Headings
What’s the Falsification Criteria for Islam?
On the one hand Muslims say that there are hadith that speak favorably of the prophet and on the other hand they use the criteria of embarrassment and say that the adverse hadith would not have been included were it true that all were fabrications. That’s the point, there are adverse hadith.
The problem in Islam I find is this- I don’t find your beliefs to be falsifiable. What would Muslims need to find in their sources in order to convince them that their religion were not from God?
A favorite assertion is that of the goodness and the supposed spartan personal lifestyle of Muhammed himself. There are hadith that state that Muhammed had very little money for himself, fasted etc.. I haven’t evaluated them all myself. Even if this is true (and I would argue that there are many such persons who prefer simple tastes, you can take some examples of Indian Hindu CEOs of multinationals), I do not think that this supposed self-control extended to the sex-life. I do not know of any authentic ascetic that had an abundant sex life as well. Women don’t understand this, but sex is the most powerful desire for men. That should be the first to be subdued, not as a last optional priority. That should be a clue for you, it’s a massive red flag for me. And there’s definitely a violent streak too. None of this is “self-control”. He ordered deaths of persons mocking him.
Was Mohammed a good Muslim?
Muhammed seems to have difficulty with Sharia
“They ask thee concerning women’s courses. Say: They are a hurt (adhan- translated as hurt, illness, trouble in other verses) and a pollution: So keep away (fa-iʿ’tazilū- 7 occ.,also leave, withdraw)) from women in their courses, and do not approach (wala taqrabūhunna= and not approach; root q-r-b is closeness) them until they are clean. But when they have purified themselves, ye may approach them in any manner, time, or place ordained for you by Allah. For Allah loves those who turn to Him constantly and He loves those who keep themselves pure and clean.” (Q 2:222)
So this is a double prohibition, not a prohibition of penetrative intercourse. Mohammed however in a hadith fondles Aisha during her period:
“Narrated `Aisha: The Prophet and I used to take a bath from a single pot while we were Junub. During the menses, he used to order me to put on an Izar (dress worn below the waist) and used to fondle me. While in I`tikaf, he used to bring his head near me and I would wash it while I used to be in my periods (menses).” (Bukhari 299, 300, 301)
A religion is the aspiration toward a goal, not to missing the goal. It therefore only makes sense that a religion is the aspiration toward some ideal, it cannot be to aspire below an ideal. Mohammed is a sinner even by the definition of his own purported teaching, so it would be absurd to base a religion upon following him as an ideal, yet this seems to be what is recommended in Islam. Can a religion be the stated pursuit of imperfection?
Women in Islam are even forbidden from saying their prayers while they are menstruating. However see what Muhammed does here:
“It was narrated that ‘Aishah said: “The head of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) would rest in the lap of one of us when she was menstruating, and he would recite Qur’an.” (Sunan an-Nasa’i 274, graded Sahih [Darussalam])
Muhammed was a Sinner
The prevalent view among Muslims is that all prophets are sinless, since God would not possibly choose sinners to spread his word (they find this absurd). That’s the only reason I raise this as a point, since such a belief would surely disqualify Muhammad himself based on the following.
“So be patient, [O Muhammad]. Indeed, the promise of Allah is truth. And ask forgiveness (wa-is’taghfir and asked forgiveness- غ ف ر) for your sin and exalt [ Allah ] with praise of your Lord in the evening and the morning” (Q 40:55) ”O Mohammed” is included in brackets in many mainline translations like Sahih International, Pickthall, Mohammed Sarwar, Mohsin Khan, Hilali Khan, because the entire chapter is directed to him. So in 40:18 Allah says to him “Warn them (O Mohammed)…” and the verses in between are a single continued address. The context in Surah 47 below is similar, the chapter being called “Mohammed”.
“So know, [O Muhammad], that there is no deity except Allah and ask forgiveness for your sin and for the believing men and believing women. And Allah knows of your movement and your resting place” (Q 47:19)
“Verily We have granted thee (O, Mohammed) a manifest Victory: That Allah may forgive thee thy faults of the past and those to follow; fulfil His favour to thee; and guide thee on the Straight Way” (Q 48:1,2)
Also note that all go to Hell for an unspecified time without exception, and lastly that Mohammed did not know what would be his fate, this would seemingly confirm the proposition that he is a sinner like the rest.
