Saudi cleric behind adult-suckling fatwa is "adviser to the royal court and consultant to ‎the Ministry of Justice"‎

More on this story. Of course, it bears repeating as often as possible that this was Muhammad's idea. And it sure is funny how "misunderstanders" of Islam in various ways keep popping up in such high places. "Saudi clerics issue fatwa okaying adult breast-feeding as way of circumventing Islamic law," by Paulina Reso for the New York Daily News, June 9 (thanks to Ted):

Kissing cousins? Not quite.

Gross.

While it has been common for women to breast-feed their young male relations so that they may be allowed together alone later, two Saudi clerics recently advocated extending the practice to unrelated adult males.

As part of Islamic law, men and women are forbidden to be alone together, unless they are blood relatives or have established maternal relations, in order to prevent sexual contact.

As a way to avoid breaking this rule -- which can result in lashings or prison time -- Sheikh Al Obeikan, adviser to the royal court and consultant to the Ministry of Justice, told Gulf News that women should give their breast milk to male colleagues, acquaintances or anyone with whom they come into regular contact.

"The man should take the milk, but not directly from the breast of the woman," Al Obeikan said, according to Gulf News. "He should drink it and then becomes a relative of the family, a fact that allows him to come in contact with the women without breaking Islam's rules about mixing."

While Al Obeikan advises that milk should be pumped and then given in a glass, another Saudi sheik, Abi Ishaq Al Huwaini, argues that men should suckle directly.

To our You Can't Make This Stuff Up Department: Take the rest of the day off, you've been through enough.

Soon after these proclamations, a Saudi bus driver allegedly asked a female teacher, whom he drives frequently, for her breast milk, according to AOLNews. The teacher refused and is threatening to sue.

This fatwa, which has sparked controversy and disapproval, has prompted some to call for stricter constraints on law making.

Source: http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/06/saudi-cleric-behind-adult-suckling-fatwa-is-adviser-to-the-royal-court-and-consultant-to-the-ministr.html

IHS

Child-Marriage and Pedophilia in Muslim Societies: Will It Come To an End

In my previous article, I have mentioned that aged and wealthy Arabs from the Gulf countries come to India, mainly to Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, to prey on teenage girls, by paying fat cash as dowry to their parents. They generally enter into temporary marriage contracts (Mutah) and return home after a brief stay.In January, 2007, a 60 year old Arab married 3 girls, Afreen, Farheena and Sultana, at a single sitting (within ten minutes), in Hyderabad.

In another incident in May 2004, an old man called Muhammad Zafer Yaqub Hassan al-Jorani came from Sharjah to Hyderabad to undergo a cataract operation. On May 7, he married Haseena Begum, a 19 year old girl and after two days he divorced her. On May 24, he married another 16 year old girl Ruksana Begum. Haseena, ignoring even threat to her life, went to a local police station to narrate her story and within an hour police arrested Jorani. Police also arrested someone called Shamsuddin who was alleged to have played the role of a mediator and received a cash of Rs 40,000 from Jorani and handed over the money to the parents of Haseena as mehr. It is to be mentioned here that Jorani, at his Sharjah residence, had two wives and 11 children.

While commenting on these affairs, a reader wrote, “In child marriage of the other type, where young girl marries an old man, is prevalent in Muslim society in India. I am an ex-Muslim from India and such facts I have seen in my own eyes. I tried to alert police but was threatened by police themselves with dire consequences, even death, and so I kept quiet.

In various cities, where there are Muslim ghettos, this happens regularly. Muslims condemn prostitution but allow legal prostitution through temporary marriage or Mutah. Young girls of16-18-year-old are married to aged Arabs, for a stipulated period, simply for money. Mullahs make the old Arab and young girls sign nikahnama and talaknama at the same time.

Parents get money and send their daughter as a prostitute to the Arab to be raped. The Arab then divorces her after a stipulated time that may vary from a few hours to a few days. Things move fast because the next victim is waiting in the queue. Generally, beautiful girls are entered in the waiting list and many of them have to entertain their (temporary) rapist husbands every year. The month of Ramadan is busiest period of this business when many Indian girls are sent to Dubai and from Dubai to elsewhere, to be sexually assaulted by the Arabs, after Ramadan fasting.

Generally, the girls earns anywhere from Rs 15,000 to Rs 500,000, depending on the skill of the negotiator (middleman) and also on the beauty of the girl. If she happens to be a virgin, she earns a lot more, as Arabs are ready to spend fabulous money for a first time sex.

Now-a-days, there are plastic surgeons, I know, are earning lot from the pimps by turning the girls virgin again by attaching a layer of fresh skin to their private parts and thus making an artificial hymen. This happens repeatedly for many girls till she gets tired or fails to find a new (temporary) husband.

Local police, political leaders and NGOs get their share too and keep silence. I can even spell names of some people, who are involved in the racket. But my life is already under threat due to disclosing the truth about Islam. I also don’t want annoy the local police because they may just shoot me in a false encounter and get paid by the racket leaders. Such an incident happened earlier. This is, indeed, another horrible face of Islam.”

Another reader commented, “Dear old Muslims in the Middle East who are planning to marry a girl as young as 6 yrs old to be your bride, kindly let me have the honour to ask you a very simple question. Try imagining that the young 6-year-old bride whom you’re going to marry soon, is your daughter or granddaughter or great granddaughter or great-great granddaughter and that you are going to penetrate her very small vagina with your big xxxxx. Do you feel it nauseating or disgusting at the very thought of it? I believe that for those old Muslims who have some human conscience or fear of God will be kind enough to let all these young girls go.”

Another reader commented “I believe that for those old Muslims who have some human conscience or fear of God will be kind enough to let all these young girls go. As for those old Muslims who still can’t let all these young girls go because of their super strong sexual needs, may I suggest a much better option for you which could help satisfy all your sexual needs or cravings and that is, to go and buy a sex doll from any sex shop and sell all these erotic products. Don’t you think that your Allah will be pleased with my kind suggestion here which is better than destroying all those young innocent girls’ life? Thank you in advance for heeding my advice to give all these young innocent muslimahs a chance to live life to the fullest.”

In this context, it should be mentioned that, in Islam, there is no place for ethics, morality or conscience. Islamic morality is quite different and stands on two notions – Halal (permitted) and Haram (not permitted). To a sane non-Muslim individual, marrying a 6 or 8-year-old girl by an over 50 man, may appear to be highly immoral, unethical and vulgar. But to a Muslim, such an act is Halal, as Prophet Muhammad had done it. So, application of personal sense morality and ethics does not play any role. Whatever the Prophet did is Halal and every Muslim has the right to emulate the Prophet.

Another reader wrote, “These old wolfs who practice such disgusting acts by following their Prophet are wild animals. They don’t even deserve to live. These innocent young brides should be given some poison by their mothers which they can mix with some food and feed their wonderful husbands on the first night and finish them off. The Human Rights activists can defend them saying these children are minor and they do not know what they are doing. Even few years of jail sentence is much better than living with these animals. If more and more child-brides start rebelling by giving the due punishment to these animals, this cruel practice will vanish.”

Out of court settlement allows Saudi girl 8 to divorce 50 year old husband:

As mentioned in the previous article that a Saudi judge refused to terminate the marital bond between an 8-year-old girl and her 47-year-old husband. The girl’s father, according to the attorney, took US$13,000 from the man and arranged the marriage in order to settle his debts with him, who is also a close friend of his. On the other hand, the girl’s mother expressed her determination to fight the case and continue to seek daughter’s divorce.

According to a press report, appeared on April 30, 2009, from Hadeel Al-Shalchi of the Associated Press, the mother of the girl had been succeeded to obtain a divorce for her daughter through out of the court negotiation. “The girl was allowed to divorce the about 50-year-old man, whom she was married to by force, in August last year, and after an out-of-court settlement, a divorce could be obtained in the case”, said her lawyer, Abdulla al-Jeteli.

The reader may recall that a court in the central Oneiza region previously rejected a request by the girl’s mother for a divorce and ruled that the girl would have to wait until she reached puberty to file a petition. It has been mentioned earlier that there are no laws in Saudi Arabia defining the minimum age for marriage for girls. Though, according to the Shariah Law, a woman’s consent is legally required, most of the marriage officials don’t seek it.

