Topics

16

General Discussions / Quran followers put on notice!

« on: May 17, 2014, 11:23:06 PM »

Following questions to followers of Quran alone have been raised by those who follow Hadith and Sunnah:

1. 9:36 BEHOLD, the number of months, in the sight of God, is twelve months, [laid down] in God's decree on the day when He created the heavens and the earth; [and] out of these, four are sacred: this is the ever-true law [of God]. Do not, then, sin against yourselves with regard to these [months]. And fight against those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God, all together-just as they fight against you, [O believers,] all together -and know that God is with those who are conscious of Him.

In the next verse, it is stated that intercalation is refusal to acknowledge the truth:

2. 9:37 The intercalation [of months] is but one more instance of [their] refusal to acknowledge the truth- [a means] by which those who are bent on denying the truth are led astray. They declare this [intercalation] to be permissible in one year and forbidden in [another] year, in order to conform [outwardly] to the number of months which God has hallowed: and thus they make allowable what God has forbidden. Goodly seems unto them the evil of their own doings, since God does not grace with His guidance people who refuse to acknowledge the truth.

Questions to those who reject Hadith:

- Where does the Quran gives the names of all the months in the proper order?
- What are the names of these months in the Quran?
- Which four are sacred months, so that their sanctity should be observed?
- How can we tell that till today, nobody has changed the order of these months and it is the correct one?

3. 59:05 Whatever [of their] palm trees you may have cut down, [O believers,] or left standing on their roots, was [done] by God’s leave, and in order that He might confound the iniquitous.

 - What is this incident? Which Palm trees are being discussed and why, give us the details
 - Some were cut down some not? Where can we find more details about them?

4. 5:03 Today have I perfected your religious law for you, and have bestowed upon you the full measure of My blessings, and willed that self-surrender unto Me shall be your religion. As for him, however, who is driven [to what is forbidden] by dire necessity and not by an inclination to sinning -behold, God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace.

- What day was this? Was it the birthday of the Messenger of Allah? Was this when he died? Or was it some other day?
 - Those who died before this Day, were they following complete Islam or an incomplete Islam?
 - What other Deens was Islam preferred over? Because it is stated that it has been preferred/approve/chosen but it has not been declared that Islam is the only Deen. Give details from the Quran.

5. 48:15 As soon as you [O believers] are about to set forth on a war that promises booty, those who stayed behind [aforetime] will surely say, “Allow us to go with you” - [thus showing that] they would like to alter the Word of God. Say: “By no means shall you go with us: God has declared aforetime [to whom all spoils shall belong].” Thereupon they will [surely] answer, “Nay, but you begrudge us [our share of booty]!” Nay, they can grasp but so little of the truth!

- Which Word of Allah gets altered by those seeking permission to go with the believers?
- What is the reason this verse was revealed? What kind of lesson in Deen is in it for us?

The questioner puts all those who follow Quran alone by saying:

 "...If you cannot give us the details, then admit you need to refer to hadith to find them. If you cannot reply to them then Let these question be an “Itmam e Hujjat” for you on the Day of Judgement

17

Prophets and Messengers / Is there a better explanation?

« on: March 04, 2014, 08:46:48 AM »

Dear All, Salam. A question has been asked at another forum. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.

Who were the first prophet and messenger of the Meccans? According to the Qur'an Muhammad was sent to a people who had had no 'warners' before him (cf. 28.46, 32.03, 34.44) that could either be interpreted as the Meccans or the Arabs in general.

But the last one would posit a problem cause we have several examples from the Qur'an itself that there were other prophets and/or messengers sent to Arab tribes (cf. Shoaib, Saleh, Hud). So are we to understand that it's only refering to the Meccans? Here we encounter yet a problem cause the Meccans did indeed recieve a prophet and messenger, Ishmael (cf. 19.54). He was the first prophet and messenger of the Meccans. So is there a discrepancy here?

It could be argued that Ishmael was no warner, but this has to be dismissed as every messenger and prophet implicitly also was a warner (cf. 6.48, 18.56, 67.8-9). It could be argued that there's a severe span of time between Ishmael (or Shoaib, Saleh and Hud) and Muhammad that when Muhammad begins his mission it is instigated infront a whole new people. But this in fact would imply to every people of the earth. There were Christians and Jews in Mecca (and spread out on the Arabian Peninsula) at the time of Muhammad, so the Arabs (or the Meccans) was in no different situation as the other people in the known world. Especially verse 34.44 becomes interesting: "But We had not given them Books which they could study, nor sent messengers to them before thee as Warners (trsl: Y. Ali). We are told that they received no books and were not sent any messengers before Muhammad. Surely the part about books is refering to all times and this implies that the part about messengers a doing likewise, but as we have already seen Ishmael had already been at Mecca and is regarded as a prophet and a messenger (!).

This is furthermore stipulated by the verses 36.3-6 "Thou art indeed one of the apostles, On a Straight Way. It is a Revelation sent down by (Him), the Exalted in Might, Most Merciful. In order that thou mayest admonish a people, whose fathers had received no admonition, and who therefore remain heedless (of the Signs of God). ". The fathers of the people had recieved no admonition, ie. no warning before. Thereby rejecting the Christians and Jews living among the Arabs and the Meccans and rejecting that Ishmael already had been a prophet of the Meccans (and Shoaib, Saleh and Hud of other Arab tribes).