The Hadith:
In these Hadith we see that every human being is subject to Satan except Jesus and Mary. The obvious inference is that this is related to sinning, else it would not be stated at all (the other possibility that might be considered that all humans were subject to being harmed by evil. But it is hard to see how the exemption would apply to Jesus and Mary would apply were the this the case):
“Narrated Abu Huraira: I heard Allah’s Apostle saying.” By Allah! I ask for forgiveness from Allah and turn to Him in repentance more than seventy times a day.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari – Book 75 Hadith 319)
“Thauban reported: When the Messenger of Allah finished his prayer, he begged forgiveness three times and said: O Allah! Thou art Peace, and peace comes from Thee; Blessed art Thou, O Possessor of Glory and Honour. Walid reported: I said to Auza’i: How is the seeking of forgiveness? He replied: You should say:, I beg forgiveness from Allah, I beg forgiveness from Allah.” (Sahih Muslim – Book 4 Hadith 1226)
“Narrated ‘Aisha: The Prophet used to say, “O Allah! I seek refuge with You from laziness and geriatric old age, from all kinds of sins and from being in debt; from the affliction of the Fire and from the punishment of the Fire and from the evil of the affliction of wealth; and I seek refuge with You from the affliction of poverty, and I seek refuge with You from the affliction of Al-Masih Ad-Dajjal. O Allah! Wash away my sins with the water of snow and hail, and cleanse my heart from all the sins as a white garment is cleansed from the filth, and let there be a long distance between me and my sins, as You made East and West far from each other.”” (Bukhari 6375, 8.379)
(Bukhari 7499, 8.407) “Narrated Abu Musa: The Prophet used to invoke Allah with the following invocation: The Arabic is translated as: “O my Lord! Forgive my sins and my ignorance and my exceeding the limits of righteousness in all my deeds and what you know better than I. O Allah. Forgive my mistakes, those done intentionally or out of my ignorance or without or with seriousness, and I confess that all such mistakes are done by me. O Allah! Forgive my sins of the past and of the future with I did openly or secretly. You are the One Who makes the things go before and You are the One Who delays them, and You are the Omnipotent.””
8.408: Narrated Abu Musa Al-Ash’ari: The Prophet used to invoke Allah, saying, “O Allah! Forgive my mistakes and my ignorance and my exceeding the limit (boundaries) of righteousness in my deeds; and forgive whatever You know better than I. O Allah! Forgive the wrong I have done jokingly or seriously, and forgive my accidental and intentional errors, all that is present in me.”
Muhammed is not included among those who are pure
Abu Huraira said, “I heard Allah’s Apostle saying, ‘there is none born among the off-spring of Adam, but Satan touches it. A child therefore, cries loudly at the time of birth because of the touch of Satan, except Mary and her child.” (Sahih Bukhari 3431; 4:641)
The Prophet said, “When any human being is born, Satan touches him at both sides of the body with his two fingers, except Jesus, the son of Mary, whom Satan tried to touch but failed, for he touched the placenta-cover instead.” (Sahih Bukhari 3286; 4:506)
Allah is quite clear that anyone sinless would be “wiped out of existence”, hence Muhammed would have been wiped out apparently, had he truly been perfect:
“Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger having said: By Him in Whose Hand is my life, if you were not to commit sin, Allah would sweep you out of existence and He would replace (you by) those people who would commit sin and seek forgiveness from Allah, and He would have pardoned them.” (Bukhari 2749)
Muslim Counter- Arguments
God does not expect us to ask forgiveness for something that is not a sin. If we’ve tried out best then there’s nothing to be sorry about, just because we’ve not achieved perfection. Seeking forgiveness means and includes experiencing sorrow for a wrong. God does not expect us to experience sorrow for what is not wrong.
This is why there is no such thing as an unintentional sin. The concept of unintentional sin in the Old Testament is related only to ritual, for the reason that the OT is ritualistic. Performing a ritual incorrectly from human error would count as unintended sin. If you say sorry there needs to be a sense that you did something wrong. If so then you committed sin. If not then it’s not a sin.
