Religion

Why Boko Haram is Following the ‘Real’ Islam

Anyone who owns a T.V. or computer is familiar by now with the kidnapping of over two hundred young girls that occurred in Nigeria in April of this year. This evil act was carried out by an Islamist group known as Boko Haram. Not only did these savages kidnap the innocent girls while they were studying at school in the war-torn country, they systematically forced many of them to convert to Islam and “married” them. In previous kidnappings, Boko Haram jihadis skipped the marriage part completely and forced some of the girls to become sex slaves.1 Videos of the parents of the missing girls begging for their daughters’ lives are absolutely heart wrenching. They have to live knowing that their child is being raped and beaten by some Islamist savage, and there’s nothing that they can do about it. Anyone who’s not brainwashed or a psychopath will object to this inhumanity. What the media hasn’t shed light on, however, is that incidents like this have been very common throughout Islamic history especially during the time of Muhammad, the founder of the religion.

Many Muslim scholars were quick to cover their behinds and issued statements condemning the incident. It would have been great if they had stopped there. Instead, they went on to claim that Boko Haram is misinterpreting Islam, and that their actions are in direct conflict with Muhammad’s teachings. In fact, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia (the highest religious authority in the country), Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh said:

“These groups are not on the right path because Islam is against kidnapping, killing and aggression…Marrying kidnapped girls is not permitted.”2

I would usually expect an apologetic answer like this from a “moderate” or reformist Muslim scholar living in the West. So I was pleasantly surprised to see that even the highest religious authority in Saudi Arabia found this incident absolutely disgusting. Even he could not picture those little girls being violated and not feel heart-broken. Any half-decent human being would cringe after hearing about the sadistic actions of Boko Haram against these innocent children. But I urge the Sheikh to be honest about his statement. Is Boko Haram really going against Islam, Sheikh? Let’s be real. What did Muhammad have to say about this topic? As always, I am only quoting ‘authentic’ Hadith collections here that have been unanimously accepted by Islamic scholars throughout history. Here is what Muhammad said:

Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri that while he was sitting with Allah’s messenger we said, “Oh Allah’s messenger, we got female captives as our booty, and we are interested in their prices, what is your opinion about coitus interruptus?”  The prophet said, “Do you really do that?  It is better for you not to do it.  No soul that which Allah has destined to exist, but will surely come into existence.” (Sahih Bukhari Volume 3, #432)

Muhammad’s companions are afraid of getting the girls pregnant because they want to sell them later, hence the mention of “prices”. It’s interesting that Boko Haram is selling some of the girls as well. I wonder where they got this idea from? Also note that Muhammad didn’t stop his men from having sex with the female captives who were captured in battle. He’s just making it known that coitus interruptus (or “pulling out”) is not really necessary. That’s more of his sexual preference more than anything.

Now what if the slave girls who were captured are married? No worries at all. Like Xerxes from the film ‘300’, Allah is a generous god:

Abu Said al-Khudri said:  “The apostle of Allah 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 were reluctant to have intercourse with the female captives in the presence of their husbands who were unbelievers. So Allah, the Exalted, sent down the Quranic verse, “And all married women (are forbidden) unto you save those (captives) whom your right hands possess”.  (Quran – 4:24) That is to say, they are lawful for them when they complete their waiting period.”  (Sunan Abu Dawud Volume 2 , #2150)

In other words, Allah is saying the slave girls’ marriages to their infidel husbands are null and void. Muslims can go ahead and carry on with their coitus interruptus. Keep in mind that the girls here still remain slaves. There is absolutely no mention of marriage whatsoever. This is clarified by Ibn Kathir, one of the biggest authorities on Qur’anic interpretation:

The phrase “and those (slaves) whom your right hand possesses — whom Allaah has given to you” [al-Ahzaab 33:50] means, it is permissible for you take concubines from among those whom you seized as war booty. He took possession of Safiyyah and Juwayriyah and he freed them and married them; he took possession of Rayhaanah bint Sham’oon al-Nadariyyah and Maariyah al-Qibtiyyah, the mother of his son Ibraaheem (peace be upon them both), and they were among his concubines, may Allaah be pleased with them both. (Tafsir Ibn Kathir)3

What if the girls are a bit young? Muhammad saves the day once again:

Narrated ‘Aisha: that the Prophet married her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage when she was nine years old, and then she remained with him for nine years (i.e., till his death). (Sahih Bukhari Volume 7 Book 62, #64)

It sounds like Boko Haram jihadis are following the ‘real’ Islam to me. If Muhammad were here today, he would be very proud of his dedicated followers. I make a plea to the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia as well as all the other Muslim scholars to be honest about Muhammad’s life. The kidnapping and rape of little girls in 2014 is condemned by every mentally healthy human being on the planet. Why then are the same scholars absolutely fine with the thousands of girls that were enslaved and raped by Muhammad and his companions? Muhammad, himself, had sex with various slave girls as mentioned above by Ibn Kathir. He “married” Safiyyah, a terrified 17 year old Jewish slave girl, immediately after having her husband and father murdered.4 Poor Juwayriya had a similar fate.5 Wake up Muslims. Boko Haram and Islamism are not the root of the problem; Islam and Muhammad are.

References

1 – http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/04/21/parents-234-girls-kidnapped-from-nigeria-school/7958307/

2 – http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/09/us-nigeria-girls-saudi-idUSBREA480MU20140509

3 – http://islamqa.info/en/10382

4 – http://www.faithfreedom.org/Articles/sina/Juwairiyah.htm

5 – http://www.faithfreedom.org/Articles/sina/safiyah.htm

 

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