It has been found lately that a lot many people, here on social media,
are leaving no opportunity to criticize Islam and its teachings. Attacks
are being made on Prophet Mohammad, as if he was a womaniser with least
regards to morals and religious legitimacy. Most of these attacks are
being made by those with vested interests (and some by those with little
or no understanding of the true
teachings of Islam). Some people try to portray as if Islam gives no
rights to women. This is ironical considering the fact that Islam, for
the first time, bestowed rights on women, at a time when rest of
humanity was treating women as slaves. This was happening all over, be
it in India or be it among the Jews and Christians. It is unfortunate
that people whose books talk very little or practically nothing related
to women’s rights are criticising Prophet Mohammad and his teachings
without even bothering to verify the criticisms or the credentials of
the critics. Some of these people are so much obsessed with criticizing
anything that has any relation to Islam that when I of my friend
commented about journalist Tarun Tejpal’s issue recently, a gentleman
even went on to relate that too with Mohammad’s teachings. Such is the
negative view that these people have formed regarding Mohammad and his
teachings. The greatest irony of times is that it seems that God knew
well beforehand what was to happen and had created a relation with Vedas
and Islam several thousand years back.
I wish to make it clear that Islam has for the first time bestowed rights on women, true to their nature. I have been talking about the Forces of Noor (Guidance) and the Forces of Darkness (Misguidance) in my earlier posts. I have also attempted to prove that it has been the Divine Will that people, of all times, reach Paramatma (the Manifest Self) through the Divine Guides appointed by the Manifest Self. We have to identify the guides and adhere to their path in our lives in this world where the Forces of Darkness have been let loose to misguide or deviate us from the identification of the Divine Guides and from adhering to their path till death. We are also attempting to prove that these guides were identified by Vedas as Devas and later they took birth in the secret place of Arabia and were called Ahlulbayt [People of the House (of God)].
It is beyond conjecture that whenever and wherever an attempt was made by Paramatma to reveal the path or the identity of these Divine Guides, the Forces of Darkness left no stone unturned to ensure that mankind was removed from their identification and path to the extent that it continues to move in wilderness of misguidance. Forces of Darkness act in this manner because the day mankind will get to identify the Divine Guides and their Path, it will mean that the Forces of Darkness get defeated. This too is per the Divine Creation Plan.
I am sure the Muslims, with their present mind-set, will disagree when I say that Satan too is working under God’s command. But fact is that this is true. Iblis may not be working under God’s command but the Force of Darkness or Shaytan (which misguided Iblis) is definitely working under God’s command. Quran has shown this when it says clearly that on the Day of Judgment, Satan will distance himself from all humans and tell them that it was not he, the Satan, who misguided them but they themselves got misguided by obeying to Satan. Also, in the description of Prophet Ayyub, it is written that he was a handsome man with lot of wealth and 7 sons. Ayyub worshipped God extensively. Satan first said to God that he would acknowledge Ayyub’s worship if his wealth was taken away and he still continue to worship in similar fashion. It is written that God told Satan to take away the wealth which he did. Ayyub still continued to worship God with same intensity. Then Satan said to God that I would acknowledge Ayyub’s worship if his sons were taken away. God said to Satan to take away Ayyub’s sons, which Satan did but Ayyub still continued to worship God in the same manner. Then Satan said that I would acknowledge if Ayyub’s health was taken away and God asked Satan to do this as well, which Satan did. Entire skin of Ayyub had sores where even insects could be seen feeding on the pus and blood but Ayyub continued to praise God with same intensity even then. Most times we just read and pass on. Question is that if Satan had been expelled from heaven, why is he talking to God still? Why is it that God is allowing Satan to do work that is otherwise assigned to God Himself, to the extent that God even asks Satan to take away Ayyub’s sons, thereby meaning that power to give death is at times bestowed on Satan. These are just two of the many examples that may be given to prove that Forces of Darkness are very much the part of God’s Creation Plan and they would never ever allow man to identify the Straight Path of the Divine Guides and provide mankind enough respite to tread on that path without getting deviated yet again. But since we know that God has shown confidence in man’s ability, we can say for certainty that there will be a time when man, at least some of them, will defeat Satan’s game plan and will identify and tread upon the path of the Divine Guides to reach salvation.
