The few Jews who lived in Mecca were not very knowledgeable about their religion. When Mohammed claimed to be a Jewish Prophet, they took his word for it. In Medina there were many Jews. Among these were rabbis and experts on the Jewish religion. As a consequence, Mohammed faced some serious questioning about his beliefs and was unable to convince the Jews that he was one of their Prophets. They could clearly see that the Koran did not tally with their Scriptures.
This infuriated Mohammed who began disparaging the Jews, claiming that they had falsified their Scriptures. He said they had taken out the part which prophesied his coming. In actual fact, Allah of the Koran is fundamentally different from the God of the Torah, (the Jewish Bible or
"Old Testament").
For example, the God of the Bible/Torah is said to love all people. He even loves those who sin and refuse to believe in him. Mohammed's God Allah however, despises the unbelievers
(Kaffirs).
Mohammed also made the same accusation about Christians falsifying the Bible; yet copies of the Bible and of the Jewish Torah have been found which predate Mohammed by hundreds, or sometimes even thousands of years. These are the same books as those we have today.
Hatred of Jews was to colour the religion of Islam from this point on. In fact, Mohammed's biography contains more hatred of Jews than Hitler's Mein Kampf6. Until this point, Mohammed had told his followers to pray towards Jerusalem. Now he changed his mind and told them to pray towards the Kabah in Mecca. He began to speak badly of both Jews and Christians. The Koran claimed that Allah would turn them into pigs and apes.
Child Brides
Not long after his arrival in Medina, Mohammed consummated his marriage to Aisha who was now nine years old. Mohammed reluctantly agreed for her to bring her dolls into the harem. This was a difficult decision for him as he hated images of any kind. This included any kind of sculptures or paintings. Aisha's age at this time is verified by a number of the most reliable
Hadith. There are a few weaker Hadith which would seem to contradict this fact. These are sometimes quoted by Muslims who wish to deny the charge that Mohammed was a paedophile. Bear in mind however that the most revered manual of Sharia Law, (which is based on the example of Mohammed's life) gives instructions for divorcing a wife who has not yet reached puberty7.
From Bukhari's Hadith:
B5,58,234 Mohammed engaged me when I [Aisha] was a girl of six years. We went to Medina; then I got ill and my hair fell down. Later on my hair grew again and my mother, Um Ruman, came to me while I was playing in a swing with some of my girl friends. She called me and I went to her, not knowing what she wanted to do to me. She caught me by the hand and made me stand at the door of the house. I was breathless then and when my breathing became all right, she took some water and rubbed my face and head with it.
Then she took me into the house. There in the house I saw
some Helper women who said, "Best wishes and Allah's Blessing
6 Centre for the Study of Political Islam statistical analysis of Islamic Holy Texts
7 Reliance of the Traveller translated by Nuh Ha Mim Keller, by Amana Publications, 1994.
and good luck." Then she entrusted me to them and they prepared me for the marriage. Unexpectedly Mohammed came to me in the forenoon and my mother handed me over to him. At that time I was a girl of nine years of age.
Author's Comments:
Fecundism: (word derived from fecundity) is the politics of wilfully promoting high birth rate among a group for the sake of enlarging its numbers related to other groups and consequently, its political influence8.
It is of course tempting to make a moral judgment about the rights and wrongs of this situation. By today's (Western) standards, what Mohammed did was both morally repugnant and highly illegal. Many societies have had lower ages of consent than we have today however. Nine years old would seem to be at the bottom end of the scale. In 7th century Arabia however, this act didn't seem to cause much controversy. It would seem therefore, to be within the norms of Mohammed's society. I also feel compelled to point out that any number of self-declared holy men have used their position to procure sex with young girls. If this was the worst thing that
Mohammed had done, I probably wouldn't be writing this now.
As we will soon see however, from the time he declared himself to be a prophet, Mohammed seemed to have just one overriding aim. He seems to have been determined that the whole world would accept him as the final Prophet of God. Every aspect of his life and his religion became focused on this one goal. Mohammed's large sexual appetite is plainly documented in Islam's
Holy Books. To understand his attitude to women and sex however, they need to be viewed in the context of political and military expansion. This may seem like idle speculation at this stage. As this story unfolds, other pieces of the jigsaw will soon fall into place which will make this abundantly clear.
Mohammed wasn't the first to use Fecundism and he certainly wasn't the last. The Catholic
Church is one of the more famous examples. Chairman Mao used it to great effect. The subsequent Chinese leadership had to implement the "One Child" policy however, to prevent the negative consequences of overpopulation, such as hunger, poverty and overcrowding.
Islam doesn't care about these consequences. They are in fact the hallmarks of most Islamic societies.
Overcrowding leads to Muslims emigrating whenever possible, to set up in new territories. The process then begins all over again. This has been part of Islam's strategy since Mohammed's "Hijra," or emigration to Medina. Before I outline the ways in which Islam achieves this high birth rate, let's have a look at what Islam has to say about a woman's place in society9.
The best way to learn about Sharia Law is to examine the actual laws. The best source is Reliance of the Traveller, translated by Nuh Ha Mim Keller, by Amana Publications, 1994. The Sharia is organized in an outline form and each case quoted below will be referenced by the index number.
Forced marriage
A woman may be forced to marry a person whom she does not want.
8 Wikipedia
9 Bill Warner of the Centre for the Study of Political Islam.
M3.13 Whenever the bride is a virgin, the father or the father's father may marry her without her permission, though it is recommended to ask her permission if she has reached puberty. A virgin's silence is considered as consent.
Forced sex
The wife must have sex whenever her husband demands it.
