The Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement Blog

Project Rebuttal – Islam: What the West Needs to Know

Issue 72 [@1:15:41]: Robert Spencer – Director, DhimmiWatch.org – “[continued from Issue 71] … Traditional Islam forbids conversion from Islam, forbids anyone to leave Islam. There is no way out. And, it forbids Muslims and non-Muslims to live as equals in the society. It mandates a second-class status of non-Muslims. Forbidding them to hold authority over Muslims, forbidding them to hold certain jobs as a result, it even mandated in history that house of worship of Jews and Christians were neither to be built or repaired, making communities relegated to a perpetual state of decline.”

Rebuttal 72: Robert Spencer again opines, rather smears Islam. He is wrong for each of his above assertions, none of which find validation in Quran or even history. It is rather Bible and Christian history that validates all his assertions. His allegations will be rebutted one by one below.

Spencer’s allegations against Islam teeter on delusional beliefs. Such arguments when wide spread takes the garb of a religion like Christianity. Such a religion is farthest from logic and reason that are necessary components for any religion, whether from God or manmade. There is no “Traditional Islam” in Quran and in turn Islam is nothing but message of the Quran. It is this approach of Quran which separates Islam from Spencer’s way of religion where manmade dogmas hold sway over words of God. Such dogmas then naturally segment the duped believers into sects and consequently the sects simmer in a mutual hate. Once a religion departs from the words of God due to injection of manmade trappings into its core, it loses its purpose. In such formulations, soul of religion gets sacrificed to preserve its shell of soulless rituals in the name of virtue while swimming in vice. By such pollution of beliefs a self-propagating process is set into motion that with every passing generation opens itself up for newer interjections that continue to divide and sub-divide the followers into sects and sub-sects. This domino crash of faith continues till eternity and each sect gets far removed from what the religion was supposed to be in the first place. In the same manner, new religions arose from ashes of Islam of Abraham, Moses and Jesus in the likes of Judaism and Christianity. A religion which should have been the source of unification of mankind, now become cause for its dissention and disintegration.

Issue 72a: Spencer alleges – “…Traditional Islam forbids conversion from Islam, forbids anyone to leave Islam. There is no way out…”

Rebuttal 72a: The above statement by Spencer is farthest from the truth. Islam does not forbid conversion from Islam, does not forbid anyone to leave Islam. It is a free choice for an individual to move in and out of Islam. These are not empty statements, but the Law as laid out in Quran:

2:256. There is no compulsion in religion — the right way is indeed clearly distinct from error [– thus conclusively in Islam EVERYONE HAS THE RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF THOUGHT, CONSCIENCE AND RELIGION; THIS RIGHT INCLUDES FREEDOM TO CHANGE HIS RELIGION OR BELIEF, AND FREEDOM, EITHER ALONE OR IN COMMUNITY WITH OTHERS AND IN PUBLIC OR PRIVATE, TO MANIFEST HIS RELIGION OR BELIEF IN TEACHING, PRACTICE, WORSHIP AND OBSERVANCE – excerpt from The Universal Declaration of Human Right, Article 18 of United Nations ]…

18:29. And say: The Truth is from your Lord; so whoever wishes, let him believe, and whoever wishes, let him disbelieve…

10:99. And if your Lord had pleased, all those who are in the earth would have believed, all of them. Will you then force people till they are believers?

10:108-109. Say: O people, the Truth has indeed come to you from your Lord; so whoever goes aright, goes aright only for the good of his own soul; and whoever goes astray, goes astray only to its detriment. And I am not a custodian over you. And follow what is revealed to you and be patient till Allah give judgment, and He is the Best of the judges.

39:41. Surely We have revealed to you the Book with truth for (the good of ) people. So whoever goes aright, it is for his own soul, and whoever goes astray, goes astray only to its detriment. And you are not in charge of them.

39:18-24. And no bearer of a burden can bear another’s burden. And if one weighed down by a burden calls another to carry his load, nothing of it will be carried, even though he be near of kin. You can only warn those who fear their Lord in secret and keep up prayer. And whoever purifies himself, purifies himself only for his own good. And to Allah is the eventual coming. And the blind and the seeing are not alike, nor the darkness and the light, nor the shade and the heat. Neither are the living and the dead alike. Surely Allah makes whom He pleases hear, and you cannot make those hear who are in the graves. You are only a warner. Surely We have sent you with the Truth as a bearer of good news and a warner. And there is not a people but a warner has gone among them.

53:29-30. So shun him who turns his back upon Our Reminder, and desires nothing but this world’s life. That is their goal of knowledge. Surely your Lord knows best him who strays from His path and He knows best him who goes aright.

2:217. …And they will not cease fighting you until they turn you back from your religion, if they can. And whoever of you turns back from his religion, then he dies while an unbeliever — these it is whose deeds are fruitless in this world and the Hereafter [as there is no temporal penalty for apostasy, only a spiritual loss]…

5:54. O you who believe, if anyone of you should turn back from his religion, then Allah will bring a people whom He loves and who love Him, humble towards the believers, mighty against the disbelievers, striving hard in Allah’s way and not fearing the censure of any censurer. This is Allah’s grace — He gives it to whom He pleases. And Allah is Ample-giving, Knowing.

4:137. Those who believe then disbelieve, again believe and again disbelieve, then increase in disbelief, Allah will never forgive them nor guide them in the (right) way [thus suffering a spiritual damage].

3:90. Those who disbelieve after their believing, then increase in disbelief, their repentance is not accepted, and these are they that go astray.

3:72. And a group of the People of the Book say: Affirm belief in what has been revealed to those who believe, in the first part of the day, and disbelieve in the latter part of it, perhaps they may turn back [and they do so knowing fully well that there is FREEDOM TO CHANGE ONE’S RELIGION OR BELIEF in Islam and there is no temporal penalty associated for apostasy]…

11:29. …Can we compel you to (accept) it [– Islam] while you dislike it?…

22:39-40. Permission (to fight) is given to those on whom war is made, because they are oppressed. And surely Allah is Able to assist them — Those who are driven from their homes without a just cause except that they say: Our Lord is Allah. And if Allah did not repel some people by others [so that people can profess and practice their faith in freedom], surely cloisters and churches and synagogues, and mosques in which Allah’s name is much remembered, would have been pulled down.

With the above freedom of choice for Islam as a religion, Quran specifically forewarns certain deceitful converts out of Islam, who like Shoebat intend to injure Islam maliciously. But, will they?

3:176-178. And do not let those grieve you who run into disbelief hastily; surely they can do no harm to Allah. Allah does not intend to assign them any portion in the Hereafter; and for them is a grievous punishment. Those who buy disbelief at the price of faith can do no harm to Allah, and for them is a painful punishment. And those who disbelieve should not think that our granting them respite is good for themselves. We grant them respite only that they may add to their sins; and for them is a humiliating punishment ––– both in the here and hereafter – 32:21. And certainly We will make them taste the nearer [– earthly] punishment before the greater punishment [of the hereafter], that perhaps they may turn.

In the very next verse, Quran actually points to the Divine plan inherent in conversion of such hypocrites out of Islam, who would had been more damaging if they remained hidden in the ranks of Muslims:

3:179. Allah will not leave the believers in the condition in which you are until He separates the evil from the good.

Spencer seems to be incognizant that what he is alleging Islam with is actually of his own religion. This is outlined in Old Testament that needs no explanation but a plain read:

Deuteronomy 13:1-18 (NIV). If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. That prophet or dreamer must be put to death for inciting rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. That prophet or dreamer tried to turn you from the way the Lord your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you.

If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), do not yield to them or listen to them. Show them no pity. Do not spare them or shield them. You must certainly put them to death. Your hand must be the first in putting them to death, and then the hands of all the people. Stone them to death, because they tried to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and no one among you will do such an evil thing again.

If you hear it said about one of the towns the Lord your God is giving you to live in that troublemakers have arisen among you and have led the people of their town astray, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods you have not known), then you must inquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly. And if it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done among you, you must certainly put to the sword all who live in that town. You must destroy it completely, both its people and its livestock. You are to gather all the plunder of the town into the middle of the public square and completely burn the town and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. That town is to remain a ruin forever, never to be rebuilt, and none of the condemned things are to be found in your hands. Then the Lord will turn from his fierce anger, will show you mercy, and will have compassion on you. He will increase your numbers, as he promised on oath to your ancestors— because you obey the Lord your God by keeping all his commands that I am giving you today and doing what is right in his eyes. [Emphasis added]

Mr. Spencer might not be aware that Jesus himself declared that he will uphold the Law of Torah. The above mayhem as punishment for apostasy is only a case in point:

Matthew 15:17-19 (NIV). “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. [Emphasis added]

Spencer must not have read his own Scriptures; else his allegations are indicative of a plain denial, a suffrage of frank delusion for what he alleges in the current issue about Islam. By any plain comparative read of Quran and Bible above, one naturally concludes that it is not Islam, but “Christianity and Judaism that forbid conversion from their respective religions, forbid anyone to leave Christianity and Judaism. There is no way out.” Case closed!

Issue 72b: “…And, it [i.e. Islam] forbids Muslims and non-Muslims to live as equals in the society…”

Rebuttal 72b: Spencer is plain wrong in his allegation. Contrary to what Spencer alleges Islam enforces equality of mankind irrespective of gender, race, culture, language or religion, social or economic status. Quran fully endorses all of the The Universal Declaration of Human Rights including its Preamble and all its Articles 1 – 30 (see Issue 71). It does so as a Law in Quran of which only a handful of verses are quoted below:

4:1. O people [i.e. Jews, Christian, Muslims etc.], keep your duty to your Lord, Who created you from a single being [i.e. ALL HUMAN BEINGS ARE BORN FREE AND EQUAL IN DIGNITY AND RIGHTS. THEY ARE ENDOWED WITH REASON AND CONSCIENCE – excerpt from The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1 of United Nations] and created its mate of the same (kind), and spread from these two [i.e. married pairs] many men and women. And keep your duty to Allah, by Whom you demand one of another (your rights), and (to) the ties of relationship. Surely Allah is ever a Watcher over you.

30:22. And of His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and the diversity of your tongues and colours. Surely there are signs in this for the learned.

49:13. O mankind, surely We have created you from a male and a female, and made you tribes and families that you may know each other. Surely the noblest of you with Allah is the most dutiful of you [and not by mere association with certain RACE, COLOUR, SEX, LANGUAGE, RELIGION, POLITICAL OR OTHER OPINION, NATIONAL OR SOCIAL ORIGIN, PROPERTY, BIRTH OR OTHER STATUS – excerpt from The Universal Declaration of Human Right, Article 2 of United Nations]. Surely Allah is Knowing, Aware.

3:103. And hold fast by the covenant of Allah [i.e. Quran] all together and do not be disunited. And remember Allah’s favour to you when you were enemies, then He united your hearts so by His favour you became brethren [WITHOUT DISTINCTION OF ANY KIND, SUCH AS RACE, COLOUR, SEX, LANGUAGE, RELIGION, POLITICAL OR OTHER OPINION, NATIONAL OR SOCIAL ORIGIN, PROPERTY, BIRTH OR OTHER STATUS – excerpt from The Universal Declaration of Human Right, Article 2 of United Nations ]. And you were on the brink of a pit of fire [of mutual hate, enmity and wars], then He saved you from it. Thus Allah makes clear to you His messages that you may be guided.

49:11-12. O you who believe, do not let a people laugh at (another) people [i.e. mock, ridicule or DISCRIMINATE on basis of RACE, COLOUR, SEX, LANGUAGE, RELIGION, POLITICAL OR OTHER OPINION, NATIONAL OR SOCIAL ORIGIN, PROPERTY, BIRTH OR OTHER STATUS – excerpt from The Universal Declaration of Human Right, Article 2 of United Nations], perhaps they may be better than they; nor let women (laugh) at women, perhaps they may be better than they. Neither find fault with one another, nor call one another by (offensive) nick-names. Evil is a bad name after faith; and whoever does not repent, these it is that are the wrongdoers. O you who believe, avoid most of suspicion, for surely suspicion in some cases is sin; and do not spy nor let some of you backbite others. Does one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You abhor it! And keep your duty to Allah, surely Allah is returning (to mercy) again and again, Merciful.

Compare the above Quranic verses dealing with equality of mankind with the racial hate in Bible below. In the latter a non-Jew is no better than a dog and not worth the blessings of the Lord whose own uttered words are quoted below:

Matthew 15:22-28 (NIV). A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment. [Similarly, in Mark 7:25-30, the woman is identified as a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia]

Many discriminatory passages from Bible based upon inequality of gender and other issues could be quoted, but we leave them out for now.

Issue 72c: “…It [i.e. Islam] mandates a second-class status of non-Muslims. Forbidding them to hold authority over Muslims, forbidding them to hold certain jobs as a result …”

Rebuttal 72c: Spencer is a plain liar in his above statement. Either we believe Spencer or the official records of Ottoman Empire. Even when it was breathing its last, less than a century ago, Ottomans had the following portfolios for Christians in its cabinet and upper administration of government:

Appendix 5: Christian Officials in the Turkish Administration [India in Balance – British Rule and the Caliphate by Khwaja Kamal-ud-din]

The following few names have been taken from the Ottoman Civil List, and do not include different officers belonging to various Christian nationalities who served as Judges, Administrators, Governors, Sub-Governors, Chiefs of Sections in various State Departments, Secretaries, Senior Officers in the Army, etc.

* Musurus Pasha (Greek), Vezir, Ambassador in London.
* Alexandre Caratheodory Pasha, Vezir, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
* Agop Pasha (Armenia. Vezir, Minister of Finances.
* Franco Pasha (Catholic), Vezir, Governor.
* Aleco Pasha (Bulgarian), Vezir, Ambassador and Governor-General.
* Gavril Pasha (Bulgarian), Vezir, Governor-General.
* Photiades Pasha (Greek), Vezir, Ambassador.
* Rustem Pasha (Catholic), Vezir, Ambassador.
* Savas Pasha (Greek), Vezir, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
* Ohannes Pasha Sakiz (Armenian), Vezir, Minister of the Civil List of His Imperial Majesty the Sultan.
* Artin Pasha Dadian (Armenian), Vezir, Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
* Naoum Pasha (Catholic), Vezir, Governor-General and Ambassador.
* Mouzaffer Pasha (Catholic), Vezir, Governor-General.
* Portocal Michael Pasha (Armenian), Vezir, Minister of the Civil List of His Imperial Majesty the Sultan.
* Youssouf Pasha Franco (Catholic), Vezir, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
* Vassa Pasha (Catholic), Vezir, Governor-General.
* Costaki Anthopoulos Pasha (Greek), Vezir, Ambassador.
* Musurus * Pasha (son of Musurus Pasha at the head of this list), (Greek), Vezir, Ambassador in London.
* Mavroyeni Pasha (Greek), Vezir, High Official of His Imperial Majesty’s Palace.
* Couyoumdjian Ohannes Pasha (Armenian), Vezir, Governor-General.
* Couyoumdjian Bedros Effendi (Armenian), Minister of Mines and Forests.
* Mavroyeni Bey (Greek), Senator and Ambassador.
* Aristidi Pasha (Greek), Vezir, Minister of Commerce and Agriculture.
* Gabriel Effendi Noradounghian (Armenian), Minister of Foreign Affairs, at present Leader of the Armenian Committee.
* Tchamidj Ohannes Effendi (Armenian), President at the Ministry of Finances.
* Abro Effendi (Armenian), Councillor of State.
* Constantin Caratheodory Effendi (Greek), Councillor of State.
* Aram Effendi (Armenian), Senator.
* Azarian Effendi (Armenian), Minister Plenipotentiary, Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Senator.
* Herand Bey Abro (Armenian), Legal Adviser of the Sublime Porte.
* Ohan Effendi (Armenian), Under-Secretary of State for the Ministry of Justice.
* Fethi Bey Franco (Catholic) Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.

[Editor’s Note: Vezir = Minister in the Court or Cabinet]

Now, let’s ask Mr. Spencer, how many Muslims, now or ever, held any significant positions in the governments of Europe, America, Israel, Canada, Australia or New Zealand? Can he count them on fingers of one hand? He better refrain from clichés that there are not enough Muslim in these continents (see Map of Muslim Population in Europe). Norway made the right choice by appointing the first Scandinavian Muslim minister against the back drop of the mass murder whose manifesto of hate was based upon the writings of Spencer and other experts of this documentary. In his manifesto, the Norwegian terrorist mentioned Robert Spencer 64 times [New York Times], Bet Ye’or dozen times [Foreign Policy], Serge Trifkovic, Abdullah Al Araby and Walid Shoebat as recommended authors [Alternet.org]. It is the likes of Spencer who are attacking the current American president, a Christian, for his race and middle name, both of which the “poor” African-American Hussain has no control of.

Issue 72d: “…it [i.e. Islam] even mandated in history that house of worship of Jews and Christians were neither to be built nor repaired, making communities relegated to a perpetual state of decline.”

Rebuttal 72d: Once again Spencer is fabricating lies. It is Islam which by its Law in Quran mandates protection of churches and synagogues when it states:

22:39-41. Permission (to fight) is given to those on whom war is made, because they are oppressed. And surely Allah is Able to assist theme — Those who are driven from their homes without a just cause except that they say: Our Lord is Allah. And if Allah did not repel some people by others [so that people can profess and practice their faiths in freedom], surely cloisters and churches and synagogues, and mosques in which Allah’s name is much remembered, would have been pulled down [by act of man or neglect and disrepair]. And surely Allah will help him who helps Him. Surely Allah is Strong, Mighty. Those who, if We establish them in the land, will keep up prayer and give the due charity and enjoin good and forbid evil. And Allah’s is the end of (all) affairs.

We will encourage Spencer to re-read the above verses where he might be surprised to find that Quran equates cloisters, churches and synagogues with houses of worship in which Allah’s name is much remembered. Anyone saving and protecting these houses of worship from destruction is equated with someone who helps Him i.e. God Himself. Further, one of the attributes for a government to enjoin good and forbid evil is to protect all houses of worship of all the faiths.

Besides Quran, we re-quote from Rebuttal 15c the protection of Christians and their religious institutions as assured by Prophet Muhammad:

CHARTER TO CHRISTIANS by Muhammad.
(excerpted pages 143-146 from: Jihad in Islam, by M.Y.K., The Muslim Revival, Vol V, No. 2, June 1936, Lahore, India)

According to Futuh-ul-Buldan Balazari the charter of freedom of faith granted to the Christians of Najran and later on extended to the Christian subjects of Islam all over the world runs as follows:

“This is the document which Muhammad son of Abdullah, God’s Prophet, Warner and Bearer of glad tidings, has caused to be written, so that there should remain no excuse for those coming after. I have caused this document to be written for the Christians of the East and the West, for those who live near, and for those of the distant lands, for the Christians living at present and for those who will come after, for those Christians who are known to us and for those as well whom we do not know. Any Muslim violating and abusing what is therein ordered would be regarded as a violator of God’s testament and would be the breaker of his promise and would make himself deserving of God’s curse, be he a king or a subject.”

“I promise that any monk or way-farer, etc., who will seek my help on the mountains, in forests, deserts or habitations, in places of worship, I will repel his enemies with all my friends and helpers, with all my relatives and with all those who profess to follow me and will defend him, because they are on my covenant. And I will defend the covenanted against the persecution, inequity and embarrassment by their enemies in lieu of the poll-tax (Jizya) they have promised to pay.

“If they will prefer themselves to defend their properties and persons, they will be allowed to do so and will not be put to any inconvenience on that account. No bishop will be expelled from his bishopric, no monk from his monastery, and no priest from his place of worship and no pilgrim will be detained in his pilgrimage. None of their churches and other places of worship will be desolated or destroyed or demolished. No material of their churches will be used for building mosques or houses for the Muslims. Any Muslim so doing should be regarded as recalcitrant to God and His Prophet. Monks and bishops will be subjected to no tax (jizya) or indemnity, whether they live in forests or in the rivers, are in the East or West, North or South. I give them my word of honour. They are on my promise and covenant and will enjoy perfect immunity from all sorts of inconveniences. Those who retire to the mountains and dedicated places, the produce of their cultivated lands will not be subjected to tax or tithe and in times of scarcity of food they will not be compelled to contribute anything in the form of grain. No military service will be taken from them, nor will they be required to pay jizya. Not more than 12 dirhams per annum will be taken from their merchants, landholders and from the wealthy among them. None should be harassed and tryannised for the payment of taxes. In religious controversies and disputations, they should be tathed to with civility and lenience. Let mercy overwhelm them wherever they may be and they should be protected from all troubles and injuries. He who broke God’s covenant and adopted a defiant attitude, will be regarded as His enemy and the violator of His testament. Every help shall be given them in the repair of their churches. They shall be absolved from wearing arms. They shall be protected by the Muslims. Let this document be not disobeyed till the Judgment Day.”

Another example of a Muslim Mogul Ruler, Aurangzeb of India – Islamic Review, Vol XIII, Nos. 4 & 5, pg 124-125, April-May, 1925:

Be it known unto all men that we, because of our natural mercy and favour for the welfare of our people, do hereby declare and decree that all our beloved subjects – be they high or low- shall live in peace and harmony one with another; and in accordance with the Islamic Sheria’t (Law) we hereby command that the Temples and the places of idol-worship of the Hindus be maintained and protected. And whereas it hath recently been brought to our notice that certain people intend to entreat despitefully and cruelly our Hindu subjects at Benares and debar the Brahmans from the ancient lawful rites of their worship; and whereas it hath also been brought to our notice that these rumours have caused much pain and consternation to them; now, therefore, we decree and let it be known throughout out our Empire, that from the date of the issue of this decree, no Brahman be molested in his prayers nor Hindu Temples be meddled with. Let our Hindu subjects dwell in peace and pray for our prosperity.
MUHAMMAD AURANGZEB THE EMPOROR, GAZI [The Signature]
MUHAMMAD AURANGZEB s/o SAHIBQIRAN SANNI [The Seal]

Spencer tries to draw from history when he alleges “making [non-Muslim] communities relegated to a perpetual state of decline.” One has to go no further than Jewish sources which rebut him and lay Spencer’s allegations on door steps of his own religion and Europe, the Christians, Christian Church and Christian kings –“ Sephardim” by Rebecca Weiner (Jewish Virtual Library)

The Golden Age

The situation improved in 711 when Spain fell under the rule of the Muslim Moors. Both Muslims and Jews built a civilization, based in Cordoba, known as Al-Andalus, which was more advanced than any civilization in Europe at that time. Jews were able to coexist peacefully with their neighbors; however, they were still treated as dhimmis, “People of the Book” (Jews and Christians) who are protected under Islamic law. Jews did not have complete autonomy and had to pay a special tax, the jizha , but were able to freely practice their religion.

The era of Muslim rule in Spain (8th-11th century) was considered the “Golden Age” for Spanish Jewry. Jewish intellectual and spiritual life flourished and many Jews served in Spanish courts. Jewish economic expansion was unparalleled. In Toledo, Jews were involved in translating Arabic texts to the romance languages, as well as translating Greek and Hebrew texts into Arabic. Jews also contributed to botany, geography, medicine, mathematics, poetry and philosophy.

A number of well-known Jewish physicians practiced during this period, including Hasdai Ibn Shaprut (915-970), who was the doctor for the Caliph (leader of Spain). Many famous Jewish figures lived during the Golden Age and contributed to making this a flourishing period for Jewish thought. These included Samuel Ha-Nagid, Moses ibn Ezra, Solomon ibn Gabirol Judah Halevi and Moses Maimonides.

Jews lived separately in aljamas (Jewish quarters). They were given administrative control over their communities and managed their own communal affairs. Jews had their own court system, known as the Bet Din. Rabbis served as judges and rendered both religious and civil legal opinions. [Emphasis added]

Islamic culture also influenced the Jews. Muslim and Jewish customs and practices became intertwined. For example, Arabic was used for prayers rather than Hebrew or Spanish. Before entering the synagogue, Jews washed their hands and feet, which is a practice done before entering a mosque. Arab melodies were used for Jewish songs. Jews wore the clothing style of their Moorish neighbors, although they were not allowed to wear silk or furs.