If this is the Creation Plan, we must understand that the Forces of Darkness must have tried to corrupt the teachings (regarding the identity of the Devas, and later, when the Devas took birth in human form as Ahlulbayt) to the extent that man would get confused regarding their identity. Take for instance the case of Indradev, the head of the Devas, who took birth in human form and was named Mohammad – the head of the Ahlulbayt.
We have seen that all attempts were made to malign the character of Indradev, so much so that it is a general belief of people that Indradev remained intoxicated all the time, was surrounded by apsaras, and even came to earth time and again to impregnate virgins. Even today, there is a custom in some parts of India and Nepal, that when there is no rain, women plough the field naked at night, so as to please Indradev. It is believed that Indradev will get pleased upon seeing a naked body of a woman and would gratify the area with rain, the control of which has been bestowed in his hands by God. We do not even think for a while that if we keep such believes, we are even belittling God who bestowed provisions like rain and food on a person with such character. But this is not true. There are Upanishads which ask questions like where is Indradev, he has not come till now, and none has seen him. The various stories that are in circulation cannot be verified at all by the Vedas, the Upanishads or the Gita, thus proving that these were circulated at the behest of Forces of Darkness.
Let us come back to the initial years of Islam, when the Devas took birth as humans and were called Ahlulbayt. Undoubtedly, Mohammad was the head of the 14 Ahlulbayt and Ali was next most important of the Ahlulbayt. Mohammad declared that he was the Prophet when he was 40. During the next 23 years of his life as human being, he culminated the teachings of Islam. By the time Mohammad left this world, most of Arabia had converted to Islam and even the greatest enemies of Mohammad’s teachings embraced Islam when they felt that Islam was growing as a force and it would be best to remain inside rather than fight the path of Mohammad from outside. These were the hypocrites, who remained in Islamic fold but continued to work to change its teachings to their advantage.
Mohammad married Khadija when he was 25 and Khadija was a widow at 40. Khadija was still his only wife when Mohammad declared that he was the Prophet, at the age of 40. Khadija must be 55 year old at that time. Khadija lived for another 12 years or so, thereby meaning that Mohammad was 52 years old when Khadija died. Is it possible that a man who remained loyal to one wife would all of a sudden become a womaniser as some people are trying to project him? No. Fact is that the Forces of Darkness used all the skills at hand to project him as a womaniser, so much so that these attempts even found place in certain books to misguide the man of today from coming to the Straight Path. Is it not similar to the case of Indradev, who took birth as human being to be called Mohammad?
I have written time and again how the Umayyad rulers used pulpits of 70000 mosques all over their dominion, each Friday prayer, to tarnish the image of Ali. Merely a few days after Prophet’s demise, Ali was dragged in the streets of Medina with a rope tied to his neck. The door of Ali’s house, very next to the Prophet’s mosque, was set on fire by those who called themselves Muslims. Muslims even went on to push open this burning door and it fell on Fatima (third most important of the Ahlulbayt, daughter of Mohammad, wife of Ali and the mother of remaining 11 Ahlulbayt). Rips of Fatima broke and a child died in her womb. She died from the injury a few days later. After Mohammad, none but last of the Ahlulbayt died their own death; they were all killed by Muslims.
It is evident therefore that Forces of Darkness used all their powers to corrupt those who had embraced Islam from the true teachings of Quran and Mohammad to the extent that they showed no regard whatsoever to the very kin of Mohammad. They did not do so because they were merely daughter, son-in-law or grandsons of Mohammad but because Mohammad and Quran (supposed to be the word of Allah) had ordained a special position for them so much so that they had been made the door-keepers of heaven and following their path made essential for salvation. It is evident that Muslims were used by the Forces of Darkness to accomplish its task of deviating mankind from the true path. Only a true pursuer of spiritual heights would know the kind of forces that are used to digress a common man from pursuing that path. There is no point trying to identify those people or to reveal their name. But it is obvious that while some were truly working for Forces of Darkness (willingly or unwillingly), there were others who followed them out of ignorance.
When such extensive preparations were made to belittle the character of 13 of the 14 Ahlulbayt, when there were more enemies for them than friends in the Muslim world, when most of their lives were spent in house-arrests or imprisonment, why don’t we apply our minds to construe and conclude that similar forces must have been used to corrupt the teachings of Mohammad – the head of the Ahlulbayt – and also to tarnish his character? Since it was Mohammad who had brought the teachings which these later day Muslims were claiming to follow, it was not possible to reject out-rightly the Divine position of Mohammad, as they did for the remaining 13 Ahlulbayt. Therefore, all attempts were made to belittle Mohammad’s personality and malign his character.