Muhammad is furthermore according to the Qur'an said to be the messenger of all men, ie. the whole world. It doesn't seem necessary to point out the fact that this is not what the above verses a refering to. In that case it's still obviously a contradiction to other parts of the Qur'an since there was peoples among all men who had received books, and messenger, prophets and hence warners.

Is it a contradiction or is there a natural explanation for this, to me, seemingly discrepancy.
What do you say?

18

General Discussions / Demand for Sharia Law

« on: February 10, 2014, 09:48:54 AM »

Salam,

We read much these days, about demands for Sharia law in countries like Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Syria. Presently the Taliban in Pakistan are negotiating with the government to implement Sharia without delay.

My question is what is meant by Sharia law? Is it not based on different schools of fiqh? How best could it be implemented in the modern nation state? What would be the form of government? Would there be an Amir al Momineen for each Muslim country or a Khalifa? How practical and realistic is that (One Khalifa of a certain sect may not be acceptable to people of other sects). How would the state machinery function? How about the rights of women? Would they be allowed to work? How will the state deal with it's non Muslim minorities? Would they be required to pay jizya? Some define jizya as war reparations!
Would the state force people to pray? Will polygamy be allowed? How about the minimum age of marriage for girls? What would be the dress code for men and women? How would Shias fare in a Sunni state and vice versa given the nature of their bitter disagreements? What about their respective interpretation of Islamic law?

Those who want Sharia, point to Islamic punishments, the need to establish an interest free society, social welfare projects, the rights of the poor for sustenance and justice and say that the Quran clearly states that those who do not rule/judge according to the Quran are deviants.

Kindly comment. Thanks.

19

Women / If such are the priests, then God bless the congregation !!

« on: February 08, 2014, 11:31:07 PM »

Maldives Fiqh Academy VP Endorses Female Genital Mutilation

By Zaheena Rasheed | February 6th, 2014

Vice President of the Fiqh Academy Dr Mohamed Iyaz Abdul Latheef has endorsed female genital mutilation in response to a question posed by a reader on mvislamqa.com.

Iyaz said several credible Hadiths from the Prophet Mohamed demonstrated female circumcision is obligatory in Islam.

“The Prophet (PBUH) said: ‘Five things are part of the Fitrah [nature] – circumcision, shaving the pubes, trimming the moustache, cutting the nails and plucking the armpit hairs.’ The circumcision in this Hadith applies to both men and women,” Iyaz said.

Today is international day of zero tolerance to female genital mutilation. Executive Director of the UNFPA Dr Babatunde Osotimehin said female genital mutilation threatens the lives and futures of women and girls and is “an affront to their human dignity, an assault on their health and an impediment to the well-being of their families, communities and countries.”

“Human development cannot be fully achieved as long as women and girls continue to suffer from this human rights violation or live in fear of it,” he added.
In 2011, then Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan expressed concern over a reported increase in female circumcision in the Maldives.
“We are beginning to hear reports of this occurring, and I have heard on radio and television people justifying the practice. It is quite disheartening,” he said at the time.

Obligatory or recommended

Islam calls for female circumcision, but there is dissent between scholars on whether circumcision is obligatory (farz) or highly recommended (Mustahab), Iyaz said.
“A Hadith relayed by Aisha [Prophet Mohamed’s wife] says: ‘A bath becomes obligatory if one sleeps with your wife and the circumcised parts touch each other.’ The word circumcision has been applied to both men and women here.  The Hadith demonstrates that women must be circumcised as well,” said Iyaz.

He also quoted Saudi Arabia’s Fatwa Committee which expressed concern over the decline of female circumcision in Muslim countries.

“Circumcision of girls is a religious obligation that is slowly fading from many Muslim communities. It is an obligation or Sunnah that we must not let go of. It is the symbol that differentiates Muslims from non-Muslims.”

The fatwa said female circumcision must be carried out by specialised doctors, and added: “In a woman, the small sliver of muscle and the surrounding skin above the urinary tract is cut during circumcision.”

Iyaz said the Prophet Mohamed has ordered circumcision practitioners not to cut severely during circumcision.
Iyaz was elected as the VP of the Fiqh Academy in 2012. The organisation is a body established by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs to advise the government on Islamic jurisprudence.

In early January, Iyaz condemned MPs for approving the sexual offenses bill which recognises marital rape, and advised MPs who voted for the bill to repent.
Zero tolerance

More than 125 million girls and women have been cut in the 29 countries in the Middle East and Africa where female genital mutilation is practiced, the UNFPA has said in a press release today.

The organisation is committed to work with partners to end harmful practices including violence against women and female genital mutilation, the UNFPA said.
“We strongly believe that when young people, especially young women claim their right to health, including sexual and reproductive health, education and decent work, they become powerful agents for social and economic development.”

http://minivannews.com/politics/figh-academy-vp-endorses-female-genital-mutilation-77037
----------

20

Discussions / A sobering slap on the face of terror by Ghamdi

« on: September 28, 2013, 10:02:32 PM »

Dear All

With my apologies for those who do not know the Urdu language, in view of recent Peshawar Church and Nairobi Mall killing, I cannot help sharing a clip from Ghamdi:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeg-kYhi4z4

21

General Discussions / How best to respond to this objection?

