There have rarely been historical figures more virulently anti-women than Muhammad, yet alongside many other characteristics of the prophet of Islam that are lauded by Dr. Craig Considine, Considine insists that Muhammad is inherently humane. Dr. Considine frequently repeats an interesting rebuttal to the claim that Islam oppresses women in the character of Aisha, one of Muhammad’s wives and ‘the mother of the faithful’. But what does Muhammad and Islam really teach about Aisha and women?
While Aisha may have been instrumental in particular aspects of the spread and upholding of Islam, to state this alone is to paper over the real issues in her story. She married Muhammad as a small girl; this is covered in Sahih al-Bukhari 5133, Sahih al-Bukhari 5158, Sahih Muslim 3481, Sahih Muslim 3482 and Sunan Abu Dawud 2121, which unanimously repeat that Aisha was married to Muhammad at age six and that the marriage was consummated when she was nine years old.
Aisha was also prepubescent at the time of marriage to the ‘perfect man’, Muhammad. In Sahih Muslim 3481, when she was taken to consummate the marriage, she was playing with dolls, which is forbidden, as they are images. Only prepubescent girls were allowed to play with dolls because they were not yet morally accountable, which is explained in detail, with this very example, in Sahih al-Bukhari 6130.
Muhammad’s escapes were not limited to Aisha, however. In Ibn Ishaq, page 311, Muhammad himself exclaims at a newborn baby crawling around that ‘if she grows up (meaning age six) and I am still alive I will marry her’. The baby, who is Um-Habib, is listed on Muhammad’s proposals, so some time between then and his death fairly soon after, he did propose marriage.
In Sahih al-Bukhari 268, we read ‘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)’. Sahih al-Bukhari 5068 echoes the same story; ‘The Prophet used to go round (have sexual relations with) all his wives in one night, and he had nine wives’.
As a segue into Islam on women more broadly; we can observe in Surah 2:228 that Allah says a man has to wait three monthly cycles before he can divorce her. In Surah 65:4, it gives exceptions to that rule, namely women who are too old, women who are too young, or women who are pregnant. This shows that child marriage was permissible in order for the rules to be implemented for divorcing children.
In Sahih al-Bukhari 5133, the chapter heading reads; ‘Giving young children in marriage is permissible by virtue of Statement of Allah’. The chapter cites verses 65:4 and Aisha, who says once again that Muhammad consummated their marriage when she was nine years old. And worrying teachings from the perfect, direct, unchangeable, eternal, perfectly preserved word of Allah aren’t restricted to child marriage.
Surah 2:282 explains in detail that if there are not two men available to judge, one man and two women are sufficient because ‘if one of them should make an error, the other may cause her to remember’. The intellectual capacity of women is also brought into question by Muhammad in Sahih Muslim 7099, where he says; ‘Never will succeed such a nation as makes a woman their ruler’.
In Surah 4:24, women are property when married. It reads; ‘And married women [are also forbidden], except all that your right hand possesses. This is the decree of Allah for you. And it is lawful to you, besides this, to seek out women with your money, chaste without fornication. So, whatever you enjoy by it (their sexual parts) from them, so give them their wages; it is an ordinance’. In Surah 4:34, ‘Men are in charge of women’ and unless a women obeys her husband, ‘of whom you fear rebellion, so preach to them and separate from them in the beds and scourge them’. Of course, rebellion for men is encouraged as temporary marriage or ‘mutah’, is famously permissible in Sahih al-Bukhari 5075.
One of the key elements of Jannah is the 72 virgins a man will receive to eternally deflower. This odd objectification of women is found abundantly in the sources; see Surahs 78:31-34, 55:54-57, 41:51-55, 52:20, 55:70-74, 56:22-24 and 56:35-37. Interestingly, the nature of Jannah also raises an interesting theological issue. When the actions and characteristics of Jannah are described as such, it is inherently sinful by Islam’s own standards (see also the rivers of wine in Surah 47:15), so in Jannah, all sin will be made sinless. The issue is that desiring paradise is ultimately desirable; yet thinking of or committing these acts is ultimately undesirable, so how can Jannah be morally desirable (unless you desire sin)? Details about Jannah’s strange erotica on page 351 of Al-Suyuti Al-Itqan fi Ulum Al-Qur’an and Sunan Ibn Majah, Zuhd 39, also provide a disgusting insight into relationships in Jannah.
I believe the sources presented in this article clearly demonstrate not only what Allah sees of women, but Muhammad’s actions with women. The dynamic between Islam, Muhammad, Aisha and women is certainly not as Dr. Considine presents it.
mortimer says
Considine is a complete deceiver and a humbug. His humbuggery disqualifies him as a source of information. The college he works for him should be ashamed to have him on their payroll.
No one who bills himself as a scholar should be permitted by other real scholars to get away with flat denials of overwhelming evidence.
There is considerable proof of Mohammed’s gross misogyny in the hadiths and Sira. Considine denies what is plainly in the Islamic primary source texts.
