reasons Islams is false - answers

[Eagle]

Since he is praised for his sharp arguments, i have chosen one of his most popular videos to refute it

[Eagle]

It always takes more time to debunk nonsense than to spew it, on a ratio of about 100 to 1. Thankfully most of it has already been addressed, even on this very forum. If the author of the video wishes so, we could debate the various issues 1 on 1. Until then, the refutations:

Reason 1
Mohamed being asked to provide miracles to prove his prophethood

Miracles never force belief in a person. The HB (Deut29,Numb14), NT, and Quran all corraborate this reality. Miracles are subordinate to the moral and spiritual as well as reasonable evidences in the world around and inside man for the existance of God, and the truth brought by specific individuals. For example the clear signs spoken of in the Quran and displayed on earth do not create belief, they stimulate that already existing belief in the Unseen for the spiritually aware, the God-conscious 10:6, those who have inner certainty 10:5 but are devoid of any spiritual dimension to the spiritually blind. Miracles, in the sense of supernatural occurences, because of their temporary nature, quickly lose their lustre in the eyes of the majority of the audience of a prophet that finds itself asking each time for more, not realizing the tremendous responsibility that goes with such a request. The history of past nations and prophets, more particularily the Israelites, testifies to this reality. The Quran ushered an era of spiritual awakening through reasoning and observation, making the ones with insight capable of deriving the miraculous and divine presence in all things, regardless of time and space 2:118"Indeed We have made the communications clear for a people who are sure".
Only those people can reach the right conclusion from their observation, who are inclined to believe; as for the heedless people, who live like animals and the stubborn people who are resolved not to believe, the existence and the non-existence of the signs is equal. A God-conscious, believer in the unseen sees confirmation of a Day of Resurrection in the cycle of life and death around him 43:11. These kind of verses mentioning the obvious signs around man, almost always contain the same phrases explaining that the spiritual implications of these signs can only be perceived by those who already incline to the Truth, the spiritually aware, believers in the Unseen 3:190-1"in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day there are signs for men who understand, those who remember Allah standing and sitting and lying on their sides and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth". By definition, belief in something is a firm state of mind that does not require the manifestation of the thing in question, but this does not mean that the belief is beyond reason. For example it is much more unreasonable to assume that the world is the product of chance than of a purposeful design, especially when all the signs mentionned in the Quran, from those surrounding us every day and at each instant, down to those present in our own selves, do point in such a way to the inevitability of Judgement Day and of an afterlife, that it would be entirely unreasonable to think otherwise. There is a reason why almost every such verses are accompagnied by prases explaining that these signs are for those who use their intellect, or as stated in the Hebrew Bible in relation to the truthfulness of its message Prov8:9"They are all true to the understanding one, and straight to those who find knowledge".
Humans believe things everyday without seeing them so long as these things agree with their intellect and reason, only animals devoid of intelligence need to see to believe. For example most animals will never heed a warning until they see the threat and flee, while a human can reason and hearken the admonitions and prepare for all eventualities. But then, even some animals are capable of mental deductions based on perception, without actually seeing. Still, reasonable belief doesnt render it factual, and neither was belief ever meant to become so, so as to not compromise the whole purpose of life, as stated in the Quran; spiritual growth using one's own innate spiritual sense of perception. Bringing the unseen to the seen makes spiritual growth impossible. In the account of creation, God describes how it was precisely that aspect of human life, the capacity to translate material perception to spiritual language, then grow spiritually is what awed the angels and made them bow to Adam in acknowledgment of his potential superiority over them. The unseen isnt veiled from angels and are therefore compelled to accept these higher realities that are factual to them. That is why the Quran (and the HB, contrary to the Greek/New Testament) teaches that angels have no freedom of choice.
That belief in the unseen (God, angels, revelation, resurrection, hereafter) can never become factual doesnt make it unreasonable and in fact it is the disbelief in such concepts which is the weaker position from a rational perspective, for the reasons previously mentionned, including genetic (see "system 1").

Those who accepted the warners sent to them, firstly did it because they were not prejudiced but focused on the message that was being preached, noticing it agreed with elementary reason and their observation of the universe, transmitted by men who were obviously not deceitful charlatans motivated by any worldy pursuit since what they were comunicating could not be bought by any ammount of riches and favors, and were among the best of people in their nation 3:161,6:50,90,109,127,145,160,180,10:72,12:104,33:21,34:47,36:21,68:4,11:51,29,62"They said: O Salih! surely you were one amongst us in whom great expectations were placed before this; do you (now) forbid us from worshipping what our fathers worshipped? And as to that which you call us to, most surely we are in disquieting doubt". Simple observation also shows that had these men been seeking illegitimate profits under the guise of prophethood, they would be surrounded by the affluent, yet the contrary can consistently be seen with every prophet. It was in fact one of the common reproaches which the aristocrats use to issue against them and the Quran particularily depicts how the prophet Nuh and his poor assemblies were the target of such scorn 11:27-30.
It is only after such persons, recognized for their nobility of character, start exposing the evils and falsehood of their societies that they are demeaned, rejected and fought 11:87"They said: O Shuaib! does your prayer enjoin you that we should forsake what our fathers worshipped or that we should not do what we please with regard to our property?". And as Jesus said Jn7:14-18"Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him". Like the prophets of old, the prophet Muhammad never asked for any compensation or reward for the priceless mission he was undertaking 6:90, his reward being with Allah 34:47. Although told to never compromise the honnor and exaltedness of the revelation he was to convey 80:11-16 and much less his own self-respect in doing so -in 2:104 believers are urged to approach the Prophet with respect and to subordinate their personal desires and expectations to the commandments of the Faith revealed through him-, when he demanded money it was for charity and he even used his notoriety for that purpose 58:12"when you consult the Messenger, then offer something in charity before your consultation; that is better for you and purer; but if you do not find, then surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful". What the verse also reveals is that precedence is given to the poorest elements of society in approaching and consulting with the prophet since no pre-condition is required of them, contrary to the affluent. Traditions reflect how the injunction reduced the number of requests by the richer elements who were often seeking privileges in vain, leading to less counsels and the purification of the intellectual and social milieu of the Muslim community.
The teachings they brought forth were beautiful in their own right, they practiced what they preached and did not allow for themselves what they were asking others to abandon 40:41-43,25:57"Say: I do not ask you aught in return except that he who will, may take the way to his Lord" 11:88"..and I do not desire that in opposition to you I should betake myself to that which I forbid you..I desire nothing but reform so far as I am able" and the character of their followers, was obviously that of people following 'the right course' 36:21. Further, the very nature of their message was that of reason. It could not on any level, conflict with their inner moral intuition, and its tennets, coming from the Source of creation should be observable within patterns in the creation itself. Hence the constant appeals throughout the Quran, for the believer to seek confirmation for divine unity, resurrection and ultimate justice in the universe and within his own self.
Besides his moral attributes, the message of a prophet, in form as well as in contents, is the primary criteria for judging his truthfulness, not whether someone saw him receiving revelation, a purely personal experience 53:12"do you then dispute with him as to what he saw?" 16:105"Only they forge falsehood who do not believe in Allah’s signs and they themselves are liars".

Those who rejected their prophets did so, not because of absence or presence of miracles but because of their stubborness and attachement to a system devoid of decent moral codes, on every level; political, economical, social and spiritual, and whose sinfulness was the way by which they maintained their order 28:57"And they say: If we follow the guidance with you, we shall be carried off from our country" 23:70"and most of them are averse from the truth. And should the truth follow their low desires, surely the heavens and the earth and all those who are therein would have perished". The wealthy and the leaders of a community were therefore almost always at the forefront of that opposition and rejected the moral reforms brought by the prophets, as in the prophet Muhammad's time, as well as in the times of Nuh, Shuayb or Moses, fearing for the immoral economical and tyranical political order they had established and became dependent upon 43:51-4,11:87" O Shuayb! does your prayer enjoin you that we should forsake what our fathers worshipped or that we should not do what we please with regard to our property?" accusing the prophets of seeking to destroy their equilibrium and cause chaos 7:127 while their sole aim was the return of humankind to its awareness of God and the higher spiritual truths. In addition they wrongly thought that them being economicaly and socially privileged meant they were on the right spiritual path and used this superficial observation as an argument to steer the dominated classes of society on whom such rethoric could vastly appeal 43:23,34:34-5, as well as on the prophets themselves and their assemblies who both led humble ways of life. All this led them to accuse the callers to reform of acting under the guise of prophethood and exploiting religion to gain dominion in the land 7:90,110,123,10:78,20:57,23:24,11:88"He (Shuayb) said: ‘O My people! Bethink you’ If I be upon a clear proof from my Lord, and He has provided me with fair sustenance from Him? And I desire not, in opposition to you, to do that which I forbid you from it. I desire naught save reform so far as I am able. My success is only with Allah. On Him do I rely and unto Him I turn". As here stated by the prophet Shuayb who was faced with such attempts at discrediting his intentions, neither he nor any other prophet ever asked for any wordly reward in return of spiritual and moral reforms. The prophets however were always known among their addressees as men of great integrity and what these accusations revealed was the deep corrupt selves of the slanderers who projected their own condition upon others. Since they only had lowly expectations from fellow humans they opined that for such claims to be valid, then they could not come from the mouth of a mortal but only a supernatural being, above human limitations 23:33"This is nothing but a mortal like yourselves, eating of what you eat from and drinking of what you drink" beyond the banal normality of a family man 13:38 or at least be a man of emminent social status within their community who in their view would be eligible to communicate with the divine realm 43:31. In addition, such a person should support his credibility by bending the natural laws whenever they demanded it, performing miracles according to their whims, transforming a mountain into a pile of gold, or answer any question relating to the unseen that might come up 6:50"Say: I do not say to you, I have with me the treasures of Allah, nor do I know the unseen, nor do I say to you that I am an angel; I do not follow aught save that which is revealed to me". The prophet is told to answer that he is only following, like them, what has been revealed to him and his evidence of the realm of the unseen is that of an eye witness while his opponents do not have any real certainty and only follow conjecture and the blind speculations of others "Say: Are the blind and the seeing one alike? Do you not then reflect?"

That is why they were rejecting the calls to reform and discrediting the Messengers, many times all the while having the inner sentiment that it is the Truth, just like Pharao and the obdurate disbelievers in his nation who continued in their rejection all the while knowing that the signs could only be coming from God, going as far as pursuing the escaping Israelites after all signs were displayed Exodus8-10,Quran7:134,27:14"And they denied them unjustly and proudly while their soul had been convinced of them; consider, then how was the end of the mischief-makers". This shows that miracles or not, the issue to the obdurate and senseless rejecters was never about a prophet's truthfulness but rather about the message itself. They not only rejected the message but also did their utmost to 14:3,11:18-22"make it crooked" ie corrupt it through vehement denigration in front of any person showing interest in it, or by attempting to change it 41:40"Those who misconstrue Our Revelations are not in any way hidden from Us" that it might create confusion or even lead to the belief it conforms to their principles. As they could not but realize the interest of the people in it, they tried corrupting the message bearers themselves that they might compromise some of the revealed principles with theirs as was the case in the days of the prophet Muhammad and prophets before him as depicted in the HB. The frustration of the opponents of Truth would reach its highest as they found themselves unable to influence the minds of the people, so they would finally resort to death threats or expulsion from the land 14:13.

In 6:111,10:95-101 Allah speaks of those who continuously reject His communications, they will not believe no matter what sign is shown to them. All scriptures speak of such rejectors bent on denying revelation no matter what. In fact if they truly wanted a sign and werent instead seeking excuses for their disbelief, they would have at least considered the surrounding signs that point to the realities of which the Quran speak of but the fact is these obdurate disbelievers see the Truth only when the promised divine torment in this earth or death overtakes them, just as Pharao came to believe only when he was drowning. Allah then says in 10:99 that He could have forced all humanity to believe, but He does not simply because it must be done out of freewill of which man will have to answer on Judgement Day, and further it would go against the principle of no coercion in religion 2:256,18:29. Just as He could force all people to believe, none could have believed if it wasnt for Him: He sent humanity its guidance to the straight path by making a clear distinction between right and wrong 16:9,92:12, as pledged to Adam 2:38-39 and He could, but does not due to His mercy, take it away anytime He wishes 17:86-7 as He temporarily did to the undeserving nation of Israel that kept on rejecting, persecuting and killing the prophets in their midst Ezek3:26,24:27 or erase parts of it from the prophet's own memory without him noticing it 87:6-7, nothing passes out of His control. Finally, when Allah says that He "casts uncleanness on those who will not understand", the uncleanness ie spiritual degeneration is the natural result of such behavior of blind denial and not using the reason when the communications of Allah are recited and clearly explained.
The gift of guidance belongs to God alone, and He bestows it on whoever is deemed fit to receive it, based upon the internal condition of the person, those with a sense of responsibility. The repeated arrogant arent deemed worthy. When Jesus was challenged by the wicked Pharisees to display supernatual wonders as he did in his ministry, he answered them Mk8:11-13"Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it." Jesus categorically denied them the performence of Signs, and effectively, Jesus never appeared to those very people who demanded him a miracle after his alleged resurrection despite the later gospel of Matt12:39 saying that the only sign these disbelievers will witness is Jesus' resurrection (yet even according to that Gospel they still did not witness it). In fact the risen Jesus never appears to anyone but believers. Those stubborn disbelievers demanded miracles to excuse their unbelief. The demand of a sign in itself is not condemnable when it is motivated by a desire of assurance of an already existing, sincere belief. Even prophets requested such signs from God, seeking to know the reality of certain hidden phenomenos like the resurrection 2:259-60. However when such demand is but a reflection of disbelief and denial, a mere display of mockery, skepticism then God either rejects the demand through His prophets or immidiately punishes the culprits for their insolence as was the case with the Jews who, after witnessing all sorts of signs and wonders in Egypt and during their journey, still demanded to see God whom Moses claimed he conversed with 2:55,4:153.
When they protested that no sign has descended to the prophet Muhammad as one of the reason of their disbelief, they were answered that their disbelief is not due to the lack of signs, but rather the lack of any desire in them to seek right guidance. For Allah does not force one to follow the Right Way, if he deliberately turns away from it. He lets such persons wander on the wrong ways they choose to wander 13:27 and in the NT Jesus reiterates the principle that miracles were only granted to those who desired them to confirm their faith, as Abraham or Gideon (Judges6), and to grant satisfaction to those that already incline to truth 6:109"And they swear by Allah with the strongest of their oaths, that if a sign came to them they would most certainly believe in it. Say: Signs are only with Allah; and what should make you know that when it comes they will not believe?" such as the magicians who were gathered and compelled by Pharao to challenge Moses yet they disputed about the matter showing how reluctant they were in going forth 20:58-73.
This was Thomas and Philip's case in Jn14 for example, who believed and inclined to the truth but wanted satisfaction and clearing of some remaining doubts. Jesus used the miracle argument to comfort them, he is not addressing unbelievers and trying to convert them using miracles, he is addressing believers and reminding them of his miracles as a support to some specific claim. Same in Jn11:1-44. In fact we even read in Mk10:46-52,Matt9:27-30 how it is faith that actually causes Jesus' miracles to succeed. In Nazareth, Jesus was unable to do "powerful works" because he was not believed in. In Luke24 Jesus, after his alleged resurrection, encounters 2 men who declare their disbelief in the one whom they thought had failed in his mission and instead of revealing his identity which would have been a compelling evidence for them to believe, scolds them for their disbelief in scriptures which he claimed he fulfilled, meaning his demand was to have faith in scriptures without the need to resort to supernatural evidence. Jesus alludes to this reality again in a parable where a disbeliever put in hell requests the performence of a miracle to his people -who possess and know the scriptures- still on earth that they might believe Lk16:19-31"If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead".
The Quran, after mentionning the various miracles of Jesus, points that these were signs for the believers 3:49. Simon, Peter, James and John did not need the slightest miracle to believe in Jesus' prophethood Matt4,Jn1:35-51 but all are said to "believe" in Jesus a second time after they saw his miracles and that is because it strengthened their already existing belief Jn2:11. When Moses was sent to announce the future deliverance of the Israelites, he was strenghtened with miracles and sent to the elders of the community, those grounded in knowledge, devoted to study, already inclined to the truth and knew God Ex4. They were those who would first and foremost believe Moses' words and this is because they had preserved the knowledge that God would remember them and lead them out of Egypt into the land promised to Abraham Gen50:24-25. The sign would be that one would come to them with the words matching exactly that promise and therefore Moses was commanded to remind them of it with the same words as sufficient proof of his prophethood Ex3:15-18. From a purely comparative viewpoint, supposing Moses or Jesus' miracles were productive and crucial in supporting their missions as well as gathering followers, which they clearly were not (as seen from how readily the Israelites strayed from the path during and after Moses, as well as the very few followers of Jesus in his lifetime). The fact remains that, like every action, they were only temporary in nature and could not be seen twice, disappearing and becoming history as soon as performed, leaving those that did not see them to rely at best on those claiming to have seen them. This issue in itself isnt really problematic so long as the line of prophethood hasnt been discontinued yet, since the subsequent prophet will perform his own miracles and endorse the prophet who preceded him.
With Muhammad, the case was different. He was the Final of the prophets. He could not rely on any miraculous action, because no action can last long enough to be seen by other generations. Nor could he rely on the endorsement of a subsequent prophet. The nature of his miracle therefore had to be of a different type. It had to be lasting in order to be witnessed and tested by the future generations as well as by his contemporaries. For that pupose, nothing was more adapted to the technology of the time than a miraculous speech recorded in writing so that its superiority be witnessed and tested at any time by any generation.

It is also to be noted that miracles serve as an assurance to prophets themselves who are always of very humble, sometimes secluded character, and are suddenly tasked with completing a mission of momentous importance, on a road covered with difficult obstacles. Miracles serve the purpose of uplifting them and giving them courage and confidence in their own selves, to face the staunch opposition of the people and their powerful leaders.

6:33 speaks of the prophet grieving over his people's disbelief as well as their persecution of him and his followers. Allah then tells him that as was done with previous messengers, His help comes in due time and there is none that can change these words of promises by Allah 6:34. The prophet should therefore be patient 6:67"For every prophecy is a term, and you will come to know it" he must understand that miracles are not manifested to conform to the whims and wishes of the disbelievers, but to warn a nation that it might mend its evil ways, to make the people mindful of the fact that the prophecies of punishement in this world conveyed by the prophets, let alone the Hereafter, will eventually unfold at some point should the people persist in their rejection of God's messengers and the signs sent with them. This means signs are in fact manifestations of God's mercy 17:59"and We do not send signs but to make (men) fear". When God judges that every possible warning has been properly conveyed and that a nation's respite during which it was given sufficient time to reflect on the signs and message brought by the prophets has expired, and that nothing more can be done to make them mend their ways, He imposes His judgement on the rejecters of His prophets in this world.
The Quran, through the stories of Muhammad who presented the surrounding signs attesting to the truth of his message, the miraculous Quran along with its prophecies whose rejection by Muhammad's nation despite their unfolding eventually resulted in their defeat and destruction when their appointed time of respite expired, or the stories of prophets of the past who presented signs and prophecies to their people with the aim of warning them but to no avail, which brought about their ultimate destruction, confirms that principle.
When the disbelievers request signs, it is only because they are seeking excuses for their disbelief, or to side-track the issue of worshipping only One God and rejecting their false gods 6:36"Only those accept who listen". Such people are heedless of the fact that signs cause the destruction of those that request then reject them. Their time of respite during which they are given opportunities to mend their evil ways expires and they are destroyed because such manifest sign leaves no more room for speculation.
So, as denoted in 17:59, it clearly is God's Mercy that prevents him from sending a miracle as per their immidiate request. The second part of the verse 17:59 says what kind of "ancients" reject signs. They were the Thamud who were destroyed when they transgressed in the matter of the she-camel, a sign they had requested then denied, regarding it to be mere intimidation and a pressure tactic 14:9-10,26:154-5. The prophecied punishement that befell them all of a sudden, while in their homes that consequently became their tombs, came as an overly exceeding 69:5 loud blast/sayha or lethal noise/saaiqa that caused a rajfat/shaking in them (shaking from a sound) 7:78,11:65-7,41:17.

A few generations later the people of Madyan to whom Shuayb was sent would suffer a similar fate 11:94,29:36-7. The ruins of the people of Thamud can still be seen up to this day 27:52,29:38 despite the passing of civilisations over them, including the Nabataeans who would later put their dead in these very homes once carved in mountains by the Thamud 26:149, thus extending upon these latter's original constructions. The Thamud themselves inherited the land from the nation of Aad to whom Hud was sent, and who were also visited by divine punishement in the form of an extreme windstorm, killing them, and that kept on blowing for several days and nights until their once imposing but now lifeless bodies in which they prided themselves were torn apart along with their achievements and possessions 7:73-4,11:50-60,41:13-18,51:41-2,54:19-20,69:6-7. Contrary to the devastation caused by nature or humans, when divine destruction is sent upon a people, it leaves no chance to anyone or anything meant to be annihilated, as here stated regarding the nations of Madyan and Thamud 11:95-100"As though they had never dwelt there...This is of the tidings of the towns (which) We relate to you; some of them are still standing and some have been mown down".
Archeology isnt conclusive regarding the Thamud, or as the Quran states concerning them in other ancient nations 14:9"None knows them but Allah". According to the encyclopedia britannica they are a people who probably originated in southern Arabia, with some moving northward and settling on the slopes of Mount Athlab while others remained towards the center as suggested through numerous Thamudic rock writings and pictures not only on Mount Athlab but also throughout central Arabia.

The example of Thamud is very relevant here because it is exactly the same scenario as with the Quraysh who were tauntingly demanding the prophet Muhammad for a sign. The verse isnt speaking of the sending of signs in general, but of the sending of signs as per the disbelievers' request. The verse is saying "We will not answer your request for a sign because people like you in the past did the same and when they got what they wanted they remained in denial so We had to destroy them as per the requirements of divine justice" ie "We are being merciful in not answering your request".
The Thamud had to leave her to drink freely in the intervals of time decreed for her, and then take their turn along with their cattle 54:27-9,17:59"and We gave to Samood the she-camel-- a manifest sign-- but on her account they did injustice". The camel was sent after a long time of respite and continuous taunting of their prophet, and when they rejected that sign which they themselves requested, they were destroyed. Before that, during their time of respite, they kept mockingly asking for the punishement to befall them and were urged to ask for forgiveness instead. As per the divine law concerning the prevailing of God's messengers and destruction of the die-hard rejecters, they were bound to perish at the expiration of their time of respite. This means they were bound to be destroyed whether or not their request for a sign was granted, so God used those people who were doomed in all case as an example for the following generations by accepting their request for a sign.
It is thus a mercy to these very people to whom prophets of all times were confronted, that God does not answer their request immidiately. Thus, it is in Quraysh's own interest that they do not emulate the preceding nations by keep demanding the prophet to send them a sign, instead of pondering on the message and the numerous signs observable daily that attest to the truth of his message. If Allah accepts their request, they may be subject to severe punishment - this subtly alludes to the gradual unfolding of the Quranic miracle, and His mercy in giving them respite to contemplate on the message and signs He sends or directs them at.
This is an important aspect of miracles. If God chooses to manifest one through his prophets or by other means, it establishes the tremendous responsibility of those that witness it because its rejection causes God's retribution to inevitably descend at the appropriate time by those who persist in their denial, if not immidiately on those who made the request for a sign then rejected it. In the context of reminding the ISraelites for the signs they were shown, the Quran states 44:33"And We gave them of the signs that in which there was an obvious trial".
God therefore clearly warns those who demand it as a challenge or mockery, that they are in fact inviting their own doom 40:78"and it was not meet for a messenger that he should bring a sign except with Allah's permission, but when the command of Allah came, judgment was given with truth, and those who treated (it) as a lie were lost". When the tables descended for Jesus and the Apostles 5:112-5, God warned the Apostles, through Jesus, that if they turned away after this, they would face a punishment unlike what others would normally face because it came at their own request. This is an observable reality through the history of the Jewish people and the severity of their punishements that were collective and at the height of the miracles they witnessed and sometimes requested as a community. As Jesus said, the entire nation will be held accountable for the death of the prophets although not all of them physically took part in their murder Matt14:10,17:l2,Lk11:47-51. It is even reported that the Jews arrogantly and defiently accepted that concept of collective punishment Matt27:25.

The prophet Muhammad is thus told that if he could not bare patiently for a miracle to manifest itself then let him go up himself to the skies if he can, and bring them the sign they demand for them to have faith as they alledge 6:35"seek an opening (to go down) into the earth or a ladder (to ascend up) to heaven so that you should bring them a sign and if Allah had pleased He would certainly have gathered them all on guidance". That purpose of raising a new community to be the living spiritual torch of mankind succeeded towards the end of the prophet's life, when the pagan Arab tribes professed faith almost in one body after the peaceful conquest of Mecca, when the Kaaba was cleansed from the rule of the polytheists and another people raised in their stead 14:13-14,6:133-4"Surely what you are threatened with must come to pass and you cannot escape it". That is because in a universal system based on Truth, falsehood is bound to perish 34:49,21:16-8,14:19"Do you not see that Allah created the heavens and the earth with truth? If He please He will take you off and bring a new creation".
Ultimately this new people, the Muslims, were made successors in the land while being warned that if they transgress they will be swiftly requited and replaced by the One encompassing them as He encompasses the whole earth, capable of establishing a better creation instead of them, if not just as good as they regard their own make, implying the ease with which He could reproduce man in his original form 6:165,70:40-1,76:28. Similar warnings were issued to the Israelites should they brake the covenant after He established them in the land and made them to inherit all of what their oppressors were enjoying ungratefully, including their lands 7:137,26:57-9,Deut8:19-20,Deut28-31, even causing them to forcefully replace powerful people in their own lands because of their wickedness Deut9 just as some of the previous nations that rejected their prophets were destroyed and another nation raised in their stead as trustees of God's favors 10:71-3,44:26,7:69,74,137,100"Is it not clear to those who inherit the earth after its (former) residents that if We please We would afflict them on account of their faults".
The HB uses a very appropriate metaphore to describe that reality, picturing a sacred land becoming sick of its inhabitants' practices to the point it cannot contain them anymore Lev18:24-8"Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled. Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants..." Lev20:22-3"And you shall observe all My statutes and all My ordinances, and fulfill them, then the Land, to which I am bringing you to dwell therein, will not vomit you out. You shall not follow the practices of the nation that I am sending away from before you, for they committed all these [sins], and I was disgusted with them".
The prophet Solomon Prov2:21-22 and before him David spoke of that reality Ps37:9-11"evildoers shall be cut off, and those who hope for the Lord-they will inherit the land. A short while longer and the wicked man is not here, and you shall look at his place and he is not there. But the humble shall inherit the land, and they shall delight in much peace".
The heritage of the earth in this worldly life is neither permanent nor everlasting. It is merely bestowed as a trial for different communities. On the other hand, the ultimate and everlasting heritage of the "land" will only be bestowed in the Hereafter to the righteous believers 21:105,39:73-4.

