore, certain verses in the Qur’an were revealed only for a specific occassion. There is a verse in the Qur’an that states that the believers are those who when called towards an important mission by the Prophet only take leave after taking permission from the Prophet. However, in Surah Taubah a verse states that the believers do not take permission from the Prophet to leave when he calls them towards an important cause. So what is the correct ruling? How do we reconcile? Its only after one studies the seerah that we find out that the first verse refers to most missions that the Prophet called towards where it was not a mandatory call for everyone…. however the second verse was specific to the occassion of Taabuk when the Prophet called on all Muslim men to take part in battle. So we cannot just apply the second ruling on any occassion. These verses are applicable even today in the case of an Islamic state where the emir calls the people to take part in a mission… So it needs to be properly understood which verse applies on what occassion.
4. Also, we must understand that certain words used in the Qur’an can have more than one meaning. Examples:
i. We are told that if we come in ‘contact’ with women we should make the ritual purification – So what does this mean? Does it mean that just by accidentaly touching a woman I should make ablution? No, it is only when we study the hadith of the Prophet do we realize that this ‘contact’ refers to sexual relations.
ii. Allah says in the Qur’an ‘Worship your Lord until the ‘certainty’ reaches you’ – So does this mean that if I reach an extremely high level of faith I do not need to worship God any longer? No.. its only when we study the hadith that we find that the word certainty.. ‘yaqeen’… here refers to death… i.e. worship Allah till death reaches you. Can you imagine what would happen if everyone started interpreting this according to their own understanding?
There are numerous other examples like the above in the Qur’an… It would become very dangerous if everyone just started interpreting the above verses according to their own understanding without having a proper background on the topic.
In fact, even during the lifetime of the Prophet, there are cases where the companions (who were experts in Arabic) read the Qur’an and misunderstood its meaning and actually had to be corrected by the Prophet. Thus it is not for every layman who doesn’t even know Arabic to sit and try deriving rulings of law from the Qur’an when even experts in the language made mistakes.
Furthermore, what do we do about topics that are not explicitly mentioned in the Qur’an: abortion, using fiat money, contraception, etc.? How do we derive rulings for these? Just by skimming through the Quran and finding a verse we like without even knowing what the background of the verse is?? Without even considering the implications such a ruling could have??
You asked if I have read the entire Quran… sure I have Alhumdulillah… but does that mean I can now start deriving rulings on all issues that arise just by reading some verses? No… certainly not! Umar ibn Al Khattab, the second khalifh of Islam and one of the most renowned and knowledgeable companions of the Prophet (PBUH) said that it took him 10 years to understand surah Al Baqarah. And these people used to complete the recitation of the Qur’an every 40 days. If it took this man 10 years to understand one surah, I am not going to claim complete knowledge of the Qur’an even after 1000 years. I fear Allah.
If you are curious about matters and can’t find answers on your own, do what the Qur’an tells you: “Ask the people of knowledge if you do not know”.. Don’t diminish the level of the scholars. They are the ones due to which the Qur’an is in your hands today…
I hope and pray your curiosity leads you to discovering the truth, beauty, wisdom and justice of the Deen of Islam.
Perhaps some misconceptions of the misconceptions…
I have a few questions/comments…
As a response to questions of Islam-mandated killing, it is always quoted as a defence that “the Quran says killing one person is as if they killed the whole world”. This is not strictly true as 5.32 states: (after previously describing to the Jews how Cain came to feel remorse for killing Abel)
“because of that, We decreed upon the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land – it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one – it is as if he had saved mankind entirely.”
Firstly this is a command to the Jews only. Secondly, this specifically allows killing for 2 crimes: Murder and for the crime of spreading “mischief” (some translations say “corruption”) in the land… Please explain the types of actions that would be classed as spreading mischief? Would this include proselytising for another religion? Would this include critical examination of the Quran? How about criticising the Prophet’s words/deeds?
Kindly explain how “when the Muslims captured other territories … they firstly debated with the rulers in order to convince them of Islam. If they accepted terrific, else they said you don’t have to accept Islam, however the rule of the land will be Islam and you can freely practice your religion.. but just as the Muslims pay the zakaah, you must pay the jizyah. There were absolutely no forced conversions”
a)how is capturing territories not the actions of a warlord?
b) How is this not a force… even if not accepting Islam, the rule will be islam..? Would it be possible not to live a life under Sharia in this territory?
c) Does “religion” apply to ALL world religions, or just from the children of the Book? Would the free practice of Hinduism of Shinto..etc. be allowed? What if I want to convert to another religion, or if I have no religion? If this is not allowed, then what would be the penalty imposed under Sharia?
d) Compulsory payment of jizya.. Quran 9.29 tells muslim believers to
“Fight those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth from those who were given the Scripture – [fight] until they give the jizyah willingly while they are humbled.
So if I do not believe in these things, or eg. that women do not need to be covered when leaving their homes, or if gay people are OK..etc, are you ordered to fight me? Under what other circumstances is this verse binding on Muslims?
Sorry, it’s a bit long… I look forward to comments from the author, or other knowledgeable muslims on this.
PS. I also note a lot of replies towards criticism of Islam contain “the Jews are worse, Christians have bad commands too..etc). I should clarify that I have just as much criticism for them (I am an equal opportunity critic!) and we may agree on a lot about the failings of other societies..etc. BUT please lets keep to the topic (islam/Mohammed).
Dear Ahmet…
Thank you for your questions and comments…
I would love to respond to your comments in detail… however the questions you have asked require an in depth knowledge of the sciences of tafseer (interpretation of the Qur’an) and fiqh… I am not learned enough in either of these two disciplines to be able to fully answer your questions… All I can say is the following:
1. You might say that the verse where taking one life unjustly is compared to killing all of humanity is meant only for the Jews… or specifically Banu Israeel…. However there are other things that they were forbidden from e.g. to sell the verses of God for a miserable price, or turn out people from their dwellings. However, I’m sure you would agree that Muslims are also forbidden from the same things… we are not permitted to turn our backs on the word of God for worldly benefits.. nor can we force people out of their homes. In general (from what I know), the law that was given to the Jews (the earlier Muslims) remains the same for the Muslims of today, unless a change is specifically mentioned in Qur’an or Sunnah. I cannot comment further on the precise interpretation of this verse as I do not know it.
