Haters – I’m not
sure if there is such a word and to clarify, I define it as “to hate something”.
Referring to Prophet
Muhammad s.a.w., in a letter to Frederick II of Prussia in December 1740, Voltaire
said:
But that a
camel-merchant should stir up insurrection in his village; that in league with
some miserable followers he persuades them that he talks with the angel
Gabriel; that he boasts of having been carried to heaven, where he received in
part this unintelligible book, each page of which makes common sense shudder;
that, to pay homage to this book, he delivers his country to iron and flame;
that he cuts the throats of fathers and kidnaps daughters; that he gives to the
defeated the choice of his religion or death: this is assuredly nothing any man
can excuse, at least if he was not born a Turk, or if superstition has not
extinguished all natural light in him.
[published in
Oeuvres complètes de Voltaire, Vol. 7 (1869), edited by Georges Avenel, p. 105]
Voltaire also
wrote a play on Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. titled; Mahomet (French: Le fanatisme,
ou Mahomet le Prophete, literally Fanaticism, or Mahomet the Prophet) a
five-act tragedy written in 1736 by French playwright and philosopher Voltaire.
It received its debut performance in Lille on 25 April 1741.
The play is a
study of religious fanaticism and self-serving manipulation based on an episode
in the traditional biography of Muhammad in which he orders the murder of his
critics. Voltaire described the play as "written in opposition to the
founder of a false and barbarous sect to whom could I with more propriety
inscribe a satire on the cruelty and errors of a false prophet".
Apparently,
Voltaire wrote a letter to Benedict XIV from Paris on 17 August 1745 referring
to his play:
Your holiness
will pardon the liberty taken by one of the lowest of the faithful, though a
zealous admirer of virtue, of submitting to the head of the true religion this
performance, written in opposition to the founder of a false and barbarous
sect. To whom could I with more propriety inscribe a satire on the cruelty and
errors of a false prophet, than to the vicar and representative of a God of
truth and mercy? Your holiness will therefore give me leave to lay at your feet
both the piece and the author of it, and humbly to request your protection of
the one, and your benediction upon the other; in hopes of which, with the
profoundest reverence, I kiss your sacred feet.
Winston
Churchill, the British Prime Minister through most of World War II, criticized
what he alleged to be of the effects Islam had on its believers. He stated in his
1899 book The River War:
How dreadful are
the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical
frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this
fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries.
Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of
commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the
Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and
refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan
law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a
child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until
the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men. Thousands become
the brave and loyal soldiers of the Queen: all know how to die but the
influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow
it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund,
Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread
throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it
not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science
against which it had vainly struggled, the civilisation of modern Europe might
fall, as fell the civilisation of ancient Rome.
To rebut
Churchill, “Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith” – what was St
Francis Xavier doing in Melaka in the 1500s? Wasn’t he here to spread
Christianity? Why the double standards?
Churchill says: Improvident
habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and
insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or
live.
Improvident
habits – how can Muslims be imprudent, careless, irresponsible when the Quran
and Hadith says;
"Those who
spend (freely), whether in prosperity, or in adversity; who restrain anger, and
pardon (all) men; for Allah loves those who do good.
(Al Quran,
3:134)
"Hold to
forgiveness; command what is right; but turn away from the ignorant.
(Al Quran,
7:199)
"And when
they hear vain talk, they turn away therefrom and say: 'To us our deeds, and to
you yours; peace be to you: we seek not the ignorant.'
(Al Quran,
28:55)
Narrated
'Abdullah bin 'Amr: "The Prophet said, "Whoever has the following
four (characteristics) will be a pure hypocrite and whoever has one of the
following four characteristics will have one characteristic of hypocrisy unless
and until he gives it up.
1. Whenever he
is entrusted, he betrays.
2. Whenever he
speaks, he tells a lie.
3. Whenever he
makes a covenant, he proves treacherous.
4. Whenever he
quarrels, he behaves in a very imprudent, evil and insulting manner."
(Translation of
Sahih Bukhari, Belief, Volume 1, Book 2, Number 33)
Narrated Jarir
bin 'Abdullah: "Allah's Apostle
said, 'Allah will not be merciful to those who are not merciful to mankind.'
(Translation of
Sahih Bukhari, Tawheed, Volume 9, Book 93, Number 473)
Churchill claims
that slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and
insecurity of property are characteristics of Muslims taught by Muhammad
s.a.w., but the concepts of Mudharabah, Musharakah, Ijarah, Salam, Istisna
existed long before the West had any written rules on the contracts of commerce
and trade.
The Holy Qur’an
says: “And serve Allah and ascribe nothing as partner unto Him. (Show) kindness
unto parents, and unto near kindred, and orphans, and the needy, and unto the
neighbour who is of kin and the neighbour who is not of kin, and the fellow
traveller and the wayfarer and (the slaves) whom your right hands possess”. (4:36).
It is reported
on the authority of Abu Zarr that the Messenger of Allah instructed his
followers regarding slaves as follows: “Your brethren – Allah has placed them
under your hands; whosoever’s brother Allah has placed under his hands, let him
feed him out of what he himself eats, let him clothe him out of what he clothes
himself with; and let him not be entrusted with a work which will overcome him.
If he entrusts him with what will overcome him, let him assist him therein.” (Bukhari
and Muslim)
Aishah reported
that the Holy Prophet used to mend his shoes, sew his clothes and work in his
household just as one of you works in his own house. She also reported that he
was a man among men who used to patch his clothes, milk his goats and engage
himself in work. (Tirmizi)
Zubari-b-Awam
reported that the Messenger of Allah said: That one of you takes his rope and
then comes with a load of wood upon his back and sells it, and that thereby
Allah guards his face, is better for him than that he should beg of men whether
they give him or refuse him. (Bukhari)
Meqdam-b-Ma’de
Yakrab reported that the Messenger of Allah said: Never has any one eaten a
better food than what he has eaten out of the labour of his own hands; and
David, the Prophet of Allah, used to eat out of the labour of his own hands. (Bukhari)
We can see from
the above literature that;
- Islam demands that Muslims are kind not only to their parents, orphans and neighbours but also to those who do not profess the Islamic faith!
- Islam encourages charity,
- Islam encourages forgiveness,
- Islam discourages vain talk, gossiping, bad-mouthing, slandering
- Islam calls for slaves (workers) to be treated kindly as how their masters treat their (the master’s) families.
- Islam encourages entrepreneurship
- Islam says men should learn to do house chores and not burden their wives.
Churchill words
show his ignorance of the religion. I shall not waste more time arguing his weak
statements.
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