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TheReligionofPeaceTROP is a non-political, fact-based site which examines the ideological threat that Islam poses to human dignity and freedom Share Jihad Report Mar 29, 2025 – Apr 04, 2025Attacks54Killed219Injured246Suicide Blasts0Countries7 Jihad Report March, 2025Attacks265Killed2065Injured653Suicide Blasts6Countries19List of Attacks It’s much easier to act as if critics of Islam have a problem with Muslims as people than it is to accept the uncomfortable truth that Islam is different List of AttacksLast 30 Days 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 (Post 9/11) What can we learn about Islam from this woman? | TheReligionofPeace.com About Muslimsand Islam“Don’t judge the Muslims that you know by Islam and don’t judge Islam by the Muslims that you know. “ Since we hear from so many critics who either don’t take the time to read this site, or simply can’t understand the distinction between Islam and Muslims, we thought it best to bring together in one place what we have said in so many others over the years. Islam is an ideology – a set of ideas. It is not defined by what any Muslim wants it to be, but by what it is. No ideology is above critique – particularly one that explicitly seeks political and social dominance over every person on the planet. Neither is it entitled to human rights, which apply to individuals. Muslims are individuals. We passionately believe that no Muslim should be harmed, harassed, stereotyped or treated any differently anywhere in the world solely on account of their status as a Muslim. As an ideology, Islam is not necessarily entitled to equal respect and acceptance. Ideas do not carry equal moral weight. The feelings or number of those who believe does not make the idea true or good. Bad ideas should be challenged before they have bad consequences. Islam is not simply a belief about God. Islam is a word that means submission. Islam is a set of rules that define a social hierarchy in which Muslims submit to Allah, women submit to men and all non-Muslims submit to Islamic rule. Since we don’t live in a Muslim country – where censorship, intimidation and brute force are shamelessly employed to protect Islam from intellectual analysis – we are still free to openly exercise our right to debate the merits of the Islamic value system against Western Liberalism… Are men really superior to women as the Quran says? Are women intellectually inferior as Muhammad taught? Does propagating material that curses people of other religions amidst random calls to violence really make for a better social environment? Is it right to keep women as sex slaves merely because the Quran goes well out of its way to permit this practice in numerous places? Should atheists and homosexuals have to choose between the noose and an outward profession of faith in Allah? Is conformity superior to freedom?Yes, there are Muslims who take issue with these aspects of Islamic theology, but that doesn’t change what Islam is. Don’t confuse the ideology with the individual. Don’t draw conclusions about Islam based on the Muslims that you know, be they terrorists or humanitarians. Islam must be understood on the basis of what it is, as presented objectively in the Quran, Hadith and Sira (biography of Muhammad). By the same token, don’t draw conclusions about the Muslims in your life based on the true nature of Islam. Like any other group, not all Muslims think alike. Even if there is no such thing as moderate Islam it does not mean that there are no Muslim moderates. If years of dialogue have taught us anything, it is that, irrespective of their confidence, most Muslims have a superficial understanding of their religion. Some are secular, and very few made the choice to even be Muslim. As with all religion, there are widely varying degrees of seriousness with which the teachings of Islam are taken. As Ayaan Hirsi Ali put it, “Muslims, as individuals, can choose how much of their religion they practice.” For example, many Muslims in the West do not agree with amputating limbs over theft, even though it is plainly mandated in the Quran. Most simply choose to disregard (or explain away) that which conflicts with their moral preferences. The Muslims that you know are not terrorists. More than likely, their interests in life are similar to yours and they have the same ambitions for their children. They should neither be shunned, mistreated, nor disrespected merely because of their religion. Their property should not be abused, and neither should copies of the book they consider sacred be vandalized. Prejudging an individual by their group identity (or presumed group identity) is not only unethical, it is blatantly irrational, since group identity reveals nothing about a person. Every individual should be judged only by their own words and deeds. Our advice: Treat the ideology with caution and candidness. Treat the Muslim with kindness, as an individual. Don’t judge Islam by the Muslims that you know, and don’t judge the Muslims that you know by Islam.  by Glen Roberts, Editor of TheReligionofPeace.com (not pictured) Further Reading:What to Do about the Threat of Islam? My Journey Out of Islam and Hate |
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TheReligionofPeaceTROP is a non-political, fact-based site which examines the ideological threat that Islam poses to human dignity and freedom Share Jihad Report Mar 29, 2025 – Apr 04, 2025Attacks54Killed219Injured246Suicide Blasts0Countries7 Jihad Report March, 2025Attacks265Killed2065Injured653Suicide Blasts6Countries19List of Attacks It’s much easier to act as if critics of Islam have a problem with Muslims as people than it is to accept the uncomfortable truth that Islam is different List of AttacksLast 30 Days 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 (Post 9/11) What can we learn about Islam from this woman? | Life of Muhammad(Not Muhammad)The Life of Muhammad: An Inconvenient Truth Timeline of Muhammad’s Life (A.D) 570 – Born in Mecca 576 – Orphaned upon death of mother 595 – Marries Kadijah – older, wealthy widow 610 – Reports first revelations at age of 40 619 – Protector uncle dies 622 – Emigrates from Mecca to Medina (the Hijra) 623 – Orders raids on Meccan caravans 624 – Battle of Badr (victory) 624 – Evicts Qaynuqa Jews from Medina 624 – Orders assassination of Abu Afak 624 – Orders assassination of Asma bint Marwan 624 – Orders the assassination of Ka’b al-Ashraf 625 – Battle of Uhud (defeat) 625 – Evicts Nadir Jews 627 – Battle of the Trench (victory) 627 – Massacre of the Qurayza Jews 628 – Signing of the Treaty of Hudaibiya with Mecca 628 – Destruction and subjugation of the Khaybar Jews 629 – Orders first raid into Christian lands at Muta (defeat) 630 – Conquers Mecca by surprise (along with other tribes) 631 – Leads second raid into Christian territory at Tabuk (no battle) 632 – Dies “Muhammad is a narcissist, a [molester], a mass murderer, a terrorist, a misogynist, a lecher, a cult leader, a madman a rapist, a torturer, an assassin and a looter.” This quote is from a former Muslim, Ali Sina, who offered $50,000 to anyone who could prove this wrong based on Islamic texts. The reward has gone unclaimed. (References to copies of the Sira are included at the end)IntroductionWhat if a man you knew began telling people that God was routinely speaking to him and only him – and that the “revelations” he claimed to be receiving were mostly about him and his relative importance to all other people? Say, for example, that this self-proclaimed prophet insisted that God had declared him to be the ‘excellent pattern of conduct’ for mankind (Quran 33:21) and that others were therefore to accord him with special privilege, unwavering obedience (Quran 4:80) , wealth and earthly desires, including all of the slaves and women than his lust could handle. Such figures still arise from time to time. Some of the more dynamic manage to develop a small group of followers so taken with their leader’s self-assurance that they willingly offer their own children to him for “marriage” and are prepared to kill on his behalf. Would it really validate the message of any such cult leader if his followers did successfully kill and seize the property of anyone who dared disagree? What if they gradually expanded their power and numbers in such fashion that eventually they were recognized as a major world religion? Would that make the cult leader’s claims about himself true? Would it really change the fact that what they believe ultimately sprang from the imagination of a narcissist? In 610, an Arab salesman with a charismatic personality attracted a small cult of credulous fanatics by claiming to be a prophet. Though his “revelations” were self-referential and occasionally contradicting, he was successful in manipulating his followers with promises of heavenly reward and threat of divine wrath. The god heard only by him told them to lie and steal for him, to give their children to him for sexual pleasure and, eventually, to gruesomely murder his detractors… There are two ways to approach a study of Muhammad. One is with reverence. The other is with skepticism. Thinking persons choose the latter. They are not influenced by the number of Muslim believers in the world today or by their force of belief because these are meaningless in determining truth. Thinking persons care about fact. The facts presented here about the life of Muhammad and the origins of Islam are fully supported by the works of early Muslim biographers upon which all later scholars rely. References can usually be found in the secondary articles cited, if they are not provided directly. OriginsTo understand Islam, you must understand the harsh circumstances into which it was born. The Arabian Peninsula at the time of Muhammad’s birth was a barren and desolate region with scorching sun and oppressive heat by day, and chilling cold at night. There was little vegetative growth, and the nomadic inhabitants lived between jagged rocks and shifting sand dunes. While Europe and much of the Middle East was transitioning from the Roman to the Byzantine Empire, with roads, irrigation canals, aqueducts, and a culture that included philosophical discourse and theater, the Arabians lived short and brutal lives in warring tribes with little to offer beyond their harsh existence. This partly explains Islam’s inherent hostility to music and art, which some extremists, such as the Taliban, take quite literally. Islam does not encourage the pursuit of knowledge outside of itself. It is, as Oriana Fallaci puts it, “the religion which has produced nothing but religion.” The inhospitable climate protected the peninsula from conquest and cultural influence. No foreign army felt that goats and camels were worth taking from desert fighters, so the area was relatively isolated, with the exception of certain trading routes. The renaissance of knowledge that the rest of the world had been experiencing since the Greek revival was largely missed out on in Arabia, where energy was devoted to daily survival against a ruthless environment and other tribes. For these people, morality was dictated by necessity, and obligations did not extend beyond one’s tribe. This is a critical basis for the development of the Islamic attitude toward those outside the faith, including the moral principle that the ethics of any act are determined only by whether or not it benefits Muslims. There were pagan religious traditions in Arabia, particularly at trading centers such as Muhammad’s birthplace of Mecca. Some of these towns had kaabas – cube-like structures that would attract pilgrims during holy months. The kaaba at Mecca housed various idols, including the black meteorite that remains to this day. In addition to the black rock, Muhammad’s Quraish tribe worshipped a moon god called Allah. Other gods were recognized as well. In fact, the town of Mecca was renowned for religious tolerance, where people of all faiths could come and pray at the Kaaba. (This would later change once Muhammad gained the power to forcibly establish his authority). Islam was created both from these crude pagan practices and from the basic theological elements of Christianity and Judaism as Muhammad [often erroneously] understood them (his inaccurate interpretation of Christianity, for example, is often attributed to an early experience with fringe cults in the Palestinian region, then known as Syria). Early Life at MeccaMuhammad was born around 570 AD to a widowed