2. As far as Muslims capturing territories… this is not the act of a war lord. A warlord, when he comes in removes the rulers by force, destroys towns and cities, destroys places of worship, kills the population wantonly, and takes the people’s property by force. When the Muslims were spreading Islam, they asked the rulers to accept Islam and establish shariah. If the rulers did so… they maintained their rule and only the laws of the city/country were changed in accordance with Islam. However, if the rulers disagreed, they were removed from power, and a Muslim ruler took over who would establish the laws of Islam. But, no citizens were killed, no places of worship were destroyed… people were not forced out of their homes. Only the law of the land changed. In all cases, the people were not forced to change their religion to Islam… they could continue their religious practices whether they were Christians, Jews, Parsis, Hindus, what have you. I am not qualified to answer further on this because you are referring to specific issues of fiqh which only a scholar or really learned person can answer.
3. Lastly, the verse you are refering to from Surah Taubah (chapter 9-29 of the Qur’an)… you should know and this is common knowledge that this surah was revealed as a strict warning and threat to the enemies of Islam because they consistenly kept breaking their treaties that they had made with the Muslims… and thus the Muslims were commanded to go to war with them. I.e. this surah was for a particular circumstance and cannot be used/quoted as a general rule for all times. Even in this surah you will find the following note in verse 5:
“And if anyone of the Mushrikûn (polytheists, idolaters, pagans, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allâh) seeks your protection then grant him protection, so that he may hear the Word of Allâh (the Qur’ân), and then escort him to where he can be secure, that is because they are men who know not”
Thus… if they desist from their open hostility then the Muslims are also commanded to desist and let the disbelievers hear the words of the Qur’an and then take them to a place where they will be secure..
Thank you again… and I’m sorry I do not have enough knowledge to fully answer your queries…. I would recommend if you live near an Islamic center or institute… you find a reliable scholar to better respond to your questions.
Thanks,
Absar.
Furthermore, it must be pointed out that Muslims ruled and fully controlled India for 800 years and Egypt for even longer than that. Yet the vast majority of the population in India remains Hindu till today, and a small minority of Coptic Christians remains in Egypt today. If Muslims practiced forced conversions there is no way such communities could have survived for over a millennium.
As I said in previous post there is no doubt that preaching didn’t influenced people but there have been far too many instances of force conversion that they can’t be neglected. You talk of present day India but forget that pakistan and bangladesh have turned over 90% muslims and in India too over 15% population is muslim. Muslim rulers didnt had much power in south India and had constant fights with Sikhs and Marathas who opposed any force conversions.
You may not have misconceptions about your religion but you certainly do have about history. Its not about what a book teaches but what its followers did. Islam had spread by force as much it did by preaching. Constitution doesn’t preaches killing doesn’t means criminals don’t do crimes. Iranian libraries were burned, people killed and force converted , many of them (moder day Parsis) fled to Indian sub-continent to save their culture, values and lives.
With exception to malaysia and indonedia islam has spread by force everywhere. It would be false to say that every muslim converted by sword only but it played an equal role as in preaching. Here is question for you…. Why does Nepal has only 7% mulims while Kashmir and bangladesh have 90% muslims, what was so different that islam could not spread to Nepal or Bhutan or Burma or Sri Lanka? The answer is these areas were not under any muslim rule. It is well documented as to how some muslim rulers in India persecuted Hindus and force converted them, and if anyone like Sikh gurus resisted then they were brutually murdered. With exception to 2 countries mentioned above Islam has spread only in those places where invasions took place and nowhere else.
For detailed explanation please refer “The Story of Civilization” by Will Durant, volume I chapter6 .
Link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/28014130/Moslem-Conquest-of-India-by-Will-Durant
More … A significant portion of Hindus in pakistan and Bangladesh have been force converted to islam since 1947 which has forced many Hindus to convert or migrate to india.
Links:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6367773.stm
http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?229886
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Pakistani-Christians-convert-to-Islam-because-of-threats-and-intimidations-21041.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjqrsHRDd_M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hgiy3riDZnk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDqZJjfVfrk
As much as you may try to hide the truth but in rural sindh many Hindu girls as young as 12-13 are kidnapped and force converted, then married off to muslim guys. Here the articles regarding the same:
http://outlookindia.com/fullprint.asp?choice=2&fodname=20060123&fname=Cover+Story&sid=1
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/apr/11/protectingpakistanshindus
Force conversions in Africa:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHJnJ3WTxf4
57 Hindus convert to Islam in 10 days
http://tribune.com.pk/story/15970/57-hindus-convert-to-islam-in-10-days/
Police protect girls forced to convert to Islam
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23386539-police-protect-girls-forced-to-convert-to-islam.do
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-437871/Police-protect-girls-forced-convert-Islam.html
Point behind my comment is not to malign islam but to show you bigotry exhibit by muslims and it is not recognizing their own faults which makes them repeat them again. It is unfortunate that instead of admitting the truth you try to twist the stories and let extremist muslims do whatever they want and this results in further slandering of islam.
Now as a typical pious muslim you may go back and dig your head in sand like an ostrich and claim everything to be CIA/RAW/Mossad conspirary to malign god gifted superhumans called muslims.
Dear Brother Yogesh,
Thank you for your extremely thought provoking comments… It really brings joy to my heart to see how much curiosity people have about the religion of Islam, and how people from such diverse backgrounds are willing to discuss such sensitive issues as have arisen in this post in a calm and respectful manner. It truly gives me hope for the future and raises my spirits.
Next, I would also like to thank you for the references you provided… I think they helped all of us see the amount of cruelty and hatred there is in this world and how much we all need to work together in order to bring it to and end.
As I conceded earlier on this same thread, I do not refute that over the last 1400 years some ignorant Muslims somewhere may have tried to force others to accept Islam. I do not claim to know all of history… of all countries everywhere. All I can say is that – as I mentioned earlier – Islam as a religion refuses itself to be forced upon people. Allah very clearly says in the Qur’an:
“Let there be no compulsion in Religion”
And the word Islam means to willingly submit or surrender oneself to God. Therefore, as far as I know to try and force someone to convert to Islam, is self-contradictory… an impossibility. And anyone who has undergone such a conversion doesn’t qualify as a Muslim…. But the one who forced them is no doubt an extremely evil individual.