(A mass child marriage ceremony in Gaza, sponsored HAMAS,on July 30, 2009, 450 child-brides were married to much older grooms)

Recently, due to increased social awakening, there has been a thrust by Saudi human rights groups to define the minimum age of marriage for girls and put an end to the shameful tradition of child marriage. Sohaila Zain al-Abdeen, one of the most renowned human rights activists in Saudi Arabia, was optimistic that the girl’s divorce would be an important precedence and help efforts to get a new law passed enforcing a minimum marriage age of 18 for the girls. “Unfortunately, some fathers trade their daughters. They are weak people who are sometimes in need of money and forget their roles as parents.” she told The Associated Press.

But it was not clear whether the husband got back the money, nearly 50,000 riyals, or about US$13,350, he paid to the father of the girl as dowry, the lawyer said.

This was not the only incident of marrying off an 8-year-old girl to an old man, in the kingdom that attracted public attention. Saudi newspapers have highlighted several cases in which young girls were married off to much older men. In one incident a 15-year-old girl, whose father serving prison terms with a death penalty, married her off to a cellmate.

An 8 yr old Yemeni girl forced to marry a man Nujood Ali, more than 3 times her age. He used to beat and rape the 8-year-old victim. Ultimately, she escaped, and found a human rights lawyer to help her get a divorce. Under Sharia Law, her husband received compensation from the family, and was never prosecuted. (See Videos – http://barenakedislam.wordpress.com/2009/01/03/forced-child-marriage-in-islam/)

Zahida Minhas, a 16-year old girl who was sold into a forced marriage by her mother. Somehow, she could escape her husband’s house. Now she is 9 months pregnant and living in a safe house. But as her delivery date approaches, she fears that her “husband” will find and kill her.

A 12-year old Muslim girl in Afghanistan fears for her life from the pedophile husband she was forced to marry. Her husband attacked her with a knife and injured her hand. She is seeking a divorce from her cruel and pedophile husband. There is, indeed, no end to these type incidents in the Muslim societies. And, in fact, Saudi Arabia is the main source inspiration for child-marriage and pedophilia in the world community of Muslims.

But it is good sign that Saudi Arabia has come under increasing criticism at home and abroad for permitting child marriages and pedophilia. The United States, a close ally of the conservative Muslim kingdom, has called child marriage a “clear and unacceptable” violation of human rights. But Saudi Arabia’s conservative Muslim clergy is opposing the drive to end child marriages. It has been mentioned earlier that in January, 2009, the kingdom’s most senior cleric said it was permissible for 10-year-old girls to marry and those who believe they are too young are doing injustice to the girl. “After all, Sharia Law has been ordained and hence cannot do injustice to women”, he said.

There is another ray of hope, Some in the Saudi government appear to support the movement to set a minimum age for marriage. The kingdom’s new justice minister was quoted in mid-April as saying that the government was carrying out a study on underage marriage that would include regulations.

But there are no statistical data to show how many marriages involving children are performed in Saudi Arabia every year. Activists say the girls are given away in return for hefty marriage dowry or as a result of long-standing custom in which a father promises his infant daughters and sons to cousins out of a belief that marriage will protect them from illicit relationships.

It has been mentioned earlier that there are no laws in Saudi Arabia defining the minimum age for marriage for girls and according to the Saudi clerics, one can enter into a marriage contract even with 1-year-old girl. Though a woman’s consent is legally required, most of the marriage officials, called ma’thoons do not seek it. Only these ma’thoons have the legal authority to preside over marriage contract ceremonies. They seek consent of the groom and the woman’s guardian and if they approve of the marriage, the ma’thoon proceeds to complete the ceremony by signing the marriage papers. But, as stated above, the Saudi government does not keep any statistical record to show how many Saudi children are married off per year, which it can easily do by collecting data from these ma’thoons.

Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh, the Kingdom's grand mufti Says, “It's an injustice to NOT marry girls aged 10”.

In this context it may be mentioned that the Arabic word “nikah” does not mean what the word marriage stands for. According to Mohammad Asghar, the word “nikah” has been derived from “nokh”, which refers to woman’s vagina and hence the word “nikah” stands for penetration of woman’s vagina (see: The Meaning of Nikah in Islam).

Child marriage that sparked uproar in Saudi Arabia:
According to a news appeared on August 6, 2008, in the Riyadh based dailies Al-Watan and. Al-Harbi, a nikah between an 11-year-old boy Muhammad al-Rashidi and a 10-year-old girl has been declared by Muraiziq al-Rashidi, the groom’s father. But the ceremony has been strongly opposed by the governor of the northern province of Hail, who considered the elementary school student too young to marry. Opposition has also came from some human rights groups.

“We are studying this issue so we can put an end to this phenomenon,” said Zuhair al-Harithi, boardmember of the Human Rights Commission, a human rights group run by the government. “These marriages violate international agreements the kingdom has signed”, he said. Though the incident created a stir in the kingdom, Sheik Muhammad al-Nujaimi, a strong opponent of child marriage, said, “But the phenomenon is not new.” He and other clerics, activists and writers have requested the government for issuing a new law setting a minimum age for marriage and to resolve differences among religious authorities over the issue. “There are different (religious) opinions regarding such marriages, which is why we need the government to settle the issue through a new legislation,” said al-Nujaimi.

Activists say that incidents of this kind of marriage between a young girl and a young boy are not so high in Saudi Arabia. These are the result of long-standing custom in which a father promises his infant daughters and sons to cousins out of a belief that such a marriage will protect them from illicit relationships. Muraiziq al-Rashidi, the father of the 11-year-old boy’s said he may delay but not cancel his son’s marriage. “God willing, we will hold the wedding next year,” he said. It has been pointed out earlier that, Ahmad Al-Muabi, a marriage official, defended the practice of child marriage by saying that, “A man can enter into a marriage contract even with a one-year-old girl, not to mention nine years, seven years or eight years. This is just a contract indicating consent.”

(http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/12/23/saudi.arabia.child.marriage/index.html and http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Marriage-between-11-year-old-boy-and-10-year-old-girl-puts-the-spotlight-on-child-marriage-12953.html)

However, In the midst of total darkness, one finds a ray of hope in two incidents, which are discussed below.

An old man marrying a child bride in Saudi Arabia

A 12-year-old Module body

Islamic Voice (IV) is a Bangalore based monthly. This year’s (2010 AD) February edition IV carried a startling news that said, “Sheikh Abdullah Al-Mane’, a member of the Board of Senior Ulema and an Advisor to the Royal Court in Saudi Arabia, has said that ‘Holy Prophet’s Marriage with Ayesha (RA) cannot be a precedence’. Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) marriage to Ayesha when she was nine years old cannot be used as justification for child marriage today due to the “different circumstances” of the time, said a news report in the Jeddah based Saudi Gazette.”

“According to Sheikh Al-Mane’, when Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) was contemplating marrying off his daughter he was unable to find anyone better than the Prophet (pbuh). It is impossible to use the marriage of Ayesha, the ‘Mother of Believers’ (May Allah be pleased with her) as a measure for child marriage because of the incompatibility of the conditions and circumstances,” Sheikh Al-Mane’ said”, the news continued.

Today, child marriage is an issue that has come to the fore in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, particularly after the incident in which a 12-year-old girl successfully divorced her 80-year-old husband in Buraidah, as discussed above. “A court in Qassim is scheduled to look into the case on Monday, while the Human
Rights Commission has also set up a Shariah specialist team to investigate and meet with the marriage official who conducted the marriage rites”, report said.

The report also said that, “Sheikh Al-Mane urged scholars and preachers to take responsibility in making parents aware of the social and mental damage caused by the marriage of minors.”

“It is a grave error to burden a child with responsibilities beyond her years,” the Sheikh said. “Marriage should be put off until the wife is of a mentally and physically mature age and can care for both herself and her family,” he added. “We need a law banning and preventing the marriage of under-18s,” said Mufleh Al-Qahtani, Chairman of the National Society for Human Rights, which has taken part in drawing up a law to protect children and is pushing for its legal approval. (http://islamicvoice.com/February2010/)

Source: http://www.faithfreedom.org/?p=12307

IHS

Trading of Child Sex-Slaves in the name of Marriage in Saudi Arabia

It is well known that Prophet Muhammad had set the much-condemned tradition of pedophilia in Islam by marrying little child Ayesha, aged 6, when he was 52. What is ignored is much wider and worse examples of pedophilia, set forth by Muhammad, namely in his capture of the women and children of various tribes, namely Banu Quraiza, Banu Mustaliq, Banu Nadir etc. as slaves. The large number of underage girls, in those lots of Human booty, were used as sex-slaves by their Muslim captors, or were sold to pedophile buyers.