M5.1 It is obligatory for a woman to let her husband have sex with her immediately when:
(a) He asks her;
(b) At home;
(c) She can physically endure it.
Wife Beating
The Koran says that a wife can be beaten. Mohammed recommended wife beating in his last sermon at Mecca. Here is the Sharia:
DEALING WITH A REBELLIOUS WIFE
M10.12 When a husband notices signs of rebelliousness in his wife whether in words as when she answers him coldly when she used to do so politely. or he asks her to come to bed and she refuses, contrary to her usual habit; or whether in acts, as when he finds her averse to him when she was previously kind and cheerful), he warns her in words without keeping from her or hitting her, for it may be that she has an excuse.
The warning could be to tell her,
"Fear Allah concerning the rights you owe to me,"
or it could be to explain that rebelliousness nullifies his obligation to support her and give her a turn amongst other wives, or it could be to inform her,
"Your obeying me is religiously obligatory".
If she commits rebelliousness, he keeps from sleeping (having sex) with her without words and may hit her, but not in a way that injures her, meaning he may not bruise her, break bones, wound her, or cause blood to flow. It is unlawful to strike another's face. He may hit her whether she is rebellious only once or whether more than once, though a weaker opinion holds that he may not hit her unless there is repeated rebelliousness.
How does this affect the birth rate in a Muslim society?
1) Since Sharia Law follows the example of Mohammed, the minimum age for marriage should be nine years old. The Saudi Arabian Government is currently10 trying to introduce a minimum age for marriage of sixteen years old. This is probably through a mixture of embarrassment and international pressure. It is facing stiff opposition from
that country's all powerful religious authorities however (at the present time there is no minimum age for marriage in Saudi Arabia11).
2) In Islamic societies, a family's honour is all important and depends largely on the pristine morals of its female members. Marrying off daughters as early as possible reduces the chance of sexual impropriety before marriage.
3) Girls have little say in this matter.
4) Once married a girl has no right to refuse sexual intercourse with her husband except under extreme circumstances.
10 2013
11 http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2013/05/27/will-saudi-arabia-end-child-marriage
5) Contraception in Islamic societies is frowned upon. Islam promotes large families as being highly desirable.
6) Predestination is a core belief in Islam. Everything has been planned by Allah and whatever we do will not change his plan. Worrying about providing for children is therefore not an issue for Muslims. When asked about who will provide for their children, a common reply is, "Allah will provide".
7) A Muslim may have up to four wives. A woman of child bearing age whose husband dies for any reason will usually be expected to remarry. In the event of a war involving a Muslim group in which three quarters of the Muslim men are killed, the birth rate will not be affected too much.
In theory then, a woman may be married at nine and kept pregnant constantly from then on. By twenty years old, when a non-Muslim girl might be expecting her first child, a Muslim girl could have ten children and be expecting her first grandchild. The reality is of course far less than this. High infant mortality and the death of mothers is just one limiting factor. In some Islamic countries this is exacerbated, perversely, by lack of "birth spacing."
Whilst none of these points is necessarily mandatory, Islam exerts a higher degree of control over its followers than most other religions. The Catholic Church also promotes a high birth rate yet in Italy, the home of the church, the birth rate is one of the lowest in the world. In a society ruled by Sharia Law the pressure to follow these rules will be very strong. Even for Muslims living in Western countries however, we can see the results. In France, an estimated 10% of the population are Muslims. Of children born there however, almost one third are Muslims. With the baby boomers starting to die off, expect huge demographic changes across the Western World. These will favour Muslim populations.
Whilst not all Islamic countries are currently promoting unchecked population growth, the trend can be seen quite clearly from a brief look at global population statistics.
Associated Press Gaza12
Hanan Suelem wanted an abortion after the 7th pregnancy, but Islamic clerics told her that she would be "killing a soul." She told them that her soul was dying. "After this, no more, never," she said, speaking almost in a whisper. "I have learned now about the IUD." The area's schools operate on two and three shifts to accommodate the growing Palestinian population. Gaza's population of 1.1 million is expected to double by 2014. Half are under age 15. It is already a highly congested area with few jobs, severely inadequate housing and almost no natural resources. The West Bank and Gaza combined have a population of over 3 million, which is expected to rise to 5.5 million in 14 years. The fertility rate is seven children per woman. Almost all the babies survive and adults live to an average of 73. Many young Palestinians do not want their children to suffer as they did in oversized poor families, but large families are not only traditional, but a point of nationalist pride and as a way to outnumber the Israelis on the land the two groups share. Fortunately, health and education officials quietly support family planning through clinics and community outreach services. Women are taught about the different methods of contraception that are acceptable under Islam -- anything except permanent means, like sterilization or tubal ligation. The IUD and birth control pills are growing in favour. Health officials refer delicately to the "spacing" of children, since the suggestion to place limits on family size would violate Islamic teaching. Women are told that it is written in the Koran that God orders women to breast-feed for two years. Women in the West Bank average 5.6 children per woman, compared to Israel, with about 2.7 children, the worldwide average. Gaza grows at over 4% a year while Israel grows only 2% a year, which includes high levels of immigration.
12 February 24, 2000 NY Times. Cramped Gaza Multiplies at unrivalled Rate.
Palestinian advocates are pushing for a law that would raise the legal age of marriage, since half of Palestinian women marry before they reach age 18 and it is legal for them to marry at 15 in Gaza and 17 in the West Bank.
Author's note:
In 1948 there were around 170,000 Arab refugees, (these refugees were not referred to as
"Palestinians" at that time). Today, there are around 5 Million. Whilst this is partly due to territorial gains by Israel, the increase is still huge.
No comments:
Post a Comment