However, I think the difference of opinion you and I are having is that I am saying such incidents are the exception, not the rule… On the other hand, you are saying that these comprise the majority of the incidents.
I cannot force my opinion on you. I will quote Qur’an and Hadeeth to you… you will say you don’t believe them. You quoted one author to me, Will Durant, I in turn could quote numerous scholars including Karen Armstrong, John Esposito, Arnold Toynbee, all of whom are non-Muslim, yet world renowned scholars on Islam, and all of them refute the claim that Islam was forced upon people. I would say the media is spreading false propaganda; you may agree with the media.
We could go on like this the whole day.
So… let’s leave what happened 100 years ago… and let’s look at the situation today… in the present. Today, we have reliable statistics from numerous organizations that confirm that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world today. In fact, it is especially spreading like wild fire in western countries including the United States, Europe and Australia. And surprisingly, the majority of converts are women… These women, in “democratic” countries, where their rights are fully protected as you say, are willingly putting on the hijaab of Islam and finding peace.
I think its very interesting that these are the countries where Islam has been maligned the most, yet most new Muslims are coming from such countries… even more interesting is the fact that after 9-11, when anti-Muslim propaganda was at its peak, the conversions to Islam in these countries increased even further. Why? Because people in these countries began picking up the Qur’an and reading it to find out what the issue is… and when they read it… they could not help but believe in it and submit themselves to God Almighty.
So… I hope you’ll agree that none of these people were forced to convert at gun-point… None of these women were forced to put on a veil…. then why? Why is it still the fastest growing religion on the face of the earth today?
I hope you’ll agree that there must be something incredible in this religion that it is drawing so many followers to itself?
However, after all this… After reading your email…. I will admit that you have convinced me to re-examine my earlier held viewpoints… and that I should do a little bit of further study in order to find out the truth of what happened in history… in order to improve myself as a person and call on my Muslim brothers and sisters to improve themselves and truly live in accordance with the teachings of Islam.
At the same time, I hope after reading my viewpoint above… you will also reconsider your views… and take some time to read the truth about Islam. Please pick up a copy of the Quran and find out for yourself what Islam says….
Thank you again for your wonderful comments,
Absar.
What a nice reply. thanks for this inspired and fitting reply.
yogesh seems to have forgotton a very important part of indian history called “partition”, if he studies it he will understand the % of muslim population of the respective countries.
Masha’Allah perfect article!!!! Shukran .. Really good work.. Keep it up =)
islam is a horrible ideology for human rights
5 key things about islam
1. mythical beliefs – all religions have these (faith) because its part of being a religion: having beliefs without proof until after the believer dies. the problem is people will believe almost anything.
2. totalitarianism – islam has no seperation of church and state: sharia law governs all. there is no free will in islam: only submission to the will of allah as conveniently determined by the imams who spew vapors to feather their own nests. there are no moderate muslims: they all support sharia law.
3. violence – islam leads the pack of all religions in violent tenets for their ideology & history: having eternal canonical imperatives for supremacy at all costs and calling for violence & intimidation as basic tools to achieve these goals.
4. dishonesty – only islam has dishonesty as a fundamental tenet: this stems from allah speaking to mohamhead & abrogation in the koran which is used to explain how mo’s peaceful early life was superseded by his warlord role later.
5. misogyny – present day islam is still rooted in 8th century social ethics: treating females as property of men good only for children, severely limiting their activities, dressing them in shower curtains and worse.
conclusions ??
there really are NO redeeming qualities for this muddled pile of propaganda.
islam is just another fascist totalitarian ideology used by power hungry fanatics on yet another quest for worldwide domination and includes all the usual human rights abuses & suppression of freedoms.
graphics version
http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/5792/dangero.jpg
1 page pdf version – do file/download 6kb viewer doesn’t show fonts well, has better fonts header footer links, great for emailing printing etc
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B_UyNP-72AVKYWNiNTFlYTEtMTA1ZC00YjhiLTljMDUtMDhhNDE0NDMzNmYz
@ecks why
Thank you for speaking your mind and giving your colorful :) comments. I will try and respond to each in turn:
1. Mythical beliefs – Yes… many religions and ideologies have mythical beliefs. However, if you have ever had the opportunity to read the Qur’an you will find that Allah repeatedly encourages human beings to reflect upon the world around them, on history, on their own bodies and they will without doubt conclude that there is an intelligent creator behind all of this. Have you ever noticed how hard a painter works in order to capture a scene from nature on paper… no matter how beautiful his final painting, the beauty of nature still surpasses it. Have you ever reflected on your own body and thought what would happen if my heart didn’t beat automatically and I had to cause it to beat? You would die because eventually you would have to go to sleep. Have you ever reflected on the miracle of birth? There are countless other things in nature which provide clear evidence for a merciful and intelligent creator… But still there are many people who are willing to believe we all came from monkeys without any facts to back it up… What can you do?
2. Totalitarianism – You’re absolutely right that there is no separation of church and state in Islam… Tell me, if God is the one who created the world around me, he brought me to life, he gave me a loving mother who nurtured me and a loving father who provided for me. He causes the trees to grow, he provides us the air that we breathe, he sends down the rains from the sky which grows the food that we eat. And he is the one who causes us to die… we do not choose when we are born or when we die. So how can I say to God that i know you created all of this, and you are in complete control of the universe, but you have no right to tell me how to run my life? And who told you there is no freedom of thought in Islam? I believe you might be mistaking the history of Christianity with the history of Islam… It was the church that put European scientists to death, not the Muslim scholars… Science and culture has always been cherished and encouraged by Muslims.
3. Violence – My brother/sister, the greetings of Islam are ‘Assalaam-u-alaikum’, Peace be upon you… The word Islam is derived from the same word which means peace…. So how can someone say Islam encourages violence? Was it the Muslims that carried out the massacres in the crusades? Was it the Muslims that carried out the Spanish Inquisition? Was it the Muslims who carried out World War 1 and World War 2? Was it us who mercilessly slaughtered 6 million Jews? Was it us who bombed Hiroshima.. and even after seeing the results bombed Nagasaki? Is it us who starved more than 2 million children in Iraq (mostly Muslims mind you)? Was it us who killed ourselves in Bosnia and put ourselves in concentration camps? Isn’t it enough to reflect on that Allah says in the Qur’an that to take one life unjustly is like killing all of humanity??