History tells us that, in his first major assault in India, Sultan Mahmud, the hero of India’s Muslims, drove away 500,000 women and children to be used or to be sold as slaves. How many young little girls, like Ayesha, were there in this mind-blogging number of captives, who were to be condemned to much worse form of sexual violation and slavery until death.

And this tradition continued on a large scale well into the 20th century, especially in Islamic Africa. It’s still wide- spread in Sudan and places like that.

International condemnation of slavery and pedophilia has reduced, for women and underage girls, the sufferings from this legal Islamic holy tradition. The good news is that, with the decline of Muslim power and due to international awareness, today few non-Muslim children suffer this curse. But, unfortunately, this practice of pedophilia, that the Prophet had set forth as holy tradition of Islam, continue to be practiced within Islamic society even today. Little Muslim girls continue to be victim of Islamic child sex abuse, which goes in the name of marriage, and often takes the form of trade.

Egypt bans 92 year old from marrying a bride of 17:

On June 14, 2008, Al-Akhbar, a Cairo based news paper, reported that the Egyptian authorities have banned a 92-year-old Saudi man from marrying a poor teenage girl, 75 years his junior. The justice ministry of Egypt made its ruling under a law designed to prevent wealthy Arabs from the Gulf from snapping up young Egyptian girls. This new law forbade marriage when there is an age gap of 25 years and more between the husband and the wife. The report also said that the said unidentified Saudi holidaymaker proposed to marry a 17-year-old village girl and offered a lucrative dowry of about US$ 28,000 as well as gold jewellery. Her parents, who were very poor, accepted the offer.

In this context, the reader may recall that the aged and wealthy Arabs from the Gulf countries come to India, mainly to Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, to prey on teenage girls, by paying fat cash as dowry to their parents. They generally enter into temporary marriage contracts (Mutah) and return home after a brief stay.In January, 2007, a 60 year old Arab married 3 girls, Afreen, Farheena and Sultana, at a single sitting (within ten minutes), in Hyderabad. (See: Mutah, or Tempurary Marriage in Muslim Society, by this author).

However, according to the Al-Akhbar, the Egyptian authorities allowed 173 such marriages in the previous year after the foreign husbands paid a fee of US$ 8,000 each. But this time, the justice ministry refused to register the marriage, citing the new legislation brought in as mentioned above.

While the Egyptian authorities should be commended for barring that old man of 92 from marrying a girl of the age of his great grandchildren, but the important issue here is: How a man of 92, whose one leg is in a grave, can think of marrying a young girl of 17? Though it appears to be utterly incredible, it is the truth. The answer should be found in Islam’s depraved sexual perversity as set by Prophet Muhammad as a sacred Islamic tradition and law, which Muslims refused to abandon. Furthermore, this author is convinced that, it is due to the fact that the creed of Islam is devoid of even a trace of spiritualism. In fact, Islam is a doctrine originated by illiterate pastoral and nomadic people of Arabia who were hopelessly unable to comprehend what spiritualism is. According to the renowned ex-author Anwar Shaikh, Islam stands on two pillars, one is sex and the other is violence. For an old man of 92, it is not possible to participate in violent activities or jihad and hence there is no alternative for him but concentrate his mind on sex alone, with the satisfaction of staying within Islam’s sacred aura.

Furthermore, his Prophet, through his teachings and deeds, had taught them that sex is only thing that every Muslim should cherish. In this world, they should have sex with their wives, slave-girls and kafir women and in the next, they would have sex with the heavenly damsels or houris and young slave boys or gelemans through eternity. There might have another purpose too. The old man of 92 might have tried to emulate his Prophet by marrying a teenage girl and hence to secure a permanent place in jannat-ul-ferdause or the best place in Allah’s paradise.

In our previous article we have presented a quotation from Ayatollah Khomeini that says, “A man can have sexual pleasure from a child as young as a baby. However he should not penetrate, but sodomising the child is OK. If the man penetrates and damages the child then he should be responsible for her subsistence throughout her life. This girl, however does not count as one of his four permanent wives. The man will not be eligible to marry the girls sister. …It is better for a girl to marry in such a time when she would begin menstruation at her husband’s house rather than her father’s home. Any father marrying his daughter so young will have a permanent place in heaven” (“Tahrirolvasyleh” by Ayatollah Khomeini, fourth volume 1990).

And hence one should not have been astonished if that the said 92-year-old Saudi man had married a baby girl and sodomized her. It is not known, what is the basis of the above opinion of Ayatullah Khomeini. Perhaps he could have discovered that the holy Prophet, the apostle of Allah, sodomized, beside thighing, Ayesha till she was able to sustain vaginal penetration?

A 10 year old child bride turned over to 80 year old husband in Saudi Arabia:

On August 26, 2009, CNN telecast a news that said that in Saudi Arabia, a 10-year-old bride was forced to return to her 80-year-old husband on last Sunday by her father who discovered her at the home of her aunt with whom she had been hiding for about 10 days. According to a report appeared in a local newspaper, on the same day, said that the 80-year-old husband denied that he is really 80, as claimed by the girl’s family.” And even if it is true, my marriage is not against Shariah Law. It included the elements of acceptance and response by the father of the bride”, he said. He also complained that the aunt of his wife is unnecessarily meddling in his affairs. He refused to accept that he had broken any laws and asserted that he was simply following the footsteps of the holy and beloved prophet Mohammed, who married 6-year-old Ayesha at the age of 52..

He added that he had been engaged to his wife’s elder sister and that did not materialize as she wanted to continue with her studies. “As a consequence, her father offered his younger daughter. I was allowed to have a look at her according to Shariah Law and found her acceptable,” he said. While commenting on the affair, Maatouq Al-Abdullah, a member of the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR), said that there is no system in place regulating the marriage of young girls, which sometimes results in adverse psychological, health and social effects. “Such marriages are considered a gross violation of charters on the rights of children, which the Kingdom has signed and which set the age of adulthood at 18,” he added. (http://www.ansamed.info/en/news/ME03.WAM30165.html) and (http://infidelsarecool.com/2009/08/26/10-year-old-child-bride-turned-over-to-80-year-old-husband/)

“you can have a marriage contract even with a one-year-old child”,

the Saudi cleric explains Shariah Law of marriage

Saudi judge refuses to annul 8-year-old’s marriage:
According to another telecast by CNN on December 24, 2008, a Saudi judge refused to terminate the marital bond between an 8-year-old girl and her 47-year-old husband. The relatives of the girl told CNN that the girl could submit a petition only when she attains puberty. The lawyer, who pleaded for the husband, said that the Girl’s father arranged her marriage to a 47-year-old man to settle debts and hence the marriage could not be dissolved. As a result, the judge set her petition for divorce aside. Girl’s mother filed a petition to the Appeals court asking for a revision of the decision of lower court, but the appeals court declined to review the original ruling, and sent case back to judge. Girl’s mother expressed her determination to fight the case and continue to seek daughter’s divorce.(http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/04/12/saudi.child.marriage/) See video – (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms8tnn8klF8)

The case drew attention and criticism from local and international human rights groups and came to light in December, 2009, when the judge al-Habib declined to annul the marriage on a legal technicality. The judge also ruled that the girl’s mother, who is separated from the girl’s father, was not the girl’s legal guardian and therefore could not represent her in court.

The girl’s father, according to the attorney, arranged the marriage in order to settle his debts with the man, who is a close friend of his. At the time of the initial verdict, the judge required the girl’s husband to sign a pledge that he would not have sex with her until she reaches puberty, al-Jutaili, the mother’s lawyer, told CNN. The judge ruled that when the girl reaches puberty, she will have the right to request a divorce by filing a petition with the court, said al-Jutaili.

In fact, there is no lower age limit in Saudi Arabia for marrying off girls. According to the conservative clerics, girls of a few months old could be married off. But the issue of child marriage has emerged recently as a hot-button topic in this deeply conservative kingdom. While human rights groups have been petitioning the government to enact laws that would protect children from this type of marriage, the kingdom’s top cleric is saying that it’s OK for girls as young as 10 to wed. “It is incorrect to say that it’s not permitted to marry off girls who are 15 and younger,” said Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh, the kingdom’s grand mufti, while talking to the reporters of the regional Al-Hayat newspaper in last January. “A girl aged 10 or 12 can be married. Those who think she’s too young are wrong and they are being unfair to her”, he added.

47-year-old Saudi man marrying an 8-year-old bride
“We hear a lot in the media about the marriage of underage girls. But we should know that Sharia law is the law ordained by Allah and hence it cannot bring injustice to women. … Sharia law is Islamic law and Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam called Wahhabism”, said Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh.

