
turneywest
Yup, another right wing guy
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Ok@shia.jihadist @SecularIslamist spin back yall@Narcissusđ„
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Ok@shia.jihadist @SecularIslamist spin back yall@Narcissusđ„
no offence to u for ur essay, just wanna see some counterpoints
no problemno offence to u for ur essay, just wanna see some counterpoints
Introduction:
The purpose of this thread is to inform every person so that he knows the truth about it and to kindle hatred towards this religion. Also, the author of this thread does not support other religions in this way.
Table Of Contents:
green - short analysis/orange - long analysis
- So how old was Aisha?
- Incest in Islam
- The Golden Age of Islam
- Islam is a religion of peace?
- How Prophet Muhammad Stole Someone Else's Wife
- Permissibility of child marriages
- how the prophet justified passions with the Quran
At this point I will not comment, I will present reliable traditional Islamic sources.
1. Al-Isabah fi Tamyiz al-Sahabah
(Author: Ibn al-Athir, Volume 7, pages 136â137 â Chapter on Aisha)
âHe married her when she was six years old and consummated the marriage when she was nine.â
2. Siyar Aâlam al-Nubalaâ
(Author: Al-Dhahabi, Volume 2, pages 135â136 â Chapter on Aisha)
âHe consummated the marriage with her in the month of Shawwal of the second year after Hijrah, and she was a girl of nine years old.â
3. Sunan Abi Dawood
(Hadith No. 3909 in the standard numbering)
âMy mother wanted me to gain weight before giving me to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in marriage, but nothing worked until she fed me cucumbers along with fresh dates, after which I became chubby in the best way.â
Incest in Islam
In Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), there have been complex and sometimes controversial discussions concerning the status of children born out of fornication (zina). While the overwhelming majority of scholars agreed that such children maintain certain legal ties with their biological parents â particularly concerning prohibitions on marriage (mahram relations) â there were minority opinions among early jurists that approached the matter differently.
It is reported that two prominent scholars, Imam Malik ibn Anas and Imam Ash-Shafiâi, held views that deviated from the mainstream on this issue. Several respected scholars from later generations, who had no interest in defaming them, transmitted these opinions in their works. Based on their reports, a child born from fornication was not seen, according to Malik and Shafiâiâs interpretations, as establishing a legal kinship that would prohibit marriage.
Below are key statements from major Islamic legal sources that describe these views:
1. From Al-Mughni by Ibn Qudamah:
âThis is the opinion of the majority of scholars, but Malik and Shafiâi, as is well-known from their madhhabs, considered all of the aforementioned permissible.â
2. Also from Ibn Qudamah, further explanation:
âSince she is a stranger to him and does not trace her legal lineage back to him, there is no inheritance between them. If he acquires her as a slave, he does not free her. He is not obligated to provide for her, and she is not forbidden to him, just like most unrelated women.â
3. From Sharh Sahih Muslim by An-Nawawi:
âThe opinion of Malik, Shafiâi, Abu Thawr, and others is that sexual intercourse through fornication does not bring about specific legal consequences. Therefore, a fornicator is permitted to marry the woman with whom he committed fornication, as well as her daughter.â
4. Specific transmission of Imam Shafiâiâs opinion as quoted by An-Nawawi:
âHowever, Ash-Shafiâi added, saying that it is permissible for a man to have intercourse with a daughter born from his own semen as a result of fornication.â
5. From Ikhtilaf al-Aâimma al-âUlama by Ibn Hubayrah:
âThe scholars differed regarding girls born from fornication. Is it permissible for the one who fathered her through fornication to marry her? Ahmad and Abu Hanifa said: no. But Imam Shafiâi said: it is permissible.â
The golden age of Islam
How the West Created the Narrative of the âGolden Age of Islamâ
Letâs first determine the roots of the narrative about the Golden Age of Islam. First and foremost, itâs important to understand that the Golden Age of Islam is a cultural product of the post-colonial era that originated in the West. In our time, this narrative serves as a double-edged sword: in the Islamic world, it is used by daâwah preachers and apologists of Islam, while in the West it is employed by adherents of the neoliberal agenda. In the latter case, the Golden Age of Islam is one of the tools used in the cultural war against the traditional values of Western societies. It is a convenient instrument that helps impose false tolerance and erode the self-awareness of Western peoples.
From an academic standpoint, this narrative often portrays the Renaissance as a product of Islamic civilization. Today, the myth of the Golden Age of Islam holds a significant place in the curricula of humanities departments in Western Europe and North America, which are almost entirely dominated by leftist ideologies. These departments consistently produce pseudo-experts who will go on to tell you how Islam supposedly played a pivotal role in the development of progress.
Weâll come back to Ibn Sina and Ibn Rushd separately later. As for Hasan Mehdi, who dresses like a model kafir, speaks English better than the average Brit, works for Western media tycoons, and graduated from the oldest educational institution in the Anglo-Saxon world â he can hardly be seen as a representative of the ummah of the Messenger of Allah. In short, Islam has been a convenient tool repeatedly used by Western elites over the past century, and there are at least a dozen more figures like Hasan Mehdi.
How did Muslims pick up the idea of an Islamic Golden Age?
What interests us much more today is how the ideological products of the Golden Age of Islam were picked up by the believers themselves. If we turn to the Islamic scene, the Golden Age of Islam is used here as a means of coping with the inferiority complex that Muslim societies experience in the face of the Westâs political and technological dominance. The irony is that even in this case, Muslims try to defeat the enemy by playing by his rules and adopting his stylistic approach.
Just think about it: did Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, in the late 18th century, care that the Industrial Revolution was in full swing in Britain, while the Ottoman Empire was frantically modernizing its army by bringing in specialists from France? Itâs highly unlikely that any of the Salafi scholars back then believed the Islamic worldâs decline was due to falling behind in some kind of kafir science. To them, it was obvious that the Islamic ummah was mired in religious innovations (bidâah), and whatever was going on among the unbelievers was a secondary issue.
This continued until the West penetrated not just the lands of Islam, but the minds of Muslims themselves. At that point, ignoring Western progress became impossible, and they seized upon a tool created by Western intellectual centers and repurposed it for their own use. This is how, in our time, the internet became flooded with tales about scientific miracles in the Quran, Islamic medicine, and claims that the spread of Islam supposedly influenced the development of science.
Now that weâve clarified things a bit, letâs finally examine how Islamic the Golden Age of Islam truly was â what in this story is myth, and what is actually true. To begin with, we need to clarify Islamâs stance toward science as such.
The faithful often like to flaunt the hadith: âSeek knowledge, even if you have to go to China.â Even setting aside the fact that this hadith is weak, weâre already dealing with a distortion of meaning. When Muslims quote this phrase, they often, without realizing it, take it out of context. The issue is that in hadith literature, the word âknowledgeâ (âilm) is used in the Sharia context â and it means something completely different from the concept of âknowledgeâ in the Western tradition.
In the Islamic world, âknowledgeâ primarily refers to Sharia sciences, which have absolutely nothing to do with what we understand as science today. The phrase âseeking knowledgeâ is a fixed expression that specifically refers to the pursuit of Sharia knowledge from Islamic scholars. Therefore, the claim that Islam encourages the study of science is fundamentally incorrect. In fact, not only does Islam not promote science â it actively opposes it, since the scientific method is based on doubt, which in turn threatens a Muslimâs faith and is seen in Islam as a whispering from the devil or a sign of weak iman.
How Caliph Umar Burned the Books of the Persians and Greeks
The history of Islam itself can speak far more eloquently about Islamâs attitude toward science. Ibn Khaldun, who is often cited as a representative of the Golden Age of Islam, describes some very interesting things in his famous Muqaddimah, the prologue to Tarikh Ibn Khaldun.
In the section devoted to the rational sciences and their various types, where Ibn Khaldun derives the major core disciplines from philosophy and emphasizes the importance of logic, he also mentions the achievements of pre-Islamic civilizations in the field of astronomy. There, he writes that the main bearers of scientific knowledge at the time were the Persians and the Romans, and that before the advent of Islam, the sciences in those lands were like vast, overflowing seas.
Ibn Khaldun then focuses specifically on the Persians, writing that the rational sciences played an important role in their civilization, and that many scientific works reached the Greeks from the Persians through the conquests of Alexander the Great. After this, he finally turns to the period of Islamic conquests and describes how Muslims dealt with this cultural heritage.
When the Arabs invaded Persia, they seized an uncountable number of manuscripts. Saâd ibn Abi Waqqas wrote to Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab, requesting permission to distribute these books among the Muslims. Umar ordered him to throw the books into the water, saying that if they contained useful knowledge, then Allah had already given us better guidance; and if they contained harmful things, then Allah had protected us from them. So, the Muslims threw the manuscripts either into the water or into the fire, and the sciences of the Persians vanished into oblivion, never reaching us.
In a similar fashion, the Commander of the Faithful distinguished himself not only in Persia. When the forces of Amr ibn al-As captured Alexandria, they discovered Aristotleâs school, where many manuscripts were stored. When Umar ibn al-Khattab learned of this, according to the Egyptian Islamic historian al-Maqrizi, he ordered the books to be burned â a move sometimes mistakenly believed to be the destruction of the Library of Alexandria.
The Rise of Science and the Decline of Islam in the Caliphate
In general, these two examples clearly illustrate the attitude Muslims had toward science during the time of the Salaf. And really, if you think about it â what else could that attitude have been? If we start from the premise that Muslims emerged from Arabia in the 7th century, then weâre talking about a godforsaken land that neither Byzantium nor Persia had any real interest in. Naturally, the Arabs who lived there didnât recognize the value of science, firstly because they simply had no exposure to it, and secondly because when youâre struggling to survive in the harsh conditions of the Arabian desert â in a tribal society with a raid-based economy â science is the last thing on your mind.
It was a different story when the Arabs moved beyond their natural environment. Upon leaving Arabia, Muslims didnât end up just anywhere â they reached the very center of the known world. In just over a century, as they conquered one country after another, the Caliphate absorbed Sassanid Persia, Byzantium, and the southern part of the Western Roman Empire â along with the peoples who carried their ancient cultural legacies. And while the first 120 years saw the generations of the Sahabah and Tabiâun behaving like the Arabian tribe of Muhammad, with each new generation they increasingly blended with the conquered peoples and came under their cultural influence.
This explains the decline of Islam in the understanding of the righteous predecessors and its contamination by foreign philosophy and science brought in by disbelievers â Persians and Christians. Itâs worth noting here that the beginning of the so-called Golden Age of Islam is typically dated to the late 8th and early 9th centuries, a time when the Islamic community was more divided than ever, and the Islamic state itself, under the rule of the Abbasids, saw a surge in anti-Arab sentiment and the growing influence of non-Arabs.
That was when science briefly flourished â but Islam had nothing to do with it, as weâll now see. By the time of Harun al-Rashidâs rule, the ministries of the caliphate were firmly occupied by Persians from the ancient Barmakid family, who had held high positions even under the Sassanids before Islam. Under the Umayyads, Persians and other non-Arabs were treated as second-class citizens, but after the Abbasid revolution â in which the Persians played a major role â they gained such influence that the Arab Muslim caliph became, if not a symbolic figure, at least heavily dependent on the political experience of the Persian elite.
Whatâs even more important is that, based on a range of indirect signs, we can infer that the Persian elite merely used Islam as a cover to access power and advance their own agenda. This was well observed by their contemporaries. The Hanbali scholar Ibn Qutaybah quotes the court Arabic language teacher of Harun al-Rashid, Abu Saâid al-Asmaâi, who described the Barmakids in this way: âWhen polytheism is mentioned in gatherings, the faces of the Barmakids light up with joy, but when the Qurâan is recited in their presence, they start mumbling stories about Marw (Merv).â
Caliph al-Mamun - patron of sciences and Taghut
If during the time of Harun al-Rashid the Barmakids were still kept somewhat in check, then under his son, Caliph Abdullah al-Maâmun, they began to feel even more confident. Incidentally, Caliph al-Maâmun himself was conceived by Harun through a Persian slave woman named Marajil â the influence of Persian disbelievers was clearly present.
Al-Dhahabi, in Siyar Aâlam al-Nubalaâ, gives us the following description of Caliph al-Maâmun: He was fond of literature, studied the rational sciences and the knowledge of those who came before Islam, and he ordered that their books be translated into Arabic. Al-Maâmun repeatedly transported books of Greek philosophers from Cyprus to Damascus.
We also learn about al-Maâmunâs sympathy for the misguided Muâtazilite sect â innovators and followers of Greek philosophy.
What do you thinkâdoes it befit the Commander of the Faithful to study the sciences of disbelievers and spread their books among the believers, while Caliph âUmar burned their manuscripts in his struggle to preserve the purity of this religion? Beyond al-Maâmunâs passion for innovation and studying the forbidden, in his ambition to spread among Muslims beliefs that contradict the Qurâan and the Sunnah, he founded an entire academy in Baghdad called the âHouse of Wisdom.â
And what was done in this House of Wisdom? Were they copying out the sacred pages of the Qurâan? Were they collecting the authentic hadiths passed down from the Messenger of Allah? Oh no! In this House, al-Maâmun gathered Persians and Christians and generously rewarded them with gold for translating into the language of the Messenger of Allah the works of Plato, Aristotle, Hippocrates, Galen, and mathematicians and philosophers from among the polytheist Indians.
And was this not influenced by the hypocritical Barmakids, who had already supported such initiatives under their own king, Khosrow I, who encouraged the study of sciences and gave shelter to fugitive Syrian Nestorian scholars?
Bayt al-Hikma was essentially a direct copy of the Academy of Gondishapur in the Khuzestan province of modern Iran, which was a major scientific center under the Sassanids. Also worth noting is that the patron of sciences, al-Maâmun, initiated the so-called Mihna â an inquisition testing the loyalty of Sunni scholars to the regime. And among its targets was none other than Ahmad ibn Hanbal himself, who surely needs no introduction.
The end of the golden age
The reign of al-Maâmun was perhaps the only period when sciences received a boost and experienced a revival in the lands ravaged by the Arabs. However, this did not last long. With the arrival of al-Mutawakkil, the pursuit of knowledge waned, and the Muslim elite returned to their usual activitiesâethnic conflicts, power struggles, and intra-religious disputes. Meanwhile, science continued to develop only on the periphery of the Islamic world, and even there, it faced criticism from scholars. To understand this, letâs briefly review the biographies of the scholars who lived in Islamic countries and whose fame Muslims often try to claim for themselves.
The first of them is Ibn Sina, better known as Avicenna. An ethnic Persian from the village of Afshana in the Bukhara region, Ibn Sina gained fame primarily as a physician and philosopher. His father was a preacher of the Ismaili sect of Shiâism. Ibn Sina studied Euclid and Aristotleâs metaphysics, and, as reported by Az-Zahabi, to study the latter, Ibn Sina had to recite it 40 times before he memorized it, and then, in order to fully understand it, he had to study the commentaries of Al-Farabi on metaphysics. From his biography, we see that he spent most of his life practicing medicine among the rulers of Persian cities, and he had little interest in Islamic sciences, not to mention that the philosophy he studied directly contradicted Islamic beliefs, for which he was criticized not only by Sunni scholars but even by Sufis.
If we mentioned Aristotleâs metaphysics, we should also mention the author of its commentary, Al-Farabi, who was either a Turk or a Sogdian Persian, and whom Az-Zahabi calls the âwise sheikh of philosophy,â who, as you might have guessed, was involved in philosophy. In addition to this, he also managed to write a whole treatise on music, âKitab al-Musiqa al-Kabir.â And if you thought that in this book he discusses the prohibition of music, I must disappoint you. Not only does he not prohibit it, but he also teaches it.
The next, equally prominent figure of the Golden Age is Ibn Rushd, also known as Averroes, born into a family of Maliki jurists in Andalusia. Although Ibn Rushdâs grandfather was a distinguished faqih (Islamic jurist) of the Cordoban Emirate, his grandson would go down in history as a noble representative of Eastern Aristotelianism. Al-Farabi refers to Ibn Rushd as the philosopher of the era and notes that he studied medicine as well as the sciences of those who came before Islam, mastering them to perfection. Some, as Al-Farabi points out, criticized Ibn Rushd for engaging in philosophy, yet this did not prevent him from writing a dozen works, most of which were treatises on the philosophy of Aristotle and Galen, as well as commentaries on the works of Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Al-Farabiâagain, on philosophy. Moreover, Ibn Rushd not only faced criticism but, in his final years, was completely shunned for his heretical statements. In the end, he died alone, under house arrest in his own home.
Finally, we must mention the Persian mathematician al-Khwarizmi, who is credited with coining the terms 'algorithm' and 'algebra.' Whatâs surprising is that he doesnât even appear in *Sier-an-Nubol*. Despite living much earlier than Dagobiâduring the reign of the well-known Caliph al-Maâmunâhe even headed the Baghdad branch of the Academy of Gundishapur under him.
Yet al-Khwarizmi had virtually no connection to Islam, let alone the humanities. Apart from his work on history (*tarikh*), all his other writings were devoted to mathematics, geography, and astronomy. Moreover, al-Khwarizmi derived the foundation of his mathematical knowledge in Central Asia from the works of Greek and Indian scholars.
Islam is a religion of peace?Letâs turn to the interpretations of the Quran. Concerning the words of the Almighty in Surah Al-Baqarah â âThere is no compulsion in religionâ â we find the following explanation from the prominent Sunni mufassir Ibn Kathir:
âThe opinion of many scholars is that this verse refers to the People of the Book who entered their religion before it was abrogated and replaced, and who paid the jizya tax.â
âOthers have said that this ruling was abrogated by the verse of fighting, since it is necessary to call all nations to the acceptance of the true religion â the religion of Islam.â
âAnd if any of them refuses to accept Islam without paying or surrendering the jizya, then they are to be fought until they are killed.â
âAnd that is the meaning of compulsion, as Allah the Almighty has said: âYou will be called to fight a people of great might. You will fight them, or they will submit to Islam.â"
âThe Almighty also said: âO Prophet, fight against the disbelievers and the hypocrites and be harsh with them.ââ
âAnd again the Almighty said: âO you who believe, fight those disbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you harshness. And know that Allah is with the righteous.ââ
âAnd as stated in an authentic hadith, Allah will marvel at people who enter Paradise in chains â meaning that captives brought to Muslim lands in shackles and collars will later accept Islam, and their deeds and sins will be rectified so that they will become among the people of Paradise.â
Beautiful, isnât it, dear friend? As for the verse âWhoever saves one lifeâŠâ, and so on â here, my friends, you didnât even bother to read what was written a few verses earlier, or what follows this verse. Allah recounts the biblical story of Cain killing Abel and then quotes a Jewish legal tract â the Sanhedrin â which the author of the Quran, in his ignorance, presents as the direct speech of God. Thatâs where your favorite quote, addressed to the Children of Israel, actually comes from.
And the next verse already announces the Islamic order, promising for anyone who wages war against Allah and His Messenger and seeks to cause corruption on earth â execution by crucifixion or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides.
As for all the hadiths of varying authenticity about Muhammad visiting a sick Jew, it is enough to recall the narration found in Sahih Muslim from Umar ibn al-Khattab, in which Muhammad promises to expel all Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula. And yet, a Muslim will still speak about how a Muslim should live in peace with others. Moreover, some everyday Muslims even manage to befriend kuffar and call them brothers.
From a human perspective, this is completely normal and right â but the deity Muslims worship does not wish for that. âBelievers cannot take disbelievers as allies or friends, for whoever does so has nothing to do with Allah.â This verse â which, as you might guess, is from Medina â is one of the foundations of the doctrine of Al-Walaâ wal-Baraâ (âLoyalty and Disavowalâ), which obligates Muslims to show loyalty to fellow Muslims and disavowal toward disbelievers.
The only exception to this rule is when a Muslim is genuinely afraid of the disbelievers. On this, Imam Ibn Kathir gives the following commentary:
âIf you fear them â being in certain lands and under certain circumstances â a believer may outwardly show friendship, but should not intend it in their heart.â
In other words, Islam teaches you deceit and cunning â gently called precaution. And to reinforce this point, Ibn Kathir cites the hadith of At-Tirmidhi from Abu Ad-Darda:
âIndeed, we smile in the faces of some people, while our hearts curse them.â
The last two arguments you may hear from everyday Muslims are:
1. That all of the above concerns only the polytheists who were hostile to Muslims.
2. That it was only relevant during the Prophetâs time and that of his companions.
The second argument shows that you are not paying attention and do not read your sources. Islam is a religion that does not recognize time limits or territorial boundaries: âJihad will continue until the Day of Judgment.â
What was revealed in verse 29 of Surah At-Tawbah is the final ruling for believers concerning the kuffar. The consensus of Ahl al-Sunnah mufassirs is that this verse was revealed as an irrevocable command for Muslims to uncompromisingly establish the will of Allah and His Messenger across all corners of the earth. Ibn Kathir writes the following:
âThis noble verse was revealed as a command to fight the People of the Book, after the affairs with the polytheists had been settled and people were entering Allahâs religion in crowds.â
âAnd when the Arabian Peninsula had been set aright, Allah and His Messenger commanded the fighting of the People of the Two Books â the Jews and the Christians. This occurred in the ninth year of the Hijrah. And that is why the Messenger of Allah prepared for war with the Romans and called the people to it.â
So, returning to the first argument: as we have seen, neither Christians nor Jews are to be considered friends or brothers by Muslims â they are to be fought until they either accept Islam or pay tribute in humiliation.
Moreover, you must understand that this command essentially applies to all non-Muslims, since during Muhammadâs time, Allah was apparently unaware that, in addition to Christians, Jews, and pagans, there were also Buddhists and people who simply donât believe in God or worship anyone.
Later, Muslims found a rather elegant solution to this oversight: they divided the kuffar into three main groups â Christians, Jews, and polytheists. Into the last category, alongside pagans, they continue to lump in virtually anyone they donât understand but who must, in the Muslim mind, be shoved into one of the categories of disbelievers.
How the Prophet Stole Someone Else's Wife
We will talk about the story of the Prophetâs marriage to one of his thirteen wives, Zaynab bint Jahsh. Before turning to the sources, letâs first familiarize ourselves with the main characters. I believe the Prophet Muhammad needs no introduction, so we will immediately move on to the other important figure in this story, Zayd ibn Harithah.
Zayd ibn Harithah was a slave who, as a young child, was taken captive and passed from hand to hand until he was gifted to Muhammad and his first wife, the merchant Khadijah bint Khuwaylid. Muhammad grew so fond of Zayd that he granted him freedom and adopted him, after which Zayd became known as Zayd ibn Muhammadâat least until a certain point, which we will discuss later.
The central figure of the conflict in this story is Zaynab bint Jahsh, a woman from the noble Asad clan of the Quraysh tribe. Muhammad arranged her marriage to his adopted son, Zayd. This caused resentment both among her relatives and within Zaynab herself, who was not eager to marry Zayd. Nevertheless, the word of the Messenger of Allah was law, and the marriage was carried out.
All might have been well, and we might not even have paid attention to this story, if not for one crucial detail. To understand it properly, we need to turn to the primary sources. The story in question can be found in Volume Two of Tarikh al-Tabari, specifically in the section dedicated to the events of the fifth year of the Hijrah. There, al-Tabari writes:
âThen came the fifth year of the Hijrah, and in this year, the Messenger of Allah married Zaynab bint Jahsh.â
I draw your attention to the fact that at that time, Zaynab was already married to Zayd.
âThe Messenger of Allah decided to visit Zayd ibn Harithah, who was then called âZayd, the son of Muhammad.â Apparently, they missed each other by an hour. Muhammad came to Zaydâs house, called for him, but did not find him there. Instead, Zaydâs wife, Zaynab bint Jahsh, came out to greet him, lightly clothed.â
And here the most interesting part begins.
Muhammad turned away from her, and she said that Zayd was not home, inviting him inside, saying:
âCome in, O Messenger of Allah, for you are dear to me as my father and mother.â
Muhammad refused to enter. When Zayd found out that the Messenger of Allah had been at his door, he hurried home, hastily throwing something on, and Muhammad was pleased by what he sawâit sparked admiration in him. Muhammad turned away and began to murmur something unintelligible, from which only the phrases could be understood:
âBlessed be Allah, the Almighty. Blessed be Allah, the One who guides hearts.â
When Zayd returned home, his wife told him that the Messenger of Allah had come. Zayd asked:
âYou invited him in, didnât you?â
She replied:
âI did, but he refused.â
Zayd then asked:
âDid he say anything else?â
She answered:
âWhen he turned away, I heard him say: âBlessed be Allah the Almighty, blessed be Allah who guides hearts.ââ
Now, how did Zayd react to this situation, which at first glance seemed unremarkable? He went to the Messenger of Allah and said:
âO Messenger of Allah, I heard you came to my house but refused to enter. O you who are dearer to me than my own father and mother. Perhaps you admired Zaynab, and I should divorce her?â
Muhammad, portraying nobility, replied, encouraging Zayd to keep his wife.
At first glance, it seemed as if no one was forcing anything. But remember for a moment who Muhammad was. Put yourself in Zaydâs place and imagine how you would feel.
Al-Tabari notes:
âFrom that day, Zayd could no longer approach her.â
He would come to Muhammad to discuss it, and Muhammad would repeat:
âKeep your wife.â
Eventually, Al-Tabari writes:
âZayd divorced Zaynab, and she became permissible (for marriage).â
That is, her waiting period (âiddah) ended.
Of course, after 1400 years, itâs impossible to know exactly what happened, but itâs probably not a coincidence that Al-Tabariâs narrative emphasizes the phrase:
âShe pleased the Messenger of Allah.â
Most likely, someoneâmaybe even Zaynab herselfâtold Zayd about Muhammadâs feelings. Itâs possible that Zaynab, being from a noble family, preferred to become the wife of the Prophet rather than remain the wife of a former slave. Maybe she hinted to Zayd herself. Who knows.
What matters most is how the Messenger of Allah himself behaved after this incident.
Miraculously, verse 37 of Surah Al-Ahzab was revealed:
âAnd [remember, O Muhammad], when you said to the one on whom Allah bestowed favor and you bestowed favor [meaning Zayd, whom Muhammad freed from slavery]: âKeep your wife and fear Allah.â But you concealed within yourself that which Allah was to disclose, and you feared the people, while Allah has more right that you fear Him.â
If you still donât understand whatâs going on here, letâs turn to one of the most authoritative Sunni commentators, Ibn Kathir.
On the phrase âYou concealed within yourself that which Allah was to disclose,â Ibn Kathir writes:
âThis verse was revealed concerning Zaynab bint Jahsh and Zayd ibn Harithah.â
More precisely:
âAllah informed His Prophet that Zaynab would become one of his wives even before he married her. When Zayd would complain about his wife, the Prophet would tell him: âFear Allah and keep your wife,â even though Muhammad already knew Allahâs decree and kept it hidden in his heart.â
Remarkable, isnât it? Even when Allah himself had allegedly granted him such a favor, Muhammad still tried to preserve Zaydâs marriage.
So what else was revealed in that verse?
âWhen Zayd had finished with her [whether through consummation or divorce], We married her to youâŠâ
Read the Qurâan yourself, reread the verse thoughtfully, and ask yourself: do you really believe the Qurâan is the Word of God? Are you truly ready to believe that the Creator of the Universe would, in His sacred and final message to mankind, provide an excuse for Muhammad, who happened to become aroused at the sight of lightly clothed Zaynab bint Jahsh?
Ibn Kathir comments further:
âWhen Zayd fulfilled his desire with her and divorced her, Allah married Zaynab to the Messenger of Allah. Her guardian in marriage was Allah Himself, and Muhammad married her without a guardian, without a marriage contract, dowry, or witnesses.â
Before we move to the final part of the verse, itâs worth mentioning something else Ibn Kathir tells us:
âWhen Zaynabâs waiting period ended, the Messenger of Allah told Zayd ibn Harithah: âAnnounce to her that I wish to marry her.â Zayd went to her while she was kneading dough. He said: âWhen I saw her, I felt such awe that I couldnât even look at her and deliver the message.â So he turned away and said: âO Zaynab, good newsâthe Messenger of Allah wishes to marry you.â She responded: âI will not do anything until I seek guidance from my Lord.â Then she prayed, and revelation came down, and Muhammad came to her without seeking permission.â
Ibn Kathir further describes the celebration that followed.
Thus, not only did Muhammad shamelessly take advantage of the situation while justifying it as divine will, but he also made Zaydâwho clearly suffered from the separationâpersonally deliver the proposal to Zaynab.
When you read all this, you canât help but remember the claim that Muhammad is âthe best of mankindâ and âthe ultimate role model.â Learning what Muhammad did and said, while hearing such statements, naturally leads to deep disgust.
Even more troubling is the fact that some people are so entrenched in their ignorance that they feel no discomfort whatsoever reading this story. Worse, they feel obliged to harm anyone who criticizes their âinfallibleâ authority.
This is pure sectarianism: no matter how disgraceful the actions are, the believers will still compromise their conscience to defend their prophet.
At the end of the verse, Muhammad justifies himself:
ââŠso that there would be no blame upon the believers concerning the wives of their adopted sons when they have no longer any need of them. And the command of Allah must be fulfilled.â
It would seem strange if Allah sent down a divine revelation solely to provide moral justification for Muhammadâs desires without offering something to the broader Muslim community as well.
For example, ordinary believers are only allowed four wives, while Muhammad had up to twelve. People might start to suspect something, so it was necessary to provide some concessions for the community too.
Finally, it should be noted that this whole story had far-reaching consequences. From this point on, Allah decided that adopted sons could no longer bear the names of their adoptive fathers.
On this point, Ibn Kathir comments:
âBefore prophethood, Muhammad adopted Zayd ibn Harithah, and people called him Zayd ibn Muhammad. Allah abolished this by saying: âHe has not made your adopted sons your [true] sons. Call them by their [biological] fathersâ names; that is more just in the sight of Allah.ââ
And this was further confirmed and clarified by Muhammadâs marriage to Zaynab after Zaydâs divorce. Thus were the morals of the man considered the best to ever walk the earth.
Permissibility of child marriages
I won't comment much here either. I'll give you arguments.
1. The Qurâan permits marriage to girls who have not yet reached puberty.
Evidence:
Letâs open Surah At-Talaq (65:4):
âAnd those of your women who no longer expect menstruationâif you doubt [their waiting period], their prescribed waiting time is three months, as well as for those who have not yet menstruated. And for those who are pregnant, their term is until they give birth. And whoever fears Allah â He will make matters easy for him.â
This verse mentions a waiting period (iddah) not only for women past menopause but also for those who have not yet menstruated, meaning prepubescent girls.
Since the waiting period is to determine whether a woman is pregnant after divorce, it implies that sexual intercourse could have taken place even with such girls.
2. The Tafsir confirms that the verse concerns marriage to prepubescent girls.
Evidence:
Referring to the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir:
âAllah the Exalted clarifies the waiting period (iddah) for women whose menstruation has stopped due to their age. Their waiting period is three months, different from those who still menstruate, for whom the waiting period is three menstrual cycles. The same applies to those who have not yet menstruated.â
Ibn Kathir clearly states that the rule also applies to girls who have not yet reached menstruation. Thus, traditional Islamic scholarship acknowledges the possibility of marriage and sexual relations with prepubescent girls.
3. The Qurâan does not establish a minimum age for marriage.
Evidence:
Letâs examine Surah An-Nisa, verses 23â24:
âProhibited to you [for marriage] are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your paternal aunts, your maternal aunts, daughters of your brother, daughters of your sister, your milk-mothers who nursed you, your milk-sisters, mothers of your wives, your stepdaughters under your guardianship born of your wives unto whom you have gone inâbut there is no blame upon you if you have not gone in to themâand [the] wives of your sons who are from your own loins. And [also prohibited is] to take two sisters in marriage simultaneouslyâŠâ
âAnd [also prohibited are] married women, except those your right hands possess. [This is] the decree of Allah upon you. And lawful to you are [all others] beyond these, provided that you seek them [in marriage] with your property, desiring chastity, not unlawful sexual intercourse. So for whatever you enjoy [of marriage] from them, give them their due compensation as an obligationâŠâ
In these verses, Allah enumerates the categories of women prohibited for marriage but makes no mention of any age restrictions. Therefore, the Qurâan does not set a minimum age for marriage.
4. The Sunnah of the Prophet confirms the practice of marrying prepubescent girls.
Evidence:
From Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5133:
âNarrated Aisha: The Prophet married me when I was six years old, and consummated the marriage with me when I was nine years old. Then I remained with him for nine years.â
This hadith clearly states that the marriage contract was made when Aisha was six years old, and consummation took place when she was nine â which, by modern standards, is before full physical maturity.
5. Modern claims that Aisha was older are unfounded.
Commentary:
Some contemporary authors argue that Aisha was actually eighteen or nineteen at the time of her marriage, based on indirect historical indications. However, this contradicts the authentic narrations reported directly by Aisha herself and authenticated in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.
Thus, attempts to reinterpret Aishaâs age are deliberate historical distortions.
how the prophet justified passions with the Quran /Or how Muhammad composed the Quran on the fly.
I have already discussed the story of how Muhammad took the wife of Zayd ibn Harithah, conveniently receiving a revelation from Allah at just the right time to justify it. Today, we will continue this topic and examine a few more examples that clearly demonstrate how the Messenger of Allah manipulated people, using Quranic verses to justify his personal desires. There are quite a few examples of this.
Letâs take the Surah Al-Ahzab, for instance, where Allah âmarriedâ Muhammad to Zaydâs wife, Zaynab bint Jahsh, who Muhammad had taken a liking to. In addition to this, there are several verses in that Surah that would seriously shake the faith of any reasonable person in the idea that Muhammad had any sincere prophetic mission. Despite the Quran being regarded in Islam as the final message from God to mankind, expressing His will until Judgment Day, Muhammad had no problem using âdivine revelationâ to address his everyday needs.
For example, when reading verses 30â33, we see that Muhammad was very concerned about controlling his wives. So much so that the Lord of the Worlds, in His revelation, sternly warns Muhammadâs wives to be obedient if they do not want to face heavenly consequences:
âO wives of the Prophet! If any of you commits a clear immorality, her punishment will be doubled. That is easy for Allah.â
âBut whoever of you devoutly obeys Allah and His Messenger and does righteousness â We will give her her reward twice, and We have prepared for her a noble provision.â
In other words, Muhammad was very familiar with the âcarrot and stickâ method.
âO wives of the Prophet! You are not like any other women. If you fear Allah, then do not be soft in speech, lest he in whose heart is disease should covet, but speak in an appropriate manner.â
âAnd stay in your houses, and do not display yourselves like the display of the former times of ignorance. Establish prayer, give zakat, and obey Allah and His Messenger.â
Since Muhammad himself struggled with such desires, he measured others by his own standards and feared falling into the same kind of situation Zayd ibn Harithah did. Therefore, Allah intervened to remind the Prophetâs wives that it would be safer for them to limit their outings and contact with the outside world.
Just three verses later, we come across Muhammadâs scandalous story with Zaydâs wife, and after some clumsy justifications â or whether Allah himself excuses him, itâs hard to tell â we find a very telling verse where Muhammadâs authorship behind the words attributed to Allah becomes glaringly obvious:
âO Prophet! Indeed, We have made lawful to you your wives to whom you have given their due compensation and those your right hand possesses from what Allah has given you, and the daughters of your paternal uncles and aunts, and the daughters of your maternal uncles and aunts who emigrated with you, and any believing woman who offers herself to the Prophet if the Prophet wishes to marry her. This is only for you, excluding the [other] believers. We certainly know what We have made obligatory upon them concerning their wives and those their right hands possess. But We have made this concession for you in order that there be no discomfort upon youâŠâ
How about that? Pretty âconvenient,â right?
Thereâs another point to clarify here. Itâs often argued â and not without basis â that the Arabic word ۧÙŰłÙŰȘÙÙÙÙÙŰÙ (translated here as âto marryâ) doesnât necessarily mean âto marryâ in the legal sense, but rather âto have sexual intercourse.â The basic verb ÙۧÙÙŰÙ can, according to dictionaries, mean both âto marryâ and âto have sex.â
Thus, the verse could more accurately be translated as:
âThe Prophet is permitted any believing woman who offers herself to him if he wishes to sleep with her.â
You can easily verify this interpretation: go up to any Arab and say ۣ۱ÙŰŻ ŰŁÙ ŰŁÙÙŰ ŰšÙŰȘÙ (âI want to have sex with your daughterâ) â and watch the reaction you get. It will not be pleasant.
Moreover, the context of debauchery is also supported indirectly through verse 230 of Surah Al-Baqarah and through a hadith recorded by Al-Bukhari regarding divorce. Verse 230 says:
âIf he divorces her [for the third time], she is not lawful for him until she has married another husbandâŠâ
But many translations â such as Kuliyevâs â sneakily render it âuntil she marries another,â hiding the implication.
However, in Sahih al-Bukhari, thereâs a hadith where a woman comes to the Prophet after divorcing her first husband and marrying a second, who turned out to be impotent. The second husband denies it, claiming he is potent and blaming her rebelliousness. Muhammad, understanding that the woman wants to return to her first husband, tells her:
âYou cannot return to your first husband until the second one tastes your sweetness.â
Iâm sure you get the metaphor.
So, through simple reasoning, it becomes clear that Allah supposedly granted Muhammad an exclusive right to have intercourse with any woman who offered herself to him.
On the other hand, if you consult the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir, he does say it refers to marriage, albeit a very peculiar kind of marriage:
âMeaning: any believing woman who offers herself to the Prophet â if the Prophet wishes, he may marry her without paying a dowry.â
But hereâs the problem: in Sahih Muslim, another hadith clarifies that the word ÙÙŰ§Ű (from ÙÙŰ) â usually translated as âmarriageâ â absolutely refers to sexual intercourse. In this hadith, Muhammad commands Muslims to abstain from intercourse with their wives during menstruation, saying:
âۧ۔ÙŰčÙۧ ÙÙ ŰŽÙŰĄ Ű„Ùۧ ۧÙÙÙۧŰâ â âDo everything with her except intercourse.â
Therefore, considering the broader hadith context and the fact that in the verse being discussed, Muhammad is exempt from paying mahr (the bridal gift), it heavily suggests that what was actually intended here was straightforward sexual access.
Finally, even those close to Muhammad seemed to realize how self-serving these ârevelationsâ were. In a hadith from Muslim, Aisha says she was jealous of the women who offered themselves to the Prophet and would mockingly say:
âCan a woman offer herself?â
To which, conveniently, Allah would immediately ârevealâ another verse:
âYou may defer [the turn of] any of them you wish, and you may take to yourself any you wish. And if you desire any of those you had set aside, there is no blame upon you.â
Aisha sarcastically noted:
âBy Allah, I see that your Lord hastens to satisfy your desires.â
I might release part 2 if you like this analysis.![]()
You can read about the golden age, it's just history.to much to read but i believe you
Introduction:
The purpose of this thread is to inform every person so that he knows the truth about it and to kindle hatred towards this religion. Also, the author of this thread does not support other religions in this way.
Table Of Contents:
green - short analysis/orange - long analysis
- So how old was Aisha?
- Incest in Islam
- The Golden Age of Islam
- Islam is a religion of peace?
- How Prophet Muhammad Stole Someone Else's Wife
- Permissibility of child marriages
- how the prophet justified passions with the Quran
At this point I will not comment, I will present reliable traditional Islamic sources.
1. Al-Isabah fi Tamyiz al-Sahabah
(Author: Ibn al-Athir, Volume 7, pages 136â137 â Chapter on Aisha)
âHe married her when she was six years old and consummated the marriage when she was nine.â
2. Siyar Aâlam al-Nubalaâ
(Author: Al-Dhahabi, Volume 2, pages 135â136 â Chapter on Aisha)
âHe consummated the marriage with her in the month of Shawwal of the second year after Hijrah, and she was a girl of nine years old.â
3. Sunan Abi Dawood
(Hadith No. 3909 in the standard numbering)
âMy mother wanted me to gain weight before giving me to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in marriage, but nothing worked until she fed me cucumbers along with fresh dates, after which I became chubby in the best way.â
Incest in Islam
In Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), there have been complex and sometimes controversial discussions concerning the status of children born out of fornication (zina). While the overwhelming majority of scholars agreed that such children maintain certain legal ties with their biological parents â particularly concerning prohibitions on marriage (mahram relations) â there were minority opinions among early jurists that approached the matter differently.
It is reported that two prominent scholars, Imam Malik ibn Anas and Imam Ash-Shafiâi, held views that deviated from the mainstream on this issue. Several respected scholars from later generations, who had no interest in defaming them, transmitted these opinions in their works. Based on their reports, a child born from fornication was not seen, according to Malik and Shafiâiâs interpretations, as establishing a legal kinship that would prohibit marriage.
Below are key statements from major Islamic legal sources that describe these views:
1. From Al-Mughni by Ibn Qudamah:
âThis is the opinion of the majority of scholars, but Malik and Shafiâi, as is well-known from their madhhabs, considered all of the aforementioned permissible.â
2. Also from Ibn Qudamah, further explanation:
âSince she is a stranger to him and does not trace her legal lineage back to him, there is no inheritance between them. If he acquires her as a slave, he does not free her. He is not obligated to provide for her, and she is not forbidden to him, just like most unrelated women.â
3. From Sharh Sahih Muslim by An-Nawawi:
âThe opinion of Malik, Shafiâi, Abu Thawr, and others is that sexual intercourse through fornication does not bring about specific legal consequences. Therefore, a fornicator is permitted to marry the woman with whom he committed fornication, as well as her daughter.â
4. Specific transmission of Imam Shafiâiâs opinion as quoted by An-Nawawi:
âHowever, Ash-Shafiâi added, saying that it is permissible for a man to have intercourse with a daughter born from his own semen as a result of fornication.â
5. From Ikhtilaf al-Aâimma al-âUlama by Ibn Hubayrah:
âThe scholars differed regarding girls born from fornication. Is it permissible for the one who fathered her through fornication to marry her? Ahmad and Abu Hanifa said: no. But Imam Shafiâi said: it is permissible.â
The golden age of Islam
How the West Created the Narrative of the âGolden Age of Islamâ
Letâs first determine the roots of the narrative about the Golden Age of Islam. First and foremost, itâs important to understand that the Golden Age of Islam is a cultural product of the post-colonial era that originated in the West. In our time, this narrative serves as a double-edged sword: in the Islamic world, it is used by daâwah preachers and apologists of Islam, while in the West it is employed by adherents of the neoliberal agenda. In the latter case, the Golden Age of Islam is one of the tools used in the cultural war against the traditional values of Western societies. It is a convenient instrument that helps impose false tolerance and erode the self-awareness of Western peoples.
From an academic standpoint, this narrative often portrays the Renaissance as a product of Islamic civilization. Today, the myth of the Golden Age of Islam holds a significant place in the curricula of humanities departments in Western Europe and North America, which are almost entirely dominated by leftist ideologies. These departments consistently produce pseudo-experts who will go on to tell you how Islam supposedly played a pivotal role in the development of progress.
Weâll come back to Ibn Sina and Ibn Rushd separately later. As for Hasan Mehdi, who dresses like a model kafir, speaks English better than the average Brit, works for Western media tycoons, and graduated from the oldest educational institution in the Anglo-Saxon world â he can hardly be seen as a representative of the ummah of the Messenger of Allah. In short, Islam has been a convenient tool repeatedly used by Western elites over the past century, and there are at least a dozen more figures like Hasan Mehdi.
How did Muslims pick up the idea of an Islamic Golden Age?
What interests us much more today is how the ideological products of the Golden Age of Islam were picked up by the believers themselves. If we turn to the Islamic scene, the Golden Age of Islam is used here as a means of coping with the inferiority complex that Muslim societies experience in the face of the Westâs political and technological dominance. The irony is that even in this case, Muslims try to defeat the enemy by playing by his rules and adopting his stylistic approach.
Just think about it: did Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, in the late 18th century, care that the Industrial Revolution was in full swing in Britain, while the Ottoman Empire was frantically modernizing its army by bringing in specialists from France? Itâs highly unlikely that any of the Salafi scholars back then believed the Islamic worldâs decline was due to falling behind in some kind of kafir science. To them, it was obvious that the Islamic ummah was mired in religious innovations (bidâah), and whatever was going on among the unbelievers was a secondary issue.
This continued until the West penetrated not just the lands of Islam, but the minds of Muslims themselves. At that point, ignoring Western progress became impossible, and they seized upon a tool created by Western intellectual centers and repurposed it for their own use. This is how, in our time, the internet became flooded with tales about scientific miracles in the Quran, Islamic medicine, and claims that the spread of Islam supposedly influenced the development of science.
Now that weâve clarified things a bit, letâs finally examine how Islamic the Golden Age of Islam truly was â what in this story is myth, and what is actually true. To begin with, we need to clarify Islamâs stance toward science as such.
The faithful often like to flaunt the hadith: âSeek knowledge, even if you have to go to China.â Even setting aside the fact that this hadith is weak, weâre already dealing with a distortion of meaning. When Muslims quote this phrase, they often, without realizing it, take it out of context. The issue is that in hadith literature, the word âknowledgeâ (âilm) is used in the Sharia context â and it means something completely different from the concept of âknowledgeâ in the Western tradition.
In the Islamic world, âknowledgeâ primarily refers to Sharia sciences, which have absolutely nothing to do with what we understand as science today. The phrase âseeking knowledgeâ is a fixed expression that specifically refers to the pursuit of Sharia knowledge from Islamic scholars. Therefore, the claim that Islam encourages the study of science is fundamentally incorrect. In fact, not only does Islam not promote science â it actively opposes it, since the scientific method is based on doubt, which in turn threatens a Muslimâs faith and is seen in Islam as a whispering from the devil or a sign of weak iman.
How Caliph Umar Burned the Books of the Persians and Greeks
The history of Islam itself can speak far more eloquently about Islamâs attitude toward science. Ibn Khaldun, who is often cited as a representative of the Golden Age of Islam, describes some very interesting things in his famous Muqaddimah, the prologue to Tarikh Ibn Khaldun.
In the section devoted to the rational sciences and their various types, where Ibn Khaldun derives the major core disciplines from philosophy and emphasizes the importance of logic, he also mentions the achievements of pre-Islamic civilizations in the field of astronomy. There, he writes that the main bearers of scientific knowledge at the time were the Persians and the Romans, and that before the advent of Islam, the sciences in those lands were like vast, overflowing seas.
Ibn Khaldun then focuses specifically on the Persians, writing that the rational sciences played an important role in their civilization, and that many scientific works reached the Greeks from the Persians through the conquests of Alexander the Great. After this, he finally turns to the period of Islamic conquests and describes how Muslims dealt with this cultural heritage.
When the Arabs invaded Persia, they seized an uncountable number of manuscripts. Saâd ibn Abi Waqqas wrote to Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab, requesting permission to distribute these books among the Muslims. Umar ordered him to throw the books into the water, saying that if they contained useful knowledge, then Allah had already given us better guidance; and if they contained harmful things, then Allah had protected us from them. So, the Muslims threw the manuscripts either into the water or into the fire, and the sciences of the Persians vanished into oblivion, never reaching us.
In a similar fashion, the Commander of the Faithful distinguished himself not only in Persia. When the forces of Amr ibn al-As captured Alexandria, they discovered Aristotleâs school, where many manuscripts were stored. When Umar ibn al-Khattab learned of this, according to the Egyptian Islamic historian al-Maqrizi, he ordered the books to be burned â a move sometimes mistakenly believed to be the destruction of the Library of Alexandria.
The Rise of Science and the Decline of Islam in the Caliphate
In general, these two examples clearly illustrate the attitude Muslims had toward science during the time of the Salaf. And really, if you think about it â what else could that attitude have been? If we start from the premise that Muslims emerged from Arabia in the 7th century, then weâre talking about a godforsaken land that neither Byzantium nor Persia had any real interest in. Naturally, the Arabs who lived there didnât recognize the value of science, firstly because they simply had no exposure to it, and secondly because when youâre struggling to survive in the harsh conditions of the Arabian desert â in a tribal society with a raid-based economy â science is the last thing on your mind.
It was a different story when the Arabs moved beyond their natural environment. Upon leaving Arabia, Muslims didnât end up just anywhere â they reached the very center of the known world. In just over a century, as they conquered one country after another, the Caliphate absorbed Sassanid Persia, Byzantium, and the southern part of the Western Roman Empire â along with the peoples who carried their ancient cultural legacies. And while the first 120 years saw the generations of the Sahabah and Tabiâun behaving like the Arabian tribe of Muhammad, with each new generation they increasingly blended with the conquered peoples and came under their cultural influence.
This explains the decline of Islam in the understanding of the righteous predecessors and its contamination by foreign philosophy and science brought in by disbelievers â Persians and Christians. Itâs worth noting here that the beginning of the so-called Golden Age of Islam is typically dated to the late 8th and early 9th centuries, a time when the Islamic community was more divided than ever, and the Islamic state itself, under the rule of the Abbasids, saw a surge in anti-Arab sentiment and the growing influence of non-Arabs.
That was when science briefly flourished â but Islam had nothing to do with it, as weâll now see. By the time of Harun al-Rashidâs rule, the ministries of the caliphate were firmly occupied by Persians from the ancient Barmakid family, who had held high positions even under the Sassanids before Islam. Under the Umayyads, Persians and other non-Arabs were treated as second-class citizens, but after the Abbasid revolution â in which the Persians played a major role â they gained such influence that the Arab Muslim caliph became, if not a symbolic figure, at least heavily dependent on the political experience of the Persian elite.
Whatâs even more important is that, based on a range of indirect signs, we can infer that the Persian elite merely used Islam as a cover to access power and advance their own agenda. This was well observed by their contemporaries. The Hanbali scholar Ibn Qutaybah quotes the court Arabic language teacher of Harun al-Rashid, Abu Saâid al-Asmaâi, who described the Barmakids in this way: âWhen polytheism is mentioned in gatherings, the faces of the Barmakids light up with joy, but when the Qurâan is recited in their presence, they start mumbling stories about Marw (Merv).â
Caliph al-Mamun - patron of sciences and Taghut
If during the time of Harun al-Rashid the Barmakids were still kept somewhat in check, then under his son, Caliph Abdullah al-Maâmun, they began to feel even more confident. Incidentally, Caliph al-Maâmun himself was conceived by Harun through a Persian slave woman named Marajil â the influence of Persian disbelievers was clearly present.
Al-Dhahabi, in Siyar Aâlam al-Nubalaâ, gives us the following description of Caliph al-Maâmun: He was fond of literature, studied the rational sciences and the knowledge of those who came before Islam, and he ordered that their books be translated into Arabic. Al-Maâmun repeatedly transported books of Greek philosophers from Cyprus to Damascus.
We also learn about al-Maâmunâs sympathy for the misguided Muâtazilite sect â innovators and followers of Greek philosophy.
What do you thinkâdoes it befit the Commander of the Faithful to study the sciences of disbelievers and spread their books among the believers, while Caliph âUmar burned their manuscripts in his struggle to preserve the purity of this religion? Beyond al-Maâmunâs passion for innovation and studying the forbidden, in his ambition to spread among Muslims beliefs that contradict the Qurâan and the Sunnah, he founded an entire academy in Baghdad called the âHouse of Wisdom.â
And what was done in this House of Wisdom? Were they copying out the sacred pages of the Qurâan? Were they collecting the authentic hadiths passed down from the Messenger of Allah? Oh no! In this House, al-Maâmun gathered Persians and Christians and generously rewarded them with gold for translating into the language of the Messenger of Allah the works of Plato, Aristotle, Hippocrates, Galen, and mathematicians and philosophers from among the polytheist Indians.
And was this not influenced by the hypocritical Barmakids, who had already supported such initiatives under their own king, Khosrow I, who encouraged the study of sciences and gave shelter to fugitive Syrian Nestorian scholars?
Bayt al-Hikma was essentially a direct copy of the Academy of Gondishapur in the Khuzestan province of modern Iran, which was a major scientific center under the Sassanids. Also worth noting is that the patron of sciences, al-Maâmun, initiated the so-called Mihna â an inquisition testing the loyalty of Sunni scholars to the regime. And among its targets was none other than Ahmad ibn Hanbal himself, who surely needs no introduction.
