These articles answer Sam Shamoun "Islam: The Religion of Perfect Submission to Muhammad"
Thursday, November 19, 2020
Sam Shamoun "Muhammad: An Example of Moral Corruption and Sexual Deviancy"
The articles below answer the objections of Sam Shamoun "Muhammad: An Example of Moral Corruption and Sexual Deviancy"
Sam Shamoun "Muhammad’s Neglect and Disdain for the Poor and Ill"
Like the prophets of old, the prophet Muhammad never asked for any compensation or reward for the priceless mission he was undertaking 6:90, his reward being with Allah 34:47. He is told to convey his message in a manner that can never compromise the integrity, honnor, exaltedness of the revelation 80:11-16. This instruction doesnt apply to the message only, but the messenger himself who shouldnt go on beseeching the people, discrediting his own honnor in doing so. In 2:104 believers are urged to approach the Prophet with respect and to subordinate their personal desires and expectations to the commandments of the Faith revealed through him.
These instructions meant at exalting both the message and the message-bearer in the people's eyes is reflected among other places in the command to offer money prior to consulting him
58:12"when you consult the Messenger, then offer something in charity before your consultation; that is better for you and purer; but if you do not find, then surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful".
That money was to be given in charity, not to him personaly. What the verse also reveals is that precedence is given to the poorest elements of society in approaching and consulting with the prophet since no pre-condition is required of them, contrary to the affluent. Traditions reflect how the injunction reduced the number of requests by the richer elements. Because their objective in approaching him wasnt to seek guidance. Like every materialistic and spiritually deprived individuals, they thought this could be another opportunity to increase their sphere of influence in society, upon a new emerging community. The way they tried to achieve their purpose was by attempting negotiations with the prophet to make him compromise some of his principles with theirs. This was normal in their mind, since to them everything could be bargained, including spiritual and moral values for the sake of material gains. But in this corrupt pursuit, they werent even prepared to step down from their apparent superiority and mingle on an equal footing with the prophet's followers who came from a wide variety of backgrounds. The instruction to give to charity prior to consulting with him was another obstacle as it meant they valued him above their own pride, thus giving them less leverage in negotiations. This lead to less counsels and the purification of the intellectual and social milieu of the Muslim community.
It is to be kept in mind that the prophet was very often denigrated by the affluent because of his mainly poor followers. They would tell him to distance himself from them so that they could approach him
18:28,6:52"And do not drive away those who call their Lord in the morning and the evening, they desire only His favour; neither are you answerable for any reckoning of theirs, nor are they answerable for any reckoning of yours, so that you should drive them away and thus be of the unjust".
At no point however did the prophet do so. Neither do any of those verses hint at him wanting to. These type of verses of which the Quran abounds, admonish Muslims of all times through their prophet in case they are confronted to a similar situation. The commentators have given several different contextual reasons for the revelation of these verses, and all of them having to do with the elite of Mecca coming to him at different times asking for him to dissociate momentarily from his poor followers so that they might sit and listen to his message. In some contexts he is described as internally desiring to do so but was prevented by the descent of revelation upon him. In other contexts he is shown as verbally agreeing with the Meccans until Jibril stopped him. Somewhere else it is Umar who insisted on him doing so just so it can be established whether the Meccans were sincere in their quest for the truth, but later Umar repented when revelation came.
The bottom line to all these stories is that the prophet never turned down his poor assemblies. We see this kind of exegisis in many cases, especially as regards the concept of "occasion of revelation". The companions used to describe the reasons for revelation of the verses in form of stories or events that had occurred during the prophet's time, which are somewhat relevant to the verses without them actually having any connection to the particular story or stories. The companions many times did so while conjecturing on what they imagined the prophet was thinking within himself on those particular occasions, so as to better fit the verses.
Similar story retrospectively applied to the Quran is that of the prophet, once being annoyed (internally, without expressing it verbally) as he was inadvertendly interrupted by a blind man of low social status that approached him for consultation while he was in a dialogue with some influential people 80:1-10.
The prophet was a man of noble character, uninterested in materialistic pursuits as reflected both in the Quran and the traditions, as observed by both his friends and foes
68:4"And most surely you conform (yourself) to sublime morality".
The opening passage of sura abasa, if addressed to the prophet, reveals several things. Firstly, nothing is said of the social level of any of the persons alluded to. Secondly, the high standard of morality required of him as a divine envoy is unlike that of a normal human being; simply frowning from being interrupted, which anyone would usually find annoying, but not even frowning at the person causing the interruption nor did the concerned person notice the frowning, is considered unbefitting of a prophet of God. As noted, the facial expression of the prophet was hardly noticable, much less to the blind person. Which interest did the prophet have in exposing himself to his followers as even mildly, by the most far fetched standards of behavior, as having been inconsiderate, if the incident was known only to him? Also, how would this self-rebuke do anything to enhance his credibility to his detractors, had it been his purpose by integrating it into the Quran, considering that they didnt believe in his prophethood in the first place? Just as they said he was making up revelation before, they would now say he was passing off this rebuke as divinely inspired to look more credible.
The fact is, the Quran was not sent to change the minds of those that werent open to even considering its arguments. It repeatedly tells the prophet to turn away from them after effectively transmitting the warnings. The same observation could be said of other instances that could have remained unknown to the audience, but that the Quran brings to light at the risk of exposing the prophet to the people's antagonizm.
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