Adonis Diaries

Posts Tagged ‘Ali Bin Abi Taleb’

Aisha, the most beloved wife of Prophet Muhammad: the book review after the death of Muhammad. Part 2

Posted by: on: March 4, 2021

Book review of Genevieve Chauvel

Note: If you missed Part 1, go to this link https://adonis49.wordpress.com/2021/03/03/most-beloved-wife-of-prophet-muhammad-aicha/

Shortly after his return to Medina, Muhammad suffered from terrible headaches for a month; he asked Abu Bakr to preach in his place when he was bedridden.  The Prophet dies on June 8, 632; he was 63 years old.

Aicha was apprehensive that her father might succeed to the Prophet with the subsequent responsibilities, and asked Omar to preach instead, since he had a loud voice and a large body. Muhammad got irate for Aicha involvement in altering his decision, and demanded that Abu Baker resume the preaching.

Omar would not believe that the Prophet could die and threatened anyone who says so; then Abu Bakr told the congregation “Muslims, those among you who adore Muhammad, Muhammad is dead.  Those who adore God, God is living”.

Ali was to wash the body and arrange for the funeral. The Companions elected Abu Bakr Caliph in the absence of Ali who was the closest member in the prophet’s “House”.

Abu Bakr reminded the Muslims what the Prophet told him once: “All prophets were buried at the place of their death”; and thus Muhammad was buried in Aicha’s bedroom.  Aicha replaced the bed on top of the burying ground and continued sleeping there.

Abu Bakr would Not distribute the Prophet’s inheritance to anyone of his wives or family members because Muhammad has told him that prophets’ belonging went to charities. 

Fatima died 6 months later as Mohammad has predicted, aggrieved and desperate.

Under Abu Bakr, Aicha, aided by Zayd ibn Thabit, got the huge responsibility of gathering and collecting all the parchments and written verses and the early oral verses of the Koran and then sorting them, verifying their authenticity, correcting and compiling them.

Aichi was not yet twenty years old.  Abu Bakr died within two years and was also buried in Aicha’s bedroom next to the Prophet. 

At the time of his death, Khalid ibn Al Walid had vanquished the Byzantine Emperor at Yarmuk and was advancing toward Damascus. (This Khalid committed mass massacres in Damascus for 3 days and nights, and for no sane reason)

Omar was selected by Abu Bakr to be the next Caliph. Omar extended Islam to Persia by a victory in Qadissiya and toward Egypt. 

Omar was assassinated by a Christian slave while praying in the Mosque in Medina; Omar also asked permission of Aicha to be buried in her bedroom.  By then, Aicha was the ultimate interpreter of the Koran and had issued 2,210 Hadiths and was the expert in women’s legal right or “Fiqh Al Nisaa”.

On his deathbed, Omar appointed a Council of five Companions from the tribes of Quraish (excluding the Ansar leaders) to elect the next Caliph.  Uthman ibn Affan was selected and Aicha had misgivings on how he might manipulate the masses of documents collected on the verses of Islam.  Omar left the documents with his daughter Afsa to hand over to the next Caliph.

Uthman ended up exercising nepotism and appointing relatives as governors and civil servants in high offices and he built a palace and lived luxuriously with 500 serfs maintaining the palace and organizing the feasts. 

The new Caliph appointed Jewish scholars to select and revise the documents collected by Aisha and published a new version of the Koran, the one being read and accepted.

Aicha got wind of the alterations to the parchments and came out of her house carrying the sandals and shirts and hair of the prophet and shouted at the caliph: “The Prophet’s belongings had not had time to deteriorate and you started to turn your back on his teachings”.

(My conjecture is that Uthman hired scholar Jews to select and re-edit the parchments to match the messages in their Bible, and its is this Koran that is currently adopted, except the version disseminated by the Wahhabi in the Saudi Kingdom. Uthman destroyed many documents that the new Islamic empire needed to woe, especially in matters of imposing taxes, and delivering a patriarchal overtone to the Koran. So far, no original documents have been made public to study their validity. Mind you that the original documents had no punctuation or any kinds of signs or complicated embellishment you see in current versions…The documents/verses could be read as Kerouac “On the Road” or Schelinger “Catcher in the rye”, and were ripe for interpretations)

Aicha had a copy of all the documents and she rewrote her version of the Koran. (There is no information of what happened to these copies)

A large dissatisfied mob of Muslims, who were manipulated by “extremists” in Basra (Iraq), marched on Medina. Aicha had premonition that the arriving mob is bad news and got permission from Uthman to leave for pilgrimage with the harem.  The mob entered the palace of Uthman burned it asunder and stabbed and beat the Caliph to death. (Probably the invading “mob” had wind of Uthman tampering with the Koran and disseminating luxury attitudes and practices that did Not match the conservative understanding of Islam).

Ali was elected Caliph but refrained to give the revenge for the murder of the Caliph Uthman a priority. His lukewarm behavior prompted Aicha to action and she started delivering speeches in Mecca to the effect that the punishment of the leaders of assassins should be carried out first thing first. 

Her brother-in-law Zubair and another Companion Talhat excited Aicha to lead a contingent of 3,000 fighters to Basra.

Ali was on his way to Damascus to fight Moawiya, the governor of Syria, and stopped at Kufa to recruit more fighters and had to challenge Aicha before resuming his campaign. 