We cannot ask forgiveness without possessing the notion that we’ve done something wrong. Were we to do so our forgiveness would be a lie. If we’ve done nothing wrong God does not expect us to ask forgiveness for it. This makes the asking of forgiveness a frivolous exercise. Thus if it is attempted to state that forgiveness is to be sought for not having achieved perfection in prayer in spite of having tried one’s best to do so.
Then this makes that act of asking forgiveness a frivolous exercise. It is the act of being over-scrupulous or in medical terms, obsessive-compulsive. For eg there’s nothing wrong in checking your locks 15 times before you get into your car, but it is frivolous.
This is why is is not a valid move to stretch the semantic range of a word like “forgiveness” in order to fit the framework of proving Muhammed’s perfection. Forgiveness is not an independent term or even the primary term here. It is a term whose meaning is dependent upon its opposite, the notion of sin. It is only because we can positively affirm the existence of sin, that the possibility of forgiveness arises. For example were there no Creation and God alone existed there would be neither. So the two terms exist as antonyms and absence of one means the absence of the other too, just like there is no wrong without the right, or that nothing is dark unless there is the notion of light.
Thus the Muslims who argue against the fact that Muhammed sinned would attempt to assert that when Muhammed said “astagfirallah” three times after every prayer it did not mean that he was seeking forgiveness for his sins rather that in the knowledge of his own sinlessness he was “merely” seeking forgiveness that his prayer could not have been even more focused than they had been. However an involuntary distraction during prayer is not a sin, while a distraction which the will gives its consent to and which is pursued is a sin. There is no notion from the text of the Qur’an that that this indeed was Muhammed’s state of mind in seeking forgiveness rather the straight reading of the text would support the notion that he was indeed seeking forgiveness for that which it is appropriate to seek forgiveness for- his sins.
Sin, the notion of right and wrong and forgiveness are all inter-related. There cannot be sin if there is not right and wrong and there is no forgiveness where there is no sin. These terms are inter-dependent and we cannot change the meaning of one without affecting the meaning of others.
A Money-Grabber?
In the Late Meccan Surah 11 ‘Hud’, he waxes eloquent (almost achieving poetry here) about how he desires no returns or payment for his efforts. Indeed, all prophets lived off what they were given off the goodwill of the people, there is not a single prophet who demands a sum for his services, nor even accepts one. Elijah refusing payment from Naman whom he heals, he had to ask a starving widow for food, so he obviously made no provisions for himself, neither did the apostles or the 72, as per Jesus’ instruction. And john the Baptist lived on wild honey and locusts. The priest Melchizedech, and the Levites received a comparatively modest tenth (tithe). Possibly this was Mohammed’s initial inspiration when in
11:28 he said: ‘Consider, my people! If my Lord has revealed to me his will and bestowed on me a favor of his own, though it be hidden form you, can we compel you to accept it against your will? I seek of you no recompense for this, my people; for none but God can reward me.
34:47 Say. ‘I demand no recompense of you: keep it for yourselves. None but God can reward me. He is the reward of all things.
38:87 Say: ‘For this I demand of you no recompense’
52:36 Are you (Mohammed) demanding recompense of them, that they should fear to be weighed down by debts?
All this changes in Medinah:
8:41 “Know that one fifth of your spoils shall belong to God, the Apostle, the Apostle’s kinsfolk, the orphans, the destitute, and the traveler in need.”
59:7 The spoils taken from the town dwellers and assigned by God to his apostle shall belong to God, to the Apostle and his kinfolk, to orphans, to the destitute and to the traveler in need; they shall not become the property of the rich among you. Whatever the Apostle gives you, accept it, and whatever he forbids you, abstain from it.”
This “belongs to God” obviously goes into Mohammed’s pocket too, God not having monetary needs. Mohammed had conquered in his time the whole of the Arabian peninsula. Imagine what a fifth of that revenue would be!
Pagan Practices?