mother who died just six years later. He grew up poor and orphaned on the margins of society, which was controlled by tribal chiefs and trading merchants. He worked for his uncle, Abu Talib, as a camel herder. Although his uncle had some standing in the community, Muhammad did not rise above his lowly station until he was 25, when he met and married a wealthy widow, Khadija, who was 15 years older. His wife’s trading business not only nurtured Muhammad’s natural talents of persuasion but gave the successful salesman an opportunity to travel and acquire knowledge that was not as accessible to the local population. He would later use this to his advantage by incorporating the stories he had come across into his “revelations” from Allah, particularly the tales from the earlier religions, Judaism and Christianity. Having attained a comfortable lifestyle and the idle time that wealth affords, Muhammad would wander off occasionally for periods of meditation and contemplation. At the age of 40, it is quite likely that he was experiencing the symptoms of a midlife crisis, including a desire for personal accomplishment and meaning. One day, he told his wife that he had been visited by the angel Gabriel in a dream. Thus began a series of “revelations” which lasted almost until his death 23 years later. The Quran is a collection of words that Muhammad attributed to Allah. The Hadith is a collection of narrations of the life and deeds of Muhammad. The Sira is his recorded biography. The Sunnah is said to be Muhammad’s way of life, on which Islamic law (Sharia) is based. With his wife’s influence and support, Muhammad proclaimed himself a prophet in the lineage of Abraham and Jesus, and began trying to convert those around him to his new religion. He narrated the Quran to those who believed him, telling them that it was the word of Allah (heard only by himself, of course). Muhammad’s Quran does not contain a single original moral value. It contributes only one new idea to world religion: Muhammad is Allah’s prophet. In fact, Muhammad’s “Allah” seemed oddly preoccupied with making sure Muslims knew to obey Muhammad’s every earthly wish, as this mandate is repeated at least twenty times in the Quran. In the beginning, Muhammad did his best to compromise his teachings with the predominant beliefs of the community’s elders, such as combining all 300 of their idols under the name “Allah.” His amalgamation of Judeo-Christian theology and pagan tradition grew more sophisticated over time. The “revelations from Allah” affirmed his own position repetitively. Even if he did not remember the Biblical stories correctly, each was conspicuously modified to incorporate a common theme: ‘Believe in the Messenger (Muhammad) or suffer the consequences.’ Preaching and Persecution at MeccaAccording to early Muslim historians, the Meccans did not mind Muhammad practicing his religion, nor did they feel threatened by his promotion of it. This changed only after the self-proclaimed prophet began attacking their religion, including the customs and ancestors of the people (Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 167). This was enough to stir up the resentment of Mecca’s influential leaders, who then mocked his humble background against his pretentious claims. (See also MYTH: Muhammad was Persecuted for Preaching Islam) Still, Mecca at the time was a remarkably tolerant society. Muhammad was allowed to attack the local customs for thirteen years, even though the town’s economy depended on the annual pilgrimage attended by visiting pagans, whose religions he actively disparaged. At first, Muhammad was only successful with friends and family. After thirteen years, the street preacher could boast of only about a hundred determined followers, who called themselves Muslims. Outside of his wife, the first convert was his young cousin Ali (who would later become his son-in-law and the fourth caliph of Islam). Another early convert was Abu Bakr, a wealthy merchant whose money and credulous acceptance of Muhammad can be credited with the survival of the fledgling cult. (Muhammad would later “marry” Abu Bakr’s 6-year-old daughter). Relations with the Meccans turned particularly sour after an episode known as “the Satanic Verses” in which Muhammad agreed to recognize the local gods in addition to Allah. This delighted the Meccans, who generously extended their welcome. But Muhammad soon changed his mind after his own people began to lose faith in him. He claimed that Satan had spoken through him and rescinded recognition of the Meccan gods (Tabari 1192, Quran 22:52 & 53:19-26). The locals intensified their mockery of Muslims and made life particularly difficult for some of them. Although Muslims today use the word “persecution” to describe this ordeal (justifiably, in some cases), it is important to note that the earliest and most reliable biographers (Ibn Ishaq and al-Tabari) record the death of only one Muslim during this period, an older woman who died from stress. This fact is a source of embarrassment to modern apologists, who do not like to admit that Muslims were the first to become violent at Mecca (see MYTH: The Meccans Drew First Blood against Muhammad) and that Muhammad was the first to resort to militancy both then and later time, when it was entirely unnecessary. To deal with this unpleasant truth, sympathetic narratives of the early Meccan years usually exaggerate the struggle of Muslims, with claims that they were “under constant torture.” They may also include apocryphal accounts that are NOT supported by earliest and most reliable historians (see MYTH: Persecution of Muslims at Mecca – Many Deaths). Modern storytellers and filmmakers (such as those behind 1976’s The Message) have even been known to invent fictional murder victims, either to dramatize their own tale or to provide justification for the “revenge killings” that followed. In fact, the only Muslim whose life was truly in danger was that of Muhammad – after 13 years of being allowed to mock the local religion. (See also MYTH: Muhammad was Tortured at Mecca). The Hijra: Flight from Mecca to MedinaThe death of his uncle, Abu Talib, in 619 left Muhammad without a protector against the Meccan leadership, which was gradually losing patience with him. The true agitator in this situation is quite clearly Muhammad himself, as even Muslim historians note. Consider this account of what happened at Abu Talib’s deathbed as the Meccans implored him a final time for peace with his nephew: [Muhammad’s chief adversary] Abu Sufyan, with other sundry notables, went to Abu Talib and said: “You know the trouble that exists between us and your nephew, so call him and let us make an agreement that he will leave us alone and we will leave him alone; let him have his religion and we will have ours.” (Ibn Ishaq 278) Muhammad rejected the offer of peaceful co-existence. His new religion was intended to dominate others, not be on equal standing with them. Meanwhile, the Muslims were beginning to become violent with the people around them. Muhammad’s search for political alliance led him to make a treaty of war against the Meccans with the people of Medina, another Arab town far to the north (Ibn Ishaq 299-301). This was the last straw for the Meccans, who finally decided to capture Muhammad and put him to death. (see also MYTH: Muhammad and his Muslims Fled Mecca because of Persecution) Although this sounds harsh against Western standards, it is important to note the contrast between the Meccan reaction and that of Muhammad when he later dealt with perceived treachery in Medina on the part of those who hadn’t harmed anyone: The Meccans limited their deadly aggression to Muhammad himself. This is quite clear from the episode in which Muhammad escapes his home by using his son-in-law, Ali, to trick his would-be assassins into thinking that they had him trapped (Ibn Ishaq 326). No harm was done to Ali or his wife, both of whom subsequently remained in the city for several days to complete the transfer of Muhammad’s family business to Medina. Compare this to the episode of the Banu Qurayza, in which Muhammad slaughtered an entire tribe of people based on their leader having switched loyalties in a conflict in which none of them even participated. The year that Muhammad fled Mecca for Medina was 622, which marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar. Medina and the Genesis of JihadStinging from the rejection of his own town and tribe, Muhammad’s message became more intolerant and ruthless – particularly as he gained power. Islam’s holiest book reflects this shift. Later parts of the Quran add violence and earthly defeat at the hands of Muslims to the woes of eternal damnation that earlier parts of the book promised those who would not believe in Muhammad as a prophet. At Medina the relatively peaceful religion, which borrowed heavily from Judaism and Christianity, was supplanted by the militant and totalitarian form of political Islam that is now called Islamism. During these last ten years of Muhammad’s life, infidels were evicted or enslaved, converted upon point of death and even rounded up and slaughtered as expediency allowed. To fund his quest for control, Muhammad first directed his followers to raid Meccan caravans in the holy months, when the victims would least expect it. This despite the fact that the Meccans were not bothering him in Medina (see MYTH: Muhammad and his Muslims were Persecuted by the Meccans at Medina). Muhammad provided his people with convenient “revelations from Allah” which allowed them to murder innocent drivers and steal their property (Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 426). The people around him gradually developed a lust for things that could be taken in battle, including material comforts and captured women and children. (See also MYTH: Muhammad Raided Caravans to Retrieve Stolen Property). Often the people captured in battle would be brought before the self-proclaimed prophet, where they would plead for their lives, arguing, for example, that they would never have treated Muslims that way. The traditions portray Muhammad as mostly unmoved by their pleas: ordering their deaths anyway, often by horrible means. In one case, he orders a man slain, telling him that “Hell” will take care of the poor fellow’s orphaned daughter (Ishaq 459). (See also MYTH: Muhammad Never Killed Captives) The raids on caravans preceded the first major battle involving a Muslim army, the Battle of Badr. This was the spot where the Meccans had sent their own army to protect their caravans from a Muslim raid. Although today’s apologists like to claim that Muslims only attack others in self-defense, this was clearly not the case in Muhammad’s time. In fact, he had to compel his reluctant warriors with promises of paradise and assurances that their religion was more important than the lives of others. (See also MYTH: The Battle of Badr was Defensive). The Consolidation of PowerMuhammad’s defeat of the Meccans at Badr emboldened him to begin dividing and conquering the three local Jewish tribes at Medina. Their mistake was to accept the Muslim presence but reject Muhammad’s claim that he was in the line of Jewish prophets. His stories from the Torah simply did not agree with their own. (Muhammad’s recited version of Bible stories sounds more like fragmented fairy tales with the same moral – believe in his personal claim to be a prophet… or suffer a fate). How these three tribes, the Banu Qaynuqa, the Banu Nadir, and the Banu Quyrayza met their fate is insightful into the Islamic mindset, which employs an inherent double standard in its relations with those outside the faith. First, to try and gain their favor, Muhammad briefly preached that Christians and Jews could attain salvation through their own faith. In fact, he changed his followers’ direction for prayer from Mecca to Jerusalem, which garnered his hosts’ tolerance at a critical time, even as he worked surreptitiously for the power to steal and evict. These early concessions and teachings were later revoked by Muhammad (Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 382), since the Jews ultimately refused his religion. The rare early verses of tolerance in the Quran are abrogated by later verses such as 9:29. Jewish knowledge of the Torah naturally threatened the Muslim leader’s credibility, since it refuted claims that he made about himself as a prophet of God. The Jews also saw through the Biblical narrations that he had picked up