Aicha, Zobair and Talhat managed to recruit an army of 30,000 men against 20,000 with Ali. 

The battle of the “Camel”, the first among the Muslims, left 15,000 victims and injured among the Muslim fighters which affected Aicha for the remainder of her life.

Talhat and Zubair died in the battle. Aicha was riding hidden in a palanquin and exhorting her army to fight. Ali ordered his officer to cut the hand of the camel guide so that the camel could be moved from the center of the battle field; guides took the relay and 72 camel guides left theirs hands on the rope before the camel’s hamstrings were cut and was brought down and the battle cry and symbol of “The Mother of the Believer” finally relinquishing its effect on the troops.

Ali permitted Aicha to return to her home in Medina and she was escorted as a Queen. One of Muawiya’s delegates told Aicha that they wished she died in the battle so that the allies of Moawiya would have had an excellent excuse to fight Ali.

Aicha spent the remaining of her life in her house, receiving scholars and students who regarded her as the main resource for correct interpretations of the religious verses and taking notes of her experiences.

Aicha was initially the only virgin in the extended harem, and whatever she knew of love making was of the initiation of Muhammad. 

A specific revelation forbade Muhammad’s wives to remarry and also to remain in their homes and to be covered completely and wear the “niqab” on their face when stepping outside their doors or meeting males.

The effects of the assassination of Uthman didn’t end up there.  Muawiya raised the same reason of avenging Uthman to engage Ali in a terrible battle at Seffine in Syria: the bloodied shirt of Uthman hanging in the Mosque of Madina demanded retribution and the Arabs coined the dictum “the Shirt of Uthman” to convey the meaning that the reason offered is but an excuse for the power struggle.  

There were no victors in this battle that was leaning toward Ali army, and a large contingent of Ali’s army dissented because Ali agreed to arbitrage. These dissenters were labeled Al Khawarij and were led by Abdullah ibn Wahab (A coincidence? The actual Saudi Monarchy sect is founded on a Wahhabi preacher): they went on assassination rampage against the leading followers of both Ali and Muawiya.

The Khawarij failed to assassinate Muawiya (just injured) but killed Ali in Kufa.  Ali refused to name anyone to succeed him as Caliph and said to his followers that he would not disagree with anyone they select.

Aicha was to say “this is typical Ali’s ambiguity” as she forecasted the worst to the unity of the “Umma” or Nation of Islam.

Muawiya was elected Caliph and the power became hereditary and the period is known as the Umayyad (the most powerful tribe of Quraish) reign in Damascus, which lasted for a century before the Abbasid (The house of Abbass, the Uncle of Muhammad) succeeded in taking power in Baghdad for two centuries. 

The occupied Central Asian people converted Sunni sects and their tribes were to dominate the political and religious landscape for over 10 centuries. 

Muawiya sent assassins to ged rid of any potential leaders related to the Prophet , but spared Aisha.

Aicha lived to experience the death of many of her male family members. 

Hassan, the son of Ali, was assassinated by his wife enticing Hassan to wear the poisoned dress given to him as a gift by Muawiya.  Muawiya then slaughtered Hassan’s wife to hide his schemes with her.

Notes:

  1. The Prophet had two sons who died before the age of two.  Ali, his nephew who married his youngest daughter Fatima, was the only male in his “House”.  Muhammad appointed Ali to read the religious messages in meetings where the Prophet could not be present.  Ali and Abu Bakr were the most learned males, among the early Companions, on Islam, but Aicha was the best and she was present during many revelations of “Archangel Gabriel” in her house.
  2. Ali was the most qualified to be the Imam of Islam, but since there was yet no separation between the political and religious functions, then Ali had to seek power as Caliph.  Ali lacked the political acumen and the qualities of a government leader because he was constantly plagued with ambiguities as a result of his vast religious knowledge and his apprehension to err in his decisions. Schism developed during his short five years reign and the Shia sects (the followers of Ali’s second son Hussein) emerged as a counterpart to the Sunni sect representing the legitimate Muslims.
  3. The Prophet Muhammad was highly literate https://adonis49.wordpress.com/2009/04/08/the-parson-and-the-prophet-book-review/
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To Aicha bashers I say: “Cut it out”

Posted by: on: December 6, 2011

To Aisha (Aicha) bashers I say: “Cut it out”

I have stated many times that I am not religious and refuse to be carried away with abstract notions that have generated genocides, persecutions, hatred, and mass scale wars…

One god, several gods, interested god, class gods, one and only god, trinity god…god made of spirit, of stones, of flesh…Single sacred book, several sacred books, original sacred book, tampered with sacred books…All these teaching won’t teach you anything but plain ignorance, bigotry, misogyny…

There are sects that spread hatred among their members for other people in other religious sects based on historical myths, and that is true for all sects in all kind of religion.

This post is targeting certain Moslem Shia sects that take advantage of religious events (Ashoura) to bash Aicha (the most beloved wife of the Prophet Muhammad, and bash the second Calif Omar ibn al Khattab) for false reasons not validated in history…

First, Aicha lead the “first civil war in Islam” against the fourth Calif Ali (called the Battle of the Camel) and was defeated.  Ali forgave Aicha and she was sent back to Medina with all the honors and respect.  If Ali could forgive, why his “followers”, centuries later, refuse to let go? I say to the bashers of Aicha: “Cut it out“.