“Narrated Abu Hurayrah: The Messenger of Allah said: Gabriel came to me and said: I came to you last night and was prevented from entering simply because there were images at the door, for there was a decorated curtain with images on it in the house, and there was a dog in the house. So order the head of the image which is in the house to be cut off so that it resembles the form of a tree; order the curtain to be cut up and made into two cushions spread out on which people may tread; and order the dog to be turned out. The Messenger of Allah then did so. The dog belonged to al-Hasan or al-Husayn and was under their couch. So he ordered it to be turned out. Abu Dawud said: Al-Nadd means a thing on which clothes are placed like a couch.”” (Abi Dawud 4158)
Sex Agenda-Based Verses?
On being Caught Seeping with Slave
“Prophet, why do you prohibit that which God has made lawful for you, in seeking to please your wives? God is forgiving and merciful. God has given you absolution form such oaths. God is your master, He is the omniscient one, the wise one…
…When the prophet confided a secret to one of his wives, and when she disclosed it and God informed him of this, he made known one part of it and said nothing about the other. And when he had acquainted her of it she said: “Who told you this?” He replied “The wise one, the all-knowing told me.” If you two turn to God in penitence (For your hearts have sinned) you shall be pardoned; but if you conspire against him, know that God is his protector, and Gabriel, and the righteous among the faithful. The angels too are his helpers…
…It may be well that, if he divorce you, his Lord will give him in your place better wives than yourselves, submissive to God and full of faith, obedient, penitent, devout, and given to fasting, both formerly-wedded and virgins.” (66:1-5)
In this incredible passage, Mohammed is trying to solve a domestic crisis resulting from his own sexual incontinence. The Hadith give us some of the much required background: Aisha and Hafsa had been complaining about his sexual relationship with a slave girl (said to be the beautiful Maria the Copt). Mohammed first vows to stop, then rescinds. Think about it- Jesus in the Qur’an is called Word of God, Mohammed does not even keep his own word, leave alone God’s.
(Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 66:1) “O Prophet! Why do you prohibit what Allah has made lawful for you, in terms of your Coptic handmaiden Maria- when he lay with her in the house of Hafsa, who had been away, but who upon returning (and finding out) became upset by the fact that this had taken place in her own house and on her own bed- by saying “She is unlawful for me!”, seeking, by making her unlawful (for you) to please your wives? And Allah is Forgiving, Merciful, having forgiven you this prohibition”
“The messenger of Allah had a female slave with whom he had intercourse, but Aisha and Hafsah would not leave him alone until he said that she was forbidden for him. Then Allah, the Mighty and sublime revealed, “) Prophet! “Why do you forbid (for yourself) that which Allah has allowed you?” (Sunan an-Nasa’i 3959, Bk.6,#21, Eng.Vol.4,Bk.36,#3411, Graded Sahih – Darussalam)
The hadith right before it, #2958 gives the alternative explanation of Muhammed having eaten honey instead of having had sex, in the context of the revelation of the same verse:
“
‘Aishah said that the Messenger of Allah used to stay with Zainab bint Jahsh and drink honey at her house. Hafsah and I agreed that if the Prophet entered upon either of us, she would say:
“I perceive the smell of Maghafir (a nasty-smelling gum) on you; have you eaten Maghafir?” He came in to one of them, and she said that to him. He said: “No, rather I drank honey at the house of Zainab bint Jahsh, but I will never do it again.” Then the following was revealed: ‘O Prophet! Why do you forbid (for yourself) that which Allah has allowed to you.’ ‘If you two turn in repentance to Allah, (it will be better for you)’ about ‘Aishah and Hafsah, ‘And (remember) when the Prophet disclosed a matter in confidence to one of his wives’ refers to him saying: “No, rather I drank honey.” (3958 an-Nasa’i)
Verses of Unlimited Wives for him