Jews lived peacefully in Al-Andulus for 400 years. The Golden Age for Jewry in Muslim Spain declined after the Almovarids gained power in 1055 and continued to deteriorate after the Almohads came to power in 1147. Jews continued to work as moneylenders, jewelers, cobblers, tailors and tanners, however, they had to wear distinguishing clothing, such as a yellow turban.

[Editors Note: “Generally, the Jewish people [under Muslim rule] were allowed to practice their religion and live according to the laws and scriptures of their community. Furthermore, the restrictions to which they were subject were social and symbolic rather than tangible and practical in character. That is to say, these regulations served to define the relationship between the two communities, and not to oppress the Jewish population” – Lewis, Bernard W (1984). The Jews of Islam].

Christian Rule, the Inquisition and the Expulsion of 1492

The Christians conquered Toledo in 1098 and the Jews in Christian Spain prospered, while those in Muslim Spain suffered under the Almohad dynasty. Both Jews and Muslims were involved in the cultural, economic, intellectual, financial and political life of Christian Spain. By the mid-13th century, the Christians controlled most of Spain and increasingly forced Jews to convert to Christianity. Those who converted became known as Marranos or New Christians. Marranos are also known as crypto-Jews because they taught their children and practiced Judaism in secret. During this period, Jews were forced to participate in “religious” disputes with Christians counterparts. [Emphasis added]

Anti-Jewish riots broke out in 1391 in several Spanish cities and the situation worsened for the Jewish community. New Christians were tortured or killed in the Spanish Inquisition during the 15th century. Father Tomas de Torquemada felt that if the Jews remained in Spain, then they would influence the new converts to Christianity. After the capture of Granada from Muslim forces, Father Torquemada convinced King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella that the Jewish community was expendable. In 1492, Isabella and Ferdinand commanded that all Jews who refused to convert to Christianity be expelled from Spain. The Jews were given four months to leave Spain and were forced to sell their houses and businesses at low prices. It is estimated that 100,000 Jews left Spain at this time. The expulsion from Spain is commemorated every year by all Jews on the holiday of Tisha B’Av. [Emphasis added]

Many Spanish Jews settled in Portugal, which allowed the practice of Judaism. In 1497, however, Portugal also expelled its Jews. King Manuel of Portugal agreed to marry the daughter of Spain’s monarchs. One of the conditions for the marriage was the expulsion of Portugal’s Jewish community. In actuality only eight Jews were exiled from Portugal and the rest converted, under duress, to Christianity.

In the first Sephardi Diaspora, a large number of Jews settled in North Africa and in the Ottoman Empire, especially, Turkey and Greece. Spanish exiles brought with them a unique culture, language (Ladino) and traditions. Many of these immigrants continued to speak Ladino until the 20th century.

A Marrano Diaspora took place a century later. Some Marranos had settled in Portugal and eventually moved to Holland, where they were allowed to outwardly practice Judaism. Many settled in Western Europe and moved to the Americas. Marranos who settled in Latin America continued practicing crypto-Judaism for many years because Spain began an inquisition in its New World colonies. Fear of persecution led Crypto-Jews to settle in remote villages. Today, descendants of crypto-Jews can be found in Colorado and New Mexico.

Exiled Sephardic Communities

Europe

Large Sephardic communities were founded in Venice, Leghorn, London, Bordeaux, Bayonne and Hamburg. These immigrants spoke Portugese and Spanish and many adapted mainstream Western European culture. Successful business enterprises were started by the Sephardim and their trade networks became famous worldwide.

Throughout the medieval period in Europe, the Sephardic Jews were treated as elites among Jews. Many times they had a secular education and often had great wealth. In the 18th century, the Sephardic Jews who lived in Amsterdam and in London, tended to discriminate against non-Sephardic Jews who wanted to pray at their synagogues by forcing them to sit separately from the rest of the congregation.

North Africa and the Arab World

For hundreds of years, Sephardic Jews lived, as dhimmis, in relative peace with Muslim neighbors and rulers in North Africa and in the Ottoman Empire. They were considered second-class citizens, but were free to practice their own religion and participate in commerce. Similar to Spain and Portugal during the Golden Era, the Sephardic upper class in the Ottoman empire were employed as translators.

The Sephardic communities in the Arab world were more receptive to modernity than their Ashkenazi counterparts in Europe. The Zionist movement became popular among Sephardic Jews in North Africa. Many Sephardic rabbis in the Ottoman Empire supported Zionism and the Zionist movement spread to many Muslim countries in North Africa, such as in Egypt and Tunisia.

Of the many moral inventions by Europe, seven stand out quite prominently – the Crusades, Inquisition, Witch Trials (35,184–63,850 executions), Colonialism, Atlantic Slave Trade (12,521,336 slaves), Apartheid and the Holocaust. Each one of these institutions was inspired, abetted, initiated, sponsored and maintained by state and the church. These atrocities were part of public policy. Of note is that the only non-signatories of the Crime of Apartheid (1973) are mostly European white nations spread across the globe, including Israel, besides a few kingdoms.

Spencer seems to have clearly forgotten the all too familiar term “Holocaust” whose inventor is none but Modern European History and whose victims were none but Jews that are now his fellow experts in this documentary. Should we say that both Christians and Jews have short memories?

Let’s not forget that contrary to allegations of Spencer, factually it were the Mosques and Muslims which got destroyed and eliminated in Europe during the same time period for which he can only falsely allege that “house of worship of Jews and Christians were neither to be built or repaired”:

The colony [Lucera – “Lugêrah”, as she was known in Arabic] thrived for 75 years until it was sacked in 1300 by Christian forces under the command of Charles II of Naples. The city’s Muslim inhabitants were exiled or sold into slavery, with many finding asylum in Albania across the Adriatic Sea. Their abandoned mosques were demolished, and churches were usually built in their place, including the cathedral S. Maria della Vittoria [Wikipedia].

 
References:
Note: [text enclosed in square brackets above is not part of the original quoted sources. Some of the comments are excerpted quotes from the footnotes of “English Translation of the Holy Quran with Explanatory Notes” – Muhammad Ali, ed. Zahid Aziz]

The Universal Declaration of Human Right – United Nations
New International Version – Bible Gateway
India in Balance – British Rule and the Caliphate by Khwaja Kamal-ud-din
Map of Muslim Population in Europe – European Heritage Library
CHARTER TO CHRISTIANS by Muhammad, Jihad In Islam by Muhammad Yaqub Khan, The Muslim Revival, Vol V, No. 2, June 1936
The Decree of Aurangzeb – Islamic Review, April-May 1925
Sephardim by Rebecca Weiner (Jewish Virtual Library)
Crusades – Wikipedia
Inquisition – Wikipedia
Witch Trials – Wikipedia
Colonialism – Wikipedia
Atlantic Slave Trade – Wikipedia
Estimates of Slaves – Voyages – Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Estimates
Apartheid – Wikipedia
Holocaust – Wikipedia
Crime of Apartheid – Wikipedia
Holy Quran – Muhammad Ali, edited by Zahid Aziz

 
Click this link to view Issue 71 in PDF format.
 
 

Issue 70 [@1:15:16]: Slide projected with voice – Sahih Al-Bukhari, Vol 7, Bk 62, Hadith 88 – The Prophet wrote the (marriage contract) with Aisha while she was six years old and consummated his marriage with her while she was nine years old and she remained with him for nine years (i.e. till his death).

Rebuttal 70: This hadith is plain false. Aisha (also written as Ayesha) was twenty years of age at her marriage. The Prophet was illiterate and could not read or write. This hadith was rejected by Malik ibn Anas, the student of Hisham ibn `urwah who is sourced on authority of his father and as reported by people of Iraq.

The documentary in its grand design tried to “move in for the kill” by alleging the Prophet to be a pedophile. The documentary makers and its ‘expert’ panel just cannot help it. It is in the tradition of Christianity and Judaism to allege, prove and then believe in sexually promiscuous prophets. The worse they can allege the Prophet with is a flimsy and baseless single sourced hadith, while their own prophets in their own Holy Scriptures are identified as such. So, the burden of this rebuttal is not only to refute the above hadith with evidence, but also to sanctify the founders of the religions that the documentary experts themselves believe in. This hadith as a case in point can be a litmus test for the reader to witness the truthfulness of Quran vs. the fabrications of the Torah. We claim further, that for a Christian and a Jew to better their own religion and faith, they need Quran, if nothing else to cleanse their own religious figures of the base allegations. Before the current rebuttal is over, it will become obvious that neither Prophet Muhammad nor any other prophet before him were either a pedophile nor incestuous. Pedophilic and incestuous are the minds who allege such smear on others while it is false.

In pre-Islamic Arabia the lunar monthly calendar consisted of 12 months for local customs, religious occasions and trade purposes, but there was no yearly calendar. Muharram was the first month of the New Year. Years were remembered for their events, e.g. ‘Year of the Elephant’ when Abrahah, the governor of Yemen attacked Makkah with elephants in his army. The same year Prophet was born in Makkah. Hijri calendar was adopted 7 years after death of the Prophet during the reign of Umar on advice of Ali. Hijri calendar was retroactive to month of Muharram, in the year when prophet migrated to Medina from Makkah. The events occurring after adoption of Hijri calendar were more accurately recorded on a timeline. The events before the said calendar are extrapolated to Georgian calendar. The years of birth for the people born before Hijri calendar can be deduced retroactively from their known years of death.

Before we go into discussion about of actual age of Aisha, it begets the fundamental question – Did Aisha pass the threshold of marriageable age, before she married the Prophet?

Aisha was already engaged to Jabir bin Mutam when Khawlah bint Hakim, wife of Prophet’s companion Uttman bin Mazun, approached and suggested to the Prophet to re-marry after death of his first wife Khadija, who had died in 10th year of the Call. She recommended him various choices. Soon thereafter, Aisha’s engagement was called off by her father-in-law fearing persecution by proxy of Abu-Bakr’s earlier conversion to Islam. Factually, Aisha’s father Abu Bakr wanted to marry her off when he undertook his own migration to Abysinnia (Ethiopia) in the year 615 CE. This fact clearly concludes that Aisha was of customarily marriageable age, and that Prophet was not the first person who was considered for her marriage. Her parents had already committed her to another person for marriage even before the Prophet comes into the picture.

Now, let’s pay to attention the facts and figures below which by themselves conclude the above assertion that Aisha was of marriageable age. The references to various years (CE=Current Era; AH=After Hijrah) and the subsequent calculations might be off by one year, up or down, due to rounding errors of reporting.

Facts about Prophet Muhammad:

570 CE: Birth of the Prophet.
595 CE: At age 25, Prophet’s 1st marriage, with Khadija.
605 CE: Holy Kaaba rebuilt. Hijr Aswaad issue resolved by the Prophet. Birth of his first child, Fatima.
610 CE: Year of the Call when Prophet is 40 years of age.
615 CE: Verses of Chapter 54 – Qamar (moon) were revealed.
616 CE: Umar accepts Islam.
620 CE: Khadija died in 10th year of the Call.
620 CE – 622 CE: Time window for betrothal (Nikah) of Aisha with the Prophet.
623 CE = 00 AH: Migration to Medina. Makkan period of 13 years ended.
625 CE = 02 AH: Prophet consummated (Rukhasti) marriage with Aisha. Battle of Badr.
633 CE = 10 AH: Prophet lived in Medina for last 10 years of his life, before his death at age 63.

Facts about Lady Aisha:

Abu-Bakr had four children from his two marriages before the Call:
– Abdullah (son) and Asma (daughter) from Fatilah ibn Abdul Uzza
– Abdur Rahman (son) and Aisha (daughter) from Umm Ruman
[Tarikh al-Umami wal muluk, Vol. 4, p. 50 – Ibn Jarir Tabari]

620 CE – 623 CE: Time window of betrothal of Aisha with the Prophet, after death of Khadija
625 CE = 02 AH: Aisha’s consummation of marriage with the Prophet
625 CE – 633 CE: Eight years of Aisha’s marriage = the remainder of prophets life in Medina
673 CE: Aisha died (calculated)

Elder sister, Asma was 10 year older than Aisha
[Al-Dhahabi, Siyar A`la’ma’l-nubala’, Vol. 2, p. 289, Arabic, Mu’assasatu’l-risalah, Beirut, 1992]
[Ibn Kathir, Al-Bidayah wa’l-nihayah, Vol. 8, p. 371, Dar al-fikr al-`arabi, Al-jizah, 1933]

695 CE = 73 AH: Asma died at an age of 100.
[Ibn Kathir, Al-Bidayah wa’l-nihayah, Vol. 8, p. 346, 372, Dar al-fikr al-`arabi, Al-jizah, 1933]
[Ibn Hajar Asqalani, Tahdhib al-Tahdhib, p. 654, Arabic, Bab fi’l-nisa’, al-harfu’l-alif, Lucknow]
[Mishkat al-Masabih, published in Lahore, 1986, volume 3, pages 300–301]

Various calculations of Aisha’s Age (in light of above facts):

* By deduction, Asma was born in 595 CE, which makes 605 CE as year of birth for Aisha.
Earliest possible year of betrothal of Aisha is 620 CE, which makes her age then of 15 years.
Consummation of Aisha’s marriage in 625 CE, which makes her age then of 20 years.

* Aisha’s died at an age of 67 after 40 years of widowhood^. Thus her age at death of prophet is 27. Given her consummated marriage of 8 years, her age at consummation of her marriage with prophet is 19 years. [^Syed Sulaiman Nadvi, Sirat Aisha, p. 132, April 2005] By some estimates her consummated marriage was of 9 years, which makes her age then of 20 years.

* Even if Aisha was born only a year before the Call, if not earlier, then she must be at least 16, if not more when her marriage was consummated with the Prophet in 2nd year after Migration, which is same as 15th year of the Call.

* Aisha, by self-report remembered the verses of Chapter 54, Surah Qamar (Moon) right from the time when they were revealed in 5th year of the call i.e. 615 CE. Also, biologically we form memories after 5 years of age. No wonder we remember the nursery rhymes or national anthems only after age 5 (read: Childhood Amnesia). Hence Aisha must be at least 5 years old if not older in the year 615 CE. Eight years later Migration happened, which makes her then 13 if not older. Her marriage is consummated with the prophet 2 years after the Migration, which makes her 15 years old, if not older.

* Ibn Hisham, one of the favorite historians of this documentary writes that Aisha accepted Islam a year earlier than Caliph Umar. Umar accepted Islam in the 6th year of the call i.e. year 616 CE. For her to accept Islam, she had to be beyond a certain age when she could undertake an oath. This almost matches her recalling verses of Surah Qamar (Moon), when she could not have been younger than 5 years, if not older. It took another 10 years before she consummates her marriage with the Prophet in the year 625 CE. Thus she must be at least 15 years old, if not older at the time of consummation of her marriage.

* It is a well-known fact that in the battles of Badr and Uhad, no one under 15 was allowed. Aisha participated in both, which makes her at least 15 years old, if not older during Badr, which is the same year of consummation of her marriage.

* Fatima, Prophet’s daughter by some traditions was 5 years older than Aisha. Former was born in the year of rebuilding of Kaaba, which is 5 years before the Call i.e. 605 CE. Thus, Aisha was born in the year of the Call i.e. 610 CE. This makes her 15 years old at the time of consummation of her marriage with the Prophet.

* Aisha had to be of an age where she could have assumed the duties of the household after death of Khadija, where there were already two young girls, Prophet’s daughters – Fatima and Umm Kulthum. There is no point for a busy person like prophet facing all the challenges of present and future for him to essentially take care of a third girl in his household. His wife had to be of an age where she could shoulder responsibilities and be a partner in the challenges of his office.

Thus it becomes plainly clear that Aisha was of marriageable age and Prophet Muhammad was no pedophile. The following (ref: link) research clarifies the weakness of the above and similar hadiths about age of Aisha:

Most of these narratives are reported only by Hisham ibn `urwah reporting on the authority of his father. An event as well known as the one being reported, should logically have been reported by more people than just one, two or three.

It is quite strange that no one from Medinah, where Hisham ibn `urwah lived the first seventy one years of his life has narrated the event, even though in Medinah his pupils included people as well known as Malik ibn Anas. All the narratives of this event have been reported by narrators from Iraq, where Hisham is reported to have had shifted after living in Medinah for seventy one years.

Tehzibu’l-tehzib, one of the most well known books on the life and reliability of the narrators of the traditions of the Prophet (pbuh) reports that according to Yaqub ibn Shaibah: “narratives reported by Hisham are reliable except those that are reported through the people of Iraq”. It further states that Malik ibn Anas objected on those narratives of Hisham which were reported through people of Iraq. (vol 11, pg 48 – 51)

Mizanu’l-ai`tidal, another book on the narrators of the traditions of the Prophet (pbuh) reports that when he was old, Hisham’s memory suffered quite badly. (vol 4, pg 301 – 302)

The summations so far are significantly based upon the following two main sources and reader is encourage to review them for a more in depth information:

“Age of Aisha (ra) at time of marriage” by Zahid Aziz, Ph.D.
“Ayesha’s Age” by M. Amir Ali, Ph.D.

By the above corroborated evidence and calculations, we are left with no choice but to reject the hadith quoted by the documentary as unauthentic. At least, so far we have conclusively proven that Aisha was of customarily marriageable age when she consummated her marriage with the Prophet. She was at least 15 years of old and most likely 19 or 20 years old at the time of her marriage.

Let’s turn the page to Christianity and Judaism from where this hadith has become an issue. Can the makers and ‘experts’ of the documentary by their own accounts in their own Scriptures absolve their founders of drunkenness, nakedness, incest, soliciting prostitutes and contracting underage marriages? Can they prove a model of piousness in any of their substantive prophets? Can they say to their children to follow in the footsteps of Noah, Abraham, Lot, Moses, David, Mary?

No one should forget that from Christian sources, Mary, mother of Jesus married when she was only 12 years old and gave birth to Jesus the following year. Joseph at that time was already old and had children of his own (– see para 9 of Infancy Gospel of James). Whether, Mary was impregnated by Joseph or God, the argument cannot be denied that in Christianity, pedophilia was the very basis of its origination as a religion. God of Bible broke His own law by making Mary pregnant before her reaching majority. According to Bible, majority is reached at 20 years of age when one is able to make decisions:

Numbers 14:28-30 (NIV) So tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very thing I heard you say: In this wilderness your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

Unlike Gospels (narrations, gossips) of the previous scriptures, a hadith can never displace or pollute Quran. Similar to above hadith, Gospels were themselves hadiths of the prophet(s). They were human recollections, but found their way into the Torah and Evangel as word of God. The Jews and Christians alike are in a bind. They have to declare themselves apologetically “reformed” to bring some sense into their spiritual lives. In their reformation, the first requirement is to disassociate themselves from the nonsense in their Scripture. Still, they fail to be fully reformed, unless they replace their Scriptures with Quran. The outrageous stories in their Scriptures carry moral values which are at time less than what one finds in Aesop’s Fables. Some may argue that those stories are even worse and “rated R”. Not to be shared with underage children and to be read only in presence of an adult. Note – according to Western standards, a material is rated R because:

An R-rated motion picture, in the view of the Rating Board, contains some adult material. An R-rated motion picture may include adult themes, adult activity, hard language, intense or persistent violence, sexually-oriented nudity, drug abuse or other elements, so that parents are counseled to take this rating very seriously. Children under 17 are not allowed to attend R-rated motion pictures unaccompanied by a parent or adult guardian. Parents are strongly urged to find out more about R-rated motion pictures in determining their suitability for their children. Generally, it is not appropriate for parents to bring their young children with them to R-rated motion pictures.

As to how different is the case of Torah for its MPAA ratings, we will leave it to the reader themselves and instead will only highlight some of the passages from it below.

The following is the account of Noah in Torah, which is none but licentious:

Genesis 9:20-25: (NIV) Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded[a] to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked. When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, he said, “Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers.”

Compare the immorality of Noah in Torah with the standards of Noah in Quran that brings to forth the message of a prophet, who was neither drunk nor molested by his own son:

26:105. The people of Noah cried lies to the Messengers.
26:106. (Recall the time) when their kinsman Noah said to them, `Will you not guard against evil?
26:107. `Surely, I am to you a Messenger, faithful to (my) trust.
26:108. `So take Allâh as a shield and obey me.
26:109. `And I ask no reward from you for it (- the delivery of the Message of God). My reward lies with the Lord of the worlds alone.
26:110. `So take Allâh as a shield and obey me.’
26:111. They (- the disbelievers) said, `Shall we believe in you whereas (we see that) only the people of a very low status follow you?’
26:112. He said, `I have no knowledge what (good) deeds they did (in the past that now they have the honour to accept the truth).
26:113. `It is only up to my Lord to call them to account; if you could but perceive.
26:114. `I cannot drive away the believers (thinking them to be of low status).
26:115. `I am but a plain Warner.’
26:116. `Noah!’ they said, `If you do not desist, you shall be excommunicated or done away with.’
26:117. (Noah) said (praying), `My Lord! my people have treated me as a liar,
26:118. `So judge between me and them, a decisive judgment, and deliver me and the believers who are with me.’

Another incidence of incest by a drunken prophet and the debauchery of his daughters in Torah:

Genesis 19:30-35 (NIV) Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man around here to give us children—as is the custom all over the earth. Let’s get our father to drink wine and then sleep with him and preserve our family line through our father.”

That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and slept with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Last night I slept with my father. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and sleep with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.” So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

Compare the incestuous Lot in Torah with the righteous Lot in Quran and his teachings:

26:160. And the people of Lot cried lies to the Messengers.
26:161. (Recall the time) when their kinsman Lot said to them, `Will you not guard against evil?
26:162. `Verily, I am to you a Messenger, faithful to (my) trust.
26:163. `So take Allâh as a shield and obey me.
26:164. `And I ask no reward from you for this (service I render). My reward lies with the Lord of the worlds alone.
26:165. `(Is it not true that) of all people you alone approach males (for sexual satisfaction),
26:166. `And leave that (abode of love) which your Lord has created for you in your wives. `Nay, (the real fact is) you are a people who know no limits.’
26:167. They said, `If you desist not (of admonishing us for sodomy) O Lot! you shall indeed be of the banished ones.’
26:168. He said, `I surely abhor your practice (of going to males),
26:169. `My Lord! save me and my followers from (the evil consequences) of their deeds.’
26:170. So We saved him and his followers, all of them,

Old Testament sanctifies a prophet impregnating a married woman and lying with a young virgin, without marrying them:

2 Samuel 11:2-5 (NIV) One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”

1 Kings 11-4 (NIV) When King David was very old, he could not keep warm even when they put covers over him. So his attendants said to him, “Let us look for a young virgin to serve the king and take care of him. She can lie beside him so that our lord the king may keep warm.” Then they searched throughout Israel for a beautiful young woman and found Abishag, a Shunammite, and brought her to the king. The woman was very beautiful; she took care of the king and waited on him, but the king had no sexual relations with her.

Whereas, Quran highlights the attributes of David which befit a prophet and a righteous king:

38:17. Bear with patience what they say. And remember (the event of the life of) Our servant David, the possessor of might. Verily, he was ever turning (to God).

38:20. And We strengthened his [– David] kingdom, and We granted him wisdom and decisive judgment.

38:24. …David realised that We had tried him, therefore he sought protection of his Lord and fell down bowing in worship and turned (to his Lord) in repentance.

38:25. So We gave him that protection (sought for by him from that danger he felt). And verily he enjoyed Our close proximity and an excellent status.

38:26. (We said,) `O David! verily We have made you the ruler in this land. So rule among the people according to (the tenants of) justice, and do not follow their vain desires, (for if you do) it will lead you astray from the path leading to Allâh. Behold! a severe punishment awaits those who go astray from Allâh’s way, because they have forgotten the Day of Reckoning.

