O People of the Scripture, why do you
confuse the truth with falsehood and conceal the truth while you know [it]?
One of the signs of the last day is
that there would be imposters and liars and they would assume the garb of
religious men. The people would believe the lies and disbelieve the truth. For
certain, we see this widespread now and in particular, we will see it hear from
the content of this article and what it’s addressing. It’s sad that such a
refutation has to be drawn up, but what can one expect in this time and age and
also from religious zealots who lack intellectual and academic integrity? Evidently,
not much.
The issue under discussion in this
article is dealing with an accusation or blatant lie that was made against the
Prophet Muhammad (S) and his wife Aisha. It came from the source, Answeringmuslims.com
and posted by David Wood, a young Christian apologist and one notorious for
misrepresenting the beliefs of Islam along with his colleagues.
The article stems from a broadcast
from their channel (Trinity Channel), and as presented there, they fabricated
the story that the Prophet Muhammad (S), prior to consummating the marriage
with Aisha used to perform an act termed “mufaakhathah”, which implies placing
the male organ between the thighs (only, not penetrating her) of a woman and
moving himself until climax is reached. The explicit reason given was because
she (Aisha) was too young and too small to receive formal penetration. SO AS TO
NOT HURT HER, this action was employed. Moreover, from the article itself as
well as the broadcast, this apologist wants to give the impression to their
ill-informed audience that this act was a more preferable act over a normal act
of intimacy, grossly insinuating that the Prophet (S) seemed to target young
virgins who were too young for formal intercourse. This is the back drop of
this issue. So now let us proceed to refute it.
POINT #1: I checked all of the hadith
in Arabic that was cited in their article about the wives of the Prophet (S)
and this act and I didn’t find in any single one of them, this term
“mufaakhathah”. Moreover on this point,
Aisha was in fact the only virgin wife of the Prophet Muhammad (S), as she
proudly expresses. So, to somehow imply
that this was some common practice of the Messenger of ALLAH (S) is just
nonsense.
POINT #2: The first airing of this
matter on their broadcast I believe was in 2010. The article in which they
attempted to support their baseless lie was not put on their website until
March 2014. That’s 4 years later! Why
would it take 4 years to finally provide proof for a claim that was said to be
a (common) Islamic practice? MOREOVER, the
original source of theirs, which they stated, was an Arabic online fatwa.
So
the primary source is not from Islamic sources but a claimed fatwa found online
that was in Arabic! ARE YOU SERIOUS???
MOREOVER AGAIN, the fatwa as translated and displayed in the article has
absolutely no reference source or anything to trace the Fatwa back to who
issued it. It has no website at the
bottom of the page. It has no name of
the Mufti or Islamic council or committee issuing the fatwa. IT HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING EXCEPT A POSED
QUESTION AND AN ANSWER.
Then, in the
response to the question, the alleged Mufti after given a definition of this
term Mufakhathah cites just one Hadith. And guess what? You guess it, THE HADITH HAS
NO NARRATOR!?! It says that it was
reported in one narration… You have to be kidding me, right??? But it gets
worse, the Hadith book that is cited is Ibn Maajah. Now, one might ask, what is the matter with
Ibn Maajah? Nothing, although there are
Hadith in that collection that would need to be verified before one can claim
anything about it. But a Mufti, a
scholar will ALWAYS give the strongest proof for his argument if its available.
So no Scholar would quote Ibn Maajah over Sahih Muslim or Sahih Bukhari.
ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU DON’T EVEN BRING A NARRATOR, SO YOU HAVE NO CHAIN TO VERIFY
IT!!! And know for sure that the Hadith quoted in the article has a basis in
Sahih Bukhari in multiple places. SO THE ALLEGED FATWA, FROM BEGINNING TO END,
HAS UTTERLY AND MISERABLY FAILED, WITH A NO NAME MUFTI, A NO NAME SOURCE, AND A
NO NAME NARRATED HADITH. How ironic, the
person who composed the article gave more proof than their source. Let us move
on now to the composer of the article and his claims.
