Dianne N. Irving
copyright November 14, 2020
Reproduced with Permission
I. Introduction: What Islam Really Is
Given the decades of Islamic terror attacks throughout the EU, many European leaders are finally trying to come to grips with it (see, e.g., Global Security, "In Europe, Calls Grow Louder for United Front Against 'Political Islam'" , at: https://www.globalsecurity.org/security/library/news/2020/11/sec-201105-voa01.htm ). The purpose of this article is to document what Islam really is by directly quoting from the Qur'an itself.
II. Explanation of Islam:
These Islamic terror problems have been going on for centuries (remember the 6+ Crusades over the centuries?!). What is often not understood by Westerners is that
Islam is not "just" a religion; it is a theocracy that encompasses literally all areas of knowledge or fields -- which are classified as just sub-fields of Islamic theology. This was best explained during the mediaeval times (when the Crusades and the same problems were going on) by two amazing philosophical (not theological) treatises by mediaeval philosopher/theologian
Thomas Aquinas -- both of which obliterated Islam in typical Thomistic style. One of his most famous
philosophical treatises (no theology) is his
The Division and Method of the Sciences -- which goes a long way in explaining why Islam is not "just" a "religion" like other religions, a fact that is so misunderstood and confusing to Western people today. It documents the difference between the Western/Aristotelean "fields of knowledge" (or "sciences", as the term is understood historically) and the Islamic "fields of knowledge" or "sciences". In short, the
Western/Aristotelean "sciences" lie along a straight line . Each is independent of the other, and each has its own subject matter and method of coming to know that subject matter (epistemology), although the fields can be related. (And for Thomas, this is true of philosophy and theology as well!). But they cannot substitute for each other. For example, "economics" has its own subject matter and own method used to study that subject matter. One can't study economics by means of using a laser microscope, or study law by using a physics theorem -- or study human embryology by using theology! In contrast, the
"sciences" in Islam are in the shape of a triangle -- with theology at the top, and all other "sciences" are either sub-fields or sub-fields of sub-fields of theology. Thus law, education, economics, history, biology, chemistry, medicine, politics, education, work, agriculture, etc. are all just
sub-fields of Islamic theology, and therefore all those "fields of knowledge" must be the subject matter of and use the method of theology only ! I hear nothing out there about this critical distinction! See the classic exposition of the Islamic Pyramid in Thomas Aquinas,
The Division and Method of the Sciences [
http://www.amazon.com/Division-Methods-Sciences-Armand-Maurer/dp/B000N3OEV0/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1424619704&sr=1-2&keywords=%22Aquinas%22+%22Division+and+Method%22 ]. Aquinas' second relevant treatise was his philosophical
refutation of the cosmology, philosophy and theology of several major mediaeval Islamic philosophers (who are amazingly still taught today), in his Summa Contra Gentiles (Books 1 - 4), at:
http://www.amazon.com/Summa-Contra-Gentiles-Book-One/dp/026801678X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1424619884&sr=1-1&keywords=%22Aquinas%22+%22Contra+Gentiles%22 .
III. Arabic/English Translation of the Qur'an
The English translation of
the text of the Qur'an and Sharia Law, Reliance of the Traveller , with an Index in English, has been used for a long time in scholarly academic graduate courses in universities as their official text (e.g., Georgetown University's Arabic and Islamic Studies Center [
https://arabic.georgetown.edu/ ], the Islamic Center at Catholic University of America, etc.) is also referenced in Wikipedia, "Sharia Law", at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharia :
- Areas of Islamic Law
Other Classifications:
Shari'ah law has been grouped in different ways, such as:[115][116] Family relations, Crime and punishment, Inheritance and disposal of property, The economic system, External and other relations .
"", an English translation of a fourteenth-century CE reference on the Shafi'i school of fiqh written by Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri , organizes sharia law into the following topics: Purification, prayer, funeral prayer, taxes, fasting, pilgrimage, trade, inheritance, marriage, divorce and justice.
Reliance of the Traveller: The Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law 'Umdat Al-Salik , by Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri (d. 769/1368) in Arabic with Facing English Text and Index, Commentary, and Appendices , Edited and Translated by Nuh Ha Mim Keller -- high reviews, from Arabic to English; http://www.amazon.com/Reliance-Traveller-Classic-Islamic-Al-Salik/dp/0915957728/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340601966&sr=1-2&keywords=%22Reliance+of+the+Traveller%22
Quote, page vii:
"The four Sunni schools of Islamic law, Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, and Hanbali, are identical in approximately 75% of their legal conclusions, while the remaining questions, variances within a single family of explainers of the Holy Koran and prophetic sunna, are traceable to methodological differences in understanding or authentication of the primary textural evidence, differing viewpoints sometimes reflected in even a single school. The present volume, "Umdat al-salik [The reliance of the traveller], represents one of the finest and most reliable short works in Shafi'i jurisprudence, a school with perhaps fewer scholarly differences on rulings than others because its main resource is the recension of Imam Nawawi , the great thirteenth century Shafi'i hadith scholar and jurisprudent who upgraded the work of previous generations in terms of the authenticity and application of hadith evidence. The author of " Umdat al-salik , Ibn Naqib, closely follows the order and conclusions of Nawawi's encyclopedic al-Majmu': sharh al-Muhadhdhab [The compendium: an exegesis of "The rarefaction"] with its addendum, al-Takmila [The completion], by Ibn Naqib's own sheikh, Taqi al-Din Subki. The present volume is virtually an index of the conclusions of the Majmu ', and readers interested in the evidence from Koran and hadith for the rulings of the present volume can find it there, or, Allah willing, in a forthcoming sister-work to be called The Guidance of the Traveller ."
IV. Example of Topics in the Qur'an
Interestingly, note that in Islam, and specifically in the Qur'an, " Justice " is defined as a sub-field of "JIHAD" (i.e., war)! E.g.: pg. 578, "BOOK OF JUSTICE" , pg. 579, lists "Jihad" (o9.)