In the above we see that the same prophets who are an example of aversion in Torah, become model of virtue in Quran for coming generations and can be rightfully followed by both young and old.

We leave it to Jews as to how they judge their ‘chosen’ status for being named after Judah. Someone, who first tried to kill his brother, Joseph a future prophet, but instead ended up selling him. That does not end his treachery, he later in life not only bought services of a prostitute who was none other than his own daughter-in-law in disguise, but also impregnated her:

Genesis 38:13-19 (NIV) When Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is on his way to Timnah to shear his sheep,” she took off her widow’s clothes, covered herself with a veil to disguise herself, and then sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that, though Shelah had now grown up, she had not been given to him as his wife.

When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her by the roadside and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you.”

“And what will you give me to sleep with you?” she asked.

“I’ll send you a young goat from my flock,” he said.

“Will you give me something as a pledge until you send it?” she asked.

He said, “What pledge should I give you?”

“Your seal and its cord, and the staff in your hand,” she answered. So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him. 19 After she left, she took off her veil and put on her widow’s clothes again.

If the makers of the documentary can believe with impunity about the debauchery attributed to their own prophets of God, then it is no surprise that they will pounce upon any false report about Prophet Muhammad whom they call an imposter to begin with. No wonder, the drunkenness and sexual promiscuity has always been part of social fabric of the followers of Scriptures. Their Scriptures continue to narrate examples of such lewd behaviors by their divinely ordained prophets as factual, no matter how much Quran rebuts and cleanses those prophets of such false attributions. Not only they falsely debase their prophets, their ancestors are also known to be the prophet killers.

Matthew 23:34-36 (NIV) Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.

Matthew 23:37 (NIV) “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. [Note: Jesus laments prophesied his own attempted killing on the cross]

Jeremiah 26:20-23 (NIV) (Now Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath Jearim was another man who prophesied in the name of the Lord; he prophesied the same things against this city and this land as Jeremiah did. When King Jehoiakim and all his officers and officials heard his words, the king was determined to put him to death. But Uriah heard of it and fled in fear to Egypt. King Jehoiakim, however, sent Elnathan son of Akbor to Egypt, along with some other men. They brought Uriah out of Egypt and took him to King Jehoiakim, who had him struck down with a sword and his body thrown into the burial place of the common people.)

Some apologists deny that Jews killed their ‘true’ prophets and only admit to killing ‘false’ prophets. Essentially, they then are denying their own scriptures which mention otherwise above. However, Quran testifies to their killing of their prophets and the reasons for such behaviors:

2:87. Indeed, We gave Moses the Scripture and sent Messengers after him in successive series. We also gave Jesus, son of Mary, clear arguments and strengthened him with the blessed word of God. (Is it not then unjust on your part that) whenever a Messenger came to you (O Jews!) with that (teaching) which did not suit your fancies, you behaved arrogantly? You belied some (Messengers) while others you seek to kill (even now).

2:88. They said, `Our hearts are storehouse of knowledge (so that we stand in no need of further teaching.)’ Rather Allâh has deprived them of His mercy for their disbelief, with the result that little they believe.

2:89. And (now) when there has come to them the glorious Book from Allâh, fulfilling that (Prophecy) which is already with them, and previous to that they had been praying for victory over those who disbelieved, yet when that (long awaited Prophet and the Qur’ân) came to them which they recognised (also to be the truth), they disbelieved in it. (And because of this rejection) the disapproval of Allâh is the due for the disbelievers.

2:90. Evil is that thing they have sold themselves for that they should reject that (source of guidance) which Allâh has revealed, grudging that Allâh should send down His grace on such of His servants as He pleases. Thus they have incurred (His) displeasure after displeasure. There awaits these disbelievers a humiliating punishment.

2:91. When it is said to them, `Believe in that (- the Qur’ân) which Allâh has sent down.’ They say, `We believe only in that (- the Torah) which has been sent down to us.’ And they deny everything other than that (and which has since been revealed); though it (- the Qur’ân) is the lasting truth and corroborates that which is already with them (in their own Scriptures). Say, `Why, then, did you seek to kill the Prophets of Allâh in former times if you were (real) believers (in the former Scriptures)?’

Even if the followers of old scriptures do not learn from Quran, at least they cannot deny their former and current behaviors as outlined in verses above. Such a self-awakening itself can be a source of learning and virtue for them. But will they? Will they still continue to claim – `Our hearts are storehouse of knowledge (so that we stand in no need of further teaching.)’?

The ‘experts’ of the documentary following in their ancestral footsteps eagerly want to kill the legacy and the everlasting message and teachings of the greatest man ever by smearing him with whatever means possible including the false hadith they quoted in this issue, but they will never be able to do so, because:

48:2. …Allâh will protect you [– Muhammad] from (the ill consequences of) the fault attributed to you in the past and those to follow, and that He will make His favour perfect upon you and will lead you to the goal of the exact right path;

 
References:

Age of Aisha (ra) at time of marriage – Zahid Aziz, Ph.D.
Ayesha’s Age – M. Amir Ali, Ph.D.
Mishkat al-Masabih – Entry about Asma’s age, first written 700 years ago
Sirat Aisha – Syed Sulaiman Nadvi
Hazrat Aishah Siddiqah’s Age at Her Marriage – Ghulam Nabi Muslim, M.A.
Lady ‘A’ishah’s Age at the Time of the Consummation of Her Marriage to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sas) – Ghulam Nabi Muslim, M.A.
Hijri calendar – Wikipedia
Georgian calendar – Wikipedia
Current Era – Wikipedia
Migrations to Abyssinia – Abu Bakr – Wikipedia
References to Asma bint Abu Bakr – Wikipedia
Childhood Amnesia – Wikipedia
Specific incestuous relationships in the Bible – Wikipedia
Mary (mother of Jesus) – Wikipedia
Matthew: A Shorter Commentary, p. 12 – W. D. Davies, Dale C. Allison, Jr.
The Protoevangelium of James, Infancy Gospel of James – Early Christian Writings
R-Rated – Motion Picture Association of America
Curse of Ham – Wikipedia
Bathsheba – Biblical Narrative – Wikipedia
Children of Jacob sell their brother Joseph by Konstantin Flavitsky – Wikipedia
Tamar and Judah – Wikipedia
Judah and Tamar by Horace Vernet – Wikipedia
Judah – Wikipedia
Hart’s Top 100 – Wikipedia
New International Version – Bible Gateway
Holy Quran – Nooruddin

Issue 69 [@1:15:00]: Slide projected with voice – Sahih Al-Bukhari, Vol 2, Bk 23, Hadith 413 – The Jews brought to the Prophet a man and a woman from amongst them who had committed (adultery) illegal sexual intercourse. He ordered both of them be stoned (to death) near the place of offering the funeral prayers besides the mosque.

Rebuttal 69: Once again the documentary selectively cherry picks certain hadiths while hiding others to provide an out of context half-truths. The other relevant hadiths to this issue will be stated below. The malicious circus continues in the movie whose sole basis for smearing Prophet Muhammad is “damn if you do, damn if you don’t,” even if supposedly the Prophet or for that matter anyone else gave a legal opinion on the subject matter above. This issue is all about an opinion from the Jewish law to the Jews.

To any intelligent reader the first question will be as to why – “The Jews brought to the Prophet a man and a woman from amongst them who had committed (adultery) illegal sexual intercourse?” Did they respect or believed for what Prophet Muhammad stood for?” Nay! They only wanted an alternative to their own law of Torah.

Secondly, what was the basis of Prophet Muhammad when – “He ordered both of them be stoned (to death) near the place of offering the funeral prayers besides the mosque?” The sole basis for the Prophet’s opinion was none but Torah itself.

Thirdly, it was Jews themselves who had investigated the matter fully and had already established the guilt for the accused. All they wanted was the final step of the law i.e. the decision about the punishment to fit the crime, while trying to avoid their own written law in Torah. They hoped against hope that a prophet, no matter how ‘false’ to them, would ignore a revealed Book that was from none but YHWH to its ‘chosen people.’ Ironic indeed it is that it was for the same chosen people who chose to shirk away from their own Torah, but for a good reason. If the Jews sought forgiveness for the accused, then why did they not forgive themselves? Why they had to ask someone else to do it for them? Were they then and even now true believers in their own Torah?

4:43. And how should they appoint you their judge whilst they have with them the Torah which contains the law (and judgment) of Allâh. Yet they turn their backs even after that (you judge between them). And such people are not true believers (neither in the Qur’ân nor in the Torah).[Nooruddin]

They could not help because they were stuck with their dogmas then and as now for the mere fact that there is no concept of forgiveness, neither in their psyche nor in their scripture. This we see in the legal system of the West, where most of the legislators are followers of the old scriptures and the laws that they formulate are punitive with no room for an incentive nor forgiveness to expiate a wrong. A classical case of a shell of a religion where outward ritual and behavior is more important than the soul of the religion. An angry god has to be placated, rather tricked by ordinary humans. A faith that even Jesus could not reform, though he was from the same region, race and religion. It is a twisted logic by this documentary when they blame everyone else, but their own brethren in history on whose doorstep lies the faulty laws of their own God.

Fourth, can the documentary makers point to anyone but the Jews themselves who carried out the judgment when they killed the accused by stoning? By any standards, they were not a helpless minority in Medina. Jewish tribes and groups numbered about 36,000 to 42,000 in Medina at the time of arrival of Muhammad (Issue 7). Compare that with Muslim fighting strength of rag-tag, young and old of only 313 in 2nd year and 700 in 3rd year of arrival of the Prophet in Medina (Issue 1). Why did the Jews kill their own and that too based upon the supposed opinion of a prophet that to them was a ‘false one’ to begin with, and why did they not ignore his opinion? The blame is squarely on the Jews, their Torah, their Judaism, their dogmas and their bigotry for seeking opinion of a ‘false’ prophet that they abhorred from the very start. This example proves beyond doubt that how much superfluous Judaism is. To escape their own law the Jews needed a ‘pagan’ help, and ironically of an ‘illiterate’ who factually could not even read or write. Quran was still in its infancy then and did not cover the stipulated issue at hand in its verses yet. Prophet Muhammad did what any judge would do, he deferred the Jews to their their own Jewish law. The prophet though a law giver was only supposed to convey the law that was revealed to him, not make one of his own choosing or according to the fancies of the Jews:

24:54. …the duty of the Messenger [– Muhammad] is only to deliver the message clearly.

10:15. …[The non-Muslims say to the Prophet] Bring a Quran other than this or change it. Say: It is not for me to change it of my own accord. I follow only what is revealed to me. Indeed I fear, if I disobey my Lord, the punishment of a terrible day.

Fifth, in a personal space it is one’s choice to forgive or not, but in a communal space, people and their acts are governed by the laws of the community. If someone is punished under a law, and that too by a so called Divine Law, then is the documentary going to blame the judge or blame the Law itself and the people who made that Law? Judges are not supposed to make the law, but follow the existing law. Are they going to smear the judge for a verdict that is not of their own liking? Quran addressed such bigotry and mentality of the followers, inventors and tamperers of the previous scriptures and their delegating the role of a judge to Prophet Muhammad in the following verses:

4:41. O Messenger! let not those who vie with one another in (- spreading) disbelief,- those of them who say with their mouths, `we believe’, but their hearts believe not, and those of them who judaised, grieve you. They are the acceptors of falsehood and are those who listen for conveying to other people who have not yet come to you. They tear the words (of God) from their proper places (and pervert the meanings thereof and) say, `If you are given this (sort of commandment) accept it and if you are not given this, then be careful.’ And he (on) whom Allâh desires (to inflict) His punishment, you can do nothing to save him from (the punishment of) Allâh. It is these whose hearts Allâh has not been pleased to purify. Ignominy is their lot in this world, and there awaits them in the Hereafter a great punishment.

4:42. (They are) habitual listeners to falsehood, too much given to eat things [i.e. consuming] forbidden [e.g. Usury]. If they come to you (seeking your judgment) judge between them or turn aside from them. If you turn aside from them, they shall do you no harm at all. But if you judge, then judge between them with justice, for surely Allâh loves the just.

4:43. And how should they appoint you their judge whilst they have with them the Torah which contains the law (and judgment) of Allâh. Yet they turn their backs even after that (you judge between them). And such people are not true believers (neither in the Qur’ân nor in the Torah).

4:44. Verily, it is We Who revealed Torah wherein there was guidance and light. According to it the Prophets, who submitted themselves (to Us), did judge for those who judaised and (so also did) the teachers of Divine knowledge, and those learned (in the Law); (they did it) because they were required to preserve some of the Scripture of Allâh and (because) they stood guardians over it. Hence hold not people in awe but stand in awe of Me and do not barter away My Messages for a trifling gain. And he who does not judge according to that (law) which Allâh has revealed, it is these who are the real disbelievers.

4:45. And therein We laid down (the following law) for them (- the Jews); life for life and eye for eye, and nose for nose, and ear for ear, and tooth for tooth and for (other) injuries an equitable retaliation. But he who chooses to forgo (the right) thereto for the sake of Allâh, it shall be an expiation of sins for him. And whoever does not judge according to (the law) which Allâh has revealed, these it is who are the very unjust.

4:46. And We sent Jesus, son of Mary, in the footsteps of these (Prophets), fulfilling that which was (revealed) before him, of the Torah, and We gave him the Evangel which contained guidance and light, fulfilling that which was (revealed) before it, of the Torah, and was a (means of) guidance and an exhortation for those who guard against evil.

4:47. And let the followers of the Evangel judge according to what Allâh has revealed therein. And indeed those who do not judge according to what Allâh has revealed it is these who are the real disobedient. [Nooruddin]

Sixth, if the documentary makers do not like as to what Torah is about, then they have a choice to ‘burn it‘. A Muslim will never do such a favor to them, because for a Muslim it is an article of faith to not only respect but to believe in the original message of all previously revealed Books, that includes Torah and the Evangel, which the Jews in this issue did not:

4:136. O you who believe! maintain faith in Allâh and in His Messenger and in this perfect Book which He has revealed to His perfect Messenger and in the Scripture He revealed before. And whoso denies Allâh and His angels and His Books and His Messengers and the Last Day, he has indeed strayed far away (from the truth). [Nooruddin]

All the above is stated on the assumption that the hadith is authentic and actually states as to what happened. The corroborated aspects of the hadith will become clear in the discussion to follow. If the above hadith is correct, then its full burden is on Torah, not on Quran, nor on Prophet Muhammad. Muhammad Ali in his landmark book “The Religion of Islam” fully clarifies the incidence and all the ancillary aspects of the issue at hand. Pages 556-560 of the said book are reproduced below:

Punishment for adultery

Adultery, and false accusation of adultery, are both punishable according to the Qur’an:

The adulteress and the adulterer, flog each of them (with) a hundred stripes, and let not pity for them detain you from obedience to Allah if you believe in Allah and the last day, and let a party of believers witness their chastisement” (24:2).

In the case of slave-girls, who are guilty of adultery , the punishment is half of this:

Then if they (the slave girls) are guilty of adultery when they are taken in marriage, they shall suffer half the punishment for free married women” (4:25).

These are the only verses speaking of punishment for adultery , and they clearly show that flogging, and not death or stoning to death, is the punishment for adultery. In fact 4:25 precludes all possibility of death having ever been looked upon by the Qur’an as a punishment for adultery. It speaks clearly of the punishment of adultery in the case of married slave-girls, and says further that punishment for them is half the punishment of adultery in the case of free married women. It is generally thought that while the Qur’an prescribes flogging as a punishment for fornication, i.e., when the guilty person is not married, stoning to death is the punishment for adultery, and that this is allegedly based on the Prophet’s practice. But the Qur’an plainly speaks of the punishment for adultery in the case of married slave-girls as being half the punishment of adultery in the case of free married women (muhsanat), and therefore death or stoning to death cannot be conceived of as possible punishment in case of adultery as it cannot be halved, while imprisonment or flogging may be. Thus the Qur’an not only speaks of flogging and not death, as punishment for adultery, but it positively excludes death or stoning to death.

Flogging

A few words may be added as to the method of flogging. The Arabic word for flogging is jald which means skin, and jalada signifies he hit or hurt his skin (LL). Jald (flogging) was therefore a punishment which should be felt by the skin, and it aimed more at disgracing the culprit than torturing him. In the time of the Prophet, and even for some time after him, there was no whip, and flogging was carried out by beating with a stick or with the hand or with shoes {RM. VI, p. 4}. It is further stated by the same authority that the culprit was not stripped naked for the infliction of the punishment of flogging; he was only required to take off thick clothes such as would ward off the stroke altogether. According to a report of Ibn Mas’ud, baring the back for flogging is forbidden among the Muslims, and according to Shafi’i and Ahmad, a shirt or two must be left over the body {RM. VI, p. 5}. It is further related that it is preferable to give the strokes on different parts of the body so that no harm should result to any one part, but the face and the private parts must be avoided {RM. VI, p. 5}.

Stoning to death in Jewish law

As already shown, stoning to death, as a punishment for adultery, is nowhere spoken of in the Qur’an; on the other hand, the injunction to halve the punishment in certain eases is a clear indication that stoning to death was never contemplated as the punishment of adultery in the Holy Book. In Tradition, however, cases are met with in which adultery was punished with stoning to death. One of these cases is expressly mentioned as that of a Jew couple:

“The Jews came to the Prophet with a man and a woman from among them who had committed adultery; and by his order they were stoned to death near the place where funeral services were held” (Bu. 23:61).

Further explanation of this incident is given in another report where it is stated that when the Jews referred the case to him, he enquired of them what punishment the Torah prescribed in case of adultery. The Jews tried at first to conceal the fact that it was stoning to death, but on `Abd Allah ibn Salam giving the reference,

{Note: That the present Torah does not give stoning as the punishment for adultery is clear proof that the text has been altered. The Gospels show that such was the punishment up to the time of Jesus. “And the scribes and the Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, they say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? (Jn. 8:3-5)}

they admitted it, and the guilty persons were dealt with as prescribed in Torah (Bu. 61:26). According to a third version, which is the most detailed, the Jews who desired to avoid the severer punishment of stoning for adultery said one to another:

“Let us go to this Prophet, for he has been raised with milder teaching; so if he gives his decision for a milder punishment than stoning, we will accept it.”

It is then related that the Prophet went with them to their midras (the house in which the Torah was read), and asked them what punishment was prescribed in their sacred book. They tried to conceal it at first but the truth had to be admitted at last, and the Prophet gave his decision saying: “I give my judgment according to what is in the Torah” (AD. 37:26).

Jewish practice followed by the Prophet at first

These reports leave not the shadow of a doubt that stoning was the punishment of adultery in the Jewish law, and that it was in the case of Jewish offenders that this punishment was first resorted to by the Prophet when he came to Madinah. There are other reports which show that the same punishment was given in certain cases when the offenders were Muslims, but apparently this was before the revelation of the verse (24:2) which speaks of flogging as the punishment for both the adulterer and the adulteress, it being the practice of the Prophet to follow the earlier revealed law until he received a definite revelation on a point. A suggestion to that effect is contained in a tradition:

“Shaibani says, I asked `Abd Allah ibn Abi Aufa , Did the Holy Prophet stone to death? He said, Yes. I said, Was it before the chapter entitled the Light (the 24th chapter) was revealed or after it? The reply was, I do not know” (Bu. 87:6).

The chapter referred to is that which speaks of flogging as a punishment for adultery, and the question shows clearly that the practice of stoning for adultery was recognized as being against the plain injunction contained in that chapter. It is likely that some misunderstanding arose from the incidents which happened before the Quranic revelation on the point, and that that practice was taken as the Sunnah of the Prophet. The Khwarij, the earliest Muslim sect, entirely rejected stoning to death (rajm) as a punishment in Islam {RM. VI, p. 6}.

The question seems to have arisen early as to how an adulterer could be stoned, when the Qur’an prescribed flogging as the only punishment for adultery. `Umar is reported to have said that “there are people who say, What about stoning, for the punishment prescribed in the Book of Allah is flogging” {Ah. I, p. 50}. To such objectors `Umar’s reply was:

“In what Allah revealed, there was the verse of rajm (stoning); we read it and we understood it and we guarded it; the Prophet did stone (adulterers to death) and we also stoned after him, but I fear that when more time passes away, a sayer would say, We do not find the verse of rajm in the Book of Allah” {Bu. 87:16}.

According to another version he is reported to have added:

“Were it not that people would say that `Umar has added in the Book of Allah that which is not in it, I would have written it” {AD. 37:24}.

The argument attributed to `Umar is very unsound. He admitted that the Qur’an did not contain any verse prescribing the punishment of stoning for adulterers, and at the same time he is reported as stating that there was such a verse in what Allah revealed. In all probability what `Umar meant, if he ever spoke those words, was that the verse of stoning was to be found in the Jewish sacred book, the Torah, which was undoubtedly a Divine revelation, and that the Prophet stoned adulterers to death. The use of words “Book of God” (Kitab Allah) for the Torah is common in the Qur’an itself, the Torah being again and again spoken of as Kitab Allah or the Book of God, or al-Kitab, i.e., the Book {2:213, etc.}. In all likelihood `Umar only spoke of rajm as the punishment of adultery in the Mosaic law and he was misunderstood. At any rate he could not have spoken the words attributed to him. Had there been such a verse of the Qur’an, he would have brought it to the notice of other Companions of the Prophet, when a complete written copy was first prepared in the time of Abu Bakr at his own suggestion. The words, as attributed to him in some of these reports, are simply meaningless. How could he say that there was a verse of the Qur’an which he would have written down in the Qur’an, but he feared that people would say that he had made an addition to the Qur’an, that is to say, added to it what was not a part of it? A verse could not be said to be a part of the Qur’an and not a part of the Qur’an at one and the same time.

There is further evidence in tradition itself that `Umar himself, at least in one reported case (and it is a reliable report), punished adultery with flogging as laid down in the Qur’an in 24:2, and not with stoning to death. According to Bukhari, one of `Umar’s collectors, Hamzah by name, found that a married man who had committed adultery with his wife’s slave girl had been punished by `Umar with a hundred stripes, and he referred the case to `Umar, and `Umar upheld his first decision {Bu. 39:1}. His own action therefore negatives the report which attributes to him the statement that stoning to death as a punishment for adultery was an ordinance contained in a Quranic verse. An explanation is sometimes offered, that such a verse had been revealed but that it was abrogated afterwards, though the ordinance contained in it remained effective. There is no sense at all in this explanation. If the words of the verse were abrogated, the ordinance contained in those words went along with them. No ordinance can be given except in words, and if the words are abrogated, the ordinance is also abrogated. If therefore such a verse was ever revealed (for which there is no testimony worth the name), the admission that it was abrogated leaves the matter where it was before its revelation {see also pp. 37-46 of “The Religion of Islam”}.

Accusation of adultery

A false accusation of adultery is punished almost as severely as adultery itself:

And those who accuse free women and bring not four witnesses, flog them (with) eighty stripes and never accept their evidence, and these are the transgressors – Except those who afterwards repent and act aright; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful (24: 4,5).

It may be added here that while in ordinary matters two witnesses are required {verse 2:286}, in the case of an accusation of adultery four witnesses must be produced. Thus a case of adultery can be established only on the strongest possible evidence. That circumstantial evidence is accepted is shown by the Qur’an itself in Joseph’s case who, when accused of an assault on the chief’s wife, was declared free of the charge on circumstantial evidence {verses 12:26-28}. There are also a number of traditions showing that circumstantial evidence was accepted when it led to the establishment of a certain fact.

In the current issue that the documentary tries to malign Prophet Muhammad with is actually an egg on the face of the makers of the movie themselves who still cling to their Torah. Anyone who reads Quran, will not find the nonsense of stoning in it, for which one has to refer to Torah itself. This case in point is directly addressed by Quran:

3:23. Have you not seen those who are given a portion of the Book?