« on: September 28, 2013, 12:19:10 AM »

[Recently I read the following on the net, aimed at those who wish to Judge ahadith and all secondary sources by the Quran]

Many Quranites tend to point out hadith, which may seem strange or too supernatural in order to believe it. This is nothing more than an "appeal to emotion" fallacy. Here is the testimony of one Quranite who became an agnostic...

"...I was in the middle of laughing at the stories and silently mocking them, when suddenly it hit me that they are no more absurd than the belief that Jesus was born of a virgin, that Moses split the ocean and turned a stick into a snake, or that Solomon had conversations with animals..."

So here we see a Quranite who left Islam because he found the virgin birth and Solomon's conversations with animals to be absurd. These are to be found in the Qur'an. Will the Quranites accept this as an argument? They will say that these stories are not absurd and that people must put faith in them. Well then why don't the Quranites do the same with the hadith that they find strange? Who draws the objective standard as to what is too absurd to be true?

This is nothing more than an "appeal to emotion fallacy" and it is to be ignored.

22

Prophets and Messengers / WHAT HADITHIST WONT TELL YOU

« on: July 05, 2013, 07:49:21 PM »

WHAT HADITHIST WONT TELL YOU ABOUT THE HISTORY OF HADITHS AND HOW THEY PORTRAY OUR DEAR PROPHET.
======================

The falsifiers (of the attributes, personality and deeds of our dear Prophet as described in Hadiths and other man-made literature) have presented a concoction of medieval Arab, Pagan, Jewish and Christian culture as good examples of the messenger. However, if you look at the context of the verse 33:21, the good example has been described as the messenger's courage and his constant remembrance of God. They extended this good example to irrelevant individual or cultural behaviors. For instance, they sanctified the beard and turban, ignoring the fact that the Meccan idol worshipers, such as Amr bin Hisham (aka, Abu Jahl) and Walid b. Mugiyra also had long beards and big turbans.

What is worse, the actions and words ascribed to prophet Muhammad PBUH have depicted him with a character that is far from exemplary.

The hadith books portray the prophet as a phantasmagoric character with multiple personalities. That character is more fictitious than mythological gods and goddesses, such as Hermes, Pan, Poseidon and Aphrodite. He is a pendulous character, both bouncing up to deity, and down to the lowest degree. He is both wise and moronic. He is sometimes more merciful than God and sometimes a cruel torturer.

He is both perfect and criminal, humble and arrogant, chaste and a sex maniac, trustworthy and a cheater, illiterate and educated, rich and poor, a nepotistic and a democratic leader, caring and a male chauvinist, a believer and a disbeliever, prohibiting hadith and promoting hadith.

You find numerous conflicting personalities presented as an exemplary figure. Choose whichever composite character you like out of thousands of different examples. Those with preconceived ideas may go fish out hadith to support any personality or role model they want to carve out of the hero called Muhammad PBUH.
Want a terrorist? You will find a few hadiths to justify it. He did after all, according to Bukhari, justify killing women and children in battle.

Want a lamb? You will again find a few hadiths to depict him that way. When the children of Taif stoned him, he prayed for them.
Hadith books contain almost anything you wish, especially about Muhammad PBUH. You may find an extremely kind and nice Muhammad PBUH besides a cruel torturer one.

You may find Muhammad PBUH to be a person with great morals on one page and on another page, you will see him a pedophile.
You will find Muhammad PBUH pointing at the moon and splitting it into two pieces letting one piece fall into Ali's backyard, and on another page, you will find a Muhammad PBUH incapable of reading a simple letter.

Hadith books, by their very nature, are perfect sources for such abuse. They contain fragments of hearsay that were produced within several centuries with multiple authors, numerous agendas, inconsistent language/terminology, unreliable and fragmented contexts, and divisible or severally liable authorities.

An "expert" can subject almost any hadith he dislikes to one of the rules of procedure called usul ul-hadith with multiple standards. The evaluation of the narrator by using another hearsay, partisanship, tribalism, racism, or personal scrupulousness, is called "jarh" and "tadeel" simply meaning, "trash" and "save."

For instance, the most prominent Sunni hadith collector Bukhari who grew up in Bukhara, collected hadiths two hundred or so years after the departure of Muhammad PBUH. This story collector, while bragging about how meticulous he was, claims that he once traveled for about a month to hear a particular hadith from a narrator. When he visited him, he saw him deceiving his horse to the barn with an empty bag. Consequently, our meticulous Bukhari gave up from collecting the story he was going to report! In other words, he used the tool of "jarh" (trash) to cross over that particular narrator.

Looking at the quality of the 7275 hadiths he allegedly picked out of 600,000 reported hadiths (99% defective material!), we can easily infer that he was not very lucky or did not have very good eyes in witnessing thousands of more deceivers with their horses.

