Chapter 2: The Prophet Muhammad?

Abu al-Qasim Muhammad Ibn Abd al Muttalib Ibn Hashim, the founder of Islam and the Arab Empire, was born in Mecca c. 570 A.D. after the death of his father. At first, he was under the care of his paternal grandfather, and after his death, Abu Talib, his uncle, took over his guardianship. When he was six, his mother, Amina departed from this world.

Muhammad belonged to the clan of Hashim, which was a part of the tribe of Quresh and inhabited Mecca where Muhammad was born. Though Mecca was a small town, it was a mercantile centre, and was respected for its sanctuary known as the Kaaba. The Quresh were descendants of Ishmael, son of Abraham, the Jewish patriarch, and claimed that it was Abraham, accompanied by Ishmael, who rebuilt the temple of Kaaba for worship of God but it became the focus of idolatry, which lasted for many centuries. Muhammad died on June 8, 632 A.D.

Since Kaaba was a temple organized on the Indian principle of statue-worship, and Hashimites, the immediate family of the Prophet Muhammad, were its trustees, not only were they all idolaters but also protectors of idol-worship. It is, therefore, not surprising that when Muhammad was born, his grandfather, Abd al-Muttalib *"took the young child in his arms, and went to the Kaaba, and as he stood beside the Holy house, he gave thanks to God. The child was called Muhammad." Obviously, the infant was initiated into life according to the pagan rites of his family.

* The Life of Mahomet by Sir William Muir, page 5.

Surely, the boy-Muhammad would have regularly accompanied his elders to the temple of Kaaba. The hadith no. 5654 (Muslim) states, on the authority of Jabir b. Samura that the Prophet Muhammad said: "I recognize the stone in Kaaba which used to pay me salutations before my advent as a Prophet and I recognize that even now."

The stone mentioned here certainly means the Black Stone of Kaaba; it could not have paid salutations to Muhammad if he had not been a visitor to this Holy Temple adorned with some 350 statues belonging to different Arab tribes. It goes without saying that Muhammad used to visit Kaaba for the same purpose as did his family members, who were pagans, and are roasting in hell for their disbelief. His fatherly uncle, Abu Talib, according to Hadith no. 408 (Muslim) is burning in the shallow part of hell despite the fact that Muhammad could not have preached Islam without his most benevolent support. Surah IX: 113 of the Koran illustrates this fact by forbidding the Prophet to beg pardon for any polytheist including his closest relations such as mother (father) or uncles.

One should also bear in mind that, during 605 A.D. the violent floods that swept down the valley, shattered the Kaaba and necessitated its reconstruction. It was Muhammad who sagaciously arranged the fixing of the Black Stone in its proper place. Obviously, he was one of the worshippers of the Temple. There is nothing improper in it because people follow the religion of their parents unless they feel a marked change in their attitude towards the ancestral faith. It did not happen to Muhammad until he was forty when he claimed to have received his first revelation from Allah.

My narrative collides with the well propagated statements to be found in the Islamic books and on people's tongues. In fact, extraordinary tales have been forged to bestow supernatural grandeur on Muhammad with a view to exploiting the appeal of his name. This is a clever stratagem of the religious and political sharks, who draw attention to themselves by pretending to be the true devotees of the Prophet but, in reality, they are seasoned hypocrites; the more skillfully they praise Muhammad, the greater their chances to fool his followers with their false piety.

It has been claimed:

1. God, first created the light of Muhammad, out of which He then proceeded to create everything which constitutes this world.

2. When Muhammad was born, the angels started singing; idols everywhere fell on their faces, and fires of all fire-worshippers in Persia and India became cold.

3. These miracles, including many more, took place because it is claimed that Muhammad was a prophet before birth.

This is all false publicity. If this was true, Muhammad would not have been fathered by an idolater; nor a *pagan woman could have borne him. Again, it totally negates the Koranic evidence, which says that Muhammad received his first revelation when he was meditating in a desert cave called Hira. He was forty years old at that time. Obviously, he had a religion before this event. It could not have been anything but the faith of his ancestors, which

* Hadith no. 2129 (Muslim) clearly states that Allah forbade Muhammad to beg forgiveness for his mother owing to her unbelief.

was idolatry. This statement appears blasphemous but it happens to be the truth, which the Muslim scholars and divines are determined to hide, yet they call themselves "pious believers." The Koran candidly testifies to what I have just mentioned. It says:

"We have revealed to thee (Muhammad) a
Spirit of Our (Allah's) bidding. Thou knewest
not what the Book was, nor belief;
but We (Allah) made it a light, whereby, We
(Allah) guide whom We will of our servants."
(Counsel, XLII: 50)

In a nutshell, Allah is telling Muhammad:

1. He (Muhammad) did not know anything about the Koran until he started receiving revelations.

2. Therefore, he did not possess the right faith i.e. Islam, before the commencement of revelations.

3. It is Allah who made His revelations a source of light for Muhammad.

4. Allah guides whom he likes, and Muhammad is one of those lucky servants of Allah.

It is crystal clear that Muhammad was not born guided. Therefore, he was not a prophet before birth; neither the world was created from his light. Since he was born as an ordinary human, the miracles ascribed to his birth are sheer fabrications.

If he was really a Prophet before birth, why did he not preach Islam for forty years, and thus deliberately neglected Allah's command?

The Koran makes it clear that Muhammad is a mortal, who is endowed with human nature and therefore subject to the natural law, which states: "to err is human." Here is the testimony:

".... God may forgive thee (Muhammad) thy former
and thy latter sins, and complete his blessings upon
thee, and guide thee
on a straight path,
and that may help thee
with mighty help." (Victory, XLVIII: I)

In view of the above verses, can anyone deny the fact that being a human, Muhammad had committed sins in the past, and was likely to repeat them in future? He needed Allah's help and guidance to go straight.
note: "(Muhammad) ask forgiveness for thy sins and
for the believers, men and women. God
knows your going to and fro, and
your lodging." (Muhammad, XLVII: 20)

If Muhammad was not a human, he could not commit sins, and Allah would not have commanded him to ask forgiveness for his wrong doings. How could such a person be the Light of God to serve as the source of creation?

Faith is the source of irrationality because it commands its followers to believe in what is illogical, ludicrous and unbecoming. If we take off spectacles of faith and look at the life of Muhammad, we realize that he was a human because like all other mortals, he felt hungry and thirsty; both cold and hot affected him; he had human passions, experienced delight and disgust, desired women and made love to them, fell ill and needed medication. He was born through exactly the same physical process as other humans, and enjoyed a normal span of life. He also died the same way as other humans do. In fact, we are likely to discount all those tales, which have been ascribed to him when we read the following in the books of hadith. Here are quotations from Sunun Ibne Majah, volume one:

Aisha, the Prophet's youngest wife said, "I have not seen anyone in such a state of agony (in death-bed) as was the Holy Prophet" (Hadith no. 1685).

Another hadith ascribed to Aisha, states: "At the time of death, the Holy Prophet rubbed water on his face from a jar and begged Allah to help him in his agony" (Hadith no. 1686).

Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet, seeing the state of her father during his death, cried ruefully, "O, my father's excruciating pain!" The Prophet replied, "your father has suffered such a torture that no one else shall experience it until the Day of Judgment" (Hadith no. 1692).

These hadiths clearly demonstrate that, as Muhammad was born and died like other mortals, he could not claim to be superhuman. The Koran also testifies to the fact that Muhammad's living was not free from human weaknesses. Here is the Koranic story of Zaid and Zainab to prove the case, though the Muslim scholars have deliberately misinterpreted it to prove their "piety."

Zaid and Zainab

One is surprised to note that there is no such thing as adoption of sons and daughters in Islam though it claims to be the perfect way of life. This omission becomes more pronounced when we realize that even the legal codes of antiquity such as Roman Law, acknowledged it as a basic human right to adopt someone as a son or daughter and treat him or her as one's true child. It is because pining for children is a feature of mankind. As every one cannot have a natural son or daughter, people have the right to adopt someone else's child and treat him/her as his own.

Why is there no legal adoption in Islam? To understand this fact we must refer to Zaid and Zainab:

Zaid was kidnapped during his childhood. When eight years' old, he was offered as a slave in the market of Akkaz. Hakeem bin Hazzam bin Khawelid bought him for four hundred dirhams on behalf of his aunt, Khadija bin Khawelid, who married Muhammad and gave him Zaid as a gift. It is said that when the boy's father, Harith, and uncle Kaab, heard of it, they approached Muhammad with the necessary ransom to free him. Thereupon, it is claimed, Muhammad gave the boy complete choice either to stay in his ownership or be free and go with his father and uncle. The boy is said to have opted for Muhammad.