The Quran contains information about previous prophets and their nations, divine realities which were often unknown to Muhammad and/or his addressees, and many times forgotten for long by all people previously to the revelation of the Quran 3:44,4:113,11:49,12:102,19:34. The final revelation has remained preserved as prophecied 15:9, which is actually the reverse that one would normally expect considering the history of tampering, corruption and neglect of religious scriptures, let alone the fact that the Quran was introduced by an illiterate, to an equally illiterate nation that overwhelmingly stood against him and his book, and on top of all had no tradition of written transmitted text. Not only has it not perished and disappeared as per the prophecy, it has survived in its pristine form, again, as predicted 41:41-42. The necessary fulfilement of that pledge is directly linked to the prophecied discontinuation of prophethood after Muhammad 33:40. This prediction, a negative prediction thus much more difficult to be truthful, like many others in the Quran goes against what is normally expected, which is that God should continue sending His prophets to mankind as He did many times before. There are no reasons to assume that the generations and nations that preceded Muhammad were more entitled to heavenly messages than those after him, especially considering the overwhelming place materialism has taken in our age versus spirituality. The more time passes, the more it is proven true, if we bear in mind the maximum gap of years between prophets of the past.
The Quran successfully prophecises events that have already occured, such as the unthinkable defeat of the Romans and their revenge afterwards 30:2-4, the prophet's victorious return to Mecca following his exile at a time when none could have imagined for such an outcome to materialize 28:85,48:27 as is the case with the early predictions of overall triumph and establishement of Islam 24:55 no matter the intensity and will to extinguish its light (including by a combined assault from the hostile elements within Arabia as well as the 2 adjacent superpowers of the time -the Byzantine and Persian empires- which were all defeated soon after the prophecy. Islam reigned supreme within a century later, from the Atlantic Ocean to India) 9:32-3,48:28,61:8-9, the unflinshing divine protection of the prophet who is in addition urged to continue transmitting the message in the midst of the turmoil 5:70. In what seems to be referring to the future event where the believers will be standing in ranks (either in prayer or in war, but in all cases, the word implies a high number), repelling evil (of oppression and sin) and reciting the Reminder, the Quran makes a forcefull prophetic statement of victory which is in itself testimony to the gist of the Quranic message; divine unity 37:1-4. This prophetic oath is later reinforced in the same sura, as well as in many other Quranic passages, when referring to God's promise of divine assistance to His messengers and their followers, opposite the destruction of their enemies and rejecters, placing Muhammad inside a well-known established pattern in the prophetic history 37:171-182,54:9-45etc.
The Quran also predicted the severe divine chastisement of the Jewish nation in a similar manner as was twice done in antiquity 17:4-7. This could only be refering to their near-decimation during the 2nd world war.

The Quran has pointed and explained the implications of many signs which exist in the world around and within man 2:115,12:105,31:20 continuously unfolding themselves before him -as denoted with the present progressive tense 41:53- calling him to ponder on the smallest details which are the true miracles happening everyday under his eyes and proof of divine presence. This is the particularity of the Quranic argument, to grasp things, concepts, phenomena which the human sees and experiences on a near daily basis, and teaches him the right angle from which to perceive them. Therefore a person who never views a supernatural wonder, per the Quran, can attain a much higher superiority in the eyes of God that those that did, because they believed only through their intellect and reason 2:118"Indeed We have made the signs clear for a people who are sure". When such signs fail to convince people's hearts and set right their vision, then it means such people cannot perceive the divine presence 10:101"Consider what is it that is in the heavens and the earth; and signs and warners do not avail a people who would not believe". Therefore, and as Jesus stated regarding the wicked Pharisees, why would God manifest a sign to those who reject the innumerable wonders evidence of His existence and whose hearts are devoid of faith 6:109-110"And they swear by Allah with the strongest of their oaths, that if a sign came to them they would most certainly believe in it. Say: Signs are only with Allah; and what should make you know that when it comes they will not believe? And We will turn their hearts and their sights, even as they did not believe in it the first time, and We will leave them in their inordinacy, blindly wandering on".
The Quran confirms and upholds the miracles performed by past prophets as signs of God's power, mercy, wisdom, and reitirates the fact that God exalted some prophets above others in certain particular fields. The Quran does not denigrate or deny these miracles and the exalted status of some prophets, in order to justify the fact that Muhammad like many other prophets even of the HB did not perform great wonders such as those of Moses or Jesus.



Reason 2
Historical error: Mohamed mixes up Miriam and the Virgin Mary in the Bible

There are no records in scriptures of the past as to who Mary's parents were. The Quran says Mary's mother was married to a man named Imran 3:35. There is an absurd accusation that the Quran makes an anachronistic error because it names Mary's father Imran, who also happens to be the father of another Mary that lived centuries prior in the Bible. As if people within a tribe dont share the same names, or that for example Zechariah is the only prophet to hold that name or that Joseph who is believed by Christians to be Mary's husband was the first man ever among Israel to bear that name? Or was Mary actually married to the Joseph who ruled Egypt? There are many instances within the Bible to corroborate for example Jethro's 7 different names are shared by other people too, some of them were his contemporaries and others came after him. Same thing with Elihu ben Barachel, whose name many people share over different generations for example the prophet Samuel's great-grandfather 1Sam1:1, a brother of the prophet King David 1Chron27:18, a chief of the Manasheh tribe 1Chron12:20 and a descendant of Korah 1Chron26:7.
In her pregnancy, Imran's pious wife vowed to offer what was in her womb to the devotion of God 3:35 as denoted with "muharraran" to mean that the child is free of any other obligation or attachment. She desired a male whom she wanted to follow in the footsteps of the priestly family, living in devotion to God and serving Him in the Temple. This religious function was prescribed exclusively for the male descendants of the Levites branch. It was Harun/Aaron who is said to have initiated that function for the Israelites Ex28:1,29,40:13,Lev8,1:3,Num3:10,18:4-7 and renewed again by Phinehas Numbers25:13.
But when she brought forth a female whom she thought wouldnt be able to live up to her spiritual expectations and duties in the Temple, she was explained that her excellence would go far beyond any hopes and desires she had entertained 3:36"God had been fully aware of what she would give birth to, and [fully aware] that no male child [she might have hoped for] could ever have been like this female". She named her Maryam and invoked Allah's protection on her and her offspring 3:36. Maryam was orphaned early on which is why she was given at a young age to one of God's prophets, Zakariyya, for care 3:37,44.
God received Mary's mother's prayers and manifested them in the best way; under Zakariya's close guardianship, she was taken care of to develop physically and spiritually. The Arabic in 3:37 uses a beautiful imagery saying literally "her nurturing Lord accepted her with beautiful reception, and made her planted a good planting, and He made Zachariah to take care of her". Mary remained in total devotion to God, mostly practicing worship in seclusion in her own private area of prayers, almihrab (the root H-R-B means war or distancing and separation. It also means the person’s money or the most important place in the house. ALMIHRAB is used to mean the most private part of the house, or the most important part of the house and the place of prayer is included within that meaning).

A priest's daughter or "Bat-Kohen" is considered unique compared to the other Israelite daughters. A uniqueness due -amongst other attributes such as scrupulous modesty thereby portraying the values of maintaining a life dedicated to holiness- to her inherent ability to cope with above average and even intense levels of spirituality due to her upbringing by a Kohen/priest, whose life is dedicated to God's service.
Since Mary belonged to the priestly caste, whose founder was the renowned Harun, she was associated to him with the metaphorical phrase "sister of Harun" by the slanderers 19:27-28. This was to stress the shamefulness of her act in relation to the illustruous names in her family, most relevant to her status as a priest's daughter.

There has been a claim that the Quran made an anachronistic error by mistaking Mary/Miriam Jesus' mother with Mary/Miriam Aaron's and Moses' sister spoken of in the Bible in and who lived long before. Putting aside the fact that such critics, mainly from a Judeo-Christian background forget that such phraseologies have always been used by Israelites, including Jesus when he stated that, regardless of time and space Mk3:35"Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother". What these critics need to consider is that, had this been true, why does the verse not depict these Jewish slanderers as resorting to the weigthiest of all arguments by singling out her other alleged brother, Moses who is mentionned in the same sentence together with Aaron, as Miriam's brother in the text from whence the Quran's author supposedly copied from Num26:59? He in addition is the sole prophet who, according to the Jewish tenets of faith up to this day, they must recognize as the greatest of all. Jewish tradition and scriptures repeatedly describe him as having superior authority, prestige and prophetic experience as echoed even in the Quran, and here are those very Jews pointing to Harun instead, a mere support and assistant of Moses, who lacked authority among his people to the point they rebelled against him in Moses' absence and even indulged in polytheism under his watch, with their scriptures even painting him as among the instigaters of the transgression?
The mentionning of Harun instead of the greater names in Mary's alleged contemporary family such as Moses, demonstrates it cannot be speaking of her literal, physical sisterhood but rather to her metaphorical descendency from a specific branch whose founder was Harun, and who had established a cast inside which a woman was supposed to represent the highest standards of chastity and piety through her spiritual devotion and impeccable upringing by a priest.

The other attack against the Quran, that it should have said "daughter of Harun" as is usally done when speaking of the descendant of an illustruous character is nonsensical in that context since the verse also speaks in one breath of her biological parents who have passed away. Had the Quran used "daughter of Harun" instead it would have confused the sentence and implied that Harun was her biological FATHER "O DAUGHTER of Harun! Your FATHER was not an evil human, nor was your mother unchaste". That argument not only is nonsensical syntactically but also shoots down the critics' own argument since it invalidates their claim that the Quran confounded Mary/Miriam (Jesus' mother) with the Miriam who was Aaron's biological SISTER and lived long before.

Also, the Quran speaks of Mary and Jesus as coming after Moses, clearly in a context where countless generations of messengers succeeding eachother seperates them 2:87,3:50,5:43-46,etc which again negates the claim it thought they were all contemporaries due to the supposed mixing of Maryam the mother of Jesus with Maryam the sister of Aaron and Moses mentionned in the Bible. Further, in the Quranic accounts surrounding Moses, Aaron, Jesus and Mary, the circumstances and locations are entirely different for the first 2 and the last 2, and the characters of both groups are never mixed in the same space and time nor do they interract, while they do interract among characters of the same group. For instance, Jesus and Mary are many times interracting, as is the case with Moses and Aaron yet we never see Jesus interracting with Moses or Aaron with Mary. Nor are Jesus and Mary ever seen in the same context and background as Moses and Aaron, and vice versa. Also, the Quran repeatedly speaks of Moses' sister, during the account of his infancy, without ever naming her Mary 20:40. Besides the contexts and timframes clearly seperating between Moses and Jesus, how could this already grown up "Mary" during Moses' infancy, be the same young Mary to give birth to Jesus many years later? There simply are too many converging factors, on a macro or micro-level, all indicating that the Quran was perfectly accurate, correct and aware of the usage of the phrase "sister of Harun" and its implications.

More importantly, contrary to Miriam the sister of Aaron and Moses in the Bible from where critics claim the Quran copied from, Mary the mother of Jesus was orphanned very early on per the Quran meaning that her relatives spoken of during her early years and beyond are those of people who have passed away. In 19:28, the slanderers appeal to her parents' righteousness in the past tense, because they have passed away at the time. Because of this, she had to be put under someone elses' guardianship namely the prophet Zakariya. Mary was orphaned so young and abruptly, and her importance to the eyes of the elders of the comunity so great, that her entourage, after casting lots to decide who would be her guardian, still obected and contended with one another 3:44. Such measures would've been useless had her close relatives, such as her alleged brothers Moses and Harun been alive in her early years, even outliving her as stated in the Bible.

As an aside, the guardianship spoken of 3:37 is the same as the one spoken of seven verses later 3:44 ending the passage relating the circumstances of Mary's birth, her re-location in the Temple under Zakariya's guardianship, and as he saw Mary's pious dedication and the manner in which God favored her, it created in him the desire for a righteous progeny, and the manner in which the angels would encourage Mary to elevate herself spiritually. The verse 3:44 is a parenthetic statement in a flowing discourse, as is found in many places within the Book, or in oral speeches in general, serving as a reminder that what was said earlier was unknown until now including the additional information that there was contention and dispute until the issue of Mary's guardianship was settled. The verse also serves as a leap forward in time, a transition from the earlier period of her life to the moment when the angels came to announce her future pregnancy 3:44"This is of the announcements relating to the unseen which We reveal to you. And you were not with them when they cast their pens (to decide) which of them should have Marium in his charge, and you were not with them when they contended one with another".
This common Quranic pattern of stressing the truthfulness of its own version of an event, mostly appears in regards to past occurences or issues transmitted in a convoluted, partial or obscured manner, or sometimes entirely forgotten, as is the case with the story of Yusuf and others 3:44,11:49,28:44,12:3,102"This is of the tidings of the unseen (which) We reveal to you, and you were not with them when they resolved upon their affair, and they were devising plans".

[Eagle]

Reason 3
Scientific errors in the Quran: Verse apologists inaccurately use to describe the Big Bang (21:30)

In 21:30 the Quran states the heavens and earth were closed, then pictures life coming forth by tearing its way, an imagery often employed in religious scriptures 1Kings8:35,2Chronicles7:13,Deut28:12. It is to be firstly understood it doesnt say heavens and earth were closed or joined together, rather that each on their own were closed. It is a phenomenon the addressees are told to observe in order to substansiate the spiritual import of the verse. The implication of both heavens and earth openning is that rain showers down from heaven (from the clouds 13:17,16:65,18:45,24:43,30:48,35:9,43:11) and vegetation germinates from the earth after ripping it apart "Do not those who disbelieve see that the heavens and the earth were closed up, but We have opened them/fataqnahum; and We have made of water everything living, will they not then believe?" 86:11-12"I swear by the raingiving heavens, And the earth splitting (with plants)" 80:25-26"We pour down the water, pouring (it) down in abundance, then We cleave the earth, cleaving (it) asunder".
The Quran often employs this image of God as the Almighty, giver of life and energy, causing life/action "to tear its way forth".

6:95"Indeed Allah is the one who cracks open/faliq the seed and the fruit pit, including He makes the living come out of the dead and makes the dead come out of the living. This is Allah for you so how come you get mislead"
6:96"He is the Cleaver/faliq of the Daybreak"
113:1"I seek refuge with the Lord who breaks apart and brings forth everything/rabbil falaq"

Faliq from F-L-Q is used for something that cracks open and makes way for a new beginning or a new entity. It is used for example for the egg that hatches and brings about a new bird or as in the above instances with the cracking open of the seeds in order to have a new plant sprout. Because most things in nature come to existence after a former entity cracks open, the term F-L-Q is used for "creation" even when that creation does not necessarily include breaking a former entity, as illustrated in 6:96. Such verses come in the context of resurrection and are meant to show that it is easy for God to bring us back to life as He brings to life the heavens and the earth that were closed up/dead 16:65,25:49,30:19,32:27,35:9,36:32-3,41:39,50:9-11,43:11"And He Who sends down water from the cloud according to a measure, then We raise to life thereby a dead country, even thus shall you be brought forth". One may argue that the seed is not necessarily dead but dormant or something like that. In Arabic, linguistically, and as demonstrated in the Quran, death is defined by inactivity and life is defined as activity. God has allowed this earth to be the cradle of the cyclic occurence of life and death, the continuous repetition on a micro/macro scale, of activity and inactivity of every element on the earth, including the elements that make us, that will eventually return to their previous inactive state and then reintegrate the living 39:21,77:25 as a symbol of the resurrection "Most surely there is a reminder in this for the men of understanding" 29:20"Travel in the earth and see how He makes the first creation, then Allah creates the latter creation; surely Allah has power over all things". The Creator is perfectly aware of 34:2"what penetrates into the earth and what emerges from it and what descends from the sky and what ascends into it". Besides the refusal to accept ultimate accountability, it is the negation of that particular knowledge of God that led them to technically negate the concept of resurrection, the knowledge of the whereabouts of every atom composing a body when scattered throughout the earth and consequent capacity to gather them back 32:10"when we have become lost in the earth, shall we then certainly be in a new creation?". Through several angles, the Quran answers this objection, the original creation of man from dispersed dust is no different than his recreation once he returns to scattered dust. In fact so comprehensive will the process be than even the conscience, the soul, is preserved from the moment of death 39:42. In the words of Muhammad Asad, this definition comprises things physical and spiritual: waters disappearing underground and reappearing; the metamorphosis of seed into plant, and of decaying plant into oil and coal; traces of old artifacts and entire civilizations buried in the earth and then reappearing within the sight and consciousness of later generations of men; the transformation of dead bodies of animals and men into elements of nourishment for new life; the ascent of earthy vapours towards the skies, and their descent as rain, snow or hail; the ascent towards the heavens of men’s longings, hopes and ambitions, and the descent of divine inspiration into the minds of men, and thus a revival of faith and thought and, with it, the growth of new artifacts, new skills and new hopes: in short, the endless recurrence of birth, death and re-birth which characterizes all of God’s creation.
We are thus in need of the One who put in place, and sustains this sytem, for spiritual guidance and life in this world as well as the hereafter regardless of whether we recognize Him and accept Him 35:15"O men, you are they who stand in need of Allah, and Allah is He Who is the Self-sufficient, the Praised One".
The often repeated image of life splitting the earth appart 80:25-32 is metaphorically used in 13:31 for God's guidance, through the Quran, causing "the earth to be torn asunder".
In 43:61 Jesus is said to be, just like the evidence surrounding us in nature, a sign of the resurrection. Why would one think it is impossible for God to raise all mankind from death when He can create a child without a father and a servant of His can breathe life into an image of clay and raise the dead back to life?

These kinds of metaphors and analogies were perfectly understood by the people of the time who were used to such heavy use of imagery. The Quran was not sent to clear the people's scientific misunderstandings rather to clear their ignorance of the higher realities of our existence. The Quran therefore never explicitly mentioned unknown science facts that could have deflected the audience's attention from the deeper message, confusing them further during the delicate process of spiritual reform.


Reason 4
Quran tells us Earth was created first (2:29), (41:9-12)

When speaking of the formation and shaping of the sama' (all that is above the earth; atmosphere and beyond) as we know it today, we read in 79:27-33 that it was done before the earth was made hospitable for the humans with water, plants, and animals. This process of accomodating earth to human life took 4 ayyam 41:10, while the prior shaping of the earth itself took 2 ayyam 41:9. This shaping of the earth initiated together with the universe 41:11. God in this verse tells both entities to come forth from their primordial state, not towards eachother but each on their own, to which they submitted. For the heaven, this resulted in its layering and filling with the celestial bodies in 2 ayyam 42:12 and for the earth, as already stated a few verses earlier in 41:9, it resulted in its finalization just prior to initiating the process of making it accomodating for human life 41:10.

Although a superficial reading results in a total of 8 ayyam of creation, yet a closer look reveals otherwise. 41:9-10 is sequential, totalizing 6 ayyam of creation (2 to shape the earth followed by 4 to make it suitable for human life). As already stated, the universe as we known it was formed prior to earth being made suitable for life 79:27-33 meaning 42:12 giving 2 ayyam for the universe's formation cannot have occured after the 6 ayyam cited earlier for shaping earth and making it habitable. 41:9-10 and 41:11-12 are therefore not sequentially connected, hence the use of thumma/moreover to link both passages. Both these passages contain reference to an overlapping timeline, ie the 2 ayyam to shape the earth in 41:9 simultaneously initiated with the 2 ayyam to form the sama' (all that is above the earth; atmosphere and beyond) 41:12, after which came the 4 ayyam to make the earth habitable, thus totalizing 6 ayyam of creation. The fact that 41:9-10 and 41:11-12 are not sequential is further reinforced by the fact that, although the earth's formation and adaptation for life was already mentionned 41:9-10 the following passage goes back in time by quoting God's address to both heaven and earth in their primordial state. The heaven is named while still unformed just like its earth counterpart is named while still unformed 41:11"Moreover, He directed Himself to the heaven while it was smoke and said to it and to the earth: Come both, willingly or compelled. They both said: We have come willingly". It then goes on to broadly speak of the universe's development but not the earth's since its finalization just prior to initiating the process of making it accomodating for human life was already stated a few verses earlier in 41:9.
As to the reason for using such a literary construction, just as is the case in 2:29 where, in a statement not intended to establish a sequential timeline of events (hence the use again of thumma/moreover), attention is first directed to the near and tangible provisions of life before switching man's focus to the great encompassing entity above, the Quran here isnt trying to convey scientific knowledge but to instill spiritual awareness in connection with the observable nature, by emphasizing different aspects, with each aspect having its own sequence. It first attracts attention to God's blessings close at hand and its gradual development 41:9-10 then directs the eye to the distant surrounding greatness and its gradual developement 41:11-12, without the 2 being connected sequentially. The Quran uses many times this litterary device, when it wants to switch emphasis from one aspect to another, although both may exist simultaneously. It states for example in 68:13"Oppressive, moreover/thumma of bad character" or in 90:17 after enumerating some of the benevolent and righteous acts a believer should perform it says "Moreover/thumma he is of those who believe" again this does not denote a sequence rather is focusing on each aspects independantly, then laying more stress on correct faith. Same in 81:21"One (to be) obeyed, moreover/thumma faithful in trust".


Reason 5
Quran says stars are in the lowest heaven & purpose is to strike at devils wanting to reach the exalted assembly in heaven as well as being a decoration in the night sky. (Quran 37:6-10)

Quran refers to outter space as sama' addunya; it does not make distinctions between the cosmic bodies (stars, planets, comets etc). They are referred with names that evoke brightness, except for the Sun and the Moon that are specifically pointed and named. We apply today the words used in the Quran to describe the celestial bodies depending on their original meaning. For example lamps/masaabih produce light on their own so they cannot be used for planets or comets, but only for stars and meteors.
The constellations/buruj as well as the sun and moon are in one sama' 25:61 also referred to as assama' addunya/"heaven of the world" in 37:6,41:12. The buruj/constellations decorate the sky for all onlookers 15:16,85:1. Buruj is used for lights that are "fixed" and can therefore constitute a group. Groups of lamps/masaabih 41:12 or bright lights/kawaakib 37:6, form buruj/constellations 15:16. Only stars and rare planets visible from Earth qualify.


The Quran speaks of the heaven/al-sama' being adorned with stars, refered to as lamps. The Arabs were desert and sea travellers and found their way in the darkness through the guidance of the stars, which the Quran figuratively calls lamps. A parallel is created between the night traveller -Desert dwellers preferable journey at night to avoid daytime hazards- seeking direction by looking up to the stars, and the spiritual travellers, seeking guidance from revelattion from above. This is precisely why the various forms of imagery regarding the stars being lamps comes in the context of the need for revelation and guidance 6:97"And He it is Who has made the stars for you that you might follow the right way thereby in the darkness of the land and the sea; truly We have made plain the communications for a people who know". It of course does not mean that the cosmic bodies were made solely for geographical guidance, like the moon wasnt, as said in the HB, solely made to reckon the times of seasons and festivals Ps104:19"He made the moon for the appointed seasons".
The implied question behind the verses pointing to God making all arrangements necessary for man to strive physically such as in 16:3-18 is "How can it be possible that Allah who has made so elaborate arrangements for man's guidance to fulfill his physical needs has neglected to provide for his moral and spiritual needs?" That need for guidance is answered through the sending down of revelations that causes spiritual revival just as the rain coming down from the skies causes the regeneration of the dead earth 16:64-5,30:46-50,43:11.

During the time of revelation of the Quran, the Almighty made arrangements so that the purity of the Revelation travels intact from its descent from Heaven to the heart of the prophet Muhammad to the point that evil ones were not allowed near it during the process 26:210-212"No evil ones have brought down this (Revelation), It would neither suit them nor would they be able (to produce it). Indeed they have been removed far from even (a chance of) hearing it".
Pre-Islamic Arabs believed that their soothsayers were inspired by the jinn who would bring them information from heaven, and thus sometimes accused the Quran of having been similarly inspired. To refute this belief, the Quran told that this sama' ("what is above" more commonly used for the sky), although beautified with constellations to the onlookers, has in addition been provided with protection in the times of revelation 15:16-17 through several systems. First, the ones charged with carrying down the exalted and purified Revelation, referred to as the noble and virtuous ambassadors/safara 80:11-16, were headed by Gabriel who is the possessor of power, honor, trustworthiness and authority 2:97,81:19-21. Under his direction, a delegation of emissaries -tightly knit around Gabriel and highly dutiful to him as denoted with mutaAA- carry the revelation, from heaven down to earth, all the way to the heart of the chosen messenger until it is pronounced to the people 72:27-8. In the HB, Gabriel is sometimes accompanied by other angels as he carries down revelation Dan10,11.
As a slight digression, it is interesting to note the manner in which the Quran pictures some aspects of Jibril's relationship to other angels. During travel, as in the case above, Jibril is at the back of the delegation as denoted in the sequence in 70:4,97:4"The angels and the RUH descend in it by the permission of their Lord for every command". This is because he needs to properly manage the mission entrusted to him and make sure it is performed as requested of him, as well as of those under his command. But when summoned to stand in row for God, Jibril is in the front 78:38"The day on which the spirit and the angels shall stand in ranks; they shall not speak except he whom the Beneficent Allah permits and who speaks the right thing". This teaches us something about leadership. When it is about to manage a group, the leader is in the back but to stand up for accounting and taking the burden of responsibility, he is in the front. This actually mirrors the manner in which the prophet conducted himself; traveling at the back of the group, being the caretaker of a flock, but would stand in front when rising in front of God for prayer.
The carriers of revelation repelled the rebellious among the jinn from every side so they could not hear what the ones high in ranks were saying during their descent 37:8,97:4 but when they did manage to steal a slight hearing, they were destroyed 15:18,37:10"Except him who snatches off but once, then there follows him a brightly shining flame/shihab". They were hit with burning objects identified as shihab, plur. "shuhub". Only 1 type of cosmic body in our sky fits the description of a fast moving object giving its own light; meteors.
As already seen in 15:16-17 the Quran makes a distinction between the guarding system provided by these meteors and the shining objects adorning our sky. Again it says sama' addunya/the near heaven (in relation to the earth which includes its atmosphere that the Quran calls a sama' 16:79,30:48) has been adorned with kawaakib/bright lights 37:6 AND/WA guarding/hifthan against the devils 37:7,41:12. It seperates the guarding system and the shining objects decorating the night sky (stars, planets, etc).
The verse 67:5 reiterates how the sama' has been adorned with shining objects. It then uses a construction accepting in its range of meanings that both the sama' and the shining objects adorning the sky, as well as each on their own, have been turned into projectiles against the jinn. But keeping in mind the Quran's distinction between the objects adorning the sky and the guarding system, then we should exclude the former from the possible meanings and only keep the sama'. This interpretation was noted by early comentators too, the sama' being a feminine word, thus agreeing grammatically with the feminine particle "ha" in "jaAAalnaHA/we made it". The "ha/it" therefore is in reference, not to a thing, but to a location, the sama'/sky which has been turned into a place of pelting for the shayatin/evil beings.

The Quran does not say that these burning objects of the sky, which are none other than the meteors, have the exlusive purpose of chasing the jinn. Many of these shuhub filled the sky in the times of Revelation 72:8 (meteor showers) and only some of them were deviated from their natural course and used as projectiles against those of the rebellious jinn who managed to steal a hearing during the process of Revelation 72:9. The object of meteors was therefore not to hit jinn in general, only those who heard what was being said during the descent of the Revelation 15:18,37:10.
Before Revelation started descending, the jinn used to sit anywhere they wanted in the sky 72:9"we used to sit in some of the sitting-places thereof to steal a hearing" without being bothered by the "guarding system", because obviously they could not hear anything no matter their obstination, as they declared themselves 72:10"we know not whether evil is meant for those who are on earth or whether their Lord means to bring them good" otherwise they would have to be destroyed as happened to them during Revelation. This means the Quran doesnt given any credence to the pre-Islamic belief of jinn with the ability to spy on heavenly affairs or have any glimpse of the unseen and the future 34:14"the jinn came to know plainly that if they had known the unseen, they would not have tarried in abasing torment". It is also interesting to note, that when speaking of Iblis himself, the Quran says that his pledge to God that he would doubtlessly lead astray a portion of Adam's descendants, was in fact a conjecture and guess, but finally this conjecture and guess became true 34:20"And certainly Iblis found true his conjecture concerning them, so they followed him, except a party of the believers".
Since no guarding was necessary prior to Revelation despite the jinns' presence in the skies, then it means this special assignement given to meteors was only valid in the times of Revelation where the possibility of hearing and interfrering existed "but he who would (try to) listen NOW would find a flame lying in wait for him". This implies that the natural order of things would be restored at the end of Revelation.
When Revelation started descending from Heaven all the way down to Earth and through the atmosphere, they had to be kept away from their sitting places by the angels protecting the "exalted assembly" and dissuasive showers of meteors in the atmosphere 72:8"we found it filled with strong guards and shuhub" and only those who succeeded in listening despite the warnings were followed by one of these meteors 15:18,37:10.