Examples of some topics in the English Index of the Reliance of the Traveller include:
- Allah (God)
jihad, obligatory, who is obliged, objectives, rules of warfare
apostasy from Islam -- should be killed
Sharia (Sacred) Law
Christians, Jews and Unbelievers
- homosexuality and lesbianism
children (killing, schooling)
- clothes, physical appearance
wives, polygamy, permissibility of up to 4
permissible deceiving, lying
misleading, arguing against Islam (blasphemy)
truces, spoils of battle
zakat (amount of property, money, accessories, etc. to be given (e.g., volunteers for jihad)
the Caliphate
- enormities
circumcision -- women and men - Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
non-Muslim subjects of the Islamic State
- non-Muslim poll tax
human embryo/fetus
Gnosticism
philosophy is unlawful
- showing off in good works
dogs
art and music
theft
V. Direct Quotes in the Qur'an
Copied here are the direct quotes in the Qur'an for the issues listed above.
ALLAH (GOD)
p. 819 v1.6 He Most High wills all that exists and directs all events. Nothing occurs in the physical or spiritual world, be it meager or much, little or great, good or evil, of benefit or detriment, faith or unbelief, knowledge or ignorance, triumph or ruin, increase or decrease, obedience or sin; save through His ordinance, apportionment, wisdom, and decision. What He wills is, and what He does not will is not. [[see also v1.0 - v1.9]]
JIHAD
- Re "jihad" and related verses:
p. 7 a3.3 (1)
p. 272 h8.17
p. 453 k29.5 (4)
pp. 593 (bottom of page) - 598
pp. 599-609; JIHAD (categorized under "Justice")
p. 646 o25.8 and 9 (1) and (8)
p. 659 p11.1
p. 675 p33.2 and 33.3
p. 718 [q2.4] (4) (middle of page)
p. 744-45 [r8.2]
pp. 966-993 w52.0 [list of "enormities", i.e., "sins"]; includes page 987 (#369-70) re jihad
[[[ short version =
pages 599 - 606 , JIHAD (categorized under "Justice")
- o9.0 (O: Jihad means to war against non-Muslims , and is etymologically derived from the word mujahada, signifying warfare to establish the religion. ... and such hadiths as the one related by Bukhari and Muslim that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
"I have been commanded to fight people until they testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah and perform the prayer, and pay zakat.
[page 600] - THE OBLIGATORY CHARACTER OF JIHAD
- o9.1 Jihad is a communal obligation. When enough people perform it to successfully accomplish it, it is no longer obligatory upon others. (O: the evidence for which is the Prophet's saying (Allah bless him and give him peace), ...
If none of those concerned perform jihad, and it does not happen at all, then everyone who is aware that it is obligatory is guilty of sin, if there was a possibility of having performed it.
- o9.4 WHO IS OBLIGED TO FIGHT IN JIHAD
Those called upon (O: to perform jihad when it is a communal obligation ) are every able-bodied man who has reached puberty and is sane.
- o9.8 THE OBJECTIVES OF JIHAD
The caliph makes war upon Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians (N: provided he has first invited them to enter Islam in faith and practice, and if they will not, then invited them to enter the social order of Islam by paying the non-Muslim poll tax -- which is the significance of their paying it, not the money itself -- while remaining in their ancestral religions) (O: and the war continues) until they become Muslim or else pay the non-Muslim poll tax (O: in accordance with the world of Allah Most High,
"Fight those who do not believe in Allah and the Last Day and who forbid not what Allah and His messenger have forbidden -- who do not practice the religion of truth, being of those who have been given the Book -- until they pay the poll tax out of hand and are humbled " (Koran 9:29) the time and place for which is before the final descent of Jesus (upon whom be peace). After [page 603] his final coming, nothing but Islam will be accepted from them, for taking the poll tax is only effective until Jesus' descent (upon him and our Prophet be peace), which is the divinely revealed law of Muhammad. The coming of Jesus does not entail a separate divinely revealed law, for he will rule by the law of Muhammad . As for the Prophet's saying (Allah bless him and give him peace),
"I am the last, there will be no prophet after me."
this does not contradict the final coming of Jesus (upon whom be peace), since he will not rule according to the Evangel, but as a follower of our Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)).
- o9.9 The caliph fights all other peoples until they become Muslim
- o9.10 THE RULES OF WARFARE
It is not permissible (A: in jihad) to kill women or children unless they are fighting against the Muslims . Nor is it permissible to kill animals, unless they are being ridden into battle against the Muslims, or if killing them will help defeat the enemy. It is permissible to kill old men (O: old man meaning someone more than forty years of age) and monks .
[pages 966 - 993] W.52.0 IBN HAJAR HAYTAMI'S LIST OF ENORMITIES [SINS ]
[page 987] (369 - 370) not performing jihad when personally obliged to; or no one performing it at all ;
pages 599 - 606, JIHAD (categorized under "Justice")
- o9.0 (O: Jihad means to war against non-Muslims , and is etymologically derived from the word mujahada , signifying warfare to establish the religion . And it is the lesser jihad . As for the greater jihad, it is spiritual warfare against the lower self , which is why the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said as he was returning from jihad,
- "We have returned from the lesser jihad to the greater jihad."
- The scriptural basis for jihad, prior to scholarly consensus is such Koranic verses as:
- (1) "Fighting is prescribed for you" (Koran 2:216);
- (2) "Slay them wherever you find them" (Koran 4:89);
- (3) "Fight the idolaters utterly" (Koran 9:36);
and such hadiths as the one related by Bukhari and Muslim that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
"I have been commanded to fight people until they testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah and perform the prayer, and pay zakat. If they say it, they have saved their blood and possessions from me, except for the rights of Islam over them . And their final reckoning is with Allah";
and the hadith reported by Muslim,
"To go forth in the morning or evening to fight in the path of Allah is better than the whole world and everything in it."
[page 600] - THE OBLIGATORY CHARACTER OF JIHAD
- o9.1 Jihad is a communal obligation. When enough people perform it to successfully accomplish it, it is no longer obligatory upon others. (O: the evidence for which is the Prophet's saying (Allah bless him and give him peace),...
