Sex

Adultery: Do it! Do it! Do it!

Bible

You shall not commit adultery. Exodus 20:14(NIV)

لاَ تَزْنِ. ٢٠ :١٤

It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; 1Thes 4:3-5 (NIV)

فَإِنَّ مَشِيئَةَ اللهِ هِيَ هَذِهِ: قَدَاسَتُكُمْ. وَذَلِكَ بِأَنْ تَمْتَنِعُوا عَنِ الزِّنَى، ٤: ٣
وَأَنْ يَعْرِفَ كُلُّ وَاحِدٍ مِنْكُمْ كَيْفَ يَحْفَظُ جَسَدَهُ فِي الطَّهَارَةِ وَالْكَرَامَةِ ٤ :٤
غَيْرَ مُنْسَاقٍ لِلشَّهْوَةِ الْجَامِحَةِ كَالْوَثَنِيِّينَ الَّذِينَ لاَ يَعْرِفُونَ اللهَ، ٤ :٥

Qur’an

Also (forbidden are) women already married, except those (captives and slaves) whom your right hands possess. Thus has Allâh ordained for you. All others are lawful, provided you seek (them in marriage) with Mahr (bridal money given by the husband to his wife at the time of marriage) from your property, desiring chastity, not committing illegal sexual intercourse, so with those of whom you have enjoyed sexual relations, give them their Mahr as prescribed; but if after a Mahr is prescribed, you agree mutually (to give more), there is no sin on you. Surely, Allâh is Ever All-Knowing, All-Wise. Surah An-Nisâ’ 4:24 (Translated by Muhammad Al-Hilali and Muhammad Khan.)

وَالْمُحْصَنَاتُ مِنَ النِّسَاء إِلاَّ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ كِتَابَ اللّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَأُحِلَّ لَكُم مَّا وَرَاء ذَلِكُمْ أَن تَبْتَغُواْ بِأَمْوَالِكُم مُّحْصِنِينَ غَيْرَ مُسَافِحِينَ فَمَا اسْتَمْتَعْتُم بِهِ مِنْهُنَّ فَآتُوهُنَّ أُجُورَهُنَّ ف َرِيضَةً وَلاَ جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِيمَا تَرَاضَيْتُم بِهِ مِن بَعْدِ الْفَرِيضَةِ إِنَّ اللّهَ كَانَ عَلِيمًا حَكِيمًا ٤ :٢٤

Adultery

Voluntary sexual intercourse between a married man and someone other than his wife or between a married woman and someone other than her husband.

Rape

Sexual intercourse with a woman by a man without her consent.

The Qur’an states that a Muslim man cannot have sex with another man’s wife.  However, there is an important exception when he is at liberty to have sex with another man’s wife.  This exception applies to a married woman who is his captive or slave.  If a married woman consents to having sex with her Muslim master, then it is adultery.  If a married woman is forced by her Muslim captor, then it is rape. In either case, the Qur’an is in direct violation to the immutable moral law of Allah, the Judge of the Last Day. The divine Law given by Allah to Moses (Musa) states, “You shall not commit adultery.”

The Companions of Muhammad used the captive/slave exception to have affairs with the married women under their control.  During the lifetime of Muhammad, they followed their passionate lusts just like the heathen who do know not Allah (1Thes 4:5). The traditional hadiths record that Muhammad’s Companions raised a question about birth control and whether it should be practiced in their adulterous affairs with their captive women.

In Sahih Muslim, Book 8 Chapter 22 in the section on Al ‘Azl or Incomplete Sexual Intercourse, Muhammad told his Companions to go ahead and have illicit sex with their captive married women without practicing coitus interruptus (al-‘azl).  There did not seem to be a question whether or not it was morally right to have sex with these women who were married to another man.  It was assumed that these adulterous affair were  approved by Muhammad and Allah, since these immoral acts were sanctioned in the Qur’an. The only real question was the adultery technique itself. The Muslim men were worried that they might get their female victims pregnant.  And, if their female victims became pregnant, then their ransom value would be diminished or lost completely.  So, in the minds of Muhammad’s followers, they faced a dilemma of either 1) practicing al-‘Azl and maintaining their women’s ransom value or 2) not using this caution during sexual intercourse and possibly losing their female slave’s ransom value.  They wished they could avoid this dilemma, because they were keen to give full rein to their heathen lust as well as to receive a full ransom for their female captives.  Imam Muslim’s records the traditional account of their dilemma and Muhammad’s answer.

