how to debate a muslim

7/31/2019 How to Debate a Muslim

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QURAN OR TRANSLATIONS?

Ibn Warraq on How to Debate a Muslim 20.07.07

Note from Robert Spencer: The heroic and piercingly insightful ex-Muslim Ibn Warraq recently gave a talk consisting of a series of responses to some of the common assertions made by Islamic apologists. I am quitegrateful that he has made his notes available for publication here. This is a refreshing and enlightening antidoteto the usual dhimmitude we get from non-Muslim academics who engage Islam.1. Do you know Aramaic or Hebrew? Muslims in general have a tendency to disarm any criticisms of Islam and in particular the Koran byasking if the critic has read the Koran in the original Arabic, as though all the difficulties of their SacredText will somehow disappear once the reader has mastered the holy language and has direct experience,aural and visual, of the very words of God, to which no translation can do justice. However, the majorityof Muslims are not Arabs or Arabic speaking peoples . The non-Arabic speaking nations of Indonesia witha population of 197 million, Pakistan with 133 million, Iran with 62 million, Turkey with 62 million, Indiawith a Muslim population of about 95 million, out- number by far the total number of native Arabicspeakers in about thirty countries in the world estimated as 150 million .

Many educated Muslims whose native tongue is not Arabic do learn it in order to read the Koran, but then againthe vast majority do not understand Arabic, even though many do learn parts of the Koran by heart withoutunderstanding a word. In other words, the majority of Muslims have to read the Koran in translation inorder to understand it. Contrary to what one might think, there have been translations of the Koran into, forinstance, Persian since the tenth or eleventh century, and there are translations into Turkish and Urdu. TheKoran has now been translated into over a hundred languages, many of them by Muslims themselves, despitesome sort of disapproval from the religious authorities. [1] Even for contemporary Arabic speaking peoples,reading the Koran is far from being a straightforward matter. The Koran is putatively (in fact it is verydifficult to decide exactly what the language of the Koran is) written in what we call Classical Arabic(CA), but modern Arab populations, leaving aside the problem of illiteracy in Arab countries [2], do notspeak, read, or write, let alone think in Classical Arabic (CA). We are confronted with the phenomenon of diglossia [3], that is to say, a situation where two varieties of the same language live side by side. The twovariations are high and low. High Arabic is sometimes called Modern Literary Arabic or Modern Standard

Arabic, and is learned through formal education in school like Latin or Sanskrit, and would be used in sermon,university lecture, news broadcast and for mass media purposes. Low Arabic or Colloquial Arabic is a dialectwhich native speakers acquire as a mother tongue, and is used at home conversing with family and friends, andis also used in radio or television soap opera. But as Kaye points out, "the differences between many colloquialsand the classical language are so great that a fallah (= farmer or peasant) who had never been to school couldhardly understand more than a few scattered words and expressions in it without great difficulty. One couldassemble dozens of so-called Arabs (fallahin or peasants) in a room, who have never been exposed to theclassical language, so that not one could properly understand the other." [4] Though some scholars do allow forsome change and decay, they paint a totally misleading picture of the actual linguistic situation in modernArabic speaking societies. These scholars imply that anyone able to read a modern Arabic newspaper shouldhave no difficulties with the Koran or any classical Arabic text. They seem totally insensitive "to the evolutionof the language, to changes in the usage and meaning of terms over the very long period and in the very broadarea in which Classical Arabic has been used." [5] Anyone who has lived in the Middle East in recent years will

know that the language of the press is at best semi-literary [6], and certainly simplified as far as structure andvocabulary are concerned. We can discern what would be called grammatical errors from a Classical Arabicpoint of view in daily newspapers or on television news. This semi-literary language is highly artificial, andcertainly no one thinks in it. For an average middle class Arab it would take considerable effort to constructeven the simplest sentence, let alone talk, in Classical Arabic. The linguist Pierre Larcher has written of the"considerable gap between Medieval Classical Arabic and Modern Classical Arabic [or what I have been callingModern Literary Arabic], certain texts written in the former are today the object of explanatory texts in thelatter." He then adds in a footnote that he has in his library, based on this model, an edition of the Risala of Shafi`i (died 204/820) which appeared in a collection with the significant title "Getting closer to the Patrimony."[7] As Kaye puts it, "In support of the hypothesis that modern standard Arabic is ill-defined is the so-calledmixed language or Inter -Arabic being used in the speeches of, say, President Bourguiba of Tunisia, notingthat very few native speakers of Arabic from any Arab country can really ever master the intricacies of ClassicalArabic grammar in such a way as to extemporaneously give a formal speech in it." [8] Pierre Larcher [9] has

pointed out that wherever you have a linguistic situation where two varieties of the same language coexist, youare also likely to get all sorts of linguistic mixtures, leading some linguists to talk of triglossia. Gustav Meiseles[10] even talks of quadriglossia: between Literary Arabic and Vernacular Arabic, he distinguishes a Sub-


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Standard Arabic and an Educated Spoken Arabic. Still others speak of pluri- or multi- or polyglossia, viewed asa continuum. [11] The style of the Koran is difficult, totally unlike the prose of today, and the Koran would belargely incomprehensible without glossaries, indeed entire commentaries. In conclusion, even the most educatedof Arabs will need some sort of a translation if he or she wished to make sense of that most gnomic, elusive andallusive of holy scriptures, the Koran.You are asked aggressively, "do you know Arabic?" Then you are told triumphantly, "You have to read the

