MOST Christians may not be professing their religion properly, but what they lack in religion they make up for in compassion…
MOST Muslim’s will swear that they profess Islam whole heartedly… EXCUSE ME?
Islam is an all-encompassing religion, Islam has guidelines about everything in life… Fardhu Ain and Fardhu Kifayah… Sadly most Muslims aren’t able to perform both task successfully… Christians aren’t perfect, neither are we… We’re all human after all…
What I’d like to touch about in this blog entry is our Fardhu Kifayah… being Muslim’s, professing Islam, is more than just testifying our believe to Allah S.W.T. (pledging the Syahada)… one of our five tenants of Islam is paying alms (Zakat) to the poor… it varies from people to people, but if you’d refer to the Hadith Sahih it is clearly stated that we need to contribute one-fourteenth (1/14) of our total assets… there’s no standard charge of RM5 or RM 7 (whatever the government decrees now)… it’s illogical that a religion which stresses on equality would ask people who have millions, even billions, to pay a measly RM5 for their Zakat… Think people, think…
If we Muslims pay our Zakat properly we can eradicate poverty… we live in a world without borders now, the Zakat collected should go to those who need it most now, regardless of their race and religion… There are over 2 billion Muslims on this God green earth, that’s about one-third the worlds population… if we each pay our Zakats to our means, and distribute the collected Zakat to the Fakir Miskin than we’d help ensure a better life for them…
The Christians are not compelled to pay Zakat… The Christians have no dogma in their religion concerning Zakat… YET, some Christians (not many) travel around the globe in search of the needy and less fortunate… these few participate in helping to make the world a better place… sure you can say you pay your Zakat… I’m not instigating against the government here, but I’m asking you to remember that many ad-Hadith states that we should give out Zakat to the poor and needy ourselves, and if we pay to a collection agency (the government in this case) we can only do so if we are certain that the funds collected will be delivered to those who really need them… no part of the Zakat should ever be used for “bereautical” cost and expenses… ALL Zakat that’s collected is meant for the poor and needy… As Muslims, we cannot close an eye to “hidden charges”… I urge you to think about how honest you are with your Zakat paying, and I also urge you to think whether the people you’re handing your Zakat to are trustworthy (amanah)…
Lets take a lesson from the Christians, lets make the world a better place… we can start by paying our Zakat in the proper percentage (1/14) and proper amount (total asset minus liability)…
Friday, September 18, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Medical Benefits of Fasting...
by Shahid Athar, M.D.
Most Muslims do not fast because of medical benefits but because it has been ordained to them in the Quran. The medical benefits of fasting are as a result of fasting. Fasting in general has been used in medicine for medical reasons including weight management, for rest of the digestive tract and for lowering lipids. There are many adverse effects of total fasting as well as so-called crash diets. Islamic fasting is different from such diet plans because in Ramadan fasting, there is no malnutrition or inadequate calorie intake. The caloric intake of Muslims during Ramadan is at or slightly below the national requirement guidelines. In addition, the fasting in Ramadan is voluntarily taken and is not a prescribed imposition from the physician.
Ramadan is a month of self-regulation and self-training, with the hope that this training will last beyond the end of Ramadan. If the lessons learned during Ramadan, whether in terms of dietary intake or righteousness, are carried on after Ramadan, it is beneficial for one's entire life. Moreover, the type of food taken during Ramadan does not have any selective criteria of crash diets such as those which are protein only or fruit only type diets. Everything that is permissible is taken in moderate quantities.
The only difference between Ramadan and total fasting is the timing of the food; during Ramadan, we basically miss lunch and take an early breakfast and do not eat until dusk. Abstinence from water during this period is not bad at all and in fact, it causes concentration of all fluids within the body, producing slight dehydration. The body has its own water conservation mechanism; in fact, it has been shown that slight dehydration and water conservation, at least in plant life, improve their longevity.
The physiological effect of fasting includes lower of blood sugar, lowering of cholesterol and lowering of the systolic blood pressure. In fact, Ramadan fasting would be an ideal recommendation for treatment of mild to moderate, stable, non-insulin diabetes, obesity and essential hypertension. In 1994 the first International Congress on "Health and Ramadan", held in Casablanca, entered 50 research papers from all over the world, from Muslim and non-Muslim researchers who have done extensive studies on the medical ethics of fasting. While improvement in many medical conditions was noted; however, in no way did fasting worsen any patients' health or baseline medical condition. On the other hand, patients who are suffering from severe diseases, whether diabetes or coronary artery disease, kidney stones, etc., are exempt from fasting and should not try to fast.
