Chapter 2: The False Faith of the Fanatics

Our Prophet (pbuh) is the most perfect implementer of the Qur'an. He lived his whole life in compliance with the Qur'an and is the finest role model for Muslims. All his words and actions are without doubt fully compatible with the Qur'an, and some of those have come down to the present. Some of these sayings of his, known as hadiths, clearly belong to our Prophet (pbuh) and are completely trustworthy since they reflect the practices of the Qur'an. Many hadiths referring to the End Times in particular have remained completely unchanged and foretold extraordinary things that would take place in the future. These hadiths have all come true, one after the other, in our time. The hadiths foretold, 1,400 years ago, events that would only occur once in human history, such as the coming of the double-tailed comet Lulin, the occupation of Afghanistan, the Iraq War and 9/11 attacks (For detailed information see The Prophet Jesus (pbuh) and Hazrat Mahdi (pbuh) Will Come This Century, Harun Yahya, Global Publishing). Therefore, the things foretold by our Prophet (pbuh) are exceedingly valuable to us, and we need to regard trustworthy hadiths as glad tidings and blessings, and must not disregard them all.

However, it is also a fact that there are books of hadiths that contain things that were added at a later time and have nothing to do with the true sayings and practices of our Prophet (pbuh). The distinguishing feature between these and the trustworthy hadiths is that they are completely incompatible with the Qur’an. It is impossible for words or practices that clash with the Qur’an to belong to our Prophet (pbuh).

Therefore, in looking at the religion of the fanatics, a completely different faith from Islam, we need to know some facts about these hadiths because the religion of the fanatics has no place in the Qur’an, the only true scripture of Islam. So where is it?

The religion of the fanatics lies in traditions and superstition spread by word of mouth, but mainly in fabricated hadiths, which have been invented but presented as the words of our Prophet (pbuh).

In the centuries that followed the revelation of the Qur’an, various practices and sayings of our Prophet (pbuh) began to be collected together as hadiths. The hadiths are believed to have begun being written down as of the Second Century Hijri. Some of the hadiths in question have been preserved; others, however, have been incorrectly transmitted, distorted or else completely fabricated.

As we have already seen, we need to look to the Qur’an to see whether a hadith really represents the words or actions of our Prophet (pbuh). If a hadith is in agreement with the Qur’an, then it is true. If a hadith that refers to the future has already come about, then it is also true. If, however, the hadith in question conflicts with the Qur’an, then there is no room for doubt; that hadith cannot be regarded as true.

Are the hadiths necessary for a Muslim? First of all, the only "indispensable" reference for a Muslim is the Qur'an, and the Qur'an is, by itself, quite sufficient for a Muslim. As our Almighty Lord reveals, every Muslim will be questioned solely with regard to the Qur'an. However, it is of course a great blessing to know about the practices or miracles of our Prophet (pbuh) based on the Qur'an. It is not obligatory for a Muslim to abide by the hadiths, but the words and actions of our Prophet (pbuh), and what he foretold for the future, are all important guides. For that reason, it is very important to be able to differentiate between what is true and what is false, and to be able to recognize the accurate hadiths that have come down to the present day.

For some Islamic communities, however, the problem is that they have abandoned the Qur’an and adopted fabricated hadiths as their guides instead. We shall be looking at these hadiths under the heading of “fabricated hadiths:”

Fabricated Hadiths that Shape the Religion of the Fanatics

The term “fabricated hadith” refers to words or traditions attributed by means of lies and slanders to the Prophet (pbuh), but which were in fact never spoken by him. In other words, it means the deliberate misuse of words never spoken by the Prophet (pbuh) as if they were a genuine hadith uttered by him.

Fabricated hadiths are the main subject matter of the next chapters of this book, because these hadiths are the main cause of the growth of a new faith that has replaced the Qur’an in some Muslim communities. We will be discussing the most striking and most current of the fabricated hadiths in question; lying hadiths, in other words. This is in order to expose the superstition on which the false conception of Islam in question is based and to show its false nature with evidence from the Qur’an. We hope that in this way, some people improperly acquainted with Islam will come to realize that the religion of the fanatics is not only based on misunderstanding, but is in fact built on an entirely fraudulent system. At the same time, those who unwisely criticize Islam and the Qur’an may see that they are mistaken and that many people with supposedly “Muslim” identities have almost nothing to do with the true Islam and the Qur’an. We also hope that the clarifications given here will be instrumental in people who are sincere but forced to live under the fanatical mindset, and who regard that as the one and only system and imagine that to be the truth, coming to the true path of the Qur’an.

Our Prophet (pbuh) Did Not Allow any Hadith to be Written Down

We know from historical records, and the first hadiths that have come down to us, that there were no written hadiths in the time of the Prophet (pbuh) or of the Four Caliphs. Al-Harawi says this on the subject: "Neither the companions of the Prophet, nor those followers in point of time, the ones that lived after Muhammad was dead, but had conversed with at least one of his companions wrote any of his sayings. They just transmitted them by word of mouth. There is no exception of this outside of one or two instances. Being afraid of their sinking into oblivion, Omar ibn Abdul Aziz, in a letter addressed to Abu Bakr al-Hazm, wanted him to try to research traditions and have them copied." Yazid ibn Abd al-Maliq removed Abu Bakr al-Hazm and those working with him from their posts on the death of Omar ibn Abdul Aziz. The next caliph, Hisham, is regarded as the first person to collect the hadiths of az-Zuhri. This dates back to two or three centuries after the death of our Prophet (pbuh).

There is information in other sources confirming that our Prophet (pbuh) prohibited the writing of hadiths. Some of them are as follows:

Abu Saeed al-Khudry said, "I asked the Messenger of God a permission to write his hadiths, but he refused to give me a permission." (Taq-yeed Al-Ilm)

One day, the Messenger of God came to us while we were recording the Hadith. He asked "What are you writing down?" "These are Hadiths that we have heard from you," answered we. "Do you want to depend upon a book other than the Book of God (The Holy Qur'an)?" reproached the Messenger of God. "The nations who came before you were misled only when they recorded books besides the Book of God." (The Prohibition of Recording the Hadith, Causes and Effects, Sayyid Ali Al-Shahristani; Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal 3:12-13; Al-Khatib al-Baghdadiy; Taqyid al-'Ilm, 33; Al-Haythamiy, Majma 'al Zawa'id 1:151)

O people! The Fire is blazed, and sedition is coming like the waves of the dusky night! By God you can lay nothing to my charge. I have surely made lawful only what the Qur'an has made lawful and have prohibited only what the Qur'an has prohibited. (Sirat ibn Hisham, Biography of the Prophet, Al-Falah Foundation, p. 286)

Salman narrated: "The Messenger of God…. said: 'The lawful is what God made lawful in His Book, the unlawful is what God made unlawful in his Book, and what He was silent about; then it is among that for which He has pardoned." (Jami at-Tirmidhi, Volume 3, p. 456 Hadith no: 1726; Sunan Abu Dawud)

From the hadith above we can readily conclude the following: it is obvious that our Prophet (pbuh) did not make anything unlawful other than what the Qur'an prescribes as unlawful. Consequently, those who make additions to the Qur'an by means of hadith and those who make up unlawful things by using the hadith are not telling the truth. This also holds true for those who, resorting to hadith, try to legitimize what is unlawful – for instance, violence – and proclaim it lawful.

The Rightly-Guided Caliphs Did Not Allow the Writing of Hadiths

The hadiths claimed to have been narrated from our Prophet (saas) were first written down two or three centuries after his death.

All the Rightly-Guided Caliphs followed in the footsteps of our Prophet (pbuh) and did not let the hadith be written down or even be related. Although these first four caliphs were the people who best knew about the words and practices of the Prophet (pbuh), they did not narrate any hadith in order to ensure that people take the religion described in the Qur'an as their sole guide of religion.

Following the death of our Prophet (pbuh), Abu Bakr (ra) gathered people and said the following to them:

You relate from the Messenger of God traditions regarding which you disagree, and consequently severer controversy shall occur among people. So relate nothing from the Messenger of God, and when asked by anyone you can say: The Book of God is the arbitrator between us. Deem lawful what it considers lawful, and deem unlawful what is considered unlawful in it. (Al-Dhahabi in Tadhkirat-al-Hufadh, v. 1, p. 3)

Umar (ra) sent letters to the Companions of our Prophet (pbuh) residing in other cities and asked them to destroy all the handwritten hadith they had in their possession.

According to another account about Umar (ra), he said:

I recall those nations before you, they too have written books and held on to them, forsaking the Book of God. I would never intermingle anything to the Book of God. (Al-Khatib al-Baghdadiy, Taqyid al-'Ilm )

Ali ibn Abu Talib (ra) also objected to writing down any hadith or their narration. He once said in one of his speeches:

I urge all those who have writings taken from the Messenger of God to go home and erase it. The people before you were annihilated because they followed the hadiths of their scholars and left the book of their Lord. (Sunan al-Daramy)

In another account it is said:

Al-Hãrith Al-A'war said: "I passed by the Masjid when the people were absorbed in storytelling. So I entered upon 'Ali and said: 'O Commander of the believers! Do you not see the people are becoming engrossed in story-telling?' He said: 'They have been consumed with it?' I said: 'Yes.' He said: 'As for me, I heard the Messenger of God saying: "Indeed there comes a Fitnah." So I said: "What is the way out from it O Messenger of God?" He said: "God's Book. In it is news of what happened before you, and information about what comes after you, and judgment for what happens between you. It is the Criterion (between right and wrong) without jest. Whoever among the oppressive abandons it, God crushes him, and whoever seeks guidance from other than it, then God leaves him to stray. It is the firm rope of God, it is the wise remembrance, it is the straight path, and it is the one that the desires cannot distort, nor can the tongues twist it, nor can the scholars ever have enough of it, and it shall not become dull from reciting it much, and the amazement of it does not diminish." (Jami at-Tirmidhi, Volume 5, p. 238-239, Hadith No: 2906)

Some of the Companions of Our Prophet (pbuh) Objected to Collecting Hadith

A great majority of the prominent Companions strictly held on to the advice of our Prophet (pbuh):

Narrated 'Abdul-'Aziz bin Rufai': Shaddad bin Ma'quil and I entered upon Ibn Abbas. Shaddad bin Ma'quil asked him, "Did the Prophet leave anything (besides the Qur'an)?" He replied, "He did not leave anything except what is between the two bindings (of the Qur'an)." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 6, p. 441, Hadith No:5019)

Ibn Abbas forbade writing down hadiths and said: "Those nations before you have gone astray because they came up with books like these." (Ibn 'Adb al-Barr, Jami' Bayan al-'Ilm WaFadlih)

Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud came with pages of hadiths and said, "Verily this book contains sedition, delusion and heresy. The past nations who had Divine Books perished because they followed such books and neglected the Book of God. I hereby ask anyone who knows where such books are found to lead me to them. I swear by Him Who prevails my soul that if I know that such a book is found in Dayr al-Hind [a village in Syria], I will bring them even if I have to go there on foot." Then he asked for water and erased that book. (The Prohibition of Recording the Hadith, Causes and Effects, Sayyid Ali Al-Shahristani)

Ludwig Deutsch's oil painting "The Learned," 1901

The Idolaters and Hypocrites Tried to Harass Our Prophet (pbuh)

When prophets communicated the message of the Divine religions, their first opponents were the so-called scholars of their times, those who considered themselves entitled to dictate religious commandments and those who benefitted from society's erroneous customs and traditions. Similarly, when our Prophet (pbuh) communicated the message of the Qur'an, idolaters, or radicals of his time were the ones that opposed him most and even tried to martyr him. These people could not accept the religion of God, because God's religion was easy, because it was the source of joy and removed burdens that bothered people. They opposed this religion because it saved people from being choked by made-up rules and customs, because it encouraged people to contemplate and research, and introduced compassion, love and kindness, because this religion taught people that they were all equal, and valued and respected women. They tried to pressure our Prophet (pbuh) into amending the Qur'an –may God forbid– and wanted to introduce their system, brimming with countless meaningless rules and superstitions they inherited from their forefathers. The pressure of hypocrites, idolaters and the radicals of the time on our Prophet (pbuh) is related in the following verse:

They were very near to enticing you away from some of what we have revealed to you, hoping that you would invent something against us. Then they would have taken you as their intimate. If We had not made you firm, you would have leaned towards them a little. Then We would have let you taste a double punishment in life and a double punishment in death. You would not have found any helper against Us. (Qur'an, 17:73-75)

When Our clear signs are recited to them, those who do not expect to meet Us say, "Bring a Qur'an other than this one or change it. Bring a Qur'an other than this one or change it." Say: "It is not for me to change it of my own accord. I follow nothing except what is revealed to me. I fear, were I to disobey my Lord, the punishment of a Dreadful Day." (Qur'an, 10:15)s

Say: "I am forbidden to worship those you call upon besides God." Say: "I do not follow your whims and desires. If I did I would go astray and not be among the guided." (Qur'an, 6:56)

Where Did Fabricated Hadiths Come from?