Koran in the original Arabic to understand it fully. " Non-Muslims, Western freethinkers and atheists areusually reduced to sullen silence with these Muslim tactics; they indeed become rather coy and self-defensivewhen it comes to criticism of Islam; they feebly complain who am I to criticise Islam? I do not know anyArabic. And yet they are quite happy to criticise Christianity. How many Western freethinkers and atheistsknow Hebrew? How many even know what the language of Esra chapter 4 verses 6-8 is? Or in what languagethe New Testament was written? Of course, Muslims are also free in their criticism of the Bible and Christianitywithout knowing a word of Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek. So let me summarise: You do not need to know Arabicto criticise Islam or the Koran. Paul Kurtz does not know Arabic but he did a great job on Islam in his book TheTranscendental Temptation. [12] You only need a critical sense, critical thought and scepticism. Second, thereare translations of the Koran, by Muslims themselves, so Muslims cannot claim that there has been deliberatetampering of the text by infidel translators. Third, the majority of Muslims are not Arabs, and are not Arabicspeakers. So a majority of Muslims also have to rely on translations. Finally, the language of the Koran is someform of Classical Arabic [13] which is totally different from the spoken Arabic of today, so even Muslim Arabs

have to rely on translations to understand their holy text. Arabic is a Semitic language related to Hebrew andAramaic, and is no easier but also no more difficult to translate than any other language. Of course, there are allsorts of difficulties with the language of the Koran, but these difficulties have been recognized by Muslimscholars themselves. The Koran is indeed a rather opaque text but it is opaque to everyone. Even Muslimscholars do not understand a fifth of it. Endnotes below. 1. See Appendix, Bibliography of Translations, inArabic Literature to the End of the Umayyad Period, edd. Beeston, Johnstone et al, Cambridge, CambridgeUniversity Press, 1983, p.502-520. 2. In Egypt, the rate of illiteracy is placed as high as 49.8 %, see InformationPlease Almanac, Boston, 1997, p.180 3. Charles Ferguson, Diglossia, Word, Vol.15, No.2 pp325-340,Aug.1959; William Marais, La diglossie arabe, LEnseignement public Revue Pdagogique, tome 104, no 12,1930, pp.401-409; Alan S. Kaye,Arabic, in The Major Languages of South Asia, The Middle East and Africa,ed. Bernard Comrie, London, Routledge, 1990, p.181 4. Ibid., p.173. 5. B.Lewis, Islam and the West, Oxford,Oxford University Press, 1993, p.65 6. It is in fact becoming more and more westernized, i.e. de-semitizedunder the influence of the international news agencies. 7. P.Larcher,Les Incertitudes de la Poesie Arabe

Archaique, in La Revue des Deux Rives, No.1, 1999,p.129 8. Kaye, op. cit. p.183. 9. P.Larcher, La LinguistiqueArabe dHier a Demain : Tendances Nouvelles de la Recherche, Arabica, tome XLV, 1998, pp.409 -29. 10.Gustav Meiseles, Educated Spoken Arabic and the Arabic Language Continuum, Archivum Linguisticum, vol.XI, Number 2, 1980, pp.118-142;quoted in P.Larcher,see note 10 above. 11. A.S.Kaye, Formal vs. Informal inArabic : Diglossia, Triglossia, Tetraglossia, etc., Polyglossia Multiglossia Viewed as a Continuum, ZAL, 27,1994, pp.47-66. 12. P.Kurtz, The Transcendental Temptation, Prometheus Books, Amherst,1986 13. Thereseems to be some controversy as to what the language of the Koran really is, see my introduction to What theKoran Really Says., Prometheus Books, Amherst, 2002.2. Out of context Let us now turn to another argument or defensive tactic used by Muslims: the you have quoted out of contextdefense. What do they mean by You have quoted out of context? This could mean two things: first, thehistorical context to which the various verses refer, or second, the textual context, the actual place in a particularchapter that the verse quoted comes from. The historical context argument is not available in fact to Muslims,since the Koran is the eternal word of God and true and valid for always. Thus for Muslims themselves there isno historical context. Of course, non-Muslims can legitimately and do avail themselves of the historical orcultural context to argue, for instance, that Islamic culture as a whole is anti-woman. Muslims did contradictthemselves when they introduced the notion of abrogation, when a historically earlier verse was cancelled by alater one. This idea of abrogation was concocted to deal with the many contradictions in the Koran. What ismore, it certainly backfires for those liberal Muslims who wish to give a moderate interpretation to the Koransince all the verses advocating tolerance (there are some but not many) have been abrogated by the verses of thesword.Out of Context Argument Used Against Muslims Themselves: Now for the textual context. First, of course, thisargument could be turned against Muslims themselves. When they produce a verse preaching tolerance, wecould also say that they have quoted out of context, or more pertinently (1) that such a verse has been cancelledby a more belligerent and intolerant one, (2) that in the overall context of the Koran and the whole theologicalconstruct that we call Islam (i.e. in the widest possible context), the tolerant verses are anomalous, or have nomeaning, since Muslim theologians ignored them completely in developing Islamic Law, or that (3) the versesdo not say what they seem to say. For instance, after September 11, 2001, many Muslims and apologists of


