Thursday 28 May 2009

Was Muhammad against Slavery?

Muhammad didn’t come to abolish it, at the contrary, he contributed to its development


A Muslim said “If we look at another close friend and companion to Muhammad, Billal, we see the same thing. Billal was an African, black slave who was later freed and accepted Islam, joining the prophet. Billal was the first person to perform the call to prayer, a ritual that is still practiced today.”

Reply (by Ali Sina): Before I tell you about Muhammad’s haughtiness and his disdain for lowly people, let me debunk your claim that he was against slavery. Muhammad was never against slavery. Zeid was his adopted (SLAVE) son. Both Muhammad’s sons, Qasim and Abd al Menaf (named after idol Menaf) died at infancy. An Arab without a son was a man with no honor. As added humiliation he had four daughters. In fact Muhammad thought it is denigrating to have daughters and an insult to attribute daughters to Allah. “What! For you the males and for Him the females! This indeed is an unjust division!” He wrote in the Qur’an, 53:19-22. That is why he adopted Zeid as his son. This was out of expedience and for status and not out of goodness of his heart. Later, when he lusted after Zeid’s wife Zeinab, he made his Allah reveal a verse to annul the institution of adoption and said, I am not the father of any of your men. (Q. 33:40)

The claim that Muhammad was against slavery is preposterous. Muhammad raided town after town and after killing unarmed men took as slaves their children and their wives in such numbers that one day when Aisha broke her oath she manumitted forty of them in expiation. You can imagine how many slaves did she have to manumit forty in one go and how many slaves other wives of Muhammad inherited and how many the rest of marauding Muslims received as their shares of the booty? Tens of thousands of free people were reduced to slavery by Muhammad and his followers. All the slaves brought to America were purchased from Muslim slave makers. Slavery has not ended yet among Muslims and it will be back if Muslims become the majority again. So take your charade that Muhammad “just came short of abolishing slavery” elsewhere. That brute was the biggest slave maker and slave trader of history.

IHS

The human origin of Muhammad’s legislation and teachings, Part IV

How Muhammad practised Shirk

Continues from Part III

Islam – The religion of submitting to Muhammad

In light of the foregoing it should not come as surprise to discover that the Qur’an teaches that Islam is actually the religion of fully surrendering or submitting to Allah and Muhammad:

But nay, by thy Lord, they will not believe (in truth) until they make thee judge of what is in dispute between them and find within themselves no dislike of that which thou decidest,
and submit with full submission
. S. 4:65 Pickthall

As one source puts it: (But nay, by your lord) Allah swore by Himself and by the age of Muhammad, (they will not believe) in secret nor deserve to be called believers when alone (until they make thee judge of what is in dispute between them and find within themselves) in their hearts (no dislike) no doubt (of that which thou decidest) between them,
(and submit with full submission) totally submit to you.
(Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs)

In fact here is what happened to a companion of Muhammad who refused to fully submit to Muhammad’s orders:

One Does not Become a Believer Unless He Refers to the Messenger for Judgment AND SUBMITS TO HIS DECISIONS

Allah said…

...But no, by your Lord, they can have no faith, until they make you judge in all disputes between them,... Allah swears by His Glorious, Most Honorable Self, that no one shall attain faith until he refers to the Messenger for judgment IN ALL MATTERS. Thereafter, whatever the Messenger commands, is the plain truth that must be submitted to inwardly and outwardly. Allah said…

...and find in themselves no resistance against your decisions, and accept (them) with full submission.... meaning: they adhere to your judgment, and thus do not feel any hesitation over your decision, and they submit to it inwardly and outwardly. They submit to the Prophet's decision with total submission without any rejection, denial or dispute. Al-Bukhari recorded that `Urwah said, "Az-Zubayr quarreled with a man about a stream which both of them used for irrigation. Allah's Messenger said to Az-Zubayr…

......O Zubayr! Irrigate (your garden) first, and then let the water flow to your neighbor....... The Ansari became angry and said, `O Allah's Messenger! Is it because he is your cousin?' On that, the face of Allah's Messenger changed color (because of anger) and said…

......Irrigate (your garden), O Zubayr, and then withhold the water until it reaches the walls (surrounding the palms). Then, release the water to your neighbor....... So, Allah's Messenger gave Az-Zubayr his full right when the Ansari made him angry. Before that, Allah's Messenger had given a generous judgment, beneficial for Az-Zubayr and the Ansari. Az-Zubayr said, `I think the following verse was revealed concerning that case…