The words claimed to have been said by our Prophet (pbuh) and accounts regarded as representing the practices of our Prophet (pbuh) were written down only centuries after his demise. Of the authors of the famous Kutub al-Sittah (The Six Books), consisting of six books of hadiths, Bukhari died in Hijri 256, Muslim in 261, Tirmidhi in 279, Abu Dawud in 275, an-Nasai in 303 and Ibn al-Majah in 273. Furthermore, Shiite hadith books are different, and some Sunnis and Shiites do not recognize one another's books of hadiths. The Shiite books of hadiths were prepared more recently. Of the famous Shiite collectors of hadiths, al-Kulayni died in Hijri 329, Babawayh in 381, Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn Hassan Tusi in 411 and al-Murtadha in 436.

Before Bukhari, no attempt was made to differentiate between hadiths on the basis of their degrees of validity. The efforts to divide them into "trustworthy" and "weak" began with Bukhari. However, examination of the hadiths shows that these endeavors were unsuccessful. Not only weak hadiths, but even totally fabricated ones were disseminated under the name of Islam and increasingly grew in numbers.

It was impossible to prevent that state of affairs at that time because six or seven generations had passed from the death of our Prophet (pbuh) until the writing of these books, and the famous books of hadiths in which these hadiths are related involve chains of transmission to, and from, six or seven people. When the hadiths in question were narrated, even the link after the link after the link after the Prophet (pbuh) had passed on. In other words, the people who could have confirmed whether or not the people who handed those hadiths on were speaking the truth were themselves dead.

Hadith scholars were aware of this. Muslim said that he did not include every hadith he regarded as being completely trustworthy in his book (Muslim, Vol. 1). Bukhari, who said that hadiths were the source of the faith, knew 600,000 hadiths but only included 6,000-7,000, or 1% of the total. He concluded that the remaining 99% were not trustworthy and did not include them in his book. This means that the hadiths for the entire Islamic world were determined solely according to the opinions of a few people, and this is indeed a terrible state of affairs for those who regard the hadiths as "the source of the faith" because they can never acquire any information about other hadiths which may be regarded as trustworthy by others, but that Muslim did not feel necessary to include in his book. Let us remember at this point that while all this analysis was going on, the Holy Qur'an, the utterly trustworthy, protected and unchanging beauty of Islam, was set to one side.

The Egyptian commentator Ahmad Amin makes the following assessment, revealing the scale of fabrication of hadiths:

“Were we to make an expository display of the hadiths, we would be confronted with a pyramid, the summit illustrating the period of God’s messenger. As we go down we observe the gradual expansion toward the base. Yet, the ideal should have been the reverse; for, the companions of the Prophet best knew what the Prophet uttered. As they were to pass away, the number of those who knew the words uttered by the Prophet would decrease and the pyramid would have changed its position and turned upside down. Yet, we observe that the number of hadiths is even greater under the Omayyads than during the lifetime of the Prophet.” (Ahmad Amin, Duha al-Islam)

That being the case, the existence and trustworthiness of hundreds of thousands of hadiths, all different to one another and sometimes even contradicting each another, has also led to hostilities between some hadith scholars. For example, while Ikrima is a reliable source in the eyes of Bukhari and several famous hadith scholars, he is accused of lying by Muslim. Perhaps the most interesting of these is the way that Bukhari, the author of the best known book of hadiths in Islam, declares Abu Hanafi, the head of the Hanafi school, to be “ghayr al-siqah,” in other words “unreliable,” and carries not one hadith narrated by him. In the view of the most famous hadith scholar, the founder of the most famous school is deemed unreliable, yet much of the Muslim world regards the two of them as the most trustworthy hadith scholars. The fact is there are as many inconsistencies in the debates about the reliability of those who related the hadiths as there are in the hadiths.

Another problem, apart from the fact that a variety of fabricated hadiths have found their way among the many fine hadiths passed down from our Prophet (pbuh) that do reflect the spirit of the Qur’an, is the way the hadiths were handed down. Many people imagine that the hadiths have come down directly from the mouth of our Prophet (pbuh), but that is not so: Not even hadith scholars claim that these are directly transmitted sayings. Many hadith scholars, and especially Bukhari, have considered that it is enough for the meaning of the hadith to have been transmitted and that there is no need to have memorized them word for word. That, of course, has made it possible for much additional commentary to have entered these sayings, for misunderstood subjects to be handed down as true, and for people with a less than total understanding of the subject to have become involved in transmission.

While it has been regarded as sufficient to transmit the sense of the hadith, failure to hear the beginning and end of the hadith has also sometimes led to a loss of meaning. For example, two people came to Aisha (ra) and said to her that Abu Hurayrah narrates that the Prophet used to say that ill fortune is to be found only in women, horses and houses. At this Aisha (ra) replied: “By God Who revealed the Qur’an to the Prophet! The Prophet never said this; what he did say was that the People of the Ignorance hold this opinion.”

There is no doubt that the founders of the four schools were all worthy Muslims and Islamic scholars. However, we need to know that it was the hadiths in question that were instrumental in the founding of those schools. The founders of the four schools based those schools on the hadiths they personally selected. The four imams founded their own schools by going beyond the criteria employed by the hadith imams who wrote the collections of hadiths in the Kutub al-Sittah. As we have already seen, Abu Hanafi, the founder of the Hanafi school, the largest of the four, has been criticized by other hadith imams, especially Bukhari, on the grounds of having a weak knowledge of the hadiths and generally emphasizing his own opinions.

Despite such division among hadith scholars and schools, there have also been those who have claimed that the hadiths are undeniable. Such people have spread the nonsensical idea that anyone who denies even a single hadith in Bukhari and Muslim is an unbeliever. Some people have gone even further, as we shall be seeing in detail in due course, claiming that the hadiths supersede the commandments of the Qur'an. It is these terrifying irrationalities that underlie the extremism that has spread throughout a great part of the Islamic world.

Let us now see how different fabricated hadiths have given rise to different sects with their own rules within Islam.

Osman Hamdi Bey's oil painting "Theologist," 1907	Osman Hamdi Bey's oil painting "Girl Reciting Qur'an," 1880
The founders of the four schools are of course worthy Islamic scholars. However, the foundation of the four schools was in fact based on mutually conflicting hadiths. Each school based itself on the hadiths it preferred.

Differences Between the Islamic Schools of Thought

	SUBJECTS	HANAFI	MALIKI	SHAFI’I	HANBALI
1	The skin of carrion animals	Unlawful	Lawful	Unlawful	Lawful
2	Eating eel	Lawful	-	-	Unlawful
3	(For men) Wearing red clothes	Disliked	Lawful	Unlawful	Disliked
4	(For men) Wearing yellow clothes	Unlawful	Lawful	Unlawful	Unlawful
5	What is the status of playing the oud, horn, tambourine, trumpet or drum?	Disliked	Lawful	Lawful	Unlawful
6	Eating crow meat	Unlawful	Lawful	Unlawful	Unlawful
7	Eating horsemeat	Unlawful	Lawful	-	-
8	Eating mussels	Unlawful	Lawful	-	-
9	Eating oysters	Unlawful	Lawful	-	-
10	Eating swallow meat	Lawful	Lawful	Unlawful	Unlawful
11	Eating eagle meat	Unlawful	Lawful	Unlawful	Unlawful
12	What is the distance at which it is unlawful to pass in front of someone praying?	40 cubits	1 cubit	3 cubits	3 cubits
13	Does talking inadvertently during prayer invalidate the prayer?	Yes	No	No	Yes
14	Does it invalidate the prayer to utter “Ah” or “Oh” during it?	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
15	The number of fard (compulsory) components in ablution	4	7	6	7
16	Is it compulsory to perform ablution in a given order?	No	No	Yes	Yes
17	Is it compulsory to perform ablution without pause?	No	Yes	No	Yes
18	The number of factors that invalidate ablution	12	3	5	8
19	Does loud laughter during prayer invalidate ablution?	Yes	No	No	No
20	Does eating camel meat and giving a dead person a final wash invalidate ablution?	No	No	No	Yes
21	Does doubt invalidate ablution?	No	No	No	Yes
22	Does flowing blood invalidate ablution?	Yes	No	No	No
23	The number of causes that make ghusl (major ablution) obligatory?	7	4	5	6
24	The number of fard (compulsory) components in ghusl	11	5	3	-
25	What is the ruling for those who do not perform prayer out of negligence or laziness?	To be detained, to be beaten until they bleed, to be killed	To be killed if they don’t repent	To be killed if they don't repent in three days	To be killed if they don't repent in three days
26	How many times is it obligatory to say salam at the end of the prayer?	It is not obligatory	It is obligatory to say salam to one side	It is obligatory to say salam to one side	It is obligatory to say salam to both sides
27	Is it obligatory to perform the intention to fast in Ramadan for each day separately?	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
28	Does having a blood sample taken break the fast?	No	No	No	Yes
29	Is it obligatory for men and women to give alms on jewelry?	Yes	No	No	No
30	Is it permissible for a woman to perform the hajj (pilgrimage) without her husband?	No	Yes	Yes	No
31	The number of the pillars of the Hajj	2	4	5	4
32	Is it unlawful to sit or recline on silk or to use it as a cushion or wall covering?	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
33	Is shaving the beard unlawful?	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
34	Is playing backgammon unlawful?	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
35	Is playing chess unlawful?	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
36	What is the ruling concerning an animal that is the victim of bestiality?	It must be killed. Its flesh cannot be eaten.	It is not killed. Its flesh can be eaten.	It is not killed. Its flesh can be eaten.	It must be killed.
37	What is the punishment for drinking wine and other intoxicants?	80 lashes	80 lashes	40 lashes	80 lashes
38	Is it permissible for the property of an apostate who has been executed to be given to his/her heirs?	Yes	No	No	No
39	Does the death penalty apply to female apostates?	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
40	Is it permissible for a woman to be a judge?	Yes	No	No	No
41	Are dogs impure?	No	No	Yes	Yes

Ludwig Deutsch's oil painting “At Prayer,” 1923

Those Who Seek Commandments outside the Qur’an Must Turn to the Truth of the Faith

Thousands of fabricated, misreported and distorted hadiths, interpreted in the light of individuals’ own desires, are currently regarded as the most important source of Islam. Islam has been divided into four separate schools; in essence, four separate religions, each conflicting with one another, have been established. Many of our Muslim brothers imagine that this is the truth of the faith, apply it unknowingly and think that many untrustworthy hadiths are actually true. This superstition, which represents the main cause of so much conflict today, is the product of mindsets that cannot agree with one another on the subject of the hadiths. Let us remind ourselves of an important fact that we have already seen, and that we shall frequently be repeating in this book; the only complaint that our Prophet (pbuh) makes to our Lord in the Qur’an is that the Qur’an has been set aside as an abandoned Book:

The Messenger says, “My Lord, my people treat this Qur’an as something to be ignored.” (Qur’an, 25:30)

If our Lord wished, of course He could place all of our Prophet’s (pbuh) words under protection, and these 1,400-year-old sayings would have come down to us unchanged, just like the verses of the Qur’an. However, the Qur’an by itself is sufficient for the perfect implementation of Islam; indeed, all the practices of our Prophet (pbuh) are in the Qur’an. That is why our Lord has protected the Qur’an and why it is sufficient for all Muslims. Since the Qur’an is protected and immutable, the peddlers of superstition have never been able to use it as a basis for their superstition, have produced no evidence from the Qur’an for the version of Islam they have tried to make very difficult and have always tried to produce evidence from the hadiths in question instead. However, there is one path, one description and one mind in the Qur’an around which all Muslims can unite.

The Qur’an was revealed as a guide and a blessing for Muslims:

...This is not a narration which has been invented but confirmation of all that came before, a clarification of everything, and a guidance and a mercy for people who believe.. (Qur'an, 12:111)

God speaks in the Qur’an of the existence of people who regard the Qur’an as insufficient or null and void (surely God and the Qur’an are beyond that) and who follow false discourse instead:

Those are God’s signs We recite to you with truth. In what discourse, then, after God and His signs, will they believe? (Qur'an, 45:6)

God calls on people to reflect on the Qur’an, the unchanging commandments of God and the true Book of Islam, against these false sayings that are all riddles with contradictions:

Will they not ponder the Qur’an? If it had been from other than God, they would have found many inconsistencies in it. (Qur'an, 4:82)

When the Qur’an is abandoned, when the Islam in the Qur’an is regarded as insufficient (surely the Qur’an is above that) and when people start looking for a new faith, confusion, disagreements and enmities always follow on one another’s heels. Those people who unwisely criticize the Qur’an and try to establish the functionality of the religion they have manufactured, use superstition to try and turn future generations as well away from the Qur’an.

