The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (15 page)

Muhammad vs. Jesus

“Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle. They said to Him, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?’ They said this to test Him, so that they could have some charge to bring against Him. Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with His finger. But when they continued asking Him, He straightened up and said to them, ‘Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Again He bent down and wrote on the ground. And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So He was left alone with the woman before Him. Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She replied, ‘No one, sir.’ Then Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.’”

John 7:53–8:11

“There came to him (the Holy Prophet) a woman from Ghamid and said: Allah’s Messenger, I have committed adultery, so purify me. He (the Holy Prophet) turned her away. On the following day she said: Allah’s Messenger, Why do you turn me away?…By Allah, I have become pregnant. He said: Well, if you insist upon it, then go away until you give birth to the child. When she was delivered she came with the child wrapped in a rag and said: Here is the child whom I have given birth to. He said: Go away and suckle him until you wean him. When she had weaned him, she came to him…She said: Allah’s Apostle, here is he as I have weaned him and he eats food. He (the Holy Prophet) entrusted the child to one of the Muslims and then pronounced punishment. And she was put in a ditch up to her chest and he commanded people and they stoned her. Khalid bin Walid came forward with a stone which he flung at her head and there spurted blood on the face of Khalid and so he abused her. Allah’s Apostle heard his (Khalid’s) curse that he had hurled upon her. Thereupon he (the Holy Prophet) said: Khalid, be gentle. By Him in Whose Hand is my life, she has made such a repentance that even if a wrongful tax-collector were to repent, he would have been forgiven. Then giving command regarding her, he prayed over her and she was buried.”
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Consequently, it is almost impossible to prove rape in lands that follow the dictates of the Sharia. Men can commit rape with impunity: As long as they deny the charge and there are no witnesses, they will get off scot-free, because the victim’s testimony is inadmissible. Even worse, if a woman accuses a man of rape, she may end up incriminating herself. If the required male witnesses can’t be found, the victim’s charge of rape becomes an admission of adultery. That accounts for the grim fact that as many as 75 percent of the imprisoned women in Pakistan are, in fact, behind bars for the crime of being a victim of rape.
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Several high-profile cases in Nigeria recently have also revolved around rape accusations being turned around by Islamic authorities into charges of fornication, resulting in death sentences that were modified only after international pressure.
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A Book You’re Not Supposed to Read

Voices Behind the Veil: The World of Islam Through the Eyes of Women
, edited by Ergun Mehmet Caner; Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2004.

Female circumcision

Female circumcision is yet another source of misery for women in some Islamic countries. This is not a specifically Islamic custom, for it’s found among a number of cultural and religious groups in Africa and South Asia. Among Muslims, it’s prevalent mainly in Egypt and the surrounding lands. Yet despite the fact that there is scant (at best) attestation in the Qur’an or Hadith for this horrific practice, the Muslims who do practice it invest it with religious significance. An Islamic legal manual states that circumcision is required “for both men and women.”
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To Sheikh Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi, the grand sheikh of al-Azhar, female circumcision is “a laudable practice that [does] honor to women.”
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As the grand imam of al-Azhar, Tantawi is, in the words of a BBC report, “the highest spiritual authority for nearly a billion Sunni Muslims.”
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Perhaps in the eyes of Sheikh Tantawi, the pain that female circumcision causes its victims is worth the result; most authorities agree that female circumcision is designed to diminish a woman’s sexual response, so that she will be less likely to commit adultery.

Long-term prospects? Dim

As long as men read and believe the Qur’an, women will be despised, second-class citizens, subject to the heartbreak and dehumanization of polygamy, the threat of an easy and capricious divorce, and worse—including beatings, false accusations, and the loss of virtually all of the most basic human freedoms. These are not phenomena of a group, party, or anything so ephemeral. They are the consequences of regarding the Qur’an as the absolute, eternally valid, and perfect word of Allah. As long as men continue to take the Qur’an at face value, women will be at risk.

Chapter 6

ISLAMIC LAW: LIE, STEAL, AND KILL

N
ot only does Islam command warfare against unbelievers and their subjugation under Islamic rule; it also—as we have already seen in part—sanctions lying, stealing, and killing in order to advance Islam. In fact, Islam doesn’t have a moral code analogous to the Ten Commandments; the idea that Islam shares the general moral outlook of Judaism and Christianity is another PC myth. In Islam, virtually anything is acceptable if it fosters the growth of Islam.

Guess what?

• Islam’s only overarching moral principle is “if it’s good for Islam, it’s right.”
  
• Islam allows for lying, as well as stealing and killing, in certain circumstances.
  