[Footnote] The Jews are spoken of as being given only a portion of the Book, because much of it had already been lost. Moreover, the Torah was not a complete law.

They are invited to the Book of Allah [– Quran] that it may decide between them, then some of them turn back and they withdraw.

[Footnote] The reference here is to the broad principles of religion regarding which the Jews and the Christians differed. The Book of Allah is the Holy Quran which gave a decision in the differences between them.

The take away message from the above discussion is that Jews needed Quran then and now. Factually, the documentary must be thanked for raising an issue that vehemently makes an urgent case for abrogation of Torah. If nothing else, at least for its human tampered law that must be abandoned and the hadith under discussion proves that irrespective of whether stoning was written in Torah, the Jews factually wanted to abandon it themselves. It was this avoidance of law in Torah that was the sole reason for their coming to the Prophet in the hope for an alternate Law. An alternate law that did come, thought a little late as outlined in verses 24:2 and 4:25 above. It is to these necessities of the law that Quran states:

2:106. Whatever Message We abrogate or abandon it, We bring a better (Message) than that or (at least) the like of it [that which is with them, though mostly tampered]. Do you not know that Allâh is indeed Possessor of power to do all He will. [Nooruddin]

16:101. And Allâh knows very well the need of what He reveals [in light of tampering of the older Scriptures], yet when We replace a revelation [because of its tampering] with another revelation [afresh] they say (to you), `You are only a fabricator (of lies).’ The truth is, however, that most of them know nothing [of how much their Scriptures have been tampered with overtime]. [Nooruddin]

Unbeknownst to the documentary, it has only proven beyond doubt in the current issue that:

3:4. … And He has revealed (the Qur’ân as) the Criterion of judgement (between truth and falsehood)…[Nooruddin]

References:

Note: {text enclosed in the curly brackets above contains the footnotes of the printed edition of the book – Religion of Islam}
Note: [text enclosed in square brackets above is not part of the original quoted sources]
Unless stated otherwise, all verses and corresponding footnotes above are from the translation and commentary of Holy Quran – Muhammad Ali, edited by Dr. Zahid Aziz
Holy Quran – Nooruddin
The Religion of Islam – Muhammad Ali
Yahweh – Wikipedia
Chosen People – Wikipedia
Damned if you do, Damned if you don’t – The Phrase Finder
Dove World Outreach Center Quran-burning controversy – Wikipedia

Issue 68 [@1:13:03]: Walid Shoebat – former member, PLO Fatah Brigade – “When Westerners think of religion, whether its Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and all the isms in the world. Westerners think that it is a personal issue. A Buddhist will go to the temple and peacefully worship, whatever he does, meditates, contemplates; a Jew goes to the synagogue and does his Mitzvahs, his good deeds; a Muslim goes to the mosque, pays zakat – alms, or goes to the pilgrimage on Hajj in Makkah; or a Christian goes to the church on Sunday; they [Westerners] think it is a personal issue, religion is a personal issue. So when they look at Islam, they compare Islam with the way they understand religions and that’s the first mistake. Islam is not a religion for personal use. Islam is Shariah law. Islam is a form of government to world first then to personal application. It is not just how you pray towards Makkah, it is how you dress, you dress in Arab culture. You speak Arabic. You cannot go to heaven unless you pray in Arabic. You can’t read the Quran in English and expect to get good deeds to go to heaven. You read the Quran in Arabic. It becomes an imperialistic system that everybody now must speak Arabic, think Arabic, practice the religion in Arabic. It is a form of law not just in how you eat, but how you get married, how you deal with your government, how you deal with your military, how you deal with the youth, how you deal with the women, every aspect of your life becomes Islam. Everything is Islam.”

Rebuttal 68: Once again Shoebat is on a deception roll. His misleading statements are broken down as follows:

Issue 68a: “When Westerners think of religion, whether its Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and all the isms in the world. Westerners think that it is a personal issue.”

Rebuttal 68a: This is a clear admission by Shoebat of failure of the Westerners, rather the whole world, of the understanding of the concept of religion based upon their experience of Christianity. Christianity as a religion has no implications beyond a “personal use,” especially in the West. According to him the virtue that one extracts from following a spiritual path has no role in the materialistic Western life. If we accept Shoebat’s line of argument, then a religious person in the West is essentially a double faced personality, with one set of rules for self and another set of rules of conduct when interacting with the rest. The Christianity and Judaism are focused primarily on placating an angry God whose ego is less than humans, a god that is specific to a religion or race only and to everyone else His blessings are quite un-Godly. The experience of the West with its religion(s) has been no more than ceremonial piety of poverty, helplessness, turning the cheek, loving the enemies, gouging one’s own adulterating eyes, equating re-marriage of a divorced woman with adultery (Sermon on the Mount). It is no wonder that such a “personal religion” cannot not be shared in the community that on the contrary naturally seeks the benedictions over poverty, righteous power over helplessness, justified retribution over turning the cheek, resisting the tyrants rather than loving the enemies, taking marriage as a moral institution rather than adultery.

Issue 68b: Shoebat states – “A Buddhist will go to the temple and peacefully worship, whatever he does, meditates, contemplates; a Jew goes to the synagogue and does his Mitzvahs, his good deeds; a Muslim goes to the mosque, pays zakat – alms, or goes to the pilgrimage on Hajj in Makkah; or a Christian goes to the church on Sunday; they [Westerners] think it is a personal issue, religion is a personal issue. So when they look at Islam, they compare Islam with the way they understand religions and that’s the first mistake.”

Rebuttal 68b: Shoebat by his own words above is cut for paganism where a temple is the beginning and end of a religion for him (see Issue 64). His going to a temple is akin to going to a bar and getting drunk to dissociate from one’s life and challenges of life. Once, the intoxication is over on leaving the tavern, one is even more sick and fragile than before when the life has to be faced again with its old realities still in place. Yes, it is a mistake for anyone to equate religion with life of a hermit and the transient rousing of emotions from the pulpit of impractical virtues and brainless sacraments to please deities that have no practicality on the street. In a temple oriented religion, the first sacrifice is that of the soul of the religion on the altar of rituals and sermons. That temple is not worth the name of being called house of God where human intelligence found, both in the sermons or of the summoned, is more than that of its scriptures. Shoebat might be surprised to note that his former religion, Islam unlike his adopted Christianity factually shuns, abhors and mocks soulless ritualism in the name of a religion:

2:177. It is not righteousness that you turn your faces towards the East and the West,

[Footnote] A warning is given to the Muslims that they should not fall into the error into which the previous people fell, who sacrificed the spirit of religion for the outward ceremonial. The essence of religion is faith in God and benevolence towards people. The turning of the face to the East and the West refers to the outward act of facing a certain direction when saying prayers. This, though necessary, should not be taken as the real object of prayer, which is in fact meant to enable one to hold communion with the Divine Being and to imbue oneself with Divine morals as explained further on.

but righteous is the one who believes in Allah, and the Last Day, and the angels

[Footnote] A belief in angels is one of the basic principles of Islam. This belief is accepted generally in all monotheistic religions. As in the case of all other principles of faith, Islam has pointed out a certain significance underlying the belief in angels. There are two attractions placed in humans — the attraction to good or to rise up to higher spheres of virtue, and the attraction to evil or to stoop down to a kind of low, bestial life. If we respond to the attraction for good we are following the angel or the Holy Spirit, and if we respond to the attraction for evil we are following the devil. Our belief in angels carries, therefore, the significance that whenever we feel a tendency to do good we should at once obey that call. It does not simply mean that we should admit that there are angels. This is clear from the fact that not only are we not required to believe in devils, whose existence is as certain as that of the angels, but we are plainly told that we should disbelieve in the devils (2:256). As a disbelief in the devil means that we should repel the attraction for evil, so a belief in angels means that we should follow the inviter to good.

and the Book and the prophets,

[Footnote] The Book stands for Divine Revelation in general or the scriptures of all the prophets.

and gives away wealth out of love for Him

[Footnote] The love of Allah is here, as in many other places in the Quran, stated to be the true incentive to all deeds of righteousness.

to the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the traveller and to those who ask and to set slaves free

[Footnote] The basis was thus laid down for the abolition of slavery.

and keeps up prayer and gives the due charity; and the performers of their promise when they make a promise,

[Footnote] The performance of promise on the part of individuals as well as of nations is one of the first essentials of the welfare of humanity, and hence the stress laid upon it by the Quran. Faithlessness to treaties and pledges on the part of nations has wrought the greatest havoc on humanity. Just as no society can prosper until its individual members are true to their mutual agreements and promises to each other, so humanity at large can never have peace unless the nations are true to their agreements.

and the patient in distress and affliction and in the time of conflict. These are they who are truthful; and these are they who keep their duty.

22:37. Not their flesh, nor their blood [of sacrificial animals], reaches Allah, but to Him is acceptable the observance of duty on your part.

It is not the outward act of sacrifice which is acceptable, but the deep meaning of sacrifice which underlies it. The idea of atonement is quite foreign to Islamic sacrifice. It is the righteous whom Islam requires to sacrifice, as hinted at in the words: to Him is acceptable the observance of duty on your part.

9:19. Do you hold the giving of drink to the pilgrims and the maintenance of the Sacred Mosque equal to (the service of) one who believes in Allah and the Last Day and strives hard in Allah’s way? They are not equal in the sight of Allah. And Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people.

Issue 68c: Shoebat, a former Muslim, is either too ignorant or a plain liar when when he states – “Islam is not a religion for personal use. Islam is Shariah law. Islam is a form of government to world first then to personal application.”

Rebuttal 68c: Islam is the only successful religion out there which at its very inception succeeded by any secular standards which emphasized personal reformation of each individual first and from which then naturally came about the societal reforms. Islam distinctly stands apart from other religions which needed the conversion on the top first, before the blind fellowship by rest of the populace e.g. Christianity needed Constantine, Buddhism needed Asoka and Zoroastrianism needed Cyrus. Of note is that conversion of kings happened many generations after the death of the respective prophets of these religions. Alas, by then those religions, originally Islam of Jesus, Gautama and Zoroaster, had been polluted by the pagan rituals and beliefs before they were deemed fit to the likes of the pagan kings. And once a king converted, then that religion was a state religion for everyone to follow, irrespective of how merit-less it was to begin with.

The law of individual and personal reformation first and temporal power later is affirmed by the following verse of Quran, which prima facie rebuts Shoebat’s statement – “Islam is a form of government to world first then to personal application.”

24:55. Allah has promised to those of you who believe and do good [– first and foremost] that He will surely make them rulers in the earth [– thereafter] as He made those before them [– the Israelites] rulers, and that He will surely establish for them their religion, which He has chosen for them, and that He will surely give them security in exchange after their fear. They will serve Me, not setting up any partner with Me. And whoever is ungrateful after this, they are the transgressors.

Shariah is no more than quoting Quran itself. Shoebat is confusing Shariah with Fiqh, as the latter is human formulation of the Laws in Quran. Reader is encouraged to read Issue 65, where a comparison is drawn between United States Constitution and Quran. Reader can then judge for oneself as to where does Quran stand in its wisdom and principles.

Issue 68d: Shoebat continues in his diatribes when he states – “It is not just how you pray towards Makkah, it is how you dress, you dress in Arab culture. You speak Arabic. You cannot go to heaven unless you pray in Arabic. You can’t read the Quran in English and expect to get good deeds to go to heaven. You read the Quran in Arabic. It becomes an imperialistic system that everybody now must speak Arabic, think Arabic, practice the religion in Arabic.”

Rebuttal 68d: Shoebat is plain wrong in his above ignorant rant. His above statement reminds one of case histories of cognitively dysfunctional people in the book “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat”. Due to his fundamental intellectual distortions, he mistook Islam for just another pagan dogma like Christianity. In Quran there is no Arabization of Islam which Shoebat shamelessly tries to make one. Rather, Islam is the only religion, and Quran is the only constitution which recognizes the needed diversity of genders, cultures, races and languages for humanity to prosper. The following sampler verses make this assertion:

4:1. O people, keep your duty to your Lord, Who created you from a single being and created its mate of the same (kind),

[Footnote] How the first man was created is not stated either in the Quran or in the Hadith, nor is the Bible statement accepted that Eve was created from a rib of Adam. Muslims do not accept that man was created six thousand years ago. There are traditions stating that there were many Adams, even hundreds of thousands of Adams, before our Adam. Nor do Muslims accept that our world is the only world in this universe; one Imam is reported as saying that in God’s universe there are twelve thousand systems each bigger than our solar system. The words “Who created you from a single being and created its mate of the same” only declare the unity of the human race and the equality of the male and the female. Elsewhere we are told that for all of you wives are created from yourselves: “And Allah has made wives for you from among yourselves” (16:72).

and spread from these two many men and women.

[Footnote] “Many men and women” spring from married pairs. The verse does not necessarily refer to any parent pair of the whole of mankind. It reminds people of the strength of the ties of relationship, an idea mentioned in what follows.

And keep your duty to Allah, by Whom you demand one of another (your rights), and (to) the ties of relationship. Surely Allah is ever a Watcher over you.

30:22. And of His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and the diversity of your tongues and colours. Surely there are signs in this for the learned.

49:13. O mankind, surely We have created you from a male and a female, and made you tribes and families that you may know each other. Surely the noblest of you with Allah is the most dutiful of you. Surely Allah is Knowing, Aware.

[Footnote] The principle of the brotherhood of mankind laid down here is on the broadest basis. The address here is not to believers, as in the two previous verses, but to mankind in general, who are told that they are all, as it were, members of one family, and their divisions into nations, tribes and families should not lead to estrangement from, but to a better knowledge of, each other. Superiority of one over another in this vast brotherhood does not depend on nationality, wealth, or rank, but on the careful observance of duty, or moral greatness.

Fact is that Quran mocks those who use Arabic to gain any mileage for a facade of pseudo-piety:

3:78. There are some among them who twist their tongues while reciting their Scripture that you may think that (what they recite) is a part of the Scripture, whilst it is no part of the Scripture and they say, `This is from Allâh,’ whereas it is not from Allâh. They tell a lie in the name of Allâh deliberately. [Nooruddin]

Quran, like any scripture before it needed a language to be written in and it is preserved in Arabic. Unlike other other scriptures whose languages have either disappeared due to non-use or have become fossilized that they cannot be used for message delivery into our present times. Arabic of Hedjaz distinctly stands apart from all other languages of the world for its richness, logical structure and on going use while preserving its letter, syntax, grammar, idiom, expression and phonetics:

41:44. Had We made it a Qur’ân in indistinct and inexpressive language, these (faultfinders) would have surely said, `Why has not (the subject matter of) its verses been made clear in exposition?’ What! can indistinct and inexpressive language and an eloquently clear language (be one and the same thing). Say, `It is a wonderful guidance and healing to those who believe.’ But (as to those) who do not believe there is deafness in their ears and this (Qur’ân) is obscure to them (with regard to its factual truth). And they are (as if to say) being called to from a place afar. [Nooruddin]

FYI – Mr. Shoebat, if English had been chosen as the language for revelation, then your name would had been written as “ſhoebat”. Will you accept such a spelling?

Issue 68e: “It is a form of law not just in how you eat, but how you get married, how you deal with your government, how you deal with your military, how you deal with the youth, how you deal with the women, every aspect of your life becomes Islam. Everything is Islam.”

Rebuttal 68e: Shoebat is once again condescending without paying attention to what he is uttering that factually bites him more than Islam. The West that he is trying to please is very much in need of Laws and follows them almost out of Quran (see Issue 65), yet Shoebat demeans the same very Laws. It begets the fundamental question if he understand what does the term “Law” means to begin with. Lets take his statements to him below:

– how you eat – Can anyone, but Shoebat, see if FDA, USDA or even a Rabbi have any problem with the following verses? Each of these institutions try to regulate types of food, their hygiene and freshness for the consumption by the general public. Factually, the following verses about food in Quran are FDA, USDA and a Rabbi, all combined into one:

5:3. Forbidden to you is what dies of itself, and blood, and flesh of swine, and that on which any other name than that of Allah has been invoked [i.e. altar sacrifices], and the strangled (animal), and that beaten to death, and that killed by a fall, and that killed by goring with the horn, and what wild beasts have eaten — except what you slaughter [while the animal is alive]…

5:4. They ask you as to what is allowed them. Say: The good things [which naturally have to be hygienic] are allowed to you, and what you have taught the beasts and birds of prey, training them to hunt — you teach them of what Allah has taught you; so eat of what they catch for you and mention the name of Allah over it; and keep your duty to Allah…

5:90. O you who believe, intoxicants … are only an uncleanness, the devil’s work; so shun it that you may succeed.

16:14. And He it is Who has made the sea subservient that you may eat fresh flesh from it…

5:96. Lawful to you is the game of the sea and its food [found without being caught on the condition of above verses i.e. it has be fresh and good i.e. hygienic]…

40:79. Allah is He Who made the cattle for you that you may ride on some of them, and some of them you eat.

5:5. This day (all) good things are made lawful for you. And the food of those who have been given the Book [i.e. all religions which that can trace their source to a revealed Book] is lawful for you [barring the exceptions itemized in above verses] and your food is lawful for them [thus invite them to share your food, a needed step for brotherhood of mankind].

6:145. Say: I do not find in what is revealed to me anything forbidden for an eater to eat of, except if it is what dies of itself, or blood poured forth, or flesh of swine — for that surely is unclean — or what is a transgression, other than the name of Allah having been invoked on it [i.e. altar sacrifices].

– how you get married – Once again, will Shoebat have any problems with the following verse of Quran for members of his family who undergo marriage?

5:5. …And so are the chaste from among the believing women and the chaste from among those who have been given the Book before you, when you give them their dowries, taking (them) in marriage, not fornicating nor taking them for lovers in secret.

– how you deal with your government – Will any democracy in the world disagree with the following verses, but Shoebat?

42:38. and those who respond to their Lord and keep up prayer, and whose affairs are (decided) by counsel among themselves, and who spend (on good works) out of what We have given them;

[Footnote] Muslims are here enjoined as usual to observe prayer and to spend out of what Allah has given them, yet between these two injunctions, which always go together in the Quran, is placed a third: whose affairs are decided by counsel among themselves. At the early period when this verse was revealed, the Muslims had no important matters to decide for which they might have stood in need of counsel. The injunction is clearly meant to prepare them for transacting the momentous affairs of State and all matters connected with national weal or woe. All affairs of the Islamic state must be transacted by counsel. In this Islam has laid the basis of Government by parliaments, and the idea found a clear practical expression in the early days

22:41. Those who, if We establish them in the land [i.e. with a government], will … enjoin good and forbid evil…

58:9. O you who believe, when you confer together in private, do not give to each other counsel of sin and revolt and disobedience to the Messenger [i.e. the government], but give to each other counsel of goodness and observance of duty.

[Footnote] Secret counsels and secret societies are condemned, but private counsels to promote the cause of goodness and service of humanity are quite different from the subversive activities of secret societies.

58:11. O you who believe, when it is said to you, Make room in assemblies, make room. Allah will give you ample (room). And when it is said, Rise up, rise up [and thus follow the decorum of the forum]. Allah will exalt those of you who believe, and those who are given knowledge, to high ranks…

61:2. O you who believe, why do you [– including the formulators of the law, the office holders] say things which you do not do?
61:3. It is most hateful in the sight of Allah that you say things which you do not do.
61:4. Surely Allah loves those [in elected office] who fight in His way [for the rights of mankind] in ranks, as if they were a solid wall.

7:56. And do not make mischief in the earth after its reformation…[This verse is squarely aimed at both the government and governed]

7:85. …Clear proof indeed has come to you from your Lord, so give full measure and weight and do not diminish to people their things,

[Footnote] The injunction do not diminish to people their things stands for not depriving or defrauding people of their rights.

nor make mischief in the land after its reform.

– how you deal with your military – No democratically elected government with peaceful policies will disagree with what Quran has to say about military, but we are not sure as to where does Shoebat stand in the following verses:

4:200. O you who believe, be steadfast and try to excel in steadfastness and guard (the frontiers).

4:71. O you who believe, take your precautions, then go forth in detachments or go forth in a body.

4:94. O you who believe, when you go forth (to fight) in Allah’s way, make investigation, and do not say to anyone who offers you salutation, You are not a believer, … so make investigation…

8:38. Say to those who disbelieve, if they cease (fighting), what is past will be forgiven them; and if they return (to it), then the example of those of old has already gone.
8:39. And fight with them until there is no more persecution [– the very purpose of taking up arms],…

8:60. And make ready for them [– the aggressive enemy] whatever force you can and horses tied at the frontier, to frighten thereby … your enemy and others besides them, whom you do not know [– thus preventing a war rather than engaging in a preventive war]…
8:61. And if they incline to peace, you (must) incline to it also…
8:62. And if they intend to deceive you, then surely Allah is sufficient for you [i.e. peace to be preferred despite risk of deceit by enemy].

2:190. And fight in the way of Allah against those who fight against you [– i.e. enemy has to start the fight first] but do not be aggressive. Surely Allah does not love the aggressors.
2:191. And kill them wherever you find them [– the aggressors in actual war], and drive them out from where they drove you out, and persecution is worse than slaughter. And do not fight with them at the Sacred Mosque [– i.e. any place of worship] until they fight with you in it; so if they fight you (in it), kill them…
2:192. But if they cease, then [– so should Muslims, because] surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
2:193. And fight them until there is no persecution…But if they cease, then there should be no hostility except against the oppressors.
2:194. …Whoever then acts aggressively against you, inflict injury on him according to the injury he has inflicted on you…

– how you deal with the youth – Quran gives the example of Joseph as a youth with whom the youth of today can relate and learn from as a peer in age:

12:21. And the Egyptian [– Potiphar] who bought him [– Joseph, a slave] said to his wife: Make his stay honourable. Maybe he will be useful to us, or we may adopt him as a son. And thus We established Joseph in the land, and that We might teach him the interpretation of sayings. And Allah has full control over His affair, but most people do not know.
12:22. And when he attained his maturity, We gave him wisdom and knowledge. And thus do We reward the doers of good.

The above verse is aimed squarely at youth. One of the keys to success for youth to understand is that like Joseph, they too can benefit from the very Law of Quran i.e. when he attained his maturity, We gave him wisdom and knowledge. And thus do We reward the doers of good. In the narrative of Joseph, youth can find a workable example that they can follow and be assured of being bestowed with wisdom and knowledge through which they can develop insight into interpretation of sayings of all the sciences, arts and philosophy, both discovered and yet to be discovered. The education for the youth must be blended with spiritual and moral values. Such an amalgam of temporal knowledge and morality in turn creates means for an assured reward for the doers of good. To achieve the benedictions that were bestowed upon Joseph, the foremost requisite is that of preserving one’s chastity while resisting temptations. Such chaste endeavors can be an uphill task for an age when passions can run amok. This is brought to light in the following verses which clearly state that youth must constantly pray and seek guidance to avoid distractions of life and the impulsivity that accompanies a youthful mind. In Joseph, they have an example to be followed:

12:23. And she [– Potiphar’s wife] in whose house he was, sought to seduce him, and bolted the doors and said: Come. He said: Allah forbid! Surely my Lord made good my abode. The wrongdoers never prosper.
12:24. And certainly she desired him, and he would have desired her if he had not seen the clear evidence of his Lord. Thus (it was) that We might turn away from him evil and indecency. Surely he was one of Our chosen servants.

This does not show that Joseph had any desire for her, but that the temptation was so strong that, if he had not been strengthened by great faith in God, he would have fallen a prey to mortal weakness.