Second, Aicha spent her life in confronting the false “hadith” (stories on Muhammad’s life) that were mainly misogynistic in nature, and Aicha managed to safeguard the full rights of women and to liberate women for another century.  Aicha was the leading Faqih (the most learned person in Islamic laws) of her period and was respected by all.  I say to Aicha’s bashers: “Cut it out”.

Third, during the battle of the Camel, the supporters of Aicha were actually the Shia of the period, and the allies of Ali were the Sunnis: The Sunnis always supported the power-to-be. I say to the Shia bashers of Aicha:”Cut it out”.

Fourth, maybe the second Calif Omar was a little misogynistic, but he was the greatest Calif of all time and managed to ward off the reactions of the Islamist vanquisher against the other religious groups and ethnic minorities, particularly the Christians in Syria and Egypt.

Omar punished all governors who mistreated the Christians and other religious groups.  Omar refused to enter the Christian church in Jerusalem so that the Moslems would not take it as an excuse to replace the church with a Mosque…I say to the bashers of Omar: “Cut it out”

The Arab World is being squeezed by giant forces and powers in the East and the West, and this is no time for wallowing on stupid historical differences that will not make us more learned, more reflective, more developed, and more ready to future challenges for survival. I say:”Cut it out” now.

For the readers who don’t have much comprehension of the historical stories on Islam, maybe this short post will clarify the issues.

Under Abu Bakr (first Calif and father of Aicha), Aicha, aided by Zayd ibn Thabit, got the huge responsibility of gathering and collecting all the parchments and written verses and the early oral verses of the Koran and then sorting them, verifying their authenticity, correcting and compiling them. Aichi was not even twenty years old.

Abu Bakr died within two years and was also buried in Aicha’s bedroom next to the Prophet.  At the time of his death, Khaled ibn Al Walid had vanquished the Byzantine Emperor at Yarmuk and was advancing toward Damascus.

Omar was selected by Abu Bakr to be the next Caliph. Omar extended Islam to Persia by a victory in Qadissiya and toward Egypt.  Omar was assassinated by a Christian slave while praying in the Mosque in Medina; Omar also asked permission of Aicha to be buried in her bedroom.  By then, Aicha was the ultimate interpreter of the Koran and had issued 2,210 Hadiths and was the expert in women’s legal right or “Fiqh Al Nissa2″.

The dying Omar appointed a Council of 5 Companions from the tribes of Quraich to elect the next Caliph.  Uthman ibn Affan was selected and Aicha had misgivings on how he might manipulate the masses of documents collected on the verses of Islam.  Omar left the documents with his daughter Afsa to hand over to the next Caliph.

Uthman ended up exercising nepotism and appointing relatives as governors and civil servants in high offices and he built a palace and lived luxuriously with 500 serfs maintaining the palace and organizing the feasts.

The new Caliph destroyed the documents related to the Koran that he didn’t like and Aicha came out of her house carrying the sandals and shirts and hair of the prophet and shouted at the caliph: “The Prophet’s belongings had not had time to deteriorate and you started to turn your back on his teachings”.

Aicha had a copy of all the documents and she rewrote her version of the Koran. A large dissatisfied mob of Moslems, who were manipulated by extremists in Basra (Iraq), marched on Medina. Aicha had premonition that the arriving mob is bad news and got permission from Uthman to leave for pilgrimage with the harem.  The mob entered the palace of Uthman, burned it asunder, and stabbed and beat the Caliph to death.

Ali was elected Caliph but refrained to give priority for the revenge for the murder of the Caliph Uthman. This lukewarm behavior prompted Aicha to action and she started delivering speeches in Meca to the effect that the punishment of the leaders of assassins should be carried out first thing first.  Her brother-in-law Zobair and another Companion Talhat excited Aicha to leading a contingent of 3,000 fighters to Basra.

Ali was on his way to Damascus to fight Moawiya, the governor of Syria, and stopped at Kufa to recruit more fighters. Ali had to challenge Aicha before resuming his campaign.  Aicha, Zobair and Talhat managed to recruit an army of 30,000 men against 20,000 with Ali.  The battle of the “Camel”, the first among the Moslems, left 15,000 victims and injured among the Moslem fighters which affected Aicha for the remainder of her life. Talhat and Zobair died in the battle.

Aicha was riding hidden in a palanquins and exhorting her army to fight.

Ali ordered his officer to cut the hand of the “camel guides” so that the camel could be moved from the center of the battle field; guides took the relay and 72 camel guides left theirs hands on the rope before the camel’s hamstrings were cut and was brought down. The symbol of “The Mother of the Believer” finally relinquishing its effect on the troops.

Ali permitted Aicha to return to her home in Medina and she was escorted as a Queen. One of Moawiya’s delegates told Aicha that they wished she died in the battle so that the allies of Moawiya would have had an excellent excuse to fight Ali.

Aicha spent the remaining of her life in her house, receiving scholars and students who regarded her as the main resource for correct interpretations of the religious verses and taking notes of her experiences. Aicha was the only virgin in the harem and whatever she knew of love-making was the invention and initiation of Muhammad.

A specific revelation forbade Muhammad’s wives to remarry and to remain in their homes and to be covered completely and wear the “nikab” on their face when stepping outside their doors or meeting males.

