It is enough nobility for a man to count his faults. A famous poemWe wonder if the doubts about the Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, are doubts about personal flaws or about circumstances that do not agree with the mentality of some thinkers? You will notice after a while that they are not personality flaws. Glory be to He who said about the Messenger of God:
( وإنك لعلي خلق عظيم)
(And indeed, you are of a great moral character)
Peace be upon you... This is not a single article, but a series that talks about the biggest doubts that have been raised about God Almighty, or His Messenger Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, or the Holy Quran, the final book in the Muslim faith... This is an attempt to bring some of the opinions of contemporary Orientalists and respond to them. Muhammad's idea of the GodIn his study on the stereotype of the Holy Prophet in Orientalist writings, Tanley Paul discussed several issues, including (Muhammad’s idea of the God)
It is believed that Muhammad firmly believed in himself that he was a messenger who received revelation, and that his concept of divinity was not revelation but rather a private concept that did not go beyond what the Semitic mind understood (the Semites are: they are attributed to Shem, son of Noah, peace be upon him, and they are usually referred to as the peoples living in the Arabian Peninsula, in Mesopotamia (ancient Iraq), and in the Syrian region (the inhabitants of Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine)) always that God is able to do everything, and is knowledgeable about everything, and does not wrong people in anything, and as for power, it is one of his most important sublime attributes, but it is always coupled with mercy and forgiveness. With this understanding, Muhammad was able to “find the only form of monotheism that suits all the major sects in the Eastern world,” as Christianity was never able to dominate the East due to its trinitarian vision of God.
The response to the doubt
With this suspicion, the orientalist Tanley Paul claims that the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, is of extraordinary intelligence because he makes the Easterners worship a God without a trinity, simply because the Easterners do not accept the doctrine of the trinity. The response to this comes through several points:
1 - Many Eastern Christians say that God is triune, and none of the Easterners who are not Christians object to them in their religion in anything, and the Easterners did not control them with the belief in monotheism.
2 - The Almighty said:
شهد الله أنه لا إله إلا هو والملائكة وأولو العلم قائما بالقسط لا إله إلا هو العزيز الحكيم
Allah bears witness that there is no god but Him, and the angels and those of knowledge, establishing justice, there is no god but Him, the Almighty, the Wise
Is it possible for anyone who has a genius to come up with such a verse? The verse tells us that there are witnesses to the oneness of God Almighty in this universe and they are of three types
1 - God Almighty and Himself testifies to Himself that there is no god but Him.
2 - The angels who are the closest beings to God Almighty 3 - The scholars: Here, he did not specify whether they are religious or worldly scholars, and they are the people who are most religious and understand this religion if they believe, because they see and know about the sciences of the universe what others do not know, and as it came in the hadith: And everything has a sign indicating that He is the One, and let us take an example without details of what physicists call the particles of God or Hegzobozn particles - you can search for the topic -
Here is a pause
- God and Himself have the right to testify for Himself, but not everyone believes in Him, glory be to Him.
- Angels are one of God’s creations who do what they are commanded to do, and therefore they are the most deserving of beings to bear witness to God Almighty’s Oneness. - As for scientists, especially scientists of medicine, anatomy, cosmology, physics, and other worldly sciences, they cannot in any way convince their owner to say what he does not believe in, unless he has certainly witnessed something that makes him say that the universe has a god, or that the universe is unique and not multiple, someone, rather it is a testimony that he says himself and may change it after a while, because theories of science change from yesterday to today to tomorrow
Islam is not from God Almighty, but rather it is from the ideas of Muhammad (PBUH) that were saturated with Jewish and Christian ideasThis slander and this suspicion are completely irrational, and we will explain in the following lines why?
1 - A religious response with several noble verses
God Almighty said: (He frowned and turned away, because there came to him the blind man) The story is well known that the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, frowned at a blind man who could not see, and despite this frowning, it did not pass unnoticed before God Almighty, and our Master Muhammad, peace be upon him, was blamed
God Almighty said: {And never say of anything, "I will do that tomorrow."} The story in brief is that Jewish rabbis came to Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, to test the prophethood in three religious matters that they knew from the Torah and wanted to make sure that Muhammad knew about them. He told them that he would answer them tomorrow, so the revelation was delayed as a discipline for the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, for fourteen days.