There are psychological effects of fasting as well. There is a peace and tranquility for those who fast during the month of Ramadan. Personal hostility is at a minimum, and the crime rate decreases. This psychological improvement could be related to better stabilization of blood glucose during fasting as hypoglycemia after eating, aggravates behavior changes.
Recitation of the Quran not only produces a tranquility of heart and mind, but improves the memory. Therefore, I encourage my Muslim patients to fast in the month of Ramadan, but they must do it under medical supervision. Healthy adult Muslims should not fear becoming weak by fasting, but instead it should improve their health and stamina.
DIABETES MELLITUS AND RAMADAN FASTING
Diabetes mellitus affects people of all faiths. Muslims are no exception. Many diabetic Muslims have a desire to fast during the month of Ramadan, although if they cannot for health reasons, they have a valid exemption. The dilemma for physicians and Muslim scholars is whether or not Muslim diabetic patients (1) should be allowed to fast if they decide to; (2) can fast safely; (3) can be helped to fast if they decide to; (4 ) can have their disease monitored at home; and (5) are going to derive any benefit or harm to their health. Fasting during Ramadan by a Muslim diabetic patient is neither his right nor Islamic obligation, but only a privilege to be allowed by his physician, at the patient's request, knowing all the dangers and assuming full responsibility in dietary compliance and glucose monitoring, with good communication between the physician and the patient .
PSYCHOLOGICAL STATE OF DIABETES DURING RAMADAN
Diabetes mellitus itself adversely affects patients' psychological states by changes in glucose metabolism, blood and CSF osmolality, needs for discipline and compliance, fear of long term complications and threat of hypoglycemic attacks and the possibility of dehydration and coma.
On the other hand, fasting during Ramadan has a tranquilizing effect on the mind, producing inner peace and decrease in anger and hostility. Fasting Muslims realize that manifestations of anger may take away the blessings of fasting or even nullify them.
Diabetics know that stress increases the blood glucose by increasing the catecholamine level and any tool to lower the stress ; ie., biofeedback or relaxation improves diabetic control. Thus, Islamic fasting during Ramadan should have a potentially beneficial effect with regard to diabetic control.
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM FOR DIABETICS DURING RAMADAN
It should be directed toward:
(a) diabetic home management;
(b) preparing them for Ramadan;
(c) recognizing warning symptoms of dehydration, hypoglycemia and other possible complications.
Patients should be taught home glucose monitoring, checking urine for acetone, doing daily weights, calorie-controlled diabetic diet, need for sleep and normal exercise. They should be able to take pulse, temperature, look for skin infection and notice changes in the sensorium ( mental alertness ) . They should be on special alert for any colicky pain, a sign for renal colic, or hyperventilation, a sign of dehydration, and to be able to seek medical help quickly rather than wait for the next day.
by Nichole Arel
This was sent to me by my friend, Norihfan Mohsin... enjoy...
Journey to eternity... An Arab Religion, Right?
By Nichole Arel
Often I find myself reflecting upon how blessed I am. The life that I lead now is a world away from the one I expected to lead just a year ago: my first thoughts upon waking in the morning, my imagined path in life, and especially my heart and soul. I would never have dreamt that in less than a year my life would take such unexpected turns. Not only that. The path I now take has led me to roads I never knew existed. Indeed where you start your journey is in no way indicative of where you end up.
As a child, I longed to be taken to church. The feeling of community and worship held my mind in fascination. I longed for the feeling of drawing close to God even before I could formulate such thoughts in my own mind. Something incomprehensible held my young soul in awe, so much so that I made a habit of waking my father every Sunday by begging him to take me to church.
Unfortunately my family was much like average American Christians, content to call themselves religious based on their twice-yearly attendance to Catholic Mass: on Christmas and Easter Sunday. Thus I grew accustomed to hearing the phrase, "not today, maybe next week." Dejectedly, I would sulk back into my room and wait for next Sunday to arrive, only to repeat the disappointing process all over again.
