In answer to the video "10 Reasons to Reject Islam"
The Quran, as shown from many examples previously, takes the principle of the "golden rule" to new heights and should be labelled the "diamond rule". Slaves were an integral part of the household to such an extent that, as with other members of the biological family, women were allowed to unveil in their presence 24:31. This of course was a ruling of conveniency, given the frequent interraction with the male servants going about their various assisting tasks within the household. But it further contributed to their thorough integration within the family sphere, solidifying the various rulings of consideration towards them. They had to be fed and maintained without any psychological injury and for the sake of Allah, not seeking benefits of any kind from them in return
76:8-10"And they give food however great be their own want of it to the poor and the orphan and the captive: We only feed you for Allah's sake; we desire from you neither reward nor thanks: Surely we fear from our Lord a stern, distressful day. So God will save them from the woes of that day, and give them radiance and gladness. So God will save them from the woes of that day, and give them radiance and gladness".
What is remarkable here is that the Quran places even the need of the captive, regardless of his religion, above the need of the Muslim guardian himself. This is just one of the many passages that further dwarfs the judeo-christian notion of the golden rule.
So, even though the Quran does not pronounce an abstract concept like to “love your neighbour”, it does however articulate its reality and applications in a much more comprehensive manner, constantly interlinking worship of God with application of social justice.
In a hadith, the prophet describes how the angel Jibril admonished him for the sake of the neighbours
"Mujahid reported that a sheep was slaughtered for 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr. He asked his slave, "Have you given any to our Jewish neighbour? Have you given any to our Jewish neighbour? I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, 'Jibril kept on recommending that I treat my neighbours well until I thought that he would order me to treat them as my heirs.'"
Reciprocity in goodwill is so hardwired into the Quranic message that even when people meet and greet oneanother, the one answering should exceed the other in his greeting
4:86"When a greeting is offered you, answer it with an even better greeting, or [at least] with its like. God keeps count of all things".
The Islamic greeting is a supplication to Allah, that He might bestow peace on another. This known etiquette, which is a Muslim peculiarity, is a means by which people’s hearts are cleansed. It brings people closer together and reinforces their ties. Further, it is indiscriminate; regardless of who the one originating the salutation, one should answer in kind, with even a recommendation to sometimes precede the ignorant in wishing him peace 25:63,28:55,43:89.
The Prophet never punished out of mere retaliation for a personal slight or injury. All his punishments, of believers and unbelievers alike, were for crimes committed against the public weal or infringements of the promulgated law; and even here his life contains acts of clemency in which he put mercy above justice. In 4:140 it says
"And indeed He has revealed to you in the Book that when you hear Allah's communications disbelieved in and mocked at do not sit with them until they enter into some other discourse; surely then you would be like them; surely Allah will gather together the hypocrites and the unbelievers all in hell".
This is a Medinan verse in which the prophet isnt told to forcefully silence the critics, even those mockers of the religion. He is simply to gracefully turn away from them and leave them to their own shamefull talk. A similar verse was revealed in Mecca 6:68.
In answer to the video "10 Reasons to Reject Islam"
Even when he permitted the killing of Thumama b. Uthal, the chief of Banu Haneefa who had assassinated a number of the Prophet’s Companions, and had even plotted to kill the Prophet himself, yet when he was captured, not only was he given to drink from the prophet's own she-camel but after repeated invitation to Islam and repeated rejection, was eventually set free. He returned to the prophet's mosque and eventually converted, impressed like many others by the prophet and Islam's high morality. He knew he deserved the death penalty, as seen from his own answer
"If you do me a favour, you will do a favour to a grateful person. If you kill me, you will kill a person who has spilt blood. If you want wealth ask and you will get what you will demand"
yet the prophet neither was vengeful, nor wanted favors and much less money from him, despite his influential tribal position. Upon his arrival to Mecca and after an enthusiastic declaration of faith, in his zeal he implicitly answered a questioner that he had always been a Muslim
"When he reached Mecca, somebody said to him: Have you changed your religion? He said: No! I have rather embraced Islam with the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him)".
The prophet had to temper Thumama's overzealousness later on; when he returned to his tribe and the most influential among the people of Yamama converted after hearing his story. Thumama convinced them to halt all grain supply to the Quraysh. Such a sanction would have been highly effective in draining the Quraysh, but the noble prophet interceded on behalf of those very ones that had starved him and his early companions in a ravine, persuading the people of Yamama to resume trading with Quraysh, preferring to take the harder but nobler route to victory than the faster one at any cost
"The Messenger of Allah (Sallalahu Alayhi Was-Sallam) did not have to choose between two matters, but that he chose the easier of them as long as it was not a wrong action. If it was a wrong action, he was the furthest of people from it".
There are other similar instances of the prophet catching a person red handed trying to murder him, even while easily having power and right to exact revenge, but instead chose forgiveness. It was the case with Fadala b. ‘Umayr after the conquest of Mecca where he had full dominion over the people. I was also the case before, with the Bedouin man (al-Ghawrath b. al-Harith) that sneaked to him while he was asleep following a military expedition. The prophet woke up while he was about to unsheeth his sword and kill him, but calmly reasonned with him at that point and let him go free.
After unmasking the Jewess Zaynab b. al-Harith that had given him a poisonned lamb to eat, he refused to kill her and even forgave her. On his return by night from the expedition of Tabuk and as he was riding his camel on a route passing above a ravine, a group of camel riders came fast in his direction in an attempt to scare his own camel that he might fall into the ravine. The prophet however sensed their intentions and preemptively gestured so as to scare the coming camels and signify to the men that he uncovered their plan. They consequently quickly retreated. Even though the prophet's companions identified the perpetrators, the prophet instructed them not to denounce them because
"it was possible that they might repent".
His tolerance, patience and forbearance were indiscriminate and touched people from all social spheres
“Do not be mere imitators, treating well only those who treat you well and doing wrong to those who do you wrong. Instead, accustom yourselves to do good if people do good and not to do wrong if they do evil”
Aisha said
"The Messenger of Allah did not take revenge for anything against himself, but if the sacred law of Allah was violated then he would take retribution for the sake of Allah".
This attitude of the prophet, his forbearance was a pattern which remained throughout his 23 years of prophethood, whether at the best or worst moments the community went through. For instance following the defeat at Uhud due to some of the troops breaking up against the prophet's orders, allured by the spoils left behind by the retreating pagan army. The victory was on the Muslim side up to that point, after which the opponents took the upper hand. Even in such situations, where the lack of discipline of some, brought death and defeat on the nascent community, the prophet did not behave as would have been expected from a field commander and nation leader. He did not judge, condemn or punish the guilty and deserters.
3:159-161"And it was by Allah’s grace that you dealt gently with your adherents, for if you had been harsh and hard of heart, they would indeed have broken away from you. Pardon them, then, and pray that they be forgiven. And take counsel with them in all matters of public concern; then, when you have decided upon a course of action, place your trust in Allah, for, of certainty, Allah loves those who place their trust in Him. If Allah supports you, none can ever overcome you; but if He should forsake you, who could support you thenceforth? In Allah, then, let the committed Muslims place their trust. And it is not conceivable that a prophet should deceive [in military affairs or in anything else], since he who deceives shall be faced with his deceit on the Day of Resur- rection, when every human being shall be repaid in full for whatever he has done, and none shall be wronged [by any injustice]".
Despite the unsettling situation, he remained a tranquil and friendly administrator, fully involved into improving the society he belonged to. He acknowledged the deficiencies of human nature especially in times of war. At that moment it the prophet had to have a clear mind to understand the individual circumstances that led these first-time offenders to do what they did. He had to think with his heart, not to react in proportion to the adversity that resulted from their lethal mistakes
9:128"Indeed, there has come unto you an Apostle from within yourselves: heavily weighs upon him [the thought] that you might suffer [in the life to come], full of concern for you [is he, and] full of compassion and mercy toward the committed Muslims".
That is why one only finds the kind of reports as those concerning Asma bint Marwan who wrote poems that targeted the prophet personally, among the weak and discarded narrations. As a prophet of God and ruler, he was nevertheless not one to adopt the type of passivity that would result in the merciless becoming brazen and taking advantage of any apparent weakness. From that perspective, we can begin to understand why he sanctioned the execution of some people, and tactically fought others, though he may have wished that this could have been avoided.