4. Dishonesty – I would like you to kindly cite for me some evidence where Muhammad (SAW), who was sent as a Mercy to All the Worlds by God, acted dishonestly. The Qur’an commands Muslims constantly to stand up for justice at all times even if it is against themselves… whether dealing with Muslims or non-Muslims. Muhammad was known from the beginning of his life, even before his prophethood by all who knew him as ‘Al-Ameen’ the trustworthy… He was known for never breaking his promise no matter what occurred. So… if you do have some clear evidence for what you say.. please bring it forth… Opinions don’t count. Speaking of dishonesty…which of the western democracies do you think really stand up for honesty and justice? Is it the U.S. that shamelessly supports states like Israel that are committing apartheid agains the Palestinians? Or do you think it is honest how they played the game of weapons of mass destruction to attack Iraq? Do you think it is honest what the IMF Chief recently got caught doing? What about Bernie Madoff… there’s Mr. Honest for you… right?
5. Misogyny – brother/sister, I think I can sum up my argument with this much… when a Muslim woman gets married she doesn’t change her name, she retains her title. Do you know why? Because this is a western practice where it signified that now the husband owns the woman and thus he should put his name on her… just as he puts his name on all his property. In Islam.. a woman retains her own identity. She is a servant of God, and has been created for a specific purpose by God. She is liberated because she does not have to put her looks on display so that men will buy things.. she is liberated because she doesn’t have to compete with men.. she is only answerable to God.. and thats where she looks for for her reward.
After all this… I really beg to differ with you regarding Islam’s role in society… I think if there were more Muslims, this world would be a much better place to live..
I hope you do take the time to read the Holy Qur’an with an open mind.
hi absar
thanks for reading & replying to my post :)
1 – yes
2 – this is the number 1 problem. islam is incompatible with western society which has a largely pluralistic government based on individual freedom. there are so many gods why should people be forced to worship allah alone ? who cares about allah mohamhead koran islam camels towels desert etc ?
3 – islam definition of peace means sharia law rules the land which is incompatible with western society. the rest of us could care less about your religion so keep it to yourself.
4 – abrogation in the koran and concealing your true motives are used to legally justify excessive violence against unbelievers which is incompatible with western society.
5 – islam is only 1400 years old and needs to grow up and stop acting like an adolescent teenager. xnity is 2000 years old and is more mature and realistic than islam.
Dear Ecks Why,
We love hearing from everyone here… regardless of their background… or opinion
But please do try and use a bit more maturity when you voice your opinion… and please avoid the name calling and insults… I know you’re better than that.
A little bit of reason wouldn’t hurt either..
Thanks…
hi asbar
yes thanks for being so open here but i don’t understand your reply. where are these invisible insults ? where is this alleged immaturity ? i see only wisdom and reason in my posts :)
islam has a very low tolerance for criticism & ridicule and this is a good indicator of a weak and immature faith. where are the xtian riots when some assclown artist makes a piss christ and turd mary ? why are mooselimbs raising hell across the planet about some silly cartoons ? islamic newspapers routinely call infidels sons of pigs, dogs, monkeys etc and then expect them not to voice similar opinions ? why is there so little academic research into islamic theology & history compared to other major religions ?
it took xnity several centuries to develop into a modern faith to ensure it’s future survival in a secular western society. will islam be able to reform itself too ? i don’t think so because too many tenets of islamic faith are incompatible with western society as i’ve posted previously. my guess is once an energy replacement for oil is found islam will dry up and disappear just like the petro $$$ will.
freedom for individuals and societal support for those freedoms are intoxicating and liberating and will inevitably conquer islam just like time conquers each of us sooner or later.
Hi Ecks Why..
Where I come from when you make fun of the names of people’s religious figures you are insulting them… When you use the word towels and ‘mooselimbs’ to refer to Arabs and Muslims… this is both racist and immature. And I respectfully ask you to desist from such things as you are hurting your own arguments….
As I mentioned… this is an open forum and all are welcome to express their views… but they should remain tolerant of other people’s views and avoid insults and unnecessary arguments.
Islam has a great deal of tolerance for other religions and other cultures… In true Islamic states in the past, including in the Middle East, and Spain and Africa, Muslims lived peacefully with Christians and Jews as well as people of other religions… Islam guaranteed them their rights and protected their wealth and properties. Unfortunately, there is not a single true Islamic state in the world today and Islam is not taught in its entirety in Muslim countries either… therefore many Muslims in such countries remain ignorant of what it means to be a Musim and this often results in problems. I do not defend the actions of ignorant Muslims anywhere… but this should not be equated with Islam.
There’s tons of academic research into Islamic theology and history… I’m not sure why you feel there isn’t enough. I would refer you to well known scholars such as Maurice Bucaille, Karen Armstrong, John Esposito, and many others who have published wonderful works on Islam. Perhaps you’re just not looking in the right place.
Brother Ecks Why… let me ask you in all honesty.. and please excuse my graphical comparison… but if you were to see someone pin down your mother and urinate on her… would you be able to laugh it off? Would you say that since you are a very tolerant person you will not do anything to defend the honor of your mother? Well… Muslims feel are unable and refuse to laugh it off when we see Holy figures such as Mary, Jesus, or Muhammad (Peace be upon them all) insulted and defiled… to laugh at such things is not a sign of tolerance… its a sign of cowardice and lack of any type of honor. Any person with an ounce of humanity should speak up against such disgusting and animal like behaviour. Though you are right… that doesn’t mean going around burning peoples houses and killing people.