The following hadith quotations insult and degrade all women … they are grossly misogynistic. They are the words of Mohammed:
– I think that women were created for nothing but evil
– Women have ten ‘awrat (vulvas). When she gets married, the husband covers one, and when she dies the grave covers the ten (of her shameful parts)
– A straw mat in the corner of the house is preferable to a barren woman
– Women are toys, so choose (your ‘toys’)
– The woman is a toy, whoever takes her, let him care for her [or do not lose her]
– Had it not been for women, God would have truly, truly been worshipped
– Men perished the day they obeyed the women
– Obedience to a woman’s advice causes regret
– Consult women and act contrary (to it)
– Sneezing, drowsing, yawning in prayer, also menstruation, vomiting and nose-bleeding are from Satan
– When…your affairs are in the hands of your women, the interior of the earth (hell) will be the better for you than its surface
– If a woman offered one of her breasts to be cooked and the other to be roasted, she still will fall short of fulfilling her obligations to her husband. And besides that if she disobeys her husband even for a twinkling of an eye, she would be thrown in the lowest part of Hell, except she repents and turns back
– Mohammed asked some women, “Isn’t the witness of a woman equal to half that of a man?” The women said, “Yes,” He said, “This is because of the deficiency of the woman’s mind.”
– I have not seen any one more deficient in intelligence and religion than you (women)
– I was shown the Hell-fire and that the majority of its dwellers are women.
– Bad omen is in the woman, the house and the horse
– After me I have not left any affliction more harmful to men than women
– Don’t wear false hair for Allah sends His curse upon such ladies who lengthen their hair artificially
– Treat women well for they are like domestic animals and they possess nothing themselves. Allah has made the enjoyment of their bodies lawful in his Qur’an
– Women, slaves and camels are the same
– Prayer is annulled by a dog, a donkey and a woman
– “Women are like cows, horses, and camels, for all are ridden,” is in fact recorded in Tafsir al-Qurtubi (see vol. 17, p. 172)
– If you relax the woman’s bridle a tiny bit, she will take you and bolt wildly. And if you lower her cheek-piece a hand span, she will pull you an arm’s length … Their deception is awesome and their wickedness is contagious; bad character and feeble mind are their predominant traits
– “[A man’s wife] fears him, while he fears her not, a kind word from him satisfies her, where nothing of hers has importance in his eyes, it is she who must tolerate the presence of concubines, and it is she who worries when he is ill whereas even her death would leave him indifferent
– If a man calls his wife to his bed and she refuses, and he spends the night angry with her, the angels curse her until morning
– Treat women well, for they are [like] domestic animals [awan] with you and do not possess anything for themselves. You have taken them only as a trust from God and you have made the enjoyment of their persons lawful by the word of God, so understand and listen to my words…
– Muhammad’s last words on women during his farewell speech:
– God allows you to put them in separate rooms and to beat them but not with severity. If they refrain from these things they have the right to their food and clothing with kindness. Lay injunctions on women kindly, for they are prisoners with you having no control of their persons. (Sirat Rasul Allah. Translated in English by A. Guillaume. First published by Oxford University Press, London in 1955)
gravenimage says
Important list, Mortimer.
Reziac says
See also Dr. Jonathan A. C. Brown, a Muslim convert who has a Youtube channel and a position at Georgetown University.
http://drjonathanbrown.com/
Once in a while his young son appears on his videos… and it’s rather alarming how this little boy (maybe 5 or 6 years old?) already has the body language of the Islamic children in the Middle East who are learning jihad at their master’s knee.
Sabri S. says
This is a bullshit list Mortimer…you do know these are “allegations” from people who lived 150 years after Mohammad died. They never knew him personally or interacted with him or his inner circle at all. In fact, virtually all of the Hadith are heresay from 150 to 200 years AFTER Mohammad died. What BS you Islamophobes push. It really sounds ridiculous to any intelligent person. How about focusing on how this great man, who was an orphan and illiterate, went on to conquer all of Arabia, establish peace and prosperity in the region, and inspired one of the worlds great Abrahamic faiths. His name is still spoken in reverence over 1400 years later. Cant say the same for the authors of these bullshit Hadiths or his critics can you? Allah U Akbar!
gravenimage says
The grotesque Sabri S. wrote:
This is a bullshit list Mortimer…you do know these are “allegations” from people who lived 150 years after Mohammad died. They never knew him personally or interacted with him or his inner circle at all. In fact, virtually all of the Hadith are heresay from 150 to 200 years AFTER Mohammad died. What BS you Islamophobes push. It really sounds ridiculous to any intelligent person.
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Firstly, of course, it is not the “filthy Infidels” who cite the Hadith as orthodox Islam–it is orthodox Muslims themselves, who closely sort through Isnad chains to determine which Hadith are considered “Sahih” (reliable).
If Sabri S. *really* believed that the Hadith are invalid, he would take it up with his orthodox coreligionists, and not bother the good Infidels here at Jihad Watch.