The conditions of Muslims were so bad that no attempt to write history was made at least till about 50 years after Prophet’s death. What else, first attempts to ensure that Quran remains one and intact for all Muslims was made during the time of 2nd caliph, about 10 years after Mohammad’s departure. Contrary to Mohammad’s teachings, conquests were considered more important than spiritual pursuit and learning. The narration books considered most authentic by Muslims were written about 200 to 300 years after Mohammad. In the meantime, all the rest of Ahlulbayt were killed in succession. It is no wonder that some of these books show Mohammad’s character in bad light.
It is extremely sorry that when Quran (considered by Muslims to be the word of Allah) says that the hearts of two of the wives of Prophet Mohammad were not upright, there is no attempt by Muslims to find who these two wives are. On the contrary Muslims regard all the wives of Prophet Mohammad with equal reverence. This is despite the fact that most of the traditions which are being used by people with vested interests to tarnish the image of Mohammad are related to these two wives. This is also despite the fact that one of these two wives even came to fight a bloody battle with Ali, when the later became the Caliph of Muslims. You can judge for yourself whether the Muslims are obeying to the word of Allah?
Another unfortunate part is that Mohammad’s 10 wives is a subject of discussion among people whose own books talk of 11000 wives of Krishna. Several commentators try to explain this by saying that Krishna had not married these women but they came under his guardianship when a certain king who kept a great number of wives was killed. These people, out of their zeal to describe what has been already written, forget that the very text that writes of 11000 wives also talks of a much greater number of sons. If the sons too are talked about it shows that the books, when they were written, wanted to degrade Krishna’s character but the scholars of today failed to look at that aspect. Fact that only the number of sons is mentioned and no mention of daughters is made shows that daughters didn’t count during those times. In similar manner, Mohammad’s sexual encounters with two of his wives are being repeatedly put here on social media to tarnish his image but nobody is willing to accept that the books may have been written by people with vested interests or the two wives, as Quran confirms, may have been under the influence of Forces of Darkness.
Question arises that if Mohammad didn’t marry another lady till Khadija was alive and till he was past 50 years of age, why was there a need to marry 9 ladies in quick succession after Khadija’s death? If there is lust in a person’s character, the signs are first seen in early ages of youth or during the peak of manhood? If there is bestiality in character, it too is visible between 15 to 30 years of age. Have you seen a person who carried or showed no such traits in the first 50 years of his life, but suddenly develops a nature that is far removed from the life that he lived during the first 50 years? Also keep in mind that Mohammad was an employee of Khadija and Khadija married him only when he found her to be honest, upright and of good moral character. By the time Mohammad was 40, he was considered the most honest and truthful of all men in Makkah.
We will have to look at message that Mohammad had brought in order to understand his stance. Arabia was the darkest of all regions on earth when the Devas were born in human form and called Ahlulbayt. Men used to bury their daughters alive, because they felt that they would have to bend in front of some other man, whom she would marry. Child marriage was common. Dowry was common. Slavery was rampant. Sex with slave girl was accepted as normal. Even married wife was treated as slave not just in Arabia but also in Europe which was passing through a dark age. There was no concept of remarriage and widows had to live a life of disgrace. Despite this, sex was taboo and there was a need to frame laws.
Mohammad changed all this for better. Burial of girl child was stopped altogether. Instead of dowry a system was introduced where the bridegroom promised a sum to his wife. No father, no mother mattered but consensus between bride and bridegroom. Taboo associated with sex was removed so much so that it was made possible for both husband and wife to walk out of marriage. But at the same time, talaq was made despicable. Instead of parents marrying the girl at young age, Islam ordained that it was left to the will of the girl and the day she felt that she should marry, she was free to marry. This rule was far better than what we have now because it checked illicit relationship and sex outside marriage, but at the same time ensured that marriage would take place only when the girl (and also the boy) would feel the urge for sex (hence marriage). We in India have fixed 21 years and 18 years as the marriage age for bridegroom and bride respectively. But we have also seen how the cases of illicit sex outside of marriage are increasingly happening in youth. We have also seen how courts had to allow marriages at lower age and accept that some boys and girls mature faster than the rest.