This verse is referring to some prophetic privilege when in comes to the matter of his wives “this is only for you”. It maintains some degree of ambiguity, but we can see that the verse is a list of all teh women that are “lawful” for Muhammed, which essentially means a sexual relationship. The verse is not saying “these are the women you can marry”, rather it is saying these are the women that are lawful for you, and they include both women that he is married to and that he is not, like his slaves, in the latter case “those that your right hand possesses from what Allah has returned to you”. We know from other verses and hadith that it was not necessary to marry slaves in order to be able to have sex with them (we’ll deal with this elsewhere). So the first subset of women in this list is his wives that he has paid the dowry for, which is how you get married in Islam anyway. The second subset in the list is slaves, and thei third lists all the cousins, maternal and paternal. The fourth is translated “women who offer themselves to you and you wish to marry”. This is is odd, that there is a separate subset when the normal route for marriage is already mentioned in the first subset at the beginning. What’s special about this secon group? Well we can see two differences already at a glance- first that the dowry is not mentioned here, and second, there seems to be some privilege attached to this group. The privileged mentioned is not related to the whole list, because the rest of the list is lawful for any Muslim, not just Muhammed, hence it is does not make sense to say “this is only for you and not for the rest of the believers” as applicable to the whole list, unless it is a relaxation of the overall number of wives limited to four in their case. So in this case it would mean that the vere implies that anyone on this list would be “lawful” for Muhammed, without a restriction in number, since ni such restriction is present in the verse, unlike in the case of the rest of the Muslims. But even so, that second explanation does not explain the difference between the first and the fourth subset nd the need for the repetition, hence commentators and even translators have, as we pointed out inferred that the difference is related to the dowry not being necessray in the case of the second. Thus a marriage “ceremony” involving the prophet can be dowry-free in his case should the wife presumably consent to this. The other possible explanation of this difference is that this is merely a statement of whether it is lawful for Muhammed to sleep with these women or not, since the verse is not about marriage rather about who is “lawful” for him, as we pointed out. Thus some interpretations of the significance of this latter group would hold that when it is said of them “and you wish to marry them”, the word translated as “marry” really only implies “have sex with”. We elaborate on this second meaning in the discussion after presenting the verse:
“O Prophet, indeed We have made lawful to you your wives to whom you have given their due compensation and those your right hand possesses from what Allah has returned to you [of captives] and the daughters of your paternal uncles and the daughters of your paternal aunts and the daughters of your maternal uncles and the daughters of your maternal aunts who emigrated with you and a believing woman if she gives herself to the Prophet [and] if the Prophet wishes to marry her, this is only for you, excluding the other believers. We certainly know what We have made obligatory upon them concerning their wives and those their right hands possess, in order that there will be upon you no discomfort. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful.” (Q33:50)
Here we see how the rest of the believers are told how many wives they can have, and it’s seemingly a maximum of four, or only one if they can’t manage that:
“If you fear that you will not act justly towards the orphans, marry such women as seem good to you, two, three, four; but if you fear you will not be equitable, then only one, or what your right hands own; so it is likelier you will not be partial.” (Q 4:3)
A few verses earlier in the chapter in v.37, the word of marriage is used which is zawwajnākahā. It is based on the same root word n-k-h, as is used here joined to zawaj z-w-j root, which is from the root for “marriage” or “spouse”. We can see this word used exclusively for marriage in two instances 44:54 and 52:20 wazawwajnāhum. The n-k-h root is used several times for marriage, but the form yastankiḥahā which we see here never appears, rather we get for eg. yankiha (4:25) or yankihuha (24:3). The problem here is that Islamic languages do not have a separate word for marriage and sex, sex is the “marital act”. Further in Islam marriage in a sense is the sexual act. Muslims define marriage simply as “the contract by which sex becomes halal”.