It was an insistent nagging that never left me alone no matter what I did to drown it out.
As I grew older, I learned to stop asking since my attempts had all been in vain. I became content to spend all my free time in solitude reading, usually books on world cultures and religions. As I learned more about the history of my religion, Catholicism, I was repulsed by its condemnation of questioning the doctrine. "Surely this cannot be the right sect of Christianity, " I thought.
Time ticked by and still I had not found the religion that seemed to speak to my heart. Perhaps I was expecting to find something to stir the same feelings that I felt as a child in church, although I knew this was a naïve wish. The alienation from religion occurs only when one begins to understand religions' claims and contradictions.
I couldn't wrap my mind around the claim of the Trinity no matter how hard I tried. I couldn't understand how I was supposed to believe in concepts that were incomprehensible. I was angry that reason was assumed to have no place in Christianity and the act of questioning doctrine was considered a sign of weak faith. What then could be the reason God gave man the ability to rationalize?
Eventually I gave up altogether and assumed that I would never find the truth. I was resigned to believe that there was a God but that humans would never be able to know God's nature or the true religion for man until we met Him one day.
I lived many years with this belief until very recently when it seemed that something inexplicable was urging me back to my quest for the truth. This urge was almost a voice but not in the normal sense. It was an insistent nagging that never left me alone no matter what I did to drown it out.
So naturally I bought a Bible to read, thinking that the truth must be hidden between the pages. Maybe I just missed it all those years ago. This was closer to the truth than I could ever have guessed.
During my reading of the Bible I happened to be obsessed with the current events of the world. I found myself spending all my free time alternating between writing letters to my government's officials pleading for the rights of the Palestinians and the Sudanese as well as against wars that are so commonplace around the globe, and reading about sects of Christianity.I planned on volunteering in Palestine if I could gather the money to travel there. Naturally, given the turmoil in the region and my travel plans, it seemed necessary to read about Islam and understand the faith of the people that I yearned to help.
I was enthralled by what I read about the Muslim faith. The concept of One God not a trinity, the reverence for all of the prophets which I found lacking in the Bible, the scientific aspects of the Qur'an, the all-encompassing facets of Islam, the respect for mothers, the sanctity of family. This was the only religion that I had ever happened upon which made sense to a rational mind yet was still filled with the mystery of God.
But Islam had to be an Arab religion, right? It can't be the faith that young American women gravitate to, can it? I soon discovered that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world, that the majority of Muslims are not Arab, and that some of the most rapid growth of Islam in the West is among my demographic group of young white women.
The thought of actually turning away from Christianity, no matter how little sense the religion itself made to me, was terrifying and confusing. I decided to attend a non-denominational church on Sundays and devote more time to reading the Bible. I prayed that I would find what I was searching for but all I came away with was more confusion. I still couldn't accept the Trinity and I was shocked that I couldn't find one passage in the Bible where Jesus claimed to be God.
It can't be the faith that young American women gravitate to, can it?
How could we propose to think that God would come to earth to die for our sins? How could I explain the shocking parallels of Christianity' s doctrine with the Pagan myths at the time of Christianity' s rapid spread during the Roman Empire? What about Christianity' s claim that we can live the life we want and still go to Heaven as long as we believed in Jesus? What could it mean when Jesus supposedly cried out that his God had forsaken him if Jesus was claimed to be God incarnate? Who did these passages refer to when it said that Jesus would send "a Comforter" after him? Who was the "Spirit of Truth" that was foretold to come after Jesus?I was crushed by the questions that plagued me so I did the inevitable. As I sat at work, I prayed that God would show me the religious path that I should follow. If I was supposed to be a Muslim would God send me a sign?
Then I grabbed my purse and headed down to my car in the parking lot. To my astonishment, there was a Muslim woman standing next to my car while she searched for her keys. Could this be the sign I prayed for? "Impossible, " my mind said, but I decided not to waste this opportunity so I approached her.
"Miss, may I ask you something? You are Muslim, right?" She seemed to flinch as she awaited the typical ignorant comment that is so common among people who, on average, have no knowledge of different cultures or religions. "Yes, I am," she replied. I asked her if she attended the masjid I knew of. I told her briefly that Islam seemed to be the only religion that made sense to me. She insisted that I go to the masjid on the way home but I claimed that I wanted to read the Qur'an first.