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Islam glibly came out with the following Koranic quote to show that Islam and the Koran disapproved of violence and killing: Sura V.32: Whoever killed a human being shall be looked upon as though he had killedall mankind . Unfortunately, these wonderful sounding words are being quoted out of context. Here is theentire quote: V.32: That was why We laid it down for the Israelites that whoever killed a human being, exceptas a punishment for murder or other villainy in the land, shall be looked upon as though he had killed allmankind; and that whoever saved a human life shall be regarded as though he had saved all mankind. Our

apostles brought them veritable proofs: yet it was not long before many of them committed great evils in theland. Those that make war against God and His apostle and spread disorder shall be put to death or crucified orhave their hands and feet cut off on alternate sides, or be banished from the country. The supposedly noblesentiments are in fact a warning to Jews. Behave or else is the message. Far from abjuring violence, these versesaggressively point out that anyone opposing the Prophet will be killed, crucified, mutilated and banished!Behind the textual context argument is thus the legitimate suspicion that by quoting only a short passage fromthe Koran I have somehow distorted its real meaning. I have, so the accusation goes, lifted the offending quotefrom the chapter in which it was embedded, and hence, somehow altered its true sense. What does contextmean here? Do I have to quote the sentence before the offending passage, and the sentence after? Perhaps twosentences before and after? The whole chapter? Ultimately, of course, the entire Koran is the context. Thecontext, far from helping Muslims get out of difficulties only makes the barbaric principle apparent in theoffending quote more obvious, as we have seen from Sura V.32 just quoted. Let us take some other examples.Does the Koran say that men have the right to physically beat their wives or not? I say yes, and quote the

following verses to prove my point: Sura IV.34: As for those [women] from whom you fear rebellion,admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge [or beat] them This translation comes from aMuslim. Have I somehow distorted the meaning of these lines? Let us have a wider textual context: Sura IV.34:Men have authority over women because God has made the one superior to the other, and because they spendtheir wealth to maintain them. Good women are obedient. As for those from whom you fear disobedience,admonish them and send them to beds apart and beat them. Then if they obey you, take no further action againstthem. God is high, supreme. If anything, the wider textual context makes things worse for those apologists of Islam who wish to minimize the misogyny of the Koran. The oppression of women has divine sanction, womenmust obey God and their men, who have divine authorization to scourge them. One Muslim translator, Yusuf Ali, clearly disturbed by this verse adds the word lightly in brackets after beat even though there is nolightly in the original Arabic. An objective reading of the entire Koran (that is the total context) makes grimreading as far as the position of women is concerned. There are at least forty passages in the Koran that aremisogynistic in character. Finally, of course, many of the verses that we shall quote later advocating killing of

unbelievers were taken by Muslims themselves to develop the theory of Jihad. Muslim scholars themselvesreferred to sura VIII.67, VIII.39, and Sura II.216 to justify Holy War. Again the context makes it clear that it isthe battle field that is being referred to, and not some absurd moral struggle; these early Muslims were warriorsafter booty, land and women not some existential heroes from the pages of Albert Camus or Jean-Paul Sartre.Let us take another example: Sura IX. Here I have tried to use where possible translations by Muslims orArabophone scholars, to avoid the accusation of using infidel translations. However, many Muslim translatorshave a tendency to soften down the harshness of the original Arabic, particularly in translating the Arabic word

jahada, e.g. Sura IX verse 73. Maulana Muhammad Ali, of the Ahmadiyyah sect, translates this passage as: OProphet, strive hard against the disbelievers and the hypocrites and be firm against them. And their abode is hell,and evil is the destination. In a footnote of an apologetic nature, Muhammad Ali rules out the meaningfighting for jahada. However, the Iraqi non -Muslim scholar Dawood in his Penguin translation renders thispassa ge as: Prophet, make war on the unbelievers and the hypocrites and deal rigorously with them. Hell shall

be their home: an evil fate. How do we settle the meaning of this verse? The whole context of Sura IX indeedmakes it clear that make war in the li teral and not some metaphorical sense is meant. Let us take another versefrom this Sura, Sura IX.5: Then, when the sacred months have passed away, kill the idolaters wherever youfind them These words are usually cited to show what fate awaits idolate rs. Well, what of the context? Thewords immediately after these just quoted say, and seize them, besiege them and lie in ambush everywhere for them. Ah, you might say, you have deliberately left out the words that come after those. Let us quote themthen, If they repent and take to prayer and render the alms levy, allow them to go their way. God is forgivingand merciful. Surely these are words of tolerance, you plead. Hardly: they are saying that if they becomeMuslims then they will be left in peace. In fact, the whole sura, which has 129 verses (approximately 14 pagesin the Penguin translation by Dawood), in other words, the whole context, is totally intolerant; and is indeed thesource of many totalitarian Islamic laws and principles, such as the concepts of Jihad and dhimmis, the latterproclaiming the inferior status of Christians and Jews in an Islamic state. All our quotes from the Arabic sourcesin Part One also, of course, provide the historical context of raids, massacres, booty, and assassinations, whichmake it crystal clear that real bloody fighting is being advocated. First the idolaters, how can you trust them?Most of them are evildoers (IX. 8); fight them (IX. 12, 14); they must not visit mosques (IX. 18); they areunclean (IX. 28); you may fight the idolaters even during the sacred months (IX. 36). It is not for the Prophet,