POINT #3: The composer of the
article, and I don’t know if it is in fact David Wood or if he just posted it
and the author of it is unknown, but the composer of the article makes the
point about the picture of the alleged fatwa, sayiing, “But this won’t convince
Westernized apologist, who despite their profound ignorance of their own
sources, nevertheless believe that they know more about Islam than their
scholars and jurist…” So, we are supposed to be convinced by an
anonymous online fatwa with absolutely no trace to any Islamic source, about an
unfounded and unsupported practice, posted by an antagonistic Christian
apologist website? Do I need to respond to that? I would ask, can I respond to
that without hurting the feelings of those behind this. Let the rhetorical question speak for itself because
we have a lot more to say about the rest of this poorly composed article used
as proof for a lie.
POINT #4: The funny author of this
article then says the most absurd thing. He says, “For those of us who are more
balanced in our approach and less obsessed with defending Muhammad at all cost,
THE MUSLIM SOURCES PROVIDE ABUNDANT MATERIAL
ON THE ISSUE OF THIGHING. In
order to avoid any accusations of deception, however, I will (1) limit myself to narrations that are
available online for everyone to read, and (2) proceed step by step showing how
Muslim scholars arrive at their conclusions”. Wow! Where do I start? “The
Muslim sources provide abundant material on the issue of thighing”. Yet,
this guy has not produced a single piece!!! NOTHING OF PROOF AND EVIDENCE IN
THE WHOLE ARTICLE HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIGHING, EXCEPT THE ANONYMOUS FATWA
AND WE ALREADY DEALT WITH THAT. Well, he may argue, I listed four Hadith and
they all are authentic in Sahih Bukhari. PROOF!?? Oh really. Let’s examine his cited Hadith. We will pair them in two as he has done in his
article.
Hadith #1: (His 2nd ) Narrated
'Aisha: The Prophet and I used to take a bath from a single pot while we were
Junub. During the menses, he used to order me to put on an Izar (dress worn
below the waist) and used to fondle me. While in Itikaf, he
used to bring his head near me and I would wash it while I used to be in my
periods (menses).
This Hadith is
found in Sahih Bukhari in the Book of Menses, under the topic, “Fondling a
menstruating wife”. This is the same
exact Hadith that the author of the article cited and this is what he used for
his proof of “Thighing”. Yes, this is
what he used out of the abundant material out there on “Thighing.” Yet,
ABSOLUTELY NO WHERE IN THIS HADITH DOES IT MENTION “THIGHING” NOT IN THE
ENGLISH NOR IN THE ARABIC!!! It would be enough to stop here as it is clear
that the whole article is rubbish, but let us indulge for a minute. The Arabic
word used is “FA YUBAA SHI RUNI”
meaning, so he would fondle me (or caress me). Literally to touch, skin to skin. Like hugging or caressing. The word comes from
the root word BASHARA which has a wide semantic field, from meaning human being
to good news. This word is a 3 form verb meaning to put one’s self or skin to another’s
self or skin. So in context of the Hadith, it implies to hug and caress and
rub. That’s what fondling is. Add to that the fact that there is a severe
prohibition in Islam against approaching a woman intimately while on her menses.
And this is the reason why the Prophet
(S) ordered his wives to cover themselves; so as to make clear that there is no
activity in that area. Lastly
and most importantly on this point, is the question, WHAT DOES ANY OF THIS HAVE
TO DO WITH PLACING ONES MALE ORGAN BETWEEN THE THIGHS OF A VIRGIN, SO AS TO NOT
TO HARM HER BECAUSE SHE IS TOO YOUNG AND SMALL BUT STILL TAKE ONES PLEASURE? PLEASE ANYONE TELL ME? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. IT’S ANOTHER LIE FROM THOSE WHO LOVE TO DO SO.
THIS CASE IS RESTED.