Radicals Seek to Hold on to "What They Learned from Their Forefathers"

An extremist mentality has its own rights and wrongs, its own list of forbidden (haram) and lawful (halal) things. Hundreds of thousands of people who live by this extremist mentality unknowingly follow this wrong thinking. Their criteria are not the commands of God, but instead the knowledge passed down through generations and the rules they follow in the name of religion. God sent down the Religion of Truth to guide people who had strayed from the right path over time to the real path of salvation, and to give the glad tidings that this salvation is in fact very easy. However, for a radical, it is unacceptable for religion to be easy, or for it to give people the glad tidings of joy and happiness. This is because for the radicals, religion takes away the joy of living, the energy and the pleasures of people (true religion is surely above such thoughts). For a radical, the more difficult a religion, the better it is. They know that all people would easily and lovingly practice religion if they understood how easy it is. However, this would leave the radicals without their imagined status of ‘respectable, serious scholars.' Because of this, throughout history, radicals have always resisted the true religion sent down by God, and have wanted instead to continue to follow the ‘system they learned from their forefathers’. This truth is explained as follows in the Qur'an:

Their leaders went off saying, "Carry on as you are! Hold fast to your gods. This is clearly something planned. We have not heard of this in the old religion. This is merely something contrived." (Qur’an, 38:6-7)

When they are told, "Follow what God has sent down to you," they say, "We are following what we found our fathers doing." What, even though their fathers did not understand a thing and were not guided! (Qur'an, 2:170)

They said, "Have you come to us to make us worship God alone and abandon what our fathers used to worship? Then bring us what you have promised us if you are telling the truth." (Qur'an, 7:170)

Whenever they commit an indecent act, they say, "We found our fathers doing it and God commanded us to do it too." Say: "God does not command indecency. Do you say things about God you do not know?" (Qur'an, 7:28)

The Islamic World’s Abandonment of the Qur’an

Some Muslims have systematically turned their backs on the Qur’an over the years because of these fabricated hadiths and the superstition that various supposed scholars have tried to add onto the faith. According to the fabricated hadiths and pronouncements made jointly by various Islamic scholars many practices have spread that have no place in the Qur’an. These are so difficult and obstructive that many people have begun regarding the Qur’an as “untouchable.” For example;

◉ Nonsense such as the ideas that “The Qur’an must not be touched unless one has performed ritual ablutions” has made reading the Qur’an difficult.

◉ Although ritual ablution is clearly set out in just one verse of the Qur’an and is exceptionally easy, according to the superstition of the fanatics, there are thousands of things that can invalidate ablution set out in many long books. Touching the Qur’an has therefore been made almost impossible.

◉ The Qur’an is generally not to be touched. It can only be placed somewhere high up inside a protective covering and never brought down again.

◉ While the Qur’an should be the most important part of a Muslim’s life, this nonsense says that only at certain times, such as the month of Ramadan, holy nights and at funerals, the Qur’an should be read and only in Arabic. It is absolutely forbidden for a person to read it in his own tongue. Under the faith of superstition, many people have come to believe that it is a sin to read the Qur’an in their own native language. That is why so many non-Arab communities are ignorant of the content of the Qur’an.

According to the fabricated hadiths and agreements of scholars, the Qur'an is not generally to be read, only to be placed somewhere high up and never taken down again.

◉ Because of that mentality, millions of Muslims in the world are quite bluntly unaware of what the Qur’an says.

◉ Although there is no obligation to cover the head in the Qur’an (this will be discussed in due course) and although it contains no rule about only touching the Qur’an in a state of ritual purification, it is still forbidden in this superstitious faith for a woman to touch the Qur’an unless her head is covered and she has purified herself. In the same way, many specious commandments have been invented that prevent the Qur’an being touched through many rules that are very difficult to abide by for men as well.

◉ One of the best-known myths invented to prevent access to the Qur’an is the idea that that the Qur’an cannot be understood alone, that one needs the interpretations and commentaries of scholars in order to understand it. Some Muslims brought up in this way have believed that they will not be able to find sufficient explanation in the Qur’an, despite God saying “… We have made all things very clear”(Qur'an, 17:12) in one verse, and have imagined that the fabricated hadiths imposed on them are true guideposts.

The Qur’an Is Our Guide and Should Be in Our Hands at All Times

TRANSLATION OF THE HOLY QUR'AN

The Qur’an is our guide that must be read everywhere and at all times. Yet because of these rules it is all but impossible for a Muslim to so much as pick it up.

Yet in the verse “And remember the signs of God and the wise words which are recited in your rooms...” (Qur'an, 33:34) the Qur’an is described as always being read and its wisdom as always being borne in mind. In another verse God describes the Qur’an in the words, “That is the Book, without any doubt. It contains guidance for those who have piety’’ (Qur'an, 2:2). In order for a book to be a guide, people need to know the wisdom it contains. The verses of the Qur’an reveal that it is a guide, a light that illuminates the way, a measure that distinguishes truth from falsehood, evidence against those in rebellion, a miracle, medicine for those with spiritual sickness in their hearts, glad tidings for believers who are troubled, advice and a reminder for all people, a law that sets out all matters in detail, guidance that deepens reflection, an explanation of all things in various forms, a warning for those who use their intelligence and a means for bringing people who are in dispute together. Yet those people who desire fanaticism have first of all prevented people from having access to the Qur’an.

When people are prevented from accessing the Qur’an, it naturally becomes impossible for a Muslim to tell the difference between truth and falsity as they have no standard of comparison. There is also no possibility of establishing the truth of hadiths on the basis of the Qur’an; when the Qur'an is replaced by superstition and false hadiths, the result is a brand new faith totally different from the Qur’an. That fanatical faith has come to dominate the Islamic world through these methods.

Is it not enough for them that We have sent down to you the Book which is recited to them? There is certainly a mercy and reminder in that for people who have iman. (Quran 29:51)	You who have iman! do not make haram the good things Allah has made halal for you, and do not overstep the limits. Allah does not love people who overstep the limits. (Quran 5:87)

A Major Problem: The Defamatory Idea that the Hadiths Have Abrogated Verses

We have already looked at the subject of abrogation. We have examined, with full supporting evidence, the illogicality of the idea that one verse can cancel out another. The problem here is that some supposed scholars of religion have gone so far as to say that hadiths have abrogated the commands in verses.

Those who make that claim are essentially defaming our Prophet (pbuh). They are cunningly trying to make people believe that our Prophet (pbuh) went beyond the Qur’an with his words and practices and did things that are not in the Qur’an (surely our Prophet is beyond that).

Our Prophet (pbuh) governed on the basis of the Qur’an and lived by the Qur’an alone. Our Prophet (pbuh) has absolutely no authority to make anything lawful or unlawful outside the Qur’an, and because of his prophethood and powerful fear of God, he would in any case never do such a thing. Almighty God reveals in a verse that this attracts His wrath:

… this (the Qur’an) is the word of a noble messenger. It is not the word of a poet –how little faith you have! Nor the word of a fortune-teller –how little heed you pay! It is a revelation from the Lord of all the worlds. If he had made up any sayings and ascribed them to Us, We would have seized him by force, and then We would have cut off his life-blood and not one of you could have protected him. (Qur'an, 69:40-47)

The Qur’an is an explanation of everything and has been preserved. As God reveals in one verse:

...This (the Qur’an) is not a narration which has been invented but confirmation of all that came before, a clarification of everything, and a guidance and a mercy for people who believe. (Qur'an, 12:111)

As is clear from the verse, “O Prophet! Why do you make unlawful what God has made lawful for you, seeking to please your wives? God is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful” (Qur'an, 66:1), our Prophet (pbuh) has no authority to make lawful things unlawful, even in his own private life. In addition, God makes it clear in numerous verses, such as “Jurisdiction over it belongs to God alone” (Qur'an, 6:57) and “Nor does He share His rule with anyone” (Qur'an, 18:26) that He is the only source of commandments and jurisdiction. God’s commandments are in the Qur’an.

It is therefore impossible for our Prophet (pbuh) to issue a commandment that God has not issued.

When access to the Qur’an is obstructed and some people have the sheer effrontery to say that the verses of the Qur’an have been abrogated by hadiths, it becomes exceedingly easy to fabricate a new religion and attract large masses of people toward it. Let us have a look at some fabricated hadiths in order to see this new Islam which is entirely different from the one in the Qur’an.

WHEN MUSLIMS LIVE BY THE QUR'AN, THERE WILL NO LONGER BE SUCH LOVELESS AND HATEFUL SCENES …

It is various false and fabricated hadiths that represent the source of violence in the name of Islam. These hadiths and practices are diametrically opposed to the content and spirit of the Qur'an. These hadiths that represent the basis of superstition must therefore be identified and precautionary measures be set out in a rational manner.

Understanding the Limits of the Fanatical Mindset

Some Westerners who criticize the fanatical mindset are generally unaware of the bounds of that mentality. The rules of this religion developed on the basis of false sayings, false teachers and superstition are far more terrifying than they imagine. The signs of a radical’s extremism are not limited to his strapping on a bomb and blowing himself up. A terrifying mentality reveals itself at every moment of a radical’s life. Everything is redolent with darkness, from the environment he lives in to his family life, from his opinion of women to his views of all living things and from his conception of cleanliness to his idea of happiness.

In demonstrating this perspective, we shall be presenting the false hadiths that inspire radicals and responding to them with verses from the Qur’an. That is in order to show the source of radicalism and that it has nothing to do with Islam. Let us start with a reminder we shall be repeating at every stage; none of the superstition we shall be examining here actually appears in the Qur’an: The false hadiths and practices in question are the diametric opposite of the content and spirit of the Qur’an. They conflict with the Qur’an, and therefore are not part of Islam and these fabrications have always harmed Muslims. For that reason, they need to be explicitly exposed in order to establish the precautions that can be taken against this menace.

The Killing of People Who Drink Alcohol

This commandment, which appears nowhere in the Qur’an, was added onto Islam with this superstition. Yet verses of the Qur’an speak of the existence of people who are Muslims and who even discharge their religious obligations despite drinking alcohol. One verse says:

You who believe, do not approach the prayer when you are drunk, so that you will know what you are saying … (Qur'an, 4:43)

There are two important pronouncements in this verse. A Muslim may have sinned by drinking alcohol, but he has not renounced the faith or become an unbeliever. The verse explicitly says that there may be those among Muslims who drink out of error, but these are advised to be sober when they pray. God has forbidden someone who is drunk to perform an observance requiring such great concentration as the salat (prayer), and in which the person concerned must know what he is saying and doing in repeating the name of God. Yet the verse also makes it clear that the person goes back to praying after he has sobered up, once the state of drunkenness has passed. In other words, that person is still a Muslim.

The Qur’an is sending the message with this clear pronouncement that even if people make a mistake, they do not necessarily renounce the faith, while the false hadith literally refers to murder. The problem is that many people in the radical world know the false hadith by heart but are unaware of the true pronouncement in the Qur’an.

A 1. FABRICATED HADITH SOURCES That Order That Alcohol-Drinkers Should Be Killed

B 2. According to the Qur'an, when a Muslim drinks alcohol, he will be committing a sin, but he will not divorce himself from Islam and he will not be an unbeliever. That person can repent for his sin. God has always shown people the way for redemption. However, in the non-Qur'anic Islamic understanding, there is no reason to make an effort to win people. On the contrary, that mentality seeks to punish and oppress people. 3. IN THE QUR'ANIC ISLAM, THERE IS NO COMMANDMENT THAT SAYS PEOPLE WHO DRINK ALCOHOL SHOULD BE KILLED.

C 4. FABRICATED HADITH SOURCES That Order That Alcohol-Drinkers Should Be Killed 5. IN THE QUR'ANIC ISLAM, THERE IS NO COMMANDMENT THAT SAYS PEOPLE WHO DRINK ALCOHOL SHOULD BE KILLED.

D 6. The fabricated hadiths and accounts regarding the killing of people who drink alcohol are diametrically opposite to the message and spirit of the Qur'an. They all contradict the Qur'an and therefore do not belong to the religion of Islam.

The Killing of People Who Commit Adultery

John William Waterhouse's oil painting “Thisbe,” 1909

False hadiths on the practice of stoning to death were fabricated in order to include the commandment of the Torah about the stoning of adulterers in Islam and to justify such a revolting practice.

