Hamza Andreas Tzortzis. Version 1.0, Sept. 2014.

1. His character

• His appearance and speech

• Compassion

• Humility

• Justice

• Forgiveness

2. His influence & impact

• Progress and science

• Innocent until proven guilty

• Racism

• Preservation of Jews and Christians

• Rational theology

3. His claim

• Liar? Deluded? Both?

• Truthful? Legendary?

4. Some Examples of False Contentions

• Forced conversions

• Oppressive tax

• Forced Marriages

Co

nte

nts

Before Muhammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص

• Pope Gregory (594 CE), a contemporary of the Prophet

Muhammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said:

– What is there now, I ask of delight in this world?

Everywhere we observe strife; fields are depopulated,

the land has returned to solitude…And yet the blows of

Divine justice have no end, because among the blows

those guilty of evil acts are not corrected… Pope Gregory I

quoted by Mohammad Farooq Kemal, The Crescent vs The Cross, Lahore, 1997, p.

7.

Ja’f

ar

bin

Ab

i T

ali

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& K

ing o

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inia

“O King, we were an uncivilized people, worshipping idols, eating

corpses, committing abominations, breaking natural ties, treating

guests badly, and our strong devoured our weak. Thus we were until

God sent us an apostle whose lineage, truth, trustworthiness, and

clemency we know. He summoned us to acknowledge God’s unity

and to worship him and to renounce the stones and images which we

and our fathers formerly worshipped. He commanded us to speak

the truth, be faithful to our engagements, mindful of the ties of

kinship and kindly hospitality, and to refrain from crimes and

bloodshed. He forbade us to commit abominations and to speak lies,

and to devour the property of orphans, to vilify chaste women. He

commanded us to worship God alone and not associate anything

with him, and he gave us orders about prayer, almsgiving, and

fasting. We confessed his truth and believed in him, and we followed

him in what he had brought from God, and we worshipped God

without associating aught with him. We treated as forbidden what he

forbade, and as lawful what he declared lawful...” The Life of

Muhammad, A Translation of Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah, tr. by A. Guillaume,

(1955, 2004), p. 151-2.

His Character

Appearance & speech

• Al-Baraa’ Ibn ‘Aazib narrated: “The Messenger of Allah ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص was the

most handsome of all people, and had the best appearance.” Muslim

• Jaabir Ibn Samurah narrated: “I saw the Messenger of Allah ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص on a

brightly moonlit night wearing a red garment. Then I started looking at

him and at the moon. And for me, he was more beautiful than the

moon.” At-Tirmithi

• Anas Ibn Maalik narrated: “Allah’s Messenger ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص was neither very

tall nor short.” Al-Bukhari

• ‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib narrated: “Those who saw him suddenly stood in

awe of him and those who shared his acquaintanceship loved him.

Those who described him said they had never seen anyone like him

before or since. ” Tirmidhi

In t

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• “He was innocently bright and had broad countenance. His

manners were fine. Neither his belly bulging out nor was his head

deprived of hair. He has black attractive eyes finely arched by

continuous eyebrows. His hair glossy and black, inclined to curl, he

wore long. His was extremely commanding. His head was large,

well formed and set on a slender neck. His expression was pensive

and contemplative, serene and sublime. The stranger was fascinated

from the distance, but no sooner he became intimate with him than

this fascinations was changed into attachment and respect. His

expression was very sweet and distinct. His speech was well set and

free from the use of superfluous words, as if it were a rosary of

beads. His stature was neither too high nor too small to look

repulsive…He was always surrounded by his Companions.