"He who provides the equipment for a soldier in jihad has himself performed jihad." and Allah Most High Having said:
"Those of the believers who are unhurt but sit behind are not equal to those who fight in Allah's path with their property and lives. Allah has preferred those who fight with their property and lives a whole degree above those who sit behind. And to each, Allah has promised great good" (Koran 4:95).
If none of those concerned perform jihad, and it does not happen at all, then everyone who is aware that it is obligatory is guilty of sin, if there was a possibility of having performed it. In the time of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) jihad was a communal obligation after his emigration to Medina. As for subsequent times, there are two possible states in respect to non-Muslims .
The first is when they are in their own countries , in which case jihad is a communal obligation, and this is what our author is speaking of when he says, "Jihad is a communal obligation," meaning upon the Muslims each year.
The second state is when non-Muslims invade a Muslim country or near to one in which case jihad is personally obligatory upon the inhabitants of that country, who must repel the non-Muslims with whatever they can .
[page 601]
- o9.2 Jihad is personally obligatory upon all those present in the battle lines (A: and to flee is an enormity)
- o9.3 Jihad is also (O: personally ) obligatory for everyone (O: able to perform it, male or female, old or young ) when the enemy has surrounded the Muslims (O: on every side, having entered our territory, even if the land consists of ruins, wilderness, or mountains, for non-Muslim forces entering Muslim lands is a weighty matter that cannot be ignored, but must be met with effort and struggle to repel them by every possible means . All of which is if conditions permit gathering (A: the above-mentioned) people, provisioning them, and readying them for war.
- o9.4 WHO IS OBLIGED TO FIGHT IN JIHAD
Those called upon (O: to perform jihad when it is a communal obligation ) are every able-bodied man who has reached puberty and is sane.
- o9.5 The following may not fight in jihad :
- (1) someone in debt, unless his creditor gives him leave;
- (2) or someone with at least one Muslim parent, until they give their permission;
unless the Muslims are surrounded by the enemy, in which case it is permissible for them to fight without permission.
- o9.6 It is offensive to conduct a military expedition against hostile non-Muslims without the caliph's permission (A: though if there is no caliph, no permission is required ).
- o9.7 Muslims may not seek help from non-Muslim allies unless the Muslims are considerably outnumbered and the allies are of goodwill towards the Muslims .
- o9.8 THE OBJECTIVES OF JIHAD
The caliph makes war upon Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians (N: provided he has first invited them to enter Islam in faith and practice, and if they will not, then invited them to enter the social order of Islam by paying the non-Muslim poll tax -- which is the significance of their paying it, not the money itself -- while remaining in their ancestral religions) (O: and the war continues) until they become Muslim or else pay the non-Muslim poll tax (O: in accordance with the world of Allah Most High,
" Fight those who do not believe in Allah and the Last Day and who forbid not what Allah and His messenger have forbidden -- who do not practice the religion of truth, being of those who have been given the Book -- until they pay the poll tax out of hand and are humbled " (Koran 9:29) the time and place for which is before the final descent of Jesus (upon whom be peace). After [page 603] his final coming, nothing but Islam will be accepted from them, for taking the poll tax is only effective until Jesus' descent (upon him and our Prophet be peace), which is the divinely revealed law of Muhammad. The coming of Jesus does not entail a separate divinely revealed law, for he will rule by the law of Muhammad. As for the Prophet's saying (Allah bless him and give him peace),
"I am the last, there will be no prophet after me."
this does not contradict the final coming of Jesus (upon whom be peace), since he will not rule according to the Evangel, but as a follower of our Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)).
- o9.9 The caliph fights all other peoples until they become Muslim (O: because they are not a people with a Book, nor honored as such, and are not permitted to settle with paying the poll tax (n. though according to the Hanafi school, peoples of all other religions, even idol worshipers, are permitted to live under the protection of the Islamic state if they either become Muslim or agree to pay the poll tax, the sole exceptions to which are apostates from Islam and idol worshipers who are Arabs, neither of whom has any choice but becoming Muslim .
- o9.10 THE RULES OF WARFARE It is not permissible (A: in jihad) to kill women or children unless they are fighting against the Muslims . Nor is it permissible to kill animals, unless they are being ridden into battle against the Muslims, or if killing them will help defeat the enemy. It is permissible to kill old men (O: old man meaning someone more than forty years of age) and monks.
- o9.12 Whoever enters Islam before being captured may not be killed or his property confiscated, or his young children taken captive.
- o9.13 When a child or a woman is taken captive, they become slaves by the fact of capture, and the woman's previous marriage is immediately annulled .
- o9.14 When an adult male is taken captive, the caliph considers the interests (O: of Islam and the Muslims) and decides between the prisoner's death, slavery, release without paying anything, or ransoming himself in exchange for money or for a Muslim captive held by the enemy.
If the prisoner becomes a Muslim (O: before the caliph chooses any of the four alternatives) then he may not be killed , and one of the other three alternatives is chosen.
[page 659] FLEEING FROM COMBAT IN JIHAD
- p11.1 Allah Most High says,
"On that day, whoever turns his back to them, unless pretending flight in order to reattack, or separating to join another unit, will bear the wrath of Allah and his refuge will be hell, a terrible end (Koran 8:16).
- o9.15 It is permissible in jihad to cut down the enemy's trees and destroy their dwellings.
[page 718] q.2.4(4) (Being able to censure)
- There is no disagreement among scholars that it is permissible for a single Muslim to attack battle-lines of unbelievers headlong and fight them even if he knows he will be killed . ... Likewise, if someone who is alone sees a corrupt person with a bottle of wine beside him and a sword in his hand, and he knows that the person will chop his neck if he censures him for drinking, it is not permissible for him to do so , as it would not entail any religious advantage worth giving one's life for. Such censure is only praiseworthy when one is able to eliminate the wrong and one's action will produce some benefit.
[pages 966 - 993] W.52.0 IBN HAJAR HAYTAMI'S LIST OF ENORMITIES [SINS]
[page 987] (369 - 370) not performing jihad when personally obliged to; or no one performing it at all ;
APOSTASY FROM ISLAM
pages 593 - 598
-- p. 595
- o8.0 ( Leaving Islam is the ugliest form of unbelief (kufr) and the worst. ...