from secondhand sources and knew that these contradicted established revelation. Conveniently, Allah stepped in to tell Muhammad that the Jews had deliberately corrupted their own texts to hide the very evidence of his own prophethood which he insisted were there. (To this day, Muslims have never been able to produce a copy of the “true” Torah or Gospel to which their own Quran refers). While the Jews remained unconvinced by such gimmickry, Arab polytheists converted to Islam in numbers, which soon gave Muhammad the power to announce his intention of imposing Islam by force: While we were in the Mosque, the Prophet came out and said, “Let us go to the Jews” We went out till we reached Bait-ul-Midras. He said to them, “If you embrace Islam, you will be safe. You should know that the earth belongs to Allah and His Apostle, and I want to expel you from this land. So, if anyone amongst you owns some property, he is permitted to sell it, otherwise you should know that the Earth belongs to Allah and His Apostle.” Bukhari 53:392The Jews of Medina were the first in a very long line of unfortunate people to be offered the opportunity to convert to Islam under obvious duress. Thus, forced conversion is very much a Muslim tradition started by Muhammad (see MYTH: Muhammad Rejected Conversions to Islam made under Duress) Since they chose to hold on to their religion, Muhammad looked for reasons to go to war against the Jews at Medina. According to some accounts, the Qaynuqa were driven from their homes and land on the pretext that one of their own had harassed a Muslim woman. Although the offender was killed prior to this by a Muslim, the Muslim was also killed by Qaynuqa in retaliation for the murder. After laying siege to the entire community and defeating the tribe, Muhammad wanted to put every male member to death but was talked out of it by an associate – something that Allah later “rebuked” him for. The Qaynuqa were forced into exile and the Muslims took their possessions and property, making it their own. Muhammad personally reserved a fifth of the ill-gotten gain for himself (a rule that even made it into the Quran). This episode instilled the principle of group identity in the religions, whereby any member of a religion or social unit outside of Islam is just as guilty as any peers who insult or harm a Muslim – and just as deserving of punishment. (Muhammad’s punishments usually did not fit the crime). Members of the second tribe, the Banu Nadir, were accused by Muhammad of plotting to kill him. What is intriguing about this episode is that it occurred after Muslims had killed several prominent Jews on Muhammad’s order, including a leader of the Banu Nadir (named Ka’b al-Ashraf). (See also MYTH: Muhammad Never Approved of Murder) The prophet of Islam claimed that an angel appeared to him in a dream and told him that he would be targeted in retaliation. Based on this, he laid siege to the Banu Nadir community. After forcing them to surrender, these original inhabitants of Medina were then banished from their homes and land by their former guests. To the disappointment of everyone else, Muhammad also produced a revelation from Allah that allowed him to confiscate the entire portion of Nadir goods for himself and his clan of migrants – Ibn Ishaq 653). In a critical example of how deception is sanctioned under Islam, a surviving contingent of the Banu Nadir (under Usayr ibn Zarim) was later tricked into leaving their fortress by promise of peace talks. The contingent of Muslims sent by Muhammad to “escort” them easily slaughtered the victims once they became vulnerable by way of misplaced trust (Ibn Ishaq 981). (See also MYTH: Muhammad always Disapproved of Dishonesty). The Qurayza MassacreBy the time the Banu Qurayza met their fate, Muhammad was wealthy and powerful from his defeat of the other two tribes and his caravan raids. The Jews of the Banu Qurayza tasted Muhammad’s wrath after their leader half-heartedly sided with the Meccan army during a siege of Medina (the Battle of the Trench). By then, Muhammad had evicted the other Jews and declared that all land at Medina belonged to him, so the original constitution of the town was no longer in effect. Even so, it is important to note that the Qurayza never attacked or harmeda single Muslim. Although the Qurayza surrendered peacefully to the Muslims, Muhammad determined that every man of the tribe would be executed, along with every boy who had reached the initial stages of puberty (between the ages of 12 and 14). He ordered that a ditch be dug outside of the town and had the victims brought to him in several groups. Each person would be forced to kneel, and their head would be cut off and dumped along with the body into the trench. Between 700 and 900 men and boys of the Banu Qurayza were slaughtered by Muhammad’s tribe after their surrender (Ibn Kathir v3. p. 170). The surviving children of the men became slaves of the Muslims, and their widows became sex slaves (some were then traded for horses). This included the Jewish girl, Rayhana, who became one of Muhammad’s personal concubines the very night that her husband was beheaded. In some ways, women were much like any other possession taken in battle, to be done with however their captors pleased. But Muslims found them useful in other ways as well. In fact, one of the methods by which Islam owed its expansion down through the centuries was through the reproductive capabilities of captured women. In addition to four wives, a man was allowed an unlimited number of sex slaves, with the only rule being that any resulting children would automatically be Muslim. Muhammad ordered that a fifth of the women taken captive be reserved for him. Many were absorbed into his personal stable of sex slaves that he maintained in addition to his eleven wives. Others were doled out like party favors to others. (See MYTH: Muhammad was an Abolitionist) At one point following a battle, Muhammad provided instructions on how women should be raped after capture, telling his men not to worry about coitus interruptus, since “Allah has written whom he is going to create.” (See MYTH: Muhammad Never Approved of Rape) Following the battle against the Hunain, late in his life, Muhammad’s men were reluctant to rape the captured women in front of their husbands (who were apparently still alive to witness the abomination), but Allah came to the rescue with a handy “revelation” that allowed the debauchery. (This is the origin of Sura 4:24 according to Abu Dawud 2150). The Origin of Islamic ImperialismFrom Medina, Muhammad waged a campaign of terror (to which he openly attributed his success Bukhari 52:220). His gang of robbers launched raids against hapless communities that were savaged, looted, murdered and raped. The tribes around the Muslims began to convert to Islam out of self-preservation, as the excuse for conquest began to shrink to the point that it hardly existed at all. Muhammad told his followers that Muslims were meant to rule over other people. The Jihad (and Islam’s growth) were fueled by Supremacist teachings (see MYTH: Muhammad Waged War Only in Self-Defense). The brutal conquest of the people of Khaybar, a peaceful farming community that was not at war with the Muslims, is a striking example. Muhammad marched in secret, took them by surprise and easily defeated them. He had many of the men killed, simply for defending their town. He enslaved women and children and had surviving men live on the land as virtual serfs, paying Muslims an ongoing share of their crops not to attack them again. Muhammad suspected that the town’s treasurer was holding out and had his men barbarically torture the poor fellow by building a fire on his chest until he revealed the location of hidden treasure. (See MYTH: Muhammad Never Approved Torture). Afterwards, the prophet of Islam beheaded the man and “married” his widow on the same day (she first had to pass through the hands of one of his lieutenants). Given that the woman’s father was also killed by Muhammad, it isn’t much of a stretch to say that true love had very little to do with this “marriage.” The violence and debauchery were barely rationalized: Allah’s Messenger called Ali [and said]: “Proceed on and do not look about until Allah grants you victory,” and Ali went a bit and then halted and did not look about and then said in a loud voice: “Allah’s Messenger, on what issue should I fight with the people?” Thereupon he (the Prophet) said: ”Fight with them until they bear testimony to the fact that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his Messenger…” (Sahih Muslim 5917) A Life of Hedonism and NarcissismMuhammad’s personal life became a portrait of hedonism and excess, all justified by frequent “revelations” from an increasingly arbitrary and capricious god. In keeping with the live of a cult leader, he demanded strict obedience from his followers, telling them that they obey God by obeying him (Quran 4:80, 59:7; Sahih Bukhari 89:251). Muhammad employed circular reasoning in which the premise and conclusion each depend on the other: A is true because B is true; B is true because A is true. Surprisingly, this simple and obvious flaw persists to this day among believers: 1) Muhammad is the messenger of Allah because the Quran says so.2) The Quran is from Allah because the messenger says so.In his later years, Muhammad shamelessly exploited his influence for personal gain, including sex, wealth and power. Allah’s authority for him to pursue these earthly ambitions is actually immortalized in the Quran (suras 33 and 66, in particular). The same man who earlier in his career justified his claims as a prophet by saying that he “asked for no reward” from others, reversed course and began demanding a fifth or more of what was looted from conquered tribes. According to his biographers, he became fat from living off this enormous share of ill-gotten gain. (See MYTH: Muhammad was a Brave Warrior who Trusted in Allah to Protect him) In the span of a dozen years, he married eleven women and had access to an array of sex slaves (see MYTH: Muhammad Married Multiple Women as a Favor to them). When he wanted a woman, even if she were the wife of another man, his own daughter-in-law, or a child as young as 6-years-old (see MYTH: Muhammad Condemned Pedophilia), Muhammad was able to justify his lust and inevitable consummation with an appeal to Allah’s revealed will for his sex life – which was then preserved forever in the Quran, to be faithfully memorized by future generations for whom it has no possible relevance. The first verse of Sura 66 is an example of this. It was narrated by Muhammad to his wives shortly after two of them pressured him into not visiting his favorite sex slave: O Prophet! why do you forbid (yourself) that which Allah has made lawful for you, seeking to please your wives? (Quran 66:1)Allah (according to his mouthpiece, Muhammad) was upset with his prophet for denying himself an afternoon of pleasure with the concubine that Allah himself provided. (For the Muslim faithful, it must surely be a source of embarrassment that Allah evidently had more interest in Muhammad’s personal sex life than he did in tolerance or universal love, which are much harder to find in the Quran). Muhammad used eternal paradise and damnation to solicit strict obedience to his every command: “Allah’s Apostle said, ‘Whoever obeys me will enter Paradise, and whoever disobeys me will not enter it’” (Bukhari 92.384). Islam became centered completely around its founder. Of all the prophets, new converts are required to affirm the legitimacy only of Muhammad. The Muslim leader even shares the Shahada (pledge of faith) with Allah: “There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger”. To this day, every Muslim must bow down five times a day toward Muhammad’s birthplace (although Muslims in the Western Hemisphere actually pray out into space. Islam’s “prophet” did not know the earth was round… and neither did Allah, it appears). The prophet of Islam was also an extremely superstitious person, leaving many bizarre rules for Muslims to follow, including which direction they should defecate and how many stones they should wash their anus with afterwards (any odd number, if you’re curious). (See MYTH: Muhammad did Away with Superstition). Sketchy hygiene apparently left him with an annoying lice infection. Not content with waiting for Allah to act on his behalf, Muhammad had personal critics executed, including poets. One of these was a mother of