Whenever he uttered something, the listeners would hear him with

rapt attention and whenever he issued any command, they vied

with each other in carrying it our. He was a master and

commander. His utterances were marked by truth and sincerity,

free from all kinds of falsehoods and lies.” Zad al-Ma'ad 2/45

Compassion • “You must be compassionate. Whenever there is compassion in

something, it adorns it, and when it is removed from something it

disgraces it.” Al-Adab Al-Mufrad

• “God is compassionate and loves compassion.” Al-Adab Al-Mufrad

• “Whoever fails to show mercy to our children and honour to our elders

is not one of us.” Tirmidhi

• “Those who show mercy will be shown mercy by the Most Merciful

(God). Show mercy to those who are on earth and the One Who is in

heaven will show mercy to you.”Abu Dawud and Tirmidhi

• Anas ibn Malik recalls the compassion of the Prophet Muhammad

towards children: “I never saw anyone who was more ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص

compassionate towards children than God’s Messenger ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص.” Muslim

Hu

mil

ity

• “Do not exaggerate in praising me as the Christians praised the son of

Mary, for I am only a Slave. So, call me the Slave of Allah and His

Apostle.” Bukhari

• Aishah was asked: “What did Allah’s messenger ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص do at home? She

said: ‘He was like any other human being, cleaning and mending his

garment, milking the goat, mending his shoes, serving himself, and be of

service to his family, till he hears the call to prayer, then he goes out’.”

Bukhari, Muslim & Ahmad

• “I am but a man like yourselves. I am prone to forget just as you are.”

Bukhari and Muslim

• When the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص saw a man trembling with fear when he saw him,

he said to him: “Relax I am not a king, I am the son of a woman from

Quraysh who would eat dried/jerked meat.” Ibn maajah and al-Haakim

• The prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص would invoke his lord saying: “O Allah, make me live

humbly and make me die humbly, and gather me among the humble on the

day of resurrection.” Tirmidhi

Quality of Modesty

• Abu Sa‘eed al-Khudri said, “I saw the messenger of Allah

prostrating in mud and water such that I saw the ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص

marks of mud on his forehead.” Bukhari and Muslim

• Anas said, “The Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلصwould be invited to eat barley

bread and rancid fat and he would accept it.” Tirmidhi

• Aisha, “At our home (that is, the home of the Holy

Prophet’s ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص household), fire would not be kindled

(sometimes) for a whole month; we subsisted merely on

water and dates.” Tirmidhi

No joys of this world • ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattab: “I went to the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص and saw that he

was lying on a mat made of the leaves of the date-palm, and there

was no bedding between him and the mat, and the texture of the

mat had left deep marks on his body, and under his head was placed

a leather pillow stuffed with the bark of the date-tree. On seeing it, I

said, “My Master! Pray to Allah (The Glorified and The Exalted) to

grant prosperity to your followers. He has bestowed riches upon the

people of Rome and Persia even though they are not believers.” The

Prophet replied, ‘O son of Khattab! Do you also think like that?

They are the people who have been deprived of the blessings of the

Hereafter (owing to their ungodly ways), and hence, the comforts

(Allah wanted to confer upon them) have been granted to them in

this world.’” Bukhari and Muslim

Dr Muhammad Ali’ As-Sallabee. The Noble Life of the Prophet, p. 1704.

Justice: The Treaty of Najran • The Messenger of Allah offered the people of Najran unprecedented

freedom of religion and protection, which they never experienced under the

Byzantines. Al Baladhuri narrates the text of the treaty in these words in his

book Futuh ul Buldan:

– “The lives of the people of Najran and its surrounding area, their religion, their land, their

property, cattle, and those of them who are present or absent, their messengers and their

places of worship are under the protection of Allah and guardianship of his prophet. Their

present states shall neither be interfered with, nor their rights meddled with, nor their idols

deformed. No bishop shall be removed from his office. The intention being that no change in

whatever state everyone is, shall be made (status quo shall be maintained). Neither the

people shall be punished for any past crime or murder, nor shall they be compelled to do

military service. Neither shall ‘ushr (the tax on grain) be imposed on them, nor shall any

army enter their area. If anyone of the people of Najran demands the rights, justice shall be

done between the plaintiff and the respondent. Neither oppression shall be allowed to be

perpetuated on them, nor shall they be permitted to oppress anyone. Whatever has been

written in this pact, Allah and Muhammad, his Prophet, are guarantors for it, unless there is

an order from Allah, in this connection, and as long as the people of Najran remain faithful

and adhere to the conditions, which have been made for them, except that someone compels

them to do otherwise.” Al-Baladhuri, Futuh al-Buldan, translated by Philip. K. Hitti, New Jeresy,

2002 (Reprint), p. 100-1.