Ironically, this Bukhari narrates hadith from drunkard and oppressive Umayyad governors, and hundreds of hadith from Abu Hurayra who according to Bukhari himself was considered a congenial liar and fabricator by his prominent peers such as Omar, Ibn Abbas and Aisha. Either Bukhari was himself a deceived horse or another deceiver.

Let's sidetrack here and do a simple calculation. Bukhari, in his introduction, uses a first-class sales pitch according to the standards of the medieval era. He, or the later editors and promoters of his collection, try hard to depict the portrait of a devout, genius, scrupulous, and steadfast scholar. Although his Christian counterpart, St. Paul, was more articulate and more cunning in his self-promotion, history is a witness to the fact that Bukhari has done a similarly good job in another market.

In the introduction of the collection called Bukhari, we learn that this celebrated hadith collector endured long trips, occasionally from one country to another, just to collect one hadith. We also learn that he was very careful in his evaluation of the chain of narrators; he was so pious that he performed ablution and prayed before recording each of his hadiths.

We might be surprised to see, in the same section of this solemn promotional introduction, some funny animated clips too. For instance, we learn that some of the prophet's companions witnessed a group of monkeys stoning an adulterer monkey in the jungle (perhaps that provided some inspiration and imagination for later hadiths narrations involving the story of the holy hungry goat).

Well, let’s do some calculations…

- Let's assume that Bukhari told us the truth regarding the 600,000 hadiths he listened to and evaluated.

- Let's also be extremely generous to Bukhari and assume that on average it took him only one hour to go, interview, and evaluate each of the 600,000 hadiths, 99% of which he would later trash.

- Let's assume that he started wandering around, seeking hadith narrators, listening to them, and evaluating the chain of narrators from dawn until dusk.

- Let's assume that all his days were summer days, so that he worked ten hours a day without a break.

Since we do not have any claim by Bukhari or another "holy" person regarding Bukhari's ability to inflate time, create time within time, or slow down time, we assume he worked like a super human being limited by the natural law.

With these assumptions, Bukhari who lived 60 years, between 810-870 AC, would need 60,000 days, or 164 years. In other words, he would need more than a hundred years to be able to do what he was bragging about.

Yes, this Bukhari and his ilk have hijacked Muhammad PBUH, and have replaced the light of the Quran, with the darkness of ignorance.
Arabic fancy jargon are frequently used to impress non-Arabs to overwhelm them into believing that the "experts" indeed have an incredible amount of special knowledge; perhaps specially granted by God.

The "expert" might evaluate the trustworthiness of one of the narrators listed in the chain, by various contradictory rules already established by previous hadith scholars. The hadith can then be classified in one of the numerous ranks of authenticity and thus discarded in favor of another one.

Only a handful hadiths, which are called mutawatir (allegedly narrated by many people), may escape ending up in the trash via an arbitrary scrutiny of a determined scholar.

Ironically, there is not even a consensus on the mutawatir hadiths. They do not call it "trash can" but they have invented fancy names to label how deep and stinky their cans are, labeling them mursal, hasan, daif, mawdu, etc.

If you are a muqallid, that is a blind follower of a particular sect or order, then you pick what they have already picked for you.
Your choice might be more limited with the leftover hadiths evaluated by the scholars, but you can be sure that by even staying as a muqallid in a particular sect, you will find plenty of room for wiggling around to make up your own religion.

But, you can be sure that your choices will be limited to medieval Arab, Jewish and Christian cultures. If you are living in a modern metropolitan city, you may not be able to escape developing multiple personalities separated from each other by two millennia.

Considering that most of the hadith narrations are ahad, that is allegedly narrated by only one person from Muhammad PBUH, their authenticity can always be challenged by how you may personally deem the chain of narrators and the hadith books.

This provides many opportunities to hatch and mutate numerous custom-made religions, sects, sub-sects, orders, or sub-orders out of the mishmash collection of medieval culture.

This peculiar aspect of hadith collection is well described by the prophetic verses of the Quran: "Shall we treat the muslims (peacemakers, peaceful submitters/surrenderers) like the criminals? What is wrong with your judgment? Do you have a book where you can find anything you wish?" (68:35-38).

======================================
NOTE: Extracts, narration, paraphrases and replication from multiple sources. Please contact LMU if you require references.

23

Discussions / What the Hadithists will not tell you!

« on: July 05, 2013, 09:16:27 AM »

Liberal Muslims United
WHAT HADITHIST WONT TELL YOU ABOUT THE HISTORY OF HADITHS AND HOW THEY PORTRAY OUR DEAR PROPHET.
======================


The falsifiers (of the attributes, personality and deeds of our dear Prophet as described in Hadiths and other man-made literature) have presented a concoction of medieval Arab, Pagan, Jewish and Christian culture as good examples of the messenger. However, if you look at the context of the verse 33:21, the good example has been described as the messenger's courage and his constant remembrance of God. They extended this good example to irrelevant individual or cultural behaviors. For instance, they sanctified the beard and turban, ignoring the fact that the Meccan idol worshipers, such as Amr bin Hisham (aka, Abu Jahl) and Walid b. Mugiyra also had long beards and big turbans.

What is worse, the actions and words ascribed to prophet Muhammad PBUH have depicted him with a character that is far from exemplary.