five children, who was stabbed to death by Muhammad’s envoy after a suckling infant was removed from her breast (see MYTH: Muhammad Never Killed Women). Other innocent people were killed merely because they were of a different religion, sometimes this included children (see MYTH: Muhammad Never Killed Children). The glaring double standards of Islam were ingrained during the lifetime of its prophet. This included commands to execute apostates (those who wish to leave Islam) and evict people of other religions from their homes. An elderly woman named Umm Qirfa ran afoul of Muhammad merely by fighting back when her tribe was targeted by Muslim raiders. Muhammad’s adopted son tied the woman’s legs separately to two camels, then set the camels off in opposite directions, tearing the woman’s body in two. He also killed her two sons – presumably in gruesome fashion – and made her daughter into a sex slave. (See MYTH: Muhammad Never Killed the Elderly). Today’s believers inherit this legacy of self-consumption and disregard for those outside the faith. They may or may not agree with terrorist attacks on non-Muslims, but most are nearly united in their belief that the victims have no right to strike back, even if it is in self-defense. The Quran distinguishes Muslims from others, bestowing the highest praise on believers while heaping the vilest condemnation on those outside the faith. Islam is a true supremacist ideology. (See Is the Quran Hate Speech?) The Taking of MeccaThough the Arab and Jewish tribes closer to Medina were eliminated and absorbed through military victory and forced conversion, the city of Mecca tried to carry on as usual. In 628, six years after fleeing, Muhammad’s followers were allowed to re-enter the city under an agreement whereby he set aside his title as “Prophet of Allah.” This was a temporary ploy that enabled him to gain a political foothold in the city through the same “fifth column” activities that are still used today by organizations such as the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), which use their host’s language of religious tolerance to disguise an ulterior agenda that includes systematic discrimination against non-Muslims. Many of his followers were disappointed that Muhammad had made concessions to the Meccans, not understanding how it fit perfectly with his ultimate agenda of domination. It was during this time that he led the campaign against the Khaybar, to assuage the lust for blood, women and loot. Technically, Muhammad was the first to break the treaty with the Meccans when he violated the portion of it that forbade him from accepting members of the other tribe into his camp. His own people also staged deadly raids on Meccan caravans (see MYTH: The Meccans were the First to Break the Treaty of Hudaibiya). Although he evidently had no personal obligation to the treaty, the prophet of Islam held other parties to the letter of the law, particularly after he amassed the power to conquer in overwhelming fashion. The excuse that Muhammad eventually used to march his armies into Mecca was provided when a tribe allied to the Meccans conducted a raid on a tribe allied with the Medinans. Although a true man of peace would have heeded the fact that his enemy did not want war, and used non-violent means to resolve the tension while respecting sovereignty, Muhammad merely wanted power and vengeance. (See also MYTH: Muhammad always Chose Peace over War). In just under a decade, Muhammad had evolved from trying to sell himself as a Judeo-Christian prophet seeking followers, to an Arab warlord seeking subjects, slaves and total dominance. The early Quran (of Mecca) tells unbelievers to ‘follow the example’ of Muhammad or suffer Hell. The later Quran (of Medina) tells unbelievers to ‘obey’ Muhammad or suffer death. Following Mecca’s surrender, Muhammad put to death those who had previously insulted him (see also MYTH: Muhammad was a Forgiving Man). One of the persons sentenced was his former scribe, who had written revelations that Muhammad said were from Allah. The scribe had previously recommended changes to the wording (based on the bad grammar and ineloquent language of “Allah”) and Muhammad agreed. This caused the scribe to apostatize, based on his belief that a real revelation should be immutable. Although the scribe escaped death by “converting to Islam” at the point of a sword, others weren’t so lucky. One was a slave girl who was executed on Muhammad’s order because she had written songs mocking him. In what would also become the model for future Muslim military conquests, those Meccans who would not convert to Islam were required to accept third-class status. Not surprisingly, almost the entire city – which had previously rejected his message – immediately “converted” to Islam once Muhammad came back with a sword in his hand. This included his adversary, Abu Sufyan, who was bluntly ordered to “Submit and testify that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is the apostle of Allah before you lose your head.” Those who would not convert to Islam were banned from the city a few months later – again underscoring the dual ethics of Islam. When Muhammad was previously banned from Mecca, he described it as a “persecution” that justified the “slaughter” of those who prevented him from performing the Haj. Yet, when he attained power, he immediately chased anyone who would not convert to Islam from Mecca and prevented them from performing the Haj (see MYTH: Islam Made Mecca More Tolerant) To this day, people of other religions are barred even from entering Mecca, the city where Muhammad was free to preach in contradiction to the established religion. Islam is far less tolerant even than the primitive Arab religions it supplanted. A person preaching the original Arab polytheism on the streets of Mecca today would be quickly executed. Jihad and JizyaTellingly, some of the most violent verses in the Quran were handed down following Muhammad’s ascension to power, when there was no real threat to the Muslim people. The 9th Sura of the Quran exhorts Muslims to Jihad and dominance over other religions: “Fight those who do not believe in Allah, nor in the latter day, nor do they prohibit what Allah and His Messenger have prohibited, nor follow the religion of truth, out of those who have been given the Book, until they pay the tax in acknowledgment of superiority and they are in a state of subjection.” (9:29) The verse that follows curses Christians and Jews by name and says “May Allah destroy them” (as with other sections of the Quran, it is unclear whether it is Allah or Muhammad speaking). Before his death, Muhammad ordered 30,000 men to march on Christian lands (which were Byzantine at the time). Apologists claim that there was an army amassed against him, but there is absolutely no evidence of such a force having been assembled. Instead, Muhammad subjugated the local people and extorted “protection” money from them – something that has come to be known as the jizya (a tax that non-Muslims pay to Muslims). (See MYTH: Muhammad was Attacked by a Byzantine Army). Another episode from this period that offers insight into the legacy of Muhammad is the forced conversion of the al-Harith, one of the last Arab tribes to hold out against Muslim hegemony. Muhammad gave the chief of the tribe three days to accept Islam before sending his army to destroy them (Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 959). Not surprisingly, the entire people immediately embraced the Religion of Peace! Most Arab tribes recognized Muhammad’s quest for power and wisely pledged their political allegiance without a fight. This quickly presented a problem for his core band of followers, however, since they had become used to living off of what could be stolen from non-Muslims via raids and battle. Since it was against the rules to attack fellow Muslims, Muhammad began demanding tribute from his new “converts” instead, but this proved to be less profitable than the jizya – not to mention that it created internal resentment and strife (see MYTH: Muhammad Would Never Harbor a War Criminal). Khaybar, the remote Jewish city that had been turned into a sharecropper state on behalf of its Muslim overlords became the preferable economic model for a growing Islamic empire that had become dependent on extortion rationalied by religious superiority. Years before attacking Christian and Persian lands, Muhammad wrote to governors in each, telling them, “embrace Islam and you will be safe.” There was no mention of oppression or liberation cited as a justification. The only threat these people faced were from Muslim armies. Only six years later, 4,000 peasants in the modern-day Palestinian region would be slaughtered for defending their homes (A History of Palestine 634-1099, Moshe Gil). At the time, the wealth of other nations was an open source of envy among Muhammad’s followers, which he promised to rectify. The subsequent military expansion that he set in motion may have been sanctioned by Allah and powered by religious zealotry, but the underlying motives of money, sex, slaves and power were no less worldly than any other conqueror of the time. The Legacy of Islamic ImperialismMuhammad died of a fever in 632 at the age of 63, with his violent religion already spread over most of Arabia. His method of forcing others to convert under duress had several negative consequences, beginning with the civil wars that immediately ensued following his death. Many tribes wanted out of Islam and had to be kept in the empire via horrific violence (Riddah Wars). Abu Sufyan, the Meccan leader who was literally forced to “embrace” Islam at the point of a sword actually had the last laugh. He skillfully worked his own family into the line of succession and his son, Muawiya, became the heir to Muhammad’s empire at the expense of the “prophet’s” own family. In fact, Abu Sufyan almost lived to witness his son and grandson kill off Muhammad’s own grandchildren and assume control of the Islamic empire. Muhammad’s failure to leave a clear successor resulted in a deep schism that quickly devolved into violence and persists to this day as the Sunni/Shia conflict. His own family fell apart and literally went to war with each other in the first few years. Thousands of Muslims were killed fighting each other in a battle between Muhammad’s favorite wife, Aisha, and his adopted son, Ali. Infidels fared no better. Through Muhammad’s teachings and example, his followers viewed worldly life as a constant physical battle between the House of Peace (Dar al-Salaam) and the House of War (Dar al-Harb). Muslims are instructed to invite their enemies to either embrace Islam, pay jizya (protection money), or die. Over the next fourteen centuries, the bloody legacy of this extraordinarily effective individual would be a constant challenge to those living on the borders of the Islam’s political power. The violence that Muslim armies would visit on people across North Africa, the Middle East, Europe and into Asia as far as the Indian subcontinent is a tribute to a founder who practiced and promoted subjugation, rape, murder and forced conversion. In Muhammad’s words: “I have been ordered to fight the people till they say: ‘None has the right to be worshipped but Allah.’ And if they say so, pray like our prayers, face our Qibla and slaughter as we slaughter, then their blood and property will be sacred to us and we will not interfere with them…” (Bukhari 8:387) This is not only the basis for modern day terror campaigns against Western infidels (and Hindus and Buddhists) but also the broad indifference that Muslims across the world have to the violence, which is an obvious enabler. As Indonesian cleric, Abu Bakar Bashir recently put it, “If the West wants to have peace, then they have to accept Islamic rule.” Further Reading:Myths of Muhammad Muhammad and the Unbelievers (CSPI’s Sira) Unsheathed, the Story of Muhammad (Online Book) Arabic Version Ibn Kathir’s Sira (Volume 1) Ibn Kathir’s Sira (Volume 2) Ibn Kathir’s Sira (Volume 3) Ibn Kathir’s Sira (Volume 4) Ibn Ishaq’s Sira — Life of Muhammad, A. Guillaume The History of al-Tabari (Complete) (Additional Link) The Innocent Prophet (Video) |