- o8.1 When a person who has reached puberty and is sane voluntarily apostatizes from Islam, he deserves to be killed .
- o8.2 In such a case, it is obligatory for the caliph (A: or his representative) to ask him to repent and return to Islam. If he does, it is accepted from him, but if he refuses, he is immediately killed.
page 596
- 08.4 There is no indemnity for k illing an apostate (O: or any expiation, since it is killing someone who deserves to die ).
(Acts that Entail Leaving Islam)
- o8.7 (2) to intend to commit unbelief, even if in the future. And like this intention is hesitating whether to do so or not; one thereby immediately commits unbelief.
page 598
- o8.7 ((17) to believe that things in themselves or by their own nature have any causal influence independent of the will of Allah [is apostasy ]
p. 87
- e12.8 The second cause of inability to use water is fear of one's own thirst, or that of worthy companions and animals with one, even if in the future ( worthy meaning those whose killing is unlawful , such as a trained hunting dog or other useful animal, while > unworthy includes non-Muslims at war with the Muslims, apostates from Islam (def: o8), convicted married adulterers, pigs, and biting dogs).
SHARIA (SACRED) LAW
pg. 917, w29.4 (adaptability to new times and places) As for innovation in works, meaning the occurrence of an act connected with worship or something else that did not exist in the first century of Islam, it must necessarily be judged according to the fine categories ... The only reason that Islamic law can be valid for every time and place and be the consummate and most perfect of all divine laws is because it comprises general methodological principles and universal criteria ... .
pg. 2-3, a2.4 (criterion of good and evil) The basic premise of this school of thought is that the good of the acts of those morally responsible is what the Lawgiver (Allah or His messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) has indicated is good by permitting it or asking it be done. And the bad is what the Lawgiver has indicated is bad by asking it not be done. The good is not what reason considers good, nor the bad what reason considers bad . The measure of good and bad , according to this school of thought, is the Sacred Law , not reason.
pg. 657, p9.1 (lying about the Prophet) There is no doubt that a premeditated lie against Allah and His messenger that declares something with is unlawful to be permissible or something permissible to be unlawful is pure unbelief.
pg. 13, a5.1 (study of, communal obligatoriness of) The second category of Sacred Knowledge is what is communally obligatory, namely the attainment of those Sacred Sciences which people cannot do without in practicing their religion, such as memorizing the Koran and hadith, their ancillary disciplines, methodological principles, Sacred Law, grammar, lexicology, declension, knowledge of hadith transmitters, and of scholarly consensus and nonconsensus .
pg. 598, o8.7(19) (acts that entail leaving Islam) to be sarcastic about any ruling of the Sacred Law ;
pg. 596 -598) (list of some acts that entail leaving Islam = apostasy) Among the things that entail apostasy from Islam (may Allah protect us from them) are:
- 1. to prostrate over an idol , whether sarcastically, out of mere contrariness, or in actual conviction, like that of someone who believes the Creator to be something that has originated in time. Like idols in this respect are the sun or moon, and like prostration is bowing to other than Allah, if one intends reverence towards it like the reverence due to Allah;
- 2. to intend to commit unbelief, even if in the future . And like this intention is hesitating whether to do so or not: one thereby immediately commits unbelief;
- 3. to speak words that imply unbelief such as "Allah is the third of three," or "I am Allah" -- unless one's tongue has run away with one, or one is quoting another, or is one of the friends of Allah Most High in a spiritually intoxicated state of total oblivion (a friend of Allah or not, someone totally oblivious is as if insane, and is not held legally responsible, for these latter do not entail unbelief;
- 4. to revile Allah or His messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace);
- 5. to deny the existence of Allah, His beginningless eternality, His endless eternality, or to deny any of His attributes /strong> which the consensus of Muslims ascribes to Him;
- 6. to be sarcastic about Allah's name, His command, His interdiction, His promise, or His threat;
- 7. to deny any verse of the Koran or anything which by scholarly consensus belongs to it, or to add a verse that does not belong to it;
- 8. to mockingly say, "I don't know what faith is";
- 9. to reply to someone who says, "There is no power or strength save through Allah": "Your saying 'There's no power or strength, etc.' won't save you from hunger";
- 10. for a tyrant, after an oppressed person says, "This is through the decree of Allah," to reply, "I act without the decree of Allah";
- 11. to say that a Muslim is an unbeliever in words that are uninterpretable as merely meaning he is an ingrate towards Allah for divinely given blessings;
- 12. when someone asks to be taught the Testification of Faith (There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah), and a Muslim refuses to teach him it ;
- 13. to describe a Muslim or someone who wants to become a Muslim in terms of unbelief;
- 14. to deny the obligatory character of something which by the consensus of Muslims is part of Islam, when it is well known as such, like the prayer (salat) or even one rak'a from one of the five obligatory prayers, if there is no excuse;
- 15. to hold that any of Allah's messengers or prophets are liars, or to deny their being sent ;
- 16. to revile the religion of Islam;
- 17. to believe that things in themselves or by their own nature have any causal influence independent of the will of Allah;
- 18. to deny the existence of angels or jinn, or the heavens;
- 19. to be sarcastic about any ruling of the Sacred Law ;
- 20. or to deny that Allah intended the Prophet's message (Allah bless him and give him peace) to be the religion followed by the entire world
CHRISTIANS, JEWS and UNBELIEVERS
pg. 848, w4.3 (Imam Baghawi:) The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: "By Him in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, any person of this Community, any Jew, or any Christian who hears of me and dies without believing in what I have been sent with will be an inhabitant of hell. "
pg. 849, w.4.4 "Whoever seeks a religion other than Islam will never have it accepted of him, and he will be of those who have truly failed in the hereafter" , for the hadith merely confirms that no one's way or spiritual works are acceptable unless they conform to the Sacred Law of Muhammad.
pp. 848 - 849, w4.4 The faith of the Jews was that of whoever adhered to the Torah and the sunna of Moses until the coming of Jesus. Then Jesus came, whoever held fast to the Torah and sunna of Moses without giving them up and following Jesus was lost. The faith of the Christians was that whoever adhered to the Evangel and precepts of Jesus, their faith was valid and acceptable until the coming of Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace). Those of them who did not then follow Muhammad and give up the sunna of Jesus and the Evangel were lost. ... "Whoever seeks a religion other than Islam will never have it accepted of him, and he will be of those who have truly failed in the hereafter" (Koran 3:85).