The end of the golden age
The reign of al-Maâmun was perhaps the only period when sciences received a boost and experienced a revival in the lands ravaged by the Arabs. However, this did not last long. With the arrival of al-Mutawakkil, the pursuit of knowledge waned, and the Muslim elite returned to their usual activitiesâethnic conflicts, power struggles, and intra-religious disputes. Meanwhile, science continued to develop only on the periphery of the Islamic world, and even there, it faced criticism from scholars. To understand this, letâs briefly review the biographies of the scholars who lived in Islamic countries and whose fame Muslims often try to claim for themselves.
The first of them is Ibn Sina, better known as Avicenna. An ethnic Persian from the village of Afshana in the Bukhara region, Ibn Sina gained fame primarily as a physician and philosopher. His father was a preacher of the Ismaili sect of Shiâism. Ibn Sina studied Euclid and Aristotleâs metaphysics, and, as reported by Az-Zahabi, to study the latter, Ibn Sina had to recite it 40 times before he memorized it, and then, in order to fully understand it, he had to study the commentaries of Al-Farabi on metaphysics. From his biography, we see that he spent most of his life practicing medicine among the rulers of Persian cities, and he had little interest in Islamic sciences, not to mention that the philosophy he studied directly contradicted Islamic beliefs, for which he was criticized not only by Sunni scholars but even by Sufis.
If we mentioned Aristotleâs metaphysics, we should also mention the author of its commentary, Al-Farabi, who was either a Turk or a Sogdian Persian, and whom Az-Zahabi calls the âwise sheikh of philosophy,â who, as you might have guessed, was involved in philosophy. In addition to this, he also managed to write a whole treatise on music, âKitab al-Musiqa al-Kabir.â And if you thought that in this book he discusses the prohibition of music, I must disappoint you. Not only does he not prohibit it, but he also teaches it.
The next, equally prominent figure of the Golden Age is Ibn Rushd, also known as Averroes, born into a family of Maliki jurists in Andalusia. Although Ibn Rushdâs grandfather was a distinguished faqih (Islamic jurist) of the Cordoban Emirate, his grandson would go down in history as a noble representative of Eastern Aristotelianism. Al-Farabi refers to Ibn Rushd as the philosopher of the era and notes that he studied medicine as well as the sciences of those who came before Islam, mastering them to perfection. Some, as Al-Farabi points out, criticized Ibn Rushd for engaging in philosophy, yet this did not prevent him from writing a dozen works, most of which were treatises on the philosophy of Aristotle and Galen, as well as commentaries on the works of Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Al-Farabiâagain, on philosophy. Moreover, Ibn Rushd not only faced criticism but, in his final years, was completely shunned for his heretical statements. In the end, he died alone, under house arrest in his own home.
Finally, we must mention the Persian mathematician al-Khwarizmi, who is credited with coining the terms 'algorithm' and 'algebra.' Whatâs surprising is that he doesnât even appear in *Sier-an-Nubol*. Despite living much earlier than Dagobiâduring the reign of the well-known Caliph al-Maâmunâhe even headed the Baghdad branch of the Academy of Gundishapur under him.
Yet al-Khwarizmi had virtually no connection to Islam, let alone the humanities. Apart from his work on history (*tarikh*), all his other writings were devoted to mathematics, geography, and astronomy. Moreover, al-Khwarizmi derived the foundation of his mathematical knowledge in Central Asia from the works of Greek and Indian scholars.
Islam is a religion of peace?Letâs turn to the interpretations of the Quran. Concerning the words of the Almighty in Surah Al-Baqarah â âThere is no compulsion in religionâ â we find the following explanation from the prominent Sunni mufassir Ibn Kathir:
âThe opinion of many scholars is that this verse refers to the People of the Book who entered their religion before it was abrogated and replaced, and who paid the jizya tax.â
âOthers have said that this ruling was abrogated by the verse of fighting, since it is necessary to call all nations to the acceptance of the true religion â the religion of Islam.â
âAnd if any of them refuses to accept Islam without paying or surrendering the jizya, then they are to be fought until they are killed.â
âAnd that is the meaning of compulsion, as Allah the Almighty has said: âYou will be called to fight a people of great might. You will fight them, or they will submit to Islam.â"
âThe Almighty also said: âO Prophet, fight against the disbelievers and the hypocrites and be harsh with them.ââ
âAnd again the Almighty said: âO you who believe, fight those disbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you harshness. And know that Allah is with the righteous.ââ
âAnd as stated in an authentic hadith, Allah will marvel at people who enter Paradise in chains â meaning that captives brought to Muslim lands in shackles and collars will later accept Islam, and their deeds and sins will be rectified so that they will become among the people of Paradise.â
Beautiful, isnât it, dear friend? As for the verse âWhoever saves one lifeâŠâ, and so on â here, my friends, you didnât even bother to read what was written a few verses earlier, or what follows this verse. Allah recounts the biblical story of Cain killing Abel and then quotes a Jewish legal tract â the Sanhedrin â which the author of the Quran, in his ignorance, presents as the direct speech of God. Thatâs where your favorite quote, addressed to the Children of Israel, actually comes from.
And the next verse already announces the Islamic order, promising for anyone who wages war against Allah and His Messenger and seeks to cause corruption on earth â execution by crucifixion or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides.
As for all the hadiths of varying authenticity about Muhammad visiting a sick Jew, it is enough to recall the narration found in Sahih Muslim from Umar ibn al-Khattab, in which Muhammad promises to expel all Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula. And yet, a Muslim will still speak about how a Muslim should live in peace with others. Moreover, some everyday Muslims even manage to befriend kuffar and call them brothers.
From a human perspective, this is completely normal and right â but the deity Muslims worship does not wish for that. âBelievers cannot take disbelievers as allies or friends, for whoever does so has nothing to do with Allah.â This verse â which, as you might guess, is from Medina â is one of the foundations of the doctrine of Al-Walaâ wal-Baraâ (âLoyalty and Disavowalâ), which obligates Muslims to show loyalty to fellow Muslims and disavowal toward disbelievers.
The only exception to this rule is when a Muslim is genuinely afraid of the disbelievers. On this, Imam Ibn Kathir gives the following commentary:
âIf you fear them â being in certain lands and under certain circumstances â a believer may outwardly show friendship, but should not intend it in their heart.â
In other words, Islam teaches you deceit and cunning â gently called precaution. And to reinforce this point, Ibn Kathir cites the hadith of At-Tirmidhi from Abu Ad-Darda:
âIndeed, we smile in the faces of some people, while our hearts curse them.â
The last two arguments you may hear from everyday Muslims are:
1. That all of the above concerns only the polytheists who were hostile to Muslims.
2. That it was only relevant during the Prophetâs time and that of his companions.
The second argument shows that you are not paying attention and do not read your sources. Islam is a religion that does not recognize time limits or territorial boundaries: âJihad will continue until the Day of Judgment.â
What was revealed in verse 29 of Surah At-Tawbah is the final ruling for believers concerning the kuffar. The consensus of Ahl al-Sunnah mufassirs is that this verse was revealed as an irrevocable command for Muslims to uncompromisingly establish the will of Allah and His Messenger across all corners of the earth. Ibn Kathir writes the following:
âThis noble verse was revealed as a command to fight the People of the Book, after the affairs with the polytheists had been settled and people were entering Allahâs religion in crowds.â
âAnd when the Arabian Peninsula had been set aright, Allah and His Messenger commanded the fighting of the People of the Two Books â the Jews and the Christians. This occurred in the ninth year of the Hijrah. And that is why the Messenger of Allah prepared for war with the Romans and called the people to it.â
So, returning to the first argument: as we have seen, neither Christians nor Jews are to be considered friends or brothers by Muslims â they are to be fought until they either accept Islam or pay tribute in humiliation.
Moreover, you must understand that this command essentially applies to all non-Muslims, since during Muhammadâs time, Allah was apparently unaware that, in addition to Christians, Jews, and pagans, there were also Buddhists and people who simply donât believe in God or worship anyone.
Later, Muslims found a rather elegant solution to this oversight: they divided the kuffar into three main groups â Christians, Jews, and polytheists. Into the last category, alongside pagans, they continue to lump in virtually anyone they donât understand but who must, in the Muslim mind, be shoved into one of the categories of disbelievers.
How the Prophet Stole Someone Else's Wife
We will talk about the story of the Prophetâs marriage to one of his thirteen wives, Zaynab bint Jahsh. Before turning to the sources, letâs first familiarize ourselves with the main characters. I believe the Prophet Muhammad needs no introduction, so we will immediately move on to the other important figure in this story, Zayd ibn Harithah.
Zayd ibn Harithah was a slave who, as a young child, was taken captive and passed from hand to hand until he was gifted to Muhammad and his first wife, the merchant Khadijah bint Khuwaylid. Muhammad grew so fond of Zayd that he granted him freedom and adopted him, after which Zayd became known as Zayd ibn Muhammadâat least until a certain point, which we will discuss later.
The central figure of the conflict in this story is Zaynab bint Jahsh, a woman from the noble Asad clan of the Quraysh tribe. Muhammad arranged her marriage to his adopted son, Zayd. This caused resentment both among her relatives and within Zaynab herself, who was not eager to marry Zayd. Nevertheless, the word of the Messenger of Allah was law, and the marriage was carried out.
All might have been well, and we might not even have paid attention to this story, if not for one crucial detail. To understand it properly, we need to turn to the primary sources. The story in question can be found in Volume Two of Tarikh al-Tabari, specifically in the section dedicated to the events of the fifth year of the Hijrah. There, al-Tabari writes:
âThen came the fifth year of the Hijrah, and in this year, the Messenger of Allah married Zaynab bint Jahsh.â
I draw your attention to the fact that at that time, Zaynab was already married to Zayd.
âThe Messenger of Allah decided to visit Zayd ibn Harithah, who was then called âZayd, the son of Muhammad.â Apparently, they missed each other by an hour. Muhammad came to Zaydâs house, called for him, but did not find him there. Instead, Zaydâs wife, Zaynab bint Jahsh, came out to greet him, lightly clothed.â
And here the most interesting part begins.
Muhammad turned away from her, and she said that Zayd was not home, inviting him inside, saying:
âCome in, O Messenger of Allah, for you are dear to me as my father and mother.â
Muhammad refused to enter. When Zayd found out that the Messenger of Allah had been at his door, he hurried home, hastily throwing something on, and Muhammad was pleased by what he sawâit sparked admiration in him. Muhammad turned away and began to murmur something unintelligible, from which only the phrases could be understood:
âBlessed be Allah, the Almighty. Blessed be Allah, the One who guides hearts.â
When Zayd returned home, his wife told him that the Messenger of Allah had come. Zayd asked:
âYou invited him in, didnât you?â
She replied:
âI did, but he refused.â
Zayd then asked:
âDid he say anything else?â
She answered:
âWhen he turned away, I heard him say: âBlessed be Allah the Almighty, blessed be Allah who guides hearts.ââ
Now, how did Zayd react to this situation, which at first glance seemed unremarkable? He went to the Messenger of Allah and said:
âO Messenger of Allah, I heard you came to my house but refused to enter. O you who are dearer to me than my own father and mother. Perhaps you admired Zaynab, and I should divorce her?â
Muhammad, portraying nobility, replied, encouraging Zayd to keep his wife.
At first glance, it seemed as if no one was forcing anything. But remember for a moment who Muhammad was. Put yourself in Zaydâs place and imagine how you would feel.
Al-Tabari notes:
âFrom that day, Zayd could no longer approach her.â
He would come to Muhammad to discuss it, and Muhammad would repeat:
âKeep your wife.â
Eventually, Al-Tabari writes:
âZayd divorced Zaynab, and she became permissible (for marriage).â
That is, her waiting period (âiddah) ended.
Of course, after 1400 years, itâs impossible to know exactly what happened, but itâs probably not a coincidence that Al-Tabariâs narrative emphasizes the phrase:
âShe pleased the Messenger of Allah.â
Most likely, someoneâmaybe even Zaynab herselfâtold Zayd about Muhammadâs feelings. Itâs possible that Zaynab, being from a noble family, preferred to become the wife of the Prophet rather than remain the wife of a former slave. Maybe she hinted to Zayd herself. Who knows.
What matters most is how the Messenger of Allah himself behaved after this incident.
Miraculously, verse 37 of Surah Al-Ahzab was revealed:
âAnd [remember, O Muhammad], when you said to the one on whom Allah bestowed favor and you bestowed favor [meaning Zayd, whom Muhammad freed from slavery]: âKeep your wife and fear Allah.â But you concealed within yourself that which Allah was to disclose, and you feared the people, while Allah has more right that you fear Him.â
If you still donât understand whatâs going on here, letâs turn to one of the most authoritative Sunni commentators, Ibn Kathir.
On the phrase âYou concealed within yourself that which Allah was to disclose,â Ibn Kathir writes:
âThis verse was revealed concerning Zaynab bint Jahsh and Zayd ibn Harithah.â
More precisely:
âAllah informed His Prophet that Zaynab would become one of his wives even before he married her. When Zayd would complain about his wife, the Prophet would tell him: âFear Allah and keep your wife,â even though Muhammad already knew Allahâs decree and kept it hidden in his heart.â
Remarkable, isnât it? Even when Allah himself had allegedly granted him such a favor, Muhammad still tried to preserve Zaydâs marriage.
So what else was revealed in that verse?
âWhen Zayd had finished with her [whether through consummation or divorce], We married her to youâŠâ
Read the Qurâan yourself, reread the verse thoughtfully, and ask yourself: do you really believe the Qurâan is the Word of God? Are you truly ready to believe that the Creator of the Universe would, in His sacred and final message to mankind, provide an excuse for Muhammad, who happened to become aroused at the sight of lightly clothed Zaynab bint Jahsh?
Ibn Kathir comments further:
âWhen Zayd fulfilled his desire with her and divorced her, Allah married Zaynab to the Messenger of Allah. Her guardian in marriage was Allah Himself, and Muhammad married her without a guardian, without a marriage contract, dowry, or witnesses.â
Before we move to the final part of the verse, itâs worth mentioning something else Ibn Kathir tells us:
âWhen Zaynabâs waiting period ended, the Messenger of Allah told Zayd ibn Harithah: âAnnounce to her that I wish to marry her.â Zayd went to her while she was kneading dough. He said: âWhen I saw her, I felt such awe that I couldnât even look at her and deliver the message.â So he turned away and said: âO Zaynab, good newsâthe Messenger of Allah wishes to marry you.â She responded: âI will not do anything until I seek guidance from my Lord.â Then she prayed, and revelation came down, and Muhammad came to her without seeking permission.â
Ibn Kathir further describes the celebration that followed.
Thus, not only did Muhammad shamelessly take advantage of the situation while justifying it as divine will, but he also made Zaydâwho clearly suffered from the separationâpersonally deliver the proposal to Zaynab.
When you read all this, you canât help but remember the claim that Muhammad is âthe best of mankindâ and âthe ultimate role model.â Learning what Muhammad did and said, while hearing such statements, naturally leads to deep disgust.
Even more troubling is the fact that some people are so entrenched in their ignorance that they feel no discomfort whatsoever reading this story. Worse, they feel obliged to harm anyone who criticizes their âinfallibleâ authority.
This is pure sectarianism: no matter how disgraceful the actions are, the believers will still compromise their conscience to defend their prophet.
At the end of the verse, Muhammad justifies himself:
ââŠso that there would be no blame upon the believers concerning the wives of their adopted sons when they have no longer any need of them. And the command of Allah must be fulfilled.â
It would seem strange if Allah sent down a divine revelation solely to provide moral justification for Muhammadâs desires without offering something to the broader Muslim community as well.
For example, ordinary believers are only allowed four wives, while Muhammad had up to twelve. People might start to suspect something, so it was necessary to provide some concessions for the community too.
Finally, it should be noted that this whole story had far-reaching consequences. From this point on, Allah decided that adopted sons could no longer bear the names of their adoptive fathers.
On this point, Ibn Kathir comments:
âBefore prophethood, Muhammad adopted Zayd ibn Harithah, and people called him Zayd ibn Muhammad. Allah abolished this by saying: âHe has not made your adopted sons your [true] sons. Call them by their [biological] fathersâ names; that is more just in the sight of Allah.ââ
And this was further confirmed and clarified by Muhammadâs marriage to Zaynab after Zaydâs divorce. Thus were the morals of the man considered the best to ever walk the earth.
Permissibility of child marriages
I won't comment much here either. I'll give you arguments.
1. The Qurâan permits marriage to girls who have not yet reached puberty.
Evidence:
Letâs open Surah At-Talaq (65:4):
âAnd those of your women who no longer expect menstruationâif you doubt [their waiting period], their prescribed waiting time is three months, as well as for those who have not yet menstruated. And for those who are pregnant, their term is until they give birth. And whoever fears Allah â He will make matters easy for him.â
This verse mentions a waiting period (iddah) not only for women past menopause but also for those who have not yet menstruated, meaning prepubescent girls.
Since the waiting period is to determine whether a woman is pregnant after divorce, it implies that sexual intercourse could have taken place even with such girls.
2. The Tafsir confirms that the verse concerns marriage to prepubescent girls.
Evidence:
Referring to the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir:
âAllah the Exalted clarifies the waiting period (iddah) for women whose menstruation has stopped due to their age. Their waiting period is three months, different from those who still menstruate, for whom the waiting period is three menstrual cycles. The same applies to those who have not yet menstruated.â
Ibn Kathir clearly states that the rule also applies to girls who have not yet reached menstruation. Thus, traditional Islamic scholarship acknowledges the possibility of marriage and sexual relations with prepubescent girls.
3. The Qurâan does not establish a minimum age for marriage.
Evidence:
Letâs examine Surah An-Nisa, verses 23â24:
âProhibited to you [for marriage] are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your paternal aunts, your maternal aunts, daughters of your brother, daughters of your sister, your milk-mothers who nursed you, your milk-sisters, mothers of your wives, your stepdaughters under your guardianship born of your wives unto whom you have gone inâbut there is no blame upon you if you have not gone in to themâand [the] wives of your sons who are from your own loins. And [also prohibited is] to take two sisters in marriage simultaneouslyâŠâ
âAnd [also prohibited are] married women, except those your right hands possess. [This is] the decree of Allah upon you. And lawful to you are [all others] beyond these, provided that you seek them [in marriage] with your property, desiring chastity, not unlawful sexual intercourse. So for whatever you enjoy [of marriage] from them, give them their due compensation as an obligationâŠâ
In these verses, Allah enumerates the categories of women prohibited for marriage but makes no mention of any age restrictions. Therefore, the Qurâan does not set a minimum age for marriage.
4. The Sunnah of the Prophet confirms the practice of marrying prepubescent girls.
Evidence:
From Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5133:
âNarrated Aisha: The Prophet married me when I was six years old, and consummated the marriage with me when I was nine years old. Then I remained with him for nine years.â
This hadith clearly states that the marriage contract was made when Aisha was six years old, and consummation took place when she was nine â which, by modern standards, is before full physical maturity.
5. Modern claims that Aisha was older are unfounded.
Commentary:
Some contemporary authors argue that Aisha was actually eighteen or nineteen at the time of her marriage, based on indirect historical indications. However, this contradicts the authentic narrations reported directly by Aisha herself and authenticated in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.
Thus, attempts to reinterpret Aishaâs age are deliberate historical distortions.
how the prophet justified passions with the Quran /Or how Muhammad composed the Quran on the fly.
I have already discussed the story of how Muhammad took the wife of Zayd ibn Harithah, conveniently receiving a revelation from Allah at just the right time to justify it. Today, we will continue this topic and examine a few more examples that clearly demonstrate how the Messenger of Allah manipulated people, using Quranic verses to justify his personal desires. There are quite a few examples of this.
Letâs take the Surah Al-Ahzab, for instance, where Allah âmarriedâ Muhammad to Zaydâs wife, Zaynab bint Jahsh, who Muhammad had taken a liking to. In addition to this, there are several verses in that Surah that would seriously shake the faith of any reasonable person in the idea that Muhammad had any sincere prophetic mission. Despite the Quran being regarded in Islam as the final message from God to mankind, expressing His will until Judgment Day, Muhammad had no problem using âdivine revelationâ to address his everyday needs.
For example, when reading verses 30â33, we see that Muhammad was very concerned about controlling his wives. So much so that the Lord of the Worlds, in His revelation, sternly warns Muhammadâs wives to be obedient if they do not want to face heavenly consequences:
âO wives of the Prophet! If any of you commits a clear immorality, her punishment will be doubled. That is easy for Allah.â
âBut whoever of you devoutly obeys Allah and His Messenger and does righteousness â We will give her her reward twice, and We have prepared for her a noble provision.â
In other words, Muhammad was very familiar with the âcarrot and stickâ method.
âO wives of the Prophet! You are not like any other women. If you fear Allah, then do not be soft in speech, lest he in whose heart is disease should covet, but speak in an appropriate manner.â
âAnd stay in your houses, and do not display yourselves like the display of the former times of ignorance. Establish prayer, give zakat, and obey Allah and His Messenger.â
Since Muhammad himself struggled with such desires, he measured others by his own standards and feared falling into the same kind of situation Zayd ibn Harithah did. Therefore, Allah intervened to remind the Prophetâs wives that it would be safer for them to limit their outings and contact with the outside world.
Just three verses later, we come across Muhammadâs scandalous story with Zaydâs wife, and after some clumsy justifications â or whether Allah himself excuses him, itâs hard to tell â we find a very telling verse where Muhammadâs authorship behind the words attributed to Allah becomes glaringly obvious:
âO Prophet! Indeed, We have made lawful to you your wives to whom you have given their due compensation and those your right hand possesses from what Allah has given you, and the daughters of your paternal uncles and aunts, and the daughters of your maternal uncles and aunts who emigrated with you, and any believing woman who offers herself to the Prophet if the Prophet wishes to marry her. This is only for you, excluding the [other] believers. We certainly know what We have made obligatory upon them concerning their wives and those their right hands possess. But We have made this concession for you in order that there be no discomfort upon youâŠâ
How about that? Pretty âconvenient,â right?
Thereâs another point to clarify here. Itâs often argued â and not without basis â that the Arabic word ۧÙŰłÙŰȘÙÙÙÙÙŰÙ (translated here as âto marryâ) doesnât necessarily mean âto marryâ in the legal sense, but rather âto have sexual intercourse.â The basic verb ÙۧÙÙŰÙ can, according to dictionaries, mean both âto marryâ and âto have sex.â
Thus, the verse could more accurately be translated as:
âThe Prophet is permitted any believing woman who offers herself to him if he wishes to sleep with her.â
You can easily verify this interpretation: go up to any Arab and say ۣ۱ÙŰŻ ŰŁÙ ŰŁÙÙŰ ŰšÙŰȘÙ (âI want to have sex with your daughterâ) â and watch the reaction you get. It will not be pleasant.
Moreover, the context of debauchery is also supported indirectly through verse 230 of Surah Al-Baqarah and through a hadith recorded by Al-Bukhari regarding divorce. Verse 230 says:
âIf he divorces her [for the third time], she is not lawful for him until she has married another husbandâŠâ
But many translations â such as Kuliyevâs â sneakily render it âuntil she marries another,â hiding the implication.
However, in Sahih al-Bukhari, thereâs a hadith where a woman comes to the Prophet after divorcing her first husband and marrying a second, who turned out to be impotent. The second husband denies it, claiming he is potent and blaming her rebelliousness. Muhammad, understanding that the woman wants to return to her first husband, tells her:
âYou cannot return to your first husband until the second one tastes your sweetness.â
Iâm sure you get the metaphor.
So, through simple reasoning, it becomes clear that Allah supposedly granted Muhammad an exclusive right to have intercourse with any woman who offered herself to him.
On the other hand, if you consult the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir, he does say it refers to marriage, albeit a very peculiar kind of marriage:
âMeaning: any believing woman who offers herself to the Prophet â if the Prophet wishes, he may marry her without paying a dowry.â
But hereâs the problem: in Sahih Muslim, another hadith clarifies that the word ÙÙŰ§Ű (from ÙÙŰ) â usually translated as âmarriageâ â absolutely refers to sexual intercourse. In this hadith, Muhammad commands Muslims to abstain from intercourse with their wives during menstruation, saying:
âۧ۔ÙŰčÙۧ ÙÙ ŰŽÙŰĄ Ű„Ùۧ ۧÙÙÙۧŰâ â âDo everything with her except intercourse.â
Therefore, considering the broader hadith context and the fact that in the verse being discussed, Muhammad is exempt from paying mahr (the bridal gift), it heavily suggests that what was actually intended here was straightforward sexual access.
Finally, even those close to Muhammad seemed to realize how self-serving these ârevelationsâ were. In a hadith from Muslim, Aisha says she was jealous of the women who offered themselves to the Prophet and would mockingly say:
âCan a woman offer herself?â
To which, conveniently, Allah would immediately ârevealâ another verse:
âYou may defer [the turn of] any of them you wish, and you may take to yourself any you wish. And if you desire any of those you had set aside, there is no blame upon you.â
Aisha sarcastically noted:
âBy Allah, I see that your Lord hastens to satisfy your desires.â
I might release part 2 if you like this analysis.![]()
yes, faith is the law. Faith in Abrahamic religions is fucked upKafir ramblings, Faith is law
Introduction:
The purpose of this thread is to inform every person so that he knows the truth about it and to kindle hatred towards this religion. Also, the author of this thread does not support other religions in this way.
Table Of Contents:
green - short analysis/orange - long analysis
- So how old was Aisha?
- Incest in Islam
- The Golden Age of Islam
- Islam is a religion of peace?
- How Prophet Muhammad Stole Someone Else's Wife
- Permissibility of child marriages
- how the prophet justified passions with the Quran
At this point I will not comment, I will present reliable traditional Islamic sources.
1. Al-Isabah fi Tamyiz al-Sahabah
(Author: Ibn al-Athir, Volume 7, pages 136â137 â Chapter on Aisha)
âHe married her when she was six years old and consummated the marriage when she was nine.â
2. Siyar Aâlam al-Nubalaâ
(Author: Al-Dhahabi, Volume 2, pages 135â136 â Chapter on Aisha)
âHe consummated the marriage with her in the month of Shawwal of the second year after Hijrah, and she was a girl of nine years old.â
3. Sunan Abi Dawood
(Hadith No. 3909 in the standard numbering)
âMy mother wanted me to gain weight before giving me to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in marriage, but nothing worked until she fed me cucumbers along with fresh dates, after which I became chubby in the best way.â
Incest in Islam
In Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), there have been complex and sometimes controversial discussions concerning the status of children born out of fornication (zina). While the overwhelming majority of scholars agreed that such children maintain certain legal ties with their biological parents â particularly concerning prohibitions on marriage (mahram relations) â there were minority opinions among early jurists that approached the matter differently.
It is reported that two prominent scholars, Imam Malik ibn Anas and Imam Ash-Shafiâi, held views that deviated from the mainstream on this issue. Several respected scholars from later generations, who had no interest in defaming them, transmitted these opinions in their works. Based on their reports, a child born from fornication was not seen, according to Malik and Shafiâiâs interpretations, as establishing a legal kinship that would prohibit marriage.
Below are key statements from major Islamic legal sources that describe these views:
1. From Al-Mughni by Ibn Qudamah:
âThis is the opinion of the majority of scholars, but Malik and Shafiâi, as is well-known from their madhhabs, considered all of the aforementioned permissible.â
2. Also from Ibn Qudamah, further explanation:
âSince she is a stranger to him and does not trace her legal lineage back to him, there is no inheritance between them. If he acquires her as a slave, he does not free her. He is not obligated to provide for her, and she is not forbidden to him, just like most unrelated women.â
3. From Sharh Sahih Muslim by An-Nawawi:
âThe opinion of Malik, Shafiâi, Abu Thawr, and others is that sexual intercourse through fornication does not bring about specific legal consequences. Therefore, a fornicator is permitted to marry the woman with whom he committed fornication, as well as her daughter.â
4. Specific transmission of Imam Shafiâiâs opinion as quoted by An-Nawawi:
âHowever, Ash-Shafiâi added, saying that it is permissible for a man to have intercourse with a daughter born from his own semen as a result of fornication.â
5. From Ikhtilaf al-Aâimma al-âUlama by Ibn Hubayrah:
âThe scholars differed regarding girls born from fornication. Is it permissible for the one who fathered her through fornication to marry her? Ahmad and Abu Hanifa said: no. But Imam Shafiâi said: it is permissible.â
The golden age of Islam
How the West Created the Narrative of the âGolden Age of Islamâ
Letâs first determine the roots of the narrative about the Golden Age of Islam. First and foremost, itâs important to understand that the Golden Age of Islam is a cultural product of the post-colonial era that originated in the West. In our time, this narrative serves as a double-edged sword: in the Islamic world, it is used by daâwah preachers and apologists of Islam, while in the West it is employed by adherents of the neoliberal agenda. In the latter case, the Golden Age of Islam is one of the tools used in the cultural war against the traditional values of Western societies. It is a convenient instrument that helps impose false tolerance and erode the self-awareness of Western peoples.
From an academic standpoint, this narrative often portrays the Renaissance as a product of Islamic civilization. Today, the myth of the Golden Age of Islam holds a significant place in the curricula of humanities departments in Western Europe and North America, which are almost entirely dominated by leftist ideologies. These departments consistently produce pseudo-experts who will go on to tell you how Islam supposedly played a pivotal role in the development of progress.
Weâll come back to Ibn Sina and Ibn Rushd separately later. As for Hasan Mehdi, who dresses like a model kafir, speaks English better than the average Brit, works for Western media tycoons, and graduated from the oldest educational institution in the Anglo-Saxon world â he can hardly be seen as a representative of the ummah of the Messenger of Allah. In short, Islam has been a convenient tool repeatedly used by Western elites over the past century, and there are at least a dozen more figures like Hasan Mehdi.
How did Muslims pick up the idea of an Islamic Golden Age?
What interests us much more today is how the ideological products of the Golden Age of Islam were picked up by the believers themselves. If we turn to the Islamic scene, the Golden Age of Islam is used here as a means of coping with the inferiority complex that Muslim societies experience in the face of the Westâs political and technological dominance. The irony is that even in this case, Muslims try to defeat the enemy by playing by his rules and adopting his stylistic approach.
Just think about it: did Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, in the late 18th century, care that the Industrial Revolution was in full swing in Britain, while the Ottoman Empire was frantically modernizing its army by bringing in specialists from France? Itâs highly unlikely that any of the Salafi scholars back then believed the Islamic worldâs decline was due to falling behind in some kind of kafir science. To them, it was obvious that the Islamic ummah was mired in religious innovations (bidâah), and whatever was going on among the unbelievers was a secondary issue.
This continued until the West penetrated not just the lands of Islam, but the minds of Muslims themselves. At that point, ignoring Western progress became impossible, and they seized upon a tool created by Western intellectual centers and repurposed it for their own use. This is how, in our time, the internet became flooded with tales about scientific miracles in the Quran, Islamic medicine, and claims that the spread of Islam supposedly influenced the development of science.
Now that weâve clarified things a bit, letâs finally examine how Islamic the Golden Age of Islam truly was â what in this story is myth, and what is actually true. To begin with, we need to clarify Islamâs stance toward science as such.
The faithful often like to flaunt the hadith: âSeek knowledge, even if you have to go to China.â Even setting aside the fact that this hadith is weak, weâre already dealing with a distortion of meaning. When Muslims quote this phrase, they often, without realizing it, take it out of context. The issue is that in hadith literature, the word âknowledgeâ (âilm) is used in the Sharia context â and it means something completely different from the concept of âknowledgeâ in the Western tradition.
In the Islamic world, âknowledgeâ primarily refers to Sharia sciences, which have absolutely nothing to do with what we understand as science today. The phrase âseeking knowledgeâ is a fixed expression that specifically refers to the pursuit of Sharia knowledge from Islamic scholars. Therefore, the claim that Islam encourages the study of science is fundamentally incorrect. In fact, not only does Islam not promote science â it actively opposes it, since the scientific method is based on doubt, which in turn threatens a Muslimâs faith and is seen in Islam as a whispering from the devil or a sign of weak iman.
How Caliph Umar Burned the Books of the Persians and Greeks
The history of Islam itself can speak far more eloquently about Islamâs attitude toward science. Ibn Khaldun, who is often cited as a representative of the Golden Age of Islam, describes some very interesting things in his famous Muqaddimah, the prologue to Tarikh Ibn Khaldun.
In the section devoted to the rational sciences and their various types, where Ibn Khaldun derives the major core disciplines from philosophy and emphasizes the importance of logic, he also mentions the achievements of pre-Islamic civilizations in the field of astronomy. There, he writes that the main bearers of scientific knowledge at the time were the Persians and the Romans, and that before the advent of Islam, the sciences in those lands were like vast, overflowing seas.
Ibn Khaldun then focuses specifically on the Persians, writing that the rational sciences played an important role in their civilization, and that many scientific works reached the Greeks from the Persians through the conquests of Alexander the Great. After this, he finally turns to the period of Islamic conquests and describes how Muslims dealt with this cultural heritage.
When the Arabs invaded Persia, they seized an uncountable number of manuscripts. Saâd ibn Abi Waqqas wrote to Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab, requesting permission to distribute these books among the Muslims. Umar ordered him to throw the books into the water, saying that if they contained useful knowledge, then Allah had already given us better guidance; and if they contained harmful things, then Allah had protected us from them. So, the Muslims threw the manuscripts either into the water or into the fire, and the sciences of the Persians vanished into oblivion, never reaching us.
In a similar fashion, the Commander of the Faithful distinguished himself not only in Persia. When the forces of Amr ibn al-As captured Alexandria, they discovered Aristotleâs school, where many manuscripts were stored. When Umar ibn al-Khattab learned of this, according to the Egyptian Islamic historian al-Maqrizi, he ordered the books to be burned â a move sometimes mistakenly believed to be the destruction of the Library of Alexandria.
The Rise of Science and the Decline of Islam in the Caliphate
In general, these two examples clearly illustrate the attitude Muslims had toward science during the time of the Salaf. And really, if you think about it â what else could that attitude have been? If we start from the premise that Muslims emerged from Arabia in the 7th century, then weâre talking about a godforsaken land that neither Byzantium nor Persia had any real interest in. Naturally, the Arabs who lived there didnât recognize the value of science, firstly because they simply had no exposure to it, and secondly because when youâre struggling to survive in the harsh conditions of the Arabian desert â in a tribal society with a raid-based economy â science is the last thing on your mind.
It was a different story when the Arabs moved beyond their natural environment. Upon leaving Arabia, Muslims didnât end up just anywhere â they reached the very center of the known world. In just over a century, as they conquered one country after another, the Caliphate absorbed Sassanid Persia, Byzantium, and the southern part of the Western Roman Empire â along with the peoples who carried their ancient cultural legacies. And while the first 120 years saw the generations of the Sahabah and Tabiâun behaving like the Arabian tribe of Muhammad, with each new generation they increasingly blended with the conquered peoples and came under their cultural influence.
This explains the decline of Islam in the understanding of the righteous predecessors and its contamination by foreign philosophy and science brought in by disbelievers â Persians and Christians. Itâs worth noting here that the beginning of the so-called Golden Age of Islam is typically dated to the late 8th and early 9th centuries, a time when the Islamic community was more divided than ever, and the Islamic state itself, under the rule of the Abbasids, saw a surge in anti-Arab sentiment and the growing influence of non-Arabs.
That was when science briefly flourished â but Islam had nothing to do with it, as weâll now see. By the time of Harun al-Rashidâs rule, the ministries of the caliphate were firmly occupied by Persians from the ancient Barmakid family, who had held high positions even under the Sassanids before Islam. Under the Umayyads, Persians and other non-Arabs were treated as second-class citizens, but after the Abbasid revolution â in which the Persians played a major role â they gained such influence that the Arab Muslim caliph became, if not a symbolic figure, at least heavily dependent on the political experience of the Persian elite.
Whatâs even more important is that, based on a range of indirect signs, we can infer that the Persian elite merely used Islam as a cover to access power and advance their own agenda. This was well observed by their contemporaries. The Hanbali scholar Ibn Qutaybah quotes the court Arabic language teacher of Harun al-Rashid, Abu Saâid al-Asmaâi, who described the Barmakids in this way: âWhen polytheism is mentioned in gatherings, the faces of the Barmakids light up with joy, but when the Qurâan is recited in their presence, they start mumbling stories about Marw (Merv).â
Caliph al-Mamun - patron of sciences and Taghut
If during the time of Harun al-Rashid the Barmakids were still kept somewhat in check, then under his son, Caliph Abdullah al-Maâmun, they began to feel even more confident. Incidentally, Caliph al-Maâmun himself was conceived by Harun through a Persian slave woman named Marajil â the influence of Persian disbelievers was clearly present.
Al-Dhahabi, in Siyar Aâlam al-Nubalaâ, gives us the following description of Caliph al-Maâmun: He was fond of literature, studied the rational sciences and the knowledge of those who came before Islam, and he ordered that their books be translated into Arabic. Al-Maâmun repeatedly transported books of Greek philosophers from Cyprus to Damascus.
We also learn about al-Maâmunâs sympathy for the misguided Muâtazilite sect â innovators and followers of Greek philosophy.
What do you thinkâdoes it befit the Commander of the Faithful to study the sciences of disbelievers and spread their books among the believers, while Caliph âUmar burned their manuscripts in his struggle to preserve the purity of this religion? Beyond al-Maâmunâs passion for innovation and studying the forbidden, in his ambition to spread among Muslims beliefs that contradict the Qurâan and the Sunnah, he founded an entire academy in Baghdad called the âHouse of Wisdom.â
And what was done in this House of Wisdom? Were they copying out the sacred pages of the Qurâan? Were they collecting the authentic hadiths passed down from the Messenger of Allah? Oh no! In this House, al-Maâmun gathered Persians and Christians and generously rewarded them with gold for translating into the language of the Messenger of Allah the works of Plato, Aristotle, Hippocrates, Galen, and mathematicians and philosophers from among the polytheist Indians.
And was this not influenced by the hypocritical Barmakids, who had already supported such initiatives under their own king, Khosrow I, who encouraged the study of sciences and gave shelter to fugitive Syrian Nestorian scholars?
Bayt al-Hikma was essentially a direct copy of the Academy of Gondishapur in the Khuzestan province of modern Iran, which was a major scientific center under the Sassanids. Also worth noting is that the patron of sciences, al-Maâmun, initiated the so-called Mihna â an inquisition testing the loyalty of Sunni scholars to the regime. And among its targets was none other than Ahmad ibn Hanbal himself, who surely needs no introduction.
The end of the golden age
The reign of al-Maâmun was perhaps the only period when sciences received a boost and experienced a revival in the lands ravaged by the Arabs. However, this did not last long. With the arrival of al-Mutawakkil, the pursuit of knowledge waned, and the Muslim elite returned to their usual activitiesâethnic conflicts, power struggles, and intra-religious disputes. Meanwhile, science continued to develop only on the periphery of the Islamic world, and even there, it faced criticism from scholars. To understand this, letâs briefly review the biographies of the scholars who lived in Islamic countries and whose fame Muslims often try to claim for themselves.
The first of them is Ibn Sina, better known as Avicenna. An ethnic Persian from the village of Afshana in the Bukhara region, Ibn Sina gained fame primarily as a physician and philosopher. His father was a preacher of the Ismaili sect of Shiâism. Ibn Sina studied Euclid and Aristotleâs metaphysics, and, as reported by Az-Zahabi, to study the latter, Ibn Sina had to recite it 40 times before he memorized it, and then, in order to fully understand it, he had to study the commentaries of Al-Farabi on metaphysics. From his biography, we see that he spent most of his life practicing medicine among the rulers of Persian cities, and he had little interest in Islamic sciences, not to mention that the philosophy he studied directly contradicted Islamic beliefs, for which he was criticized not only by Sunni scholars but even by Sufis.
If we mentioned Aristotleâs metaphysics, we should also mention the author of its commentary, Al-Farabi, who was either a Turk or a Sogdian Persian, and whom Az-Zahabi calls the âwise sheikh of philosophy,â who, as you might have guessed, was involved in philosophy. In addition to this, he also managed to write a whole treatise on music, âKitab al-Musiqa al-Kabir.â And if you thought that in this book he discusses the prohibition of music, I must disappoint you. Not only does he not prohibit it, but he also teaches it.
The next, equally prominent figure of the Golden Age is Ibn Rushd, also known as Averroes, born into a family of Maliki jurists in Andalusia. Although Ibn Rushdâs grandfather was a distinguished faqih (Islamic jurist) of the Cordoban Emirate, his grandson would go down in history as a noble representative of Eastern Aristotelianism. Al-Farabi refers to Ibn Rushd as the philosopher of the era and notes that he studied medicine as well as the sciences of those who came before Islam, mastering them to perfection. Some, as Al-Farabi points out, criticized Ibn Rushd for engaging in philosophy, yet this did not prevent him from writing a dozen works, most of which were treatises on the philosophy of Aristotle and Galen, as well as commentaries on the works of Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Al-Farabiâagain, on philosophy. Moreover, Ibn Rushd not only faced criticism but, in his final years, was completely shunned for his heretical statements. In the end, he died alone, under house arrest in his own home.
Finally, we must mention the Persian mathematician al-Khwarizmi, who is credited with coining the terms 'algorithm' and 'algebra.' Whatâs surprising is that he doesnât even appear in *Sier-an-Nubol*. Despite living much earlier than Dagobiâduring the reign of the well-known Caliph al-Maâmunâhe even headed the Baghdad branch of the Academy of Gundishapur under him.
Yet al-Khwarizmi had virtually no connection to Islam, let alone the humanities. Apart from his work on history (*tarikh*), all his other writings were devoted to mathematics, geography, and astronomy. Moreover, al-Khwarizmi derived the foundation of his mathematical knowledge in Central Asia from the works of Greek and Indian scholars.
Islam is a religion of peace?Letâs turn to the interpretations of the Quran. Concerning the words of the Almighty in Surah Al-Baqarah â âThere is no compulsion in religionâ â we find the following explanation from the prominent Sunni mufassir Ibn Kathir:
âThe opinion of many scholars is that this verse refers to the People of the Book who entered their religion before it was abrogated and replaced, and who paid the jizya tax.â
âOthers have said that this ruling was abrogated by the verse of fighting, since it is necessary to call all nations to the acceptance of the true religion â the religion of Islam.â
âAnd if any of them refuses to accept Islam without paying or surrendering the jizya, then they are to be fought until they are killed.â
âAnd that is the meaning of compulsion, as Allah the Almighty has said: âYou will be called to fight a people of great might. You will fight them, or they will submit to Islam.â"
âThe Almighty also said: âO Prophet, fight against the disbelievers and the hypocrites and be harsh with them.ââ
âAnd again the Almighty said: âO you who believe, fight those disbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you harshness. And know that Allah is with the righteous.ââ
âAnd as stated in an authentic hadith, Allah will marvel at people who enter Paradise in chains â meaning that captives brought to Muslim lands in shackles and collars will later accept Islam, and their deeds and sins will be rectified so that they will become among the people of Paradise.â
Beautiful, isnât it, dear friend? As for the verse âWhoever saves one lifeâŠâ, and so on â here, my friends, you didnât even bother to read what was written a few verses earlier, or what follows this verse. Allah recounts the biblical story of Cain killing Abel and then quotes a Jewish legal tract â the Sanhedrin â which the author of the Quran, in his ignorance, presents as the direct speech of God. Thatâs where your favorite quote, addressed to the Children of Israel, actually comes from.
And the next verse already announces the Islamic order, promising for anyone who wages war against Allah and His Messenger and seeks to cause corruption on earth â execution by crucifixion or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides.
As for all the hadiths of varying authenticity about Muhammad visiting a sick Jew, it is enough to recall the narration found in Sahih Muslim from Umar ibn al-Khattab, in which Muhammad promises to expel all Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula. And yet, a Muslim will still speak about how a Muslim should live in peace with others. Moreover, some everyday Muslims even manage to befriend kuffar and call them brothers.
From a human perspective, this is completely normal and right â but the deity Muslims worship does not wish for that. âBelievers cannot take disbelievers as allies or friends, for whoever does so has nothing to do with Allah.â This verse â which, as you might guess, is from Medina â is one of the foundations of the doctrine of Al-Walaâ wal-Baraâ (âLoyalty and Disavowalâ), which obligates Muslims to show loyalty to fellow Muslims and disavowal toward disbelievers.
The only exception to this rule is when a Muslim is genuinely afraid of the disbelievers. On this, Imam Ibn Kathir gives the following commentary:
âIf you fear them â being in certain lands and under certain circumstances â a believer may outwardly show friendship, but should not intend it in their heart.â
In other words, Islam teaches you deceit and cunning â gently called precaution. And to reinforce this point, Ibn Kathir cites the hadith of At-Tirmidhi from Abu Ad-Darda:
âIndeed, we smile in the faces of some people, while our hearts curse them.â
The last two arguments you may hear from everyday Muslims are:
1. That all of the above concerns only the polytheists who were hostile to Muslims.
2. That it was only relevant during the Prophetâs time and that of his companions.
The second argument shows that you are not paying attention and do not read your sources. Islam is a religion that does not recognize time limits or territorial boundaries: âJihad will continue until the Day of Judgment.â
What was revealed in verse 29 of Surah At-Tawbah is the final ruling for believers concerning the kuffar. The consensus of Ahl al-Sunnah mufassirs is that this verse was revealed as an irrevocable command for Muslims to uncompromisingly establish the will of Allah and His Messenger across all corners of the earth. Ibn Kathir writes the following:
âThis noble verse was revealed as a command to fight the People of the Book, after the affairs with the polytheists had been settled and people were entering Allahâs religion in crowds.â
âAnd when the Arabian Peninsula had been set aright, Allah and His Messenger commanded the fighting of the People of the Two Books â the Jews and the Christians. This occurred in the ninth year of the Hijrah. And that is why the Messenger of Allah prepared for war with the Romans and called the people to it.â
So, returning to the first argument: as we have seen, neither Christians nor Jews are to be considered friends or brothers by Muslims â they are to be fought until they either accept Islam or pay tribute in humiliation.
Moreover, you must understand that this command essentially applies to all non-Muslims, since during Muhammadâs time, Allah was apparently unaware that, in addition to Christians, Jews, and pagans, there were also Buddhists and people who simply donât believe in God or worship anyone.
Later, Muslims found a rather elegant solution to this oversight: they divided the kuffar into three main groups â Christians, Jews, and polytheists. Into the last category, alongside pagans, they continue to lump in virtually anyone they donât understand but who must, in the Muslim mind, be shoved into one of the categories of disbelievers.
How the Prophet Stole Someone Else's Wife
We will talk about the story of the Prophetâs marriage to one of his thirteen wives, Zaynab bint Jahsh. Before turning to the sources, letâs first familiarize ourselves with the main characters. I believe the Prophet Muhammad needs no introduction, so we will immediately move on to the other important figure in this story, Zayd ibn Harithah.
Zayd ibn Harithah was a slave who, as a young child, was taken captive and passed from hand to hand until he was gifted to Muhammad and his first wife, the merchant Khadijah bint Khuwaylid. Muhammad grew so fond of Zayd that he granted him freedom and adopted him, after which Zayd became known as Zayd ibn Muhammadâat least until a certain point, which we will discuss later.
The central figure of the conflict in this story is Zaynab bint Jahsh, a woman from the noble Asad clan of the Quraysh tribe. Muhammad arranged her marriage to his adopted son, Zayd. This caused resentment both among her relatives and within Zaynab herself, who was not eager to marry Zayd. Nevertheless, the word of the Messenger of Allah was law, and the marriage was carried out.
All might have been well, and we might not even have paid attention to this story, if not for one crucial detail. To understand it properly, we need to turn to the primary sources. The story in question can be found in Volume Two of Tarikh al-Tabari, specifically in the section dedicated to the events of the fifth year of the Hijrah. There, al-Tabari writes:
âThen came the fifth year of the Hijrah, and in this year, the Messenger of Allah married Zaynab bint Jahsh.â
I draw your attention to the fact that at that time, Zaynab was already married to Zayd.
âThe Messenger of Allah decided to visit Zayd ibn Harithah, who was then called âZayd, the son of Muhammad.â Apparently, they missed each other by an hour. Muhammad came to Zaydâs house, called for him, but did not find him there. Instead, Zaydâs wife, Zaynab bint Jahsh, came out to greet him, lightly clothed.â
And here the most interesting part begins.
Muhammad turned away from her, and she said that Zayd was not home, inviting him inside, saying:
âCome in, O Messenger of Allah, for you are dear to me as my father and mother.â
Muhammad refused to enter. When Zayd found out that the Messenger of Allah had been at his door, he hurried home, hastily throwing something on, and Muhammad was pleased by what he sawâit sparked admiration in him. Muhammad turned away and began to murmur something unintelligible, from which only the phrases could be understood:
âBlessed be Allah, the Almighty. Blessed be Allah, the One who guides hearts.â
When Zayd returned home, his wife told him that the Messenger of Allah had come. Zayd asked:
âYou invited him in, didnât you?â
She replied:
âI did, but he refused.â
Zayd then asked:
âDid he say anything else?â
She answered:
âWhen he turned away, I heard him say: âBlessed be Allah the Almighty, blessed be Allah who guides hearts.ââ
Now, how did Zayd react to this situation, which at first glance seemed unremarkable? He went to the Messenger of Allah and said:
âO Messenger of Allah, I heard you came to my house but refused to enter. O you who are dearer to me than my own father and mother. Perhaps you admired Zaynab, and I should divorce her?â
Muhammad, portraying nobility, replied, encouraging Zayd to keep his wife.
At first glance, it seemed as if no one was forcing anything. But remember for a moment who Muhammad was. Put yourself in Zaydâs place and imagine how you would feel.
Al-Tabari notes:
âFrom that day, Zayd could no longer approach her.â
He would come to Muhammad to discuss it, and Muhammad would repeat:
âKeep your wife.â
Eventually, Al-Tabari writes:
âZayd divorced Zaynab, and she became permissible (for marriage).â
That is, her waiting period (âiddah) ended.
Of course, after 1400 years, itâs impossible to know exactly what happened, but itâs probably not a coincidence that Al-Tabariâs narrative emphasizes the phrase:
âShe pleased the Messenger of Allah.â
Most likely, someoneâmaybe even Zaynab herselfâtold Zayd about Muhammadâs feelings. Itâs possible that Zaynab, being from a noble family, preferred to become the wife of the Prophet rather than remain the wife of a former slave. Maybe she hinted to Zayd herself. Who knows.
What matters most is how the Messenger of Allah himself behaved after this incident.
Miraculously, verse 37 of Surah Al-Ahzab was revealed:
âAnd [remember, O Muhammad], when you said to the one on whom Allah bestowed favor and you bestowed favor [meaning Zayd, whom Muhammad freed from slavery]: âKeep your wife and fear Allah.â But you concealed within yourself that which Allah was to disclose, and you feared the people, while Allah has more right that you fear Him.â
If you still donât understand whatâs going on here, letâs turn to one of the most authoritative Sunni commentators, Ibn Kathir.
On the phrase âYou concealed within yourself that which Allah was to disclose,â Ibn Kathir writes:
âThis verse was revealed concerning Zaynab bint Jahsh and Zayd ibn Harithah.â
More precisely:
âAllah informed His Prophet that Zaynab would become one of his wives even before he married her. When Zayd would complain about his wife, the Prophet would tell him: âFear Allah and keep your wife,â even though Muhammad already knew Allahâs decree and kept it hidden in his heart.â
Remarkable, isnât it? Even when Allah himself had allegedly granted him such a favor, Muhammad still tried to preserve Zaydâs marriage.
So what else was revealed in that verse?
âWhen Zayd had finished with her [whether through consummation or divorce], We married her to youâŠâ
Read the Qurâan yourself, reread the verse thoughtfully, and ask yourself: do you really believe the Qurâan is the Word of God? Are you truly ready to believe that the Creator of the Universe would, in His sacred and final message to mankind, provide an excuse for Muhammad, who happened to become aroused at the sight of lightly clothed Zaynab bint Jahsh?