Slavery was so deep-rooted and rampant that it was not abolished immediately but laws were framed regarding how to treat them. Great concessions in the next world were promised for someone who would release a slave. These concessions were so charming that gradually the entire system of keeping slaves ended. As regards to married wife, rules were framed for her as well, so much so that she was given equal (at times higher) position than her spouse. Concept of remarriage for widows and divorcees was introduced.
If we see Mohammad’s acts in the light of the law that he had given and upon which he was treading himself, we will realize the true significance of all his acts. You are invited to read the lives of Mohammad’s wives in details. You will be amazed to know that all of them (with the exception of one, viz. Aisha) were either widows or divorcees. During the last 10 years of his life, when 9 of the 10 marriages were solemnized, Mohammad was powerful enough to marry any young girl of his choice or even a beautiful wife of another person, something that we commonly see among powerful men. But the fact that these women were all widows or divorcees (some so old that one cannot fathom having sex with them) is enough to show that Mohammad had a particular reason for taking all these women in marriage, who were not being taken by anybody else because of the prevalent taboos. This was an attempt to deliver a message, a forceful one.
As regards Aisha, who is subject of much discussion, we must read her life history as well to come to the truth. Aisha, when a young girl of 6, was promised in marriage by his father, to a grown man. This is enough of a proof that this custom was prevalent. Aisha’s father accepted Islam but once he did so, the man with whom the kid Aisha had been betrothed refused to marry her. Aisha’s father recounted his fear to Mohammad. Clearly, as per the existing custom, when her marriage to the man with whom she was betrothed broke down, none would have married her. Therefore, Mohammad had to accede to marrying her, so as to push forth a message here as well.
There are accounts available which show that Aisha was in her late teens when she was married to Mohammad. But for some strange reason, a good number of Muslim scholars have considered marriage at 6 and moving to husband’s house when 9 as more authentic. If the Forces of Darkness had a hand here as well cannot be said with certainty. But this is for sure that the Muslim world got involved in infighting to such an extent that they could not even unify on the date when Prophet Mohammad died. It is hard to accept but true how Muslims couldn’t keep count of the date of departure of the person who had brought Divine Teachings to them. Even today, Muslims are divided over the date of Mohammad’s death. That they are not bothered about checking which of the two wives are being described as having hearts that were not upright is not amazing. But what will you do if all the absurd stories of sexual fantasies, orgies, etc. are ascribed to two of the 10 wives in various books of narrations.
I invite you to read the following account (from a book) to see for yourself how Islam honours woman, how it values equality in all areas including human esteem, following religious introductions and obligations, faith, reward in the hereafter, participation in collective rituals and in enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, woman’s right in personal liberty and equality in speech, thought and belief.
To be continued…
I wish to make it clear that Islam has for the first time bestowed rights on women, true to their nature. I have been talking about the Forces of Noor (Guidance) and the Forces of Darkness (Misguidance) in my earlier posts. I have also attempted to prove that it has been the Divine Will that people, of all times, reach Paramatma (the Manifest Self) through the Divine Guides appointed by the Manifest Self. We have to identify the guides and adhere to their path in our lives in this world where the Forces of Darkness have been let loose to misguide or deviate us from the identification of the Divine Guides and from adhering to their path till death. We are also attempting to prove that these guides were identified by Vedas as Devas and later they took birth in the secret place of Arabia and were called Ahlulbayt [People of the House (of God)].
It is beyond conjecture that whenever and wherever an attempt was made by Paramatma to reveal the path or the identity of these Divine Guides, the Forces of Darkness left no stone unturned to ensure that mankind was removed from their identification and path to the extent that it continues to move in wilderness of misguidance. Forces of Darkness act in this manner because the day mankind will get to identify the Divine Guides and their Path, it will mean that the Forces of Darkness get defeated. This too is per the Divine Creation Plan.