And man, the human race: does not like blame, nor does he like to be blamed in front of others, nor does he like to be blamed in front of his enemies, those who lie in wait for him, and those who hate him. So what about a Qur’an that is recited to millions of people, believers, unbelievers, and orientalists, recited, memorized, and read, and everyone knows that Muhammad’s Lord blamed Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace.
2 - A scientific response
The Arab scientific mentality at that time in human history could not tolerate a scientific mind in any way, and the strange thing is that the Holy Quran is understood by the Arab or Bedouin who does not read or write, and is understood by the world of cosmic physics, for example, not limited to: God Almighty spoke about:
-The end of the universe will be with the loss of mass and not with the Big Bang (recently discovered) in the Almighty’s saying (…until a camel passes through the eye of a needle…) God Almighty likened a large camel to miraculously entering the eye of a needle, which is a simile for the unbeliever who can hardly believe until he sees the horrors of the Day of Judgment. The camel has hair on its body, so with the loss of mass at the end of life on Earth, it becomes like a thread that you can easily insert into the eye of a needle.
God Almighty also spoke about the descent of iron from the sky, and we all know for certain that metals are extracted from the earth, and that the ancient Egyptians knew that iron descended from a meteorite that collided with planet Earth, and they used it.
- God Almighty also spoke about the seas that they will explode. Who would have imagined that water contains fire? Modern science has proven that the oceans, especially the Pacific Ocean, contain fire approximately 1000 meters below the surface of the water, so exploding them all in the event of the end of the Earth is not impossible.
This is just the tip of the iceberg... Tell me, what is the Arab mind that can bear such information at that time in human history???
Also: If Muhammad, peace be upon him, received the Holy Quran from Judaism and Christianity, why did he prohibit eating pork (forbidden in Judaism but not in Christianity), and why did he forbid drinking alcohol and gambling? Why would he impose the veil, which is not imposed in Christianity and Judaism, but rather is recommended? Why would he contradict what was previously known, and man by nature tends towards his comfort zone and not towards changing it.
As for the idea of Islam being influenced by the heavenly religions in some acts of worship, we say
This happened through Waraqa Ibn Nawfal and the Jewish monk Bahira, and this influence is evident in the Muslims’ orientation in their prayers towards Jerusalem, and the fasting of Ashura, the permissible food of the People of the Book, and this influence leads to the belief that Islam is nothing but a fabricated mixture of the Jewish and Christian religions.
The response to it is that Islam is a heavenly religion and the final of all heavenly messages. The Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, did not take a law from Waraqa ibn Nawfal, but rather he took the definition that he was the awaited prophet, and he took reassurance that among his supreme moral qualities, may God bless him and grant him peace, he was chosen for this mission.
As for praying towards Jerusalem for a year and a half
it is to acknowledge the importance of Al-Aqsa Mosque as it is the importance of the Grand Mosque, and they are among the mosques to which people travel.
As the Fasting on Ashura
The prophets are brothers in kinship, so the concern of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, for the salvation of Moses and those with him is a brotherhood of prophecy, and concern for what one of the resolute messengers cared about. Life repeats itself, and the struggle between truth and falsehood repeats itself historically, so if you want to know what is coming (the victory of the Muslims), then look at what has passed (the previous nations and their struggle with truth and falsehood), for matters are similar (in the way of arriving).
The food of the People of the Book is permissible for Muslims
You certainly know the different ways of killing animals in the West, by shock, shooting them in the brain, or cutting off their heads completely with sharp tools or other things that confirm mercy towards animals from their point of view. Heavenly laws only require slaughtering animals as a way to kill and subjugate to the humans. Modern science has proven that cutting the main artery in the neck of the slaughtered animal and leaving it for 3 minutes or more removes all the toxins in the blood, as well as the high blood pressure resulting from exposure to slaughter and other physiological factors that affect the eater of this slaughtered animal after that.
