Muhammad and The Wearing of Silk Garments

”Qur’an Contradiction "

The Qur’an states that the dwellers of Paradise will be given silk garments to wear (S. 18:31; S. 22:23 S. 35:33 . S. 44:51-53 S. 76:12, 21)

Obviously, this presupposes that silk clothing is good and that it is not wrong to wear silk. In fact, the Qur’an nowhere prohibits silk outfits. Furthermore, there are specific narrations where Muhammad permitted certain companions and women to wear silk (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 52, Number 170) (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 52, Number 171)  (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 72, Number 733)

Muhammad also said that Gabriel came to him in a dream with a silk item that had Aisha’s picture on it (Bukhari, Volume 5, Book 58, Number 235)

Narrated Aisha: Gabriel brought a picture of her on a piece of green silk to Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) and said, "This is your wife in this world and the next." Tirmidhi transmitted it. (Tirmidhi Hadith, Number 1644, Alim CD-ROM Version)

There are other hadiths that have Muhammad expressly forbidding men from wearing silk clothes (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 69, Number 494v), and

He forbade us to wear gold rings, to drink in silver (utensils), to use Mayathir (silken carpets placed on saddles), to wear Al-Qissi (a kind of silken cloth), to wear silk, Dibaj or Istabraq (two kinds of silk). (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 69, Number 539).

In Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 72, Number 726, the prohibition, i.e. "None wears silk in this world, but he who will have no share in the Hereafter" is entirely inclusive. It does NOT specify that this refers to men only, but that women on the other hand are not affected by wearing silk. Yet this contradicts the following narrative (Tirmidhi Hadith, Number 1152, Alim CD-ROM Version)

So we now have a contradiction since the report from al-Bukhari doesn’t exclude women from the general prohibition of wearing silk. And why are women even allowed to wear silk in the first place, but not men? To top it off Muhammad even sent silk items to some of his companions and gave thm permission to sell it in order to benefit monetarily  (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 72, Number 731). And,  

"I have not given it to you to wear." So, ‘Umar gave it to a pagan brother of his in Mecca. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 47, Number 782)

The Prophet said, "This is worn only by him who has no share in the Hereafter." "I sent it to you so that you might either sell it or give it to somebody else to wear." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 72, Number 732)

The silk is worn by one who will have no share (in the Here-after).’ ‘I have sent it to you so that you may get money by selling it.’ Because of this, Ibn ‘Umar used to hate the silken markings on the garments. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 73, Number 104)

Notice Muhammad’s glaring inconsistency at this point. Muhammad rebukes Umar for having silk, but allows him to sell it and even sends him a silk item to benefit from its sale! To see how inconsistent this truly is picture Muhammad allowing someone to sell alcohol and benefit from the sale money, and how wrong that would be. After all, if something is prohibited because it is immoral then shouldn’t the selling of it be just as immoral, if not more so, since the person would essentially be damning not only himself but also the buyer to hell?

And what kind of message was Muhammad sending when he gave Umar a silk garment so that he may give it to somebody else? Also, did Umar want to make sure his pagan brother ended up in hell, but pretended to be friendly to him by giving him a silk garment?

Let us summarize the problems we have seen thus far:

- The Qur’an in many places claims that the raiment of believers in Paradise will be silk.
- Unlike wine which is expressly prohibited here on earth but permitted in Paradise, the Qur’an nowhere prohibits the wearing of silk.
- Muhammad is reported to have allowed certain men, because of their itching disease, and all women to wear silk.
- At the same time, Muhammad disallowed the rest of the men from wearing silk.
- Moreover, Muhammad allowed the men to sell silk, even though he asserted that those having such items would end up in hell! Seeing that wearing silk can send a person to hell, isn’t giving a silk garment to somebody just about the worst kind of gift that you can give? It is comparable to handing someone poison.
- Finally, Muhammad may have even contributed to women being the majority of those sent to hell for permitting them to wear silk!

Here are some of the hadith reports regarding women in hell:

“… as I have seen that the majority of the dwellers of Hell-fire were you (women)."(Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 6, Number 301,  Sahih Muslim, Book 036, Number 6600)

Thus, Muhammad caused the women to add another sin to those listed above which landed them in eternal damnation. Muhammad basically increased a woman’s chance of ending up in hell by permitting her to wear something which he expressly said causes someone to lose their share in Paradise!

At the very least, by allowing women to wear silk in this life Muhammad robbed them of wearing such clothing in the hereafter since this is what he is reported to have said:

"Muhammad said, ‘Whoever wears silk in this world, shall not wear it in the Hereafter.’" Volume 7, Book 72, Number 724)

I heard ‘Umar saying, "The Prophet said, ‘Whoever wears silk in this world, shall not wear it in the Hereafter.’" Volume 7, Book 72, Number 725)

Is this fair to Muslim women? Robbing them of the chance of ever wearing silk garments in paradise by allowing them to wear them on earth, something expressly forbidden by Allah?

IHS