It is an extraordinary event that an eight-year-old child chooses his master in preference to his parents. One is led to believe that there had developed a strong bond of affection between the two, and it must have grown stronger with the passage of time because all Muhammad's real sons had died during their earlier years. This is confirmed by the fact that Muhammad took Zaid to the Place of Hajar, and presenting him to a gathering, declared: "O people, witness the fact that I have adopted Zaid as my own son. From now on, he inherits me and I inherit him."
(Mishkat, Volume 3, p. 340)

It certainly proves that Muhammad not only adopted Zaid as his son but also loved him as a father should.

Who was Zainab?

She was the daughter of Ummaya, who was a daughter of Abdul Muttalib, the grandfather of Muhammad. This made her a paternal cousin of the Prophet. Her real name was "Barrah," which Muhammad changed to Zainab when she became his wife.

The Hadith 3330 (Muslim) narrates that, as the Prophet wanted to set an example of social equality, he approached his aunt to give Zainab in marriage to his son, Zaid. She agreed and they became a wedded couple but things did not work out because she was conscious of her noble birth in comparison to Zaid, who was a freed slave. In arranging this marriage, the Prophet played the role of a father, as prescribed by the Eastern tradition. After all, he was called Zaid bin Muhammad (Zaid the son of Muhammad).

The note no. 1876 on page 723 of Muslim, Volume two, claims that "marriage had come almost to the breaking point and he (the Holy Prophet) had been convinced of the fact that, with this glaring difference in their temperaments, they could not get on as husband and wife. They, therefore, took to the last resort - divorce - and secured separation from each other."

I am afraid that the annotator of the said note i.e. 1876, has resorted to misrepresentation here because the act of separation does not constitute divorce when this process is completed in three stages. There is no evidence that they had separated. It is only an assumption of the zealots. Even if it were treated as a fact, the act of separation does prove that Zaid and Zainab were still married, and not finally divorced according to the Islamic Law. In fact, the word "divorce" does not occur in this context at all.

The annotator further adds: 'The Holy Prophet (may peace be upon him) owed great responsibility to Zainab and her family. It was he who had arranged her marriage with Zaid when the whole of her family was opposed to it. It was the magnanimity on the part of the Holy prophet to marry her himself and thus retrieve for her and her family the lost prestige and remove the false conception that the divorce of a woman at the hand of a freed slave ever degraded her social status."

This is another far-fetched explanation. At that time when Arabia experienced the highest temperature of faith, it must have been a great honor to be married to the adopted son of the Prophet.

May be, we should look to the Koran for further annotation. In it, Allah addresses Muhammad as follows: "When thou (1) sadist to him (Zaid) whom God had blessed and thou hadst favored, 'Keep thy *wife to thyself and fear God, and thou was concealing within thyself what God should reveal, fearing other men; and God has a better right for thee to fear Him. So when Zaid had (2) accomplished what he would of her, then We (Allah) gave her in marriage to thee (Muhammad) so that there should not be any fault in the believers, touching the wives of their (3) adopted sons, when they have accomplished what they would of them: and God's commandments must be performed.

There is no (4) fault in the Prophet, touching what God has ordained for him - God's wont with those who passed away before; and God's commandment is doom decreed."
(The Confederates: XXXIII: 37)

* The Koran has quite candidly stated that Zanib was Zaid's wife by referring to her as Zojaka i.e. your wife, but the Mullahs, for expressing their cheap enthusiasm defy the Koran through deliberate misinterpretations.

I have numbered various parts of this revelation for easy understanding:

1. The words: "Keep Thy wife to Thyself" clearly show that Muhammad desired Zainab when she was still Zaid's wife, otherwise, God could not have told Muhammad that he was concealing the truth, and warned him to fear Him (Allah) and not people.

On the strength of this wording, some annotators have remarked that Zaid, knowing the Prophet's desire, had offered to divorce Zainab in his favor, but the Prophet told him to keep her, and with a view to keeping appearance, added "fear God" as if Zaid was doing an ungodly thing.

2. One cannot doubt the fact that, at the start of the episode, Zaid and Zainab were not divorced as yet. There is no mention of separation here. Therefore, they were still living together as man and wife. This becomes quite clear when read in conjunction with the preceding note ( 1 ) .