Forgiveness

• What would you do if you had been abused,

tortured, made to starve, and watched your

friends be killed? What would you do if you

were fought, and oppressed for years?

• What would you do, if these people were

now at your mercy?

A Day of Piety

Dr Muhammad Ali’ As-Sallabee. The Noble Life of the Prophet, p. 1707.

Dr Muhammad Ali’ As-Sallabee. The Noble Life of the Prophet, p. 1712.

Un

iversa

l Pard

on

His Influence

& Impact

Muhammad & the iPhone

• Professor Thomas Arnold in his book The

Preaching of Islam writes: “…Muslim

Spain had written one of the brightest

pages in the history of Medieval Europe.

Her influence had passed through

Provence into the other countries of

Europe, bringing into birth a new poetry

and a new culture, and it was from her

that Christian scholars received what of

Greek philosophy and science they had to

stimulate their mental activity up to the

time of the Renaissance.” Thomas Arnold.

The Preaching of Islam, p. 131.

Historical Accident?

• Islamic values created a socio-political culture that

facilitated that need creativity, peace and tranquillity to

allow all citizens to look into the inter connecting principles

of nature.

• As the eighteenth-century economist Adam Smith claimed,

“the first state under which the world enjoyed that degree

of tranquillity which the cultivation of the sciences

requires...” Adam Smith. The Essays of Adam Smith. London. 1869, p. 353

Mu

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&

Inn

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Gu

ilty

• It was above all the very high ethical standard of Islamic law that impressed the

medieval West and provoked the development of a more refined legal

thinking…Until the Crusades, legal procedure in the West consisted of “God’s

judgments” by boiling water or by duel, or by “ordeal” during which people were

burnt with red-hot irons or boiling oil and, if they survived, declared “not guilty.”

In contrast, we have only to quote the instructions given by Omar in the seventh

century to the Muslim judges to show what a chasm separated the two

conceptions: “Only decide on the basis of proof, be kind to the weak so that they

can express themselves freely and without fear, deal on an equal footing with

litigants by trying to reconcile them.”

• …It is certainly not a coincidence that Louis IX was the monarch who created

the French legal administration by appointing “royal inquirers,” by instituting

testimonial proof, and by permitting the recourse of “making a plea to the King.”

The legislation he introduced marked a turning point in the history of law in

Europe. Popular imagery was not mistaken on this point, since it is that above all

which was remembered. Louis IX had frequented the philosophic theologians of

his time; he had received St. Thomas Aquinas at his table. The influence of Islam

was, however, even more direct. We can make this presumption since it was on

his return from Palestine that the King undertook his major legal reforms.

Joinville (Jean de Joinville, chronicler of St Louis) gives us fairly clear proof in his

writings. The historian Marcel Boisard ,“On the probable influence of Islam on western public and

international law”, International Journal of Middle East studies

Raci

sm

• The prophet Muhammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص made it clear that racism has no place in