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and those who believe, to pray for the forgiveness of idolaters even though they may be near of kin after it hasbecome clear they are people of hell- fire. (IX.11 3) So much for forgiveness! Even your parents are to beshunned if they do not embrace Islam: IX. 23 O you who believe! Choose not your fathers nor your brethrenfor friends if they take pleasure in disbelief rather than faith. Whoso of you takes them for friends, such arewrong- doers. In other words if you are friendly with your parents who are not Muslims, you are being immoral.The theory of Jihad is derived from verses 5 and 6 already quoted but also from the following verses: IX. 38 -

39: Believers, why is it that when it is said to you: March in the cause of God , you linger slothfully in theland? Are you content with this life in preference to the life to come? Few indeed are the blessings of this life,compared to those of the life to come. If you do not fight, He will punish you sternly, and replace you by othermen. IX. 41: Whether unarmed or well-equipped, march on and fight for the cause of God, with your wealth andwith your persons. IX. 73: Prophet, make war on the unbelievers and the hypocrites and deal harshly with them.The word that I have translated as fight is jahid. Some translators translate it as go forth or strive. Dawoodtranslates it as fight, as does Penrice in his Dictionary and Glossary of the Koran, where it is defined as: Tostrive, contend with, fight especially against the enemies of Islam. While Hans Wehr in his celebrated Arabicdictionary translates it as endeavour, strive; to fight; to wage holy war against the infidels. As for theintolerance against Jews and Christians, and their inferior status as dhimmis, we have IX verses 29 35: Fightagainst such of those to whom the Scriptures were given as believe neither in God nor the Last Day, who do notforbid what God and His apostle have forbidden, and do not embrace the true faith, until they pay tribute out of hand and are utterly subdued. The Jews say Ezra is the son of God, while the Christians say the Messiah is the

son of God. Such are their assertions, by which they imitate the infidels of old. God confound them! How perverse they are! They make of their clerics and their monks, and of the Messiah, the son of Mary, Lordsbesides God; though they were ordered to serve one God only. There is no god but Him. Exalted be He abovethose whom they deify besides Him!. It is He who has sent forth His apostle with guidance and the true Faithto make it triumphant over all religions, however much the idolaters may dislike it. O you who believe ! Lo! Many of the Jewish rabbis and the Christian monks devour the wealth of ma nkindwantonly and debar men from the way of Allah; They who hoard up gold and silver and spend it not in the wayof Allah, unto them give tidings of painful doom The moral of all the above is clear: Islam is the only truereligion, Jews and Christians are devious and money-grubbing, who are not to be trusted, and even have to pay atax in the most humiliating way. I do not think I need quote any more from Sura IX, although it goes on in thisvein verse after verse. 3. Go to the Original Sources When you do debate with a Muslim make sure you arearmed with all your references from the original Arabic sources. The major sources are all available in English,and are the Koran, the Sira or the Life of Muhammad by Ibn Ishaq, and the Hadith, the sayings and deeds of the

Prophet and his companions. You must make the effort to familiarize yourself with these. Start with the Koran.It is not a very long text, about four hundred pages in the Penguin translation. Acquire at least four differenttranslations, at least one of which should be by a Muslim. Yusuf Ali and, despite his name, MarmadukePickthall were Muslims, and their translations are easily available in paperbacks. At least one should be bysomeone whose mother tongue was Arabic, such as N.J.Dawood, an Iraqi scholar whose translation is quitereadable. If you read French, I strongly advise you to acquire and read Regis Blacheres translation - it hascopious footnotes which reveal the opaqueness of the Holy text, and the grammatical errors of the originalArabic. If you have read the Koran, you are already better informed of its contents than the majority of Muslims.Indeed, many Muslims have been genuinely surprised when I have apprised them of the verses preaching war,intolerance, hatred of Jews and Christians, misogyny, cruel punishments, etc. When you do read the Koran, readit with a highlighter in hand, and mark or underline the passages which preach intolerance, or which revealinjustice, cruelty and violence, absurdities, insults to women, contradictions, anti-Semitism, homophobicattitudes, superstitions, and, to be scrupulously fair, passages which teach morally acceptable principles.Someone has already undertaken just such a task at: http://www.skeptics annotatedbible. com/quran/ int/long.html. Our diligent skeptic found 511 passages of injustice, 384 of intolerance, 320 of cruelty and violence, 46insults to women and just 60 passages of morally acceptable principles. Here are some anti-Jewish sentimentsfrom the Koran: II.61: .Wretchedness and baseness were stamp ed upon them (that is, the Jews), and they werevisited with wrath from Allah. That was because they disbelieved in Allahs revelations and slew the prophetswrongfully. That was for their disobedience and transgression. IV.44-46: Have you not seen those who havereceived a portion of the Scripture? They purchase error, and they want you to go astray from the path. ButAllah knows best who your enemies are, and it is sufficient to have Allah as a friend. It is sufficient to haveAllah as a helper. Some of t he Jews pervert words from their meanings, and say, We hear and we disobey, andHear without hearing, and Heed us! twisting with their tongues and slandering religion. If they had said, Wehave heard and obey,, or Hear and observe us it would hav e been better for them and more upright. But Allahhad cursed them for their disbelief, so theybelieve not, except for a few. IV.160-161: And for the evildoing of the Jews, We have forbidden them somegood things that were previously permitted them, and b ecause of their barring many from Allahs way. And for their taking usury which was prohibited for them, and because of their consuming peoples wealth under false
http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/quran/int/long.html.http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/quran/int/long.html.http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/quran/int/long.html.http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/quran/int/long.html.http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/quran/int/long.html.http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/quran/int/long.html.