[Eagle]

Reason 6
How many angels participated at the Battle of Badr?

In a vision to the prophet, Allah made the future adversaries of the Muslims look few in numbers because had He shown them as they truly were 8:43"you would certainly have become weak-hearted and you would have disputed about the matter". In that prophetic vision, the prophet saw what would occur at the battlefield, namely the fact that the ill-equiped and outnumbered Muslims will be assisted by angels whose number will be proportionate to the believers' degree of patience and God-consciousness, "pouring down" from Heaven, thousand after thousand in succession/murdifin like an orderly army is sent section after section in waves 3:123-5,8:9. The number of angels was meant, not to answer a logistical necessity since the verses make it clear that 3:126"there is no victory, save from Allah, the Mighty, the Wise", but to serve 2 purposes. It is also important to keep in mind, before delving into these 2 deeper purposes of sending divine assistance, that whether at Badr or Uhud, no Quranic verse points to those angels as having actively participated in the battlefield.
The first one was to make their promised vast numbers a means of stiring the believers' God-consciousness and spirituality, since they are clearly told the degree of divine assistance is directly correlated to their level of God-consciousness as already shown in 3:123-5 and in fact they would later be reminded from the example of the battle of Uhud, that so long as they had shown a spiritually upright attitude God was by their side and the victory was theirs up to the point where they submitted to their greed 3:152. The same idea is reiterated elsewhere, as in 8:65 where they are told (through 2 examples in order to establish it as a general law) how patience and resolve will grant them a power ratio of 10 to 1, but due to them not having globally reached the necessary degree of piety yet, the ratio of their military might is still at 2 to 1 and consequently Allah has not allowed the disbelievers' military capacity to exceed too much that of the believers 8:66"For the present Allah has made light your burden, and He knows that there is weakness in you.."
This rule regarding divine assistance is demonstrated from their defeat at the battle of Uhud where they had behaved unrighteously and greedily, and from their victory at Badr, where they had been God-conscious, selfless and disregarded any wordly pursuit, and thus became deserving of divine assistance. They were in both cases much inferior in military capabilities than their foes, thus showing that their victory had nothing to do with their own selves, and came from elsewhere 8:9-18"Allah is the weakener of the struggle of the unbelievers".
Divine assistance being proportional to faith is again demonstrated in sura baqara where, after God stated He is with the sabireen, the Israelites accompanying Talut to battle requested that God first and foremost fills them with sabr and then grants them victory. As an interesting parallel corroborating this principle, when Moses set up for the hardest mission, confronting one of the greatest and most powerful kings alive, he only asked for God to "expand his chest" ie calm him with confidence, assurance -that is- towards the fact that he will succeed with God's help. Moses is demanding God to increase his faith in Him, because God's help is contingent on strong faith and assurance.
In fact this pattern can be seen almost all throughout the wars the Israelites were involved in, from the times of Moses when those lacking faith were warned not to engage the inhabitants of Canaan in battle, that divine assistance in battle will be reserved to the following generation who will be worthy of it. God promised them through Moses, just as He did with Muhammad and the nation about to be established under his leadership, that should they abide by the covenant and the divine ordinances then in battle they will be assisted in a way that Lev26:8"Five of you will pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you will pursue ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you". What is most interesting is that, as already observed earlier, there is a direct correlation between spirituality and level of divine help. This did not escape the early rabbinical comentators, as here stated by Rashi "Since five will pursue a hundred, this means that each Jew will pursue twenty enemies; therefore, should Scripture not have written here: “and a hundred of you will pursue two thousand”? But, [the Torah teaches us that] there is no comparison between a few who fulfill the Torah and many who fulfill the Torah [and thus, here, the larger the group of pursuers, the higher proportionately is the number pursued]. — [Torath Kohanim 26:10]" see also 1Chr12:14

That notion of proportionality of divine help in relation to the level of spirituality continued down to the time of king Ahab whose small band of 7000 Israelites, the only ones left among their nation to have preserved the straight path and the only ones to have been selected for the battle, were made victorious against an enemy several times greater than them in number and power 1Kings20,19:18. Again in their war with the Hagarites, the sons of Reuben prevailed because of having shown spiritual worthiness and were thus deserving of divine assistance 1Chr5:18-20. This important relationship between divine assistance and level of spirituality is the reason behind the many Quran verses denouncing those shallow in their faith who were averse at the thought of leaving their homes to defend the oppressed 4:75-77,8:5-6. In the Hebrew Bible, Deborah the prophetess denounces in her song the slackness of those tribes who were slow in joining the ranks of the Jewish fighters against the oppressive Canaanites, contrasting them with shining examples of bravoury and temerity of the people who offered their lives on the battle fields Judges4,5. Therefore in order not to compromise victory, as happenned before when those of feeble spirituality had disunited the sincere believers and corrupted their God-consciousness 9:47-8, the hypocrites half heartedly joining the Muslims in battle, and who had already shown cowardice on previous occasions were told that 9:83"By no means shall you ever go forth with me and by no means shall you fight an enemy with me; surely you chose to sit the first time, therefore sit (now) with those who remain behind" despite their ability to provide with material assistance 9:46. In the times of Gideon, up to 20.000 of a total 30.000 Jewish fighters were forbidden to join the battle against the Midianites on account of their fear and cowardice Judges7:3.
It is the mark of every prophet that whenever he sets forth for war in the way of God, he selects only the righteous and worthy elements to be the bearers of the banner of truth, side by side with him. This is because the law of God regarding the divine assistance of the believers in battle is on a level directly related to the degree of spirituality of the fighters. The prophet Talut/Saul put all able men through a test of privation to see who would be allowed to join him fight the pagan armies 2:246-251.

That victory solely and entirely is enforced by Allah is demonstrated through the exchange reported between the Muslims and the prophet in 3:154. Since the Quran had promised them a divine victory but that they suffered defeat, in their short-sightedness and inability to recognize their own moral failures, they asked whether they themselves have any share in the implementation of the matter of victory or loss in this divinely decreed battle. This question was routed in the thought that God, who was believed to be the decisive factor determining the battle's outcome, had been overpowered and defeated. As the Quran says, that is a belief belonging to the time of ignorance since it does not ascribe total and perfect attributes to God. According to what he was taught concerning the Muslim victory at Badr 3:128, the prophet was told to respond concerning this defeat "Surely the affair is wholly (in the hands) of Allah". Their defeat was entirely according to Allah's established system, that divine victory is dependant on God-consciousness, which they lacked. Also, that question to the prophet wasnt really of an inquisitive nature but was in fact rethorical because "They conceal within their souls what they would not reveal to you. They say: Had we any hand in the affair, we would not have been slain here". Like the wrong thought of them having the power to influence the outcome of the battle was refuted above, their extended and real thought that this hypothetical capacity could have averted the death of their comrades is equally refuted "Say: Had you remained in your houses, those for whom slaughter was ordained would certainly have gone forth to the places where they (now) lie". Death is entirely and exclusively a divine decree, just like the outcome of a divinely ordained battle. None can avert the time of death so the thought of having the power to influence it is as much of a falsehood rooted in paganism than the thought of having any say in the implementation of victory or loss in a divine battle. Having clearly explained this ultimate reality, the believers are told that the reason for their defeat was their choosing to disobey the prophet and misfortune befell them according to the divinely established system of cause and effect 3:165"It is from your own selves". The prophet had never hard heartedly blamed the guilty for the defeat 3:159 although he was injured and others slain on account of their disobedience, although the victory was within reach had they stood by his instructions. But again, what occured was according to this system established by Allah and in which man has no authority. Allah has willed that men should suffer the consequences of their bad choices sometimes in this world, sometimes in the next, or even in both 3:166"And what befell you (at Uhud)..was with Allah's permission". The existence of freewill necessitates that Allah allows this affliction to befall the believers, in order to test them in their faith and to hold them accountable for their deeds "and that He might know the believers". If Allah does not allow the consequence of one's actions then it will contradict the divinely established system of freewill and accountability. But Allah wills that man should make the right choices on his own, helped by divine guidance which expresses itself in a sharia suiting human reason and capacity 2:286,4:28.

The prospect of heavenly assistance had the second purpose of uplifting them psychologically and motivate them in the face of the overwhelming power they were about to face 3:126"And Allah did not make it (the descend of angels) but as good tidings for you, and to reassure your hearts thereby", although victory is ultimately from Allah alone Who could have exacted divine retribution on a nation of rejecters as was done to the nations of Nuh, Hud, Saleh, Shuayb or Jesus, instead of having recourse to the angels or the believers themselves as has been decreed with Muhammad and Moses 8:10,47:4,6:65"He has the power that He should send on you a chastisement from above you or from beneath your feet, or that He should throw you into confusion, (making you) of different parties; and make some of you taste the fighting of others. See how We repeat the communications that they may understand".
As the vision was communicated to the believers 3:123-4,8:10 it impacted them greatly by making them 8:12"firm" in their resolve which in turn had the effect of casting "terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve". As the verse reminds them of the unseen phenomenons and commands revealed upon them by way of the prophet, they recall how they were progressively led into physical combat in the firmest and most martially efficient of ways, after the last step of disheartening their enemies through terror "smite above the necks and smite every finger of them". Such terror was due to their instant psychological defeat at seeing those whom they knew were helpless and weak engage them with such ferocity and resolve, consequently seeing the believers 3:13"twice as many". When the parties met at first prior to the beginning of the confrontation, the Muslims who were convinced that the heavenly hosts were on their sides saw the coalition of disbelievers as few despite clearly outnumbering them in manpower and equipment, and the disbelievers' first impression upon seeing the Muslims was their little number due to their physical appearance 8:44. It is reported some of the enemies were even considering to send their slaves to fight the relatively small Muslim troops, thinking it wouldnt be necessary for themselves to go to the battlefield. The hypocrites among the Muslim community thought the Muslims were completely deluded as they set themselves to war in their condition 8:49. This emboldened both parties to engage in battle; the few Muslims and the angels on their sides against the large coalition of disbelievers with evil forces on their side whispering their suggestions to incite them further 8:48. It was so 8:44"in order that Allah might bring about a matter which was to be done" which was to make that battle a 8:41"day of distinction", making it a landmark and a criterion for the believers as well as the disbelievers and a concrete proof of the truthfulness of Muhammad's years of prophetic warnings.
The Muslim warriors and the unseen angels on their sides began to slay and capture the rejecters of faith, while the shaitan 8:48"turned upon his heels, and said: Surely I am clear of you, surely I see what you do not see, surely I fear Allah; and Allah is severe in requiting (evil)". What frightened the shaitan and which the rest of those involved in the battle could not see were the heavenly being sent to uplift and assist the forces of good. In the times of the prophet Elisha, to appease his servant's fear of the Aramean army that had surrounded their city 2Kings6:17"Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha". Similarily the prophet Muhammad, in times of danger as he and a close follower were expelled and hid in a cave 9:40"he said to his companion: Grieve not, surely Allah is with us. So Allah sent down His tranquillity upon him and strengthened him with hosts which you did not see, and made lowest the word of those who disbelieved; and the word of Allah, that is the highest; and Allah is Mighty, Wise".
This resulted in the death of 70 among the cream of the Quraysh elite and 70 were made prisonners. The rest of the enemy coalition was overwhelmed at seeing this, so they retreated without the Believers having to resort to their full firepower 8:54"In the manner of the people of Firon and those before them; they rejected the communications of their Lord, therefore We destroyed them on account of their faults and We drowned Firon's people, and they were all unjust".
During the battle, Imam Ali killed Nawfal ibn Khuwaylid, the man who tied up Abu Bakr and tortured him for a whole day before the Hijra in Mecca. Abu Jahl was beheaded by Ibn Mas'ud. 14 men among the Muslims were martyred in the Battle and when the hostilities ended, while the Quraysh were running away against all odds, the Prophet exclaimed after calling the names of all those of the unbelievers who died "We have indeed found what our Lord had promised us to be true! Have you too found what your Lord had promised you to be true? " The Prophet then said to his Companions: "They hear as you hear, but they have been prevented from uttering a response".
This was an aya/sign from Allah 3:12-13, a help from Him to make the believers overcome all odds and come out victorious because had He not assisted them, they wouldnt have been capable of overcoming the enemy 3:160 as in the days of Moses who warned his people not to engage their powerful enemies in battle immidiately, for God's help is not with them yet Numb13.

Reason 7
How long is Judgement Day? (32:5) 1,000 Earth years (70:4) 50,000 Earth years

Neither is about the day of judgement. These verses are part of a complete Quranic argumentation showing how Allah is outside temporal limitations and atheist critisim of omniscience vs freewill. To a believer holding the opinion that God lives outside of time -which is another of His creations- the question "if God knows I will choose A, can i choose B?" starts with a wrong premise since it is speaking from the perspective of two different entities, one being affected by time (human) the other living outside of it since it is His own creation along with all things outside of Him. God created both space and time, since both can only exist in the presence of a material universe. The notion of when and where thus began after the creation of the universe. Since He precedes all creation the spacetime dimension is therefore not a factor to Him. He can see and influence the present while remaining beyond time and space. This reality from God's perspective is stated in the Quran in several ways, including through literary devices when it uses past tenses for future events.

Things unfolding in the future, being created or destroyed a thousand year from now is from our perspective, but from God's these things have already happened so when one asks whether he can choose B instead of A he is in fact asking if he can choose something else than what he already chose. In reality there is no future or God foreseeing anything, time is only from our perspective.

Besides the verses stating that Allah created the Sun and Moon, the verses where He is the creator of all things, the verses where He declares a thing to "Be and it is" 2:117,6:73,16:40,36:82,40:68,3:47,19:35 (yet from our perspective it takes a process for the thing to unfold for example Allah created Jesus with BE but from our perspective it took a natural process for him to come to the world similarly with the creation of the universe that took ayyam/indefinite period of time 7:54,10:3,11:7,25:59), in Sura Asr Allah swears by Time so the Quran treats it as an entity outside of Allah and all things that are outside of Him were created.

God is therefore not in the midst of the stream of the succeeding moments of time, as is the case with humans. He does not design, He creates. God is not only without beginning or end of days, but with Him thousands of years are as one human day. Hence, God knows in one eternal intuition that which for the human consciousness is past, present and future. In a strict sense, therefore, there can be no foreknowledge or prescience with God, and the distinctions people make when speaking of God's knowledge is after all an anthropomorphism. Consequently to the fact that the only way the human mind can conceive of the Divine omniscience is in its relation to time, we attribute anthropomorphic expressions to God and picture Him reacting as things unfold from our perspective.

The Quran in verses such as 22:47 answers the disbelievers request of hastening on them the promised punishement. It tells them that a day for Allah is like 1000 years to us which indicates one day and a thousand days are indifferent for Allah and that the promise punishement will come on them as prophecied by the prophet, and it did come on them soon after 21:109"and I know not whether that which you are promised is near or far". Similarly in 70:4 Allah says that angels ascend to Him in a day equal to 50 thousand years, again because what men conceive of as "time" has no meaning with regard to God, because He is timeless 112:2, without beginning and without end 57:3, so that in relation to Him, one day and a thousand years or 50 thousand years are all alike. Particularly in 57:3 the Almighty states that He is the First, the Last, as well as being Over and Under everything. This verse is in the context of the Almighty's knowledge, as opposed to the knowledge of a human being. Our knowledge is confined by where we are, as well as the time of our existence. His existence is not encompassed by these restrictions of serial time.

Here one might ask how does this accord with the immortality of the people in the Hereafter? The Quran answers that 28:88"Everything is perishable except Allah Himself" all creatures keep existing by Allah's will otherwise in its own capacity everything is perishable except Allah.

Again in 16:77,54:50,70:6-7 Allah speaks of the Day of Judgement as far to us yet "like the twinkling of an eye, or closer still" to Him implying not only its unpredictability and suddeness, but also the absence of any time-interval between God's decreeing it and its materialization: and this explains the phrase "or closer still" at the end of the verse. The underlying message here is that despite the monumental nature of that day on all levels, one should not remain under the misconception that God has to make preparations to bring about the punishment and the Day of Judgement and this is what is causing the delay; there is no such impediment in God’s way. When He wants to bring it about, He need only order it; not even a repetition of this order will be needed. He also does not require to make elaborate arrangements to give such a directive; it will materialize in the blink of an eye.
The Quran is also repleat with verses speaking of the future, in the past tense. This is not only a literary device conveying the idea of certainty that the event will unfold, as is most often the case, but it also shows that from God's perspective these things have already occured yet to us they still need to come into existence.
There are some flagrant examples conveying this idea that from Allah's perspective things have already happened and yet to us they will unfold in the future. When the Quran speaks of the people who misuse the property of orphans under their care, and eating benefits from their wealth as "swallowing fire" ie as if they are already in hell without perceiving. It also says that man literally builds his place in the hereafter through his current actions, like living in parallel, and he will be made to "inherit" his abode after death. In 11:119 the Quran says the word of God is already fulfilled regarding Him filling hell with a certain category of people spoken of in the previous verses. This shows that the utterance of these words happened in a realm not bound by time, and that the filling will happen after the Day of Judgement which is closer than the twinkling of an eye to God, ie there is no time space between its decree and its unfolding from Allah's perspective.
Sura Fatiha nicely portrays the relation between the temporal and the atemporal. Verses 1-4 are, grammatically, one sentence devoid of tense thus representing non-temporality. The last two verses also make up a single sentence containing a tense – thus representing temporality. Symbolicaly, these 2 sets seperate between the Divine realm, which is unconstrained by time, and the human realm, which is time-bound. But God, who is beyond time and is infinite (verses 1-4), intervenes in the world of man, who is finite and time-bound. Verse 5, which links up the two sets of verses, is thus a declaration by the finite human being to submit to the Infinite, and also a prayer for the non-temporal to enter into the world of the temporal. But, even though verses 6-7 make up a verbal sentence, the verb used, Ihdi (guide) is imperative, implying that the guidance sought – and, hopefully, provided – is free from the limitations of time and is relevant to all ages.

[Eagle]

Reason 8
Aisha's age at marriage

It is well documented in the works of historians that Aisha, along with all of Abu Bakr's children were born in Jahilliya, meaning there is no way possible she could have been less than 13 years old at the time of Hijra as some ahadith suggest. Incidently, the same Tabari (who never says Aisha was engaged to the prophet in her early years as stated in Bukhari), is used by ignorant critics, in denial of the above statement about her birth period, for one of his reports about the prophet not having consumed the marriage with Aisha immidiately after their engagement being due to his poor financial situation, instead of wanting her to first reach puberty as implied in Bukhari or Muslim. The insidious implication being that the prophet did not care whether she had reached puberty or not before uniting with her.
In his paper that is essentially nothing but a re-hash of GFHaddad's arguments, Ayman b. Khalid, adds a sentence that is inexistant in Tabari's report: "So all four children were begotten by those two wives whom we mentioned that he married during the pre-Islamic period". The phrase "that he married" doesnt exist in the Arabic. Ayman b. Khaalid added it, on purpose to try and connect the timing (jaahiliya) to the marriages while it clearly is defining the time when "all four children were begotten".

But let us consider the main quoted source for Aisha's alleged age of 9 when married, the book of "sahih" Bukhari.

According to a narrative in sahih Bukhari the revelation of al qamar:46 occured when Aisha was a young girl/jariya. The chapter ends a mere 9 verses later at v55 and it is obvious from the topic that v46 to v55 were revealed together and could not have been cut off. So the argument that some suras were revealed in portions with long intervals of time in between verses is moot. Besides all scholars agree this is a Meccan sura, whose finalization the opinion varies between the 4th and 8th year of the call to prophethood. Ayman b. Khalid tries presenting a single view from an exegete (without quoting him) arguing that all of suratul qamar was revealed in Mecca except for 3 verses (which Ayman b. Khalid fails to mention obviously due to the fact that even this exceptional view doesnt support his attempt at insinuating that v46 was among those "late" verses). But even if we consider Aisha's traditionaly accepted date of birth in the 5th year of revelation as true, and in addition accept the latest estimation for the date when sura al-qamar was finalized on the 8th year of revelation as true, then this would mean Aisha was able to memorize with precision a verse and its reference when she was mearly 3, which is highly unlikely. Even if one were to accept Ayman b. Khalid's argument that the sura was revealed in stages (keeping in mind he offers no support for this view other than that of an exegete whom he fails to quote), thereby pushing further a year at most for the finalization of that short sura, it would imply that Aisha at most was 4 when she memorized a precise verse and its reference which is equally unlikely.

Other historians such as Ibn Ishaq and Ibn Hisham say she accepted Islam before Umar, who himself converted in the 9th year of revelation according to the evidence brought by Ayman b. Khalid. These historians both say she was among the earliest converts. Ibn Ishaq places her at the 18th and ibn Hisham places her approximately at the 20th place chronologicaly. This takes us back during the 1st or at most the 2nd year of revelation. Aisha isnt supposed to have even been breathing at the time if she was truly born in the 5th year of revelation. Even if we assume that this date of birth is true, how can anybody reasonably argue that someone willingly accepts a religion 3 years later at 3 years old (ie before Umar's conversion in the 9th year)?

In Bukhari's Kitab-ul-Kafalat, Aisha describes her vivid memory of events that supposedly happenned when she was but an infant, such as Abu bakr's migration to Ethiopia in the 5th year of revelation meaning her birth could not have been later than the pre-islamic era, as confirmed in Tabari's reports.

Before her union with the prophet she was engaged to Jubayr ibn Mut'im ibn Adi whose father was a vehement enemy of the prophet, before Abu Bakr accepted Islam. The engagement was broken off by Jubayr's father when Abu Bakr converted and planned to go to Abyssinia in the 5th year of revelation, the year of Aisha's alleged birth.

She clearly relates herself as having played an active role during the migration, such as in getting the travelling goods together in such a highly tense situation per the narrations, making it highly unlikely for an 8 year old to have been acting in such a way. Again she describes herself how she reached Shajra along with the soldiers in the battle of Badr that took place in 2H and nobody under 15 years old was allowed to join the soldiers in the battlefield obviously to avoid being captured and raised as idol-worshippers or killed and become a problem for the army yet she is alleged to have been 9 or 10 at the time and in addition was so immature she was still playing with dolls according to Hisham ibn Urwa, meaning she had no business whatsoever in being at the battlefield. In fact there are reports of the prophet sending back some Muslim youths who tried, out of eagerness, to go along with the Muslim army. The very notion that the Prophet would set an age limit to 15 for people to participate in battle, but allow 9-10 year olds or 11 year old females to accompany the battlefield, especially in such situations, is against all common sense. Why would young men below 15 be forbidden to be at the battle-field, but 9-10 year old girls be allowed to take care of people wounded and on the verge of death. Does one think the Prophet would have exposed these girls to the chance of being captured and eventually mistreated and abused by masters who used to force their female slaves into prostitution?

Ayman b. Khalid brings a few reports in an attempt to refute the notion that young, immature and pre-pubescent children were not allowed to be present in battles. He brings 2 reports none of which showing immature and prepubescent boys asking to participate in battles and their request being granted. His 1st report only shows that a ghulam (commonly used for a prepubescent child but can also be used idiomaticaly) had died during the battle of Badr. The young boy could have chosen to go by himself and in fact Ayman b. Khalid's 2nd report shows how 2 young boys (there is no indication about their age nor their sexual maturity in the Arabic) suddenly showed up alongside a Muslim soldier at the battle of Badr and how he was astonished and uneasy at their presence. In the same report, this soldier later refers to them as "rajul" which actually refutes Ayman b. Khalid's position that this 2nd report refers to prepubescent boys. It has absolutely no relevance to the point of establishing an age for the Muslims at the battlfield. One cannot but logically assume that none had given them the authorization to participate at the battle due to them adding more difficulties to the Muslim fighters, but that they, like the boy spoken of in the 1st report, went forth by themselves.

Anas further describes Aisha along with Umm Sulaim lifting their dresses up to avoid any hindrance in their movement, at the batttle of Uhud. The idea of lifting the dress in Arab tradition, as is evident in abundant pre-Islamic poetry is a reference to women fleeing the battlefield, having to raise their skirts exposing their shins. This is what happened in Uhud when Muslim men were panicking, because the unbelievers had sent them into disarray. It had reached such an extent that they abandoned the Prophet. Yet, here is a 'nine or ten year' old girl running back and forth, to various Muslim men assisting them with their needs in the midst of battle: “On the day (of the battle) of Uhud when (some) people retreated and left the Prophet, I saw Aisha daughter of Abu Bakr and Umm Sulaim, with their robes tucked up so that the bangles around their ankles were visible hurrying with their water skins (in another narration it is said, ‘carrying the water skins on their backs’). Then they would pour the water in the mouths of the people, and return to fill the water skins again and came back again to pour water in the mouths of the people”. How can people think that at the height of the battle, when Muslims were panicking and even leaving the Prophet, Aisha was 9-11 years old, not even slightly panicking attending bravely wounded soldiers, was one who played with dolls and a mere child when she was allowed to go into battle? Dont the narrations specifically tell us the Prophet constantly warned his men not to abandon their posts on the hill? If he was so keen about that matter and so keen on males being a specific age, what makes people think he was going to take females that would burden the army?
The fact is Aisha actively participated in battles during the prophet's life, assisting the men at the battlefield along with other women, which is why by the time of Ali's reign as Caliph, she gathered enough experience and credibility that she could rally a huge fighting force.

None of the narrations saying she was 6 when engaged and 9 when moved with the prophet come from Mecca or Medina and whether from Muslim or Bukhari's sahih books combined, it is the same hadith narrated in multiple ways, which refutes the position that Aisha's age is established by multiple reliable sources. Even the two hadith in Bukhari claiming that Aisha says her age are attributed to Hisham bin Urwa, so they arent even her own words. It is only in Muslim, in which the author tries to place the permissabilitiy of marrying young women are two hadith quoted which claim the words from Aisha, but they all report additional material from Hisham that arent reported in Bukhari. Bukhari doesnt record the hadith that claim to attribute the age to Aisha herself. All such narrations come from Iraq, even those outside sahih Bukhari, and the majority of those are traced to Hisham bin Urwa, Asma's grandson, meaning there is no possibility to verify whether Hisham was involved in those other reports where his name isnt mentionned in the chain, directly or indirectly. Even when Ayman b. Khalid tries finding reports on Aisha's age originating outside Iraq, he still quotes a hadith that includes Urwa in the chain of transmission. So it all goes back to one source ultimately who himself was married to a 9 year old according to his own supporter GFHaddad. In addition to this obvious bias, he is also reported by hadith scholars to have become unreliable in his Iraq period due to him falsifying transmision chains that allegedly came from his father while the sources were different as even modern supporters of his such as Ayman b Khalid concede. Even if one were to consider bin Urwa reliable for argument's sake, while his own student Imam Malik began considering his accounts unreliable in his Iraqi period, we would still be confronted to difficulties showing how any attempt at specificaly determining Aisha's marriage age is not based upon contradiction-free information.