Islam: “All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority

over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a

white has no superiority over a black nor a black has any superiority over

white except by piety and good action.” Hafiz Ibn Hibban reported in al-Sahih,

via his isnad, from Fadalah ibn Ubayd & Baihaqi

• Hamilton A. R. Gibb, the historian on Orientalism, stated: “But Islam

has a still further service to render to the cause of humanity. It stands

after all nearer to the real East than Europe does, and it possesses a

magnificent tradition of inter-racial understanding and cooperation. No

other society has such a record of success uniting in an equality of status,

of opportunity, and of endeavours so many and so various races of

mankind...Islam has still the power to reconcile apparently irreconcilable

elements of race and tradition. If ever the opposition of the great

societies of East and West is to be replaced by cooperation, the mediation

of Islam is an indispensable condition. In its hands lies very largely the

solution of the problem with which Europe is faced in its relation with

East. If they unite, the hope of a peaceful issue is immeasurably

enhanced.” Hamilton A. R. Gibb. Whither Islam. London, 1932, p. 379

Respected Historian A.J. Toynbee

• “The extinction of race consciousness as

between Muslims is one of the outstanding

achievements of Islam and in the

contemporary world there is, as it happens, a

crying need for the propagation of this

Islamic virtue...” A. J. Toynbee. Civilisation on Trial. New

York. 1948, p. 205

Preservation of Minorities

• The prophet Muhammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلصin authentic

narrations attributed to him said:

– “He who harms a person under covenant, or

charged him more than he can, I will argue

against him on the Day of Judgement.” Narrated by

Yahya b. Adam in the book of Al-Kharaaj

– “He who hurts a dhimmi [a non-Muslim under

Muslim protection] hurts me.” Reported by al-Tabarani in

Al-awsat

Preference of Islamic Values

• The unprecedented impact and effect of the teachings of

the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص made people prefer the mercy and

tolerance of Islam. Reinhart Dozy, an authority on early

Islamic Spain, explains:

– “…the unbounded tolerance of the Arabs must also be

taken into account. In religious matters they put

pressure on no man…Christians preferred their rule to

that of the Franks.” Reinhart Dozy, A History of Muslims in Spain.

Delhi. 1861 (reprinted 1913, 2002), p.235

Most Influential

• “My choice of Muhammad to lead the list

of the world’s most influential persons may

surprise some readers and may be

questioned by others, but he was the only

man in history who was supremely

successful on both the religious and secular

level.” M. H. Hart, The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in

History, p.33.

Rational Theology

“Philosopher, orator, apostle, legislator, warrior, conqueror of ideas,

restorer of rational dogmas, of a cult without images; the founder of

twenty terrestrial empires and of one spiritual empire, that is Muhammad.

As regards all standards by which human greatness may be measured, we

may well ask, is there any man greater than he?” Lamartine, Histoire de la

Turquie, Paris 1854. Vol. 2 p. 276.

Edward Montet

• “Islam is a religion that is essentially rationalistic in the

widest sense of this term considered etymologically and

historically....the teachings of the Prophet, the Qur'an has

invariably kept its place as the fundamental starting point,

and the dogma of unity of God has always been

proclaimed therein with a grandeur a majesty, an invariable

purity and with a note of sure conviction, which it is hard

to find surpassed outside the pale of Islam...” Edward Montet,

'La Propagande Chretienne et ses Adversaries Musulmans,' Paris 1890. (Also in T.W.

Arnold in 'The Preaching of Islam,' London 1913.)

His Claim

The Logic

1. The Prophet Muhammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص was a liar,

deluded, both or speaking the truth?

2. He wasn’t a liar, deluded or both.

3. Therefore, he was speaking the truth.

Liar? • His enemies called him “The Trustworthy”

• His life and his psychological profile show he couldn’t have

been lying…

• Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies W. Montgomery

Watt in his Muhammad at Mecca wrote: “His readiness to

undergo persecution for his beliefs, the high moral character

of the men who believed in him and looked up to him as a

leader, and the greatness of his ultimate achievement – all

argue his fundamental integrity. To suppose Muhammad an

impostor raises more problems than it solves.”W. Montgomery,

Muhammad at Mecca, Oxford, 1953, p.52.

Deluded?

• There were many events during his life that a

deluded man would have used to justify his

delusion. But the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص didn’t…

• His Prophecies…

• His teachings…

• “Your companion has not strayed, nor has

he erred” An-Najm 53:2

Solar Eclipse • The Prophet’s ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص son Ibrahim passed away at a

young. At the same time there was a solar eclipse.