Slay those who commit adultery. (1623-Tirmidhi, 1601)

In case of married male committing adultery with a married female, they shall receive one hundred lashes and be stoned to death. (Sahih Muslim, Book 17, Hadith 4191)

These false hadiths were invented in order to make the stoning of people who commit adultery, which appears in the distorted Torah, also part of Islam and to attempt to justify this barbaric practice. Some supposed scholars have even gone so far as to fabricate other false hadiths in order to have the fabrication in question included in the hadith literature. These hadiths, a few examples of which are set out below, are full of slanders aimed against our Prophet (pbuh), the Caliphs and the Companions for the sake of justifying the practice of stoning to death:

(Narrated 'Aisha) "The verse of the stoning and of suckling an adult ten times were revealed, and they were (written) on a paper and kept under my bed. When the Messenger of God expired and we were preoccupied with his death, a goat entered and ate away the paper." (Musnad Ahmad bin Hanbal, vol. 6. p. 269; Sunan Ibn Majah, p. 626; Ibn Qutbah, Tawil Mukhtalafi 'l-Hadith (Cairo: Maktaba al-Kulliyat al-Azhariyya. 1966) p. 310; As-Suyuti, ad-Durru 'l-Manthur, vol. 2. p. 13)

Umar wanted to place the verse about stoning to death that the goat had eaten back in the Qur’an; but he was afraid of public gossip and refrained from doing so. (Sahih Bukhari 53/5; 54/9; 83/3; 93/21;
Sahih Muslim, Kitab al-Hudud 8/1431; Sunan Abu Dawud 41/1; Itkan 2/34)

'Abdullah b. 'Abbas reported that 'Umar b. Khattab sat on the pulpit of God's Messenger (pbuh) and said: Verily God sent Muhammad (pbuh) with truth and He sent down the Book upon him, and the verse of stoning was included in what was sent down to him. We recited it, retained it in our memory and understood it. God's Messenger (pbuh) awarded the punishment of stoning to death (to the married adulterer and adulteress) and, after him, we also awarded the punishment of stoning, I am afraid that with the lapse of time, the people (may forget it) and may say: We do not find the punishment of stoning in the Book of God, and thus go astray by abandoning this duty prescribed by God. Stoning is a duty laid down in God's Book for married men and women who commit adultery when proof is established, or if there is pregnancy, or a confession. (Sahih Muslim, Book 17, Hadith 4194; Sahih Bukhari, Book 82, Hadith 816)

Narrated Jabir bin 'Abdullah As-Salami: ... When we reached Medina, Umar (in a Friday sermon) said, "No doubt, God sent Muhammad with the Truth and revealed to him the Book (Qur'an), and among what was revealed, was the Verse of Ar-rajm (stoning adulterers to death)." (Sahih Bukhari, Book 92, Hadith 424)

Let us examine the above hadiths that are full of countless slanders against the Qur’an, our Prophet (pbuh) and the Companions: God explicitly states in verses that the Qur’an is a Book under Divine protection:

It is We Who have sent down the Reminder and We Who will preserve it. . (Qur'an, 15:9)

It truly is a Noble Qur’an in a well protected Book.(Qur'an, 56:77-78)

Its collection and recitation are Our affair. (Qur'an, 75:17)

First of all, God has explicitly stated that He is the protector of the Qur’an and that it is He Who brought the verses of the Qur’an together and preserves them. We learn from the Qur’an itself that it, the final revelation sent down, is under Divine protection. Since the Qur’an is the Final Book, it will be instrumental in people finding salvation until the Day of Reckoning so the final revelation is placed under the protection of God.

STONING TO DEATH IS AN UN-ISLAMIC, PAGAN TRADITION THAT HAS NO PLACE IN THE QUR'AN.

The penalty of stoning to death applied in countries such as Iran, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia under the name of "Islamic Sharia," is a violation of Islam and the Qur'an, and is indeed murder. The picture above shows stoning in Iran.

Our Lord reveals this to our Prophet (pbuh) with the verse “We will cause you to recite so that you do not forget.” (Qur'an, 87:6). As revealed by this verse, God never allowed our Prophet (pbuh) to forget any verse that had been read to him. It is therefore impossible for there to be any forgotten or deficient verses in the Qur'an.

As to the idea of the goat eating the verse in question, the claim is that a verse found its way out of the Qur'an, a Book which God describes as being preserved and well-protected, or to put it another way, may God forbid, that God was unable to protect the verse (surely God is beyond that). Rejecting the verses in question means doubting God and thus departing from the faith.

Moreover, the Caliph Umar (ra) is also blatantly slandered with fabricated hadiths. It is slanderously alleged that Umar knows a pronouncement that is not in the Qur’an, that he announces it as a verse from the pulpit of Medina despite its not being in the Qur’an, and that the Companions make no objection, yet Hazrat Umar does not include it in the Qur’an because he is supposedly afraid of gossip.

There is no doubt that it is absolutely impossible for the Caliph of our Prophet (pbuh) to say of a pronouncement that does not appear in the Qur’an that “It actually was in the Qur’an.” That would mean Umar denying the fact that the Qur’an is a well-protected Book, and that would mean him denying God’s word (surely Hazrat Umar is beyond that). Umar is being horribly and enormously defamed through these false hadiths.

It is also a terrible slander of the Companions to suggest that they made no objection to a statement in a sermon that a verse of the Qur’an was not protected. It is quite clear that the Companions would have strongly objected to such a claim and immediately have pointed to counter-evidence from the Qur’an.

Another ugly slander of Umar through the false hadiths in question is the allegation that he failed to declare a pronouncement that he thought actually formed part of the Qur’an because he was afraid of gossip. This shows how perverse and horrible the view of God, our Prophet (pbuh), the Caliphs and the Companions adopted by false scholars who fabricate hadiths truly is; Hazrat Umar is an immaculate Muslim who took our Prophet (pbuh) as his role model, lived his whole life for God, faced many difficulties for His sake and who even risked death because of his faith in God and protection of our Prophet (pbuh) and the Qur’an. To say that this superior and blessed person who never feared any criticism, death, battle or threats throughout his life, failed to declare a verse that had been removed from the Qur’an because he was merely afraid of gossip is the foul and slanderous product of a mind that has nothing to do with Islam.

In addition to all that, the pronouncement regarding adultery is set out in quite some detail in the Qur’an, and there is absolutely no place in it for the savagery known as stoning to death, or rajm. If the subject of stoning were in the Qur’an, as the supposed scholars in question suggest, then how could there be two very different pronouncements on the subject of adultery? There could not, of course, and this is just further evidence of fraud.

Now let us set out the only valid pronouncement of our Lord in the Qur’an on the subject of adultery through verses:

THERE ARE NO COMMANDMENTS IN THE QUR'AN THAT SAY ADULTERERS SHOULD BE KILLED OR SHOULD BE STONED TO DEATH.

The claim the fanatics make by means of fabricated hadiths, that a goat ate the verse about adultery, implies that, may God forbid, God was unable to protect the verse (surely God is beyond that). That is equivalent to rejecting the verses in question, doubting the word of God and abjuring the faith.

Adultery in the Eyes of the Qur’an

The pronouncement on adultery in the Qur’an is as follows:

A woman and a man who commit fornication: flog both of them with one hundred lashes (jalda)... (Qur’an, 24:2)

Jalda implies a small stick rather than a large one. In the time of the Prophet (pbuh), this was done by tying 100 sticks together, and the pronouncement was fulfilled by striking the adulterer just once with 100 sticks tied together in this way.

Apart from that, another point needing to be emphasized is that we can see from other statements on the subject that the punishment of the lashes in question is meant to be a deterrent, and one that could not really be administered in practice:

But those who make accusations against chaste women and then do not produce four witnesses: flog them with eighty lashes and never again accept them as witnesses. Such people are deviators. (Qur'an, 24:4)

Vasily Polenov's oil painting titled “Jesus and the Woman Taken in Adultery,” 1888

STONING TO DEATH IS AN UN-ISLAMIC, PAGAN TRADITION THAT HAS NO PLACE IN THE QUR'AN.

As can be seen from this verse, in order to be able to accuse a woman of adultery, four people have to have seen her at the time. These must be eye-witnesses to the act of adultery, not people who saw her before or after it because it would be mere supposition to make that allegation before or after. Since it is in practice not possible for four people to witness an act of adultery, this is clearly intended as a deterrent.

The punishment with 80 lashes of those who are unable to produce witnesses to their allegations of adultery is also a highly deterrent pronouncement. Another verse says that people who accuse a woman of adultery but are unable to back this up with witnesses will be regarded as liars in the Sight of God:

Why did they not produce four witnesses to it? Since they did not bring four witnesses, in God’s Sight, they are liars. (Qur'an, 24:13)

As we have seen, the person who is unable to produce witness is himself accused of lying and defamation. Therefore, the only valid means of knowing whether or not the person is telling the truth is the presence of four witnesses to the adultery. There is simply no other way his words can be valid.

That is the pronouncement of adultery in the eyes of the Qur’an. It is detailed and clear, and the punishment described is very different to stoning to death. Those people who are trying to add the barbarity of stoning onto Islam, despite the clear pronouncement in the verse, are committing a grave slander. The stoning to death implemented under the name of “Islamic Sharia” in countries such as Iran, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia is both murder and a violation of the Qur’an. The practice in question in those countries is murder under the name of Islam.

A 1. FABRICATED HADITH SOURCES About the Killing of Adulterers 2. THERE ARE NO COMMANDMENTS IN THE QUR'AN THAT SAY ADULTERERS SHOULD BE KILLED OR SHOULD BE STONED TO DEATH.

B 3. When fabricated hadiths are followed instead of God's word, the Qur'an, a horrible worldview arises. Fabricated hadiths about stoning to death are examples of this horrible system.

C 4. Our Prophet (pbuh) ruled only with what God sent down and never did anything like stoning adulterers to death. Such hadiths are not authentic.

D. 5. FABRICATED HADITH SOURCES About the Killing of Adulterers 6. THERE ARE NO COMMANDMENTS IN THE QUR'AN THAT SAY ADULTERERS SHOULD BE KILLED. HADITHS ABOUT STONING TO DEATH ARE FABRICATED.

E 7. According to the Qur'an, in order to establish that a man or a woman is engaged in the act of adultery, there have to be four witnesses at the scene during the moment of the act. Also, four of them have to witness the act simultaneously. Since this is practically impossible, the punishment of hitting eighty times with a stick is only of a deterrent nature.

F 8. FABRICATED HADITH SOURCES About the Killing of Adulterers 9. THERE ARE NO COMMANDMENTS IN THE QUR'AN THAT SAY ADULTERERS SHOULD BE KILLED. HADITHS ABOUT STONING TO DEATH ARE FABRICATED.

G. 10. There are no commandments in the Qur'an that say adulterers should be killed. These so-called hadiths are slandering the Prophet (pbuh). The Prophet (pbuh) never ruled against the Qur'an.

H 11. FABRICATED HADITH SOURCES About the Killing of Adulterers 12. THERE ARE NO COMMANDMENTS IN THE QUR'AN THAT SAY ADULTERERS SHOULD BE KILLED. HADITHS ABOUT STONING TO DEATH ARE FABRICATED.

The Killing of People Who Steal

Albert Samuel Anker's oil painting “Old age,” 1885

The killing of those who persist in stealing is another product of fabricated hadiths that has no place in the Qur'an. This is also murder.

Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah: A thief was brought to the Prophet (pbuh). He said: kill him. (Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 38, Hadith 4396)

The pronouncement on the subject of killing people who insist on stealing appears nowhere in the Qur’an and is a product of another fabricated hadith. It is also outright murder.

The pronouncement in the Qur’an regarding people who steal is as follows:

As for thieves, both male and female, cut off their hands in reprisal for what they have done: an object lesson from God. God is Almighty, All-Wise. (Qur'an, 5:38)

The Arabic term used for the verb “to cut” here is “iqtaa.” This word is the plural form of the verb “qata’a,” to cut. The verb “qata’a” in the Qur’an describes a particular mode of cutting, as we can see from its use in another passage:

But when she heard of their malicious talk, she sent for them and made a sumptuous meal and then she gave a knife to each of them. She said, “Go out to them.” When they saw him, they were amazed by him and cut their hands. They said, “God preserve us! This is no man. What can this be but a noble angel here!” (Qur'an, 12:31)

It is quite obvious here that they did not cut their hands off with the knife for peeling fruit that they were given. We can see that the knife slipped from their hands and left a cut in the skin. Therefore, when we bear in mind the meaning of the word, we can see that we are not looking at a pronouncement regarding complete severing, but a cut resembling a scratch or flesh wound being made for deterrent purposes, or to mark the person as a thief and thereby prevent him from doing it again.