In his article, Khalid quotes a discussion from Tareekh Al-Islam between the historian Imam Adh-Dhahabi and Ibn Abee Az-Zinaad. The latter states Asma was 10 years older than Aisha yet we have bin Urwa claiming Asma lived until 100. Asma died in 73H (Taqri'bu'l-tehzi'b as well as Ibn Kathir's Al-bidayah wa'l-nihayah). If she was 100 in 73H according to bin Urwa himself then it means she was 27 at the time of Hijra. Consequently Aisha was 17 at the time and 18-19 when she married 1 or 2 years later. Knowing this difficulty to harmonize the records available with bin Urwa's, the historian Imam Adh-Dhahabi tries reducing Asma's age at death in order to make it fit with the reports on Aisha's marriage age "If this is true (Asma being 10 years older than Aisha), then the age of Asmaa when she passed away should be ninety-one".

There are political implications in such hadith as well. Aisha opposed Ali, to the point she led the opposite party into battle. Iraq and Kufa were the real centers of political turmoil and the people of Medina especially did not trust them. They further 'claimed' allegiance to the Family of the Prophet, yet we know how 'true' they lived up to their claims. The painting of her as a 'child' and 'not responsible', and one to play with dolls, in the context of who was right and wrong doesnt need to be dwelled upon to understand the motivations of certain narrators.

Public criticism, according to the tradition, was laid at Umar for his trying to marry Fatima, because she was young and Umar was old, almost the same age difference between the Prophet and Aisha. In fact, the traditions record that this was one of the objections of Ali for the union and public criticism had gotten to the point Umar had to defend himself for the move in public. Umar made the point that he only wanted to marry her to affirm his ties with the House of the Prophet. Umar didnt use the precedent of the Prophet marrying Aisha at an alleged young age. Also, if it was a norm of Arab culture, then why would he draw the criticism of the city of Medina for such an act? Further, in the Muwatta which is the representative work on the school of Medina, in the chapter on marrying younger women without asking them, this narration isnt even reported. And you would think, in Medina of all places, the marriage of the Prophet to a young Aisha would serve an evidence for the people of Medina. Where are the examples to substantiate the point of view that such practice was a norm in Arab culture? An interesting point to re-stress is that not only are there no examples to show how such practice was a norm, but also it is reported by GFHaddad that Urwa, the ultimate source of these traditions regarding Aisha's age, just so happenned to have married a 9year old. Besides his poor memory at the time he reported Aisha's age, there is now another reason to seriously doubt his credibility, namely the blatant need to falsify a hadith to serve his interest in justifying an act that far from being the "norm" of the prophet's time, was unacceptable to many including the prophet's own entourage.

The prophet Muhammad proposed to her father Abu Bakr at a time when Muslims were facing the most tormented time of their history. Muslims had to be closer than ever and the Prophet, after being rejected by all influential men and tribes had to strengthen his ties with his few companions. Abu Bakr was still a respected man among the Quraysh and could therefore provide Muhammad with some protection. After Khadija's death, he thus asked Aisha's hand.

In Christian tradition, it is reported Joseph at 90 married Mary who was 12 which is the double age difference than that of Muhammad when he allegedly married Aisha.
1. Church leaders that argued what was inerrant and what was not, never challenged the age, and the evidence points to them accepting it, as the Catholic Enyclopedia states.
2. Not a single 'apocrypha' scripture was rejected based upon the age of Joseph marrying Mary.
3. Just because an apocrypha was rejected, does not mean it was rejected for all of it's contents. For example, the same Apocrypha can say that Jesus was born in a stable and 3 wise-men came and visited her. Is this story 'false' because it's in Apocrypha?
4. One man's apocrypha is another man's scripture, thus the example of the book of Revelation, among other books, being rejected as apocrypha until later on.
5. As a side note, what is the minimum age of virgins allowed to be taken as war captives in Num31?

Muslims passed over this information on Aisha's age without paying much attention to it for long because they know, as any intelligent person, that the documentation of age is not that strong in Arab culture meaning one cannot consider the number itself very accurate. If one is not born in a landmark year then they can loose track, so establishing a precise age is something impossible to do. However, all of these refutations point to a possibility of late teenage years, and surely rule out nine.
Even if one accepts the alleged argument that Aisha said she was nine, under what basis do we even accept it, considering they didnt track their birth dates then and their are no birth certificates. Even if one assumes the narration is correct, how does one remember the age? Do you remember events tying them to the fact you were six years old, even grand events, especially when you have no knowledge of the significance of it? Yes, I can rememebr my mother badly beating me one day, but what I remember is the fact she beat me, not the age at which she beat me.
It is only when someone makes the ridiculous claim that the age of 9 is a 100% certainty, and uses it to fuel hatred, lies and ignorance (forgetting what his own tradition asserts concerning the marriage of the mother of "god") that Muslims must show the falsity of the claim, as is done above using both the Quran that states in sura nisaa that marriage can only occur when one reaches maturity/rushd and puberty/balagh, as well as extra-Quranic sources. Besides, to argue that the issue regarding the age of Aisha is in response to Western cultural values is to ignore what was already stated centuries before concerning criticism in the shia literature of Umar wanting to marry Ali's daughter, with the criticism being that she was young and he was too old. Whether the narration is fabricated to make Umar look bad by shia is irrelevant, the reality is, it still attests to a stigma that would have to exist to make Umar look bad. Another important thing to keep in mind is that much of the criticisms of the age of Aisha from ahl al hadith, ie the very ones who uphold hadith books is mainly aimed against shia literature and their attempts to paint Aisha as incapable, playing with dolls, leading a nation into war based on her immaturity.


Reason 9
Raids Mohamed led

The battles which Muhammad led were 26, the detachments which he sent out for battle but in which he himself did not take part, they were 36.


The first aim of the Prophet's military missions was to weaken the Quraysh by cutting off their caravan routes to al Sham through alliances with the various tribes along this route, thus forming a dissuasive blockade cutting of their trade routes. One would think, had his objective been to ambush passing caravans and raid them, as David harassed and raided the natives of Canaan who had escaped until now the sword of the Israelites destroying men and women but keeping the spoils 1Sam27:8-9, that he should have on the contrary lured them into using this route instead of dissuading them.
He also had to send missions in order to seek protective alliances against the constant invasion threats by the Meccans, furious that Muhammad had slipped away from them in Mecca and that Islam was rapidly growing in Medina. The number of fighters sent to these first expeditions compared to the ennemy forces proves the aim was not to attack, or seize Quraysh goods in retaliation for the goods which the Quraysh had seized from them. In none of the prophet's expeditions was there any question of looting, plundering or deliberatly aggressing innocents. The expeditions were sent out either to make alliances with neighboring tribes, or they were reconnaissance patrols because of the constant threats reaching Medina that the Meccans might strike any day.
It was also an occasion to show some military capabilities to the Medinites spies and hypocrites among the Muslims. These were the first to profess faith in Islam each time it gained some success through the efforts of the prophet and his companions but they were the first to run and hide as soon as Islam had a 'set-back'. The first military campaigns also served as a way to silence the constant plotting of the Jews.



The 1st detachements consisted of 30 horsemen led by Hamza the Prophet's uncle, and was sent to the land of Juhaynah where they met Abu Jahl with 130 horsemen of the Associators. Fight did not take place because of the intercession of al-Juhani between the 2 groups.
In 2/623 Muhammad led his first battle. He met the Associators of Abu Sufyan at a spring called Ahya where they exchanged arrows. The Messenger went again to the land of Juhaynah where he encountered no hostilities and made a peace agreement with the tribe of Banu Mudlij and their allies of the tribe of Banu Damrah at the valley of Yanbu'. He returned from the valley, back to Medina and after 10 nights, the unbelievers led by Kurz led an assault on the suburbs of the town. The Prophet went after him until he reached a valley called Safwan near Badr. This was the first battle of Badr. Kurz escaped and the Messenger of Allah returned to Medina.
Now the Quraysh had officially begun grand-scale preparations to attack Medina. They had mutually decided that most of their savings and all profits made this year would be put together and used for the purchase of weapons, horses, and other items of war to fight the Muslims of Medina 8:36"Surely those who disbelieve spend their wealth to hinder (people) from the way of Allah; so they shall spend it, then it shall be to them an intense regret, then they shall be overcome; and those who disbelieve shall be driven together to hell".
The Great Battle of Badr took place in the month of Ramadan 2/624. Abu Sufyan was returning from Syria to Mecca escorting his caravans containing items that were precisely meant to be used for that war effort, and that were in great part accumulated due to the wealth of the Muslims themselves, that was seized by the Meccans prior to the Muslims' migration to Medina. As a side note, it was precisely this motive that prompted David to initiate a specific raid on the Amalekites that had formerly seized an Israelite city's spoils after burning it to the ground 1Sam30. Raids were a paticularity of David's armies when they ambushed, fought and plundered their enemies 2Sam3:22.
Fearing that he might be intercepted by the prophet through the tribes he had allied with, Abu Sufyan, while still in Syria and a few weeks before starting his journey back, sent a message to Mecca to gather men and swiftly send them towards Medina in order to stop a possible expedition from the Muslims that would be heading towards him. These suspicions were further reinforced by rumours that the prophet was making preparations for such an expedition. These rumours were actually started by the prophet himself, who openly made his plans known thus suggesting that the purported attack on the caravan was no more than a feint, and that from the very outset his real objective had been an encounter with the Quraysh army with whom no decisive encounter had taken place yet, and the Muslims
were living under the constant threat of a Quraysh invasion. Only a significant defeat would put an end to this state of affairs and instaure a climate of safety around the weak Muslim community 8:7"and Allah desired to manifest the truth of what was true by His words and to cut off the root of the unbelievers".
About 1000 men from the various clans of Quraysh, headed by Abu Jahl, responded to his call and marched to Medina while the caravans were deviated to another route through the sea coast. As the Meccan army reached Badr, Abu Sufyan's caravans were passing just 3 miles away, on the seaside and despite news coming to them that the caravans were not attacked by the Muslims, the fighting men of Quraysh kept on marching towards Medina to meet the Muslims and engage them in battle. In their mind 1000 well-equipped warriors should suffice to teach the under equipped and outnumbered Muslims a good lesson. So they camped at the stream of Badr. Even after the Banu Zuhrah tribe deserted the polytheists' ranks, they were still counting 990 men, among them al-Abbas (the Prophet's uncle), Aqil (son of Abu Talib).
As news came to the Muslims in Medina that the caravan was coming from Syria (on the north side) and that the Meccan army was marching towards Medina (from the South), they began reasoning between 2 alternatives: raid Abu Sufyan's vulnerable caravan and thus weaken the Meccans in their resources to fight them (the safest and most lucrative option) or to boldly face the Quraishite army as the prophet suggested, in line with what the Quran teaches about the purpose of war solely being for the defense of one's self, freedom from oppression. The 2nd option was adopted and after a 3 days journey, the Muslims reached Badr. If they werent compelled to defend themselves, the Muslims who counted just above 300 fighters would have never entertained the idea of setting an appointement with the alliance of disbelievers 8:41"and if you had mutually made an appointment, you would certainly have broken away from the appointment" and the people who saw this small band of Muslims marching forward to meet a far superior ennemy considered that their faith had rendered them crazy 8:49. The Muslims were at the side of Badr's valley that was nearer to Medina, the disbelievers at the furthest side of the valley and the caravans at the seacost returning to Mecca 8:42. The Quran, the sole contemporary writing testifying to the event, gives an accurate account on the reason why the Muslims set out from Medina to meet the Meccans 8:5-8"Even as your Lord caused you to go forth from your house with the truth, though a party of the believers were surely averse. They disputed with you about the truth after it had become clear, (and they went forth) as if they were being driven to death while they saw (it). Remember the occasion when Allah was holding out to you the promise that one of the two hosts would fall to you: you wished the weaker host should fall to you: but Allah willed to prove by His words the Truth to be truth and to cut across the roots of the disbelievers so that the Truth should come out as truth and falsehood should be proved to be falsehood, even though the evil-doers did not like it". This clearly belies the vicious calumny about the Prophet intending to attack the trade caravan of the Quraysh whose army only had the purpose of protecting their caravan. These are not the descriptions of men seeking to plunder unarmed caravans, not only because of the southern route they had taken (the caravans were to the north) but also the Quran shows the Muslims leaving their homes, unwillingly, fearing death and disputing about the matter that was explained to them. That matter is related in 8:7 with God promising them victory over one of the "parties" while they originally desired to go after the "unnarmed party". This shows that God and the prophet's orders were never to go after the vulnerable party, the caravans. Although some had originally desired to avoid the Meccan army and to attack the trade caravan, that idea was not accepted, not by the prophet, not by the Quran. Such tone is found in all of the Muslims' early battles as they set themselves to encounter a much stronger enemy 33:9-11,48:12. As a side note, Ibn ishaq who, like Tabari, was a historian not a mufassir, whose declared objective was to collect everything that was being said on a hisorical incident or verse fearing for the loss of valuable information, regardless of its veracity or falsehood, leaving the responsibility to seek the truth being on the subsequent generations, relates a comment painting the prophet as leaving Medina with the objective of raiding the caravans. Not only does this alleged order go against the command in the Quran 8:7, but while trying to reconcile the Quran verses, saying that the Muslims were unwilling at leaving their homes for that expedition, fearing death, with his this comment, he gives the absurd reason that the Muslims' fear and aversion was due to the "thought that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) would go to war" while the caravans were highly vulnerable, numbering only 30-40 men lightly equiped and seperated from the Meccan army as all sources agree, and the Muslims had mobilized more than 300 men.
2:190"And fight in the way of Allah with those who fight with you, and do not exceed the limits, surely Allah does not love those who exceed the limits". The war in God's way is expressedly defined as fighting "those that fight with you" while giving precedent to ethical values (spoken of in the following verses and elsewhere) meaning it is completely independant of one's own whims, desires and motives, and this is perfectly depicted with the Quran's narration of the Badr expedition, where the Muslims were commanded to go forth of their homes with the objective of repelling the threat of the marching Meccan army, instead of following the desires of some among them of going after the easier alternative and raid the vulnerable caravans.

They had an absolute conviction of the truth of Muhammad's prophethood because any motivation they might have had for material gain must now be discounted and the true defensive jihad in the way of Allah be performed 4:74-75"Therefore let those fight in the way of Allah, who sell this world's life for the hereafter..And what reason have you that you should not fight in the way of Allah and of the weak among the men and the women and the children, (of) those who say: Our Lord! cause us to go forth from this town, whose people are oppressors, and give us from Thee a guardian and give us from Thee a helper". And to add to this test of their resolve, the Muslims were located far from the stream of Badr which the Meccans had taken control of, and were camping on sandy ground making it difficult for them to run, while the Meccans had a ground of firm clay under their feet. But Allah's help came to the believers 8:11"(Remember) When He caused calm to fall on you as a security from Him and sent down upon you water from the cloud that He might thereby purify you..and that He might fortify your hearts and steady (your) footsteps thereby".

In none of the sacred verses of the Quran revealed about the objectives of Jihad and the personality of the Holy Prophet it has been said that the purpose was conquest 2:190"And fight in the way of Allah with those who fight with you, and do not exceed the limits, surely Allah does not love those who exceed the limits". The implication is that the directive of armed warfare which is given here must neither be undertaken to gratify one’s whims nor to obtain wealth and riches "in the way of Allah". Some misleading critics try using a hadith where the prophet says he has been given the treasures of the world. However the very hadith states he did no benefit from those things in his lifetime. It is a narration about one of the prophet's dreams, and secondly this word KH-Z-N points to a stored entity, and is used in many ways whether the Quran or hadith, in the sense of hidden material thing or a form of knowledge and wisdom that is hidden from most but given and explained by God to a few.
Jihad should be undertaken only and only for the cause of Allah, with the objective of defending one's self, and such a sacred undertaking has no relation with personal and selfish motives. In the process of waging war in Allah's way, it is forbidden to disregard ethical limits. Moral values have to be given priority over everything in all circumstances. Sura duha is one of the earliest Meccan revelations.
The Quran describes the prophet and his duty and message 33:45-46"We have sent you as a witness, and as a bearer of good news and as a warner, And as one inviting to Allah by His permission, and as a light-giving torch" 62:2"He it is Who raised among the inhabitants of Mecca an Messenger from among themselves, who recites to them His communications and purifies them, and teaches them the Book and the Wisdom, although they were before certainly in clear error". In these verses as well as in others revealed in connection with the duties of the Holy Prophet nothing has been said about conquests. All mention has been made of education, encouraging the people to do good and warning them against a Day of Reckoning. For example in 8AH after conquering Mecca without any bloodshed, the Muslims continued to Ta'if to put an end to idol-worship in that city also, and to destroy the temple of the idol Lat. However, after having kept that city under siege for some time, he went to Mecca and then returned to Medina, and Ta'if remained unconquered. In 9AH the chiefs of Ta'if and its representatives themselves came to Medina, met the Holy Prophet and offered to embrace Islam on the conditions that they might be excused from offering the 5 prayers and that the Prophet might postpone the demolition of the temple of Lat. They were once again trying to compromise their polytheism with Islam as many did before and after the hijrah 68:9,10:15,17:73-4.
But once again, as when he was an oppressed, isolated individual forced to retreat in a ravine for fear of death with his few poor followers, if Muhammad's ambition was power, conquest of land and expansion of territory he would have accepted the previous propositions as well as this new compromise which would have added the city of Ta'if to the Islamic State, realized zakat and other taxes from the newly converted Muslims, mobilized their men for the Islamic battles. It would have been in his interest as well as that of the Muslims but as he did with their predecessors, he refused their conditions "As regards breaking the idols with your own hands, I excuse you from undertaking this task, and shall send other persons to do it. As regards prayers (salaat) it is a must, for without it religion has no value".

Only the messengers have the power to implement God's judgement in this world because with His help, they are able to clear all misconceptions and falshood and explain things in such a way that punishement to various degrees becomes legitimate for those bent on denying the Truth. 2:279"But if you do (it) not, then he apprised of war from Allah and His Apostle" speaking of those who do not desist from taking unlawful interest and harming society. This verse illustrates the fact the war is attributed to Allah and His Apostle because it is in connection with a law which was legislated by Allah and promulgated by His Apostle. So far as His Apostle is concerned, he is not independent of Allah in any affair 3:128"you have no concern in the affair". No Muslim preacher today is able to present the Truth in such a way that those who refuse it can be pointed out as knowingly denying it, or that they understood it but keep disbelieving. Therefore we cannot label anyone an "unbeliever" today. For these reasons, the Quran tells Muslims today to be kind and just to all those who do not fight them on the account of their religion, or drive them out of their homes 60:8.
After 13 years of preaching, giving ample time to the rejectors to accept the message of Islam and to stop their unjust oppression, scheming and wrong-doings including their violating the dominion of Allah, the declaration of war by that same Entity was made in the form of sura Tawbah. It is no longer a matter that Allah is going to deal with these people as Ar-Rahman, Ar-Raheem which is why the sura does not start with the usual introductory formula. What this signifies in reality is that there are no more warnings for the Arabian peninsula in essence, and the King is now marching with his army to punish these rejectors and opressors, as He did in the days of His past messengers. The time has come for the dominion of the King to be established once and for all in the land, and the stage was finally set for the judgement of God on Earth. sura Tawba describes the charges and punishements inflicted to those oppressors and those who stood in God's way among the 3 groups: the Idolaters, the People of the Book and the Hypocrites.


The term Jihad means to strive and exert oneself. One can do Intellectual jihad 25:52, Spiritual jihad, Physical jihad.
Jihad has wide applications in all spheres of society and aims at establishing equilibrium within the being of man as well as in the human society where he functions. Both the individual and the society have negative and positive forces which can either help or hinder from the right path, and the preservation of equilibrium between the 2 poles implies continuous exertion or jihad at all moments of life to fight a battle both inward and outward.
Jihad in the sense of "holy war" was applied in the early years of Islam when the young Muslim community was facing a constant threat of extermination from inner and outside forces. It permitted the defense of Dar al Islam from invasion. By including the question of war in its sacred legislation, Islam clearly defined its limits. It is upon his return from one fo these early wars, which was of paramount importance in the survival of the newly established religious community that the Prophet said to his companions that they had returned from the lesser jihad to the greater jihad, the inner battle against all the forces which would prevent man from living according to his divine goal, the worship of God, spiritual perfection 51:56"I created the jinn and humankind only that they might worship Me". As regards the classical terms Dar al-Islam (the abode of Islam) or Dar al-Harb (the abode of war), Muslim scholars also wrote of many other abodes between them. Some classifications include three abodes, some five, and some seven. In the modern era, Europe and America have been regarded by the vast majority of Muslim scholars as the Dar al-Sulh, or “the abode of treaty.” This means that a Muslim can engage with this world on many levels and should abide by the laws of the land if he or she chooses to live there or to visit. Using this distinction, Muslim scholars have even declared that Muslims can serve in the U.S. Army, even when combating other Muslim countries.

The weapons for practicing the greater, inner Jihad are found in the 5 pillars of Islam. For example the daily prayers are a never ending jihad which punctuate human existence according to the rythm of nature. They require constant concentration while being performed and a pure way of life between each prayer. Likewise, the fast of Ramadan in which one turns away from the passions and temptations of the outside world, requiring an asceticism and inner discipline which cannot come about except through an inner holy war. The hajj too, rerquires endurance of hardships, emotional preparation. The religious taxes zakat and khums contribute to better economic justice but mainly it is a fight against man's greed and coveteousness.

The comparison between two of God's most prominent messengers; Jesus and Muhammad, is misplaced because of their differing socio-legal positions in their communities.
The comparison can only be made during the pre-hijrah times when Muhammad had the same social position as Jesus. Muhammad didn't punish any of the guilty in his 13 years at Mecca, almost 3 times the length of Jesus' total mission, because God had still not granted him the authority and power to do so.
When the prophets Moses and Muhammad emigrated from the lands where they were oppressed, their passive attitude had nothing to do with them being conscious of their weakness and therefore preferring to wait for a better time to fight back, because both the Israelites and the early Muslims were much weaker than their enemies when they were initially commanded to fight in Allah's way. What did Moses in the Torah order the Israelites to do, when they insited on fighting after having regretted their disobedience the first time? He told them not to go to war because God wont be with them and they would all be killed Deut9:23-24,Numbers14"Do not go up, because the LORD is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies" just as happenned in the times of Joshua (Joshua7).
Similarly, the prophet Muhammad was told to "wait" in the face of persecution and keep transmitting the Revelation openly, until he was commanded to take up arms against the oppressors for God will be with him 2:190,9:14,8:17. This "timing" was not due to the Muslims becoming stronger and the prophet consequently ordering them to take up arms. Both the ahadith and the Quran show that they were inferior in numbers and might as compared to their oppressors during most of their battles especially the first ones, and the Quran relates in Sura Baqara how they went forth reluctantly. We also read in 4:77,47:20 how the believers eagerly awaited the divine command to allow military action and how many turned their backs in terror once it came. On the other hand we read in 9:25-6 how the Muslims' vast numbers was not a factor of victory. Just as the Israelites largely outnumbering their enemies could not bring them victory in their later wars, neither avert crushing defeats, since God had withdrawn His help 2Chr24:17-24.
This shows that the decision to fight back had nothing to do with a position of physical and logistical power by the prophets and their followers. The "timing" was solely decreed by God, and not by the whims of the prophets, as He decreed with the Israelites when they were commanded to fight in His way although they were much weaker than the Amalekites and other pagan tribes Judges6:16"And the Lord said to him...I shall be with you, and you shall strike Midian as one man". It is in fact reported that under Gideon's leadership, God did not want the Israelites to be too numerous in their confrontation with the oppressive Midianites and so, in order not to compromise the credibility of a strictly divine victory, ordered their ranks to be trimmed down from 30.000 fighters to 300 by first sending back the most fearful and then selecting those among them that did not quench their thirst by kneeling and drinking directly from a river, a position that the idolatrous elements among the Israelites performed in their pagan-inluenced rituals (Judges7). Strangely enough, God did not find them too numerous and a threat to the credibility of the divine nature of their victory in their initial invasion of Canaan under Joshua where they numbered 40.000 warriors. In the times of David and as described throughout the book of Samuel, David always inquired to the Lord if the timing and strategy were right for him to engage the enemies in battle as he knew that any victory could only come with God's help, especially considering how outnumbered he and his followers were "Shall I go up to the Philistines? will you deliver them into my hand?' And the Lord said unto David: 'Go up; for I will surely deliver the Philistines into your hand" Ps33:16-17,Ps20:8"These trust in chariots and these in horses, but we-we mention the name of the Lord our God". David would recall the events in his latter days Ps18:18"He delivered me from my mighty enemy, and from those that hated me, for they were too powerful for me". On the other hand, King Saul before him decided at one point to seek military guidance using occultism instead of relying on God. This was one of the main reasons God caused him to die in battle in a violent and humiliating way, as well as caused his sons to be slain 1Sam13,28,1Chr10.

Or as He did previously when he commanded the weak and outnumbered Jacob to rise and confront his enemies, aided by his small army composed of his sons and servants, that He would make him prevail over the kings of Canaan that had united to destroy them. The divine victory, detailed in Jewish oral tradition, instilled terror in the heart of Jacob's enemies which prevented their pursuit Gen34:30,35:1-5. When the Assyrian empire of Sennacherib had completely subdued and reduced to slavery the kingdom of Israel, and was threatening to pursue its advance into the kingdom of Judea, the king Hezekiah had full trust in God's judgement, timing and promised victory despite his army's inferiority however some of his counselors who lacked faith preferred trusting their own judgement and strategy, and were thus doomed for severe chastisement 2Kings19,Isa22.

God did not command Jesus to fight just as He did not command Noah and other prophets to fight in His way, because God intended to bring down His punishment on the rejectors differently, and He did so quite severely after Jesus' departure. If God had willed to punish the transgressors through his prophet Jesus as He did through the Israelite prophets before him, Jesus would have taken up arms and fought in Allah's way, like his predecessors did, and like the Ishmaelite prophet did after him 47:4"and if Allah had pleased He would certainly have exacted what is due from them, but that He may try some of you by means of others". This method of punishement upon the rejectors of a prophet is therefore a trial for the sake of men and does not mean Allah needs men to accomplish a task He is unable to do by Himself. Had He willed, He would have destroyed them Himself by sending a disaster from the heavens or from within the earth. Before them, many nations have been destroyed by His torment in the blink of any eye. He could have similarly routed them as well. It is as a reminder of this reality that after speaking of the object of sending messengers to mankind and the availability of iron as a symbol of the forceful establishement of the natural balance of justice if needs be, the verse 57:25 ends with God's attributes of might and strength. See also 22:40-41.
Jesus did everything but "pray for his enemies", he kept on promising the doom of those who rejected him after calling them all sorts of names. He remained passive in the face of opression because he knew God would not punish his rejectors through him, but differently as he prophesied in the NT.