This tradition of a quote by his youngest wife Aisha supports the interpretation that Muhammed could marry as many as he wanted:
“Narrated ‘Aishah: It was narrated that ‘Aishah said: “The Messenger of Allah did not die until Allah permitted him to marry whatever women he wanted.” (Sunan an Nasa’i 3205)
Finally we see an explicit case of a woman simply “offering herself” to Muhammed. For a woman to take such an initiative is more reminiscent of American sitcoms like Seinfeld than the traditional context they are set in. It is truly remarkable that there is no notion of familial or parental involvement here:
“Narrated Hisham’s father: Khaula bint Hakim was one of those ladies who presented themselves to the Prophet (ﷺ) for marriage. `Aisha said, “Doesn’t a lady feel ashamed for presenting herself to a man?” But when the Verse: “(O Muhammad) You may postpone (the turn of) any of them (your wives) that you please,’ (33.51) was revealed, ” `Aisha said, ‘O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)! I do not see, but, that your Lord hurries in pleasing you.’ ” (Bukhari 5113)
He can Prioritize his Wives according to Preference
“Thou canst defer whom thou wilt of them and receive unto thee whom thou wilt, and whomsoever thou desirest of those whom thou hast set aside (temporarily), it is no sin for thee (to receive her again); that is better; that they may be comforted and not grieve, and may all be pleased with what thou givest them. Allah knoweth what is in your hearts (O men), and Allah is ever Forgiving, Clement.” (Q33:51, continued from 33:50 in previous section)
Ibn Kathir: (You can postpone (the turn of) whom you will of them,) means, `your wives: there is no sin on you if you stop dividing your time equally between them, and delay the turn of one of them and bring forward the turn of another as you wish, and you have intercourse with one and not another as you wish.’ This was narrated from Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, Abu Razin, `Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam and others. Nevertheless, the Prophet used to divide his time between them equally, hence a group of the scholars of Fiqh among the Shafi`is and others said that equal division of time was not obligatory for him and they used this Ayah as their evidence. Al-Bukhari recorded that `A’ishah said: “The Messenger of Allah used to ask permission of us (for changing days) after this Ayah was revealed: (You can postpone whom you will of them, and you may receive whom you will. And whomsoever you desire of those whom you have set aside, it is no sin on you.)” I (the narrator) said to her: “What did you say” She said, “I said, `If it were up to me, I would not give preference to anyone with regard to you, O Messenger of Allah!”’ This Hadith indicates that what is meant in this Hadith from `A’ishah is that it was not obligatory on him to divide his time equally between his wives.
The first Hadith quoted from her implies that the Ayah was revealed concerning the women who offered themselves to him. Ibn Jarir prefered the view that the Ayah was general and applies both to the women who offered themselves to him and to the wives that he already had, and that he was given the choice whether to divide him time among them or not. This is a good opinion which reconciles between the Hadiths. Allah says: (that is better that they may be comforted and not grieved, and may all be pleased with what you give them.) meaning, `if they know that Allah has stated that there is no sin on you with regard to dividing your time. If you wish, you may divide your time and if you do not wish, you need not divide your time, there is no sin on you no matter which you do. Therefore if you divide your time between them, this will be your choice, and not a duty that is enjoined upon you, so they will feel happy because of that and will recognize your favour towards them in sharing your time equally among them and being fair to all of them.’ (Allah knows what is in your hearts.) means, `He knows that you are more inclined towards some of them than others, which you cannot avoid.’
And all 11 Eleven in one Night, if needs be
“Narrated Qatada: Anas bin Malik said, “The Prophet used to visit all his wives in a round, during the day and night and they were eleven in number.” I asked Anas, “Had the Prophet the strength for it?” Anas replied, “We used to say that the Prophet was given the strength of thirty (men).” And Sa`id said on the authority of Qatada that Anas had told him about nine wives only (not eleven).” (Bukhari 268)
The incident with Zainab
Mohammed seemingly developed an attraction to his own daughter-in-law the wife of his adopted son Zaid, and seemingly begins to have an affair with her for he wants Aisha and Hafsa, to keep it secret, in return he initially vows to end it:
“Narrated Aisha: Allah’s Apostle used to drink honey in the house of Zainab, the daughter of Jahsh, and would stay there with her. So Hafsa and I agreed secretly that, if he come to either of us, she would say to him: It seems you have eaten Maghafir (a kind of bad-smelling resin), for I smell in you the smell of Maghafir. We did so and he replied No, but I was drinking honey in the house of Zainab, the daughter of Jahsh, and I shall never take it again. I have taken an oath as to that, and you should not tell anybody about it. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 6, p. 404)
And (remember) when you said to him (Zaid bin Hârithah; the freed-slave of the Prophet ) on whom God has bestowed Grace (by guiding him to Islâm) and you (O Muhammad too) have done favour (by manumitting him) “Keep your wife to yourself, and fear God.” But you did hide in yourself (i.e. what God has already made known to you that He will give her to you in marriage) that which God will make manifest, you did fear the people (i.e., Muhammad married the divorced wife of his manumitted slave) whereas God had a better right that you should fear Him. So when Zaid had accomplished his desire from her (i.e. divorced her), We gave her to you in marriage, so that (in future) there may be no difficulty to the believers in respect of (the marriage of) the wives of their adopted sons when the latter have no desire to keep them (i.e. they have divorced them). And God’s Command must be fulfilled (Q 33:37)
This is only a temporary reprieve for the wives, for Allah himself was about to set his almighty endorsement upon the relationship in the verse. Mohammed claims that that rationale for his being allowed to marry Zaynab, is so that Muslims know they can marry an adopted son’s former wife. Zaid even divorces his wife following the incident, clearing the “path” for the prophet. There is no indication of marital disharmony (or any that poor Zaid is privy to!) up to this point. Following this, the Quran prohibits Muslim men from adopting sons altogether, so the matter us put beyond doubt.