Looking at the Qur’an in terms of the pronouncement about stealing, we can see that, as with all forms of crime, the emphasis is always on forgiveness here. The verse after 5:38, in which the pronouncement about stealing is set out, is about forgiving people who commit that action. The most important condition for this, of course, is that the person should repent afterward and amend his ways. The verse reads:

But if anyone repents after his wrongdoing and puts things right, God will turn towards him. God is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (Qur'an, 5:39)

Another important point needing to be emphasized here is the reason for the theft. Societies in which the pronouncement of the Qur’an in question about stealing will be implemented are without doubt societies loyal to the Sharia of the Qur’an. It is impossible for a society that abides by the Sharia of the Qur’an to have rich people on one side and very poor people on the other because societies based on the Qur’an are societies with the most perfect welfare systems. In other words, people of means protect those who have none and bear a responsibility to give to the needy. Verses on the subject read:

It is impossible in a society that abides by the genuine Sharia of the Qur'an for there to be rich people as well as poor ones. The rich always protect those in need and have a responsibility to give to the poor.

It is not devoutness to turn your faces to the East or to the West. Rather, those with true devoutness are those who have faith in God and the Last Day, the Angels, the Book and the Prophets, and who, despite their love for it, give away their wealth to their relatives and to orphans and the very poor, and to travelers and beggars and to set slaves free, and who establish prayer and pay alms; those who honor their contracts when they make them, and are steadfast in poverty and illness and in battle. Those are the people who are true. They are the people who have piety. (Qur'an, 2: 177)

They will ask you what they should give away. Say, “Any wealth you give away should go to your parents and relatives and to orphans and the very poor and travelers.” Whatever good you do, God knows it. (Qur'an, 2:215)

They give food, despite their love for it, to the poor and orphans and captives: We feed you only out of desire for the Face of God. We do not want any repayment from you or any thanks. (Qur'an, 76:8- 9)

Give your relatives their due, and the very poor and travelers but do not squander what you have. (Qur'an, 17:26)

Having provided this information, let us now ask the question, why do people steal in the first place?

The first reason is out of need. When someone is in a difficult position, in debt or wracked by poverty he may make the false choice of turning to theft. Yet in such a community under the protection of the Qur’an, it is impossible for anyone to be in difficult circumstances, in debt or wrecked by poverty. The poor will be protected by those with greater means, while the pronouncement in the Qur’an concerning the debts of people in difficulties is manifestly clear, and reads as follows; “... making a free gift of it would be better for you if you only knew.” (Qur'an, 2:280)

The second probable reason for theft may well be mental or psychological disorders. This is a special condition requiring treatment and rehabilitation, and the individual concerned is sick, not guilty.

In practical terms there are no other reasons that might lead a person to steal. Doing away with the causes concerned with it, such a crime as theft is prevented in Islamic communities right from the outset.

Since the peddlers of superstition, who naturally ignore all this, seek to depict Islam as a religion of death and violence their pronouncement is completely at odds with the Qur’an. It is of no concern to them that while theft is unlawful, someone who steals is generally either in need or else suffering from some psychological disturbance, yet both needy and sick people are the responsibility of Muslims. Since they fail to see that responsibility they are capable of the most shameless murder because of this pronouncement. The people who impose this false pronouncement unwisely dislike the Qur’an (may God forbid), regard it as incompatible with their own perverse mindsets and seek to implement their own justice system rather than that of the Qur’an. Yet when we look at the Qur’an, we see love and forgiveness, rather than violence.

The Killing of Apostates

Slay him, who changes his religion.
(Sunan an-Nasa’i, Tahrim al-dam, bab 14; Malik’s Muwatta, Akdyia, tr. 15; Sunan Abu Dawud, Hudud, bab 1)

Whichever man abandons Islam, invite him to return to it. If he does not return, behead him. (Tabarani)

These fabricated hadiths are one of the main reasons for the lovelessness, rage and violence in countries governed by non-Qur’anic and false Sharia systems. Not only does a pronouncement like this, one of the worst deceptions aimed at the essence of Islam, have no place in the Qur’an, the Qur’an fundamentally forbids and curses such a fanatical way of thinking. Some of the verses that express freedom of ideas and belief in the Qur’an are as follows:

In the Islam described in the Qur’an, everyone is free to believe or not, as he wishes. In the Islam of the Qur’an, a Muslim merely has an obligation to tell others of proper moral virtues. Salvation is in the hands of God. A Muslim’s responsibility is to treat everyone with affection, whether they believe or not. Those people who try to portray Muslims as killers try to cover up this reality in the Qur’an.

In the Islam described in the Qur’an, a Muslim has a responsibility to maintain justice, even if that works against himself, his parents or his family (Qur'an, 4:135). According to that verse, the rights of everyone are protected, no matter what their religion or beliefs, and there is a duty to treat them with justice.

In the Islam described in the Qur'an, everyone is free to believe or not believe, as they so choose. However, because of the false conception of Islam given by radicalism, some Western magazines frequently carry reports concerning Islamophobia.

As we have seen before, and shall be seeing very often again, in one verse God commands Muslims even to use their own bodies to shelter someone who does not believe:

If any of the idolaters ask you for protection, give them protection until they have heard the words of God. Then convey them to a place where they are safe. That is because they are a people who do not know. (Qur'an, 9:6)

The conception of religion that Muslims - who have a responsibility to protect those who do not believe - should adopt is very clear. Indeed, God tells the Prophet (pbuh) to address unbelievers as follows and describes a transparent democratic system:

Say: “Unbelievers! I do not worship what you worship and you do not worship what I worship. Nor will I worship what you worship nor will you worship what I worship. You have your religion and I have my religion.” Qur'an, 109: 1-6)

These verses that start with the word “Say” describe for the Prophet (pbuh) the most perfect democratic system and the means to be adopted within that system. The surah ends with the words, “You have your religion and I have my religion.” In other words, a Muslim must not interfere in other people’s beliefs while he practices his own. He must not resort to force and compulsion, and must not oppress other people because they are not Muslims. He must respect them and leave them be, saying “You have your religion.” And he insists upon the same respect from them, saying “I have my religion.” The Qur’an, in which force and compulsion are rejected, in which unbelievers are protected even at the cost of believers’ lives, in which pronouncements command justice even for deniers and in which democracy is described in the fullest and most perfect way, is the true guide for Muslims.

A. 1. THERE IS FREEDOM OF FAITH IN THE QUR'AN. THESE HADITHS THAT COMMAND THE KILLING OF THOSE WHO ABJURE THE FAITH ARE FABRICATED. 2. Islam is based on willing acceptance and consent. Forcing people to adopt a belief produces only hypocrites, not believers. There is no commandment in the Qur'an that suggests that those who abjure the faith should be killed.

B. 3. HADITH SOURCES about the killing of those who abjurethe faith

C. 4. HADITH SOURCES about the killing of those who abjure the faith

D. 5. THERE IS FREEDOM OF FAITH IN THE QUR'AN. THESE HADITHS THAT COMMAND THE KILLING OF THOSE WHO ABJURE THE FAITH ARE FABRICATED. 6. In the Islam described in the Qur'an, everyone has the freedom to believe or not to believe as they wish. The only duty of a Muslim is preaching the good moral values. It is God Who guides whom He wills; guidance belongs to Him alone.

The Killing of Those Who Cease to Pray

Those who cease to pray can be killed. (2117-Sunan Abu Dawud)

The above false hadith is another of those that command the killing of those who abjure Islam. It is clear, however, that a faith which openly denies compulsion and force is not going to compel people to pray. How could a religion that says “... You are not a dictator over them…” (Qur'an, 50:45) be so violent and repressive? It cannot, of course. When we look at the Qur’an we see that everyone must be treated with respect and affection, whether they believe or not.

Let us remember one important fact we set out at the beginning of this book: an act of worship performed under compulsion will lose any validity as an act of worship, and may also give rise to hatred and anger. When someone is forced to pray, he does not become a Muslim; someone who is forced to pray against his will may turn into a two-faced hypocrite, an enemy of the faith. Someone who thinks he will be killed if he stops praying will simply pretend to be a believer if he does not wish to endanger his own life. He will behave hypocritically and will loathe the life he leads, and therefore the faith imposed on him. Creating a hypocrite is the worst possible harm that can be done to Islam. Therefore, a religious devotion ensured through compulsion, force and threats of death is no religious devotion at all. This merely harms Islam.

Alphons Leopold Mielich's oil painting “Prayer at the Muhammad Ali Mosque”

Nobody can obviously be forced to pray in a faith in which there can be no compulsion on any subject.

If someone has stopped praying although he has no mental or physical disability, there may be various reasons for this. The person may not be sufficiently devout, God may not have placed a sufficiently powerful faith in his heart or he may not fear God sufficiently. Guidance is in the hands of God, and it is not human beings who can ever bring guidance about. Not praying does not mean that this person has abjured the faith. He may stop praying but then start praying again the next day; that will be of great benefit to him. Or he may not start, but will still be a good and useful person; or none of these things may happen. Even if he does completely abjure the faith that person must still be treated with affection by Muslims. That is how it should be in the eyes of the Qur’an.

To kill someone for such a reason is no less than murder, and that never has any place in the Qur’an.

A. 1. HADITH SOURCES about the killing of people who stop praying 2. THERE IS NO COMPULSION IN RELIGION. THERE IS NO COMMANDMENT IN THE QUR'AN THAT SAYS A PERSON WHO DOES NOT PRAY SHOULD BE KILLED.

B. 3. These hadiths are fabrications. It is clear in the Qur'an that a Muslim should respect and feel compassion towards everyone; be they prayers or non-prayers.

The four schools that were gradually produced on the basis of various hadiths and interpretations, and then made part of Islam over the course of time are like four separate faiths, each completely incompatible with one another. (The profound differences between the four schools have already been summarized in previous pages.) The four schools ordain various punishments for those who stop praying out of sloth, but these disagree with one another. For example, the penalty in the Hanbali school for someone who stops praying out of laziness is death. According to the Hanafis, however, someone who neglects praying out of laziness does not become an unbeliever and is not to be killed; however, he must be imprisoned and beaten until the blood flows. (Hashiya Radd al-Muhtar, 1/62) Yet none of these things are in the Qur’an.

Such contradictions, barbarities and practices external to the faith appear when one starts looking for the faith outside the Qur’an. People filled with hatred and rage appear when one starts living by a faith outside the Qur’an. The religion of the fanatics is one that rejects the pronouncements of the Qur’an and regards them as inadequate (surely the Qur’an is beyond that).

The pages that follow contain various barbaric practices in the fanatic faith, such as “beating children who do not pray and the killing of people who fail to give alms, or who are drunk.” We must never forget the following fact as we look at the justifications for savagery perpetrated under the name of Islam:

None of these practices have any place in the Qur’an. The religion of the fanatics is a fabricated one.

The Beating of Children Who Stop Praying

… When he (a boy) becomes ten years old, then beat him for prayer. (Sunan Abu-Dawud, Prayer, 494)

Worship is something done willingly and fervently as an expression of love of God; it is not imposed by coercion. It seems from this false hadith that a child can be compelled to pray before he even reaches the age of 10. What possible benefit can there be in imposing an obligation on a child who is not yet acquainted with God, who is unaware of the purpose of his existence in this world and who is ignorant of the Creator and the secrets of creation? What you need to do in order to make a child religious is not to force him to worship, but to show him evidence of the existence and oneness of God and to make him understand and love God and the faith. Once he understands these things, a child will realize that he is an entity with a responsibility to God, and then he will be grateful and will start worshiping Him with enthusiasm. In that case, worship will be performed sincerely, with great love and zeal.

However, if a child who is as yet unacquainted with God is forced to perform the obligations of a religion whose wisdom he does not yet know, and if he is then beaten for not doing so, that child will in all probability harbor a secret loathing of that religion and its acts of worship for the rest of his life. Since he may spend the rest of his life with that terrible prejudice, he will be wrongly acquainted with God and will not try to see and understand the true pronouncements. Beating a child whose mind still has difficulty in comprehending so much and forcing him to observe acts of worship, instead of bringing him closer to God with love and beauty, will only make an opponent of Islam out of this child and this will harm the Islamic world. Yet fanatics who have turned their backs on the Qur'an fail to see this.

This hatred we have described is also manifested in practice. The children of some scholars who live their lives totally dedicated to fanaticism either become hostile to religion later in life or sink into a kind of degeneration that is rarely seen in society. They will mock or express detestation of Islam in almost all they say. Even many atheists have a respect for religion, but they have no such respect and are filled with anger. The main reason for this is that the idea of “compelling people to worship,” which appears nowhere in the Qur’an, is imposed on the child in the name of “Islam” from a very early age.