The Arabs thought that Allah made the eclipse

happen for the death of his son.

• A deluded man would have used this event to

support his delusion.

• The Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص rejected the people’s assertions.

– The Prophet said “The sun and the moon do not eclipse

because of the death of someone from the people but

they are two signs amongst the signs of Allah. When you

see them stand up and pray.” Bukhari

Some Prophecies • The Messenger ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص predicted ‘Ammar’s martyrdom in a ‘civil’

war: “What a pity O ‘Ammar, a rebellious group will kill you.” Bukhari, Muslim and Musnad Ahmad

• The Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص foretold that Fatima would join him first of all

after his death: Before his death, the Messenger called his daughter

Fatima to his bedside and informed her that she would be the first

among his family to join him after his death. Fatima joined her

father, the pride of mankind, six months later. Bukhari

• The Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص predicted the Mongol invasion: “The Hour will

not be established till you fight with the Khudh and the Kirman

from among the non-Arabs. They will be of red faces, flat noses

and small eyes; their faces will look like flat shields, and their shoes

will be of hair.” Muslim

His Teachings • Geo-politics

– “The son of Adam only has a right to three things, a house to live in, clothes to cover his nakedness, and dry bread and water.” Tirmidhi

• Good manners

– “The best among you is he who has the best manners” Bukhari

– “The most perfect in faith among the believers are those who possess the best morals and the best among you are those who are kindest to their wives.” Tirmidhi

More Teachings • Community

– “What sort of deeds or traits of Islam are good?” The Prophet

said: ‘To feed others, and to greet those whom you know ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص

and those whom you do not know.’” Bukhari

• Peace

– “He who makes peace between the people by inventing good

information or saying good things, is not a liar.” Bukhari

• Love

– “By the one who has my soul in His hand, you will not enter

the Garden until you believe, and you will not believe until you

love one another. Shall I point out to you something which will

make you love one another if you do it? Make the greeting

widespread among you.” Muslim

Both Lying & Deluded?

• Two false things do not make a truth.

• Lying is something done with intent

whereas a delusion stems from an

individual’s belief of an altered reality.

The two are diametrically opposed

phenomena.

Truthful • Dr. William Draper wrote:

– “Four years after the death of Justinian, A.D. 569, was born in

Mecca, in Arabia, the man who, of all men, has exercised the

greatest influence upon the human race… To be the religious

head of many empires, to guide the daily life of one-third of the

human race, may perhaps justify the title of a Messenger of

God.” History of Intellectual Development of Europe

• Thomas Carlyle in his wrote:

– “The man’s words were not false, nor his workings here

below…a fiery mass of Life cast up from the great bosom of

Nature herself. To kindle the world; the world’s Maker had

ordered it so.” On Heroes and Hero Worship and The Heroic History

Legend? • Rejection of the Islamic historical

narrative.

• Some contentions:

– Bias.

– No early records of ahadith.

– The existence of fabricated ahadith.

– Science of hadith is not robust.

– Testimony is not a valid source of knowledge.

Bias

• Onus of proof is on the one who claims bias.

• Socialisation of being scrupulous with hadith.

• Some Prophetic traditions are go against

cultural norms of the Arabs at the time.

– The Prophet falling off his riding beast

– Women showing the Prophet the sanitary towels

No Early Records of Hadith? • Saaheefa Saadiqaa

• Compiled by Abdullaah Ibn Amr al-Aas during the life of the

Prophet Muhammad (upon whom be peace). His treatise is

composed of about 1000 Prophetic traditions and it remained

secure and preserved.

• Saaheefa Saheehaa

• Compiled by Humaam Ibn Munabbeh. He was from the

famous students of Abu Hurairah (the companion of the

Prophet) he wrote all the Prophetic traditions from his teacher.

Copies of this manuscript are available from libraries in Berlin

(Germany) and Damascus (Syria). M. M. Azami. Studies in Early

Hadith Literature. 2001. American Trust Publications.