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TheReligionofPeaceTROP is a non-political, fact-based site which examines the ideological threat that Islam poses to human dignity and freedom Share Jihad Report Mar 29, 2025 – Apr 04, 2025Attacks54Killed219Injured246Suicide Blasts0Countries7 Jihad Report March, 2025Attacks265Killed2065Injured653Suicide Blasts6Countries19List of Attacks It’s much easier to act as if critics of Islam have a problem with Muslims as people than it is to accept the uncomfortable truth that Islam is different List of AttacksLast 30 Days 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 (Post 9/11) What can we learn about Islam from this woman? | What Does Islam Teach About…  A Woman’s WorthDoes Islam teach that a woman is worth less than a man?Absolutely. The only debatable point is by what degree.QuranQuran (4:11) – (Inheritance) “The male shall have the equal of the portion of two females” (see also verse 4:176). In Islam, sexism is mathematically established.Quran (2:282) – (Court testimony) “And call to witness, from among your men, two witnesses. And if two men be not found then a man and two women.” Muslim apologists offer creative explanations to explain why Allah felt that a man’s testimony in court should be valued twice as highly as a woman’s, but studies consistently show that women are actually less likely to tell lies than men, meaning that they make more reliable witnesses.Quran (2:228) – “and the men are a degree above them [women]“ This is often taken to mean authority or responsibility – although it is not literally in the Arabic text.Quran (5:6) – “And if ye are unclean, purify yourselves. And if ye are sick or on a journey, or one of you cometh from the closet, or ye have had contact with women, and ye find not water, then go to clean, high ground and rub your faces and your hands with some of it” Men are to rub dirt or water on their hands to purify themselves, following casual contact with a woman (such as shaking hands).Quran (2:223) – “Your wives are as a tilth unto you; so approach your tilth when or how ye will…” A man has dominion over his wives’ bodies as he does his land. This verse is overtly sexual. There is some dispute as to whether it is referring to the practice of anal intercourse. If this is what Muhammad meant, then it would appear to contradict what he said in Muslim (8:3365).Quran (4:3) – (Wife-to-husband ratio) “Marry women of your choice, Two or three or four” Inequality by numbers.Quran (53:27) – “Those who believe not in the Hereafter, name the angels with female names.” Angels are sublime beings, and would therefore be male.Quran (4:24) and Quran (33:50) – A man is permitted to take women as sex slaves outside of marriage. Note that the verse distinguishes wives from captives (those whom they right hand possesses). Hadith and SiraSahih Bukhari (6:301) – “[Muhammad] said, ‘Is not the evidence of two women equal to the witness of one man?’ They replied in the affirmative. He said, ‘This is the deficiency in her intelligence.’“ Sahih Bukhari (6:301) – continued – “[Muhammad said] ‘Isn’t it true that a woman can neither pray nor fast during her menses?’ The women replied in the affirmative. He said, ‘This is the deficiency in her religion.'” Allah has made women deficient in the practice of their religion as well, by giving them menstrual cycles. Sahih Bukhari (2:28) & Sahih Bukhari (54:464) – Women comprise the majority of Hell’s occupants. This is important because the only women in heaven mentioned explicitly by Muhammad are the virgins who serve the sexual desires of men. (A weak Hadith, Kanz al-`ummal, 22:10, even suggests that 99% of women go to Hell). Sahih Bukhari (62:81) – “The Prophet said: “‘The stipulations most entitled to be abided by are those with which you are given the right to enjoy the (women’s) private parts (i.e. the stipulations of the marriage contract).'” In other words, the most important thing a woman brings to marriage is between her legs. Sahih Bukhari (62:58) – A woman presents herself in marriage to Muhammad, but he does not find her attractive, so he “donates” her on the spot to another man. Sahih Bukhari (58:124) – A friend of Muhammad decides to divide his property between his two sons – including his two wives. He asks them to decide which they would prefer, then divorces them to complete the transfer. Sahih Muslim (4:1039) – “A’isha said [to Muhammad]: ‘You have made us equal to the dogs and the asses’“ These are the words of Muhammad’s favorite wife, complaining of the role assigned to women under Islam. Abu Dawud (2:704) – “…the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: When one of you prays without a sutrah, a dog, an ass, a pig, a Jew, a Magian, and a woman cut off his prayer, but it will suffice if they pass in front of him at a distance of over a stone’s throw.” (This is similar to another narration: “Women, dogs, and donkeys annul a man’s prayer” found in Musnad Ibn Hanbal, vol. 2, p. 2992 Abu Dawud (2155) – Women are compared to slaves and camels with regard to the “evil” in them. Ishaq 734 – “As for Ali, he said, ‘Women are plentiful, and you can easily change one for another.'” Ali was raised as a son by Muhammad. He was also the 4th caliph. This comment was made in Muhammad’s presence without a word of rebuke from him. Ishaq 878 – “From the captives of Hunayn, Allah’s Messenger gave [his son-in-law] Ali a slave girl called Rayta and he gave [future Caliph] Uthman a slave girl called Zaynab and [future Caliph] Umar a girl to whom Umar gave to his son.” – Even in this world, Muhammad treated women like party favors, handing out enslaved women to his cronies for sex. Ibn Ishaq 693 – “Then the apostle sent Sa-d b. Zayd al-Ansari, brother of Abdu’l-Ashal with some of the captive women of Banu Qurayza to Najd and he sold them for horses and weapons.” Muhammad traded captured women for horses. Al-Tirmidhi 3272 – “When Allah’s Messenger was asked which woman was best he replied, ‘The one who pleases (her husband) when he looks at her, obeys him when he gives a command, and does not go against his wishes regarding her person or property by doing anything of which he disapproves’.” (See also Abu Dawud 1664) Tabari 8:117 – The fate of more captured farm wives, whom the Muslims distributed amongst themselves as sex slaves: “Dihyah had asked the Messenger for Safiyah when the Prophet chose her for himself… the Apostle traded for Safiyah by giving Dihyah her two cousins. The women of Khaybar were distributed among the Muslims.” Tabari 9:137 – “Allah granted Rayhana of the Qurayza to Muhammad as booty.” Ishaq 969 – “Lay injunctions on women kindly, for they are prisoners with you having no control of their persons.” – This same text also says that wives may be beaten for “unseemliness”. Tabari 9:1754 – “Treat women well, for they are [like] domestic animals with you and do not possess anything for themselves.” From Muhammad’s ‘Farewell Sermon’. NotesThe move to paint Islam as a pioneering force in women’s rights is a recent one, corresponding with the efforts of Muslim apologists (not otherwise known for their feminist leanings) and some Western academics prone to interpreting history according to personal preference. In truth, the Islamic religious community has never exhibited an interest in expanding opportunities for women beyond the family role. The fourth Caliph, who was Muhammad’s son-in-law and cousin, said just a few years after the prophet’s death that “The entire woman is an evil. And what is worse is that it is a necessary evil.” A traditional Islamic saying is that, “A woman’s heaven is beneath her husband’s feet.” One of the world’s most respected Quran commentaries explains that, “Women are like cows, horses, and camels, for all are ridden.” (Tafsir al-Qurtubi v. 17, p. 172) The revered Islamic scholar, al-Ghazali, who has been called ‘the greatest Muslim after Muhammad,’ writes that the role of a Muslim woman is to “stay at home and get on with her sewing. She should not go out often, she must not be well-informed, nor must she be communicative with her neighbors and only visit them when absolutely necessary; she should take care of her husband… and seek to satisfy him in everything… Her sole worry should be her virtue… She should be clean and ready to satisfy her husband’s sexual needs at any moment.” [Ibn Warraq, Why I Am Not a Muslim p.47 quoting Ghazali’s “The Revival of Religious Sciences”] A Yemeni cleric recently explained in a television broadcast what makes women inferior and unable, say, to serve as good witnesses: “Women are subject to menstruation, when their endurance and mental capacity for concentration are diminished. When a woman witnesses a killing or an accident, she becomes frightened, moves away, and sometimes even faints, and she cannot even watch the incident.” During a 2012 talk show on an Egyptian television channel, a cleric slammed Christianity – in part for teaching gender equality: “the Christian religion does not differentiate between women and men, but it confirms their perfect equality: it gives them an equal share in inheritance, it bans divorce, and it bans polygamy.” In 2014, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan emphasized that men and women are not equal: “Our religion has defined a position for women (in society): motherhood.” Linda Sarsour, a hijab-clad Sharia proponent who also bills herself as a ‘feminist’ said of a real feminist, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, that she should have her vagina removed for opposing Islam. The remarks were particularly insidious given that Hirsi Ali is a survivor of female genital mutilation. Umm Jamaal ud-Din, a female preacher in Australia, cited Muhammad’s own words from the Hadith regarding “insufficiency of intelligence” in questioning a woman’s fitness for holding important positions: “Due to a woman being more sensitive and delicate in her nature, her ability to accurately recall information may be affected in situations where she’s required to bear witness for cases involving conflicting parties, since such situations usually involve fairly high levels of stress and pressure.” The many opportunities denied women under Islamic law, from equal testimony in court to the simple right to exclude other wives from their marital bed, is very clear proof that women are of lesser value then men in Islam. Muslim women are not even free to marry outside the faith – and some pay with their lives for doing so. Islamic law also specifies that when a woman is murdered by a man, her family is owed only half as much “blood money” (diya) as they would be if she had been a man. (The life of a non-Muslim is generally assessed at one-third). Although a man retains custody of his children in the event of his wife’s death, a non-Muslim woman will automatically lose custody of her children in the event of her husband’s death unless she converts to Islam or marries a male relative within his family. Contemporary Muslims like to counter that Arabs treated women as camels prior to Muhammad. This is somewhat questionable, given that Muhammad’s first wife was a wealthy woman who owned property and ran a successful business prior to ever meeting him. She was even his boss… (although that may have changed after the marriage). Still, it is somewhat telling that Islam’s treatment of women can only be defended by contrasting it to an extremely primitive environment in which women were said to be non-entities. Homa Darabi was a talented physician who took her own life by setting herself on fire in a public protest against the oppression of women in Islamic Iran. She did this after a 16-year-old girl was shot to death for wearing lipstick. In the book, Why We Left Islam, her sister includes a direct quote from one of the country’s leading clerics: “The specific task of women in this society is to marry and bear children. They will be discouraged from entering legislative, judicial, or whatever careers which may require decision-making, as women lack the intellectual ability and discerning judgment required for these careers.” In 2020, an imam in South Africa informed the faithful that a wife is “cute when she is mute,” and encouraged men to pursue multiple wives like “cocks” collecting “hens.” Modern day cleric Abu Ishaq al-Huwaini has called for a return of the slave markets, where Muslim men can order concubines. In this man’s ideal world, “when I want a sex-slave, I go to the market and pick whichever female I desire and buy her.” Taliban spokesperson, Hafiz Hashimi, have said that Islam prohibits the teaching of women, even at home. The group points to a fatwa issued by an outside clerical body. At best, Islam “elevates” the status of a woman to somewhere between that of a camel and a man. Muhammad captured women in war and treated them as a tradable commodity. The “immutable, ever-relevant” Quran explicitly permits women to be kept as sex slaves. These are hardly things in which Muslims can take pride. See also: Muhammad’s Hatred of Women Myth: Muhammad would Never Approve of Rape Three Quran Verse Every Woman Should Know (Video) The Islamic Doctrine of Islam (CSPI) Female Genital Mutilation and Denial Islamic Norms and FGM (Paul Sutliff) |