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pretense. We have prepared for the unbelievers among them a painful punishment. IX.29-31: Fight against suchof those who have been given the Scripture [Jews and Christians] as believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, andforbid not that which Allah has forbidden by His Messenger, and follow not the religion of truth, until they paythe tribute [poll- tax] readily, and are utterly subdued. The Jews say, Ezra is the son of Allah, and theChristians say, The Messiah is the son of Allah. Those are the words of their mouths, conforming to the wordsof the unbelievers before them. Allah attack them! How perverse they are! They have taken their rabbis and

their monks as lords besides Allah, and so too the Messiah son of Mary, though they were commanded to servebut one God. There is no God but He. Allah is exalted above that which they deify beside Him. IX.34: O youwho believe ! Lo! many of the (Jewish) rabbis and the (Christian) monks devour the wealth of mankindwantonly and debar (men) from the way of Allah. They who hoard up gold and silver and spend it not in theway of Allah, unto them give tidings of a painful doom. V.63-64: Why do not the rabbis and the priests forbidtheir evil- speaking and devouring of illicit gain? Verily evil is their handiwork. The Jews say, Allahs handsare fettered. Their hands are fettered, and they are cursed for what they have said! On the contrary, His handsare spread open. He bestows as He wills. That which has been revealed to you from your Lord will surelyincrease the arrogance and unbelief of many among them. We have cast enmity and hatred among them until theDay of Resurrection. Every time they light the fire of war, Allah extinguishes it. They hasten to spread corruptionthroughout the earth, but Allah does not love corrupters! V.70-71: We made a covenant with the Israelites andsent forth apostles among them. But whenever an apostle came to them with a message that did not suit their

fancies, some they accused of lying and others they put to death. They thought no harm would follow: they wereblind and deaf. God is ever watching their actions. V.82: Indeed, you will surely find that the most vehement of men in enmity to those who believe are the Jews and the polytheists. V.51: O you who believe! Take not theJews and the Christians for friends. They are friends one to another. He among you who takes them for friendsis one of them. V.57: O you who believe! Choose not for friends such of those who received the Scripture [Jewsand Christians] before you, and of the disbelievers, as make jest and sport of your religion. But keep your dutyto Allah of you are true believers. V.59: Say: O, People of the Scripture [Jews and Christians]! Do you blame usfor aught else than that we believe in Allah and that which is revealed unto us and that which was revealedaforetime, and because most of you are evildoers? V.66: .Am ong them [Jews and Christians] there are peoplewho are moderate, but many of them are of evil conduct. XXXIII.26: He brought down from their strongholdsthose who had supported them from among the People of the Book [Jews of Bani Qurayza ] and cast terror intotheir hearts, so that some you killed and others you took captive. V.60: Say: Shall I tell you who will receive aworse reward from God ? Those whom [i.e. Jews] God has cursed and with whom He has been angry,

transforming them into apes and swine, and those who serve the devil. Worse is the plight of these, and theyhave strayed farther from the right path. Then pass onto the oldest source on the life of the Prophet, the Sira byIbn Ishaq as quoted by Ibn Hisham. It is also available in an English translation. Again read it, with the sameskeptical attitude and a highlighter in hand. It makes for very depressing reading. The biography is full of violence, cruelty, intolerance and anti-Semitism. Here are some of the passages from the Sira revealingMu hammads hatred of the Jews :1. Kill any Jews that falls into your power said the Prophet: p.369 2. The killing of Ibn Sunayna, and its admiration leading someone to convert to Islam: p.369 3. The killing of Sallam ibn Abul Huqayq: pp.482-483 4. The assassination of Kab b.al -Ashraf ,who wrote verses against Muhammad: pp.364-369 5. The raid against the Jewish tribe of the Banul -Nadir, and their banishment. pp.437-445 6. The extermination of the Banu Qurayza, between 600-800 men. pp.461-469 7. The killing of alYusayr. pp.665-666 Finally, pass onto the Hadith or Traditions, which are also, fortunately, available in English. The collection byBukhari, who died in 870 C.E., is the best place to start. The Hadith or the Books of Tradition are a collection of sayings and doings attributed to the Prophet and traced back to him through a series of putatively trustworthywitnesses. Apart from what Muhammad did and enjoined these traditions include what was done in his presencethat he did not forbid, and even the authoritative sayings and doings of the companions of the Prophet. Thesetraditions serve as the theoretical basis of the Sharia or Islamic Law, and hence of Islam itself. Here you willfind all that you suspected about Islam but were not sure where to look for. Jihad, anti-Semitism, misogyny, andthe usual litany of violence and cruelty. Bukharis collection is highly regarded by the Muslims. Thus furnishedwith precise references to and quotes from the Koran, the Sira and the Hadith, you are well-equipped to criticiseIslam, and ready to debate any Muslim.URL: http://www.challeng ing-islam. org/articles/ warraq-debate- muslims.htm
http://www.challenging-islam.org/articles/warraq-debate-muslims.htmhttp://www.challenging-islam.org/articles/warraq-debate-muslims.htmhttp://www.challenging-islam.org/articles/warraq-debate-muslims.htmhttp://www.challenging-islam.org/articles/warraq-debate-muslims.htm