• This leads to large-scale deception campaigns today.
  

Lying: It’s wrong—except when it isn’t

Muhammad minced no words about the necessity of telling the truth: “It is obligatory for you to tell the truth, for truth leads to virtue and virtue leads to Paradise, and the man who continues to speak the truth and endeavours to tell the truth is eventually recorded as truthful with Allah, and beware of telling of a lie for telling of a lie leads to obscenity and obscenity leads to Hell-Fire, and the person who keeps telling lies and endeavours to tell a lie is recorded as a liar with Allah.”
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However, as with so many other Islamic principles, this is largely a matter between believers. When it comes to unbelievers—particularly those who are at war with Muslims—Muhammad enunciated a quite different principle: “War is deceit.”

Specifically, he taught that lying was permissible in battle.
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Thus were born two enduring Islamic principles: the permissibility of political assassination for the honor of the Prophet and his religion and an allowance for the practice of deception in wartime. The doctrines of religious deception (
taqiyya
and
kitman
) are most often identified with Shi’ite Islam and are ostensibly rejected by Sunnis (over 85 percent of Muslims worldwide) because they were sanctioned by the Prophet. However, they can still be found in traditions that Sunni Muslims consider most reliable.

Also, religious deception (practiced on hapless unbelievers) is taught by the Qur’an itself, telling Muslims: “Let not the believers take for friends or helpers unbelievers rather than believers. If any do that, in nothing will there be help from Allah; except by way of precaution, that ye may guard yourselves from them” (Qur’an 3:28). In other words, don’t make friends with unbelievers except to “guard yourselves from them”: Pretend to be their friends so that you can strengthen yourself against them. The distinguished Qur’anic commentator Ibn Kathir explains that, in this verse, “Allah prohibited His believing servants from becoming supporters of the disbelievers, or to take them as comrades with whom they develop friendships, rather than the believers.” However, exempted from this rule were “those believers who in some areas or times fear for their safety from the disbelievers. In this case, such believers are allowed to show friendship to the disbelievers outwardly, but never inwardly.”
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When Shi’ite Muslims were persecuted by Sunnis, they developed the doctrine of
taqiyya
, or concealment: They could lie about what they believed, denying aspects of their faith that were offensive to Sunnis. This practice is sanctioned by the Qur’an warning Muslims that those who forsake Islam will be consigned to Hell—except those forced to do so, but who remain true Muslims inwardly: “Any one who, after accepting faith in Allah, utters unbelief—except under compulsion, his heart remaining firm in faith—but such as open their breast to unbelief, on them is wrath from Allah, and theirs will be a dreadful penalty” (Qur’an 16:106). Closely related to this is the doctrine of
kitman
, or mental reservation, which is telling the truth, but not the whole truth, with an intention to mislead. Although these doctrines are commonly associated with Shi’ites, Sunnis have also practiced them throughout Islamic history, because of their Qur’anic foundation.
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Ibn Kathir, who was no Shi’ite, explains that “the scholars agreed that if a person is forced into disbelief, it is permissible for him to either go along with them in the interests of self-preservation, or to refuse.”
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Jihadists today have spoken of the usefulness of deceptive practices. Remember that the next time you see a Muslim spokesman on television professing his friendship with non-Muslim Americans and his loyalty to the United States. Of course, he may be telling the truth—but he may not be telling the whole truth or he may be just lying. And it’s virtually certain that whoever is conducting the interview will not ask him about this passage of the Qur’an.

But what constitutes force in this case? Ibn Kathir seems to envision only physical force, but force can take many forms. Might Islamic spokesmen in this country feel constrained to downplay or deny aspects of their religion that unbelievers might find unpalatable?

Theft: It all depends on who you’re stealing from

Islamic law is notorious for mandating harsh punishments—and perhaps most notable is amputation for theft: “As for the thief, both male and female, cut off their hands. It is the reward of their own deeds, an exemplary punishment from Allah. Allah is Mighty, Wise” (Qur’an 5:38).

But here again, the situation is different when it comes to unbelievers who are perceived as warring against Islam. We know that the Qur’an makes laws for the division of the spoils of war, mandating that a fifth go to Allah and charitable works (Qur’an 8:41). And after Muhammad signed the Treaty of Hudaybiyya with the Quraysh (see chapter one), he reassured his confused and disappointed followers with the promise of more spoils: “Allah promiseth you much booty that ye will capture, and hath given you this in advance, and hath withheld men’s hands from you, that it may be a token for the believers, and that He may guide you on a right path.” (Qur’an 48:18–20). The instances in which Muslims actually captured booty in raids are numerous.