The effects of the assassination of Uthman didn’t end up there.  Muawiya raised the same reason of avenging Uthman to engage Ali in a terrible battle at Seffine in Syria: the bloodied shirt of Uthman hanging in the Mosque of Madina demanded retribution and the Arabs coined the dictum “the Shirt of Uthman” to convey the meaning that the reason offered is but an excuse for the power struggle.

There were no victors in this battle Seffine and a large contingent of Ali’s army dissented because Ali agreed to arbitrage.  These dissenters were labeled Al Khawarej and were led by Abdulah ibn Wahab (the actual Saudi Monarchy is Wahabi in affiliation); they went on assassination rampage against the leading followers of both Ali and Muawiya.

The Khawarej failed to assassinate Muawiya but killed Ali in Kufa.

Ali refused to name anyone to succeed him as Caliph and said to his followers that he would not disagree with anyone they select; Aicha was to say “this is typical Ali’s ambiguity” as she forecasted the worst to the unity of the “Umma” or Nation of Islam.

Muawiya was elected Caliph and the power became hereditary and the period is known as the Omayyad (the most powerful tribe of Quraich) reign in Damascus, which lasted for over a century before the Abbaseed (The house of Abbass, the Uncle of Muhammad) succeeded in taking power in Baghdad for two centuries.

The Central Asian tribes converted to Sunni (mostly relying on the Hadith) were to dominate the political and religious landscape for over ten centuries.  Muawiya sent assassins to achieve any potential leaders related to the Prophet.

Aicha lived to experience the death of many of her male family members.  Hassan, the son of Ali, was assassinated by his wife who offered her husband a poisoned dress delivered by Muawiya.  Moawiya then slaughtered Hassan’s wife to hide his schemes with her.

Note 1: https://adonis49.wordpress.com/2008/10/11/aicha-la-bien-aime-du-prophet-by-genevieve-chauvel/

Note 2:

  1. The Prophet had two sons who died before the age of two.  Ali, his nephew who married his youngest daughter Fatima, was the only male in his “House”.  Muhammad appointed Ali to read the religious messages in meetings where the Prophet could not be present.  Ali and Abu Bakr were the most learned males, among the early Companions, on Islam but Aicha was the best and she was present during many revelations of Archangel Gabriel in her house.
  2. Ali was the most qualified to be the Imam of Islam but since there was yet no separation between the political and religious functions then Ali had to seek power as Caliph.  Ali lacked the political acumen and the qualities of a government leader because he was constantly plagued with ambiguities as a result of his vast religious knowledge and his apprehension to err in his decisions. Schism developed during his short five years reign and the Shi’aa sect (the followers of Ali’s second son Hussein) emerged as a counterpart to the Sunni sect representing the legitimate Moslems.
  3. Muhammad was mortally sick for at least two weeks and he knew his days were counted because Gabriel gave him a choice between this world and the Other World and the Prophet opted for the Other World.  Muhammad had time to think about the succession of power and the appropriate processes, but no “revelations” were forthcoming.  The tribal spirit was to dominate the political landscape, the same spirit that Muhammad intended to re-direct toward a Unique God and unite the “Umma”.  The Arab and Moslem World were tribal in structure and ended up with a caste system when the Central Asian tribes overpowered the Quraichi tribal rights for leadership.
  4. The Prophet Muhammad was highly literate https://adonis49.wordpress.com/2009/04/08/the-parson-and-the-prophet-book-review/
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Concise Political Islam: Three tendencies

Posted by: on: April 11, 2010

Concise Political Islam; (Apr. 11, 2010)

            There were three major tendencies in Islam for resolving political conflicts and divergences; they functioned hand in hand in the first two centuries until the new converts to Islam from Central Asia and the Caucasus regions effectively began to control the political and military decisions of the central power in Baghdad around the 11th century:  The Abbassid Caliphates in the 10th century started to hire and rely heavily on the far away newer converts as military leaders and personal guards.  The new converts were much more interested in the personal stories of the Prophet Muhammad (hadith of what the prophet said and did) than the Coran; thus, they declared that the Coran cannot be interpreted or commented.  Self-autonomous provinces mushroomed in the vast Islamic Empire.

            The first category of divergent alternatives to social unrests was pure political violent acts and represented by the Khawarej (those who were supporting Ali and decided to walked away from a meeting in the battlefield as Ali accepted negotiation with Muawiya) and plotted to simply assassinate the imams and caliphs presumed not to follow the shari3a (the direction to go to the water source) or the correct laws and Islamic guidance. This archaic movement started before the assassination of the third Caliph Othman bin Affan and then followed by the assassination of the fourth appointed caliph Ali bin Abi Taleb.  Muawiya was targeted for assassination but he survived the attempt.

Many imams and caliphs were assassinated through the centuries up to now.  Most of the victims were the vulnerable and fragile imams who had no political backing or clout: a Moslem not satisfied with an imam’s advice or ruling on the correct behavior to adopt could be assassinated.

            The second category of contenders is related to the alternative order of justice (fiqeh) or the correct Islamic guidance in daily routine life.  Sunni or orthodox Islam is divided into four main schools of justices (ways to obeying the shari3a).  They are the Malekite (North Africa), Shafi3ite (Egypt), Hanbalite (Near East people), and the most obscurantist of all, the Hanafi (Wahhabi sect) of Saudi Arabia. 