Thank you for your comments…
Absar.
hi absar
rest assured i am not completely aware of which terms are offensive this is a common problem when communicating across different groups yes ? my diplomatic skills are weak for sure so thanks for your understanding :) otherwise my fingers tire from all this typing and i will have to post links for more info thanks again for reading my replies
i personally do not and the large majority of westerners don’t seem to associate tolerance with islam nor any other group who demands their specific nuances are “respected” by everyone else. who can possibly keep track of all these differing requests ? what one group sees as an insult another group sees as basic factual reality yes ? who is to decide amongst these competing factions for supremacy ?
frequent news topics about islam in the west are honor killings and no go zones, neither of which is tolerant and the participants are usually claiming guidance from islamic theology. here are internet searches which return hundreds of articles
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=honor+killings
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=no+go+zones
the lack of acadamic freedom to discuss & research islam without fear of violence and intimidation from true believers also appears frequently in the news
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=academic+freedom+islam
http://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/464/academic-freedom-and-middle-east-studies
http://www.studentsforacademicfreedom.org/news/2731/criticizing-islam-sorry-youre-cancelled
http://www.amazon.com/Radical-Islam-vs-academic-freedom/dp/B0009FMNOW
and what of theocratic fatwas issued against authors & cartoonists ? from salman rushdies satanic verses to “everyone draw mohamed day” where is the tolerance for western style debate ? if islam wants to assimilate into western society then islam must change instead of demanding that western society change and submit to islamic theology yes ?
where is the flourishing diversity of islamic theologies ? haven’t the shiites been persecuted enough for their differences with the sunnis ? it took xnity several centuries to sate its bloodlust for killing between the catholics & protestants so that today this animosity is mostly verbal. how many centuries will islam require to mature and realize that words are better tools for fighting than bullets, bombs & beheadings ?
as for a gang of thugs pinning & peeing on my mother yes that would upset me. but why would somebody do such a criminal act ? because my mother has different religious beliefs ? because she criticized somebody else with different religious beliefs ?
are you really saying that verbal disagreements about religious beliefs are enough to justify physical violence between people ? while this idea is clearly articulated in many religious theologies especially islam and has caused untold problems throughout history as far as i’m concerned it is a pile of crap and there are better ways to deal with these issues.
if i am doomed to eternal hell for my personal religious beliefs that is my responsibility yes ? western society is built upon such freedoms for individuals as long as they don’t harm or unduly influence others.
apparently islam and sharia law do not support these same notions of individual freedom where disagreeing about nebulous theological issues is grounds for accusations of apostacy, social ostracism, imprisonment, death penalties and even war efforts. such b.s. has also happened in many other religions too but has been largely eradicated and marginalized in modern western society.
this rigid enforcement of theological & behavioral uniformity (ie – fascist totalitarianism) is still the norm in islamic theocracies because that is what mohamhead lived and preached, that is what the koran writes, and that is what muslims practice.
muhammad
http://www.answering-islam.org/Muhammad/index.html
http://www.answering-islam.org/Index/M/muhammad.html
non muslim under islamic rule
http://www.answering-islam.org/NonMuslims/index.htm
women in xnity & islam
http://www.answering-islam.org/Women/index.html
@Ecks Why…
Dear Brother Ecks Why…
Thank you again for your questions… Please see my responses below
1. The response you gave to my gruesome example… is just my point. Just as you ask the simple question why would someone commit such a horrendous crime against your beloved mother when she hasn’t committed any crime, I ask you the same question… What crime did Mary, or Jesus, or Muhammad (Peace be upon them All) commit to deserve such insults? Did Mary (who Allah refers to in the Qur’an as the best of all women) hurt someone, that an artist should try and create her likeness in such filth? Did Jesus (PBUH) insult someone that people should do such things with him? Muhammad (PBUH), was sent as a Mercy to all the Worlds… He brought a message of peace for humanity… What crime has he committed against you or your family that you continue to mock his name and his message on this post?
2. As for your claim that Western society is tolerant of all issues and is willing to discuss them… I disagree vehemently. Tell me which western society is willing to open up a debate on the subject of the Holocaust? No doubt, the Holocaust was one of the greatest tragedies of history, and anyone who disagrees is just plain wrong…. However, according to your own argument, people should have the right to voice there doubts on the subject. But whether you’re in the Europe or the U.S…. if you raise a questioning finger towards the Holocaust you will find yourself in jail. And there are numerous people in jail in western countries for simply speaking on this issue. This is one of the west’s sacred cows. It is thought-crime to speak a word in doubt of the Holocaust or to say anything good about Hitler for that matter. So where is the so-called tolerance you speak of?? I will raise my argument again… there is a certain limit to tolerance… and when this limit is crossed tolerance becomes cowardice and inhumane behaviour. One of the boundaries of tolerance is when you start insulting and mocking other people’s religious figures and culture. This is precisely why Allah has forbidden muslims for insulting other peoples Gods in the Qur’an… Because this will breed nothing but hate. No good comes out of such things. No responsible society permits such behaviour… and neither should it.
3. Regarding your argument that so-called Christians have matured and do not engage/help to promote violence … I give 3 examples:
Example 1: I hope you remember that it was the pope who signed the concordat with Hitler which allowed him to carry out his ruthless extermination of not only the Jews but also other people
Example 2: It was Milosovic, an orthodox Christian, who made war and genocide against the Bosnian Muslims in 1994… and this was a purely religious war because he said he wanted to kick the Muslims out of Yugoslavia. He thought he was doing it for his religion.
Example 3: George W. Bush claimed that God had told him to carry out the illegal war on Iraq… Meaning it was a religious war again. And there are many Christian priests who outright support this war and claimed that this is a Holy War… George Bush openly referred to it as a ‘Crusade’. We all discovered soon enough that it was all based on lies.
There are other examples that I don’t have time to cite. But does this mean that I judge Christianity by the acts of such misled individuals? Of course not! I realize that these indefensible acts are a far cry from the preachings of Christianity, i.e. ‘Love Thy Neighbor’ and ‘Turn the Other Cheek’.
There are many Catholic priests that are being found guilty of sexually abusing children.. and the Catholic church has been forced to apologize. Do I say that this is what Christianity preaches?? No… I realize these things have nothing to do with what Christianity teaches…
I.e. I am able to differentiate between the acts of certain misguided individuals and Christianity… I hope you will try and do the same when you speak of Islam.
Thank you again for engaging in this discussion and I hope and pray you will walk away from it having a much more factual picture of Islam…
Absar.
Jaza khallahu Khairan for this Beautiful Article, May Allah continue to guide us right
I thank you for this article.
In as much as it is an eye opener, I will like to add to the explanation you gave about Islam being likened with terrorism when muslims perform violence.