The Messenger was not illiterate, but he could read and writeMany Orientalists have argued that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, knew how to read and write before the mission, and that he was not illiterate. Their purpose in doing so is to conclude that what the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, brought was not miraculous. They have provided evidence to support what they have argued with several matters.
1- The orientalist William Montgomery Watt argued that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, worked in trade.
The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, worked in trade. He accompanied Abu Talib in his trade several times, then he became a trader for Khadija when he became a young man. Trade requires reading and writing, He said about that: “Traditional Islam says that Muhammad did not read or write, but this claim is something that the modern Western researcher doubts, because it is said to confirm the belief that his production of the Qur’an was miraculous, on the contrary, many Meccans could read and write, and so it is assumed that a successful merchant like Muhammad must have known something of these arts.
2 - They also cited some traces from which they understood that he knew how to read and write
Among these is the hadith narrated about the beginning of revelation, in which the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said - after Gabriel, peace be upon him, said to him: Read -: “What do I read?” meaning: What do I recite? He did not deny that he knew how to read. Likewise the hadith: “Bring me so that I may write for you a book by which you will never go astray after it
Hadith from different sources
Al-Bukhari narrated this hadith in several places
He narrated it in the Book of Knowledge, Chapter on Writing Knowledge, on the authority of Ubayd Allah ibn Abdullah [i.e. Ibn Utbah ibn Mas`ud] on the authority of Ibn Abbas, who said: When the Prophet’s pain became severe, may God bless him and grant him peace, he said: Bring me a book so that I may write for you a book after which you will not go astray.
Omar said that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace
was overcome by pain, and with us is the Book of God, “It is sufficient for us.” They disagreed, and there was a lot of confusion.
Ibn Abbas came out saying
The greatest calamity is that which came between the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, and his book
3 - They also argued that he used to repeat what was revealed to him from the Book in order to ensure his memorization
The French orientalist Frank Foster said: “Muhammad was not illiterate, because he needed to repeat reading his Book in order to memorize it and ensure his memorization.”
The response to this doubt
Firstly, The claim that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, knew how to read and write because he was a merchant is a false claim, as not all merchants were educated and could read and write, especially since trade at that time did not require all those skills. Rather, it is certain that learning to read and write was not common among them, and historical accounts prove that those who knew how to read and write in the Hijaz during the mission were very few in number, they are known and limited, and Ibn Qutaybah counted them in his book “Interpretation of Various Hadiths,” and the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, was not among them. Just as the infidels at that time were searching for any slip with which to oppose what the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, had brought, It was mentioned in several places in the Book of God that he was illiterate. God Almighty said:
{الَّذِينَ يَتَّبِعُونَ الرَّسُولَ النَّبِيَّ الْأُمِّيَّ الَّذِي يَجِدُونَهُ مَكْتُوبًا عِنْدَهُمْ فِي التَّوْرَاةِ وَالْإِنْجِيلِ} [الأعراف: 157]
{Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel} [Al-A’raf: 157] If he had not been illiterate, this would have been the greatest opportunity for them to criticize the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and what he brought, and it was not reported that they did that throughout the period of revelation.
Secondly, the response to their citing of the hadith of the beginning of revelation: “I do not read” is that this is for negation, not for questioning as Watt claimed. The evidence for that is the explicit narration in Sahih al-Bukhari, in which the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “I am not a reader,” meaning: I do not know how to read. So this narration clearly indicates negation.
Thirdly, the response to their citing of the hadith: “Bring me, I will write for you a document after which you will never go astray” is that it does not necessarily follow that he writes it himself, but rather orders someone to write on his behalf. This is similar to the saying: The prince built the palace. The prince did not build the palace, but rather ordered it to be built.