Ibn Kathir comments further:
âWhen Zayd fulfilled his desire with her and divorced her, Allah married Zaynab to the Messenger of Allah. Her guardian in marriage was Allah Himself, and Muhammad married her without a guardian, without a marriage contract, dowry, or witnesses.â
Before we move to the final part of the verse, itâs worth mentioning something else Ibn Kathir tells us:
âWhen Zaynabâs waiting period ended, the Messenger of Allah told Zayd ibn Harithah: âAnnounce to her that I wish to marry her.â Zayd went to her while she was kneading dough. He said: âWhen I saw her, I felt such awe that I couldnât even look at her and deliver the message.â So he turned away and said: âO Zaynab, good newsâthe Messenger of Allah wishes to marry you.â She responded: âI will not do anything until I seek guidance from my Lord.â Then she prayed, and revelation came down, and Muhammad came to her without seeking permission.â
Ibn Kathir further describes the celebration that followed.
Thus, not only did Muhammad shamelessly take advantage of the situation while justifying it as divine will, but he also made Zaydâwho clearly suffered from the separationâpersonally deliver the proposal to Zaynab.
When you read all this, you canât help but remember the claim that Muhammad is âthe best of mankindâ and âthe ultimate role model.â Learning what Muhammad did and said, while hearing such statements, naturally leads to deep disgust.
Even more troubling is the fact that some people are so entrenched in their ignorance that they feel no discomfort whatsoever reading this story. Worse, they feel obliged to harm anyone who criticizes their âinfallibleâ authority.
This is pure sectarianism: no matter how disgraceful the actions are, the believers will still compromise their conscience to defend their prophet.
At the end of the verse, Muhammad justifies himself:
ââŠso that there would be no blame upon the believers concerning the wives of their adopted sons when they have no longer any need of them. And the command of Allah must be fulfilled.â
It would seem strange if Allah sent down a divine revelation solely to provide moral justification for Muhammadâs desires without offering something to the broader Muslim community as well.
For example, ordinary believers are only allowed four wives, while Muhammad had up to twelve. People might start to suspect something, so it was necessary to provide some concessions for the community too.
Finally, it should be noted that this whole story had far-reaching consequences. From this point on, Allah decided that adopted sons could no longer bear the names of their adoptive fathers.
On this point, Ibn Kathir comments:
âBefore prophethood, Muhammad adopted Zayd ibn Harithah, and people called him Zayd ibn Muhammad. Allah abolished this by saying: âHe has not made your adopted sons your [true] sons. Call them by their [biological] fathersâ names; that is more just in the sight of Allah.ââ
And this was further confirmed and clarified by Muhammadâs marriage to Zaynab after Zaydâs divorce. Thus were the morals of the man considered the best to ever walk the earth.
Permissibility of child marriages
I won't comment much here either. I'll give you arguments.
1. The Qurâan permits marriage to girls who have not yet reached puberty.
Evidence:
Letâs open Surah At-Talaq (65:4):
âAnd those of your women who no longer expect menstruationâif you doubt [their waiting period], their prescribed waiting time is three months, as well as for those who have not yet menstruated. And for those who are pregnant, their term is until they give birth. And whoever fears Allah â He will make matters easy for him.â
This verse mentions a waiting period (iddah) not only for women past menopause but also for those who have not yet menstruated, meaning prepubescent girls.
Since the waiting period is to determine whether a woman is pregnant after divorce, it implies that sexual intercourse could have taken place even with such girls.
2. The Tafsir confirms that the verse concerns marriage to prepubescent girls.
Evidence:
Referring to the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir:
âAllah the Exalted clarifies the waiting period (iddah) for women whose menstruation has stopped due to their age. Their waiting period is three months, different from those who still menstruate, for whom the waiting period is three menstrual cycles. The same applies to those who have not yet menstruated.â
Ibn Kathir clearly states that the rule also applies to girls who have not yet reached menstruation. Thus, traditional Islamic scholarship acknowledges the possibility of marriage and sexual relations with prepubescent girls.
3. The Qurâan does not establish a minimum age for marriage.
Evidence:
Letâs examine Surah An-Nisa, verses 23â24:
âProhibited to you [for marriage] are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your paternal aunts, your maternal aunts, daughters of your brother, daughters of your sister, your milk-mothers who nursed you, your milk-sisters, mothers of your wives, your stepdaughters under your guardianship born of your wives unto whom you have gone inâbut there is no blame upon you if you have not gone in to themâand [the] wives of your sons who are from your own loins. And [also prohibited is] to take two sisters in marriage simultaneouslyâŠâ
âAnd [also prohibited are] married women, except those your right hands possess. [This is] the decree of Allah upon you. And lawful to you are [all others] beyond these, provided that you seek them [in marriage] with your property, desiring chastity, not unlawful sexual intercourse. So for whatever you enjoy [of marriage] from them, give them their due compensation as an obligationâŠâ
In these verses, Allah enumerates the categories of women prohibited for marriage but makes no mention of any age restrictions. Therefore, the Qurâan does not set a minimum age for marriage.
4. The Sunnah of the Prophet confirms the practice of marrying prepubescent girls.
Evidence:
From Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5133:
âNarrated Aisha: The Prophet married me when I was six years old, and consummated the marriage with me when I was nine years old. Then I remained with him for nine years.â
This hadith clearly states that the marriage contract was made when Aisha was six years old, and consummation took place when she was nine â which, by modern standards, is before full physical maturity.
5. Modern claims that Aisha was older are unfounded.
Commentary:
Some contemporary authors argue that Aisha was actually eighteen or nineteen at the time of her marriage, based on indirect historical indications. However, this contradicts the authentic narrations reported directly by Aisha herself and authenticated in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.
Thus, attempts to reinterpret Aishaâs age are deliberate historical distortions.
how the prophet justified passions with the Quran /Or how Muhammad composed the Quran on the fly.
I have already discussed the story of how Muhammad took the wife of Zayd ibn Harithah, conveniently receiving a revelation from Allah at just the right time to justify it. Today, we will continue this topic and examine a few more examples that clearly demonstrate how the Messenger of Allah manipulated people, using Quranic verses to justify his personal desires. There are quite a few examples of this.
Letâs take the Surah Al-Ahzab, for instance, where Allah âmarriedâ Muhammad to Zaydâs wife, Zaynab bint Jahsh, who Muhammad had taken a liking to. In addition to this, there are several verses in that Surah that would seriously shake the faith of any reasonable person in the idea that Muhammad had any sincere prophetic mission. Despite the Quran being regarded in Islam as the final message from God to mankind, expressing His will until Judgment Day, Muhammad had no problem using âdivine revelationâ to address his everyday needs.
For example, when reading verses 30â33, we see that Muhammad was very concerned about controlling his wives. So much so that the Lord of the Worlds, in His revelation, sternly warns Muhammadâs wives to be obedient if they do not want to face heavenly consequences:
âO wives of the Prophet! If any of you commits a clear immorality, her punishment will be doubled. That is easy for Allah.â
âBut whoever of you devoutly obeys Allah and His Messenger and does righteousness â We will give her her reward twice, and We have prepared for her a noble provision.â
In other words, Muhammad was very familiar with the âcarrot and stickâ method.
âO wives of the Prophet! You are not like any other women. If you fear Allah, then do not be soft in speech, lest he in whose heart is disease should covet, but speak in an appropriate manner.â
âAnd stay in your houses, and do not display yourselves like the display of the former times of ignorance. Establish prayer, give zakat, and obey Allah and His Messenger.â
Since Muhammad himself struggled with such desires, he measured others by his own standards and feared falling into the same kind of situation Zayd ibn Harithah did. Therefore, Allah intervened to remind the Prophetâs wives that it would be safer for them to limit their outings and contact with the outside world.
Just three verses later, we come across Muhammadâs scandalous story with Zaydâs wife, and after some clumsy justifications â or whether Allah himself excuses him, itâs hard to tell â we find a very telling verse where Muhammadâs authorship behind the words attributed to Allah becomes glaringly obvious:
âO Prophet! Indeed, We have made lawful to you your wives to whom you have given their due compensation and those your right hand possesses from what Allah has given you, and the daughters of your paternal uncles and aunts, and the daughters of your maternal uncles and aunts who emigrated with you, and any believing woman who offers herself to the Prophet if the Prophet wishes to marry her. This is only for you, excluding the [other] believers. We certainly know what We have made obligatory upon them concerning their wives and those their right hands possess. But We have made this concession for you in order that there be no discomfort upon youâŠâ
How about that? Pretty âconvenient,â right?
Thereâs another point to clarify here. Itâs often argued â and not without basis â that the Arabic word ۧÙŰłÙŰȘÙÙÙÙÙŰÙ (translated here as âto marryâ) doesnât necessarily mean âto marryâ in the legal sense, but rather âto have sexual intercourse.â The basic verb ÙۧÙÙŰÙ can, according to dictionaries, mean both âto marryâ and âto have sex.â
Thus, the verse could more accurately be translated as:
âThe Prophet is permitted any believing woman who offers herself to him if he wishes to sleep with her.â
You can easily verify this interpretation: go up to any Arab and say ۣ۱ÙŰŻ ŰŁÙ ŰŁÙÙŰ ŰšÙŰȘÙ (âI want to have sex with your daughterâ) â and watch the reaction you get. It will not be pleasant.
Moreover, the context of debauchery is also supported indirectly through verse 230 of Surah Al-Baqarah and through a hadith recorded by Al-Bukhari regarding divorce. Verse 230 says:
âIf he divorces her [for the third time], she is not lawful for him until she has married another husbandâŠâ
But many translations â such as Kuliyevâs â sneakily render it âuntil she marries another,â hiding the implication.
However, in Sahih al-Bukhari, thereâs a hadith where a woman comes to the Prophet after divorcing her first husband and marrying a second, who turned out to be impotent. The second husband denies it, claiming he is potent and blaming her rebelliousness. Muhammad, understanding that the woman wants to return to her first husband, tells her:
âYou cannot return to your first husband until the second one tastes your sweetness.â
Iâm sure you get the metaphor.
So, through simple reasoning, it becomes clear that Allah supposedly granted Muhammad an exclusive right to have intercourse with any woman who offered herself to him.
On the other hand, if you consult the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir, he does say it refers to marriage, albeit a very peculiar kind of marriage:
âMeaning: any believing woman who offers herself to the Prophet â if the Prophet wishes, he may marry her without paying a dowry.â
But hereâs the problem: in Sahih Muslim, another hadith clarifies that the word ÙÙŰ§Ű (from ÙÙŰ) â usually translated as âmarriageâ â absolutely refers to sexual intercourse. In this hadith, Muhammad commands Muslims to abstain from intercourse with their wives during menstruation, saying:
âۧ۔ÙŰčÙۧ ÙÙ ŰŽÙŰĄ Ű„Ùۧ ۧÙÙÙۧŰâ â âDo everything with her except intercourse.â
Therefore, considering the broader hadith context and the fact that in the verse being discussed, Muhammad is exempt from paying mahr (the bridal gift), it heavily suggests that what was actually intended here was straightforward sexual access.
Finally, even those close to Muhammad seemed to realize how self-serving these ârevelationsâ were. In a hadith from Muslim, Aisha says she was jealous of the women who offered themselves to the Prophet and would mockingly say:
âCan a woman offer herself?â
To which, conveniently, Allah would immediately ârevealâ another verse:
âYou may defer [the turn of] any of them you wish, and you may take to yourself any you wish. And if you desire any of those you had set aside, there is no blame upon you.â
Aisha sarcastically noted:
âBy Allah, I see that your Lord hastens to satisfy your desires.â
I might release part 2 if you like this analysis.![]()
always happy to helpThanks Bhai
Nazis were Christian tho i believe no? All other religions were frowned upon by them pretty much, the only way they could hate them would be because they sometimes helped with hiding the jewsThat's right, I'll try to read all the German books on Nazi propaganda
I don't even know how to react to this. Let's assume that this really happened, and many citizens (not soldiers) hid "enemies of the white people" in their homes, although at that time it was impossible to believe in anything. Even if it was possible to believe, it was only in Positive Christianity, but there it was generally interpreted as if Jesus was the protector of the Aryan race. As for the soldiers, especially the SS, they could allow themselves to believe in Christ, but honestly I don't know the details.Nazis were Christian tho i believe no? All other religions were frowned upon by them pretty much, the only way they could hate them would be because they sometimes helped with hiding the jews
Im from Germany and i dont know the full details aswell but the thing i told you was what we learned in school, i imagine your thought could be true too thoI don't even know how to react to this. Let's assume that this really happened, and many citizens (not soldiers) hid "enemies of the white people" in their homes, although at that time it was impossible to believe in anything. Even if it was possible to believe, it was only in Positive Christianity, but there it was generally interpreted as if Jesus was the protector of the Aryan race. As for the soldiers, especially the SS, they could allow themselves to believe in Christ, but honestly I don't know the details.
Thank you for your comment. Yes, unfortunately such arguments with Aisha are of little help in debates because there will be people who will answer something like this: "If Muhammad did this, then it was by the will of Allah"; "If Muhammad did this, then it had to happen". Although if you ask them if they had given their 9 year old daughter to some 53 year old man "in marriage" (I already analyzed this word in the last point of my thread), they will probably answer negatively.Islam is the most perfect exemple of crowd manipulation. A set of commands that arrived at the right time targeted at the right people, that uses the lowest most vicious psychological manipulation techniques, mostly based around fear (social peer pressure, fear of death...).
When looking at it from a totally unbiased external viewpoint, this religion is incredibly retarded and makes no sense whatsoever. But it just continues to live on like a living entity because crowds and individuals are two very different things.
Ty for the thread but i want to say, I always see the argument of Aisha from anti islam people but thats not working thats a shitty argument, they either have a cope for it or ignore it completely, moral arguments never work against crowds. What would be the most efficient is pointing how Islam is destroying individuals, robbing them from their most basic freedom and preventing them from enjoying life like non muslims, how it's making all muslim countries hellholes stuck in middle age, and how bleak the future looks for these countries, as islam gets more and more obsolete and everyone else is improving.
Introduction:
The purpose of this thread is to inform every person so that he knows the truth about it and to kindle hatred towards this religion. Also, the author of this thread does not support other religions in this way.
Table Of Contents:
green - short analysis/orange - long analysis
- So how old was Aisha?
- Incest in Islam
- The Golden Age of Islam
- Islam is a religion of peace?
- How Prophet Muhammad Stole Someone Else's Wife
- Permissibility of child marriages
- how the prophet justified passions with the Quran
At this point I will not comment, I will present reliable traditional Islamic sources.
1. Al-Isabah fi Tamyiz al-Sahabah
(Author: Ibn al-Athir, Volume 7, pages 136â137 â Chapter on Aisha)
âHe married her when she was six years old and consummated the marriage when she was nine.â
2. Siyar Aâlam al-Nubalaâ
(Author: Al-Dhahabi, Volume 2, pages 135â136 â Chapter on Aisha)
âHe consummated the marriage with her in the month of Shawwal of the second year after Hijrah, and she was a girl of nine years old.â
3. Sunan Abi Dawood
(Hadith No. 3909 in the standard numbering)
âMy mother wanted me to gain weight before giving me to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in marriage, but nothing worked until she fed me cucumbers along with fresh dates, after which I became chubby in the best way.â
Incest in Islam
In Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), there have been complex and sometimes controversial discussions concerning the status of children born out of fornication (zina). While the overwhelming majority of scholars agreed that such children maintain certain legal ties with their biological parents â particularly concerning prohibitions on marriage (mahram relations) â there were minority opinions among early jurists that approached the matter differently.
It is reported that two prominent scholars, Imam Malik ibn Anas and Imam Ash-Shafiâi, held views that deviated from the mainstream on this issue. Several respected scholars from later generations, who had no interest in defaming them, transmitted these opinions in their works. Based on their reports, a child born from fornication was not seen, according to Malik and Shafiâiâs interpretations, as establishing a legal kinship that would prohibit marriage.
Below are key statements from major Islamic legal sources that describe these views:
1. From Al-Mughni by Ibn Qudamah:
âThis is the opinion of the majority of scholars, but Malik and Shafiâi, as is well-known from their madhhabs, considered all of the aforementioned permissible.â
2. Also from Ibn Qudamah, further explanation:
âSince she is a stranger to him and does not trace her legal lineage back to him, there is no inheritance between them. If he acquires her as a slave, he does not free her. He is not obligated to provide for her, and she is not forbidden to him, just like most unrelated women.â
3. From Sharh Sahih Muslim by An-Nawawi:
âThe opinion of Malik, Shafiâi, Abu Thawr, and others is that sexual intercourse through fornication does not bring about specific legal consequences. Therefore, a fornicator is permitted to marry the woman with whom he committed fornication, as well as her daughter.â
4. Specific transmission of Imam Shafiâiâs opinion as quoted by An-Nawawi:
âHowever, Ash-Shafiâi added, saying that it is permissible for a man to have intercourse with a daughter born from his own semen as a result of fornication.â
5. From Ikhtilaf al-Aâimma al-âUlama by Ibn Hubayrah:
âThe scholars differed regarding girls born from fornication. Is it permissible for the one who fathered her through fornication to marry her? Ahmad and Abu Hanifa said: no. But Imam Shafiâi said: it is permissible.â
The golden age of Islam
How the West Created the Narrative of the âGolden Age of Islamâ
Letâs first determine the roots of the narrative about the Golden Age of Islam. First and foremost, itâs important to understand that the Golden Age of Islam is a cultural product of the post-colonial era that originated in the West. In our time, this narrative serves as a double-edged sword: in the Islamic world, it is used by daâwah preachers and apologists of Islam, while in the West it is employed by adherents of the neoliberal agenda. In the latter case, the Golden Age of Islam is one of the tools used in the cultural war against the traditional values of Western societies. It is a convenient instrument that helps impose false tolerance and erode the self-awareness of Western peoples.
From an academic standpoint, this narrative often portrays the Renaissance as a product of Islamic civilization. Today, the myth of the Golden Age of Islam holds a significant place in the curricula of humanities departments in Western Europe and North America, which are almost entirely dominated by leftist ideologies. These departments consistently produce pseudo-experts who will go on to tell you how Islam supposedly played a pivotal role in the development of progress.
Weâll come back to Ibn Sina and Ibn Rushd separately later. As for Hasan Mehdi, who dresses like a model kafir, speaks English better than the average Brit, works for Western media tycoons, and graduated from the oldest educational institution in the Anglo-Saxon world â he can hardly be seen as a representative of the ummah of the Messenger of Allah. In short, Islam has been a convenient tool repeatedly used by Western elites over the past century, and there are at least a dozen more figures like Hasan Mehdi.
How did Muslims pick up the idea of an Islamic Golden Age?
What interests us much more today is how the ideological products of the Golden Age of Islam were picked up by the believers themselves. If we turn to the Islamic scene, the Golden Age of Islam is used here as a means of coping with the inferiority complex that Muslim societies experience in the face of the Westâs political and technological dominance. The irony is that even in this case, Muslims try to defeat the enemy by playing by his rules and adopting his stylistic approach.
Just think about it: did Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, in the late 18th century, care that the Industrial Revolution was in full swing in Britain, while the Ottoman Empire was frantically modernizing its army by bringing in specialists from France? Itâs highly unlikely that any of the Salafi scholars back then believed the Islamic worldâs decline was due to falling behind in some kind of kafir science. To them, it was obvious that the Islamic ummah was mired in religious innovations (bidâah), and whatever was going on among the unbelievers was a secondary issue.
This continued until the West penetrated not just the lands of Islam, but the minds of Muslims themselves. At that point, ignoring Western progress became impossible, and they seized upon a tool created by Western intellectual centers and repurposed it for their own use. This is how, in our time, the internet became flooded with tales about scientific miracles in the Quran, Islamic medicine, and claims that the spread of Islam supposedly influenced the development of science.
Now that weâve clarified things a bit, letâs finally examine how Islamic the Golden Age of Islam truly was â what in this story is myth, and what is actually true. To begin with, we need to clarify Islamâs stance toward science as such.
The faithful often like to flaunt the hadith: âSeek knowledge, even if you have to go to China.â Even setting aside the fact that this hadith is weak, weâre already dealing with a distortion of meaning. When Muslims quote this phrase, they often, without realizing it, take it out of context. The issue is that in hadith literature, the word âknowledgeâ (âilm) is used in the Sharia context â and it means something completely different from the concept of âknowledgeâ in the Western tradition.
In the Islamic world, âknowledgeâ primarily refers to Sharia sciences, which have absolutely nothing to do with what we understand as science today. The phrase âseeking knowledgeâ is a fixed expression that specifically refers to the pursuit of Sharia knowledge from Islamic scholars. Therefore, the claim that Islam encourages the study of science is fundamentally incorrect. In fact, not only does Islam not promote science â it actively opposes it, since the scientific method is based on doubt, which in turn threatens a Muslimâs faith and is seen in Islam as a whispering from the devil or a sign of weak iman.
How Caliph Umar Burned the Books of the Persians and Greeks
The history of Islam itself can speak far more eloquently about Islamâs attitude toward science. Ibn Khaldun, who is often cited as a representative of the Golden Age of Islam, describes some very interesting things in his famous Muqaddimah, the prologue to Tarikh Ibn Khaldun.
In the section devoted to the rational sciences and their various types, where Ibn Khaldun derives the major core disciplines from philosophy and emphasizes the importance of logic, he also mentions the achievements of pre-Islamic civilizations in the field of astronomy. There, he writes that the main bearers of scientific knowledge at the time were the Persians and the Romans, and that before the advent of Islam, the sciences in those lands were like vast, overflowing seas.
Ibn Khaldun then focuses specifically on the Persians, writing that the rational sciences played an important role in their civilization, and that many scientific works reached the Greeks from the Persians through the conquests of Alexander the Great. After this, he finally turns to the period of Islamic conquests and describes how Muslims dealt with this cultural heritage.
When the Arabs invaded Persia, they seized an uncountable number of manuscripts. Saâd ibn Abi Waqqas wrote to Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab, requesting permission to distribute these books among the Muslims. Umar ordered him to throw the books into the water, saying that if they contained useful knowledge, then Allah had already given us better guidance; and if they contained harmful things, then Allah had protected us from them. So, the Muslims threw the manuscripts either into the water or into the fire, and the sciences of the Persians vanished into oblivion, never reaching us.
In a similar fashion, the Commander of the Faithful distinguished himself not only in Persia. When the forces of Amr ibn al-As captured Alexandria, they discovered Aristotleâs school, where many manuscripts were stored. When Umar ibn al-Khattab learned of this, according to the Egyptian Islamic historian al-Maqrizi, he ordered the books to be burned â a move sometimes mistakenly believed to be the destruction of the Library of Alexandria.
The Rise of Science and the Decline of Islam in the Caliphate
In general, these two examples clearly illustrate the attitude Muslims had toward science during the time of the Salaf. And really, if you think about it â what else could that attitude have been? If we start from the premise that Muslims emerged from Arabia in the 7th century, then weâre talking about a godforsaken land that neither Byzantium nor Persia had any real interest in. Naturally, the Arabs who lived there didnât recognize the value of science, firstly because they simply had no exposure to it, and secondly because when youâre struggling to survive in the harsh conditions of the Arabian desert â in a tribal society with a raid-based economy â science is the last thing on your mind.
It was a different story when the Arabs moved beyond their natural environment. Upon leaving Arabia, Muslims didnât end up just anywhere â they reached the very center of the known world. In just over a century, as they conquered one country after another, the Caliphate absorbed Sassanid Persia, Byzantium, and the southern part of the Western Roman Empire â along with the peoples who carried their ancient cultural legacies. And while the first 120 years saw the generations of the Sahabah and Tabiâun behaving like the Arabian tribe of Muhammad, with each new generation they increasingly blended with the conquered peoples and came under their cultural influence.
This explains the decline of Islam in the understanding of the righteous predecessors and its contamination by foreign philosophy and science brought in by disbelievers â Persians and Christians. Itâs worth noting here that the beginning of the so-called Golden Age of Islam is typically dated to the late 8th and early 9th centuries, a time when the Islamic community was more divided than ever, and the Islamic state itself, under the rule of the Abbasids, saw a surge in anti-Arab sentiment and the growing influence of non-Arabs.
That was when science briefly flourished â but Islam had nothing to do with it, as weâll now see. By the time of Harun al-Rashidâs rule, the ministries of the caliphate were firmly occupied by Persians from the ancient Barmakid family, who had held high positions even under the Sassanids before Islam. Under the Umayyads, Persians and other non-Arabs were treated as second-class citizens, but after the Abbasid revolution â in which the Persians played a major role â they gained such influence that the Arab Muslim caliph became, if not a symbolic figure, at least heavily dependent on the political experience of the Persian elite.
Whatâs even more important is that, based on a range of indirect signs, we can infer that the Persian elite merely used Islam as a cover to access power and advance their own agenda. This was well observed by their contemporaries. The Hanbali scholar Ibn Qutaybah quotes the court Arabic language teacher of Harun al-Rashid, Abu Saâid al-Asmaâi, who described the Barmakids in this way: âWhen polytheism is mentioned in gatherings, the faces of the Barmakids light up with joy, but when the Qurâan is recited in their presence, they start mumbling stories about Marw (Merv).â
Caliph al-Mamun - patron of sciences and Taghut
If during the time of Harun al-Rashid the Barmakids were still kept somewhat in check, then under his son, Caliph Abdullah al-Maâmun, they began to feel even more confident. Incidentally, Caliph al-Maâmun himself was conceived by Harun through a Persian slave woman named Marajil â the influence of Persian disbelievers was clearly present.
Al-Dhahabi, in Siyar Aâlam al-Nubalaâ, gives us the following description of Caliph al-Maâmun: He was fond of literature, studied the rational sciences and the knowledge of those who came before Islam, and he ordered that their books be translated into Arabic. Al-Maâmun repeatedly transported books of Greek philosophers from Cyprus to Damascus.
We also learn about al-Maâmunâs sympathy for the misguided Muâtazilite sect â innovators and followers of Greek philosophy.
What do you thinkâdoes it befit the Commander of the Faithful to study the sciences of disbelievers and spread their books among the believers, while Caliph âUmar burned their manuscripts in his struggle to preserve the purity of this religion? Beyond al-Maâmunâs passion for innovation and studying the forbidden, in his ambition to spread among Muslims beliefs that contradict the Qurâan and the Sunnah, he founded an entire academy in Baghdad called the âHouse of Wisdom.â
And what was done in this House of Wisdom? Were they copying out the sacred pages of the Qurâan? Were they collecting the authentic hadiths passed down from the Messenger of Allah? Oh no! In this House, al-Maâmun gathered Persians and Christians and generously rewarded them with gold for translating into the language of the Messenger of Allah the works of Plato, Aristotle, Hippocrates, Galen, and mathematicians and philosophers from among the polytheist Indians.
And was this not influenced by the hypocritical Barmakids, who had already supported such initiatives under their own king, Khosrow I, who encouraged the study of sciences and gave shelter to fugitive Syrian Nestorian scholars?
Bayt al-Hikma was essentially a direct copy of the Academy of Gondishapur in the Khuzestan province of modern Iran, which was a major scientific center under the Sassanids. Also worth noting is that the patron of sciences, al-Maâmun, initiated the so-called Mihna â an inquisition testing the loyalty of Sunni scholars to the regime. And among its targets was none other than Ahmad ibn Hanbal himself, who surely needs no introduction.
The end of the golden age
The reign of al-Maâmun was perhaps the only period when sciences received a boost and experienced a revival in the lands ravaged by the Arabs. However, this did not last long. With the arrival of al-Mutawakkil, the pursuit of knowledge waned, and the Muslim elite returned to their usual activitiesâethnic conflicts, power struggles, and intra-religious disputes. Meanwhile, science continued to develop only on the periphery of the Islamic world, and even there, it faced criticism from scholars. To understand this, letâs briefly review the biographies of the scholars who lived in Islamic countries and whose fame Muslims often try to claim for themselves.
The first of them is Ibn Sina, better known as Avicenna. An ethnic Persian from the village of Afshana in the Bukhara region, Ibn Sina gained fame primarily as a physician and philosopher. His father was a preacher of the Ismaili sect of Shiâism. Ibn Sina studied Euclid and Aristotleâs metaphysics, and, as reported by Az-Zahabi, to study the latter, Ibn Sina had to recite it 40 times before he memorized it, and then, in order to fully understand it, he had to study the commentaries of Al-Farabi on metaphysics. From his biography, we see that he spent most of his life practicing medicine among the rulers of Persian cities, and he had little interest in Islamic sciences, not to mention that the philosophy he studied directly contradicted Islamic beliefs, for which he was criticized not only by Sunni scholars but even by Sufis.
If we mentioned Aristotleâs metaphysics, we should also mention the author of its commentary, Al-Farabi, who was either a Turk or a Sogdian Persian, and whom Az-Zahabi calls the âwise sheikh of philosophy,â who, as you might have guessed, was involved in philosophy. In addition to this, he also managed to write a whole treatise on music, âKitab al-Musiqa al-Kabir.â And if you thought that in this book he discusses the prohibition of music, I must disappoint you. Not only does he not prohibit it, but he also teaches it.
The next, equally prominent figure of the Golden Age is Ibn Rushd, also known as Averroes, born into a family of Maliki jurists in Andalusia. Although Ibn Rushdâs grandfather was a distinguished faqih (Islamic jurist) of the Cordoban Emirate, his grandson would go down in history as a noble representative of Eastern Aristotelianism. Al-Farabi refers to Ibn Rushd as the philosopher of the era and notes that he studied medicine as well as the sciences of those who came before Islam, mastering them to perfection. Some, as Al-Farabi points out, criticized Ibn Rushd for engaging in philosophy, yet this did not prevent him from writing a dozen works, most of which were treatises on the philosophy of Aristotle and Galen, as well as commentaries on the works of Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Al-Farabiâagain, on philosophy. Moreover, Ibn Rushd not only faced criticism but, in his final years, was completely shunned for his heretical statements. In the end, he died alone, under house arrest in his own home.
Finally, we must mention the Persian mathematician al-Khwarizmi, who is credited with coining the terms 'algorithm' and 'algebra.' Whatâs surprising is that he doesnât even appear in *Sier-an-Nubol*. Despite living much earlier than Dagobiâduring the reign of the well-known Caliph al-Maâmunâhe even headed the Baghdad branch of the Academy of Gundishapur under him.
Yet al-Khwarizmi had virtually no connection to Islam, let alone the humanities. Apart from his work on history (*tarikh*), all his other writings were devoted to mathematics, geography, and astronomy. Moreover, al-Khwarizmi derived the foundation of his mathematical knowledge in Central Asia from the works of Greek and Indian scholars.
Islam is a religion of peace?Letâs turn to the interpretations of the Quran. Concerning the words of the Almighty in Surah Al-Baqarah â âThere is no compulsion in religionâ â we find the following explanation from the prominent Sunni mufassir Ibn Kathir:
âThe opinion of many scholars is that this verse refers to the People of the Book who entered their religion before it was abrogated and replaced, and who paid the jizya tax.â
âOthers have said that this ruling was abrogated by the verse of fighting, since it is necessary to call all nations to the acceptance of the true religion â the religion of Islam.â
âAnd if any of them refuses to accept Islam without paying or surrendering the jizya, then they are to be fought until they are killed.â
âAnd that is the meaning of compulsion, as Allah the Almighty has said: âYou will be called to fight a people of great might. You will fight them, or they will submit to Islam.â"
âThe Almighty also said: âO Prophet, fight against the disbelievers and the hypocrites and be harsh with them.ââ
âAnd again the Almighty said: âO you who believe, fight those disbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you harshness. And know that Allah is with the righteous.ââ
âAnd as stated in an authentic hadith, Allah will marvel at people who enter Paradise in chains â meaning that captives brought to Muslim lands in shackles and collars will later accept Islam, and their deeds and sins will be rectified so that they will become among the people of Paradise.â
Beautiful, isnât it, dear friend? As for the verse âWhoever saves one lifeâŠâ, and so on â here, my friends, you didnât even bother to read what was written a few verses earlier, or what follows this verse. Allah recounts the biblical story of Cain killing Abel and then quotes a Jewish legal tract â the Sanhedrin â which the author of the Quran, in his ignorance, presents as the direct speech of God. Thatâs where your favorite quote, addressed to the Children of Israel, actually comes from.
And the next verse already announces the Islamic order, promising for anyone who wages war against Allah and His Messenger and seeks to cause corruption on earth â execution by crucifixion or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides.
As for all the hadiths of varying authenticity about Muhammad visiting a sick Jew, it is enough to recall the narration found in Sahih Muslim from Umar ibn al-Khattab, in which Muhammad promises to expel all Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula. And yet, a Muslim will still speak about how a Muslim should live in peace with others. Moreover, some everyday Muslims even manage to befriend kuffar and call them brothers.
From a human perspective, this is completely normal and right â but the deity Muslims worship does not wish for that. âBelievers cannot take disbelievers as allies or friends, for whoever does so has nothing to do with Allah.â This verse â which, as you might guess, is from Medina â is one of the foundations of the doctrine of Al-Walaâ wal-Baraâ (âLoyalty and Disavowalâ), which obligates Muslims to show loyalty to fellow Muslims and disavowal toward disbelievers.
The only exception to this rule is when a Muslim is genuinely afraid of the disbelievers. On this, Imam Ibn Kathir gives the following commentary:
âIf you fear them â being in certain lands and under certain circumstances â a believer may outwardly show friendship, but should not intend it in their heart.â
In other words, Islam teaches you deceit and cunning â gently called precaution. And to reinforce this point, Ibn Kathir cites the hadith of At-Tirmidhi from Abu Ad-Darda:
âIndeed, we smile in the faces of some people, while our hearts curse them.â
The last two arguments you may hear from everyday Muslims are:
1. That all of the above concerns only the polytheists who were hostile to Muslims.
2. That it was only relevant during the Prophetâs time and that of his companions.
The second argument shows that you are not paying attention and do not read your sources. Islam is a religion that does not recognize time limits or territorial boundaries: âJihad will continue until the Day of Judgment.â
What was revealed in verse 29 of Surah At-Tawbah is the final ruling for believers concerning the kuffar. The consensus of Ahl al-Sunnah mufassirs is that this verse was revealed as an irrevocable command for Muslims to uncompromisingly establish the will of Allah and His Messenger across all corners of the earth. Ibn Kathir writes the following:
âThis noble verse was revealed as a command to fight the People of the Book, after the affairs with the polytheists had been settled and people were entering Allahâs religion in crowds.â
âAnd when the Arabian Peninsula had been set aright, Allah and His Messenger commanded the fighting of the People of the Two Books â the Jews and the Christians. This occurred in the ninth year of the Hijrah. And that is why the Messenger of Allah prepared for war with the Romans and called the people to it.â
So, returning to the first argument: as we have seen, neither Christians nor Jews are to be considered friends or brothers by Muslims â they are to be fought until they either accept Islam or pay tribute in humiliation.
Moreover, you must understand that this command essentially applies to all non-Muslims, since during Muhammadâs time, Allah was apparently unaware that, in addition to Christians, Jews, and pagans, there were also Buddhists and people who simply donât believe in God or worship anyone.
Later, Muslims found a rather elegant solution to this oversight: they divided the kuffar into three main groups â Christians, Jews, and polytheists. Into the last category, alongside pagans, they continue to lump in virtually anyone they donât understand but who must, in the Muslim mind, be shoved into one of the categories of disbelievers.
How the Prophet Stole Someone Else's Wife
We will talk about the story of the Prophetâs marriage to one of his thirteen wives, Zaynab bint Jahsh. Before turning to the sources, letâs first familiarize ourselves with the main characters. I believe the Prophet Muhammad needs no introduction, so we will immediately move on to the other important figure in this story, Zayd ibn Harithah.
Zayd ibn Harithah was a slave who, as a young child, was taken captive and passed from hand to hand until he was gifted to Muhammad and his first wife, the merchant Khadijah bint Khuwaylid. Muhammad grew so fond of Zayd that he granted him freedom and adopted him, after which Zayd became known as Zayd ibn Muhammadâat least until a certain point, which we will discuss later.
The central figure of the conflict in this story is Zaynab bint Jahsh, a woman from the noble Asad clan of the Quraysh tribe. Muhammad arranged her marriage to his adopted son, Zayd. This caused resentment both among her relatives and within Zaynab herself, who was not eager to marry Zayd. Nevertheless, the word of the Messenger of Allah was law, and the marriage was carried out.
All might have been well, and we might not even have paid attention to this story, if not for one crucial detail. To understand it properly, we need to turn to the primary sources. The story in question can be found in Volume Two of Tarikh al-Tabari, specifically in the section dedicated to the events of the fifth year of the Hijrah. There, al-Tabari writes:
âThen came the fifth year of the Hijrah, and in this year, the Messenger of Allah married Zaynab bint Jahsh.â
I draw your attention to the fact that at that time, Zaynab was already married to Zayd.
âThe Messenger of Allah decided to visit Zayd ibn Harithah, who was then called âZayd, the son of Muhammad.â Apparently, they missed each other by an hour. Muhammad came to Zaydâs house, called for him, but did not find him there. Instead, Zaydâs wife, Zaynab bint Jahsh, came out to greet him, lightly clothed.â
And here the most interesting part begins.
Muhammad turned away from her, and she said that Zayd was not home, inviting him inside, saying:
âCome in, O Messenger of Allah, for you are dear to me as my father and mother.â
Muhammad refused to enter. When Zayd found out that the Messenger of Allah had been at his door, he hurried home, hastily throwing something on, and Muhammad was pleased by what he sawâit sparked admiration in him. Muhammad turned away and began to murmur something unintelligible, from which only the phrases could be understood:
âBlessed be Allah, the Almighty. Blessed be Allah, the One who guides hearts.â
When Zayd returned home, his wife told him that the Messenger of Allah had come. Zayd asked:
âYou invited him in, didnât you?â
She replied:
âI did, but he refused.â
Zayd then asked:
âDid he say anything else?â
She answered:
âWhen he turned away, I heard him say: âBlessed be Allah the Almighty, blessed be Allah who guides hearts.ââ
Now, how did Zayd react to this situation, which at first glance seemed unremarkable? He went to the Messenger of Allah and said:
âO Messenger of Allah, I heard you came to my house but refused to enter. O you who are dearer to me than my own father and mother. Perhaps you admired Zaynab, and I should divorce her?â
Muhammad, portraying nobility, replied, encouraging Zayd to keep his wife.
At first glance, it seemed as if no one was forcing anything. But remember for a moment who Muhammad was. Put yourself in Zaydâs place and imagine how you would feel.
Al-Tabari notes:
âFrom that day, Zayd could no longer approach her.â
He would come to Muhammad to discuss it, and Muhammad would repeat:
âKeep your wife.â
Eventually, Al-Tabari writes:
âZayd divorced Zaynab, and she became permissible (for marriage).â
That is, her waiting period (âiddah) ended.
Of course, after 1400 years, itâs impossible to know exactly what happened, but itâs probably not a coincidence that Al-Tabariâs narrative emphasizes the phrase:
âShe pleased the Messenger of Allah.â
Most likely, someoneâmaybe even Zaynab herselfâtold Zayd about Muhammadâs feelings. Itâs possible that Zaynab, being from a noble family, preferred to become the wife of the Prophet rather than remain the wife of a former slave. Maybe she hinted to Zayd herself. Who knows.
What matters most is how the Messenger of Allah himself behaved after this incident.
Miraculously, verse 37 of Surah Al-Ahzab was revealed:
âAnd [remember, O Muhammad], when you said to the one on whom Allah bestowed favor and you bestowed favor [meaning Zayd, whom Muhammad freed from slavery]: âKeep your wife and fear Allah.â But you concealed within yourself that which Allah was to disclose, and you feared the people, while Allah has more right that you fear Him.â
If you still donât understand whatâs going on here, letâs turn to one of the most authoritative Sunni commentators, Ibn Kathir.
On the phrase âYou concealed within yourself that which Allah was to disclose,â Ibn Kathir writes:
âThis verse was revealed concerning Zaynab bint Jahsh and Zayd ibn Harithah.â
More precisely:
âAllah informed His Prophet that Zaynab would become one of his wives even before he married her. When Zayd would complain about his wife, the Prophet would tell him: âFear Allah and keep your wife,â even though Muhammad already knew Allahâs decree and kept it hidden in his heart.â
Remarkable, isnât it? Even when Allah himself had allegedly granted him such a favor, Muhammad still tried to preserve Zaydâs marriage.
So what else was revealed in that verse?
âWhen Zayd had finished with her [whether through consummation or divorce], We married her to youâŠâ
Read the Qurâan yourself, reread the verse thoughtfully, and ask yourself: do you really believe the Qurâan is the Word of God? Are you truly ready to believe that the Creator of the Universe would, in His sacred and final message to mankind, provide an excuse for Muhammad, who happened to become aroused at the sight of lightly clothed Zaynab bint Jahsh?
Ibn Kathir comments further:
âWhen Zayd fulfilled his desire with her and divorced her, Allah married Zaynab to the Messenger of Allah. Her guardian in marriage was Allah Himself, and Muhammad married her without a guardian, without a marriage contract, dowry, or witnesses.â
Before we move to the final part of the verse, itâs worth mentioning something else Ibn Kathir tells us:
âWhen Zaynabâs waiting period ended, the Messenger of Allah told Zayd ibn Harithah: âAnnounce to her that I wish to marry her.â Zayd went to her while she was kneading dough. He said: âWhen I saw her, I felt such awe that I couldnât even look at her and deliver the message.â So he turned away and said: âO Zaynab, good newsâthe Messenger of Allah wishes to marry you.â She responded: âI will not do anything until I seek guidance from my Lord.â Then she prayed, and revelation came down, and Muhammad came to her without seeking permission.â
Ibn Kathir further describes the celebration that followed.
Thus, not only did Muhammad shamelessly take advantage of the situation while justifying it as divine will, but he also made Zaydâwho clearly suffered from the separationâpersonally deliver the proposal to Zaynab.
When you read all this, you canât help but remember the claim that Muhammad is âthe best of mankindâ and âthe ultimate role model.â Learning what Muhammad did and said, while hearing such statements, naturally leads to deep disgust.
Even more troubling is the fact that some people are so entrenched in their ignorance that they feel no discomfort whatsoever reading this story. Worse, they feel obliged to harm anyone who criticizes their âinfallibleâ authority.
This is pure sectarianism: no matter how disgraceful the actions are, the believers will still compromise their conscience to defend their prophet.
At the end of the verse, Muhammad justifies himself:
ââŠso that there would be no blame upon the believers concerning the wives of their adopted sons when they have no longer any need of them. And the command of Allah must be fulfilled.â
It would seem strange if Allah sent down a divine revelation solely to provide moral justification for Muhammadâs desires without offering something to the broader Muslim community as well.
For example, ordinary believers are only allowed four wives, while Muhammad had up to twelve. People might start to suspect something, so it was necessary to provide some concessions for the community too.
Finally, it should be noted that this whole story had far-reaching consequences. From this point on, Allah decided that adopted sons could no longer bear the names of their adoptive fathers.
On this point, Ibn Kathir comments:
âBefore prophethood, Muhammad adopted Zayd ibn Harithah, and people called him Zayd ibn Muhammad. Allah abolished this by saying: âHe has not made your adopted sons your [true] sons. Call them by their [biological] fathersâ names; that is more just in the sight of Allah.ââ
And this was further confirmed and clarified by Muhammadâs marriage to Zaynab after Zaydâs divorce. Thus were the morals of the man considered the best to ever walk the earth.
Permissibility of child marriages
I won't comment much here either. I'll give you arguments.
1. The Qurâan permits marriage to girls who have not yet reached puberty.
Evidence:
Letâs open Surah At-Talaq (65:4):
âAnd those of your women who no longer expect menstruationâif you doubt [their waiting period], their prescribed waiting time is three months, as well as for those who have not yet menstruated. And for those who are pregnant, their term is until they give birth. And whoever fears Allah â He will make matters easy for him.â
This verse mentions a waiting period (iddah) not only for women past menopause but also for those who have not yet menstruated, meaning prepubescent girls.
Since the waiting period is to determine whether a woman is pregnant after divorce, it implies that sexual intercourse could have taken place even with such girls.
2. The Tafsir confirms that the verse concerns marriage to prepubescent girls.
Evidence:
Referring to the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir:
âAllah the Exalted clarifies the waiting period (iddah) for women whose menstruation has stopped due to their age. Their waiting period is three months, different from those who still menstruate, for whom the waiting period is three menstrual cycles. The same applies to those who have not yet menstruated.â
Ibn Kathir clearly states that the rule also applies to girls who have not yet reached menstruation. Thus, traditional Islamic scholarship acknowledges the possibility of marriage and sexual relations with prepubescent girls.
3. The Qurâan does not establish a minimum age for marriage.
Evidence:
Letâs examine Surah An-Nisa, verses 23â24:
âProhibited to you [for marriage] are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your paternal aunts, your maternal aunts, daughters of your brother, daughters of your sister, your milk-mothers who nursed you, your milk-sisters, mothers of your wives, your stepdaughters under your guardianship born of your wives unto whom you have gone inâbut there is no blame upon you if you have not gone in to themâand [the] wives of your sons who are from your own loins. And [also prohibited is] to take two sisters in marriage simultaneouslyâŠâ
âAnd [also prohibited are] married women, except those your right hands possess. [This is] the decree of Allah upon you. And lawful to you are [all others] beyond these, provided that you seek them [in marriage] with your property, desiring chastity, not unlawful sexual intercourse. So for whatever you enjoy [of marriage] from them, give them their due compensation as an obligationâŠâ
In these verses, Allah enumerates the categories of women prohibited for marriage but makes no mention of any age restrictions. Therefore, the Qurâan does not set a minimum age for marriage.
4. The Sunnah of the Prophet confirms the practice of marrying prepubescent girls.
Evidence:
From Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5133:
âNarrated Aisha: The Prophet married me when I was six years old, and consummated the marriage with me when I was nine years old. Then I remained with him for nine years.â
This hadith clearly states that the marriage contract was made when Aisha was six years old, and consummation took place when she was nine â which, by modern standards, is before full physical maturity.
5. Modern claims that Aisha was older are unfounded.
Commentary:
Some contemporary authors argue that Aisha was actually eighteen or nineteen at the time of her marriage, based on indirect historical indications. However, this contradicts the authentic narrations reported directly by Aisha herself and authenticated in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.
Thus, attempts to reinterpret Aishaâs age are deliberate historical distortions.
how the prophet justified passions with the Quran /Or how Muhammad composed the Quran on the fly.
I have already discussed the story of how Muhammad took the wife of Zayd ibn Harithah, conveniently receiving a revelation from Allah at just the right time to justify it. Today, we will continue this topic and examine a few more examples that clearly demonstrate how the Messenger of Allah manipulated people, using Quranic verses to justify his personal desires. There are quite a few examples of this.
Letâs take the Surah Al-Ahzab, for instance, where Allah âmarriedâ Muhammad to Zaydâs wife, Zaynab bint Jahsh, who Muhammad had taken a liking to. In addition to this, there are several verses in that Surah that would seriously shake the faith of any reasonable person in the idea that Muhammad had any sincere prophetic mission. Despite the Quran being regarded in Islam as the final message from God to mankind, expressing His will until Judgment Day, Muhammad had no problem using âdivine revelationâ to address his everyday needs.
For example, when reading verses 30â33, we see that Muhammad was very concerned about controlling his wives. So much so that the Lord of the Worlds, in His revelation, sternly warns Muhammadâs wives to be obedient if they do not want to face heavenly consequences:
âO wives of the Prophet! If any of you commits a clear immorality, her punishment will be doubled. That is easy for Allah.â
âBut whoever of you devoutly obeys Allah and His Messenger and does righteousness â We will give her her reward twice, and We have prepared for her a noble provision.â
In other words, Muhammad was very familiar with the âcarrot and stickâ method.
âO wives of the Prophet! You are not like any other women. If you fear Allah, then do not be soft in speech, lest he in whose heart is disease should covet, but speak in an appropriate manner.â
âAnd stay in your houses, and do not display yourselves like the display of the former times of ignorance. Establish prayer, give zakat, and obey Allah and His Messenger.â
Since Muhammad himself struggled with such desires, he measured others by his own standards and feared falling into the same kind of situation Zayd ibn Harithah did. Therefore, Allah intervened to remind the Prophetâs wives that it would be safer for them to limit their outings and contact with the outside world.
Just three verses later, we come across Muhammadâs scandalous story with Zaydâs wife, and after some clumsy justifications â or whether Allah himself excuses him, itâs hard to tell â we find a very telling verse where Muhammadâs authorship behind the words attributed to Allah becomes glaringly obvious:
âO Prophet! Indeed, We have made lawful to you your wives to whom you have given their due compensation and those your right hand possesses from what Allah has given you, and the daughters of your paternal uncles and aunts, and the daughters of your maternal uncles and aunts who emigrated with you, and any believing woman who offers herself to the Prophet if the Prophet wishes to marry her. This is only for you, excluding the [other] believers. We certainly know what We have made obligatory upon them concerning their wives and those their right hands possess. But We have made this concession for you in order that there be no discomfort upon youâŠâ
How about that? Pretty âconvenient,â right?
Thereâs another point to clarify here. Itâs often argued â and not without basis â that the Arabic word ۧÙŰłÙŰȘÙÙÙÙÙŰÙ (translated here as âto marryâ) doesnât necessarily mean âto marryâ in the legal sense, but rather âto have sexual intercourse.â The basic verb ÙۧÙÙŰÙ can, according to dictionaries, mean both âto marryâ and âto have sex.â
Thus, the verse could more accurately be translated as:
âThe Prophet is permitted any believing woman who offers herself to him if he wishes to sleep with her.â
You can easily verify this interpretation: go up to any Arab and say ۣ۱ÙŰŻ ŰŁÙ ŰŁÙÙŰ ŰšÙŰȘÙ (âI want to have sex with your daughterâ) â and watch the reaction you get. It will not be pleasant.
Moreover, the context of debauchery is also supported indirectly through verse 230 of Surah Al-Baqarah and through a hadith recorded by Al-Bukhari regarding divorce. Verse 230 says:
âIf he divorces her [for the third time], she is not lawful for him until she has married another husbandâŠâ
But many translations â such as Kuliyevâs â sneakily render it âuntil she marries another,â hiding the implication.
However, in Sahih al-Bukhari, thereâs a hadith where a woman comes to the Prophet after divorcing her first husband and marrying a second, who turned out to be impotent. The second husband denies it, claiming he is potent and blaming her rebelliousness. Muhammad, understanding that the woman wants to return to her first husband, tells her:
âYou cannot return to your first husband until the second one tastes your sweetness.â
Iâm sure you get the metaphor.
So, through simple reasoning, it becomes clear that Allah supposedly granted Muhammad an exclusive right to have intercourse with any woman who offered herself to him.
On the other hand, if you consult the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir, he does say it refers to marriage, albeit a very peculiar kind of marriage:
âMeaning: any believing woman who offers herself to the Prophet â if the Prophet wishes, he may marry her without paying a dowry.â
But hereâs the problem: in Sahih Muslim, another hadith clarifies that the word ÙÙŰ§Ű (from ÙÙŰ) â usually translated as âmarriageâ â absolutely refers to sexual intercourse. In this hadith, Muhammad commands Muslims to abstain from intercourse with their wives during menstruation, saying:
âۧ۔ÙŰčÙۧ ÙÙ ŰŽÙŰĄ Ű„Ùۧ ۧÙÙÙۧŰâ â âDo everything with her except intercourse.â
Therefore, considering the broader hadith context and the fact that in the verse being discussed, Muhammad is exempt from paying mahr (the bridal gift), it heavily suggests that what was actually intended here was straightforward sexual access.