As I drove home I found myself parked in front of the masjid. I momentarily thought that this could be another sign but, again, my mind refused to believe it. I walked up to the door shaking like a leaf while I told myself to get back in my car and go home as fast as possible. But instead my legs carried me forward, paying no attention to the commands of my brain.
As I found my way to the women's section I was met by the most cheerful face I had ever encountered. This Muslim woman was my age and an American convert! Not only that, but she and I had the same name and when we compared our pasts and family life there were undeniable similarities. Needless to say, I declared my Shahadah then and there, not knowing that my future husband was in the masjid that very minute, al-hamdu lillah.
A couple of months after declaring my Shahadah, I felt educated and firm enough in my religion to finally break the news to my father and stepmother. My father responded by saying that as a clear-headed Christian he could tell me that I was making a mistake. I didn't bother to point out that he doesn't practice his religion and that his anger at Islam and prejudice against Muslims are sorely misguided. I just bit my tongue for the sake of Allah.My father didn't contact me again after that, but when I emailed him a month later to tell him that I had gotten married, he told me that I was dead to him and not to contact him again. I still email my stepmother to keep in touch with the family but my brother, father, and my old friends have severed their contact with me.
I have spent the following year growing in my new religion, gaining knowledge from wherever I can, and trying to convey the message that has brought me such peace and contentment. I am in the process of learning Arabic and the recitation of the Qur'an, and trying to become a good Muslim wife.
My life has no resemblance whatsoever to the life that I lived before. I spend my days studying Allah's commands, the Prophet's life, and what is required of me in order to be a good Muslim. As a Muslim, I find such peace in every day, so much so that even if Paradise was not the reward for such deeds, I would still be thankful for the joy that comes with living a life dedicated to Allah.
I said in the beginning that the road you travel does not indicate where you end up, and that life is not merely full of surprises but can altogether change beyond recognition. Sometimes these changes can bring trials but often enough the person who survives these trials is blessed with more than what is ever dreamed possible. In my case, I was blessed with Islam and not only a better life but also a hope for the hereafter. Allah is the Most Generous and the Most Merciful.
Journey to eternity... An Arab Religion, Right?
By Nichole Arel
Often I find myself reflecting upon how blessed I am. The life that I lead now is a world away from the one I expected to lead just a year ago: my first thoughts upon waking in the morning, my imagined path in life, and especially my heart and soul. I would never have dreamt that in less than a year my life would take such unexpected turns. Not only that. The path I now take has led me to roads I never knew existed. Indeed where you start your journey is in no way indicative of where you end up.
As a child, I longed to be taken to church. The feeling of community and worship held my mind in fascination. I longed for the feeling of drawing close to God even before I could formulate such thoughts in my own mind. Something incomprehensible held my young soul in awe, so much so that I made a habit of waking my father every Sunday by begging him to take me to church.
Unfortunately my family was much like average American Christians, content to call themselves religious based on their twice-yearly attendance to Catholic Mass: on Christmas and Easter Sunday. Thus I grew accustomed to hearing the phrase, "not today, maybe next week." Dejectedly, I would sulk back into my room and wait for next Sunday to arrive, only to repeat the disappointing process all over again.
It was an insistent nagging that never left me alone no matter what I did to drown it out.
As I grew older, I learned to stop asking since my attempts had all been in vain. I became content to spend all my free time in solitude reading, usually books on world cultures and religions. As I learned more about the history of my religion, Catholicism, I was repulsed by its condemnation of questioning the doctrine. "Surely this cannot be the right sect of Christianity, " I thought.
Time ticked by and still I had not found the religion that seemed to speak to my heart. Perhaps I was expecting to find something to stir the same feelings that I felt as a child in church, although I knew this was a naïve wish. The alienation from religion occurs only when one begins to understand religions' claims and contradictions.
I couldn't wrap my mind around the claim of the Trinity no matter how hard I tried. I couldn't understand how I was supposed to believe in concepts that were incomprehensible. I was angry that reason was assumed to have no place in Christianity and the act of questioning doctrine was considered a sign of weak faith. What then could be the reason God gave man the ability to rationalize?
Eventually I gave up altogether and assumed that I would never find the truth. I was resigned to believe that there was a God but that humans would never be able to know God's nature or the true religion for man until we met Him one day.