The Shiaa sects that respect their imams as infallible are also divided into many schools but they dare interpret and comment everything in the Coran or hadith.

            The third category in divergences is the class of the intellectuals, physicians, scientists, astronomers (lumped as philosophers) and known as Mu3tazalat (rational thinkers who preferred middle solutions before gathering facts, analyzing the problem, and pondering on the consequences.)

The main split with the other categories is the critical problem: Is man’s behavior pre-set by God or is man fully responsible for his acts and actions?  The answer was “Man must be responsible for all his acts and should be using his brain (akl); otherwise, all evil actions would be attributed to God.”  This category of rational thinkers was backed by the emerging Abbasid Dynasty to discredit the Omayyad Dynasty. 

The first century of the Abbasid Dynasty witnessed full-scale translation of Indians, Persian, and ancient Greek manuscripts and culture that grew simultaneously with Islamic progresses in sciences such as in physics, medicines, astronomy, and mathematics.  The translation of foreign knowledge was done mainly by the Syriac scholars (of the many heretic Christian sects not abiding by the Orthodoxy dogma of Constantinople or Rome) residing in Syria and Lebanon.  The Indian manuscripts were translated by the Iranian scholars.  If the Renaissance Men of Europe could talk then they would acknowledge the sources of their knowledge.

            The turning point came when the new converts in Central Asia wanted to revert to the “sources” and believe word for word what was written in the Koran and the Hadith: interpretations were banned and philosophers were discredited and persecuted.  The Arab World had to wait for the middle of the 19th century to start a new revival in rational thinking.  The hot beds for this rival were Egypt, Syria, Palestine, and Lebanon.

            The main sources for financing and planning terrorist acts and military coups up till 1975 were the US, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union.  After 1975, the evil triangle of the US/Saudi monarchy/Israel have been planning, financing, training, and tele-guiding most of terrorist activities in the Middle East. 

After the first invasion of Iraq in 1991 by the US and its alliance then, it was the Saudi monarchy (fully backed by the US and Israel) that invested billions of dollars into disseminating its brand of obscurantist Wahhabi schools of justice or shari3a.  Thousands of Mosques were built and thousands of hired imams were preaching the exclusive Hanbali school of Islam.  Most of the fancy books (sold at cheap prices) were targeting the best techniques for the confinement of women in their residences and pressuring Arab and Moslem States from withholding to women their individual rights to voting, working, and acquiring education.  Al Qaeda and its many factions are the creation of the Saudi monarchy, financed and directed to target terrorist activities against rational thinking scholars, Moslems and Christians.

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Date Zero: Is Pre-Islamic period untouchable to investigation

Posted by: on: April 2, 2010

Date Zero: Prior period to Islam is untouchable to investigation; (April 1, 2010)

Islam calendar starts in 622 AC, the date the Prophet Muhammad fled to Medina (Yathreb) from Mecca.

The past or before date zero, or the culture and tradition of pre-Islam Arabic Peninsula, has been practically untouched by researchers and Islamic investigators.

The period prior to 622 or year one of “Hegire” is lumped as the period of ignorance (Jahiliyya) by Moslems.

The Arab World still teaches pre-Islamic poetry and poets; it is mostly through these poems that the Arabs are acquainted with the very rich parts of pre-Islamic culture, traditions, and customs.

Fact is, you cannot understand Islam without the contexts that pressured the prophet Muhammad to compromise with the multitude of tribes allied to Byzantium and Persia empires.

We can claim that a curtain (hijab) has descended on pre-Islamic period simultaneously with the veil that descended on women after the Prophet’s death.

Thus, women were banished from political power and dealing with political affairs in public two decades after Muhammad’s death.

This is no coincidence that Islam after Muhammad’s death had made the connection between pulling a curtain on the Jahiliyya period and the veiling of women in society; removing women from the public political landscape.

During Jahiliyya, each Arabic tribe worshiped idols made of wood or stone; there were many Jewish and “heretic” Christian-Jew sects (as labeled by Christian Orthodox Byzantium Empire) in Arabia and in Mecca.

The 3 most potent and powerful idols were female idols such as Al Uzza, Manat, and Al Lat.  Although the tribes made their yearly pilgrimage to Mecca where the Kaaba contained over 360 idols, this pilgrimage was mainly for doing commerce and enjoying the weeklong festivities and debauchery.  The main pilgrimage (hajj) for the powerful tribes was to their preferred idols in other locations and towns.

The pragmatic nomads in the Arabic Peninsula and the neighboring deserts have created idols commensurate to their individualistic needs to vent their frustrations with periodic sacrifices, including babies of both genders.

During Muhammad’s time, baby girls were mostly the sacrificial human kind by poor families, especially in periods of great food distress.

Since violence, revenge, and frequent wars “razzias” against other clans were the norm for looting of animals, camels, and slave girls…  powerful female goddesses were purchased and erected for pilgrimage as scapegoats to the tribes’ violent activities.

Thus, female goddesses represented violence, symbol that violence and revenge are the mark of female behavior and dark spirit.

For example, goddess Manat (death) was the oldest idol and was worshiped by the tribes of Aws and Kazradj that inhabited the region of Yathreb, later called Medina (the first Islam City-State).  The original meaning of Manat is taken from a Semitic root meaning “counting of the days of life” that connote death (manyya).