Fourthly, the response to their argument that he repeats what is revealed to him from his book until he is certain of his memory is that this is not necessary. Rather, he can dictate to someone who writes for him and then he can confirm his memory from this writing, This is a concession, otherwise God Almighty has guaranteed to preserve it for him. At the beginning of the revelation, he used to repeat with Gabriel to preserve what was revealed to him, so God Almighty revealed:
{لَا تُحَرِّكْ بِهِ لِسَانَكَ لِتَعْجَلَ بِهِ (16) إِنَّ عَلَيْنَا جَمْعَهُ وَقُرْآنَهُ (17) فَإِذَا قَرَأْنَاهُ فَاتَّبِعْ قُرْآنَهُ} [القيامة: 16-18].
{Do not move your tongue with it to hasten it. (16) Indeed, upon Us is its collection and its recitation. (17) So when We have recited it, then follow its recitation.} [Al-Qiyamah: 16-18]
Fifthly, The revelation continued to descend upon the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, for a period of twenty-three years, and it has not been proven that he wrote anything with his own hand. Rather, there were those known as the scribes of revelation, who were the ones who wrote for the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace. He also had scribes who wrote covenants for him and the covenants and correspondence that were between him and the countries, and it was not reported that he wrote anything of that, nor that he practiced writing at all. So if he was not illiterate, would it not have been proven that he practiced writing even once?
Sixthly, Henry de Castries stated his opinion, saying: “There is no doubt that it is impossible for a man in the East to receive knowledge in a way that people do not know; because the entire life of the Easterners is apparent to the eye, and reading and writing were nonexistent at that time in those countries.
Accusing the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, of having the epilepsyThe Orientalists accused: the Orientalist Sprenger, and the Orientalist Washington Avignon in his book The Life of Muhammad, and many Orientalists agreed with this statement, including: Brockelmann, Gustave Le Bon, and others
The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, was afflicted with epilepsy, a medical condition characterised by mental imbalance. The basis of those who raised this accusation was their claim that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, was afflicted with epilepsy inherited from his mother Amina when she suffered from this condition during her pregnancy, and that he suffered from it before the mission, and that Khadija feared for him and wanted to take him to a sorcerer to treat him, and then this condition continued with him after the mission. They also believe that what afflicted the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, when the revelation first came down to him of fear and dismay was a type of epilepsy, as well as what afflicted the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, during the revelation, Henri Masset said in his book Islam: “According to tradition, Muhammad first received a kind of commotion, so he became as if he had a fever, his color turned pale and he trembled, and he covered himself with a blanket. There are some historians, and the Byzantines in particular, who spoke of the epilepsy that Muhammad might have suffered from. It is known in the Middle Ages in the East as in the West that these patients imagined that a spirit possessed them, and the seizures in Muhammad became very common starting from the first revelation that occurred in the month of Ramadan.
First: Heikal says
while distinguishing between epilepsy and revelation: “Epilepsy disrupts human perception and reduces man to a mechanical level during which he loses feeling and sense. As for revelation, it is a spiritual sublimity with which God has distinguished His prophets in order to convey to them the supreme, certain truths of the universe so that they may convey them to the people
As the response to the doubt
Firstly, it must be known that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, lived for a period of time before the mission, and they did not see that he had this condition, and none of his enemies accused him of that, despite their great keenness to invalidate the call of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, for any reason. If they had found a valid reason like this, they would certainly not have let it go. So the claim that his epilepsy was hereditary and that he had epilepsy before the mission is contrary to truth and reality.
Secondly, the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, was not known among the Quraysh before the mission except for his sound mind, quick wit, and noble character, to the point that he was able to solve the problem that almost caused a major dispute between the Quraysh tribes, when they disputed over the placement of the Black Stone after building the Kaaba. He solved the problem in a way that satisfied all parties. If the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, had been known for his epilepsy, they would not have accepted him as a judge in an important matter like this.
Thirdly, the condition that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, was afflicted with at the beginning of the revelation is a condition that any person is afflicted with when he sees something out of the ordinary, especially if that thing is huge and large. The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, saw Gabriel, peace be upon him, covering the horizon, so this is a state of fear and panic, not as the Orientalists claimed that it was a state of epilepsy.