Finally, even those close to Muhammad seemed to realize how self-serving these ârevelationsâ were. In a hadith from Muslim, Aisha says she was jealous of the women who offered themselves to the Prophet and would mockingly say:
âCan a woman offer herself?â
To which, conveniently, Allah would immediately ârevealâ another verse:
âYou may defer [the turn of] any of them you wish, and you may take to yourself any you wish. And if you desire any of those you had set aside, there is no blame upon you.â
Aisha sarcastically noted:
âBy Allah, I see that your Lord hastens to satisfy your desires.â
I might release part 2 if you like this analysis.![]()
Mohammed was just born there. Don't get worked up about it, admit that Islam is really like a disease.I read this a while ago and donât remember if I commented.
I have my personal reasons for not liking Islam, however what interests me is how the Quran did get some things scientifically correct. Like the constant expansion of the universe, and the Big Bang theory. Also the Kabba being in the center of the earth.
See here
What are your thoughts on that? Imo they couldnât have just randomly made that up. I think Islam has more things behind it, with even more hidden messages we will never know.
You didnât answer my question I wanted to see your thoughts as I pretty much agreed with everything in your main postMohammed was just born there. Don't get worked up about it, admit that Islam is really like a disease.
The big cube they worship isnt actually in the "center of the earth". Its all a Fugazi, its bullshit. Youre ascribing some hidden mystical meaning to goatfucker desert nonsense when there isnt anything special underlying. They didnt predict shit other than how to invade Sweden.I read this a while ago and donât remember if I commented.
I have my personal reasons for not liking Islam, however what interests me is how the Quran did get some things scientifically correct. Like the constant expansion of the universe, and the Big Bang theory. Also the Kabba being in the center of the earth.
See here
What are your thoughts on that? Imo they couldnât have just randomly made that up. I think Islam has more things behind it, with even more hidden messages we will never know.
My answer and thought: Because Mecca is in the center of the earth, 1300 people died there because of the heat.You didnât answer my question I wanted to see your thoughts as I pretty much agreed with everything in your main post
There is nothing mystical or clever about this.My answer and thought: Because Mecca is in the center of the earth, 1300 people died there because of the heat.
Introduction:
The purpose of this thread is to inform every person so that he knows the truth about it and to kindle hatred towards this religion. Also, the author of this thread does not support other religions in this way.
Table Of Contents:
green - short analysis/orange - long analysis
- So how old was Aisha?
- Incest in Islam
- The Golden Age of Islam
- Islam is a religion of peace?
- How Prophet Muhammad Stole Someone Else's Wife
- Permissibility of child marriages
- how the prophet justified passions with the Quran
At this point I will not comment, I will present reliable traditional Islamic sources.
1. Al-Isabah fi Tamyiz al-Sahabah
(Author: Ibn al-Athir, Volume 7, pages 136â137 â Chapter on Aisha)
âHe married her when she was six years old and consummated the marriage when she was nine.â
2. Siyar Aâlam al-Nubalaâ
(Author: Al-Dhahabi, Volume 2, pages 135â136 â Chapter on Aisha)
âHe consummated the marriage with her in the month of Shawwal of the second year after Hijrah, and she was a girl of nine years old.â
3. Sunan Abi Dawood
(Hadith No. 3909 in the standard numbering)
âMy mother wanted me to gain weight before giving me to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in marriage, but nothing worked until she fed me cucumbers along with fresh dates, after which I became chubby in the best way.â
Incest in Islam
In Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), there have been complex and sometimes controversial discussions concerning the status of children born out of fornication (zina). While the overwhelming majority of scholars agreed that such children maintain certain legal ties with their biological parents â particularly concerning prohibitions on marriage (mahram relations) â there were minority opinions among early jurists that approached the matter differently.
It is reported that two prominent scholars, Imam Malik ibn Anas and Imam Ash-Shafiâi, held views that deviated from the mainstream on this issue. Several respected scholars from later generations, who had no interest in defaming them, transmitted these opinions in their works. Based on their reports, a child born from fornication was not seen, according to Malik and Shafiâiâs interpretations, as establishing a legal kinship that would prohibit marriage.
Below are key statements from major Islamic legal sources that describe these views:
1. From Al-Mughni by Ibn Qudamah:
âThis is the opinion of the majority of scholars, but Malik and Shafiâi, as is well-known from their madhhabs, considered all of the aforementioned permissible.â
2. Also from Ibn Qudamah, further explanation:
âSince she is a stranger to him and does not trace her legal lineage back to him, there is no inheritance between them. If he acquires her as a slave, he does not free her. He is not obligated to provide for her, and she is not forbidden to him, just like most unrelated women.â
3. From Sharh Sahih Muslim by An-Nawawi:
âThe opinion of Malik, Shafiâi, Abu Thawr, and others is that sexual intercourse through fornication does not bring about specific legal consequences. Therefore, a fornicator is permitted to marry the woman with whom he committed fornication, as well as her daughter.â
4. Specific transmission of Imam Shafiâiâs opinion as quoted by An-Nawawi:
âHowever, Ash-Shafiâi added, saying that it is permissible for a man to have intercourse with a daughter born from his own semen as a result of fornication.â
5. From Ikhtilaf al-Aâimma al-âUlama by Ibn Hubayrah:
âThe scholars differed regarding girls born from fornication. Is it permissible for the one who fathered her through fornication to marry her? Ahmad and Abu Hanifa said: no. But Imam Shafiâi said: it is permissible.â
The golden age of Islam
How the West Created the Narrative of the âGolden Age of Islamâ
Letâs first determine the roots of the narrative about the Golden Age of Islam. First and foremost, itâs important to understand that the Golden Age of Islam is a cultural product of the post-colonial era that originated in the West. In our time, this narrative serves as a double-edged sword: in the Islamic world, it is used by daâwah preachers and apologists of Islam, while in the West it is employed by adherents of the neoliberal agenda. In the latter case, the Golden Age of Islam is one of the tools used in the cultural war against the traditional values of Western societies. It is a convenient instrument that helps impose false tolerance and erode the self-awareness of Western peoples.
From an academic standpoint, this narrative often portrays the Renaissance as a product of Islamic civilization. Today, the myth of the Golden Age of Islam holds a significant place in the curricula of humanities departments in Western Europe and North America, which are almost entirely dominated by leftist ideologies. These departments consistently produce pseudo-experts who will go on to tell you how Islam supposedly played a pivotal role in the development of progress.
Weâll come back to Ibn Sina and Ibn Rushd separately later. As for Hasan Mehdi, who dresses like a model kafir, speaks English better than the average Brit, works for Western media tycoons, and graduated from the oldest educational institution in the Anglo-Saxon world â he can hardly be seen as a representative of the ummah of the Messenger of Allah. In short, Islam has been a convenient tool repeatedly used by Western elites over the past century, and there are at least a dozen more figures like Hasan Mehdi.
How did Muslims pick up the idea of an Islamic Golden Age?
What interests us much more today is how the ideological products of the Golden Age of Islam were picked up by the believers themselves. If we turn to the Islamic scene, the Golden Age of Islam is used here as a means of coping with the inferiority complex that Muslim societies experience in the face of the Westâs political and technological dominance. The irony is that even in this case, Muslims try to defeat the enemy by playing by his rules and adopting his stylistic approach.
Just think about it: did Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, in the late 18th century, care that the Industrial Revolution was in full swing in Britain, while the Ottoman Empire was frantically modernizing its army by bringing in specialists from France? Itâs highly unlikely that any of the Salafi scholars back then believed the Islamic worldâs decline was due to falling behind in some kind of kafir science. To them, it was obvious that the Islamic ummah was mired in religious innovations (bidâah), and whatever was going on among the unbelievers was a secondary issue.
This continued until the West penetrated not just the lands of Islam, but the minds of Muslims themselves. At that point, ignoring Western progress became impossible, and they seized upon a tool created by Western intellectual centers and repurposed it for their own use. This is how, in our time, the internet became flooded with tales about scientific miracles in the Quran, Islamic medicine, and claims that the spread of Islam supposedly influenced the development of science.
Now that weâve clarified things a bit, letâs finally examine how Islamic the Golden Age of Islam truly was â what in this story is myth, and what is actually true. To begin with, we need to clarify Islamâs stance toward science as such.
The faithful often like to flaunt the hadith: âSeek knowledge, even if you have to go to China.â Even setting aside the fact that this hadith is weak, weâre already dealing with a distortion of meaning. When Muslims quote this phrase, they often, without realizing it, take it out of context. The issue is that in hadith literature, the word âknowledgeâ (âilm) is used in the Sharia context â and it means something completely different from the concept of âknowledgeâ in the Western tradition.
In the Islamic world, âknowledgeâ primarily refers to Sharia sciences, which have absolutely nothing to do with what we understand as science today. The phrase âseeking knowledgeâ is a fixed expression that specifically refers to the pursuit of Sharia knowledge from Islamic scholars. Therefore, the claim that Islam encourages the study of science is fundamentally incorrect. In fact, not only does Islam not promote science â it actively opposes it, since the scientific method is based on doubt, which in turn threatens a Muslimâs faith and is seen in Islam as a whispering from the devil or a sign of weak iman.
How Caliph Umar Burned the Books of the Persians and Greeks
The history of Islam itself can speak far more eloquently about Islamâs attitude toward science. Ibn Khaldun, who is often cited as a representative of the Golden Age of Islam, describes some very interesting things in his famous Muqaddimah, the prologue to Tarikh Ibn Khaldun.
In the section devoted to the rational sciences and their various types, where Ibn Khaldun derives the major core disciplines from philosophy and emphasizes the importance of logic, he also mentions the achievements of pre-Islamic civilizations in the field of astronomy. There, he writes that the main bearers of scientific knowledge at the time were the Persians and the Romans, and that before the advent of Islam, the sciences in those lands were like vast, overflowing seas.
Ibn Khaldun then focuses specifically on the Persians, writing that the rational sciences played an important role in their civilization, and that many scientific works reached the Greeks from the Persians through the conquests of Alexander the Great. After this, he finally turns to the period of Islamic conquests and describes how Muslims dealt with this cultural heritage.
When the Arabs invaded Persia, they seized an uncountable number of manuscripts. Saâd ibn Abi Waqqas wrote to Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab, requesting permission to distribute these books among the Muslims. Umar ordered him to throw the books into the water, saying that if they contained useful knowledge, then Allah had already given us better guidance; and if they contained harmful things, then Allah had protected us from them. So, the Muslims threw the manuscripts either into the water or into the fire, and the sciences of the Persians vanished into oblivion, never reaching us.
In a similar fashion, the Commander of the Faithful distinguished himself not only in Persia. When the forces of Amr ibn al-As captured Alexandria, they discovered Aristotleâs school, where many manuscripts were stored. When Umar ibn al-Khattab learned of this, according to the Egyptian Islamic historian al-Maqrizi, he ordered the books to be burned â a move sometimes mistakenly believed to be the destruction of the Library of Alexandria.
The Rise of Science and the Decline of Islam in the Caliphate
In general, these two examples clearly illustrate the attitude Muslims had toward science during the time of the Salaf. And really, if you think about it â what else could that attitude have been? If we start from the premise that Muslims emerged from Arabia in the 7th century, then weâre talking about a godforsaken land that neither Byzantium nor Persia had any real interest in. Naturally, the Arabs who lived there didnât recognize the value of science, firstly because they simply had no exposure to it, and secondly because when youâre struggling to survive in the harsh conditions of the Arabian desert â in a tribal society with a raid-based economy â science is the last thing on your mind.
It was a different story when the Arabs moved beyond their natural environment. Upon leaving Arabia, Muslims didnât end up just anywhere â they reached the very center of the known world. In just over a century, as they conquered one country after another, the Caliphate absorbed Sassanid Persia, Byzantium, and the southern part of the Western Roman Empire â along with the peoples who carried their ancient cultural legacies. And while the first 120 years saw the generations of the Sahabah and Tabiâun behaving like the Arabian tribe of Muhammad, with each new generation they increasingly blended with the conquered peoples and came under their cultural influence.
This explains the decline of Islam in the understanding of the righteous predecessors and its contamination by foreign philosophy and science brought in by disbelievers â Persians and Christians. Itâs worth noting here that the beginning of the so-called Golden Age of Islam is typically dated to the late 8th and early 9th centuries, a time when the Islamic community was more divided than ever, and the Islamic state itself, under the rule of the Abbasids, saw a surge in anti-Arab sentiment and the growing influence of non-Arabs.
That was when science briefly flourished â but Islam had nothing to do with it, as weâll now see. By the time of Harun al-Rashidâs rule, the ministries of the caliphate were firmly occupied by Persians from the ancient Barmakid family, who had held high positions even under the Sassanids before Islam. Under the Umayyads, Persians and other non-Arabs were treated as second-class citizens, but after the Abbasid revolution â in which the Persians played a major role â they gained such influence that the Arab Muslim caliph became, if not a symbolic figure, at least heavily dependent on the political experience of the Persian elite.
Whatâs even more important is that, based on a range of indirect signs, we can infer that the Persian elite merely used Islam as a cover to access power and advance their own agenda. This was well observed by their contemporaries. The Hanbali scholar Ibn Qutaybah quotes the court Arabic language teacher of Harun al-Rashid, Abu Saâid al-Asmaâi, who described the Barmakids in this way: âWhen polytheism is mentioned in gatherings, the faces of the Barmakids light up with joy, but when the Qurâan is recited in their presence, they start mumbling stories about Marw (Merv).â
Caliph al-Mamun - patron of sciences and Taghut
If during the time of Harun al-Rashid the Barmakids were still kept somewhat in check, then under his son, Caliph Abdullah al-Maâmun, they began to feel even more confident. Incidentally, Caliph al-Maâmun himself was conceived by Harun through a Persian slave woman named Marajil â the influence of Persian disbelievers was clearly present.
Al-Dhahabi, in Siyar Aâlam al-Nubalaâ, gives us the following description of Caliph al-Maâmun: He was fond of literature, studied the rational sciences and the knowledge of those who came before Islam, and he ordered that their books be translated into Arabic. Al-Maâmun repeatedly transported books of Greek philosophers from Cyprus to Damascus.
We also learn about al-Maâmunâs sympathy for the misguided Muâtazilite sect â innovators and followers of Greek philosophy.
What do you thinkâdoes it befit the Commander of the Faithful to study the sciences of disbelievers and spread their books among the believers, while Caliph âUmar burned their manuscripts in his struggle to preserve the purity of this religion? Beyond al-Maâmunâs passion for innovation and studying the forbidden, in his ambition to spread among Muslims beliefs that contradict the Qurâan and the Sunnah, he founded an entire academy in Baghdad called the âHouse of Wisdom.â
And what was done in this House of Wisdom? Were they copying out the sacred pages of the Qurâan? Were they collecting the authentic hadiths passed down from the Messenger of Allah? Oh no! In this House, al-Maâmun gathered Persians and Christians and generously rewarded them with gold for translating into the language of the Messenger of Allah the works of Plato, Aristotle, Hippocrates, Galen, and mathematicians and philosophers from among the polytheist Indians.
And was this not influenced by the hypocritical Barmakids, who had already supported such initiatives under their own king, Khosrow I, who encouraged the study of sciences and gave shelter to fugitive Syrian Nestorian scholars?
Bayt al-Hikma was essentially a direct copy of the Academy of Gondishapur in the Khuzestan province of modern Iran, which was a major scientific center under the Sassanids. Also worth noting is that the patron of sciences, al-Maâmun, initiated the so-called Mihna â an inquisition testing the loyalty of Sunni scholars to the regime. And among its targets was none other than Ahmad ibn Hanbal himself, who surely needs no introduction.
The end of the golden age
The reign of al-Maâmun was perhaps the only period when sciences received a boost and experienced a revival in the lands ravaged by the Arabs. However, this did not last long. With the arrival of al-Mutawakkil, the pursuit of knowledge waned, and the Muslim elite returned to their usual activitiesâethnic conflicts, power struggles, and intra-religious disputes. Meanwhile, science continued to develop only on the periphery of the Islamic world, and even there, it faced criticism from scholars. To understand this, letâs briefly review the biographies of the scholars who lived in Islamic countries and whose fame Muslims often try to claim for themselves.
The first of them is Ibn Sina, better known as Avicenna. An ethnic Persian from the village of Afshana in the Bukhara region, Ibn Sina gained fame primarily as a physician and philosopher. His father was a preacher of the Ismaili sect of Shiâism. Ibn Sina studied Euclid and Aristotleâs metaphysics, and, as reported by Az-Zahabi, to study the latter, Ibn Sina had to recite it 40 times before he memorized it, and then, in order to fully understand it, he had to study the commentaries of Al-Farabi on metaphysics. From his biography, we see that he spent most of his life practicing medicine among the rulers of Persian cities, and he had little interest in Islamic sciences, not to mention that the philosophy he studied directly contradicted Islamic beliefs, for which he was criticized not only by Sunni scholars but even by Sufis.
If we mentioned Aristotleâs metaphysics, we should also mention the author of its commentary, Al-Farabi, who was either a Turk or a Sogdian Persian, and whom Az-Zahabi calls the âwise sheikh of philosophy,â who, as you might have guessed, was involved in philosophy. In addition to this, he also managed to write a whole treatise on music, âKitab al-Musiqa al-Kabir.â And if you thought that in this book he discusses the prohibition of music, I must disappoint you. Not only does he not prohibit it, but he also teaches it.
The next, equally prominent figure of the Golden Age is Ibn Rushd, also known as Averroes, born into a family of Maliki jurists in Andalusia. Although Ibn Rushdâs grandfather was a distinguished faqih (Islamic jurist) of the Cordoban Emirate, his grandson would go down in history as a noble representative of Eastern Aristotelianism. Al-Farabi refers to Ibn Rushd as the philosopher of the era and notes that he studied medicine as well as the sciences of those who came before Islam, mastering them to perfection. Some, as Al-Farabi points out, criticized Ibn Rushd for engaging in philosophy, yet this did not prevent him from writing a dozen works, most of which were treatises on the philosophy of Aristotle and Galen, as well as commentaries on the works of Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Al-Farabiâagain, on philosophy. Moreover, Ibn Rushd not only faced criticism but, in his final years, was completely shunned for his heretical statements. In the end, he died alone, under house arrest in his own home.
Finally, we must mention the Persian mathematician al-Khwarizmi, who is credited with coining the terms 'algorithm' and 'algebra.' Whatâs surprising is that he doesnât even appear in *Sier-an-Nubol*. Despite living much earlier than Dagobiâduring the reign of the well-known Caliph al-Maâmunâhe even headed the Baghdad branch of the Academy of Gundishapur under him.
Yet al-Khwarizmi had virtually no connection to Islam, let alone the humanities. Apart from his work on history (*tarikh*), all his other writings were devoted to mathematics, geography, and astronomy. Moreover, al-Khwarizmi derived the foundation of his mathematical knowledge in Central Asia from the works of Greek and Indian scholars.
Islam is a religion of peace?Letâs turn to the interpretations of the Quran. Concerning the words of the Almighty in Surah Al-Baqarah â âThere is no compulsion in religionâ â we find the following explanation from the prominent Sunni mufassir Ibn Kathir:
âThe opinion of many scholars is that this verse refers to the People of the Book who entered their religion before it was abrogated and replaced, and who paid the jizya tax.â
âOthers have said that this ruling was abrogated by the verse of fighting, since it is necessary to call all nations to the acceptance of the true religion â the religion of Islam.â
âAnd if any of them refuses to accept Islam without paying or surrendering the jizya, then they are to be fought until they are killed.â
âAnd that is the meaning of compulsion, as Allah the Almighty has said: âYou will be called to fight a people of great might. You will fight them, or they will submit to Islam.â"
âThe Almighty also said: âO Prophet, fight against the disbelievers and the hypocrites and be harsh with them.ââ
âAnd again the Almighty said: âO you who believe, fight those disbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you harshness. And know that Allah is with the righteous.ââ
âAnd as stated in an authentic hadith, Allah will marvel at people who enter Paradise in chains â meaning that captives brought to Muslim lands in shackles and collars will later accept Islam, and their deeds and sins will be rectified so that they will become among the people of Paradise.â
Beautiful, isnât it, dear friend? As for the verse âWhoever saves one lifeâŠâ, and so on â here, my friends, you didnât even bother to read what was written a few verses earlier, or what follows this verse. Allah recounts the biblical story of Cain killing Abel and then quotes a Jewish legal tract â the Sanhedrin â which the author of the Quran, in his ignorance, presents as the direct speech of God. Thatâs where your favorite quote, addressed to the Children of Israel, actually comes from.
And the next verse already announces the Islamic order, promising for anyone who wages war against Allah and His Messenger and seeks to cause corruption on earth â execution by crucifixion or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides.
As for all the hadiths of varying authenticity about Muhammad visiting a sick Jew, it is enough to recall the narration found in Sahih Muslim from Umar ibn al-Khattab, in which Muhammad promises to expel all Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula. And yet, a Muslim will still speak about how a Muslim should live in peace with others. Moreover, some everyday Muslims even manage to befriend kuffar and call them brothers.
From a human perspective, this is completely normal and right â but the deity Muslims worship does not wish for that. âBelievers cannot take disbelievers as allies or friends, for whoever does so has nothing to do with Allah.â This verse â which, as you might guess, is from Medina â is one of the foundations of the doctrine of Al-Walaâ wal-Baraâ (âLoyalty and Disavowalâ), which obligates Muslims to show loyalty to fellow Muslims and disavowal toward disbelievers.
The only exception to this rule is when a Muslim is genuinely afraid of the disbelievers. On this, Imam Ibn Kathir gives the following commentary:
âIf you fear them â being in certain lands and under certain circumstances â a believer may outwardly show friendship, but should not intend it in their heart.â
In other words, Islam teaches you deceit and cunning â gently called precaution. And to reinforce this point, Ibn Kathir cites the hadith of At-Tirmidhi from Abu Ad-Darda:
âIndeed, we smile in the faces of some people, while our hearts curse them.â
The last two arguments you may hear from everyday Muslims are:
1. That all of the above concerns only the polytheists who were hostile to Muslims.
2. That it was only relevant during the Prophetâs time and that of his companions.
The second argument shows that you are not paying attention and do not read your sources. Islam is a religion that does not recognize time limits or territorial boundaries: âJihad will continue until the Day of Judgment.â
What was revealed in verse 29 of Surah At-Tawbah is the final ruling for believers concerning the kuffar. The consensus of Ahl al-Sunnah mufassirs is that this verse was revealed as an irrevocable command for Muslims to uncompromisingly establish the will of Allah and His Messenger across all corners of the earth. Ibn Kathir writes the following:
âThis noble verse was revealed as a command to fight the People of the Book, after the affairs with the polytheists had been settled and people were entering Allahâs religion in crowds.â
âAnd when the Arabian Peninsula had been set aright, Allah and His Messenger commanded the fighting of the People of the Two Books â the Jews and the Christians. This occurred in the ninth year of the Hijrah. And that is why the Messenger of Allah prepared for war with the Romans and called the people to it.â
So, returning to the first argument: as we have seen, neither Christians nor Jews are to be considered friends or brothers by Muslims â they are to be fought until they either accept Islam or pay tribute in humiliation.
Moreover, you must understand that this command essentially applies to all non-Muslims, since during Muhammadâs time, Allah was apparently unaware that, in addition to Christians, Jews, and pagans, there were also Buddhists and people who simply donât believe in God or worship anyone.
Later, Muslims found a rather elegant solution to this oversight: they divided the kuffar into three main groups â Christians, Jews, and polytheists. Into the last category, alongside pagans, they continue to lump in virtually anyone they donât understand but who must, in the Muslim mind, be shoved into one of the categories of disbelievers.
How the Prophet Stole Someone Else's Wife
We will talk about the story of the Prophetâs marriage to one of his thirteen wives, Zaynab bint Jahsh. Before turning to the sources, letâs first familiarize ourselves with the main characters. I believe the Prophet Muhammad needs no introduction, so we will immediately move on to the other important figure in this story, Zayd ibn Harithah.
Zayd ibn Harithah was a slave who, as a young child, was taken captive and passed from hand to hand until he was gifted to Muhammad and his first wife, the merchant Khadijah bint Khuwaylid. Muhammad grew so fond of Zayd that he granted him freedom and adopted him, after which Zayd became known as Zayd ibn Muhammadâat least until a certain point, which we will discuss later.
The central figure of the conflict in this story is Zaynab bint Jahsh, a woman from the noble Asad clan of the Quraysh tribe. Muhammad arranged her marriage to his adopted son, Zayd. This caused resentment both among her relatives and within Zaynab herself, who was not eager to marry Zayd. Nevertheless, the word of the Messenger of Allah was law, and the marriage was carried out.
All might have been well, and we might not even have paid attention to this story, if not for one crucial detail. To understand it properly, we need to turn to the primary sources. The story in question can be found in Volume Two of Tarikh al-Tabari, specifically in the section dedicated to the events of the fifth year of the Hijrah. There, al-Tabari writes:
âThen came the fifth year of the Hijrah, and in this year, the Messenger of Allah married Zaynab bint Jahsh.â
I draw your attention to the fact that at that time, Zaynab was already married to Zayd.
âThe Messenger of Allah decided to visit Zayd ibn Harithah, who was then called âZayd, the son of Muhammad.â Apparently, they missed each other by an hour. Muhammad came to Zaydâs house, called for him, but did not find him there. Instead, Zaydâs wife, Zaynab bint Jahsh, came out to greet him, lightly clothed.â
And here the most interesting part begins.
Muhammad turned away from her, and she said that Zayd was not home, inviting him inside, saying:
âCome in, O Messenger of Allah, for you are dear to me as my father and mother.â
Muhammad refused to enter. When Zayd found out that the Messenger of Allah had been at his door, he hurried home, hastily throwing something on, and Muhammad was pleased by what he sawâit sparked admiration in him. Muhammad turned away and began to murmur something unintelligible, from which only the phrases could be understood:
âBlessed be Allah, the Almighty. Blessed be Allah, the One who guides hearts.â
When Zayd returned home, his wife told him that the Messenger of Allah had come. Zayd asked:
âYou invited him in, didnât you?â
She replied:
âI did, but he refused.â
Zayd then asked:
âDid he say anything else?â
She answered:
âWhen he turned away, I heard him say: âBlessed be Allah the Almighty, blessed be Allah who guides hearts.ââ
Now, how did Zayd react to this situation, which at first glance seemed unremarkable? He went to the Messenger of Allah and said:
âO Messenger of Allah, I heard you came to my house but refused to enter. O you who are dearer to me than my own father and mother. Perhaps you admired Zaynab, and I should divorce her?â
Muhammad, portraying nobility, replied, encouraging Zayd to keep his wife.
At first glance, it seemed as if no one was forcing anything. But remember for a moment who Muhammad was. Put yourself in Zaydâs place and imagine how you would feel.
Al-Tabari notes:
âFrom that day, Zayd could no longer approach her.â
He would come to Muhammad to discuss it, and Muhammad would repeat:
âKeep your wife.â
Eventually, Al-Tabari writes:
âZayd divorced Zaynab, and she became permissible (for marriage).â
That is, her waiting period (âiddah) ended.
Of course, after 1400 years, itâs impossible to know exactly what happened, but itâs probably not a coincidence that Al-Tabariâs narrative emphasizes the phrase:
âShe pleased the Messenger of Allah.â
Most likely, someoneâmaybe even Zaynab herselfâtold Zayd about Muhammadâs feelings. Itâs possible that Zaynab, being from a noble family, preferred to become the wife of the Prophet rather than remain the wife of a former slave. Maybe she hinted to Zayd herself. Who knows.
What matters most is how the Messenger of Allah himself behaved after this incident.
Miraculously, verse 37 of Surah Al-Ahzab was revealed:
âAnd [remember, O Muhammad], when you said to the one on whom Allah bestowed favor and you bestowed favor [meaning Zayd, whom Muhammad freed from slavery]: âKeep your wife and fear Allah.â But you concealed within yourself that which Allah was to disclose, and you feared the people, while Allah has more right that you fear Him.â
If you still donât understand whatâs going on here, letâs turn to one of the most authoritative Sunni commentators, Ibn Kathir.
On the phrase âYou concealed within yourself that which Allah was to disclose,â Ibn Kathir writes:
âThis verse was revealed concerning Zaynab bint Jahsh and Zayd ibn Harithah.â
More precisely:
âAllah informed His Prophet that Zaynab would become one of his wives even before he married her. When Zayd would complain about his wife, the Prophet would tell him: âFear Allah and keep your wife,â even though Muhammad already knew Allahâs decree and kept it hidden in his heart.â
Remarkable, isnât it? Even when Allah himself had allegedly granted him such a favor, Muhammad still tried to preserve Zaydâs marriage.
So what else was revealed in that verse?
âWhen Zayd had finished with her [whether through consummation or divorce], We married her to youâŠâ
Read the Qurâan yourself, reread the verse thoughtfully, and ask yourself: do you really believe the Qurâan is the Word of God? Are you truly ready to believe that the Creator of the Universe would, in His sacred and final message to mankind, provide an excuse for Muhammad, who happened to become aroused at the sight of lightly clothed Zaynab bint Jahsh?
Ibn Kathir comments further:
âWhen Zayd fulfilled his desire with her and divorced her, Allah married Zaynab to the Messenger of Allah. Her guardian in marriage was Allah Himself, and Muhammad married her without a guardian, without a marriage contract, dowry, or witnesses.â
Before we move to the final part of the verse, itâs worth mentioning something else Ibn Kathir tells us:
âWhen Zaynabâs waiting period ended, the Messenger of Allah told Zayd ibn Harithah: âAnnounce to her that I wish to marry her.â Zayd went to her while she was kneading dough. He said: âWhen I saw her, I felt such awe that I couldnât even look at her and deliver the message.â So he turned away and said: âO Zaynab, good newsâthe Messenger of Allah wishes to marry you.â She responded: âI will not do anything until I seek guidance from my Lord.â Then she prayed, and revelation came down, and Muhammad came to her without seeking permission.â
Ibn Kathir further describes the celebration that followed.
Thus, not only did Muhammad shamelessly take advantage of the situation while justifying it as divine will, but he also made Zaydâwho clearly suffered from the separationâpersonally deliver the proposal to Zaynab.
When you read all this, you canât help but remember the claim that Muhammad is âthe best of mankindâ and âthe ultimate role model.â Learning what Muhammad did and said, while hearing such statements, naturally leads to deep disgust.
Even more troubling is the fact that some people are so entrenched in their ignorance that they feel no discomfort whatsoever reading this story. Worse, they feel obliged to harm anyone who criticizes their âinfallibleâ authority.
This is pure sectarianism: no matter how disgraceful the actions are, the believers will still compromise their conscience to defend their prophet.
At the end of the verse, Muhammad justifies himself:
ââŠso that there would be no blame upon the believers concerning the wives of their adopted sons when they have no longer any need of them. And the command of Allah must be fulfilled.â
It would seem strange if Allah sent down a divine revelation solely to provide moral justification for Muhammadâs desires without offering something to the broader Muslim community as well.
For example, ordinary believers are only allowed four wives, while Muhammad had up to twelve. People might start to suspect something, so it was necessary to provide some concessions for the community too.
Finally, it should be noted that this whole story had far-reaching consequences. From this point on, Allah decided that adopted sons could no longer bear the names of their adoptive fathers.
On this point, Ibn Kathir comments:
âBefore prophethood, Muhammad adopted Zayd ibn Harithah, and people called him Zayd ibn Muhammad. Allah abolished this by saying: âHe has not made your adopted sons your [true] sons. Call them by their [biological] fathersâ names; that is more just in the sight of Allah.ââ
And this was further confirmed and clarified by Muhammadâs marriage to Zaynab after Zaydâs divorce. Thus were the morals of the man considered the best to ever walk the earth.
Permissibility of child marriages
I won't comment much here either. I'll give you arguments.
1. The Qurâan permits marriage to girls who have not yet reached puberty.
Evidence:
Letâs open Surah At-Talaq (65:4):
âAnd those of your women who no longer expect menstruationâif you doubt [their waiting period], their prescribed waiting time is three months, as well as for those who have not yet menstruated. And for those who are pregnant, their term is until they give birth. And whoever fears Allah â He will make matters easy for him.â
This verse mentions a waiting period (iddah) not only for women past menopause but also for those who have not yet menstruated, meaning prepubescent girls.
Since the waiting period is to determine whether a woman is pregnant after divorce, it implies that sexual intercourse could have taken place even with such girls.
2. The Tafsir confirms that the verse concerns marriage to prepubescent girls.
Evidence:
Referring to the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir:
âAllah the Exalted clarifies the waiting period (iddah) for women whose menstruation has stopped due to their age. Their waiting period is three months, different from those who still menstruate, for whom the waiting period is three menstrual cycles. The same applies to those who have not yet menstruated.â
Ibn Kathir clearly states that the rule also applies to girls who have not yet reached menstruation. Thus, traditional Islamic scholarship acknowledges the possibility of marriage and sexual relations with prepubescent girls.
3. The Qurâan does not establish a minimum age for marriage.
Evidence:
Letâs examine Surah An-Nisa, verses 23â24:
âProhibited to you [for marriage] are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your paternal aunts, your maternal aunts, daughters of your brother, daughters of your sister, your milk-mothers who nursed you, your milk-sisters, mothers of your wives, your stepdaughters under your guardianship born of your wives unto whom you have gone inâbut there is no blame upon you if you have not gone in to themâand [the] wives of your sons who are from your own loins. And [also prohibited is] to take two sisters in marriage simultaneouslyâŠâ
âAnd [also prohibited are] married women, except those your right hands possess. [This is] the decree of Allah upon you. And lawful to you are [all others] beyond these, provided that you seek them [in marriage] with your property, desiring chastity, not unlawful sexual intercourse. So for whatever you enjoy [of marriage] from them, give them their due compensation as an obligationâŠâ
In these verses, Allah enumerates the categories of women prohibited for marriage but makes no mention of any age restrictions. Therefore, the Qurâan does not set a minimum age for marriage.
4. The Sunnah of the Prophet confirms the practice of marrying prepubescent girls.
Evidence:
From Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5133:
âNarrated Aisha: The Prophet married me when I was six years old, and consummated the marriage with me when I was nine years old. Then I remained with him for nine years.â
This hadith clearly states that the marriage contract was made when Aisha was six years old, and consummation took place when she was nine â which, by modern standards, is before full physical maturity.
5. Modern claims that Aisha was older are unfounded.
Commentary:
Some contemporary authors argue that Aisha was actually eighteen or nineteen at the time of her marriage, based on indirect historical indications. However, this contradicts the authentic narrations reported directly by Aisha herself and authenticated in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.
Thus, attempts to reinterpret Aishaâs age are deliberate historical distortions.
how the prophet justified passions with the Quran /Or how Muhammad composed the Quran on the fly.
I have already discussed the story of how Muhammad took the wife of Zayd ibn Harithah, conveniently receiving a revelation from Allah at just the right time to justify it. Today, we will continue this topic and examine a few more examples that clearly demonstrate how the Messenger of Allah manipulated people, using Quranic verses to justify his personal desires. There are quite a few examples of this.
Letâs take the Surah Al-Ahzab, for instance, where Allah âmarriedâ Muhammad to Zaydâs wife, Zaynab bint Jahsh, who Muhammad had taken a liking to. In addition to this, there are several verses in that Surah that would seriously shake the faith of any reasonable person in the idea that Muhammad had any sincere prophetic mission. Despite the Quran being regarded in Islam as the final message from God to mankind, expressing His will until Judgment Day, Muhammad had no problem using âdivine revelationâ to address his everyday needs.
For example, when reading verses 30â33, we see that Muhammad was very concerned about controlling his wives. So much so that the Lord of the Worlds, in His revelation, sternly warns Muhammadâs wives to be obedient if they do not want to face heavenly consequences:
âO wives of the Prophet! If any of you commits a clear immorality, her punishment will be doubled. That is easy for Allah.â
âBut whoever of you devoutly obeys Allah and His Messenger and does righteousness â We will give her her reward twice, and We have prepared for her a noble provision.â
In other words, Muhammad was very familiar with the âcarrot and stickâ method.
âO wives of the Prophet! You are not like any other women. If you fear Allah, then do not be soft in speech, lest he in whose heart is disease should covet, but speak in an appropriate manner.â
âAnd stay in your houses, and do not display yourselves like the display of the former times of ignorance. Establish prayer, give zakat, and obey Allah and His Messenger.â
Since Muhammad himself struggled with such desires, he measured others by his own standards and feared falling into the same kind of situation Zayd ibn Harithah did. Therefore, Allah intervened to remind the Prophetâs wives that it would be safer for them to limit their outings and contact with the outside world.
Just three verses later, we come across Muhammadâs scandalous story with Zaydâs wife, and after some clumsy justifications â or whether Allah himself excuses him, itâs hard to tell â we find a very telling verse where Muhammadâs authorship behind the words attributed to Allah becomes glaringly obvious:
âO Prophet! Indeed, We have made lawful to you your wives to whom you have given their due compensation and those your right hand possesses from what Allah has given you, and the daughters of your paternal uncles and aunts, and the daughters of your maternal uncles and aunts who emigrated with you, and any believing woman who offers herself to the Prophet if the Prophet wishes to marry her. This is only for you, excluding the [other] believers. We certainly know what We have made obligatory upon them concerning their wives and those their right hands possess. But We have made this concession for you in order that there be no discomfort upon youâŠâ
How about that? Pretty âconvenient,â right?
Thereâs another point to clarify here. Itâs often argued â and not without basis â that the Arabic word ۧÙŰłÙŰȘÙÙÙÙÙŰÙ (translated here as âto marryâ) doesnât necessarily mean âto marryâ in the legal sense, but rather âto have sexual intercourse.â The basic verb ÙۧÙÙŰÙ can, according to dictionaries, mean both âto marryâ and âto have sex.â
Thus, the verse could more accurately be translated as:
âThe Prophet is permitted any believing woman who offers herself to him if he wishes to sleep with her.â
You can easily verify this interpretation: go up to any Arab and say ۣ۱ÙŰŻ ŰŁÙ ŰŁÙÙŰ ŰšÙŰȘÙ (âI want to have sex with your daughterâ) â and watch the reaction you get. It will not be pleasant.
Moreover, the context of debauchery is also supported indirectly through verse 230 of Surah Al-Baqarah and through a hadith recorded by Al-Bukhari regarding divorce. Verse 230 says:
âIf he divorces her [for the third time], she is not lawful for him until she has married another husbandâŠâ
But many translations â such as Kuliyevâs â sneakily render it âuntil she marries another,â hiding the implication.
However, in Sahih al-Bukhari, thereâs a hadith where a woman comes to the Prophet after divorcing her first husband and marrying a second, who turned out to be impotent. The second husband denies it, claiming he is potent and blaming her rebelliousness. Muhammad, understanding that the woman wants to return to her first husband, tells her:
âYou cannot return to your first husband until the second one tastes your sweetness.â
Iâm sure you get the metaphor.
So, through simple reasoning, it becomes clear that Allah supposedly granted Muhammad an exclusive right to have intercourse with any woman who offered herself to him.
On the other hand, if you consult the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir, he does say it refers to marriage, albeit a very peculiar kind of marriage:
âMeaning: any believing woman who offers herself to the Prophet â if the Prophet wishes, he may marry her without paying a dowry.â
But hereâs the problem: in Sahih Muslim, another hadith clarifies that the word ÙÙŰ§Ű (from ÙÙŰ) â usually translated as âmarriageâ â absolutely refers to sexual intercourse. In this hadith, Muhammad commands Muslims to abstain from intercourse with their wives during menstruation, saying:
âۧ۔ÙŰčÙۧ ÙÙ ŰŽÙŰĄ Ű„Ùۧ ۧÙÙÙۧŰâ â âDo everything with her except intercourse.â
Therefore, considering the broader hadith context and the fact that in the verse being discussed, Muhammad is exempt from paying mahr (the bridal gift), it heavily suggests that what was actually intended here was straightforward sexual access.
Finally, even those close to Muhammad seemed to realize how self-serving these ârevelationsâ were. In a hadith from Muslim, Aisha says she was jealous of the women who offered themselves to the Prophet and would mockingly say:
âCan a woman offer herself?â
To which, conveniently, Allah would immediately ârevealâ another verse:
âYou may defer [the turn of] any of them you wish, and you may take to yourself any you wish. And if you desire any of those you had set aside, there is no blame upon you.â
Aisha sarcastically noted:
âBy Allah, I see that your Lord hastens to satisfy your desires.â
I might release part 2 if you like this analysis.
dnrd kafir
i think this reddit thread can address thisI have my personal reasons for not liking Islam, however what interests me is how the Quran did get some things scientifically correct. Like the constant expansion of the universe, and the Big Bang theory. Also the Kabba being in the center of the earth.
See here
?lol?
Kaffir and proud better than being a low iq sub human sunniKaffir
Introduction:
The purpose of this thread is to inform every person so that he knows the truth about it and to kindle hatred towards this religion. Also, the author of this thread does not support other religions in this way.
Table Of Contents:
green - short analysis/orange - long analysis
- So how old was Aisha?
- Incest in Islam
- The Golden Age of Islam
- Islam is a religion of peace?
- How Prophet Muhammad Stole Someone Else's Wife
- Permissibility of child marriages
- how the prophet justified passions with the Quran
At this point I will not comment, I will present reliable traditional Islamic sources.
1. Al-Isabah fi Tamyiz al-Sahabah
(Author: Ibn al-Athir, Volume 7, pages 136â137 â Chapter on Aisha)
âHe married her when she was six years old and consummated the marriage when she was nine.â
2. Siyar Aâlam al-Nubalaâ
(Author: Al-Dhahabi, Volume 2, pages 135â136 â Chapter on Aisha)
âHe consummated the marriage with her in the month of Shawwal of the second year after Hijrah, and she was a girl of nine years old.â
3. Sunan Abi Dawood
(Hadith No. 3909 in the standard numbering)
âMy mother wanted me to gain weight before giving me to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in marriage, but nothing worked until she fed me cucumbers along with fresh dates, after which I became chubby in the best way.â
Incest in Islam
In Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), there have been complex and sometimes controversial discussions concerning the status of children born out of fornication (zina). While the overwhelming majority of scholars agreed that such children maintain certain legal ties with their biological parents â particularly concerning prohibitions on marriage (mahram relations) â there were minority opinions among early jurists that approached the matter differently.
It is reported that two prominent scholars, Imam Malik ibn Anas and Imam Ash-Shafiâi, held views that deviated from the mainstream on this issue. Several respected scholars from later generations, who had no interest in defaming them, transmitted these opinions in their works. Based on their reports, a child born from fornication was not seen, according to Malik and Shafiâiâs interpretations, as establishing a legal kinship that would prohibit marriage.
Below are key statements from major Islamic legal sources that describe these views:
1. From Al-Mughni by Ibn Qudamah:
âThis is the opinion of the majority of scholars, but Malik and Shafiâi, as is well-known from their madhhabs, considered all of the aforementioned permissible.â
2. Also from Ibn Qudamah, further explanation:
âSince she is a stranger to him and does not trace her legal lineage back to him, there is no inheritance between them. If he acquires her as a slave, he does not free her. He is not obligated to provide for her, and she is not forbidden to him, just like most unrelated women.â
3. From Sharh Sahih Muslim by An-Nawawi:
âThe opinion of Malik, Shafiâi, Abu Thawr, and others is that sexual intercourse through fornication does not bring about specific legal consequences. Therefore, a fornicator is permitted to marry the woman with whom he committed fornication, as well as her daughter.â
4. Specific transmission of Imam Shafiâiâs opinion as quoted by An-Nawawi:
âHowever, Ash-Shafiâi added, saying that it is permissible for a man to have intercourse with a daughter born from his own semen as a result of fornication.â
5. From Ikhtilaf al-Aâimma al-âUlama by Ibn Hubayrah:
âThe scholars differed regarding girls born from fornication. Is it permissible for the one who fathered her through fornication to marry her? Ahmad and Abu Hanifa said: no. But Imam Shafiâi said: it is permissible.â
The golden age of Islam
How the West Created the Narrative of the âGolden Age of Islamâ
Letâs first determine the roots of the narrative about the Golden Age of Islam. First and foremost, itâs important to understand that the Golden Age of Islam is a cultural product of the post-colonial era that originated in the West. In our time, this narrative serves as a double-edged sword: in the Islamic world, it is used by daâwah preachers and apologists of Islam, while in the West it is employed by adherents of the neoliberal agenda. In the latter case, the Golden Age of Islam is one of the tools used in the cultural war against the traditional values of Western societies. It is a convenient instrument that helps impose false tolerance and erode the self-awareness of Western peoples.
From an academic standpoint, this narrative often portrays the Renaissance as a product of Islamic civilization. Today, the myth of the Golden Age of Islam holds a significant place in the curricula of humanities departments in Western Europe and North America, which are almost entirely dominated by leftist ideologies. These departments consistently produce pseudo-experts who will go on to tell you how Islam supposedly played a pivotal role in the development of progress.
Weâll come back to Ibn Sina and Ibn Rushd separately later. As for Hasan Mehdi, who dresses like a model kafir, speaks English better than the average Brit, works for Western media tycoons, and graduated from the oldest educational institution in the Anglo-Saxon world â he can hardly be seen as a representative of the ummah of the Messenger of Allah. In short, Islam has been a convenient tool repeatedly used by Western elites over the past century, and there are at least a dozen more figures like Hasan Mehdi.
How did Muslims pick up the idea of an Islamic Golden Age?
What interests us much more today is how the ideological products of the Golden Age of Islam were picked up by the believers themselves. If we turn to the Islamic scene, the Golden Age of Islam is used here as a means of coping with the inferiority complex that Muslim societies experience in the face of the Westâs political and technological dominance. The irony is that even in this case, Muslims try to defeat the enemy by playing by his rules and adopting his stylistic approach.
Just think about it: did Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, in the late 18th century, care that the Industrial Revolution was in full swing in Britain, while the Ottoman Empire was frantically modernizing its army by bringing in specialists from France? Itâs highly unlikely that any of the Salafi scholars back then believed the Islamic worldâs decline was due to falling behind in some kind of kafir science. To them, it was obvious that the Islamic ummah was mired in religious innovations (bidâah), and whatever was going on among the unbelievers was a secondary issue.
This continued until the West penetrated not just the lands of Islam, but the minds of Muslims themselves. At that point, ignoring Western progress became impossible, and they seized upon a tool created by Western intellectual centers and repurposed it for their own use. This is how, in our time, the internet became flooded with tales about scientific miracles in the Quran, Islamic medicine, and claims that the spread of Islam supposedly influenced the development of science.
Now that weâve clarified things a bit, letâs finally examine how Islamic the Golden Age of Islam truly was â what in this story is myth, and what is actually true. To begin with, we need to clarify Islamâs stance toward science as such.
The faithful often like to flaunt the hadith: âSeek knowledge, even if you have to go to China.â Even setting aside the fact that this hadith is weak, weâre already dealing with a distortion of meaning. When Muslims quote this phrase, they often, without realizing it, take it out of context. The issue is that in hadith literature, the word âknowledgeâ (âilm) is used in the Sharia context â and it means something completely different from the concept of âknowledgeâ in the Western tradition.
In the Islamic world, âknowledgeâ primarily refers to Sharia sciences, which have absolutely nothing to do with what we understand as science today. The phrase âseeking knowledgeâ is a fixed expression that specifically refers to the pursuit of Sharia knowledge from Islamic scholars. Therefore, the claim that Islam encourages the study of science is fundamentally incorrect. In fact, not only does Islam not promote science â it actively opposes it, since the scientific method is based on doubt, which in turn threatens a Muslimâs faith and is seen in Islam as a whispering from the devil or a sign of weak iman.
How Caliph Umar Burned the Books of the Persians and Greeks
The history of Islam itself can speak far more eloquently about Islamâs attitude toward science. Ibn Khaldun, who is often cited as a representative of the Golden Age of Islam, describes some very interesting things in his famous Muqaddimah, the prologue to Tarikh Ibn Khaldun.
In the section devoted to the rational sciences and their various types, where Ibn Khaldun derives the major core disciplines from philosophy and emphasizes the importance of logic, he also mentions the achievements of pre-Islamic civilizations in the field of astronomy. There, he writes that the main bearers of scientific knowledge at the time were the Persians and the Romans, and that before the advent of Islam, the sciences in those lands were like vast, overflowing seas.
Ibn Khaldun then focuses specifically on the Persians, writing that the rational sciences played an important role in their civilization, and that many scientific works reached the Greeks from the Persians through the conquests of Alexander the Great. After this, he finally turns to the period of Islamic conquests and describes how Muslims dealt with this cultural heritage.
When the Arabs invaded Persia, they seized an uncountable number of manuscripts. Saâd ibn Abi Waqqas wrote to Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab, requesting permission to distribute these books among the Muslims. Umar ordered him to throw the books into the water, saying that if they contained useful knowledge, then Allah had already given us better guidance; and if they contained harmful things, then Allah had protected us from them. So, the Muslims threw the manuscripts either into the water or into the fire, and the sciences of the Persians vanished into oblivion, never reaching us.
In a similar fashion, the Commander of the Faithful distinguished himself not only in Persia. When the forces of Amr ibn al-As captured Alexandria, they discovered Aristotleâs school, where many manuscripts were stored. When Umar ibn al-Khattab learned of this, according to the Egyptian Islamic historian al-Maqrizi, he ordered the books to be burned â a move sometimes mistakenly believed to be the destruction of the Library of Alexandria.
The Rise of Science and the Decline of Islam in the Caliphate
In general, these two examples clearly illustrate the attitude Muslims had toward science during the time of the Salaf. And really, if you think about it â what else could that attitude have been? If we start from the premise that Muslims emerged from Arabia in the 7th century, then weâre talking about a godforsaken land that neither Byzantium nor Persia had any real interest in. Naturally, the Arabs who lived there didnât recognize the value of science, firstly because they simply had no exposure to it, and secondly because when youâre struggling to survive in the harsh conditions of the Arabian desert â in a tribal society with a raid-based economy â science is the last thing on your mind.
It was a different story when the Arabs moved beyond their natural environment. Upon leaving Arabia, Muslims didnât end up just anywhere â they reached the very center of the known world. In just over a century, as they conquered one country after another, the Caliphate absorbed Sassanid Persia, Byzantium, and the southern part of the Western Roman Empire â along with the peoples who carried their ancient cultural legacies. And while the first 120 years saw the generations of the Sahabah and Tabiâun behaving like the Arabian tribe of Muhammad, with each new generation they increasingly blended with the conquered peoples and came under their cultural influence.
This explains the decline of Islam in the understanding of the righteous predecessors and its contamination by foreign philosophy and science brought in by disbelievers â Persians and Christians. Itâs worth noting here that the beginning of the so-called Golden Age of Islam is typically dated to the late 8th and early 9th centuries, a time when the Islamic community was more divided than ever, and the Islamic state itself, under the rule of the Abbasids, saw a surge in anti-Arab sentiment and the growing influence of non-Arabs.
That was when science briefly flourished â but Islam had nothing to do with it, as weâll now see. By the time of Harun al-Rashidâs rule, the ministries of the caliphate were firmly occupied by Persians from the ancient Barmakid family, who had held high positions even under the Sassanids before Islam. Under the Umayyads, Persians and other non-Arabs were treated as second-class citizens, but after the Abbasid revolution â in which the Persians played a major role â they gained such influence that the Arab Muslim caliph became, if not a symbolic figure, at least heavily dependent on the political experience of the Persian elite.
Whatâs even more important is that, based on a range of indirect signs, we can infer that the Persian elite merely used Islam as a cover to access power and advance their own agenda. This was well observed by their contemporaries. The Hanbali scholar Ibn Qutaybah quotes the court Arabic language teacher of Harun al-Rashid, Abu Saâid al-Asmaâi, who described the Barmakids in this way: âWhen polytheism is mentioned in gatherings, the faces of the Barmakids light up with joy, but when the Qurâan is recited in their presence, they start mumbling stories about Marw (Merv).â
Caliph al-Mamun - patron of sciences and Taghut
If during the time of Harun al-Rashid the Barmakids were still kept somewhat in check, then under his son, Caliph Abdullah al-Maâmun, they began to feel even more confident. Incidentally, Caliph al-Maâmun himself was conceived by Harun through a Persian slave woman named Marajil â the influence of Persian disbelievers was clearly present.