The temple of Manat was a natural rock (sakhra) on the coast between Mecca and Yathreb; the two tribes considered that the pilgrimage was not complete until they stopped at the temple of Manat where they shaved their head and offered sacrifices. Manat was a powerful goddess dictator (taghia) and swords were deposited in her temple.

The Prophet gave his nephew Ali bin Abi Taleb the two swords in the temple after it was demolished; one of the sword was called Zul Faqar. Representatives of the tribes of Aws and Khazradj had extended permission to Muhammad, after three years of negotiation, to settle in Yathreb with his converts after the tribes of Mecca decided to chase them out.

The other female goddess was Al Lat and was worshiped in Taif, a region on the eastern shores facing Persia.  The main tribe of Taif, the Banu Taqif, erected square walls around the rock of Al Lat.  Most desert tribes, all the way to Palmyra in northern Syria, worshiped this goddess.

Al Lat had all the attributes of goddess Athena wearing battle helmet, breastplate, armor, and holding a lance.  Banu Thaqif was one of the latest tribes to submit to Allah because Muhammad failed at several expeditions to enter Taif. Actually, it was Taif that was the preferred destination to Muhammad when he decided to flee Mecca but he was chased out of Taif after his failed negotiation to settle there.

The third most powerful “taghia” goddess was Al Uzza (dignity, physical force and power); the most powerful tribe of Quraich in Mecca consecrated her.  Al Uzza was the most violent divine warrior and was represented in the form of a tree or three acacias trees and located way up north in Nakhla as Shamiya on the way to Iraq’s caravans.

The temple of Al Uzza was equipped with a slaughtering alter (manhar) called “ghabghab”.  General Khaled bin Al Waleed was ordered to destroy the temple of Al Uzza in 630 after Muhammad entered Mecca peacefully as the victor.

General Al Waleed was the Quraich leader who defeated Muhammad’s troops in the battle of Uhud; this failed campaign of the Prophet generated 3 years of civil unrest in the City-State of Medina and most of the verses that abridged female equal rights that were previously gained in the first four years.

Note: About ten years after Muhammad’s death, the Arabic Islamic Empire had extended vastly.

The governor Abu Mussa al Ach3ari wrote to the second caliph Omar bin Al Khattab: “You sent me several letters that were not dated.” Omar assembled a council to set up a calendar.

A few opted to using the Byzantium calendar, others the Persian calendar, but the majority recognized that a calendar means power and wanted an Arabic/Islamic calendar.

The discussions led to adopting the date of the Prophet’s immigration to Medina in 622 AC as Date Zero. Omar had said: “this is the year that divided truth from falsehood.”

Islam lunar calendar is of 354 days and started with the month of “Muharram”; the pre-Islamic particular month that prohibited wars and revenge among clans.

In pre-Islam, the tribes used to add one month on the third year for calibration with their commercial dealings. Muhammad forbid to add this month; thus, the Islamic calendar is one year ahead for every 33 Christian years since the year 622.

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Islam first civil war: Battle of “The Camel”

Posted by: on: March 29, 2010

Islam first civil war: Battle of “The Camel”

“Where is my right to vote?” asked a Moslem from Basra

The Prophet Muhammad was buried humbly under Aicha’s bed, the youngest and most beloved of spouses. Muhammad was sick for 13 days but was conscious.

His only political symbol for his succession was to demand that Abu Bakr lead the prayer in the mosque when bed ridden.

Aicha realized that the Prophet wished her aging father Abu Bakr to succeed him; and Aicha knew that this task is too hazardous for her aging father and asked Omar ibn al Khattab to lead the prayer instead.

The Prophet was surprised to hear Omar leading the prayer and chastised Aicha. She explained that the voice of Omar is stronger and more virile. Abu Bakr resumed leading the prayers instead of Omar.

Abu Bakr died two years later and was also buried under Aicha’s bed by his friend Muhammad.

Ten years later, the second Caliph Omar was assassinated in the mosque while leading the prayer, and Aicha granted his wish to be buried under her bed.  Consequently, two caliphs were buried under Aicha’s bed, by their beloved Muhammad.

After Aicha’s death, the governor of Medina (during the Omayyad dynasty) destroyed all the apartments of the Prophet’s wives on the left side of the mosque on the pretence of expanding the mosque.  It was the period of vast victorious conquests, fast, and luxury and it was time to “modernize” Medina.

The third caliph of the Moslems, Othman Bin Affan, started his reign well and then discontent grew dramatically after he started to appoint most governors and high posts officials from his own clan of Umayyah, of the tribe of Quraich.

To make things worse, Othman built a lavish Palace in Medina (less than 25 years after the Prophet’s death in this city).

Aicha got wind that the political climate is deteriorating and opted to go on pilgrimage to Mecca. While in Mecca, angry mob coming from Basra (Iraq) entered the palace and assassinated Othman.

Aicha demanded from the newly designated Caliph Ali Bin Abi Taleb to put the assassins to trial, but Ali didn’t react in a manner that promised proper “revenge”.

Many Quraichi leaders in Mecca such as Talhat and Zubeir (from the tribes of Quraich) managed to incite Aicha to take the lead and to march against Ali.

It is hinted that Aicha kept a grudge against Ali during the collar problems and the rumors that Aicha might have cheated on the prophet with a younger man. (Read link in note #3).