Jesus was part of an Israelite tradition of prophets and divinely inspired "judges", leaders, kings who all were commanded to "fight the Lord's battles" as is here said of David 1Sam25:28, and who were allowed and even many times commanded, like all followers of God's revealed laws to kill in certain circumstances, whether in retribution of an injustice, religious transgression or wars. It was certainly not against wisdom to kill, for it is precisely Solomon's wisdom that David appeals to in order to circumvent an oath not to kill Shimei who had cursed him 1Kings2:8-9. What evidence is there that he would have acted differently than the Israelite Prophets and Ishmaelite Prophet had he been commanded to, especially considering he appeals to this very tradition. Jesus proclaimed his belief in the Torah, never denying a single letter from it, never abrogating any of its laws, including those relating to obligatory warfare and which are binding upon Jews for all times to come, like the destruction of Amalek's seed Deut25:19 without showing any pity whenever the opportunity is there or else be subject to divine wrath as what happpenned to king Saul 1Sam28:18,1Chr10 who suffered a violent and dishonourable death, along with his decimated household, at the hands of the Philistines who also dispossessed his community or the entire Israelite community that was sent for a 40 years desert wandering for their refusal to engage the promised land's natives in battle, and the extermination of six other Canaanite nations from the land of Israel whenever any of them or their descendants is identified Deut20:16. Besides these compulsory commands which Jesus confirmed and never abrogated, there is also the permissible or optional categories of war, those relating to "national glory" in which case any random nation can either be willingly or unwillingly subjugated Deut20:10-14.
Just besides Jesus' notorious "love your enemies" and "turn the other cheek" verses, he is portrayed as vilificating his enemies and those that rejected him to the extreme. Besides some bizarre, unjust and violent incidents attributed to him such as causing the death by drowning of a herd of swine by allowing demons to purposely enter their bodies Matt8:32,Mk5:13,Lk8:33 and destroying a fig tree for not having fruit out of season Matt21:18-21,Mk11:13-14, Jesus foretold the punishment of the Israelites, similar to the people of Galilee. He attacked the Pharisees and Jewish scribes in public, exposing their hypocrisy. He kicked out the money-lenders from the Temple when it was within his own power, besides threatening the Israelites with divine judgment, which includes destruction, for their rejection of him and calling their religious leaders and scribes all sorts of names from "serpents", "race of vipers" to "sons of hell" or calling them "hypocrites" and "blind fools" in public, called their generation "wicked and adulterous", told his followers to "Leave them; they are blind guides", compared them to "whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean", "full of hypocrisy and wickedness" compared them to "unmarked graves, which men walk over without knowing it" and when one of the pharisees objected with "when you say these things, you insult us" Jesus continued his truthful admonition until he finished with the terrible sentence that "this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world" Matt23. In the parable of the good samaritan Lk19 that Christians like harping upon, we see Jesus again vilificating those "race of vipers" that rejected him by portraying them as inhumane, incapable of even a simple act of mercy.
Therefore as a punishement in this very world for their spiritual blindness and rejection of him he purposely spoke in complicated parables to create confusion in the minds of those kind of people outside his followers, and avoid them turning to God and repenting Mk4:10-12.

The evidence, as is clear, points to the exact opposite of the claims that he would have acted any different than the Israelite prophets that preceded him. In fact, not only are there no instances where he loved and prayed for his rejecters and oppressors who persecuted and put him and his handful of powerless followers in a corner, ultimately brutaly murdering them, but he consoled his companions by telling them to hold fast, for the time is surely coming that God would bring forth his justice and judgement in this world through the Paraclete, and that further, Jesus' name will be honored in a world where neither he or his apostles werent given any. At best, he only forgave those who wronged others.

Jesus' "love your enemy" in Matt5:38-48 certainly therefore does not refer to all kind of enemies, only to a certain type, those to whom if replied with good and magnanimity may reform themselves and become our friends, as stated in the Quran "It may be that Allah will bring about friendship between you and those whom you hold to be your enemies among them". It is a call to try and show love to those who do not necessarly love us, with the hope of them changing their attitude towards us. The concept of unconditional divine "love" not only is beyond common sense but is one that is alien to all scriptures. Both the Quran and the previous scriptures clearly define what God loves and what He doesnt Prov8:17"I will love those who love me, and those who seek me eagerly will find me" Prov15:9"The way of a wicked man is an abomination of the Lord, but He loves him who pursues righteousness".

As regards to Matt5:39"turning the other cheek" it does not speak of passivity in the face of aggression or when one's life is threatened, for Jesus prophecised the divine retribution of a people consequently to rejecting and attempting to kill him, instead of remaining silent. That is because Jesus, just like Noah, Lot and others were not ordered by God to pick up arms with their few followers and fight back as the prophets Moses and Muhammad were told to do despite the enemy forces being overwhelmingly more powerful than them and their followers. The passage does not prevent one from seeking justice when unjustly harmed, for Jesus did not "turn the other cheek" when slapped at the court, and instead asked for an explanation for the wrong he was made to suffer Jn18:22-3, besides Paul's case who not only did not "turn the other cheek" when slapped at the court but also revolted himself Acts23:1-3"God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!"
Besides, to argue that Jesus meant passivity in all circumstances would be in contradiction condemning all the soldiers of the Christian world who your movement actually praises, supports, and finances, as well as the soldiers of the past through whom YHWH's hand was "fighting" certain people, as was done in the times of the prophet Muhammad 8:17,59:2. All prophets enjoined their followers to "bargain" their selves and properties for success in the Hereafter and God promised to remain truthfull to that "transaction" 9:111. Solomon for example states in Prov3:9-15 concerning those who sacrifice from all that which God has blessed them with, for His sake and the attainement of higher wisdom and God-consciousness "its commerce is better than the commerce of silver, and its gain [is better] than fine gold. it is more precious than pearls, and all your desirable things cannot be compared to it". The "selling" of one's self includes, when ordered to, "to fight in His cause, and slay and are slain" and the Quran defines fighting in Allah's cause as 4:74-75"Therefore let those fight in the way of Allah, who sell this world's life for the hereafter..And what reason have you that you should not fight in the way of Allah and of the weak among the men and the women and the children, (of) those who say: Our Lord! cause us to go forth from this town, whose people are oppressors, and give us from Thee a guardian and give us from Thee a helper".

After the Prophet's migration to Medina, when he became the first ruler of Islam, his position became different and had to implement God's social laws including punishments as Moses did when he practiced God's laws on his people, including death sentences in Ex32:26-28 and who wiped out entire nations practicing idol worship. Moses and Muhammad were both spiritual beings and leaders of men. They occupy a special place in prophetic history because they were prophets and statesmen. They did not simply transmit the message, they implemented it in the life of a socio-political order.

[Eagle]

Reason 10
Permission to rape enslaved married women: (Quran 4:24)

Fornication is a heavily punishable sin described as fahisha 24:2,17:32 which includes anything that is abominable, morally reprehensible, in words or deeds. Whether open or concealed, they are to be avoided at all costs 6:151,7:33,29:45. These are acts enjoyned by evil spirits 24:21 and the guilty becomes unlawful for marriage with a chaste believer as long as he/she perseveres in such behavior so that the gross immoral contamination should not spread among the healthy and pious members of the society 24:3,26. When the guilty repents and mends his/her ways then the prohibition is lifted, as denoted with the omission of the titles ‘fornicator’ and ‘fornicatress’ 24:5.
Fornicators are therfore forbidden to marry other members of the Muslim comunity, just like the idolaters with whom intermariages are prohibited 2:221 (See also the Bible in Deut7:3,Ezra9:13,2Cor6:14. The Torah further teaches that if a Jewish man marries a gentile woman, he must divorce her, send her away, and send the children who resulted from this illegal union as well). The Quran on the other hand has allowed intermariages with the people of the book 5:5 but also delivers a stern warning to guard the principles of his faith very cautiously against the influence of his non-Muslim wife.

23:1-6
Successful indeed are the believers (mu'minun), Who are humble in their prayers, And who keep aloof from what is vain, And who are givers of poor-rate, And who guard their private parts, Except before their mates (azwajihim) or ma malakat aymanukum, for they surely are not blameable.

70:30,23:6 tell the believers (men and women) to "guard their private parts" (avoid sexual relation) with all persons outside their mates OR/AW ma malakat aymanukum. Meaning legal sexual relations are only permitted with the zawj (husband or wife) as well as the mulk yamin (male or female)

Besides those that already existed in the society and households before Islam, ma malakat aymanukum are not free persons randomly captured and enslaved or acquired through trade since the Quran only allows the enslavement of captives taken in defensive war campaigns, and only after the threat of war has been subdued meaning their seizure could not be an objective of going to war 8:67,47:4.
Ma malakat aymanukum are those men or women who were neither freed as a favor nor ransomed, but singled out from the rest of the captives and taken under a guardian's wing in his/her household because obviously not all captives were taken in. They also become sexually lawful outside wedlock to the person (man or woman) that has taken charge of them. Verses such as 24:33,58 speak of those MMA and how they should mingle with the rest of the household. 16:71 is a warning to those guardians who fail to live up to their moral and material responsibility towards those categories under their care, stating that such failure ammounts to a denial of God's blessings and of His unceasing care for all His creatures.
They are people of both sexes as seen in 24:33"And (as for) those (Walladheen) who ask (Yabtaghoona) for a writing from among those whom your right hands possess give them the writing (Fa Kaatibuuhum)" Ma Malakat aymanikum must cover both males and females because if they were only females it should be "wallaati" or "wallaa'i" instead of Walladheen, "yabtaghuna" (without the waw) instead of Yabtaghoona, "Fa Kaatibuuhuna" instead of Fa Kaatibuuhum.

4:23-24 expands on the categories of women that are illegal for intimate relations however it makes an exception for already married Ma Malakat aymanikum.
These married mulk yamin who are lawful can be:
- A married woman who embraces Islam and decides to desert her non-Muslim husband (only for the sake of her new faith) and comes to seek protection and shelter in a Muslim area. If after examination she is believed to be sincere in her faith then she cannot be turned back to her previous home, not only for safety reasons but also because -in the case her husband is an idolator- her new faith has made unlawful intermarriages with idolaters 2:221. A Muslim man may take her under his wing in his household, thus making her his mulk yamin. They become legal for eachother and if they wish to marry, they may only do so after payment of the dower to her initial husband thus definately annuling the previous marriage ties 60:10.
- A married war prisonner taken in a Muslim household and provided for thus becoming a mulk yamin. Under such status where she is maintained and cared for, she becomes lawful to her guardian. If he desires to be intimate with her and she refuses he may either keep her in his household and stop insisting or send her away from his household and revert her to her previous status of war prisonner.

That these mulk yamin cannot be forced into intimacy by the guardian is exemplified through the story of prophet Yusuf, bought as a slave and whom his mistress wanted to abuse sexually under the threat of emprisonnement. The Quran condemns such action, calls it an indecency/fahisha for the owner of a slave to have intercourse with him/her under compulsion 12:24 a grave fault and a manifest error 12:29-30. Yusuf desired to keep his chastity so he repeatedly refused, being God's sincere servant he was protected and guided away from transgression, even willingly preferring emprisonnement than succombing to the sin 12:24-35 (see Ps105:19). Although his innocence was repeatedly established, whether to his master, his wife, and other members of the aristocracy that had heard the scandalous rumor, he was jailed nevertheless and Yusuf readily accepted instead of remaining in this increasingly spiritually compromising environement. Being a servant he had no other issue and could not leave the household by his own will. In the mind of his masters whose prestige was being increasingly tarnished by the scandal, the only way to rescue the situation was to remove Yusuf from the scene entirely, and the best way to do that was to send him to prison. This would not only help the people forget about the situation, but would also make it seem that real culprit had been Yusuf himself.
Just as the Quran condemned Yusuf's mistress from acting against her servant's desire to remain chaste, the Quran again prohibits the guardian from acting contrary to his mulk yamin's desire for chastity such as by forcing her into prostitution as was the custom in pre-islamic times and if he does so, despite the prohibition then the abused woman is certainly not to blame due to her weak background 24:33. In 4:36 the Quran speaks of how they must be treated with kindness, without pride as one would treat the parents, neighbors or the weak in society. This means their guardians cannot abuse them in anyway just as one would not abuse the other groups mentionned in the verse.
In 4:25 the poor believer is told to marry a chaste MMA -since some were forced into prostitution by their guardians in preislamic times- after taking her guardian's consent if he cannot sustain a free believing woman/muhsana. Such MMA must be given their dowries justly and in case they commit an indecency only half the punishment of the self sustained women may be inflicted on them due to their past hardships and difficult upringing that may have affected their common sense and judgement. This means that even after marrying, the mulk yamin still have a special status of clemency for their wrong-doings compared to other women. The verse ends by recommending the poor believer who cannot afford marrying a muhsana that it would be better for him to refrain from such union with someone elses' mulk yamin to avoid any difficult legal situation with the former guardian and because the poor believer will not be able to provide for her in the long run despite her status as stated in 24:33 where a poor man is told to remain chaste until his financial situation improves. This is a situation where the Quran clearly allows an issue that could potentially be harmful, which is why it discourages it, in order to prevent the occurence of a greater harm that would come from those who cannot overcome the temptations of celibacy and at the same time are unable to marry.

Through 4:3 Allah is commanding the believers who has orphans under his care towards whom he fears not to fulfill all his responsibility to marry up to 4 women but if he thinks he cannot deal in fairness with multiple wives, to marry "only one or/aw Ma Malakat Aymanukum", meaning a legal wife for a man who fears not to deal justly between mutliple wives can be either a regular woman who is protected and supported/muhsana OR Ma Malakat Ayman already in his possession. Therefore marrying malakat ayman according to 4:3 is as acceptable as marrying a normal woman and further 24:32 strongly encourages men and women to marry from their male/female slaves as an act of virtue.

The Hebrew Bible sanctionned letter for letter by Jesus, allows the extermination of entire population save their virgins, regardless of age, which may be disposed of according to one's whims Numbers31:17-18etc although, like other pleasing women one has the option to keep for himself, one also has the possibility to marry them, in addition to one's wife to whom she must be subdued, and regardless of the captive' previous marital status Deut21:10-17. This is in the context of optional wars (besides the compulsory ones binding on Jews of all times like destroying the Amalekites and six other Canaanite nations and any of their descendants whenever they are identified Deut20:16,25:19) that fall into the category labelled up to this day by the rabbis as wars of "national glory" ie not in self-defense or under divine injunction, in which case a random nation is given the choice between a "peaceful" surrender, that would result in the enslavement and taxation of its population, or in case of their rejection of the "peace offer", a military subjugation resulting in the execution of all adult males, the capture as spoils of war of their women, children, and livestock Deut20:10-14 and should it be necessary to completely subdue that nation 2Kings3:19"you shall fell every good tree, and you shall stop up all springs of water, and you shall clutter every good field with stones". In the land of Canaan, those natives that werent driven out or exterminated as per the Torah's injunctions during the invasion, were subdued into slavery Josh17:13. Their descendants suffered the same faith under Solomon's rule 1Kings9:20-1.
The Quran changed the way such categories of people that already existed in the society it came to reform, had to be treated.
It did so by igniting the believers' taqwa/God-consciousness, elevating the status of such weak categories whom there was now no shame of marrying 4:3,25,24:32,33:50 and honoring them. For example in 4:36 the Quran speaks of how they must be treated with kindness, without pride as one would treat the parents, neighbors or the weak in society. This means their guardians cannot abuse them in anyway just as one would not abuse the other groups mentionned in the verse. By further limiting the aquisition of slaves to defensive war campaings 8:67,47:4 the Quran ended the economic motivation to trade in them, striking at the means of such situation to arise in the first place. The prophet himself never indulged in slave trade.

Reason 11
the three Jewish tribes

They were a treacherous lot that got all that they deserved, by the will of God.

Following the battle of Badr Many Muslims wanted the execution of the prisonners, who tortured them for 13 years but the Prophet did not allow it. Some exemplary treatment of prisonners include, as noted even by Islam's critics the likes of Muir, the prophet of God's command to the Medina Muslims who could afford it, to receive prisonners in their homes, and while they were marching towards Medina, some prisonners were given better food that what the Muslims themselves had, were made to ride the camels while the Muslims themselves walked. The most affluent were ransomed, taking therefore the risk of having to fight them again, and this is what happened with many of them, with the example of the poet Al Jumahi who had previously stirred up hatred against the Muslims in Mecca and was freed by the Prophet after pledging not to take the sword against Islam again, but he did later at the Battle of Uhud and this time he was executed. Others were asked to teach ten persons each to read and write and this teaching was to count as their ransom. This victory dealt a severe blow to the prestige of the Quraish with number of their chiefs killed such as Abu Jahl or 'Utbah, consequently Abu Sufyan became the Meccans' undisputed chieftain.

This victory greately troubled the idolators and the Jews of Medina who felt that their position was now degenerating into one of weakness and isolation. Only 2 years after his migration, the Prophet of God had managed to brake the traditional pattern of power distribution in the desert. The enemies of Islam would meet clandestinely and encourage the composition and recitation of divisive poetry. Ka'ab ibn Ashraf, a Jewish chieftain of Banu Nadhir, was a poet of considerable fame and he used to recite in the gatherings fiery poems inciting the people to rise up against Islam. This was a clear breeching of the Medina covenant of peace with the Muslims, non partisanship which eachother's enemies. ibn Ashraf's particularity as compared to the other non Muslims and hypocrites that secretly disliked Islam and conspired against it, is that he openly joined the Meccan ranks with whom the comunity was at war, becoming a propaganda tool that composed eulogies mourning the Meccan chiefs slain in the battle of Badr and defamed Muslim women. The closest one can come to the kind of impact this kind of poetry had in Arabian tribal life in those days, is to remember the role propaganda played during the world wars of the 20th century, more particularily the 2nd one. But being a coward he never attended the battles himself, preferring to plot and incite behind closed doors. His role in galvanizing the Quraysh prior to the battle of Uhud is well known, his wife herself is reported to have warned him that his life was at threat because of his actions. He was thus incited out of his hiding place and killed, under the prophet's injunctions as would be done by any modern government seeking to preserve the survival of its people in times of war, looking to target specific opponents whose death would have a more significant impact in the long-run in terms of avoiding further bloodshed. Other opinions say his assassination occured after the battle of Uhud in response to an attempted murder of the prophet. Abul Huqaiq, another Jewish leader, was killed in the same circumstances, following his defeat at the battle of the Trench, exile to Khaybar where he led mischievous campains of incitement among both Jewish tribes and those around Medina to enter into battle with the Muslims.

Now the dispute was not over Muhammad's religious views but over his political power which grew tremendously after the victory of Badr. Adding to the constant plotting, street fights would errupt between the 2 communities, the worst one being caused by the public humiliation of a Muslim woman by a group of Jews from the Bani Qainuqa which resulted in deaths from both sides. The Prophet urged them to honor their agreement, to which they responded with arrogance. Until now the Muslims were told to pardon and turn away from the treacherous among them 5:13. But when they retreated behind their fortress and started making preparations for war, the Muslims had to take action in defense and besieged them for 15 days without fighting until they came out, promising to accept the prophet's ruling. This led to the expulsion of the whole tribe from Medina, allowing them to take all their movable possessions to Syria 8:56-58"Those with whom you make an agreement, then they break their agreement every time and they do not guard (against punishment). Therefore if you overtake them in fighting, then scatter by (making an example of) them those who are in their rear, that they may be mindful. And if you fear treachery on the part of a people, then throw back to them on terms of equality; surely Allah does not love the treacherous."
The Prophet only rested for 7 nights before leading another detachement to meet the tribe of Banu Sulaym at their water springs called al-Kudr, he remained for 3 nights before returning to Medina and did not meet any resistance.
During his respite in Shawwal and Dhul-Qi'dah (the tenth and eleventh month, which are sacred months during which no fighting is allowed), he ransomed most of the Muslims captured by the Quraysh during the Battle of Badr.
After the defeat of Badr, Abu Sufyan had vowed revenge against the Muslims, swearing not to touch his wives nor comb his hair till he had avenged that defeat. He went by night to Medina to plot with the Jews of Banu Nadir. They treated his and his men to a feast and divulged the weak points of Medina's fortifications. He returned next morning to his men and sent a few raiders to Medina were they surprised and killed a man from the Ansar and his ally. The Prophet chased them until the quarter of the tribe of Sulaym but they escaped, leaving their provisions behind. On the 15th of Rajab of the same year 2AH, Fatimah, daughter of the Prophet, was married to Ali. All that he could offer her as dower was his coat of mail, and all that the prophet could give to his daughter were an ordinary cot, a mattress stuffed with palm leaves, a water bag, two grinding stones, and two earthen pitchers. Yet some writers insinuate that the Prophet and his party were ambushing and plundering trade caravans, and that the battle of Badr originated in the prophet's threat of raiding Abu sufyan's caravans.
2 months later, news came that the tribe of Ghatafan led by Du'thur had assembled to launch a raid against the suburbs of Medina. This was due to the growing fear of the Meccans, that the traditional trade route passing leading to Mecca would be disrupted due to the Prophet's alliance with many tribes along the Shore Route of al Sham. The Prophet set with 450 men but the Bedouins of Ghatafan retreated in the mountains. The Muslims encamped in the spot of Dhu Amarr. While Muhammad was retreated at night, answering the call of nature, Du'thur who was watching his every moves rushed to him, outstretched his sword above the Prophet's head but was struck immediately on his chest, falling back and dropping his sword 48:20"He has restrained the hands of men from you; that it may be a Sign for the Believers, and that He may guide you to a Straight Path". He accepted Islam on the spot. Muhammad let him go and Du'thur went back to his people inviting them to Islam.

The Jews of Medina (former Yathrib) were waiting for their savior to come, who would give them total dominion on a land where many of them lost their lives due to coalition attacks from the Arab pagans. Whenever the Jews were attacked by the pagan arabs and others, they prayed for a future victory through their awaited savior 2:89"..and aforetime they used to pray for victory against those who disbelieved.." The tribes of Aws and Khazraj knew this so they thought that the Jews were the likeliest people to help and support the Apostle of Allah at his advent because they also followed a divine religion and revealed scriptures but their hopes quickly shattered and their expectations to see the Jews join the cause of monotheism versus idolatry turned to disappointment. But the Quran would relate the past history of the Jews especially as regards to their behavior towards their own prophets, as well as their going astray after having witnessed outstanding miracles, to show that nothing better could be expected of them. This also cautioned the simple Muslims against cherishing any hope that the Jews of their city would in a body welcome Muhammad as the Prophet about whom prophecies has been made in their own Books. They have been warned that they should not entertain such expectations from the people whose history has been so and so. This was necessary because they were liable to become disheartened because of the rejection of Islam by them. Their superiority complex as God's "chosen people" as well as their religious knowledge made them think that they were in no need of further revelations 2:88""Our hearts are already full of knowledge" and especially if it came through someone outside Bani Israel 2:89-90"..but when there came to them that which they did recognize, they disbelieved in him..Evil is that for which they sold their souls - that they should deny what Allah has revealed, out of envy that Allah should send down of His grace on whomsoever of His servants He pleases; so they returned with wrath upon wrath, and there is a disgraceful punishment for the unbelievers".
According to the convention, the Prophet and the whole Muslim community lived in peace with them but their bitterness towards him grew, overwhelmed by envy and arrogance. No sooner did the Prophet begin his call then they denied his truth, and forgot all that they used to tell about the awaited prophet. They were particularly hostile against the prophet's denouncation of the capitalist system and the Jewish money lenders behind it. When the Arabs stopped taking loans and paying interest to them, a rich source of revenue suddenly dried up. They could now see that their grip on the economic life of Medina was beginning to loosen.
Ibn Ishāq, Ibn Jarīr, Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Abī Hātim and Abū Na'aym (in his Dalā'ilu 'n-nubuwwah) have narrated from Ibn `Abbās that he said: "The Jews used to pray for victory against the Aws and the Khazraj by the right of the Messenger of Allāh, before he was sent as prophet. However, when Allah raised him from the Arabs, the same Jews disbelieved in him and denied what they used to say about him. Mu'ādh ibn Jabal, Bishr ibn Barā' ibn Ma'rūr and Dāwūd ibn Salamah told them: `O Jews! Fear Allah and accept Islam; because it was you who used to pray for victory against us by the right of Muhammad, while we were polytheists, and you used to tell us that he would (soon) be sent, describing to us his attributes.' Salām ibn Mushkīm, one of the tribe of Banū an Nadīr, said to them: `He has not brought to us anything we know; and he is not the prophet we were telling you about.' Among the common ones in the Jewish community of Medina, the message made a lot of sense, based on their knowledge of their own books and were in fact attracted to it, engaging in constructive exchanges with the Muslims, but were immediately condemned for their attitude when they returned to their people and made their discussions known to their elders. And because conversion of a community doesn't happen at once, these elements would fear to be severely ostracized by the rest and thus would most often hide their true feelings 2:76,101"And when they meet those who believe they say: We believe, and when they are alone one with another they say: Do you talk to them of what Allah has disclosed to you that they may contend with you by this before your Lord? Do you not then understand?...And when there came to them an Apostle from Allah verifying that which they have, a party of those who were given the Book threw the Book of Allah behind their backs as if they knew nothing". The neglect of their books in such a manner is reflected in words of their prophets the likes of Nehemiah in an almost identical wording as is done throughout the Quran Neh9:26"And they disobeyed and rebelled against You, and they cast Your Law behind their backs, and they slew Your prophets who warned them, to bring them back to You, and they committed great provocations". As he started his long, truthful and violent admonition for their transgressions and continuous rebellion, Jesus first laid emphasis on the religious elite's prejudiced handling of scriptural knowledge which resulted not only in hindering the common people from the right path, but also caused their own selves to be blind to the truth Matt23:13" “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to...".

Now that a new revelation came, condemning them not only for their past failures as amply done in their own books, but the present ones as well, drawing a parallel between their past and present attitudes, announcing the consequences of such behavior, the arrogant, blinded by prejudice and attachments to their worldly interests could not reform themselves and admit their recognition of the truth that was being repeatedly, unapologetically thrown at them. They preferred burying their heads in the sand, reject the message, preventing others from it, whether their own people or not, through resorting to manipulations of minds as well as facts, evil incitement, conspiracies and war. These methods are alluded to in the Quran as well as history books. This was their attitude towards their own past prophets, so they had no second thoughts at doing the same to a prophet who was a foreigner to them.

Very soon after their agreement to the peace convention with the Muslims, the Jews started manoeuvering in order to erradicate the nascent religion before it reaches greater proportions. They would conspire with the Quraysh, with whom they had business relations, as well as the hypocrites among the Medinite Muslims. It was with their approval and protection that the Meccans would start harassing the Muslims by launching raids on the outskirts of the city destroying fruit-bearing trees and carrying away flocks. These action compelled the prophet to start sending missions to neighboring tribes in order to seek alliances.
Their bitterness would greatly increase with the conversion of their very prominent Rabbi Abdullah ibn Salam and his household. The Quran relates how many of the Israelites would still reject the Revelation sent to Muhammad altough many of their learned men recognized in it the truth foretold in their scriptures and accepted it 26:197. This lead to a war of words between the 2 communities. The Jews would send some of their rabbis fainting conversion and engaging in debates with the Prophet in front of the Muslims in order to create doubts but the he would answer easily 25:33"And they shall not bring to you any argument, but We have brought to you (one) with truth and best in significance". The Quran answers all spiritual inquiries with truth. They would try causing dissensions among the former ennemies of Aws and Khazraj, now united under the banner of Islam, by arousing memories of the day of the Bu'ath war when al Aws vanquished al Khazraj. But Muhammad continued to talk to them, emphasizing their Islamic unity and brotherhood until their tears ran down in emotion and they embraced one another. The Quran reminds of this tension in 2:87-89 and further stresses how it was Allah who facilitated the union of the various rival and waring tribes under the prophet's guidance 8:63"had you spent all that is in the earth, you could not have united their hearts, but Allah united them; surely He is Mighty, Wise".