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Muslim Double Standards

One thing that is sure to turn Americans and Westerners against Muslims, whether living in the West or elsewhere, are the double standards for Muslim vs. others' behavior. "Special rights" for Muslims violate

everything the US stands for, and I can guarantee will not be tolerated by

the citizenry. Already people are upset. Some examples of what I mean: *While religious beliefs of Christians (and often Jews) are looked down onand considered to be a mark of unsophistication by some elites, Muslimreligious belief is often not seen in this way, instead as a positiveexpression of their culture.

*Prayer in schools by Christians and Jews is an absolute no-no in US publicschools, yet some schools give Muslims special prayer rooms and/or let themoff for prayer.

* Any criticism of Islam is attacked as "Islamophobia" or "racism " (eventhough Muslims are in no way a race) by Muslims, while their own

publications criticize, denigrate, and ridicule other religions (such asChristianity and Judaism; Hinduism is also a target).

*Hand-wringing over whether Muslims are discriminated against or have theirbeliefs denigrated, contrasted with total indifference to what Muslims doto others, whether attacking others or discriminating against them orinciting hatred towards them (the infamous Nazi-levels of Jew hatredthroughout the Arab world and even in the West, ignored by organizationslike CAIR while getting very upset by any criticism of Islam or Muslims,even when the person in question is a convicted terrorist or murderer).

*One-way "dialogues" in which Christians and Jews are told they must bemore accepting and tolerant of Islamic beliefs and practices, while Muslims

are NOT told they must accept and tolerate other beliefs, instead they aremore likely to be told, or claim, that they are "victims" of the West andWestern imperialism (cf. John Esposito's Center for Muslim-ChristianUnderstanding at Georgetown University).

*This one is one of my pet peeves -- Christian fundamentalists orevangelicals are excoriated as being the most unenlightened brutes on earthfor their views (anti-abortion, the importance of religion in daily life,the missionary activities, etc.), trying to force their religion andbeliefs on everyone else, while Muslims, who have similar or more extremeviews and who also feel the need to proselytize endlessly, are given anabsolutely free pass, even praised for their "diversity." (Exception givento those that do see the danger from Islamic fundamentalism.) It isdisheartening to me to see some parts of the Left, liberals, etc., totallysell out what are supposed to be their "core" issues (abortion rights,women's rights, gay rights, freedom of _expression) on the altar of being"sensitive" to Muslim concerns and "cultural relativism.". I cannot andwill not support any group or organization that won't uphold their visionof human or women's rights in ALL cultures, instead of claiming thatsomehow, people in other cultures just don't have those rights because oftheir culture ("women in Muslim cultures are happy wearing the veil andbeing under the control of men, and we don't have any right to judge" --while Muslims have no problem judging Western women as "whores" who can behad at any price, and Western culture as completely degraded and decadent.)Since I support women's rights in all cultures, I find "culturalrelativism" to be quite an ugly thing, especially since Muslims sure don'tsubscribe to it--they (generally) think Islam is the greatest and that allshould live under it!


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*Subset of the above -- complaining about how some (typically "Christianfundamentalists" or "the religious right") want to "turn the clock back" onwomen's rights in the US, but ignoring or refusing to condemn the lowstatus of women in Muslim lands, or even in Muslim enclaves in the West. Orexcoriating "pro-lifers" and their arguments, while giving respectful

attention to strict Muslim views on abortion rights. (Special kudos forthose groups who denounced the treatment of women in Afghanistan under theTaliban, and groups working to improve the status of women in Muslimlands.) Similar is the claim that women in the West are really no lessoppressed than those in the worst Islamic hellhole, suggesting that theperson in question really needs to get out more and see more of the world.

*Whitewashing of Islamic history, while the same atrocities committed byothers are denounced. For example, slavery in the Americas is rightfullydenounced as one of the worst tragedies in human history, but Muslim slavery is often portrayed in a somewhat positive light, with claims that

Muslim slaves were treated well and often freed. The fact that the ArabAfrican slave trade lasted for over 1,000 years and was often unspeakably

brutal is not mentioned. In the PBS program "Islam: Empire of Faith," thedevshirme, the stealing of Christian children from their parents to serveas slave soldiers was portrayed in a rather positive light, and it isclaimed that it allowed those born of poor families to rise to high statusin the army. What if it was claimed that African slaves were done a"service" by being enslaved and brought to the Americas? Also, whileWestern imperialism and colonialism, which lasted for a relatively shortperiod of time (about 30 to 200 years, depending on the place) is denouncedas pure evil and the cause of all problems in Muslim lands today, Arabimperialism and conquests, which lasted much longer, is positivelyportrayed (the greatness of the Arab Empire is extolled), and even theTurks, whose empire lasted over 500 years and covered the vast majority ofthe Arab world, are not berated for their imperialism.