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TheReligionofPeaceTROP is a non-political, fact-based site which examines the ideological threat that Islam poses to human dignity and freedom Share Jihad Report Mar 29, 2025 – Apr 04, 2025Attacks54Killed219Injured246Suicide Blasts0Countries7 Jihad Report March, 2025Attacks265Killed2065Injured653Suicide Blasts6Countries19List of Attacks It’s much easier to act as if critics of Islam have a problem with Muslims as people than it is to accept the uncomfortable truth that Islam is different List of AttacksLast 30 Days 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 (Post 9/11) What can we learn about Islam from this woman? | What Does Islam Teach About… Wife-BeatingDoes Islam allow a man to hit his wife?Yes, but only if she doesn’t do as he tells her. The beating must stop if the woman complies with her husband’s demands. Behind verbal abuse and abandonment, beating is intended as last resort solution to coerce submission.According her testimony in the Hadith, Muhammad physically struck his favorite wife for leaving the house without his permission. It is not known how he treated his less-favored wives.QuranQuran (4:34) – “Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has made some of them to excel others and because they spend out of their property; the good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah has guarded; and (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them; then if they obey you, do not seek a way against them; surely Allah is High, Great.” Contemporary translations sometimes water down the word ‘beat’, but it is the same one used in verse 8:12 and clearly means ‘to strike’.Quran (38:44) – “And take in your hand a green branch and beat her with it, and do not break your oath…” Allah telling Job to beat his wife (Tafsir). Hadith and SiraSahih Bukhari (72:715) – A woman came to Muhammad and begged him to stop her husband from beating her. Her skin was bruised so badly that it is described as being “greener” than the green veil she was wearing. Muhammad did not admonish her husband, but instead ordered her to return to her husband and submit to his sexual desires. Sahih Bukhari (72:715) – “Aisha said, ‘I have not seen any woman suffering as much as the believing women‘” Muhammad’s own wife complained Muslim women were abused worse than other women. Sahih Muslim (4:2127) – Muhammad struck his favorite wife, Aisha, in the chest one evening when she left the house without his permission. Aisha narrates, “He struck me on the chest which caused me pain.” Sahih Muslim (9:3506) – Muhammad’s fathers-in-law (Abu Bakr and Umar) amused him by slapping his wives (Aisha and Hafsa) for annoying him. According to the Hadith, the prophet of Islam laughed upon hearing this. Abu Dawud (2141) – “Iyas bin ‘Abd Allah bin Abi Dhubab reported the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) as saying: Do not beat Allah’s handmaidens, but when ‘Umar came to the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) and said: Women have become emboldened towards their husbands, he (the Prophet) gave permission to beat them.“ (This is graded sahih – authentic. It is also reported in Sunan Ibn Majah 9:1985, also graded sahih) At first, Muhammad forbade men from beating their wives. As the hadith indicates, he rescinded this once it was reported that women were becoming emboldened toward their husbands. Beatings in a Muslim marriage were deemed necessary at times to keep the woman in her place. Abu Dawud (2142) – “The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: A man will not be asked as to why he beat his wife.” The authenticity of this chain of narration is characterized as daif (weak), however, a similar verse from Sunan Ibn Majah 3:9:1986 is said to be hasan (sufficient). Abu Dawud (2126) – “A man from the Ansar called Basrah said: ‘I married a virgin woman in her veil. When I entered upon her, I found her pregnant. (I mentioned this to the Prophet).’ The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: ‘She will get the dower, for you made her vagina lawful for you. The child will be your slave. When she has begotten (a child), flog her'” A Muslim man thinks he is getting a virgin for a wife, then finds out that she is pregnant. Muhammad tells him to treat the woman as a sex slave and then flog her after she delivers the child. (Despite multiple chains of narration, this hadith is graded as daif). Sahih Bukhari (82:828) – Though not the beating of a wife, Aisha narrates how her father, the first “rightly guided caliph” hit her violently as a form of rebuke when she was in bed: “Abu Bakr came to towards me and struck me violently with his fist and said, ‘You have detained the people because of your necklace’. But I remained motionless as if I was dead… although that hit was very painful” Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 969 – Requires that a married woman be “put in a separate room and beaten lightly” if she “act in a sexual manner toward others.” According to the Hadith, this can be for an offense as petty as merely being alone with a man to whom she is not related. Kash-shaf (the revealer) of al-Zamkhshari (Vol. 1, p. 525) – [Muhammad said] “Hang up your scourge where your wife can see it” Reliance of the Traveller (Islamic Law) M10.11 – Dealing with a Rebellious Wife – When a husband notices signs of rebelliousness in his wife (whether in words, as when she answers him coldly when she used to do so politely, or he asks her to come to bed and she refuses, contrary to her usual habit; or whether in acts, as when he finds her averse to him when she was previously kind and cheerful), he warns her in words (“Your obeying me is religiously obligatory”). If she commits rebelliousness, he keeps from sleeping (having sex) with her without words, and may hit her, but not in a way that injures her… it is permissible for him to hit her he believes that hitting her will bring her back to the right pathNotesContemporary apologists often squirm over this relatively straightforward verse from the Quran (4:34) – which gives men the right to beat their wives if they have even a “fear” of disloyalty or disobedience. Their rhetorical aerobics inspired us to write a separate article: Wife Beating- Good Enough for Muhammad, Good Enough for You Others are not nearly as squeamish. Sheikh Yousef al-Qaradhawi, one of the most respected Muslim clerics in the world, once made the famous (and somewhat ridiculous statement) that “It is forbidden to beat the woman, unless it is necessary.” He went on to say that “one may beat only to safeguard Islamic behavior,” leaving no doubt that wife-beating is a matter of religious sanction. (source) Dr. Muzammil Saddiqi, the former president of ISNA (the Islamic Society of North America), a mainstream Muslim organization, says it is important that a wife “recognizes the authority of her husband in the house” and that he may use physical force if he is “sure it would improve the situation.” (source) Sharia expert, Ahmad al-Farjabi teaches that some women must be “subdued by muscle,” as beating them is preferable to letting them break up a happy Muslim home. (source) Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Muhammad Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, the head of Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam’s most prestigious institution says that “light beatings” and “punching” are part of a program to “reform the wife” (source). CAIR’s Dr. Jamal Badawi endorses corporal punishment as “another measure that may save the marriage” (source). He doesn’t make clear how striking a woman will make her more inclined to stay with her assailant, unless Badawi is implying that the beating instills a fear of more serious consequences should she attempt to leave. Egyptian cleric, Abd al-Rahman Mansour, said in a 2012 televised broadcast that, in addition to discouraging the wife from filing divorce, beatings would inspire the wife to “treat him with kindness and respect, and know that her husband has a higher status than her.” (source) During Ramadan of 2010, another cleric named Sa’d Arafat actually said the woman is “honored” by the beating (source). No one else seemed terribly surprised or upset by this. An undercover report from progressive Sweden in 2012 visited 10 mosques and found that 6 actually advised beaten women not to report the abuse to the police. These women were also told that they must submit to non-consensual ‘sex’ with their husbands. (source) In the birthplace of Islam, about half of Saudi women are beaten at home. “Hands and sticks were found to be used mostly in beating women, following by men’s head cover and to a lesser extent, sharp objects.” (source) In 2016, the Council of Islamic Ideology proposed a bill – ironically named the Protection of Women against Violence Act – that actually included exceptions for “lightly beating” defiant wives. (source) Turkey’s top religious authority issued a fatwa in 2020 that advised women to accept domestic abuse rather than go to the police: “If your husband attempts to hit you, ask him (why) – in an appropriate language. Because this isn’t a very big problem, you can solve it by discussion.” The mufti’s office adopted a patronizing tone, suggesting that, “if (he) hits you, don’t react. Remove yourself from the environment and go to your room.” (source) In 2021, Islamic scholar, Dr. Yosry Gabr, spoke at length on the subject. He mainly took issue with the fact that men were beating their wives in public and advised them to do it behind closed doors instead. He also clarified circumstances: We are talking here about a disobedient wife. A disobedient wife is a wife who is condescending toward her husband, and does not want to conduct herself in a polite manner with him. In this case, he has no choice but to discipline her. (source, source)As late as 2022, the British-based Islamic charity Utrujj addressed the issue honestly: “We cannot delete any ayah from the Quran because we are embarrassed by it. We cannot change it to satisfy some people.” The organization concluded that striking one’s wife could be a means of “salvaging a marriage which is falling apart” as “an act of loyalty and love.” They go on to compare wives to captives. (source, source) In Malaysia, generally considered a “moderate” Muslim nation, the Minister for Women actually encouraged husbands to strike “stubborn” and “unruly” wives if they do not submit. Siti Zailah added that wives should ask permission to speak before doing so. (source) According to Islamic law (Sharia), a husband may strike his wife for any one of the following four reasons: – She does not attempt to make herself beautiful for him (ie. “let’s herself go”) – She refuses to meet his sexual demands – She leaves the house without his permission or for a “legitimate reason” – She neglects her religious duties Any of these are also sufficient grounds for divorcing her. As with Islamic terror and other Muslim dysfunction, there is a trend toward blaming non-Muslims for physical abuse with Islamic families. Though quite a stretch, Samina Yasmeen, a professor in Australia stated that “Islamophobia” is to blame. Respected Quran scholars in the past interpreted verse 4:34 with impressive candor. Tabari said that it means to “admonish them, but if they refused to repent, then tie them up in their homes and beat them until they obey Allah’s commands toward you.” Qurtubi told wife-beaters to avoid breaking bones, if possible, but added that “it is not a crime if it leads to death.” (source) Present-day apologists sometimes say that Muhammad ordered that women not be harmed, but they are basing this on what he said before or during a battle, such as in Bukhari (59:447) when Muhammad issued an order for all the men of Qurayza be killed and the women and children taken as slaves. (Killing a woman’s husband and forcing her into sexual slavery apparently doesn’t qualify as “harm” under the Islamic model). In fact, there are a number of cases in which Muhammad did have women killed in the most brutal fashion. One was Asma bint Marwan, a mother or five, who wrote a poem criticizing the Medinans for accepting Muhammad after he had ordered the murder of an elderly man. In this case, the prophet’s assassins literally pulled a nursing infant from her breast and stabbed her to death. After taking Mecca in 630, Muhammad also ordered the murder of a slave girl who had merely made up songs mocking him. The Hadith are rife with accounts of women planted in the ground on Muhammad’s command and pelted to death with stones for sexual immorality – yet the prophet of Islam actually encouraged his own men to rape women captured in battle (Abu Dawood 2150, Muslim 3433) and did not punish them for killing non-Muslim women (as Khalid ibn Walid did on several occasions – see Ibn Ishaq 838 and 856). In summary, according to the Quran, Hadith and Islamic law, a woman may indeed have physical harm done to her if the circumstances warrant, with one such allowance being in the case of disobedience. This certainly does not mean that all Muslim men beat their wives, only that Islam permits them to do so. From observation, it would appear that those Muslims who do hit their spouse probably do so for the same reasons non-Muslims do – out of anger and in the moment – rather than a calculated attempt to comply with religious teachings. Honor killings are a notable exception. Additional Notes: According to the DOJ (1, 2), about two dozen honor killings occur in the United States each year. In 91% of the cases, the victim is perceived as being “too Westernized.” |