Sahih Muslim

Abu Sirma said to Abu Sa’id al Khadri (Allah he pleased with him): 0 Abu Sa’id, did you hear Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) mentioning al-‘azl? He said: Yes, and added: We went out with Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) on the expedition to the Bi’l-Mustaliq and took captive some excellent Arab women; and we desired them, for we were suffering from the absence of our wives, (but at the same time) we also desired ransom for them. So we decided to have sexual intercourse with them but by observing ‘azl (Withdrawing the male sexual organ before emission of semen to avoid conception). But we said: We are doing an act whereas Allah’s Messenger is amongst us; why not ask him? So we asked Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him), and he said: It does not matter if you do not do it, for every soul that is to be born up to the Day of Resurrection will be born. Sahih Muslim Book 8 Number 3371

Muhammad was quick to give his answer, and his answer was music to their ears. Muhammad said that they did not have to practice al-‘azl.  Now, on the surface, it seems that Muhammad’s unlearned followers knew more about embryology and human reproduction than Muhammad himself.  They knew that semen was required in the process of human reproduction that is why they thought it would be better to practice al-‘azl. It might be suggested that Muhammad had a lapse in memory.  But, this is unlikely, since this form of birth control was common knowledge throughout world history.  Rather, he seemed eager to reward his Companions with every sensual pleasure, as long as they willing plundered, killed, and enslaved anyone at his command.  In his cunning, he had the necessary revelation from Allah to make captive married women eligible sex providers (Qur’an 4:24) for his Companions who lacked moral self-control.

Muhammad turned the issue into a spiritual one, making it seem as if Allah would approve of forcing married women to have sex without prophylactic caution.  In other words, Muhammad stated indirectly that having sex with female captives would have nothing to do with any children being born into the world. Because, according to Muhammad, “every soul that is to be born up to the Day of Resurrection will be born.”   So, if a child were born to a captive female, it would have been born as a result of the divine decree (al-Qadr) of Allah, not as a result of the sexual act of the Muslim rapist. In other words, Muhammad’s Companions would not be responsible for a child being born.  Allah and Allah’s divine decree would be responsible for the baby’s birth.  If a captive woman became pregnant, she had no right to be angry with Muhammad’s men.  She should blame Allah, because it was Allah who decreed her pregnancy by her Muslim captor. So, in effect, Muhammad shifted the moral blame from his sexually ravenous Companions and pointed to Allah as the real culprit.

Furthermore, Muhammad’s statement is a logical tautology or a statement that must always be true.  The word, tautology comes from the Greek language and means redundant.  In its simplest form, it is like saying, “an apple is an apple.”  Of course, it is true that an apple is an apple.  Likewise, it is true by definition that every child that is to be born will be born.  With this answer, Muhammad dodged the whole moral issue of using married female captives to gratify the sensual lusts of his Companions, and he was deceptive about the biological facts of sexual intercourse too.  

Muhammad stood against the weak and helpless victims, so the powerful could satisfy their immoral desires. He made it appear that Allah was on the side of those who wanted to engage in the passionate sexual lusts of the pagans. What must the violated women thought as they looked towards the heavens knowing they were being used as sex slaves in the name of Allah, the Merciful and the Compassionate?  Was there no mercy or compassion for them?  What kind of prophet was this who turned upside down creation’s moral order?  Why did the Muhammad falsely claim that Allah disregarded the sanctity of a woman’s marital covenant with her own husband while she was a Muslim captive?  

