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Convenient Revelations: Difference between revisions
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Lightyears (talk | contribs) (Removed "offering" for private meeting. The word in the verses is sadaqah, which just means voluntary charity as is clear in many other verses. Maybe was corruption in reality, but far to weak on available evidence for this page.) |
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===Critics=== | ===Critics=== | ||
According to critics, this variety of revelation scarcely merits inclusion in an eternal document of divine importance that conceives of itself as "guidance for all of mankind". In this vein, critics often cite the hadith in Sahih Bukhari according to which Aisha, Muhammad's favorite wife, once said to him after such revelation, "I feel that your Lord hastens in fulfilling your wishes and desires."<ref>{{Bukhari| | According to critics, this variety of revelation scarcely merits inclusion in an eternal document of divine importance that conceives of itself as "guidance for all of mankind". In this vein, critics often cite the hadith in Sahih Bukhari according to which Aisha, Muhammad's favorite wife, once said to him after such revelation, "I feel that your Lord hastens in fulfilling your wishes and desires."<ref>{{Bukhari|||4788|darussalam}}</ref> To critics, these highly-personal and suspiciously convenient revelations are evidence that Muhammad simply employed God's voice to get what he wanted, such as, for instance, an exemption from the four-wife limit imposed by Islamic law as well as a last-minute clarification that marrying the ex-wife of one's adopted son was permissible. | ||
===Historians=== | ===Historians=== | ||
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Although Allah allowed men to marry up to four wives, Muhammad allowed only one wife for his son-in-law Ali who was married to Muhammad's daughter Fatima. When Ali desired to take a second wife, Muhammad insisted he first divorce Fatima before taking a new wife. | Although Allah allowed men to marry up to four wives, Muhammad allowed only one wife for his son-in-law Ali who was married to Muhammad's daughter Fatima. When Ali desired to take a second wife, Muhammad insisted he first divorce Fatima before taking a new wife. | ||
{{Quote|{{Bukhari| | {{Quote|{{Bukhari|||5230|darussalam}}|Narrated Al-Miswar bin Makhrama:<br /> | ||
I heard Allah's Apostle who was on the pulpit, saying, "Banu Hisham bin Al-Mughira have requested me to allow them to marry their daughter to Ali bin Abu Talib, but '''I don't give permission, and will not give permission unless 'Ali bin Abi Talib divorces my daughter in order to marry their daughter''', because Fatima is a part of my body, and I hate what she hates to see, and what hurts her, hurts me."}} | I heard Allah's Apostle who was on the pulpit, saying, "Banu Hisham bin Al-Mughira have requested me to allow them to marry their daughter to Ali bin Abu Talib, but '''I don't give permission, and will not give permission unless 'Ali bin Abi Talib divorces my daughter in order to marry their daughter''', because Fatima is a part of my body, and I hate what she hates to see, and what hurts her, hurts me."}} | ||
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{{Quote|{{Quran|33|51}}|"'''You (O Muhammad) can postpone (the turn of) whom you will of them (your wives), and you may receive whom you will.''' And whomsoever you desire of those whom you have set aside (her turn temporarily), it is no sin on you (to receive her again), that is better; that they may be comforted and not grieved, and may all be pleased with what you give them. God knows what is in your hearts. And God is Ever All-Knowing, Most Forbearing."}} | {{Quote|{{Quran|33|51}}|"'''You (O Muhammad) can postpone (the turn of) whom you will of them (your wives), and you may receive whom you will.''' And whomsoever you desire of those whom you have set aside (her turn temporarily), it is no sin on you (to receive her again), that is better; that they may be comforted and not grieved, and may all be pleased with what you give them. God knows what is in your hearts. And God is Ever All-Knowing, Most Forbearing."}} | ||
[[Aisha]], the favorite wife of Muhammad, was expressly suspicious about this sort of revelation. After Muhammad received the verse above, Aisha commented, "I feel that your Lord hastens in fulfilling your wishes and desires."<ref>{{Bukhari| | [[Aisha]], the favorite wife of Muhammad, was expressly suspicious about this sort of revelation. After Muhammad received the verse above, Aisha commented, "I feel that your Lord hastens in fulfilling your wishes and desires."<ref>{{Bukhari|||4788|darussalam}}</ref> | ||
=== No one can marry Muhammad's wives after he dies === | === No one can marry Muhammad's wives after he dies === | ||
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{{Quote|{{Quran|111|1-5}}|Perish the hands of Abu Lahab, and perish he! Neither his wealth availed him, nor what he had earned. Soon he will enter the blazing fire, and his wife [too], the firewood carrier, with a rope of palm fibre around her neck.}} | {{Quote|{{Quran|111|1-5}}|Perish the hands of Abu Lahab, and perish he! Neither his wealth availed him, nor what he had earned. Soon he will enter the blazing fire, and his wife [too], the firewood carrier, with a rope of palm fibre around her neck.}} | ||
===Permissions regarding concubines=== | |||
The passage below is somewhat ambiguous. Classical scholars interpreted it as describing Muhammad's rights to take unlimited concubines, while Islamic modernists see it as giving him permission to marry his concubines. | |||
The words translated "what Allah has returned to you" (wamā [...] afāa l-lahu ʿalayka) mean Muhammad's share of the spoils of war, since the same language is mirrored in {{Quran-range|59|6|7}} with that meaning. Those verses twice mention "what Allah has returned to his messenger" (wamā afāa l-lahu ʿalā rasūlihi). | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|33|50|52}}|'''O Prophet, indeed We have made lawful to you your wives to whom you have given their due compensation and those your right hand possesses from what Allah has returned to you [of captives]''' and the daughters of your paternal uncles and the daughters of your paternal aunts and the daughters of your maternal uncles and the daughters of your maternal aunts who emigrated with you and a believing woman if she gives herself to the Prophet [and] if the Prophet wishes to marry her, [this is] only for you, excluding the [other] believers. We certainly know what We have made obligatory upon them concerning their wives and those their right hands possess, [but this is for you] in order that there will be upon you no discomfort. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful | |||