For example, when Muhammad asked Ali for inputs, Ali’s response sounded to Aicha (as reported to her) that he was suspicious too, and was inclined to give credence to the veracity of the rumors, something to the effect that women are limited…. (Later, a verse was pronounced that proved the innocence of Aicha and rumor mongers were whipped 80 times…)

Aicha emulated the same tactics as the Prophet did before any military excursion: She negotiated with notables in Basra, explained the reasons of her dangerous move (it was to be the first civil war in Islam) and she opened free discussions for people to express their opinions in the mosque.

Mosques were the proper locations for open discussions under the protection of Allah.  A young man took the podium and talked. He said:

“You the immigrants (converts to Islam who moved from Mecca to Medina); it is true that you were the first to embrace Islam.  But everyone later received the same privilege.  After the prophet death (632 AC) you have designated a man among you (first caliph Abu Bakr) to become the first successor; we, the common Moslems, were not consulted. Again, you the elite immigrants have met in council (Shawra) and designated the second Caliph (Omar bin al Khattab) and we were not asked our opinion.  You voted for the third Caliph (Othman Bin Affan) without our input.

You didn’t like Othman after 13 years of ruling us, and you assassinated him.  You again designated Ali for fourth caliph and the common Moslems were not invited to extend their opinions and preferences.  Now you don’t like Ali.  What are you reproaching him for? Why have you decided to fight him by the sword?  Has he done any reprehensible acts?  Is his election illegal, illicit or fraudulent? Tell us why you want us to start a civil war (fitna)? You have got to surely convince us to join the battle.  Tell us what it is all about? Why are you fighting?”

Unfortunately, this young man ended paying his life for expressing his bold opinion and position after the dust settled.

What would later generally be called “Sunni Moslems” were those who preferred peace and stability instead of deciding for civil wars to changing wrong doings.  The Chiaa Moslems were categorized as those who abided by the Hadith injunction: “The one who witness a reprehensible situation and injustice (al munkar) and does not try to prevent it and change the situation will encounter Divine punishment”

Paradoxically, in the battle of “The Camel”, the first civil war, the Sunnis backed Ali (reasonable position) and the Chiaa backed Aicha.

Caliphate Ali destroyed Aicha troops and 13, 000 Moslems in both camps perished in that battle.

It is said that negotiations were underway to avoiding the battle and a resolution was reached, but a few renegades (those that assassinated Othman killed many Ali’s soldiers during the night) in order to escape trials, thus fomented the next day war. This is a reasonable story, though Aicha had put to death the ones accused of murdering Othman as she entered Basra.

Ali spent many days in the battle field burying the dead from both sides.  Aicha was sent back to Medina where she kept her residence and focused her energy on gathering all of the Prophet’s sourats and verses and was the main pole for clarifications on legal issues and attacking the countless fraudulent Hadith (what the Prophet had said).

Othman was the Caliph who demanded from Aicha to deliver the Prophet’s verses and then discarded those that suited the new political climate after the victories on the Byzantium and Persian Empires.

This Koran is called the Medina Koran and the one currently in use.

Aicha was distraught to the many fraudulent editing of the verses.

For example, Othman invariably added Christians (nassara) every time Jews are mentioned in order to tax the Christian in his kingdom.  It is to be noted that the shortest verses that represent the faith in the first 13 years of proselytizing were relegated to the end of the Koran ,and thus annihilated the chronological appearances of the verses and obscuring the context.

It was after the defeat of Aicha that a certain Abu Bakra, a Moslem who was whipped by the second Caliph Omar for calumny, claimed hearing this Hadith “No prosperity for any society can come when a woman is in command”

Note 1: Fatema Mernissi in her book “The political Harem” re-examined the mostly fraudulent Hadith related to women and male misogyny. Bukhara catalogued the Hadith and kept only 7275 as potentially valid (sahih) out of 600, 000 Hadith recognized as plainly fraudulent.

Note 2:  It is reported that Aicha recounted that she was not jealous of Muhammad’s living wives.  Aicha was mostly jealous of the late first wife called Khadija:  Muhammad kept repeating the name of Khadija in conversations.

Once, the sister of Khadija visited Medina to see her son and paid a visit to Muhammad.  As Muhammad heard the voice he turned livid and started to shake violently.  Aicha guessed that the similarity of the voice to Khadija made Muhammad think that his beloved first wife came back from the dead to haunt him.  Muhammad admitted to Aicha that she guessed right.

Note 3: A turning point was reached when Aicha lost her favorite collar that her mother Em Rumana gave her for her wedding.  The story goes that Muhammad took Aicha on an expedition.  Aicha lost her collar as the troop were heading to the next water well and the caravan was very short on water for the ablution before prayer.  Aicha insisted on finding the collar and a verse was handed down that sand can be used for purification in dire moments.

On the way back from the expedition, Aicha stepped away from the troop for bodily relief.  As she reached the caravan, she realized that she dropped this loose collar again.  Aicha went back to search for the collar and the troop started without her.  Aicha would recount that she was so light that the attendants didn’t realize that she was not in the cabin that was raised over the camel.  Aicha lay down and was confident that the troops will retrace their path searching for her as they reached the camp.

Safwan, a young and handsome convert, a little behind the caravan, found Aicha and mounted her on his horse.