I am sure the Muslims, with their present mind-set, will disagree when I say that Satan too is working under God’s command. But fact is that this is true. Iblis may not be working under God’s command but the Force of Darkness or Shaytan (which misguided Iblis) is definitely working under God’s command. Quran has shown this when it says clearly that on the Day of Judgment, Satan will distance himself from all humans and tell them that it was not he, the Satan, who misguided them but they themselves got misguided by obeying to Satan. Also, in the description of Prophet Ayyub, it is written that he was a handsome man with lot of wealth and 7 sons. Ayyub worshipped God extensively. Satan first said to God that he would acknowledge Ayyub’s worship if his wealth was taken away and he still continue to worship in similar fashion. It is written that God told Satan to take away the wealth which he did. Ayyub still continued to worship God with same intensity. Then Satan said to God that I would acknowledge Ayyub’s worship if his sons were taken away. God said to Satan to take away Ayyub’s sons, which Satan did but Ayyub still continued to worship God in the same manner. Then Satan said that I would acknowledge if Ayyub’s health was taken away and God asked Satan to do this as well, which Satan did. Entire skin of Ayyub had sores where even insects could be seen feeding on the pus and blood but Ayyub continued to praise God with same intensity even then. Most times we just read and pass on. Question is that if Satan had been expelled from heaven, why is he talking to God still? Why is it that God is allowing Satan to do work that is otherwise assigned to God Himself, to the extent that God even asks Satan to take away Ayyub’s sons, thereby meaning that power to give death is at times bestowed on Satan. These are just two of the many examples that may be given to prove that Forces of Darkness are very much the part of God’s Creation Plan and they would never ever allow man to identify the Straight Path of the Divine Guides and provide mankind enough respite to tread on that path without getting deviated yet again. But since we know that God has shown confidence in man’s ability, we can say for certainty that there will be a time when man, at least some of them, will defeat Satan’s game plan and will identify and tread upon the path of the Divine Guides to reach salvation.
If this is the Creation Plan, we must understand that the Forces of Darkness must have tried to corrupt the teachings (regarding the identity of the Devas, and later, when the Devas took birth in human form as Ahlulbayt) to the extent that man would get confused regarding their identity. Take for instance the case of Indradev, the head of the Devas, who took birth in human form and was named Mohammad – the head of the Ahlulbayt.
We have seen that all attempts were made to malign the character of Indradev, so much so that it is a general belief of people that Indradev remained intoxicated all the time, was surrounded by apsaras, and even came to earth time and again to impregnate virgins. Even today, there is a custom in some parts of India and Nepal, that when there is no rain, women plough the field naked at night, so as to please Indradev. It is believed that Indradev will get pleased upon seeing a naked body of a woman and would gratify the area with rain, the control of which has been bestowed in his hands by God. We do not even think for a while that if we keep such believes, we are even belittling God who bestowed provisions like rain and food on a person with such character. But this is not true. There are Upanishads which ask questions like where is Indradev, he has not come till now, and none has seen him. The various stories that are in circulation cannot be verified at all by the Vedas, the Upanishads or the Gita, thus proving that these were circulated at the behest of Forces of Darkness.
Let us come back to the initial years of Islam, when the Devas took birth as humans and were called Ahlulbayt. Undoubtedly, Mohammad was the head of the 14 Ahlulbayt and Ali was next most important of the Ahlulbayt. Mohammad declared that he was the Prophet when he was 40. During the next 23 years of his life as human being, he culminated the teachings of Islam. By the time Mohammad left this world, most of Arabia had converted to Islam and even the greatest enemies of Mohammad’s teachings embraced Islam when they felt that Islam was growing as a force and it would be best to remain inside rather than fight the path of Mohammad from outside. These were the hypocrites, who remained in Islamic fold but continued to work to change its teachings to their advantage.
Mohammad married Khadija when he was 25 and Khadija was a widow at 40. Khadija was still his only wife when Mohammad declared that he was the Prophet, at the age of 40. Khadija must be 55 year old at that time. Khadija lived for another 12 years or so, thereby meaning that Mohammad was 52 years old when Khadija died. Is it possible that a man who remained loyal to one wife would all of a sudden become a womaniser as some people are trying to project him? No. Fact is that the Forces of Darkness used all the skills at hand to project him as a womaniser, so much so that these attempts even found place in certain books to misguide the man of today from coming to the Straight Path. Is it not similar to the case of Indradev, who took birth as human being to be called Mohammad?