HOMOSEXUALITY, LESBIANISM
-- pp. 664 - 672, p17.0 - p.28.1:
- p.17.1 : In more than one place in the Holy Koran, Allah recounts to us the story of Lot's people, and how He destroyed them for their wicked practice . There is consensus among both Muslims and the followers of all other religions that sodomy is an enormity [[sin]]. It is even viler and uglier than adultery.
- p.17.2 : Allah Most High says: "Do you approach the males of humanity, leaving the wives Allah has created for you? But you are a people who transgress " (Koran 26:165-66).
- p.17.3 : The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: (1) "Kill the one who sodomizes and the one who lets it be done to him." (2) "May Allah curse him who does what Lot's people did." (3) Lesbianism by women is adultery between them."
p. 672, p.28.0: " Masculine Women and Effeminate Men :
- p.28.1: "The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
- (1) Men are already destroyed when they obey women .
- (2) The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) cursed effeminate men and masculine women.
- (3) The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) cursed men who wear women's clothing and women who wear men's. "
p. 691, p59.1: "Allah curse women who wear false hair or arrange it for others, who tattoo or have themselves tattooed, who pluck facial hair or eyebrows or have them plucked, and women who separate their front teeth for beauty , altering what Allah has created."
p. 707, p75.20: "He who sodomizes one's wife is accursed."
CHILDREN
p. 603, o9.10: "It is not permissible (A: in jihad) to kill women or children unless they are fighting against the Muslims . ... It is permissible to kill old men (O: old man meaning someone more than forty years of age ) and monks ."
p. 553, m13.3: "It is offensive to send one's children to a day-care center run by non-Muslims. It is unlawful to send Muslim children to Christian schools , or those which are designedly atheist , though it is not unlawful to send them to public schools in which religion is not mentioned (N: in a way that threatens the students' belief in Islam)."
p. 109, f1.2: "When a child with discrimination (O: meaning he can eat, drink, and clean himself after using the toilet unassisted) is seven years of age , he is ordered to perform the prayer , and when ten, is beaten for neglecting it. "
CLOTHES, PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
p. 899, w.23.0: The nakedness of woman that she is forbidden to reveal differs in the Shafi'i school according to different circumstances . In the privacy of the home, her nakedness is that which is between the navel and knees. In the prayer it means everything besides the face and hands. And when outside the home on the street, it refers to the entire body ..
p. 121, f5.3: The nakedness of a man consists of the area between the navel and knees. The nakedness of a woman (O: even if a young girl) consists of the whole body except the face and hands. (N: The nakedness of women is that which invalidates the prayer if exposed . As for looking at women, it is not permissible to look at any part of a woman who is neither a member of one's unmarriageable kin nor one's wife ...
p. 672, p28.1: [List of Enormities = sins against Islam ] ... [Masculine Women and Effeminate Men] The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, (1) " Men are already destroyed when they obey women . " (2) cursed effeminate men and masculine women . (3) cursed men who wear women's clothing and women who wear men's .
p. 973, w.52.108: [List of Enormities = sins against Islam ] ... a woman wearing a thin garment that reveals her body contours, or her inclining (N: showing desire for others) and making others incline towards her ;
p. 982, w.52.272: [List of Enormities = sins against Islam ] ... a woman leaving her house perfumed and adorned, even with her husband's permission ;
p. 986, w52.1 (368): [List of Enormities = sins against Islam ] ... >not getting circumcised , even after having reached puberty;
p. 691, p.59.1: [List of Enormities = sins against Islam ] ..The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, "Allah curse women who wear false hair or arrange it for others , who tattoo or have themselves tattooed , who pluck facial hair or eyebrows or have them plucked, and women who separate their front teeth for beauty , altering what Allah has created."
p. 538, m10.4: The husband may forbid his wife to leave the home ...
p. 682, p.42.2.2: When a man calls his wife to his bed and she will not come , and he spends the night angry with her, the angels curse her until morning .
p.42.2.4: Whoever leaves her husband's house [A: without his permission], the angels curse her until she returns or repents . [Nahlawi:) It is a condition for the permissibility of her going out that she take no measures to enhance her beauty, and that her figure is concealed or altered to a form unlikely to draw looks from men or attract them. Allah Most High says, " Remain in your homes and do not display your beauty as women did in the pre-Islamic period of ignorance ".
WIVES, POLYGAMY, PERMISSIBILITY OF HAVING 4
pg. 530, m6.10 It is unlawful for a free man to marry more than four women.
pg. 532, m7.5 When a (A: non-muslim) man who has more than four wives becomes Muslim, he is obliged to choose just four of them (A: and the others' marriages are annulled).
PERMISSIBLE LYING, DECEIVING
[pages 744 - 746]
- r8.1 ... our only concern here being to explain the exceptions to what is considered lying , and apprise of the details.
PERMISSIBLE LYING
r8.2 The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said,
"He who settles disagreements between people to bring about good or says something commendable is not a liar ."
This much is related by both Bukari and Muslim, with Muslim's version recording that Umm Kulthum added;
"I did not hear him permit untruth in anything people say, except for three things: war, settling disagreements, and a man talking with his wife or she with him (A: in smoothing over differences)."
