Buried deep in the story “A Terrorist’s Grand Delusion” in the Washington Post is this:
He said Islam allows lying in three instances: in jihad, to bring reconciliation between Muslims, and in marriage, “if a wife asks her husband, `Am I beautiful?’ and she is 60 years old.”
Brinkema, 61, smiled.
Now we are told that Osama bin Laden and his ilk don’t actually know anything about Islam. Very well. But then there is this hadith:
Humaid b. ‘Abd al-Rahman b. ‘Auf reported that his mother Umm Kulthum daughter of ‘Uqba b. Abu Mu’ait, and she was one amongst the first emigrants who pledged allegiance to Allah’s Apostle (may peace be upon him), as saying that she heard Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: A liar is not one who tries to bring reconciliation amongst people and speaks good (in order to avert dispute), or he conveys good. Ibn Shihab said he did not hear that exemption was granted in anything what the people speak as lie but in three cases: in battle, for bringing reconciliation amongst persons and the narration of the words of the husband to his wife, and the narration of the words of a wife to her husband (in a twisted form in order to bring reconciliation between them). (Sahih Muslim book 32, no. 6303)
Let’s see. Lying is permissible in battle and to reconcile husband and wife. Moussaoui accurately recounted this hadith. It is easy for Islamic apologists in the West to convince non-Muslims that men like him know nothing of Islam; it will be harder for them to convince their fellow Muslims of this.
And that renders all their learned analyses hollow.