This article answers Sam Shamoun "The Islamic Gods Unveiled Pt. 1 Additional Proof that Islam is Repackaged Arab Paganism"
Wednesday, December 16, 2020
Sam Shamoun "The Islamic Gods Unveiled Pt. 2 Additional Proof that Islam is Repackaged Arab Paganism"
On the Day of Judgement, all things in the heavens and earth will come to God as obedient slaves 19:93. None will be allowed to speak without God's permission, whether in the heavens and earth and up to the highest ranked angels and whatever will be spoken will be the truth 11:105,78:37-8. He alone will allow intercession 10:3,39:44 as He pleases 34:23 meaning any unqualified "intercession" on that Day by those who have been granted the authority of intercession, on behalf of people whom Allah has not deemed worthy will be rejected
74:48"the intercession of intercessors shall not avail them".
Allah alone decides who will intercede on whose behalf
53:26"And how many an angel is there in the heavens whose intercession does not avail at all except after Allah has given permission to whom He pleases and chooses".
The prophet in fact stated that those who will earn his intercession wont be those that will call upon him, rather
"The luckiest person who will have my intercession on the Day of Resurrection will be the one who said sincerely from the bottom of his heart "None has the right to be worshipped but Allah".
There are several ahadith of that nature and conveying the same message;
"Allah will gather all the human being of early generations as well as late generation on one plain so that the announcer will be able to make them all-hear his voice and the watcher will be able to see all of them. The sun will come so close to the people that they will suffer such distress and trouble as they will not be able to bear or stand. Then the people will say, 'Don't you see to what state you have reached? Won't you look for someone who can intercede for you with your Lord' Some people will say to some others, 'Go to Adam.' So they will go to Adam and say to him. 'You are the father of mankind; Allah created you with His Own Hand, and breathed into you of His Spirit (meaning the spirit which he created for you); and ordered the angels to prostrate before you; so (please) intercede for us with your Lord. Don't you see in what state we are? Don't you see what condition we have reached?' Adam will say, 'Today my Lord has become angry as He has never become before, nor will ever become thereafter. He forbade me (to eat of the fruit of) the tree, but I disobeyed Him . Myself! Myself! Myself! (I am preoccuied with my own problems). Go to someone else..."
Those people seeking unqualified intercession will then call upon other eminent prophetic figures, including Nuh, Ibrahim, Musa, who will all decline, citing their fear of Allah and some of their worldly shortcomings
"Jesus will say. 'My Lord has today become angry as He has never become before nor will ever become thereafter. Jesus will not mention any sin, but will say, 'Myself! Myself! Myself! Go to someone else..."
At no point does the hadith associate the shortcomings of the prophets with sins, or that Allah's anger is directed at them for their deeds. This is seen from Jesus' answer, who although without sin, will not be of any help either. What the hadith shows is that due to their humility as imperfect creatures standing in front of the Creator, even the prophets will not deem themselves worthy to do anything beyond what Allah explicitly allows them to do. Being in the presence of Allah on that day will be such a humbling experience, that the prophets, when questioned will not even deem it appropriate to pretend to possess any knowledge, in comparison to the All-Aware
4:41,77:11,22:78,28:75,39:69,7:6-7,5:109"the Day when Allah will assemble the messengers and say, "What was the response you received?" They will say, "We have no knowledge. Indeed, it is You who is Knower of the unseen".
The manner in which truth will be made manifest on the day of resurrection will be so evident, that the question here becomes of rhetorical nature. This is seen by the messengers' reply; their testimony will not be meant at adding information, but merely confirming Allah's all-encompassing knowledge, for He is ultimately sufficient as a Witness 4:166,6:19.
Even while the Quran raises the hypothesis of an entity interceding without God's approval and that intercession being consequently nullified by God, it says that such entities; whether prophets or angels are nothing but God's honored servants, fully encompassed by Him, never preceding Him in speech because of their awe and never acting except by His command. They would consequently never take that initiative of interceding without His permission
20:110,21:26-28"and they do not intercede except for him whom He approves".
Not only are these beings, angels, prophets or saints, powerless by themselves and incapable of altering God's decisions, but they themselves seek for means to get near to God and hope for His mercy 17:56-7. If that is the case, that they have no interceding power by themselves and that even if they did, they would only be allowed interceding on those whom Allah has approved, then how far removed and deluded are those that seek their help directly instead of Allah?