Al-Dhahabi, in Siyar Aâlam al-Nubalaâ, gives us the following description of Caliph al-Maâmun: He was fond of literature, studied the rational sciences and the knowledge of those who came before Islam, and he ordered that their books be translated into Arabic. Al-Maâmun repeatedly transported books of Greek philosophers from Cyprus to Damascus.
We also learn about al-Maâmunâs sympathy for the misguided Muâtazilite sect â innovators and followers of Greek philosophy.
What do you thinkâdoes it befit the Commander of the Faithful to study the sciences of disbelievers and spread their books among the believers, while Caliph âUmar burned their manuscripts in his struggle to preserve the purity of this religion? Beyond al-Maâmunâs passion for innovation and studying the forbidden, in his ambition to spread among Muslims beliefs that contradict the Qurâan and the Sunnah, he founded an entire academy in Baghdad called the âHouse of Wisdom.â
And what was done in this House of Wisdom? Were they copying out the sacred pages of the Qurâan? Were they collecting the authentic hadiths passed down from the Messenger of Allah? Oh no! In this House, al-Maâmun gathered Persians and Christians and generously rewarded them with gold for translating into the language of the Messenger of Allah the works of Plato, Aristotle, Hippocrates, Galen, and mathematicians and philosophers from among the polytheist Indians.
And was this not influenced by the hypocritical Barmakids, who had already supported such initiatives under their own king, Khosrow I, who encouraged the study of sciences and gave shelter to fugitive Syrian Nestorian scholars?
Bayt al-Hikma was essentially a direct copy of the Academy of Gondishapur in the Khuzestan province of modern Iran, which was a major scientific center under the Sassanids. Also worth noting is that the patron of sciences, al-Maâmun, initiated the so-called Mihna â an inquisition testing the loyalty of Sunni scholars to the regime. And among its targets was none other than Ahmad ibn Hanbal himself, who surely needs no introduction.
The end of the golden age
The reign of al-Maâmun was perhaps the only period when sciences received a boost and experienced a revival in the lands ravaged by the Arabs. However, this did not last long. With the arrival of al-Mutawakkil, the pursuit of knowledge waned, and the Muslim elite returned to their usual activitiesâethnic conflicts, power struggles, and intra-religious disputes. Meanwhile, science continued to develop only on the periphery of the Islamic world, and even there, it faced criticism from scholars. To understand this, letâs briefly review the biographies of the scholars who lived in Islamic countries and whose fame Muslims often try to claim for themselves.
The first of them is Ibn Sina, better known as Avicenna. An ethnic Persian from the village of Afshana in the Bukhara region, Ibn Sina gained fame primarily as a physician and philosopher. His father was a preacher of the Ismaili sect of Shiâism. Ibn Sina studied Euclid and Aristotleâs metaphysics, and, as reported by Az-Zahabi, to study the latter, Ibn Sina had to recite it 40 times before he memorized it, and then, in order to fully understand it, he had to study the commentaries of Al-Farabi on metaphysics. From his biography, we see that he spent most of his life practicing medicine among the rulers of Persian cities, and he had little interest in Islamic sciences, not to mention that the philosophy he studied directly contradicted Islamic beliefs, for which he was criticized not only by Sunni scholars but even by Sufis.
If we mentioned Aristotleâs metaphysics, we should also mention the author of its commentary, Al-Farabi, who was either a Turk or a Sogdian Persian, and whom Az-Zahabi calls the âwise sheikh of philosophy,â who, as you might have guessed, was involved in philosophy. In addition to this, he also managed to write a whole treatise on music, âKitab al-Musiqa al-Kabir.â And if you thought that in this book he discusses the prohibition of music, I must disappoint you. Not only does he not prohibit it, but he also teaches it.
The next, equally prominent figure of the Golden Age is Ibn Rushd, also known as Averroes, born into a family of Maliki jurists in Andalusia. Although Ibn Rushdâs grandfather was a distinguished faqih (Islamic jurist) of the Cordoban Emirate, his grandson would go down in history as a noble representative of Eastern Aristotelianism. Al-Farabi refers to Ibn Rushd as the philosopher of the era and notes that he studied medicine as well as the sciences of those who came before Islam, mastering them to perfection. Some, as Al-Farabi points out, criticized Ibn Rushd for engaging in philosophy, yet this did not prevent him from writing a dozen works, most of which were treatises on the philosophy of Aristotle and Galen, as well as commentaries on the works of Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Al-Farabiâagain, on philosophy. Moreover, Ibn Rushd not only faced criticism but, in his final years, was completely shunned for his heretical statements. In the end, he died alone, under house arrest in his own home.
Finally, we must mention the Persian mathematician al-Khwarizmi, who is credited with coining the terms 'algorithm' and 'algebra.' Whatâs surprising is that he doesnât even appear in *Sier-an-Nubol*. Despite living much earlier than Dagobiâduring the reign of the well-known Caliph al-Maâmunâhe even headed the Baghdad branch of the Academy of Gundishapur under him.
Yet al-Khwarizmi had virtually no connection to Islam, let alone the humanities. Apart from his work on history (*tarikh*), all his other writings were devoted to mathematics, geography, and astronomy. Moreover, al-Khwarizmi derived the foundation of his mathematical knowledge in Central Asia from the works of Greek and Indian scholars.
Islam is a religion of peace?Letâs turn to the interpretations of the Quran. Concerning the words of the Almighty in Surah Al-Baqarah â âThere is no compulsion in religionâ â we find the following explanation from the prominent Sunni mufassir Ibn Kathir:
âThe opinion of many scholars is that this verse refers to the People of the Book who entered their religion before it was abrogated and replaced, and who paid the jizya tax.â
âOthers have said that this ruling was abrogated by the verse of fighting, since it is necessary to call all nations to the acceptance of the true religion â the religion of Islam.â
âAnd if any of them refuses to accept Islam without paying or surrendering the jizya, then they are to be fought until they are killed.â
âAnd that is the meaning of compulsion, as Allah the Almighty has said: âYou will be called to fight a people of great might. You will fight them, or they will submit to Islam.â"
âThe Almighty also said: âO Prophet, fight against the disbelievers and the hypocrites and be harsh with them.ââ
âAnd again the Almighty said: âO you who believe, fight those disbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you harshness. And know that Allah is with the righteous.ââ
âAnd as stated in an authentic hadith, Allah will marvel at people who enter Paradise in chains â meaning that captives brought to Muslim lands in shackles and collars will later accept Islam, and their deeds and sins will be rectified so that they will become among the people of Paradise.â
Beautiful, isnât it, dear friend? As for the verse âWhoever saves one lifeâŠâ, and so on â here, my friends, you didnât even bother to read what was written a few verses earlier, or what follows this verse. Allah recounts the biblical story of Cain killing Abel and then quotes a Jewish legal tract â the Sanhedrin â which the author of the Quran, in his ignorance, presents as the direct speech of God. Thatâs where your favorite quote, addressed to the Children of Israel, actually comes from.
And the next verse already announces the Islamic order, promising for anyone who wages war against Allah and His Messenger and seeks to cause corruption on earth â execution by crucifixion or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides.
As for all the hadiths of varying authenticity about Muhammad visiting a sick Jew, it is enough to recall the narration found in Sahih Muslim from Umar ibn al-Khattab, in which Muhammad promises to expel all Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula. And yet, a Muslim will still speak about how a Muslim should live in peace with others. Moreover, some everyday Muslims even manage to befriend kuffar and call them brothers.
From a human perspective, this is completely normal and right â but the deity Muslims worship does not wish for that. âBelievers cannot take disbelievers as allies or friends, for whoever does so has nothing to do with Allah.â This verse â which, as you might guess, is from Medina â is one of the foundations of the doctrine of Al-Walaâ wal-Baraâ (âLoyalty and Disavowalâ), which obligates Muslims to show loyalty to fellow Muslims and disavowal toward disbelievers.
The only exception to this rule is when a Muslim is genuinely afraid of the disbelievers. On this, Imam Ibn Kathir gives the following commentary:
âIf you fear them â being in certain lands and under certain circumstances â a believer may outwardly show friendship, but should not intend it in their heart.â
In other words, Islam teaches you deceit and cunning â gently called precaution. And to reinforce this point, Ibn Kathir cites the hadith of At-Tirmidhi from Abu Ad-Darda:
âIndeed, we smile in the faces of some people, while our hearts curse them.â
The last two arguments you may hear from everyday Muslims are:
1. That all of the above concerns only the polytheists who were hostile to Muslims.
2. That it was only relevant during the Prophetâs time and that of his companions.
The second argument shows that you are not paying attention and do not read your sources. Islam is a religion that does not recognize time limits or territorial boundaries: âJihad will continue until the Day of Judgment.â
What was revealed in verse 29 of Surah At-Tawbah is the final ruling for believers concerning the kuffar. The consensus of Ahl al-Sunnah mufassirs is that this verse was revealed as an irrevocable command for Muslims to uncompromisingly establish the will of Allah and His Messenger across all corners of the earth. Ibn Kathir writes the following:
âThis noble verse was revealed as a command to fight the People of the Book, after the affairs with the polytheists had been settled and people were entering Allahâs religion in crowds.â
âAnd when the Arabian Peninsula had been set aright, Allah and His Messenger commanded the fighting of the People of the Two Books â the Jews and the Christians. This occurred in the ninth year of the Hijrah. And that is why the Messenger of Allah prepared for war with the Romans and called the people to it.â
So, returning to the first argument: as we have seen, neither Christians nor Jews are to be considered friends or brothers by Muslims â they are to be fought until they either accept Islam or pay tribute in humiliation.
Moreover, you must understand that this command essentially applies to all non-Muslims, since during Muhammadâs time, Allah was apparently unaware that, in addition to Christians, Jews, and pagans, there were also Buddhists and people who simply donât believe in God or worship anyone.
Later, Muslims found a rather elegant solution to this oversight: they divided the kuffar into three main groups â Christians, Jews, and polytheists. Into the last category, alongside pagans, they continue to lump in virtually anyone they donât understand but who must, in the Muslim mind, be shoved into one of the categories of disbelievers.
How the Prophet Stole Someone Else's Wife
We will talk about the story of the Prophetâs marriage to one of his thirteen wives, Zaynab bint Jahsh. Before turning to the sources, letâs first familiarize ourselves with the main characters. I believe the Prophet Muhammad needs no introduction, so we will immediately move on to the other important figure in this story, Zayd ibn Harithah.
Zayd ibn Harithah was a slave who, as a young child, was taken captive and passed from hand to hand until he was gifted to Muhammad and his first wife, the merchant Khadijah bint Khuwaylid. Muhammad grew so fond of Zayd that he granted him freedom and adopted him, after which Zayd became known as Zayd ibn Muhammadâat least until a certain point, which we will discuss later.
The central figure of the conflict in this story is Zaynab bint Jahsh, a woman from the noble Asad clan of the Quraysh tribe. Muhammad arranged her marriage to his adopted son, Zayd. This caused resentment both among her relatives and within Zaynab herself, who was not eager to marry Zayd. Nevertheless, the word of the Messenger of Allah was law, and the marriage was carried out.
All might have been well, and we might not even have paid attention to this story, if not for one crucial detail. To understand it properly, we need to turn to the primary sources. The story in question can be found in Volume Two of Tarikh al-Tabari, specifically in the section dedicated to the events of the fifth year of the Hijrah. There, al-Tabari writes:
âThen came the fifth year of the Hijrah, and in this year, the Messenger of Allah married Zaynab bint Jahsh.â
I draw your attention to the fact that at that time, Zaynab was already married to Zayd.
âThe Messenger of Allah decided to visit Zayd ibn Harithah, who was then called âZayd, the son of Muhammad.â Apparently, they missed each other by an hour. Muhammad came to Zaydâs house, called for him, but did not find him there. Instead, Zaydâs wife, Zaynab bint Jahsh, came out to greet him, lightly clothed.â
And here the most interesting part begins.
Muhammad turned away from her, and she said that Zayd was not home, inviting him inside, saying:
âCome in, O Messenger of Allah, for you are dear to me as my father and mother.â
Muhammad refused to enter. When Zayd found out that the Messenger of Allah had been at his door, he hurried home, hastily throwing something on, and Muhammad was pleased by what he sawâit sparked admiration in him. Muhammad turned away and began to murmur something unintelligible, from which only the phrases could be understood:
âBlessed be Allah, the Almighty. Blessed be Allah, the One who guides hearts.â
When Zayd returned home, his wife told him that the Messenger of Allah had come. Zayd asked:
âYou invited him in, didnât you?â
She replied:
âI did, but he refused.â
Zayd then asked:
âDid he say anything else?â
She answered:
âWhen he turned away, I heard him say: âBlessed be Allah the Almighty, blessed be Allah who guides hearts.ââ
Now, how did Zayd react to this situation, which at first glance seemed unremarkable? He went to the Messenger of Allah and said:
âO Messenger of Allah, I heard you came to my house but refused to enter. O you who are dearer to me than my own father and mother. Perhaps you admired Zaynab, and I should divorce her?â
Muhammad, portraying nobility, replied, encouraging Zayd to keep his wife.
At first glance, it seemed as if no one was forcing anything. But remember for a moment who Muhammad was. Put yourself in Zaydâs place and imagine how you would feel.
Al-Tabari notes:
âFrom that day, Zayd could no longer approach her.â
He would come to Muhammad to discuss it, and Muhammad would repeat:
âKeep your wife.â
Eventually, Al-Tabari writes:
âZayd divorced Zaynab, and she became permissible (for marriage).â
That is, her waiting period (âiddah) ended.
Of course, after 1400 years, itâs impossible to know exactly what happened, but itâs probably not a coincidence that Al-Tabariâs narrative emphasizes the phrase:
âShe pleased the Messenger of Allah.â
Most likely, someoneâmaybe even Zaynab herselfâtold Zayd about Muhammadâs feelings. Itâs possible that Zaynab, being from a noble family, preferred to become the wife of the Prophet rather than remain the wife of a former slave. Maybe she hinted to Zayd herself. Who knows.
What matters most is how the Messenger of Allah himself behaved after this incident.
Miraculously, verse 37 of Surah Al-Ahzab was revealed:
âAnd [remember, O Muhammad], when you said to the one on whom Allah bestowed favor and you bestowed favor [meaning Zayd, whom Muhammad freed from slavery]: âKeep your wife and fear Allah.â But you concealed within yourself that which Allah was to disclose, and you feared the people, while Allah has more right that you fear Him.â
If you still donât understand whatâs going on here, letâs turn to one of the most authoritative Sunni commentators, Ibn Kathir.
On the phrase âYou concealed within yourself that which Allah was to disclose,â Ibn Kathir writes:
âThis verse was revealed concerning Zaynab bint Jahsh and Zayd ibn Harithah.â
More precisely:
âAllah informed His Prophet that Zaynab would become one of his wives even before he married her. When Zayd would complain about his wife, the Prophet would tell him: âFear Allah and keep your wife,â even though Muhammad already knew Allahâs decree and kept it hidden in his heart.â
Remarkable, isnât it? Even when Allah himself had allegedly granted him such a favor, Muhammad still tried to preserve Zaydâs marriage.
So what else was revealed in that verse?
âWhen Zayd had finished with her [whether through consummation or divorce], We married her to youâŠâ
Read the Qurâan yourself, reread the verse thoughtfully, and ask yourself: do you really believe the Qurâan is the Word of God? Are you truly ready to believe that the Creator of the Universe would, in His sacred and final message to mankind, provide an excuse for Muhammad, who happened to become aroused at the sight of lightly clothed Zaynab bint Jahsh?
Ibn Kathir comments further:
âWhen Zayd fulfilled his desire with her and divorced her, Allah married Zaynab to the Messenger of Allah. Her guardian in marriage was Allah Himself, and Muhammad married her without a guardian, without a marriage contract, dowry, or witnesses.â
Before we move to the final part of the verse, itâs worth mentioning something else Ibn Kathir tells us:
âWhen Zaynabâs waiting period ended, the Messenger of Allah told Zayd ibn Harithah: âAnnounce to her that I wish to marry her.â Zayd went to her while she was kneading dough. He said: âWhen I saw her, I felt such awe that I couldnât even look at her and deliver the message.â So he turned away and said: âO Zaynab, good newsâthe Messenger of Allah wishes to marry you.â She responded: âI will not do anything until I seek guidance from my Lord.â Then she prayed, and revelation came down, and Muhammad came to her without seeking permission.â
Ibn Kathir further describes the celebration that followed.
Thus, not only did Muhammad shamelessly take advantage of the situation while justifying it as divine will, but he also made Zaydâwho clearly suffered from the separationâpersonally deliver the proposal to Zaynab.
When you read all this, you canât help but remember the claim that Muhammad is âthe best of mankindâ and âthe ultimate role model.â Learning what Muhammad did and said, while hearing such statements, naturally leads to deep disgust.
Even more troubling is the fact that some people are so entrenched in their ignorance that they feel no discomfort whatsoever reading this story. Worse, they feel obliged to harm anyone who criticizes their âinfallibleâ authority.
This is pure sectarianism: no matter how disgraceful the actions are, the believers will still compromise their conscience to defend their prophet.
At the end of the verse, Muhammad justifies himself:
ââŠso that there would be no blame upon the believers concerning the wives of their adopted sons when they have no longer any need of them. And the command of Allah must be fulfilled.â
It would seem strange if Allah sent down a divine revelation solely to provide moral justification for Muhammadâs desires without offering something to the broader Muslim community as well.
For example, ordinary believers are only allowed four wives, while Muhammad had up to twelve. People might start to suspect something, so it was necessary to provide some concessions for the community too.
Finally, it should be noted that this whole story had far-reaching consequences. From this point on, Allah decided that adopted sons could no longer bear the names of their adoptive fathers.
On this point, Ibn Kathir comments:
âBefore prophethood, Muhammad adopted Zayd ibn Harithah, and people called him Zayd ibn Muhammad. Allah abolished this by saying: âHe has not made your adopted sons your [true] sons. Call them by their [biological] fathersâ names; that is more just in the sight of Allah.ââ
And this was further confirmed and clarified by Muhammadâs marriage to Zaynab after Zaydâs divorce. Thus were the morals of the man considered the best to ever walk the earth.
Permissibility of child marriages
I won't comment much here either. I'll give you arguments.
1. The Qurâan permits marriage to girls who have not yet reached puberty.
Evidence:
Letâs open Surah At-Talaq (65:4):
âAnd those of your women who no longer expect menstruationâif you doubt [their waiting period], their prescribed waiting time is three months, as well as for those who have not yet menstruated. And for those who are pregnant, their term is until they give birth. And whoever fears Allah â He will make matters easy for him.â
This verse mentions a waiting period (iddah) not only for women past menopause but also for those who have not yet menstruated, meaning prepubescent girls.
Since the waiting period is to determine whether a woman is pregnant after divorce, it implies that sexual intercourse could have taken place even with such girls.
2. The Tafsir confirms that the verse concerns marriage to prepubescent girls.
Evidence:
Referring to the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir:
âAllah the Exalted clarifies the waiting period (iddah) for women whose menstruation has stopped due to their age. Their waiting period is three months, different from those who still menstruate, for whom the waiting period is three menstrual cycles. The same applies to those who have not yet menstruated.â
Ibn Kathir clearly states that the rule also applies to girls who have not yet reached menstruation. Thus, traditional Islamic scholarship acknowledges the possibility of marriage and sexual relations with prepubescent girls.
3. The Qurâan does not establish a minimum age for marriage.
Evidence:
Letâs examine Surah An-Nisa, verses 23â24:
âProhibited to you [for marriage] are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your paternal aunts, your maternal aunts, daughters of your brother, daughters of your sister, your milk-mothers who nursed you, your milk-sisters, mothers of your wives, your stepdaughters under your guardianship born of your wives unto whom you have gone inâbut there is no blame upon you if you have not gone in to themâand [the] wives of your sons who are from your own loins. And [also prohibited is] to take two sisters in marriage simultaneouslyâŠâ
âAnd [also prohibited are] married women, except those your right hands possess. [This is] the decree of Allah upon you. And lawful to you are [all others] beyond these, provided that you seek them [in marriage] with your property, desiring chastity, not unlawful sexual intercourse. So for whatever you enjoy [of marriage] from them, give them their due compensation as an obligationâŠâ
In these verses, Allah enumerates the categories of women prohibited for marriage but makes no mention of any age restrictions. Therefore, the Qurâan does not set a minimum age for marriage.
4. The Sunnah of the Prophet confirms the practice of marrying prepubescent girls.
Evidence:
From Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5133:
âNarrated Aisha: The Prophet married me when I was six years old, and consummated the marriage with me when I was nine years old. Then I remained with him for nine years.â
This hadith clearly states that the marriage contract was made when Aisha was six years old, and consummation took place when she was nine â which, by modern standards, is before full physical maturity.
5. Modern claims that Aisha was older are unfounded.
Commentary:
Some contemporary authors argue that Aisha was actually eighteen or nineteen at the time of her marriage, based on indirect historical indications. However, this contradicts the authentic narrations reported directly by Aisha herself and authenticated in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.
Thus, attempts to reinterpret Aishaâs age are deliberate historical distortions.
how the prophet justified passions with the Quran /Or how Muhammad composed the Quran on the fly.
I have already discussed the story of how Muhammad took the wife of Zayd ibn Harithah, conveniently receiving a revelation from Allah at just the right time to justify it. Today, we will continue this topic and examine a few more examples that clearly demonstrate how the Messenger of Allah manipulated people, using Quranic verses to justify his personal desires. There are quite a few examples of this.
Letâs take the Surah Al-Ahzab, for instance, where Allah âmarriedâ Muhammad to Zaydâs wife, Zaynab bint Jahsh, who Muhammad had taken a liking to. In addition to this, there are several verses in that Surah that would seriously shake the faith of any reasonable person in the idea that Muhammad had any sincere prophetic mission. Despite the Quran being regarded in Islam as the final message from God to mankind, expressing His will until Judgment Day, Muhammad had no problem using âdivine revelationâ to address his everyday needs.
For example, when reading verses 30â33, we see that Muhammad was very concerned about controlling his wives. So much so that the Lord of the Worlds, in His revelation, sternly warns Muhammadâs wives to be obedient if they do not want to face heavenly consequences:
âO wives of the Prophet! If any of you commits a clear immorality, her punishment will be doubled. That is easy for Allah.â
âBut whoever of you devoutly obeys Allah and His Messenger and does righteousness â We will give her her reward twice, and We have prepared for her a noble provision.â
In other words, Muhammad was very familiar with the âcarrot and stickâ method.
âO wives of the Prophet! You are not like any other women. If you fear Allah, then do not be soft in speech, lest he in whose heart is disease should covet, but speak in an appropriate manner.â
âAnd stay in your houses, and do not display yourselves like the display of the former times of ignorance. Establish prayer, give zakat, and obey Allah and His Messenger.â
Since Muhammad himself struggled with such desires, he measured others by his own standards and feared falling into the same kind of situation Zayd ibn Harithah did. Therefore, Allah intervened to remind the Prophetâs wives that it would be safer for them to limit their outings and contact with the outside world.
Just three verses later, we come across Muhammadâs scandalous story with Zaydâs wife, and after some clumsy justifications â or whether Allah himself excuses him, itâs hard to tell â we find a very telling verse where Muhammadâs authorship behind the words attributed to Allah becomes glaringly obvious:
âO Prophet! Indeed, We have made lawful to you your wives to whom you have given their due compensation and those your right hand possesses from what Allah has given you, and the daughters of your paternal uncles and aunts, and the daughters of your maternal uncles and aunts who emigrated with you, and any believing woman who offers herself to the Prophet if the Prophet wishes to marry her. This is only for you, excluding the [other] believers. We certainly know what We have made obligatory upon them concerning their wives and those their right hands possess. But We have made this concession for you in order that there be no discomfort upon youâŠâ
How about that? Pretty âconvenient,â right?
Thereâs another point to clarify here. Itâs often argued â and not without basis â that the Arabic word ۧÙŰłÙŰȘÙÙÙÙÙŰÙ (translated here as âto marryâ) doesnât necessarily mean âto marryâ in the legal sense, but rather âto have sexual intercourse.â The basic verb ÙۧÙÙŰÙ can, according to dictionaries, mean both âto marryâ and âto have sex.â
Thus, the verse could more accurately be translated as:
âThe Prophet is permitted any believing woman who offers herself to him if he wishes to sleep with her.â
You can easily verify this interpretation: go up to any Arab and say ۣ۱ÙŰŻ ŰŁÙ ŰŁÙÙŰ ŰšÙŰȘÙ (âI want to have sex with your daughterâ) â and watch the reaction you get. It will not be pleasant.
Moreover, the context of debauchery is also supported indirectly through verse 230 of Surah Al-Baqarah and through a hadith recorded by Al-Bukhari regarding divorce. Verse 230 says:
âIf he divorces her [for the third time], she is not lawful for him until she has married another husbandâŠâ
But many translations â such as Kuliyevâs â sneakily render it âuntil she marries another,â hiding the implication.
However, in Sahih al-Bukhari, thereâs a hadith where a woman comes to the Prophet after divorcing her first husband and marrying a second, who turned out to be impotent. The second husband denies it, claiming he is potent and blaming her rebelliousness. Muhammad, understanding that the woman wants to return to her first husband, tells her:
âYou cannot return to your first husband until the second one tastes your sweetness.â
Iâm sure you get the metaphor.
So, through simple reasoning, it becomes clear that Allah supposedly granted Muhammad an exclusive right to have intercourse with any woman who offered herself to him.
On the other hand, if you consult the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir, he does say it refers to marriage, albeit a very peculiar kind of marriage:
âMeaning: any believing woman who offers herself to the Prophet â if the Prophet wishes, he may marry her without paying a dowry.â
But hereâs the problem: in Sahih Muslim, another hadith clarifies that the word ÙÙŰ§Ű (from ÙÙŰ) â usually translated as âmarriageâ â absolutely refers to sexual intercourse. In this hadith, Muhammad commands Muslims to abstain from intercourse with their wives during menstruation, saying:
âۧ۔ÙŰčÙۧ ÙÙ ŰŽÙŰĄ Ű„Ùۧ ۧÙÙÙۧŰâ â âDo everything with her except intercourse.â
Therefore, considering the broader hadith context and the fact that in the verse being discussed, Muhammad is exempt from paying mahr (the bridal gift), it heavily suggests that what was actually intended here was straightforward sexual access.
Finally, even those close to Muhammad seemed to realize how self-serving these ârevelationsâ were. In a hadith from Muslim, Aisha says she was jealous of the women who offered themselves to the Prophet and would mockingly say:
âCan a woman offer herself?â
To which, conveniently, Allah would immediately ârevealâ another verse:
âYou may defer [the turn of] any of them you wish, and you may take to yourself any you wish. And if you desire any of those you had set aside, there is no blame upon you.â
Aisha sarcastically noted:
âBy Allah, I see that your Lord hastens to satisfy your desires.â
I might release part 2 if you like this analysis.![]()
They can no longer be saved; they are hostages to one personâs schizophrenia.Good thread
Every time I talk to Islamic niggas they either lie about the context of aisha
Or they pull a JP and start breaking down the question word by word and turn it into an ethical debate
"What do you mean by rape?"
What do you mean by... consent?"
View attachment 3823989
Introduction:
The purpose of this thread is to inform every person so that he knows the truth about it and to kindle hatred towards this religion. Also, the author of this thread does not support other religions in this way.
Table Of Contents:
green - short analysis/orange - long analysis
- So how old was Aisha?
- Incest in Islam
- The Golden Age of Islam
- Islam is a religion of peace?
- How Prophet Muhammad Stole Someone Else's Wife
- Permissibility of child marriages
- how the prophet justified passions with the Quran
At this point I will not comment, I will present reliable traditional Islamic sources.
1. Al-Isabah fi Tamyiz al-Sahabah
(Author: Ibn al-Athir, Volume 7, pages 136â137 â Chapter on Aisha)
âHe married her when she was six years old and consummated the marriage when she was nine.â
2. Siyar Aâlam al-Nubalaâ
(Author: Al-Dhahabi, Volume 2, pages 135â136 â Chapter on Aisha)
âHe consummated the marriage with her in the month of Shawwal of the second year after Hijrah, and she was a girl of nine years old.â
3. Sunan Abi Dawood
(Hadith No. 3909 in the standard numbering)
âMy mother wanted me to gain weight before giving me to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in marriage, but nothing worked until she fed me cucumbers along with fresh dates, after which I became chubby in the best way.â
Incest in Islam
In Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), there have been complex and sometimes controversial discussions concerning the status of children born out of fornication (zina). While the overwhelming majority of scholars agreed that such children maintain certain legal ties with their biological parents â particularly concerning prohibitions on marriage (mahram relations) â there were minority opinions among early jurists that approached the matter differently.
It is reported that two prominent scholars, Imam Malik ibn Anas and Imam Ash-Shafiâi, held views that deviated from the mainstream on this issue. Several respected scholars from later generations, who had no interest in defaming them, transmitted these opinions in their works. Based on their reports, a child born from fornication was not seen, according to Malik and Shafiâiâs interpretations, as establishing a legal kinship that would prohibit marriage.
Below are key statements from major Islamic legal sources that describe these views:
1. From Al-Mughni by Ibn Qudamah:
âThis is the opinion of the majority of scholars, but Malik and Shafiâi, as is well-known from their madhhabs, considered all of the aforementioned permissible.â
2. Also from Ibn Qudamah, further explanation:
âSince she is a stranger to him and does not trace her legal lineage back to him, there is no inheritance between them. If he acquires her as a slave, he does not free her. He is not obligated to provide for her, and she is not forbidden to him, just like most unrelated women.â
3. From Sharh Sahih Muslim by An-Nawawi:
âThe opinion of Malik, Shafiâi, Abu Thawr, and others is that sexual intercourse through fornication does not bring about specific legal consequences. Therefore, a fornicator is permitted to marry the woman with whom he committed fornication, as well as her daughter.â
4. Specific transmission of Imam Shafiâiâs opinion as quoted by An-Nawawi:
âHowever, Ash-Shafiâi added, saying that it is permissible for a man to have intercourse with a daughter born from his own semen as a result of fornication.â
5. From Ikhtilaf al-Aâimma al-âUlama by Ibn Hubayrah:
âThe scholars differed regarding girls born from fornication. Is it permissible for the one who fathered her through fornication to marry her? Ahmad and Abu Hanifa said: no. But Imam Shafiâi said: it is permissible.â
The golden age of Islam
How the West Created the Narrative of the âGolden Age of Islamâ
Letâs first determine the roots of the narrative about the Golden Age of Islam. First and foremost, itâs important to understand that the Golden Age of Islam is a cultural product of the post-colonial era that originated in the West. In our time, this narrative serves as a double-edged sword: in the Islamic world, it is used by daâwah preachers and apologists of Islam, while in the West it is employed by adherents of the neoliberal agenda. In the latter case, the Golden Age of Islam is one of the tools used in the cultural war against the traditional values of Western societies. It is a convenient instrument that helps impose false tolerance and erode the self-awareness of Western peoples.
From an academic standpoint, this narrative often portrays the Renaissance as a product of Islamic civilization. Today, the myth of the Golden Age of Islam holds a significant place in the curricula of humanities departments in Western Europe and North America, which are almost entirely dominated by leftist ideologies. These departments consistently produce pseudo-experts who will go on to tell you how Islam supposedly played a pivotal role in the development of progress.
Weâll come back to Ibn Sina and Ibn Rushd separately later. As for Hasan Mehdi, who dresses like a model kafir, speaks English better than the average Brit, works for Western media tycoons, and graduated from the oldest educational institution in the Anglo-Saxon world â he can hardly be seen as a representative of the ummah of the Messenger of Allah. In short, Islam has been a convenient tool repeatedly used by Western elites over the past century, and there are at least a dozen more figures like Hasan Mehdi.
How did Muslims pick up the idea of an Islamic Golden Age?
What interests us much more today is how the ideological products of the Golden Age of Islam were picked up by the believers themselves. If we turn to the Islamic scene, the Golden Age of Islam is used here as a means of coping with the inferiority complex that Muslim societies experience in the face of the Westâs political and technological dominance. The irony is that even in this case, Muslims try to defeat the enemy by playing by his rules and adopting his stylistic approach.
Just think about it: did Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, in the late 18th century, care that the Industrial Revolution was in full swing in Britain, while the Ottoman Empire was frantically modernizing its army by bringing in specialists from France? Itâs highly unlikely that any of the Salafi scholars back then believed the Islamic worldâs decline was due to falling behind in some kind of kafir science. To them, it was obvious that the Islamic ummah was mired in religious innovations (bidâah), and whatever was going on among the unbelievers was a secondary issue.
This continued until the West penetrated not just the lands of Islam, but the minds of Muslims themselves. At that point, ignoring Western progress became impossible, and they seized upon a tool created by Western intellectual centers and repurposed it for their own use. This is how, in our time, the internet became flooded with tales about scientific miracles in the Quran, Islamic medicine, and claims that the spread of Islam supposedly influenced the development of science.
Now that weâve clarified things a bit, letâs finally examine how Islamic the Golden Age of Islam truly was â what in this story is myth, and what is actually true. To begin with, we need to clarify Islamâs stance toward science as such.
The faithful often like to flaunt the hadith: âSeek knowledge, even if you have to go to China.â Even setting aside the fact that this hadith is weak, weâre already dealing with a distortion of meaning. When Muslims quote this phrase, they often, without realizing it, take it out of context. The issue is that in hadith literature, the word âknowledgeâ (âilm) is used in the Sharia context â and it means something completely different from the concept of âknowledgeâ in the Western tradition.
In the Islamic world, âknowledgeâ primarily refers to Sharia sciences, which have absolutely nothing to do with what we understand as science today. The phrase âseeking knowledgeâ is a fixed expression that specifically refers to the pursuit of Sharia knowledge from Islamic scholars. Therefore, the claim that Islam encourages the study of science is fundamentally incorrect. In fact, not only does Islam not promote science â it actively opposes it, since the scientific method is based on doubt, which in turn threatens a Muslimâs faith and is seen in Islam as a whispering from the devil or a sign of weak iman.
How Caliph Umar Burned the Books of the Persians and Greeks
The history of Islam itself can speak far more eloquently about Islamâs attitude toward science. Ibn Khaldun, who is often cited as a representative of the Golden Age of Islam, describes some very interesting things in his famous Muqaddimah, the prologue to Tarikh Ibn Khaldun.
In the section devoted to the rational sciences and their various types, where Ibn Khaldun derives the major core disciplines from philosophy and emphasizes the importance of logic, he also mentions the achievements of pre-Islamic civilizations in the field of astronomy. There, he writes that the main bearers of scientific knowledge at the time were the Persians and the Romans, and that before the advent of Islam, the sciences in those lands were like vast, overflowing seas.
Ibn Khaldun then focuses specifically on the Persians, writing that the rational sciences played an important role in their civilization, and that many scientific works reached the Greeks from the Persians through the conquests of Alexander the Great. After this, he finally turns to the period of Islamic conquests and describes how Muslims dealt with this cultural heritage.
When the Arabs invaded Persia, they seized an uncountable number of manuscripts. Saâd ibn Abi Waqqas wrote to Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab, requesting permission to distribute these books among the Muslims. Umar ordered him to throw the books into the water, saying that if they contained useful knowledge, then Allah had already given us better guidance; and if they contained harmful things, then Allah had protected us from them. So, the Muslims threw the manuscripts either into the water or into the fire, and the sciences of the Persians vanished into oblivion, never reaching us.
In a similar fashion, the Commander of the Faithful distinguished himself not only in Persia. When the forces of Amr ibn al-As captured Alexandria, they discovered Aristotleâs school, where many manuscripts were stored. When Umar ibn al-Khattab learned of this, according to the Egyptian Islamic historian al-Maqrizi, he ordered the books to be burned â a move sometimes mistakenly believed to be the destruction of the Library of Alexandria.
The Rise of Science and the Decline of Islam in the Caliphate
In general, these two examples clearly illustrate the attitude Muslims had toward science during the time of the Salaf. And really, if you think about it â what else could that attitude have been? If we start from the premise that Muslims emerged from Arabia in the 7th century, then weâre talking about a godforsaken land that neither Byzantium nor Persia had any real interest in. Naturally, the Arabs who lived there didnât recognize the value of science, firstly because they simply had no exposure to it, and secondly because when youâre struggling to survive in the harsh conditions of the Arabian desert â in a tribal society with a raid-based economy â science is the last thing on your mind.
It was a different story when the Arabs moved beyond their natural environment. Upon leaving Arabia, Muslims didnât end up just anywhere â they reached the very center of the known world. In just over a century, as they conquered one country after another, the Caliphate absorbed Sassanid Persia, Byzantium, and the southern part of the Western Roman Empire â along with the peoples who carried their ancient cultural legacies. And while the first 120 years saw the generations of the Sahabah and Tabiâun behaving like the Arabian tribe of Muhammad, with each new generation they increasingly blended with the conquered peoples and came under their cultural influence.
This explains the decline of Islam in the understanding of the righteous predecessors and its contamination by foreign philosophy and science brought in by disbelievers â Persians and Christians. Itâs worth noting here that the beginning of the so-called Golden Age of Islam is typically dated to the late 8th and early 9th centuries, a time when the Islamic community was more divided than ever, and the Islamic state itself, under the rule of the Abbasids, saw a surge in anti-Arab sentiment and the growing influence of non-Arabs.
That was when science briefly flourished â but Islam had nothing to do with it, as weâll now see. By the time of Harun al-Rashidâs rule, the ministries of the caliphate were firmly occupied by Persians from the ancient Barmakid family, who had held high positions even under the Sassanids before Islam. Under the Umayyads, Persians and other non-Arabs were treated as second-class citizens, but after the Abbasid revolution â in which the Persians played a major role â they gained such influence that the Arab Muslim caliph became, if not a symbolic figure, at least heavily dependent on the political experience of the Persian elite.
Whatâs even more important is that, based on a range of indirect signs, we can infer that the Persian elite merely used Islam as a cover to access power and advance their own agenda. This was well observed by their contemporaries. The Hanbali scholar Ibn Qutaybah quotes the court Arabic language teacher of Harun al-Rashid, Abu Saâid al-Asmaâi, who described the Barmakids in this way: âWhen polytheism is mentioned in gatherings, the faces of the Barmakids light up with joy, but when the Qurâan is recited in their presence, they start mumbling stories about Marw (Merv).â
Caliph al-Mamun - patron of sciences and Taghut
If during the time of Harun al-Rashid the Barmakids were still kept somewhat in check, then under his son, Caliph Abdullah al-Maâmun, they began to feel even more confident. Incidentally, Caliph al-Maâmun himself was conceived by Harun through a Persian slave woman named Marajil â the influence of Persian disbelievers was clearly present.
Al-Dhahabi, in Siyar Aâlam al-Nubalaâ, gives us the following description of Caliph al-Maâmun: He was fond of literature, studied the rational sciences and the knowledge of those who came before Islam, and he ordered that their books be translated into Arabic. Al-Maâmun repeatedly transported books of Greek philosophers from Cyprus to Damascus.
We also learn about al-Maâmunâs sympathy for the misguided Muâtazilite sect â innovators and followers of Greek philosophy.
What do you thinkâdoes it befit the Commander of the Faithful to study the sciences of disbelievers and spread their books among the believers, while Caliph âUmar burned their manuscripts in his struggle to preserve the purity of this religion? Beyond al-Maâmunâs passion for innovation and studying the forbidden, in his ambition to spread among Muslims beliefs that contradict the Qurâan and the Sunnah, he founded an entire academy in Baghdad called the âHouse of Wisdom.â
And what was done in this House of Wisdom? Were they copying out the sacred pages of the Qurâan? Were they collecting the authentic hadiths passed down from the Messenger of Allah? Oh no! In this House, al-Maâmun gathered Persians and Christians and generously rewarded them with gold for translating into the language of the Messenger of Allah the works of Plato, Aristotle, Hippocrates, Galen, and mathematicians and philosophers from among the polytheist Indians.
And was this not influenced by the hypocritical Barmakids, who had already supported such initiatives under their own king, Khosrow I, who encouraged the study of sciences and gave shelter to fugitive Syrian Nestorian scholars?
Bayt al-Hikma was essentially a direct copy of the Academy of Gondishapur in the Khuzestan province of modern Iran, which was a major scientific center under the Sassanids. Also worth noting is that the patron of sciences, al-Maâmun, initiated the so-called Mihna â an inquisition testing the loyalty of Sunni scholars to the regime. And among its targets was none other than Ahmad ibn Hanbal himself, who surely needs no introduction.
The end of the golden age
The reign of al-Maâmun was perhaps the only period when sciences received a boost and experienced a revival in the lands ravaged by the Arabs. However, this did not last long. With the arrival of al-Mutawakkil, the pursuit of knowledge waned, and the Muslim elite returned to their usual activitiesâethnic conflicts, power struggles, and intra-religious disputes. Meanwhile, science continued to develop only on the periphery of the Islamic world, and even there, it faced criticism from scholars. To understand this, letâs briefly review the biographies of the scholars who lived in Islamic countries and whose fame Muslims often try to claim for themselves.
The first of them is Ibn Sina, better known as Avicenna. An ethnic Persian from the village of Afshana in the Bukhara region, Ibn Sina gained fame primarily as a physician and philosopher. His father was a preacher of the Ismaili sect of Shiâism. Ibn Sina studied Euclid and Aristotleâs metaphysics, and, as reported by Az-Zahabi, to study the latter, Ibn Sina had to recite it 40 times before he memorized it, and then, in order to fully understand it, he had to study the commentaries of Al-Farabi on metaphysics. From his biography, we see that he spent most of his life practicing medicine among the rulers of Persian cities, and he had little interest in Islamic sciences, not to mention that the philosophy he studied directly contradicted Islamic beliefs, for which he was criticized not only by Sunni scholars but even by Sufis.
If we mentioned Aristotleâs metaphysics, we should also mention the author of its commentary, Al-Farabi, who was either a Turk or a Sogdian Persian, and whom Az-Zahabi calls the âwise sheikh of philosophy,â who, as you might have guessed, was involved in philosophy. In addition to this, he also managed to write a whole treatise on music, âKitab al-Musiqa al-Kabir.â And if you thought that in this book he discusses the prohibition of music, I must disappoint you. Not only does he not prohibit it, but he also teaches it.
The next, equally prominent figure of the Golden Age is Ibn Rushd, also known as Averroes, born into a family of Maliki jurists in Andalusia. Although Ibn Rushdâs grandfather was a distinguished faqih (Islamic jurist) of the Cordoban Emirate, his grandson would go down in history as a noble representative of Eastern Aristotelianism. Al-Farabi refers to Ibn Rushd as the philosopher of the era and notes that he studied medicine as well as the sciences of those who came before Islam, mastering them to perfection. Some, as Al-Farabi points out, criticized Ibn Rushd for engaging in philosophy, yet this did not prevent him from writing a dozen works, most of which were treatises on the philosophy of Aristotle and Galen, as well as commentaries on the works of Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Al-Farabiâagain, on philosophy. Moreover, Ibn Rushd not only faced criticism but, in his final years, was completely shunned for his heretical statements. In the end, he died alone, under house arrest in his own home.
Finally, we must mention the Persian mathematician al-Khwarizmi, who is credited with coining the terms 'algorithm' and 'algebra.' Whatâs surprising is that he doesnât even appear in *Sier-an-Nubol*. Despite living much earlier than Dagobiâduring the reign of the well-known Caliph al-Maâmunâhe even headed the Baghdad branch of the Academy of Gundishapur under him.
Yet al-Khwarizmi had virtually no connection to Islam, let alone the humanities. Apart from his work on history (*tarikh*), all his other writings were devoted to mathematics, geography, and astronomy. Moreover, al-Khwarizmi derived the foundation of his mathematical knowledge in Central Asia from the works of Greek and Indian scholars.
Islam is a religion of peace?Letâs turn to the interpretations of the Quran. Concerning the words of the Almighty in Surah Al-Baqarah â âThere is no compulsion in religionâ â we find the following explanation from the prominent Sunni mufassir Ibn Kathir:
âThe opinion of many scholars is that this verse refers to the People of the Book who entered their religion before it was abrogated and replaced, and who paid the jizya tax.â
âOthers have said that this ruling was abrogated by the verse of fighting, since it is necessary to call all nations to the acceptance of the true religion â the religion of Islam.â
âAnd if any of them refuses to accept Islam without paying or surrendering the jizya, then they are to be fought until they are killed.â
âAnd that is the meaning of compulsion, as Allah the Almighty has said: âYou will be called to fight a people of great might. You will fight them, or they will submit to Islam.â"
âThe Almighty also said: âO Prophet, fight against the disbelievers and the hypocrites and be harsh with them.ââ
âAnd again the Almighty said: âO you who believe, fight those disbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you harshness. And know that Allah is with the righteous.ââ
âAnd as stated in an authentic hadith, Allah will marvel at people who enter Paradise in chains â meaning that captives brought to Muslim lands in shackles and collars will later accept Islam, and their deeds and sins will be rectified so that they will become among the people of Paradise.â
Beautiful, isnât it, dear friend? As for the verse âWhoever saves one lifeâŠâ, and so on â here, my friends, you didnât even bother to read what was written a few verses earlier, or what follows this verse. Allah recounts the biblical story of Cain killing Abel and then quotes a Jewish legal tract â the Sanhedrin â which the author of the Quran, in his ignorance, presents as the direct speech of God. Thatâs where your favorite quote, addressed to the Children of Israel, actually comes from.
And the next verse already announces the Islamic order, promising for anyone who wages war against Allah and His Messenger and seeks to cause corruption on earth â execution by crucifixion or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides.
As for all the hadiths of varying authenticity about Muhammad visiting a sick Jew, it is enough to recall the narration found in Sahih Muslim from Umar ibn al-Khattab, in which Muhammad promises to expel all Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula. And yet, a Muslim will still speak about how a Muslim should live in peace with others. Moreover, some everyday Muslims even manage to befriend kuffar and call them brothers.
From a human perspective, this is completely normal and right â but the deity Muslims worship does not wish for that. âBelievers cannot take disbelievers as allies or friends, for whoever does so has nothing to do with Allah.â This verse â which, as you might guess, is from Medina â is one of the foundations of the doctrine of Al-Walaâ wal-Baraâ (âLoyalty and Disavowalâ), which obligates Muslims to show loyalty to fellow Muslims and disavowal toward disbelievers.
The only exception to this rule is when a Muslim is genuinely afraid of the disbelievers. On this, Imam Ibn Kathir gives the following commentary:
âIf you fear them â being in certain lands and under certain circumstances â a believer may outwardly show friendship, but should not intend it in their heart.â
In other words, Islam teaches you deceit and cunning â gently called precaution. And to reinforce this point, Ibn Kathir cites the hadith of At-Tirmidhi from Abu Ad-Darda:
âIndeed, we smile in the faces of some people, while our hearts curse them.â
The last two arguments you may hear from everyday Muslims are:
1. That all of the above concerns only the polytheists who were hostile to Muslims.
2. That it was only relevant during the Prophetâs time and that of his companions.
The second argument shows that you are not paying attention and do not read your sources. Islam is a religion that does not recognize time limits or territorial boundaries: âJihad will continue until the Day of Judgment.â
What was revealed in verse 29 of Surah At-Tawbah is the final ruling for believers concerning the kuffar. The consensus of Ahl al-Sunnah mufassirs is that this verse was revealed as an irrevocable command for Muslims to uncompromisingly establish the will of Allah and His Messenger across all corners of the earth. Ibn Kathir writes the following:
âThis noble verse was revealed as a command to fight the People of the Book, after the affairs with the polytheists had been settled and people were entering Allahâs religion in crowds.â
âAnd when the Arabian Peninsula had been set aright, Allah and His Messenger commanded the fighting of the People of the Two Books â the Jews and the Christians. This occurred in the ninth year of the Hijrah. And that is why the Messenger of Allah prepared for war with the Romans and called the people to it.â
So, returning to the first argument: as we have seen, neither Christians nor Jews are to be considered friends or brothers by Muslims â they are to be fought until they either accept Islam or pay tribute in humiliation.
Moreover, you must understand that this command essentially applies to all non-Muslims, since during Muhammadâs time, Allah was apparently unaware that, in addition to Christians, Jews, and pagans, there were also Buddhists and people who simply donât believe in God or worship anyone.
Later, Muslims found a rather elegant solution to this oversight: they divided the kuffar into three main groups â Christians, Jews, and polytheists. Into the last category, alongside pagans, they continue to lump in virtually anyone they donât understand but who must, in the Muslim mind, be shoved into one of the categories of disbelievers.
How the Prophet Stole Someone Else's Wife
We will talk about the story of the Prophetâs marriage to one of his thirteen wives, Zaynab bint Jahsh. Before turning to the sources, letâs first familiarize ourselves with the main characters. I believe the Prophet Muhammad needs no introduction, so we will immediately move on to the other important figure in this story, Zayd ibn Harithah.
Zayd ibn Harithah was a slave who, as a young child, was taken captive and passed from hand to hand until he was gifted to Muhammad and his first wife, the merchant Khadijah bint Khuwaylid. Muhammad grew so fond of Zayd that he granted him freedom and adopted him, after which Zayd became known as Zayd ibn Muhammadâat least until a certain point, which we will discuss later.
The central figure of the conflict in this story is Zaynab bint Jahsh, a woman from the noble Asad clan of the Quraysh tribe. Muhammad arranged her marriage to his adopted son, Zayd. This caused resentment both among her relatives and within Zaynab herself, who was not eager to marry Zayd. Nevertheless, the word of the Messenger of Allah was law, and the marriage was carried out.
All might have been well, and we might not even have paid attention to this story, if not for one crucial detail. To understand it properly, we need to turn to the primary sources. The story in question can be found in Volume Two of Tarikh al-Tabari, specifically in the section dedicated to the events of the fifth year of the Hijrah. There, al-Tabari writes:
âThen came the fifth year of the Hijrah, and in this year, the Messenger of Allah married Zaynab bint Jahsh.â
I draw your attention to the fact that at that time, Zaynab was already married to Zayd.
âThe Messenger of Allah decided to visit Zayd ibn Harithah, who was then called âZayd, the son of Muhammad.â Apparently, they missed each other by an hour. Muhammad came to Zaydâs house, called for him, but did not find him there. Instead, Zaydâs wife, Zaynab bint Jahsh, came out to greet him, lightly clothed.â
And here the most interesting part begins.
Muhammad turned away from her, and she said that Zayd was not home, inviting him inside, saying:
âCome in, O Messenger of Allah, for you are dear to me as my father and mother.â
Muhammad refused to enter. When Zayd found out that the Messenger of Allah had been at his door, he hurried home, hastily throwing something on, and Muhammad was pleased by what he sawâit sparked admiration in him. Muhammad turned away and began to murmur something unintelligible, from which only the phrases could be understood:
âBlessed be Allah, the Almighty. Blessed be Allah, the One who guides hearts.â
When Zayd returned home, his wife told him that the Messenger of Allah had come. Zayd asked:
âYou invited him in, didnât you?â
She replied:
âI did, but he refused.â
Zayd then asked:
âDid he say anything else?â
She answered:
âWhen he turned away, I heard him say: âBlessed be Allah the Almighty, blessed be Allah who guides hearts.ââ
Now, how did Zayd react to this situation, which at first glance seemed unremarkable? He went to the Messenger of Allah and said:
âO Messenger of Allah, I heard you came to my house but refused to enter. O you who are dearer to me than my own father and mother. Perhaps you admired Zaynab, and I should divorce her?â
Muhammad, portraying nobility, replied, encouraging Zayd to keep his wife.
At first glance, it seemed as if no one was forcing anything. But remember for a moment who Muhammad was. Put yourself in Zaydâs place and imagine how you would feel.
Al-Tabari notes:
âFrom that day, Zayd could no longer approach her.â
He would come to Muhammad to discuss it, and Muhammad would repeat:
âKeep your wife.â
Eventually, Al-Tabari writes:
âZayd divorced Zaynab, and she became permissible (for marriage).â
That is, her waiting period (âiddah) ended.