An example to corroborate would be that of Kaab ibn Ashraf. Following the Muslim victory of Badr, the idolators and the Jews of Medina felt that their political position was greatly diminished. Only 2 years after his migration, the Prophet of God had managed to break the traditional pattern of power distribution in the desert. The enemies of Islam would meet clandestinely and encourage the composition and recitation of divisive poetry. Kaab ibn Ashraf, a Jewish chieftain of Banu Nadhir, was a poet of considerable fame and he used to recite in the gatherings fiery poems inciting the people to rise up against Islam. This was a clear breeching of the Medina covenant of peace with the Muslims, non partisanship which eachother's enemies. ibn Ashraf's particularity as compared to the other non Muslims and hypocrites that secretly disliked Islam and conspired against it, is that he openly joined the Meccan ranks with whom the community was at war, becoming a propaganda tool that composed eulogies mourning the Meccan chiefs slain in the battle of Badr and defamed Muslim women. The closest one can come to the kind of impact this kind of poetry had in Arabian tribal life in those days, is to remember the role propaganda played during the world wars of the 20th century, more particularly the 2nd one. The chief propagandists among the Nazis were regarded as top priority targets by Western authorities. The issue here is thus not that of low-level disparaging comments and mockeries, rather the kind of criticism with deadly ramifications. The Quran and hadith contain many instances of the prophet and the Muslims being the targets of mockery and ridicule, both in times of political weakness and strength, yet neither responded in kind nor retaliated violently. The Quran for instance in sura tawba relates how the Medina hypocrites would engage in injurious talk about the prophet, and this at a time where the Muslim community had become powerful. The only response they got from the prophet was that he socially ostracized them, refusing their charity donations, and leaving their fate to Allah in the Hereafter
9:66"If We pardon one faction of you - We will punish another faction because they were criminals".
He would even pray for the forgiveness of some of them, only to be rebuked by Allah for his undeserving empathy 9:80,63:6. Even so, the Quran would repeatedly call them to repent, and that God may show them mercy
33:24"That Allah may reward the truthful for their truth and punish the hypocrites if He wills or accept their repentance. Indeed, Allah is ever Forgiving and Merciful".
As to Kaab, his animosity was such that it is said the verse 4:51 speaking of Jews believing in idols alludes to him, when he accompanied a delegation from Medina to Mecca in search of an alliance against the Muslims, and publicly bowed to the idols to reassure the suspecting Quraysh
"Your are people of Scripture and Muhammad has a Scripture and we are not completely sure that this is a scheme that you devised. So if you want us to go along with you, you have to prostrate to these two idols and believe in them".
But being a coward he never attended the battles himself, preferring to plot and incite behind closed doors. His role in galvanizing the Quraysh prior to the battle of Uhud is well known, his wife herself is reported to have warned him that his life was at threat because of his actions. Although the prophet said that Kaab was deserving of being put to death since he should be treated as a combatant, he nevertheless did not plan the execution. It is to be noted that any modern government seeking to preserve the survival of its people in times of war, would look to target specific opponents whose death would have a more significant impact in the long-run in terms of avoiding further bloodshed. He was thus incited out of his hiding place and killed, which successfully prevented an all out war with the Bani Nadir. Other opinions say his assassination occurred after the battle of Uhud in response to an attempted murder of the prophet.
The critics of Islam wont find the kind of cold blooded, arbitrary and ruthless assassinations they try hard to attribute to the prophet and even if they succeed, which they wont, then it still takes nothing away from Muhammad's claim to prophethood, judging by the standards of the true prophets of the Bible, including David who assassinated an innocent man for the sole purpose of marrying his wife and yet it did not diminish an iota from his legitimacy as a prophet.
The fact is that so many factors in the prophet's life went against displaying any sort of positivity and mercy that one can only conclude that he had been preserved and guided by the Almighty from turning into an evil despot; never knew his father, hardly enjoyed the compassion of his mother, lost his grandfather, and then his uncle and dearest wife simultaneously, witnessed every single one of his children die save for one, who was treated like a menace and fugitive after decades of building a flawless reputation among his people, on top of that physically abused until he would faint, starved for years by his own people, and faced countless campaigns of character assassination, directed towards him and his household, driven out of his home, unto a foreign town only to find hypocrites there awaiting every opportunity to betray him, then watching assassination attempts against his life unfold regularly, as well as the murder and mutilation of his relatives and companions. Who could in such circumstances persevere and rise beyond negativity, displaying mercy, justice and empathy besides one divinely guided? This is why we find in this Quran, and as embodied by the prophet, that it calls Muslims to treating others, whether close or far "neighbors", from one's own people or not, as they themselves would like to be treated. It was a way of life of the prophet who taught the people the general axiom that
"Allah will not be merciful to those who are not merciful to mankind".
Whenever the Quran encourages fair treatment, it does so by instilling empathy
4:9"Let those who would fear for the future of their own helpless children, if they were to die, show the same concern for orphans, let them be mindful of God and speak out for justice".
That type of imaginative role-revearsal is a recurrent theme 4:36,42:23,83:1-6. Treating others even better than what is expected towards one's self, opens the possibility to create a positive change even in one's ennemy 41:34,59:9. This shows how altruism in the Quran, although seemingly over empathetic, actually remains pragmatic by extending fair treatment even to one's enemies in certain cases. The prophet said
"Whoever would love to be delivered from the Hellfire and entered into Paradise, then let him die with faith in Allah and the Last Day and let him treat the people the way he would love to be treated".
In another narration of the prophet, those who are able to show such selflessness are described as neither belonging to the prophets or martyrs, but the prophets and martyrs will envy them due to their status on the Day of Resurrection
"The best faith is to love for the sake of Allah, to hate for the sake of Allah, and to work your tongue in the remembrance of Allah. Mu’adh said, “What is it, O Messenger of Allah?” The Prophet said: That you love for the people what you love for yourself, and you hate for the people what you hate for yourself, and that you speak goodness or remain silent".
Many times the Quran starts or ends a passage about belief in the One God, with a statement about just dealings between men, always showing how faith and righteousness are inevitably linked to social interractions.
This selflessness thus negates any expections and favor in return while lending a helpful ear to any type of "asker" 74:6,93:10. This is because everyone in this world may be subject to physical, spiritual or intellectual need.
In answer to the video "10 Reasons to Reject Islam"
On the issue of criticism, Islam is realistic and pragmatic. One can only engage in a discussion when the opposite side wants to conduct a constructive dialogue. There are several ways it gives to identify the sincere critic. When the critic's aim is to objectively assess the Islamic arguments, carefully listen and evaluate the Islamic position, instead of shutting his ears or pretending to listen while preparing his counter arguments, telling others to do the same, raising irrelevant objections just for the sake of discrediting, without any solid basis for argument, isolating a word or a sentence from its context, hairsplitting it so as to make it a basis of doubts and accusations, misconstruing words so as to prevent them being properly understood 4:46,40:4-5,56,41:40 then a meaningful discussion can be engaged
16:125"with wisdom and goodly exhortation, and have disputations with them in the best manner".
The prophet's own life and ability to take on criticism is testimony to this. As well, Muslims can freely mingle with kindness and justice with any non-muslims who do not seek to fight Islam, do not opress Muslims unjustly 60:8-9.
Bukhari for example reports an incident where the prophet was disrespected in front of a large gathering. A companion felt so offended that he requested to kill the culprit. The prophet refused, just as he rejected the Muslims' desire to mutilate a captured Quraysh leader following the battle of Badr, Suhayl b. Amr, by uprooting his front teeth
“so that he could never preach against the Messenger”.
Compare this as a side note, to David's unwarranted mutilation of the Phillistines, among a long list of crimes and sins for which he never was reprimanded since in God's eyes only his adulterous behavior was considered sinful 1Kings15:5. The prophet similarily did not allow his followers to assassinate a man that had spoken in favor of uprooting the Muslim leadership shortly after the defeat of Uhud.
On another occasion in Medina, Ibn Salool a known hypocrite constantly working to undermine the prophet's authority, rudely cut the prophet as he was preaching to an audience
“Stay in your home. If someone would like to hear your message, they will come to you.”
In another narration,
“Now leave, the smell of your donkey bothers us.”
The Muslims became irate upon hearing these insults, but the Prophet forbade them from retaliating. When he received Urwa b. Mas‘ud as he was still a pagan an representing the enemy side, during the negotiations for a peace treaty, he was physically and verbally abusive but despite the companions threatening him with their weapons, and the fact that some time ago Urwa's tribe, of whom he was the chief, assaulted the prophet, he honored this ambassador’s stay and hosted him for as long as he stayed. There are many other such incidents, like his eloquent answer to a group of Jews' playing on words and saluting him, inside his home, with
"As-Sâmu ‘alayk (Death be upon you)”.
The prophet was at that point in a position of authority in Medina, meaning that just as in our days where verbally assaulting authority figures makes one liable to prosecution, he would surely have been justified in exercizing his judicial authority. He instead answered
“And upon you”.
When Aisha felt compelled to add,
“Death be upon you, along with the curse of Allah and His wrath!”