The Killing of People Who Do Not Give Alms

Taking alms from people by force and declaring war on and killing them if they resist: Narrated Abu Huraira: Abu Bakr said, "By God! If they (pay me the Zakat and) with-hold even a she-kid which they used to pay during the life-time of God's Apostle, I will fight with them for it." ... (Sahih Bukhari, 536)

Giving alms is an obligation pronounced in the Qur’an. Like every religious obligation, it is made compulsory for Muslims and is performed sincerely because of love of God. Accordingly, a Muslim will also give away some of what he owns, as an act of good conscience, not allowing someone else to remain in need and thereby experience difficulty. This is something done honestly and sincerely and it is a requirement of being a Muslim.

What makes a religious observance an observance is that it is done willingly, with love and with passion. God has the power to make everyone wealthy and to provide for them, but He tests the behavior of rich and poor people by making some of them poor. The poor have a responsibility to exhibit fortitude and to turn to God in gratitude no matter what, while the rich have a responsibility to give thanks and to take care of the poor.

God states in the Qur’an that people who believe in Him and the Day of Reckoning will give alms. Therefore, like all religious observances, giving alms is something that must be done with a sincere faith in God, not through threats of death:

...those who perform the prayer and give alms, and have faith in God and the Last Day – We will pay such people an immense wage. (Qur'an, 4:162)

Feeding the poor is one of the greatest responsibilities of Muslims in the Qur’an.

However, the commandment concerning failure to discharge that responsibility is not as described in the fabricated hadiths:

According to the hadith in question, someone who is unwilling to give alms for any reason must be compelled to do so by use of force and half of his possessions be confiscated. First of all, someone whose possessions are confiscated has not performed a religious observance because something that a person does not do of his own free will is not a religious observance. Secondly, using force to make him perform an observance is something totally incompatible with the Qur’an. It may also be instrumental in causing that person to feel anger against the faith and believers, and may thus harm the community of the faithful.

The truly barbaric thing, of course, is the pronouncement that someone who refuses to give alms should be killed. That pronouncement appears nowhere in the Qur’an, and it is simply murder. The Qur’an forbids the use of force in religion. In addition, the Qur’an forbids the taking of human life, except under justified circumstances such as self-defense. As revealed in the Qur’an;

... if someone kills another person – unless it is in retaliation for someone else or for causing corruption in the earth – it is as if he had murdered all mankind.... (Qur'an, 5:32)

As we have seen, murder is a grave crime in the view of Islam. So those who heedlessly turn such a weighty matter as murder into a commandment of the faith are both slandering Islam and our Prophet (pbuh) and also committing a terrible sin. This false hadith is important in showing how such superstition conflicts with the true commandments of Islam.

The Imprisonment and Starvation of Those Who Do Not Fast

Someone who deliberately fails to fast is not an unbeliever, but must be imprisoned and given no food or water. (Ash-Sharh as-Saghir 1/239) (Kifayat al-Talib 2/252) (Al-Mughni 2/408)

This fabricated hadith conflicts with the faith and conscience for the same reasons cited above:

• 1. It seeks to force people to perform an observance that should be performed with love;
• 2. It flies in the face of the verse that says there is no compulsion in the religion;
• 3. It is based on violence, the exact opposite of the affection at the heart of the faith;
• 4. Instead of encouraging people to love God and worship, the main aim of the faith, it encourages people to feel anger and hatred for religion and worship.

In addition to all these, fasting is an act that some people cannot observe out of weakness, and that is not compulsory for the sick. God makes this important condition about fasting clear in the following verses:

(Fast) for a specified number of days. But any of you who are ill or on a journey should fast a number of other days. For those who are able to fast (but with hardship), their ransom (substitution) is to feed the poor. And if someone does good of his own accord, it is better for him. But that you should fast is better for you, if you only knew. (Qur'an, 2:184)

... Any of you who are resident for the month should fast it. But any of you who are ill or on a journey should fast a number of other days. God desires ease for you; He does not desire difficulty for you. (Qur'an, 2:185)

These two verses, which are quite explicit pronouncements concerning fasting, say that people who are unable to fast during the month of Ramadan because they are sick or traveling can make up the number of days they were unable to fast at a later time, and if people are completely unable to fast because they are sick or because they cannot endure it easily, they can compensate for this by feeding the poor. God reveals in the verse that, "God desires ease for you; He does not desire difficulty for you."

For people to insist that they should still fast despite this easy and explicit commandment regarding the sick and others who will find it difficult to do so means wronging themselves. The Qur'an prohibits a Muslim from doing something that will be harmful to him.

Setting up a repressive system through false hadiths that contradict the Qur'an, despite this explicit pronouncement in the Qur'an, is important in revealing the practices involved in the fanatical mindset. These people foolishly dislike the affectionate language in the Qur'an (surely God and the Qur'an are beyond that) and try to manufacture their own religions based on their own dark worlds. That is why they try to add this repressive superstition onto the faith.

Someone may be sick or feeble; it goes without saying that people's constitutions are all different. Many people are tested with various diseases in this world. Although with His sublime love, God makes allowances for the sick and feeble, people are still compelled to fast by force in some countries on the basis of these false hadiths. It is also not hard to imagine an environment in which someone who is too sick to fast is imprisoned and kept without food and water. In such a situation there is no doubt that the person's sickness will worsen and he will soon die. Thus the fanatical mindset strives to impose such despotism at the cost of endangering people's lives.

The Imprisonment and Starvation of Those Who Do Not Fast

If the one who is intoxicated abjures the faith, it is valid. But that person must not be killed until he recovers his senses and is called on to repent. (Imam Shafi’i Kitab al-Umm, vol. 6, p. 148; Al-Insaf, vol. 10, pp. 331-332; Mughni al-Muhtaj 4/137; Hashiyat al-Dasuki 4/363; Ibn Qudama al-Mughni 9/25-26)

According to this fabricated hadith, someone who has drunk alcohol and is intoxicated has abjured the faith if he says as much while in that state of unawareness. This is a horrifying idea. Obviously, someone who is intoxicated cannot be expected to speak rationally or logically, and will be unaware of what he is saying. That person clearly cannot be held responsible for what he says. However, the fanatical mindset commands, on the basis of this fabricated hadith, that this person should be killed. Once again, a false practice that appears nowhere in the Qur’an becomes a commandment, and murder is decided upon.

This false and terrifying mentality is refuted by the Qur’an. God addresses “believers” in the verse, “You who have faith! Do not approach the prayer when you are drunk, so that you will know what you are saying...” (Qur'an, 4:43). It is clear that some among these people had drunk alcohol and become intoxicated. These people are people who pray. All this can clearly be seen from the verse. Since a person needs to know what he is saying during the prayer, be lucid and establish a profound bond with God, and since it is impossible for a person to concentrate in that way if he is drunk, and since he cannot be held responsible for what he says or does, God forbids people to pray for so long as they are drunk. The term in the verse “... so that you will know what you are saying,” emphasizes that someone will not know what he is doing while he is drunk and will “not know what he is saying.” Therefore we are given to understand that a person should continue praying only once this state of unawareness has passed.

Someone may claim to be abjuring the faith at a time when his reason is clouded, such as in a state of intoxication, and may talk in a totally illogical manner. What matters is what the person says and does once reason has been restored. Moreover, a person may genuinely have abjured the faith and may explicitly say as much. To use that as a pretext for killing him is both fanaticism and a slander against the Qur’an. The Qur’an curses that brutal mentality.

By making such a pronouncement about drunkenness in the Qur’an, Almighty God is saying that doing something forbidden is not an obstacle to a Muslim loving God and performing his religious observances. This verse is also an indication of Islam’s affectionate and loving attitude to everyone. Yet the fanatical mindset that desires death at every opportunity has manufactured its own false commandments despite this explicit pronouncement in the Qur’an.

The Killing of Those Who Speak Improperly about the Prophet Without Calling on Him to Repent

Anyone who insults the Prophet must be executed at once without being called on to repent. (Ibn Taymiyya)

Ibn al-Mundhir said: All scholars are agreed on the killing of anyone who insults the Messenger of God (pbuh). (Anwar Shah, al-Kashmiri, “Ikfar al-Mulhidin”, p. 64; “Tanbihul Ghafilin,” p. 14)

Abdullah narrates: They are to be executed without being called on to repent. Halid b. Walid killed a man who insulted the Messenger (pbuh) and he did not incite him to repent. (Ibn Taymiyya)

Someone speaking improperly of God, the prophets and spiritual values is not, of course, something to be approved of. However, all people are not the same. Some people are atheists and are prejudiced against religion for various reasons; some have been brought up with anger, some are ignorant and some know nothing about the Qur’an. It is therefore possible for people to have prejudices against religion for a variety of reasons, and there are many such people who live in a state of rage and hatred today. There are people who hold all kinds of opinions in this world we come to in order to be tested, and our test as believers consists of being together with these ideas, opinions and people.

The duty of a Muslim is to tell people, no matter how prejudiced or angry they may be, about the moral virtues in the Qur’an in a kindly manner and then leave the final decision up to them. Sometimes the other party will be affected by this fine behavior and may realize the error of his ways and put himself right. This is a fact revealed in another verse of the Qur’an:

A good action and a bad action are not the same. Repel the bad with something better and, if there is enmity between you and someone else, he will be like a bosom friend. . (Qur'an, 41:34)

In this verse, Muslims are commanded to respond to bad behavior with goodness. The result of this is that “if there is enmity between you and someone else, he will be like a bosom friend....”

If the other party still persists on speaking and behaving badly, however, then what needs to be done is explained in the Qur’an:

The servants of the All-Merciful are those who walk lightly on the earth and, who, when the ignorant speak to them, say, “Peace”; (Qur'an, 25:63)

It has been sent down to you in the Book that when you hear God’s signs being rejected and mocked at by people, you must not sit with them till they start talking of other things. If you do you are just the same as them. (Qur'an, 4:140)

Ludwig Deutsch's oil painting “The Chess Game,” 1896

As we have seen, the commandment set out in the Qur’an is not to sit down with such an ignorant community when one encounters them, to take one’s leave from them and say “Peace”; in other words, to remind them of the peaceful path.

Two features are emphasized in the verses. These people are regarded as too ignorant to have any dealings with and have rejected the truth despite being warned many, many times. A Muslim who has a duty to preach - and therefore to constantly speak the truth – in this instance has no dealings with such people, and merely moves away from them.

Another element in the verse concerns not sitting down with them “till they start talking of other things.” Therefore, these people may always be in a Muslim’s immediate vicinity and have constant dealings with him. So once they start speaking of other matters he can continue to enjoy close relations with them.

This means that Muslims are not expected to resort to the savage method cited above. They must depart from them when they speak improperly, but tell them the truth so long as they heed advice.

Another piece of evidence showing how these fabricated hadiths conflict with the Qur’an is the “prevention of repentance.” God calls on people to repent on all subjects in the Qur’an. He frequently states in verses that repentance is a matter between the person concerned and God and that God is All-forgiving and Compassionate. Those who repent are frequently praised in the Qur’an. So how can a person be prevented from repenting? How can someone be prevented from seeking God’s forgiveness? How can people ignore our Lord’s verse that reads, “... He is the Ever-Returning, the Most Merciful.” (Qur'an, 2:37) and deprive others of the right to feel regret and seek God’s forgiveness?

Nobody has any such right, of course.

In another verse our Lord reveals:

... except for those who repent and put things (themselves and others) right and make things (what is sent down) clear. I turn towards them. I am the Ever-Returning, the Most Merciful. Qur'an, 2:160)

Those people who foolishly deny the fact that God is “the Most Merciful” and seek to impose their own fabricated hadiths on the subject are acting in open contravention of the Qur’an.

The Superstition of “Accursed Animals” in the Religion of the Fanatics:

Kill the dogs, apart from the dog for hunting and the dog for the security of the herd… (Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Malik’s Muwatta, at-Tirmidhi, an-Nasai)

“It is your duty (to kill) the jet-black (dog) having two spots (on the eyes), for it is a devil.” (Sahih Muslim, Book 10, Hadith 3813)

It is said that the donkey brays for it sees satan. (Sahih Muslim, Book 35, Hadith 6581)

Another hadith is that rats are actually a group of Bani Isra’il, for which reason when the milk of the camel is placed before them, they would not taste it at all. (Sahih Muslim, Book 42, Hadith 7135, 7136)

One hadith is that the crow is a mischief-doer. (Sahih Bukhari, Book 54, Hadith 531; Musnad Ahmed ibn Hanbal 2/52)

The pigeon is a devil. (Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 41, Hadith 4922; Ibn Majah)

The gecko is a sinner. (Sahih Muslim 2239/145, Ibn Majah 3230, Sunan Abu Dawud 5262)

He who kills a gecko with the first stroke there are seventy rewards for him. (Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 41, Hadith 5243; Sahih Muslim, Book 26, Hadith 5566)

The stoning to death of monkeys that “commit adultery” (Sahih Bukhari 63/27) – (another false hadith is that a monkey that committed adultery was stoned to death and that one of the Companions took part in the stoning.)