These events were followed by the confrontation with the Jews of Banu Nadir who were still bitterly enraged at their sister tribe Qaynuqa's banishement. The Prophet went to one of their notable, Huyayy ibn Akhtab asking for the payment of the diyat (blood money)-a tax imposed on all members of the community- for the two victims whom Ibn Umayyah had killed by mistake. He got a warm welcome but did not like the idea of collecting the tax inside their fortress. A man from inside the fortress climbed up the wall and attempted at throwing a huge boulder at the prophet so the Muslims got up and left quickly for their homes. Ibn Surya, the most learned man from the Banu Nadir knew that after such an incident Muhammad would only offer 2 options: war, or leave at once with all their belongings and the possibility to return every year to gather the produce of their date groves, which would thus remain their property. They first agreed to the second alternative, and were granted - ten days of respite. In the meantime they secretly conspired with the hypocrites among the Arabs of Medina, led by Abdallah ibn Ubayy, who promised them armed support by two thousand warriors in case they decided to remain in their fortified settlements. Motivated by this proposition, they decided to take up arms against the prophet. The Muslims besieged them for 20 days, without actual fighting, but when ibn Ubayy's promise didnt materialize, they decided to surrender 59:11-14"...They will not fight against you in a body save in fortified towns or from behind walls; their fighting between them is severe, you may think them as one body, and their hearts are disunited; that is because they are a people who have no sense". Just as the satan whispered false hopes to the Quraysh alliance at the battle of Badr but immidiately deserted them as he witnessed the unseen at the battlefield 8:48, so too did the whispering of the satan among the men, in this case ibn Ubayy, abandon the Jews after inciting them into treachery. The Quran alludes to this principles many times, that the satan from among the men or jinn will eventually dissociate themselves from those who willingly followed their footsteps despite the warnings, whether in this world or the next, and will have to stand to account for their deeds.

They were banished and allowed to take all the movable properties they could pack on their camels, but not their weapons. Those whom the Arabs thought could not be banished from their land, had to leave eventually and in a manner in which they had to ruin and ravage the houses they had built by their own hands. The foes of the a prophet always meet this fate 59:2"He it is Who caused those who disbelieved of the followers of the Book to go forth from their homes at the first banishment you did not think that they would go forth, while they were certain that their fortresses would defend them against Allah; but Allah came to them whence they did not expect, and cast terror into their hearts; they demolished their houses with their own hands and the hands of the believers; therefore take a lesson, O you who have eyes". Allah cast terror into the hearts opposing the stablishement of His way 3:151,8:12 as He did aforehand with the enemies of the Israelites themselves, who were in addition confused Deut2:24-25,Ex23:27,Josh10:10. Once military might is established through undeniable divine assistance, terror and fear are in fact the means by which the disbelieving nations are dominated and prevented from rekindling the flames of war 1Chr14:17"David's fame went forth throughout all the lands, and the Lord placed the fear of him upon all the nations". The believers on the other hand are tranquilized and appeased, given confidence and hope 9:26"Then Allah sent down His tranquillity upon His Messenger and upon the believers, and sent down hosts which you did not see, and He punished those who disbelieved, and that is the reward of the infidels".
They passed through Medina's market singing and beating drums to show that they were not disheartened by that banishment and that they would soon avenge this defeat. Some of them went to Syria while others settled with the Jews of Khaybar, an agricultural oasis situated approximately 165 kilometers to the north of Medina, inhabited by a mixture of Arabs and Jews. The merciful decision of allowing them to emigrate and take most of their possessions with them without harm would have grave consequences later, against the Muslims 33:60-62"If the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is a disease and the agitators in the city do not desist, We shall most certainly set you over them, then they shall not be your neighbors in it but for a little while; Cursed: wherever they are found they shall be seized and murdered, a (horrible) murdering. (Such has been) the course of Allah with respect to those who have gone before; and you shall not find any change in the course of Allah". This unalterable law of God of punishing both in this world and the hereafter 34:38"those who strive in opposing Our communications" would soon be fulfilled.

At this point, Muslims felt they had to develop a system of control and security which would protect them from all sides as they werent even secure within the city. This prevented their engagement in agriculture or commerce which was balanced with the booty acquired through the military campains. Fearing ennemy attacks at any moment, the Prophet organized a channel of communication throughout the Arabian Peninsula which was at the time composed of a complex net of autonomous little republics, each of which extended over the territory inhabited or used by its various clans, and depended for its security on an intricate system of intertribal customs, pacts, and traditions. The Muslims had to keep steadfast from all these groups awaiting the opportunity to avenge itself on this man who had divided the Arabs in their religion, and, though emigrating from Mecca devoid of power or ally, had acquired, within the last five years by virtue of his great faith, such prestige and power as to make him a real threat to the strongest cities and tribes of Arabia. The animosity against Muhammad was such that the Jews turned against their own religion and their own Semite brethren's pure call to monotheism and prefered allying with the paganism which Moses and other biblical prophets fought, as their forefathers did when they were influenced by the pagan people's religions they were supposed to guide 5:80"You will see many of them befriending those who disbelieve; certainly evil is that which their souls have sent before for them, that Allah became displeased with them and in chastisement shall they abide". The Quran relates how they openly favored polytheism to Islamic monotheism in order to appease the Meccans who were hesitant to form an alliance with them on account of their obvious closeness to Islam. The traditions speak of a delegation of Medinite Jews sent to Mecca after the battle of Uhud and publicly bowed to the Meccan idols in order to comfort them in their position against the Muslims and apease their reluctancy 2:109,4:51"Have you not seen those to whom a portion of the Book has been given? They believe in idols and false deities and say of those who disbelieve: These are better guided in the path than those who believe". This attitude of the Jews toward Quraysh and their favoring of the latter's paganism over the monotheism of Muhammad was in sharp contrast with the attitude of the Christian Negus of Abyssinia who sheltered and protected the early days persecuted Muslims of Mecca 5:82"Certainly you will find the most violent of people in enmity for those who believe (to be) the Jews and those who are polytheists, and you will certainly find the nearest in friendship to those who believe (to be) those who say: We are Christians; this is because there are priests and monks among them and because they do not behave proudly". Christians in addition, contrary to the Jews, do not hold the arrogant belief of a special relation with God; their "priests and monks" teach them humility and due to their rejection of the Jewish notion of unconditional, everlasting chosenness as the leading spiritual nation to mankind, they are closer to the Muslim understanding of religion.

It is to be noted that in pre-islamic times when the Medinite Arabs of Aws and Khazraj were permanently in a state of war, the Jews of Bani Qaynuqa and Nadir were allied with Khazraj, while the Bani Qurayzah was allied with Al-Aws. Thus, in the course of their warfare, Jews would kill, expell or ransom Jews in alliance with pagans 2:84-85"And when We made a covenant with you: You shall not shed your blood and you shall not turn your people out of your cities; then you gave a promise while you witnessed. Yet you it is who slay your people and turn a party from among you out of their homes, backing each other up against them unlawfully and exceeding the limits; and if they should come to you, as captives you would ransom them-- while their very turning out was unlawful for you". This attitude was a twofold crime from the viewpoint of Mosaic Law and had already occured in the course of their history such as during the revolt of the Maccabees and even prior to that when Jews had joined the pagan enemy ranks of the Phillistines and fought their fellow brethren, but changed sides when the situation turned to the Jews' advantage 1Sam13:21. So lacking in faith had they become towards the end of Solomon's reign and after him, and neglectful of what was once their holiest site that under Jehoash the king of Israel, they invaded and plundered it, taking even hostages among the rival kingdom of Judah, taking the king included 2Kings14:13-14. Again later on the king Pekah of Israel would ally himself to Rezin king of Syria to attack and subdue the Judeans of king Ahaz, killing tens of thousands, taking many more captives among their women and children, as well as loots and plunders (which they eventually gave up after a severe rebuke from one of their prophets). King Ahaz of Judah in turn allied with the Assyrians to fight back the Israel-Syrian alliance, which proved to be a double edged sword since he became completely subdued to the Assyrian king, paying him from the Temple's riches 2Kings15,2Chron29. Even at a critical time when the promised destruction at the hands of the Babylonians started to be inflicted upon them as prophecied by Jeremiah, and when Zedekiah king of Judah reformed himself and called for the release of all Jewish slaves, whether held by priests or laymen, they reluctantly abided by the command only to turn back upon their word and forcibly recapture those freed Jewish slaves moments later Jer34:7-11. Even in such eye opening moments they still remained obdurate in their disbelief, similarily to their forefathers, guided by Moses out of their Egyptian captivity during which they had subdued one another into slavery, when they refused hearkening the same ordinance Jer34:13-14. So corrupt and greedy the majority of the elite has always been that, just following the nation's release from the Babylonian captivity, the wealthy would force their poor brethren to sell their own sons and daughters to repay their loans, and would then resell them to the heathen. The prophet Nehemiah heavily condemned their behavior and urged them to return the children to their families ans cancel the loans they had given to the poor Neh5. This pattern reveals a deep defect in their outlook on life, summed up in the Quran as such 59:13"You are certainly greater in being feared in their hearts than Allah; that is because they are a people who do not understand".
Although addressed to the treacherous Jews of Medina in the times of the prophet Muhammad who feared his retaliation rather that God's punishement, this verses states a greater truth; A person who has sense knows that the real power to be feared is the power of Allah and not the power of men. Therefore, he will avoid every such thing as may call for the punishment of Allah, whether there is any human power to call him to account for it or not, and he will come out to accomplish any duty which Allah has enjoined on him, whether he is opposed and hindered by all the powers of the world. But a senseless man, determines his attitude and conduct in view of the human powers, instead of Allah's power, in all matters of life, because Allah's power for him is imperceptible and human powers are perceptible. This very distinction between intelligence and folly, in fact, distinguishes the character and conduct of a believer from that of an unbeliever who has no higher aim in life.

They would thus, shortly before the advent of Islam, ransom their mutual captives in obedience to that very same Law and it is this glaring inconsistency to which the Quran alludes next "..and if they should come to you, as captives you would ransom them, while their very turning out was unlawful for you. Do you then believe in a part of the Book and disbelieve in the other?" The historicity of the Jews of Yathrib can be divided into 2 main categories, those that arrived much before the common era into the land sof those whom they viewed as their cousins, and those that joined later following the 2nd destruction of the Temple. The community, although split into about 20 tribes with the most prominent being the Qurayza, Nadir and Qaynuqa, was very well established both politicaly and economicaly in the fertile areas of Yathrib where they had built fortresses in anticipation of possible invasion by neighboring Arab tribes, prior to the original Aws and Khazraj having reached and settled in the centre of Yathrib. They were always conscious of the fact that they needed to remain as the main source of power in Yathrib.
At one point, Aws and Khazraj asked the Jews for an agreement of peaceful business cooperation, which was accepted as it did not compromise their policy of remaining in power in Yathrib and being able to interact with Arabs from a powerful position. They were also found this inline with their decision to take benefit of expertise of Arabs in the areas of agriculture and business.
Soon later, however, a shift in power occurred in Yathrib, due to demographics, with the Arabs starting to seriously outnumber the Jews. They therefore broke their agreement a number of times and attacked some of Aws and Khazraj which prompted these latter 2 to unite, and in addition to ask for the help of Abu Jubayla the king of Qassan (part of Syria). With the help of his army they defeated the Jews of Yathrib and from that point on the tribes of Aws and Khazraj remained in power in Yathrib and the Jews continued to live with them in a powerless position. This is when the enmity between Aws and Khazraj started. According to some historians, aiming to reclaim their power, the Jews of Yathrib were the main cause of this enmity between the two tribes. The Jews had not only become disunited, but through a game of alliance and incitements among the Aws and Khazraj, they were competing with one another to regain dominion over the city, which led to the previously mentionned wars among Jews. This enmity and the fights that were caused by it continued till when Aws and Khazraj decided to invite the Prophet of Islam to their city. The migration of the Prophet changed the whole scenario in Yathrib which then was renamed Medina.

This self-contradiction, this favoring of idolatry over monotheism and the encouragement of pagan forces to rise against the monotheistic forces would reach its peak in the Month of Shawwal 5/626 when the Jewish leaders of Bani Nadir and Qainuqa who were mercifully left to migrate with their wealth and families after their defeat in battle, and settle in Khaybar, covenanted with the leaders of Quraysh (promising them a whole year's crop from their Jewish settlement of Khaybar in case of victory), Kinanah and Ghatafan tribes among others to unite as one front against the Muslims. It is to be noted, the Jews of Khaybar did not show any hostility toward the Muslims until the leaders of Banu Nadir -Salam ibn Abu al Haqiq, Kinanah ibn Abu al Haqiq, and Huyayy ibn Akhtab- settled among them. The Muslims were struck with panic when news of the huge coalition of almost all tribes of the Arabian Peninsula (enemies and allies alike) were preparing to attack Medina. The Prophet consulted with Salman the Persian, and decided to dig a trench in preparation. All Muslims were put at at task, including the Prophet who worked with his hands alongside his companions lifting the dirt, encouraging the Muslim workers, and exhorting everyone to multiply his effort. The women and children were removed to the interior and placed within fortified walls. The battle known as Battle of the Trench/Ditch/Confederates or al-Khandaq/Ahzab started. When the Confederate armies showed up, the Muslims were troubled by their large number and retreated behind their trench for 20 days only exchanging stones and arrows with the ennemy, the story is related in Sura 33/Ahzab. The Muslims survived on their food reserves as well as the continuous supply of crops from the Jews of Banu Qurayzah who had stayed truthful to their covenant with Muhammad, within Medina. The difficulty of overcoming the innovative trench fighting was such that the ennemy forces had to resort to another strategy. They decided to starve the Muslims by cuting their food supplies, which was mainly coming from the Banu Qurayzah. They could not find a way through the trench and the good Muslim defense so their only solution was to force them out. The polytheist coalition had to act quick because a general withdrawal would render such a future coalition almost impossible.
Huyayy ibn Akhtab, went to find Ka'b ibn Asad, chief of the Banu Qurayzah and convince him of reversing against the Muslims. At first Ka'b would not receive him, knowing well that treason might bring some advantages in case of Muslim defeat but that it would provide the cause for extermination in case of Muslim victory. Huyayy appeased his fears by describing the extent of the pagan forces and their desire to exterminate the Muslims once and for all, but Ka'b still hesitated, remembering Muhammad's loyalty to his covenant with him and his tribe. After much talks, and a pledge from Huyayy that he would stand by his brothers of Banu Qurayzah in case of defeat followed by sanctions, Ka'b's Jewish feelings stirred, moving him to yield to Huyayy, to accept his demands and to repudiate his covenant with Muhammad and the Muslims. By braking their covenant with men, the Banu Qurayzah were once again confirming Moses' forseeing of the corruption of his descendants Deut31, they were perpetuating the tradition of their forefathers who could not even stand firm to their covenant with God after all the miracles they witnessed and the favors bestowed on them by reverting to idol worship in Moses' lifetime and after him.
They thus joined the pagan ranks, the very people whom Moses and subsequent prophets fought. This betrayal shook the Prophet greatly as well as the rest of the Muslims, so he sent his companion Sa'd ibn Mu'adh, leader of the Aws and close ally to Banu Qurayzah to confirm the bad news, which he did. With the last Jews joining the pagan ranks, cutting the food supply and threatening the Muslims from within the city, the pagan forces had their moral uplifted. They prepared an invasion from 3 fronts and it was with reference to this deployment of enemy forces that the Quran said 33:10-13"When they came upon you from above you (the pagans) and from below you (the hypocrites and traitors), and when the eyes turned dull, and the hearts rose up to the throats, and you began to think diverse thoughts of Allah. There the believers were tried and they were shaken with severe shaking. And when the hypocrites and those in whose hearts was a disease began to say: Allah and His Messenger did not promise us (victory) but only to deceive. And when a party of them said: O people of Yathrib! there is no place to stand for you (here), therefore go back; and a party of them asked permission of the prophet, saying: 'Surely our houses are exposed; and they were not exposed.' they only desired to fly away". A division of polytheists led by the mighty Meccan warrior 'Amr finally found a way through the narrowest side of the trench, and engulfed their men inside but when their hero got slain by Ali, the assailants fled in panic.
The night came and the Prophet asked volunteers to go spy on the ennemy and only one stood up, it was Hudhayfah. When he departed, the Prophet made a long cry and prayer to God to protect this man and bring victory over the unbelievers. Hudhayfah came back from the ennemy camp unharmed and recounted what he witnessed: a strong wind came out of nowhere, instinguishing all night fires, blowing away their tents and weapons. The wind was carrying peebles, forcing the polytheists to shield themselves "and I heard the clatter of the pebbles against the shields. Abu Sufyan rushed up to his mount and cried out: 'Save yourselves, save yourselves!' Thus the Confederates went away". Their frustration for not being able to pierce the inferior Muslims' defense became complete when this natural calamity, a bitterly-cold storm wind raged for several days, making life unbearable even for hardened warriors 33:25"And Allah turned back the unbelievers in their rage" 33:9"call to mind the favor of Allah to you when there came down upon you hosts, so We sent against them a strong wind and hosts, that you saw not, and Allah is Seeing what you do".
As happenned before when the besieged and starved Israelites having a prophet, Elisha, in their midst were rescued from the Syrians by God who terrorized their hearts, making them retreat far away from their positions, leaving their camps and all belongings intact and for the Israelites to plunder as spoils of war 2Kings6:24-33,7:1-20 the Muslims freely went back next morning to Medina, joyful of their victory against the rejecters of faith. Then suddenly came a man covered in a white turban to Muhammad. It was Gabriel telling him how he pursued the Confederates until sunrise and ordered Muhammad to rise against those of the People of the Book who supported them. The Muslims besieged the traitors of Bani Qurayza who had not only not stood by their covenant of defending Medina against foreign invasion but had also sided with the ennemy and even attempted to attack the fortress where Muslim women and children had been lodged for safety. This time God did not side with them as He did in the times of Elisha; the siege lasted 25 days without fighting until they surrendered after they realized that they were going to lose the battle and that the pagans with whom they were allied will not come to their help, i.e. because they had to. They didnt surrender out of any change of heart 3:111"They shall by no means harm you but with a slight evil; and if they fight with you they shall turn (their) backs to you, then shall they not be helped". Thus the parable of the 2 sons of Adam was repeating itself 5:27-31. It was recited to the Children of Israel as a warning not to reject and kill their brothers, the sons of Ismail, out of envy and aversion because of a prophet having being raised outside their line or it would only harm their own souls and create a situation where they will be thrown into intense remorse and regret. The Israelites plotted against the Ishmaelite prophet for the same reason for which the erring son of Adam had slain his pious brother. They could not see the obvious fact that God withdrew His favor from them and bestowed it upon their more God-conscious brothers, just as Cain's offering was refused for lack of piety while that of the God-fearing Abel was accepted. Instead of considering the matter, they plotted to kill those whom God had blessed with His favors.


At that point the prophet refused all the apeals of Ka'b for a lenient verdict, such as the leniency he had given to their sister tribe of Banu Nadhir, because their crime was much more grievous.
Now the tribe of Aws, the former allies of the Qurayza back in preislamic times, came to the prophet before he declared his intentions towards the treacherous tribe, pleading for their lives to be spared. The prophet of God, even though he knew that whatever punishment he would have requested be imposed upon the Qurayza, it would have been unquestionably executed, stepped down from his prerogative and designated the leader of the Aws as their judge instead. The people of Aws went back to their leader Saad ibn Muaad who was being treated for a severe battle injury, telling him of what had occured, reminding him of the preislamic times when Aws and Qurayza were friends and allies, pressuring him for a lenient verdict. And yet, even though he knew he would soon succumb to his wounds, he shocked his tribe and former allies with a decision that disregarded all political wisdom and that would have otherwise secured his remembrance as a popular leader who acted according to his people's desires before breathing his last. His judgement was not in the least different to the Jews' own practices as regards to the rules of war of national expansion ie not in self-defence (as is here precisely the case for the Muslims fighting them in self-defence) or under divine injunction, in which case a random nation is given the choice between a "peaceful" surrender, that would result in the enslavement and taxation of its population, or in case of their rejection of the "peace offer", a military subjugation resulting in the execution of all adult males, the capture as spoils of war of their women, children, and livestock Deut20:10-14, and should it be necessary to completely subdue that nation 2Kings3:19"you shall fell every good tree, and you shall stop up all springs of water, and you shall clutter every good field with stones". It is interesting to note that within the context of their divine punishement at the hands of the Muslims 59:5"Whatever palm-tree you cut down or leave standing upon its roots, It is by Allah´s command, and that He may abase the transgressors". It was at the behest of the Prophet that some of the palm-trees adjacent to their stronghold were felled such that the Jews may be forced out to confront the Muslims, seeing some of their most precious trees (as denoted with linat) being destroyed.
As Saad announced the verdict, the prophet, who knew the divine standard of justice in such cases did not object and said "You have given the judgement of Allah above the seven heavens".

They could have been made to suffer a worst faith according to their own scriptural and divinely inspired standards as the Israelites themselves imposed on certain nations of Canaan whom they dispossessed and massacred indiscriminately, men and women, young and old. However like Joshua and their following prophets and leaders did in conquered territories when acting according to the divinely inspired commands of their scriptures, down to David who after beating the Moabites, measured them off "with a line, making them lie down on the ground; and he measured two cord-lengths to put to death, and one full cord-length to keep alive"(2Sam8:2) and enslaved the remaining population, all adult males suspected of being fighters among the Qurayza were executed. He imposed this judgement just before the wound which he had suffered in his arm during the battle suddenly opened and the blood continued to gush out until he died. All fighting Jewish men were slain, the women and children that had now no fathers ands husbands were taken as captives (one needs to rid himself from the notion of western slavery and war prionners at this point), their lands distributed to the Muslims immigrating to Medina and their wealth shared among all Muslims with one-fifth for public purposes. Bani Israel were thus once again destroyed through divine punishment for their treachery and transgression, as it happened to them twice before and as prophecied will happen again and again up to the Day of Resurrection if they return to disobedience 17:4-8,7:167. Abasement and humiliation, as well as insecurity and vulnerability, were stamped upon them wherever they went, for their ungratefulness, transgressions which they persistently and sometimes even provocatively comitted throughout their history, from the time they were led out of bondage 2:16,3:112. They were once again engulfed by the divine curse and wrath and whenever they kindled a fire for war after that, Allah put it out 33:26-7"And He drove down those of the followers of the Book who backed them from their fortresses and He cast awe into their hearts; some you killed and you took captive another part. And He made you heirs to their land and their dwellings and their property".

The prophet was at war for over 13 years with various tribes, including other Jews than Bani Qurayza. If he was a war lord that loved blood as the critics claim by raising this incident, then it would be easy to provide evidence for this lust for be-heading and decapitating to establish a precedent. Banu Quayza wasn't the only tribe nor did Kinan represent all the Jews. In fact, it is well documented that Jews continued to live in that region, only to be expelled many years after the Prophet died, by Umar. They were shifted to other regions and given paid settlements.

The defeat the Jews had suffered at the battle of the Trench did not deter them. They were making preparations behind their settlements of Khaybar and the gardens of Fadak where 14000 of them lived inside 7 well fortified strongholds, for a final showdown with the Muslims. Their chief, Usir ibn Razam, joined with the Arab tribe of Ghatfan, along with the banished Jewish tribes of Nadir and Qainuqa. To demonstrate their strength, Ghatfan captured 20 camels of the Prophet after killing their herdsman and capturing his wife. Their intriguing and use of their wealth to incite tribes against the Muslims left the prophet Muhammad with no choice but to put an end to their machinations and betrayals that had almost caused the extermination of the Muslim community in the previous battle. A detachement of above 1000 men was sent to their fortresses. It took the Muslims 20 days of siege and several assaults led by Abu Bakr then Umar (1st & 2nd caliph) and finally Ali who vaillanty pierced the fortress and inflicted heavy casualties in the Jews and pagan ranks. After their defeat, the tribes of Bani Nadir and Qainuqa were expelled and over those that remained, Muhammad proposed putting their own chief Usir ibn Rizam as Governor of Khaybar over his fellow Jews, but he had to recognize the Prophet's authority and never engage in hostilities or stir up anyone against the Muslims again. He accepted but on his way back to Khaybar where he was escorted with his 30 men and some armed Muslim men, he regretted his decision and attacked the Prophet's messenger, killing him. Followed a heavy fight from which no Muslim died and all Jewish soldiers were killed except 1 who escaped. The history books report that one of the chiefs of the Bani Nadir named Kinana ibn Rabi, who had been given amnesty and relocated to Khaybar, was put to death under the prophet's orders, by Muhammad ibn Maslama in retaliation for the murder of his borther Mahmud. The rest of the story according to which, prior to his death, he was supposedly tortured for his refusal to indicate the location of his hidden treasure, was copied by both Tabari and Ibn Hisham from Ibn Ishaq who doesnt give any isnad with it.

With the collapse of their last fortress, the Jews did not pose any more threat to the Muslims. Those that were expelled had their immovable properties confiscated and redistributed to the homeless among Muslims, who still had no dwelling places since their migration from Mecca. Those that were allowed to stay, remained on the condition that they could be expelled anytime should they return to treachery, desire for war or instigating others against the Muslims. They could keep their property but in exchange had to provide the Muslims with part of their crops, they had to relinquish their insularity and participate in the life of the whole community with the rights and obligations that naturally ensue. Ibn Rawahah was placed as governor, and under the Prophet's instructions the Jews were allowed free practice of their religion. Now the believers had inherited under divine sanction their lands and wealth just as other unrighteous people's possessions were entirely given to them as spoils Neh9:25"And they captured fortified cities and fat soil, and they inherited houses full of all good, hewn cisterns, vineyards, and olive trees, and fruit trees in abundance, and they ate and were sated, and they became fat, and they enjoyed pleasures with Your great goodness".

[frankie]

Eagle
Mohammed changed what God had revealed previously through His prophets, condemning him as a false prophet.
True prophets of the Bible God preach repentance from sin and to obey the commandments of God based on love of God, and love of all people regardless of faith.

No true prophet ever taught to fight people to bring them to accept YHWH as the only God, but Mohammed did, he claimed he had been ordered to fight people to bring them to accept Allah as the only god, and to view all non Muslims as” enemies of Islam and its people “because they do not believe as Muslims do.

It is Kufr alone which makes someone a target of aggression against them, nothing else.

Mohammed is proved to be a fraud.

“Fighting the Jews and Christians is legislated because They are Idolators and Disbelievers
Tafsir Ibn Kathir 9.30
Allah the Exalted encourages the believers to fight the polytheists, disbelieving Jews and Christians, who uttered this terrible statement and utter lies against Allah, the Exalted. As for the Jews, they claimed that `Uzayr was the son of God, Allah is free of what they attribute to Him. As for the misguidance of Christians over `Isa, it is obvious. This is why Allah declared both groups to be liars, That is their saying with their mouths), but they have no proof that supports their claim, other than lies and fabrications resembling), imitating the saying of those who disbelieved aforetime.) They imitate the previous nations who fell into misguidance just as Jews and Christians did,, may Allah fight them), Ibn `Abbas said, "May Allah curse them (how they are deluded away from the truth!) how they deviate from truth, when it is apparent, exchanging it for misguidance.......”


Ibn Kathir Quran 9.29

Paying Jizyah is a Sign of Kufr and Disgrace
Allah said,
(until they pay the Jizyah), if they do not choose to embrace Islam, (with willing submission), in defeat and subservience,
(and feel themselves subdued.), disgraced, humiliated and belittled. Therefore, Muslims are not allowed to honor the people of Dhimmah or elevate them above Muslims, for they are miserable, disgraced and humiliated.

Muslim recorded from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet said, (Do not initiate the Salam to the Jews and Christians, and if you meet any of them in a road, force them to its narrowest alley.) This is why the Leader of the faithful `Umar bin Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, demanded his well-known conditions be met by the Christians, these conditions that ensured their continued humiliation, degradation and disgrace.

The scholars of Hadith narrated from `Abdur-Rahman bin Ghanm Al-Ash`ari that he said, "I recorded for `Umar bin Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, the terms of the treaty of peace he conducted with the Christians of Ash-Sham: `In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. This is a document to the servant of Allah `Umar, the Leader of the faithful, from the Christians of such and such city. When you (Muslims) came to us we requested safety for ourselves, children, property and followers of our religion. We made a condition on ourselves that we will neither erect in our areas a monastery, church, or a sanctuary for a monk, nor restore any place of worship that needs restoration nor use any of them for the purpose of enmity against Muslims. We will not prevent any Muslim from resting in our churches whether they come by day or night, and we will open the doors ﴿of our houses of worship﴾ for the wayfarer and passerby.