* Outrageously, some Westerners actually either apologized for or evensupported the death-fatwa on Salman Rushdie for publishing The Satanic

Verses, because it "offended Muslim sensibilities," while Muslims make allkinds of statements offending Western sensibilities! I guess the right ofMuslims not to be offended or feel uncomfortable, in this view, outweighsthe right of Salman Rushdie (and other writers critical of Islam) to live!So much for "freedom of speech and _expression." Similarly, there are manycritical books written about how Judeo/ Christian sources are unreliable,and there are documentaries on PBS about the current status of Biblicalstudies, while in all too many Islamic studies programs, the Muslim sourcesare taken at face value, not to be questioned, and PBS shows mostly sugarydocumentaries about Islam, such as Islam: Empire of Faith and Muhammad:Legacy of a Prophet, both of which are sold on Islamic websites, and wereexplicitly seen by Muslims as da'wah tools (calling to Islam,proselytization). (This Atlantic article, which I have linked to before,has some info on this subject).

*Complaints about how poorly Muslims are treated in non-Muslim countriesand discriminated against, with no comment on the discrimination and lackof freedom of non-Muslims in Muslim lands. Or else there will be a blandcomment about how Islam "allows religious freedom" and is tolerant of otherreligions, but with no detail given (the Pact of Umar, which I will coversoon, spells out just how "free" non-Muslims were), contrasted with, forexample, the Inquisition, with not a word said about pogroms and massacresof Jews and Christians (and others) in the Muslim world, or about thecondition of dhimmitude, the second (or more like third) -class status ofJews and Christians under Muslim rule, which is often flat-out denied.("Everyone lived in peace and harmony together in Andalusia and Turkey!


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Never mind that there are numerous reports of the poor status of Jews andChristians, as well as stuff like the 1066 massacre of the Jews of Granada,or the numerous reports in the 19th century of just how dismal life was fornon-Muslims in the Ottoman Empire.) In any case, the traditional Muslimconception of the "dhimmi," even though it may have been better than beingburned to death under the Spanish Inquisition, is emphatically not an

acceptable model for religious "tolerance" today, no matter how much Muslimapologists may claim it is--only total equality, and not "protection," isacceptable.

*Finally, excusing of or completely ignoring Muslim atrocities against non-Muslim or Muslims, while any action by non-Muslims against Muslims is ahorrific outrage, a war crime on the scale of WWII or the Holocaust(frequently denied by many Muslims, incidentally).

Muslims must have the same rights as everyone else--no more and no less . Ifnobody can pray in school, that means Muslims can't have special rights topray either. If Christians and Jews are allowed to take their holidays off,so can Muslims. If Christianity can be criticized and trashed, so can

Islam. Muslims must also be held to the same standards of behavior--no moreexcusing of terrorist acts, while the same things done by someone elsewould be cause for complete and unequivocal condemnation. Muslims and non-Muslims must have the same rights in Muslim societies, just like Muslimsare first-class citizens of the US and other nations. Only in this way willMuslims and non-Muslims be able to coexist and live in harmony.

TWO QUESTIONS TO MUSLIMS- WITHOUT ANSWER

By Dr Radhasyam Brahmachari

When my article THE WORLD COMMUNITY OF MUSLIMS: Shackled People enslaved by the Koranappeared in the FFI website on December 11, 2007, a Muslim, in the nickname of a believer, commented thatI was a rat and shouting from a rat-hole. He asked me to come out of the rat-hole and face Dr Zakir Naik, so thatI may refresh my knowledge of Islam and get myself enlightened. He also said that Zakir Naik is capable of tackling a billion kafirs like me. I therefore decided to come out of my rat-hole and put ten questions to Zakir

Naik on Islam in my article A Few Questions to Dr Zakir Naik on Islam which was posted in the FFI websiteon February 17, 2008. But till today, Zakir Naik has not come up to give replies to my queries. It is reallyamazing that a wise pundit like Zakir Naik, who can tackle billions of kafirs like me, is taking so much time togive reply to my very simple questions. This has led me to apprehend that he has no reply to offer.Furthermore, in two subsequent articles, Allah in the Vedas: Treachery of Dr Zakir Naik and Muhammad inthe Vedas: Asinine Arguments of Dr zakir Naik , I have denounced his claims that the Vedas mention Allahand Muhammad. But till today, there has been no indication that he would come forward to establish that hisclaims were genuine and my arguments were baseless. Every intelligent reader might have understood that ZakirNaik will never show his face again as it is not possible for a liar to withstand the heat of truth and he has,perhaps, taken shelter in a rat-ho le. I therefore ask that learned reader a believer , who advised me to faceZakir Naik, to request him to come out of his rat-hole and give replies to my questions. But this author is more or less confident that Zakir Naik will not be able to find replies to my questions in hisglorious Koran and in other Islamic scriptures as those books are stockpiles of lies, falsehood andcontradictions. The creed of Islam, as I have understood after studying the creed for last 30 yrs, is an extremelybrittle glasswar e hanging from the ceiling with the help of a delicate thread called the Kalima Taib that says LaIlaha Illallah, Muhammadur Rasulullah ( Allah is the only God to be worshipped and Muhammad is themessenger of Allah). If the thread breaks, the entire creed of Islam will be broken into pieces. Or in other words,Islam will evaporate if the belief in Kalima Taib weakens. One should notice that the first part of the saidKalima Taib, i.e. La Ilaha Illallah does not pose a serious threat to Islam, but the seond part, i.e. MuhammadurRasulullah, does. If the belief in the Prophet-hood of Muhammad weakens, Islam would collapse withinseconds.So Muhammad should always be projected as the greatest man on earth. He should be projected as an apostle of