Christoph Wilcke, a Saudi Arabia researcher for Human Rights Watch, told CNN in December that child marriage in Saudi Arabia is a regular phenomenon. “We’ve been hearing about these types of cases once in every four or five months because the Saudi public is now able to express their anger over this kind of incidents, especially when minor girls are traded off to older men in the garb marriage”, Wilcke said. Though the Saudi ministries occasionally take decisions designed to protect children, but it is the religious establishment that holds sway in the courts, and in many cases beyond the court”, Wilcke explained.

Saudi child bride (12) drops divorce from 80-year-old man:
As per news aired by BBC on February 2, 2010, a 12-year-old girl in Saudi Arabia has withdrawn her request for a divorce from her 80-year-old-husband. The girl, from Qaseem province east of Riyadh, was married last September in return for a dowry of USD22,600 (£14,174) paid to her father. She and her mother had asked a court to annul the marriage on the grounds that the girl had been raped. But now the girl has withdrawn her petition, saying she wants to respect her father’s wishes. There is no doubt that the girl had been compelled to change her decision under threat.(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8493402.stm)

An old Saudi farmer marrying a child-bride
The 12-year-old child bride and her mother
A local newspaper Okaz reported that the girl, in the court room, said, “I agree to the marriage. I have no objection. This is in filial respect to my father and obedience to his wish”. The anticipation of threat gains ground when the girl, while talking to a reporter of the newspaper Al-Riyadh in January, said that she begged him to save her. The lawyer appointed to help the girl said that her mother had not yet been informed about the change of heart of her daughter.

It has been mentioned earlier that Saudi Arabia has no law against child marriage, even it is a signatory to the UN declaration of Children’s Rights. But in April last year the Justice Minister, while he was discussing about the marriage of an eight-year-old girl to a 60-year-old man, said that there should be increased regulation and closer watch to prevent parents “selling off” their girl children.

It is important to note that the incident mentioned above has attracted the attention of the Saudi royal family. Princess Adela bint Abdullah, the daughter of King Abdullah bin Saud, said the marriage violated the child’s rights. She has been reported by the Saudi media to have said, “A child has the right to live her childhood and not be forced to get married. Even an adult would not accept that”. But the conservative clerics and the defenders of child marriage say the practice is part of Saudi culture.

It should also be mentioned here that Saudi Arabia implements an austere form of Sunni Islam that bans free association between the sexes and gives fathers the right to wed their children to whomever they deem fit. Most importantly, all these vulgar and shameful things are going on in Saudi Arabia and in other Islamic countries, because of the precedence set by the Prophet of Islam – namely his marriage with the 6-year-old Ayesha.

Source: http://www.faithfreedom.org/12071

IHS

Rationalizing Yerima’s* Paedophilia

“Religion makes sense to those who have lost the power of reason” – Voltaire (1694-1778).

*: Pedophile Nigerian Senator Ahmed Sani Yerima

This quote from the 18th century French philosopher readily came to mind as I read the puerile casuistry and inane rationalizations deployed by Nigerian Muslim propagandists in defence of Senator Ahmed Sani Yerima’s abominable paedophillia.

It is remarkable how otherwise intelligent people surrender their common sense, reason and good conscience to the bad example set by a morally depraved Arab psychopath 14 centuries ago, all because they are scared stiff of the vindictive Allah’s illusory torture chamber – hellfire. Even supposedly enlightened Muslims like Daily Trust’s Mohammed Haruna who should know better just don’t get it, as he lapses into the stale worn-out sophistry that paedophilia and marital age restrictions are Western concepts.

Ahmed Yerima himself justifies his paedophillia on the grounds of constitutionally guaranteed religious freedom. In this asinine casuistry he is supported by the Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria which after a recent meeting in Kaduna warned NAPTIP to desist from harassing the Zamfara senator since section 35 of our constitution guarantees religious freedom.

Hearing the paedophile senator and his Islamist supporters tell it, one might think that screwing little girls is a religious obligation incumbent on male Muslims, which Ahmed Sani is being wrongfully denied. Yet Egypt, the Muslim Arab nation of his child bride prohibits child marriage.

Religious freedom like other rights is not without limits, and cannot be exercised at the expense of another person’s rights. Otherwise those whose “religion” demand human sacrifice would be free to indulge in their bloodthirsty savagery. Muslims would also be free to raid (Ghazawa), plunder, rape and enslave non-Muslims as their prophet and his marauding gang did 14 centuries ago.

Ahmed Sani’s religious “right” cannot be at the expense of his 13 year old bride who obviously isn’t mature enough to have willingly consented to the impending sexual child abuse, with its attendant risk of VVF (vesico-vaginal fistula). Here in our Islamist north, VVF has ruined the lives of thousands of underage wives who are abandoned by their pedophile “husbands” as these unfortunate girls stink of urine.

What about the rights and dignity of the shabbily treated 15 year old ex-2nd wife who was sacked as our paedophile senator traded upwards for the racially superior Arab bride from Allah’s chosen race? Smacks of racism and inferiority complex if you ask me. Did Sani pay fifteen million of his embezzled naira ($100,000) as dowry for any of his substandard Nigerian wives as he did for the imported Arab girl? There must be something about screwing Arab cunt.

In the male chauvinist sex club that is Islam, only the “rights” of Muslim men matters. Women and girls are little more than disposable sex chattel for the sexual gratification of Muslim men, hence the Quran declares:

“Women are your fields, go (men) into your fields as you please” – Quran 2:223

Accordingly, Islam liberally caters for male sexual promiscuity in the form of polygamy (Q 4:3), unlimited slave concubines (Q 23:1-6, 79:29-30) and Islamic prostitution (Mut’a) Q 4:24. The “religion of piss” further empowers Muslim men with easy divorce so they can easily discard and replace older wives (Quran 4:20) as Ahmed Sani did with his sacked 2nd wife.

To get rid of any wife, all a Muslim man needs do is say, text or e-mail “I divorce you” three times and the unfortunate woman/girl is automatically sent packing. No court process, child custody or alimony negotiation required. Not surprisingly, the divorce rate here in Nigeria’s Islamist north is sky high.

According to the Quran and Hadith, the sexual joyride for Muslim men continues in Islamic heaven where they are provided with virgins (Q 44:54, 78:33, 55:56, 56:36 etc).

“As for the righteous (Muslims)…We (Allah) shall wed them to beautiful virgins with lustrous eyes” – Quran 44:51-54

“The righteous (Muslims) they shall triumph…Theirs shall be voluptous women” – Quran 78:31-33.

In`Al-Jannah– Islam’s brothel heaven – each Muslim man shall have a minimum of 72 of these celestial whores:
 
‘The prophet of Allah (Mohammed) said: “The least reward for the people of paradise is 80,000 servants and 72 wives”’ – Al-Tirmidhi 2562, 2687.

While there are numerous Quranic verses and Hadiths about virgins & houris for Muslim men in Al-Jannah brothel, there’s no mention anywhere in Islamic scriptures of virile hunks for Muslimahs (Muslim women) who get to heaven.

This is not at all surprising given that “prophet” Mohammed informed us that most Muslimahs won’t make it to heaven as they are destined for hellfire:
 
‘Allah’s apostle (Mohammed) said; “Among the inmates of Heaven women will be the minority“’–Sahih Muslim 36:6600.

“I (Mohammed) have seen that the majority of the dwellers of Hell-Fire are women…as they are ungrateful to their husbands and they are deficient in intelligence” – Sahih Bukhari 2:18:161; 7:62:125, 1:6:301.

Perhaps Mo’ was right that Muslim women are “deficient in intelligence”, or how else can one explain the recent report of a rent-a-crowd demonstration of Muslim women in Yerima’s home state of Zamfara supporting their pedophile senator.

It is disheartening and pathetic that Muslim women who should be protecting their daughters from lecherous perverts like Senator Yerima, actually demonstrated in support of paedophilic child abuse.

Voltaire was indeed right when he stated –“Religion makes sense to those who have lost the power of reason”

The major crux of Muslim support for Yerima’s pedophillia is that “prophet” Mohammed also had a child bride:

“The Prophet (Mohammed) married Aisha when she was six years old and consummated the marriage when she was nine years old” – Sahih Bukhari 7:62:64, 88; 5:55:236

Mo’ was 53 years old when he sexually assaulted 9 year old Aisha who was young enough to be his grand-daughter. And since the Quran in Surah Al-Ahzab (Q 33:21) enjoins Muslims to emulate the prophet wannabe, then pedophilia is alright.