I am a Nigerian, I for one cannot support the violence in the nothern part of my country, it is violence against the christians and muslims that are not core notherners and guess what ,in any attack by the nothern muslims in any of these violence, the perpetrators always chant about how u must be a muslim or you die, so in a way the misconception is caused by these people who in the light of carrying on this act, use Islam as a front.
mashallah for the articulate write up and appropriate response to issues raised by a skeptic.may Allah continue to bless you Absar.the question now is how do we enlighten the populace about islam.well,idina siratal mustakim
Jazak Allahu Khairun for that Brother Abdulhamid…
Well… we hope and pray that this effort in itself will help to enlighten a lot of the populace. Masha Allah, many people are reading these articles and (I hope) learning something… Now it is up to each of us to enlighten our families, our friends, our neighbors, our colleagues with this knowledge and remain firmly upon it.
May Allah guide us all towards His Pleasure…
Thanks for taking the time to write this calm and interesting defense of Islam against generalization and mis-information.
There is something that jumped out to me as incorrect based on Judeo-Christian scriptures (you wouldn’t want to spread misinformation about other religions while clearing up misconceptions of your own!)
Under point #3 you claim “The right to hold property is considered to be fundamental for human beings, yet no major religion other than Islam actually allowed women to have property.”
Under Judaism, and one could extrapolate under Christianity, a woman can/could indeed own and deal with her own land.
Numbers 27:8 “‘If a man dies and leaves no son, give his inheritance to his daughter”
Elsewhere it says ‘the wife of noble character’ “.. considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.” (Proverbs 31.16)
Thank you very much for that Tiffany…
I am no bible scholar, nor do I claim to be scholar of Christianity or Judaism… thus if what you say is true, I humbly take back my comments…
Really appreciate your constructive feedback!
No problem. I figured as much.
Many Christians probably aren’t completely aware of some of these more obscure things. Same is probably true within the muslim community as well. ( I can only assume that among people of any creed there are those who havent taken the time to really study all the writings and positions on the endless list of topics they touch on)
A question about #5 “Propagation of Islam is the result of Force”
Is the point your trying to make that it is not in the nature of Islam as it is meant to be practiced, to Propagate by force? But you still realize that it is a historical reality that it happened at some points in history (perhaps due to politics/corruption)
Or is your point that it didn’t happen at all?
I really don’t know enough about the history of that area at that time to know, but I’ve gathered that it’s just a part of the history of that area that it happened, but that it’s not the true nature of Islam.
Similar perhaps to how a Christian would see that the Crusades happened, involving forced conversions and other things we would say are not truly ‘Christian’
Good question Tiffany…
My point is that… to the best of my knowledge… propagation of Islam (forced conversions) never occured as a result of force.
You see, the meaning of the word Islam is ‘willing surrender’ or ‘willing submission’. Allah explicitly states in the Qur’an: “Let there be no compulsion in religion. Truth stands out clearly from error”
Thus, all Muslims realize that a forced conversion is somewhat of a contradiction… I think you call it an oxymoron? Thus never in Islamic history were people forced to accept Islam.
When Muslims captured any new lands, the non-Muslims were freely allowed to practice their religion and their properties and places of worship were protected by the Muslims. They could practice their personal laws, i.e. religious rituals, marriages, etc. The laws of the land however were run in accordance with Islam, e.g. usury was forbidden, legislation of laws contradictory to Quran and Sunnah were forbidden, etc.
Hope that helps…
I think I’m understanding you.
More or less, if at any point a ‘Muslim’ holds a gun to someones head and the scenario is ‘convert’ or die, if the subject ‘converts’ it couldn’t be counted true conversion because it would be unwilling. Which makes perfect sense.
I suppose you could further expand that to say that perhaps the ‘Muslim’ in that scenario is not truely ‘Muslim’ because they do not understand the very issue of ‘Islam’ ie willing submission, if they are going to try to force someone to convert.
Forced belief in anything, in my opinion, isn’t true belief.
But I still do wonder, it seems to me that you lean towards saying that no person ‘claiming’ to be Muslim, has ever tried to ‘convert’ another person or group of persons using force. Which I think is stretching it too far from reality. Again, there have been people subscribing to many different creeds or religions who have used force to try to convince someone else.
I’m just making sure I’m understanding your point clearly and not walking away with something other than what your actually saying.. sorry for the incessant back and forth! :o
:)
I do not claim to know if a single Muslim amongst the 2 billion or more in last 1400 years has ever tried to forcefully convert someone to Islam… I submit…
However, it is something that is impossible as far as Islamic teachings are concerned… It is nonsensical as you mentioned…
And please don’t apologize for asking questions that have been the cause of much misunderstanding over the past hundreds of years… It is clear there is lots of confusion amongst people here… I am happy to try and shed light on the topic… Ask away :)
This was a lovely article. Its an eye openner. I would like to ask so called Super Power Why has there been no Female President todate. whereas Muslim countries have given the power in a Ladies hands not once but many times (Bangladesh n Pakistan). Another question is when our ladies cover thier head which hijab its consider it to be supressed but when their Nuns do it, it is fine n in many european countries a scarf is worn. I dont understand why a muslim woman stays back home to look after her children n household considered to be bounded behind walls n if say act is preformed by a non muslim woman she is a good mother. Why so much differnce.
MASH ALLAH, SUBHAN ALLAH, LA ILAH ELLALAH, ALAHAMDU LILAH, ALLAHU AKEBER.
How a beautiful explanation. Please keep it up.
May ALLAH bless you.
Maasha Allah – this was long due. This information with Quran verse backup is truly a worthy effort to clear some misconceptions. May Allah SWT’s blessing be with you.
Alhamdu Lillah, may Allah.SWT, accept this effort as act of Ibadah, Amin. Indeed, Islam, is a fundamentally MISUNDERSTOOD religion. And very unfortunately most non muslims do not bother to read about Islam and so remain ignorant of the beauty of Islam. We are on the right track in our Jihad Against Ignorance to present Islam without any embelishment, Let us show the light and those guided by Allah will find their ways as it is being observed. As for Sum’un, Buk’mun,Hum’yun, we cannot help them as they would NOT understand because they are DEAF,DUMB, and BLIND. Ihidina Siratal Mustakeen, Amin
I agree with everything you say, I am a Pakistani born Christian and I have many Muslims friends . . whom I hold dear to my life. The misconception about islam is not due to the teaching of islam but through the words and actions of muslims here. Islam teaches tolerance, equality and peace .. but still shabhaz bhatti was brutally murdered, hundreds were torched alive in gojra and I myself am victim of religious discrimination on countless occasion. All I am saying is to accept the social faults that we have, because if we keep living in denial we will never form a better society.