Later, rumors spread that, while the sixty years old prophet is resuming his mania of marrying far more than the four allowed by the Koran, his younger wives are cheating on him.

Aicha fell dangerously sick and was moved to her folks’ domicile and Mohammad didn’t pay her a visit for 28 days because he started to believe the rumors.

When Mohammad finally arrived to see Aicha, the Angel Gabriel showed up and revealed to the Prophet that Aicha was innocent. Um Roumana told Aicha to come foward and thank the Prophet.  Aicha retorted: “By God I will not!  I will praise but God who finally decided to declare me innocent”

Seventeen revelations were dedicated to these awful circumstances; calumny was revealed as a crime as dangerous as adultery and specific penalties prescribed.

Mistah, a cousin of Aicha, Hassan ibn Thabit, the poet of Islam, and Hannah bint Jahsh, the sister of one of the Prophet’s wives, were flogged 80 times for their crimes of calumny without exhibiting four witnesses for their accusations.  Aicha regained her position as the most favored “Um al Mu’mineen“.

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Democracy in Islam: What kinds?

Posted by: on: March 23, 2010

Democracy in Islam: What kinds? (Mar. 23, 2010)

A little history to preparing the ground for understanding whether the appreciation of modern kinds of democracy is within Moslem traditions and customs.  The third caliph of the Moslems, Othman Bin Affan, started his reign well.  The pressures from Mecca oligarchic clans in his Quraich tribe encouraged Othman to appointing most governors and high posts officials from his own clan of Umayyad.  Thus,  discontent grew drastically; to make things worse, Othman built a lavish Palace in Medina (less than 25 years after the Prophet death in this city where he was buried).  Aicha (the youngest and most beloved of spouses) got wind that the political climate is deteriorating and opted not to intervene politically at this junction and gave the excuse of going on pilgrimage to Mecca:  People knew that she didn’t appreciate the fraudulent lies that this caliph introduced to the official Koran.

While in Mecca, angry mob coming from Basra (Iraq) entered the palace and assassinated Othman.  Aicha demanded from the newly designated Caliph Ali Bin Abi Taleb to put the assassins to trial but Ali didn’t react immediately.  While in Mecca, Aicha was approached by many Quraichi leaders such as Talhat and Zubeir (from the tribes of Othman); they managed to incite Aicha to take the lead and to march against Ali.

Aicha emulated the same tactics as the Prophet did before any military excursion: She drummed up support in the city of Bassora, negotiated with notables, explained the reasons of her dangerous move (it was to be the first civil war in Islam) and she opened free discussions for people to express their opinions in the mosque.  Mosques were the proper locations for open discussions under the protection of Allah.  A young man took the podium and talked. He said:

“You the immigrants (converts to Islam who moved from Mecca to Medina); it is true that you were the first to embrace Islam.  But everyone later received the same privilege.  After the prophet death (632 AC) you have designated a man among you (first caliph Abu Bakr) to become the first successor; we the common Moslems were not consulted. Again, you the elite have met in council (Shawra) and designated the second Caliph (Omar bin al Khattab) and we were not asked our opinion.  You voted for the third Caliph (Othman Bin Affan) without our input; you didn’t like Othman after 13 years of ruling us and you assassinated him.  You again designated Ali for fourth caliph and the common Moslems were not invited to extend their opinions and preferences.  Now you don’t like Ali.  What are you reproaching him for? Why have you decided to fight him by the sword?  Has he done any reprehensible acts?  Is his election illegal, illicit or fraudulent? Tell us why you want us to start a civil war (fitna)? You have got to surely convince us to join the battle.  Tell us what it is all about? Why are fighting?” Unfortunately, this young man ended paying his life for expressing his bold opinion and position

What would generally be called Sunni Moslems were those who preferred peace and stability instead of deciding for civil wars to changing wrong doings.  The Shiaa Moslems were categorized as those who abided by the Hadith injunction “The one who witness a reprehensible situation and injustice (al munkar) and does not try to prevent it and change the situation will encounter Divine punishment”

Paradoxically, in the battle of “The Camel”, the first Islam civil war, the Sunnis backed Ali (it was a reasonable position since Ali was just in his pronouncements ) and the Shiaa backed Aicha.  Caliphate Ali destroyed the unprofessional troops lead by Aicha:  13, 000 Moslems perished in that battle.  Ali spent many days in the battle field burying the dead from both sides.  Aicha was sent back to Medina where she kept her residence and focused her energy on gathering all of the Prophet’s sourats and verses and was the main pole for clarifications on legal issues and attacking the countless fraudulent Hadith (what the Prophet had said).

It was after the defeat of Aicha that Abu Bakra, a Moslem who was whipped by the second Caliph Omar for calumny, resumed his misogynist behavior and claimed hearing this Hadith from the Prophet Muhammad: “No prosperity for any society can come when a woman is in command.”  The next phase in Islam political structure was based on hereditary successions of the Caliphate with all the power that any monarch could dream of.

Note: Fatema Mernissi in her book “The political Harem” re-examined the mostly fraudulent Hadith related to women and male misogyny. Bukhara catalogued the Hadith and kept only 7275 as potentially valid (sahih) out of 600, 000 Hadith recognized as plainly fraudulent.

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adonis49

adonis49

adonis49

March 2023
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