The prophet admonished her against being vulgar and instead answer this kind of talk gently. It is this same gentleness that made a leading Jewish figure convert. Zayd b. Su‘na was astonished at the prophet's response to his public disrespect, under the false pretext that he had failed paying his debt as agreed. Not only did the prophet hold back his companions from doing any harm to Zayd but added
"O ‘Umar, we do not need this…Go with him, pay off his loan, and give him twenty additional sâ‘ (32 kg) of dates because you frightened him.”
It was that response that convinced Zayd b. Su‘na to embrace Islam. That incident is similar to when a Bedouin to whom the prophet owed a camel was repaid with a better one although he demanded it in an uncivil manner that vexed the Companions. They were again, as in the previous examples about to hurt him before the prophet prevented them.
That attitude extended to occasions when even his family members were slandered, such as when a Muslim believed and spread the false rumours of adultery on Aisha's part. Not only did the Prophet ultimately forgive this man who had slandered his wife, but he even admonished Abu Bakr, Aisha's father from boycotting this man, especially since he was related to Abu Bakr and used to receive charity from him.
More astounding is the pardoning of Habbar ibn Al-Aswad who had once caused his daughter Zaynab to fall from her ride as he was pursuing her, inflicted her with injuries that eventually led to her death several years later. All such instances are in conformity with God's injunction to
41:34"repel evil with what is best"
so that eventually one who is viewed as an enemy might become
"as though he was a devoted friend".
Besides his reported prayers even for Abu Jahl's sake at a time when he was among his staunchest opponent, his supplications for Abu Huraira's pagan mother who used to insult the prophet even when the prophet had full power in Medina, on one occasion, the Prophet silently smiled when Abu Bakr refrained from responding to a rude and insulting person. But when Abu Bakr eventually spoke up, the Prophet became angry and left, later telling him that
“An angel was with you, responding on your behalf. But when you said back to him some of what he said, a devil arrived, and it is not for me to sit with devils".
In answer to the video "10 Reasons to Reject Islam"
Just as Muhammad was uswa hasana, Ibrahim and the believers in his nations are called uswa hasana 60:4-6 and to follow the prophet 3:31 means to follow the revelation sent to him 6:106,33:2. Muhammad and the Muslims are told to follow the way of Ibrahim, this can only be achieved through the Quran which is the reminder of his way 16:123,4:125,3:95. It was indeed the Quran that guided Muhammad to the way of Ibrahim 6:161.
The Quran also says to follow the pious, humble believers 31:15 and this again only means to follow them in their obedience to Allah's commands, in their belief in His revelation because
6:116"if you obey most of those in the earth, they will lead you astray from Allah's way; they follow but conjecture and they only lie".
The prophetic sunna is thus the manner in which the prophet applied the timeless ordinances of the Quran in his own time and place. It does not necessarily include his personal likes and dislikes, or particular recommendations which in the vast majority of cases the prophet himself never claimed were inspired. He gently declined eating a roasted lizard out of personal taste, leaving those around him to freely eat as they wished. Certain of his own standards of body hygiene, like trimming the mustache, letting the beard grow, using the toothstick, sniffing water into the nose, clipping the nails, washing the knuckles, removing hair from the underarms, shaving pubic hair, cleaning the private parts with water, rinsing the mouth etc, or the manner he slept, ate or dressed, all reflected the needs, culture and manners of a specific time in history.
All his practices and utterances, outside of the Quran, cannot be automatically assumed as divinely inspired, and the Quran itself sometimes disapproves of some of his deeds and words 66:1,80:1-10.
The same is the case of other prophets, including as eminent as Ibrahim who, despite of being an illustrious example to emulate, immitating him does not include all aspects of his life deeds 60:4.
That is why the Quran repeatedly announces obedience to the messenger instead of 'Muhammad', albeit they are the same person. The 'message' remained connected to the 'messenger' and it was in this capacity of the 'messenger' that Muhammad needed to be obeyed. The Prophet forbade Muslims to write down anything other than the Quran. And effectively, the traditions weren't compilled until centuries following his death.
The reason was that he used to make statements and deal with people in different ways that were the result of particular circumstances, which narrators might believe to be of universal and permanent bearing. From divine knowledge, the prophet Muhammad had only access to what His Lord granted him 6:50,7:203,72:26-7. That knowledge took the form of a divine scripture to
16:64"make clear to them that about which they differ, and (as) a guidance and a mercy for a people who believe".
Muhammad believed
7:158"in Allah and His words (the Quran)" this is why Allah tells us to "follow him so that you may be guided".
To follow Muhammad means to follow what was sent to him from signs and/or revelation
7:157"and follow the light which has been sent down with him".
This reflects in the hypothetical scenario of a people not having received a messenger, complaining that had they had one in their midst, then they would have followed God's signs, not necessarily the messenger
28:47,20:134"..O our Lord! Why did You not send to us a messenger so we would have followed YOUR SIGNS (not the messengers) before we were humiliated and disgraced?".
Again with the example of the qiblah, we are told to only follow Muhammad in what Allah has commanded him
2:143"and We did not make the Qiblah that you observed in the past except that We know who follows the messenger from the one who turns back upon his heels".
It is very compelling to read how the Quran says that it is itself the best hadith.
39:23"Allah has revealed the best HADITH, a book conformable in its various parts, repeating, whereat do shudder the skins of those who fear their Lord, then their skins and their hearts become pliant to the remembrance of Allah; this is Allah's guidance, He guides with it whom He pleases; and (as for) him whom Allah makes err, there is no guide for him"
45:6"These are the communications of Allah which We recite to you with truth; then in what HADITH would they believe after Allah and His communications".
Anything besides that best hadith, Allah tells us that the rightly guided are those people who use their brains and reflect over them, following only the best and discarding what is inapplicable or that contradicts the Quran
39:18"Those who listen to the word (qawl or saying), then follow the best of it; those are they whom Allah has guided, and those it is who are the men of understanding".
The Quran contains such warning because
31:6"of men is he who takes instead frivolous hadith to lead astray from Allah's path without knowledge, and to take it for a mockery".
These verses warning to keep the best hadith and discard all frivolous and counterproductive talks, useless and misleading narratives, provide clear evidence that idle tales were even being disseminated at the Prophet's time. If this was then already a problem reaching such levels that the Quran had to correct it, then how much worse did the problem potentially manifest after the prophet's death? It further tells us to investigate thoroughly any information of importance related by an untrustworthy source 49:6. It does not request the outright dismissal of the report based on the unreliability of the source but simply advises utmost caution in the authentication process of the narration itself which doesnt only include reliability of the transmitor but also of the information in light of certain established facts. This opens the way to the possibility that the source might be telling the truth despite its untrustworthiness.
Hadith scholars mostly stress on scrutinizing the narrator and do not give much importance to scrutinizing the content of the report. It should also be noted, a few verses down in 49:12 it warns not to harbour ill thoughts of others who have not shown through their words or deeds any misapropriateness or imorality. People should first and foremost think well of one another, abandon the kind of outright suspicion and ill founded inquisitiveness (with harmful objectives).
In answer to the video "10 Reasons to Reject Islam"
This uswa hasana in no way implies that the prophet was a perfect creation. For example, After describing their outstanding moral and spiritual qualities, the Quran nevertheless asks the prophets to keep seeking istighfar/protection (from sins), for themselves and their followers too 47:19 and several prophets are quoted throughout the Quran asking for ghafr 30:24,35,71:28. This way the Quran teaches an important lesson; when the foremost among God's servants are denied any sense of complacency, then how far should regular believers be from harboring a feeling of perfect righteousness or prideful accomplishment in front of God
53:32"therefore do not attribute purity to your souls; He knows him best who guards (against evil)".
The believer should keep in mind that only God is perfection and as a demonstration of his understanding of such concept, should constantly seek God's forgiveness for any shortcoming as well as protection for future potential flaws and blemishes. This concept is pervasive throughout the Quran, starting with the single most repeated sura, sura fatiha. This type of spiritual humility is requested even from those that perform the most commendable deeds of the religion, so that they never fall into arrogance and self-righteousness 73:1-20. It was under this state of mind that the prophet implored his Lord for ghafr in this world, just as he will do in the hereafter 66:8. Some reports say he used to implore Allah for protection one hundred times every day, as he was commanded by the Quran itself.
And he used to do so even after 48:2 was revealed telling him his past, present and future sins are forgiven. He did so out of humility and to set the standard of modesty in face of divine perfection
"The Prophet used to offer night prayers till his feet became swollen. Somebody said, to him," "Allah has forgiven you, your faults of the past and those to follow." On that, he said, "Shouldn't I be a thankful slave of Allah?"