...But no, by your Lord, they can have no faith, until they make you (O Muhammad) judge in all disputes between them....’” Another reason in his Tafsir, Al-Hafiz Abu Ishaq Ibrahim bin `Abdur-Rahman bin Ibrahim bin Duhaym recorded that Damrah narrated that two men took their dispute to the Prophet, and he gave a judgment to the benefit of whoever among them had the right. The person who lost the dispute said, “I do not agree.” The other person asked him, “What do you want then?” He said, “Let us go to Abu Bakr As-Siddiq.” They went to Abu Bakr and the person who won the dispute said, “We went to the Prophet with our dispute and he issued a decision in my favor.” Abu Bakr said, “Then the decision is that which the Messenger of Allah issued.” The person who lost the dispute still rejected the decision and said, “Let us go to `Umar bin Al-Khattab.” When they went to `Umar, the person who won the dispute said, "We took our dispute to the Prophet and he decided in my favor, but this man refused to submit to the decision.” `Umar bin Al-Khattab asked the second man and he concurred. `Umar went to his house and emerged from it holding aloft his sword. He struck the head of the man who rejected the Prophet's decision with the sword and killed him. Consequently, Allah revealed…

...But no, by your Lord, they can have no faith.... (Tafsir Ibn Kathir)

A companion of Muhammad is struck down in cold blood for simply refusing to fully accept his prophet’s decision! Doesn’t this clearly prove that a Muslim must submit to Muhammad in the same way and to the same degree that s/he submits to Allah? Doesn’t this further show that Islam is not a monotheistic religion and that Muslims do worship Muhammad since they are required to completely submit their will to his every decision and command and confess him alongside their god in order to be saved? And doesn’t all of this make them Muhammadans, the very title that Muslims despise and reject, when Muhammad stands at the very center of their religion?

For those interested in reading more on the topic of Muhammad’s apotheosis or deification we suggest the following articles and rebuttals:

http://answering-islam.org/Muhammad/Deification/index.html
http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Osama/zaatari_intercession.htm
http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Osama/zaatari_serve_mhd.htm


 

In the next section we will examine Jalal’s appeal to the NT concerning the Lord Jesus’ prayer life in order to see how this backfires against him.

Examining Jesus’ eating habits – Evidence from the Holy Bible that Muhammad is a false prophet

Jalal chides Wood for eating what Jesus never ate or permitted:

However, I do not really find it strange that David Wood would criticize Muslims for obeying their Prophet. He belongs to a flock that would eat what Jesus never ate and never allowed them to eat. This is how they show their obedience and loyalty to their claimed lord, by disobeying him and contradicting his practices. Then they have the courage to criticize Muslims for obeying their Prophet.

Jalal forgot to mention that Jesus didn’t eat camel eat since this was expressly prohibited by the Law which God gave through Moses:
 
 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Say to the Israelites: “Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat: You may eat any animal that has a split hoof completely divided and that chews the cud. There are some that only chew the cud or only have a split hoof, but you must not eat them. The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is ceremonially unclean for you.”’” Leviticus 11:1-4
 
 “Do not eat any detestable thing. These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope and the mountain sheep. You may eat any animal that has a split hoof divided in two and that chews the cud. However, of those that chew the cud or that have a split hoof completely divided you may not eat the camel, the rabbit or the coney. Although they chew the cud, they do not have a split hoof; they are ceremonially unclean for you.”
Deuteronomy 14:3-7

And yet his false prophet permitted the eating of camel meat!

Of the cattle are some for burden
and some for meat: eat what Allah hath provided for you, and follow not the footsteps of Satan: for he is to you and avowed enemy. (Take) eight (head of cattle) in (four) pairs: of sheep a pair, and of goats a pair; say, hath He forbidden the two males, or the two females, or (the young) which the wombs of the two females enclose? Tell me with knowledge if ye are truthful: Of camels a pair, and of oxen a pair; say, hath He forbidden the two males, or the two females, or (the young) which the wombs of the two females enclose? - Were ye present when Allah ordered you such a thing? But who doth more wrong than one who invents a lie against Allah, to lead astray men without knowledge? For Allah guideth not people who do wrong. Say: 'I find not in the Message received by me by inspiration any (meat) forbidden to be eaten by one who wishes to eat it, unless it be dead meat, or blood poured forth, or the flesh of swine,- for it is an abomination - or, what is impious, (meat) on which a name has been invoked, other than Allah's'. But (even so), if a person is forced by necessity, without willful disobedience, nor transgressing due limits,- thy Lord is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful. For those who followed the Jewish Law, We forbade every (animal) with undivided hoof, and We forbade them that fat of the ox and the sheep, except what adheres to their backs or their entrails, or is mixed up with a bone: this in recompense for their willful disobedience: for We are True (in Our ordinances). If they accuse thee of falsehood, say: “Your Lord is full of mercy all-embracing; but from people in guilt never will His wrath be turned back
.” S. 6:142-147