Of course, after 1400 years, itâs impossible to know exactly what happened, but itâs probably not a coincidence that Al-Tabariâs narrative emphasizes the phrase:
âShe pleased the Messenger of Allah.â
Most likely, someoneâmaybe even Zaynab herselfâtold Zayd about Muhammadâs feelings. Itâs possible that Zaynab, being from a noble family, preferred to become the wife of the Prophet rather than remain the wife of a former slave. Maybe she hinted to Zayd herself. Who knows.
What matters most is how the Messenger of Allah himself behaved after this incident.
Miraculously, verse 37 of Surah Al-Ahzab was revealed:
âAnd [remember, O Muhammad], when you said to the one on whom Allah bestowed favor and you bestowed favor [meaning Zayd, whom Muhammad freed from slavery]: âKeep your wife and fear Allah.â But you concealed within yourself that which Allah was to disclose, and you feared the people, while Allah has more right that you fear Him.â
If you still donât understand whatâs going on here, letâs turn to one of the most authoritative Sunni commentators, Ibn Kathir.
On the phrase âYou concealed within yourself that which Allah was to disclose,â Ibn Kathir writes:
âThis verse was revealed concerning Zaynab bint Jahsh and Zayd ibn Harithah.â
More precisely:
âAllah informed His Prophet that Zaynab would become one of his wives even before he married her. When Zayd would complain about his wife, the Prophet would tell him: âFear Allah and keep your wife,â even though Muhammad already knew Allahâs decree and kept it hidden in his heart.â
Remarkable, isnât it? Even when Allah himself had allegedly granted him such a favor, Muhammad still tried to preserve Zaydâs marriage.
So what else was revealed in that verse?
âWhen Zayd had finished with her [whether through consummation or divorce], We married her to youâŠâ
Read the Qurâan yourself, reread the verse thoughtfully, and ask yourself: do you really believe the Qurâan is the Word of God? Are you truly ready to believe that the Creator of the Universe would, in His sacred and final message to mankind, provide an excuse for Muhammad, who happened to become aroused at the sight of lightly clothed Zaynab bint Jahsh?
Ibn Kathir comments further:
âWhen Zayd fulfilled his desire with her and divorced her, Allah married Zaynab to the Messenger of Allah. Her guardian in marriage was Allah Himself, and Muhammad married her without a guardian, without a marriage contract, dowry, or witnesses.â
Before we move to the final part of the verse, itâs worth mentioning something else Ibn Kathir tells us:
âWhen Zaynabâs waiting period ended, the Messenger of Allah told Zayd ibn Harithah: âAnnounce to her that I wish to marry her.â Zayd went to her while she was kneading dough. He said: âWhen I saw her, I felt such awe that I couldnât even look at her and deliver the message.â So he turned away and said: âO Zaynab, good newsâthe Messenger of Allah wishes to marry you.â She responded: âI will not do anything until I seek guidance from my Lord.â Then she prayed, and revelation came down, and Muhammad came to her without seeking permission.â
Ibn Kathir further describes the celebration that followed.
Thus, not only did Muhammad shamelessly take advantage of the situation while justifying it as divine will, but he also made Zaydâwho clearly suffered from the separationâpersonally deliver the proposal to Zaynab.
When you read all this, you canât help but remember the claim that Muhammad is âthe best of mankindâ and âthe ultimate role model.â Learning what Muhammad did and said, while hearing such statements, naturally leads to deep disgust.
Even more troubling is the fact that some people are so entrenched in their ignorance that they feel no discomfort whatsoever reading this story. Worse, they feel obliged to harm anyone who criticizes their âinfallibleâ authority.
This is pure sectarianism: no matter how disgraceful the actions are, the believers will still compromise their conscience to defend their prophet.
At the end of the verse, Muhammad justifies himself:
ââŠso that there would be no blame upon the believers concerning the wives of their adopted sons when they have no longer any need of them. And the command of Allah must be fulfilled.â
It would seem strange if Allah sent down a divine revelation solely to provide moral justification for Muhammadâs desires without offering something to the broader Muslim community as well.
For example, ordinary believers are only allowed four wives, while Muhammad had up to twelve. People might start to suspect something, so it was necessary to provide some concessions for the community too.
Finally, it should be noted that this whole story had far-reaching consequences. From this point on, Allah decided that adopted sons could no longer bear the names of their adoptive fathers.
On this point, Ibn Kathir comments:
âBefore prophethood, Muhammad adopted Zayd ibn Harithah, and people called him Zayd ibn Muhammad. Allah abolished this by saying: âHe has not made your adopted sons your [true] sons. Call them by their [biological] fathersâ names; that is more just in the sight of Allah.ââ
And this was further confirmed and clarified by Muhammadâs marriage to Zaynab after Zaydâs divorce. Thus were the morals of the man considered the best to ever walk the earth.
Permissibility of child marriages
I won't comment much here either. I'll give you arguments.
1. The Qurâan permits marriage to girls who have not yet reached puberty.
Evidence:
Letâs open Surah At-Talaq (65:4):
âAnd those of your women who no longer expect menstruationâif you doubt [their waiting period], their prescribed waiting time is three months, as well as for those who have not yet menstruated. And for those who are pregnant, their term is until they give birth. And whoever fears Allah â He will make matters easy for him.â
This verse mentions a waiting period (iddah) not only for women past menopause but also for those who have not yet menstruated, meaning prepubescent girls.
Since the waiting period is to determine whether a woman is pregnant after divorce, it implies that sexual intercourse could have taken place even with such girls.
2. The Tafsir confirms that the verse concerns marriage to prepubescent girls.
Evidence:
Referring to the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir:
âAllah the Exalted clarifies the waiting period (iddah) for women whose menstruation has stopped due to their age. Their waiting period is three months, different from those who still menstruate, for whom the waiting period is three menstrual cycles. The same applies to those who have not yet menstruated.â
Ibn Kathir clearly states that the rule also applies to girls who have not yet reached menstruation. Thus, traditional Islamic scholarship acknowledges the possibility of marriage and sexual relations with prepubescent girls.
3. The Qurâan does not establish a minimum age for marriage.
Evidence:
Letâs examine Surah An-Nisa, verses 23â24:
âProhibited to you [for marriage] are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your paternal aunts, your maternal aunts, daughters of your brother, daughters of your sister, your milk-mothers who nursed you, your milk-sisters, mothers of your wives, your stepdaughters under your guardianship born of your wives unto whom you have gone inâbut there is no blame upon you if you have not gone in to themâand [the] wives of your sons who are from your own loins. And [also prohibited is] to take two sisters in marriage simultaneouslyâŠâ
âAnd [also prohibited are] married women, except those your right hands possess. [This is] the decree of Allah upon you. And lawful to you are [all others] beyond these, provided that you seek them [in marriage] with your property, desiring chastity, not unlawful sexual intercourse. So for whatever you enjoy [of marriage] from them, give them their due compensation as an obligationâŠâ
In these verses, Allah enumerates the categories of women prohibited for marriage but makes no mention of any age restrictions. Therefore, the Qurâan does not set a minimum age for marriage.
4. The Sunnah of the Prophet confirms the practice of marrying prepubescent girls.
Evidence:
From Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5133:
âNarrated Aisha: The Prophet married me when I was six years old, and consummated the marriage with me when I was nine years old. Then I remained with him for nine years.â
This hadith clearly states that the marriage contract was made when Aisha was six years old, and consummation took place when she was nine â which, by modern standards, is before full physical maturity.
5. Modern claims that Aisha was older are unfounded.
Commentary:
Some contemporary authors argue that Aisha was actually eighteen or nineteen at the time of her marriage, based on indirect historical indications. However, this contradicts the authentic narrations reported directly by Aisha herself and authenticated in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.
Thus, attempts to reinterpret Aishaâs age are deliberate historical distortions.
how the prophet justified passions with the Quran /Or how Muhammad composed the Quran on the fly.
I have already discussed the story of how Muhammad took the wife of Zayd ibn Harithah, conveniently receiving a revelation from Allah at just the right time to justify it. Today, we will continue this topic and examine a few more examples that clearly demonstrate how the Messenger of Allah manipulated people, using Quranic verses to justify his personal desires. There are quite a few examples of this.
Letâs take the Surah Al-Ahzab, for instance, where Allah âmarriedâ Muhammad to Zaydâs wife, Zaynab bint Jahsh, who Muhammad had taken a liking to. In addition to this, there are several verses in that Surah that would seriously shake the faith of any reasonable person in the idea that Muhammad had any sincere prophetic mission. Despite the Quran being regarded in Islam as the final message from God to mankind, expressing His will until Judgment Day, Muhammad had no problem using âdivine revelationâ to address his everyday needs.
For example, when reading verses 30â33, we see that Muhammad was very concerned about controlling his wives. So much so that the Lord of the Worlds, in His revelation, sternly warns Muhammadâs wives to be obedient if they do not want to face heavenly consequences:
âO wives of the Prophet! If any of you commits a clear immorality, her punishment will be doubled. That is easy for Allah.â
âBut whoever of you devoutly obeys Allah and His Messenger and does righteousness â We will give her her reward twice, and We have prepared for her a noble provision.â
In other words, Muhammad was very familiar with the âcarrot and stickâ method.
âO wives of the Prophet! You are not like any other women. If you fear Allah, then do not be soft in speech, lest he in whose heart is disease should covet, but speak in an appropriate manner.â
âAnd stay in your houses, and do not display yourselves like the display of the former times of ignorance. Establish prayer, give zakat, and obey Allah and His Messenger.â
Since Muhammad himself struggled with such desires, he measured others by his own standards and feared falling into the same kind of situation Zayd ibn Harithah did. Therefore, Allah intervened to remind the Prophetâs wives that it would be safer for them to limit their outings and contact with the outside world.
Just three verses later, we come across Muhammadâs scandalous story with Zaydâs wife, and after some clumsy justifications â or whether Allah himself excuses him, itâs hard to tell â we find a very telling verse where Muhammadâs authorship behind the words attributed to Allah becomes glaringly obvious:
âO Prophet! Indeed, We have made lawful to you your wives to whom you have given their due compensation and those your right hand possesses from what Allah has given you, and the daughters of your paternal uncles and aunts, and the daughters of your maternal uncles and aunts who emigrated with you, and any believing woman who offers herself to the Prophet if the Prophet wishes to marry her. This is only for you, excluding the [other] believers. We certainly know what We have made obligatory upon them concerning their wives and those their right hands possess. But We have made this concession for you in order that there be no discomfort upon youâŠâ
How about that? Pretty âconvenient,â right?
Thereâs another point to clarify here. Itâs often argued â and not without basis â that the Arabic word ۧÙŰłÙŰȘÙÙÙÙÙŰÙ (translated here as âto marryâ) doesnât necessarily mean âto marryâ in the legal sense, but rather âto have sexual intercourse.â The basic verb ÙۧÙÙŰÙ can, according to dictionaries, mean both âto marryâ and âto have sex.â
Thus, the verse could more accurately be translated as:
âThe Prophet is permitted any believing woman who offers herself to him if he wishes to sleep with her.â
You can easily verify this interpretation: go up to any Arab and say ۣ۱ÙŰŻ ŰŁÙ ŰŁÙÙŰ ŰšÙŰȘÙ (âI want to have sex with your daughterâ) â and watch the reaction you get. It will not be pleasant.
Moreover, the context of debauchery is also supported indirectly through verse 230 of Surah Al-Baqarah and through a hadith recorded by Al-Bukhari regarding divorce. Verse 230 says:
âIf he divorces her [for the third time], she is not lawful for him until she has married another husbandâŠâ
But many translations â such as Kuliyevâs â sneakily render it âuntil she marries another,â hiding the implication.
However, in Sahih al-Bukhari, thereâs a hadith where a woman comes to the Prophet after divorcing her first husband and marrying a second, who turned out to be impotent. The second husband denies it, claiming he is potent and blaming her rebelliousness. Muhammad, understanding that the woman wants to return to her first husband, tells her:
âYou cannot return to your first husband until the second one tastes your sweetness.â
Iâm sure you get the metaphor.
So, through simple reasoning, it becomes clear that Allah supposedly granted Muhammad an exclusive right to have intercourse with any woman who offered herself to him.
On the other hand, if you consult the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir, he does say it refers to marriage, albeit a very peculiar kind of marriage:
âMeaning: any believing woman who offers herself to the Prophet â if the Prophet wishes, he may marry her without paying a dowry.â
But hereâs the problem: in Sahih Muslim, another hadith clarifies that the word ÙÙŰ§Ű (from ÙÙŰ) â usually translated as âmarriageâ â absolutely refers to sexual intercourse. In this hadith, Muhammad commands Muslims to abstain from intercourse with their wives during menstruation, saying:
âۧ۔ÙŰčÙۧ ÙÙ ŰŽÙŰĄ Ű„Ùۧ ۧÙÙÙۧŰâ â âDo everything with her except intercourse.â
Therefore, considering the broader hadith context and the fact that in the verse being discussed, Muhammad is exempt from paying mahr (the bridal gift), it heavily suggests that what was actually intended here was straightforward sexual access.
Finally, even those close to Muhammad seemed to realize how self-serving these ârevelationsâ were. In a hadith from Muslim, Aisha says she was jealous of the women who offered themselves to the Prophet and would mockingly say:
âCan a woman offer herself?â
To which, conveniently, Allah would immediately ârevealâ another verse:
âYou may defer [the turn of] any of them you wish, and you may take to yourself any you wish. And if you desire any of those you had set aside, there is no blame upon you.â
Aisha sarcastically noted:
âBy Allah, I see that your Lord hastens to satisfy your desires.â
I might release part 2 if you like this analysis.![]()
I wonder if every user who liked this picture knew who she was wearing?
Introduction:
The purpose of this thread is to inform every person so that he knows the truth about it and to kindle hatred towards this religion. Also, the author of this thread does not support other religions in this way.
Table Of Contents:
green - short analysis/orange - long analysis
- So how old was Aisha?
- Incest in Islam
- The Golden Age of Islam
- Islam is a religion of peace?
- How Prophet Muhammad Stole Someone Else's Wife
- Permissibility of child marriages
- how the prophet justified passions with the Quran
At this point I will not comment, I will present reliable traditional Islamic sources.
1. Al-Isabah fi Tamyiz al-Sahabah
(Author: Ibn al-Athir, Volume 7, pages 136â137 â Chapter on Aisha)
âHe married her when she was six years old and consummated the marriage when she was nine.â
2. Siyar Aâlam al-Nubalaâ
(Author: Al-Dhahabi, Volume 2, pages 135â136 â Chapter on Aisha)
âHe consummated the marriage with her in the month of Shawwal of the second year after Hijrah, and she was a girl of nine years old.â
3. Sunan Abi Dawood
(Hadith No. 3909 in the standard numbering)
âMy mother wanted me to gain weight before giving me to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in marriage, but nothing worked until she fed me cucumbers along with fresh dates, after which I became chubby in the best way.â
Incest in Islam
In Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), there have been complex and sometimes controversial discussions concerning the status of children born out of fornication (zina). While the overwhelming majority of scholars agreed that such children maintain certain legal ties with their biological parents â particularly concerning prohibitions on marriage (mahram relations) â there were minority opinions among early jurists that approached the matter differently.
It is reported that two prominent scholars, Imam Malik ibn Anas and Imam Ash-Shafiâi, held views that deviated from the mainstream on this issue. Several respected scholars from later generations, who had no interest in defaming them, transmitted these opinions in their works. Based on their reports, a child born from fornication was not seen, according to Malik and Shafiâiâs interpretations, as establishing a legal kinship that would prohibit marriage.
Below are key statements from major Islamic legal sources that describe these views:
1. From Al-Mughni by Ibn Qudamah:
âThis is the opinion of the majority of scholars, but Malik and Shafiâi, as is well-known from their madhhabs, considered all of the aforementioned permissible.â
2. Also from Ibn Qudamah, further explanation:
âSince she is a stranger to him and does not trace her legal lineage back to him, there is no inheritance between them. If he acquires her as a slave, he does not free her. He is not obligated to provide for her, and she is not forbidden to him, just like most unrelated women.â
3. From Sharh Sahih Muslim by An-Nawawi:
âThe opinion of Malik, Shafiâi, Abu Thawr, and others is that sexual intercourse through fornication does not bring about specific legal consequences. Therefore, a fornicator is permitted to marry the woman with whom he committed fornication, as well as her daughter.â
4. Specific transmission of Imam Shafiâiâs opinion as quoted by An-Nawawi:
âHowever, Ash-Shafiâi added, saying that it is permissible for a man to have intercourse with a daughter born from his own semen as a result of fornication.â
5. From Ikhtilaf al-Aâimma al-âUlama by Ibn Hubayrah:
âThe scholars differed regarding girls born from fornication. Is it permissible for the one who fathered her through fornication to marry her? Ahmad and Abu Hanifa said: no. But Imam Shafiâi said: it is permissible.â
The golden age of Islam
How the West Created the Narrative of the âGolden Age of Islamâ
Letâs first determine the roots of the narrative about the Golden Age of Islam. First and foremost, itâs important to understand that the Golden Age of Islam is a cultural product of the post-colonial era that originated in the West. In our time, this narrative serves as a double-edged sword: in the Islamic world, it is used by daâwah preachers and apologists of Islam, while in the West it is employed by adherents of the neoliberal agenda. In the latter case, the Golden Age of Islam is one of the tools used in the cultural war against the traditional values of Western societies. It is a convenient instrument that helps impose false tolerance and erode the self-awareness of Western peoples.
From an academic standpoint, this narrative often portrays the Renaissance as a product of Islamic civilization. Today, the myth of the Golden Age of Islam holds a significant place in the curricula of humanities departments in Western Europe and North America, which are almost entirely dominated by leftist ideologies. These departments consistently produce pseudo-experts who will go on to tell you how Islam supposedly played a pivotal role in the development of progress.
Weâll come back to Ibn Sina and Ibn Rushd separately later. As for Hasan Mehdi, who dresses like a model kafir, speaks English better than the average Brit, works for Western media tycoons, and graduated from the oldest educational institution in the Anglo-Saxon world â he can hardly be seen as a representative of the ummah of the Messenger of Allah. In short, Islam has been a convenient tool repeatedly used by Western elites over the past century, and there are at least a dozen more figures like Hasan Mehdi.
How did Muslims pick up the idea of an Islamic Golden Age?
What interests us much more today is how the ideological products of the Golden Age of Islam were picked up by the believers themselves. If we turn to the Islamic scene, the Golden Age of Islam is used here as a means of coping with the inferiority complex that Muslim societies experience in the face of the Westâs political and technological dominance. The irony is that even in this case, Muslims try to defeat the enemy by playing by his rules and adopting his stylistic approach.
Just think about it: did Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, in the late 18th century, care that the Industrial Revolution was in full swing in Britain, while the Ottoman Empire was frantically modernizing its army by bringing in specialists from France? Itâs highly unlikely that any of the Salafi scholars back then believed the Islamic worldâs decline was due to falling behind in some kind of kafir science. To them, it was obvious that the Islamic ummah was mired in religious innovations (bidâah), and whatever was going on among the unbelievers was a secondary issue.
This continued until the West penetrated not just the lands of Islam, but the minds of Muslims themselves. At that point, ignoring Western progress became impossible, and they seized upon a tool created by Western intellectual centers and repurposed it for their own use. This is how, in our time, the internet became flooded with tales about scientific miracles in the Quran, Islamic medicine, and claims that the spread of Islam supposedly influenced the development of science.
Now that weâve clarified things a bit, letâs finally examine how Islamic the Golden Age of Islam truly was â what in this story is myth, and what is actually true. To begin with, we need to clarify Islamâs stance toward science as such.
The faithful often like to flaunt the hadith: âSeek knowledge, even if you have to go to China.â Even setting aside the fact that this hadith is weak, weâre already dealing with a distortion of meaning. When Muslims quote this phrase, they often, without realizing it, take it out of context. The issue is that in hadith literature, the word âknowledgeâ (âilm) is used in the Sharia context â and it means something completely different from the concept of âknowledgeâ in the Western tradition.
In the Islamic world, âknowledgeâ primarily refers to Sharia sciences, which have absolutely nothing to do with what we understand as science today. The phrase âseeking knowledgeâ is a fixed expression that specifically refers to the pursuit of Sharia knowledge from Islamic scholars. Therefore, the claim that Islam encourages the study of science is fundamentally incorrect. In fact, not only does Islam not promote science â it actively opposes it, since the scientific method is based on doubt, which in turn threatens a Muslimâs faith and is seen in Islam as a whispering from the devil or a sign of weak iman.
How Caliph Umar Burned the Books of the Persians and Greeks
The history of Islam itself can speak far more eloquently about Islamâs attitude toward science. Ibn Khaldun, who is often cited as a representative of the Golden Age of Islam, describes some very interesting things in his famous Muqaddimah, the prologue to Tarikh Ibn Khaldun.
In the section devoted to the rational sciences and their various types, where Ibn Khaldun derives the major core disciplines from philosophy and emphasizes the importance of logic, he also mentions the achievements of pre-Islamic civilizations in the field of astronomy. There, he writes that the main bearers of scientific knowledge at the time were the Persians and the Romans, and that before the advent of Islam, the sciences in those lands were like vast, overflowing seas.
Ibn Khaldun then focuses specifically on the Persians, writing that the rational sciences played an important role in their civilization, and that many scientific works reached the Greeks from the Persians through the conquests of Alexander the Great. After this, he finally turns to the period of Islamic conquests and describes how Muslims dealt with this cultural heritage.
When the Arabs invaded Persia, they seized an uncountable number of manuscripts. Saâd ibn Abi Waqqas wrote to Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab, requesting permission to distribute these books among the Muslims. Umar ordered him to throw the books into the water, saying that if they contained useful knowledge, then Allah had already given us better guidance; and if they contained harmful things, then Allah had protected us from them. So, the Muslims threw the manuscripts either into the water or into the fire, and the sciences of the Persians vanished into oblivion, never reaching us.
In a similar fashion, the Commander of the Faithful distinguished himself not only in Persia. When the forces of Amr ibn al-As captured Alexandria, they discovered Aristotleâs school, where many manuscripts were stored. When Umar ibn al-Khattab learned of this, according to the Egyptian Islamic historian al-Maqrizi, he ordered the books to be burned â a move sometimes mistakenly believed to be the destruction of the Library of Alexandria.
The Rise of Science and the Decline of Islam in the Caliphate
In general, these two examples clearly illustrate the attitude Muslims had toward science during the time of the Salaf. And really, if you think about it â what else could that attitude have been? If we start from the premise that Muslims emerged from Arabia in the 7th century, then weâre talking about a godforsaken land that neither Byzantium nor Persia had any real interest in. Naturally, the Arabs who lived there didnât recognize the value of science, firstly because they simply had no exposure to it, and secondly because when youâre struggling to survive in the harsh conditions of the Arabian desert â in a tribal society with a raid-based economy â science is the last thing on your mind.
It was a different story when the Arabs moved beyond their natural environment. Upon leaving Arabia, Muslims didnât end up just anywhere â they reached the very center of the known world. In just over a century, as they conquered one country after another, the Caliphate absorbed Sassanid Persia, Byzantium, and the southern part of the Western Roman Empire â along with the peoples who carried their ancient cultural legacies. And while the first 120 years saw the generations of the Sahabah and Tabiâun behaving like the Arabian tribe of Muhammad, with each new generation they increasingly blended with the conquered peoples and came under their cultural influence.
This explains the decline of Islam in the understanding of the righteous predecessors and its contamination by foreign philosophy and science brought in by disbelievers â Persians and Christians. Itâs worth noting here that the beginning of the so-called Golden Age of Islam is typically dated to the late 8th and early 9th centuries, a time when the Islamic community was more divided than ever, and the Islamic state itself, under the rule of the Abbasids, saw a surge in anti-Arab sentiment and the growing influence of non-Arabs.
That was when science briefly flourished â but Islam had nothing to do with it, as weâll now see. By the time of Harun al-Rashidâs rule, the ministries of the caliphate were firmly occupied by Persians from the ancient Barmakid family, who had held high positions even under the Sassanids before Islam. Under the Umayyads, Persians and other non-Arabs were treated as second-class citizens, but after the Abbasid revolution â in which the Persians played a major role â they gained such influence that the Arab Muslim caliph became, if not a symbolic figure, at least heavily dependent on the political experience of the Persian elite.
Whatâs even more important is that, based on a range of indirect signs, we can infer that the Persian elite merely used Islam as a cover to access power and advance their own agenda. This was well observed by their contemporaries. The Hanbali scholar Ibn Qutaybah quotes the court Arabic language teacher of Harun al-Rashid, Abu Saâid al-Asmaâi, who described the Barmakids in this way: âWhen polytheism is mentioned in gatherings, the faces of the Barmakids light up with joy, but when the Qurâan is recited in their presence, they start mumbling stories about Marw (Merv).â
Caliph al-Mamun - patron of sciences and Taghut
If during the time of Harun al-Rashid the Barmakids were still kept somewhat in check, then under his son, Caliph Abdullah al-Maâmun, they began to feel even more confident. Incidentally, Caliph al-Maâmun himself was conceived by Harun through a Persian slave woman named Marajil â the influence of Persian disbelievers was clearly present.
Al-Dhahabi, in Siyar Aâlam al-Nubalaâ, gives us the following description of Caliph al-Maâmun: He was fond of literature, studied the rational sciences and the knowledge of those who came before Islam, and he ordered that their books be translated into Arabic. Al-Maâmun repeatedly transported books of Greek philosophers from Cyprus to Damascus.
We also learn about al-Maâmunâs sympathy for the misguided Muâtazilite sect â innovators and followers of Greek philosophy.
What do you thinkâdoes it befit the Commander of the Faithful to study the sciences of disbelievers and spread their books among the believers, while Caliph âUmar burned their manuscripts in his struggle to preserve the purity of this religion? Beyond al-Maâmunâs passion for innovation and studying the forbidden, in his ambition to spread among Muslims beliefs that contradict the Qurâan and the Sunnah, he founded an entire academy in Baghdad called the âHouse of Wisdom.â
And what was done in this House of Wisdom? Were they copying out the sacred pages of the Qurâan? Were they collecting the authentic hadiths passed down from the Messenger of Allah? Oh no! In this House, al-Maâmun gathered Persians and Christians and generously rewarded them with gold for translating into the language of the Messenger of Allah the works of Plato, Aristotle, Hippocrates, Galen, and mathematicians and philosophers from among the polytheist Indians.
And was this not influenced by the hypocritical Barmakids, who had already supported such initiatives under their own king, Khosrow I, who encouraged the study of sciences and gave shelter to fugitive Syrian Nestorian scholars?
Bayt al-Hikma was essentially a direct copy of the Academy of Gondishapur in the Khuzestan province of modern Iran, which was a major scientific center under the Sassanids. Also worth noting is that the patron of sciences, al-Maâmun, initiated the so-called Mihna â an inquisition testing the loyalty of Sunni scholars to the regime. And among its targets was none other than Ahmad ibn Hanbal himself, who surely needs no introduction.
The end of the golden age
The reign of al-Maâmun was perhaps the only period when sciences received a boost and experienced a revival in the lands ravaged by the Arabs. However, this did not last long. With the arrival of al-Mutawakkil, the pursuit of knowledge waned, and the Muslim elite returned to their usual activitiesâethnic conflicts, power struggles, and intra-religious disputes. Meanwhile, science continued to develop only on the periphery of the Islamic world, and even there, it faced criticism from scholars. To understand this, letâs briefly review the biographies of the scholars who lived in Islamic countries and whose fame Muslims often try to claim for themselves.
The first of them is Ibn Sina, better known as Avicenna. An ethnic Persian from the village of Afshana in the Bukhara region, Ibn Sina gained fame primarily as a physician and philosopher. His father was a preacher of the Ismaili sect of Shiâism. Ibn Sina studied Euclid and Aristotleâs metaphysics, and, as reported by Az-Zahabi, to study the latter, Ibn Sina had to recite it 40 times before he memorized it, and then, in order to fully understand it, he had to study the commentaries of Al-Farabi on metaphysics. From his biography, we see that he spent most of his life practicing medicine among the rulers of Persian cities, and he had little interest in Islamic sciences, not to mention that the philosophy he studied directly contradicted Islamic beliefs, for which he was criticized not only by Sunni scholars but even by Sufis.
If we mentioned Aristotleâs metaphysics, we should also mention the author of its commentary, Al-Farabi, who was either a Turk or a Sogdian Persian, and whom Az-Zahabi calls the âwise sheikh of philosophy,â who, as you might have guessed, was involved in philosophy. In addition to this, he also managed to write a whole treatise on music, âKitab al-Musiqa al-Kabir.â And if you thought that in this book he discusses the prohibition of music, I must disappoint you. Not only does he not prohibit it, but he also teaches it.
The next, equally prominent figure of the Golden Age is Ibn Rushd, also known as Averroes, born into a family of Maliki jurists in Andalusia. Although Ibn Rushdâs grandfather was a distinguished faqih (Islamic jurist) of the Cordoban Emirate, his grandson would go down in history as a noble representative of Eastern Aristotelianism. Al-Farabi refers to Ibn Rushd as the philosopher of the era and notes that he studied medicine as well as the sciences of those who came before Islam, mastering them to perfection. Some, as Al-Farabi points out, criticized Ibn Rushd for engaging in philosophy, yet this did not prevent him from writing a dozen works, most of which were treatises on the philosophy of Aristotle and Galen, as well as commentaries on the works of Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Al-Farabiâagain, on philosophy. Moreover, Ibn Rushd not only faced criticism but, in his final years, was completely shunned for his heretical statements. In the end, he died alone, under house arrest in his own home.
Finally, we must mention the Persian mathematician al-Khwarizmi, who is credited with coining the terms 'algorithm' and 'algebra.' Whatâs surprising is that he doesnât even appear in *Sier-an-Nubol*. Despite living much earlier than Dagobiâduring the reign of the well-known Caliph al-Maâmunâhe even headed the Baghdad branch of the Academy of Gundishapur under him.
Yet al-Khwarizmi had virtually no connection to Islam, let alone the humanities. Apart from his work on history (*tarikh*), all his other writings were devoted to mathematics, geography, and astronomy. Moreover, al-Khwarizmi derived the foundation of his mathematical knowledge in Central Asia from the works of Greek and Indian scholars.
Islam is a religion of peace?Letâs turn to the interpretations of the Quran. Concerning the words of the Almighty in Surah Al-Baqarah â âThere is no compulsion in religionâ â we find the following explanation from the prominent Sunni mufassir Ibn Kathir:
âThe opinion of many scholars is that this verse refers to the People of the Book who entered their religion before it was abrogated and replaced, and who paid the jizya tax.â
âOthers have said that this ruling was abrogated by the verse of fighting, since it is necessary to call all nations to the acceptance of the true religion â the religion of Islam.â
âAnd if any of them refuses to accept Islam without paying or surrendering the jizya, then they are to be fought until they are killed.â
âAnd that is the meaning of compulsion, as Allah the Almighty has said: âYou will be called to fight a people of great might. You will fight them, or they will submit to Islam.â"
âThe Almighty also said: âO Prophet, fight against the disbelievers and the hypocrites and be harsh with them.ââ
âAnd again the Almighty said: âO you who believe, fight those disbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you harshness. And know that Allah is with the righteous.ââ
âAnd as stated in an authentic hadith, Allah will marvel at people who enter Paradise in chains â meaning that captives brought to Muslim lands in shackles and collars will later accept Islam, and their deeds and sins will be rectified so that they will become among the people of Paradise.â
Beautiful, isnât it, dear friend? As for the verse âWhoever saves one lifeâŠâ, and so on â here, my friends, you didnât even bother to read what was written a few verses earlier, or what follows this verse. Allah recounts the biblical story of Cain killing Abel and then quotes a Jewish legal tract â the Sanhedrin â which the author of the Quran, in his ignorance, presents as the direct speech of God. Thatâs where your favorite quote, addressed to the Children of Israel, actually comes from.
And the next verse already announces the Islamic order, promising for anyone who wages war against Allah and His Messenger and seeks to cause corruption on earth â execution by crucifixion or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides.
As for all the hadiths of varying authenticity about Muhammad visiting a sick Jew, it is enough to recall the narration found in Sahih Muslim from Umar ibn al-Khattab, in which Muhammad promises to expel all Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula. And yet, a Muslim will still speak about how a Muslim should live in peace with others. Moreover, some everyday Muslims even manage to befriend kuffar and call them brothers.
From a human perspective, this is completely normal and right â but the deity Muslims worship does not wish for that. âBelievers cannot take disbelievers as allies or friends, for whoever does so has nothing to do with Allah.â This verse â which, as you might guess, is from Medina â is one of the foundations of the doctrine of Al-Walaâ wal-Baraâ (âLoyalty and Disavowalâ), which obligates Muslims to show loyalty to fellow Muslims and disavowal toward disbelievers.
The only exception to this rule is when a Muslim is genuinely afraid of the disbelievers. On this, Imam Ibn Kathir gives the following commentary:
âIf you fear them â being in certain lands and under certain circumstances â a believer may outwardly show friendship, but should not intend it in their heart.â
In other words, Islam teaches you deceit and cunning â gently called precaution. And to reinforce this point, Ibn Kathir cites the hadith of At-Tirmidhi from Abu Ad-Darda:
âIndeed, we smile in the faces of some people, while our hearts curse them.â
The last two arguments you may hear from everyday Muslims are:
1. That all of the above concerns only the polytheists who were hostile to Muslims.
2. That it was only relevant during the Prophetâs time and that of his companions.
The second argument shows that you are not paying attention and do not read your sources. Islam is a religion that does not recognize time limits or territorial boundaries: âJihad will continue until the Day of Judgment.â
What was revealed in verse 29 of Surah At-Tawbah is the final ruling for believers concerning the kuffar. The consensus of Ahl al-Sunnah mufassirs is that this verse was revealed as an irrevocable command for Muslims to uncompromisingly establish the will of Allah and His Messenger across all corners of the earth. Ibn Kathir writes the following:
âThis noble verse was revealed as a command to fight the People of the Book, after the affairs with the polytheists had been settled and people were entering Allahâs religion in crowds.â
âAnd when the Arabian Peninsula had been set aright, Allah and His Messenger commanded the fighting of the People of the Two Books â the Jews and the Christians. This occurred in the ninth year of the Hijrah. And that is why the Messenger of Allah prepared for war with the Romans and called the people to it.â
So, returning to the first argument: as we have seen, neither Christians nor Jews are to be considered friends or brothers by Muslims â they are to be fought until they either accept Islam or pay tribute in humiliation.
Moreover, you must understand that this command essentially applies to all non-Muslims, since during Muhammadâs time, Allah was apparently unaware that, in addition to Christians, Jews, and pagans, there were also Buddhists and people who simply donât believe in God or worship anyone.
Later, Muslims found a rather elegant solution to this oversight: they divided the kuffar into three main groups â Christians, Jews, and polytheists. Into the last category, alongside pagans, they continue to lump in virtually anyone they donât understand but who must, in the Muslim mind, be shoved into one of the categories of disbelievers.
How the Prophet Stole Someone Else's Wife
We will talk about the story of the Prophetâs marriage to one of his thirteen wives, Zaynab bint Jahsh. Before turning to the sources, letâs first familiarize ourselves with the main characters. I believe the Prophet Muhammad needs no introduction, so we will immediately move on to the other important figure in this story, Zayd ibn Harithah.
Zayd ibn Harithah was a slave who, as a young child, was taken captive and passed from hand to hand until he was gifted to Muhammad and his first wife, the merchant Khadijah bint Khuwaylid. Muhammad grew so fond of Zayd that he granted him freedom and adopted him, after which Zayd became known as Zayd ibn Muhammadâat least until a certain point, which we will discuss later.
The central figure of the conflict in this story is Zaynab bint Jahsh, a woman from the noble Asad clan of the Quraysh tribe. Muhammad arranged her marriage to his adopted son, Zayd. This caused resentment both among her relatives and within Zaynab herself, who was not eager to marry Zayd. Nevertheless, the word of the Messenger of Allah was law, and the marriage was carried out.
All might have been well, and we might not even have paid attention to this story, if not for one crucial detail. To understand it properly, we need to turn to the primary sources. The story in question can be found in Volume Two of Tarikh al-Tabari, specifically in the section dedicated to the events of the fifth year of the Hijrah. There, al-Tabari writes:
âThen came the fifth year of the Hijrah, and in this year, the Messenger of Allah married Zaynab bint Jahsh.â
I draw your attention to the fact that at that time, Zaynab was already married to Zayd.
âThe Messenger of Allah decided to visit Zayd ibn Harithah, who was then called âZayd, the son of Muhammad.â Apparently, they missed each other by an hour. Muhammad came to Zaydâs house, called for him, but did not find him there. Instead, Zaydâs wife, Zaynab bint Jahsh, came out to greet him, lightly clothed.â
And here the most interesting part begins.
Muhammad turned away from her, and she said that Zayd was not home, inviting him inside, saying:
âCome in, O Messenger of Allah, for you are dear to me as my father and mother.â
Muhammad refused to enter. When Zayd found out that the Messenger of Allah had been at his door, he hurried home, hastily throwing something on, and Muhammad was pleased by what he sawâit sparked admiration in him. Muhammad turned away and began to murmur something unintelligible, from which only the phrases could be understood:
âBlessed be Allah, the Almighty. Blessed be Allah, the One who guides hearts.â
When Zayd returned home, his wife told him that the Messenger of Allah had come. Zayd asked:
âYou invited him in, didnât you?â
She replied:
âI did, but he refused.â
Zayd then asked:
âDid he say anything else?â
She answered:
âWhen he turned away, I heard him say: âBlessed be Allah the Almighty, blessed be Allah who guides hearts.ââ
Now, how did Zayd react to this situation, which at first glance seemed unremarkable? He went to the Messenger of Allah and said:
âO Messenger of Allah, I heard you came to my house but refused to enter. O you who are dearer to me than my own father and mother. Perhaps you admired Zaynab, and I should divorce her?â
Muhammad, portraying nobility, replied, encouraging Zayd to keep his wife.
At first glance, it seemed as if no one was forcing anything. But remember for a moment who Muhammad was. Put yourself in Zaydâs place and imagine how you would feel.
Al-Tabari notes:
âFrom that day, Zayd could no longer approach her.â
He would come to Muhammad to discuss it, and Muhammad would repeat:
âKeep your wife.â
Eventually, Al-Tabari writes:
âZayd divorced Zaynab, and she became permissible (for marriage).â
That is, her waiting period (âiddah) ended.
Of course, after 1400 years, itâs impossible to know exactly what happened, but itâs probably not a coincidence that Al-Tabariâs narrative emphasizes the phrase:
âShe pleased the Messenger of Allah.â
Most likely, someoneâmaybe even Zaynab herselfâtold Zayd about Muhammadâs feelings. Itâs possible that Zaynab, being from a noble family, preferred to become the wife of the Prophet rather than remain the wife of a former slave. Maybe she hinted to Zayd herself. Who knows.
What matters most is how the Messenger of Allah himself behaved after this incident.
Miraculously, verse 37 of Surah Al-Ahzab was revealed:
âAnd [remember, O Muhammad], when you said to the one on whom Allah bestowed favor and you bestowed favor [meaning Zayd, whom Muhammad freed from slavery]: âKeep your wife and fear Allah.â But you concealed within yourself that which Allah was to disclose, and you feared the people, while Allah has more right that you fear Him.â
If you still donât understand whatâs going on here, letâs turn to one of the most authoritative Sunni commentators, Ibn Kathir.
On the phrase âYou concealed within yourself that which Allah was to disclose,â Ibn Kathir writes:
âThis verse was revealed concerning Zaynab bint Jahsh and Zayd ibn Harithah.â
More precisely:
âAllah informed His Prophet that Zaynab would become one of his wives even before he married her. When Zayd would complain about his wife, the Prophet would tell him: âFear Allah and keep your wife,â even though Muhammad already knew Allahâs decree and kept it hidden in his heart.â
Remarkable, isnât it? Even when Allah himself had allegedly granted him such a favor, Muhammad still tried to preserve Zaydâs marriage.
So what else was revealed in that verse?
âWhen Zayd had finished with her [whether through consummation or divorce], We married her to youâŠâ
Read the Qurâan yourself, reread the verse thoughtfully, and ask yourself: do you really believe the Qurâan is the Word of God? Are you truly ready to believe that the Creator of the Universe would, in His sacred and final message to mankind, provide an excuse for Muhammad, who happened to become aroused at the sight of lightly clothed Zaynab bint Jahsh?
Ibn Kathir comments further:
âWhen Zayd fulfilled his desire with her and divorced her, Allah married Zaynab to the Messenger of Allah. Her guardian in marriage was Allah Himself, and Muhammad married her without a guardian, without a marriage contract, dowry, or witnesses.â
Before we move to the final part of the verse, itâs worth mentioning something else Ibn Kathir tells us:
âWhen Zaynabâs waiting period ended, the Messenger of Allah told Zayd ibn Harithah: âAnnounce to her that I wish to marry her.â Zayd went to her while she was kneading dough. He said: âWhen I saw her, I felt such awe that I couldnât even look at her and deliver the message.â So he turned away and said: âO Zaynab, good newsâthe Messenger of Allah wishes to marry you.â She responded: âI will not do anything until I seek guidance from my Lord.â Then she prayed, and revelation came down, and Muhammad came to her without seeking permission.â
Ibn Kathir further describes the celebration that followed.
Thus, not only did Muhammad shamelessly take advantage of the situation while justifying it as divine will, but he also made Zaydâwho clearly suffered from the separationâpersonally deliver the proposal to Zaynab.
When you read all this, you canât help but remember the claim that Muhammad is âthe best of mankindâ and âthe ultimate role model.â Learning what Muhammad did and said, while hearing such statements, naturally leads to deep disgust.
Even more troubling is the fact that some people are so entrenched in their ignorance that they feel no discomfort whatsoever reading this story. Worse, they feel obliged to harm anyone who criticizes their âinfallibleâ authority.
This is pure sectarianism: no matter how disgraceful the actions are, the believers will still compromise their conscience to defend their prophet.
At the end of the verse, Muhammad justifies himself:
ââŠso that there would be no blame upon the believers concerning the wives of their adopted sons when they have no longer any need of them. And the command of Allah must be fulfilled.â
It would seem strange if Allah sent down a divine revelation solely to provide moral justification for Muhammadâs desires without offering something to the broader Muslim community as well.
For example, ordinary believers are only allowed four wives, while Muhammad had up to twelve. People might start to suspect something, so it was necessary to provide some concessions for the community too.
Finally, it should be noted that this whole story had far-reaching consequences. From this point on, Allah decided that adopted sons could no longer bear the names of their adoptive fathers.
On this point, Ibn Kathir comments:
âBefore prophethood, Muhammad adopted Zayd ibn Harithah, and people called him Zayd ibn Muhammad. Allah abolished this by saying: âHe has not made your adopted sons your [true] sons. Call them by their [biological] fathersâ names; that is more just in the sight of Allah.ââ
And this was further confirmed and clarified by Muhammadâs marriage to Zaynab after Zaydâs divorce. Thus were the morals of the man considered the best to ever walk the earth.
Permissibility of child marriages
I won't comment much here either. I'll give you arguments.
1. The Qurâan permits marriage to girls who have not yet reached puberty.
Evidence:
Letâs open Surah At-Talaq (65:4):
âAnd those of your women who no longer expect menstruationâif you doubt [their waiting period], their prescribed waiting time is three months, as well as for those who have not yet menstruated. And for those who are pregnant, their term is until they give birth. And whoever fears Allah â He will make matters easy for him.â
This verse mentions a waiting period (iddah) not only for women past menopause but also for those who have not yet menstruated, meaning prepubescent girls.
Since the waiting period is to determine whether a woman is pregnant after divorce, it implies that sexual intercourse could have taken place even with such girls.
2. The Tafsir confirms that the verse concerns marriage to prepubescent girls.
Evidence:
Referring to the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir:
âAllah the Exalted clarifies the waiting period (iddah) for women whose menstruation has stopped due to their age. Their waiting period is three months, different from those who still menstruate, for whom the waiting period is three menstrual cycles. The same applies to those who have not yet menstruated.â
Ibn Kathir clearly states that the rule also applies to girls who have not yet reached menstruation. Thus, traditional Islamic scholarship acknowledges the possibility of marriage and sexual relations with prepubescent girls.
3. The Qurâan does not establish a minimum age for marriage.
Evidence:
Letâs examine Surah An-Nisa, verses 23â24:
âProhibited to you [for marriage] are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your paternal aunts, your maternal aunts, daughters of your brother, daughters of your sister, your milk-mothers who nursed you, your milk-sisters, mothers of your wives, your stepdaughters under your guardianship born of your wives unto whom you have gone inâbut there is no blame upon you if you have not gone in to themâand [the] wives of your sons who are from your own loins. And [also prohibited is] to take two sisters in marriage simultaneouslyâŠâ
âAnd [also prohibited are] married women, except those your right hands possess. [This is] the decree of Allah upon you. And lawful to you are [all others] beyond these, provided that you seek them [in marriage] with your property, desiring chastity, not unlawful sexual intercourse. So for whatever you enjoy [of marriage] from them, give them their due compensation as an obligationâŠâ
In these verses, Allah enumerates the categories of women prohibited for marriage but makes no mention of any age restrictions. Therefore, the Qurâan does not set a minimum age for marriage.
4. The Sunnah of the Prophet confirms the practice of marrying prepubescent girls.
Evidence:
From Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5133:
âNarrated Aisha: The Prophet married me when I was six years old, and consummated the marriage with me when I was nine years old. Then I remained with him for nine years.â
This hadith clearly states that the marriage contract was made when Aisha was six years old, and consummation took place when she was nine â which, by modern standards, is before full physical maturity.
5. Modern claims that Aisha was older are unfounded.
Commentary:
Some contemporary authors argue that Aisha was actually eighteen or nineteen at the time of her marriage, based on indirect historical indications. However, this contradicts the authentic narrations reported directly by Aisha herself and authenticated in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.
Thus, attempts to reinterpret Aishaâs age are deliberate historical distortions.
how the prophet justified passions with the Quran /Or how Muhammad composed the Quran on the fly.
I have already discussed the story of how Muhammad took the wife of Zayd ibn Harithah, conveniently receiving a revelation from Allah at just the right time to justify it. Today, we will continue this topic and examine a few more examples that clearly demonstrate how the Messenger of Allah manipulated people, using Quranic verses to justify his personal desires. There are quite a few examples of this.
Letâs take the Surah Al-Ahzab, for instance, where Allah âmarriedâ Muhammad to Zaydâs wife, Zaynab bint Jahsh, who Muhammad had taken a liking to. In addition to this, there are several verses in that Surah that would seriously shake the faith of any reasonable person in the idea that Muhammad had any sincere prophetic mission. Despite the Quran being regarded in Islam as the final message from God to mankind, expressing His will until Judgment Day, Muhammad had no problem using âdivine revelationâ to address his everyday needs.
For example, when reading verses 30â33, we see that Muhammad was very concerned about controlling his wives. So much so that the Lord of the Worlds, in His revelation, sternly warns Muhammadâs wives to be obedient if they do not want to face heavenly consequences:
âO wives of the Prophet! If any of you commits a clear immorality, her punishment will be doubled. That is easy for Allah.â
âBut whoever of you devoutly obeys Allah and His Messenger and does righteousness â We will give her her reward twice, and We have prepared for her a noble provision.â
In other words, Muhammad was very familiar with the âcarrot and stickâ method.
âO wives of the Prophet! You are not like any other women. If you fear Allah, then do not be soft in speech, lest he in whose heart is disease should covet, but speak in an appropriate manner.â
âAnd stay in your houses, and do not display yourselves like the display of the former times of ignorance. Establish prayer, give zakat, and obey Allah and His Messenger.â
Since Muhammad himself struggled with such desires, he measured others by his own standards and feared falling into the same kind of situation Zayd ibn Harithah did. Therefore, Allah intervened to remind the Prophetâs wives that it would be safer for them to limit their outings and contact with the outside world.
Just three verses later, we come across Muhammadâs scandalous story with Zaydâs wife, and after some clumsy justifications â or whether Allah himself excuses him, itâs hard to tell â we find a very telling verse where Muhammadâs authorship behind the words attributed to Allah becomes glaringly obvious:
âO Prophet! Indeed, We have made lawful to you your wives to whom you have given their due compensation and those your right hand possesses from what Allah has given you, and the daughters of your paternal uncles and aunts, and the daughters of your maternal uncles and aunts who emigrated with you, and any believing woman who offers herself to the Prophet if the Prophet wishes to marry her. This is only for you, excluding the [other] believers. We certainly know what We have made obligatory upon them concerning their wives and those their right hands possess. But We have made this concession for you in order that there be no discomfort upon youâŠâ
How about that? Pretty âconvenient,â right?
Thereâs another point to clarify here. Itâs often argued â and not without basis â that the Arabic word ۧÙŰłÙŰȘÙÙÙÙÙŰÙ (translated here as âto marryâ) doesnât necessarily mean âto marryâ in the legal sense, but rather âto have sexual intercourse.â The basic verb ÙۧÙÙŰÙ can, according to dictionaries, mean both âto marryâ and âto have sex.â
Thus, the verse could more accurately be translated as:
âThe Prophet is permitted any believing woman who offers herself to him if he wishes to sleep with her.â
You can easily verify this interpretation: go up to any Arab and say ۣ۱ÙŰŻ ŰŁÙ ŰŁÙÙŰ ŰšÙŰȘÙ (âI want to have sex with your daughterâ) â and watch the reaction you get. It will not be pleasant.
Moreover, the context of debauchery is also supported indirectly through verse 230 of Surah Al-Baqarah and through a hadith recorded by Al-Bukhari regarding divorce. Verse 230 says:
âIf he divorces her [for the third time], she is not lawful for him until she has married another husbandâŠâ
But many translations â such as Kuliyevâs â sneakily render it âuntil she marries another,â hiding the implication.
However, in Sahih al-Bukhari, thereâs a hadith where a woman comes to the Prophet after divorcing her first husband and marrying a second, who turned out to be impotent. The second husband denies it, claiming he is potent and blaming her rebelliousness. Muhammad, understanding that the woman wants to return to her first husband, tells her:
âYou cannot return to your first husband until the second one tastes your sweetness.â
Iâm sure you get the metaphor.
So, through simple reasoning, it becomes clear that Allah supposedly granted Muhammad an exclusive right to have intercourse with any woman who offered herself to him.
On the other hand, if you consult the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir, he does say it refers to marriage, albeit a very peculiar kind of marriage:
âMeaning: any believing woman who offers herself to the Prophet â if the Prophet wishes, he may marry her without paying a dowry.â
But hereâs the problem: in Sahih Muslim, another hadith clarifies that the word ÙÙŰ§Ű (from ÙÙŰ) â usually translated as âmarriageâ â absolutely refers to sexual intercourse. In this hadith, Muhammad commands Muslims to abstain from intercourse with their wives during menstruation, saying:
âۧ۔ÙŰčÙۧ ÙÙ ŰŽÙŰĄ Ű„Ùۧ ۧÙÙÙۧŰâ â âDo everything with her except intercourse.â
Therefore, considering the broader hadith context and the fact that in the verse being discussed, Muhammad is exempt from paying mahr (the bridal gift), it heavily suggests that what was actually intended here was straightforward sexual access.
Finally, even those close to Muhammad seemed to realize how self-serving these ârevelationsâ were. In a hadith from Muslim, Aisha says she was jealous of the women who offered themselves to the Prophet and would mockingly say:
âCan a woman offer herself?â
To which, conveniently, Allah would immediately ârevealâ another verse:
âYou may defer [the turn of] any of them you wish, and you may take to yourself any you wish. And if you desire any of those you had set aside, there is no blame upon you.â
Aisha sarcastically noted:
âBy Allah, I see that your Lord hastens to satisfy your desires.â
I might release part 2 if you like this analysis.![]()
Who does this concern? I have not been interested in this game for a long timeI wonder if every user who liked this picture knew who she was wearing?