No human, no matter how close to Allah in terms of revelational experience, will ever be faultless. This verse 48:2 does not say what type of sin, intentional or not, major or minor, was commited by the prophet. No indication of major sins, let alone intentional, are found concerning the prophet, anywhere in the hadith corpus or the Quran. Yet we find the Quran reproaching him even the slightest unfitting action for a man of his standing, actions which none would find problematic.
This is the etiquette that Islam has taught to man.
This is the etiquette that Islam has taught to man. No matter how selflessly one might have exherted himself to please the Creator, one should never entertain the thought that he has fulfilled the right his Lord had on him wholly, the Sustainer who maintains him and the universe at each instant. Rather he should always think that he has not been able to fulfill what was required of him. This reveals an important point, something the prophets have always been aware of as seen in their constant prayers for forgiveness and protection, the inherent imperfection of humans, their shortcomings in the face of divine perfection. One should therefore never feel self-righteous or self-sufficient in any endeavour. The prophet said
"All the sons of Adam make mistakes/khatta'in, but the best of those who commit mistakes are those who are given to repentance".
When a prophet of God, the last human capable of willfully sinning, asks for God's mercy not even following a sin, but out of fear of not performing an act of worship to its full extent, then how much more so should the regular believer be conscious of his shortcomings in regards to God?
This is the characteristic of the men of God, who never become complacent and arrogant, whether in their duties towards fellow men or towards God, especially so when they reach the climax of their power and glory and that before that point they were constant and steadfast upon the straight path regardless of their ordeals. Success instead causes them increase in spirituality and far sightedness in their dealings with men and their duties towards God. The prophet, and the Muslims through him, is told to do the following, after seeing the unfolding of the prophecy of entire victory
110:3"Then celebrate the praise of your Lord, and ask His forgiveness; surely He is oft-returning (to mercy)".
In addition to teaching man spiritual humbleness, this also conveys the idea that should one attain some victory, it should not lead to pride and vanity, but to remembrence of God and gratitude, as well as seeking ghafr/covering, protection from sins. Even if the prophecy proved true in the days of Muhammad, and even more so today as Islam is still spreading worldwide, a believer shouldnt be boastful about it as many Muslims usually are when speaking of the spread and success of their religion.
The prophet was therefore certainly not "uswa hasana" in how he ate (with the right hand because the left was used for relieving in cleaning oneself after), slept or saw the nature around him. Anyone is free to imitate his lifestyle and adopt his worldviews as found in extra Quranic writings, if one finds any personal benefits in doing so but that isn't a religious requirement nor relevant to it, and that is explicitly stated in the Quran itself.
With that in mind, when the prophet made deductions as related in the ahadith, pertaining to his natural environement, general causality and basic observation of certain phenomenon, it is only expected from him that they would fit what the ancients of his time would find "plausible". These views however, right or wrong, no matter how extraordinary they might seem in light of our current knowledge, have no bearing on the Quran itself, which is again, pledged to be fully protected.
It would have been interesting to have had written records of how the previous prophets saw the world, as we have with Muhammad, and see who among them held the most "unscientific" personal views.
In answer to the video "10 Reasons to Reject Islam"
The Quran never came to correct the prophet's worldviews in terms of knowledge of nature and general causality, neither of his contemporaries but rather guide him and the rest of humanity through him, to the most complete, advanced human spiritual knowledge. The divine protection therefore only pertained to the Quran which is the source of that perfect spiritual knowledge.
The prophet was "uswa hasana" in his application of the Quran, just as following Jesus' way, as he is quoted saying in the NT, meant following his footsteps in his application of the Torah. "The way" of Jesus Jn14:6 is outlined in Lk10:25-28 where he commands strict observance of Jewish laws. In that passage from Luke he is asked about the conditions of salvation and the questionner quotes from 2 passages. The first is Lev19 which details certains laws like the observence of the sabbath and admonishes to
"Keep all my decrees and all my laws and follow them. I am the LORD".
The 2nd passage quoted by the questionner is the second is Deut6 which speaks of loving the One God and obeying His commandements
"keep the commands of the LORD your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you. Do what is right and good in the LORD's sight..obey all this law before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness".
As one can clearly see, one is justified before God, not by faith alone but by deeds too. Consequently the Nazarenes, Jesus' early group of small band of followers, observed all Jewish customs outlined in the Torah but differed from Jews in that they recognized Jesus as the Messiah. The Nazarenes grew among the Israelites but persecutions forced them to go into hiding, with Paul playing a central role in their persecution prior to his convertion. After he joined their ranks, he started influencing the group leaders, namely Peter and James, to reach out to Gentiles. With more non-Jews entering the fold, many Jewish customs were abandonned Acts15:1-29 and the Nazarenes who were centered in Jerusalem gradually became isolated.
The main Christian movement started looking up to Paul for leadership, instead of Jesus' brother James, a strict observer of Jewish Law and considered as Jesus' successor in non-canonical Gospels.
With the establishment of Christianity as a state religion in Rome by Constantine in the 4th century, this small original band definetly fled Jerusalem, in the surrounding deserts and managed to survive outside Palestine as they are mentionned by Jerome upto 380AD to have lived in the Syrian desert. Among them the Ebionites (who claimed to descend from the original Jewish disciples led by James) and Elchasites who rejected Paul as a charlatan and his teachings as falsehood, as well as the Zadokites, Essenes, Rechabites, Sabeans, Mandaeans etc. They had their own writing which they considered scripture, composed of an oral tradition attributed to Jesus, and some HB books. Their writings are known, among others as Gospel of the Nazareans, Gospel of the Hebrews and Gospel of the Ebionites. They would later write that Paul was a false apostle who taught heresy based on the fact he was a failed convert who was disappointed with Judaism and therefore motivated to teach against its laws (circumcision, kashrut, etc..).
Unfortunately the group that opposed them and their practices gained more converts, obviously as it appealed much more to non-Jews, more particularily the hellenized Romans and Greeks. The Nazarenes and similar groups were inevitably marginalised while the more and more dominant groups decided what the Church’s organizational structure would be, as well as its official creeds, or which books would be accepted as Scripture. The group that became "orthodox", further sealed its victory, by the pens of early writers like Iraeneus Justin Martyr and Tertullian, claiming that it had always been the majority opinion of Christianity, Jesus and his apostles.
In answer to the video "10 Reasons to Reject Islam"
It is important to keep in mind, that books of hadith, especially Bukhari and Muslim, are stronger in reliability than the books of history such as those of Tabari, ibn Ishaq and others. This isnt the point of contention, although it is also important to add, some of the narrations in these 2 books, were already regarded with suspicion starting with the generation of Bukhari and Muslim’s teachers, then their peers, then those who came after them through Ibn Abd al-Barr, al-Nawawi, Ibn Hajar and others.
In Islam, the one and only text pledged to be safeguarded from corruption and which Muslims are required to believe as divinely protected, free from error is the Quran. All the rest, the Quran has repeatedly urged mankind to look at with reason and sound judgement. Disregarding Hisham ibn Urwa's bias and weakness for argument's sake, the matter here is comparing authentic reports going back to a single person, Aisha, with many independant contradicting clues from the authentic hadith themselves as well as the books of history. Of course none of the clues by themselves are sufficient to prove that Aisha's estimation of her age of engagement and marriage was wrong. But the concurrence of all those clues together is a strong piece of evidence towards Aisha being mistaken in the report of her own age.
Again, we only have Aisha's word for it.
Today, even among the most educated people living in rural areas, personal information like precise age is a matter of approximation. This in itself does not compromise a person's intellectual capabilities. In the absence of documentation, if one is not born in a landmark year then they can loose track, so establishing a precise age is something impossible to do. If one looks at works of biography, including al Dhahabi's Siyar i3lam al-nubul, we see that birth dates, which were important in the authentication of hadith transmission, are almost always disagreed upon, even for the most famous personalities. The prophet humbly stated, following a memory lapse "I am only human like you; I forget as you forget". He was here refering to nothing less than the pillar of religion, which is prayer, something he was wholeheartedly dedicated to in his daily life. If it happened to him in such a precisely memorized matter, then what would prevent even the staunchest dogmatist to objectively evaluate Aisha's statement in light of so many conflicting evidences, made towards the end of her life about her age, which is a matter known for its uncertainty among the ancient people?
That is why one might still accept the hadith's authenticity, that Aisha did truly believe her marriage age was as stated in the sahih, but it still does not prove that she actually knew the reality of the matter, and neither does such confusion compromise her reliability in terms of hadith transmission. That is why the early hadith scholars did not deem it important to cross examine this specific information transmitted by Aisha.
It is only when someone makes the ridiculous claim that the age of 9 is a 100% certainty, and uses it to fuel hatred, lies and ignorance that Muslims must present an accurate, honest, overall picture of the matter. Besides, to argue that the issue regarding the age of Aisha is in response to Western cultural values is to ignore what was already stated centuries before concerning criticism in the shia literature of Umar wanting to marry Ali's daughter, with the criticism being that she was young and he was too old. Whether the narration is fabricated to make Umar look bad by shia is irrelevant, the reality is, it still attests to a stigma that would have to exist to make Umar look bad.