In fact the Quran equates the belief in unqualified intercession/mediation with God as a denial of His omniscience and thus showing the sinner the gravity of his assumption
13:33,10:18"And they serve beside Allah what can neither harm them nor profit them, and they say: These are our intercessors with Allah. Say: Do you (presume to) inform Allah of what He knows not in the heavens and the earth? Glory be to Him, and supremely exalted is He above what they set up (with Him)".
That authority of intercession is thus granted by Allah on behalf of certain people only; those who did their best to deserve it and who have a deeply ingrained faith which they accepted in full consciousness
2:255,19:85-87,21:28,6:15,43:86"except one who testifies to the truth while they know".
Intercession is only for the pious 20:109. It will not be for those who did nothing to deserve it, who pay no regard at all to Divine commandments 2:48,26:100,40:18,74:48. This means intercession is nothing but a mark of honor and elevation of the selected righteous on Judgement Day 19:85-87. It is a great reward in itself. Any believer will feel honored and uplifted if he is accompanied on Judgement Day in his prayers to God, by a being so pious that he is selected by God Himself and given a platform to speak at a time where none will be allowed to do so except by His will.
This will strengthen the believers and remove from their heart the terror of that day, especially when the interceding entity will further confirm God's judgement concerning them 34:23. The fact that intercession is not a pleading action, but only a mark of honor and psychological support of the righteous is reinforced through 16:111 stating that on Judgement Day
"every soul shall come, pleading for itself"
and that
28:70,18:26"He does not make any one His associate in His Judgment".
After judgement has been passed, no intercession will be admitted 40:48-50. Some dwellers of Hell, after spending their appropriate time in it, will be ready for admittance into Heaven. At that point God will honor them by allowing the intercession of the pious beings. Some reports depict the prophet as eventually allowed to speak on the behalf of these select few
"and then I will intercede and He will put a limit for me (to intercede for a certain type of people). I will take them out and let them enter Paradise".
It is thus clear that in the Quran, intercession honors the one on whose behalf it is made. But it is even more honoring to the one actually making the intercession. This is due to the high level of restriction on that Day, with very little occasions to speak except as allowed by God.
Nowhere in the Quran does Allah nor His prophets command us to ask a personality or entity to pray to Him on our behalf or that a believer's prayer in itself is not worthy enough to be considered. First and foremost, the call of prayer is only true when directed at Him
13:14"To Him (alone) is the call of Truth; and those to whom they call, besides Him, will answer them nothing, but like one who stretches his two hands towards the water so that it may reach his mouth, while it does not reach it. And the prayer of disbelievers is only in error".
To corroborate, the Quran repeatedly reminds us of God's nearness to the one seeking Him
11:61"surely my Lord is Nigh, Answering"
nearer than one's jugular vein, and that He answers the humble supplicant's prayer
27:62,40:60,42:26,37:75,50:16,2:186"And when My servants ask you concerning Me, then surely I am very near; I answer the prayer of the suppliant when he calls on Me, so they should answer My call and believe in Me that they may walk in the right way".
An interesting linguistic observation is God's instructions when believers ask the prophet about Him. He is so near that the answer to the question to the prophet isnt given in the indirect form "answer, reply or say to them..." but in a direct manner by God, to the asker, regardless of who he is or what is his inner and outward condition, no matter the timing, illustrating his nearness to the servants
"i am near".
Another striking statement from within the verse is that the second part speaking of the asker implementing in turn spiritual uprightness in his own life isnt a pre-condition for God receiving and answering a supplication. It is placed second and said to be for the asker's own good, unrelated to the supplication itself.
He isnt unapproachable like the tyrants and arrogant leaders of this world, nor is He far away and detached from His servants' realities.
He isnt unapproachable like the tyrants and arrogant leaders of this world, nor is He far away and detached from His servants' realities.