I lived many years with this belief until very recently when it seemed that something inexplicable was urging me back to my quest for the truth. This urge was almost a voice but not in the normal sense. It was an insistent nagging that never left me alone no matter what I did to drown it out.
So naturally I bought a Bible to read, thinking that the truth must be hidden between the pages. Maybe I just missed it all those years ago. This was closer to the truth than I could ever have guessed.
During my reading of the Bible I happened to be obsessed with the current events of the world. I found myself spending all my free time alternating between writing letters to my government's officials pleading for the rights of the Palestinians and the Sudanese as well as against wars that are so commonplace around the globe, and reading about sects of Christianity.I planned on volunteering in Palestine if I could gather the money to travel there. Naturally, given the turmoil in the region and my travel plans, it seemed necessary to read about Islam and understand the faith of the people that I yearned to help.
I was enthralled by what I read about the Muslim faith. The concept of One God not a trinity, the reverence for all of the prophets which I found lacking in the Bible, the scientific aspects of the Qur'an, the all-encompassing facets of Islam, the respect for mothers, the sanctity of family. This was the only religion that I had ever happened upon which made sense to a rational mind yet was still filled with the mystery of God.
But Islam had to be an Arab religion, right? It can't be the faith that young American women gravitate to, can it? I soon discovered that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world, that the majority of Muslims are not Arab, and that some of the most rapid growth of Islam in the West is among my demographic group of young white women.
The thought of actually turning away from Christianity, no matter how little sense the religion itself made to me, was terrifying and confusing. I decided to attend a non-denominational church on Sundays and devote more time to reading the Bible. I prayed that I would find what I was searching for but all I came away with was more confusion. I still couldn't accept the Trinity and I was shocked that I couldn't find one passage in the Bible where Jesus claimed to be God.
It can't be the faith that young American women gravitate to, can it?
How could we propose to think that God would come to earth to die for our sins? How could I explain the shocking parallels of Christianity' s doctrine with the Pagan myths at the time of Christianity' s rapid spread during the Roman Empire? What about Christianity' s claim that we can live the life we want and still go to Heaven as long as we believed in Jesus? What could it mean when Jesus supposedly cried out that his God had forsaken him if Jesus was claimed to be God incarnate? Who did these passages refer to when it said that Jesus would send "a Comforter" after him? Who was the "Spirit of Truth" that was foretold to come after Jesus?I was crushed by the questions that plagued me so I did the inevitable. As I sat at work, I prayed that God would show me the religious path that I should follow. If I was supposed to be a Muslim would God send me a sign?
Then I grabbed my purse and headed down to my car in the parking lot. To my astonishment, there was a Muslim woman standing next to my car while she searched for her keys. Could this be the sign I prayed for? "Impossible, " my mind said, but I decided not to waste this opportunity so I approached her.
"Miss, may I ask you something? You are Muslim, right?" She seemed to flinch as she awaited the typical ignorant comment that is so common among people who, on average, have no knowledge of different cultures or religions. "Yes, I am," she replied. I asked her if she attended the masjid I knew of. I told her briefly that Islam seemed to be the only religion that made sense to me. She insisted that I go to the masjid on the way home but I claimed that I wanted to read the Qur'an first.
As I drove home I found myself parked in front of the masjid. I momentarily thought that this could be another sign but, again, my mind refused to believe it. I walked up to the door shaking like a leaf while I told myself to get back in my car and go home as fast as possible. But instead my legs carried me forward, paying no attention to the commands of my brain.
As I found my way to the women's section I was met by the most cheerful face I had ever encountered. This Muslim woman was my age and an American convert! Not only that, but she and I had the same name and when we compared our pasts and family life there were undeniable similarities. Needless to say, I declared my Shahadah then and there, not knowing that my future husband was in the masjid that very minute, al-hamdu lillah.
A couple of months after declaring my Shahadah, I felt educated and firm enough in my religion to finally break the news to my father and stepmother. My father responded by saying that as a clear-headed Christian he could tell me that I was making a mistake. I didn't bother to point out that he doesn't practice his religion and that his anger at Islam and prejudice against Muslims are sorely misguided. I just bit my tongue for the sake of Allah.My father didn't contact me again after that, but when I emailed him a month later to tell him that I had gotten married, he told me that I was dead to him and not to contact him again. I still email my stepmother to keep in touch with the family but my brother, father, and my old friends have severed their contact with me.