Muhammad seemed to be impatient with his companions.  He could not grasp their hesitation to engage in illicit sex immediately.  He seemed eager, even sexually stimulated, to have the adulterous orgy begin and to have it begin immediately without the inconvenience of al-‘azl.  He shouted out his command three times, “Verily you do it, verily you do it, verily you do it!”  They obeyed, and Shaitan smiled.

Abu Sa’id al-Khudri (Allah be pleased with him) reported: We took women captives, and we wanted to do ‘azl with them. We then asked Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) about it, and he said to us: Verily you do it, verily you do it, verily you do it, but the soul which has to be born until the Day of judgment must be born. (emphasis added)  Sahih Muslim Book 8 Number 3373

Imam Muslim wanted his reader not to be in doubt about the issue. He gave several supporting hadiths to establish firmly his point.

Abu Sa’id al-Khudri (Allah be pleased with him) (was asked if he had heard it himself), to which he said: Yes. (I heard) Allah’s Apostle (may peace be upon him) as saying: There is no harm if you do not practise it, for it (the birth of the child) is something ordained (by Allah). Sahih Muslim Book 8 Number 3374

This hadith is reported on the authority of Abu Sa’id with the same chain of transmitters but with a slight variation (of words). Sahih Muslim Book 8 Number 3375

Abu Sa’id al-Khudri (Allah be pleased with him) reported that Allah’s Apostle (may peace be upon him) was asked about ‘azl, whereupon he said: There is no harm if you do not do that, for it (the birth of the child) is something ordained. Muhammad (one of the narrators) said: (The words) La ‘alaykum (there is no harm) implies its Prohibition. Sahih Muslim Book 8 Number 3376

Abu Sa’id al-Khudri (Allah be pleased with him) reported that mention was made of ‘azl in the presence of Allah’s Apostle (may peace be upon him) whereupon he said: Why do you practise it? They said: There is a man whose wife has to suckle the child, and if that person has a sexual intercourse with her (she may conceive) which he does not like, and there is another person who has a slave-girl and he has a sexual intercourse with her, but he does not like her to have conception so that she may not become Umm Walad, whereupon he (the Holy Prophet) said: There is no harm if you do not do that, for that (the birth of the child) is something pre- ordained. Ibn ‘Aun said: I made a mention of this hadith to Hasan, and he said: By Allah, (it seems) as if there is upbraiding in it (for ‘azl). Sahih Muslim Book 8 Number 3377

Malik’s Muwatta

Yahya related to me from Malik from Rabia ibn Abi Abd ar-Rahman from Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Habban that Ibn Muhayriz said, “I went into the mosque and saw Abu Said al-Khudri and so I sat by him and asked him about coitus interruptus. Abu Said al-Khudri said, ‘We went out with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, on the expedition to the Banu al-Mustaliq. We took some Arabs prisoner, and we desired the women as celibacy was hard for us. We wanted the ransom, so we wanted to practise coitus interruptus. We said, ‘Shall we practise coitus interruptus while the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is among us before we ask him?’ We asked him about that and he said, ‘You don’t have to not do it. There is no self which is to come into existence up to the Day of Rising but that it will come into existence.’ ” Malik’s Muwatta, Section: Coitus Interruptus, Book 29, Number 29.32.95

What must their husbands have thought as they had to stand by and watch Muhammad’s Companions copulate their wives like dogs?  For those unbelievers who sincerely loved their wives, it was a horrific experience. For unbelievers who did not love their wives, the promise of wealth, plunder, raids, and sex slaves was an attractive incentive to join Muhammad’s new religion. It is an incentive engraved into the very heart of the Qur’an and Hadiths.