3. It was an unwritten law of Arabia dictated by custom that people did not marry the (widowed or divorced) wives of their adopted sons. Allah, as in many other cases, abrogated this rule to arrange Muhammad's marriage with Zainab. I shall explain Allah's laws in relation to the Prophet at the end of this discussion.

4. To vouch for the holiness of the Prophet, this event is made to look as if it were ordained by Allah, and Muhammad had no choice but to obey! What an innovation it is!

One wonders if Allah has a separate identity of his own. He appears to be the shadow of Muhammad. Look at the following verse:

"It is not for any believer, man or
woman, when God and His Messenger
have decreed a matter, to have the choice
in the affair. Whoever disobeys
God and His Messenger has gone astray
into manifest error. " (Confederates: XXXIII: 36)

It proves beyond a shadow of doubt that Allah and Muhammad are one and the same person because they decide and command together; again, disobedience to Muhammad is disobedience to Allah, and vice versa.

However there is a missing bit which is supplied by hadith 3330 (Muslim). It says:

"Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said to Zaid to make a mention to her (Zanib) about him (Messenger i.e. the Prophet Muhammad)." What does it mean? The note 1877 to this hadith says: "Note the crystal clear conscience of Muhammad (may peace be upon him) that he deputed Zaid to convey his proposal of marriage to her."

One wonders at the moral sense of the commentator: how does it represent "crystal clear conscience" to persuade a husband to carry someone else's message of love or marriage to his own wife (or even ex-wife)?

However, for better understanding of this episode, I may repeat the hadith 3450 (Muslim, volume 2) which says that the apostle had nine wives and he had appointed a particular night to be with each wife though "all his wives used to gather every night in the house of one where he had to come (and stay that night.)"

One night when the Prophet was in Aisha's house, Zainab went there. While he (the Holy prophet) slept with Aisha, he stretched his hand towards her (Zainab) to hold it, whereupon she (Aisha) said (out of curiosity): "Is it Zainab?" Allah's apostle (may peace be upon him) withdrew his hand. There was an altercation between the two until their voices became loud .."

In plain English, it means that when the Prophet slept with Aisha, he also quietly held Zainab's hand in the darkness of night. As Aisha noticed it, she became angry and a noisy row broke out between the two. However, the commentator in note 1914 states: "this shows the sense of keen justice of the Holy Prophet (may peace be upon him)."

It is a strange definition of justice. On Aisha's night, she should have had her husband to herself exclusively. Holding Zainab's hand at the same time is a violation of her rights. The fact that she did not like it and became truculent, proves the point.

This episode clearly demonstrates the Prophet's partiality for Zainab. She was not only a beautiful woman but also his cousin. Obviously, the Prophet married Zainab because he was attracted to her. One wonders why Allah thought it necessary to change the customary law of adoption that prevailed in Arabia at that time.

Of course, an adopted child is not a blood relation, yet he or she is legally considered a son or daughter. By the same token a step mother is not a blood relation yet a step son looks upon her as mother and does not marry her.

How is it that the Prophet's wives were legally treated as Mothers of Believers (XXXIII: 5) despite having no blood relationship with them whereas the Prophet could marry any believer's widow or divorcee? What kind of law is this?

Law is law only when it applies to everyone equally, irrespective of social distinction. Abolishing the law of adoption to suit convenience of the Prophet is contempt of Allah, who claims to be the Best of Judges (The Fig, XCV - 8).

That the law must be neutral i.e. apply to the lowly and the lofty, the meek and the mighty, the pious and the profane, with complete impartiality, is also advocated by the Koran:

"O believers, be you securers of
justice, witnesses for God, even though
it be against yourselves, or your parents
and kinsmen, whether the man be rich
or poor, God stands closest to either.
Then follow not caprice, so as to swerve;
for if you twist or turn, God is aware of
the things you do."
(Women, IV: 130)

Also note the following:

"O believers, be you securers of
justice, witnesses for God. Let not
detestation for a people move you
not to be equitable -
that is nearer to God-fearing.
And fear God; surely God is aware of
the things you do." (The Table, V - 10)

These are surely the noblest principles of justice, which must apply to Muhammad with greater strictness and punctuality because he claimed to have been sent by Allah as the Model of Behavior:

You (people) have a good example in God's
Messenger ( Muhammad ) for whosoever hopes for
God and the Last Day, and remembers God oft."
(The Confederates, XXXIII: 20)

Now, it is obvious that the Prophet, who is Allah's representative on earth, must demonstrate the wisdom and infallibility of the Divine Law through his own action. If he does not do so then it implies:

a. He is neither a representative of God nor the Model of Action, for being above Allah's Law, and secondly,

b. If Allah gives the Prophet dispensation from His own Law, then Allah's Law is no more than a joke because if the Prophet himself cannot carry it out, then how can Allah expect the ordinary believers to obey His commandments?