To better appreciate the absurdity of Mo’ as Islam’s exemplary paragon of virtue (Uswa hasana) whom all Muslims should emulate, some of his other sexual perversions are hereby exposed.

The sex-crazed Muslim prophet reportedly indulged in marathon sex orgies with all his numerous wives every day and night:

“The prophet (Mohammed) used to have sex with all his wives at a go during the day and at night, and he had eleven wives” I asked Anas, “Had the Prophet the strength for it?” Anas replied, “We used to say that the Prophet was given the strength of thirty men.”- Sahih Bukhari 1:5:268, 7:62:6.

With such revolting sexual debauchery, there’s little doubt Mo’ must have spread venereal diseases among his numerous wives. Little wonder Aisha, his child bride was infertile and did not bear Mo’ any child as the pre-pubertal vaginna is more vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections.

Mo’ also snatched his stepson’s wife, Zainab bint Jash after chancing upon her half naked:

“One day Muhammad went out looking for Zayd (his stepson). There was a covering of haircloth over the doorway, but the wind had lifted the covering so that the doorway was uncovered. Zaynab was in her chamber undressed, and lust for her entered the heart of the Prophet. After that Allah made her unattractive to Zayd (her husband).” – Tabari VIII:4

To cut short the long story, Zayd his stepson divorced his wife for amorous Mo’ to marry:

“And when Zayd divorced his wife, we (Allah) gave her to you (Mohammed) in marriage” – Quran 33:37

Incidentally, the said daughter-in-law, was also Mo’s first cousin, making his vile misconduct double incest. Because of this abomination, Mo’ abolished the humane practice of adoption by which pre-Islamic Arabs catered for orphans.

Then there was Mo’s scandalous sexcapade with Maryam, the maid of one of his wives – Hafsat. This scandal – which was luridly documented by Tabari and Ibn Sa’d (9th century Islamic scholars) – caused so much uproar among Mo’s wives that the prophet wannabe took to his heels and fled his home for a whole month.

Not to forget the blank cheque the philandering “prophet” wrote for himself in his Quran to freely womanize:

“Prophet (Mohammed), we have made lawful to you your wives, female slaves/war captives, daughters of your paternal and maternal uncles, daughters of your paternal and maternal aunts, any believing woman who ‘offers’ herself to you”…Q 33:50

Accordingly, several of Mo’s wives – Safiyya, Juwariyya, Rayhanna – were forcibly married captive women whose husbands and male relatives had usually been massacred by Mo’ and his fellow brigands during raids (Ghazawa) and attacks on non-Muslims.

With a depraved sexual predator like Mo’ as moral compass for Muslims, it’s no surprise the Ahmed Sani Yerimas of this world have a warped notion right and wrong. It’s also no surprise that the Muslim world is so backward vis-à-vis we infidels

Source:  http://www.faithfreedom.org/12094

IHS

Authorship of Barnabas. Was the Writer a Jew of the time of the Christ?

According to the Gospel of Barnabas, the writer, speaking in the first person, claims to be one of Jesus' twelve disciples. He traveled with Jesus throughout Palestine. He was present at the miracles Jesus did. He had heard and knew Jesus' teaching and the teaching of the Jewish leaders. From this we can make the following assumptions.

- He would know who the Jewish High Priest was and when Pilate, the Roman Governor, took office.
- He would know the geography of Palestine having walked around through most of it with Jesus.
- He would know the general plan of the Temple and the feasts of his Jewish religion.
- His native language would be Aramaic, but he would know at least some of the classical Hebrew of the Torah; and if he was educated he would probably know Greek, and possibly even Latin.
- He would know where the hated Roman troops were and approximately how many were stationed in his country.

Having established this picture of a Jew living at the time of Christ, we must now see whether the author of Barnabas shows this knowledge, or not. What we discover is that the Gospel of Barnabas makes errors in every one of these areas.

A. Errors in Knowledge of Who the Leaders Were in His Country

In Chapter 3 of Barnabas we read,

There reigned at that time in Judea, Herod, by decree of Caesar Augustus, and Pilate was governor in the priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas. Wherefore, by decree of Augustus all the world was enrolled; wherefore each one went to his own country ... Joseph accordingly departed from Nazareth, a city of Galilee, with Mary his wife great with child to go to Bethlehem.

The last sentence showing Mary to be "great with child" tells us that the author is speaking about the period when Christ was born. According to the best historical and archeological evidence available Jesus was born in 4 BC. So the Gospel of Barnabas is correct when it says that Herod reigned in Judea when Christ was born.

But what shall we say of the other people mentioned? When we look at secular history we find that Pilate did not become governor until 26 AD and that he held this position from 26 to 36 AD. In other words he was governor when Jesus started preaching, as Luke says correctly in Chapter 3 of his Gospel; but not at time of Jesus' birth in 4 BC, as Barnabas incorrectly says.

As for the priests, Annas was high priest from 6 AD to 15 AD, when he was deposed by the Roman procurator. But he continued to have great authority and was consulted on all important matters and interrogated Jesus when he was captured. Caiaphas, the son-in-law of Annas, was high priest from 18 AD to 36 AD. Again we see that neither of them were in power when Jesus was born in 4 BC. In summary, counting from Jesus' birth in 4 BC, Barnabas is 10 years off with Annas, 22 years off with Caiaphas, and 30 years off with Pilate.

In addition Herod (Antipas) is spoken of as having power and soldiers at his command in Jerusalem and Judea (Chapter 214). This is false for his authority was in Galilee, 60 miles (96 kilometers) away (See figure 2). In Chapter 217 Herod is called a Gentile who "adored the false and lying gods." The truth is he practiced the Jewish law, and believed in one God. The reason he was in Jerusalem to be consulted during Jesus' trial was because he had traveled there from Galilee for the feast of the Passover.

B. Mistakes in Geography

In general, the Gospel of Barnabas repeats the topographical indications contained in the New Testament, but the author makes several mistakes.

i) Position of Tyre (Tiro)

We read in Chapter 99 of the Gospel of Barnabas, that after feeding the 5,000 with five loaves and two fishes,

Jesus, having withdrawn into a hollow part of the desert in Tiro near to Jordan, called together the seventy-two with the twelve.

This sentence states that Tiro (Tyre) is near the Jordan River. In fact, Tyre is in present day Lebanon on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea (see Figure 1), more than 30 miles (50 kilometers) from the Jordan River.

ii) Nazareth on the Shore of the Sea of Galilee

In Chapter 20 of the Italian manuscript, we find this curious description. Jesus and his disciples embarked on the sea of Galilee and sailed¹ toward Nazareth. On the sea, the miracle of stilling the tempest took place. Then the text continues;

Having arrived at the city of Nazareth, the seamen spread through the city all that Jesus had wrought.

Jesus stayed for a while in Nazareth and then in Chapter 21 it says that he "went up to Capernaum."

Nazareth is thus placed at the shore of the sea and Capernaum is inland. In reality, Capernaum is on the shore of the Sea of Galilee and Nazareth is more than 15 miles away as can be seen in Figure 1.

We find the same imprecision later when Jesus decides to go from Damascus to Judea. In one long passage given over to arguments with the Pharisees and descriptions of a true Pharisee, we find at the beginning of Chapter 143 that Jesus left from Damascus and "came to Nazareth." After more discussion, we read in Chapter 151 that "Jesus then embarked on a ship." This passage further confirms our understanding that for the author of Barnabas, Nazareth is on the shore of the sea of Galilee.

iii) He Speaks of Israel and Samaria as Separate Places

During the time of the kings from the tenth to the sixth century BC, Palestine was divided into the northern kingdom of Israel, and the southern kingdom of Judah, as can be seen in map A of Figure 2. In Jesus' day, the northern part of Palestine, formerly called Israel, was made up of two regions called Samaria and Galilee. One no longer spoke of Judah and Israel. One spoke of Judea, Galilee and Samaria. This can be clearly seen on map B in Figure 2.

In Chapter 100 of Barnabas the disciples are to go and preach throughout Judea and Israel. But a few lines farther on, the text speaks of passing throughout Samaria, Judea, and Israel. What does the author call Samaria? What does he call Israel? As we have seen on the two maps, "Israel" and "Samaria" are two different names for the same region, but used at different times. The mistake is repeated in Chapter 126 where it says that Jesus sent his disciples throughout "Israel." An eyewitness would have been much more precise.

iv) Nineveh is Placed Near the Mediterranean Sea

It is well-known that the town of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire, was built on the eastern bank of the Tigris river, on an outlet known by the name of Al-Khisr in northern Iraq. But in Chapter 63 of Barnabas we read:

Remember that God decided to destroy Nineveh because there was no one in that town who feared Him. He (Jonah) tried to escape to Tarsus (Spain), being afraid of the people, but God threw Him into the sea and a fish swallowed him and cast him out near Nineveh.