You, [O Muhammad], may put aside whom you will of them or take to yourself whom you will. And any that you desire of those [wives] from whom you had [temporarily] separated - there is no blame upon you [in returning her]. That is more suitable that they should be content and not grieve and that they should be satisfied with what you have given them - all of them. And Allah knows what is in your hearts. And ever is Allah Knowing and Forbearing. | |||
Not lawful to you, [O Muhammad], are [any additional] women after [this], nor [is it] for you to exchange them for [other] wives, even if their beauty were to please you, '''except what your right hand possesses.''' And ever is Allah, over all things, an Observer.}} | |||
===Permission to have relations with concubine despite promising otherwise=== | ===Permission to have relations with concubine despite promising otherwise=== | ||
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Historians have noted that this exchange is historically suspect because it would not have been possible to confirm whether Muhammad had in fact given the correct responses to these questions regarding the hereafter and the science of reproduction ''if only a prophet could know them.'' Abdullah bin Salman wanted to confirm whether Muhammad was a prophet. To do this, he supposedly asked Muhammad questions only a prophet could answer. But Abdullah bin Salman should then have been unable to verify the correctness of these responses, rendering the questions pointless. To historians, this hadith is thus likely a later fabrication. | Historians have noted that this exchange is historically suspect because it would not have been possible to confirm whether Muhammad had in fact given the correct responses to these questions regarding the hereafter and the science of reproduction ''if only a prophet could know them.'' Abdullah bin Salman wanted to confirm whether Muhammad was a prophet. To do this, he supposedly asked Muhammad questions only a prophet could answer. But Abdullah bin Salman should then have been unable to verify the correctness of these responses, rendering the questions pointless. To historians, this hadith is thus likely a later fabrication. | ||
{{Quote|{{Bukhari| | {{Quote|{{Bukhari|||4480|darussalam}}|Narrated Anas:<br/> | ||
'Abdullah bin Salam heard the news of the arrival of Allah's Apostle (at Medina) while he was on a farm collecting its fruits. So he came to the Prophet and said, "I will ask you about three things which nobody knows unless he be a prophet. Firstly, what is the first portent of the Hour? What is the first meal of the people of Paradise? '''And what makes a baby look like its father or mother?'''. The Prophet said, "Just now Gabriel has informed me about that." ... "As for the first portent of the Hour, it will be a fire that will collect the people from the East to West. And as for the first meal of the people of Paradise, it will be the caudite (i.e. extra) lobe of the fish liver. '''And if a man's discharge proceeded that of the woman, then the child resembles the father, and if the woman's discharge proceeded that of the man, then the child resembles the mother.'''" On hearing that, 'Abdullah said, "I testify that None has the right to be worshipped but Allah, and that you are the Apostle of Allah...}} | 'Abdullah bin Salam heard the news of the arrival of Allah's Apostle (at Medina) while he was on a farm collecting its fruits. So he came to the Prophet and said, "I will ask you about three things which nobody knows unless he be a prophet. Firstly, what is the first portent of the Hour? What is the first meal of the people of Paradise? '''And what makes a baby look like its father or mother?'''. The Prophet said, "Just now Gabriel has informed me about that." ... "As for the first portent of the Hour, it will be a fire that will collect the people from the East to West. And as for the first meal of the people of Paradise, it will be the caudite (i.e. extra) lobe of the fish liver. '''And if a man's discharge proceeded that of the woman, then the child resembles the father, and if the woman's discharge proceeded that of the man, then the child resembles the mother.'''" On hearing that, 'Abdullah said, "I testify that None has the right to be worshipped but Allah, and that you are the Apostle of Allah...}} | ||
===Appending a Quranic passage for a blind bystander=== | ===Appending a Quranic passage for a blind bystander=== | ||
Muhammad, having received the version of {{Quran|4|95}} contained in the Quran today, called on Zaid to write down the revelation. Muhammad began to recite the verse about the superiority of those who participate in [[Jihad in Islamic Law|jihad]] to Zaid. A blind man, overhearing the verse, asked if the verse applied to him, considering that he was blind and could not participate in jihad. Muhammad then immediately received revelation exempting disabled persons from partaking in jihad.{{Quote|{{Bukhari| | Muhammad, having received the version of {{Quran|4|95}} contained in the Quran today, called on Zaid to write down the revelation. Muhammad began to recite the verse about the superiority of those who participate in [[Jihad in Islamic Law|jihad]] to Zaid. A blind man, overhearing the verse, asked if the verse applied to him, considering that he was blind and could not participate in jihad. Muhammad then immediately received revelation exempting disabled persons from partaking in jihad.{{Quote|{{Bukhari|||4990|darussalam}}|Narrated Al-Bara:<br/> | ||
There was revealed: 'Not equal are those believers who sit (at home) and those who strive and fight in the Cause of Allah.' (4.95) | There was revealed: 'Not equal are those believers who sit (at home) and those who strive and fight in the Cause of Allah.' (4.95) | ||