Further "western" values are perpetually changing. Western critics of Islam saw no problem with Aisha's age of marriage since it was something they practiced themselves. From the advent of Islam and its numerous opponents that hated Muslims and the prophet, these enemies whose lies and calumnies are well documented in Islamic literature, to the 7th century Byzantine Anti-Muslim polemics, followed by the Christian smearing campaigns againt the prophet during the crusades and medieval times, then the renaissance and enlightenment period and its unabating hatred of Islam, to the orientalists of the 18th-19th centuries, not a single critic targeted this particular issue. The reason is simple; marriages to prepubescent girls were perfectly acceptable and legal up to the 1900s but usually not consumated prior to puberty. Contrary to modern times where such a thing would and should be seen as revolting, childhood was understood as ending with puberty. Mental maturity and social responsibility were attained much earlier. The concept of adolescence itself, seen as a transitional phase between childhood and adulthood (approx. 10 to 19years old) is a modern creation of the late 19th century.
References
(1)Tabari's Tarikh "Abu Bakr married during the pre-Islamic period Qutayla bint Abd al-Uzzaand from this marriage Abdullah and Asmaa' were born to him. He alsomarried Umm Ruman bint Amir during the pre-Islamic period and from thismarriage Abd al-Rahman and Aisha were born to him. All of these fourchildren were born to his two wives that we mentioned in the pre-Islamicperiod."
(2)"According to 'Abd al-Hamid b. Bayan al-Sukkari-Mu-hammad b. Yazid-Ismail (that is, Ibn AN Khalid)-'Abdal-Rahman b. Abi al-Dahhak-a man from Quraysh-'Abd al-(Rahman b. Muhammad: 'Abd Allah b. Safwan together with an-other person came to 'A'ishah, and 'A'ishah said (to the latter), "0so-and-so, have you heard what Hafsah has been saying?"" He said, "Yes, 0 Mother of the Faithful." 'Abd Allah b. Safwan askedher, "What is that?" She replied, "There are nine special features in me that have not been in any woman, except for what God be-stowed on Maryam bt. Imran." By God, I do not say this to exalt myself over any of my companions." "What are these?" he asked. She replied, "The angel brought down my likeness; the Messen-ger of God married me when I was seven; my marriage was con-summated when I was nine; he married me when I was a virgin, no other man having shared me with him; inspiration came to him when he and I were in a single blanket ; I was one of the dearest people to him; a verse of the Qur'an was revealed con-cerning me when the community was almost destroyed;'s I saw Gabriel when none of his other wives saw him; and he was taken (that is, died) in his house when there was nobody with him but the angel and myself."
(3)Nawawi, Kitab Tahdhib al-asmaa wal-lughaat
(4)al qurtubi and ibn abbas
(5)Bukhari's Kitab-ul-Kafalat "Once the Muslims started to face trials, Abu Bakr left toward Abyssinia, until he reached Barak al-Ghimad and met Ibn al-Dughna"
(6)Ibn Abi Asim in his al-Aahaad, al-Tabari in his Tarikh, al-Bayhaqi and many others;"Khawla said to Abu Bakr: “The messenger of God sent meto ask for Aisha’s hand in marriage.” He said to her to her: “Wait,” then he went out. UmmRuman mother of Aisha said to her: “Mut`im bin Adi had asked for her hand for his son. By God, Abu Bakr has never made a promise that he broke later.” Abu Bakr went to Mut`im bin Adi while his wife was there, mother of the young man. She said: “O Ibn Abi Quhafa (i.e. O Abu Bakr), perhaps you will require our companion [[referring to her son?]] to apostatize toyour religion if he marries your daughter.” Abu Bakr said to Mut`m bin Adi: “Yes, what do yousay?” He said: “She says such and such.” So he left them, his heart content that the promise hethought he had made was no longer in force" (7)see Al Khattabi in his book A`laam al-Hadith "Regarding his saying tanquzaan, naqz means to skip or jump, but I consider itto have been tazifraan, and zafr means to carry heavy containers, and thecontainer itself is called zifr".
(8)he married Fatima bint al Mundhir when she was 9 (al-Muntazam and Tarikh Baghdad)
(9)See Mishkat al-Masabih, Imam Wali-ud-Din Muhammad ibn Abdullah Al-Khatib. Also,Ibn Abd al-Barr in his al-Isti`aab and Ibn Asaakir in Tarikh Dimashq narrate from two chainsfrom al-Asma`i from Ibn Abi al-Zinad that he had said: “Asma bint Abu Bakr is about ten year older than Aisha.” And this is a good (jayyid) isnad
(10)Ibn al-Athir corroborates in Usud al-Ghaaba: "Abu Nuaym says: "She was born before the calendar by 27 years." Ibn Abdal-Barr says in al-Isti`ab: "Asmaa' died in Mecca in the month of Jamadi al-Ulain the year 73 AH. She died when she had reached 100."
(11)Taqri'bu'l-tehzi'b AND Ibn Kathir's Al-bidayah wa'l-nihayah AND And Abu Nu`aym says in his Ma`rifat al-Sahaba in his article on Asmaa’: She was born before the start of the Islamic calendar by 27 years, and she died in 73 AH in Mecca days after her son Abdullah bin al-Zubayr was killed when she was 100 years old. Ibn kathir adds that despite her advanced age, Asma had still maintained her mental capacities.
(12)hadith found in Muslim and Bukhari
In answer to the video "10 Reasons to Reject Islam"
As is explicit in the Quran, the divine protection of the carriers of the revelation pertains strictly to the revelation itself. But in everyday affairs, the messengers, who are still humans endowed with freewill and thus the potential, if not to sin due to their heightened level of spiritual awareness, to make mistakes, they are left to their own devices in their everyday lives to fight off the assaults of evil forces. No prophet was in a constant state of communication with the divine realm. The hadith and Quran itself speak of long periods where revelation had stopped, and the subsequent tauntings of his enemies on the issue, the questions of his followers and his anxious anticipation.
In answer to the video "10 Reasons to Reject Islam"
None of the narrations saying she was 6 when engaged and 9 when moved with the prophet come from Mecca or Medina and whether from Muslim or Bukhari's sahih books combined, it is the same hadith narrated in multiple ways, which refutes the position that Aisha's age is established by multiple reliable sources.
Even the two hadith in Bukhari claiming that Aisha says her age are attributed to Hisham bin Urwa, so they arent even her own words. It is only in Muslim, in the context of permissibility of marrying young women, that we find two hadith claiming to be Aisha's words. But they all report additional material from Hisham that arent reported in Bukhari.
All such narrations come from Iraq, even those outside sahih Bukhari, and the majority of those are traced to Hisham bin Urwa, Asma's grandson, meaning there is no possibility to verify whether Hisham was involved in those other reports where his name isnt mentioned in the chain, directly or indirectly. So it all goes back to one source ultimately who himself was married to a 9 year old (8). In addition to this obvious bias, he is reported by imam Malik, his student, to have become unreliable in his Iraq period, due to changing, willingly or not, the transmission chain of certain reports going back to his father. But even if we dismiss these reservations and his bias, we would still be confronted to difficulties showing how any attempt at specifically determining Aisha's marriage age is not based upon contradiction-free information.
Asma was 10 years older than Aisha (9). Yet Hisham bin Urwa himself claims Asma lived until 100(10). Asma died in 73H (11). If she was 100 in 73H according to bin Urwa himself then it means she was 27 at the time of Hijra. Consequently Aisha was 17 at the time and 18-19 when she married 1 or 2 years later. Knowing this difficulty to harmonize the records available with bin Urwa's, the historian Imam Adh-Dhahabi tries reducing Asma's age at death in order to make it fit with the reports on Aisha's marriage age
"If this is true (Asma being 10 years older than Aisha), then the age of Asmaa when she passed away should be ninety-one".
For a 17-18 years old to be playing on a swing the day of her wedding with her friends or playing with toys during her marriage isnt an extreme oddity (12). This may be referring to the early period of her marriage. The contention that she played with dolls even after the campaign of Khaybar or Tabuk (13) which would mean around the age of 26 is flawed. The same narration is found in Bukhari and Muslim without the part about the prophet coming from Khaybar or Tabuk, as well as other differences. They have both rejected these parts because they are attributed to Yahya bin Ayyub who was deemed confused in the chain and content of this hadith. Even if one were to accept the passage as true for argument's sake, as well as Aisha's age of marriage at 6years old, then this means she was still playing with dolls after the battle of Khaybar when she was 15-16. Playing with dolls is not an indication of age or stage of physical development.