The hadith books portray the prophet as a phantasmagoric character with multiple personalities. That character is more fictitious than mythological gods and goddesses, such as Hermes, Pan, Poseidon and Aphrodite. He is a pendulous character, both bouncing up to deity, and down to the lowest degree. He is both wise and moronic. He is sometimes more merciful than God and sometimes a cruel torturer.

He is both perfect and criminal, humble and arrogant, chaste and a sex maniac, trustworthy and a cheater, illiterate and educated, rich and poor, a nepotistic and a democratic leader, caring and a male chauvinist, a believer and a disbeliever, prohibiting hadith and promoting hadith.

You find numerous conflicting personalities presented as an exemplary figure. Choose whichever composite character you like out of thousands of different examples. Those with preconceived ideas may go fish out hadith to support any personality or role model they want to carve out of the hero called Muhammad PBUH.
Want a terrorist? You will find a few hadiths to justify it. He did after all, according to Bukhari, justify killing women and children in battle.

Want a lamb? You will again find a few hadiths to depict him that way. When the children of Taif stoned him, he prayed for them.
Hadith books contain almost anything you wish, especially about Muhammad PBUH. You may find an extremely kind and nice Muhammad PBUH besides a cruel torturer one.

You may find Muhammad PBUH to be a person with great morals on one page and on another page, you will see him a pedophile.
You will find Muhammad PBUH pointing at the moon and splitting it into two pieces letting one piece fall into Ali's backyard, and on another page, you will find a Muhammad PBUH incapable of reading a simple letter.

Hadith books, by their very nature, are perfect sources for such abuse. They contain fragments of hearsay that were produced within several centuries with multiple authors, numerous agendas, inconsistent language/terminology, unreliable and fragmented contexts, and divisible or severally liable authorities.

An "expert" can subject almost any hadith he dislikes to one of the rules of procedure called usul ul-hadith with multiple standards. The evaluation of the narrator by using another hearsay, partisanship, tribalism, racism, or personal scrupulousness, is called "jarh" and "tadeel" simply meaning, "trash" and "save."

For instance, the most prominent Sunni hadith collector Bukhari who grew up in Bukhara, collected hadiths two hundred or so years after the departure of Muhammad PBUH. This story collector, while bragging about how meticulous he was, claims that he once traveled for about a month to hear a particular hadith from a narrator. When he visited him, he saw him deceiving his horse to the barn with an empty bag. Consequently, our meticulous Bukhari gave up from collecting the story he was going to report! In other words, he used the tool of "jarh" (trash) to cross over that particular narrator.

Looking at the quality of the 7275 hadiths he allegedly picked out of 600,000 reported hadiths (99% defective material!), we can easily infer that he was not very lucky or did not have very good eyes in witnessing thousands of more deceivers with their horses.

Ironically, this Bukhari narrates hadith from drunkard and oppressive Umayyad governors, and hundreds of hadith from Abu Hurayra who according to Bukhari himself was considered a congenial liar and fabricator by his prominent peers such as Omar, Ibn Abbas and Aisha. Either Bukhari was himself a deceived horse or another deceiver.

Let's sidetrack here and do a simple calculation. Bukhari, in his introduction, uses a first-class sales pitch according to the standards of the medieval era. He, or the later editors and promoters of his collection, try hard to depict the portrait of a devout, genius, scrupulous, and steadfast scholar. Although his Christian counterpart, St. Paul, was more articulate and more cunning in his self-promotion, history is a witness to the fact that Bukhari has done a similarly good job in another market.

In the introduction of the collection called Bukhari, we learn that this celebrated hadith collector endured long trips, occasionally from one country to another, just to collect one hadith. We also learn that he was very careful in his evaluation of the chain of narrators; he was so pious that he performed ablution and prayed before recording each of his hadiths.

We might be surprised to see, in the same section of this solemn promotional introduction, some funny animated clips too. For instance, we learn that some of the prophet's companions witnessed a group of monkeys stoning an adulterer monkey in the jungle (perhaps that provided some inspiration and imagination for later hadiths narrations involving the story of the holy hungry goat).

Well, let’s do some calculations…

- Let's assume that Bukhari told us the truth regarding the 600,000 hadiths he listened to and evaluated.

- Let's also be extremely generous to Bukhari and assume that on average it took him only one hour to go, interview, and evaluate each of the 600,000 hadiths, 99% of which he would later trash.

- Let's assume that he started wandering around, seeking hadith narrators, listening to them, and evaluating the chain of narrators from dawn until dusk.

- Let's assume that all his days were summer days, so that he worked ten hours a day without a break.

Since we do not have any claim by Bukhari or another "holy" person regarding Bukhari's ability to inflate time, create time within time, or slow down time, we assume he worked like a super human being limited by the natural law.

With these assumptions, Bukhari who lived 60 years, between 810-870 AC, would need 60,000 days, or 164 years. In other words, he would need more than a hundred years to be able to do what he was bragging about.

Yes, this Bukhari and his ilk have hijacked Muhammad PBUH, and have replaced the light of the Quran, with the darkness of ignorance.
Arabic fancy jargon are frequently used to impress non-Arabs to overwhelm them into believing that the "experts" indeed have an incredible amount of special knowledge; perhaps specially granted by God.