The Existence of Fabricated Hadith

• The very existence and acknowledgement of fabricated

hadith clearly shows that the science of hadith works!

• Professor Jonathan Brown writes,

– “Both Muslim and non-Muslim scholars of hadiths

have agreed that there are many forged hadiths. In my

opinion, explaining how this came about involves

understanding the choices made by Sunni scholarly

tradition more than it does doubting the systematic

effectiveness of their method of hadith criticism.” Jonathan A. C. Brown. Hadith: Muhammad’s Legacy in the Medieval and

Modern World. Oneworld. 2009, p.234.

Science of Hadith is Not Robust? • “While studying the Musannaf of `Abd al-

Razzaq, I came to the conclusion that the

theory championed by Goldziher, Schacht, and

in their footsteps, many others - myself included

- which in general, reject hadith literature as a

historically reliable sources for the first century

AH, deprives the historical study of early Islam

of an important and a useful type of source.” H.

Motzki, "The Musannaf Of `Abd al-Razzaq …Journal Of Near Eastern Studies,

1991, Volume 50, p. 21.

Some Criteria for the Isnaad

• The unblemished and undisputed character of the narrator was the most important consideration for the acceptance of a prophetic tradition. A branch of the science of hadith (‘ilm al-hadith) known as asma’ ar-rijal (the biographies of the people) was developed to evaluate the credibility of narrators. The following are a few of the criteria utilized for this purpose:

• The name, nickname, title, parentage and occupation of the narrator should be known.

• The original narrator should have stated that he heard the hadith directly from the Prophet.

• If a narrator referred his hadith to another narrator, the two should have lived in the same period and have had the possibility of meeting each other.

• At the time of hearing and transmitting the hadith, the narrator should have been physically and mentally capable of understanding and remembering it.

• The narrator should have been known as a pious and virtuous person.

• The narrator should not have been accused of having lied, given false evidence or committed a crime.

• The narrator should not have spoken against other reliable people.

Some Criteria for the Matn

• The text should have been stated in plain and simple language as this was the undisputed manner of speech of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

• A text which referred to actions that should have been commonly known and practiced by others but were not known and practiced was rejected.

• A text contrary to the basic teachings of the Qur'an was rejected.

• A text contrary to another established prophetic tradition was rejected.

• A text inconsistent with historical facts was rejected.

• A text by an obscure narrator which was not known during the age of the Prophet's companions or of the subsequent generation was rejected.

Authentic Testimony

• The epistemology of testimony is the branch of the

theory of knowledge “concerned with how we acquire

knowledge and justified belief from the say-so of other

people”, therefore one of the key questions it tries to

answer is “how we successfully acquire justified belief or

knowledge on the basis of what other people tell us.” Benjamin McMyler. Testimony, Truth and Authority. Oxford University Press. 2011. p.

3; The Epistemology of Testimony. Edited by Jennifer Lackey and Ernest Sosa.

Clarendon Press: Oxford. 2006, p. 2.

Unseen Truths • Professor C A J Coady:

“many of us have never seen a baby born, nor have most of us

examined the circulation of the blood…” C. A. J. Coady. Testimony: A

Philosophical Study. Oxford University Press. 1992, p. 82.

• Assistance Professor Benjamin McMyler:

“Here are a few things that I know. I know that the copperhead is

the most common venomous snake in the greater Houston area.

I know that Napoleon lost the Battle of Waterloo. I know that, as

I write, the average price for gasoline in the U.S is $4.10 per

gallon…All of these things I know on the basis of what

epistemologists call testimony, on the basis of being told of them

by another person or group of persons.” Benjamin McMyler. Testimony,

Truth and Authority. Oxford University Press. 2011. p 10.

Does China Exist?

Testimony Schematic

Read! “God’s Testimony”

http://www.iera.org/researc

h/essays-articles/gods-

testimony-inimitability-

divine-authorship-quran

Some Examples of

False Contentions

Forced Conversion?