For the author of Barnabas, Nineveh is near the Mediterranean Sea, when in reality it was 400 miles away in Iraq.²

In summary, when the author of Barnabas separates himself from the four Canonical Gospels, he almost always falls into error. The Raggs also noted this in 1907. In the preface to their translation they wrote,

His geographical ignorance matches his chronological vaguenes... Evidently he possesses no first hand knowledge of Palestine, still less of Palestine in the first century of our era.³

C. Mistakes in Culture and Religious Knowledge

As we argued in the introduction to this section, we would expect one of Jesus' disciples to know all about the 1st century customs and religious festivals, but in fact, the author of this book makes many mistakes.

i) Culture

a. Wine Casks

In Chapter 152 where we read about the Roman soldiers being miraculously thrown out of the Temple by Jesus, it says,

Whereupon straight-way the soldiers were rolled out of the Temple as one rolls casks of wood when they are washed to refill them with wine.

Now where did these wine barrels come from? Invented in Gaul, they didn't appear in Italy until the lst century. Up to the present no trace of them has been found in archeological excavations of lst century Palestine. If there were any they would have been very rare. The Jews used vessels of pottery to store their wine. It is a word picture from and for the middle ages but it would not be understood in the lst century.

b. 200 Pieces of Gold

In Chapter 6 of John's Gospel where it speaks of the 5,000 men who had spent the whole day with Jesus and were now hungry, the Apostle Philip remarks that "two hundred pennies" would not be enough to buy bread for everyone. Philip is referring to two hundred silver coins each weighing about an eighth of an ounce, a type of Roman money well-known at that time and representing a day's pay. A modern translation makes this clear by using the phrase "eight month's wages",⁴ and a paraphrase for children has Philip exclaim "It would cost a fortune".⁵

In the Italian manuscript of Barnabas, Chapter 98, Philip's answer has become, "Lord, two hundred pieces of gold could not buy so much bread that each one should taste a little." But with 200 pieces of gold one could easily buy enough bread for everyone and have a lot left over. Philip's remark then loses all value.

How did this change come about? The English word "pennies" is used to translate the Latin word denarii – singular denarius – which is the word actually used in the Greek New Testament. By the middle ages, the Latin word denarius, slightly transformed to dinar, meant a gold coin. The medieval origin of the Gospel of Barnabas is starting to show through.

ii) Religious Customs

a. "The Forty Days"

What is this fast of 40 days spoken of in Chapter 92 where it says, "And there Jesus with his disciples kept the forty days (allo quadragessima in Italian)"? The writer mentions it as though it would be completely understood by his leaders – as indeed it would be in later Christian periods, because Lent is a late Christian idea. No such fast existed among the Jews of Jesus' day.

b. Regular Prayers Several Times a Day Including Midnight

What are these prayers which Jesus prays regularly – he and everyone with him? Prayers spoken of as being known by all? For example, note the following:

Chapter 155: "Jesus, who was gone out of the Temple, and was sitting in Solomon's porch, waiting to pray the midday prayer.

Chapter 156: "When he had made the midday prayer." (Also Chapter 163)
Chapter 61: "Then Jesus opening his mouth after the evening (prayer)."
Chapter 100: "Every evening when the first star shall appear, when prayer is made to God."
Chapter 83: "After the prayer of midnight the disciples came near unto Jesus."
Chapter 89: "Jesus answered, ‘It is time that we say the prayer of the dawn.’"
Chapter 106: "When he had finished the prayer of the dawn, Jesus sat down."

The author mentions at least four daily prayer times as though they occur at set hours known to everyone. The first century Jews did have a custom of praying three times a day, but there was no prayer at midnight. No Barnabas would have spoken of the "prayer of midnight" at the time of Christ. The author has introduced a custom of the later Christians who prayed, for example, the matin-midnight prayers.

c. The Jubilee

In Chapter 82 we read,

Jesus answered: ‘I am indeed sent to the house of Israel as a prophet of salvation; but after me shall come the Messiah (Muhammad) sent of God to all the world; for whom God has made the world. And then through all the world will God be worshipped, and mercy received, insomuch that the year of jubilee, which now comes every hundred years, shall by the Messiah be reduced to every year in every place.’

What is this jubilee that "now comes every 100 years"? The Jewish year of jubilee was every fifty years (Torah of Moses, Leviticus 25:8-55). The only possible explanation is that "Barnabas" has written his work after the year 1300 AD. Before that date a time span of 100 years would have been considered a complete error. After that date, everything becomes clear. Barnabas makes an allusion, not to the Jewish Jubilee, but to a Christian Jubilee instituted by Pope Boniface VIII. It was to be celebrated every 100 years and was celebrated for the first time in 1300 AD. Part of this Christian Jubilee was that the believers should receive forgiveness of sin. Later Popes changed it, first to 50 years, then to 33 year intervals, and finally every 25 years. Since 1450 the Holy Years have been celebrated at this interval.⁶

The author of Barnabas seems to know about this reduction too. For as we saw above he writes, "the year of jubilee ... shall by the Messiah be reduced to every year." This passage, by itself, is very strong evidence that the work was written after 1300 and indeed long enough after 1300 so that the reduction in intervals had already begun. In any case, there was no such thing as a Jewish year of Jubilee every 100 years when Jesus was walking around in Palestine.

D. Language Errors

i) The Pinnacle of the Temple

The author does not know what is meant by the pinnacle of the Temple (pinocholo in Italian). According to his use of the word he seems to understand it to be the place where the scribes stood to preach. In Chapter 12 it says,

Therefore the priests besought Jesus, saying: ‘This people desires to hear you and see you; therefore ascend to the pinnacle and if God gives you a word speak it in the name of the Lord.’ Then Jesus ascended to the place whence the scribes were wont to speak.

Again in Chapter 127-129 we read,

So after the reading of the Psalms Jesus mounted up on the pinnacle where the scribe used to mount, and, having beckoned for silence with his hand, he said, ‘Blessed he the Holy name of God...’ And having said this, Jesus prayed... When he had finished his prayer he descended from the pinnacle.

The person who made the Arabic translation understood the word in the same way and translated the Italian pinocholo with the Arabic word dikka (دِكَّة) the platform from which one speaks in the mosque. But, in reality, the pinnacle was a high point on the exterior border at the top of the temple from where one could easily feel dizzy and risk falling. It was certainly not the place from which the scribes spoke to the people.

ii) Meaning of the Word Pharisee

The author speaks of Pharisees often and at great length, and in Chapter 144 he talks of their origin and the meaning of the word. We read,
 
(Jesus said) Tell me, know ye your origin, and wherefore the world began to receive Pharisees? Surely I will tell you... Enoch, a friend of God, who walked with God in truth... was translated into paradise... And so men, having knowledge of this, through desire of paradise, began to seek God their creator. For "Pharisee" strictly means "seeks God" in the language of Canaan, for there did this name begin by way of deriding good men, seeing that the Canaanites were given up to idolatry which is the worship of human hands. Whereupon the Canaanites beholding... such a one, said ‘Pharisee!’ that is, ‘He seeks God.’

And in Chapter 145 we read,

As God lives, in the time of Elijah, friend and prophet of God, there were twelve mountains inhabited by seventeen thousand Pharisees; and so it was that in so great a number there was not found a single reprobate, but all were elect of God.

From this it is clear that the author believes that the word "Pharisee" means "seeks God", and that the Jewish religious group known as the Pharisees started when the Canaanites had power in Palestine. This would place it before the time of David who eliminated all foreign rule in that country – that is, before 1000 BC. According to the Gospel of Barnabas the group grew so that when Elijah was a prophet in the 9th century BC there were 17,000 of them.

As we read on in Chapters 145-150 we find that the Pharisees are described as a religious movement, organized into a "congregation", following "the rule" formed by Elijah, and wearing a special uniform or robe – "the habit of the Pharisees."

They are told to live in solitude, speaking with men once a month; to rise from the table hungry; to sleep two hours a night and that only on the earth; all this as though they were a congregation of monks from the middle ages.

In fact, the movement of the Pharisees only dates from the second century before Jesus. They are not mentioned in any of the literature concerning the Maccabean revolts from 168 to 135 BC, revolts in which a patriotic and zealous movement such as the Pharisees would surely have participated. The earliest historical reference to them which can be dated is in Antiquities of the Jews xiii. 10. 5f by Josephus where he reports a schism between the Pharisees and John Hyrcanus, a Jewish ruler who was at the same time High Priest and who died in 104 BC.