Those Muslims who come as guests, will enjoy boarding and food for three days. We will not allow a spy against Muslims into our churches and homes or hide deceit ﴿or betrayal﴾ against Muslims. We will not teach our children the Qur'an, publicize practices of Shirk, invite anyone to Shirk or prevent any of our fellows from embracing Islam, if they choose to do so. We will respect Muslims, move from the places we sit in if they choose to sit in them. We will not imitate their clothing, caps, turbans, sandals, hairstyles, speech, nicknames and title names, or ride on saddles, hang swords on the shoulders, collect weapons of any kind or carry these weapons. We will not encrypt our stamps in Arabic, or sell liquor.

We will have the front of our hair cut, wear our customary clothes wherever we are, wear belts around our waist, refrain from erecting crosses on the outside of our churches and demonstrating them and our books in public in Muslim fairways and markets. We will not sound the bells in our churches, except discretely, or raise our voices while reciting our holy books inside our churches in the presence of Muslims, nor raise our voices ﴿with prayer﴾ at our funerals, or light torches in funeral processions in the fairways of Muslims, or their markets. We will not bury our dead next to Muslim dead, or buy servants who were captured by Muslims. We will be guides for Muslims and refrain from breaching their privacy in their homes.' When I gave this document to `Umar, he added to it, `We will not beat any Muslim. These are the conditions that we set against ourselves and followers of our religion in return for safety and protection. If we break any of these promises that we set for your benefit against ourselves, then our Dhimmah (promise of protection) is broken and you are allowed to do with us what you are allowed of people of defiance and rebellion.'''




True religion is not about fighting people; it is about the spiritual battle between the forces of good and evil, using spiritual weapons, which Mohammed did not preach, he used warfare as his modus operandi to instil “terror into the hearts of unbelievers, “proving he was nothing more than a product of his time, an Arabian gangster, who led his armies into battle to fight and kill in the cause of his imaginary pagan god Allah, kill those who resisted, stole their properties as booty, and used the remaining women as sex slaves for his own pleasure.

Nothing has changed since this time, because Mohammed’s example is for all time and places, Muslims are turned into terrorists for their god, when using Mohammed as their lifelong role model, proved by the Islamic invasions and conquests of India,Persia,North Africa and Spain, as well as world events on a daily basis.

You,and all Muslims are victims of this con mans deception, you are therefore wasting your time and life accepting him at his word to be a prophet of God, when his own words and example prove him to be nothing more than a murderer, liar and thief.

Aisha’s marriage to Mohammed

Aisha was six/seven when betrothed to Mohammed, and had sex with him when she was nine, according to Al Tabari and Ibn Ishaq.

If you want to claim otherwise, your argument is with your own scholars who you have to prove wrong first.


Ibn Ishaq. The Life of Muhammad. Translated by A. Guillaume. p. 792. He married A'isha in Mecca when she was a child of seven and lived with her in Medina when she was nine or ten.

Al Tabari pages 128,129,130.

The Events of the Year io 129
The Reason Why the Messenger of God Asked for
the Hands of Both `A'ishah and Sawdah in Marriage
and the Received Reports as to with Whom He First
Contracted the Marriage
Said b. Yabya b. Said al-Umawi879-his father880-Mulammad
b. `Amr-Yabya b. 'Abd al-Ra] min b. Hitib881-`A'ishah: When [11768]
Khadijah died, Khawlah bt. Hakim b. Umayyah b. al-Awga^, wife
of `Uthmin b. Ma:;'un, who was in Mecca, said [to the Messenger
of God], "0 Messenger of God, will you not marry?" He replied,
"Whom?" "A maiden," she said, "if you like, or a non-maiden."
He replied, "Who is the maiden?" "The daughter of the dearest
creature of God to you," she answered, "`A'ishah bt. Abi Bakr."
He asked, "And who is the non-maiden ?" "Sawdah bt. Zamah b.
Qays," she replied, "she has [long] believed in you and has followed
you." [So the Prophet] asked her to go and propose to them
on his behalf.
She went to Abu Bakr's house, where she found Umm Rumen,
mother of `A'ishah, and said, "0 Umm Rumen, what a good thing
and a blessing has God brought to you !" She said, "What is that?"
Khawlah replied, "The Messenger of God has sent me to ask for
`A'ishah's hand in marriage on his behalf." She answered. "I ask
that you wait for Abu Bakr, for he should be on his way." When
Abu Bakr came, Khawlah repeated what she had said. He replied,
"She is [like] his brother's daughter. Would she be appropriate for
him?" When Khawlah returned to the Messenger of God and told
him about it he said, "Go back to him and say that he is my
brother in Islam and that I am his brother [in IslamJ, so his
daughter is good for me." She came to Abu Bakr and told him
what the Messenger of God had said. Then he asked her to wait
until he returned.
Umm Rumen said that al-Mut'im b. 'Adi had asked `A'ishah's
hand for his son, but Abu Bakr had not promised anything. Abu
Bakr left and went to Mut'im while his wife, mother of the son for
879. Died in 249/863. Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib, IV, 97-98.
88o. Yabyi b. Said b. Abin b. Said b. a1-`AO died in 194 /809-10. Ibid., XI, 213-
14.
881. Died in 104/

130 The Last Years of the Prophet

whom he had asked 'A'ishah's hand, was with him. She said, "0
son of Abu Quhafah, perhaps we could marry our son to your
daughter if you could make him leave his religion and bring him
[1769] in to the religion which you practice." He turned to her husband
al-Mut'im and said, "What is she saying?" He replied, "She says
[what you have just heard]." Abu Bakr left, [realizing that] God
had [just] removed the problem he had in his mind. He said to
Khawlah, "Call the Messenger of God." She called him and he
came. Abu Bakr married ['A'ishah] to him when she was [only] six
years old.
Then Khawlah left and went to Sawdah, saying, "0 Sawdah,
what a good thing and a blessing has God brought to you!" She
said, "What is that?" Khawlah replied, "The Messenger of God
has sent me with a marriage proposal ." Sawdah said, "I want you
to go to my father and tell him about it." Khawlah states: He was
a very old man and had stayed away from the pilgrimage. I went
to him and greeted him with the pre-Islamic salutation and told
him that Muhammad b. 'Abdallah b. 'Abd al-Muttalib had sent
me to ask for Sawdah's hand in marriage. "A noble match," he
replied, "What does your friend882 say?" "She likes it," Khawlah
replied. He said, "Call her to me." She was called and he said, "0
Sawdah, [this woman] alleges that Muhammad b. 'Abdallah b.
'Abd al-Muttalib has sent her to propose marriage to you, which is
a noble match. Do you wish that I marry you to him?" "Yes," she
replied. Then he called for him. [The Prophet] came and he married
her to him. Her brother 'Abd b. Zam'ah came from the pilgrimage
and [when he found out about the marriage] began to
pour dust over his head. After he had embraced Islam he said, "I
was a fool who poured dust over his head the day the Messenger
of God married Sawdah bt. Zam'ah."

'A'ishah states: We came to Medina and Abu Bakr took up
quarters in al-Sunk among the Banu al-Harith b. al-Khazraj. The
Messenger of God came to our house and men and women of the
Ansar gathered around him. My mother came to me while I was
being swung on a swing between two branches and got me down.
[1770] Jumaymah, my nurse, took over and wiped my face with some
water and started leading me. When I was at the door, she stopped

882. As in IA IIbn al -Athir, Usd al-ghabahl. Text: His friend.


The Events of the Year 10 page 131

so I could catch my breath. I was then brought [in] while the
Messenger of God was sitting on a bed in our house . [My mother]
made me sit on his lap and said, "These are your relatives. May
God bless you with them and bless them with you!" Then the
men and women got up and left. The Messenger of God consummated
his marriage with me in my house when I was nine years
old. Neither a camel nor a sheep was slaughtered on behalf of me.
Only Sa'd b. 'Ubidah sent a bowl of food which he used to send to
the Messenger of God.
'Ali b. Na$r-'Abd al-$amad b. 'Abd al-Wirith-'Abd al-Wirith
b. 'Abd al-$amad-his father-Abin al-'Altar-Hisham b.
'Urwah-'Urwah: He wrote to 'Abd al-Malik b. Marwins83 stating
that he had written to him about Khadijah bt. Khuwaylid, asking
him about when she died. She died three years or close to that
before the Messenger of God's departure from Mecca, and he married
'A'ishah after Khadijah's death. The Messenger of God saw
'A'ishah twice-[first when] it was said to him that she was his
wife (she was six years old at that time), and later [when] he
consummated his marriage with her after coming to Medina
when she was nine years old.
(The report goes back to Hisham b . Muhammad. See above, I,
1766.) Then the Messenger of God married 'A'ishah bt. Abi Bakr,
whose name is 'Atiq b . Abi Quhifah, who is 'Uthmin, and is
called 'Abd al-Rahman b. 'Uthman b. 'Amin b. 'Amr b . Ka'b b. Said
b. Taym b. Murrah. [The Prophet ] married her three years before
the Emigration, when she was seven years old, and consummated
the marriage when she was nine years old, after he had emigrated
to Medina in Shawwil. She was eighteen years old when he died.
The Messenger of God did not marry any maiden except her.
Then the Messenger of God married HafSah bt . 'Umar b. al-
Khattab b. Nufayl b. 'Abd al 'Uzzi b. Riyih b. 'Abdallih b. Qurt b.
Ka'b.88' Before that she was married to Khunays b. Hudhafah b.


883. He was the fifth Umayyad caliph (65-86/685-705 ). ER, s.v. 'Abd al-Malik
b. Marwin.
884. The Prophet married her in Sha'bin 3/February 625 before the battle of
Ubud. She was his fourth wife. One day, when she returned from her father's
house, she found the Messenger of God with Miriyah in her house and burst into
hysterical behavior. The situation was further aggravated by 'A'ishah 's chattering
tongue. According to Ibn Isbiq ( Kitab al-Mubtada', 240( the Prophet had divorced
her once but then took her back. She died in Shabin 45/665 . Ibn Sa'd, Tabagat,
[17711

[Fernando]

Thank you Eagle, for that mammoth work. I'm afraid it's far too much for me to study in detail at the moment but perhaps it will be the source for many discussion to come.
So I'll just pick up on one point that interested me straight away: you say
"ayyam/indefinite period of time" and quote for example 7:54. When I look this up, the translations I find have it meaning days. Obviously, it makes your apologitics more effective if it really does mean an indefinite period, but why should that be accepted in preference to days?

[Centaur]

It always takes more time to debunk nonsense than to spew it, on a ratio of about 100 to 1. Thankfully most of it has already been addressed, even on this very forum. If the author of the video wishes so, we could debate the various issues 1 on 1. Until then, the refutations:

Reason 1
Mohamed being asked to provide miracles to prove his prophethood

Miracles never force belief in a person. The HB (Deut29,Numb14), NT, and Quran all corraborate this reality. Miracles are subordinate to the moral and spiritual as well as reasonable evidences in the world around and inside man for the existance of God, and the truth brought by specific individuals. For example the clear signs spoken of in the Quran and displayed on earth do not create belief, they stimulate that already existing belief in the Unseen for the spiritually aware, the God-conscious 10:6, those who have inner certainty 10:5 but are devoid of any spiritual dimension to the spiritually blind. Miracles, in the sense of supernatural occurences, because of their temporary nature, quickly lose their lustre in the eyes of the majority of the audience of a prophet that finds itself asking each time for more, not realizing the tremendous responsibility that goes with such a request. The history of past nations and prophets, more particularily the Israelites, testifies to this reality. The Quran ushered an era of spiritual awakening through reasoning and observation, making the ones with insight capable of deriving the miraculous and divine presence in all things, regardless of time and space 2:118"Indeed We have made the communications clear for a people who are sure".
Only those people can reach the right conclusion from their observation, who are inclined to believe; as for the heedless people, who live like animals and the stubborn people who are resolved not to believe, the existence and the non-existence of the signs is equal. A God-conscious, believer in the unseen sees confirmation of a Day of Resurrection in the cycle of life and death around him 43:11. These kind of verses mentioning the obvious signs around man, almost always contain the same phrases explaining that the spiritual implications of these signs can only be perceived by those who already incline to the Truth, the spiritually aware, believers in the Unseen 3:190-1"in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day there are signs for men who understand, those who remember Allah standing and sitting and lying on their sides and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth". By definition, belief in something is a firm state of mind that does not require the manifestation of the thing in question, but this does not mean that the belief is beyond reason. For example it is much more unreasonable to assume that the world is the product of chance than of a purposeful design, especially when all the signs mentionned in the Quran, from those surrounding us every day and at each instant, down to those present in our own selves, do point in such a way to the inevitability of Judgement Day and of an afterlife, that it would be entirely unreasonable to think otherwise. There is a reason why almost every such verses are accompagnied by prases explaining that these signs are for those who use their intellect, or as stated in the Hebrew Bible in relation to the truthfulness of its message Prov8:9"They are all true to the understanding one, and straight to those who find knowledge".
Humans believe things everyday without seeing them so long as these things agree with their intellect and reason, only animals devoid of intelligence need to see to believe. For example most animals will never heed a warning until they see the threat and flee, while a human can reason and hearken the admonitions and prepare for all eventualities. But then, even some animals are capable of mental deductions based on perception, without actually seeing. Still, reasonable belief doesnt render it factual, and neither was belief ever meant to become so, so as to not compromise the whole purpose of life, as stated in the Quran; spiritual growth using one's own innate spiritual sense of perception. Bringing the unseen to the seen makes spiritual growth impossible. In the account of creation, God describes how it was precisely that aspect of human life, the capacity to translate material perception to spiritual language, then grow spiritually is what awed the angels and made them bow to Adam in acknowledgment of his potential superiority over them. The unseen isnt veiled from angels and are therefore compelled to accept these higher realities that are factual to them. That is why the Quran (and the HB, contrary to the Greek/New Testament) teaches that angels have no freedom of choice.
That belief in the unseen (God, angels, revelation, resurrection, hereafter) can never become factual doesnt make it unreasonable and in fact it is the disbelief in such concepts which is the weaker position from a rational perspective, for the reasons previously mentionned, including genetic (see "system 1").

Those who accepted the warners sent to them, firstly did it because they were not prejudiced but focused on the message that was being preached, noticing it agreed with elementary reason and their observation of the universe, transmitted by men who were obviously not deceitful charlatans motivated by any worldy pursuit since what they were comunicating could not be bought by any ammount of riches and favors, and were among the best of people in their nation 3:161,6:50,90,109,127,145,160,180,10:72,12:104,33:21,34:47,36:21,68:4,11:51,29,62"They said: O Salih! surely you were one amongst us in whom great expectations were placed before this; do you (now) forbid us from worshipping what our fathers worshipped? And as to that which you call us to, most surely we are in disquieting doubt". Simple observation also shows that had these men been seeking illegitimate profits under the guise of prophethood, they would be surrounded by the affluent, yet the contrary can consistently be seen with every prophet. It was in fact one of the common reproaches which the aristocrats use to issue against them and the Quran particularily depicts how the prophet Nuh and his poor assemblies were the target of such scorn 11:27-30.
It is only after such persons, recognized for their nobility of character, start exposing the evils and falsehood of their societies that they are demeaned, rejected and fought 11:87"They said: O Shuaib! does your prayer enjoin you that we should forsake what our fathers worshipped or that we should not do what we please with regard to our property?". And as Jesus said Jn7:14-18"Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him". Like the prophets of old, the prophet Muhammad never asked for any compensation or reward for the priceless mission he was undertaking 6:90, his reward being with Allah 34:47. Although told to never compromise the honnor and exaltedness of the revelation he was to convey 80:11-16 and much less his own self-respect in doing so -in 2:104 believers are urged to approach the Prophet with respect and to subordinate their personal desires and expectations to the commandments of the Faith revealed through him-, when he demanded money it was for charity and he even used his notoriety for that purpose 58:12"when you consult the Messenger, then offer something in charity before your consultation; that is better for you and purer; but if you do not find, then surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful". What the verse also reveals is that precedence is given to the poorest elements of society in approaching and consulting with the prophet since no pre-condition is required of them, contrary to the affluent. Traditions reflect how the injunction reduced the number of requests by the richer elements who were often seeking privileges in vain, leading to less counsels and the purification of the intellectual and social milieu of the Muslim community.
The teachings they brought forth were beautiful in their own right, they practiced what they preached and did not allow for themselves what they were asking others to abandon 40:41-43,25:57"Say: I do not ask you aught in return except that he who will, may take the way to his Lord" 11:88"..and I do not desire that in opposition to you I should betake myself to that which I forbid you..I desire nothing but reform so far as I am able" and the character of their followers, was obviously that of people following 'the right course' 36:21. Further, the very nature of their message was that of reason. It could not on any level, conflict with their inner moral intuition, and its tennets, coming from the Source of creation should be observable within patterns in the creation itself. Hence the constant appeals throughout the Quran, for the believer to seek confirmation for divine unity, resurrection and ultimate justice in the universe and within his own self.
Besides his moral attributes, the message of a prophet, in form as well as in contents, is the primary criteria for judging his truthfulness, not whether someone saw him receiving revelation, a purely personal experience 53:12"do you then dispute with him as to what he saw?" 16:105"Only they forge falsehood who do not believe in Allah’s signs and they themselves are liars".

Those who rejected their prophets did so, not because of absence or presence of miracles but because of their stubborness and attachement to a system devoid of decent moral codes, on every level; political, economical, social and spiritual, and whose sinfulness was the way by which they maintained their order 28:57"And they say: If we follow the guidance with you, we shall be carried off from our country" 23:70"and most of them are averse from the truth. And should the truth follow their low desires, surely the heavens and the earth and all those who are therein would have perished". The wealthy and the leaders of a community were therefore almost always at the forefront of that opposition and rejected the moral reforms brought by the prophets, as in the prophet Muhammad's time, as well as in the times of Nuh, Shuayb or Moses, fearing for the immoral economical and tyranical political order they had established and became dependent upon 43:51-4,11:87" O Shuayb! does your prayer enjoin you that we should forsake what our fathers worshipped or that we should not do what we please with regard to our property?" accusing the prophets of seeking to destroy their equilibrium and cause chaos 7:127 while their sole aim was the return of humankind to its awareness of God and the higher spiritual truths. In addition they wrongly thought that them being economicaly and socially privileged meant they were on the right spiritual path and used this superficial observation as an argument to steer the dominated classes of society on whom such rethoric could vastly appeal 43:23,34:34-5, as well as on the prophets themselves and their assemblies who both led humble ways of life. All this led them to accuse the callers to reform of acting under the guise of prophethood and exploiting religion to gain dominion in the land 7:90,110,123,10:78,20:57,23:24,11:88"He (Shuayb) said: ‘O My people! Bethink you’ If I be upon a clear proof from my Lord, and He has provided me with fair sustenance from Him? And I desire not, in opposition to you, to do that which I forbid you from it. I desire naught save reform so far as I am able. My success is only with Allah. On Him do I rely and unto Him I turn". As here stated by the prophet Shuayb who was faced with such attempts at discrediting his intentions, neither he nor any other prophet ever asked for any wordly reward in return of spiritual and moral reforms. The prophets however were always known among their addressees as men of great integrity and what these accusations revealed was the deep corrupt selves of the slanderers who projected their own condition upon others. Since they only had lowly expectations from fellow humans they opined that for such claims to be valid, then they could not come from the mouth of a mortal but only a supernatural being, above human limitations 23:33"This is nothing but a mortal like yourselves, eating of what you eat from and drinking of what you drink" beyond the banal normality of a family man 13:38 or at least be a man of emminent social status within their community who in their view would be eligible to communicate with the divine realm 43:31. In addition, such a person should support his credibility by bending the natural laws whenever they demanded it, performing miracles according to their whims, transforming a mountain into a pile of gold, or answer any question relating to the unseen that might come up 6:50"Say: I do not say to you, I have with me the treasures of Allah, nor do I know the unseen, nor do I say to you that I am an angel; I do not follow aught save that which is revealed to me". The prophet is told to answer that he is only following, like them, what has been revealed to him and his evidence of the realm of the unseen is that of an eye witness while his opponents do not have any real certainty and only follow conjecture and the blind speculations of others "Say: Are the blind and the seeing one alike? Do you not then reflect?"

That is why they were rejecting the calls to reform and discrediting the Messengers, many times all the while having the inner sentiment that it is the Truth, just like Pharao and the obdurate disbelievers in his nation who continued in their rejection all the while knowing that the signs could only be coming from God, going as far as pursuing the escaping Israelites after all signs were displayed Exodus8-10,Quran7:134,27:14"And they denied them unjustly and proudly while their soul had been convinced of them; consider, then how was the end of the mischief-makers". This shows that miracles or not, the issue to the obdurate and senseless rejecters was never about a prophet's truthfulness but rather about the message itself. They not only rejected the message but also did their utmost to 14:3,11:18-22"make it crooked" ie corrupt it through vehement denigration in front of any person showing interest in it, or by attempting to change it 41:40"Those who misconstrue Our Revelations are not in any way hidden from Us" that it might create confusion or even lead to the belief it conforms to their principles. As they could not but realize the interest of the people in it, they tried corrupting the message bearers themselves that they might compromise some of the revealed principles with theirs as was the case in the days of the prophet Muhammad and prophets before him as depicted in the HB. The frustration of the opponents of Truth would reach its highest as they found themselves unable to influence the minds of the people, so they would finally resort to death threats or expulsion from the land 14:13.

In 6:111,10:95-101 Allah speaks of those who continuously reject His communications, they will not believe no matter what sign is shown to them. All scriptures speak of such rejectors bent on denying revelation no matter what. In fact if they truly wanted a sign and werent instead seeking excuses for their disbelief, they would have at least considered the surrounding signs that point to the realities of which the Quran speak of but the fact is these obdurate disbelievers see the Truth only when the promised divine torment in this earth or death overtakes them, just as Pharao came to believe only when he was drowning. Allah then says in 10:99 that He could have forced all humanity to believe, but He does not simply because it must be done out of freewill of which man will have to answer on Judgement Day, and further it would go against the principle of no coercion in religion 2:256,18:29. Just as He could force all people to believe, none could have believed if it wasnt for Him: He sent humanity its guidance to the straight path by making a clear distinction between right and wrong 16:9,92:12, as pledged to Adam 2:38-39 and He could, but does not due to His mercy, take it away anytime He wishes 17:86-7 as He temporarily did to the undeserving nation of Israel that kept on rejecting, persecuting and killing the prophets in their midst Ezek3:26,24:27 or erase parts of it from the prophet's own memory without him noticing it 87:6-7, nothing passes out of His control. Finally, when Allah says that He "casts uncleanness on those who will not understand", the uncleanness ie spiritual degeneration is the natural result of such behavior of blind denial and not using the reason when the communications of Allah are recited and clearly explained.
The gift of guidance belongs to God alone, and He bestows it on whoever is deemed fit to receive it, based upon the internal condition of the person, those with a sense of responsibility. The repeated arrogant arent deemed worthy. When Jesus was challenged by the wicked Pharisees to display supernatual wonders as he did in his ministry, he answered them Mk8:11-13"Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it." Jesus categorically denied them the performence of Signs, and effectively, Jesus never appeared to those very people who demanded him a miracle after his alleged resurrection despite the later gospel of Matt12:39 saying that the only sign these disbelievers will witness is Jesus' resurrection (yet even according to that Gospel they still did not witness it). In fact the risen Jesus never appears to anyone but believers. Those stubborn disbelievers demanded miracles to excuse their unbelief. The demand of a sign in itself is not condemnable when it is motivated by a desire of assurance of an already existing, sincere belief. Even prophets requested such signs from God, seeking to know the reality of certain hidden phenomenos like the resurrection 2:259-60. However when such demand is but a reflection of disbelief and denial, a mere display of mockery, skepticism then God either rejects the demand through His prophets or immidiately punishes the culprits for their insolence as was the case with the Jews who, after witnessing all sorts of signs and wonders in Egypt and during their journey, still demanded to see God whom Moses claimed he conversed with 2:55,4:153.
When they protested that no sign has descended to the prophet Muhammad as one of the reason of their disbelief, they were answered that their disbelief is not due to the lack of signs, but rather the lack of any desire in them to seek right guidance. For Allah does not force one to follow the Right Way, if he deliberately turns away from it. He lets such persons wander on the wrong ways they choose to wander 13:27 and in the NT Jesus reiterates the principle that miracles were only granted to those who desired them to confirm their faith, as Abraham or Gideon (Judges6), and to grant satisfaction to those that already incline to truth 6:109"And they swear by Allah with the strongest of their oaths, that if a sign came to them they would most certainly believe in it. Say: Signs are only with Allah; and what should make you know that when it comes they will not believe?" such as the magicians who were gathered and compelled by Pharao to challenge Moses yet they disputed about the matter showing how reluctant they were in going forth 20:58-73.
This was Thomas and Philip's case in Jn14 for example, who believed and inclined to the truth but wanted satisfaction and clearing of some remaining doubts. Jesus used the miracle argument to comfort them, he is not addressing unbelievers and trying to convert them using miracles, he is addressing believers and reminding them of his miracles as a support to some specific claim. Same in Jn11:1-44. In fact we even read in Mk10:46-52,Matt9:27-30 how it is faith that actually causes Jesus' miracles to succeed. In Nazareth, Jesus was unable to do "powerful works" because he was not believed in. In Luke24 Jesus, after his alleged resurrection, encounters 2 men who declare their disbelief in the one whom they thought had failed in his mission and instead of revealing his identity which would have been a compelling evidence for them to believe, scolds them for their disbelief in scriptures which he claimed he fulfilled, meaning his demand was to have faith in scriptures without the need to resort to supernatural evidence. Jesus alludes to this reality again in a parable where a disbeliever put in hell requests the performence of a miracle to his people -who possess and know the scriptures- still on earth that they might believe Lk16:19-31"If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead".
The Quran, after mentionning the various miracles of Jesus, points that these were signs for the believers 3:49. Simon, Peter, James and John did not need the slightest miracle to believe in Jesus' prophethood Matt4,Jn1:35-51 but all are said to "believe" in Jesus a second time after they saw his miracles and that is because it strengthened their already existing belief Jn2:11. When Moses was sent to announce the future deliverance of the Israelites, he was strenghtened with miracles and sent to the elders of the community, those grounded in knowledge, devoted to study, already inclined to the truth and knew God Ex4. They were those who would first and foremost believe Moses' words and this is because they had preserved the knowledge that God would remember them and lead them out of Egypt into the land promised to Abraham Gen50:24-25. The sign would be that one would come to them with the words matching exactly that promise and therefore Moses was commanded to remind them of it with the same words as sufficient proof of his prophethood Ex3:15-18. From a purely comparative viewpoint, supposing Moses or Jesus' miracles were productive and crucial in supporting their missions as well as gathering followers, which they clearly were not (as seen from how readily the Israelites strayed from the path during and after Moses, as well as the very few followers of Jesus in his lifetime). The fact remains that, like every action, they were only temporary in nature and could not be seen twice, disappearing and becoming history as soon as performed, leaving those that did not see them to rely at best on those claiming to have seen them. This issue in itself isnt really problematic so long as the line of prophethood hasnt been discontinued yet, since the subsequent prophet will perform his own miracles and endorse the prophet who preceded him.
With Muhammad, the case was different. He was the Final of the prophets. He could not rely on any miraculous action, because no action can last long enough to be seen by other generations. Nor could he rely on the endorsement of a subsequent prophet. The nature of his miracle therefore had to be of a different type. It had to be lasting in order to be witnessed and tested by the future generations as well as by his contemporaries. For that pupose, nothing was more adapted to the technology of the time than a miraculous speech recorded in writing so that its superiority be witnessed and tested at any time by any generation.