Throughout the Quran, the prophets never told their people to ask them to intercede on their behalf and instead consistently urged them to mend their ways, turn directly to Allah and ask His forgiveness by themselves
11:52,61,89-90,27:46,41:6,71:10,2:199"Then hasten on from the Place from which the people hasten on and ask the forgiveness of Allah; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful"
but, just like the compassionate angels ask forgiveness for all who are on earth as they constantly see their ingratitude and transgressions 42:5 because
13:6"most surely your Lord is the Lord of forgiveness to people, notwithstanding their injustice"
these prophets grieved much over the spiritual condition of their nation (as Muhammad is often depicted in the Quran) so they would also pray to God on behalf of both believers and disbelievers 9:80,24:62,60:12 out of humanity and compassion
3:159"Thus it is due to mercy from Allah that you deal with them gently, and had you been rough, hard hearted, they would certainly have dispersed from around you; pardon them therefore and ask pardon for them"
just as a son would ask God for the forgiveness of a father and vice-versa
60:4,9:114"And Ibrahim asking forgiveness for his sire....most surely Ibrahim was very tender-hearted forbearing".
This type of empathy, not only is not forbidden, but is actually encouraged as a great virtue which all believers should perform 4:48. Similarly when we are told to pray for God's compassion on our own parents 17:24, it is to keep us aware of their own compassion towards us, as a token of gratitude
"And make yourself submissively gentle to them with compassion, and say: O my Lord! have compassion on them, as they brought me up (when I was) little".
In 4:64 it speaks of the hypocrites who caused great harm to the prophet and the community in general, saying how God will forgive them should they go to the prophet, then pray by themselves and in addition are joined in their prayers by the prophet. It only commands the hypocrites to go to the prophet (as a peaceful gesture and demonstration of good intentions since their mischief was foremost aimed at him) and to ask God's forgiveness by themselves. It doesnt command them to ask the prophet to intercede on their behalf and neither does it say they wouldnt be forgiven had the prophet not joined them in prayers. In fact it doesnt even command the prophet to pray for them. It simply states what the compassionate prophet will do should they leave their treachery towards him and the community and come to him in sincere repentance, thus proving their resolve in action by abandoning their enmity towards him. This statement is meant at encouraging reform, one is more likely to make a step towards reconciliation knowing that the opposite party will wholeheartedly welcome him. In that case, the prophet will automatically join them in prayers without them having to request it 9:102-3. There is a timeless lesson in regards to Allah's boundless mercy. If even the sinners opposing a prophetic envoy are forgiven should they put an end to their behavior and reform themselves, then what is to say of sinners and those that oppose Allah and His religion outside the prophetic era?
The Quran obviously doesnt forbid this empathy, it doesnt prevent the prophets from being compassionate towards their people, and more particularly their family members, just as it doesnt prevent the prayer of any father on behalf of his child as seen in Jacob's case. His sons had attempted murdering their brother and did not consider themselves worthy of addressing God directly. So they asked their father instead to be their intermediary with God, to plead for their forgiveness 12:97-8. This was their own conjecture and not a command from God. The Quran does not leave any deadlocks, and always opens the way to forgiveness, even to the worst sinners provided they repent in sincerity and reform themselves. Nowhere does the passage state that Jacob's prayer in itself earned his sons forgiveness.
Not in one instance does the Quran command or advises the believer to pray through an entity for a faster or more favorable answer. It would be in complete opposition to God's description as being closer than the jugular vein, the One Who accepts the sincere repentence of the worst sinner of this world
2:186"surely I am very near; I answer the prayer of the suppliant when he calls on Me".
He is near. No need to go left and right to reach Him, a straight line is enough. Had it been of any necessity or "added value" why arent those most in need of it, such as the oppressors waging war for the destruction of Islam not advised to seek the help of a pious entity to be more likely forgiven but are instead simply told to
5:34"repent...know that Allah is Forgiving, Merciful".
In fact the Quran lays out the principle that man only gets what he strives for by himself 53:39.
The only pre-requisite for God's forgiveness is the sinner's sincere resolve to mend his way and act righteously, as amply said throughout the Quran, regardless of whether he is joined in prayers by someone pious or not. This is demonstrated in 4:64 where the "coming" of the hypocrites to the prophet is a prerequisite to their forgiveness. It shows their sincerity in their claims to have abandoned their treacherous ways towards him and the rest of the community. On the other hand in 48:11-12 or 63:5 the insincere hypocrites' request to the prophet that he asks for God's forgiveness on their behalf is rejected
48:11-12"who can control anything for you from Allah if He intends to do you harm or if He intends to do you good; nay, Allah is Aware of what you do".