Sunan Abu Dawud

Abu Sa’id al-Khudri said: The Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) sent a military expedition to Awtas on the occasion of the battle of Hunain. They met their enemy and fought with them.  They defeated them and took them captives.  Some of the Companions of the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) were reluctant to have intercourse with the female captives in the presence of their husbands who were  unbelievers.  So Allah, the Exalted, send down the Qur’anic verse: “And all married women (are forbidden) unto you save those (captives) whom your right hand possess.”[Surah 4:24] …Sunan Abu Dawud, Book V, Chapter 711, Number 2150

Last edited 10/28/2000

Homecoming

There is an account in the hadiths about Muhammad and his soldiers coming home from battle.  There was a soldier who was excitedly racing home to embrace his new bride.  All this is very normal and natural.  What new bridegroom would not be eager to see and to be with his lovely bride after an arduous battle?  So, the soldier of this hadith was driving his camel as fast as he could towards the city of Medina.  They would kiss, embrace, and start to talk about things that transpired while they were apart, and then they would sit down to a delicious meal she had prepared.  They were a couple in free and natural love, the way Allah had decreed marriage to be.

Then the story becomes morally debased when Muhammad arrives upon the scene.  The first thing the hadith records is that Muhammad put down the marriage of his soldier.  Muhammad could not understand why his soldier would marry a matron.  Muhammad understood human copulation, but he did not appreciate the true love of a husband for his own wife.  His thoughts of marriage were thoughts of fondling young girls.  The hadith continues, noting that Muhammad prevented his men from entering Medina until night had arrived.  The fast riding soldier was eager to see his wife, and he was acting perfectly normal for a husband who truly loved his wife.  But, Muhammad delayed his soldier’s anticipated embrace with his wife, so that he could direct his soldiers’ attention to the genital area of their wives.  All of his soldiers would have to stay on the outskirts of Medina until night fell and their women had ample time to shave their pubic area.  Bukhari records the narration as follows, 

Narrated Jabir bin Abdullah: While we were returning from a Ghazwa (Holy Battle) with the Prophet, I started driving my camel fast, as it was a lazy camel A rider came behind me and pricked my camel with a spear he had with him, and then my camel started running as fast as the best camel you may see. Behold! The rider was the Prophet himself. He said, ‘What makes you in such a hurry?” I replied, I am newly married ” He said, “Did you marry a virgin or a matron? I replied, “A matron.” He said, “Why didn’t you marry a young girl so that you may play with her and she with you?” When we were about to enter (Medina), the Prophet said, “Wait so that you may enter (Medina) at night so that the lady of unkempt hair may comb her hair and the one whose husband has been absent may shave her pubic region. Sahih Al-Bukhari Volume 7, Book 62, Number 16.

So, instead of picturing a returning soldier embracing his new bride, Muhammad turned the picture into a city where all the married women were sitting around shaving the hair off their external genitals before the rude soldiers entered town.  Muhammad set the moral attitude and marital tone for his soldiers’ homecoming.  

This historical account is not an account recorded by the enemies of Muhammad.  Indeed, the enemies of Muhammad would not be able to think up such sexually outlandish behavior as this one.  This account appears in the most traditional and conservative hadith recognized by all Muslims.  It is left to the reader to judge whether or not Muhammad’s criticism of the soldier’s marriage and his reasons for waiting to enter the city express the eternal will of Allah for all of humanity for all time.

Is the Qur’an (68:4) true, when it states that Muhammad is the standard of sublime morality and character?

And most surely you conform (yourself) to sublime morality. [Shakir’s translation]

And verily, you (O Muhammad SAW) are on an exalted standard of character. [Al-Hilali & Khan’s translation]

وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلى خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ ٦٨ :٤

Last edited 11/10/2000

Muhammad’s Sexual Stamina

   Sahih Bukhari

Narrated Qatada: Anas bin Malik said, “The Prophet used to visit all his wives in a round, during the day and night and they were eleven in number.” I asked Anas, “Had the Prophet the strength for it?” Anas replied, “We used to say that the Prophet was given the strength of thirty (men).” And Sa’id said on the authority of Qatada that Anas had told him about nine wives only (not eleven). Volume 1, Book 5, Number 268.