• Forced conversion is utterly forbidden in Islam and the Muslims are not

allowed, under any circumstances, to forcefully convert anyone. This is

due to the following Qur'anic verse,

– “There is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the Right Path has

become distinct from the wrong path…” Qur’an 2: 256

• Michael Bonner, an authority on the history of early Islam, explains

the historical manifestation of the verse above,

– “To begin with, there was no forced conversion, no choice between

“Islam and the Sword”. Islamic law, following a clear Quranic

principle (2:256), prohibited any such things: dhimmis [non-Muslim

under Islamic rule] must be allowed to practice their religion.” Michael Bonner, Jihad in Islamic History (Princeton, 2006), pp. 89-90

Myth • One of the leading historians of Islam, De Lacy O’

Leary, exposes the myths attributed to Islamic

teachings,

– “History makes it clear, however, that the legend

of fanatical Muslims sweeping through the

world and forcing Islam at the point of the

sword upon conquered races is one of the most

fantastically absurd myths that historians have

ever repeated.” De Lacy O’ Leary, Islam at the Crossroads, (London,

1923), p. 8

Oppressive Minority Tax?

• The Islamic governing authority, based on various scriptural

injunctions, would levy the non-Muslims a type of citizen tax. This tax

- known as jizya - was not a burden, and it was usually less than what

the Muslims had to pay as tax.

• The tax was incumbent upon all adult males, however, women,

children, the ill and poor were exempt. It was payable at the end of

each year and the wealthy non-Muslims would have to give 48 dirhams

(which equates to around £500 per year), and the moderately wealthy

non-Muslims would pay much less. Wael B. Hallaq. Shariah: Theory,

Practice and Transformations. Cambridge University Press. 2009, p. 332.

Not Oppressive

• If anyone could not afford this tax, they would not have to pay

anything. Wael B. Hallaq. Shariah: Theory, Practice and Transformations.

Cambridge University Press. 2009, p. 332.

• In actual fact, it was incumbent on the authorities to ensure that the

non-Muslim citizen had enough to feed their families and maintain a

decent standard of living.

• For example, Umar ibn Abdul-Aziz, one of the Caliphs Islam, wrote to

his agent in Iraq,

– “Search for the people of the covenant in your area who may have

grown old, and are unable to earn, and provide them with regular

stipends from the treasury to take care of their needs.” Abu Ubayd, al-

Amwaal, p. 805

A Practical Example

• A practical manifestation of the non-Muslim tax can be found in the

following letter written by a Rabbi in 1453. He was urging his co-

religionists to travel to Muslim lands after Europe’s persecution of the

Jews, and explained that they were economically emancipated:

– “Here in the land of the Turks we have nothing to complain of. We

possess great fortunes; much gold and silver are in our hands. We

are not oppressed with heavy taxes and our commerce is free and

unhindered. Rich are the fruits of the earth. Everything is cheap

and every one of us lives in peace and freedom…” Philip Mansel. 1995.

Constantinople : City of the World’s desire, 1453-1924. Penguin Books, p. 15

Forced Marriage • For instance, the prophet Muhammad (upon whom be peace) specifically stated

that: “No previously-married woman should be married off without being

consulted.” Bukhari and Muslim

• In another Prophetic tradition the Prophet Muhammad (saw) said: “and no

virgin should be married off without asking her permission.” Muslim

• The acceptance or rejection of a proposal must be established in such a way

that there is no ambiguity in her decision and to eliminate any possibility of

being forced into a marriage.

• There is a famous prophetic tradition where a divorced lady called Khansa bint

Khizaam al-Ansaariyyah was married off without her permission. She went to

the Prophet Muhammad (saw) and he annulled the marriage. This also applies

to previously unmarried women. A previously unmarried girl once went to the

prophet Muhammad (upon whom be peace) and told him that her father

married her off despite her objections. The Prophet (upon whom be peace) gave

her the choice to annul the marriage. Bukhari

Questions?