Public criticism, according to the tradition, was laid at Umar for his trying to marry Ali's daughter, because she was young and Umar was old, almost the same age difference between the Prophet and Aisha. In fact, the traditions record that this was one of the objections of Ali for the union and public criticism had gotten to the point Umar had to defend himself for the move in public. Umar made the point that he only wanted to marry her to affirm his ties with the House of the Prophet. Umar didnt use the precedent of the Prophet marrying Aisha at an alleged young age. This incident, involving the closest companions of the prophet, reveals the same inconsistencies as those noted earlier with the prophet's refusal to marry his daughter to AbuBakr. Also, if it was a norm of Arab culture, then why would he draw the criticism of the city of Medina for such an act?
Further, in the Muwatta which is the representative work on the school of Medina, in the chapter on marrying younger women without asking them, this narration isnt even reported. And you would think, in Medina of all places, the marriage of the Prophet to a young Aisha would serve an evidence for the people of Medina.
Where are the examples to substantiate the point of view that such practice was a norm in Arab culture? An interesting point to re-stress is that not only are there no examples to show how such practice was a norm, but also Urwa, the ultimate source of these traditions regarding Aisha's age, just so happened to have married a 9year old. Besides his poor memory at the time he reported Aisha's age, there is now another reason to seriously doubt his credibility, namely the blatant need to falsify a hadith to serve his interest in justifying an act that far from being the "norm" of the prophet's time, was unacceptable to many including the prophet's own entourage.
In answer to the video "10 Reasons to Reject Islam"
In Christian tradition, it is reported Joseph at 90 married Mary who was 12 which is the double age difference than that of Muhammad when he allegedly married Aisha. That is besides the disturbing notion of an eternal deity impregnating a young virgin with whom the age difference is infinitely greater than Muhammad and Aisha, and out of whose private parts was born an entity combining human and divine attributes.
1. Church leaders that argued what was inerrant and what was not, never challenged the age. In the story itself we read that the society accepts and even expects a 12 years old to be sexually active "When she turned twelve, a group of priests took counsel together, saying, "Look, Mary has been in the temple of the Lord twelve years. What should we do about her now, so that she does not defile the sanctuary of the Lord our God?" Her turning 12 is what prompted the priests to gather to find her a husband. God himself, finding nothing wrong with her age, chooses the old Joseph for her, from among other men of advanced age "And the high priest said, "Joseph! Joseph! You have been chosen by lot to take the virgin into your own keeping". As already said, neither God nor the society saw a problem with a 12 year old given to marriage. Joseph then expresses his fear that he might be ridiculed among the people, and this is due to 3 precise factors; he is old, meaning barren. The angel instructed Zachariah to seek potential husbands from among men of advanced age for a reason, protecting the virgin birth from any accusation. Joseph further said he already has sons, meaning beyond the need for a progeny, and Mary is young, meaning the marriage would appear to be simply motivated by lust, not even companionship. Had he feared mockeries because of the age difference, the mention of him having sons would be unnecessary and he would have stressed her being "too young" not simply "young". Why would a young woman be married to an old, barren man who already has children, in addition impotent? Her pregnancy only occurred 4 years later while Joseph had not defiled her. Little in the NT indicates Mary's age when she was married to Joseph. She is described as reciting a short 10 verses prayer, which isnt a hard task for a 12 years old, and undertaking a trip from Nazareth to Judah, which of course did not have to be undertaken by foot.
2. Not a single 'apocrypha' scripture was rejected based upon the age of Joseph marrying Mary.
3. Just because an apocrypha was rejected, does not mean it was rejected for all of it's contents. For example, the same Apocrypha can say that Jesus was born in a stable and 3 wise-men came and visited him. Is this story 'false' because it's in Apocrypha? Besides the fact that it is known that we find reference throughout the Bible to information extracted from lost and non canonical texts. But let us assume this particular detail of Mary’s age was made up. It would then make the point even stronger that it is acceptable, one could even say recommended for such a marriage to happen in Christian tradition. It is the venerated, idolised Mary who is supposed to have been given by the respected temple priest to Joseph at that age. No Christian of that time would have invented that detail in her story if such union was seen as morally wrong.
4. One man's apocrypha is another man's scripture, thus the example of the book of Revelation, among other books, being rejected as apocrypha until later on.
5. What is the minimum age of virgins allowed to be taken as war captives in Num31?
6. The Bible forbids, even under the death penalty by stoning, certain morally and physically harmful sexual practices like adultery and homosexuality. Why would it be silent on minor marriage, a very common practice in all ancient and pre-modern societies around the Judeo-Christian world and among Jews and Christians themselves, had the God of the Bible and His prophets disapproved of it?
7. More importantly, does the Bible even set an age of consent, or gives any ethical instructions to consider when determining marriage age, contrary to the Quran which clearly lays out psycho-physical requirements?
Assuming the Quran allows pre-pubescent marriages, and that the prophet did, how does this claim discredit Islam or its prophet, especially coming from Christians? They in general level this claim to attack the prophet's personality and imply that he couldnt be a prophet based on his evil deeds. What is the biblical criteria for a true prophet and does it include "not marrying pre-pubescent kids"? There is a reason why nothing at all is said about uprightness of character. In fact one needs turning to the Quran, not the Bible, to see among the criteria of a prophetic envoy, impeccable morality as one of the primary requirements. Looking at these Christians' own bible, the characters and deeds of its most prominent prophets, then, simply based on behavior, even if one would accept every single calumny the Christ-loving evangelists have been throwing, then adding many more on top, it would still do nothing to erode Muhammad's credibility even an iota. None of the individuals the bible calls "prophets" ceased being prophets while premeditating their murders, committing adultery and debauchery, hoarding wealth and enslaving nations, idolatry, capturing countless virgins in their holy genocidal wars. Some repented and others never did, and it is besides the point. These Judeo-christian critics lack consistency and intellectual honesty; Condemning a man as a false prophet while the book they stand for approves of prophets whose deeds should give them a heart attack if they finds the supposed charges against Muhammad offensive. That is why no Muslim is bothered by such dishonest criticism. They can only hope to trouble Muslims if they argue from the angle of the Quran's standards of the prophets as sublime examples of morality, then showing that the prophet Muhammad's supposed deeds are in conflict with those standards. So long as the accusers keep the bible as a standard of morality of the true prophets, these attacks self-destruct. By the Quranic standard, one that is extremely high in comparison to the Bible, as well as the accepted standards of morality, Muhammad did not commit a single inappropriate deed for a prophet. Finally, it is interesting to note that the prophet, whom those critics claim invented the Quran, as well as committed every possible misdeed under the sun (misdeeds that still make him look like a saint in comparison to the true prophets of the Bible) went out of his way to establish a pattern of morality among the prophets that contradicts his own. He had every reason to not change a single thing of what is shamelessly attributed to the Biblical prophets, so that he might justify his supposed misdeeds all the while claiming to be a prophet of God, in line with those very prophets of the Bible.
As a final observation, among the most outspoken Christian polemicists on that particular issue, many admit, knowing the lowly moral standards of those described as true prophets in their Bible, that should one prove Muhammad's prophethood then they would not object to him marrying Aisha as described in the hadith. Here lies their dishonesty, they will defend the authenticity and veracity of the information in those particular ahadith, but will reject other reports from the same books with no slightest bit of controversy as are found as regards Aisha's age, describing Muhammad as a prophet of God, receiving revelation, experiencing miracles, either as the direct agent or indirectly, making prophecies, giving information of the unseen.
In answer to the video "10 Reasons to Reject Islam"
65:4"And (as for) those of your women/nisaa who have despaired of menstruation, if you have a doubt, their prescribed time shall be three months, and of those too who have not had their courses; and (as for) the pregnant women, their prescribed time is that they lay down their burden; and whoever is careful of (his duty to) Allah He will make easy for him his affair".
The verse comes in the context of divorce obviously as seen from the preceding verses, and is an expounding of the general rule mentioned prior in 2:228. It speaks of nisaa. Nisaa' only means mature women, not atfal/children who havent reached puberty 24:58, and obviously only nisaa can menstruate 2:222.