Narrated Muhammad bin Al-Muntathir: on the authority of his father that he had asked ‘Aisha about the saying of Ibn ‘Umar (i.e. he did not like to be a Muhrim while the smell of scent was still coming from his body). ‘Aisha said, “I scented Allah’s Apostle and he went round (had sexual intercourse with) all his wives, and in the morning he was Muhrim (after taking a bath).” Volume 1, Book 5, Number 270.

A Muslim’s comments.

This is an accusation against the Prophet of Allah who spent his life in struggle, worship and in instructing and teaching his Umma. What do these ignorant ones think when they narrate such disgraces? It is as if their minds are corrupted by their animalistic lusts. They used to take pride with their mates of their over indulgence in sex and strength of intercourse when, in reality, these are narrations falsified to demean the sanctity of the Prophet.

The Muslim’s comments above reflect the sentiment of a human conscience which affords us a natural sense of right and wrong. This natural sense of right and wrong has been divinely implanted into human nature by Allah. All human beings are born with this sense. It is inescapable. Some Muslim scholars who write on human psychology affirm that human beings have an intellect (‘aql), free-will (irâdah) and fitrah by birth. These are an internal source of truth, whereas prophets and divine revelation are external sources of truth.  In an article entitled, The Definition of Fitrah, Yasien Mohamed wrote the following on Fitrah and Human Responsibility

Man is distinguished from the rest of the creation because he has been endowed with intellect (‘aql) and free-will (irâdah). The intellect enables him to discern right from wrong. He can use these faculties to complement his fitrah and to please Allâh or to be untrue to it and displease Allâh. The choice is his. The prophets and Divine revelation are external sources of guidance to guide the intellect and will of man.

Holy Scripture calls the human sense of right and wrong, the law written on the heart.  This law written on the heart is an internal moral law that every human being possess. Just as every human person has an intellect (‘aql) and free-will (irâdah), so every person is born with this moral sense of good and evil.  The human intellect, free-will, and moral sense do not depend upon the office of a prophet, because a person is naturally born with all of these human powers.

since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.) Rom 2:15 (NIV)

فَهُمْ يُظْهِرُونَ جَوْهَرَ الشَّرِيعَةِ مَكْتُوباً فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ، وَيَشْهَدُ لِ ذلِكَ ضَمِيرُهُمْ وَأَفْكَارُهُمْ فِي دَاخِلِهِمْ، إِذْ تَتَّهِمُهُمْ تَارَةً، وَتَارَةً تُبْرِئُهُمْ. ٢ :١٥

The above-mentioned Muslim makes a moral evaluation of this hadith’s report of Muhammad’s sexual behavior and finds it morally repugnant. This is the natural reaction of the moral conscience that Allah has imparted into human nature. And, as human beings, we should never violate our Allah-given sense of right and wrong.  So, rather than coming to the logical conclusion that Muhammad had behaved with unbridled lust, this Muslim decided to reject the historical record of this hadith.  He is willing to discard the historical Muhammad to maintain an idealized, but fictional, Muhammad.  

A more typical Muslim’s response is to justify Muhammad’s sexual behavior.  This is seen in the following paragraph where a Muslim writes that the hadith is no more than a husband satisfying his wife.  

What the narrator implied is nothing more than his own opinion. The prophet used to visit all his wives to check on them, which is part of his duty. The addition is only the opinion of the narrator who might have thought highly of a husband who would satisfy all his wives.

First of all, the narrator was not merely narrating an opinion.  The narrator was narrating the actual sexual history of Muhammad who would perfume himself and then have sex with all of his wives in one night without washing between his sexual acts with his many wives. The hadith notes that some of Muhammad’s contemporaries praised his sexual stamina. So, we need to ask ourselves if Muhammad’s behavior exemplified high moral character, demonstrating to all the world that he is the Light of Allah? Are Muhammad’s deeds the timeless expression of the Will of Allah?  This seems questionable, since polygamy is contrary to human Fitrah. In the beginning of creation, Allah created Adam (one man) and Eve (one woman) to be the prototypical marriage for all the rest of humanity.  If Allah had chosen to create humanity polygamous, he would have created Adam (one man) and several women to be Adam’s wives. This was not the case.  As humanity became distant from the law of Allah, polygamy became more prevalent with its attendant evils. Polygamy is a violation against the original fitrah given to human nature by Allah as well as the moral order of the universe.  Thus, this hadith is evidence that Muhammad chose to violate Allah’s moral law, and he became a morally depraved example for all who follow his example.