A donkey that sees satan, a Jewish rat, a crow doing mischief, a devilish pigeon, an adulterous monkey, poor black dogs and geckos that need to be put to death; a summary of the terrible life far removed from the Qur’an offered by the fanatical mindset. This outlandish mentality commands that all dogs apart from hunting and sheepdogs should be killed, and that house dogs, and lap dogs and guard dogs, some of the sweetest animals in the world that God has created in so many breeds and with feelings of love and protection, must all be killed. As revealed in the Qur’an, however, “The seven heavens and the earth and everyone in them glorify Him. There is nothing which does not glorify Him with praise but you do not understand their glorification. He is All-Forbearing, Ever-Forgiving.” (Qur'an, 17:44) it is impossible for these life forms that glorify God in a way we cannot understand, and that are specially created for paradise with all their beauty, to be sinners or the devil incarnate. How can a rat possibly be Jewish? And what is wrong with being Jewish anyway?

Furthermore, how can a monkey commit adultery? Does a monkey have any moral values or an institution of marriage in which he must remain faithful? Does he have the self-awareness to understand all these things and responsibility thereof? So how can a monkey be accused of adultery? This is a profoundly ignorant claim to make; yet the fanatics even go so far as to defame the Companions and try to use them as evidence for their false allegations.

Of course these are all fabricated hadiths, and it is impossible for such cruel rules to have any place in the Qur’an. God states in the Qur’an that there were dogs with the Companions of the Cave and Ar-Raqim, whom He praises very greatly in the Qur’an:

You would have supposed them to be awake whereas in fact they were asleep. We moved them to the right and to the left, and, at the entrance, their dog stretched out its paws... (Qur'an, 18:18)

They will say, “There were three of them, their dog being the fourth.” They will say, “There were five of them, their dog being the sixth,” guessing at the Unseen. And they will say, “There were seven of them, their dog being the eighth.” Say: “My Lord knows best their number. Those who know about them are very few.” ... (Qur'an, 18:22)

Muslims can obviously have a guard dog or a pet dog with them.

There are also other animals mentioned in the Qur’an.

1. According to the Qur’an, animals must be treated with love and affection:

He (Solomon) said: "Truly do I love the love of good (or these horses) because of the remembrance of my Lord"—(repeating these words as the horses raced away,) until they were hidden by the veil (of dust). (Solomon said:) "Return them to me!" And he set about stroking their shanks and necks. (Qur'an, 38:32-33)

Then, when they reached the Valley of the Ants, an ant said, “Ants! Enter your dwellings so that Solomon and his troops do not crush you unwittingly.” He smiled, laughing at its words, and said, “My Lord, keep me thankful for the blessing You have bestowed on me and on my parents, and keep me acting rightly, pleasing You, and admit me, by Your mercy, among Your servants who are the righteous.” (Qur'an, 27:18-19)

2. Animals in the Qur’an are cited as works of God and signs leading to faith:

Have they not looked at the camel – how it was created? (Qur'an, 88:17)

God is not ashamed to make an example of a gnat or of an even smaller thing. As for those who have faith, they know it is the truth from their Lord. But as for those who are unbelievers, they say, “What does God mean by this example?” He misguides many by it and guides many by it. But He only misguides the deviators. Qur'an, 2:26)

Mankind! An example has been made, so listen to it carefully. Those whom you call upon besides God are not even able to create a single fly, even if they were to join together to do it. And if a fly steals something from them, they cannot get it back. How feeble are both the seeker and the sought! (Qur'an, 22:73)

Almighty God cites in the Qur'an various kinds of animal as intelligent and glorious examples of Creation that remember Him, and He praises the prophets' love and affection for animals.

3. The Qur’an notes that animals have intelligence:

Then God sent a crow which scratched at the earth to show him how to conceal his brother’s corpse. He said, “Woe is me! Can I not even be like this crow and conceal my brother’s corpse?” And he became one of those who suffer bitter remorse. (Qur'an, 5:31)

4. God reveals in the Qur’an that animals act in the light of revelation:

Your Lord revealed to the bees: “Build dwellings in the mountains and the trees, and also in the structures which men erect. Then eat from every kind of fruit and travel the paths of your Lord, which have been made easy for you to follow.” From inside them comes a drink of varying colors, containing healing for mankind. There is certainly a sign in that for people who reflect. (Qur'an, 16:68-69)

5. The proofs of creation in animals are described in detail in the Qur’an:

There is instruction for you in cattle. From the contents of their bellies, from between the dung and blood, We give you pure milk to drink, easy for drinkers to swallow. (Qur'an, 16:66)

6. We are told that animals are created in diverse forms as a source of beauty:

And mankind and animals and livestock are likewise of varying colors. Only those of His servants with knowledge have fear of God. God is Almighty, Ever-Forgiving. (Qur'an, 35:28)

Have they not seen how We created for them, by Our own handiwork, livestock which are under their control? (Qur'an, 36:71)

7. We are told that animals prostrate themselves to God and glorify Him:

Do you not see that everyone in the heavens and everyone on the earth prostrates to God, and the sun and moon and stars and the mountains, trees and beasts and many of mankind? But many of them inevitably merit punishment. Those God humiliates will have no one to honor them. God does whatever He wills.(Qur'an, 22:18)

Do you not see that everyone in the heavens and earth glorifies God, as do the birds with their outspread wings? Each one knows its prayer and glorification. God knows what they do. (Qur'an, 24:41)

As we have seen, God speaks in the Qur’an of many different kinds of animals that glorify Him as intelligent and glorious examples of creation and describes the loving, affectionate attitude of the prophets. The perverse conception of religion of the fanatics that stresses a hatred for animals is nowhere to be seen in the Qur’an.

We also see examples of valuing and loving animals in the life of our Prophet (pbuh), the applier of the Qur’an. Our Prophet (pbuh) was full of love and affection toward animals, in such a way as to definitively refute the fanatical mindset. Some of the actions of our Prophet (pbuh) that show his affection toward animals are as follows:

Our Prophet’s (pbuh) Love of Animals

Our Prophet (pbuh) Did Away with the Cruel Customs that Mistreated Animals

The ignorance in society when our Prophet (pbuh) began preaching was also reflected in people’s treatment of animals; they would use live animals as targets for archery practice, and cut off ears and tails and even brand them to distinguish their animals from those of other people. When they were hungry out in the desert, they would slice open a camel’s hump, extract a piece of fat from it and then stitch it up again.

Our Prophet (pbuh) completely did away with these unpleasant customs of the society of ignorance. He taught that animals also deserved compassion. All practices that mistreated animals were put to an end to by our Prophet (pbuh).

Our Prophet (pbuh) Forbade Animals from Being Overworked

Our Prophet (pbuh) forbade the overworking of animals. Addresses and poetic ceremonies performed with people facing one another sitting on the backs of animals for several hours, which had been going on for hundreds of years, were forbidden. Owners were only allowed to ride animals for so long as they truly needed. Our Prophet (pbuh) issued a warning, saying; "Don't make the backs of animals your chairs. God gave these to your command only on the condition that you go with them easily to places you would not been able to go by yourselves without extreme trouble. He also created the ground. Meet your other needs on the ground." (Sunan Abu Dawud, Jihad 61, (2667))

Another hadith reads; “Ride your animals gently and only when they are fit to be ridden, and let them go free when it is meet that they should rest. Do not use them as chairs for talking to one another on the roads and streets (do not spend hours talking to one another while seated on them).” (Ahmad, III, 439)

Working Animals’ Right to Rest

Our Prophet (pbuh) gave working animals the right to rest in the same way as human beings, and stressed the need for animals to rest and meet their needs when rest stops were called along the road.

Our Prophet (pbuh) Prohibited the Abuse and Mistreatment of Animals

Our Prophet (pbuh) said, “Whoever kills a sparrow or anything bigger than that without a just cause, God will hold him accountable on the Day of Judgment.” (Sunan Abu Dawud, 2/11) and commanded that “birds’ nests should not be damaged and their eggs and chicks should not be taken.” (Sahih Bukhari, 139).

Our Prophet (pbuh) stopped someone who was beating the animal he was riding on and stated that this was a violation of the law of God. “God did not create animals for you to do that to them,” he said. (Musnad Ahmad, 4/131)

Our Prophet’s (pbuh) Affection toward a Mother Dog and Her Puppies

As our Prophet (pbuh) was marching with his 10,000-man army, he saw on their way a dog that had just given birth with her puppies. He summoned Djuail, son of Suraka, and commanded; “You will wait in front of the mother dog and her puppies and by keeping their sentry till all the army has passed, you will protect them from being ran over.” (ash-Shami, Subul al-Huda Wa-al-Rashad, VII, 51) Thanks to the Prophet’s (pbuh) affection the 10,000-man army changed its course in order not to disturb the dog and her puppies.

A Saying of the Prophet (pbuh) Reflecting His Love of Animals: “The life of all dogs are respected”

“Not only the beneficial dogs, the life of all dogs are respected and immune as long as they do not cause harm and do not turn violent and aggressive.” (Hashyatu'l-Bayjarmi Ala'l-Manhaj-al-Maktabatu'sh-Shamila, I/474)

Our Prophet’s (pbuh) Cat, “Muezza”

Our Prophet (pbuh) had a cat called “Muezza.” He loved Muezza so much that one day, when Muezza was dozing on the sleeve of the Prophet’s (pbuh) robe, the Prophet (pbuh) chose to cut that part of his robe off rather than wake her up.

In addition, the name Abu Hurayrah, who narrated many hadiths from the Prophet (pbuh), means “father of the kitten.”

Our Prophet’s (pbuh) Affection toward a Mother Bird and Her Young

“We were on a journey and during the Prophet’s absence, we saw a bird with its two chicks; we took them. The mother bird was circling above us in the air, beating its wings in grief. When Prophet Muhammad returned he said, ‘Who has hurt the feelings of this bird by taking its chicks? Return them to her.’” (Sahih Muslim)

The Baby Goat

Our Prophet (pbuh) said this to a man who was milking a goat. "Leave some milk for the kid of the goat when you milk." (Majmua'z-Zawaid, 8:196)

A Starving Camel and Its Owner

Our Prophet (pbuh) entered an orchard belonging to one of the Muslims of Medina and saw there a camel groaning in hunger, and was deeply troubled by this. He approached the camel and stroked it and then asked who its owner was. He then warned the owner by saying,

Do you not fear God in respect of this beast which God has placed in your possession? (Sunan Abu Dawud, Jihad, 44)

In another hadith our Prophet (pbuh) says;

“Fear God in respect of these dumb (animals).” (Sunan Abu Dawud, Jihad, 44/2548)

A Sleeping Antelope

During a campaign, our Prophet (pbuh) saw an antelope sleeping in the warm shade. He commanded one of his companions to wait there and ensure that the animal was not disturbed until everyone had passed. (Malik’s Muwatta, Hajj, 79; Sunan an-Nasai, Hajj, 78)

A Donkey Branded on the Face

One day on the road our Prophet (pbuh) saw a donkey that had been branded on the face and said, “God curse the one who branded it." (Sahih Muslim) and he recommended that branding should be done without hurting the animals.

Treating Animals Well

A man on a journey was thirsty and descended into a well and drank from it. When he came out of the well he saw a dog who was also very thirsty and was licking the ground with his tongue. Thinking that the dog was thirsty just like him, he went down into the well again and brought water up in his leather socks for the dog to drink from. At that, Almighty God forgave him his sins. The Prophet (pbuh) was asked if acts of charity even to the animals were rewarded by the Almighty. He replied: "Yes, there is a reward for acts of charity to every beast alive." (Sahih Bukhari)

When his companions asked, “Will we earn merit if we give animals water to drink?” the Messenger of God answered, “There is merit to be earned from giving water to all living things.” (Tajrit, Vol. VII, p. 223)

The reason why we are citing the hadiths in question as valid evidence is that they are compatible with the Qur’an. The reason why our Prophet (pbuh) was so affectionate toward animals is the education he received from the Qur’an. Our Prophet (pbuh) was surely the person best able to appreciate that God created numerous life forms, each one lovelier and more skillful than the next, as proof, beauty and a blessing. He clearly saw how God manifested His names of the Compassionate and Merciful and His glorious artistry in living things. Our Prophet (pbuh) showed through his own actions how the compassion and affection recommended in the Qur’an, which praises love, should be seen in a Muslim. One can also see this in the advice that our Prophet (pbuh) gave concerning compassion:

“Those who are merciful will be shown mercy by the Merciful. Be merciful to those on the earth and the One above the heavens will have mercy upon you.” (Sunan at-Tirmidhi, 1924)

“Someone who is devoid of gentleness and kindliness is devoid of all goodness …” (Sahih Muslim, Birr, 76)

Therefore, the peddlers of superstition look in vain for cruelty toward animals in Islam or in the actions of our Prophet (pbuh), and instead engage in fraud on the subject in order to persuade others of their nonsensical views. The Qur’an is the Book in which a perfect love for human beings, animals and plants is described, and our Prophet (pbuh) lived by the Qur’an throughout his life.