In fact, there are many instances where Allah has excepted Muhammad from His basic laws and given him dispensation. This is mockery of the law and proves that the Koran is not the Divine Code as it claims to be. Instead, it is the composition of Muhammad, and thus, he can treat himself as he wishes and Allah is only a supposition to serve his purpose. For details, one ought to refer to my article: "Is Islamic Law a Fact or Fiction?" However, to complete this discussion, I may give two examples to prove the point:

1. " ... a believing woman if she gives herself unto
the prophet and the Prophet desires to take her
in marriage - a privilege for thee only
(Muhammad) not for the (rest of) believers."
(The Clans, XXXIII - 50)

As we know, the Koran allows a believer only four wives at a lime. According to this verse, the Prophet is privileged to have as many wives as he likes without any restriction of numbers. This is the reason that he had at least nine wives at the same time, though some of his biographers put the number at 22.

2. " ... marry such women
as seem good to you two, three, four;
but if you fear you will not be equitable,
then only one, or what your right hand owns;
so it is likelier you will not be partial."
(Women, IV: 3

Here fairness i.e. equal and just treatment of all wives is the basic condition of polygamy i.e. having more than one wife. The Koran expressly states that if a man cannot maintain equality of treatment among his wives, he must have one wife only.

In fact, it is not possible to be equally inclined towards all of one's wives owing to their personal accomplishments and attitudes. The Prophet was not able to maintain the balance among his wives, who addressed him impolitely. The Koran testifies to this fact:

"Wives of the prophet, you are not as other women,
if you are God-fearing, be not
abject in your speech (towards the Prophet)
.....but speak honorable words."
(The Confederates, XXXIII: 30)

It is clear that the prophet's wives spoke to him in a crude and dishonorable manner. According to a tradition associated with surah LXVI (Banning):

"Hafsah found the prophet in her room with *Marya - the Coptic girl, presented to him by the ruler of Egypt on the day that the prophet had assigned to Aisha according to the fixed rota system. Hafsah threatened the prophet to tell Aisha what she had seen. It caused him extreme distress and he #vowed to sever all his relationship with Marya. So great was the domestic upheaval that the prophet threatened to divorce (Forbidding, LXVI: 5) all his wives and walked out on them to live with Marya exclusively, for about one month. Even the prophet's close followers did not approve of leaving his Quresh wives to cohabit with an Egyptian slave-girl. The Prophet's critics maintain that deserting wives under threat of divorcing them was just a pretext of the Prophet to enjoy the unrestricted company of the young and beautiful Marya.

Hafsah was the daughter of Omar, who became the second Caliph. One day, he had to rebuke his daughter for answering back the Prophet disrespectfully. Instead of apologizing to him, she told him that all Prophet's wives spoke to him in the same manner. The prophet's wives did not like Omar's interference and told him to mind his own business. He was horrified by the Prophet's domestic state of affairs.

The cause of this situation was the Prophet's inequitable treatment of his wives. Of course, economically, they all were dealt with equally, but emotionally, it was an impossibility. A family discord of so high proportions demanded the Koranic legal solution i.e. the prophet must have one wife only, but this is not what happened. See for yourself:

* She became the mother of the Prophet's son, Ibrahim.
# This event demonstrates that the Prophet was not only partial towards Aisha but also afraid of his wives; otherwise, he would not have pleaded with Hafsah to keep the secret. In fact, it reveals that the Prophet was not quite candid in dealing with his wives.

"Thou canst suspend whom thou wilt of them and
receive unto thee whom thou wilt, and whomsoever
thou desirest of those whom thou hast set aside. It is
no sin for thee ..."
(The Confederates, XXXIII: 51)

In simple English, these verses mean that the Prophet was not bound by the Law of Fairness. Instead of enforcing it, Allah gave dispensation to the prophet, authorizing him to treat his wives at will.

The issues discussed in this chapter are thought- provoking and demand a serious enquiry into the nature and purpose of prophet hood. Next Page

Chapter 3