The topic of “sex” slaves
Many were led to believe that slaves are exclusively females (there were actually more male slaves than female) whom their masters may rape freely and treat harshly, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Unlike other nations who rape women during and after war, this is not permissible in Islam. It’s not permissible to rape a maidservant, this a form of mistreatment and mistreatment is prohibited. It’s actually incumbent to treat them well, to feed and clothe them, etc. the Sahaba would actually feed their slaves from what they ate and clothe them with clothes similar to that which they wore. Here are some narrations concerning the treatment of slaves:
Abu Dharr (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “They are your brothers whom Allaah has put under your authority, so if Allaah has put a person’s brother under his authority, let him feed him from what he eats and clothe him from what he wears, and let him not overburden him with work, and if he does overburden him with work, then let him help him.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (6050).
the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: “Whoever slaps his slave or beats him, his expiation is to manumit him.” Narrated by Muslim (1657)
A man entered upon Salmaan (may Allaah be pleased with him) and found him making dough – and he was a governor. He said to him: O Abu ‘Abd-Allaah, what is this? He said: We have sent our servant on an errand and we do not want to give him two jobs at once.
When ‘Abd al-Rahmaan ibn ‘Awf (may Allaah be pleased with him) walked among his slaves, no one could tell him apart from them, because he did not walk ahead of them, and he did not wear anything different from what they wore.
It was narrated that ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan tweaked the ear of a slave of his when he did something wrong, then he said to him after that: Come and tweak my ear in retaliation. The slave refused but he insisted, so he started to tweak it slightly, and he said to him: Do it strongly, for I cannot bear the punishment on the Day of Resurrection. The slave said: Like that, O my master? The Day that you fear I fear also.
The narrations regarding the virtues of a slave are well-known and numerous. Slaves can also pay their masters to manumit themselves if they gather enough wealth to do so. The way a slave is treated in Islam is superior to many modern forms of employment (those that include mistreatment, overburdening of employees, child labour, underpayment, hazardous work environment, etc). Think about it; the slaves are not mistreated, they have food, clothes, shelter and all that’s required of them is labour. Khalas. All slaves are eventually manumitted; through all the reading I’ve done, I’ve never come across a slave who was at least a 3rd generation slave. Many freed slaves have acquired fame as scholars and educators, wealthy merchants, held authoritative positions, etc.
What baffles me is when people call out Islam for supposedly being immoral by permitting slavery; what do they suggest? That the Muslims release all of their enemies only to be attacked again?
Slavery is also not permitted if it's not a result of war. It's prohibited to unjustly enslave another person.
The notion that the Prophet (SAW) unjustly tortured people
This is simply not true. The Prophet (SAW) never unjustly tortured someone. He (SAW) was also known to have never hit a woman or child, nor did he ever yell at those who were under his authority when they made a mistake. He would frequently grant his enemies freedom even after they’ve confronted him with the intention of killing him.
“Muslims live as robots who don’t think for themselves”
I’ve come across this statement a few times and when I’ve asked one of the individuals who’s made a similar statement to elaborate; do you know what they said? “Because Muslims have guidelines on everything, from the manner in which they should greet people to relieving themselves in the toilet”. Does anyone here not see how absurd this is? These things are habits anyway, everyone (Muslim and non-Muslim) has their own habits regarding how they eat food, etc.; we’re just asked to adjust these habits in a way that would please Allah (SWT).
“You always enter the toilet with your left foot, you don’t think for yourself”. Like wth?! As if entering the toilet requires pondering, the same goes for how we eat food, etc. all are habits. They make it seem like it’s something major that affects your worldview or something, kulaha you don’t think for yourself. If anyone here actually wastes time pondering before they do ANYTHING, even things that are usually habitual (like what hand to eat with), then you need to see a psychiatrist.
Miracles in Islam
We are often asked by atheists and critics, “do you believe Muhammad (SAW) ascended to heaven?”, and other similar questions. We Muslims believe in a omnipotent being, and since Allah (SWT) is omnipotent, it’s not impossible for him to manipulate/bypass the very laws of nature he created. Rather, that’s easy for Allah (SWT). Miracles are miracles because they transcend the laws of nature/physics. It’s thus, for this very reason, absurd to demand scientific evidence for something that’s believed to be/have been a miracle.
“If Islam is (fill in space), then why do Muslims (fill in space)?”
This is the type of question only a doqon would ask. What Muslims do does not always reflect on the teachings Islam. There are good Muslims and bad Muslims.
“Islam has pagan elements”
There are people on this forum that propagate this nonsense and they use tawaf and other rituals of the ka’bah as an example (since this was also practiced by pre-Islamic Arabs). What they don’t understand is, some of the practices of the pre-Islamic Arabs were remnants of the religion of Ibrahim (AS). Just like the way Roman Catholics adulterated Christianity with paganism, the pre-Islamic Arabs have done a similar thing with the religion of Ibrahim (AS) who was a Hanif.
Islamophobes frequently (and deliberately) misquote the Prophet (SAW) and cherry pick key-words and phrases from hadiths while excluding the context to distort the image of this beautiful religion.
Let's expose the misconceptions about our religion spread it's beautiful teachings.
The topic of this thread is clearing up misconceptions about Islam/spreading it’s beautiful teachings. If you want to contribute, you may do so. No derailing or mockery. Thanks.