This is an explicit statement that lying is sometimes permissible for a given interest , scholars having established criteria defining what types of it are lawful . The best analysis of it I have seen is by Imam Abu Hamid Ghazali, who says: " Speaking is a means to achieve objectives . If a praiseworthy aim is attainable through both telling the truth and lying, it is unlawful to accomplish through lying because there is no need for it. When it is possible to achieve such an aim by lying but not by telling the truth, it is permissible to lie if attaining the goal is permissible (N: i.e., when the purpose of lying is to circumvent someone who is preventing one from doing something permissible), and obligatory to lie if the goal is obligatory . ... Whether the purpose is war , settling a disagreement, or gaining the sympathy of a victim legally entitled to retaliate against one so that he will forbear to do so; it is not unlawful to lie when any of these aims can only be attained through lying . But it is religiously more precautionary in all such cases to employ words that give a misleading impression , meaning to intend by one's words something that is literally true, in respect to which one is not lying, while the outward purport of the words deceives the hearer, though even if one does not have such an intention and merely lies without intending anything else, it is not unlawful in the above circumstances.
" This is true of every expression connected with a legitimating desired end, whether one's own or another's . ... One should compare the bad consequences entailed by lying to those entailed by telling the truth, and if the consequences of telling the truth are more damaging, one is entitled to lie , though if the reverse is true or if one does not know which if the reverse is true or if one does not know which entails more damage, then lying is unlawful. Whenever lying is permissible, if the factor which permits it is a desired end of one's own, it is recommended not to lie, but when the factor that permits it is the desired end of another, it is not lawful to infringe upon his rights. Strictness (A: as opposed to the above dispensations) is to forgo lying in every case where it is not legally obligatory."
MISLEADING, ARGUING AGAINST ISLAM (blasphemy)
pg. 691, p58.1 (1) "He who calls others to misguidance is guilty of a sin equal to the sins of all who follow him therein without this diminishing their own sins in the slightest."
pg.746-747, r8.3 "Whoever lies about me intentionally shall take a place for himself in hell ."
pg, 693, p64.2 " Arguing over the Koran is unbelief ."
pg.970, w52.69 Disputation and picking apart another's words - meaning to argue with another seeking merely to win or defeat him -- when discussing the Koran or religion [is an " enormity "]
p. 31, c2.5(2) enormities [sins] , those which appear by name in the Koran or hadith as the subject of an explicit threat, prescribed by legal penalty, or curse ... (3) unbelief, sin s which put one beyond the pale of Islam and necessitate stating the Testification of Faith to reenter it
TRUCES, SPOILS OF BATTLE
-- pp. 604-606
- o9.16 As for truces, the author does not mention them. In Sacred Law truce means a peace treaty with those hostile to Islam, involving a cessation of fighting for a specified period , whether for payment or something else. The scriptural basis for them includes such Koranic verses as:
- (1) "An acquittal from Allah and His messenger ..." (Koran 9.1);
- (2) "if they incline towards peace, then incline towards it also" (Koran 8.61);
[page 605]
as well as the truce which the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) made with Quraysh in the year of Hudaybiya, as related by Bukhari and Muslim.
Truces are permissible, not obligatory. The only one who may effect a truce is the Muslim ruler of a region (or his representative) with a segment of the non-Muslims or the region, or the caliph (or his representative). When made with other than a portion of the non-Muslims, or when made with all of them, or with all in a particular region such as India or Asia Minor, then only the caliph (or his representative) may effect it, for it is a matter of the gravest consequence because it entails the nonperformance of jihad, whether globally or in a given locality , and our interests must be looked after therein, which is why it is best left to the caliph under any circumstances, or to someone he delegates to see to the interests of the various regions. ...
Interests that justify making a truce are such things as Muslim weakness because of lack of numbers or materiel, or the hope of an enemy becoming Muslim, for the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) made a truce in the year Mecca was liberated with Safwan ibn Umayya for four months in hope that he would become Muslim, and he entered Islam before its time was up.
[page 606] o10.0 THE SPOILS OF BATTLE
- o10.1 A free male Muslim who has reached puberty and is sane is entitled to the spoils of battle when he has participated in a battle to the end of it.
After personal booty, the collective spoils of the battle are divided into five parts . The first fifth is set aside, and the remaining four are distributed, one share to each infantryman and three shares to each cavalryman. From these latter four fifths also, a token payment is given at the leader's discretion to women, children, and non-Muslim participants on the Muslim side.
A combatant only takes possession of his share of the spoils at the official division, (A: or he may choose to waive his right to it.)
- o10.2 As for personal booty, anyone who despite resistance, kills one of the enemy or effectively incapacitates him, risking his own life thereby, is entitled to whatever he can take from the enemy , meaning as much as he can take away with him in the battle, such as a mount, clothes, weaponry, money, or other.
- o10.3 As for the first fifth that is taken from the spoils, it is divided in turn into five parts, a share each going to:
- (1) the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), and after his death, to such Islamic interests as fortifying defenses on the frontiers, salaries for Islamic judges, muezzins, and the like;
- (2) relatives of the Prophet (Allah bless him and hive him each) of the Bani Hashim and Bani Muttalib clans, each male receiving the share of two females;
- (3) orphans who are poor;
- (4) those short of money;
- (5) and travelers needing money .
ZAKAT
page 247 [h1.0] Lexically, zakat means growth, blessings, an increase in good, purification, or praise. In Sacred Law it is the name for a particular amount of property that must be payed to certain kinds of recipients under the conditions mentioned below. It is called zakat because one's wealth grows through the blessings of giving it and prayers of those who receive it, and because it purifies its giver of sin and extolls him by testifying to the genuineness of his faith.
page 272 [h8.17] [[ "Giving Zakat to Deserving Recipients" ]]
The seventh category is those fighting for Allah , meaning people engaged in Islamic military operations for whom no salary has been allotted in the army roster (O: but who are volunteers for jihad without remuneration)). They are given enough to suffice them for the operation, even if affluent; of weapons, mounts, clothing, and expenses (O: for the duration of the journey, round trip, and the time they spend there, even if prolonged . Though nothing has been mentioned here of the expense involved in supporting such people's families during this period, it seems clear that they should also be given it).
page 453 [k29.5 (1-4)]
(N: As for games:
- (1) every game played by two or more people that relies on luck, conjecture, and guessing is unlawful , no matter whether money is stipulated or not;
- (2) paying prize money in every game that encourages and assists fighting for Allah (jihad, def: 09) is permissible if the terms of the competition conform to the rulings discussed above in this section (k29.1-4);
- (3) every game not of the preceding two types is permissible if no money is paid therein;
- (4) and any of the above-mentioned things which are permissible become unlawful if they prevent one from performing a religious or this-worldly duty.)