I have written time and again how the Umayyad rulers used pulpits of 70000 mosques all over their dominion, each Friday prayer, to tarnish the image of Ali. Merely a few days after Prophet’s demise, Ali was dragged in the streets of Medina with a rope tied to his neck. The door of Ali’s house, very next to the Prophet’s mosque, was set on fire by those who called themselves Muslims. Muslims even went on to push open this burning door and it fell on Fatima (third most important of the Ahlulbayt, daughter of Mohammad, wife of Ali and the mother of remaining 11 Ahlulbayt). Rips of Fatima broke and a child died in her womb. She died from the injury a few days later. After Mohammad, none but last of the Ahlulbayt died their own death; they were all killed by Muslims.
It is evident therefore that Forces of Darkness used all their powers to corrupt those who had embraced Islam from the true teachings of Quran and Mohammad to the extent that they showed no regard whatsoever to the very kin of Mohammad. They did not do so because they were merely daughter, son-in-law or grandsons of Mohammad but because Mohammad and Quran (supposed to be the word of Allah) had ordained a special position for them so much so that they had been made the door-keepers of heaven and following their path made essential for salvation. It is evident that Muslims were used by the Forces of Darkness to accomplish its task of deviating mankind from the true path. Only a true pursuer of spiritual heights would know the kind of forces that are used to digress a common man from pursuing that path. There is no point trying to identify those people or to reveal their name. But it is obvious that while some were truly working for Forces of Darkness (willingly or unwillingly), there were others who followed them out of ignorance.
When such extensive preparations were made to belittle the character of 13 of the 14 Ahlulbayt, when there were more enemies for them than friends in the Muslim world, when most of their lives were spent in house-arrests or imprisonment, why don’t we apply our minds to construe and conclude that similar forces must have been used to corrupt the teachings of Mohammad – the head of the Ahlulbayt – and also to tarnish his character? Since it was Mohammad who had brought the teachings which these later day Muslims were claiming to follow, it was not possible to reject out-rightly the Divine position of Mohammad, as they did for the remaining 13 Ahlulbayt. Therefore, all attempts were made to belittle Mohammad’s personality and malign his character.
The conditions of Muslims were so bad that no attempt to write history was made at least till about 50 years after Prophet’s death. What else, first attempts to ensure that Quran remains one and intact for all Muslims was made during the time of 2nd caliph, about 10 years after Mohammad’s departure. Contrary to Mohammad’s teachings, conquests were considered more important than spiritual pursuit and learning. The narration books considered most authentic by Muslims were written about 200 to 300 years after Mohammad. In the meantime, all the rest of Ahlulbayt were killed in succession. It is no wonder that some of these books show Mohammad’s character in bad light.
It is extremely sorry that when Quran (considered by Muslims to be the word of Allah) says that the hearts of two of the wives of Prophet Mohammad were not upright, there is no attempt by Muslims to find who these two wives are. On the contrary Muslims regard all the wives of Prophet Mohammad with equal reverence. This is despite the fact that most of the traditions which are being used by people with vested interests to tarnish the image of Mohammad are related to these two wives. This is also despite the fact that one of these two wives even came to fight a bloody battle with Ali, when the later became the Caliph of Muslims. You can judge for yourself whether the Muslims are obeying to the word of Allah?
Another unfortunate part is that Mohammad’s 10 wives is a subject of discussion among people whose own books talk of 11000 wives of Krishna. Several commentators try to explain this by saying that Krishna had not married these women but they came under his guardianship when a certain king who kept a great number of wives was killed. These people, out of their zeal to describe what has been already written, forget that the very text that writes of 11000 wives also talks of a much greater number of sons. If the sons too are talked about it shows that the books, when they were written, wanted to degrade Krishna’s character but the scholars of today failed to look at that aspect. Fact that only the number of sons is mentioned and no mention of daughters is made shows that daughters didn’t count during those times. In similar manner, Mohammad’s sexual encounters with two of his wives are being repeatedly put here on social media to tarnish his image but nobody is willing to accept that the books may have been written by people with vested interests or the two wives, as Quran confirms, may have been under the influence of Forces of Darkness.
Question arises that if Mohammad didn’t marry another lady till Khadija was alive and till he was past 50 years of age, why was there a need to marry 9 ladies in quick succession after Khadija’s death? If there is lust in a person’s character, the signs are first seen in early ages of youth or during the peak of manhood? If there is bestiality in character, it too is visible between 15 to 30 years of age. Have you seen a person who carried or showed no such traits in the first 50 years of his life, but suddenly develops a nature that is far removed from the life that he lived during the first 50 years? Also keep in mind that Mohammad was an employee of Khadija and Khadija married him only when he found her to be honest, upright and of good moral character. By the time Mohammad was 40, he was considered the most honest and truthful of all men in Makkah.