12:25. And they raced with one another to the door, and she tore his shirt from behind, and they met her husband at the door. She said: What is the penalty for one who intends evil to your wife, except imprisonment or a painful punishment?
12:26. He said: She sought to seduce me. And a witness of her own family bore witness: If his shirt is torn in front, she speaks the truth and he is a liar.
12:27. And if his shirt is torn from behind, she tells a lie and he is truthful.
12:28. So when he saw his shirt torn from behind, he said: Surely it is an intrigue of you women. Your intrigue is indeed great!
12:29. Joseph, turn aside from this. And (my wife), ask forgiveness for your sin. Surely you are one of the sinful.
12:30. And women in the city said: The chief’s wife seeks to seduce her slave. He has indeed affected her deeply with (his) love. Truly we see her in clear error.
12:31. So when she heard of their scheming, she sent for them and prepared for them a feast, and gave each of them a knife, and said (to Joseph): Come out to them. So when they saw him, they thought him great, and cut their hands (in amazement), and said: Holy Allah! This is not a mortal! This is but a noble angel.
12:32. She said: This is he about whom you blamed me. And certainly I sought to seduce him, but he was firm in self restraint. And if he does not do what I order him, he shall certainly be imprisoned, and he shall certainly be degraded.
12:33. He said: My Lord, the prison is dearer to me than that to which they invite me. And if You do not turn away their intrigue from me, I shall yearn towards them and be one of the ignorant.
12:34. So his Lord accepted his prayer and turned away their intrigue from him. Surely He is the Hearer, the Knower.
12:35. Then it occurred to them after they had seen the signs [of Joseph’s innocence*] that they should imprison him for a while.

The standards that Joseph sets for preservation of his chastity are worth their weight in gold – He said: My Lord, the prison is dearer to me than that to which they invite me. And if You do not turn away their intrigue from me, I shall yearn towards them and be one of the ignorant.

Lo and behold, Joseph prayed for his moral safety by preferring a prison over his freedom and he was placed therein, which to an unsuspecting is apparently a setback, while it is not:

12:36. And two youths entered the prison with him [i.e. Joseph].

It is with this gold standard of Joseph we witness that acquired wisdom and knowledge coupled with one’s chastity of youth in itself is a test that needs faith, patience and steadfastness. The test when passed has Divine awards awaiting, that we see in story of Joseph, when a slave rose to the highest office of chief treasurer in the land:

12:54. And the king said: Bring him [– Joseph] to me [from the prison], I will choose him for myself. So when he talked with him, he said: Surely you are in our presence today dignified, trusted.
12:55. He said: Place me (in authority) over the treasures of the land; surely I am a good keeper, knowing well [because of – We gave him wisdom and knowledge 12:22].
12:56. And thus did We give to Joseph power in the land — he had mastery in it wherever he liked. We bestow Our mercy on whom We please, and We do not waste the reward of the doers of good.
12:57. And certainly the reward of the Hereafter is better for those who believe and guard against evil.

Thus, when the youth acquire wisdom and knowledge while maintaining their chastity, are doer of good and constantly praying like Joseph for guidance, then by the Law in Quran the status of Joseph can be reached where – he had mastery in it wherever he liked. We bestow Our mercy on whom We please, and We do not waste the reward of the doers of good.

The narrative of Joseph is about the trials and tribulations of a youth at an individual level. Quran goes beyond and encourages the society for the marriages of youth who transition into adulthood to preserve their chastity:

24:32. And marry off those among you who are single (to spouses)…

4:6. And test the orphans until they reach the age of marriage.

[Footnote] These words show further that the guardian is not only responsible for the education of the wards but he is also required to examine them and see what progress they have made. According to Abu Hanifah, majority is attained at eighteen years, but if maturity of intellect is not attained at eighteen, the limit may be extended. These words, moreover, show that marriage should be performed at an age after a person has attained majority, not before it, for the age of marriage is spoken of as being the age of attaining majority.

Then if you find in them maturity of intellect, make over to them their property…

Marriage is the foremost institution for preservation and maintenance of one’s chastity that we see in the example of marriage of Mary:

3:42. And when the angels said: O Mary, surely Allah has chosen you and purified you and chosen you above the women of the world.
3:43. O Mary, be obedient to your Lord and humble yourself and bow down with those who bow.
3:44. This is among the tidings of things unseen which We reveal to you. And you were not with them when they cast their pens (to decide) which of them should have Mary in his charge [to arrange for her marriage], and you were not with them when they contended with one another.
3:45. When the angels said: O Mary, surely Allah gives you good news with a word from Him (of one) whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, worthy of regard in this world and the Hereafter, and one of those who are drawn near (to Allah),
3:46. and he will speak to the people [with wisdom] when in the cradle [i.e. in his youth] and when of old age, and (he will be) one of the good ones.
3:47. She said: My Lord, how can I have a son and man has not yet touched me [yet in marriage]?

The above verse 3:47 confirms the chaste thinking of Mary which makes her question the prophecy of birth of Jesus due to her unmarried state at that time. Her marriage arrangement is mentioned in verse 3:44 before.

– how you deal with the women – Since Shoebat is commenting from male centric view of the society, it needs to be seen if he has any problems with the following sampler verses of Quran:

4:34. Men are the maintainers of women [and head of household]…
2:228. …and men are a degree above them [i.e. they are head of household]

2:228. …And women have rights similar to those against them in a just manner [both in marriage and divorce]…

2:187. …They [– wives] are an apparel [– means of protection, comfort and even embellishment*] for you [– husbands] and you are an apparel for them.

30:21. And of His signs is this,that He created mates for you from yourselves that you might find quiet of mind in them, and He put between you love and compassion. Surely there are signs in this for a people who reflect.

4:4. And give women their dowries as a free gift [i.e. unasked]…

4:7. …and for women a share of what the parents and the near relatives leave, whether it is little or much — an appointed share.

2:240. And those of you who die and leave wives behind, should make a bequest in favour of their wives [in addition to the share of the deceased husband’s property which she inherits under 4:11*] of maintenance for a year without turning (them) out…

4:15. And as for those of your women who are guilty of an indecency, call to witness against them four (witnesses) from among you…
24:4. And those who accuse free women and do not bring four witnesses, flog them (with) eighty strokes and never accept their evidence, and these are the transgressors…

4:19. O you who believe, it is not lawful for you to take women as heritage against (their) will. Nor should you cause them hardship by taking part of what you have given them, unless they are guilty of manifest indecency. And treat them kindly. Then if you hate them, it may be that you dislike a thing while Allah has placed abundant good in it.
4:20. And if you wish to have (one) wife in the place of another [after divorce] and you have given one of them [– the former wife] a heap of gold, take nothing from it. Would you take it by slandering (her) and (doing her) manifest wrong?
4:21. And how can you take it when you have been intimate with each other and they have taken from you a strong covenant?

24:30. Say to the believing men that they lower their gaze [i.e. no gawking allowed] and restrain their sexual passions…

7:32. Say: Who has forbidden the adornment [i.e. jewellery, makeup, dress] of Allah, which He has brought forth for His servants, and the good provisions?

– every aspect of your life becomes Islam. Everything is Islam – At least the areas that Shoebat drew attention to in the above, and in the light of the corresponding verses that were outlined, how unfair it would be for the society if every aspect of “your life does not becomes Islam, and if Everything is not Islam!”

References:

Note: [text enclosed in square brackets above is not part of the original quoted sources]
[*] indicates insertion of excerpt of the footnote directly into the verse
Unless stated, all verses and corresponding footnotes above are from the translation and commentary of Holy Quran – Muhammad Ali, edited by Dr. Zahid Aziz.
Holy Quran – Nooruddin
Sermon on the Mount – New International Version, Bible Gateway
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat – Wikipedia
Long S – Wikipedia
Food and Drug Administration
United States Department of Agriculture

Issue 67 [@1:12:34]: Serge Trifkovic – Author, The Sword of the Prophet – “In Islam the separation between temporal, secular and religious power is not only impossible, it is heretical. Only in the complete blending of all aspects of human activity and all aspects of political and legal functions of the state can we have the Khalafat, the properly organized state that is pleasing to Allah.

Rebuttal 67: The issue of Khalafat raised by Trifkovic or for that matter any Muslim needs a clear understanding of its meanings and philosophy. According to Dictionary of the Holy Quran by Abdul Mannan Omar (p. 162-3) we find the following meanings of the roots of the said term – Khalafat:

Khalafa – To succeed, take the place of, be the agent, substitute of.
Khalîfah: Supreme chief; Successor; Religious head. Ibn Masûd and Ibn ‘Abbas explain this word as one who judges among or rules the creatures of God by his command. The word Khalîfah in 2:30 refers also to the children of Adam, i.e., the whole of mankind, the correctness of their view is corroborated by the Holy Qur’ân itself (6:165).

Khalafa(prf. 3rd p.m. Sing.): He succeeded, acted as a successor.
Khalîfatun (act. pic. n.): Vicegerent; Successor.
Khalâif (plu. of Khalîfatun): Successors.
Khulafâ’(plu. of Khalifatun): Successors.

With the above meanings of Khalafat in mind, lets turn our attention to Quran for the philosophy of Khalafat. Even though Quran draws some of its arguments from history, one must not dwell on Quran as a book of history, rather emphasis of Quran is on the philosophical and moral underpinnings which govern history. These underpinnings are to be understood for their implications in current events and expectations for the future. We start with narrative of Adam:

2:30. And (recall) when your Lord said to the angels, `I am (according to My usual practice) going to appoint a supreme religious head [– Arabic: Khalîfah] in the land (to convey My Message to human beings and to execute My will in the universe).’ They said, `Will You create (also) therein such (people) as will cause disorder in it and shed blood while we already glorify You with Your true praise and extol Your holiness.’ He (- God) answered, `I know that which you do not know.’

Thus, it becomes obvious from the above verse that man was the instrument of Khalafat of God and was to rule the earth despite his shortcomings e.g. – such (people) as will cause disorder in it and shed blood. Quran then answers in the following verse the natural question as to what was that bigger plan in `I know that which you do not know’ of God that made Him make the decision for the mankind as his vicegerent:

6:165. And He it is Who has made you successors (of others and rulers) of the land, and He has exalted some of you over the others in degrees (of rank) so that He may try you by that which He has given you. Surely, your Lord is Quick at retribution; and He is all the same, Great Protector, Ever Merciful.

The above verse lays in the open that the office of Khalafat or the ruler is none but an inherent trial by which He has given you. The same verse also forewarns the office holder that – your Lord is Quick at retribution, for any failure on the part of the successors. This trial may span one government like Hitler, a series of governments of Khulafâ-e-Rashideen, a dynasty like Ottomans, generations like House of Tudors, or a global colonial rule of European powers etc. etc.

While this interplay of the ruler and the ruled goes on in the earth, unless the rule is righteous in both temporal and moral planes, such a rule or Khalafat does not last. In order to fully contextualize the concept of Khalafat for the ‘experts’ of this documentary, it necessitates to explain with the examples of none but their own. One of such example is that of Pharaoh and Israelites that we will build upon till the present times and the expected moral outcomes into the future:

2:49. And (recall) when We delivered you [– the Israelites] from the people of Pharaoh who subjected you to the worst torment. They went on slaying your sons and sparing your women to make them immodest, and indeed that was a great ordeal from your Lord.

2:50. And when We parted the sea for you, and rescued you and drowned the people of Pharaoh, while you were beholding.

17:103. So he [– Pharaoh and his government] resolved to weaken them [– the Israelites] by humiliating them in and thus scare them out of the country [– Egypt]; but We drowned him [– Ramses II] and those with him [– Pharaoh’s army], one and all.

Thus, after centuries of servitude of Israelites and despite all their doubts about emancipation at the hands of Moses, they were settled in freedom for a chance to evolve as a nation abiding by Islam. Of note is that Israelities were factually the Muslim followers of Prophet Moses:

7:129. They (- the persons of superficial thinking of the Children of Israel) said, `We were persecuted before you came to us and (are being persecuted) even after you have come to us.’ (Moses) said, `It is well nigh that your Lord will destroy your enemy and make you rulers in the (promised) land and then He will see how you act.’

7:137. And We made the people who were deemed weak (and were oppressed) inherit the eastern and western parts of the (promised) land which We had blessed. Thus was fulfilled the most gracious word of your Lord in favour of the Children of Israel, for they had patiently persevered; and We annihilated all that Pharaoh and his people had wrought and what they had erected.

In the moral framework after the tyranny is removed, the subjugated former subjects get their chance to prove their worth to rule next:

2:47. O Children of Israel! remember My blessings which I bestowed upon you and that I exalted you above (your) contemporaries.

Quran further outlines the principle that the rule of the next successors or Khulafâ is held to the same same moral standards of reward and retribution by which their previous rulers were held to. This is brought to light in Abraham’s prayer for his progeny, that includes both future Israelites and Muslims:

2:124. (Recall) when his Lord put Abraham to test with certain commandments, so he carried them out. (God) said, `Verily, I will make you an Imâm (- a religious leader) for the good of the people.’ (Abraham) said (inquiringly), `And from among my progeny (too, do You promise to raise leaders)?’ (God) said, `(Yes, but) My (this) covenant does not embrace the wrongdoers.’

Abraham’s prayers bore fruit in the case of Israelites, the benedictions on whom started with Moses and continued till Solomon. Both Moses and Solomon and all the intervening Israelite prophets were Muslim prophets. The blessings of Khalafat ended with the Khulafâ of Solomon:

38:34. Behold! We tried Solomon (too) and We placed on his throne (of kingdom) a (mere) body [of his inept sons – Rehoboam and Jeroboam] (without any spirit or faith). Then he turned (to God seeking His mercy).

38:35. He [– Solomon] said (praying), `My Lord! grant me protection and bestow on me a kingdom that belongs to none (by inheritance) after me. You indeed are the Great Bestower.’

Prayers of Solomon only reflect the morality as outlined in God’s reply to Abraham in the verse 2:124 above. His prayers too prevailed when the kingdom of Israel went into disarray due to lack of moral fabric in the Khulafâ or the successors after him:

By the mere body that was put on his throne is meant either his son Rehoboam, who lost the allegiance of all except a single tribe of Israel (1 Kings 12:17), or Jeroboam, who led the revolt against the house of David, and, on becoming king of ten tribes, set up image-worship in Dan and Beth-el, the two calves being supposed to be images of Jehovah (1 Kings 12:28), and also began the worship of molten images (1 Kings 14:9). Thus both Rehoboam and Jeroboam answer the description of a body (without real life) thrown on Solomon’s throne. [excerpt from
the footnote to verse 38:35 – Translation and Commentary of Holy Quran by Muhammad Ali, ed. Zahid Aziz]

Now coming back to Khalafat, be it of Israelites who were originally Muslims under the Israeli Prophets, or Muslim followers of Prophet Muhammad, the prime determinant for successor-ship is their deeds of righteousness, the example of which in history is the rule of Abu-Bakr, Umar, Usman, Ali and the Muslims whom they ruled. This principle is outlined in the following verses:

24:55. Allâh has promised those of you who believe and do deeds of righteousness that surely, He will make them successors (vouchsafed with both spiritual and temporal leadership) on the earth as He made successors (from among) their predecessors [i.e. Israelites], and that He will surely establish for them their Faith which He has approved for them, and that He will surely replace their state of fear with a state of security and peace. They will worship Me (alone) and they will not associate anything with Me. And those who show ingratitude for all the favours done to them after that (His promise is fulfilled), it is they who will be reckoned as the worst disobedient.

24:56. And (believers!) observe the Prayer, keep on presenting the Zakât (purifying dues) and obey the Messenger that you may be shown mercy.

In the above verses it becomes plainly clear that a society has to believe and do deeds of righteousness FIRST, before He will make them successors (vouchsafed with both spiritual and temporal leadership) on the earth. Thus, according to Quran, the office of Khalafat is a logical outcome of a righteous living, both individually and collectively. As stated before, this principle we see in the natural attainment of governorship by Khulafâ-e-Rashideen, who started their humble path to steadfast righteousness while being persecuted in Makkah for no fault of theirs, then fleeing for their lives to Medina, and ended up ruling the Persian and Roman Empires, all within single lifetime. This is unlike Constantine and Christianity who tried to rule first and then hoped all along that they will be able to do deeds of righteousness, which they could not. Same situation we see in modern day Israel. They distorted Torah and promised themselves a land and the rule first and thereafter are now trying to be righteous by their own self-fulfilling standards within the same distortions of Torah and that too selfishly at the cost of others. In the moral laws of Quran, one cannot place the cart before the horse:

24:57. Think not (O reader!) that those who disbelieve [in the principles outlined in the preceding verses] can ever be able to frustrate (Our plan on the earth) and escape Us. Their abode is Fire; what an evil resort!

With the above meaning and philosophy of Khalafat in mind, lets re-read Trifkovic’s statement – “In Islam the separation between temporal, secular and religious power is not only impossible, it is heretical. Only in the complete blending of all aspects of human activity and all aspects of political and legal functions of the state can we have the Khalafat, the properly organized state that is pleasing to Allah.” Fact is that when the term of Khulafâ-e-Rashideen ended, there was a separation of temporal power and spiritual tracts in Islamic governments thereafter. Temporal power got concentrated in the apparent Khalifas, whereas, the spiritual power got its frequent revival from Mujaddids in Sunni tradition and Imams in Shia school of thought. As long as the revivalists of spiritual domain were able to influence the temporal aspect of the government, the governments remained strong and progressive. When the gulf widened between these two required aspects of Khalafat, then history bears witness to the decline of the temporal Khalafat, that finally ended with Ottomans. This all happened so because, irrespective of whether the claimants of Khalafat were Muslims, none can ever be able to frustrate (Our plan on the earth) and escape Us, the Law stated in the verse above.

Trifkovic cannot look farther than his own experience of the West who followed pagan religions for thousand of years (see Issue 64); whose invented God(s) have turned out to be less intelligent than man, hence their consequent rejection by the same West. Therefore, he cannot reconcile the possible blending of temporal, legal and spiritual structure of the society (see Issue 65) that we see in Quran. His knowledge about Quran and Islam is not based upon any critical and objective read, but his reading of Quran is based upon an entrenched blinding hate.

Now, with both Quran and Trifkovic in perspective and turning to our current times, we see that Israelites have been given another chance in modern day Israel by gathering them from various lands:

17:104. And We said after (it was all over with Pharaoh), to the Children of Israel, `Settle down occupying the (promised) land (of Palestine). When the time of fulfillment of the second Prophecy comes, We shall bring you back gathering you (from various lands) [after the fulfillment of the second Prophecy, see below 17:2-10].’

But, the standards of Quran remain the same for all the peoples and all times. The precondition for any rule to establish itself is stated in the next verse:

21:105. We have already stated in the Zabûr (Psalms – the Book of David) after (stating it in) the Reminder (-Torah) that My servants with right capacity (to rule) shall inherit the land.

We leave it to the experts of the documentary as to whether Israelites of our times have demonstrated the right capacity (to rule) and to inherit the land with fairness and justice or the world is already witnessing another making of the rule of Rehoboam and Jeroboam with added twist of pages borrowed from Nazism. Quran in its messages reminds us that be it the British Empire of the yore, or the sole super-power of the present or the super-power by proxy i.e. state of Israel, any rule is none but a trial by which He has given you. As a reminder to Israel from secular and moral history, Quran states:

17:4. And in the Scripture We have conveyed to the Children of Israel with certainty (saying), `Twice you shall create disorder in the land and shall surely become exceedingly overbearing and arrogant.’

17:5. So when (in 588 B.C. the time for) the first of the two warnings came, We roused against you, (O Children of Israel! some of) Our servants possessed of great valour and might in warfare, and they penetrated into the innermost recesses of your country and habitations. Indeed, it was a warning (about the punishment) of Allâh bound to be carried out.

17:6. Then We gave you back the power to prevail over these (enemies of yours through Cyrus and Zerubbabel), and We helped you with (various) possessions and sons and We increased your man-power (militarily).

17:7. (We said,) `If you did good, you did it for your ownselves, and if you did evil it was only to the same end.’ So when (the time for carrying out) the latter warning came (We raised certain other people – Romans under Titus in 70 A.D., against you to destroy your glory), so that they might do evil to (you and) your leading men and invade and enter the Mosque (at Jerusalem) [i.e. Solomon’s temple] in the same way as others (of your enemies) had invaded and entered it the first time, and so that they might destroy utterly all that they had conquered.

17:8. Still it is well-nigh that your Lord will again have mercy on you, (through Islam) but if you return (to mischief, We warn,) We too will return (to Our punishment), We have made Gehenna a prison-house for the ungrateful.

17:9. This Qur’ân, assuredly, guides to that which is most upright and gives to the believers, who do righteous deeds, the glad tidings that there awaits them a great reward,

17:10. And (also warns) that We have grievous punishment in store for those who do not believe in the Hereafter [and as a consequence, commit remorseless atrocities and usurp human dignity and fundamental rights of others].

Sadly, by any temporal, secular and moral standards, Israel was and is becoming more and more of exceedingly overbearing and arrogant towards Palestinians and its neighbors. Only time will validate the truthfulness of either the man written Torah or God revealed Quran in this living example of Israeli ‘Khalafat’ amongst our midst. Since they see no immediate retribution, it only makes them more arrogant:

6:158. Do they await only that the angels should come to them (with wars), or that (complete destruction from) your Lord should come (upon them), or that some of the signs of your Lord should visit them (with earthly calamities). The day when some of the signs of your Lord shall come, no soul, that did not believe earlier or accomplished some good deeds through (his) belief, will ever benefit by his faith. Say, `Wait, we too are waiting.’

If we have to predict the future of Israel through the lens of Quran based on former’s systematic and incessant immoral policies of hegemony, apartheid and ethnic cleansing, all we have to do is to re-quote one of the above verses:

17:103. So he [– Pharaoh before and Israel now] resolved to weaken them [– the Israelites before and Palestinians now] by humiliating them in and thus scare them out of the country [–Egypt before and Palestine now]; but [watch out] We drowned him [– Ramses II before] and those with him [– Pharaoh’s army], one and all.

There was no material way possible under heavens for Israelites to break away from the generations of humiliations and scare at the hands of the Pharaohs, but it happened. Even Pharaoh’s body testifies to these facts. Pharaoh did repent at the last moment, but it was too late as momentum had built up for the retribution for his tyranny:

10:83. None, however, but a few youths from among his people accepted Moses (while others held back), for fear of Pharaoh and their chiefs lest he should persecute them. And surely Pharaoh was ever a tyrant in the land and truthfully he was of those who committed excesses (and high-handedness).

10:84. And Moses said, `O my people! put your trust in Allâh, if you have (really) believed in Him (and) if you have (truly) submitted (to His will).’

10:85. Thereupon they said, `In Allâh alone do we put our trust. Our Lord! do not make us a target of persecution of the wrongdoing people.

10:86. `And deliver us by your mercy from (the evil designs of) the disbelieving people.’

10:87. And We spoke to Moses and his brother (Aaron saying), `You both should prepare lodging for your people (bringing them together from different parts of the country) in the central town (of Egypt) and make your houses so as to face one another [i.e. live in close proximity and develop a Muslim community] and perform worship.’ And (We also revealed to them to) proclaim good tidings (of success) to the believers.

10:88. And Moses said (praying and Aaron joined him in prayer), `Our Lord! You have given Pharaoh and his chiefs pomp and wealth in the present life with the result, Our Lord! that they lead people astray from Your path. Our Lord! destroy their wealth and attack their hearts, so that they believe not until they see the grievous punishment.’

10:89. (The Lord) said, `The prayer of you both has been accepted, so remain you two steadfast and follow not the way of those who do not know.’

10:90. And We brought the Children of Israel across the sea, and Pharaoh and his legion pursued them in wanton aggression and for no justified cause till when he (Pharaoh) was about to be drowned, he cried, `I (confess and) believe that there is no One worthy of worship but He in Whom the Children of Israel have believed in, and I am of those who submit (to Him).’

10:91. (The Lord) said, `What! (do you remember) now (while dying), whereas you had (always) disobeyed before (this), and you had been of the miscreants!

10:92. `So, on this day We will preserve you in your body (only) that you may be a sign (to learn a lesson from) for the coming generations, though most of the people are quite heedless of Our signs.’