Obviously you know but I wondered if those who liked do or just saw her as a stereotypical alt liberal girl and went at the profile picture. Just lol if you think I'm reading all of this thread but I do agree with the title.Who does this concern? I have not been interested in this game for a long time
There is nothing wrong dnrGiriiĆ:
Bu baĆlıÄın amacı her insanı bu konuda gerçeÄi bilmesi için bilgilendirmek ve bu dine karĆı nefret uyandırmaktır. Ayrıca, bu baĆlıÄın yazarı diÄer dinleri bu Ćekilde desteklememektedir.
İçindekiler:
yeĆil - kısa analiz / turuncu - uzun analiz
- Peki AiĆe kaç yaĆındaydı?
- İslam'da ensest
- İslam'ın Altın ĂaÄı
- İslam barıà dini midir?
- Hz. Muhammed BaĆkasının Karısını Nasıl Ăaldı
- Ăocuk yaĆta evliliklerin caizliÄi
- Peygamber, tutkuları Kur'an ile nasıl haklı çıkardı?
Bu noktada yorum yapmayacaÄım, gĂŒvenilir geleneksel İslami kaynakları sunacaÄım.
1. El-İsabah fi Temyiz el-Sahabe
(Yazar: İbnĂŒâl-Esir, 7. Cilt, 136â137. sayfalar â AiĆe ile ilgili bölĂŒm)
âOnunla altı yaĆındayken evlendi ve dokuz yaĆındayken de evlendiler.â
2. Siyer A'lam-ı Nubala
(Yazar: El-Zehabi, 2. Cilt, 135â136. sayfalar â AiĆe ile ilgili bölĂŒm)
âHicretin ikinci yılının Ćevval ayında onunla evlendi, o dokuz yaĆında bir kızdı.â
3. SĂŒnen EbĂ» Davud
(Hadis No. 3909 standart numaralandırmada)
âAnnem, beni Resulullah (s.a.v.) ile evlendirmeden önce kilo almamı istedi, fakat taze hurma ile salatalık yedirip, ondan sonra en gĂŒzel Ćekilde tombullaĆtım.â
İslam'da ensest
İslam hukukunda (fıkıh), zina sonucu doÄan çocukların statĂŒsĂŒyle ilgili karmaĆık ve bazen tartıĆmalı tartıĆmalar olmuĆtur. Alimlerin ezici çoÄunluÄu, bu tĂŒr çocukların biyolojik ebeveynleriyle belirli yasal baÄları sĂŒrdĂŒrdĂŒÄĂŒ konusunda hemfikir olsa da - özellikle evlilik yasakları (mahrem iliĆkileri) konusunda - erken dönem hukukçuları arasında konuya farklı yaklaĆan azınlık görĂŒĆleri vardı.
Bu konuda iki önemli alimin, İmam Malik ibn Enes ve İmam EĆ-Ćafii'nin ana akımdan sapan görĂŒĆlere sahip olduÄu bildirilmektedir. Sonraki nesillerden, onları karalamakla ilgilenmeyen birkaç saygın alim, eserlerinde bu görĂŒĆleri aktarmıĆtır. Onların raporlarına göre, Malik ve Ćafii'nin yorumlarına göre, zina sonucu doÄan bir çocuk, evliliÄi yasaklayacak yasal bir akrabalık kurmak olarak görĂŒlmemiĆtir.
AĆaÄıda bu görĂŒĆleri açıklayan önemli İslami hukuk kaynaklarından alınan temel ifadeler yer almaktadır:
1. İbn KudĂąme'nin el-MuÄni'sinden:
âBu, Ăąlimlerin çoÄunluÄunun görĂŒĆĂŒdĂŒr; fakat Malik ve ĆafiĂź, mezheplerinden bilindiÄi ĂŒzere, yukarıda zikredilenlerin hepsini mubah saymıĆlardır.â
2. Yine İbn Kudùme'den ek açıklama:
âOna yabancı olduÄu ve yasal soyunu ona dayandırmadıÄı için aralarında miras yoktur. EÄer onu köle olarak edinirse, onu özgĂŒrleĆtirmez. Ona bakmakla yĂŒkĂŒmlĂŒ deÄildir ve çoÄu akraba olmayan kadın gibi o da ona yasak deÄildir.â
3. An-Nawawi'nin Sharh Sahih Muslim'den:
âMalik, Ćafii, Ebu Sevr ve diÄerlerinin görĂŒĆĂŒne göre, zina yoluyla cinsel iliĆki belirli yasal sonuçlar doÄurmaz. Bu nedenle, zina eden bir kadınla ve onun kızıyla evlenmesi caizdir.â
4. İmam Ćafii'nin görĂŒĆĂŒnĂŒn Nevevi tarafından nakledildiÄi Ćekliyle özel olarak rivayeti:
âAncak eĆ-Ćafii Ćunu da ilave etti: Bir erkeÄin, kendi menisinden zina sonucu doÄan kız çocuÄuyla cinsel iliĆkide bulunması caizdir.â
5. İbn Hubeyre'nin İkhtilaf el-A'imma el-'Ulema'sından:
âĂlimler zinadan doÄan kızlar konusunda ihtilaf etmiĆlerdir. Zina yoluyla babası olanın onunla evlenmesi caiz midir? Ahmed ve Ebu Hanife: hayır dediler. Fakat İmam Ćafii: caizdir dedi.â
İslam'ın altın çaÄı
Batı, âİslamâın Altın ĂaÄıâ Anlatısını Nasıl Yarattı?
Ăncelikle İslam'ın Altın ĂaÄı anlatısının kökenlerini belirleyelim. Her Ćeyden önce, İslam'ın Altın ĂaÄı'nın Batı'da ortaya çıkan sömĂŒrge sonrası dönemin kĂŒltĂŒrel bir ĂŒrĂŒnĂŒ olduÄunu anlamak önemlidir. Zamanımızda, bu anlatı iki ucu keskin bir kılıç iĆlevi görmektedir: İslam dĂŒnyasında, İslam'ın dava vaizleri ve savunucuları tarafından kullanılırken, Batı'da neoliberal gĂŒndemin taraftarları tarafından kullanılmaktadır. İkinci durumda, İslam'ın Altın ĂaÄı, Batı toplumlarının geleneksel deÄerlerine karĆı kĂŒltĂŒrel savaĆta kullanılan araçlardan biridir. Batılı halkların öz farkındalıÄını aĆındırmaya ve sahte hoĆgörĂŒyĂŒ empoze etmeye yardımcı olan kullanıĆlı bir araçtır.
Akademik bir bakıà açısından, bu anlatı sıklıkla Rönesans'ı İslam medeniyetinin bir ĂŒrĂŒnĂŒ olarak tasvir eder. GĂŒnĂŒmĂŒzde İslam'ın Altın ĂaÄı miti, neredeyse tamamen sol ideolojilerin hakim olduÄu Batı Avrupa ve Kuzey Amerika'daki beĆeri bilimler bölĂŒmlerinin mĂŒfredatlarında önemli bir yer tutar. Bu bölĂŒmler, İslam'ın ilerlemenin geliĆiminde nasıl önemli bir rol oynadıÄını size anlatmaya devam edecek olan sözde uzmanlar ĂŒretir.
[MEDYA=youtube]Jy9tNyp03M0[/MEDYA]
İbn Sina ve İbn RĂŒĆd'e daha sonra ayrı ayrı döneceÄiz. Ărnek bir kafir gibi giyinen, ortalama bir İngiliz'den daha iyi İngilizce konuĆan, Batılı medya patronları için çalıĆan ve Anglo-Sakson dĂŒnyasının en eski eÄitim kurumundan mezun olan Hasan Mehdi'ye gelince, onun Allah'ın Elçisi'nin ĂŒmmetinin bir temsilcisi olarak görĂŒlmesi pek mĂŒmkĂŒn deÄil. Kısacası, İslam, Batılı elitler tarafından son yĂŒzyılda tekrar tekrar kullanılan kullanıĆlı bir araç olmuĆtur ve Hasan Mehdi gibi en az bir dĂŒzine figĂŒr daha vardır.
MĂŒslĂŒmanlar İslam'ın Altın ĂaÄı fikrini nasıl benimsediler?
BugĂŒn bizi daha çok ilgilendiren Ćey, İslam'ın Altın ĂaÄı'nın ideolojik ĂŒrĂŒnlerinin inananlar tarafından nasıl benimsendiÄidir. İslam sahnesine dönersek, İslam'ın Altın ĂaÄı burada MĂŒslĂŒman toplumların Batı'nın politik ve teknolojik hakimiyeti karĆısında yaĆadıkları aĆaÄılık kompleksiyle baĆa çıkmanın bir yolu olarak kullanılıyor. İronik olan, bu durumda bile MĂŒslĂŒmanların dĂŒĆmanı onun kurallarına göre oynayarak ve onun ĂŒslup yaklaĆımını benimseyerek yenmeye çalıĆmalarıdır.
Bir dĂŒĆĂŒnĂŒn: 18. yĂŒzyılın sonlarında Muhammed bin AbdĂŒlvehhab, Sanayi Devrimi'nin İngiltere'de tĂŒm hızıyla devam ettiÄi, Osmanlı İmparatorluÄu'nun ise Fransa'dan uzmanlar getirerek ordusunu çılgınca modernize ettiÄi gerçeÄini umursuyor muydu? O dönemde Selefi alimlerden herhangi birinin İslam dĂŒnyasının gerilemesinin bir tĂŒr kafir bilimde geride kalmaktan kaynaklandıÄına inanması pek olası deÄil. Onlara göre, İslam ĂŒmmetinin dinsel yeniliklere (bid'at) saplandıÄı ve inanmayanlar arasında olup biten her Ćeyin ikincil bir konu olduÄu açıktı.
Bu, Batı'nın yalnızca İslam topraklarına deÄil, MĂŒslĂŒmanların zihinlerine de nĂŒfuz etmesine kadar devam etti. O noktada, Batı'nın ilerlemesini görmezden gelmek imkansız hale geldi ve Batı entelektĂŒel merkezleri tarafından yaratılan bir aracı ele geçirdiler ve onu kendi kullanımları için yeniden kullandılar. İĆte bu Ćekilde, zamanımızda internet, Kuran'daki bilimsel mucizeler, İslam tıbbı ve İslam'ın yayılmasının bilimin geliĆimini etkilediÄi iddiaları hakkındaki hikayelerle dolup taĆtı.
Ćimdi iĆleri biraz netleĆtirdiÄimize göre, İslam'ın Altın ĂaÄı'nın gerçekte ne kadar İslami olduÄunu nihayet inceleyelim - bu hikayede neyin mit, neyin gerçek olduÄunu. Ăncelikle, İslam'ın bilime karĆı duruĆunu netleĆtirmemiz gerekiyor.
İnananlar sıklıkla Ću hadisi övmeyi severler: "İlim arayın, Ăin'e bile gitmeniz gerekse." Bu hadisin zayıf olduÄu gerçeÄini bir kenara bıraksak bile, zaten bir anlam çarpıtmasıyla karĆı karĆıyayız. MĂŒslĂŒmanlar bu ifadeyi alıntıladıklarında, genellikle farkında olmadan, baÄlamından koparırlar. Sorun, hadis literatĂŒrĂŒnde "ilim" kelimesinin Ćeriat baÄlamında kullanılmasıdır - ve Batı geleneÄindeki "bilgi" kavramından tamamen farklı bir Ćey ifade eder.
İslam dĂŒnyasında, "bilgi" öncelikle Ćeriat bilimlerini ifade eder ve bunların bugĂŒn bilim olarak anladıÄımız Ćeyle kesinlikle hiçbir ilgisi yoktur. "Bilgi arama" ifadesi, özellikle İslam alimlerinden Ćeriat bilgisi edinmeye atıfta bulunan sabit bir ifadedir. Bu nedenle, İslam'ın bilim çalıĆmasını teĆvik ettiÄi iddiası temelde yanlıĆtır. Aslında, İslam bilimi teĆvik etmekle kalmaz, aynı zamanda ona aktif olarak karĆı çıkar, Ă§ĂŒnkĂŒ bilimsel yöntem ĆĂŒpheye dayanır ve bu da bir MĂŒslĂŒmanın inancını tehdit eder ve İslam'da Ćeytanın bir fısıltısı veya zayıf imanın bir iĆareti olarak görĂŒlĂŒr.
Halife Ămer Perslerin ve Yunanlıların Kitaplarını Nasıl Yaktı
İslam tarihi, İslam'ın bilime karĆı tutumu hakkında çok daha gĂŒzel konuĆabilir. İslam'ın Altın ĂaÄı'nın temsilcisi olarak sıkça anılan İbn Haldun, Tarih İbn Haldun'un önsözĂŒ olan meĆhur Mukaddime'sinde çok ilginç Ćeyler anlatır.
İbn Haldun'un, ana çekirdek disiplinleri felsefeden tĂŒrettiÄi ve mantıÄın önemini vurguladıÄı rasyonel bilimlere ve çeĆitli tĂŒrlerine ayrılmıà bölĂŒmde, aynı zamanda astronomi alanındaki İslam öncesi medeniyetlerin baĆarılarından da bahseder. Orada, o dönemde bilimsel bilginin ana taĆıyıcılarının Persler ve Romalılar olduÄunu ve İslam'ın geliĆinden önce, o topraklardaki bilimlerin engin, taĆan denizler gibi olduÄunu yazar.
İbn Haldun daha sonra özellikle Perslere odaklanarak rasyonel bilimlerin medeniyetlerinde önemli bir rol oynadıÄını ve birçok bilimsel çalıĆmanın Perslerden BĂŒyĂŒk İskender'in fetihleri aracılıÄıyla Yunanlılara ulaĆtıÄını yazar. Bundan sonra, son olarak İslami fetihler dönemine döner ve MĂŒslĂŒmanların bu kĂŒltĂŒrel mirasla nasıl baĆa çıktıklarını anlatır.
Araplar Pers'i iĆgal ettiÄinde, sayısız el yazması ele geçirdiler. Sa'd ibn Ebi Vakkas, Halife Ămer ibn el-Hattab'a bu kitapları MĂŒslĂŒmanlar arasında daÄıtmak için izin istedi. Ămer, kitapları suya atmasını emretti ve eÄer bunlar yararlı bilgiler içeriyorsa, Allah'ın bize daha iyi bir rehberlik verdiÄini; eÄer zararlı Ćeyler içeriyorsa, Allah'ın bizi onlardan koruduÄunu söyledi. Böylece MĂŒslĂŒmanlar el yazmalarını ya suya ya da ateĆe attılar ve Perslerin bilimleri unutulup gitti, bize asla ulaĆmadı.
Benzer Ćekilde, MĂŒminlerin Emiri sadece Pers'te kendini göstermedi. Amr ibn el-As'ın kuvvetleri İskenderiye'yi ele geçirdiÄinde, birçok el yazmasının saklandıÄı Aristoteles okulunu keĆfettiler. Mısırlı İslam tarihçisi el-Makrizi'ye göre, Ămer ibn el-Hattab bunu öÄrendiÄinde, kitapların yakılmasını emretti - bazen yanlıĆlıkla İskenderiye KĂŒtĂŒphanesi'nin yok edilmesi olduÄuna inanılan bir hareket.
Bilimin YĂŒkseliĆi ve İslam'ın Hilafet Döneminde Gerilemesi
Genel olarak, bu iki örnek MĂŒslĂŒmanların Selef döneminde bilime karĆı tutumunu açıkça göstermektedir. Ve gerçekten, dĂŒĆĂŒnĂŒrseniz â bu tutum baĆka ne olabilirdi? MĂŒslĂŒmanların 7. yĂŒzyılda Arabistan'dan çıktıÄı öncĂŒlĂŒnden yola çıkarsak, ne Bizans'ın ne de Pers'in gerçek anlamda ilgi duymadıÄı, Tanrı tarafından terk edilmiĆ bir topraktan bahsediyoruz demektir. DoÄal olarak, orada yaĆayan Araplar bilimin deÄerini anlamadılar, birincisi, basitçe buna hiç maruz kalmadıkları için ve ikincisi, Arap çölĂŒnĂŒn zorlu koĆullarında hayatta kalmaya çalıĆırken â baskın temelli bir ekonomiye sahip kabile toplumunda â bilim aklınıza gelen son Ćeydir.
Araplar doÄal çevrelerinin dıĆına çıktıklarında ise durum farklıydı. MĂŒslĂŒmanlar Arabistan'ı terk ettiklerinde, herhangi bir yerde son bulmadılar - bilinen dĂŒnyanın tam merkezine ulaĆtılar. Bir asırdan biraz fazla bir sĂŒrede, birbiri ardına ĂŒlkeleri fethederken, Halifelik Sasani Pers'i, Bizans'ı ve Batı Roma İmparatorluÄu'nun gĂŒney kısmını - kadim kĂŒltĂŒrel miraslarını taĆıyan halklarla birlikte - emdi. Ve ilk 120 yıl Sahabe ve Tabi'un nesillerinin Muhammed'in Arap kabilesi gibi davrandıÄını görse de, her yeni nesilde fethedilen halklarla giderek daha fazla kaynaĆtılar ve onların kĂŒltĂŒrel etkisi altına girdiler.
Bu, İslam'ın doÄru seleflerin anlaĆılmasındaki dĂŒĆĂŒĆĂŒnĂŒ ve inanmayanlar - Persler ve Hristiyanlar - tarafından getirilen yabancı felsefe ve bilimle kirlenmesini açıklar. Burada, İslam'ın sözde Altın ĂaÄı'nın baĆlangıcının tipik olarak 8. yĂŒzyılın sonu ve 9. yĂŒzyılın baĆına tarihlendiÄini belirtmekte fayda var; bu, İslam toplumunun her zamankinden daha fazla bölĂŒndĂŒÄĂŒ ve Abbasiler yönetimi altındaki İslam devletinin kendisinin Arap karĆıtı duygularda bir artıà ve Arap olmayanların artan etkisine tanık olduÄu bir zamandır.
Bilimin kısa bir sĂŒreliÄine geliĆtiÄi zamandı â ama İslam'ın bununla hiçbir ilgisi yoktu, Ćimdi göreceÄimiz gibi. Harun ReĆid'in iktidarı sırasında, halifelik bakanlıkları İslam'dan önce Sasaniler döneminde bile yĂŒksek mevkilerde bulunan eski Barmakid ailesinden gelen Persler tarafından sıkı bir Ćekilde iĆgal edilmiĆti. Emeviler döneminde, Persler ve diÄer Arap olmayanlar ikinci sınıf vatandaĆ olarak muamele görĂŒyordu, ama Perslerin önemli bir rol oynadıÄı Abbasi devriminden sonra öyle bir nĂŒfuz kazandılar ki, Arap MĂŒslĂŒman halifesi sembolik bir figĂŒr olmasa da en azından Pers elitinin siyasi deneyimine fazlasıyla baÄımlı hale geldi.
Daha da önemlisi, bir dizi dolaylı iĆarete dayanarak, Pers elitinin İslam'ı sadece gĂŒce eriĆmek ve kendi gĂŒndemlerini ilerletmek için bir örtĂŒ olarak kullandıÄını çıkarabiliriz. Bu, çaÄdaĆları tarafından iyi gözlemlenmiĆtir. Hanbeli alimi İbn Kuteybe, Harun el-ReĆid'in saray Arapça öÄretmeni Ebu Said el-Esma'i'nin Barmakidleri Ću Ćekilde tanımladıÄını aktarır: "Toplantılarda Ćirk anıldıÄında, Barmakidlerin yĂŒzleri sevinçle aydınlanır, ancak Kuran onların huzurunda okunduÄunda, Merv hakkında hikayeler mırıldanmaya baĆlarlar."
Halife el-Memun - bilimlerin ve TaÄut'un hamisi
Harun el-ReĆid zamanında Bermekidler hala bir nebze kontrol altında tutuluyorsa da, oÄlu Halife Abdullah el-Memun döneminde kendilerini daha da gĂŒvende hissetmeye baĆladılar. Bu arada, Halife el-Memun'un kendisi Harun tarafından Marajil adında bir Fars köle kadından gebe kalmıĆtı â Fars kĂąfirlerinin etkisi açıkça mevcuttu.
El-ZehebĂź, SĂźr-i A'lĂąm-ı NĂŒbĂąle'de Halife Me'mun hakkında Ću bilgileri verir: Edebiyata dĂŒĆkĂŒndĂŒ, akli ilimleri ve İslam'dan öncekilerin bilgilerini incelerdi ve kitaplarının Arapçaya çevrilmesini emretti. El-Me'mun, Yunan filozoflarının kitaplarını Kıbrıs'tan Ćam'a defalarca getirmiĆtir.
Ayrıca el-Memun'un, Yunan felsefesinin yenilikçileri ve takipçileri olan sapkın Mu'tezile mezhebine olan sempatisini de öÄreniyoruz.
Sizce, EmirĂŒ'l-MĂŒmin'in kĂąfirlerin bilimlerini incelemesi ve kitaplarını mĂŒminler arasında yayması, Halife Ămer'in bu dinin saflıÄını koruma mĂŒcadelesinde onların el yazmalarını yakması uygun mudur? El-Memun'un yenilik ve haramları inceleme tutkusunun ötesinde, MĂŒslĂŒmanlar arasında Kuran ve SĂŒnnet'e aykırı inançları yayma hırsıyla, BaÄdat'ta "Bilgelik Evi" adlı bir akademi kurdu.
Peki bu Hikmet Evi'nde ne yapıldı? Kuran'ın kutsal sayfalarını mı kopyalıyorlardı? Allah'ın Elçisi'nden aktarılan sahih hadisleri mi topluyorlardı? Aman Tanrım! Bu Ev'de, el-Memun Persleri ve Hıristiyanları topladı ve Platon, Aristoteles, Hipokrat, Galen ve çok tanrılı Hintliler arasından matematikçilerin ve filozofların eserlerini Allah'ın Elçisi'nin diline tercĂŒme ettikleri için onları cömertçe altınla ödĂŒllendirdi.
Ve bu, kendi kralları HĂŒsrev zamanında bu tĂŒr giriĆimleri destekleyen, ilim tahsilini teĆvik eden ve kaçak Suriyeli Nasturi Ăąlimlerine ev sahipliÄi yapan ikiyĂŒzlĂŒ BermekĂźler'in etkisi altında deÄil miydi?
Beyt al-Hikme, esasen Sasaniler döneminde önemli bir bilim merkezi olan modern İran'ın Huzistan eyaletindeki GondiĆapur Akademisi'nin doÄrudan bir kopyasıydı. Ayrıca bilimlerin hamisi el-Memun'un, SĂŒnni alimlerin rejime olan sadakatini test eden bir engizisyon olan Mihna'yı baĆlatmıà olması da dikkat çekicidir. Ve hedefleri arasında, kesinlikle tanıtılmaya ihtiyacı olmayan Ahmed bin Hanbel'den baĆkası da yoktu.
Altın çaÄın sonu
El-Memun'un saltanatı belki de bilimlerin Araplar tarafından harap edilen topraklarda ivme kazandıÄı ve canlandıÄı tek dönemdi. Ancak bu uzun sĂŒrmedi. El-MĂŒtevekkil'in geliĆiyle bilgi arayıĆı azaldı ve MĂŒslĂŒman seçkinler her zamanki faaliyetlerine geri döndĂŒler: etnik çatıĆmalar, gĂŒĂ§ mĂŒcadeleleri ve din içi anlaĆmazlıklar. Bu arada bilim yalnızca İslam dĂŒnyasının çevresinde geliĆmeye devam etti ve orada bile alimlerin eleĆtirileriyle karĆı karĆıya kaldı. Bunu anlamak için İslam ĂŒlkelerinde yaĆamıà ve MĂŒslĂŒmanların sıklıkla kendileri için ĂŒn kazanmaya çalıĆtıÄı alimlerin biyografilerine kısaca bir göz atalım.
Bunlardan ilki, daha çok Avicenna olarak bilinen İbn Sina'dır. Buhara bölgesindeki AfĆana köyĂŒnden etnik bir Fars olan İbn Sina, öncelikle bir hekim ve filozof olarak ĂŒn kazandı. Babası, ĆiiliÄin İsmaili mezhebinin bir vaiziydi. İbn Sina, Ăklid ve Aristoteles'in metafiziÄini inceledi ve Az-Zehabi'nin bildirdiÄine göre, İbn Sina, ikincisini incelemek için ezberlemeden önce 40 kez okumak zorunda kaldı ve daha sonra, onu tam olarak anlayabilmek için, Farabi'nin metafizik ĂŒzerine yorumlarını incelemek zorunda kaldı. Biyografisinden, hayatının çoÄunu Fars Ćehirlerinin yöneticileri arasında tıp uygulayarak geçirdiÄini ve İslami bilimlere çok az ilgi duyduÄunu görĂŒyoruz, ayrıca incelediÄi felsefenin İslami inançlarla doÄrudan çeliĆtiÄinden bahsetmiyorum bile, bu yĂŒzden sadece SĂŒnni alimler tarafından deÄil, hatta Sufiler tarafından bile eleĆtirildi.
Aristoteles'in metafiziÄinden bahsedecek olursak, yorumunun yazarı olan, ya TĂŒrk ya da SoÄdlu bir Fars olan ve Az-Zehabi'nin "felsefenin bilge Ćeyhi" olarak adlandırdıÄı ve tahmin edebileceÄiniz gibi felsefeyle uÄraĆan El-Farabi'den de bahsetmeliyiz. Buna ek olarak, mĂŒzik ĂŒzerine "Kitab al-Musiqa al-Kebir" adlı bir risale yazmayı da baĆardı. Ve eÄer bu kitapta mĂŒziÄin yasaklanmasından bahsettiÄini dĂŒĆĂŒnĂŒyorsanız, sizi hayal kırıklıÄına uÄratmalıyım. Sadece yasaklamıyor, aynı zamanda öÄretiyor da.
Altın ĂaÄ'ın bir sonraki, eĆit derecede önemli figĂŒrĂŒ, EndĂŒlĂŒs'te Maliki hukukçularından oluĆan bir ailede doÄan İbn RĂŒĆd, aynı zamanda Averroes olarak da bilinir. İbn RĂŒĆd'ĂŒn bĂŒyĂŒkbabası Kurtuba EmirliÄi'nin seçkin bir fakihi (İslam hukukçusu) olmasına raÄmen, torunu tarihe DoÄu AristotelesçiliÄinin asil bir temsilcisi olarak geçecekti. El-Farabi, İbn RĂŒĆd'den dönemin filozofu olarak bahseder ve onun hem tıp hem de İslam'dan önceki bilimleri inceleyerek bunları mĂŒkemmel bir Ćekilde öÄrendiÄini belirtir. El-Farabi'nin de belirttiÄi gibi, bazıları İbn RĂŒĆd'ĂŒ felsefeyle uÄraĆtıÄı için eleĆtirdi, ancak bu onun bir dĂŒzine eser yazmasını engellemedi; bunların çoÄu Aristoteles ve Galen felsefesi ĂŒzerine incelemeler ve İbn Sina (Avicenna) ve El-Farabi'nin (yine felsefe ĂŒzerine) eserleri ĂŒzerine yorumlardı. Dahası, İbn RĂŒĆd sadece eleĆtiriyle karĆılaĆmakla kalmadı, son yıllarında sapkın ifadeleri nedeniyle tamamen dıĆlandı. Sonunda, kendi evinde, ev hapsinde, tek baĆına öldĂŒ.
Son olarak, 'algoritma' ve 'cebir' terimlerini ortaya çıkaran kiĆi olarak kabul edilen Fars matematikçisi el-Harezmi'den bahsetmeliyiz. ĆaĆırtıcı olan, onun *Sier-an-Nubol*'de bile görĂŒnmemesidir. Dagobi'den çok daha önce, tanınmıà Halife el-Memun döneminde yaĆamıà olmasına raÄmen, onun döneminde GundiĆapur Akademisi'nin BaÄdat Ćubesine baĆkanlık bile yapmıĆtır.
Ancak el-Harezmi'nin İslam'la, bırakın beĆeri bilimleri, neredeyse hiçbir baÄlantısı yoktu. Tarih ĂŒzerine yaptıÄı çalıĆmalar (*tarikh*) dıĆında, diÄer tĂŒm yazıları matematik, coÄrafya ve astronomiye adanmıĆtı. Dahası, el-Harezmi Orta Asya'daki matematik bilgisinin temelini Yunan ve Hint bilginlerinin çalıĆmalarından aldı.
İslam barıà dini midir?Kuran'ın yorumlarına dönelim. YĂŒce Allah'ın Bakara Suresi'ndeki "Dinde zorlama yoktur" sözĂŒyle ilgili olarak, önde gelen SĂŒnni mĂŒfessir İbn Kesir'den Ću açıklamayı buluyoruz:
âBirçok Ăąlimin görĂŒĆĂŒne göre bu ayet, dinleri neshedilip deÄiĆtirilmeden önce dinlerine giren ve cizye ödeyen Ehl-i Kitap hakkındadır.â
âBazıları ise, bu hĂŒkmĂŒn savaĆ ayetiyle neshedildiÄini, zira bĂŒtĂŒn milletleri hak din olan İslam dinini kabul etmeye çaÄırmanın gerekli olduÄunu söylemiĆlerdir.â
"Ve eÄer onlardan herhangi biri cizye ödemeden veya teslim etmeden İslam'ı kabul etmeyi reddederse, öldĂŒrĂŒlĂŒnceye kadar onlarla savaĆılır."
âVe zorlamanın anlamı budur, YĂŒce Allah Ćöyle buyurmuĆtur: 'Sizler çok gĂŒĂ§lĂŒ bir kavimle savaĆmaya çaÄrılacaksınız. Onlarla savaĆacaksınız veya onlar İslam'a boyun eÄecekler.'"
âYĂŒce Allah da Ćöyle buyurmuĆtur: âEy Peygamber! KĂąfirlere ve mĂŒnafıklara karĆı savaĆ ve onlara karĆı sert davran.ââ
âVe YĂŒce Allah yine Ćöyle buyurdu: Ey iman edenler! Yakınınızdaki kĂąfirlerle savaĆın ve sizde bir sertlik bulsunlar. Ve bilin ki Allah, salihlerle beraberdir.â
âVe sahih bir hadiste belirtildiÄi ĂŒzere, Allah, zincirlerle cennete giren insanlara hayret edecektir. Yani, MĂŒslĂŒman topraklarına zincir ve tasmalarla getirilen esirler, daha sonra İslamâı kabul edecek ve amelleri ve gĂŒnahları dĂŒzeltilecek ve cennet ehlinden olacaklardır.â
GĂŒzel, deÄil mi sevgili dostum? 'Kim bir can kurtarırsa...' ayetine gelince, vs. â iĆte dostlarım, birkaç ayet önce yazılanları veya bu ayetin ardından gelenleri okumaya bile zahmet etmediniz. Allah, Kabil'in Habil'i öldĂŒrmesinin İncil hikayesini anlatıyor ve sonra Kuran'ın yazarının, bilgisizliÄi yĂŒzĂŒnden, doÄrudan Tanrı'nın konuĆması olarak sunduÄu bir Yahudi hukuk kitabından â Sanhedrin â alıntı yapıyor. İsrailoÄullarına hitaben yazılmıà en sevdiÄiniz alıntının aslında geldiÄi yer burası.
Ve hemen bir sonraki ayette İslam dĂŒzeni ilan ediliyor ve Allah'a ve ResulĂŒne karĆı savaĆ açan ve yeryĂŒzĂŒnde bozgunculuk çıkarmaya çalıĆan herkese verilecek cezanın asılarak öldĂŒrĂŒlmesi veya el ve ayakların çaprazlama kesilmesi olduÄu bildiriliyor.
Muhammed'in hasta bir Yahudi'yi ziyaret ettiÄine dair çeĆitli sahihlikteki tĂŒm hadislere gelince, Sahih MĂŒslim'de bulunan Ămer bin Hattab'ın, Muhammed'in tĂŒm Yahudileri ve Hristiyanları Arap Yarımadası'ndan kovmayı vaat ettiÄi rivayetini hatırlamak yeterlidir. Ve yine de bir MĂŒslĂŒman, bir MĂŒslĂŒmanın baĆkalarıyla nasıl barıà içinde yaĆaması gerektiÄi hakkında konuĆacaktır. Dahası, bazı sıradan MĂŒslĂŒmanlar kafirlerle arkadaĆ olmayı ve onlara kardeĆ demeyi bile baĆarırlar.
İnsan bakıà açısından bu tamamen normal ve doÄrudur â ancak MĂŒslĂŒmanların taptıÄı tanrı bunu istemez. "MĂŒminler kĂąfirleri dost veya mĂŒttefik olarak edinemezler, Ă§ĂŒnkĂŒ bunu yapanın Allah'la hiçbir ilgisi yoktur." Bu ayet â tahmin edebileceÄiniz gibi Medine'den â MĂŒslĂŒmanları diÄer MĂŒslĂŒmanlara sadakat göstermeye ve kĂąfirlere karĆı inkar etmeye mecbur eden El-Vela' vel-Bera' ("Sadakat ve Reddetme") doktrininin temellerinden biridir.
Bu kuralın tek istisnası, bir MĂŒslĂŒmanın kĂąfirlerden gerçekten korkmasıdır. Bu konuda İmam İbn Kesir Ću yorumu yapar:
âEÄer onlardan korkarsanız -bazı memleketlerde ve bazı hallerde- bir mĂŒmin zahiren dostluk gösterebilir, fakat bunu kalbinde niyet etmemelidir.â
BaĆka bir deyiĆle, İslam size aldatmayı ve kurnazlıÄı öÄretir - nazikçe ihtiyat olarak adlandırılır. Ve bu noktayı gĂŒĂ§lendirmek için, İbn Kesir, Ebu Ad-Darda'dan Tirmizi'nin hadisini aktarır:
âBiz bazı kimselerin yĂŒzlerine gĂŒleriz, ama kalbimiz onlara lanet okur.â
MĂŒslĂŒmanlardan duyabileceÄiniz son iki argĂŒman Ćunlardır:
1. Yukarıdakilerin hepsi sadece MĂŒslĂŒmanlara dĂŒĆman olan mĂŒĆriklerle ilgilidir.
2. Bu hĂŒkmĂŒn sadece Hz. Peygamber ve ashabı zamanında geçerli olduÄu.
İkinci argĂŒman dikkat etmediÄinizi ve kaynaklarınızı okumadıÄınızı gösteriyor. İslam, zaman sınırlarını veya bölgesel sınırları tanımayan bir dindir: "Cihat, Kıyamet GĂŒnĂŒ'ne kadar devam edecektir."
Tevbe Suresi 29. ayette vahyedilen Ćey, kĂąfirler hakkında inananlar için nihai hĂŒkĂŒmdĂŒr. Ehl-i SĂŒnnet mĂŒfessirlerinin fikir birliÄi, bu ayetin MĂŒslĂŒmanların Allah ve ResulĂŒnĂŒn iradesini dĂŒnyanın her köĆesinde tavizsiz bir Ćekilde tesis etmeleri için geri alınamaz bir emir olarak vahyedildiÄidir. İbn Kesir Ćunları yazar:
âBu ayet-i kerime, mĂŒĆriklerle iĆler hallolduktan ve insanlar bölĂŒk bölĂŒk Allahâın dinine girdikten sonra, Kitap Ehliyle savaĆma emri olarak nazil olmuĆtur.â
âVe Arap Yarımadası dĂŒzelince, Allah ve ResulĂŒ, İki Kitap Ehlinin, Yahudilerin ve Hıristiyanların savaĆmasını emretti. Bu, Hicretin dokuzuncu yılında gerçekleĆti. Ve bu yĂŒzden Allah'ın ResulĂŒ, Romalılarla savaĆa hazırlandı ve insanları buna çaÄırdı.â
Ăyleyse ilk argĂŒmana dönecek olursak: GördĂŒÄĂŒmĂŒz gibi, ne Hıristiyanlar ne de Yahudiler MĂŒslĂŒmanlar tarafından dost veya kardeĆ olarak kabul edilmeyeceklerdir; İslam'ı kabul edene veya aĆaÄılanarak vergi ödeyene kadar onlarla savaĆılmalıdır.
Ayrıca, bu emrin esasen tĂŒm MĂŒslĂŒman olmayanlar için geçerli olduÄunu anlamalısınız; zira Hz. Muhammed'in zamanında Allah, Hıristiyanlar, Yahudiler ve putperestlerin yanı sıra Budistler ve Tanrı'ya inanmayan veya kimseye ibadet etmeyen insanların da var olduÄundan habersizdi.
Daha sonra MĂŒslĂŒmanlar bu gözden kaçırmaya oldukça zarif bir çözĂŒm buldular: kafirleri ĂŒĂ§ ana gruba ayırdılar - Hristiyanlar, Yahudiler ve çok tanrılılar. Son kategoriye, putperestlerin yanında, anlamadıkları ancak MĂŒslĂŒman zihninde kĂąfir kategorilerinden birine itilmesi gereken hemen hemen herkesi dahil etmeye devam ediyorlar.
Peygamber BaĆkasının Karısını Nasıl Ăaldı
Peygamber'in on ĂŒĂ§ eĆinden biri olan Zeyneb bint CahĆ ile evliliÄinin hikayesinden bahsedeceÄiz. Kaynaklara geçmeden önce, öncelikle ana karakterleri tanıyalım. Hz. Muhammed'in tanıtılmaya ihtiyacı olduÄuna inanmıyorum, bu yĂŒzden hemen bu hikayedeki diÄer önemli figĂŒr olan Zeyd bin Harise'ye geçeceÄiz.
Zeyd bin Harise, kĂŒĂ§ĂŒk bir çocukken esir alınan ve Muhammed'e ve ilk karısı tĂŒccar Hatice bint Huveylid'e hediye edilene kadar elden ele dolaĆan bir köleydi. Muhammed, Zeyd'e o kadar dĂŒĆkĂŒn oldu ki onu serbest bıraktı ve evlat edindi, bundan sonra Zeyd, en azından daha sonra tartıĆacaÄımız belirli bir noktaya kadar Zeyd bin Muhammed olarak tanındı.
Bu hikayedeki çatıĆmanın merkezi figĂŒrĂŒ, KureyĆ kabilesinin asil Esed klanından bir kadın olan Zeyneb bint CahĆ'tır. Muhammed, onun evlatlık oÄlu Zeyd ile evlenmesini ayarladı. Bu, hem akrabaları arasında hem de Zeyd ile evlenmek istemeyen Zeyneb'in kendisinde kızgınlıÄa neden oldu. Yine de, Allah ResulĂŒ'nĂŒn sözĂŒ kanundu ve evlilik gerçekleĆtirildi.
Her Ćey yolunda gidebilirdi ve bu hikayeye, eÄer önemli bir ayrıntı olmasaydı, dikkat bile etmemiĆ olabilirdik. Bunu doÄru bir Ćekilde anlamak için birincil kaynaklara yönelmemiz gerekir. Söz konusu hikaye, Tarikh al-Tabari'nin İkinci Cildinde, özellikle Hicret'in beĆinci yılındaki olaylara ayrılmıà bölĂŒmde bulunabilir. Orada, al-Tabari Ćöyle yazar:
âSonra Hicretin beĆinci yılı geldi ve bu yılda Allah ResulĂŒ, Zeyneb binti CahĆ ile evlendi.â
Dikkatinizi çekerim ki o sırada Zeyneb, Zeyd ile evli idi.
âAllah'ın Elçisi, o zamanlar 'Zeyd, Muhammed'in oÄlu' olarak anılan Zeyd bin Harise'yi ziyaret etmeye karar verdi. GörĂŒnĂŒĆe göre, birbirlerini bir saatle kaçırdılar. Muhammed, Zeyd'in evine geldi, onu çaÄırdı, ancak onu orada bulamadı. Bunun yerine, Zeyd'in karısı Zeyneb bint CahĆ, hafif giysilerle onu karĆılamak için dıĆarı çıktı.â
Ve en ilginç kısım burada baĆlıyor.
Muhammed ondan yĂŒz çevirdi, o da Zeyd'in evde olmadıÄını söyleyerek onu içeri davet etti ve Ćöyle dedi:
âİçeri gir, ey Allahâın ResulĂŒ! Zira sen benim için anam, babam kadar sevgilisin.â
Muhammed içeri girmeyi reddetti. Zeyd, Allah'ın Elçisi'nin kapısında olduÄunu öÄrendiÄinde aceleyle eve gitti, aceleyle bir Ćeyler giydi ve Muhammed gördĂŒÄĂŒ Ćeyden memnun oldu; bu onda hayranlık uyandırdı. Muhammed arkasını döndĂŒ ve anlaĆılmaz bir Ćeyler mırıldanmaya baĆladı, sadece cĂŒmleler anlaĆılabiliyordu:
âYĂŒce Allah yĂŒcedir. Kalpleri doÄru yola ileten Allah yĂŒcedir.â
Zeyd eve döndĂŒÄĂŒnde karısı ona Allah ResulĂŒnĂŒn geldiÄini söyledi. Zeyd sordu:
"Onu içeri davet ettin, deÄil mi?"
O da Ćöyle cevap verdi:
"Yaptım ama o reddetti."
Zeyd daha sonra sordu:
"BaĆka bir Ćey söyledi mi?"
O cevap verdi:
âO, yĂŒz çevirdiÄinde, onun: âAllahâın Ćanı yĂŒcedir, kalpleri hidayete erdiren Allahâın Ćanı yĂŒcedirâ dediÄini duydum.â
Peki Zeyd, ilk bakıĆta sıradan görĂŒnen bu duruma nasıl tepki verdi? Allah ResulĂŒ'ne gidip Ćöyle dedi:
âEy Allahâın ResulĂŒ, evime geldiÄinizi duydum ama içeri girmeyi reddettiniz. Ey kendi annemden ve babamdan daha sevgili olan sen. Belki de Zeynebâe hayrandın ve ben onu boĆamalıyım?â
Hz. Muhammed asil bir tavırla, Zeyd'in karısını yanında tutmasını teĆvik ederek cevap verdi.
İlk bakıĆta, sanki kimse hiçbir Ćeyi zorlamıyormuĆ gibi görĂŒnĂŒyordu. Ama bir an için Muhammed'in kim olduÄunu hatırlayın. Kendinizi Zeyd'in yerine koyun ve nasıl hissedeceÄinizi hayal edin.
Taberi Ćöyle diyor:
âO gĂŒnden sonra Zeyd artık ona yaklaĆamadı.â
Bunu tartıĆmak için Muhammed'in yanına gelirdi ve Muhammed tekrarlardı:
"Karını yanında tut."
Son olarak Taberi Ćöyle yazıyor:
âZeyd, Zeynebâi boĆadı ve Zeynebâe helal oldu.â
Yani onun iddeti (bekleme sĂŒresi) sona ermiĆti.
Elbette 1400 yıl sonra tam olarak ne olduÄunu bilmek imkĂąnsızdır, ancak El-Taberi'nin anlatımında Ću ifadenin vurgulanması muhtemelen bir tesadĂŒf deÄildir:
âAllah ResulĂŒnĂŒn hoĆuna gitti.â
BĂŒyĂŒk ihtimalle birileriâbelki de Zeyneb'in kendisiâZeyd'e Muhammed'in duygularından bahsetmiĆtir. Asil bir aileden gelen Zeyneb'in, eski bir kölenin karısı olmaktansa Peygamber'in karısı olmayı tercih etmiĆ olması mĂŒmkĂŒndĂŒr. Belki de Zeyd'e kendisi imada bulunmuĆtur. Kim bilir.
Asıl önemli olan, bu olaydan sonra Allah ResulĂŒ'nĂŒn nasıl davrandıÄıdır.
Mucizevi bir Ćekilde Ahzab Suresi'nin 37. ayeti nazil oldu:
âVe hatırla, ey Muhammed, Allah'ın kendisine lĂŒtufta bulunduÄu ve senin de lĂŒtufta bulunduÄun kimseye [yani Muhammed'in kölelikten kurtardıÄı Zeyd'e]: 'EĆini tut ve Allah'tan kork.' diyordun. Fakat Allah'ın açıÄa vuracaÄı Ćeyi içinde gizliyordun ve insanlardan korkuyordun. Oysa Allah, senden daha çok korkmanı hak ediyor.â
Burada olup biteni hĂąlĂą anlamadıysanız, SĂŒnni tefsirinin en yetkili isimlerinden İbn Kesir'e dönelim.
İbn Kesir, âAllahâın açıÄa çıkaracaÄı Ćeyi sen kendinde gizliyordunâ ifadesi ĂŒzerine Ćöyle yazar:
âBu ayet Zeyneb binti CahĆ ve Zeyd bin Harise hakkında nazil olmuĆtur.â
Daha doÄrusu:
âAllah, Peygamberine, Zeyneb'in, onunla evlenmeden önce bile eĆlerinden biri olacaÄını bildirdi. Zeyd, karısından Ćikayet ettiÄinde, Peygamber ona: 'Allah'tan kork ve karısını tut,' derdi. Oysa Muhammed, Allah'ın hĂŒkmĂŒnĂŒ zaten biliyordu ve bunu kalbinde gizli tutuyordu.â
Dikkat çekici, deÄil mi? Allah'ın kendisine böyle bir lĂŒtufta bulunduÄu iddia edilse bile, Muhammed yine de Zeyd'in evliliÄini korumaya çalıĆtı.
Peki bu ayette baĆka neler bildiriliyor?
âZeyd onunla iliĆkisini bitirince [ister iliĆkiye girerek, ister boĆayarak], onu seninle evlendirdikâŠâ
Kuran'ı kendiniz okuyun, ayeti dikkatlice tekrar okuyun ve kendinize sorun: Kuran'ın Tanrı'nın SözĂŒ olduÄuna gerçekten inanıyor musunuz? Evrenin Yaratıcısı'nın, insanlıÄa gönderdiÄi kutsal ve son mesajında, hafif giyimli Zeyneb bint CahĆ'ı görĂŒnce tahrik olan Muhammed için bir bahane sunacaÄına gerçekten inanmaya hazır mısınız?
İbn Kesir ayrıca Ćöyle yorumluyor:
âZeyd onunla arzusunu yerine getirip onu boĆadıÄında, Allah Zeynebâi Allahâın Elçisi ile evlendirdi. Onun velisi bizzat Allahâın kendisiydi ve Muhammed onunla veli, nikah akdi, mehir veya Ćahit olmadan evlendi.â
Ayetin son kısmına geçmeden önce İbn Kesir'in bize söylediÄi bir Ćeyi daha belirtmekte fayda var:
âZeyneb'in bekleme sĂŒresi sona erdiÄinde, Allah'ın Elçisi Zeyd bin Harise'ye Ćöyle dedi: 'Ona evlenmek istediÄimi duyur.' Zeyd hamur yoÄururken yanına gitti. Ćöyle dedi: 'Onu gördĂŒÄĂŒmde öyle bir korku hissettim ki ona bakamadım ve mesajı iletemedim.' Sonra arkasını döndĂŒ ve Ćöyle dedi: 'Ey Zeyneb, mĂŒjdeler olsun - Allah'ın Elçisi seninle evlenmek istiyor.' Zeynebi Ćöyle cevap verdi: 'Rabbimden hidayet dilemeden hiçbir Ćey yapmayacaÄım.' Sonra dua etti ve vahiy geldi ve Muhammed izin almadan ona geldi.â
İbn Kesir, daha sonra yapılan kutlamayı Ćöyle anlatır:
Böylece Hz. Muhammed, hem bu durumu ilahĂź takdir olarak göstererek utanmazca bir fırsata çevirmiĆ, hem de ayrılıktan açıkça zarar görmĂŒĆ olan Zeyd'in bizzat Zeyneb'e bu teklifi iletmesini saÄlamıĆtır.
BĂŒtĂŒn bunları okuyunca, Hz. Muhammed'in "insanlıÄın en hayırlısı" ve "en bĂŒyĂŒk rol model" olduÄu iddiasını hatırlamamak elde deÄil. Hz. Muhammed'in yaptıklarını, söylediklerini öÄrenmek, bu tĂŒr ifadeleri duymak doÄal olarak derin bir iÄrenmeye yol açıyor.
Daha da rahatsız edici olanı, bazı insanların cehaletlerine o kadar saplanmıà olmaları ki bu hikayeyi okurken hiçbir rahatsızlık hissetmiyorlar. Daha da kötĂŒsĂŒ, "yanılmaz" otoritelerini eleĆtiren herkese zarar vermek zorunda hissediyorlar.
Bu tam bir mezhepçiliktir: Yapılanlar ne kadar utanç verici olursa olsun, mĂŒminler peygamberlerini savunmak için vicdanlarından taviz verirler.
Ayetin sonunda Hz. Muhammed kendini Ćöyle savunur:
ââŠMĂŒminler için evlatlıklarının artık onlara ihtiyaçları kalmadıÄında, onların eĆleri konusunda bir sorun olmasın diye. Allah'ın emri mutlaka yerine getirilecektir.â
Allah'ın, sadece Hz. Muhammed'in isteklerini ahlaki açıdan haklı çıkarmak için ilahi bir vahiy gönderip, daha geniĆ MĂŒslĂŒman toplumuna da bir Ćey sunmaması garip görĂŒnĂŒrdĂŒ.
ĂrneÄin, sıradan inananlara sadece dört eĆ verilirken, Muhammed'in on iki eĆi vardı. İnsanlar bir Ćeylerden ĆĂŒphelenmeye baĆlayabilirdi, bu yĂŒzden toplum için de bazı tavizler saÄlamak gerekiyordu.
Son olarak, tĂŒm bu hikayenin çok geniĆ kapsamlı sonuçları olduÄunu belirtmek gerekir. Bu noktadan sonra Allah, evlat edinilen oÄulların artık evlat edinen babalarının isimlerini taĆıyamayacaÄına karar verdi.
İbn Kesir bu noktada Ćöyle diyor:
âPeygamberlikten önce, Muhammed Zeyd bin Harise'yi evlat edindi ve insanlar ona Zeyd bin Muhammed diyorlardı. Allah bunu Ćöyle diyerek ortadan kaldırdı: 'O, evlatlıklarınızı [gerçek] oÄullarınız yapmadı. Onları [biyolojik] babalarının adlarıyla çaÄırın; bu, Allah katında daha adildir.'â
Ve bu, Zeyd'in boĆanmasından sonra Muhammed'in Zeyneb ile evlenmesiyle daha da doÄrulandı ve netleĆti. Böylece, dĂŒnyada yĂŒrĂŒmĂŒĆ en iyi adam olarak kabul edilen adamın ahlakı ortaya çıktı.
Ăocuk yaĆta evliliklerin caizliÄi
Burada da pek yorum yapmayacaÄım. Size argĂŒmanlarımı sunacaÄım.
1. Kuran, henĂŒz buluÄ Ă§aÄına ermemiĆ kızlarla evlenmeye izin vermektedir.
Kanıt:
Talak Suresi'ni (65:4) açalım:
âKadınlarınızdan adet görmeyenler için, eÄer ĆĂŒphe ederseniz, bekleme sĂŒreleri ĂŒĂ§ aydır. HenĂŒz adet görmemiĆ olanlar için de geçerlidir. Gebe olanlar için ise bekleme sĂŒreleri doÄum yapmalarına kadardır. Kim Allahâtan korkarsa, Allah ona iĆinde kolaylık saÄlar.â
Bu ayette sadece menopoz dönemini geçmiĆ kadınlar için deÄil, henĂŒz adet görmemiĆ, yani ergenlik çaÄına girmemiĆ kızlar için de iddet sĂŒresinden bahsedilmektedir.
Bekleme sĂŒresi, kadının boĆandıktan sonra hamile kalıp kalmadıÄının tespiti için olduÄundan, bu tĂŒr kızlarla bile cinsel iliĆkiye girilebileceÄi anlaĆılmaktadır.