The sacrificial camels we have made for you as among the signs from Allah: in them is (much) good for you: then pronounce the name of Allah over them as they line up (for sacrifice): when they are down on their sides (after slaughter), eat ye thereof, and feed such as (beg not but) live in contentment, and such as beg with due humility: thus have We made animals subject to you, that ye may be grateful.
S. 22:36

The ahadith state:

Narrated Anas bin Malik: Allah's Apostle offered four Rakat of Zuhr prayer at Medina and we were in his company, and two Rakat of the Asr prayer at Dhul-Hulaifa and then passed the night there till it was dawn; then he rode, and when he reached Al-Baida', he praised and glorified Allah and said Takbir (i.e. Alhamdu-lillah and Subhanallah(1) and Allahu-Akbar). Then he and the people along with him recited Talbiya with the intention of performing Hajj and Umra. When we reached (
Mecca) he ordered us to finish the lhram (after performing the Umra) (only those who had no Hadi (animal for sacrifice) with them were asked to do so) till the day of Tarwiya that is 8th Dhul-Hijja when they assumed Ihram for Hajj. The Prophet sacrificed many camels (slaughtering them) with his own hands while standing. While Allah's Apostle was in Medina he sacrificed two horned rams black and white in color in the Name of Allah."
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 2, Book 26, Number 623)

Narrated 'Ali: The Prophet sent me to supervise the (slaughtering of)
Budn (Hadi camels) and ordered me to distribute their meat, and then he ordered me to distribute their covering sheets and skins. 'Ali added, "The Prophet ordered me to supervise the slaughtering (of the Budn) and not to give anything (of their bodies) to the butcher as wages for slaughtering."
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 2, Book 26, Number 774)

Therefore, Muhammad stands condemned by both Moses and the Lord Jesus for eating and allowing others to eat an animal expressly forbidden by the true God of Abraham.

Jalal further forgot what his own false book says concerning Jesus being sent to make lawful some of the things which were forbidden to the children of Israel:
 
 And I have come confirming the Taurat that is between my hands (wa musaddiqan lima bayna yadayya mina al-tawrati), and to make lawful to you part of what was forbidden to you, and I have come to you with a proof from your Lord. So fear Allah and obey me.” S. 3:50

According to Jalal’s own scholars this included making lawful the consumption of certain foods:
 
 (And (I come) confirming) and I have come confirming Allah's divine Oneness in the Religion (that which was before me of the Torah) and all other Scriptures, (and to make lawful) to give you legal dispensation regarding (some of that which was forbidden unto you) such as the meat of camels, the fat of bovines and sheep, the Sabbath, and other things. (I come unto you with a sign) with a token (from your Lord, so keep your duty to Allah) so fear Allah in that which He has commanded you with and repent to Him (and obey me) and follow my command and Religion;
(Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs)

And:

Likewise, I have come to you, confirming that which was before me of the Torah, and to make lawful for you some of that which was forbidden to you, in it.
Thus he made lawful for them fish and birds which had no spikes; it is also said that he made it all lawful for them, so that ba'd, 'some', means, kull, 'all'). I have come to you with a sign from your Lord, He has repeated it for emphasis and to expand upon it: so fear God, and obey me, in what I command you of affirming God's Oneness and being obedient to Him
. (Tafsir al-Jalalayn)

For more on this specific issue please consult the following rebuttals:

http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Abualrub/one_law.htm
http://answering-islam.org/Shamoun/mosaic_law.htm

Examining Jesus’ prayer life – Some more proof from the inspired Scriptures that Muhammad was not God's prophet

Jalal also distorts what the Holy Bible, God’s truly inspired revelation, says concerning the Lord Jesus’ prayer life:

Clearly, the method of prayer practiced by Jesus himself to his Creator was the very Islamic Sujud prostration [sic]. Why then do Christians dance, sing and jump in churches instead of prostrating as their falsely claimed lord and savior did when he prayed? In contrast, Muslims pray as Jesus used to pray, taking a direction for the prayer as Jesus did, and, during the early era of Islam, prayed to the same Qiblah direction of prayer as Jesus did. Who is practicing paganism then?

Did Jesus really pray like Muslims do? Well, let us see:
 
 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all.” Mark 6:41
 
 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.’ Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. ‘Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?’ he asked Peter. ‘Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.’ He went away a second time and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.’” Matthew 26:39-42
 
 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. ‘Lord,’ Martha said to Jesus, ‘if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha answered, ‘I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ she told him, ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.’ … Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. ‘Take away the stone,’ he said. ‘But, Lord,’ said Martha, the sister of the dead man, ‘by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.’ Then Jesus said, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’ So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said,Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.’ When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.” John 11:20-27, 38-44
 
 “After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: ‘Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.’
” John 17:1-5

There are three main points to glean from all of these texts. First, Jesus prayed looking towards heaven, something which is expressly forbidden in Islam:

Jabir b. Samura reported: The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said: The people
who lift their eyes towards the sky in Prayer should avoid it or they would lose their eyesight
. (Sahih Muslim, Book 004, Number 0862)

Abu Huraira reported: People should
avoid lifting their eyes towards the sky while supplicating in prayer, otherwise their eyes would be snatched away
. (Sahih Muslim, Book 004, Number 0863)

Second, Jesus addressed God as his Father. Muhammad, however, denied that his god was a father to anyone, especially to Christ:

And the Jews say: Uzair is the son of Allah; and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them; how they are turned away
! S. 9:30

And they say, 'The All-merciful has taken unto Himself a son. You have indeed advanced something hideous! The heavens are wellnigh rent of it and the earth split asunder, and the mountains wellnigh fall down crashing for that they have attributed to the All-merciful a son; and it behoves not the All-merciful to take a son. None is there in the heavens and earth but he comes to the All-merciful as a servant
; S. 19:88-93

Third, Jesus affirms his preexistence and his absolute Deity by claiming to be able to give eternal life and to have existed with his Father in the same Divine glory before the creation of the world. Again, this is something which Muslim scholars deny since they do not believe in the Deity of the Lord Jesus.

Thus, all of these examples provide further proof against Muhammad, exposing him as a false prophet who preached a false Jesus and a false Gospel. He therefore comes under the wrath and condemnation of the true God of the Holy Bible:
 
 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.” John 3:16-18
 
 Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.” 1 John 2:22-23

Jalal must have further forgotten or failed to take notice that the Lord Jesus expressly said that a time would come when true followers would no longer have to go to Jerusalem, or even face it, to worship God:
 
 “‘Sir, the woman said, ‘I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.’ Jesus declared, ‘Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.’” John 4:19-24

Since Jesus says that it is God the Father who must be worshiped in union with the Holy Spirit and in accord with his revealed truth, and since Muhammad denied that his god is a father, this means that Muslims are not worshiping the true God and their prayers are an abomination to him since they do not have the Holy Spirit indwelling them.

Jalal must have also forgotten the testimony of his own false prophet who stated that God gave prophets like David the Psalms,

And if they deny thee, even so did they deny messengers who were before thee, who came with miracles
and with the Psalms and with the Scripture giving light
. S. 3:184

We have sent thee inspiration, as We sent it to Noah and the Apostles after him: we sent inspiration to Abraham, Isma'il, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes, to Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, and Solomon,
and to David We gave the Psalms.
S. 4:163

And that these very Psalms exhort true believers to sing and dance to the Lord:
 
 Praise the LORD. Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the saints. Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the people of Zion be glad in their King. Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp. For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation. Let the saints rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds. May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands, to inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, to bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron, to carry out the sentence written against them. This is the glory of all his saints. Praise the LORD.” Psalm 149:1-9
 
 “Praise the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD
.” Psalm 150:1-6

David himself is said to have danced before the Lord:
 
 Now King David was told, ‘The LORD has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.’ So David went down and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. When those who were carrying the ark of the LORD had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might, while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets. As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, she despised him in her heart… When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, ‘How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!’ David said to Michal, ‘It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD's people Israel—I will celebrate before the LORD. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.’ And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.” 2 Samuel 6:12-16, 20-23

So much for Jalal’s appeal to the Holy Bible and Jesus’ prayer life!

Conclusion

Our examination of Jalal’s arguments has once again shown that his recent “reply” is simply another example of his incoherent babble. With each new article and “rebuttal” Jalal simply provides further evidence that he is a master of logical fallacies who can only produce replies that distort the arguments of his opponents, as well as perverting what the Holy Bible, God’s true Word, and his own religious sources actually teach. It seems that Jalal counts on the readers not seeing through all his bluster and hopes that they will be duped into thinking that he is actually addressing his opponents’ points.

What made Jalal’s “rebuttal” rather amusing is that in certain instances he ended up proving Wood’s point, despite the fact that he actually thought he was writing a thorough refutation! The sad thing about this is that Jalal doesn’t see how his “responses” help to establish his opponents’ arguments and highlight his rather incoherent and logically fallacious style of writing. It is truly unfortunate that he doesn’t see this since it would save his opponents a lot of time responding to such shoddy and unscholarly polemics if he did.

As it stands Wood’s short blog post remains untouched and the evidence shows that the true God of Abraham did not inspire Muhammad. Rather, the data indicates that Muhammad was influenced by a lying and deceiving spirit as well as by the various religious groups that he came into constant contact with. Moreover, the Islamic source material conclusively proves that Islam is an idolatrous and pagan system masquerading itself as a monotheistic religion.

Source: http://answering-islam.org/authors/shamoun/rebuttals/abualrub/jalal_wood2.html

IHS