In light of above set of verses, the natural question arises at to how different is the attitude of Israel towards Palestinians than the manner Pharaoh treated the Israelites? Israelis are doing what Pharaoh was doing to his helpless subjects. So, Mr. Trifkovic take heed with regards to the natural outcome of the prevailing Pharaoh like power and behavior of Israel in the Middle East. If Pharaoh could be annihilated then, so could any rule now. To Trifkovic we have this to say – `Wait, we too are waiting.’ (6:158)

References:

Note: [text enclosed in square brackets above is not part of the original quoted sources]
Dictionary of the Holy Quran – Abdul Mannan Omar
The Holy Quran – Nooruddin [all the above quoted verses]
Holy Quran – Muhammad Ali, edited by Dr. Zahid Aziz [excerpt from the footnote to verse 38:35]
Early Caliphate (pdf)[Khulafâ-e-Rashideen] – Muhammad Ali
Khilafat in Islam (pdf) – Maulvi Muhammed Ali, M.A., LL.B. p. 147, – Islamic Review and Muslim India, April 1920
The Khalifa Question and the Sultan of Turkey – 1 – Dr. G. W. Leitner – The Asiatic Quarterly Review, Jan-Apr 1896
The Destiny of Israel: Review of “Jerusalem in the Qur’an” – Imran N. Hosein, a review

Issue 66 [@1:11:52]: Robert Spencer – Director, JihadWatch.org – “Islam from its beginnings was both a religion and a system of government. For example, the Islamic calendar doesn’t base year one from the time that Muhammad was born or the time when Muhammad received his first revelation from God which I think are both what Westerners might expect. But from the time that Muhammad became the leader of an army and head of state in Medina. This is the beginning of the Islamic calendar because in Islamic understanding Islam is a political and social system as well as an individual faith.

Rebuttal 66: It is a totally meritless comment by Robert Spencer when he tries to create unfounded doubts in the audience by questioning the start of Hijri Calendar. If we take his line of argument, then will it be equally fair to state that – “ the Christian calendar doesn’t base year one from the time that Jesus was crucified or the time when Jesus was raised from the ‘dead’ which I think are both what non-Westerners might expect,” but instead starts from birth of Jesus i.e. Anno Domini (A.D.)?

Spencer side stepped the main crux of Islamic history. He falsely equates Islamic calendar to – “the time that Muhammad became the leader of an army and head of state in Medina.” What the readers need to know based upon facts of history is that Islamic calendar is more correctly called Hijra or Hijri Calendar. Hijra means migration which according to online Dictionary.com is defined as:

“the flight of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina to escape persecution a.d. 622: regarded as the beginning of the Muslim Era.”

Hijri calendar was adopted seven years after the death of Prophet Muhammad during the fourth year of reign of Caliph Umar, details of which could be read on Wikipedia.

Spencer is maliciously wrong when he states Islamic calendar started – “from the time that Muhammad became the leader of an army and head of state in Medina.” The facts are exactly opposite of what Spencer is misquoting. The year of Hijra was the lowest point of Islam, when it had no temporal power. The preceding thirteen years of incessant persecution of professors of one God reached to such a low ebb that the last of the Muslims in Makkah, namely Muhammad, Abu Bakr and Ali had to escape to Medina, if nothing else, to survive. Two previous emigrations of other Muslims to Ethiopia had proven insufficient for a nascent Muslim community to exist in their home town. The first two escaped in the night. Muhammad slipped out of his home in the darkness while his house was surrounded by a band of killers drawn from all the tribes of Makkah who were under oath to kill him simultaneously. Both, Muhammad and Abu-Bakr, to thwart the hunt by their pursuers initially escaped southward while Medina was towards north of Makkah. They hid in a cave for three nights, before they traveled north by a circuitous route to Medina. For what fault of theirs, were they to be killed? Can any figure in world history match Muhammad’s honesty and integrity, while he himself close to be murdered, instructed Ali to return people’s property that was in his safe keeping, before the latter too emigrates to Medina the next day? Can this documentary answer these simple questions?

The persecution did not end with emigration of Muslims to Medina. Thereafter, within a span of five years they were attacked three times by armed to the teeth Makkan armies with full support of neighboring tribes of Medina and the complicity of Jewish tribes within Medina. First time in 2nd year of emigration they had to defend themselves at Badr in which there were 1000 Makkans against 313 Medinites at a distance of 60 miles from Medina and 120 mile from Makkah. Second time in the 3rd year of migration, 3 miles from Medina, 700 Medinites faced 3000 Makkans. For the third time in the 5th year, while within Medina, 2000 Medinites faced more than 10,000 Makkans and their allies. Never were Makkans able to prevail over Medina.

Spencer is again wrong when he states “Muhammad became the leader of an army.” Never did Medina have a standing army during the life of Prophet Muhammad when the city was constantly under threat from Makkans. Medina defenses were only managed by the scramble of a rag-tag voluntary but self-sacrificing Muslims under Prophet Muhammad, a group whose sole basis of self-defense was their Quranic injunction:

4:75. And what reason have you not to fight in the way of Allah, and of the weak among the men and the women and the children,who say: Our Lord, take us out of this town, whose people are oppressors, and grant us from Yourself a friend, and grant us from Yourself a helper!

Never will Robert Spencer and his coattail followers ask the fundamental question as to what was that thing that made the Muslims bear inhuman torture at the hands of the Makkans for thirteen straight years after proclamation of prophethood by Muhammad, while they lived amongst their midst and then for another 8 years after their fleeing to Medina? What was that infallible truth for which the Muslims were willing to forgo their own lives, families, property and chose indignation and deprivation instead? Did Muhammad promise them any power or riches? Did any Muslim hurt any non-Muslim with a word of mouth or even a scratch of a skin while they themselves unflinchingly bore inhuman sufferings in Makkah? Why did they not spit on face of the Prophet or sell him for a few silver coins to get themselves out of their torments at the hands of their persecutors, while they had the example of the companions of Jesus before them?

The answer to above questions can be found within the words of Spencer himself – “because in Islamic understanding Islam is a political and social system as well as an individual faith.” Right from its inception, without any political, military or economic force behind him, Prophet Muhammad was able to invoke dignity and equality of man amongst his followers, who contrary to the prevailing norms were able to give freedom to women, rights to orphans, emancipation to slaves and charity to poor, while their own personal lives were filled with piety and humility and their examples are till this day a model of virtue for the humanity and shall remain so for centuries to come.

Even though the project at hand is a rebuttal to the misleading attacks and false allegation against Quran, Islam, Muhammad and history, the current opening given by Spencer provides and an opportunity to lay open as to what Islam stands for. Following is the online booklet by Muhammad Ali – “Islam – The Religion of Humanity” – (pub. 1928, rev. 1980, 1985, with Foreword by Lord Headley):

Contents
Publisher’s Note
Foreword to the Original Edition
1. Introduction
Significance of name.
New meaning introduced into religion.
2. Some Distinctive Features of Islam
Belief in all prophets.
Perfection of religion.
Unity of mankind.
An historical religion.
3. The Fundamental Principles of Islam
4. The Divine Being
Conception of God in Islam.
Existence of God.
Example of Holy Quran.
Unity of God.
5. Divine Revelation
Belief in prophets.
Perfection of revelation.
Continuance of lower forms.
6. Life after Death
is continuation of present life.
image of spiritual state in this life.
Infinite progress.
7. Significance of Belief
Belief in angels.
Belief as basis for action.
8. Principles of Action
9. Man’s Duties towards God
Prayer.
Fasting.
Pilgrimage.
Meaningful acts of worship.
10. Man’s Duties to Man
Brotherhood of Islam.
Rights of women.
The State.
Illustrations of Islamic rule.
Jihad.
Zakat and Charity.
11. Scope of Moral Teachings

References:
Holy Quran – Muhammad Ali, edited by Dr. Zahid Aziz.
Anno Domini – Wikipedi
Hijra – Dictionary.co
Hijri Year – Wikipedia
Islam – The Religion of Humanity – Muhammad Ali

Issue 65 [@1:11:34]: Serge Trifkovic – Author, The Sword of the Prophet – “It would be incorrect to describe Islam as primarily as let alone a religion. Since its early beginning in Muhammad’s lifetime it is also a geopolitical project, and a system of government, a political ideology if you will.”

Rebuttal 65: To a certain extent, Trifkovic is right, but obviously he came to government-ship a bit too late, a classical case of “too late the hero.” His expression of qualifying a religion to be a religion alone is an outcome of a clearly failed experiment of the West with Christianity, because Christianity was not a religion to begin with. It was paganism pure and simple, but force fed under the garb of a faith (Issue 64). It had to fail and it did fail. It was not able to uplift humanity which is the very purpose of a religion. Experience in the West of its growth is based on this very awareness of deception in the name of a religion, whence it had to shed Christianity to unleash its potential. This is exactly opposite with Muslim civilization that decayed after they shed Islam in its letter and spirit.

For Trifkovic, the standards of government are obviously as they are found in the West. Lets take his arguments and his smirks and apply them to his standards. If we regress Trifkovic’s statement – “geopolitical project, and a system of government, a political ideology,” its lowest common denominator is the law of the land, else without it a government does not take long to descend into anarchy.

The West after centuries of trials and errors was able to standardize its laws by written constitutions which act as the fountain head of all the laws of the land and provide framework for the government to govern and citizens to conduct themselves. Take for example, United States. Its Constitution was adopted on September 17, 1787.

Any law that is written or supposed has its day in the court of public opinion (trial and conviction of Anne Hutchinson) or in a court of law (United States Supreme Court – Dred Scott v. Sandford; Supreme Court of North Carolina – North Carolina v. Mann), each of which might not be factually a court of justice. But, for Islam the the ultimate court is that of God Himself. Man-made constitution is based upon laws that serve as principles. Whereas, in Quran it are the broad principles that make the basis of a law. In man-made constitutions, there is a top down approach where the law trickles from federation to states, from states to counties, cities and finally imposed upon the citizens. This process flow creates rulers and the ruled. On the other hand, in Islam, law and morality are tied at their hips and when followed, there is a ground swell of boon that bubbles up from individuals to neighborhoods, to towns, to counties, to states and finally the federation. In this approach, the higher the level of government, more the obligations, humility and accountability of the administrator. In man-made constitution the enforcement of law is by deterrence. On the contrary, due to God consciousness embedded in Quranic system the law abiding is from moral incentives. In the former case, a citizen needs a police whereas in the latter each citizen polices and audits oneself. In the former case, it needs lawyers to understand and law enforcement agencies to remind the law, while citizens could be totally ignorant of the law. Whereas, in the latter case each citizen is expected to read the law at least five time a day and be fully aware of the constitution – Quran. This mass awareness of law naturally flows into practice of law by king and subject alike. Again, in the latter case it is not too surprising that a common citizen might know the law more than the chief judge of the land. No wonder Quran states and Muslims believe:

5:50. …And who is better than Allah to judge for a people who are sure?

The purpose of the government according to Quran is that citizens of that system should live a life which at the minimum guarantees the very basics of life:

20:118. Surely it is granted to you that you are not hungry therein, nor naked,
20:119. and that you are not thirsty therein, nor exposed to the sun’s heat [i.e. assured of food, clothing and shelter while living a dignified life free of anxieties].

Below are some of the parallel “rights” between U.S. Constitution and Quran. Even though the Quranic verses below are stripped of their larger message to address the secular West, they still carry an over-encompassing spirit and guidelines that do not need amendments and trump any man-made constitution ever made for by their logic, fairness, wisdom, foresight and adaptability without compromising justice. It would had been more appropriate if we would had placed “Quranic Constitution” as the standard and then compared against it any man-made Constitution of the world, individually or collectively. This would had lay bare human weakness in a matter of a few articles or sections, but in order to accommodate this documentary we compromised and are using Unites States Constitution as a standard while comparing Quran against it:

Article – I: Sections 1-7 in general give the organizational frame work for formation and purpose of Congress. Sections 8-9 in general layout the functions of congress in concrete terms including its law making duties and funds management. A sub-clause under Section 8 gives the gist of the purpose of Congress – “To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.”

42:38. and those who respond to their Lord and keep up prayer, and whose affairs are (decided) by counsel among themselves, and who spend (on good works) out of what We have given them;

[Footnote] Muslims are here enjoined as usual to observe prayer and to spend out of what Allah has given them, yet between these two injunctions, which always go together in the Quran, is placed a third: whose affairs are decided by counsel among themselves. At the early period when this verse was revealed, the Muslims had no important matters to decide for which they might have stood in need of counsel. The injunction is clearly meant to prepare them for transacting the momentous affairs of State and all matters connected with national weal or woe. All affairs of the Islamic state must be transacted by counsel. In this Islam has laid the basis of Government by parliaments, and the idea found a clear practical expression in the early days

22:41. Those who, if We establish them in the land [i.e. with a government], will … enjoin good and forbid evil…

58:9. O you who believe, when you confer together in private, do not give to each other counsel of sin and revolt and disobedience to the Messenger [i.e. the government], but give to each other counsel of goodness and observance of duty.

[Footnote] Secret counsels and secret societies are condemned, but private counsels to promote the cause of goodness and service of humanity are quite different from the subversive activities of secret societies.

58:11. O you who believe, when it is said to you, Make room in assemblies, make room. Allah will give you ample (room). And when it is said, Rise up, rise up [and thus follow the decorum of the forum]. Allah will exalt those of you who believe, and those who are given knowledge, to high ranks…

61:2. O you who believe, why do you [– including the formulators of the law, the office holders] say things which you do not do?
61:3. It is most hateful in the sight of Allah that you say things which you do not do.
61:4. Surely Allah loves those [in elected office] who fight in His way [for the rights of mankind] in ranks, as if they were a solid wall.

Soon after the United States Constitution was adopted, it had to be urgently upgraded and amended. On December 15, 1791 the Constitution incorporated rights of its citizens that were overlooked at its inception. The first ten amendments I through X are also known as “Bill of Rights”, which are none but a reaction of the masses for the prevention of atrocities of British colonial rule. Whereas, Quran has Bills of Rights build into its fabric from its first revelation to the last. No wonder, within less than one generation, Islam abolished slavery, bestowed human rights, women rights, property rights, rights of inheritance, marital rights, racial equality, ethics of conflict, rules of business, justice system, taxation, social security system etc. etc.

Amendment I – Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

2:256. There is no compulsion in religion…

[Footnote]To all the allegations that the Holy Prophet preached Islam by the sword, this verse is a sufficient answer. Being assured of success, Muslims are told that when they hold power in their hands their guiding principle should be that there should be no compulsion in the matter of religion. The claim that this passage was directed only to the early converts and that it was abrogated later on is utterly baseless.

10:99. And if your Lord had pleased, all those who are in the earth would have believed, all of them. Will you then force people till they are believers?

[Footnote] Compare 2:256: “There is no compulsion in religion”. The reference is to the great zeal of the Holy Prophet and his over-exerting himself in preaching the Truth: “Then perhaps you will kill yourself with grief, sorrowing after them, if they do not believe in this announcement” (18:6). (Editor’s Note: The Quran tells us here that it is in the natural order of things that while some people believe, others do not, and no human being can or should apply compulsion to others in this regard.)

11:29. …Can we compel you to (accept) it [– Islam] while you dislike it?…

22:39. Permission (to fight) is given to those on whom war is made, because they are oppressed. And surely Allah is Able to assist them —
22:40. Those who are driven from their homes without a just cause except that they say: Our Lord is Allah. And if Allah did not repel some people by others [so that people can profess and practice their faith in freedom], surely cloisters and churches and synagogues, and mosques in which Allah’s name is much remembered, would have been pulled down.

4:148. Allah does not love the public utterance of hurtful speech,except by one who has been wronged…

[Footnote] The use of defamatory speech of every kind regarding others is strictly forbidden, but justification for it may exist in case a person has in some way been wronged.

22:30. …shun false words [–speech].

33:58. And those who malign believing men and believing women undeservedly, they bear the guilt of slander and manifest sin.

49:11. O you who believe, do not let a people laugh at (another) people, perhaps they may be better than they; nor let women (laugh) at women, perhaps they may be better than they. Neither find fault with one another, nor call one another by (offensive) nick-names. Evil is a bad name after faith; and whoever does not repent, these it is that are the wrongdoers.

[Footnote] This verse and those that follow deal with some of the evils which are most rampant in civilized society, and which corrupt a society to its core.

49:12. O you who believe, avoid most of suspicion, for surely suspicion in some cases is sin; and do not spy nor let some of you backbite others. Does one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You abhor it! …

Amendment II – A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

4:200. O you who believe, be steadfast and try to excel in steadfastness and guard (the frontiers).

4:71. O you who believe, take your precautions, then go forth in detachments or go forth in a body.

4:94. O you who believe, when you go forth (to fight) in Allah’s way, make investigation, and do not say to anyone who offers you salutation, You are not a believer, … so make investigation…

8:38. Say to those who disbelieve, if they cease (fighting), what is past will be forgiven them; and if they return (to it), then the example of those of old has already gone.
8:39. And fight with them until there is no more persecution [– the very purpose of taking up arms],…

2:193. And fight them until there is no persecution…But if they cease, then there should be no hostility except against the oppressors.
2:194. …Whoever then acts aggressively against you, inflict injury on him according to the injury he has inflicted on you…

Amendment III – No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

2:189. …And it is not righteousness that you enter houses by their backs, but he is righteous who keeps his duty. And go into houses by their doors;…

24:27. O you who believe, do not enter houses other than your own houses, until you have asked permission and greeted their inhabitants. This is better for you that you may be mindful.

[Footnote] The law revealed in this verse lays down the basis of domestic peace and security needed for an advanced society. It is also a preventive measure against slander. (Editor’s Note: This verse also supports the principle of having laws to safeguard the privacy of the individual within the home vis-à-vis the powers of the state authorities.)

24:28. But if you [– the individual or the government] find no one therein, do not enter them, until permission is given to you; and if it is said to you, Go back, then go back; this is purer for you.

Amendment IV – The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

7:56. And do not make mischief in the earth after its reformation…[This verse is squarely aimed at both the government and governed]

7:85. …Clear proof indeed has come to you from your Lord, so give full measure and weight and do not diminish to people their things,

[Footnote] The injunction do not diminish to people their things stands for not depriving or defrauding people of their rights.

nor make mischief in the land after its reform.

Amendment V – No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

49:6. O you who believe [i.e. a citizen or the government, prosecutor or the judge], if an unrighteous person brings you news, look carefully into it, in case you harm a people in ignorance [by your decisions and actions], then be sorry for what you did.

5:32. …whoever [– a person or a government] kills a person, unless it is for manslaughter or for mischief in the land, it is as though he had killed all mankind. And whoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved the lives of all mankind [thus saving innocent lives is mandatory for the sitting government]….

17:33. And do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden except for a just cause. And whoever is killed unjustly, We have indeed given to his heir authority — but let him not exceed the limit in killing. Surely he will be helped.

[Footnote] The words he will be helped indicate that as the state is bound to help him by bringing the murderer within reach of the law, the heir should not take the law into his own hands. This is called exceeding the limits.

Amendment VI – In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

2:42. And do not mix up truth with falsehood, nor hide the truth while you know [be it the investigator, prosecutor, judge or the accused].

4:58. Surely Allah commands you to make over trusts to those worthy of them, and that when you judge between people, you judge with justice.

[Footnote] Muslims, having been granted worldly rule, are here told to entrust the affairs of State to people who are worthy of this responsibility, while the authorities and judges so entrusted are required to judge with justice.

2:188. And do not swallow up your property among yourselves by false means, nor seek to gain access thereby to the judges, so that you may swallow up a part of the property of (other) people wrongfully while you know.

4:112. And whoever commits a fault or a sin,then accuses of it one innocent, he indeed takes upon himself the burden of a slander and a manifest sin.

4:135. O you who believe, be maintainers of justice, bearers of witness for Allah, even if it is against your own selves or (your) parents or near relatives — whether he is rich or poor, Allah has a better right over them both. So do not follow (your) low desires, that you deviate…

5:8. O you who believe, be upright for Allah, bearers of witness with justice; and do not let hatred [and prejudices] of a people incite you not to act equitably. Be just; that is nearer to observance of duty.

6:152. And do not approach the property of the orphan except in the best manner, until he attains his maturity. And give full measure and weight with equity — We do not impose on any soul a duty beyond its ability. And when you speak, be just, even (against) a relative.

[Footnote] Islam requires a person to be so upright as not to be led away by the ties of relationship. Truth is not to be sacrificed to any interest but every interest must be sacrificed to truth.

24:4. And those who accuse free women and do not bring four witnesses, flog them (with) eighty strokes and never accept their evidence, and these are the transgressors —
24:5. except those who afterwards repent and act aright;…

38:21. Have you heard the news of the adversaries (of David) who scaled the rampart of the fortress (to take David unawares in his chamber)?
38:22. When they intruded upon David and (found that) he had become alert (on account of) them, they said, (by way of an excuse,) `Have no fear. We are two parties litigants. One of us has transgressed against the other, therefore judge between us as justice demands, and delay not (by giving the date of decision,) and guide us (in our litigation) to the fair way.
38:23. `(The case of the litigation is that,) this is my brother. He has ninety nine ewes while I have one ewe; still he says, “Make it over to me,” and he has been prevailing by his arguments upon me.’
38:24. (David) said, `He has certainly been unjust to you in demanding your ewe (to be added) to his own ewes. And surely many partners transgress against one another except those who believe (in God) and do deeds of righteousness. Yet how few are these!’ (While saying this) David realised that We had tried him, therefore he sought protection of his Lord and fell down bowing in worship and turned (to his Lord) in repentance.[Nooruddin]

38:26. (We said,) `O David! verily We have made you the ruler in this land. So rule among the people according to (the tenants of) justice, and do not follow their vain desires, (for if you do) it will lead you astray from the path leading to Allâh. Behold! a severe punishment awaits those who go astray from Allâh’s way, because they have forgotten the Day of Reckoning. [Nooruddin]

42:41. And whoever defends himself after his being oppressed, these it is against whom there is no way (of blame) [of acting in self defense].
42:42. The way (of blame) is only against those who oppress people and revolt in the earth unjustly. For such there is a painful punishment.
42:43. And whoever is patient and forgives — that surely is an affair of great resolution.

Amendment VII – In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

4:59. O you who believe, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority from among you; then if you quarrel about anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger [i.e. Department of Justice], if you believe in Allah and the Last Day.

[Footnote] This verse lays down three important rules in matters relating to the welfare of the Muslim community and to affairs of State. These are obedience to God and His Messenger in the first place; secondly, obedience to those in authority from among the Muslims; and thirdly, referring matters to God and His Messenger in cases of dispute with those in authority. God and His Messenger are thus the final authority. It is especially in matters religious that differences would arise, in which case it would be necessary to refer the matter to God and His Messenger; in other words to the Quran and Hadith. In case of Muslims living under non-Muslim authority, Islam requires them to abide by the laws of the land.

This is best and more suitable to (achieve) the end.

Amendment VIII – Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

2:178. O you who believe, retaliation is prescribed for you in the matter of the slain: the free for the free, and the slave for the slave, and the female for the female.

[Footnote] The Jewish law of retaliation is greatly modified in Islam, being limited only to cases of murder, while among the Jews it extended to all cases of grievous hurt. The words retaliation is prescribed for you in the matter of the slain mean that the murderer should be put to death. The pre-Islamic Arabs used in certain cases to insist, when the person killed was of noble descent, upon the execution of others besides the murderer. The Quran abolished this custom.

But if remission is made to one by his (aggrieved) brother, prosecution (for blood-money) should be according to usage, and payment to him in a good manner.

[Footnote] There may be circumstances which alleviate the guilt. In such cases the murderer may be made to pay a fine to the relatives of the murdered person. Such money is called diyat or blood-money. A comparison with 4:92 makes it clear that when homicide is not intentional, blood-money may be paid.

This is an alleviation from your Lord and a mercy.

2:194. …Whoever then acts aggressively against you, inflict injury on him according to the injury he has inflicted on you and keep your duty to Allah, and know that Allah is with those who keep their duty.