Fourthly, their saying that Khadija feared for him from evil spirits, and wanted to show him to a sorcerer to examine him, this is a false saying, rather the truth is that Khadija calmed him down, strengthened his resolve and comforted him, and said to him: (No, by God, God will never disgrace you; you maintain family ties, bear burdens, support the needy, welcome guests, and help in times of need. And she took him to Waraqa bin Nawfal, her cousin, and not to a sorcerer as they claim, and Waraqa bin Nawfal was one of the few who learned to read and write in Quraysh, and he had knowledge of the previous heavenly books.
Fifthly: The epileptic usually raves after the epilepsy and says unclear words, unlike what the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, used to bring from the revelation, which was clear and distinct speech that the most eloquent of people could not bring, and the Quraysh were like that, and despite this they did not criticize what he brought.
Sixth, The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, received revelation in several ways, all of which are proven and correct. God Almighty said:
وَمَا كَانَ لِبَشَرٍ أَنْ يُكَلِّمَهُ اللَّهُ إِلَّا وَحْيًا أَوْ مِنْ وَرَاءِ حِجَابٍ أَوْ يُرْسِلَ رَسُولًا فَيُوحِيَ بِإِذْنِهِ مَا يَشَاءُ إِنَّهُ عَلِيٌّ حَكِيمٌ} [الشورى: 51]
{It is not for a human being that God should speak to him except by revelation or from behind a veil or by sending a messenger to reveal, by His permission, what He wills. Indeed, He is Exalted and Wise.} [Ash-Shura: 51] It was narrated on the authority of Aisha, may God be pleased with her, that she said: Al-Harith bin Hisham, may God be pleased with him, asked the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, and said: O Messenger of God, how does the revelation come to you? The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “Sometimes it comes to me like the ringing of a bell, and that is the most difficult for me, then it stops and I have understood what he said. Sometimes the angel appears to me as a man and speaks to me, and I understand what he says.
Islamic economic prosperity behind the Islamic conquestsWatt says
“Another issue that occupied Muhammad’s mind was that he forbade fighting and looting among Muslims. Thus, if a large number of tribes entered or accepted Muhammad’s leadership, he would have to look for another outlet for their energy. Muhammad looked to the future and found that the instincts of looting and plunder among the Arabs must be directed outwards towards the communities neighbouring the peninsula. He also realised to some extent that the growth of the Syria road was a preparation for expansion.
Another orientalist says
“Since the immigrants were economically destitute and did not wish to depend entirely on civilians, they turned to the only remaining profession, which was robbery. European writers expressed their extreme displeasure, and they were right to do so. They saw the Messenger of God leading the Muslims in raids on merchant caravans in order to obtain booty. However, according to the circumstances of that time and according to the moral principles of the Arabs, robbery was a natural and legitimate profession, and the Messenger’s undertaking of such work did not bring him any shame.”
Then comes another orientalist
“The Arabs who rose up in half a century like a desert hurricane and migrated from the Hijaz until they saw the Pillars of Heraclius in the west, just as they migrated to the borders of India from the east, were able to conquer kingdoms that were already civilized.”
As for the orientalist Bernald Lewis
he described the victory of the Muslims in Khaybar as: “the first contact between the Islamic state and an oppressed non-Muslim people.” Before that, Lewis had described the document written between the Messenger (PBUH) and the Jews in Medina as the first step towards Islamic despotic rule.
The Response to these allegations
There can be no war in Islam to force someone to join it, as was the case in the Crusades and the Inquisition in Spain against Muslims in particular. And there can be no war in Islam with the intention of making one race or ethnicity prevail, which was a characteristic of the World War, which Hitler fanned so that the German Aryan race and ethnicity would prevail. Now here are some possible reasons for the outbreak of war in Islam:
1 - The wars were a reaction and not a premeditated action
Abbas Mahmoud Al-Akkad in his defense of the Prophet’s (PBUH)
wars “Islam is only criticized for fighting with the sword an authority that stands in its way and prevents it from hearing those who are prepared to listen to it, because authority is removed by authority and there is no alternative to subduing it through force, He also says: “At the beginning of its era, Islam was the one attacked, and before that, there had been no aggression against anyone. The Muslims were patient with the polytheists until they were ordered to fight them as they fight all Muslims.”