Hadith #2 (His 1st)
Narrated
Jabir bin 'Abdullah: When I got married, Allah's Apostle said to me, "What
type of lady have you married?" I replied, "I have married a matron.”
He said, "Why? Don't you have a liking for the virgins and for fondling them?"
Jabir also said: Allah's Apostle said, "Why didn't you marry a young girl
so that you might play with
her and she with you?'
This Hadith is in Sahih Bukhari in the book of marriage, under the
title “The marrying of matrons (divorced or widowed ladies).” Now, before I
comment on the Hadith in relation to this topic. Let us see what the author had to say about
this and its connection to the subject at hand. This weird and trouble minded
individual stated, “Notice that Muhammad found the practice of fondling VIRGINS preferable
to sex with adult woman”. First
and foremost, and yet again, what does this Hadith have to do with the action
of “Mufaakhathah” as was the sole premise of their reason to produce this
article? Nothing! Nothing! Nothing!
But, to move on. So, here again, there is no mention of the
word “Mufaakhathah” in English or in Arabic. More interesting here, the word
used in this Hadith is not the same word used in the other Hadith of Aisha. The
word used in this Hadith in the Arabic is “LI ‘AAB” and in the second usage
highlighted above is “TU LAA ‘IBU.” All of these words used in this Hadith stems
from the root verb “LA’IBA” which means to play. Yes to play, and the
connotation of play in this word from its origin is to play the way people play
games or sports, pastime, amusement. Let
me note here, that I believe the first word highlighted is not a good
translation. Although there is nothing wrong with fondling ones wife, I just
don’t think it serves well the backdrop of this Hadith. However, I left it for
the integrity of the argument and also to respect the translation. The Companion in question was also a young man
himself, so the Messenger of ALLAH (S) inquired why he married an older woman
who was married prior. Why not someone around his age for them to enjoy each
other better and have fun with each other. It was a very thoughtful question
and one free from the perversity of this author and his likes. I really wish I
had time to go into his further response, as this was a shortened version of a
longer narration. It was such a beautiful answer he gave back to the Messenger
of ALLAH (S), hopefully another time. But that was the essence of this Hadith. And this is what this tired author produced as
evidence for “Thighing.” Can you believe the nonsense perpetrated here? It’s
sad to even have to waste time refuting this, but there are people who believe
these guys and take everything they say as truth. How sad. How sad.
In closing the author mentioned two further Hadith stating the
fact that Aisha expressed how she used to wash off the traces or spots of semen
that were found on the garment of the Prophet (S). One of these Hadith was in
fact a question posed to her about it and the other, was general information. I
will forfeit pulling up the Hadith and citing it here, for this case has been
closed a long time ago. But, to make sure we don’t leave any room for error.
The two Hadith cited about Aisha washing semen from the clothes of the Prophet
(S) had absolutely no relation at all to the Hadith about fondling cited above,
AND NONE OF THE HADITH CITED HAD ANYHTING TO DO WITH THEIR HOAX STORY OF “THIGHING.”
Final remarks. The life of Prophet Muhammad (S) is very open, even
to matters relating to his private life. So much so that we could even have a discourse
on a subject like this. Given that fact,
if all you have to bring forward of ridicule and scorn is the fact of him
fondling HIS WIVES, or being intimate with HIS WIVES, which is an act that
every man does, then you have in your own opposition proven the sublimity and
nobility of this great man and his character. It is only through lies that you
can blemish him and what he has brought and done for humanity, but none of your
lies will cause even a stumble in the path of those who know who the Prophet
Muhammad (S) is. We pray ALLAH open your eyes and heart to the noble status and
stature of The Messenger of ALLAH (S), may the choicest prayers and peace be
upon him forever and upon all those who follow him in goodness until the end of
time. Ameen, and praise to ALLAH, the Lord and Sustainer of all things.
The Thighing of Aisha a brief refutation (update 2016/3/10: Grammar errors fixes, and Format fix)
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Pornographic Lies on ABN by David Wood