Isa noted that, in the beginning, it was one man with his one wife (not wives).  It was the two (husband and wife) who would be the one flesh (one biological unit).  It wasn’t the man and the nine or eleven wives who would be the one flesh. 

“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” Matthew 19:4-6 (NIV)

فَأَجَابَهُمْ قَائِلاً: «أَلَمْ تَقْرَأُوا أَنَّ الْخَالِقَ جَعَلَ الإِنْسَانَ مُنْذُ الْبَدْءِ ذَكَراً وَأُنْثَى، ١٩ :٤
وَقَالَ: لِذَلِكَ يَتْرُكُ الرَّجُلُ أَبَاهُ وَأُمَّهُ وَيَتَّحِدُ بِزَوْجَتِهِ، فَيَصِيرُ الاثْنَانِ جَسَداً وَاحِداً؟ ١٩ :٥
فَلَيْسَا فِي مَا بَعْدُ اثْنَيْنِ، بَلْ جَسَدٌ وَاحِدٌ. فَلاَ يُفَرِّقَنَّ الإِنْسَانُ مَا قَدْ قَرَنَهُ اللهُ!» ١٩ :٦

The Apostle Paul wrote that spiritual leadership in the Church was restricted to husbands who have only one wife.  In addition, the Old Testament prophets warned against increasing the number of wives, even though their warnings were not always heeded.

Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 1 Timothy 3:2 (NIV)

إِذَنْ، يَجِبُ أَنْ يَكُونَ الرَّاعِي بِلاَ عَيْبٍ، زَوْجاً لامْرَأَةٍ وَاحِدَةٍ، نَبِيهاً عَاقِلاً مُهَذَّباً مِضْيَافاً، قَادِراً عَلَى التَّعْلِيمِ؛ ٣ :٢

During the time of Muhammad, there was gossip among the pagans about the number of his wives.  This gossip would be natural, since Muhammad’s behavior was contrary to Allah’s moral order and human fitrah.  Even by ancient Arabian standards, the pagans were shocked by Muhammad’s moral behavior. As often happened, Muhammad would claim that Allah revealed a new Surah to approve of what he had already decided to do.  The Surahs would seem to come at  just the right time.  This case was no different.  Muhammad recited that Allah wanted him to ignore the pagans’ noxious talk and to be privileged with as many wives as would make him happy. Was this really the divine will of Allah?  Does Allah change?  Or, were these ayat more a hiss of Shaitan or a voice from hell, encouraging Muhammad to violate the immutable will of Allah, the Lord of Creation?  Does Allah smile and encourage morally depraved behavior for those who are his true prophets?

And incline not to the disbelievers and the hypocrites. Disregard their noxious talk, and put thy trust in Allah. Allah is sufficient as Trustee. 

O ye who believe! If ye wed believing women and divorce them before ye have touched them, then there is no period that ye should reckon. But content them and release them handsomely. 

O Prophet! Lo! We have made lawful unto thee thy wives unto whom thou hast paid their dowries, and those whom thy right hand possesseth of those whom Allah hath given thee as spoils of war, and the daughters of thine uncle on the father’s side and the daughters of thine aunts on the father’s side, and the daughters of thine uncle on the mother’s side and the daughters of thine aunts on the mother’s side who emigrated with thee, and a believing woman if she give herself unto the Prophet and the Prophet desire to ask her in marriage – a privilege for thee only, not for the (rest of) believers – We are Aware of that which We enjoined upon them concerning their wives and those whom their right hands possess – that thou mayst be free from blame, for Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful. 