The Foul Nature of the Fanatic

“Anas b. Malik reported that some people belonging (to the tribe) of 'Uraina came to God's Messenger (pbuh) at Medina, but they found its climate uncongenial. So God's Messenger (pbuh) said to them: If you so like, you may go to the camels of Sadaqa and drink their milk and urine. …” (Sahih Muslim, Book 16, Hadith 4130)

“Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said ‘If a house fly falls in the drink of anyone of you, he should dip it (in the drink), for one of its wings has a disease and the other has the cure for the disease.’" (Sahih Bukhari, Book 54, Hadith 537)

“Narrated Ibn 'Abbas: The Prophet said, 'When you eat, do not wipe your hands till you have licked it, or had it licked by somebody else.’" (Sahih Bukhari, Book 65, Hadith 366; Sahih Muslim, Book 23, Hadith 5037)

“Narrated Maimuna: God's Apostle was asked regarding ghee (cooking butter) in which a mouse had fallen. He said, ‘Take out the mouse and throw away the ghee around it and use the rest.’" (Sahih Bukhari, Book 4, Hadith 236; Malik’s Muwatta, Book 54, Hadith 54.7.20; Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 27, Hadith 3833)

These false hadiths, of which only a few examples are given here, are important evidence of the filthy and horrible life styles of people with a fanatical mentality. With these fabricated hadiths, fanatics foolishly slander even our Prophet (pbuh). These false hadiths acted upon by the fanatics also reveal these people’s conceptions of cleanliness and good manners. God has never permitted anything so disgusting. According to the Qur’an, Muslims have a duty to be spotlessly clean, to keep their homes clean, to wear clean clothes and to eat clean food. According to the Qur’an, Muslims are clean but polytheists are filthy; fanatics who live lives apart from the Qur’an, that invent a faith other than that sent down by God and that therefore ascribe equals to Him meet that description very well indeed. God reveals in verses:

You who have faith! The idolaters are unclean... (Qur'an, 11:28)

... God places a blight on those who do not use their intellect. (Qur'an, 10:100)

As we have seen, God speaks in verses of a community who fail to use their intellect. That is an excellent description of fanatics who go along with superstition despite the truths in the Qur’an. God afflicts with a terrible blight communities that go along with superstition without using their minds, and that manufacture a whole different religion despite having the Qur’an in their hands, even though they know that this fabricated faith is false. That is really what happens. Because of their foolishness, fanatical communities believe in all the filth set out in the false hadiths above and live lives steeped in foulness.

Of course there are some people among them who live such lives unwillingly, largely out of ignorance and such people are actually in the majority; therefore, we need to consider them separately from the mindless fanatic communities in question. They always need an education based on the facts set out in great detail in this book, based on evidence from the Qur’an, in other words.

According to the Qur’an, what God wants from Muslims is for them to have a highly detailed and immaculate conception of cleanliness. Some of the verses of the Qur’an calling on Muslims to be clean read as follows:

According to the Qur'an, Muslims have a responsibility to be clean, to keep their homes clean, to wear clean clothes and to eat clean food. According to the Qur'an, Muslims are clean but idolaters are dirty. Fanatics who live their lives outside the Qur'an, who abide by a faith other than that sent down by God and who therefore ascribe equals to Him certainly meet that definition.

Purify your clothes, shun all filth. (Qur'an, 74:4-5)

Mankind! Eat what is good and lawful on the earth. And do not follow in the footsteps of satan. He truly is an outright enemy to you. (Qur'an, 2:168)

... A mosque founded on piety from the first day has a greater right for you to stand in it. In it there are men who love to purify themselves. God loves those who purify themselves. (Qur'an, 11:108)

You who have faith! Eat of the good things We have provided for you and give thanks to God if you worship Him alone. Qur'an, 2:172)

But as for those who have faith and do right actions, We will admit them into Gardens with rivers flowing under them, remaining in them timelessly, for ever and ever. In them they will have spouses of perfect purity … (Qur'an, 4:57)

They will ask you what is lawful for them. Say: “All good things are lawful for you...” (Qur'an, 5:4)

Today all good things have been made lawful for you.(Qur'an, 5:5)

Say: “Who has forbidden the ornament of God which He has produced for His servants and the good kinds of provision?” Say: “They are, in the life of this world, for those who believe, (and) purely for them on the Day of Resurrection.” In this way We make the signs clear for people who know. (Qur'an, 7:32)

Those who follow the Messenger, the Unlettered Prophet, whom they find written down with them in the Torah and the Gospel, commanding them to do right and forbidding them to do wrong, making good things lawful for them and bad things unlawful for them... (Qur'an, 7:157)

And We located the position of the House for Abraham: “Do not associate anything with Me and purify My House for those who circle it, and those who stand and bow and prostrate.”(Qur'an, 22:26)

There are many verses of the Qur’an that command Muslims to be clean and we have only cited a few of them here. There is one particular point being emphasized in verse 32 of Surat al-A’raf, however, which is that in the same way that there are those who make fine clothing and ornaments unlawful for Muslims, there are also those who make good kinds of provision unlawful for them. Indeed, careful inspection of the life style of the fanatic shows that it is these people with their extremist mindset that would make cleanliness unlawful for Muslims.

According to the Qur’an, a Muslim must be the cleanest and best-groomed person. He must dress well and in a contemporary style, he must eat clean food and must keep his home clean; simply put, he must be clean at all times. Our Prophet (pbuh) was exceptionally immaculate. Any attempts to defame such a fastidious person as our Prophet (pbuh) in the manner described above are certainly a grave offense in the Sight of God. Fanatics, however, behave as if they were ignorant of this.

Let us now look at what our Prophet (pbuh) really said in order to expose the error of the fabricated hadiths cited above. Some trustworthy hadiths on the subject of our Prophet’s (pbuh) cleanliness and fastidiousness read as follows. (These hadiths are regarded as accurate because they are compatible with the Qur’an):

Islam is clean. Therefore, you should keep yourselves clean, too. Only the clean people can enter paradise. (Ahmad Diya'al-Din al-Kamushkhanawi, Ramuz al-Ahadith, vol. 1, 96/2)

A believer is not dirty. (Sahih Bukhari)

Clean everything well. Cleanliness leads to faith, and faith leads to paradise. (al-Tabarani)

Cleanliness is half of faith... (Sahih Muslim, Book 2, Hadith 432)

Narrated Salman al-Farsi: I read in the Torah that the blessing of food consists in ablution before it. So I mentioned it to the Prophet (pbuh). He said: “The blessing of food consists in ablution before it and ablution after it.” (Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 27, Hadith 3752)

He who eats onion and garlic and leek, should not approach our mosque for the angels are harmed by the same things as the children of Adam. (Sahih Muslim, Book 4, Hadith 1147)

Wash your clothes, groom your hair, clean your teeth and dress well with clean clothes. Have cleanliness! (Ibn ‘Asakir)

Whoever eats garlic or onion should keep away from our mosque or should remain in his house. (Sahih Bukhari, Book 12, Hadith 814)

The key to the prayer (salah) is cleanliness ... (Sunan Abu Dawud, Taharah, 31: Tirmidhi, Taharah, 39)

Dress well so the blessings that God has bestowed on you can be seen! (al-Tabarani)

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin: The Apostle of God (pbuh) commanded us … that mosques should be kept clean and be perfumed. (Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 2, Hadith 455)

When God bestows a blessing on His servant, He likes that blessing to be visible on that servant. (al-Tabarani)

Abu Sufyan said: “Abu Ayyub Al-Ansari, Jabir bin ‘Abdullah, and Anas bin Malik told me that when this verse: ‘In it (the mosque) are men who love to clean and to purify themselves. And God loves those who make themselves clean and pure.’ (9:108) was revealed, the Messenger of God (pbuh) said: ‘O Ansar! God has praised you for your cleanliness. What is the nature of your cleanliness?’ They said: ‘We perform ablution for prayer and we take a bath to cleanse ourselves of impurity due to sexual activity, and we clean ourselves with water.’ He said: ‘This is what it is. So adhere to it.’” (Sunan Ibn Majah, Chapter No: 2, Hadith 355)

Of the things of this world, women and perfume have been made dear to me, and my comfort is in prayer. (al-Nasai, 3939, from the hadith of Anas ibn Malik (ra))

A Dirty Conception of Faith and A Low-Quality Conception of Being a Muslim

Art, quality and cleanliness are championed and encouraged in the Qur'an. Our Prophet (pbuh) was the most high-quality and modern person of his time as he followed the Qur'an in the most perfect manner. A crude, artless, ugly, dirty life is a spiritual disaster caused by a non-Qur'anic Islamic understanding.

Under the influence of various fabricated hadiths, fanatics adopt a life style that regards all manner of disgusting things as legitimate and filth as a way of living, and also develop a quite terrifying total lack of quality. For that reason there is a widely spread – and regrettably “fashionable” - lack of quality in some Islamic communities. In the light of that conception of lack of quality, a Muslim emerges as someone who looks dirty, ill-kempt, uncared for, careless, crude; a far cry from beauty and kindness, and as someone who attaches no importance to beauty or manners, and who even lacks any understanding of such things. If you notice, great care is always taken that such an impression should prevail whenever the word “Muslim” is mentioned.

It is no surprise, of course, that these people should have such a low-quality and squalid life style when one looks at their conception of Islam: There can certainly be no expectation of quality from a mentality that forbids women from even plucking their eyebrows (this will be discussed in due course), that insists on people licking their hands after eating rather than washing them, and that maintains that a bowl of soup with a fly in it is healthy. This false conception of religion shaped by false hadiths is so widespread that a Muslim is criticized by these people for looking pleasant and high quality.

This trickery under the name of Islam has pervaded the entire community of Islam in one way or another, and this ghastly appearance also makes other communities uneasy, of course.

However, there is a glorious quality in the Qur'an. As the most perfect applier of the Qur'an, our Prophet (pbuh) was of the best quality and was the most intelligent person of his time. He was always clean. He always wore the best quality and cleanest clothes and always behaved in the kindest way. Were our Prophet (pbuh) alive today, he would doubtlessly be the best quality person of our own time as well because our Prophet's (pbuh) guide was the Qur'an, and the Qur'an addresses keeping to the highest quality at all times.

It is very important to make it clear that quality is not something that can be established with money, possessions or stylish clothes: Quality is an attribute that can be attained by valuing cleanliness, care and beauty, through perfection in behavior and attitudes, and through respect, affection and rationality and proper moral virtue. A person can wear the same clothes every day, but he will be high quality if he puts them on clean every day and treats them with care. Someone may not share another's ideas, but he will be high quality if he respects that other person's ideas and treats them with affection. Behavior is one of the most important ways of determining someone's quality; someone who cannot bear filth, avariciousness or low quality behavior is already a person of naturally high quality. Someone who speaks well, praises beauty, who takes every opportunity to recognize the superior nature of science and elegance, and who naturally values the other party is a high-quality person.

All these attributes that require quality have, to a large extent, been forgotten in Islamic societies; the reason for that is the main error into which these communities have fallen: that they have abandoned the Qur'an. Societies have emerged that value quantity over quality, hatred over love and filth and carelessness over cleanliness and good grooming. The only cure for this peculiar affliction is the Qur'an. One of the most urgent matters at the moment is to show the societies in question the superior quality of the Muslim, with supporting evidence from the Qur'an. So long as no evidence is produced from the Qur'an, the communities in question will continue to turn away from democracy, to be communities of anger, to spread lack of quality and to attach no importance to art and cleanliness. This is a scourge that is increasing by the day.

Quality is not a condition to be met through money, possessions or designer clothes. Quality is a feature that can be acquired through cleanliness, care, valuing beauty, immaculate behavior, affection, rationality, respect and moral virtue. The true Islam of the Qur'an requires this conception of quality. The world of the fanatics, on the other hand, is as filthy and low quality as it can be. This is a consequence of defying the Qur'an.