2 - Islamic wars are defensive wars when certainty of broken covenants
The Prophet’s (PBUH) wars were all defensive wars, and none of them were offensive wars except as a way of taking the initiative to defend himself after being certain of breaking the covenant and insisting on fighting. His wars with the Jews and the Romans were the same in this regard.
3 - Islamic wars were not for personal glory or an ethnic group
Islam believes that all people are equal brothers, as God Almighty says:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍ وَأُنثَىٰ وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَائِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوا ۚ إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ (13)
O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most pious of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Expert. (13)
Islam did not perform natural selection for some of the most superior qualities and people and others, even if they were peoples who were exterminated in human farces witnessed by history throughout time. Natural selection for those who do not understand its meaning: to select the good qualities and people with noble qualities, and they are the only ones who prefer to live and give birth to smart, strong, leading children like them, and the rest are not suitable for that. Therefore, many things fall under this term, which was transformed by the West into a product, such as (designer babies as the parents want them to be - even the personality they choose - extending life: trans human- sterilization without permission of people with disabilities, especially mental disabilities - eradicating indigenous peoples from the map in an attempt at genocide and other farces that Islam is completely innocent of).
4- Wars are not revenge against a people, a race or a religion
Allah says
(ولا يجرمنكم شنئان قوم على ألا تعدلوا اعدلوا هو أقرب للتقوى}(المائدة:8)
(And let not the hatred of a people prevent you from being just. Be just; that is nearer to righteousness.) (Al-Ma'idah: 8)
The noble verse urges us not to turn into criminals with someone (a person like us?) but with an entire nation. The nation in the Arabic language is: the large group of people with different religions and sects. Justice with God is what is closest to His pleasure, glory be to Him. And when is justice? With hatred, with the hated, with a people you do not like, if you were a Muslim king, a supreme commander in an army, or otherwise.
The suspicion of polygamy/the Messenger is inclined towards womenOrientalist Alois Sprenger said
“Although polygamy among the Arabs before Muhammad was common, excessive polygamy was considered immoral
He also said: “Therefore, the only goal behind the excessive number of wives is what Muhammad himself explained in an authentic hadith, where he says: “Women and perfume have been made beloved to me from your world, and the delight of my eyes has been made in prayer.”
The orientalist Tor Andre said
“The characteristic that repelled Western Christians from Muhammad’s behavior was undoubtedly his sexual excess and lack of self-control
The orientalist Franz Bohl said: “Muhammad appears to us in a disgusting way when he makes revelation serve his sexual lust, and trying to deny the accusation against him is a bold but hopeless project
He also said:
“He permitted himself, without the rest, to marry whomever he wanted of women according to the divine permission mentioned in the verse
{يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ إِنَّا أَحْلَلْنَا لَكَ أَزْوَاجَكَ اللَّاتِي آتَيْتَ أُجُورَهُنَّ وَمَا مَلَكَتْ يَمِينُكَ مِمَّا أَفَاءَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْكَ وَبَنَاتِ عَمِّكَ وَبَنَاتِ عَمَّاتِكَ…} [الأحزاب: 50
{O Prophet, indeed We have made lawful to you your wives to whom you have given their dowries and those your right hand possesses from what Allah has given you as spoils of war and the daughters of your paternal uncles and the daughters of your paternal aunts…} [Al-Ahzab: 50]
The response to this doubt
Firstly, the practice of polygamy was known among the prophets, including Solomon, peace be upon him. He once said: “I will go around tonight to a hundred women, all of whom will bring forth a knight who will fight in the way of God.” He was also in an environment that recognized this matter; therefore, none of the polytheists at that time criticized him for this matter, because it was a permissible matter.
Secondly, the claim that he was sexually excessive is false, a lie and a slander. It has not been proven that he was preoccupied with women and spent too much time with them, and that this had an effect on him in his daily life or in his call to God. The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, married Khadija, may God be pleased with her, when he was twenty-five years old, and she was already forty years old. If it were as they claim, he would not have accepted her as a wife. He did not marry until she died, and he did not have more than one wife until he was over fifty. If sex was something important in his life, he would have married more when he was young, not after he had become old.