The "expert" might evaluate the trustworthiness of one of the narrators listed in the chain, by various contradictory rules already established by previous hadith scholars. The hadith can then be classified in one of the numerous ranks of authenticity and thus discarded in favor of another one.

Only a handful hadiths, which are called mutawatir (allegedly narrated by many people), may escape ending up in the trash via an arbitrary scrutiny of a determined scholar.

Ironically, there is not even a consensus on the mutawatir hadiths. They do not call it "trash can" but they have invented fancy names to label how deep and stinky their cans are, labeling them mursal, hasan, daif, mawdu, etc.

If you are a muqallid, that is a blind follower of a particular sect or order, then you pick what they have already picked for you.
Your choice might be more limited with the leftover hadiths evaluated by the scholars, but you can be sure that by even staying as a muqallid in a particular sect, you will find plenty of room for wiggling around to make up your own religion.

But, you can be sure that your choices will be limited to medieval Arab, Jewish and Christian cultures. If you are living in a modern metropolitan city, you may not be able to escape developing multiple personalities separated from each other by two millennia.

Considering that most of the hadith narrations are ahad, that is allegedly narrated by only one person from Muhammad PBUH, their authenticity can always be challenged by how you may personally deem the chain of narrators and the hadith books.

This provides many opportunities to hatch and mutate numerous custom-made religions, sects, sub-sects, orders, or sub-orders out of the mishmash collection of medieval culture.

This peculiar aspect of hadith collection is well described by the prophetic verses of the Quran: "Shall we treat the muslims (peacemakers, peaceful submitters/surrenderers) like the criminals? What is wrong with your judgment? Do you have a book where you can find anything you wish?" (68:35-38).

======================================
NOTE: Extracts, narration, paraphrases and replication from multiple sources. Please contact LMU if you require references.

24

Prophets and Messengers / An Interview With the Prophet Mohammed

« on: June 06, 2013, 03:26:08 AM »

An Interview With the Prophet Mohammed
 Prophet Mohammed
 Muhammad the messenger of God answers some important questions...........

 Imagine Muhammad, the messenger of God being interviewed, on various issues confronting the so-called "Ummah"; what would he say?

 Q = Interviewer

 M = Prophet Muhammad

 ---------------------------------------

 Q: Thank you for giving me this opportunity, Muhammad, to ask you a few questions. It's very kind of you

 M: Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds. 1:2

 Q: Well , yes of course, sorry about that... Now Muhammad can you tell us who you are or what is your place in Islam?

 M: "Surely I am the Messenger of Allah to you all, of Him whose is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth there is no god but He; He brings to life and causes to die therefore believe in Allah and I am His messenger, the Ummi Prophet who believes in Allah and His words. Follow me so that you may be guided." 7:158

 Q: So you are a Messenger... and what is your responsibility as a Messenger?

 M: "Whether God shall show me (within my life-time) part of what He promised them (the people) or take to Himself my soul (before it is all accomplished) - my duty is to MAKE (the Message) REACH them: it is God's part to call them to account." 13:40

 Q: Are you saying that your duty is only to deliver and convey the Message? Don't tell me you just recite it parrot fashion without teaching or explaining it?

 M: "God sent the prophets with Clear Signs and the Book of Zaboor; and God sent down to me (also) the Message that I may EXPLAIN clearly to men what is sent for them, and that they may give thought." 16:44

 Q: OK, so you explain the Message... but tell us how do you explain it?

 M: "God sent down the Book to me for the express purpose, that I should make clear to them those things in which they differ, and that it should be a guide and a mercy to those who believe." 16:64

 Q: Wow! You use the Book to explain the Book?? But... but how is that possible?

 M: "One day God shall raise from all peoples a witness against them, from amongst themselves: and God shall bring me as a witness against these people and God sent down to me the BOOk EXPLAINING ALL THINGS, a Guide, a Mercy, and Glad Tidings to Muslims." 16:89

 "And GOD HAS EXPLAINED TO MAN, IN THIS QURAN, every kind of examples YET the GREATER part of men refuse (to receive it) except with ingratitude!" 17:89

 "I am commanded not to move my tongue concerning this (Quran) in order to make haste therewith. It is for God to collect it and to promulgate it: But when God has promulgated it, I follow its recital (as promulgated): Then it is FOR GOD TO EXPLAIN IT (and make it clear)" 75:16-19

 Q: So the Quran explains itself and Allah explains it too...hmmmm. But come on Prophet, I mean you must be more than just a Messenger? I have heard fantastic things about you. Please don't be modest.

 M: "I am NO MORE THAN A MESSENGER: many were the messengers that passed away before me. If I die or am slain, will you then turn back on your heels? If any did turn back on his heels, NOT THE LEAST HARM WILI HE DO TO GOD; but God (on the other hand) will swiftly reward those who (serve Him) with gratitude." 3:144

 Q: Hang on a minute Muhammad, you are saying thing which is so contrary to what the majority of the community believe.. hey! Just one...

