The video of this has gone viral on social media, with many decrying the religious leader’s behavior as “horrible,” “disgusting,” “pedophilic,” “child abuse,” “sexual exploitation of a minor,” and so on.
As blowback has increased significantly since the incident occurred, the office of the Dalai Lama issued an apology of sorts, saying that actions of “His Holiness” were misunderstood, that he often jokes with people in innocent ways, and that he is sorry to the boy and his family for any hurt his words may have caused. Indeed, he regrets what happened.
Of course, this regret and apology came some six weeks after the incident itself, and were apparently prompted by the severe negative publicity generated due to the viral video. Yet, the Dalai Lama’s supporters were quick to provide cover for their leader, pointing out that it is an old Tibetan custom, going back to the 9th C., for Tibetans to stick out the tongues when greeting one another. That may indeed be the case – I am no expert or judge on Tibetan customs – but greeting another with a protruding tongue is one thing; commanding the one being greeted to suck the other’s tongue an altogether different matter. On top of that, we see the power imbalance of a revered adult using his unchallengeable authority to manipulate a powerless child. These are not the actions of an innocent, responsible adult, no matter what his sycophants might say. The actions of “His Holiness” in this matter are decidedly unholy, and he should be held to account.
But the Dalai Lama is not the only major religious leader in the tongue-sucking business. As soon as I read of this story, my mind immediately went to early Islamic sources which portray Muhammad as one who sucked the tongues of little boys and invited them to suck his tongue as well.
Muhammad al-Bukhari is famous among Sunnis for his collection of Hadiths concerning the life and teachings of Islam’s prophet. It is the most revered of the Sahih Sittah, the six hadith collections considered authoritative by Sunnis. In addition to his major word, Bukhari collected another set of reports, entitled al-Adab al-Mufrad. Entry 1183 reads:
It is related that Abu Hurayra said, “I never see al-Hasan [Muhammad’s first grandson] without my eyes overflowing with tears. That is because the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, went out one day and he found me in the mosque. He took my hand and I went along with him. He did not speak to me until we reached the market of Banu Qaynuqa’. He walked around it and looked. Then he left and I left with him until we reached the mosque. He sat down and wrapped himself in his garment. Then he said, ‘Where is the little one? Call the little one to me.’ Hasan came running and jumped into his lap. Then he put his hand in his beard. Then the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, opened his mouth and put his mouth in his mouth. Then he said, ‘O Allah, I love him, so love him and the one who loves him!’” (italics mine).
The Arabic of the italicized portion reads more literally “opened his mouth and entered his mouth into his mouth.” What makes most sense of this language is that the prophet inserted his tongue into the mouth of his young grandson. Muhammad ostensibly saw this as an act of love, as repulsive as that might seem to the average reader of any age (except for perhaps His Holiness the Dalai Lama). What other purpose could the Islamic prophet have in mind than for his grandson to suck his tongue after putting it in Hasan’s mouth?
But another hadith pictures Muhammad not only as enjoying having his tongue sucked; he also enjoyed sucking the tongues and lips of others. According to Musnad Ahmad 16245, one of Muhammad’s companions, Mu’awiya, reported:
I saw the prophet sucking on the tongue or the lips of Al-Hassan son of Ali [same grandson as above], may the prayers of Allah be upon him. For no tongue or lips that the prophet sucked on will be tormented (by hell fire).
This account leaves no doubt that Muslim tradition portrays Islam’s prophet as engaging in what today would be called child abuse or sexual harassment of a minor. Imagine if a video camera had captured what Mu’awiya testified that he had seen, and it had gone viral on the Internet, as surely it would. The same cries of moral revulsion and more would be aimed at Muhammad, for his behavior grossly exceeded the actions of the Dalai Lama. Public opinion of the Buddhist monk was filled with statements like: “sick old man;” “sexual assault of a minor;” “pedophilic actions;” “classic child grooming;” “perverted;” “menace to children;” “disgusting.” What would the unbiased viewer of the hypothetical video of Muhammad’s tongue-work with his young grandson conclude concerning the man Islam calls “the perfect human”, the man all humans are to emulate to their best ability?
One Twitter commenter, after seeing the footage concerning the Dalai Lama and his young admirer, wrote:
We’ve seen the video and we’re not buying any of it, sorry. If that was a “hug” then I’m a Leprechaun. I don’t think “His Holiness” is a title you can use any more either.