Thou canst defer whom thou wilt of them and receive unto thee whom thou wilt, and whomsoever thou desirest of those whom thou hast set aside (temporarily), it is no sin for thee (to receive her again); that is better; that they may be comforted and not grieve, and may all be pleased with what thou givest them. Allah knoweth what is in your hearts (O men), and Allah is ever Forgiving, Clement.  Surah AL-AHZAB 33:48-51.

وَلَا تُطِعِ الْكَافِرِينَ وَالْمُنَافِقِينَ وَدَعْ أَذَاهُمْ وَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّهِ وَكَفَى بِاللَّهِ وَكِيلًا ٣٣ :٤٨
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا نَكَحْتُمُ الْمُؤْمِنَاتِ ثُمَّ طَلَّقْتُمُوهُنَّ مِن قَبْلِ أَن تَمَسُّوهُنَّ فَمَا لَكُمْ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِنْ عِدَّةٍ تَعْتَدُّونَهَا فَمَتِّعُوهُنَّ وَسَرِّحُوهُنَّ سَرَاحًا جَمِيلًا ٣٣ :٤٩
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ إِنَّا أَحْلَلْنَا لَكَ أَزْوَاجَكَ اللَّاتِي آتَيْتَ أُجُورَهُنَّ وَمَا مَلَكَتْ يَمِينُكَ مِمَّا أَفَاء اللَّهُ عَلَيْكَ وَبَنَاتِ عَمِّكَ وَبَنَاتِ عَمَّاتِكَ وَبَنَاتِ خَالِكَ وَبَنَاتِ خَالَاتِكَ اللَّاتِي هَاجَرْنَ مَعَكَ وَامْرَأَةً مُّؤْمِنَةً إِن وَهَبَتْ نَفْسَهَا لِلنَّبِيِّ إِنْ أَرَادَ النَّبِيُّ أَن يَسْتَنكِحَهَا خَالِصَةً لَّكَ مِن دُونِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ قَدْ عَلِمْنَا مَا فَرَضْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ فِي أَزْوَاجِهِمْ وَمَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُهُمْ لِكَيْلَا يَكُونَ عَلَيْكَ حَرَجٌ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا ٣٣ :٥٠
تُرْجِي مَن تَشَاء مِنْهُنَّ وَتُؤْوِي إِلَيْكَ مَن تَشَاء وَمَنِ ابْتَغَيْتَ مِمَّنْ عَزَلْتَ فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكَ ذَلِكَ أَدْنَى أَن تَقَرَّ أَعْيُنُهُنَّ وَلَا يَحْزَنَّ وَيَرْضَيْنَ بِمَا آتَيْتَهُنَّ كُلُّهُنَّ وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ عَلِيمًا حَلِيمًا ٣٣ :٥١

Please notice the words of the Apostle Paul in contrast to the words of the Qur’an.  In Second Corinthians, it is written that “we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience.”  Allah requires that we conduct our moral lives in a manner that commends itself to every man’s conscience.  And, the phrase, every man, includes atheists, pagans, Gentiles, agnostics, etc.  It is not permissible for human beings to ignore our neighbor’s conscience, no matter who they are.  By contrast, the voice that spoke to Muhammad said, in essence, “Ignore the moral conscience of other men and do what is sensually pleasurable to you. Since you are superior to the moral law of Allah, you may disregard human reason and ethical morals.”

Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. 2 Corinthians 4:2 (NIV)

وَلَكِنَّنَا قَدْ رَفَضْنَا الأَسَالِيبَ الْخَفِيَّةَ الْمُخْجِلَةَ، إِذْ لاَ نَسْلُكُ فِي الْمَكْرِ، وَلاَ نُزَوِّرُ كَلِمَةَ اللهِ، بَلْ بِإِعْلاَنِنَا لِلْحَقِّ نَمْدَحُ أَنْفُسَنَا لَدَى ضَمِيرِ كُلِّ إِنْسَانٍ، أَمَامَ اللهِ&#. ٤ :٢

Last edited 10/25/2000