“God has not assigned to any man two hearts within his breast; nor has He made your wives, when you divorce, saying, ‘Be as my mother’s back,’ truly your mothers, neither has He made your adopted sons your sons in fact. That is your own saying, the words of your mouths; but God speaks the truth, and guides on the way. Call them after their true fathers; that is more equitable in the sight of God. If you know not who their fathers were, then they are your brothers in religion, and your clients. There is no fault in you if you make mistakes, but only in what your hearts premeditate. God is All-forgiving, All-compassionate.” (Q.33:4-5)
Regarding this passage, Ibn Kathir says: “nor has He made your adopted sons your real sons (…) This was revealed concerning Zayd bin Harithah, servant of the Prophet. The Prophet had adopted him before prophethood, and he was known as Zayd bin Muhammad. Allah wanted to put an end to this naming and attribution …Zayd bin Muhammad, may Allah be pleased with him, the freed servant of the Messenger of Allah was always called Zayd bin Muhammad, until (the words of the) Qur’an were revealed (…) Call them (adopted sons) by (the names of) their fathers, that is more just with Allah.” This was also narrated by Muslim, At-Tirmidhi and An-Nasa’i.
Juvenile Sexualized talk
Muhammed recommends marrying younger women rather than older because this is good “sport”. This sounds like locker-room talk. There are two sahih narrations of this hadith. A third version has an addition which might be an attempt to ameliorate the impact. It does not do much better and it seems that that man is more sensible than Muhammed:
“Jabir bin ‘Abd Allah said “The Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) said to me “Did you marry?” I said “Yes”. He again said “Virgin or Non Virgin (woman previously married)?” I said “Non Virgin”. He said “Why (did you) not (marry) a virgin with whom you could sport and she could sport with you.” (Dawud 2048, Muslim 715e, 715j)
This is added in the same sequence in Muslims 715f:
“…I said to him: ‘Abdullah died (he fell as martyr in Uhud) and left nine or seven daughters behind him; I, therefore, did not approve of the idea that I should bring a (girl) like them, but I preferred to bring a woman who should look after them and teach them good manners, whereupon he (Allah’s Messenger) said: May Allah bless you, or he supplicated (for the) good (to be) conferred on me (by Allah).”
Sexual Deviancy?
Musnad Ahmed along with the six canonical hadith is also a considered a reliable source: “[Mua’wiya said]: I saw the prophet sucking on the tongue or the lips of Al-Hassan son of Ali, may the prayers of Allah be upon him. For no tongue or lips that the prophet sucked on will be tormented (by hell fire)” Musnad Ahmad 16245
This is part of a large narrative in Bukhari in which Muhammed’s wives are upset that the people only send him gifts when he is at the house of his favourite (and youngest) wife Aisha. “He then said to her, “Do not hurt me regarding Aisha, as the Divine Inspirations do not come to me on any of the women’s garments except that of Aisha.”” (Bukhari 2581)
It seems rather ridiculous that Muhamed openly admits to cross-dressing in not one but all of his wives’ garments as a method as the source of Islam. But that is what the word used “thawb” ثَوْبِ امْرَأَةٍ means. It is the same word for the Arabic garment or clothing in used today, this can be easily checked on Wikipedia, for example there is an entry for it. The second word is “women’s”, ie it is the womens’ Arabic dress. it is the other versions of the hadith that use the word lihāf (Arabic: لحاف), which means bed cover or bed sheet or blanket or duvet: يَا أُمَّ سَلَمَةَ لاَ تُؤْذِينِي فِي عَائِشَةَ، فَإِنَّهُ وَاللَّهِ مَا نَزَلَ عَلَىَّ الْوَحْىُ وَأَنَا فِي لِحَافِ امْرَأَةٍ مِنْكُنَّ غَيْرِهَا O Um Salama! Don’t trouble me by harming `Aisha, for, by Allah, the Divine Inspiration never came to me while I was under the blanket of any woman amongst you except her. — Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 62, Hadith 122 It was also documented through different narration chains in other books of hadith, e.g., Jami’ at-Tirmidhi 1/46/3879, Sunan an-Nasa’i 36/11/3949, and Sunan an-Nasa’i 36/12/3950, all of them using blanket or bed cover explicitly.