The Pharisees were not monks, but people living in the world and usually married. Certain of them even recommended learning a manual trade in a spirit of simplicity and humility. In addition the word "pharisee" is a Hebrew word which does not mean "seeks God". It probably means "separated". The Pharisees were the separated ones. A Jewish contemporary of Jesus would never describe the Pharisees in the terms used by the author of Barnabas.

iii) Feast of Tabernacles

In Chapter 15 of Barnabas we read, "When the feast of Tabernacles was near, a certain rich man invited Jesus..." This phrase written in Italian as "la festa di Tabernacholi" is correct. The Jews had such a feast (Torah of Moses, Leviticus 23:33-36) and Jesus surely celebrated it. However, in Chapter 30 of Barnabas, which is still describing the first year of Jesus' ministry (see Chapter 47), we read,

Jesus went to Jerusalem, near into the Senofegia, a feast of our nation.

The problem is that this word "Senofegia" is a deformation of the Greek word skenopegia which means tabernacles. The author has made Jesus celebrate the "feast of tabernacles" twice in one year because the author does not know that the Greek word senofegia means exactly the same as the Latin tabernacholi.

iv) The Pool Called Probatica

In Chapter 65 of Barnabas we find,

And he (Jesus) went to the pool called Probatica. And the bath was so called because the angel of God every day troubled the water, and whosoever first entered the water after its movement was cured of every kind of infirmity.

For the author of Barnabas the meaning of the word "probatica" is located in the phrase which follows – viz., either in the "troubling or movement of the waters", or perhaps the "healing". In fact, the word has no such meaning. It means simply "of the sheep" in Greek and is so utilized in the Gospel according to John 5:2 where we read, "Now there is in Jerusalem near the gate of the sheep (probatica) a pool which in Aramaic is called Bethesda." Again the author errs because he does not know the meaning of the Greek word "probatica". The Raggs in the introduction to their 1907 translation, give several examples showing that the author of Barnabas was actually using the Vulgate, a Latin translation of the 4th century, as the basis for his Biblical knowledge and had little or no understanding of Greek, the language in which most of the New Testament was originally written.

E. Errors Concerning the Roman Military Power in Palestine During the Time of Jesus' Ministry

To have a quick overall view of how Rome distributed its troops at the time of Christ, we need only to look at the Annals of the Roman historian Tacitus who lived from about 55 to 117 AD. In Book IV, Chapters 4 and 5, he writes about the distribution of Roman troops under the reign of the Emperor Tiberius who ruled from 14 to 37 AD. We read as follows,

Tiberius also rapidly enumerated the legions and the provinces which they had to garrison. I too ought, I think, to go through these details, and thus show what forces Rome then had under arms, what kings were our allies, and how much narrower then were the limits of our empire.

Italy on both seas was guarded by fleets, at Misenum and at Ravenna... But our chief strength was on the Rhine, as a defense alike against Germans and Gauls, and numbered eight legions. Spain, lately subjugated, was held by three. Mauritania was king Juba's who had received it as a gift from the Roman people. The rest of Africa was garrisoned by two legions, and Egypt by the same number. Next, beginning with Syria, all within the entire tract of country (which included Palestine) stretching as far as the Euphrates, was kept in restraint by four legions, and on this frontier were Iberian, Albanian, and other kings, to whom our greatness was a protection against any foreign power. Thrace was held by Rhomatalces and the children of Cotys; the bank of the Danube by two legions in Pannonia, two in Mossia, and two also were stationed in Dalmatia, which, from the situation of the country, were in the rear of the other four, and, should Italy suddenly require aid, not too distant to be summoned. But the capital was garrisoned by its own special soldiery, three city and nine praetorian cohorts, levied for the most part in Etruria and Umbria, or ancient Latium and the old Roman colonies.

When we add up these numbers we see that there were just 25 legions, or 150,000 Roman soldiers from Spain to the Euphrates river. In addition there were probably another 200,000 auxiliaries for a grand total of 350,000 men to keep the peace in the whole Roman Empire.

i) Roman Forces in Tunisia as an Example

As an example of the way in which Rome stationed its troops during the time of Tiberius, we shall consider Tunisia. The Roman military strategy is clearly outlined in Histoire de la Tunisie – L'Antiquité in the section "Rome et L'Apogée" by Ammar Mahjoubi.⁷ He states,

For the defense of the occupied territory, Rome maintained only a feeble army of occupation: one legion of 5,500 men and a slightly larger number of auxiliaries – foot soldiers, and especially cavalry; for a total of 13,000 men.

He goes on to say that at the time which interests us the legion was limited to Roman citizens (though this changed later), and the auxiliaries were recruited from provinces outside Africa. Many inscriptions have been found giving their names as coming from Spain, Chalcedon in Turkey, etc. During the reign of Tiberius the III Augusta legion was stationed at Ammaedara represented in present day Tunisia by a small village called Haïdra a few miles west of Thala on the Tunisian border with Algeria. At the same time they built a road from Tacapae (present day Gabès) to Ammaedara (Haïdra) to complete their system of roads which permitted quick displacement of troops to trouble points. Although southern Tunisia was not included in their area, a large section of Algeria over as far as Constantine was under their surveillance, as can be seen on the map in Figure 3. Finally, according to the same source,⁸ order was assured in Carthage the capital by one cohort of 600 men detached from the 3rd legion, and who acted under the authority of the proconsuls.

In summary then, 13,000 soldiers were sufficient to keep the peace in an area of more than 50,000 square miles.

ii) The Situation in Palestine

In Palestine with an area of about 10,000 square miles the situation was similar except that Rome was doubly hated by the Jews. They were hated, of course, for occupying the country, but they were hated even more for their idolatry. The result was that groups of Jews often rose in revolt.

Because of this possibility of revolt, the Romans could not trust the Jews to be auxiliary soldiers and they were exempted from military service. Pilate was the local governor and representative of Caesar with Roman soldiers at his command. But because Palestine was smaller, he had fewer soldiers to keep the peace. There was a small unit of cavalry and several cohorts – each one of 600 men, for a total of not more than 3,000 men in the whole country.⁹

The Romans were suspicious of large gatherings. They knew that the people tolerated their domination very badly. A Roman garrison, in the fortress of Antonia, watched over the Temple at all times. And at the great feasts, the procurator left his capital at Caesarea and went up to Jerusalem to be ready to act if necessary. It was because of the feast of the Passover that Pilate was in Jerusalem and could try Jesus in 30 AD.

iii) Soldiers in Palestine According to the Gospel of Barnabas

a. In Chapter 91 we read,

Thereupon, to quiet the people, it was necessary that the high priest should ride in procession, clothed in his priestly robes, with the holy name of God, the teta gramaton,¹⁰on his forehead. And in like manner rode the governor Pilate, and Herod. Whereupon, in Mizpeh assembled three armies, each one of two hundred thousand men that bore sword.

What are we to say when we read that the Jewish high priest had 200,000 soldiers and the Jewish vassal king Herod had 200,000 soldiers? If these men were Jews – 400,000 Jews – they would have risen in revolt against the 200,000 Romans in order to have their independence. If we are to understand that they were all Roman soldiers and auxiliaries, it would represent more Roman soldiers than actually existed at that time in the whole Roman Empire, and 200 times the number present in Palestine.

We saw above that Tacitus said,

Next (after Egypt) beginning with Syria, all within the entire tract of country stretching as far as the Euphrates (including Palestine), was kept in restraint by four legions.

In other words 24,000 soldiers, plus auxiliaries, had the task of keeping the peace in about 100,000 square miles of territory, an area 10 times that of Palestine. To speak of 600,000 soldiers in Palestine alone is a comedy.

b. The same type of error is found in Chapter 210 where we read,

Then the governor (Pilate) feared the senate and made friends with Herod... and they joined together for the death of Jesus, and said to the high priest: ‘Whenever thou shalt know where the malefactor is, send to us, for we will give thee soldiers.’

Now why does the high priest need soldiers if he already has 200,000?

c. Again in Chapter 214 with Judas speaking:
 
‘If you will give me what was promised, this night will I give into your hand Jesus whom you seek; for he is alone with eleven companions.’ The high priest answered: ‘How much seekest thou?’ Said Judas, ‘Thirty pieces of gold.’ Then straightway the high priest counted unto him the money, and sent a Pharisee to the governor to fetch soldiers, and to Herod, and they gave a legion¹¹ of them (6,000 soldiers), because they feared the people.