peace by concealing his violent and most cruel deeds like massacring the Koreiza and Najir Jews. Divinity mustbe be sought in his marrying so many wives in his declining years, including his marrying Ayesha at the age of 52, when Ayesha was a child of 6. And his marrying Zeinab, the wife of his adopted son Zeid. Any rational


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comment on his life and deeds is to be declared a blasphemy and the commentator must be punished with deathbecause the image of Muhammad is to be protected at any cost. This is the reason why Muslims are ready totolerate even a criticism of Allah, but not of Muhammad. To every Muslim, he should be projected as ideal of Muslim behaviour or usha-in-hashna. What Muhammad said is to be followed strickly word by word and eachand every Muslim should copy what he used to do without any question whatsoever.Muhammad used to lick his fingers after having meals , so every Muslim is to do the same in a likewise

manner. Muhammad disliked dogs and hence it not permissible for a Muslim to keep a dog as a pet.Muhammad disliked playing of chess and hence playing chess is forbidden for Muslims. Muhammad askedhis followers to keep their beards and shave their mustaches so that they could be easily identified , andhence every Muslim has to keep beard and shave mustache. Every Muslim around the world should performablution before prayer exactly in the same way as Muhammad used to do 1400 years ago , and so on and soforth. But difficulty arises if the believers try to copy all his deeds. Muhammad married his daughter in lawZeinab and if all the Muslims decide to imitate that holy sunnah of their Prophet, the situation will beextremely chaotic . Muhammad married 6 year-old Ayesha at 52, and if the believers proceed to follow thisholy Sunnah of the Prophet today, they will be convicted, in any civilized country, of raping a child and putbehind bars. Muhammad married Maimuna when he was in the state of muhrim (clad in the specialpilgrimage garb called ihram). If all the pilgrims today, who proceed to Mecca to perform Hajjpilgrimage, want to marry a wife following the holy Sunnah of the Prophet, one can imagine how chaotic

it would be. Muhammad kept 12 (or 22 according to the Shias) wives and if his followers try to imitate theProphet in t his aspect, they would be victims of Allahs wrath, as He has not permitted them to increasetheir number wives beyond four at a time.Though it is more or less certain that Zakir Naik would never come out of his rat-hole to give reply to myquestions, I would like to place before him a few more questions on Islam. Question No. 1In one of my earlier writings, I have shown that Allah is not circumcised. According to the Hadith(Muslim-2872), Allah created Adam in His own image and hence simple commonsense says that, hadAllah been circumcised he would have created Adam circumcised. And as a consequence all the believerswould have born with natural circumcision and they would not need to undergo artificial circumcisionafter birth. The argument proves that Islamic God Allah is not circumcised. But the question remains Was Prophet circumcised?In fact, circumcision was a Jewish practice and Sir W Muir, in this regard says, Th e practice is

incumbent on Muslims as a part of the Sunna (custom or example of the Prophet), but it is curious thatwe have no authentic account of Mohammads own circumcision. (The Life of Mahomet, Voice of India,New Delhi 1992, p- 191). When the Prophet died, attendants were prevented from making the body nakedor looking at his naked dead body either, during the ritual bath before burial. To narrate the incident, SirW Muir writes, A heavenly voice was heard ordering not to bare the Prophets body, f or the eyes of anyone that looked upon his nakedness would forthwith be destroyed. (ibid, p -191). So my humble question to Zakir Naik is Was the Prophet circumcised? Did any one of his wives, whoonly had the opportunity to see or feel Prophets privat e part, narrated any hadith in this regard?Question No. 2 During Meraj, the Prophet saw that all the earlier Prophets were living in heaven. So it seems that,Prophets were allowed to enter Allahs paradise just after their death and it was not necessary for themto wait in their graves till Qiyamah. So, one may conclude that Prophet Muhammad has already enteredAllahs paradise after his death and having good times there with houris and gelemans. Contrastingly,scriptures also say that, on the Day of Last Judgment (Qiyamah), the Prophet Muhammad would be thefirst man to enter Allahs paradise with 70,000 followers. So, it becomes difficult for a kafir like me toascertain where the Prophet is now staying. Has he gone to paradise, or is he lying in his grave andwaiting for the Qiyamah? Hope that the wisdom of Zakir Naik will be able to remove my confusion in thisregard.

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