currymasterx
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- Jun 6, 2020
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"He was complicated.
On the one hand, there is a reasonable argument to be made that Mohammed was a social reformer who dealt with real problems in the area by the art of the possible. We may view Islamic endorsement of institutions like poylgamy as barbaric, but they were actually attempts to improve much worse institutions: limiting concubinery and harems, reducing the number of sex slaves. For the time, Mohammed was obviously pretty enlightened in terms of listening to female voices in his life. There’s many beautiful ideas in Islam, from a just war theory.
On the other hand, he was a violent expansionist. He married multiple women for political reasons, and while it’s not clear what age he may have had sex with Aisha, the fact is that he still married a literal child when he was decades her senior. He treated women like property, trophies or commodities to be exchanged. The fact that this was exceedingly common in the ancient world doesn’t justify it.
It’s not just that the Koran contains ugly verses and vile laws, much like the Old and even New Testaments. It’s that we can tell that this is very much what was meant, because it was what was implemented when the religion’s founder had power.
If there was someone alive today who acted like Mohammed, I and most others, including most Muslims, would view him as a moral monster and maniac. The only meaningful debate we would have is if such a man was a fanatic, a narcissist, or a completely venal political operator using religion to motivate people to die in his name and for his interests.
Even within the options available to him at the time, I think Mohammed had better choices. He could have been like the Sikh gurus, aiming for religious tolerance to the point that he would literally die for other people’s right to have their own faith. He could have been like Dr. King.
I don’t know if I can say with certitude that a man I never met was a good or bad person. What I can say is that, based on the records that we have, no human being should ever emulate his example"
On the one hand, there is a reasonable argument to be made that Mohammed was a social reformer who dealt with real problems in the area by the art of the possible. We may view Islamic endorsement of institutions like poylgamy as barbaric, but they were actually attempts to improve much worse institutions: limiting concubinery and harems, reducing the number of sex slaves. For the time, Mohammed was obviously pretty enlightened in terms of listening to female voices in his life. There’s many beautiful ideas in Islam, from a just war theory.
On the other hand, he was a violent expansionist. He married multiple women for political reasons, and while it’s not clear what age he may have had sex with Aisha, the fact is that he still married a literal child when he was decades her senior. He treated women like property, trophies or commodities to be exchanged. The fact that this was exceedingly common in the ancient world doesn’t justify it.
It’s not just that the Koran contains ugly verses and vile laws, much like the Old and even New Testaments. It’s that we can tell that this is very much what was meant, because it was what was implemented when the religion’s founder had power.
If there was someone alive today who acted like Mohammed, I and most others, including most Muslims, would view him as a moral monster and maniac. The only meaningful debate we would have is if such a man was a fanatic, a narcissist, or a completely venal political operator using religion to motivate people to die in his name and for his interests.
Even within the options available to him at the time, I think Mohammed had better choices. He could have been like the Sikh gurus, aiming for religious tolerance to the point that he would literally die for other people’s right to have their own faith. He could have been like Dr. King.
I don’t know if I can say with certitude that a man I never met was a good or bad person. What I can say is that, based on the records that we have, no human being should ever emulate his example"