THE CALIPHATE
-- page 647, o25.8 When the caliph appoints a ruler over a region or city, the ruler's authority may be of two kinds, general or specific . The general may in turn be of two types, authority in view of merit , which is invested voluntarily, and authority in view of seizure of power , invested out of necessity.
- o.25.9 Authority in view of merit is that which is freely invested by the caliph through his own choice, and entails delegating a given limitary function and the use of judgment within a range of familiar alternatives. The investiture consists of the caliph appointing an individual to independently govern a city or region with authority over all its in habitants and discretion in familiar affairs for all matters of government, including seven functions:
- (1) raising and deploying armies on the frontiers and fixing their salaries , if the caliph has not already done so;
- (8) and if the area has a border adjacent to enemy lands, an eighth duty arises, namely to undertake jihad against enemies, dividing the spoils of battle among combatants, and setting aside a fifth for deserving recipients .
ENORMITY [an illegal act, a sin]
-- pp 30-31, c2.5 The unlawful is what the Lawgiver strictly forbids . (2) Those which appear by name in the Koran or hadith as the subject of an explicit threat, prescribed legal penalty, or curse.
-- page 636, o24.3 (1) Nor is testimony acceptable from someone who (1) has committed an enormity (meaning something severely threatened against in an unequivocal text from the Koran or hadith) .
-- pp 992-993, w53.3 When the enormities are committed, they annul good deeds just as the five duties of Islam annul the bad deeds that occur between them other than the enormities, which are too great for them to annul . So with a servant's committing enormities, nothing can remain for him on Judgment Day of his good works except the fine duties of Islam, the enormities having devoured all his supererogatory works: hell is to be feared for such a person , and the stations of the profligates, and he has truly wronged himself, which Allah Most High warns believers against by saying, "O you who believe, obey Allah and obey the Prophet, and do not nullify your works" (Koran 47:33), and "Nay, but whoever earns a wicked deed and is encompassed by his error, those are the inhabitants of hell " (Koran 2:81).
CIRCUMCISION - FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION (FGM)
-- page 59, e4.3 Circumcision is obligatory (O: for both men and women. For men it consists of removing the prepuce from the penis, and for women, removing the prepuce of the clitoris page 986, w52.1, 368 Ibn Hajor Haytami's List of Enormities [["any sin entailing either a threat of punishment in the hereafter explicitly mentioned by the Koran or hadith, a prescribed legal penalty (hadith), or being accursed by Allah or His messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace). "not getting circumcised, even after having reached puberty" [is an enormity]
NON-MUSLIM SUBJECTS OF THE ISLAMIC STATE
-- page 607,
- o11.1 A formal agreement of protection is made with citizens who are:
- (1) Jews;
- (2) Christians;
- (3) Zoroastrians;
- (4) Samarians and Sabians, if their religions do not respectively contradict the fundamental bases of Judaism and Christianity;
- (5) and those who adhere to the religion of Abraham or one of the other prophets (upon whom be blessings and peace).
- o11.2 Such an arrangement may not be effected with those who are idol worshippers, or those who do not have a Sacred Book or something that could have been a Book.
(A: Something that could have been a Book refers to those like the Zoroastrians , who have remnants resembling an ancient Book. As for the psuedoscriptures of cults that have appeared since Islam (n: such as the Sikhs, Baha'is, Mormons, Qadianis, etc.), they neither are nor could be a Book , since the Koran is the final revelation.)
- o11.3 Such an agreement is only valid when the subject peoples:
-
- (a) follow the rules of Islam (A: those mentioned below (l11.5) and those involving public behavior and dress, though in acts of worship and their private lives, the subject communities have their own laws, judges, and courts, enforcing the rules of their own religion among themselves);
-
- (b) and pay the non-Muslim poll tax .
THE NON-MUSLIM POLL TAX
-- page 608,
- o11.4 The minimum non-Muslim poll tax is one dinar (n: 4.235 grams of gold) per person (A: per year). The maximum is whatever both sides agree upon.
It is collected with leniency and politeness, as are all debts, and is not levied on women, children, or the insane.
- o11.5 Such non-Muslim subjects are obliged to comply with Islamic rules that pertain to the safety and indemnity of life, reputation, and property. In addition , they:
- (1) are penalized for committing adultery or theft, though not for drunkenness;
- (2) are distinguished from Muslims in dress, wearing a wide cloth belt (zunnar);
- (3) are not greeted with "as-Salamu 'alaykum";
- (4) must keep to the side of the street;
- (5) may not build higher than or as high as the Muslims' buildings, though if they acquire a tall house, it is not razed;
- (6) are forbidden to openly display wine or pork, (A: to ring church bells or display crosses,) recite the Torah or Evangel aloud, or make public display of their funerals and feast days;
- (7) and are forbidden to build new churches.
- o11.6 They are forbidden to reside in the Hijaz, meaning the area and towns around Mecca, Medina, and Yamama, for more than three days (when the caliph allows them to enter there for something they need).
- o11.7 A non-Muslim may not enter the Meccan Sacred Precinct (Haram) under any [page 609] circumstances, or enter any other mosque without permission (A: nor may Muslims enter churches without their permission) .
- o11.8 It is obligatory for the caliph to protect those of them who are in Muslim lands just as he would Muslims, and to seek the release of those of them who are captured.
- o11.9 If non-Muslim subjects of the Islamic state refuse to conform to the rules of Islam, or to pay the non-Muslim poll tax, then their agreement with the state has been violated (A: though if only one of them disobeys, it concerns him alone).
- o11.10 The agreement is also violated (A: with respect to the offender alone) if the state has stipulated that any of the following things break it, and one of the subjects does so anyway, though if the state has not stipulated that these break the agreement, then they do not; namely if one of the subject people:
- (1) commits adultery with a Muslim woman or marries her;
- (2) conceals spies of hostile forces;
- (3) leads a Muslim away from Islam;
- (4) kills a Muslim;
- (5) or mentions something impermissible about Allah, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), or Islam.