Third, As for their citing the hadith: “Of your worldly things, women and perfume have been made beloved to me,” and the hadith: “Al-Bukhari narrated in his Sahih on the authority of Anas, may God be pleased with him, who said: The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, used to visit his wives at one hour during the night and day, and they were eleven. He said - the narrator on the authority of Anas - I said to Anas: Was he able to do that? He said: “We used to say that he was given the strength of thirty.” His wives narrated from him what no one else narrated, of what they saw in his dreams, his private moments, and his striving in worship. And because he was given physical strength that was proportionate to the weight of the revelation descending upon him, and this strength had to appear in his dealings with his wives, but this aspect of his life did not overwhelm the other aspects, and for this reason he said in the same hadith: “And the delight of my eyes was made in prayer.”
Fourthly, As for the claim that he permitted himself more than he permitted others, this is because the command to limit himself to four wives was revealed after he married all of his wives, so the command was to limit himself to four and release the rest, while the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, did not release his wives as a reward for them and to please them for their good deeds in choosing God and His Messenger and the Hereafter when the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, gave them a choice, as in the Almighty’s saying:
{يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ قُلْ لِأَزْوَاجِكَ إِنْ كُنْتُنَّ تُرِدْنَ الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا وَزِينَتَهَا فَتَعَالَيْنَ أُمَتِّعْكُنَّ وَأُسَرِّحْكُنَّ سَرَاحًا جَمِيلًا (28) وَإِنْ كُنْتُنَّ تُرِدْنَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَالدَّارَ الْآخِرَةَ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ أَعَدَّ لِلْمُحْسِنَاتِ مِنْكُنَّ أَجْرًا عَظِيمًا} [الأحزاب: 28، 29].
{O Prophet, say to your wives, "If you desire the life of this world and its adornments, then come, I will provide for you and release you with a gracious release." (28) And if you desire Allah and His Messenger and the home of the Hereafter, then indeed, Allah has prepared for the good women among you a great reward. [Al-Ahzab: 28-29]
In return, God forbade him from marrying another woman other than them. God Almighty said:
{لَا يَحِلُّ لَكَ النِّسَاءُ مِنْ بَعْدُ وَلَا أَنْ تَبَدَّلَ بِهِنَّ مِنْ أَزْوَاجٍ وَلَوْ أَعْجَبَكَ حُسْنُهُنَّ إِلَّا مَا مَلَكَتْ يَمِينُكَ} [الأحزاب: 52]
{It is not lawful for you to take other women after this, nor to exchange them for other wives, even if their beauty pleases you, except those your right hand possesses.} [Al-Ahzab: 52]
Then God made that permissible for him, and despite this, the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, did not marry. So where is the lust and lack of self-control?
Fifthly, his marriage, may God bless him and grant him peace, to each of his wives was for a reason that God willed, either to console a widow like Lady Sawda - may God be pleased with her and satisfy her - or out of compassion for orphans like Lady Umm Salamah - may God be pleased with her and satisfy her - or to strengthen the relationship between him and her tribe like Lady Juwayriyah - may God be pleased with her and satisfy her.
Marrying the little girl Aisha - may God pleased herThe age of marriage contract
The trace mentioned by Aisha herself
Al-Nawawi said: Al-Dawudi said: She had grown up to be a beautiful young woman, may God be pleased with her. And since she knew herself and that she had reached the age of women, she said - as Al-Tirmidhi narrated from her -: If a girl reaches the age of nine, then she is a woman. End quote.
In this narration she said
(And I was seven years old), and in most narrations: (I was six years old), and the combination between them is that she was six and a fraction, so one time she limited herself to the years, and one time she counted the year in which she entered, as stated by al-Nawawi in his explanation of Muslim.