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TheReligionofPeaceTROP is a non-political, fact-based site which examines the ideological threat that Islam poses to human dignity and freedom Share Jihad Report Mar 29, 2025 – Apr 04, 2025Attacks54Killed219Injured246Suicide Blasts0Countries7 Jihad Report March, 2025Attacks265Killed2065Injured653Suicide Blasts6Countries19List of Attacks It’s much easier to act as if critics of Islam have a problem with Muslims as people than it is to accept the uncomfortable truth that Islam is different List of AttacksLast 30 Days 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 (Post 9/11) What can we learn about Islam from this woman? | What Does Islam Teach About… DivorceCan a Muslim man divorce his wife simply by repeating “I divorce you” three times?Yes. It is a controversial practice called the talaq or “triple-talaq.” Anytime a wife is not menstruating, a husband may divorce her by saying, “I divorce you, I divorce you, I divorce you,” effectively throwing her out on the street and leaving him free to obtain a new wife.QuranIslamic law on this issue is based on the Hadith and a creative interpretation of verse 2:229. Hadith and SiraSahih Muslim (9:3493) – This is one of several hadith in which it is clear that Muhammad practiced the triple talaq and approved of his followers doing the same. NotesSome Islamic scholars believe that it isn’t right to do this in one sitting. They say that there should be a period of time between the “three strikes.” Women’s rights groups in the Muslim world are waging an uphill battle to prevent governments from recognizing the triple talaq – with some success in the more moderate countries; however, it will always be honored by Islamic courts. Under Islamic law, once a marriage is consummated, a wife has no right to divorce her husband without his permission, even though she may be cast out at will for any reason. |
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TheReligionofPeaceTROP is a non-political, fact-based site which examines the ideological threat that Islam poses to human dignity and freedom Share Jihad Report Mar 29, 2025 – Apr 04, 2025Attacks54Killed219Injured246Suicide Blasts0Countries7 Jihad Report March, 2025Attacks265Killed2065Injured653Suicide Blasts6Countries19List of Attacks It’s much easier to act as if critics of Islam have a problem with Muslims as people than it is to accept the uncomfortable truth that Islam is different List of AttacksLast 30 Days 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 (Post 9/11) What can we learn about Islam from this woman? | What Does Islam Teach About… A Woman’s PlaceDoes Islam teach that women are under the charge of men?Men are in charge of women, according to the words of Muhammad and the Quran.QuranQuran (4:34) – “Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women). So good women are the obedient, guarding in secret that which Allah hath guarded. As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them. Then if they obey you, seek not a way against them.”Quran (2:228) – “and the men are a degree above them” “Them” refers to women. This is often taken to mean authority.Quran (33:59) – “Tell thy wives and thy daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks close round them…” Men determine how women dress.Quran (33:33) – “And abide quietly in your homes…” Women are confined to their homes except when they have permission to go out.Quran (2:223) – “Your wives are as a tilth unto you; so approach your tilth when or how ye will.” Wives are to be sexually available to their husbands in all ways at all times. They serve their husbands at his command. This verse is believed to refer to anal sex (see Bukhari 60:51), and was “revealed” when women complained to Muhammad about the practice. The phrase “when and how you will” means that they lost their case.Quran (66:5) – “Maybe, his Lord, if he divorce you, will give him in your place wives better than you, submissive, faithful, obedient, penitent, adorers, fasters, widows and virgins” A disobedient wife can be replaced. Hadith and SiraSahih Bukhari (88:219) – “Never will succeed such a nation as makes a woman their ruler.” Sahih Bukhari (2:28) (also 6:301) – Ingratitude toward her husband (ie. disobedience) can land a woman in Hell. Muhammad explains why women comprise the bulk of Hell’s occupants. Sahih Bukhari (72:715) – A charming tale in which a woman seeks Muhammad’s help in leaving an abusive marriage but is ordered by the prophet to return to her husband and submit to his commands. Sahih Bukhari (4:149) – Muhammad’s wives are even trained to defecate on his command. Sahih Bukhari (48:826) – Women have a deficiency of intelligence, meaning that their decisions will not be comparable to a man’s. Sahih Bukhari (58:125) – Women are tradable commodities. A Muslim with two wives offers a fellow Muslim his pick between the two. Muhammad then arranges a wedding banquet. Sahih Bukhari (62:81) – According to Muhammad, the most important part of a marriage contract is the unrestricted access that a man has to his wife’s vagina. Sunan an-Nasa’i 3233 – “When Allah’s Messenger was asked which woman was best he replied, ‘The one who pleases (her husband) when he looks at her, obeys him when he gives a command, and does not go against his wishes regarding her person or property by doing anything of which he disapproves’.” Abu Dawud (567) – “…even though their houses are better for them.” NotesTo this day, it is absolutely forbidden for a Muslim woman to marry a non-Muslim man, even though men are not under the same restriction as to their choice of marriage partners. This is is a consequence of the low status of a wife against that of her husband. A Muslim is not allowed to be subordinate to a non-Muslim, and, in Islam a wife is subordinate to her husband. In her lifetime, a Muslim woman is never to be without the guardianship of a man, from her father to her husband to the male members of her family (in the event that she is widowed or divorced). Many contemporary Muslims realize that traditional Islamic practice is painfully out of step with modern tastes. Thus have ensued very imaginative efforts to reinterpret the long-held traditions of their religion, exaggerating both the negative treatment of Arab women prior to Muhammad and the reforms that he is said to have brought about. Muhammad’s blunt words on marriage are what they are. On top of this, he forbade women from traveling alone. Nor are they allowed to be alone with a non-relative male. Women must cover themselves, and, when there is sexual sin, they nearly always bear the responsibility of guilt, as it is assumed that they are under a higher standard of conduct. Stonings, honor killings, floggings and even the mutilation of female genitalia are sporadically employed in the Muslim world to keep women in their place. In 2017, an imam in South Carolina stated that the man is the “owner” and “ruler” of the woman, who must obey him as his “prisoner.” (The imam is a product of Muslim migration into the United States, and speaks more candidly about Islam than do the homegrown apologists who have learned the value of guile). Palestinian cleric Issam Amira used a discussion on the ‘sacredness’ of honor to send a blunt message to Muslim women in 2018: “We are ready to die defending your honor, but at the same time, we are ready to kill you if you take your honor lightly.” According to a recent fatwa on the Muslim Matters website, “a Muslim woman should keep her home as the focus of her attention andactivities, and make it the base of her affairs.” Women are allowed to leave the house under certain conditions, such as medical emergency and religious observance. Islam also permits them to get a job “if there is no mahrum manproviding for them”, but it should be limited to certain occupations that only involve other women, such as catering, teaching, fashion, beautician or a variety of domestic positions. From Gatestone: “In In 2015, Nureddin Yıldız, an Islamic scholar and president of the Sosyal Doku Foundation, argued that ‘working women paved the way for prostitution.’ Alparslan Kuytul, founder of another Islamic foundation, Furkan, said that a man would be sexually aroused if he saw the naked leg of his own mother.” |
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TheReligionofPeaceTROP is a non-political, fact-based site which examines the ideological threat that Islam poses to human dignity and freedom Share Jihad Report Mar 29, 2025 – Apr 04, 2025Attacks54Killed219Injured246Suicide Blasts0Countries7 Jihad Report March, 2025Attacks265Killed2065Injured653Suicide Blasts6Countries19List of Attacks It’s much easier to act as if critics of Islam have a problem with Muslims as people than it is to accept the uncomfortable truth that Islam is different List of AttacksLast 30 Days 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 (Post 9/11) What can we learn about Islam from this woman? | What Does Islam Teach About… PolygamyDoes Islam permit a man to have more than one wife?Yes. A Muslim man can marry as many as four women at a time and have sexual relations with an unspecified number of slaves as well. Muhammad had eleven wives at one time. QuranQuran (4:3) – “Marry of the women, who seem good to you, two or three or four; and if ye fear that ye cannot do justice (to so many) then one (only) or (the captives) that your right hands possess.” This verse plainly allows a man to have up to four wives (Allah conveniently granted Muhammad an exception… on the authority of Muhammad, of course). According to the Hadith, the “justice” spoken of merely refers to the dowry provided the bride, not the treatment accorded following the wedding.Quran (4:129) – “Ye are never able to be fair and just as between women, even if it is your ardent desire” Underscores that a man is not able to treat multiple wives fairly. He would therefore be unable to acquire more than one wife if this were a requirement – which it is not. In fact, Muhammad was not able to treat his own wives fairly (see Additional Notes).Quran (66:5) – “Maybe, his Lord, if he divorce you, will give him in your place wives better than you, submissive, faithful, obedient, penitent, adorers, fasters, widows and virgins” A disobedient wife can be replaced. A man can only have up to four wives, but he can rotate as many women as he pleases in and out of the lineup, thus giving himself an endless supply of sex partners. Hadith and SiraSahih Bukhari (62:2) – Provides the context for verse 4:3 of the Quran. “Dealing justly” is defined within a financial context. It refers to providing a fair dowry to secure marriage – not to the equal or fair treatment of wives (which is impossible according to verse 4:129). Abu Dawud 5138 – “A woman was my wife and I loved her, but Umar hated her. He said to me: Divorce her, but I refused. Umar then went to the Prophet and mentioned that to him. The Prophet said: Divorce her.” (This is a