- o11.11 When a subject's agreement with the state has been violated, the caliph chooses between the four alternatives mentioned above in connection with prisoners of war .
HUMAN EMBRYO/FETUS
[[[Note: According to the Qur'an, there is no human being present until the beginning of the fetal period (9 weeks post-fertilization, even though the term "embryo" is used), and after that there is no human person present until and unless Allah sends the Archangel Gabriel to infuse the soul]]]
-- p. 236, g4.21 Burying the stillborn [[the real embryonic period begins at fertilization through 8 weeks ; the real "fetal period" begins at 9 weeks post-fertilization -- DNI]]
A premature baby (meaning one born before six full months) that dies is treated as an adult if it gave a cry (sneeze, or cough when it left the mother) or showed movement (treated as an assault meaning it is obligatory to wash, shroud, pray over, and bury the baby, since its life and death have been verified). If it did not, then: (1) if it had reached four months in the womb (which is the time at which the spirit is breathed into it) then it is washed before burial but not prayed over; (20 but if it had not , it is only obligatory to bury it.
-- p. 590, o4.9 When a miscarriage results from someone having struck the stomach of a pregnant woman (or other part of her, or when someone frightens her, resulting in a miscarriage), the indemnity for the fetus is a male or female slave worth one-twentieth of the indemnity payable for killing the fetus's father, or one-tenth that of its mother .
DOGS
pg. 95, e14.9 FILTH; dogs and pigs, or their offspring
pg. 98 e14.7 FILTH; something that becomes impure by contact with something from dogs or swine does not become pure except by being washed seven times, one of which (recommended not to be the last) must be with purifying earth mixed with purifying water, and it must reach all of the affected area. One may not substitute something else like soap or glasswort in place of earth.
ART AND MUSIC (just examples)
ART
ppg. 958 ff w.50.0 The Prohibition of Depicting Animate Life:
pg. 958; w50.1 One should realize that the prohibition of picture making is extremely severe, that it is counted among the enormities , and the threats against doing it are very emphatic. ... "Every maker of pictures will go to the fire, where a being will be set against him to torment him in hell for each picture he made. So if you must, draw trees and things without animate life in them ."
p. 961; w50.6 "Angels do not enter a house in which there are pictures."
MUSIC
pg.774; r40.1.1 "Allah Mighty and Majestic sent me as a guidance and mercy to believers and commanded me to do away with musical instruments, flutes, strings, crucifixes, and the affair of the pre-Islamic period of ignorance ." (2) "on the Day of Resurrection, Allah will pour molten lead into the ears of whoever sits listening to a songstress ." ... (5) "All of this is explicit and compelling textural evidence that musical instruments of all types are unlawful. "
pp. 775-776; r40.3 "As for listening to singing that is not accompanied by instruments, one should know that singing or listening to singing is offensive except under the circumstances to be mentioned in what follows . ... Singing is sunna at weddings and the like, and ... it is sunna if it moves one to a noble state of mind that makes one remember the hereafter."
p, 989; W52.1 (426-31) [List of enormities -- sins] " playing stringed instruments; listening to them; playing reed instruments; listening to them; beating a long drum, or listening to it ;
THEFT
pg. 613-614,
- o14.0: The Penalty For Theft :
- o14.1: A person's right hand is amputated , whether he is a Muslim, non-Muslim subject of the Islamic state, or someone who has left Islam, when he: (a) has reached puberty; (b) is same; (c) is acting voluntarily ..... If a person steals a second time, his left foot is amputated; if a third time, then his left hand; and if he steals again, then his right foot. If he steals a fifth time, he is disciplined ....... After amputation, the limb is cauterized with hot oil ...
GNOSIS
- See also Friends of Allah; Sufism
as the aim of Sufsm, w9.7
contrasted with "union with God", w7.3-4
disorienting influence of first impact of, s4.8, s4.11
is false, s4.2-10
nature of in the Friends of Allah, w33.2
in the stations of ihsan, u4.1-2
PHILOSOPHY IS UNLAWFUL
-- p. 868, w10.1 (n:) Anyone who has made a serious study of "philosophy" must acknowledge that the term has been applied to a great many widely varying procedures and styles of thought throughout its long history, and that there is little substantial agreement among philosophers as to what philosophy is or should be. What Nawawi and other Islamic scholars seem to have in mind when they speak of the unlawful character of philosophy is not the efforts at a logical critique of the methodology of the sciences which have been seen particularly in this century, but rather cosmological theories and all-too-human attempts to solve ultimate questions about man, God, life after death, and so forth, without the divinely revealed guidance of the Koran and sunna. Any opinion that contradicts a well-known tenet of Islamic belief that there is scholarly consensus upon (ijma', def: b7) is unbelief (kufr), and is unlawful to learn or teach, except by way of explaining that it is unlawful . And Allah knows best.
SHOWING OFF IN GOOD WORKS
-- page 675, p33.2 The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
- (1) " The first person judged on resurrection Day will be a man martyred in battle .
"He will be brought forth, Allah will reacquaint him with His blessings upon him and the man will acknowledge them, whereupon Allah will say, 'What have you done with them?' to which the man will respond, 'I fought to the death for You."
"Allah will reply, ' You lie. You fought in order to be called a hero , and it has already been said.' Then he will be sentenced and dragged away on his face to be flung into the fire.
- (2) "The slightest bit of showing off in good works is as if worshipping others with Allah."
VI. CONCLUSION
Until free societies and their officials understand correctly what Islam really is and what the Qur'an demands from all Muslims, such terrorist actions as seen recently throughout Europe will continue to be mislabeled "radical". They are not "radical" or performed by "fringe" groups of Muslims; they are quite seriously required of all Muslims -- or else they must die -- as their "holy book" the Qur'an quite clearly and profusely demands. Thankfully, more and more people today are taking the time to read the Qur'an themselves and thus understand better how to deal with it.
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