6:160. … whoever brings an evil deed, will be recompensed only with the like of it, and they shall not be wronged. [This is the standard of justified recompense. Punishment must not be “cruel and unusual”]

5:2. …And do not let hatred of a people — because they hindered you from the Sacred Mosque — incite you to transgress.

[Footnote] The principle laid down here requires from Muslims equal treatment for all nations, for those whom we hate as well as for those whom we love. Only this principle of Islam can serve as the basis for an international code for the modern world and an international law.

And help one another in righteousness and piety, and do not help one another in sin and aggression, and keep your duty to Allah.

[Footnote] Editor’s Note: Muslims ought only to cooperate with one another in matters of goodness, and are forbidden to help each other in wrongdoing against others. This injunction prohibits the evils of blind patriotism and unconditional support for one’s own people even when they commit injustices against others.

Amendment IX – The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

In spirit of the Amendment IX, countless verses touching upon various aspects of rights and obligations of individuals, society, singles, married, widowed, divorced, young, old, men, women, parent, child, racial and gender equality, creeds, ruler, ruled, orphans, incapacitated, rich, poor, victor, captive, judge, judged, contracting parties, witnesses, aggressor, aggrieved, war, peace, environment etc. etc. can be quoted in secular terms, but following is just a sampler of rights not enumerated in the United States Constitution nor of its individual States, which must be protected by any secular standards:

2:228. …And women have rights similar to those against them in a just manner [in the matter of divorce]…

2:240. And those of you who die and leave wives behind, should make a bequest in favour of their wives of maintenance for a year without turning (them) out.

[Footnote] What the widow obtains under this verse is in addition to the share of the deceased husband’s property which she inherits under 4:11. It is plainly stated in 4:12 that anything to be paid under a will shall have precedence of the division of the property into shares under that verse.

2:241. And for divorced women, provision (must be made) in kindness. This is incumbent on those who have regard for duty.

[Footnote] This provision is in addition to the dowry which must be paid to them. Just as in the previous verse the widow is given an additional benefit, here a provision in addition to her dowry is recommended for divorced woman. This shows how liberal are the injunctions of the Quran regarding women.

2:282: …O you who believe, when you contract a debt for a fixed time, write it down. And let a scribe write it down between you with fairness; nor should the scribe refuse to write as Allah has taught him, so let him write. And let him who owes the debt dictate, and he should observe his duty to Allah, his Lord, and not diminish anything from it. But if he who owes the debt is unsound in understanding or weak, or (if) he is not able to dictate himself, let his guardian dictate with fairness…

4:1. O people, keep your duty to your Lord, Who created you from a single being and created its mate of the same (kind),

[Footnote] …The words “Who created you from a single being and created its mate of the same” only declare the unity of the human race and the equality of the male and the female. Elsewhere we are told that for all of you wives are created from yourselves: “And Allah has made wives for you from among yourselves” (16:72).

and spread from these two many men and women.

[Footnote] “Many men and women” spring from married pairs. The verse does not necessarily refer to any parent pair of the whole of mankind. It reminds people of the strength of the ties of relationship, an idea mentioned in what follows.

4:2 And give to orphans their property, and do not substitute worthless (things) for (their) good (ones), nor devour their property (adding) to your own property. This is surely a great sin.

[Footnote] The care of the orphan was one of the earliest injunctions that Islam gave, and the Prophet had always shown a deep anxiety for the welfare of the poor and the orphans; see 2:220 and 90:15–16. The subject is here introduced in detail because of the number of orphans having been greatly increased by the war.

4:4. And give women their dowries as a free gift. But if they of themselves are pleased to give you a portion from it, consume it with enjoyment and pleasure.

[Footnote] It is obligatory in Islam that a “dowry” or nuptial gift should be given by the husband to the wife at the time of marriage, whether she is a free woman, an orphan girl, or a prisoner of war. So every woman begins her married life as the owner of some property, and thus marriage is the means of raising her status. The practice has, however, become more or less general to recognize dowry as a debt which the husband owes to the wife and which she can claim when she likes.

4:5. And do not make over your property, which Allah has made a (means of) support for you,

[Footnote] By your property is meant the property of the orphans which is under your control as guardians. This verse requires guardianship in the case of all who are weak of understanding, whether minors or not. While on the one hand the Quran lays stress on the transitoriness of this life, on the other it teaches that wealth is not a thing to be despised or wasted, because it is the means of support.

to the weak of understanding, and maintain them out of it, and clothe them and give them a good education.

[Footnote] The words “give them a good education” are generally rendered as meaning “speak to them good words”, but the word qaul (speak) is used to express all kinds of deeds. After referring to the maintenance and clothing of the orphans in a befitting manner, the Quran now calls attention to another great need of theirs which is education. From the first revelation, Islam laid stress on knowledge, read and write (96:1–5) being its very first message, and the Prophet spoke of the acquisition of knowledge as being as great a need of humanity as the acquisition of wealth. It is the education of orphans that the Quran refers to here, and the next verse which enjoins guardians to “test” their wards makes it clear.

4:6. And test the orphans until they reach the age of marriage.

[Footnote] These words show further that the guardian is not only responsible for the education of the wards but he is also required to examine them and see what progress they have made. According to Abu Hanifah, majority is attained at eighteen years, but if maturity of intellect is not attained at eighteen, the limit may be extended. These words, moreover, show that marriage should be performed at an age after a person has attained majority, not before it, for the age of marriage is spoken of as being the age of attaining majority.

Then if you find in them maturity of intellect, make over to them their property, and do not consume it extravagantly and hastily against their growing up. And whoever is rich, let him abstain, and whoever is poor let him consume reasonably.d

[Footnote] These words allow payment of reasonable wages to the manager of a ward’s estate out of the ward’s property if the manager is not a rich man.

And when you make over to them their property, call witnesses in their presence.

4:29. O you who believe, do not swallow up your property among yourselves by false means except that it be trading by your mutual consent.

[Footnote] All illegal methods of acquiring property are forbidden. Only the seeking of gain from one another by trading by mutual consent is allowed. The passage is particularly directed to guard women’s right to property, because it was women’s and orphans’ property that was generally swallowed up unjustly.

And do not kill your people.

[Footnote] This forbids the killing of anfusa-kum, which means your people or yourselves. In the first case, the significance is that life must also be protected; in the second case, it is an injunction against suicide which according to the law of Islam is a grave sin. (Editor’s Note: This injunction also forbids sending “your people” on suicide missions to their certain death.)

4:32. And do not hanker after what Allah has given some of you above others. For men is the benefit of what they earn. And for women is the benefit of what they earn.

4:34. Men are the maintainers of women, with what Allah has given some of them above others and with what they spend out of their wealth.

4:35. And if you fear a breach between the two, appoint an arbiter from his people and an arbiter from her people. If they both desire agreement [and want to avoid a divorce], Allah will effect harmony between them…

4:36. …be good to the parents and to the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the neighbour of (your) kin and the alien neighbour,and the companion in a journey and the traveller and those whom your right hands possess [i.e. under your trust].

4:75. And what reason have you [–the individual and the government] not to fight in the way of Allah, and of the weak among the men and the women and the children,who say: Our Lord, take us out of this town, whose people are oppressors, and grant us from Yourself a friend, and grant us from Yourself a helper!

5:06. O you who believe, call to witness between you, when death draws near to one of you, at the time of making the will, two just persons from among you, or two others from among others than you [i.e. non-Muslims as well], if you are travelling in the land and the calamity of death befalls you.

6:152. And do not approach the property of the orphan except in the best manner,

[Footnote] That is, unless you do it with the object of improving it or making it profitable. Wages of the guardian may be paid from it, for which see 4:6.

until he attains his maturity. And give full measure and weight with equity — We do not impose on any soul a duty beyond its ability. And when you speak, be just, even (against) a relative…

[Footnote] Islam requires a person to be so upright as not to be led away by the ties of relationship. Truth is not to be sacrificed to any interest but every interest must be sacrificed to truth.

11:85. …give full measure and weight justly, and do not defraud people of their things, nor act corruptly in the land, making mischief.

16:90. Surely Allah commands (the doing of ) justice and the doing of good (to others) and the giving to the near of kin, and He forbids indecency and evil and rebellion. He instructs you that you may be mindful.

[Footnote] This verse deals with the different degrees of goodness and evil. The lowest form of goodness is justice or returning good for good, and includes not only justice proper but also the fulfilment of all duties and obligations. A higher degree of goodness is, however, that which is called ihsan, or goodness proper, the doing of good without having received any benefit. The last stage of goodness is that in which a person’s nature is so inclined to good that he does good to all people as an ordinary man does good to his own near of kin. In fact, he looks upon the whole of humanity as his kindred. Similarly, this verse deals with the three degrees of evil: the merest indecency which may not affect the rights of others, evil actions which affect the rights of other individuals, and oppression or rebellion affecting the rights of large numbers, nations or states.

16:92. …You make your oaths to be means of deceit between you because (one) nation is more numerous than (another) nation.

[Footnote] Faithfulness to covenants is here stressed and, from the covenant with God, the subject is diverted to covenants between people. Attention is drawn in the words, you make your oaths to be means of deceit between you, to the conditions generally prevailing in the world, to the breach of covenants between nations, which is ruining the stability of human society.

16:94. And do not make your oaths a means of deceit between you, so that a foot should slip after its stability, and you should taste evil because you hinder (people)…

17:23. And your Lord has decreed that you … do good to parents. If either or both of them reach old age with you, say no word to them showing annoyance, nor rebuke them, and speak to them a generous word.
17:24. And make yourself gentle to them with humility out of mercy, and say: My Lord, have mercy on them, as they brought me up (when I was) little.

25:68. …nor slay the soul which Allah has forbidden, except in the cause of justice,…

41:10. And He made in it mountains above its surface, and He placed blessings in it and ordained in it its foods, in four periods; alike for (all) seekers.

[Footnote] The meaning is that the foods which are made in the earth are equally accessible to all seekers (human beings as well as animals of all kinds).

42:37. and those who shun the great sins and indecencies, and whenever they are angry they forgive;
42:38. and those who respond to their Lord and keep up prayer, and whose affairs are (decided) by counsel among themselves, and who spend (on good works) out of what We have given them;
42:39. and those who, when great wrong afflicts them, defend themselves.
42:40. And the recompense of evil is punishment like it; but whoever forgives and brings about reform, his reward is with Allah. Surely He does not love the wrongdoers.

[Footnote] Punishment must be proportionate to the evil committed, a very just and necessary restriction. Forgiveness here is not neglected, nor preached in such a manner as to make it impracticable. There is in Islam neither the one extreme of an eye for an eye nor the opposite one of turning the other cheek. It teaches the golden and beautiful mean that forgiveness may be exercised, if forgiveness will mend the matter and do good to the wrongdoer himself. The object to be kept in view is to bring about reform, whether it is attained by giving proportionate punishment or by exercising forgiveness.

Amendment X – The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Subsequently, Amendments 11-27 were ratified between February 7, 1795 – May 7, 1992. Any keen reader will at once notice that it was not before Amendment XIII was ratified in 1865 that slavery was banned. Similarly, Amendment XV in 1869 granted rights to vote irrespective of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Still, it took 5 more decades for Amendment XIX in 1920 that allowed women to vote. One may ask as to why it took almost a century for the Super-Power-to-be to realize slavery among its midst and right of all races to vote and about century and a half for women to vote. Were these issues not a requirement of “Bills of Rights” or were they just merely an afterthought or the lame excuses of “Oops! I forgot?” and “The dog ate my homework?”

With the above comparisons, it is obvious that any rational mind will naturally seek Quran for individual and societal growth, whether they read and follow it directly or stumble on some parallel but limited logic and call it a Constitution or Bill of Rights. In either case, it is Quran which is triumphant when it states:

30:30. So set yourself for religion, being upright, the nature made by Allah in which He has created mankind. There is no altering Allah’s creation. That is the right religion — but most people do not know.

[Footnote] Islam according to this verse is the natural religion of mankind, or a religion to the truth of which human nature bears testimony. Its fundamental principles, the Unity and all-comprehensive providence of Allah, the universality of Divine revelation, and the accountability for all actions in a life after death, are recognized by all religions and all nations, and their universal acceptance is a clear evidence that it is the very nature of man that bears testimony to their truth. Islam removes all limitations upon these three fundamental doctrines of the religion of humanity, and gives them as wide a significance as humanity itself. The other fundamental principle of the natural religion of man is mentioned in v. 38.

30:38. So give to the near of kin his due, and to the needy and the traveller. This is best for those who desire Allah’s pleasure, and these it is who are successful.

[Footnote] Charity to fellow man is the practical outcome of the doctrine of the brotherhood of humanity, which is one of the two principles of the natural religion of mankind.

30:39. And whatever you lay out at usury, so that it may increase through the property of (other) people, it does not increase with Allah; and whatever you give in charity, desiring Allah’s pleasure — these will get manifold.

[Footnote] This verse lays stress upon the doctrine of charity to one’s fellowman. It says that some people seek to increase their wealth by means of getting interest on money, i.e., they seek an increase of their wealth at the expense of other people’s property; but that a Muslim should seek an increase of his wealth by giving it, for the sake of Allah, to help his fellow-man.

While rebutting this documentary, one has to be mindful of the following verses for oneself:

2:40. O Children of Israel, call to mind My favour which I bestowed on you and be faithful to (your) covenant with Me, I shall fulfil (My) covenant with you; and Me, Me alone, should you fear.
2:41. And believe in what I have revealed, verifying what is (already) with you, and do not be the first to deny it; nor take a small price for My messages; and keep your duty to Me, Me alone.
2:42. And do not mix up truth with falsehood, nor hide the truth while you know.
2:43. And keep up prayer and give the due charity and bow down with those who bow down.
2:44. Do you tell people to be good and neglect your own souls while you read the Book? Have you then no sense?
2:45. And seek assistance through patience and prayer, and this is hard except for the humble ones,
2:46. who know that they will meet their Lord and that to Him they will return.

Will the makers of the documentary self-reflect in light of above verses?

References:

Note: [text enclosed in square brackets above is not part of the original quoted sources]
Unless stated, all verses and corresponding footnotes above are from the translation and commentary of Holy Quran – Muhammad Ali, edited by Dr. Zahid Aziz.
Holy Quran – Nooruddin

U.S. Constitution – Charters of Freedom
Bill of Rights – Charters of Freedom
Anne Hutchinson – Wikipedia
United States Supreme Court – Dred Scott v. Sandford – Wikipedia
Supreme Court of North Carolina – North Carolina v. Mann – Wikipedia

Issue 64 [@1:10:10]: Abdullah Al-Araby – Director, The Pen vs. The Sword Publications – “Islam has to be known as more than a religion. The idea that Islam is spiritual religion like for instance Christianity is completely incorrect.”

Rebuttal 64: Al-Araby is right on the money when he states that “The idea that Islam is spiritual religion like for instance Christianity is completely incorrect.” Factually what he is telling us is that Islam is unlike the Pauline Christianity. How true and one cannot agree with him more. Al-Araby’s statement begets getting to know Christian basis of its spirituality a bit more closely.

Pauline Christian story is a very brief one: Adam committed a sin which committed his whole race to eternal perdition, but God the Father loved man so much that He sent His Only Begotten Son to redeem it. If we denude all the Christian sermons of spirituality, of every speaker in Christian history and every book written in the Christian world of those trappings, there will remain about two lines only to sum up Al-Araby’s whole religion. He may himself realize that such a story may be pleasing to infant ears, but yet incapable of inspiring any intelligent listener.

Official Christianity has been found to emanate from the cult of Mithraism, and not from the religion of Jesus. Paying attention to Christian doctrine would be an insult to intelligence. The Christians themselves have realized that the Church story of Christianity, from beginning to end, was only a faithful reproduction of the stories of several pagan gods; that the original narrative of Jesus was purposely lost sight of by the Early Church Fathers, who portrayed the Lord of Christianity purely from the pagan point of view; that they depicted him as the last of the generation of Pagan Christs – Nimrod/Baal, Heru Sa Aset and Bast – twins born of Aset i.e. Isis, Mithras, Horus, Attis, Dionysus the son of Zeus, Osiris(Egypt)/Adonis(Syria)/Tammuz(Babylon), Hercules, Perseus, Helios, Bacchus, Apollo, Jupiter, Hermes, Orpheus, Sol Invictus – (The “Unconquered Sun”), barring a few, of whom were reported to have been born of a Virgin on Christmas night that they all came, in their respective periods of history, to redeem the condemned human race by their blood, and willingly went to the Cross or were killed on the Friday afternoon immediately preceding Easter Sunday. It has also been established that all these pagan gods were buried and remained for two days in the grave; they rose again on the Easter Sunday morning and ascended to heaven afterwards, with a promise of a second coming in the latter days; and that the pagans used to participate in meals on Sunday in commemoration of their crucified god, believing that they ate his blood and flesh.

An excerpt from “The Myth and Ritual of Attis” by Sir James George Frazer (1854–1941), in his book The Golden Bough – pub. 1922, describes the pagan Easter of Attis in Phyrgia – But when night had fallen, the sorrow of the worshippers was turned to joy. For suddenly a light shone in the darkness: the tomb was opened: the god had risen from the dead; and as the priest touched the lips of the weeping mourners with balm, he softly whispered in their ears the glad tidings of salvation. The resurrection of the god was hailed by his disciples as a promise that they too would issue triumphant from the corruption of the grave. On the morrow, the twenty-fifth day of March, which was reckoned the vernal equinox, the divine resurrection was celebrated with a wild outburst of glee. At Rome, and probably elsewhere, the celebration took the form of a carnival. It was the Festival of Joy (Hilaria).

As if one Easter of Attis is not enough, we have the another from a Goddess as well:

Easter:
April was called Ostermonath—the month of the Ost-end wind (wind from the east). Easter is therefore the April feast, which lasted eight days. Our Easter Sunday must be between March 21st and April 25th. It is regulated by the paschal moon, or first full moon between the vernal equinox and fourteen days afterwards. (Teutonic, ostara; Anglo-Saxon, eastre.)
Easter. The Saxon goddess of the east, whose festival was held in the spring.
[E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898]

It has also come to light that, thousands of years before the birth of Jesus, the Egyptians used to worship the Cross on Easter Sunday as a sign of the new Lord, and ate eggs and hot-cross buns, like the Catholics of to-day, at the season when their Lord, they believed, used to give new life to the earth. These are the beliefs of the Church.

Easter or Pasch eggs, are symbolical of creation, or the re-creation of spring. The practice of presenting eggs to our friends at Easter is Magian or Persian, and bears allusion to the mundane egg, for which Ormuzd and Ahriman were to contend till the consummation of all things. It prevailed not only with the Persians, but also among the Jews, Egyptians, and Hindus. Christians adopted the custom to symbolise the resurrection, and they colour the eggs red in allusion to the blood of their redemption. There is a tradition, also, that the world was “hatched” or created at Easter-tide – “Bless, Lord, we beseech thee, this Thy creature of eggs, that it may become a wholesome sustenance to Thy faithful servants, eating it in thankfulness to Thee, on account of the resurrection of our Lord.”—Pope Paul V: Ritual. [E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898]

Besides Easter and Christmas, the pagans celebrated all the festivals which are now observed by the Romish Church. Most of the pagan gods, it is proved, had twelve disciples, and they were destroyed by one of their number. The various names given to Jesus were also the names of those pagan gods. To their great discomfiture, churchgoers have discovered that the cathedrals of the Roman Church are only a replica of buildings consecrated to the worship of Apollo, the Sun-god. The Holy water, the vestry, the position of the altar facing east, the choirs, the acolytes, the monks and the nuns with tonsures in commemoration of the Sun’s disc all come from the same Church of Apollo. It has also been established that Sunday was not God’s day but the Roman Dies Solis, the day reserved for the worship of the Sun-god. It was to serve his political ends that Constantine placed Jesus on the altar of Apollo, in the fourth century, while retaining every other vestige of pagan worship, and incorporating it into the Church of Jesus, if nothing else, the Sun is prominently displayed on east side of Arch of Constantine and his coins show Sun-god till 324 AD, while he converted in 312 AD. Last of all, and not the least, it has been found that Jesus was not born on the 25th..It was the birthday of the Sun as popularly of December, but believed in pagan circles. Churchgoers have now found out that they have for centuries been not worshipping Jesus, but the Sun; and the respectable orthodox Christian now thinks himself justified if he spends his Sundays in golf, baseball, or any other sport instead of attending Divine worship. Can a man with any sense of self-respect go to receive Holy Communion on Ash Wednesday or any Sunday if he feels that all the rites of the Sacrament are the same as those observed by the pagans in commemoration of their respective deities who were wrongly believed to have given their lives to save humanity?

Sacrament:
1. Literally, “a military oath” taken by the Roman soldiers not to desert their standard, turn their back on the enemy, or abandon their general. We also, in the sacrament of baptism, take a military oath “to fight manfully under the banner of Christ.” The early Christians used the word to signify “a sacred mystery,” and hence its application to the Baptism and Eucharist, and in the Roman Catholic Church to marriage, confirmation, etc.
2. The five sacraments are Confirmation, Penance, Orders, Matrimony, and Extreme Unction. (See Thirty-nine Articles, Article xxxv.)
3. The seven sacraments are Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Penance, Orders, Matrimony, and Extreme Unction.
4. The two sacraments of the Protestant Church are Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
[E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898]

Even the very word Church has pagan roots – Church comes from the Anglo-Saxon root word “circe,” and stems from the Greek name of the goddess “Circe,” the daughter of “Helios,” the Roman Sun-god adopted from Greek mythology. Linked to this goddess in Celtic pagan worship is the name “Kirce.” From her name comes the word “kirch” which pertained to the building dedicated to pagan Celtic worship and rituals. The Greek word “kuriakon” was used for the building or “house of Kurios (Lord).”

The modern apologists in Christianity try to rearrange history so as to appeal to human intelligence e.g.

**”We know of an ablution in the ritual of Eleusis; the laurel-wreath oration of Demosthenes speaks of purificatory ablutions in the mystery of Sabazius; the cult of Attis had its taurobolium, and the mystery of Isis knew a sanctifying baptismal bath, as did the mysteries of Dionysus and of Mithras. Upon mature consideration modern scholarship has rejected the ideas that such rites exerted an influence on the baptismal doctrine of the New Testament,” [Hugo Rahner, The Christian Mystery and the Pagan Mysteries, section 3, in The Mysteries; Papers from the Eranos Yearbooks, edited by Joseph Campbell]

Whereas, Tertullian, the second century Christian author and theologian from Carthage, admits the Christian baptism same as in pre-Christian pagans:

**”[Non-Christians] ascribe to their idols the imbuing of waters with the self-same efficacy [of purification]. … For washing is the channel through which they are initiated into some sacred rites–of some notorious Isis or Mithras…Moreover, by carrying water around, and sprinkling it, they everywhere expiate country-seats, houses, temples, and whole cities: at all events, at the Apollinarian and Eleusinian games they are baptized; and they presume that the effect of their doing that is their regeneration and the remission of the penalties due to their perjuries….Among the ancients, again, whoever had defiled himself with murder, was wont to go in quest of purifying waters.” – i.e. Washing away sin! [Tertullian, On Baptism, Ch 5.]

Mysteriously, Mysteries in Christianity are no different than the pagans mysteries. Why?