We will have to look at message that Mohammad had brought in order to understand his stance. Arabia was the darkest of all regions on earth when the Devas were born in human form and called Ahlulbayt. Men used to bury their daughters alive, because they felt that they would have to bend in front of some other man, whom she would marry. Child marriage was common. Dowry was common. Slavery was rampant. Sex with slave girl was accepted as normal. Even married wife was treated as slave not just in Arabia but also in Europe which was passing through a dark age. There was no concept of remarriage and widows had to live a life of disgrace. Despite this, sex was taboo and there was a need to frame laws.
Mohammad changed all this for better. Burial of girl child was stopped altogether. Instead of dowry a system was introduced where the bridegroom promised a sum to his wife. No father, no mother mattered but consensus between bride and bridegroom. Taboo associated with sex was removed so much so that it was made possible for both husband and wife to walk out of marriage. But at the same time, talaq was made despicable. Instead of parents marrying the girl at young age, Islam ordained that it was left to the will of the girl and the day she felt that she should marry, she was free to marry. This rule was far better than what we have now because it checked illicit relationship and sex outside marriage, but at the same time ensured that marriage would take place only when the girl (and also the boy) would feel the urge for sex (hence marriage). We in India have fixed 21 years and 18 years as the marriage age for bridegroom and bride respectively. But we have also seen how the cases of illicit sex outside of marriage are increasingly happening in youth. We have also seen how courts had to allow marriages at lower age and accept that some boys and girls mature faster than the rest.
Slavery was so deep-rooted and rampant that it was not abolished immediately but laws were framed regarding how to treat them. Great concessions in the next world were promised for someone who would release a slave. These concessions were so charming that gradually the entire system of keeping slaves ended. As regards to married wife, rules were framed for her as well, so much so that she was given equal (at times higher) position than her spouse. Concept of remarriage for widows and divorcees was introduced.
If we see Mohammad’s acts in the light of the law that he had given and upon which he was treading himself, we will realize the true significance of all his acts. You are invited to read the lives of Mohammad’s wives in details. You will be amazed to know that all of them (with the exception of one, viz. Aisha) were either widows or divorcees. During the last 10 years of his life, when 9 of the 10 marriages were solemnized, Mohammad was powerful enough to marry any young girl of his choice or even a beautiful wife of another person, something that we commonly see among powerful men. But the fact that these women were all widows or divorcees (some so old that one cannot fathom having sex with them) is enough to show that Mohammad had a particular reason for taking all these women in marriage, who were not being taken by anybody else because of the prevalent taboos. This was an attempt to deliver a message, a forceful one.
As regards Aisha, who is subject of much discussion, we must read her life history as well to come to the truth. Aisha, when a young girl of 6, was promised in marriage by his father, to a grown man. This is enough of a proof that this custom was prevalent. Aisha’s father accepted Islam but once he did so, the man with whom the kid Aisha had been betrothed refused to marry her. Aisha’s father recounted his fear to Mohammad. Clearly, as per the existing custom, when her marriage to the man with whom she was betrothed broke down, none would have married her. Therefore, Mohammad had to accede to marrying her, so as to push forth a message here as well.
There are accounts available which show that Aisha was in her late teens when she was married to Mohammad. But for some strange reason, a good number of Muslim scholars have considered marriage at 6 and moving to husband’s house when 9 as more authentic. If the Forces of Darkness had a hand here as well cannot be said with certainty. But this is for sure that the Muslim world got involved in infighting to such an extent that they could not even unify on the date when Prophet Mohammad died. It is hard to accept but true how Muslims couldn’t keep count of the date of departure of the person who had brought Divine Teachings to them. Even today, Muslims are divided over the date of Mohammad’s death. That they are not bothered about checking which of the two wives are being described as having hearts that were not upright is not amazing. But what will you do if all the absurd stories of sexual fantasies, orgies, etc. are ascribed to two of the 10 wives in various books of narrations.
I invite you to read the following account (from a book) to see for yourself how Islam honours woman, how it values equality in all areas including human esteem, following religious introductions and obligations, faith, reward in the hereafter, participation in collective rituals and in enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, woman’s right in personal liberty and equality in speech, thought and belief.
To be continued…
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