 M: "And MOST men will NOT BELIEVE though I desire it eagerly. And I do not ask them for a reward for this; it is nothing but a reminder for all mankind. And how many a sign in the heavens and the earth which they pass by, yet they turn aside from it. And MOST of them DO NOT BELIEVE IN ALLAH WITHOUT ASSOCIATING PARTNERS (with Him)." 12:103

 Q: I wonder if this is why your name is always associated with Allah's... hmm..hmm. Now Prophet, coming back to what I was going to ask you...I have always heard the Learned Religious Scholars (LKS) say that the Quran needs to be explained by you. What do you say?

 M: "And no question do they bring to me but God reveals to me the truth and the best explanation." 25:33

 Q: You are saying that the Quran is its own best explanation? Wow!! I must test that... and every question can be answered from the Quran. No, I won't ask you if the Quran can tell me how to repair my television. I'll leave such questions to the mischief makers... otherwise they can't justify their existence as a test for me!! But still, I have heard that the Quran is difficult to understand... I mean isn't the Book difficult to understand without anyone else explaining it?

 M: "God has indeed made the Quran easy to understand and remember: then is there anyone that will receive admonition?" 54:17

 Q: Amazing! The ummah says one thing, their LRS say one thing and Allah says something completely different! Now.. I understand that you are also a model to be followed?

 M: "You have indeed in me a beautiful pattern (of conduct) for any one whose hope is in Allah and the Final Day, and who engages much in the Praise of Allah." 33:21

 Q: Are you the only model for Muslims to follow?

 M: "There is for you an excellent example (to follow) in Abraham and those with him, when they said to their people: "We are clear of you and of whatever ye worship besides Allah: we have rejected you, and there has arisen, between us and you, enmity and hatred forever - unless ye believe in Allah and Him alone." But not when Abraham said to his father: "I will pray for forgiveness for thee, though I have no power (to get) aught on thy behalf from Allah." (They prayed): "Our Lord! In Thee do we trust, and to Thee do we turn in repentance: to Thee is (our) Final Goal." 60:4

 "There was indeed in them an excellent example for you to follow- for those whose hope is in Allah and in the Last Day. But if any turn away, truly Allah is free of all needs, Worthy of all Praise" 60:6

 Q: If you don't mind my asking, are you given any model to follow Muhammad?

 M: "God has taught me the inspired (Message); "Follow the ways of Abraham the True in Faith, and he joined not gods with Allah." 16:123

 Q: Hold on a bit here now.... Muslims are to follow you and you are to follow Ibrahim as a model.... Now what in the world do you follow? I mean are we to sleep at the exact way you sleep and not to use colgate; you sure didn't??

 M: "I follow that which is inspired in me, and I forbear until Allah gives judgment. And He is the Best of Judges." 10:109

 Q: Ah I see! How very stupid of me to even ask that question! Of course.. You followed the Quran and for us to follow you must mean to follow the Quran. Some people say we must eat and dress like you, but these things are not in the Quran. What will you say to God about this?

 M: "O my I.ord! Truly my people took this Quran for just foolish nonsense." 25:30

 Q: Prophet... I feel like crying when I hear all this.. Now what do you do when people turn away whenever the clear verses are recited. Please help me here.

 M: "I have proclaimed the Message to you all alike and in truth; but I know not whether that which you are promised is near or far." 21:109

 "My people reject this, though it is the truth. Not mine is the responsibility for looking after your affairs." 6:66

 Q: Well.. There are lots more to ask you... but that's all for now I hope at the next interview I can get your views about the fairy tales spun about you in your name...

 M: "What has come to me by inspiration is that your Allah is One Allah: will you therefore bow to His will in submission?" 21: 108

 Q: Thank you dear prophet. Salam.


 Taken from Signs Magazine

25

General Discussions / Was early Islam spread by force?

« on: June 04, 2013, 08:08:12 PM »

Salam Dear All

We read: [2:190] AND FIGHT in God's cause against those who wage war against you, but do not commit aggression - for, verily, God does not love aggressors.

If above is the rule, then how can we explain the early expansion of Islam by the righteous caliphs? Were they threatened and responded? Were they invited by oppressed people to free them of their misery by getting rid of tyranny? Was it a preemptive strike? Were they attacked and the attackers ended up losing power and territory? Some claim lands of certain kings were invaded because they refused to respond positively to letter of the blessed Messenger inviting them to Islam.

There are some Muslims who believe the Muslims, when they have sufficient power are to conquer the rest of the world and impose Islamic justice and system. They are, therefore, accused of being double talkers. They are accused of talking peace only when they are weak but as soon as they have the might and the means, they will wage a war.

Thanks.

26

General Discussions / Listens or responds?

« on: April 20, 2013, 07:56:15 PM »

Salam All

What would be the correct translation/interpretation of Verse 2:186?

2:186 [Bilal] When My servants ask you concerning Me, I am indeed near. I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calls on Me. Let them also, willingly, listen to My call, and believe in Me, that they may walk in the right way.

2:186 [Asad] AND IF My servants ask thee about Me - behold, I am near; I respond to the call of him who calls, whenever he calls unto Me: let them, then, respond unto Me, and believe in Me, so that they might follow the right way.