Even the commentators often quoted to support child marriages never speak of children in their analysis of 65:4 and "those who have not had their course". Ibn Kathir or ibn Abbas for instance infer that the reason for delayed menses is them being young. Since when did youth only cover children? ibn Abbas himself states that the age of nikah spoken of in 4:6 is puberty. Girls can reach puberty without menstruation. Body changes like body shape, breasts or pubic hair happen around 2 years before the first period. Sometimes menstruation is delayed longer due to medical and environmental reasons. But the girl will still be of marriageable age despite the delay, provided that she is also mentally ready. Those who often accuse Islam of allowing "pedophilia" have in mind sex with non-menstruating girls. The age of consent in some European countries today like Italy, France or Germany is 14-15. Yet, as stated earlier, many girls reach those ages without menstruation. Would this entail that even those most secular countries allow pedophilia? Those who defend that system would then argue that consent only applies to boys and girls of similar ages. It is thus better morally, spiritually and for the fabric of society to have 2 minors fornicating than a minor marrying an adult with her and her guardians' consent? Where are the parents in the equation, can they disagree and prevent a girl of 15 to have sex with another teenage boy? Does "age of consent" implies knowing what is good for oneself, especially in our modern societies where boys and girls are everything but mentally mature at this stage? Also, a 17 year old boy fornicating with a non menstruating girl of 14 is fine but if the boy is 18 he becomes a pedophile? Even more absurd is that a girl of 17 marrying a man of 25 is pedophilia while the same girl at 18 marrying a man of 50 is fine.
Yes, even in the patriarchal model, abuse is possible. Parents can be corrupt or careless and agree to a bad marriage. Just as they could be abusive and irresponsible to their children even while under their care. But at least they always are part of the equation whenever it comes to deciding for their well being, contrary to secular Judeo-Christian societies. And parents, for the most part will always do and agree only for what is best for their children. The premise of parenthood and guardianship in the Quran and every healthy society is that of care and protection of those under authority. These are the people who are intended in the spirit of the shariah, not abusive and careless guardians.
From a purely medical perspective, pelvic and general body size, as well as fat deposits are almost complete when the first period occurs, mostly between the 8-13 age range. In other words a girl reaches her adult shape at menarche, hence the reason they generally appear bigger than boys of the same age. There is no evidence of minor marriage and consummation at menarche intrinsically causing any more psycho-physical harm than for a girl in her mid 20s, especially not in a traditional backgrounds where girls are safeguarded by their guardians, only married depending on their overall readiness. The statistics showing harmful early marriages do not occur in such contexts and are most often due to poverty, improper medical care, absence of specialists, trained midwives etc. Such social factors elevate the risks of pregnancy and delivery across all age ranges. Spiritually, even evolutionary speaking it makes no sense that a girls' body is made capable of childbearing but that this potential is negated. Peak attractiveness of females is considered to be youth and fertility, not maturity, status or college education. Clear studied have shown that the majority of mature men have sexual thoughts and desires at the sight of minor and early pubescent girls. Due to post-modern social stigma, these men for the most part did not openly admit it, unless the ages of the girls were hidden. Attractiveness of males generally occurs in the late 20s, with features such as status, maturity, and general manliness like facial hair, bone and muscle density.
The secular and modern Judeo-Christian argument boils down to saying that humanity has only now discovered that early marriages are harmful, even deadly due to physical and mental effects, than later marriages.
Going back to the classical jurists, al Shafi'i states that no virgin is to be given in marriage "until she reaches the age of puberty and they ask her permission". Same for ibn Taymiyya. This is based on the Quran's clear statement in 4:5-6 as well as the prophetic practice, who disolved arranged marriages where the bride wasnt asked permission and seemed unhappy. An nawawi quotes al Shafi'i and agrees with him "what they said does not go against the hadith of Aisha". Of course the classical scholars used ijtihad to apply the verse to marriages of interest done very early on in the ancient times. These unions were contracted but not consummated until both parties were physically and mentally mature. As ibn battal says "The scholars agreed that it is permissible for fathers to marry off their young daughters even if they are in the cradle, except it is not permissible for their husbands to consummate the marriage with them until they are prepared to safely have intercourse".
The jurists stipulate that in such situation, the girl remains in her guardians' home until they deem her mature enough to consummate the marriage. This is established on physical appearance and mental development, which varies depending on many factors, internal to the person and environmental. At that point, and as shown earlier, the girl is free to reject the marriage proposal, prior to consummation as unanimously agreed. The prophet said
"A previously married woman has more right (to decide) about herself (with regard to marriage) (than her guardian), and a virgin should be consulted by her father. [Sunan an-Nasa’i 3264]"
"A virgin should not be given in marriage until her permission is granted. [Sahih al-Bukhari 6970]".
Consent, which obviously implies mental maturity, is therefore always understood as part of the equation whenever the jurists discussed marriage procedures. Even if she accepts the marriage, no complete intercourse is allowed to occur if there is fear of physical and mental harm. And this can be due to many reasons besides youth, including illness or thinness. What is allowed then, are other type of harmless sexual acts husband and wife normally happily consent to.
When the classical jurists practiced ijtihad to determine the minimum age of marriage, they did not use Aisha's age as reference. Hanafi for instance define it as puberty based on 65:4. Hanbali, Shafi'i and Maliki place it at what they deem the average age of mental/physical maturity as per Quran 4:5-6, at around 15years old. Marrying a 9, 15 or 40 year old is not more of a command Muslims must follow than riding camels for transport or searching for a well to fill a bucket with water, just because the prophet did what was appropriate to his time, needs, context.
Thus the Muslim layman, scholars and jurists never saw the early marriage of Aisha to the prophet as sunna, a practice incumbent on Muslims to emulate. This is seen by the fact that statistically and since the beginning of Islam, girls being fully married around the early age of 9 was very rare. The numbers are dwarfed in comparison to the rapes and abuses of prepubescent boys and girls and minors, institutionalized and covered for centuries by the Catholic Church throughout the world and till this day. Yet these are the people who would like to paint Muslim societies in light of their own failures.
The words of the Quran have no specificity of age and are interested in dealing with determination of pregnancy via menstruation -a device that cannot cover prepubescent girls, unless they are well into the age of puberty but did not have their first period yet- and in addition the conditions are attached to the word nisaa in the beginning of the sentence, which only means physically mature women.
The 2 potential roots of the word nisaa denote either forgetfulness (n-s-y) or delay (n-s-hamza) and the manner in which these meanings relate to a physically mature women is that she has either forgotten when she had her last period or that her period is delayed. Both situations describe a woman who is potentially pregnant or that may become one. In the verse, there is no shift from talking about women to talking about children. A woman divorced prior to having her period should wait 3 menstrual periods to significantly reduce the chance of a pregnancy wrongly associated with the new husband.
There are several physiological reasons for otherwise normally menstruating women that might cause them to fail having their courses, including pregnancy, medical conditions, hormonal dysfunctioning, stress, too much physical exertion, diet etc. It can be delayed and some women may not bleed very much, to the point its hardly noticeable such as what happens in the menopausal stage, before the postmenopause which is the period where women cannot get pregnant anymore.
Those women "who have not had their courses" therefore covers all these categories. The verse also speaks of those that might be in postmenopause and unable to carry children anymore but one isnt 100% sure they have reached such stage, hence the words "if you have a doubt" in the phrase
"And (as for) those of your women who have despaired of menstruation, if you have a doubt".
It speaks of women in a condition of despair as regards their monthly courses, women who are beyond the normal age limit and who have not had their courses anymore as they should. Any woman who has seen the effects of that natural phase in other women knows how well off she was during her menstrual phase and relatively mild bothersome symptoms that she experienced.
In comparison there are much more increased risks of health issues to a postmenopausal woman, like heart and bone diseases among many other conditions, not to speak of the mental factor of having to accept infertility, especially for those women without children and who married late. Some unsuccessfully tried to argue that since postmenopausal women must wait 3 idda despite them not having had their courses for a long time and having only a slight chance at pregnancy, then nothing negates that prepubescent girls must also wait 3 idda since, just like the former case, they too have not menstruated for long and in addition they too have a little chance of pregnancy about a month prior to their first courses.
However the wording denies their inclusion. Although one may "doubt" whether a pre-pubescent girl with whom one had intercourse is pregnant or not, just like one may doubt if a woman in postmenopause is pregnant, a pre-pubescent girl is certainly not one who has "despaired of her menstruation". Only one who is well into, if not already passed the normal age range at which women become postmenauposal, qualifies as "despaired of her menstruation". And besides, to include prepubescent girls among those who have "despaired of their menstruation" would entail they are well into, if not passed the normal age limit at which girls get their first period, ie the very late teens. This of course, doesnt serve the purpose of those claiming the Quran allows marriages at very early ages.
An important thing to note here, in regards to the precision of the verse's wording, is that "doubt" over "possible" menstruation doesnt cover
"those too who have not had their (menstrual) courses".
The advocates of prepubescent marriage need the "doubt" to cover them but it doesnt. It only concerns the women who are in postmenopause as described earlier. "those who havent had their courses" are women, again, flagged as NISAA', of menstrual age and in addition have already actually menstruated. They are fully expected to keep on menstruating, but they are not currently for the physiological reasons already given.