**It was the common belief in Athens that whoever had been taught the Mysteries [at Eleusis] would, when he died, be deemed worthy of divine glory. Hence all were eager for initiation. [Scholiast on Aristophanes The Frogs, 158]

** It looks as if those also who established rites of initiation [into the mysteries] for us were no fools, but that there is a hidden meaning in their teaching when it says that whoever arrives uninitiated in Hades will lie in mud, but the purified and initiated when he arrives there will dwell with gods. [Plato, ‘Phaedo, 69 c]

**”The keys of hell and the guarantee of salvation [of Osiris followers]were in the hands of the goddess, and the initiation ceremony itself a kind of voluntary death and salvation through divine grace.” [Apuleius, Metamorphosis, Book 11, 21]

**”It is very hard not to see extensive and basic similarities between these [mystery] religions and the Christian Religion. But somehow Christian scholars have managed not to see it, and this, one must suspect, for dogmatic reasons….” Richard Reitzenstein and Wilhelm Bousset were two scholars who did manage to grasp the relevance of these ancient faiths for the study of early Christianity. Their conclusion was a simple and seemingly inevitable one: Once it reached Hellenistic soil, the story of Jesus attracted to itself a number of mythic motifs that were common to the syncretic religious mood of the era. Indeed, as people familiar with the other Mystery Religions came to embrace the Christian savior, it would have been practically impossible for them not to have clothed him in all the accoutrements of his fellow Kyrioi.” [Robert Price, Deconstructing Jesus, Chapter 3, 2000]

Justin Martyr, the early second century Christian apologist, was forced to admit that the so-called Christian rites had existed among the pagans centuries before Jesus. Justin was asked by the then Emperor of Rome to explain why he should embrace Christianity and give up his ancestors’ faith if the various articles of his own faith in the Mithraic Dispensation were the same as those in the new cult called after the name of Christ. Mithra, the Emperor thought, was the origin of Christ. Justin could not deny the fact.

**”When we say that the Word, who is the first-birth of God, was produced without sexual union, and that He, Jesus Christ, our Teacher, was crucified and died, and rose again, and ascended into heaven, we propound nothing different from what you believe regarding those whom you esteem sons of Jupiter.” [Justin Martyr, First Apology, 21]

His explanation, however, is very interesting, as we read in his Apologia. He said that centuries before, Satan went to the higher regions in heaven and overheard angels rejoicing over the appearance of Jesus Christ in the days to come. Satan thus came to be acquainted with all the features of the story of the coming Christ, and he, being the arch-enemy of truth, tried, therefore, to confound it with falsehood. He visited numerous countries, from Persia to England, and all those that surrounded the birthplace of Jesus, and introduced cults each of which had the same story of its god as is now told of Jesus by the Church. Justin Martyr had to invent the reason behind the prevailing customs, rituals and beliefs of the pagans of the time by attributing it to the “advance planning” by the Devil:

**”The devils, accordingly, when they heard these prophetic words, said that Bacchus was the son of Jupiter, and …having been torn in pieces, he ascended into heaven.” [Justin Martyr, First Apology, 54]

**“And the devils, indeed, having heard this washing published by the prophet, instigated those who enter their temples, and are about to approach them with libations and burnt-offerings, also to sprinkle themselves; and they cause them [the pagans] also to wash themselves entirely, as they depart [from the sacrifice], before they enter into the shrines in which their images are set.” [Justin Martyr, First Apology, Ch 62]

Though the ingenious story of Justin could not convince the Emperor, it nevertheless explained the difficulties attaching to the new faith to its followers, and was accepted as the truth by Constantine for purely political reasons.

The simple religion of Jesus, which was no other than the religion of Moses with certain minor modifications, became completely Romanized to suit the tastes of the Gentiles. If these facts have now come to light and are fully established, the desertion of the Church by its former votaries in the West is but a natural sequence. Formal Christianity has collapsed. Its days are numbered. Its adherents have become divided into innumerable new sects Spiritualism, New Thought, Christian Science, and the like – each of whom has all but denied the teachings of the Church and has adopted beliefs which, generally speaking, are of Islamic origin.

Al-Araby must be aware of this pagan story. The Church asserts that the Mystery Cult in different forms of Paganism was a deception and that, the Lord of Christianity came to destroy it and uproot the falsehood from the world for ever. We Muslims do admit that Jesus, as a true Messenger of God, did come to destroy falsehood. He preached against it when he laid emphasis on obedience to the laws of God. His teachings were diametrically opposed to the pagan religion of the Sacrament, which dispensed with the Law and promised absolution from punishment for disobedience thereto of all who believed and participated in the Sacred Feasts. In fact, the chief feature of Paganism was participation in the Sacred Feasts, e.g.:

**”There was usually the meal of mystic foods – grains of all sorts at Eleusis, bread and water in the cult of Mithra, wine (Dionysus), milk and honey (Attis), raw bull’s flesh in the Orphic Dionysus-Zagreus cult.” [Paganism, in The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XI]

**”The lectisternium [i.e. sacred meal] of Ceres will be on the next Ides, for the gods have couches; and that they may be able to lie on softer cushions, the pillows are shaken up when they have been pressed down.” [3d century AD, Against the Heathen , Book 7.32]

**”he was intercepted and killed,” and his murderers, “chopped his members up into pieces and…devoured them.” An event which his worshipers celebrate in “recurring sacred rites celebrated every two years,” in which, “They tear a live bull with their teeth, representing the cruel banquet [at which the God was eaten.]” [Firmicus Maternus, The Error of the Pagan Religions, Ch 6.2.] Firmicus Maternus was a Latin writer during reign of Constantine.

But Jesus demanded the fulfilment of the Law. The teachings of Jesus thus stood poles apart from Paganism, which summed up the religions of the Gentiles (non-Israeli people). Jesus really came to demolish it, but the coming generation of his followers, with the author of the Pauline literature at their head, who decidedly was not St. Paul but some Greek Father in the Church, succumbed to the wishes of the Gentiles, who hated the religion of the Law and its observance. Epicurean (happiness based upon materialism, e.g. involving an appreciation of fine food and drink) as many of the Gentiles were in all their ways, they could not abide by the strict laws of the Mosaic Dispensation, as Jesus exhorted his followers to do. They believed in a cult that cleansed them of all sin by simple belief. They followed a persuasion which gave them, as it were, a blank cheque on any bank of evil and indecency, while saving their skin from the punishment which would otherwise be incurred. They preferred to place all responsibility on the shoulders of another. Pagan ingenuity had grasped the situation and found the solution of the problem in the cult of mystery under which various virgins gave birth to gods who died on Good Fridays to relieve people from the burden of sin. Mithra, Apollo, Baal, Adonis, Horus, Osiris, Bacchus, Quetzacoatl, were the various incarnations of those virgin-born sun-gods. We read of Bacchus that sages approached Jupiter and solicited him to ward off the destruction that must fall on humanity in order to punish them for their sins. Jupiter promised to do so. He descended to the earth in a cloud which enveloped a virgin, who at once became pregnant of a god-child. The god-child was born on the 25th of December and received the name of Bacchus. Virgin birth was the pervasive theme of the day. Any discussion about religion could not proceed without a virgin birth:

**virgin birth from head of Zeus (aka Jupiter): “The devils…craftily feigned that Minerva was the daughter of Jupiter not by sexual union.” [Justin Martyr, First Apology, 64]

**virgin birth of Attis: “a daughter of the river Sangarius, they say, took of the fruit and laid it in her bosom, when it at once disappeared, but she was with child. A boy was born, and exposed, but was tended by a he-goat.” [Pausanias, Description of Greece 7.17.9-11]. Pausanias was 2nd century Greek traveler and geographer.

**virgin births of pagan Gods: “We [Christians] are not the only persons who have recourse to miraculous narratives of this kind [– of virgin birth of Jesus].” [Origen, Against Celsus 1, 37]. Origen was 2nd century Christian Alexandrian theologian.

Justin Martyr admits to the fact of virgin births before Christ whose virgin birth stands as the core doctrine of Christianity:

**virgin birth of Jesus: “He [– Jesus] was born of a virgin, accept this in common with what you believe of Perseus”– son of Danae who was impregnated by Zeus [Justin Martyr, First Apology, 22]

When the new god, Bacchus, grew older he proclaimed that he had come to deliver humanity and redeem it from punishment through his blood. It was Bacchus [aka Dionysus], and not Jesus, who for the first time said that he was “the Alpha and the Omega of the world” and would give his life to regenerate the human race, of which he also said that he was the Redeemer and Deliverer. He died on Friday and rose again on Easter Sunday and ascended to heaven. There is only one point of difference between the pagan gods and Christ. While the other redeemers of humanity willingly went to suffer death for mankind, since they had come to earth for this very purpose, Jesus Christ wished to evade the cup which he had to drink. He did not want to be crucified and would have been absent from the scene at Calvary if he could have done so. But he was in the clutches of implacable foes and was forced to drink the cup to the dregs. He came to the Cross with a heart full of sorrow. As the Bible says : “Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death: tarry ye here and watch with me. And he went a little farther and fell on his face, and prayed, saying. O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt” (Matthew 26:38-39). The italics [emphasis added] in the above show rather a forced consent than a willing one – a heart compelled to resign itself to fate, when no alternative is left, rather than a heart that welcomes the work which the Father has given him to finish. This alone is sufficient to falsify the supposed scheme of God to save the human race. As a matter of fact, no sooner had Jesus descended alive from the Cross and recovered than he left Judea for good.

Jesus Christ by “disappearing” at the very beginnings of his ministry when he was only thirty-three year of age could not have left behind the full spiritual and moral structure of a religion. No wonder, the burden was left on his followers to “fill in the blanks” of code, ethics and rituals to make a religion. Yes, they did it with their pagan beliefs and practices. They not only resurrected Jesus, but erected a new pagan creed not much different from the prevailing ones in the geography and cultures. Pagan mind attracts pagan beliefs, and mix that with strategic needs of Constantine, Christianity came to being. Soon thereafter, the altar priesthood transmuted into state power of papacy and full hierarchical superstructure of a religion with all its its trappings of supernaturals, brain washing under the threat of ostracizing and witch burnings got hold of not only the souls but also the bodies of its adherents. It was this symbiotic relationship of Chruch and State, that the next frontier of colonization and enslavement of the world went unchecked despite its amorality. Christianity persists in the midst of the masses not for its its truth, but the inherent needs of human mind that will lull into anything in the name of easy salvation from the unknown of the future which exists beyond horizon of life. Christianity is sold as an insurance without a policy behind it.

It is true that all the pagan deities were creatures of imagination, while Jesus was a real personality. But all we know of any man depends on the character which is his; otherwise all people, for practical purposes, are imaginary beings. It is a man’s character which gives him individuality. Millions and trillions of people come and go in each generation. They pass unnoticed, and no one remembers them after they have gone. They are taken as denizens of an imaginary world. But if they possess some distinctive character they are treated by the generations to come as actual men. Even persons created by the poetical imagination to personify the types of character have come to be regarded almost as real characters and receive more attention from us than do those who have actually existed. Ulysses, Macbeth, and Shylock, for instance, have become in a sense historic and have a greater claim to our notice than tens of thousands of Dicks, Toms, and Harrys of every time and clime. Character, then, is the factor which confers immortality on mortal men. As Jesus had been to, some extent clothed in the garb of mythology, his historical existence has been denied by many learned savants in the West. If we strip him of the garments filched from the pagan cupboard, he cannot claim to be an historical character. The same may be said of the Jesus of the Gospels, which are admittedly not genuine in origin. Muslims, however, are bound to accept him as a real entity because the Holy Qur’an speaks of him as a prophet; otherwise we see no reason why a Muslim should believe in his existence at all. Under these circumstances, we are bound to divest him of all pagan disguise and give him the character accorded to him by the Muslim scriptures. With any critical read, one cannot understand why we should revere Jesus as he is represented by the Church, when all that is told of him has been rightly traced to mythology.

The best that can be said of the matter is that the theory of Redemption, as taught by official Christianity, was very much to the taste of pagans, who would prefer to see their god carrying their sins and relieving them of the bother of being righteous. It is true that every man is an easygoing person. He wishes to be free from hardship and tries to get as much enjoyment out of life as possible without doing anything; while righteousness is uphill work. Man would not attempt it, as the Holy Qur’an says, if he could get the same result by going downhill (90:11). All dirty things are easily come by. It is not strange, therefore, if pagan ingenuity devised a scheme of redemption that helped a man to save his skin and dodge the hardship of righteousness. But God’s ways are unchangeable, and He has proposed a different method by which we are to achieve success and happiness in this life. It is not a soft bed for us to lie on, but a thorny path for us to tread, if we are to reach the goal. Every one of us must bear his own cross while no one bears the burden that is another’s. It is hard living that brings prosperity. This truth was revealed to us in the following mighty words of the Qur’an : “That no bearer of a burden shall bear the burden of another. And that man shall have nothing but what he strives for. And that his striving shall soon be seen. Then shall he be rewarded with the fullest reward” (53 . 3841). Again the Book says : “Whoever goes aright, for his own soul does he go aright; and whoever goes astray, to its detriment only does he go astray; nor can the bearer of a burden bear the burden of another” (17:15).

This statement is in accordance with the laws of Nature and strikes at the very root of the doctrine of Atonement which finds no parallel in the whole working of the Universe. This life of ours is admittedly of brief duration. If God has, been pleased to send hardships and trials as necessary concomitants to happiness and success, how could He allow happiness to be acquired by mere belief in salvation by the Blood of Christ, or by participation in the Sacrament?

When Al-Araby states, “Islam has to be known as more than a religion,” he must realize that his Christianity is not even a religion, but merely paganism in the garb of a religion. Next time if Al-Araby tries to lay exclusive claim to spirituality by uttering:

**“one God, in heaven, whose Son, born of a virgin, came to earth as a man, was baptized, performed miracles, established a holy meal for his followers, died, rose again on the third day for the salvation of mankind, remember the Pagan origin of each of these myths and rituals.”

All we will say to Al-Araby above is that his Christianity is nothing but a new car with old parts borrowed from pagan spirituality of the yore. We have heard it all before – Dionysus was identified with the lamb, and called King of Kings, Only Begotten Son, Savior, Redeemer, Sin bearer, Anointed One, the Alpha and Omega.

John Crossan brings to light the bigotry of the experts like Al-Araby:

**“Augustus came from a miraculous conception by the divine and human conjunction of [the God] Apollo and [his mother] Atia. How does the historian respond to that story? Are there any who take it literally?… That divergence raises an ethical problem for me. Either all such divine conceptions, from Alexander to Augusts and from the Christ to the Buddha, should be accepted literally and miraculously or all of them should be accepted metaphorically and theologically. It is not morally acceptable to say…our story is truth but yours is myth; ours is history but yours is a lie. It is even less morally acceptable to say that indirectly and covertly by manufacturing defensive or protective strategies that apply only to one’s own story.” [John Dominic Crossan, The Birth of Christianity, 1998, pg 28 – 29.]

Al-Araby will claim all the merit-less spirituality in the universe for his Christianity while denying it to others, Islam in particular, on the sole pretext – our story is truth but yours is myth; ours is history but yours is a lie.

As to what makes Islam an all encompassing religion, will be addressed by subsequent issues in this section of the documentary where it is trying to malign Islam, but all in vain.

References:
The body of above narrative is excerpted and adapted from – Islam and Christianity, by Khwaja Kamal-ud-din, p. 1-10.
All the **indented quotes are taken from various sections of – Pagan Origins of Christ Myth
Pauline Christianity – Wikipedia
Mithraic mysteries – Wikipedia
Dying-and-rising deity – Wikipedia
The Saviour-God and the Virgin-Mother – Pagan & Christian Creeds, Their Origin and Meanings – Edward Carpenter
The Mystery of the Pagan Origin of Christmas (Jesus was not born on December 25th, but a whole bunch of pagan Gods were) – Unexplained Mysteries of the World
How to be a “True Christian” – The Zephyr
The Myth and Ritual of Attis – Sir James Geroge Frazer
The Golden Bough – A Study in Magic and Religion – Sir James George Frazer
Dictionary of Phrase and Fable – E. Cobham Brewer
Easter Egg – Encyclopaedia Britannica
Easter Eggs – Dictionary of Phrase and Fable E. Cobham Brewer
Hot Cross Buns – Earth Witchery
Jesus Reincarnation Index – Near Death Experience
Jesus Christ in comparative mythology – Wikipedia
‘Jesus’ may be the name of a Pagan God – Yhvh.name
Some Pagan Items adopted by Christians – Seiyaku
Bassae – Wikipedia
Oracular Procedure – Wikipedia
Vestal Virgin – Wikipedia
Tonsure – Seiyaku
How the Godman is Made and Remade – From Apollo to Jesus Christ – Super-synthesis – Jesus Never Existed
Sun-Day Worship Terms – Assembly of True Israel
Sol Invictus – Wikipedia
Origins of our day name – Seiyaku
Solar deity – Wikipedia
Arch of Constantine – Wikipedia
Coins of Constantine – Wikipedia
Sacrament – Dictionary of Phrase and Fable E. Cobham Brewer
Tertullian – Wikipedia
Syncretism – Wikipedia
Kurios (Kyrios) – Wikipedia
Justin Martyr – Wikipedia
First Apology of Justin Martyr – Wikipedia
Solar Myths and Christian Festivals – Pagan & Christian Creeds, Their Origin and Meanings – Edward Carpenter
Lectisternium – Wikipedia
Julius Firmicus Maternus – Wikipedia
Gentiles – Wikipedia
Epicureanism – Wikipedia
Minerva – Wikipedia
Perseus – Wikipedia
Pausania (geographer) – Wikipedia
Origen – Wikipedia
Contra Celsum – Wikipedia
Dionysus – Wikipedia
John Dominic Crossan – Wikipedia

Issue 63 [@1:07:43]: Video clip of a TV broadcast is shown as prelude to the statement by Bat Ye’or:

CNN Anchor [Jim Clancy] – “Is what we are witnessing today is clash of civilizations? We ask that of a noted Palestinian scholar and professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, Dr. Edward Said.”

Edward Said – “No, I don’t think so. I think the whole thesis is a bit of a false one. Because in the first place the civilizations are little packages that are completely detached from each other. They are all connected in one way or another. And, Western civilization has many elements of Islamic, Confucian, Latin American and others…”

Bat Ye’or, Author, Islam and Dhimmitude: “Where Civilizations Collide – The basis of and prophet of this new version of Islam as religion of peace and tolerance was Edward Said, who established in all universities and academia this Islamic version of peace. [Edward Said is shown without voice, continuing his argument above, essentially to imprint in the minds of the audience the face of Edward Said]. On this basis, the whole history of dhimmitude and jihad disappeared.”

Robert Spencer – “Edward Said who in his book Orientalism [Book cover of “Orientalism – Edward Said” is projected on the screen] posited that criticism of the Islamic world on the part of Westerners is racist and imperialist. It is spread in order to spread political points. [Photo of book projected, subtitled: Dr. Edward Said, Ph.D., 1935 – 2003]. To accustom Westerners, to the idea that Muslims are here to stay in the United States and that they must not be questioned in terms of their loyalty to the secular framework of the Western society, to the United States and Europe as well. That they must not be questioned in this despite Islam’s historical, political character because Islam is a religion of peace. And, this fiction has become so much entrenched in American public discourse as to be practically beyond question. Such, that anybody who does question it is immediately branded as racist, hatemonger, a bigot and this is a very effective tool in a country where racism is the cardinal sin above all to silence any effective debate of continuing attachment of Muslim immigrants to Shariah Law and their intentions towards secular systems that they now reside.”

Rebuttal 63: Islam is a religion of peace. Period! Anyone who thinks otherwise is grossly mistaken. A reader who has reached this far in the rebuttal of this documentary must have read enough of quotations from Quran, Sunnah, Hadith and history by now to judge for themselves that Islam literally and figuratively means peace within a person and the society, between individuals and nations, between races and cultures. Islam as a moral code brings peace between one’s soul and God by removing bigotry, rancor and hate. The purpose of Islam is to achieve peace:

89:27. (As for the person who has been blessed with a contented and peaceful mind He will say to him,) `O you soul at peace!

7:56. And do not create disorder in the land after the fair ordering thereof and call on Him with fear (of His displeasure) and with hope (of His mercy). Surely the mercy of Allâh is always close to the doers of good to others.[Nooruddin]

The current segment of the documentary, like rest of it, reeks of bigotry. An undated and non-contextualized interview of Edward Said is shown. Fundamental question is that while late Dr. Edward Said is making an argument, why is his argument cut short?

Audience can judge for themselves when Bat Ye’or states – “The basis of and prophet of this new version of Islam as religion of peace and tolerance was Edward Said, who established in all universities and academia this Islamic version of peace.” This one sentence gives away the whole facade of the documentary. Edward Said was an academic and intellectual, to dismay of Ye’or, a Jerusalem born and American raised. He was born to Protestant Christian parents, confirmed as Anglican and lived as a cosmopolitan secularist. His arguments for finding tolerance and peace in Islam are based upon analysis of a critical and fair mind which does not need label of a religion.

Before and now the documentary is taking a different tack of reverse psychology on its unwitting audience to evoke racial hatred against Muslims in the West in general and United States in particular . It tries to eject racial equality that West has taken centuries to achieve both in letter and spirit of its culture and its law and instead infuse a venomous distrust and doubts about Muslims in the minds. It also deliberately ignores the fact that a significant number of Muslims in America are native born and majority of them are non-Whites for whose rights Dr. Martin Luther King was martyred –

Reverse psychology is a technique involving the advocacy of a belief or behavior that is opposite to the one desired, with the expectation that this approach will encourage the subject of the persuasion to do what actually is desired: the opposite of what is suggested. This technique relies on the psychological phenomenon of reactance, in which a person has a negative emotional response in reaction to being persuaded, and thus chooses the option which is being advocated against.

Examples in Popular Culture – Classic examples of reverse psychology in popular culture include a large, bright red button with a sign next to it saying “do not push”, or a sign saying “jump at your own risk”, such as in the computer game Neverhood, where a large drain is accompanied by signs that say “Do not jump in!” and “You will die!”, although jumping in the pipe is the only way to achieve game over in the whole game without finishing it. [excerpt from Wikipedia]

As is obvious by the statements of its so called experts, the documentary also uses another trick and that is Pavlovian conditioning i.e. couple the terrorist acts in the world with Islam so much that next terrorist act automatically makes one think of Islam as the cause before any other reason could be found or even if the investigation proves otherwise –

Conditioning is usually done by pairing the two stimuli, as in Pavlov’s classic experiments. Pavlov presented dogs with a ringing bell (conditioned stimulus) followed by food (unconditioned stimulus). The food (unconditioned stimulus) elicited salivation (unconditioned response), and after repeated bell-food pairings the bell also caused the dogs to salivate (conditioned response). [Wikipedia]

Both the experts are lamenting, Ye’or for her invented history of dhimmitude and jihad disappearing in face of facts and logic and Spencer for why is it ineffective and not okay to cast Muslims in America through the lens of racial hate and prejudice. Whether it is through the efforts of late Dr. Edward Said or others, the fact is that:

34:48. Say: Surely my Lord casts the Truth, the great Knower of the unseen.
34:49. Say: The Truth has come, and falsehood neither originates, nor reproduces.

Robert Spencer, Bat Ye’or, Serge Trifkovic, Abdullah Al-Araby, Walid Shoebat and the producers of the documentary must be wondering as to why their deceit does not work in the long run. Answer is in Quran:

21:18. Indeed, We hurl the Truth against falsehood, so it knocks out its brains, and lo! it vanishes. And woe to you for what you describe! [Muhammad Ali, ed. Zahid Aziz]

This concludes the section of the documentary focused on “Deceit” (Issues 53 to the present Issue 63). While falsely trying to inject deceit attributed to Islam into the minds of the audience, the documentary itself has factually relied on deceit as its main weapon. Obviously they have taken a page out modus operandi of intelligence agencies – “By Way Of Deception, Thou Shalt Do War.” – Proverb 24:6, a translation by Victor Ostrosky. [Wikipedia]

References:

Edward Said – Wikipedia
Edward Said: Secular Protestant – Books & Culture, a Christian Review
Reverse Psychology – Wikipedia
Classical Conditioning – Wikipedia
‘By Way of Deception’ by Victor Ostrosky – Wikipedia
Holy Quran – Nooruddin
Holy Quran – Muhammad Ali, edited by Zahid Aziz