Then, the implication that Islam is really egalitarian and rejects misogyny could not be more ludicrous–Sabri S. *himself* lauded a Muslim who beheaded his little 13-year-old daughter, citing this atrocity as the example of the “best way to live”:
Islamic Republic of Iran: Father beheads his 13-year-old daughter in honor killing
MAY 27, 2020 11:00 AM BY ROBERT SPENCER
“Sabri S. says
May 28, 2020 at 5:49 am
No, they are not barbarians…far from it. What would be barbaric would be to allow teenage girls to run around like immoral whores, getting pregnant, spreading STDs, and becoming single mother welfare queens – just like in the US and Europe! This father did the right thing, as uncomfortable as it may be for westernized hypocrites to admit. He protected his family, stood up for his culture, and sent a definitive deterrent to any other dumb teenage whores that this behavior is not to be tolerated at any level. The alternative would be to allow the degeneracy, immorality and societal garbage in that has brought down civilizations since the beginning of time. America and Europe are doomed – period and fact. Islam is the best way to live. Look at the declining west and no intelligent, moral person would accept that decay. In fact, in America, muslims don’t and won’t!!!!!! count on it. We never submit or integrate into your garbage, inferior immorality. Allah U Akbar and onward muslim soldiers in the US, Europe and beyond!!!!!!!!!!”
https://www.jihadwatch.org/2020/05/islamic-republic-of-iran-father-beheads-his-13-year-old-daughter-in-honor-killing
Is this what Sabri S. considers an example of treating women as equals?
More:
How about focusing on how this great man, who was an orphan and illiterate, went on to conquer all of Arabia, establish peace and prosperity in the region, and inspired one of the worlds great Abrahamic faiths. His name is still spoken in reverence over 1400 years later. Cant say the same for the authors of these bullshit Hadiths or his critics can you? Allah U Akbar!
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There have been great men who grew up illiterate and then learned to read as adults, some even becoming great scholars. But note that Sabri S. instead considers it “great” to remain illiterate and enslave, rape, and slaughter peaceful people.
And yes–Muhammed’s name is still spoken in reverence, but it is revered by murderous thugs.
As for the Hadith, the collectors of Hadith like Bukhari and Muslim are still greatly respected by Muslims–why would Sabri S. claim otherwise?
HUGO Lindum says
Rice is simply a liar. His views are the simple racism of the Left: “Mohamed was brown and Muslims are often brown, and often hate the West, therefore Islam is good.”
mortimer says
The stories and legends about Mohammed written down 200 years following his supposed date of death cannot be validated.
It can be defended that the stories and sermons about Muhammad’s deeds have been FABRICATED simply in order to give divine sanction to the man-made rules which these stories embody.
The hadiths justify cruelty, barbarity, hatred, misogyny and hundreds of absurdities, merely by placing these offensive and backward elements into the mouth of an alleged prophet getting these ideas from a deity.
The simplest explanation for us is to assume that the author of these fake revelations was a backward, uneducated, ignorant man (or men) from the 7th century desert and one who was NOT inspired by a deity, but rather inspired by mind-bending drugs or frontal lobe epilepsy (as a number of doctors have suggested in the case of Mohammed).
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/05/was_muhammad_an_epileptic_.html
Considine tries to justify and modernize the rantings of a mentally ill primitive. He perverts and prostitutes his education.
Mural says
This idiot is a bigger danger to US than Ilhan omar and her ilk.
The fact that he has a doctorate shows how far the standards of education have fallen
nicholas william tesdorf says
Dr. Craig Considine would have found it much easier to write a book about the Topic of ‘Muhammad’s inHumanity’. There is so much more evidence of this in the Qur’an, Haddith and Sunna of Muhammad and requires not special pleading.
Isaac Marshall says
You’re right there!
gravenimage says
Spot on, Nicholas.
gravenimage says
Islam on Women: A Rebuttal of Dr. Craig Considine on the Topic of Muhammad’s Humanity
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Good expose from Isaac Marshall.
Not only did the “Prophet” Muhammed “marry” little Aisha when she was a child of six and begin raping her at nine, he also kidnapped and raped captives, used sex slaves, and raped a young woman whose husband, father, and brothers he had just murdered. He was a polygamist who threatened to summarily divorce his wives for daring to confide in each other.
He enslaved hundreds of women and had women stoned to death.
The only independent woman in the story of Islam was Muhammed’s first wife Khadija, who lived most of her life prior to the coming of Islam.
Jake2169 says
Yet another Muslim enabler looking to cement his future within Islamic rule. What a fool! As a Dr and scholar, he will be executed first, when this useful idiot is no longer needed!!
OLD GUY says
Muhammad was an animal when it came to treatment of women and slaves. He appears to have been a pedophile and rapist.
Francis Weber says
The perfect man, NOT, defective DNA.
Muhammad was WHITE!
http://quranx.com/Hadith/Muslim/Reference/Hadith-2340/
Muhammad was a dwarf and fat!
http://sunnah.com/abudawud/42/154
David says
As Muhammad once said: “Women. You can’t live with them; you can’t live without them (all 11 of them)”
Bookhairi 69:69