First of all it is unthinkable to send 6,000 soldiers to arrest 12 men. Secondly, the high priest already had 200,000 men. Thirdly, as we saw above, Herod had no power or authority to have or provide soldiers in Jerusalem, as he was the tetrarch of Galilee. Fourthly, as we saw in the historical overview, there was not a legion in all of Palestine and probably not more than a cohort in Jerusalem, which at that time had a normal population of about 60,000 people.¹² Barnabas as an eye-witness should have known all these things.

d.The final error concerning Roman soldiers is found in Chapter 152. Some of them are in the Temple talking with Jesus and he says to them,
 
‘Assuredly, seeing (the Roman idols) make not a single fly afresh, I will not for them forsake that God who hath created everything with a single word; whose name alone affrighteth armies.’ The soldiers answered: ‘Now let us see this; for we are going to take thee,’ and they were going to stretch forth their hands against Jesus. Then said Jesus, ‘Adonai Sabaoth!’ Whereupon straightway the soldiers were rolled out of the Temple as one rolleth casks of wood when they are washed to refill them with wine; insomuch that now their head and now their feet struck the ground, and that without any one touching them. And they were so affrighted and fled in such wise that they were never more seen in Judea.

That the soldiers were afraid after being thrown out of the Temple miraculously, and that they fled back to the fortress of Antonia, mentioned above, could obviously be true. But that they "fled in such wise that they were never more seen in Judea" seems very unlikely. The punishment for desertion was death. One can only conclude that being rolled out of the Temple, while turning end over end like pins on a bowling alley, and leaving the country completely is not being serious. It is farce and comedy.

iv) First Century History as Recorded by Luke

In contrast when we look at the story of Paul's imprisonment in Jerusalem recorded in the Book of Acts Chapters 21 and 23 of the Holy Bible, we find that it agrees with secular history in every particular. In Acts 21:26-33 we find the following incident related. Some of the most orthodox Jews had seen Paul walking around Jerusalem with a Greek Christian. They thought that Paul had brought the foreigner into the Temple and desecrated it so they stirred up the crowd.

Then all the city was aroused, and the people ran together; they seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut. And as they were trying to kill him, word came to the tribune of the cohort¹³ that all Jerusalem was in confusion. He at once took soldiers and centurions, and ran down to them; and when they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. Then the tribune came up and arrested him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains.

Next a plot was made by the Jews to kill Paul and the account continues as follows (Acts 23:16-24):

Now the son of Paul's sister heard of their ambush; so he went and entered the fortress and told Paul. And Paul called one of the centurions and said, ‘Take this young man to the tribune; for he has something to tell him ...’
 
(The boy spoke to the tribune and said) ‘The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more closely about him. But do not yield to them; for more than forty of their men lie in ambush for him, having bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they have killed him; and now they are ready, waiting for the promise from you.’ So the tribune dismissed the young man, charging him, ‘Tell no one that you have informed me of this.’ Then he called two of the centurions and said, ‘At the 9th hour of the night get ready two hundred soldiers with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go as far as Caesarea. Also provide mounts for Paul to ride, and bring him safely to Felix the governor.’

Acts 23:31-33:

So the (foot) soldiers, according to their instructions, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. And on the morrow they returned to the fortress, leaving the horsemen to go on with him. When they came to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they presented Paul also before him.

We see that Paul was thrown out of the Temple because the Jews thought that he had brought an uncircumcised pagan Greek in and desecrated it. They closed the door of the Temple and started to kill him. The sound came to the tribune of the cohort (Acts 21:31,32) who took soldiers and centurions to put down the disturbance. In Chapter 23:16 Paul's nephew came to the fortress to warn Paul. After hearing the news the tribune called two centurions to prepare 200 foot soldiers, 70 horsemen, and two hundred spearmen. Leaving at 9 P.M. they went in full strength at walking speed down one of those famous Roman roads until they had gone 30 miles to Antipatris. Then the foot soldiers went back to the fortress and the cavalry quickly finished the remaining 30 miles to Caesarea.

Luke was a first century Christian author. His description of Paul's arrest in Jerusalem is in complete agreement with what we know about Jerusalem under Roman occupation.

What a contrast to the false information given by the author of Barnabas. It's plain that he was never there.

Summary

We have now discussed 25 historical, geographical and cultural errors in great detail. We could go on and discuss the statement in Chapter 217 that "the council of the Pharisees" judged Jesus. When in fact the Sanhedrin or Jewish high court was controlled by powerful members of another Jewish religious group called the Sadducees. We could discuss the use of the word Ishmaelites in Chapter 142 – a word no longer in use at the time of Christ. But it would change nothing. The general theme of Jesus who affirms that he is not the Messiah, the numerous erroneous details – historical, geographical, cultural, religious, and linguistic all lead to the same conclusion.

It is impossible that the Gospel According to Barnabas was composed by a "Barnabas" who lived in Palestine at the beginning of the first century, and to this even some Muslim scholars agree.

Testimony of Muslim Writers that the Gospel of Barnabas is a Forgery

In his book The Gospel of Barnabas, in the Light of History, Reason and Religion, the author Aaod Simaan writes.¹⁴

Some Muslims scholars have studied the Gospel of Barnabas extensively and agree completely with what we have found.

He notes particularly the following two authors.

A. Professor Aabas Mahmoud Aqad writing about Barnabasin the newspaper Al Akhbar, published October 26, 1959 makes five principal points.

First he notices that many expressions used in the Gospel of Barnabas were not known before the spread of Arabic into Andalusia. Secondly, the description of hell "leans" on late facts not known among Hebrew Christians at the time of Christ (see Chapter IV). Thirdly, some expressions found in it had penetrated into the continent of Europe from Arab sources. Fourthly, the Messiah did not customarily tell the crowds his message in the name of "Muhammad, the Apostle of God." And fifthly, some mistakes mentioned in this gospel are of the type that the Jew familiar with the books of his people would not be ignorant of, and the Christian of the Western Church who believes in the Canonical Gospels does not repeat, and the Muslim who understands the contradictions in the Gospel of Barnabas between it and the Qur'an, will not become involved in them.

B. Dr. Muhammad Chafiq Ghorbal writing in the Arabic Encyclopedia, Al Misra under the heading "Barnabas", said as follows:

A forged (or Pseudo) Gospel produced by a European in the 15th century; and in its description of the political and religious condition in Palestine at the time of the Messiah, full of errors. For example, it places on the tongue of 'Isa (Jesus) that he is not the Messiah, but that he came to announce Muhammad who will be the Messiah.

Conclusion

In the light of all this information, we can only conclude that the Gospel of Barnabas has no historical value as an original first century document. From now on we shall refer to it as Pseudo-Barnabas, and in the next chapter we shall consider evidence which shows that it was composed much later – many centuries after the time of Christ.

Footnotes
1 In Arabic "sailed" has been incorrectly translated as "traveled" in order to lessen this difficulty.
2 Iskander Jadeed, The Gospel of Barnabas – A False Testimony (Rikon, Switzerland: The Good Way).
3 Lonsdale and Laura Ragg, op. cit., p. xxi.
4 New International Version, (Wheaton: Tyndale, 1982).
5 The Living Bible, (Wheaton: Tyndale, 1982).
6 Jomier, op. cit., note on p. 223.
7 Histoire de la Tunisie – L'antiquité (Tunis: Société Tunisienne de Diffusion), pp. 137-139.
8 Ibid, p. 242.
9 See E. Schurer, Geschichte des Jüdischen Volkes (Leipzig, 1901), Vol 1, p. 458-465.
10 The correct spelling is "tetragrammaton" which means "four letter word." This is like misspelling God's name. Though possible, it is difficult to think that a first century Jew whom Jesus ordered to write a Gospel would do this.
11 In Arabic they have translated legion (6000 soldiers) as katîba (كَتِيْبَة) but katîba is the word for battalion (600 soldiers), or cohort in Latin. Katîba would agree with the Gospel of John 18:12 which says a cohort with its tribune came, but to use it for "legion" is incorrect.
12 See F. F. Bruce, Peter, Stephen, James and John (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980), p. 99.
13 A tribune was over a cohort of 5 to 6 companies. Each company of a hundred men had a centurion in command.
14 (إنجيل برنابا في ضوء التاريخ والعقل والدين، عوض سمعان)
(Cairo: Publishing and Distribution House of the Episcopal Church) 3rd edn.

Source: http://answering-islam.org/authors/campbell/barnabas/chapter2.html

IHS