We all know that each and every prayer is not fulfilled by Allah.  Although some of us may pray for years for some wishes to be fulfilled, but they are not.

So, does Allah listens or does He respond?

Thanks.

27

Prophets and Messengers / Terror in the name of Islam - Hadith influence

« on: April 20, 2013, 08:24:58 AM »

Boston Bombing Suspect Posted Video on Al Qaeda Hadith Prophecy on YouTube
—By Adam Serwer
Fri Apr. 19, 2013 5:45 AM PDT

The deceased suspect in the bombing of the Boston marathon, which killed three and injured more than 170, appears to have posted a video extolling an extremist religious prophecy associated with Al Qaeda to his YouTube page.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the 26 year-old brother of the second Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, had a YouTube page where he posted religious videos, including a video of Feiz Mohammad, a fundamentalist Australian Muslim preacher who rails against the evils of Harry Potter. Among those videos is one dedicated to the prophecy of the Black Banners of Khurasan which is embraced by Islamic extremists—particularly Al Qaeda. The videos posted on what appears to be Tsarnaev's YouTube page may shed light on the motivations for the attack on the Boston Marathon. The prophecy states that an invincible army will come from the region of "Khurasan," a large portion of territory in central Asia.
"This is a major hadith (reported saying of the prophet Muhammad) that jihadis use, it is essentially an end-time prophecy," says Aaron Zelin, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy "This is definitely important in Al Qaeda's ideology." In The Black Banners, former FBI agent Ali Soufan's book about his pursuit of Al Qaeda that is named after this prophecy, Soufan describes the prophecy this way:

Khurasan is a term for a historical region spanning northeastern and eastern Iran and parts of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and northwestern Pakistan. Because of the hadith, jihadists believe that this is the region from which they will inflict a major defeat against their enemies—in the Islamic version of Armageddon.

The older Tsarnaev seems to have posted the video four months ago under the username "muazseyfullah." According to Zelin, "Mu'az is usually a name," and "Sayf Allah means sword of God." Here is the video:
According to Soufan's book, "It’s not a coincidence that bin Laden made al-Qaeda’s flag black; he also regularly cited the hadith and referenced Khurasan when recruiting, motivating, and fund-raising." Soufan adds that Al Qaeda operatives he interrogated were often convinced that by joining the extremist group they were fulfilling the prophecy. Soufan states that the origin of the "black banners" hadith—and whether the prophet Muhammad ever said it—is questionable.

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/04/boston-bombing-suspect-posted-video-al-qaeda-prophecy-youtube

28

Islamic Duties / Speaking out against terror

« on: April 19, 2013, 11:11:39 PM »

Salam Brother Joseph

I was hoping you would, on your Facebook page, include a line or two condemning the disgusting and heinous attacks on innocent people in Boston. Wonder if you are working on one?

We need to stand up united against terror and blast those who, through such acts, not only end up giving Islam a bad rap but turn people off.

Regards,

 

29

General Discussions / Rationalizing the sorry state of Ummah by the Quran

« on: April 04, 2013, 08:33:16 AM »

Dear All, Salam

Strange indeed is the response of some of us when we point out some success stories in the West on good governance, science, technology, medicine, ethics, accountability, justice system, cleanliness, equality, social welfare systems, etc.

They response by quoting verses from the Quran that say:

2:212 Beautified seems the life of this world to the rejecters, and they ridicule the believers who uphold Permanent Values and look beyond instant gains. Those who live an upright life will be higher in degrees on the Day of Resurrection. Allah provides without stint to His creation according to His Law that does not discriminate between people. He is the Sustainer of all humanity (114:1)

3:14 Beautiful for mankind is love of the joys that come from women and children, and heaps of gold and silver, and branded horses, and cattle and well-tilled land. That is comfort of the life of the world. Allah! With Him is a more excellent abode. (Believers in the Divine Laws see this comfort as the means to a higher Goal --- Service --- Self-actualization --- Paradise)

(O Messenger) Say, "Shall I inform you of something better than these, with which those who walk aright will be rewarded by their Lord? Gardens with flowing streams beneath, where they will live forever with spouses of spotless character and the Blissful Approval of Allah. Allah is Seer of His servants."

In other worlds, Muslims must not seek excellence in this world and live like beggars, not contributing towards science, medicine, technology, good governance, proper justice system, social welfare, etc. etc.

Nice way of rationalizing azaab like conditions and giving them a religious twist to make people feel better!!

30

Prophets and Messengers / Did the blessed Nabi had knowledge of future events?

« on: March 30, 2013, 09:51:01 PM »

Dear All, Salaam

We have a whole "industry" running on future predictions of the blessed Nabi (S). Does the Quran support him having knowledge of future events?

We have people waiting for Mehdi and Eesa, Mujaddids at the start of each century; prediction of wayward scholars misleading the Ummah;  Arabs building skyscrapers; Quran aloners,  Dajjal, etc. etc. A new sect of Ahmedis claiming to be true and only Muslims was born based on such predictions. Each sect find something in predictions to justify their existence.

Can someone provide evidence from the Quran proving that the blessed Nabi had knowledge of future events? Thanks.