I have spent the following year growing in my new religion, gaining knowledge from wherever I can, and trying to convey the message that has brought me such peace and contentment. I am in the process of learning Arabic and the recitation of the Qur'an, and trying to become a good Muslim wife.
My life has no resemblance whatsoever to the life that I lived before. I spend my days studying Allah's commands, the Prophet's life, and what is required of me in order to be a good Muslim. As a Muslim, I find such peace in every day, so much so that even if Paradise was not the reward for such deeds, I would still be thankful for the joy that comes with living a life dedicated to Allah.
I said in the beginning that the road you travel does not indicate where you end up, and that life is not merely full of surprises but can altogether change beyond recognition. Sometimes these changes can bring trials but often enough the person who survives these trials is blessed with more than what is ever dreamed possible. In my case, I was blessed with Islam and not only a better life but also a hope for the hereafter. Allah is the Most Generous and the Most Merciful.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. and His Nine (9) Wives
This particular topic has always been a popular discussion amongst Muslims, and sadly due to the lack of knowledge about this issue, it has also been a favourite issue which non-Muslims are able to propagate misconceptions against Islam…
Both, they the non-Muslims and we the Muslims, deal with this issue of the Prophets' nine marriages as though it were his Achilles heel… Christians in particular contrast the Prophet with Jesus… because Jesus was unmarried, he was considered chaste and wise (as we Muslims also believe him to be)... but they portray Muhammad as a lustful womanizer who has nothing to do except to satisfy his fleshy desires… Most of us Muslims, however, are unable to counter their arguments (stress! Lack of knowledge on our part)…This is why your secondary school teacher has the right to get confused… The following facts, concerning his marriages could help him or her have a better understanding of the personality of that great man…
This comparison between Jesus and Muhammad is unfair because being married is not a discredit to a prophet otherwise we are going to deny the prophet-hood of all the previous prophets of God... This is since Adam, passing through Abraham (two wives at one time), Noah, Isaac, Solomon, David (99 wives) Moses etc., and they were all wise, chaste, and reliable for delivering the divine message…
Prophet Muhammad married this number at a time, when the norm of the place in which he lived (Arab Peninsula in the 7th century) allowed men to marry a much larger number than that, there was no legislation to prohibit this behaviour yet…
After that, the Divine order came to Muslims through the Holy Quran, to restrict the number of their wives to a maximum of four… God said to them in the verse what means:
If ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, Marry women of your choice, Two or three or four; but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one, or (a captive) that your right hands possess, that will be more suitable, to prevent you from doing injustice.
(An-Nisaa' 4: 3)
On hearing this order, all who men who had more than four wives divorced them, in full submission to God's orders… The divorced wives (who accepted this divine decree with full satisfaction, implied by their deep faith) soon found other marriages and lead normal lives... Nevertheless, the Prophet (who had nine wives at the time the order was revealed) was exempted from this order in a later verse of the Holy Quran which gives the meaning of:
O Prophet! We have made lawful to thee thy wives to whom thou hast paid their dowers…
(Al-Ahzab 33: 50)
This exemption was because there was a prohibition in the Holy Quran for any Muslim to marry the Prophet's wives once he died or divorced them:
...Nor is it right for you that ye should annoy God's Apostle, or that ye should marry his widows after him at any time. Truly such a thing is in God's sight an enormity.