Another, who professed to have held the Buddhist leader in high esteem, confessed:
It’s not innocent or playful and it wasn’t a hug. It’s child abuse. You were one of the few leaders I trusted. Never again. My heart hurts.
Will Muslims flee the fold of Islam upon discovering that their revered prophet is portrayed in their own trusted sources as committing indecencies even worse than those of the Dalai Lama? Unfortunately, the answer is probably not. Human beings are capable of twisting reality into pretzels in order to continue to defend the indefensible, and to coddle our convictions despite hard, unrelenting truths.
Concerning these hadiths about Muhammad, his followers might say that, though unusual, these two accounts point only to the deep love the prophet had for his grandson. His behaviors with Hasan were intimate but innocent. Others will have to judge for themselves whether it is upright behavior for a grandfather to engage in what amounts to French kissing with his young grandson.
However, this was not a one-time behavior, nor was it limited to one person, according to Musnad Ahmad. We are given this theological justification for the prophet’s behavior: “For no tongue or lips that the prophet sucked on will be tormented (by hell fire).” So, if you are fortunate enough to have the prophet suck your tongue or lick your lips, you are guaranteed paradise! We don’t know how long the list is of those saved from hellfire by swapping spit with the Perfect Human, but one can hope that it was mercifully short.
Other Muslims have found creative, even sublime arguments to justify Muhammad’s reprehensible behavior. Remember, we are told, Muhammad and his followers lived in a hot, arid land. It was a common practice for parents, when their children were in the agony of thirst and there was no water to be found, to allow their children to suck on their tongues as a means to calm them down and ease their thirst. No contemporaneous evidence is supplied to support this claim. Should it have ever been the case, however, it would apply principally to infants. Muhammad’s generosities with his tongue were apparently not limited to infants.
Yet, thirst among the Muslims should not be a consideration, for according many Muslim accounts, Muhammad performed a grand assortment of miracles for his followers, providing them water in their times of need. Out of roughly ninety miracle narrations, this one is my favorite, found in Bukhari (4.56.776):
Narrated Salim bin Abi Aj-Jad: Jabir bin ‘Abdullah said. “The people became very thirsty on the day of Al-Hudaibiya (Treaty). A small pot containing some water was in front of the Prophet and when he had finished the ablution the people rushed towards him. He asked. ‘What is wrong with you?’ They replied. ‘We have no water either for performing ablution or for drinking except what is present in front of you.’ So he placed his hand in that pot and the water started flowing among his fingers like springs. We all drank and performed ablution (from it).” I asked Jabir. “How many were you?” he replied. “Even if we had been one-hundred-thousand it would have been sufficient for us but we were fifteen-hundred.”
When it comes to generating water, ten fingers beat one tongue every time. If Hassan, or any other believer, was desperately thirsty, the prophet could simply have streamed water from his fingers so they might drink to their hearts’ content. Thirst was apparently not the issue behind this tongue-in-mouth behavior.
Even harder to explain, on the thirst hypothesis, is why Muhammad would have been sucking the tongues and lips of others. Was he so dehydrated that he needed to extract fluids from others? Could he not have opened the spigots of his fingers to quench the burning in his throat. This “thirst theory” would turn Muhammad into a “water vampire” of sorts, preying on others to gather refreshment for himself. Certainly this is not the image Muslim defenders of Muhammad would like to paint before the world of their “excellent example” of human nature.
If common sense leads people from all walks of life to censure the Dalai Lama for proposing something reprehensible to an innocent child, shouldn’t that same common sense lead observers to censure Islam’s founder for his execrable behavior in this regard, and to seriously question Islam’s claim that Muhammad is the trustworthy divine messenger, whose every word is to be believed and whose every action is to be emulated.
There is more. Read the rest here.
Ade Fegan says
Guaranteed no outrage when muslims do it !
abu taleb says
But there will be outrage from the left because it is an Islamophobia action. And the left also doesn’t really mind with the child abuse.