2. Tefsir, ayetin ergenlik öncesi kız çocuklarıyla evlenmeye iliĆkin olduÄunu teyit eder.
Kanıt:
İbn Kesir'in tefsirine atıfta bulunarak:
âAllah Teala, adetleri yaĆları nedeniyle kesilen kadınlar için bekleme sĂŒresini (iddet) açıklıyor. Onların bekleme sĂŒresi ĂŒĂ§ aydır. Bu, hala adet görenlerin bekleme sĂŒresinin ĂŒĂ§ adet döngĂŒsĂŒ olmasından farklıdır. Aynısı henĂŒz adet görmemiĆ olanlar için de geçerlidir.â
İbn Kesir, kuralın henĂŒz adet görmemiĆ kızlar için de geçerli olduÄunu açıkça belirtir. Bu nedenle, geleneksel İslam ilmi, ergenlik öncesi kızlarla evlilik ve cinsel iliĆki olasılıÄını kabul eder.
3. Kuran'da evlilik için asgari bir yaĆ sınırı belirtilmemiĆtir.
Kanıt:
Nisa Suresi 23-24. ayetleri inceleyelim:
âSize Ćunlar haram kılındı: Anneleriniz, kızlarınız, kız kardeĆleriniz, teyzeleriniz, teyzeleriniz, erkek kardeĆinizin kızları, kız kardeĆinizin kızları, sizi emziren sĂŒt anneleriniz, sĂŒt kız kardeĆleriniz, eĆlerinizin anneleri, kendilerine girdiÄiniz eĆlerinizden doÄan ve himayeniz altında olan ĂŒvey kızlarınız -ama onlara girmediyseniz sizin için bir gĂŒnah yoktur- ve kendi sulbĂŒnĂŒzden olan oÄullarınızın eĆleri. Ve iki kız kardeĆi aynı anda nikahlamak da [yasaktır]âŠâ
âVe evli kadınlar da haramdır, ancak saÄ ellerinizin altında bulunanlar hariç. [Bu] Allahâın sizin ĂŒzerinize koyduÄu bir hĂŒkĂŒmdĂŒr. Bunların dıĆında kalanlar, iffetli olmak ve fuhuĆ yapmamak Ćartıyla mallarınızla evlenmek istemeniz Ćartıyla size helal kılınmıĆtır. Ăyleyse onlardan ne elde ederseniz, onlara bir borç olarak bedellerini verinâŠâ
Bu ayetlerde Allah, evlenmesi yasak olan kadın kategorilerini sıralar ancak herhangi bir yaĆ sınırlamasından bahsetmez. Bu nedenle, Kuran evlilik için asgari bir yaĆ belirlemez.
4. Peygamberin sĂŒnneti, ergenlik öncesi kız çocuklarının evlendirilmesi uygulamasını teyit eder.
Kanıt:
Sahih el-Buhari, Hadis 5133'ten:
âAiĆe anlatıyor: Peygamber benimle altı yaĆındayken evlendi ve dokuz yaĆındayken benimle gerdeÄe girdi. Sonra onunla dokuz yıl kaldım.â
Bu hadis, nikah akdinin AiĆe altı yaĆındayken yapıldıÄını ve dokuz yaĆındayken de (modern ölĂ§ĂŒtlere göre tam fiziksel olgunluÄa eriĆmeden önce) cinsel birleĆmenin gerçekleĆtiÄini açıkça belirtmektedir.
5. AiĆe'nin bĂŒyĂŒk olduÄuna dair modern iddialar asılsızdır.
Yorum:
Bazı çaÄdaĆ yazarlar, dolaylı tarihsel göstergelere dayanarak, AiĆe'nin evlendiÄi sırada aslında on sekiz veya on dokuz yaĆında olduÄunu ileri sĂŒrmektedir. Ancak bu, AiĆe'nin doÄrudan kendisi tarafından bildirilen ve Sahih el-Buhari ve Sahih MĂŒslim'de doÄrulanan otantik rivayetlerle çeliĆmektedir.
Dolayısıyla Hz. AiĆe'nin yaĆını yeniden yorumlama çabaları, kasıtlı tarihi çarpıtmalardır.
Peygamberin Kur'an ile tutkuları nasıl haklı çıkardıÄı /Veya Muhammed'in Kur'an'ı nasıl anında oluĆturduÄu.
Muhammed'in Zeyd bin Harise'nin karısını nasıl aldıÄının hikayesini daha önce tartıĆmıĆtım, bunu haklı çıkarmak için tam doÄru zamanda Allah'tan uygun bir vahiy almıĆtı. BugĂŒn bu konuya devam edeceÄiz ve Allah'ın Elçisi'nin kiĆisel arzularını haklı çıkarmak için Kur'an ayetlerini kullanarak insanları nasıl manipĂŒle ettiÄini açıkça gösteren birkaç örneÄi daha inceleyeceÄiz. Bunun oldukça fazla örneÄi var.
ĂrneÄin, Allah'ın Muhammed'i, Muhammed'in hoĆlandıÄı Zeyd'in karısı Zeyneb bint CahĆ ile "evlendirdiÄi" Ahzab Suresi'ni ele alalım. Buna ek olarak, bu Sure'de, Muhammed'in samimi bir peygamberlik misyonuna sahip olduÄu fikrine dair herhangi bir makul kiĆinin inancını ciddi Ćekilde sarsacak birkaç ayet vardır. İslam'da Kuran'ın, Tanrı'nın insanlıÄa gönderdiÄi son mesaj olarak görĂŒlmesine ve Kıyamet GĂŒnĂŒ'ne kadar iradesini ifade etmesine raÄmen, Muhammed gĂŒnlĂŒk ihtiyaçlarını karĆılamak için "ilahi vahyi" kullanmakta hiçbir sorun görmemiĆtir.
ĂrneÄin, 30-33. ayetleri okuduÄumuzda, Muhammed'in eĆlerini kontrol etme konusunda çok endiĆeli olduÄunu görĂŒyoruz. Ăyle ki, Alemlerin Rabbi, vahyinde, Muhammed'in eĆlerini, cennetsel sonuçlarla karĆılaĆmak istemiyorlarsa itaat etmeleri konusunda sert bir Ćekilde uyarıyor:
âEy Peygamber hanımları! Sizden biri apaçık bir hayasızlık yaparsa, onun cezası iki katına çıkarılır. Bu, Allah için kolaydır.â
âSizden kim Allahâa ve ResĂ»lĂŒne gönĂŒlden itaat eder ve salih amel iĆlerse, ona mĂŒkĂąfatını iki kat veririz. Ve onun için bol rızık hazırlamıĆızdır.â
BaĆka bir deyiĆle Hz. Muhammed âhavuç ve sopaâ yöntemine çok aĆinaydı.
âEy Peygamber hanımları! Siz diÄer kadınlar gibi deÄilsiniz. EÄer Allahâtan korkuyorsanız, yumuĆak söz söylemeyin ki kalbinde hastalık olan kimse tamah etmesin. GĂŒzel söz söyleyin.â
âEvlerinizde oturun ve cahiliye dönemindeki gibi açılıp saçılmayın. Namazı kılın, zekĂątı verin, Allahâa ve ResĂ»lĂŒne itaat edin.â
Muhammed'in kendisi de bu tĂŒr arzularla mĂŒcadele ettiÄi için, baĆkalarını kendi standartlarına göre ölçtĂŒ ve Zeyd bin Harise'nin dĂŒĆtĂŒÄĂŒ duruma dĂŒĆmekten korktu. Bu nedenle, Allah Peygamber'in eĆlerine dıĆarı çıkmalarını ve dıà dĂŒnyayla temaslarını sınırlamalarının onlar için daha gĂŒvenli olacaÄını hatırlatmak için araya girdi.
Sadece ĂŒĂ§ ayet sonra, Hz. Muhammed'in Zeyd'in karısıyla yaĆadıÄı skandal hikayeyle karĆılaĆıyoruz ve bazı beceriksizce gerekçelendirmelerden sonra -ya da Allah'ın onu mazur görĂŒp görmediÄini söylemek zor- Hz. Muhammed'in Allah'a atfedilen sözlerin arkasındaki yazarlıÄının apaçık belli olduÄu çok anlamlı bir ayet buluyoruz:
âEy Peygamber! Biz sana, kendilerine ĂŒcretlerini verdiÄin eĆlerini ve Allahâın sana verdiÄi Ćeylerden saÄ elinin altında bulunanları, seninle birlikte hicret eden amcalarının ve teyzelerinin kızlarını, dayılarının ve teyzelerinin kızlarını ve Peygamber kendisiyle evlenmek istediÄinde kendisini Peygamberâe baÄıĆlayan herhangi bir mĂŒmin kadını helal kıldık. Bu, yalnızca sana mahsustur; mĂŒminler hariç. Biz, onlara eĆleri ve saÄ elinin altında bulunanlar hakkında neyi farz kıldıÄımızı elbette biliyoruz. Fakat sana bir sıkıntı olmasın diye bunu sana bir muafiyet olarak verdikâŠâ
Nasıl? Oldukça "uygun", deÄil mi?
Burada açıklıÄa kavuĆturulması gereken baĆka bir nokta var. Sık sık -ve temelsiz olmayan bir Ćekilde- Arapça ۧÙŰłÙŰȘÙÙÙÙÙŰÙ (burada "evlenmek" olarak çevrilmiĆtir) kelimesinin yasal anlamda mutlaka "evlenmek" anlamına gelmediÄi, bunun yerine "cinsel iliĆkiye girmek" anlamına geldiÄi ileri sĂŒrĂŒlĂŒr. Temel fiil ÙۧÙÙŰÙ, sözlĂŒklere göre hem "evlenmek" hem de "seks yapmak" anlamına gelebilir.
Dolayısıyla ayetin daha doÄru tercĂŒmesi Ću Ćekilde yapılabilir:
âPeygamberâe, kendisine kendisini teklif eden ve kendisiyle yatmak isteyen her mĂŒmin kadın helal kılınmıĆtır.â
Bu yorumu kolayca doÄrulayabilirsiniz: herhangi bir Arap'a gidin ve ۣ۱ÙŰŻ ŰŁÙ ŰŁÙÙŰ ŰšÙŰȘÙ ("Kızınızla seks yapmak istiyorum") deyin â ve aldıÄınız tepkiyi izleyin. HoĆ olmayacaktır.
Ayrıca, sefahatin baÄlamı, Bakara Suresi'nin 230. ayeti ve Buhari'nin boĆanma ile ilgili kaydettiÄi bir hadis aracılıÄıyla dolaylı olarak da desteklenmektedir. 230. ayette Ćöyle denmektedir:
âEÄer onu [ĂŒĂ§ĂŒncĂŒ defa] boĆarsa, artık baĆka bir kocayla evlenmedikçe ona helal olmazâŠâ
Ancak pek çok çeviri (örneÄin Kuliyev'in çevirisi) bunu gizlice "baĆka biriyle evlenene kadar" Ćeklinde çevirerek imayı gizliyor.
Ancak Sahih el-Buhari'de, bir kadının ilk kocasından boĆanıp iktidarsız olduÄu ortaya çıkan ikinci bir kadınla evlendikten sonra Peygamber'e geldiÄi bir hadis vardır. İkinci koca bunu reddeder, iktidarlı olduÄunu iddia eder ve kadının isyanını suçlar. Muhammed, kadının ilk kocasına geri dönmek istediÄini anlayarak ona Ćöyle der:
âİkinci kocanız sizin tatlılıÄınızı tatmadıkça, ilk kocanıza dönemezsiniz.â
Metaforu anladıÄınızı dĂŒĆĂŒnĂŒyorum.
Ăyleyse basit bir mantıkla bakıldıÄında, Allah'ın Hz. Muhammed'e, kendisine kendisini sunan herhangi bir kadınla cinsel iliĆkiye girme hakkını verdiÄi ortaya çıkıyor.
Ăte yandan İbn Kesir Tefsir'ine bakacak olursanız, bunun çok tuhaf bir evlilik tĂŒrĂŒ de olsa evlilikten bahsettiÄini söyler:
âAnlamı: Peygamberâe kendisini arz eden herhangi bir mĂŒmin kadın, Peygamber dilerse, mehir ödemeden onunla evlenebilir.â
Ancak sorun Ću: Sahih MĂŒslim'de, baĆka bir hadis, ÙÙŰ§Ű (ÙÙŰ'den) kelimesinin âgenellikle "evlilik" olarak çevrilirâ kesinlikle cinsel iliĆkiyi ifade ettiÄini açıklıÄa kavuĆturur. Bu hadiste, Muhammed, MĂŒslĂŒmanlara adet dönemlerinde eĆleriyle iliĆkiden uzak durmalarını emrederek Ćöyle der:
"ۧ۔ÙŰčÙۧ ÙÙ ŰŽÙŰĄ Ű„Ùۧ ۧÙÙÙۧŰ" - "Onunla cinsel iliĆki dıĆında her Ćeyi yap."
Dolayısıyla, hadisin daha geniĆ baÄlamı ve ele alınan ayette Hz. Muhammed'in mehir ödemekten muaf olması göz önĂŒne alındıÄında, burada aslında kastedilenin doÄrudan cinsel iliĆki olduÄu kuvvetle muhtemeldir.
Son olarak, Muhammed'e yakın olanlar bile bu "vahiylerin" ne kadar bencilce olduÄunu fark etmiĆ gibi görĂŒnĂŒyor. MĂŒslim'den bir hadiste AiĆe, Peygamber'e kendilerini sunan kadınları kıskandıÄını ve alaycı bir Ćekilde Ćöyle dediÄini söylĂŒyor:
"Bir kadın kendini sunabilir mi?"
Allah da buna uygun olarak hemen baĆka bir ayet âvahyederdiâ:
âOnlardan dilediÄini erteleyebilirsin, dilediÄini de kendine alabilirsin. EÄer ayırdıklarından birini istersen, senin için bir gĂŒnah yoktur.â
AiĆe alaycı bir tavırla Ćunları söyledi:
âVallahi, Rabbinin senin isteklerini yerine getirmek için acele ettiÄini görĂŒyorum.â
EÄer bu analizi beÄendiyseniz 2. kısmını da yayınlayabilirim.:hissediyorum:
Introduction:
The purpose of this thread is to inform every person so that he knows the truth about it and to kindle hatred towards this religion. Also, the author of this thread does not support other religions in this way.
Table Of Contents:
green - short analysis/orange - long analysis
- So how old was Aisha?
- Incest in Islam
- The Golden Age of Islam
- Islam is a religion of peace?
- How Prophet Muhammad Stole Someone Else's Wife
- Permissibility of child marriages
- how the prophet justified passions with the Quran
At this point I will not comment, I will present reliable traditional Islamic sources.
1. Al-Isabah fi Tamyiz al-Sahabah
(Author: Ibn al-Athir, Volume 7, pages 136â137 â Chapter on Aisha)
âHe married her when she was six years old and consummated the marriage when she was nine.â
2. Siyar Aâlam al-Nubalaâ
(Author: Al-Dhahabi, Volume 2, pages 135â136 â Chapter on Aisha)
âHe consummated the marriage with her in the month of Shawwal of the second year after Hijrah, and she was a girl of nine years old.â
3. Sunan Abi Dawood
(Hadith No. 3909 in the standard numbering)
âMy mother wanted me to gain weight before giving me to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in marriage, but nothing worked until she fed me cucumbers along with fresh dates, after which I became chubby in the best way.â
Incest in Islam
In Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), there have been complex and sometimes controversial discussions concerning the status of children born out of fornication (zina). While the overwhelming majority of scholars agreed that such children maintain certain legal ties with their biological parents â particularly concerning prohibitions on marriage (mahram relations) â there were minority opinions among early jurists that approached the matter differently.
It is reported that two prominent scholars, Imam Malik ibn Anas and Imam Ash-Shafiâi, held views that deviated from the mainstream on this issue. Several respected scholars from later generations, who had no interest in defaming them, transmitted these opinions in their works. Based on their reports, a child born from fornication was not seen, according to Malik and Shafiâiâs interpretations, as establishing a legal kinship that would prohibit marriage.
Below are key statements from major Islamic legal sources that describe these views:
1. From Al-Mughni by Ibn Qudamah:
âThis is the opinion of the majority of scholars, but Malik and Shafiâi, as is well-known from their madhhabs, considered all of the aforementioned permissible.â
2. Also from Ibn Qudamah, further explanation:
âSince she is a stranger to him and does not trace her legal lineage back to him, there is no inheritance between them. If he acquires her as a slave, he does not free her. He is not obligated to provide for her, and she is not forbidden to him, just like most unrelated women.â
3. From Sharh Sahih Muslim by An-Nawawi:
âThe opinion of Malik, Shafiâi, Abu Thawr, and others is that sexual intercourse through fornication does not bring about specific legal consequences. Therefore, a fornicator is permitted to marry the woman with whom he committed fornication, as well as her daughter.â
4. Specific transmission of Imam Shafiâiâs opinion as quoted by An-Nawawi:
âHowever, Ash-Shafiâi added, saying that it is permissible for a man to have intercourse with a daughter born from his own semen as a result of fornication.â
5. From Ikhtilaf al-Aâimma al-âUlama by Ibn Hubayrah:
âThe scholars differed regarding girls born from fornication. Is it permissible for the one who fathered her through fornication to marry her? Ahmad and Abu Hanifa said: no. But Imam Shafiâi said: it is permissible.â
The golden age of Islam
How the West Created the Narrative of the âGolden Age of Islamâ
Letâs first determine the roots of the narrative about the Golden Age of Islam. First and foremost, itâs important to understand that the Golden Age of Islam is a cultural product of the post-colonial era that originated in the West. In our time, this narrative serves as a double-edged sword: in the Islamic world, it is used by daâwah preachers and apologists of Islam, while in the West it is employed by adherents of the neoliberal agenda. In the latter case, the Golden Age of Islam is one of the tools used in the cultural war against the traditional values of Western societies. It is a convenient instrument that helps impose false tolerance and erode the self-awareness of Western peoples.
From an academic standpoint, this narrative often portrays the Renaissance as a product of Islamic civilization. Today, the myth of the Golden Age of Islam holds a significant place in the curricula of humanities departments in Western Europe and North America, which are almost entirely dominated by leftist ideologies. These departments consistently produce pseudo-experts who will go on to tell you how Islam supposedly played a pivotal role in the development of progress.
Weâll come back to Ibn Sina and Ibn Rushd separately later. As for Hasan Mehdi, who dresses like a model kafir, speaks English better than the average Brit, works for Western media tycoons, and graduated from the oldest educational institution in the Anglo-Saxon world â he can hardly be seen as a representative of the ummah of the Messenger of Allah. In short, Islam has been a convenient tool repeatedly used by Western elites over the past century, and there are at least a dozen more figures like Hasan Mehdi.
How did Muslims pick up the idea of an Islamic Golden Age?
What interests us much more today is how the ideological products of the Golden Age of Islam were picked up by the believers themselves. If we turn to the Islamic scene, the Golden Age of Islam is used here as a means of coping with the inferiority complex that Muslim societies experience in the face of the Westâs political and technological dominance. The irony is that even in this case, Muslims try to defeat the enemy by playing by his rules and adopting his stylistic approach.
Just think about it: did Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, in the late 18th century, care that the Industrial Revolution was in full swing in Britain, while the Ottoman Empire was frantically modernizing its army by bringing in specialists from France? Itâs highly unlikely that any of the Salafi scholars back then believed the Islamic worldâs decline was due to falling behind in some kind of kafir science. To them, it was obvious that the Islamic ummah was mired in religious innovations (bidâah), and whatever was going on among the unbelievers was a secondary issue.
This continued until the West penetrated not just the lands of Islam, but the minds of Muslims themselves. At that point, ignoring Western progress became impossible, and they seized upon a tool created by Western intellectual centers and repurposed it for their own use. This is how, in our time, the internet became flooded with tales about scientific miracles in the Quran, Islamic medicine, and claims that the spread of Islam supposedly influenced the development of science.
Now that weâve clarified things a bit, letâs finally examine how Islamic the Golden Age of Islam truly was â what in this story is myth, and what is actually true. To begin with, we need to clarify Islamâs stance toward science as such.
The faithful often like to flaunt the hadith: âSeek knowledge, even if you have to go to China.â Even setting aside the fact that this hadith is weak, weâre already dealing with a distortion of meaning. When Muslims quote this phrase, they often, without realizing it, take it out of context. The issue is that in hadith literature, the word âknowledgeâ (âilm) is used in the Sharia context â and it means something completely different from the concept of âknowledgeâ in the Western tradition.
In the Islamic world, âknowledgeâ primarily refers to Sharia sciences, which have absolutely nothing to do with what we understand as science today. The phrase âseeking knowledgeâ is a fixed expression that specifically refers to the pursuit of Sharia knowledge from Islamic scholars. Therefore, the claim that Islam encourages the study of science is fundamentally incorrect. In fact, not only does Islam not promote science â it actively opposes it, since the scientific method is based on doubt, which in turn threatens a Muslimâs faith and is seen in Islam as a whispering from the devil or a sign of weak iman.
How Caliph Umar Burned the Books of the Persians and Greeks
The history of Islam itself can speak far more eloquently about Islamâs attitude toward science. Ibn Khaldun, who is often cited as a representative of the Golden Age of Islam, describes some very interesting things in his famous Muqaddimah, the prologue to Tarikh Ibn Khaldun.
In the section devoted to the rational sciences and their various types, where Ibn Khaldun derives the major core disciplines from philosophy and emphasizes the importance of logic, he also mentions the achievements of pre-Islamic civilizations in the field of astronomy. There, he writes that the main bearers of scientific knowledge at the time were the Persians and the Romans, and that before the advent of Islam, the sciences in those lands were like vast, overflowing seas.
Ibn Khaldun then focuses specifically on the Persians, writing that the rational sciences played an important role in their civilization, and that many scientific works reached the Greeks from the Persians through the conquests of Alexander the Great. After this, he finally turns to the period of Islamic conquests and describes how Muslims dealt with this cultural heritage.
When the Arabs invaded Persia, they seized an uncountable number of manuscripts. Saâd ibn Abi Waqqas wrote to Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab, requesting permission to distribute these books among the Muslims. Umar ordered him to throw the books into the water, saying that if they contained useful knowledge, then Allah had already given us better guidance; and if they contained harmful things, then Allah had protected us from them. So, the Muslims threw the manuscripts either into the water or into the fire, and the sciences of the Persians vanished into oblivion, never reaching us.
In a similar fashion, the Commander of the Faithful distinguished himself not only in Persia. When the forces of Amr ibn al-As captured Alexandria, they discovered Aristotleâs school, where many manuscripts were stored. When Umar ibn al-Khattab learned of this, according to the Egyptian Islamic historian al-Maqrizi, he ordered the books to be burned â a move sometimes mistakenly believed to be the destruction of the Library of Alexandria.
The Rise of Science and the Decline of Islam in the Caliphate
In general, these two examples clearly illustrate the attitude Muslims had toward science during the time of the Salaf. And really, if you think about it â what else could that attitude have been? If we start from the premise that Muslims emerged from Arabia in the 7th century, then weâre talking about a godforsaken land that neither Byzantium nor Persia had any real interest in. Naturally, the Arabs who lived there didnât recognize the value of science, firstly because they simply had no exposure to it, and secondly because when youâre struggling to survive in the harsh conditions of the Arabian desert â in a tribal society with a raid-based economy â science is the last thing on your mind.
It was a different story when the Arabs moved beyond their natural environment. Upon leaving Arabia, Muslims didnât end up just anywhere â they reached the very center of the known world. In just over a century, as they conquered one country after another, the Caliphate absorbed Sassanid Persia, Byzantium, and the southern part of the Western Roman Empire â along with the peoples who carried their ancient cultural legacies. And while the first 120 years saw the generations of the Sahabah and Tabiâun behaving like the Arabian tribe of Muhammad, with each new generation they increasingly blended with the conquered peoples and came under their cultural influence.
This explains the decline of Islam in the understanding of the righteous predecessors and its contamination by foreign philosophy and science brought in by disbelievers â Persians and Christians. Itâs worth noting here that the beginning of the so-called Golden Age of Islam is typically dated to the late 8th and early 9th centuries, a time when the Islamic community was more divided than ever, and the Islamic state itself, under the rule of the Abbasids, saw a surge in anti-Arab sentiment and the growing influence of non-Arabs.
That was when science briefly flourished â but Islam had nothing to do with it, as weâll now see. By the time of Harun al-Rashidâs rule, the ministries of the caliphate were firmly occupied by Persians from the ancient Barmakid family, who had held high positions even under the Sassanids before Islam. Under the Umayyads, Persians and other non-Arabs were treated as second-class citizens, but after the Abbasid revolution â in which the Persians played a major role â they gained such influence that the Arab Muslim caliph became, if not a symbolic figure, at least heavily dependent on the political experience of the Persian elite.
Whatâs even more important is that, based on a range of indirect signs, we can infer that the Persian elite merely used Islam as a cover to access power and advance their own agenda. This was well observed by their contemporaries. The Hanbali scholar Ibn Qutaybah quotes the court Arabic language teacher of Harun al-Rashid, Abu Saâid al-Asmaâi, who described the Barmakids in this way: âWhen polytheism is mentioned in gatherings, the faces of the Barmakids light up with joy, but when the Qurâan is recited in their presence, they start mumbling stories about Marw (Merv).â
Caliph al-Mamun - patron of sciences and Taghut
If during the time of Harun al-Rashid the Barmakids were still kept somewhat in check, then under his son, Caliph Abdullah al-Maâmun, they began to feel even more confident. Incidentally, Caliph al-Maâmun himself was conceived by Harun through a Persian slave woman named Marajil â the influence of Persian disbelievers was clearly present.
Al-Dhahabi, in Siyar Aâlam al-Nubalaâ, gives us the following description of Caliph al-Maâmun: He was fond of literature, studied the rational sciences and the knowledge of those who came before Islam, and he ordered that their books be translated into Arabic. Al-Maâmun repeatedly transported books of Greek philosophers from Cyprus to Damascus.
We also learn about al-Maâmunâs sympathy for the misguided Muâtazilite sect â innovators and followers of Greek philosophy.
What do you thinkâdoes it befit the Commander of the Faithful to study the sciences of disbelievers and spread their books among the believers, while Caliph âUmar burned their manuscripts in his struggle to preserve the purity of this religion? Beyond al-Maâmunâs passion for innovation and studying the forbidden, in his ambition to spread among Muslims beliefs that contradict the Qurâan and the Sunnah, he founded an entire academy in Baghdad called the âHouse of Wisdom.â
And what was done in this House of Wisdom? Were they copying out the sacred pages of the Qurâan? Were they collecting the authentic hadiths passed down from the Messenger of Allah? Oh no! In this House, al-Maâmun gathered Persians and Christians and generously rewarded them with gold for translating into the language of the Messenger of Allah the works of Plato, Aristotle, Hippocrates, Galen, and mathematicians and philosophers from among the polytheist Indians.
And was this not influenced by the hypocritical Barmakids, who had already supported such initiatives under their own king, Khosrow I, who encouraged the study of sciences and gave shelter to fugitive Syrian Nestorian scholars?
Bayt al-Hikma was essentially a direct copy of the Academy of Gondishapur in the Khuzestan province of modern Iran, which was a major scientific center under the Sassanids. Also worth noting is that the patron of sciences, al-Maâmun, initiated the so-called Mihna â an inquisition testing the loyalty of Sunni scholars to the regime. And among its targets was none other than Ahmad ibn Hanbal himself, who surely needs no introduction.
The end of the golden age
The reign of al-Maâmun was perhaps the only period when sciences received a boost and experienced a revival in the lands ravaged by the Arabs. However, this did not last long. With the arrival of al-Mutawakkil, the pursuit of knowledge waned, and the Muslim elite returned to their usual activitiesâethnic conflicts, power struggles, and intra-religious disputes. Meanwhile, science continued to develop only on the periphery of the Islamic world, and even there, it faced criticism from scholars. To understand this, letâs briefly review the biographies of the scholars who lived in Islamic countries and whose fame Muslims often try to claim for themselves.
The first of them is Ibn Sina, better known as Avicenna. An ethnic Persian from the village of Afshana in the Bukhara region, Ibn Sina gained fame primarily as a physician and philosopher. His father was a preacher of the Ismaili sect of Shiâism. Ibn Sina studied Euclid and Aristotleâs metaphysics, and, as reported by Az-Zahabi, to study the latter, Ibn Sina had to recite it 40 times before he memorized it, and then, in order to fully understand it, he had to study the commentaries of Al-Farabi on metaphysics. From his biography, we see that he spent most of his life practicing medicine among the rulers of Persian cities, and he had little interest in Islamic sciences, not to mention that the philosophy he studied directly contradicted Islamic beliefs, for which he was criticized not only by Sunni scholars but even by Sufis.
If we mentioned Aristotleâs metaphysics, we should also mention the author of its commentary, Al-Farabi, who was either a Turk or a Sogdian Persian, and whom Az-Zahabi calls the âwise sheikh of philosophy,â who, as you might have guessed, was involved in philosophy. In addition to this, he also managed to write a whole treatise on music, âKitab al-Musiqa al-Kabir.â And if you thought that in this book he discusses the prohibition of music, I must disappoint you. Not only does he not prohibit it, but he also teaches it.
The next, equally prominent figure of the Golden Age is Ibn Rushd, also known as Averroes, born into a family of Maliki jurists in Andalusia. Although Ibn Rushdâs grandfather was a distinguished faqih (Islamic jurist) of the Cordoban Emirate, his grandson would go down in history as a noble representative of Eastern Aristotelianism. Al-Farabi refers to Ibn Rushd as the philosopher of the era and notes that he studied medicine as well as the sciences of those who came before Islam, mastering them to perfection. Some, as Al-Farabi points out, criticized Ibn Rushd for engaging in philosophy, yet this did not prevent him from writing a dozen works, most of which were treatises on the philosophy of Aristotle and Galen, as well as commentaries on the works of Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Al-Farabiâagain, on philosophy. Moreover, Ibn Rushd not only faced criticism but, in his final years, was completely shunned for his heretical statements. In the end, he died alone, under house arrest in his own home.
Finally, we must mention the Persian mathematician al-Khwarizmi, who is credited with coining the terms 'algorithm' and 'algebra.' Whatâs surprising is that he doesnât even appear in *Sier-an-Nubol*. Despite living much earlier than Dagobiâduring the reign of the well-known Caliph al-Maâmunâhe even headed the Baghdad branch of the Academy of Gundishapur under him.
Yet al-Khwarizmi had virtually no connection to Islam, let alone the humanities. Apart from his work on history (*tarikh*), all his other writings were devoted to mathematics, geography, and astronomy. Moreover, al-Khwarizmi derived the foundation of his mathematical knowledge in Central Asia from the works of Greek and Indian scholars.
Islam is a religion of peace?Letâs turn to the interpretations of the Quran. Concerning the words of the Almighty in Surah Al-Baqarah â âThere is no compulsion in religionâ â we find the following explanation from the prominent Sunni mufassir Ibn Kathir:
âThe opinion of many scholars is that this verse refers to the People of the Book who entered their religion before it was abrogated and replaced, and who paid the jizya tax.â
âOthers have said that this ruling was abrogated by the verse of fighting, since it is necessary to call all nations to the acceptance of the true religion â the religion of Islam.â
âAnd if any of them refuses to accept Islam without paying or surrendering the jizya, then they are to be fought until they are killed.â
âAnd that is the meaning of compulsion, as Allah the Almighty has said: âYou will be called to fight a people of great might. You will fight them, or they will submit to Islam.â"
âThe Almighty also said: âO Prophet, fight against the disbelievers and the hypocrites and be harsh with them.ââ
âAnd again the Almighty said: âO you who believe, fight those disbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you harshness. And know that Allah is with the righteous.ââ
âAnd as stated in an authentic hadith, Allah will marvel at people who enter Paradise in chains â meaning that captives brought to Muslim lands in shackles and collars will later accept Islam, and their deeds and sins will be rectified so that they will become among the people of Paradise.â
Beautiful, isnât it, dear friend? As for the verse âWhoever saves one lifeâŠâ, and so on â here, my friends, you didnât even bother to read what was written a few verses earlier, or what follows this verse. Allah recounts the biblical story of Cain killing Abel and then quotes a Jewish legal tract â the Sanhedrin â which the author of the Quran, in his ignorance, presents as the direct speech of God. Thatâs where your favorite quote, addressed to the Children of Israel, actually comes from.
And the next verse already announces the Islamic order, promising for anyone who wages war against Allah and His Messenger and seeks to cause corruption on earth â execution by crucifixion or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides.
As for all the hadiths of varying authenticity about Muhammad visiting a sick Jew, it is enough to recall the narration found in Sahih Muslim from Umar ibn al-Khattab, in which Muhammad promises to expel all Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula. And yet, a Muslim will still speak about how a Muslim should live in peace with others. Moreover, some everyday Muslims even manage to befriend kuffar and call them brothers.
From a human perspective, this is completely normal and right â but the deity Muslims worship does not wish for that. âBelievers cannot take disbelievers as allies or friends, for whoever does so has nothing to do with Allah.â This verse â which, as you might guess, is from Medina â is one of the foundations of the doctrine of Al-Walaâ wal-Baraâ (âLoyalty and Disavowalâ), which obligates Muslims to show loyalty to fellow Muslims and disavowal toward disbelievers.
The only exception to this rule is when a Muslim is genuinely afraid of the disbelievers. On this, Imam Ibn Kathir gives the following commentary:
âIf you fear them â being in certain lands and under certain circumstances â a believer may outwardly show friendship, but should not intend it in their heart.â
In other words, Islam teaches you deceit and cunning â gently called precaution. And to reinforce this point, Ibn Kathir cites the hadith of At-Tirmidhi from Abu Ad-Darda:
âIndeed, we smile in the faces of some people, while our hearts curse them.â
The last two arguments you may hear from everyday Muslims are:
1. That all of the above concerns only the polytheists who were hostile to Muslims.
2. That it was only relevant during the Prophetâs time and that of his companions.
The second argument shows that you are not paying attention and do not read your sources. Islam is a religion that does not recognize time limits or territorial boundaries: âJihad will continue until the Day of Judgment.â
What was revealed in verse 29 of Surah At-Tawbah is the final ruling for believers concerning the kuffar. The consensus of Ahl al-Sunnah mufassirs is that this verse was revealed as an irrevocable command for Muslims to uncompromisingly establish the will of Allah and His Messenger across all corners of the earth. Ibn Kathir writes the following:
âThis noble verse was revealed as a command to fight the People of the Book, after the affairs with the polytheists had been settled and people were entering Allahâs religion in crowds.â
âAnd when the Arabian Peninsula had been set aright, Allah and His Messenger commanded the fighting of the People of the Two Books â the Jews and the Christians. This occurred in the ninth year of the Hijrah. And that is why the Messenger of Allah prepared for war with the Romans and called the people to it.â
So, returning to the first argument: as we have seen, neither Christians nor Jews are to be considered friends or brothers by Muslims â they are to be fought until they either accept Islam or pay tribute in humiliation.
Moreover, you must understand that this command essentially applies to all non-Muslims, since during Muhammadâs time, Allah was apparently unaware that, in addition to Christians, Jews, and pagans, there were also Buddhists and people who simply donât believe in God or worship anyone.
Later, Muslims found a rather elegant solution to this oversight: they divided the kuffar into three main groups â Christians, Jews, and polytheists. Into the last category, alongside pagans, they continue to lump in virtually anyone they donât understand but who must, in the Muslim mind, be shoved into one of the categories of disbelievers.
How the Prophet Stole Someone Else's Wife
We will talk about the story of the Prophetâs marriage to one of his thirteen wives, Zaynab bint Jahsh. Before turning to the sources, letâs first familiarize ourselves with the main characters. I believe the Prophet Muhammad needs no introduction, so we will immediately move on to the other important figure in this story, Zayd ibn Harithah.
Zayd ibn Harithah was a slave who, as a young child, was taken captive and passed from hand to hand until he was gifted to Muhammad and his first wife, the merchant Khadijah bint Khuwaylid. Muhammad grew so fond of Zayd that he granted him freedom and adopted him, after which Zayd became known as Zayd ibn Muhammadâat least until a certain point, which we will discuss later.
The central figure of the conflict in this story is Zaynab bint Jahsh, a woman from the noble Asad clan of the Quraysh tribe. Muhammad arranged her marriage to his adopted son, Zayd. This caused resentment both among her relatives and within Zaynab herself, who was not eager to marry Zayd. Nevertheless, the word of the Messenger of Allah was law, and the marriage was carried out.
All might have been well, and we might not even have paid attention to this story, if not for one crucial detail. To understand it properly, we need to turn to the primary sources. The story in question can be found in Volume Two of Tarikh al-Tabari, specifically in the section dedicated to the events of the fifth year of the Hijrah. There, al-Tabari writes:
âThen came the fifth year of the Hijrah, and in this year, the Messenger of Allah married Zaynab bint Jahsh.â
I draw your attention to the fact that at that time, Zaynab was already married to Zayd.
âThe Messenger of Allah decided to visit Zayd ibn Harithah, who was then called âZayd, the son of Muhammad.â Apparently, they missed each other by an hour. Muhammad came to Zaydâs house, called for him, but did not find him there. Instead, Zaydâs wife, Zaynab bint Jahsh, came out to greet him, lightly clothed.â
And here the most interesting part begins.
Muhammad turned away from her, and she said that Zayd was not home, inviting him inside, saying:
âCome in, O Messenger of Allah, for you are dear to me as my father and mother.â
Muhammad refused to enter. When Zayd found out that the Messenger of Allah had been at his door, he hurried home, hastily throwing something on, and Muhammad was pleased by what he sawâit sparked admiration in him. Muhammad turned away and began to murmur something unintelligible, from which only the phrases could be understood:
âBlessed be Allah, the Almighty. Blessed be Allah, the One who guides hearts.â
When Zayd returned home, his wife told him that the Messenger of Allah had come. Zayd asked:
âYou invited him in, didnât you?â
She replied:
âI did, but he refused.â
Zayd then asked:
âDid he say anything else?â
She answered:
âWhen he turned away, I heard him say: âBlessed be Allah the Almighty, blessed be Allah who guides hearts.ââ
Now, how did Zayd react to this situation, which at first glance seemed unremarkable? He went to the Messenger of Allah and said:
âO Messenger of Allah, I heard you came to my house but refused to enter. O you who are dearer to me than my own father and mother. Perhaps you admired Zaynab, and I should divorce her?â
Muhammad, portraying nobility, replied, encouraging Zayd to keep his wife.
At first glance, it seemed as if no one was forcing anything. But remember for a moment who Muhammad was. Put yourself in Zaydâs place and imagine how you would feel.
Al-Tabari notes:
âFrom that day, Zayd could no longer approach her.â
He would come to Muhammad to discuss it, and Muhammad would repeat:
âKeep your wife.â
Eventually, Al-Tabari writes:
âZayd divorced Zaynab, and she became permissible (for marriage).â
That is, her waiting period (âiddah) ended.
Of course, after 1400 years, itâs impossible to know exactly what happened, but itâs probably not a coincidence that Al-Tabariâs narrative emphasizes the phrase:
âShe pleased the Messenger of Allah.â
Most likely, someoneâmaybe even Zaynab herselfâtold Zayd about Muhammadâs feelings. Itâs possible that Zaynab, being from a noble family, preferred to become the wife of the Prophet rather than remain the wife of a former slave. Maybe she hinted to Zayd herself. Who knows.
What matters most is how the Messenger of Allah himself behaved after this incident.
Miraculously, verse 37 of Surah Al-Ahzab was revealed:
âAnd [remember, O Muhammad], when you said to the one on whom Allah bestowed favor and you bestowed favor [meaning Zayd, whom Muhammad freed from slavery]: âKeep your wife and fear Allah.â But you concealed within yourself that which Allah was to disclose, and you feared the people, while Allah has more right that you fear Him.â
If you still donât understand whatâs going on here, letâs turn to one of the most authoritative Sunni commentators, Ibn Kathir.
On the phrase âYou concealed within yourself that which Allah was to disclose,â Ibn Kathir writes:
âThis verse was revealed concerning Zaynab bint Jahsh and Zayd ibn Harithah.â
More precisely:
âAllah informed His Prophet that Zaynab would become one of his wives even before he married her. When Zayd would complain about his wife, the Prophet would tell him: âFear Allah and keep your wife,â even though Muhammad already knew Allahâs decree and kept it hidden in his heart.â
Remarkable, isnât it? Even when Allah himself had allegedly granted him such a favor, Muhammad still tried to preserve Zaydâs marriage.
So what else was revealed in that verse?
âWhen Zayd had finished with her [whether through consummation or divorce], We married her to youâŠâ
Read the Qurâan yourself, reread the verse thoughtfully, and ask yourself: do you really believe the Qurâan is the Word of God? Are you truly ready to believe that the Creator of the Universe would, in His sacred and final message to mankind, provide an excuse for Muhammad, who happened to become aroused at the sight of lightly clothed Zaynab bint Jahsh?
Ibn Kathir comments further:
âWhen Zayd fulfilled his desire with her and divorced her, Allah married Zaynab to the Messenger of Allah. Her guardian in marriage was Allah Himself, and Muhammad married her without a guardian, without a marriage contract, dowry, or witnesses.â
Before we move to the final part of the verse, itâs worth mentioning something else Ibn Kathir tells us:
âWhen Zaynabâs waiting period ended, the Messenger of Allah told Zayd ibn Harithah: âAnnounce to her that I wish to marry her.â Zayd went to her while she was kneading dough. He said: âWhen I saw her, I felt such awe that I couldnât even look at her and deliver the message.â So he turned away and said: âO Zaynab, good newsâthe Messenger of Allah wishes to marry you.â She responded: âI will not do anything until I seek guidance from my Lord.â Then she prayed, and revelation came down, and Muhammad came to her without seeking permission.â
Ibn Kathir further describes the celebration that followed.
Thus, not only did Muhammad shamelessly take advantage of the situation while justifying it as divine will, but he also made Zaydâwho clearly suffered from the separationâpersonally deliver the proposal to Zaynab.
When you read all this, you canât help but remember the claim that Muhammad is âthe best of mankindâ and âthe ultimate role model.â Learning what Muhammad did and said, while hearing such statements, naturally leads to deep disgust.
Even more troubling is the fact that some people are so entrenched in their ignorance that they feel no discomfort whatsoever reading this story. Worse, they feel obliged to harm anyone who criticizes their âinfallibleâ authority.
This is pure sectarianism: no matter how disgraceful the actions are, the believers will still compromise their conscience to defend their prophet.
At the end of the verse, Muhammad justifies himself:
ââŠso that there would be no blame upon the believers concerning the wives of their adopted sons when they have no longer any need of them. And the command of Allah must be fulfilled.â
It would seem strange if Allah sent down a divine revelation solely to provide moral justification for Muhammadâs desires without offering something to the broader Muslim community as well.
For example, ordinary believers are only allowed four wives, while Muhammad had up to twelve. People might start to suspect something, so it was necessary to provide some concessions for the community too.
Finally, it should be noted that this whole story had far-reaching consequences. From this point on, Allah decided that adopted sons could no longer bear the names of their adoptive fathers.
On this point, Ibn Kathir comments:
âBefore prophethood, Muhammad adopted Zayd ibn Harithah, and people called him Zayd ibn Muhammad. Allah abolished this by saying: âHe has not made your adopted sons your [true] sons. Call them by their [biological] fathersâ names; that is more just in the sight of Allah.ââ
And this was further confirmed and clarified by Muhammadâs marriage to Zaynab after Zaydâs divorce. Thus were the morals of the man considered the best to ever walk the earth.
Permissibility of child marriages
I won't comment much here either. I'll give you arguments.
1. The Qurâan permits marriage to girls who have not yet reached puberty.
Evidence:
Letâs open Surah At-Talaq (65:4):
âAnd those of your women who no longer expect menstruationâif you doubt [their waiting period], their prescribed waiting time is three months, as well as for those who have not yet menstruated. And for those who are pregnant, their term is until they give birth. And whoever fears Allah â He will make matters easy for him.â
This verse mentions a waiting period (iddah) not only for women past menopause but also for those who have not yet menstruated, meaning prepubescent girls.
Since the waiting period is to determine whether a woman is pregnant after divorce, it implies that sexual intercourse could have taken place even with such girls.
2. The Tafsir confirms that the verse concerns marriage to prepubescent girls.
Evidence:
Referring to the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir:
âAllah the Exalted clarifies the waiting period (iddah) for women whose menstruation has stopped due to their age. Their waiting period is three months, different from those who still menstruate, for whom the waiting period is three menstrual cycles. The same applies to those who have not yet menstruated.â
Ibn Kathir clearly states that the rule also applies to girls who have not yet reached menstruation. Thus, traditional Islamic scholarship acknowledges the possibility of marriage and sexual relations with prepubescent girls.
3. The Qurâan does not establish a minimum age for marriage.
Evidence:
Letâs examine Surah An-Nisa, verses 23â24:
âProhibited to you [for marriage] are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your paternal aunts, your maternal aunts, daughters of your brother, daughters of your sister, your milk-mothers who nursed you, your milk-sisters, mothers of your wives, your stepdaughters under your guardianship born of your wives unto whom you have gone inâbut there is no blame upon you if you have not gone in to themâand [the] wives of your sons who are from your own loins. And [also prohibited is] to take two sisters in marriage simultaneouslyâŠâ
âAnd [also prohibited are] married women, except those your right hands possess. [This is] the decree of Allah upon you. And lawful to you are [all others] beyond these, provided that you seek them [in marriage] with your property, desiring chastity, not unlawful sexual intercourse. So for whatever you enjoy [of marriage] from them, give them their due compensation as an obligationâŠâ
In these verses, Allah enumerates the categories of women prohibited for marriage but makes no mention of any age restrictions. Therefore, the Qurâan does not set a minimum age for marriage.
4. The Sunnah of the Prophet confirms the practice of marrying prepubescent girls.
Evidence:
From Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5133:
âNarrated Aisha: The Prophet married me when I was six years old, and consummated the marriage with me when I was nine years old. Then I remained with him for nine years.â
This hadith clearly states that the marriage contract was made when Aisha was six years old, and consummation took place when she was nine â which, by modern standards, is before full physical maturity.
5. Modern claims that Aisha was older are unfounded.
Commentary:
Some contemporary authors argue that Aisha was actually eighteen or nineteen at the time of her marriage, based on indirect historical indications. However, this contradicts the authentic narrations reported directly by Aisha herself and authenticated in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.
Thus, attempts to reinterpret Aishaâs age are deliberate historical distortions.
how the prophet justified passions with the Quran /Or how Muhammad composed the Quran on the fly.
I have already discussed the story of how Muhammad took the wife of Zayd ibn Harithah, conveniently receiving a revelation from Allah at just the right time to justify it. Today, we will continue this topic and examine a few more examples that clearly demonstrate how the Messenger of Allah manipulated people, using Quranic verses to justify his personal desires. There are quite a few examples of this.
Letâs take the Surah Al-Ahzab, for instance, where Allah âmarriedâ Muhammad to Zaydâs wife, Zaynab bint Jahsh, who Muhammad had taken a liking to. In addition to this, there are several verses in that Surah that would seriously shake the faith of any reasonable person in the idea that Muhammad had any sincere prophetic mission. Despite the Quran being regarded in Islam as the final message from God to mankind, expressing His will until Judgment Day, Muhammad had no problem using âdivine revelationâ to address his everyday needs.
For example, when reading verses 30â33, we see that Muhammad was very concerned about controlling his wives. So much so that the Lord of the Worlds, in His revelation, sternly warns Muhammadâs wives to be obedient if they do not want to face heavenly consequences:
âO wives of the Prophet! If any of you commits a clear immorality, her punishment will be doubled. That is easy for Allah.â
âBut whoever of you devoutly obeys Allah and His Messenger and does righteousness â We will give her her reward twice, and We have prepared for her a noble provision.â
In other words, Muhammad was very familiar with the âcarrot and stickâ method.
âO wives of the Prophet! You are not like any other women. If you fear Allah, then do not be soft in speech, lest he in whose heart is disease should covet, but speak in an appropriate manner.â
âAnd stay in your houses, and do not display yourselves like the display of the former times of ignorance. Establish prayer, give zakat, and obey Allah and His Messenger.â
Since Muhammad himself struggled with such desires, he measured others by his own standards and feared falling into the same kind of situation Zayd ibn Harithah did. Therefore, Allah intervened to remind the Prophetâs wives that it would be safer for them to limit their outings and contact with the outside world.
Just three verses later, we come across Muhammadâs scandalous story with Zaydâs wife, and after some clumsy justifications â or whether Allah himself excuses him, itâs hard to tell â we find a very telling verse where Muhammadâs authorship behind the words attributed to Allah becomes glaringly obvious:
âO Prophet! Indeed, We have made lawful to you your wives to whom you have given their due compensation and those your right hand possesses from what Allah has given you, and the daughters of your paternal uncles and aunts, and the daughters of your maternal uncles and aunts who emigrated with you, and any believing woman who offers herself to the Prophet if the Prophet wishes to marry her. This is only for you, excluding the [other] believers. We certainly know what We have made obligatory upon them concerning their wives and those their right hands possess. But We have made this concession for you in order that there be no discomfort upon youâŠâ
How about that? Pretty âconvenient,â right?
Thereâs another point to clarify here. Itâs often argued â and not without basis â that the Arabic word ۧÙŰłÙŰȘÙÙÙÙÙŰÙ (translated here as âto marryâ) doesnât necessarily mean âto marryâ in the legal sense, but rather âto have sexual intercourse.â The basic verb ÙۧÙÙŰÙ can, according to dictionaries, mean both âto marryâ and âto have sex.â
Thus, the verse could more accurately be translated as:
âThe Prophet is permitted any believing woman who offers herself to him if he wishes to sleep with her.â
You can easily verify this interpretation: go up to any Arab and say ۣ۱ÙŰŻ ŰŁÙ ŰŁÙÙŰ ŰšÙŰȘÙ (âI want to have sex with your daughterâ) â and watch the reaction you get. It will not be pleasant.
Moreover, the context of debauchery is also supported indirectly through verse 230 of Surah Al-Baqarah and through a hadith recorded by Al-Bukhari regarding divorce. Verse 230 says:
âIf he divorces her [for the third time], she is not lawful for him until she has married another husbandâŠâ
But many translations â such as Kuliyevâs â sneakily render it âuntil she marries another,â hiding the implication.
However, in Sahih al-Bukhari, thereâs a hadith where a woman comes to the Prophet after divorcing her first husband and marrying a second, who turned out to be impotent. The second husband denies it, claiming he is potent and blaming her rebelliousness. Muhammad, understanding that the woman wants to return to her first husband, tells her:
âYou cannot return to your first husband until the second one tastes your sweetness.â
Iâm sure you get the metaphor.
So, through simple reasoning, it becomes clear that Allah supposedly granted Muhammad an exclusive right to have intercourse with any woman who offered herself to him.
On the other hand, if you consult the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir, he does say it refers to marriage, albeit a very peculiar kind of marriage:
âMeaning: any believing woman who offers herself to the Prophet â if the Prophet wishes, he may marry her without paying a dowry.â
But hereâs the problem: in Sahih Muslim, another hadith clarifies that the word ÙÙŰ§Ű (from ÙÙŰ) â usually translated as âmarriageâ â absolutely refers to sexual intercourse. In this hadith, Muhammad commands Muslims to abstain from intercourse with their wives during menstruation, saying:
âۧ۔ÙŰčÙۧ ÙÙ ŰŽÙŰĄ Ű„Ùۧ ۧÙÙÙۧŰâ â âDo everything with her except intercourse.â
Therefore, considering the broader hadith context and the fact that in the verse being discussed, Muhammad is exempt from paying mahr (the bridal gift), it heavily suggests that what was actually intended here was straightforward sexual access.
Finally, even those close to Muhammad seemed to realize how self-serving these ârevelationsâ were. In a hadith from Muslim, Aisha says she was jealous of the women who offered themselves to the Prophet and would mockingly say:
âCan a woman offer herself?â
To which, conveniently, Allah would immediately ârevealâ another verse:
âYou may defer [the turn of] any of them you wish, and you may take to yourself any you wish. And if you desire any of those you had set aside, there is no blame upon you.â
Aisha sarcastically noted:
âBy Allah, I see that your Lord hastens to satisfy your desires.â
I might release part 2 if you like this analysis.![]()