Many were led to believe that slaves are exclusively females (there were actually more male slaves than female) whom their masters may rape freely and treat harshly, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Unlike other nations who rape women during and after war, this is not permissible in Islam. It’s not permissible to rape a maidservant, this a form of mistreatment and mistreatment is prohibited. It’s actually incumbent to treat them well, to feed and clothe them, etc. the Sahaba would actually feed their slaves from what they ate and clothe them with clothes similar to that which they wore. Here are some narrations concerning the treatment of slaves:
Abu Dharr (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “They are your brothers whom Allaah has put under your authority, so if Allaah has put a person’s brother under his authority, let him feed him from what he eats and clothe him from what he wears, and let him not overburden him with work, and if he does overburden him with work, then let him help him.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (6050).
the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: “Whoever slaps his slave or beats him, his expiation is to manumit him.” Narrated by Muslim (1657)
A man entered upon Salmaan (may Allaah be pleased with him) and found him making dough – and he was a governor. He said to him: O Abu ‘Abd-Allaah, what is this? He said: We have sent our servant on an errand and we do not want to give him two jobs at once.
When ‘Abd al-Rahmaan ibn ‘Awf (may Allaah be pleased with him) walked among his slaves, no one could tell him apart from them, because he did not walk ahead of them, and he did not wear anything different from what they wore.
It was narrated that ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan tweaked the ear of a slave of his when he did something wrong, then he said to him after that: Come and tweak my ear in retaliation. The slave refused but he insisted, so he started to tweak it slightly, and he said to him: Do it strongly, for I cannot bear the punishment on the Day of Resurrection. The slave said: Like that, O my master? The Day that you fear I fear also.
The narrations regarding the virtues of a slave are well-known and numerous. Slaves can also pay their masters to manumit themselves if they gather enough wealth to do so. The way a slave is treated in Islam is superior to many modern forms of employment (those that include mistreatment, overburdening of employees, child labour, underpayment, hazardous work environment, etc). Think about it; the slaves are not mistreated, they have food, clothes, shelter and all that’s required of them is labour. Khalas. All slaves are eventually manumitted; through all the reading I’ve done, I’ve never come across a slave who was at least a 3rd generation slave. Many freed slaves have acquired fame as scholars and educators, wealthy merchants, held authoritative positions, etc.
What baffles me is when people call out Islam for supposedly being immoral by permitting slavery; what do they suggest? That the Muslims release all of their enemies only to be attacked again?
Slavery is also not permitted if it's not a result of war. It's prohibited to unjustly enslave another person.
The notion that the Prophet (SAW) unjustly tortured people
This is simply not true. The Prophet (SAW) never unjustly tortured someone. He (SAW) was also known to have never hit a woman or child, nor did he ever yell at those who were under his authority when they made a mistake. He would frequently grant his enemies freedom even after they’ve confronted him with the intention of killing him.
“Muslims live as robots who don’t think for themselves”
I’ve come across this statement a few times and when I’ve asked one of the individuals who’s made a similar statement to elaborate; do you know what they said? “Because Muslims have guidelines on everything, from the manner in which they should greet people to relieving themselves in the toilet”. Does anyone here not see how absurd this is? These things are habits anyway, everyone (Muslim and non-Muslim) has their own habits regarding how they eat food, etc.; we’re just asked to adjust these habits in a way that would please Allah (SWT).
“You always enter the toilet with your left foot, you don’t think for yourself”. Like wth?! As if entering the toilet requires pondering, the same goes for how we eat food, etc. all are habits. They make it seem like it’s something major that affects your worldview or something, kulaha you don’t think for yourself. If anyone here actually wastes time pondering before they do ANYTHING, even things that are usually habitual (like what hand to eat with), then you need to see a psychiatrist.
Miracles in Islam
We are often asked by atheists and critics, “do you believe Muhammad (SAW) ascended to heaven?”, and other similar questions. We Muslims believe in a omnipotent being, and since Allah (SWT) is omnipotent, it’s not impossible for him to manipulate/bypass the very laws of nature he created. Rather, that’s easy for Allah (SWT). Miracles are miracles because they transcend the laws of nature/physics. It’s thus, for this very reason, absurd to demand scientific evidence for something that’s believed to be/have been a miracle.
“If Islam is (fill in space), then why do Muslims (fill in space)?”
This is the type of question only a doqon would ask. What Muslims do does not always reflect on the teachings Islam. There are good Muslims and bad Muslims.
“Islam has pagan elements”
There are people on this forum that propagate this nonsense and they use tawaf and other rituals of the ka’bah as an example (since this was also practiced by pre-Islamic Arabs). What they don’t understand is, some of the practices of the pre-Islamic Arabs were remnants of the religion of Ibrahim (AS). Just like the way Roman Catholics adulterated Christianity with paganism, the pre-Islamic Arabs have done a similar thing with the religion of Ibrahim (AS) who was a Hanif.
Islamophobes frequently (and deliberately) misquote the Prophet (SAW) and cherry pick key-words and phrases from hadiths while excluding the context to distort the image of this beautiful religion.
Let's expose the misconceptions about our religion spread it's beautiful teachings.
The topic of this thread is clearing up misconceptions about Islam/spreading it’s beautiful teachings. If you want to contribute, you may do so. No derailing or mockery. Thanks.
) praise be to Allah. But most of them understand not.