The purpose of the 3 month waiting period of idda is to determine if the woman about to divorce is pregnant 2:228. For a woman who is expected to menstruate normally, such delay might almost certainly mean pregnancy and also the womb starts to take on visible signs of pregnancy at that stage. This is why 33:49 states those that are divorced prior to sexual intercourse do not have to go through the idda waiting period. Obviously without sexual intercourse, there is no possibility of pregnancy.
That the issue of idda is all about ascertaining potential pregnancy via menstruation is also seen with the second part of the verse 65:4 which mentions the case of confirmed pregnant women, while the first part dealt with those that were potentially pregnant, saying their waiting period is no longer 3 months, but the whole length of the pregnancy.
In light of the above, the lack of menstruation concerns specifically women who are EXPECTED to have their period, which isnt the case of pre-pubescent girls. There is a reason the Quran contrasts the menstruation in terms of expectation (potential pregnancy) versus non-expectation (confirmed pregnancy). The fact that one claims such a verse refers to girls that can't even get pregnant is the utmost absurdity, because nobody expects them to get pregnant. Additionally, if one argues it does refer to pre-pubescent girls, then it renders the whole argument that consummation can only happen after puberty as null and void.
During both cases -that of a woman potentially pregnant having to wait for 3 idda and a confirmed pregnant woman having to wait until delivery- the man must fully sustain the woman without any kind of oppression, though they are going through a hard phase that will probably end in divorce 65:6-7.
In answer to the video "10 Reasons to Reject Islam"
It is well documented in the works of historians, like Tabari, that Aisha, along with all of Abu Bakr's children were born in Jahilliya (1) and this despite the fact that Tabari is aware of the 6-9 hadith as he quotes it in the same book (2). This refers in Islamic terminology to the period prior to the beginning of Muhammad's prophethood. The hijra, or migration towards Medina occured 13 years later, the same year which it is alleged that Aisha was married to the prophet, or the year after according to al-Nawawi (3).
This means there is no way possible she could have been less than 13 years old at the time of Hijra as some ahadith suggest. The proponents of Aisha's early age at the time of hijra ignore that statement of Tabari. This is significant because Tabari says that following their engagement, the prophet waited before consuming the marriage. But not because he wanted her to first reach puberty as implied in Bukhari or Muslim. It was rather due to his poor financial situation, inability to arrange a proper home for her and establish himself.
This is just one of the blatant examples of tension that exists within the hadith corpus as regards Aisha's age at the time of marriage, let alone the established marital pattern of the prophet. There perhaps exists no other topic within the sahih compilations which is at such a high level of contradictory tension with the rest of the remaining traditions.
Another noteworthy observation in that regard is that the prophet himself denied his daughter Fatima's marriage to AbuBakr, then Umar, because she was comparatively too young to either of them (Sunan an-Nasa’i 3221). He instead married her to Ali who was 21 while it is reported that Fatima was 9. What better occasion was there for AbuBakr to mention the precedent of his own daughter marrying the prophet at 6 and expecting the prophet to reciprocate? The prophet would not have used the age argument to deny his daughter's hand to AbuBakr seeing that he married the latter's daughter at even a younger age and with an age gap exceeding that between Fatima and AbuBakr. This refusal can be understood in different ways; the age of 9 is not a benchmark for girls marriage, rather a combination of factors must be taken into account, including physical and mental readiness, which can occur at 9 or later but also compatibility in regards to personality. The other way to understand it is that the reports about Aisha's age of marriage are inaccurate.
According to a narrative in sahih Bukhari the revelation of al qamar:46 occured when Aisha was a young girl/jariya. Jariya never refers to a 4 years old. But if she was 12 then her reference as jariya by bukhari makes sense. The chapter ends a mere 9 verses later at v55 and it is obvious from the topic that v46 to v55 were revealed together and could not have been cut off. So the argument that some suras were revealed in portions with long intervals of time in between verses is moot. Besides all scholars agree this is a Meccan sura, whose finalization the opinion varies between the 4th and 8th year (4) of the call to prophethood.
But even if we consider Aisha's traditionally accepted date of birth in the 5th year of revelation as true, and in addition accept the latest estimation for the date when sura al-qamar was finalized on the 8th year of revelation as true, then this would mean Aisha was able to memorize with precision a verse and its reference when she was merely 3, which is highly unlikely.
Other historians such as Ibn Ishaq and Ibn Hisham say she accepted Islam before Umar, who himself converted in the 9th year of revelation. These historians both say she was among the earliest converts. Ibn Ishaq places her at the 18th and ibn Hisham places her approximately at the 20th place chronologically. This takes us back during the 1st or at most the 2nd year of revelation. Aisha isnt supposed to have even been breathing at the time if she was truly born in the 5th year of revelation.
Even if we assume that this date of birth is true, how can anybody reasonably argue that someone willingly accepts a religion 3 years later at 3 years old (ie before Umar's conversion in the 9th year)?
Aisha describes her vivid memory of events that supposedly happened when she was but an infant, such as Abu bakr's migration to Ethiopia in the 5th year of revelation, the year she was supposedly born in (5). This shows again, her birth could not have been later than the pre-islamic era, as confirmed in Tabari's reports.
As said in introduction, before her union with the prophet she was engaged to Jubayr ibn Mut'im ibn Adi. This is found, among others in Ibn saad's tabaqaat with authentic asanid. His father was a vehement enemy of the prophet, before Abu Bakr accepted Islam. The engagement was broken off by Jubayr's father when Abu Bakr converted and planned to go to Abyssinia in the 5th year of revelation, the year of Aisha's alleged birth (6). Even if we were to argue that this arrangement happened while both Aisha and Jubayr were toddlers, even infants, as would sometimes happen in ancient times among families seeking to strengthen their bonds, then this still doesnt allow for Aisha being born anytime than prior to the revelation. Mut`im bin Adi and his wife were polytheists when the engagement was made and resented the idea that their son would become Muslim if he married Aisha. Abu Bakr on the other hand was among the most zealous companions calling people towards Islam. This makes it highly unlikely that the staunch pagan Mut`m bin Adi mentioned his interest to Abu Bakr after the revelation.
She relates herself as having played an active role during the migration; getting the travelling goods together in a highly tense situation per the narrations. An 8 year old could not have acted in such a way. Again she describes herself how she reached Shajra along with the soldiers in the battle of Badr that took place in 2H. Nobody under 15 years old was allowed to join the soldiers in the battlefield. This was to avoid being captured and raised as idol-worshippers or killed and become a problem for the army. Yet she is alleged to have been 9 or 10, meaning she had absolutely no business whatsoever in being at the battlefield. But if she was born prior to the revelation, then by that time she would be around 18 years old, which makes sense. In fact there are reports of the prophet sending back some Muslim youths who tried, out of eagerness, to go along with the Muslim army.
The very notion that the Prophet would set an age limit to 15 for people to participate in battle, but allow 9-10 year olds or 11 year old females to accompany the battlefield, especially in such situations, is against all common sense. Why would young men below 15 be forbidden to be at the battle-field, but 9-10 year old girls be allowed to take care of people wounded and on the verge of death. Does one think the Prophet would have exposed these girls to the chance of being captured and eventually mistreated and abused by masters who used to force their female slaves into prostitution?
Anas further describes Aisha along with Umm Sulaim lifting their dresses up to avoid any hindrance in their movement, at the battle of Uhud. The idea of lifting the dress in Arab tradition, as is evident in abundant pre-Islamic poetry is a reference to women fleeing the battlefield, having to raise their skirts exposing their shins. This is what happened in Uhud when Muslim men were panicking, because the unbelievers had sent them into disarray. It had reached such an extent that they abandoned the Prophet.
Yet, here is a 'nine or ten year' old girl running back and forth, to various Muslim men assisting them with their needs in the midst of battle:
“On the day (of the battle) of Uhud when (some) people retreated and left the Prophet, I saw Aisha daughter of Abu Bakr and Umm Sulaim, with their robes tucked up so that the bangles around their ankles were visible hurrying with their water skins (in another narration it is said, ‘carrying the water skins on their backs’ (7). Then they would pour the water in the mouths of the people, and return to fill the water skins again and came back again to pour water in the mouths of the people”.
How can people think that at the height of the battle, when Muslims were panicking and even leaving the Prophet, Aisha was 9-11 years old, not even slightly panicking while attending bravely wounded soldiers, and was allowed to go into battle? Dont the narrations specifically tell us the Prophet constantly warned his men not to abandon their posts on the hill? If he was so keen about that matter and so keen on males being a specific age, what makes people think he was going to take females that would burden the army?
The fact is Aisha actively participated in battles during the prophet's life, assisting the men at the battlefield along with other women, which is why by the time of Ali's reign as Caliph, she gathered enough experience and credibility that she could rally a huge fighting force.