The actual age of marriage The Messenger - may God bless him and grant him peace
The Messenger - may God bless him and grant him peace - married Aisha when she was six or seven years old, and consummated the marriage with her when she was nine years old. In the two Sahihs - and the wording is from Muslim - it is narrated on the authority of Al-Aswad on the authority of Aisha who said: “The Messenger of God - may God bless him and grant him peace - married her when she was six years old, and consummated the marriage with her when she was nine years old, and died when she was eighteen years old.” So why did he wait three full years to consummate the marriage with her?
The suspicion that Aisha was still playing with dolls
As for playing with dolls at this age, it does not contradict the fact that the girl has reached the age of women, and this is not surprising, as being a woman does not mean that she does not have some childhood tendencies and a desire to play with dolls. In our contemporary reality, we see that some women watch some of the films and cartoons that children usually watch, and family members may gather to do so, including fathers and brothers, and such a thing is not usually condemned.
The reason behind marrying the daughter of Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq - may Allah be pleased with him - as Al-Bukhari said. End quote
As Al-Bukhari said. End quote. Sheikh Safi Al-Rahman Al-Mubarakpuri said in his book Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum: The Prophet’s (PBUH) tendency to marry Abu Bakr and Umar by marrying Aisha and Hafsa, as well as his marriage of his daughter Fatima to Ali ibn Abi Talib, and his marriage of his daughter Ruqayyah and then Umm Kulthum to Uthman ibn Affan, indicates that he sought through this to strengthen ties with the four men, whose affliction and sacrifice for Islam were known in the crises it went through, and which Allah willed for it to pass through safely. End quote. All of these are interests that should be taken into consideration.
The refuting the matter rationally, not through transmission
1 - It is known that the age of puberty for women varies according to race and climate. In hot regions, girls reach puberty early, while in cold polar regions puberty may be delayed until the age of 21. Imam Al-Shafi’i said: “I saw in Yemen girls of nine who often reached puberty.”
2- Aisha - may Allah be pleased with her - was at the age when a person is freer and more prepared to receive knowledge. The wives of the beloved Prophet were elderly, and all of them had children who were busy with their own needs and did not have time to learn from the Messenger of Allah. There is no doubt that learning at a young age is like engraving on stone, and as Confucius said (Tell me and I will forget… Show me and perhaps I will remember… Involve me and I will understand). Observing from the outside is not like living with the Messenger in everything - even in his personal relationship or in the etiquette of entering the toilet or bathing - and sickness and health and food and other characteristics of a person. It is known that a person can be well-mannered with some manners outside the home, so that when he enters his home, these burdens are lightened and he has more freedom. Therefore, the Messenger of Allah said (The best of you is the best to his family, and I am the best of you to my family) because true morals are inside the home and not outside it.
Finally, Some fair-minded orientalists' opinions about the prophet - PBUH - The Orientalist Edouard Montet, Professor of Oriental Languages at the University of Geneva, says:
As for Muhammad, he was of noble character, good company, sweet-spoken, sound in judgment, and truthful in speech. His predominant characteristic was sound judgment, frankness in speech, and complete conviction in what he did and said. Muhammad’s religious nature astonishes every meticulous, honest researcher, with the intensity of sincerity that is evident in it. Muhammad was a religious reformer with a firm belief, He did not rise until after he had contemplated a lot, and reached the age of perfection with that great call, which made him one of the brightest lights of humanity. In his fight against polytheism and the ugly customs that were among the fathers of his time, he was in the lands of the Arabs like a prophet from the prophets of the Children of Israel who were very great in the history of their people. Many people were ignorant of Muhammad and denied him his right, because he was one of the reformers who made people know the stages of their lives in their details.
The American historian and orientalist Orange said
“The last prophet was simple, well-mannered, and a great thinker, with high opinions. His short hadiths were beautiful and had great meanings. He was therefore holy and generous.”
Carlyle says
Have you ever seen a liar who can create a religion and undertake to spread it in this manner?! A liar cannot build a house of bricks because of his ignorance of the properties of building materials, and if he builds it, what he has built is nothing but a pile of mixtures of these materials, so what about the one who builds a house whose pillars have been for these many centuries, and inhabited by these millions of people?
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