This implies that Allah's decision will be on the basis of the knowledge that He has about the reality of their actions. If they deserve punishment no prayer of his will earn them forgiveness; and if they do not deserve punishment, no harm will be done to them whether he prays for them or not. Allah cannot be deceived so even if the prophet was to accept their request and pray for their forgiveness on the basis of their alleged sincerity, it will be vain and without result just as the prophet Ibrahim's prayer for his father, due to a previous promise he had made, was ultimately vain in God's eyes 9:113-4,60:4.
God makes it thus clear that some transgressors are not deserving of any mercy and forgiveness, despite the compassionate pleas of the prophets and the believers 9:80,9:113-114,63:6 just like God tells Jeremiah in the Bible concerning the most obdurate transgressors among the Israelites Jer7,11:14,14:11. As stated by Ezekiel in his warnings to Israel, the righteousness of the few and their prayers will not deliver the guilty when the time comes Ezek14:20. Noah before him was told to stop praying for the salvation of his own disbelieving son, let alone his transgressing nation as whole 11:37-49.
This means that God's forgiveness really is contingent on the sinner's own sincere repentance and resolve in obedience
9:104"Do these people not know that it is Allah alone Who accepts the repentance of His servants and approves of their propitiatory offerings, and that Allah is indeed Forgiving, Compassionate?".
These articles further answer Sam Shamoun "The Islamic Gods Unveiled Pt. 2 Additional Proof that Islam is Repackaged Arab Paganism"
Sam Shamoun "An Inspired Cross-Dresser? Further Proof for Muhammad Being a Fraud"
The size of the prophet's household, combined with his prophetic duties and the turmoil of these early days in which he was involved in on a daily basis, meant he could not be expected to divide his time so as to satisfy each of the wives and potential concubines equally. But as the Islamic history books explicitly denote, he tried to observe equality among them as much as possible. He used to visit sometimes his 9 wives at once
"Narrated ‘Urwah: ‘A’ishah said: “O nephew! The Messenger of Allah would not prefer any one of us to another with regards to spending time with us. Hardly a day would go by without him visiting all of us. He would come close to each woman, without touching her, until he reached the one whose turn it was, then he would spend the night with her".
The prophet thus, despite being absolved from strict obligations towards his multiple wives would nevertheless feel saddened whenever he delayed his appointed time with one of his wives
33:51"You may put off whom you please of them, and you may take to you whom you please, and whom you desire of those whom you had separated provisionally; no blame attaches to you".
This ordinance made sure that no reproach would be cast upon him, and neither would he be hindered by social pressures or customs. So although he had the peace of mind from a spiritual viewpoint that he would never be blameworthy, he still felt uneasy emotionally towards his wives whom he loved. And he did his utmost to spend as much time as he could with them all equitably. Aisha would say to him
"If I could deny you the permission (to go to your other wives) I would not allow your favor to be bestowed on any other person".
This statement from the prophet's youngest wife, and thus logically the most physically attractive in comparison to his other wives, shows the prophet tried as best as he could not to favor one wife over another based on his personal preference. There is an instance where he refused letting Aisha replace another wife on a day that wasnt hers
"O Aisha, keep away from me, it is not your day".
The prophet maintained as best he could that considerate pattern of behavior throughout his life, as narrated by Aisha:
"When the ailment of the Prophet became aggravated and his disease became severe, he asked his wives to permit him to be nursed (treated) in my house. So they gave him the permission. Then the Prophet came (to my house) with the support of two men, and his legs were dragging on the ground, between `Abbas, and another man".
Besides absolving the prophet, the ordinance also put all the wives and potential concubines on the same level as it concerned them all from God's perspective. Through it, they find the inner peace that the emotional sacrifice they shall endure, and which they all were fully aware of before accepting to marry the prophet, is for the accomplishment of a higher objective. Their merit with God will naturally be higher given their worldly sacrifices
"this is most proper, so that their eyes may be cool and they may not grieve, and that they should be pleased, all of them with what you give them".
The verse ends with an affectionate message to the prophet's household in general, stressing that God is aware of the difficulties in all levels of life that they must endure, and their toll on their feelings
"and Allah knows what is in your hearts; and Allah is Knowing, Forbearing."
Aisha is indirectly described as expressing her initial frustration and spousal jealousy, when she supposedly stated in relation to 33:51 that
“I feel that your Lord hastens in fulfilling your wishes and desires".