I my self have christian friends here in Pakistan. Those so-called Muslim people now in Pakistan are actually not even proper Muslims ask them Names of 6 Kalimas and many of them don’t know but ask them about Bollywood actor/actresses they will. Pakistan (unfortunately) is not a true Muslim/Islamic state anymore. In-fact, I don’t see a single country where ISLAM prevails.. even Muslims murder, rape and steal from Muslims, which never happened in the bright years of ISLAM.
Bottom-line: these are rather social issues and connecting them to any specific Religion, culture etc. is blunder and true ”injustice”
in some other parts of the world, there are God-fearing Muslims who know their religion very well and practise islam as well. In some parts of India, in Mauritius, in Syria, Turkey, USA, France, Germany, Holland etc, there are many many good Muslims and very interestingly, there are today many good Muslims among westerners, people who have embraced Islam only recently.
ahh wonderful comment.
Dear Absar,
I loved reading your article, it clarified a lot of unclear elements for me.
It warms my hart to see someome writing with such passion and devotion about our beautifull religion.
Your calmth and patience with those who have less or wrong knowledge is admirable.
May allah give you th strength and patience to continue sharing your knowledge about the islam with all of us.
Masha Allah… what a wonderful article.
I hope it help us all in defending our faith especially to those who think we’re terrorists, savages,barbarians and etc…
May Allah subhana wa taala guide us all to the right path…
And may Allah shed light upon the hearts of those non-believers so they finally see the truth— the truth that ISLAM is the right path. ISLAM is the right religion. And Allah is the Creator, the Sustainer…
Before everything else, let me clarify that I am a Muslim and very proud to be one. I am a devout follower of the Prophet (SAW) but what I don’t like is holier-than-thou or apologist attitude. It is this attitude that I have tried to address. I will point by point
1- Islam did spread by the blade. When you tell people that either convert, fight or pay us money, I guess they are bound to question your motives :).
2- Jihad not only tells you to kill non-muslims, but now that we have the salafi/wahabi school of thought, u can even kill a Muslim under the aegis of Jihad, given that u have applied the principle of Takfeer prior to killing him/her. This is the core concept behind the attacks on Muslims in Pakistan and elsewhere from the extremists.
3- Muslims do believe in Jesus, but in a way that is very different from the other two monotheistic religions i.e. Judaism & Christianity.
4- “Islam didn’t propagate through force” As mentioned above, Islam DID spread by use of force. Try reading history of Muslims with an objective eye.
5- “Islam is intolerant of other religions”. When u can’t grant your minorities equal rights then I guess you can’t raise the banner of equality for other religions :).
6- “Muslims are savages”. Visit the middle-east and I think you would start thinking the same :).
@Skeptic…
Thanks for your comments. Let me try and respond to each of your points as best as I can:
1. Islam did spread by the blade – I respectfully disagree with you here. Who forced the first Muslims in Makkah, e.g. Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman bin Affan, Ali, Khadija, Bilal, Ammar Bin Yasir, Sumaiyya, and the 150 odd others (May Allah be pleased with them all) to accept Islam? Rather, they did it willingly. When did the Prophet (SAW) force the people of Madinah to accept Islam? Where was the fighting in the conquest of Makkah? In fact, the largest Muslim country today is Indonesia… and the Indonesians accepted Islam due to interacting with Muslim traders and seeing their honesty. Furthermore, when the Muslims captured other territories… they firstly debated with the rulers in order to convince them of Islam. If they accepted terrific, else they said you don’t have to accept Islam, however the rule of the land will be Islam and you can freely practice your religion.. but just as the Muslims pay the zakaah, you must pay the jizyah. There were absolutely no forced conversions… the non-Muslims in most of these nations happily lived under Islam because of the justice that the Muslims propagated. In fact truthful Jewish authors agree to the fact that the Jews enjoyed more freedom living under Muslim rule than any other rule… Where did the Jews of Spain flee to during the Spanish inquisition? To Muslim lands because they knew they would be treated fairly.
2. Jihad according to Salafi understanding allows you to kill non-Muslims – My dear brother or sister…. I would like you to kindly cite your evidence for it. I have never heard any salafi (and I have interacted with them on many occassions) claim that you can just kill non-Muslims. Before making such remarks bring evidence from the Qur’an and Sunnah just as I have brought it forth in my article. Salafis usually claim to follow only Quran and Sunnah without blindly following one particular school of thought. You may not agree with them here… but if you say they allow wantonly killing non-Muslims then please cite your evidence.
3. Muslims do believe in Jesus – I’m glad you did not disagree with this one.. else I would have been quite worried. Yes… you are right… Muslims believe he is a noble Messenger of Allah… he is neither the Son of God… nor an illegitimate child (Ma’aath Allah) as the Christians and Jews believe respectively.
4. Islam did propagate through force – kindly cite examples… and please don’t bring your opinion here. Please show us where Muslims said either convert to Islam or face death. The law of the land is something different… Muslims have been commanded to establish justice all over the earth (Allah has placed man as His Khalifa on Earth to establish justice here). Thus it is there duty to try and convince others to follow the just system (political, economic, and social) of Islam… even if they remain non-Muslims.
5. Islam is intolerant of other religions – Again please cite examples where in a true Islamic state (none exist today by the way) non-Muslims were not treated with justice. It should be pointed out that when Umar ibn Al Khattab (RAA) captured Jerusalem, the Jews were finally allowed to visit it again…. and the same when Salahuddin Al Ayyubi captured it. Compare this with the Crusades of Richard the Lion Heart and the Spanish Inquisition. By the way… equal rights does not mean the same rights…. this is often something which is misunderstood.
6. Muslims are savages – Bro/Sis… Muslims are the followers of Muhammad (SAW)…. and Allah says about the Prophet “And there is for you in the Messenger of Allah a beautiful example to follow”. How can you twist that around and say Muslims are savages? This is not right… please avoid making such inflammatory statements about your brothers/sisters. There are many sick individuals in all societies… that doesn’t make their religion/culture evil… its the individuals. Many Catholic priests are being accused of sexually abusing children. Do we say Catholics are child abusers? Many Jewish people are being caught these days, e.g. Bernie Madoff, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, for corruption… do we say all Jews are corrupt. Please try and separate the two…
Thank you … and I hope I’ve been able to clarify.