sahih narration attributed to Umar’s son). Sahih Bukhari (5:268) – “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.” Muhammad had a “special rule” that allowed him to have at least eleven wives. (His successors had more than four wives at a time as well.) Sahih Bukhari (62:6) – “The Prophet used to go round (have sexual relations with) all his wives in one night, and he had nine wives.” Sahih Bukhari (77:598) – “Allah’s Apostle said, “No woman should ask for the divorce of her sister (Muslim) so as to take her place, but she should marry the man (without compelling him to divorce his other wife)” Polygamy is firmly established in the Islamic tradition. NotesThe practice of polygamy is a mathematical contradiction of the principle that men and women are to be treated equally. The Quran’s allowance of multiple wives thus poses a challenge for the contemporary apologist, who wants his Western audience to believe that Islam encourages gender equality. Often, the first ploy is a weak claim that Islam is the only religion to encourage monogamy – based on the snippet of verse 4:3 which says “marry only one.” This is not true. The New Testament (which preceded the Quran) plainly states that a model Christian man is the “husband of but one woman” to whom he should be faithful (ie. no exception for sex slaves, as the Quran permitss). Second, the very Quranic verse from which the fragment “marry only one” is pulled actually goes on to say that up to four wives are allowed as long as they “seem good” to the man! At this point, the apologist usually defends polygamy (perhaps claiming that it reduces prostitution) while effectively conceding the equality argument. After all, why would Allah procreate women and men at an equal rate if marriages were meant to have ratios as high as 4:1? Lest even four wives prove insufficient, the Quran also gives men license to capture women and use them as sex slaves. A preacher in ‘moderate’ Tunisa recently claimed that is every Muslim man’s divine right “to take a concubine along with his wife and to enjoy the ones that their right hands possess.” He went to add that “the concubine is the most effective solution to restore the social and moral balance of society.” Nowhere does the Quran allow an existing wife (or wives) any veto power in her husband’s choice of additional sexual partners. In fact, it discourages it by twice presenting an episode from Muhammad’s own live in which his wives “angered Allah” with their jealousy. (Allah took a remarkable interest in Muhammad’s personal life, devoting many passages from the eternal Quran to comforts and respect to which he was entitled). The prophet of Islam had many wives (nine of whom outlived him) and the bickering in this unhappy arrangement is well-chronicled. At one point, his wives were so upset by Muhammad’s taking a slave girl to one of their own bedrooms that Allah had to step in and whisper parts of suras 33 and 66 in his ear, including the threat to divorce them all if they didn’t allow him complete sexual freedom (nothing suspicious there). There are worse things in the world than polygamy (which has been practiced by many cultures outside of Islam), but it is shocking to see a religion place such high value on a man’s base sexual desire as to permit him to bring other women into the marriage bed just to satisfy lust. As pointed out, women are not allowed the same freedom to seek sexual satisfaction from alternate sources should their husband lose interest or capacity. The Western world has decided that polygamy devalues a woman’s worth (and robs a union of intimacy). In Islam, however, a woman’s worth is often the sum of her sexual value to her husband. |
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TheReligionofPeaceTROP is a non-political, fact-based site which examines the ideological threat that Islam poses to human dignity and freedom Share Jihad Report Mar 29, 2025 – Apr 04, 2025Attacks54Killed219Injured246Suicide Blasts0Countries7 Jihad Report March, 2025Attacks265Killed2065Injured653Suicide Blasts6Countries19List of Attacks It’s much easier to act as if critics of Islam have a problem with Muslims as people than it is to accept the uncomfortable truth that Islam is different List of AttacksLast 30 Days 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 (Post 9/11) What can we learn about Islam from this woman? | What Does Islam Teach About…Stoning and AdulteryDoes Islam prescribe the death penalty for consensual sex? The religion that allows a man to keep sex slaves also requires the execution of consenting adults. There were several times in Muhammad’s life when he ordered that people be put to death when they had committed no crime other than “illegal” sexual intercourse. The only unmarried sex explicitly allowed in Islam is between a Muslim man and his slaves.QuranStoning is not prescribed in the current version of the Quran. According to Muhammad’s companions, a verse that did exist at one time ordering that adulterers be stoned, but it was forgotten. (See Additional Notes).Hadith and SiraSahih Bukhari (6:60:79) (alt link) – Two people guilty of illegal intercourse are brought to Muhammad, who orders them both stoned to death. Apparently their act was out of love, since the verse records the man as trying to shield the woman from the stones. Sahih Bukhari (83:37) – Adultery is one of three justifications for killing a person, according to Muhammad. Sahih Muslim (17:4192) – This hadith clarifies the different penalties for adultery (when the subjects are married), and fornication (when they are not): “in case of married (persons) there is (a punishment) of one hundred lashes and then stoning (to death). And in case of unmarried persons, (the punishment) is one hundred lashes and exile for one year” (See also 17:4191) Sahih Muslim (17:4196) – A married man confesses to adultery. Muhammad orders him planted in the ground and pelted with stones. According to the passage, the first several stones caused such pain that he tried to escape and had to be dragged back. Sahih Muslim (17:4206) – A woman who became pregnant confesses to Muhammad that she is guilty of adultery. Muhammad allows her to have the child, then has her stoned. The description is graphic: “Khalid b Walid came forward with a stone which he flung at her head and there spurted blood on the face of Khalid and so he abused her.” Sahih Muslim (17:4209) – A woman confesses adultery and is stoned to death on Muhammad’s order. Ibn Ishaq (970) – “The adulterer must be stoned.” These words were a part of Muhammad’s farewell address to his people on the occasion of his final pilgrimage to Mecca. Islamic Law – “The stone shall not be so big so as to kill the person by one or two strikes, neither shall it be so small that it cannot be called a stone” The victim is intended to suffer. NotesThe Quran uses the phrase “fornicators or adulterers” in verse 24:2 and prescribes 100 lashes as punishment (verse 4:15 suggests house arrest for “lewdness”). This almost certainly refers to unmarried sex, since it makes little sense for fornication and adultery to be prescribed the same punishment when they are different offenses. It would also contradict the many examples from the Hadith in which Muhammad put adulterers to death. In fact, Muslim (17:4209) records a case in which an unmarried man is flogged on the prophet of Islam’s order, while his married partner in crime is stoned. According to Umar (Muhammad’s companion and Islam’s second caliph) “[Allah] sent down the Book (Quran) upon him (Muhamad), and the verse of stoning was included in what was sent down to him.” Umar went on to insist that “Stoning is a duty laid down in Allah’s Book for married men and women who commit adultery when proof is established, or it there is pregnancy, or a confession.” (Muslim 17:4194) In other words, there was a verse in the original Quran narration that prescribed the stoning of adulterers, but it was left out of the compiling process in the years following Muhammad’s death. Umar’s insistence on the stoning verse is recorded in other volumes that comprise the most reliable collection of Hadith, including Sahih Bukhari 8:817: “I am afraid that after a long time has passed, somebody will say, ‘By Allah, we do not find the Verse of the Rajam in Allah’s Book,’ and thus they will go astray by leaving an obligation which Allah has revealed. And the punishment of the Rajam is to be inflicted to any married person (male & female), who commits illegal sexual intercourse.” (Rajam refers to stoning). According to a strong tradition (found in Sunan ibn Majah, Book of Nikah, Hadith no. 1934), Aisha also recalled the verse that prescribed the death penalty for adulterers. It was written on a palm leaf that was in her home following Muhammad’s death. Unfortunately, a goat or sheep wandered into the house and ate the leaf (along with others) before it could be collected and merged into the hodgepodge of writings that became the Quran. Islamic law (Sharia) requires that adulterers be put to death, since it was the example set by Muhammad. Verses from the sahih (authentic) hadith let us know that the caliphs following Muhammad carried on the tradition of stoning (al-Tirmidhi 1431, Sunan Ibn Majah 20:2553, Sahih Bukhari 82:803). In practice, women are executed far more often than men, since they are presumed to bear the burden of sexual responsibility (in Islam’s male-dominated outlook) and are, perhaps, more likely to confess their indiscretion. Rape victims are sometimes convicted if they speak out. Reporting a rape can mean a confession of adultery under Sharia law if four male witnesses cannot be found to confirm the victim’s claim. Unable to get around the fact that stoning adulterers is very much a part of Islam, apologists typically travel the familiar path of claiming that Christianity is no different. They are wrong. Not only is the Old Testament rule of stoning anyone explicitly done away with by the example of Jesus (see John 8:1-11, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone”) but the episode itself is proof that Christianity is not under the same law as Islam. While the teachings and example of Jesus stand between Christians and Old Testament law, Muhammad skipped straight back to the harshest of rules (which even the Jews of his day were reluctant to enforce so literally – see Bukhari 6:60:79). As with so much else – from forgiveness to waging war – the contrasting personal example set by Jesus and Muhammad with regard to killing adulterers could hardly be more different. While many Muslims today find the practice distasteful, there is simply no arguing against the fact that killing grown adults for consensual sex is firmly rooted in Islamic theology. In fact, according to a recent fatwa, merely denying that adultery is appropriate grouds for stoning adulterers is a sign of apostasy. One strategy of the apologists is to claim that stoning was not practiced as much during the middle period between the “time of Muhammad” and the last century. This is true, but meaningless. Muslims are told to imitate the example of Muhammad and the “rightly-guided” Companions, not people who lived several centuries later. Numerous examples of stoning adulterers under Islamic law persist, from the Islamist frontier of Somalia to the modern state of Iran. In 2010, the Taliban planted a couple in the ground and brutally pelted them with stones (the man had to be finished off with three gunshots) only a few days after they flogged a pregnant woman 200 times and then shot her in the head. In “condemning” the killings, the “moderate” president of Afghanistan would only say that it was wrong because it were not preceded by a trial. A prominent leader of CAIR, the Council on Islamic-American Relations, openly advocates stoning as prescribed by the Sharia. More candid than many of his peers, Imam Saraj Wahhaj has said, “If Allah says 100 strikes, 100 strikes it is. If Allah says cut off their hand, you cut off their hand. If Allah says stone them to death, through the Prophet Muhammad, then you stone them to death, because it’s the obedience of Allah and his messenger” (source) Likewise, a leading theologian in Iran defended a recent stoning sentence simply by reminding his audience that “Democracy, freedom, and human rights have no place in Islam.” In 2025, a cleric in Germany bluntly stated that when an Islamic state comes to Europe, it is the “duty” of Muslims to stone anyone guilty of infidelity. See also: Stoning (from WikiIslam) |