It is remarkable that the prophet would always abide by the restrictions divinely imposed on him but not the relaxations, as described above. In Sura Ahzab, around the verse quoted in the hadith, there are seven rules about marriage peculiar to the Prophet. Four of these granted him relaxations and three put restrictions. The Prophet certainly abided by the restrictions, but yet, for someone whose
"Lord hastens his desires"
he did not opt to benefit from two of the relaxations. Had the idea of ‘convenient revelations’ any basis in that report from Aisha as claimed by Islam's opponents, to start with, there wouldnt have been any restrictions on the Prophet neither in this sura or other suras, to the exclusion of the rest of the believers. And neither would he have failed to take benefit of every relaxation, without having any guilty conscience as he just happened to have. It is further worthy to note that, in those relaxations pertaining to marital affairs described in 33:50-1, the prophet is a passive agent; it is the women that are given the option of seeking him in marriage, not the other way around. The bottom line is that, whichever one looks at it, nothing in the pattern of the life of the prophet supports the malicious charges against him.
As a side note about the issue of jealousy, as noted by the earliest scholars the jealousy – of either husband or a co-wife, when it does not lead to transgression either by words or by actions, is not blameworthy. It is but a normal human feeling that can overwhelm anyone, especially when there is intense love involved. The prophet's wives loved their husband and its is normal they would feel jealous of oneanother. The prophet however always tried resolving these issues as pragmatically as possible, without ever accepting there one oppressing another.
For example his companions knew that in terms of personal feelings, the prophet had more love for Aisha than his other wives. This is itself is not blameworthy. But because of that, his companions, seeing the bare minimum comfort he allowed himself and his household, if they wanted to gift him something, which the prophet would then share with them, they would prefer visiting him when he was at Aisha's house. If the people honored her home in that manner, it would be inappropriate for the prophet to ask them to refrain from doing so, just so as to appease his other wives. It would be unfair towards Aisha who did not ask for such a conduct, nor would it be fair towards the people themselves. They are free to enter whatever home they wish, if they are welcomed in it. They in addition should not be forced to conform their behavior so as to reduce tensions within another person's household, even if it is the prophet. That is why the prophet, after his wives' repeatedly pressing him that he should
"tell the people to send their gifts to him in whatever wife's house he was"
answered them back by honoring Aisha even further. Instead of reducing of her value in people's eyes, as the other wives demanded, he declared
"Do not hurt me regarding Aisha, as the Divine Inspirations do not come to me on any of the bed sheets except that of Aisha".
The prophet received revelation long before marrying Aisha. After his marriage he continued receiving inspiration in different locations and conditions than Aisha's house. All his other wives saw him and described his symptoms in the ahadith while the phenomenon occurred. But by telling them that from all places, he only had inspiration in the bed sheets of Aisha, he was denoting a particularity which none of the wives had experienced with him. The Arabic as a side note says lihaf/thawb (used interchangeably for a blanket) and mirt (piece of unsewn fabric).
The prophet in turn did not hesitate to preserve the honor of another wife even if it made Aisha jealous. He had such an intense remembrance for his first wife Khadija, that whenever she was mentioned he gave her the best of praises so that Aisha used to say
"I never envied any woman as much as I envied Khadijah. The Holy Prophet always remembered her. Whenever any sheep or goat was slaughtered, the choicest parts were sent to Khadijah's relatives and friends. I used to say, 'It appears that Khadijah was the only woman in the world.' Hearing this, the Holy Prophet was very much annoyed and said: 'Khadijah had many virtues, which others do not have. "'
However such spousal jealousy isnt blameworthy, especially considering how Aisha herself reported Khadija’s merits. Further, Aisha too had merits of her own, as stated earlier. There are some documented conflicts and instances of petty jealousies among the Prophet Muhammad’s wives, but this was by no means the norm and the prophet was always considerate and delicate when handling these issues. Aisha narrated:
“Once, Sawdah visited us and the Prophet sat down between me and her, one leg in her lap and the other in mine. I made then Khazira (a dish of bran in meat broth) and told her: “Eat!” She refused. I said: “If you don’t eat I will stain your face with Khazira,” but she insisted not to eat; therefore, I put my hand in Khazira and painted her face. Seeing that, the Prophet laughed and gave his share in Khazira to Sawdah and told her to stain my face; so, Sawdah stained my face and the Prophet laughed".
There are many such reported instances of the prophet's tactful handling of tense co-wives situations.
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