It is also to be noted that miracles serve as an assurance to prophets themselves who are always of very humble, sometimes secluded character, and are suddenly tasked with completing a mission of momentous importance, on a road covered with difficult obstacles. Miracles serve the purpose of uplifting them and giving them courage and confidence in their own selves, to face the staunch opposition of the people and their powerful leaders.

6:33 speaks of the prophet grieving over his people's disbelief as well as their persecution of him and his followers. Allah then tells him that as was done with previous messengers, His help comes in due time and there is none that can change these words of promises by Allah 6:34. The prophet should therefore be patient 6:67"For every prophecy is a term, and you will come to know it" he must understand that miracles are not manifested to conform to the whims and wishes of the disbelievers, but to warn a nation that it might mend its evil ways, to make the people mindful of the fact that the prophecies of punishement in this world conveyed by the prophets, let alone the Hereafter, will eventually unfold at some point should the people persist in their rejection of God's messengers and the signs sent with them. This means signs are in fact manifestations of God's mercy 17:59"and We do not send signs but to make (men) fear". When God judges that every possible warning has been properly conveyed and that a nation's respite during which it was given sufficient time to reflect on the signs and message brought by the prophets has expired, and that nothing more can be done to make them mend their ways, He imposes His judgement on the rejecters of His prophets in this world.
The Quran, through the stories of Muhammad who presented the surrounding signs attesting to the truth of his message, the miraculous Quran along with its prophecies whose rejection by Muhammad's nation despite their unfolding eventually resulted in their defeat and destruction when their appointed time of respite expired, or the stories of prophets of the past who presented signs and prophecies to their people with the aim of warning them but to no avail, which brought about their ultimate destruction, confirms that principle.
When the disbelievers request signs, it is only because they are seeking excuses for their disbelief, or to side-track the issue of worshipping only One God and rejecting their false gods 6:36"Only those accept who listen". Such people are heedless of the fact that signs cause the destruction of those that request then reject them. Their time of respite during which they are given opportunities to mend their evil ways expires and they are destroyed because such manifest sign leaves no more room for speculation.
So, as denoted in 17:59, it clearly is God's Mercy that prevents him from sending a miracle as per their immidiate request. The second part of the verse 17:59 says what kind of "ancients" reject signs. They were the Thamud who were destroyed when they transgressed in the matter of the she-camel, a sign they had requested then denied, regarding it to be mere intimidation and a pressure tactic 14:9-10,26:154-5. The prophecied punishement that befell them all of a sudden, while in their homes that consequently became their tombs, came as an overly exceeding 69:5 loud blast/sayha or lethal noise/saaiqa that caused a rajfat/shaking in them (shaking from a sound) 7:78,11:65-7,41:17.

A few generations later the people of Madyan to whom Shuayb was sent would suffer a similar fate 11:94,29:36-7. The ruins of the people of Thamud can still be seen up to this day 27:52,29:38 despite the passing of civilisations over them, including the Nabataeans who would later put their dead in these very homes once carved in mountains by the Thamud 26:149, thus extending upon these latter's original constructions. The Thamud themselves inherited the land from the nation of Aad to whom Hud was sent, and who were also visited by divine punishement in the form of an extreme windstorm, killing them, and that kept on blowing for several days and nights until their once imposing but now lifeless bodies in which they prided themselves were torn apart along with their achievements and possessions 7:73-4,11:50-60,41:13-18,51:41-2,54:19-20,69:6-7. Contrary to the devastation caused by nature or humans, when divine destruction is sent upon a people, it leaves no chance to anyone or anything meant to be annihilated, as here stated regarding the nations of Madyan and Thamud 11:95-100"As though they had never dwelt there...This is of the tidings of the towns (which) We relate to you; some of them are still standing and some have been mown down".
Archeology isnt conclusive regarding the Thamud, or as the Quran states concerning them in other ancient nations 14:9"None knows them but Allah". According to the encyclopedia britannica they are a people who probably originated in southern Arabia, with some moving northward and settling on the slopes of Mount Athlab while others remained towards the center as suggested through numerous Thamudic rock writings and pictures not only on Mount Athlab but also throughout central Arabia.

The example of Thamud is very relevant here because it is exactly the same scenario as with the Quraysh who were tauntingly demanding the prophet Muhammad for a sign. The verse isnt speaking of the sending of signs in general, but of the sending of signs as per the disbelievers' request. The verse is saying "We will not answer your request for a sign because people like you in the past did the same and when they got what they wanted they remained in denial so We had to destroy them as per the requirements of divine justice" ie "We are being merciful in not answering your request".
The Thamud had to leave her to drink freely in the intervals of time decreed for her, and then take their turn along with their cattle 54:27-9,17:59"and We gave to Samood the she-camel-- a manifest sign-- but on her account they did injustice". The camel was sent after a long time of respite and continuous taunting of their prophet, and when they rejected that sign which they themselves requested, they were destroyed. Before that, during their time of respite, they kept mockingly asking for the punishement to befall them and were urged to ask for forgiveness instead. As per the divine law concerning the prevailing of God's messengers and destruction of the die-hard rejecters, they were bound to perish at the expiration of their time of respite. This means they were bound to be destroyed whether or not their request for a sign was granted, so God used those people who were doomed in all case as an example for the following generations by accepting their request for a sign.
It is thus a mercy to these very people to whom prophets of all times were confronted, that God does not answer their request immidiately. Thus, it is in Quraysh's own interest that they do not emulate the preceding nations by keep demanding the prophet to send them a sign, instead of pondering on the message and the numerous signs observable daily that attest to the truth of his message. If Allah accepts their request, they may be subject to severe punishment - this subtly alludes to the gradual unfolding of the Quranic miracle, and His mercy in giving them respite to contemplate on the message and signs He sends or directs them at.
This is an important aspect of miracles. If God chooses to manifest one through his prophets or by other means, it establishes the tremendous responsibility of those that witness it because its rejection causes God's retribution to inevitably descend at the appropriate time by those who persist in their denial, if not immidiately on those who made the request for a sign then rejected it. In the context of reminding the ISraelites for the signs they were shown, the Quran states 44:33"And We gave them of the signs that in which there was an obvious trial".
God therefore clearly warns those who demand it as a challenge or mockery, that they are in fact inviting their own doom 40:78"and it was not meet for a messenger that he should bring a sign except with Allah's permission, but when the command of Allah came, judgment was given with truth, and those who treated (it) as a lie were lost". When the tables descended for Jesus and the Apostles 5:112-5, God warned the Apostles, through Jesus, that if they turned away after this, they would face a punishment unlike what others would normally face because it came at their own request. This is an observable reality through the history of the Jewish people and the severity of their punishements that were collective and at the height of the miracles they witnessed and sometimes requested as a community. As Jesus said, the entire nation will be held accountable for the death of the prophets although not all of them physically took part in their murder Matt14:10,17:l2,Lk11:47-51. It is even reported that the Jews arrogantly and defiently accepted that concept of collective punishment Matt27:25.

The prophet Muhammad is thus told that if he could not bare patiently for a miracle to manifest itself then let him go up himself to the skies if he can, and bring them the sign they demand for them to have faith as they alledge 6:35"seek an opening (to go down) into the earth or a ladder (to ascend up) to heaven so that you should bring them a sign and if Allah had pleased He would certainly have gathered them all on guidance". That purpose of raising a new community to be the living spiritual torch of mankind succeeded towards the end of the prophet's life, when the pagan Arab tribes professed faith almost in one body after the peaceful conquest of Mecca, when the Kaaba was cleansed from the rule of the polytheists and another people raised in their stead 14:13-14,6:133-4"Surely what you are threatened with must come to pass and you cannot escape it". That is because in a universal system based on Truth, falsehood is bound to perish 34:49,21:16-8,14:19"Do you not see that Allah created the heavens and the earth with truth? If He please He will take you off and bring a new creation".
Ultimately this new people, the Muslims, were made successors in the land while being warned that if they transgress they will be swiftly requited and replaced by the One encompassing them as He encompasses the whole earth, capable of establishing a better creation instead of them, if not just as good as they regard their own make, implying the ease with which He could reproduce man in his original form 6:165,70:40-1,76:28. Similar warnings were issued to the Israelites should they brake the covenant after He established them in the land and made them to inherit all of what their oppressors were enjoying ungratefully, including their lands 7:137,26:57-9,Deut8:19-20,Deut28-31, even causing them to forcefully replace powerful people in their own lands because of their wickedness Deut9 just as some of the previous nations that rejected their prophets were destroyed and another nation raised in their stead as trustees of God's favors 10:71-3,44:26,7:69,74,137,100"Is it not clear to those who inherit the earth after its (former) residents that if We please We would afflict them on account of their faults".
The HB uses a very appropriate metaphore to describe that reality, picturing a sacred land becoming sick of its inhabitants' practices to the point it cannot contain them anymore Lev18:24-8"Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled. Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants..." Lev20:22-3"And you shall observe all My statutes and all My ordinances, and fulfill them, then the Land, to which I am bringing you to dwell therein, will not vomit you out. You shall not follow the practices of the nation that I am sending away from before you, for they committed all these [sins], and I was disgusted with them".
The prophet Solomon Prov2:21-22 and before him David spoke of that reality Ps37:9-11"evildoers shall be cut off, and those who hope for the Lord-they will inherit the land. A short while longer and the wicked man is not here, and you shall look at his place and he is not there. But the humble shall inherit the land, and they shall delight in much peace".
The heritage of the earth in this worldly life is neither permanent nor everlasting. It is merely bestowed as a trial for different communities. On the other hand, the ultimate and everlasting heritage of the "land" will only be bestowed in the Hereafter to the righteous believers 21:105,39:73-4.

The Quran contains information about previous prophets and their nations, divine realities which were often unknown to Muhammad and/or his addressees, and many times forgotten for long by all people previously to the revelation of the Quran 3:44,4:113,11:49,12:102,19:34. The final revelation has remained preserved as prophecied 15:9, which is actually the reverse that one would normally expect considering the history of tampering, corruption and neglect of religious scriptures, let alone the fact that the Quran was introduced by an illiterate, to an equally illiterate nation that overwhelmingly stood against him and his book, and on top of all had no tradition of written transmitted text. Not only has it not perished and disappeared as per the prophecy, it has survived in its pristine form, again, as predicted 41:41-42. The necessary fulfilement of that pledge is directly linked to the prophecied discontinuation of prophethood after Muhammad 33:40. This prediction, a negative prediction thus much more difficult to be truthful, like many others in the Quran goes against what is normally expected, which is that God should continue sending His prophets to mankind as He did many times before. There are no reasons to assume that the generations and nations that preceded Muhammad were more entitled to heavenly messages than those after him, especially considering the overwhelming place materialism has taken in our age versus spirituality. The more time passes, the more it is proven true, if we bear in mind the maximum gap of years between prophets of the past.
The Quran successfully prophecises events that have already occured, such as the unthinkable defeat of the Romans and their revenge afterwards 30:2-4, the prophet's victorious return to Mecca following his exile at a time when none could have imagined for such an outcome to materialize 28:85,48:27 as is the case with the early predictions of overall triumph and establishement of Islam 24:55 no matter the intensity and will to extinguish its light (including by a combined assault from the hostile elements within Arabia as well as the 2 adjacent superpowers of the time -the Byzantine and Persian empires- which were all defeated soon after the prophecy. Islam reigned supreme within a century later, from the Atlantic Ocean to India) 9:32-3,48:28,61:8-9, the unflinshing divine protection of the prophet who is in addition urged to continue transmitting the message in the midst of the turmoil 5:70. In what seems to be referring to the future event where the believers will be standing in ranks (either in prayer or in war, but in all cases, the word implies a high number), repelling evil (of oppression and sin) and reciting the Reminder, the Quran makes a forcefull prophetic statement of victory which is in itself testimony to the gist of the Quranic message; divine unity 37:1-4. This prophetic oath is later reinforced in the same sura, as well as in many other Quranic passages, when referring to God's promise of divine assistance to His messengers and their followers, opposite the destruction of their enemies and rejecters, placing Muhammad inside a well-known established pattern in the prophetic history 37:171-182,54:9-45etc.
The Quran also predicted the severe divine chastisement of the Jewish nation in a similar manner as was twice done in antiquity 17:4-7. This could only be refering to their near-decimation during the 2nd world war.

The Quran has pointed and explained the implications of many signs which exist in the world around and within man 2:115,12:105,31:20 continuously unfolding themselves before him -as denoted with the present progressive tense 41:53- calling him to ponder on the smallest details which are the true miracles happening everyday under his eyes and proof of divine presence. This is the particularity of the Quranic argument, to grasp things, concepts, phenomena which the human sees and experiences on a near daily basis, and teaches him the right angle from which to perceive them. Therefore a person who never views a supernatural wonder, per the Quran, can attain a much higher superiority in the eyes of God that those that did, because they believed only through their intellect and reason 2:118"Indeed We have made the signs clear for a people who are sure". When such signs fail to convince people's hearts and set right their vision, then it means such people cannot perceive the divine presence 10:101"Consider what is it that is in the heavens and the earth; and signs and warners do not avail a people who would not believe". Therefore, and as Jesus stated regarding the wicked Pharisees, why would God manifest a sign to those who reject the innumerable wonders evidence of His existence and whose hearts are devoid of faith 6:109-110"And they swear by Allah with the strongest of their oaths, that if a sign came to them they would most certainly believe in it. Say: Signs are only with Allah; and what should make you know that when it comes they will not believe? And We will turn their hearts and their sights, even as they did not believe in it the first time, and We will leave them in their inordinacy, blindly wandering on".
The Quran confirms and upholds the miracles performed by past prophets as signs of God's power, mercy, wisdom, and reitirates the fact that God exalted some prophets above others in certain particular fields. The Quran does not denigrate or deny these miracles and the exalted status of some prophets, in order to justify the fact that Muhammad like many other prophets even of the HB did not perform great wonders such as those of Moses or Jesus.



Reason 2
Historical error: Mohamed mixes up Miriam and the Virgin Mary in the Bible

There are no records in scriptures of the past as to who Mary's parents were. The Quran says Mary's mother was married to a man named Imran 3:35. There is an absurd accusation that the Quran makes an anachronistic error because it names Mary's father Imran, who also happens to be the father of another Mary that lived centuries prior in the Bible. As if people within a tribe dont share the same names, or that for example Zechariah is the only prophet to hold that name or that Joseph who is believed by Christians to be Mary's husband was the first man ever among Israel to bear that name? Or was Mary actually married to the Joseph who ruled Egypt? There are many instances within the Bible to corroborate for example Jethro's 7 different names are shared by other people too, some of them were his contemporaries and others came after him. Same thing with Elihu ben Barachel, whose name many people share over different generations for example the prophet Samuel's great-grandfather 1Sam1:1, a brother of the prophet King David 1Chron27:18, a chief of the Manasheh tribe 1Chron12:20 and a descendant of Korah 1Chron26:7.
In her pregnancy, Imran's pious wife vowed to offer what was in her womb to the devotion of God 3:35 as denoted with "muharraran" to mean that the child is free of any other obligation or attachment. She desired a male whom she wanted to follow in the footsteps of the priestly family, living in devotion to God and serving Him in the Temple. This religious function was prescribed exclusively for the male descendants of the Levites branch. It was Harun/Aaron who is said to have initiated that function for the Israelites Ex28:1,29,40:13,Lev8,1:3,Num3:10,18:4-7 and renewed again by Phinehas Numbers25:13.
But when she brought forth a female whom she thought wouldnt be able to live up to her spiritual expectations and duties in the Temple, she was explained that her excellence would go far beyond any hopes and desires she had entertained 3:36"God had been fully aware of what she would give birth to, and [fully aware] that no male child [she might have hoped for] could ever have been like this female". She named her Maryam and invoked Allah's protection on her and her offspring 3:36. Maryam was orphaned early on which is why she was given at a young age to one of God's prophets, Zakariyya, for care 3:37,44.
God received Mary's mother's prayers and manifested them in the best way; under Zakariya's close guardianship, she was taken care of to develop physically and spiritually. The Arabic in 3:37 uses a beautiful imagery saying literally "her nurturing Lord accepted her with beautiful reception, and made her planted a good planting, and He made Zachariah to take care of her". Mary remained in total devotion to God, mostly practicing worship in seclusion in her own private area of prayers, almihrab (the root H-R-B means war or distancing and separation. It also means the person’s money or the most important place in the house. ALMIHRAB is used to mean the most private part of the house, or the most important part of the house and the place of prayer is included within that meaning).

A priest's daughter or "Bat-Kohen" is considered unique compared to the other Israelite daughters. A uniqueness due -amongst other attributes such as scrupulous modesty thereby portraying the values of maintaining a life dedicated to holiness- to her inherent ability to cope with above average and even intense levels of spirituality due to her upbringing by a Kohen/priest, whose life is dedicated to God's service.
Since Mary belonged to the priestly caste, whose founder was the renowned Harun, she was associated to him with the metaphorical phrase "sister of Harun" by the slanderers 19:27-28. This was to stress the shamefulness of her act in relation to the illustruous names in her family, most relevant to her status as a priest's daughter.

There has been a claim that the Quran made an anachronistic error by mistaking Mary/Miriam Jesus' mother with Mary/Miriam Aaron's and Moses' sister spoken of in the Bible in and who lived long before. Putting aside the fact that such critics, mainly from a Judeo-Christian background forget that such phraseologies have always been used by Israelites, including Jesus when he stated that, regardless of time and space Mk3:35"Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother". What these critics need to consider is that, had this been true, why does the verse not depict these Jewish slanderers as resorting to the weigthiest of all arguments by singling out her other alleged brother, Moses who is mentionned in the same sentence together with Aaron, as Miriam's brother in the text from whence the Quran's author supposedly copied from Num26:59? He in addition is the sole prophet who, according to the Jewish tenets of faith up to this day, they must recognize as the greatest of all. Jewish tradition and scriptures repeatedly describe him as having superior authority, prestige and prophetic experience as echoed even in the Quran, and here are those very Jews pointing to Harun instead, a mere support and assistant of Moses, who lacked authority among his people to the point they rebelled against him in Moses' absence and even indulged in polytheism under his watch, with their scriptures even painting him as among the instigaters of the transgression?
The mentionning of Harun instead of the greater names in Mary's alleged contemporary family such as Moses, demonstrates it cannot be speaking of her literal, physical sisterhood but rather to her metaphorical descendency from a specific branch whose founder was Harun, and who had established a cast inside which a woman was supposed to represent the highest standards of chastity and piety through her spiritual devotion and impeccable upringing by a priest.

The other attack against the Quran, that it should have said "daughter of Harun" as is usally done when speaking of the descendant of an illustruous character is nonsensical in that context since the verse also speaks in one breath of her biological parents who have passed away. Had the Quran used "daughter of Harun" instead it would have confused the sentence and implied that Harun was her biological FATHER "O DAUGHTER of Harun! Your FATHER was not an evil human, nor was your mother unchaste". That argument not only is nonsensical syntactically but also shoots down the critics' own argument since it invalidates their claim that the Quran confounded Mary/Miriam (Jesus' mother) with the Miriam who was Aaron's biological SISTER and lived long before.

Also, the Quran speaks of Mary and Jesus as coming after Moses, clearly in a context where countless generations of messengers succeeding eachother seperates them 2:87,3:50,5:43-46,etc which again negates the claim it thought they were all contemporaries due to the supposed mixing of Maryam the mother of Jesus with Maryam the sister of Aaron and Moses mentionned in the Bible. Further, in the Quranic accounts surrounding Moses, Aaron, Jesus and Mary, the circumstances and locations are entirely different for the first 2 and the last 2, and the characters of both groups are never mixed in the same space and time nor do they interract, while they do interract among characters of the same group. For instance, Jesus and Mary are many times interracting, as is the case with Moses and Aaron yet we never see Jesus interracting with Moses or Aaron with Mary. Nor are Jesus and Mary ever seen in the same context and background as Moses and Aaron, and vice versa. Also, the Quran repeatedly speaks of Moses' sister, during the account of his infancy, without ever naming her Mary 20:40. Besides the contexts and timframes clearly seperating between Moses and Jesus, how could this already grown up "Mary" during Moses' infancy, be the same young Mary to give birth to Jesus many years later? There simply are too many converging factors, on a macro or micro-level, all indicating that the Quran was perfectly accurate, correct and aware of the usage of the phrase "sister of Harun" and its implications.

More importantly, contrary to Miriam the sister of Aaron and Moses in the Bible from where critics claim the Quran copied from, Mary the mother of Jesus was orphanned very early on per the Quran meaning that her relatives spoken of during her early years and beyond are those of people who have passed away. In 19:28, the slanderers appeal to her parents' righteousness in the past tense, because they have passed away at the time. Because of this, she had to be put under someone elses' guardianship namely the prophet Zakariya. Mary was orphaned so young and abruptly, and her importance to the eyes of the elders of the comunity so great, that her entourage, after casting lots to decide who would be her guardian, still obected and contended with one another 3:44. Such measures would've been useless had her close relatives, such as her alleged brothers Moses and Harun been alive in her early years, even outliving her as stated in the Bible.

As an aside, the guardianship spoken of 3:37 is the same as the one spoken of seven verses later 3:44 ending the passage relating the circumstances of Mary's birth, her re-location in the Temple under Zakariya's guardianship, and as he saw Mary's pious dedication and the manner in which God favored her, it created in him the desire for a righteous progeny, and the manner in which the angels would encourage Mary to elevate herself spiritually. The verse 3:44 is a parenthetic statement in a flowing discourse, as is found in many places within the Book, or in oral speeches in general, serving as a reminder that what was said earlier was unknown until now including the additional information that there was contention and dispute until the issue of Mary's guardianship was settled. The verse also serves as a leap forward in time, a transition from the earlier period of her life to the moment when the angels came to announce her future pregnancy 3:44"This is of the announcements relating to the unseen which We reveal to you. And you were not with them when they cast their pens (to decide) which of them should have Marium in his charge, and you were not with them when they contended one with another".
This common Quranic pattern of stressing the truthfulness of its own version of an event, mostly appears in regards to past occurences or issues transmitted in a convoluted, partial or obscured manner, or sometimes entirely forgotten, as is the case with the story of Yusuf and others 3:44,11:49,28:44,12:3,102"This is of the tidings of the unseen (which) We reveal to you, and you were not with them when they resolved upon their affair, and they were devising plans".

Did this guy care to watch the video because his straw man points he pretends to answer in that order doesn't match the points made in the video.

[Eagle]

Thank you Eagle, for that mammoth work. I'm afraid it's far too much for me to study in detail at the moment but perhaps it will be the source for many discussion to come.
So I'll just pick up on one point that interested me straight away: you say
"ayyam/indefinite period of time" and quote for example 7:54. When I look this up, the translations I find have it meaning days. Obviously, it makes your apologitics more effective if it really does mean an indefinite period, but why should that be accepted in preference to days?

In the Quran, the concept of yawm is used for any period of time 22:47,23:112-114,16:77 from a moment 55:29 to fifty thousand years 70:4 and is dependent on the completion of a specific task. So for example although the Day of judgement is called yawm, the expiration of that day will depend on the completion of the task of judging mankind, even if that task might go on for many current earthly days. The same for the ayyam (plural of yawm) of creation.

[Centaur]

Thank you Eagle, for that mammoth work. I'm afraid it's far too much for me to study in detail at the moment but perhaps it will be the source for many discussion to come.
So I'll just pick up on one point that interested me straight away: you say
"ayyam/indefinite period of time" and quote for example 7:54. When I look this up, the translations I find have it meaning days. Obviously, it makes your apologitics more effective if it really does mean an indefinite period, but why should that be accepted in preference to days?

yeah if you are interested in a deceptive post copy posted from somewhere which does not address the main points made in the video. The video is good and irrefutable only a muslim who wants to shoot himself on the foot would post it here.

[Fernando]

Thank you Eagle, for that mammoth work. I'm afraid it's far too much for me to study in detail at the moment but perhaps it will be the source for many discussion to come.
So I'll just pick up on one point that interested me straight away: you say
"ayyam/indefinite period of time" and quote for example 7:54. When I look this up, the translations I find have it meaning days. Obviously, it makes your apologitics more effective if it really does mean an indefinite period, but why should that be accepted in preference to days?

yeah if you are interested in a deceptive post copy posted from somewhere which does not address the main points made in the video. The video is good and irrefutable only a muslim who wants to shoot himself on the foot would post it here.

Well, if he will pour salt into his wound...

[Hombre]

Eagle
Your intellectual foot dance trying to justify every none sense written in the Quran remind me of a funny joke which I heard many years ago.

Jews exodus from Egypt.
A man depicts a big white canvas on the wall and asks the crows - "this picture describes a historical evens occurring some 3300-years ago. This is the Jews exodus from Egypt"

"Where are the Jews", SAM asked.
"Pointing his finger to the right of the canvas, the man replied, "They have already gone - they are here"
"And where are the Egyptians," asked SAM's neighbor. "They have not arrived yet".

On the serious side. I am sure you are extremely intelligent and well versed in Islam. My suggestion, however, is for you to keep your posts as short as possible. There are only that many hours in a day. Therefore, I doubt is people here have the time nor the inclination to read rims and rims of the posts.

Just a suggestion.

[iffo]

@Eagle
I wish i could read what you wrote, but its just way too much. I look at all that text and gave up.

[manfred]

Has amyone else notices the clip say "7 reasons"....

and his reply has 10 reasons?

I think eagle play a version of Chinese whispers with us. Whenever he sees something here that looks like he has a copy and past for, he does just that. To be fair, he does though try to engage in discussion to a point, but often he just repeats the same thing over and over.

\this thread arose from another one, whe I had posted a clip from the same author. He decided he could not discuss that one, so he posted a different clip. with the attached novel.

If you watch the clip here and then read what he say you find it is a best loosely related.

[Eagle]

@manfred

The video cites at least 11 topics. See the video description as proof.

The "sharp" author's title mislead those he has deceived among his brainwashed audience, but not those who carefully listenned to his nonsense and answered him point by point.

[Eagle]

trying to justify every none sense written in the Quran

It is a good occasion to point 1 nonsensical propostion in the Quran

[manfred]

trying to justify every none sense written in the Quran

It is a good occasion to point 1 nonsensical propostion in the Quran

Again you are standing in the woods and demand to see a tree. We have shown you hundreds of examples.

[Hombre]

trying to justify every none sense written in the Quran

It is a good occasion to point 1 nonsensical proposition in the Quran

It took 500 years and endless scientific research by many people to derive the theory of the big bang and subject of Astrophysics.

Yet, you are trying to convince us that a book which was written some 1300 years ago - who's source was derived from one bloody illiterate man has already explained it.

If the Quran was any manuscript worthy of any reliable source - you can bet your Burkha that, all those scientists already would have referred to it.

It is time for you and other decent Muslims to wake up and get a grip on reality. Stop believing to what Muhammad said or did. Start asking yourself the hard question - WHO WAS MUHAMMAD?. Look at him intrinsically and examine many of his acts and ask yourself - do I agree with a 53-year-old man having sexual intercourse with a 9-year-old girl.

[iffo]

For 1400 years muslims had no problem with Aisha's age . Even now 99% have no problem. It is only in last 10-20 years with rise of internet and with heavy criticism from West that shook the concious of some muslims living in the west like eagle that they started running around in panic looking for answers or cover up. Because they felt ashame of their religion and prophet, but at the same time are desperate to hang on to their religion. I feel sorry for them as they are in tough spot.

20 years back i am sure eagle knew very well about Aisha's age and i am sure he had no problem. Just like muslims living in islamic countries have no problem. Even if muhamad had sex with his cat they will be ok, that's how brain dead and brain washed they are because of islam. Actually you can not talk about Aisha's age there unless you want to be beaten to death on the spot.