SKA says
“Charismatic Exceptionalism” – whatever your guru, messiah, prophet or National Liberator does is holy or praiseworthy simply because it is he who is doing it. But no such license for you or me!
tim gallagher says
I have never taken much notice of the Dalai Lama. I occasionally see videos clips of him endlessly smiling and sounding like a very naive kind of person. I was shocked by his behaviour with this child. I don’t see how anyone could think it is OK behaviour. Same as when I see the creepy Joe Biden sniffing young gierls’ hair. Downright bizarre and offensive behaviour. On Muhammad, the pedophile, I think that many people don’t even know about it. I remember telling my left wing sister about Muhammad marrying an 8 year old girl when he was 50 years old and she was shocked. She had never heard about it at all. She knew nothing about Muhammad. or islam’s nature. I don’t believe that Muhammad ever actually existed but was an invention from later on, but I think many people know nothing about islam and its nature at all. They get around thinking it is just another fairly harmless religion.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
I think the erosion of his thinking due to his age is telling. It’s probably time for his institution to install a successor, and of course, make sure that Beijing has no say in the process
tim gallagher says
I think you are right, Infidel. It certainly was a bizarre incident with the the child and would have tarnished the Dalai Lama’s image even for people who have been admirers of him. Definitely keep the foul Chinese regime out of any influence on the decision. Imagine the vile creature they would try to have installed in the position.
Egor says
Why stop with the kissing and hugging.
Narrated by ibn abbas-Majmaa alzawaed-page 18:Muhammad is recorded to kiss the private part of Al Hussein, and this is Saheeh
() Majma al-Zawa’id, Ali ibn Abu Bakr al-Haythami, 299/9 مجمع الزوائد لعلي بن أبى بكر الهيثمي
رأيت رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم فرج ما بين فخذي الحسين و قبل زبيبته
رواه الطبراني و إسناده حسن
“I saw the Messenger of Allah pbuh putting Husein’s legs apart and kissing his (little) penis.”
He (the Prophet) lift up his (al Hassan’s) shirt and kissed his (little) penis..”
روى أنه صلى الله عليه و سلم قبل زبيبة الحسن أو الحسين
He (the prophet) kissed the (little) penis of al Hassan or al Husein
رأيت النبي صلى الله عليه و سلم فرج ما بين فخذي الحسين و قبل زبيبته
He (the prophet) put Husein’s legs apart and kissed his (little) penis
=() Bukhari recorded of ‘Aisha in his book “al-Adab al-Mufrad”
Hank says
Strange how people can be so deceived when witnesses at the time write about what they observed about Mr. Mo
“ “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” Matthew 7:15-20
somehistory says
Just in the last few days, the un has issued some thingy about young children being able to decide if they have relations with adults.
Rape of children, abuse of children, is being **normalized** and since it’s the world’s “leaders” doing it, who is going to bring it to an end? No human will. It has gone too far and too many in high positions of power are involved up to their eyeballs and the hairline.
Any time any one of them is caught, like this sleaze, it’s a “joke” or something else as an excuse.
abuse in the form of mutilation, sacrifice in death, and making the unholy decisions that children should engage in sex with adults. It’s all demonic, all from satan and his legions of demons.
James Lincoln says
somehistory,
A society is judged by how they treat the most vulnerable: children, the disabled, the elderly, etc.
And Western nations are starting to very tragically fail…
somehistory says
James, your statements are absolutely true.
The Apostle James said something along the lines of ‘the man who is godly, will look after widows and orphans and keep himself without a spot from the world.’
The “world” written about is the same “world” Jesus said “hates” Him and His disciples. That world cares nothing about the “widows and orphans” and is totally evil.
That evil world is now earth-wide and has clearly shown on whose side it is on.
Jon Sobieski says
Oh geez, sexual urge overcomes the guy. He was so impassioned by the boy, he did this sexual act in front of everyone. Now we know he is gay and likes children. Sickening. So disturbing. Mo did it and got away with it, but the DL? We will see.
Hank says
“If the Dalai Lama Goes Down in Flames, What Should Happen to Muhammad?”
Normally, Mr. Mohammed would go down in flames too if his followers stopped deceiving themselves and others after reading the Quran and Hadith’s.
This all reminds me of the H.C. Andersen tale called “The Emperor’s New Clothes”
Muslims are afraid to point out like the boy in the story “But the emperor has no clothes on!” and dump Islam. They are too terrified to cry out “Well, it is true; he has no clothes on!” and trash it.
Powerful article.
Mark Spahn says
Another Yellow Hat tongue-sucker?:
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/2f/60/91/2f6091b454587a354074cc8d93269eec–hard-hats-cagliari.jpg
Mateen Elass says
Hilarious, in a cynical kind of way!