Skeptic, I like your forthright comments. All feel at some time there are some areas we are suspicious about the religion. But your points are somewhat without any strong backing.
I would suggest your read Karen Armstrong’s “Islam a brief history” that will give you much needed history of Islam by a non-Muslim author.
Some rulers may be exceptional but cannot be shown as ‘Muslim’ ruler and might have deviated from fairness and equality provided by Muslims and its rulers that hailed by many people from different walks of life.
I agree with authors comment that other terrorism activities are not labelled with religion. But there is reason for this The so-called Muslims who do a terrorist activity are justifying their wrong doings in the name Islam that is propagated by Jewish media thus the label of Islamic terrorism. Timothy McVeigh did not claim his doing in the name of Christianity.
Yes there is inequality, unfair and racial treatment of non-Muslims in some of the so-called Islamic countries. Saudi Arabia is one of the great example of this. Saudis are in fact putting all Muslims in shame of how they treat non-Muslims, non-Saudis differently. Saudi is supposed to be cradle Islamic culture and boasting of Sharia. Unless the Muslim world control the Saudis they tend to damage Muslims reputation further.
i am so speechless..i was so moved by what was written…and i realised that most of the fault comes from we the muslims…we are yet to understand our religion…we are so blinded by westernization…that we believe development lies in the western world…may ALLAH save us from the diseases of our heart and soul..oh ALLAH,please i beg of THEE to continue bless and enrich the author of this article…amen
Assalamu Alaikum.
This is a wonderful and intellectual article to debunk the selfish misconceptions of enemies of Islam. May Allah the Lord of the worlds bless you with jannatul firdaussi for this your wonderful work. May He also give us the strength to discharge this collective responsibility. Amin
Masha-allah great article…Thx alot.
Great article! I read it word for word.
Excellent.
What a wonderful piece,ma’shallah,this will go a long way in sanitizing the wrong impressions the non-muslims and the innocents among them have about our beautiful deen.Also,on the issue of polygamy,let’s take the ratio of boys to girls that are being born into the world on a daily basis,then,while growing up,the boys usually get involved in many encounters and many will die before they get to the age of marriage leaving sooooo many females behind and every woman wants a husband,now the best solution is what Islam offers.On the issue of the hijab,in this part of the world where i come from(Nigeria in Africa),hijab command respect for women here and any woman in hijab is treated with the highest level of regard and honour and d woman is distinguished and can NEVER BE HARRASSED BY ANYONE even if someone wants to do something of such,even street urchins,street touts/rascals will fight and will be ready to die in her place even before people comes,infact there are so many examples….Allah has perfected our Deen and there’s nothing they(the enemies of Islam)can do about it…may Almighty Allah continue to increase the knowledge of the brother who took his time to write this and reward him accordingly and may Allah continue to protect,guard,guide and bless Islam,the islamic communities and d Ummah..may the peace and blessings of Allah be on all the prophets and their companions and families….salam alaykum.
What a great article! MashaAllah! Very educational and informativ! May Allah reward you brother!!
Assalam. I really appreciate this article. In fact, i was asking one of the bbc reporter whom he decline to respond. My question to him was why if a non muslim commit a crime the bbc will address him by his name only but should a muslim commit an affix ‘muslim’ must be added to him? To buttress your point we’ve for decades rebelling (in Uganda- east Africa) called THE LORD’S RESISTANT ARMY but were never associated to their faith. On this not i would like to call on muslim leaders as well as journalist to take a serious measure to stop this campaign of columni against this beautiful religion AL- ISLAM.
Shukran for this wonderful article. It was very informative and will enlighten muslims and non-muslims alike.
Jazak allahu khairan. For an article well written. May allah guide those who reject faith to worship none but allah. May we muslims continue to be, a disbeliever to the teachings of satan.
jazakum haeran…Allah bless you for this piece. Ma’sallam.
I like the way that you describe how others look at Islam and Muslims and the way we as a Muslims see other people despite their religions , actually the problem is in the way these sterotypes about Islam are spreading by the anti Islam . Thank you very much
May Allah continue guide muslims and also make those among the unbeliever to understand the massage that Prophet Muhammad came with, that is the Holy Qur’an. And make us we the muslims to die in Islam.
Thanks everyone. I am happy you liked our article and I hope it will help you answer some common questions that non-Muslims ask every now and then.
Please share it with your friends and family.
Thanks again!
Thank you for this great article. Thank you for including quran verses as well to prove right to what you are saying:) I hope people who read this stop associating islam with terrorism.
Alhamdulillah.. shukran jazilan ya sadiq.. i’ve learn a lot today.. i’ve already share it with my family and friends.. may Allah guide us all insyaAllah :)
its really a very very well research that can be done!!! its 2 2 2 2 2 good. May Almighty ALLAH repay you for this wonderful approach…… May Almighty ALLAH bless you.
Thank you for this beautifully written article, and enabling us for a civic and polite defense. The pen is mightier than the sword, indeed. I just wanted to elaborate a little on the practice of polygamy. Like you said, a strict set of criteria needs to be met first. Considering the current ratio of men to women, and some other factors (in some regions) like lack of education, lack of financial support, lack of security and health issues etc., polygamy can be justifiably practiced even in this era and age. And if one adheres to the rules, it will have many uses too.
MashaAllah. Thank you so much for this.
Awesome article! You forgot to include that Islam gave women the right to vote as well.. something the American Government waited until 1920 to allow! Yet westerners continue to criticize Islam’s alleged mistreatment of women, refusing to see their own faults.
We can see all the women lined up to vote in Saudi!
Saudia Arabia does not represent Islam.
Saudi Arabia is a country. Islam is a religion. If you want to judge a religion, judge it by its books not by its followers. I am a Muslim from Pakistan and I would like to state very clearly that at this point in time there is no one society in the world that is capable of being called Islamic. And the saudi society is infact quite far away from being one.
bill its so bad that that even with just a small comment from u it shows how little u have understood the article please read again to fully understand that saudi arabia doesnt represent islam. thanx
Wonder why you have to pick the worst example for voting. How about trying something like Malaysia?
Thank you for the educational Article.
It really gave me alot of answers tonite…May Allah grand you with much more then you achieved in this life and the one hereafter…Alhamdu lillah