Pedophilia?
We all know the facts about Muhammad’s marriage to the child-bride Aisha, and I have not presented a full description here, although David Wood presents a comprehensive analysis in his opening statement in his debate with Kenny Bomer. Here’s a different hadith:
Musnad Ahmad, number 25636. Muhammad saw Um Habiba the daughter of Abbas while she was FATIM. (Age Of nursing) and he said “If she grows up, while I am still alive, I will marry her.” NOTE: This is not a normal conversation for a grown man to have with the father of a baby child, regardless.
The Prophet of Islam Married a Minor
“Then he [Muhammad] wrote the marriage (wedding) contract with Aishah when she was a girl of six years of age, and he consumed [sic, consummated] that marriage when she was nine years old.” (Bukhari)
“A’isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported: Allah’s Apostle (may peace be upon him) married me when I was six years old, and I was admitted to his house when I was nine years old.” (Sahih Muslim 8:3310)
I used to play with the dolls in the presence of the Prophet, and my girl friends also used to play with me. When Allah’s Messenger used to enter (my dwelling place) they used to hide themselves, but the Prophet would call them to join and play with me. (The playing with the dolls and similar images is forbidden, but it was allowed for `Aisha at that time, as she was a little girl, not yet reached the age of puberty.) (Fath-ul-Bari page 143, Vol.13) Bukhari 6130
‘A’isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported that Allah’s Apostle married her when she was seven years old, and he was taken to his house as a bride when she was nine, and her dolls were with her; and when he (the Holy Prophet) died she was eighteen years old. Muslim 16/83
When we came to Medina, the women came to me when I was playing on the swing, and my hair were up to my ears. They brought me, prepared me, and decorated me. Then they brought me to the Messenger of Allah and he took up cohabitation with me, when I was nine. (Dawud 4935 43/163)
Muhammed kissed the intimate area of a boy?
This is a link to the particular hadith which also gives a list of the rating of the hadith by various scholars: https://en.ahlulbait.one/2021/01/20/opponents-about-kissing-the-intimate-area/?fbclid=IwAR3S3P4erPY6x7NPfM59GwHID2wOSQhSNeph2US2Q3y3-aOnHpCy7eRNUnk
Here Muhammed seems to show a double standard when it comes to giving his own daughter away under-age:
“Narrated ‘Abdullah bin Buraidah: It was narrated from ‘Abdullah bin Buraidah that his father said: “Abu Bakr and ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with them, proposed marriage to Fatimah but the Messenger of Allah said: ‘She is young.’ Then ‘Ali proposed marriage to her and he married her to him.” (Sunan-an-Nasa’i 3225)
In Summary: The Mark of Cult
In summary, the ministry of Muhammed displays most of the typical sign of cult:
- use of fear as a tactic, sex used as a “carrot and stick” is routine in cultic activity as a retention method.
- usually a male cultic leader
- social exclusion and threat for leavers,
- a standard retention method, “cult of personality” around the founder is typical toward maintaining the myth and smoothing over irregularities by claim of divine mandate,
- appropriation of teachings of major religion as accreditation,
- lack of culture of documentation,
- flexibility of teaching, to suit agenda
- increasingly radical nature of the teachings themselves, as whatever it is that drives the leader gains a destructive hold of him with the growth of their popularity.
You could look up these features for yourselves on various sites, this is just one: https://study.com/learn/lesson/cult-characteristics-types-behavior.html.