(Al-Ahzab 33: 53)
So, it was rather inhuman for his wives to be doomed to solitude and depravity all their lives… Thus he was exceptionally permitted to keep them…
Looking at the circumstances, in which he married each wife, one finds that all those marriages were the furthest from being motivated simply by lust… The marriage to his first wife, Khadijah, was his only wife until she died after almost 20 years of marriage... This marriage to Khadijah covered the years of his youth… Despite the fact that these years were supposed to be the peak of his sexual demand, he did not think of taking any other wife together with her…The rest of his wives (whom he married after her death) came at a time when he was nearly 50… Exhausted in spreading the new religion, mostly chased by the infidels and where attempts at taking his life were frequent, I, personally, don't think that this was a romantic atmosphere for anybody to go on amorous adventures…
Most of his wives whom he took after the death of Khadijah were old in age, devoid of beauty and were formerly married, except `A'ishah, who was the only one who was young and a virgin… This is despite the fact that he was always the target of many believing ladies, who came offering themselves to him in marriage, but then he politely apologized to them…
Every one of these marriages was for a reason; either political to make alliance with other tribes, or human to sustain a widow of a martyr or to honor a lady whom no body wanted to marry… It was not reported that he married them out of carnal desires…
He was a model example of justice and kindness to them all regardless of his neutral feelings towards many of them, he would never discriminate among them or reveal the special feelings he had for `A'ishah rather than the others…
So my Muslim brethren, educate yourself about this issue… educate yourself about Islam… lets defend the dignity of our beautiful religion via credible arguments, let us defunct the rumours about Islam…
Both, they the non-Muslims and we the Muslims, deal with this issue of the Prophets' nine marriages as though it were his Achilles heel… Christians in particular contrast the Prophet with Jesus… because Jesus was unmarried, he was considered chaste and wise (as we Muslims also believe him to be)... but they portray Muhammad as a lustful womanizer who has nothing to do except to satisfy his fleshy desires… Most of us Muslims, however, are unable to counter their arguments (stress! Lack of knowledge on our part)…This is why your secondary school teacher has the right to get confused… The following facts, concerning his marriages could help him or her have a better understanding of the personality of that great man…
This comparison between Jesus and Muhammad is unfair because being married is not a discredit to a prophet otherwise we are going to deny the prophet-hood of all the previous prophets of God... This is since Adam, passing through Abraham (two wives at one time), Noah, Isaac, Solomon, David (99 wives) Moses etc., and they were all wise, chaste, and reliable for delivering the divine message…
Prophet Muhammad married this number at a time, when the norm of the place in which he lived (Arab Peninsula in the 7th century) allowed men to marry a much larger number than that, there was no legislation to prohibit this behaviour yet…
After that, the Divine order came to Muslims through the Holy Quran, to restrict the number of their wives to a maximum of four… God said to them in the verse what means:
If ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, Marry women of your choice, Two or three or four; but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one, or (a captive) that your right hands possess, that will be more suitable, to prevent you from doing injustice.
(An-Nisaa' 4: 3)
On hearing this order, all who men who had more than four wives divorced them, in full submission to God's orders… The divorced wives (who accepted this divine decree with full satisfaction, implied by their deep faith) soon found other marriages and lead normal lives... Nevertheless, the Prophet (who had nine wives at the time the order was revealed) was exempted from this order in a later verse of the Holy Quran which gives the meaning of:
O Prophet! We have made lawful to thee thy wives to whom thou hast paid their dowers…
(Al-Ahzab 33: 50)
This exemption was because there was a prohibition in the Holy Quran for any Muslim to marry the Prophet's wives once he died or divorced them:
...Nor is it right for you that ye should annoy God's Apostle, or that ye should marry his widows after him at any time. Truly such a thing is in God's sight an enormity.
(Al-Ahzab 33: 53)
So, it was rather inhuman for his wives to be doomed to solitude and depravity all their lives… Thus he was exceptionally permitted to keep them…
Looking at the circumstances, in which he married each wife, one finds that all those marriages were the furthest from being motivated simply by lust… The marriage to his first wife, Khadijah, was his only wife until she died after almost 20 years of marriage... This marriage to Khadijah covered the years of his youth… Despite the fact that these years were supposed to be the peak of his sexual demand, he did not think of taking any other wife together with her…The rest of his wives (whom he married after her death) came at a time when he was nearly 50… Exhausted in spreading the new religion, mostly chased by the infidels and where attempts at taking his life were frequent, I, personally, don't think that this was a romantic atmosphere for anybody to go on amorous adventures…
Most of his wives whom he took after the death of Khadijah were old in age, devoid of beauty and were formerly married, except `A'ishah, who was the only one who was young and a virgin… This is despite the fact that he was always the target of many believing ladies, who came offering themselves to him in marriage, but then he politely apologized to them…
Every one of these marriages was for a reason; either political to make alliance with other tribes, or human to sustain a widow of a martyr or to honor a lady whom no body wanted to marry… It was not reported that he married them out of carnal desires…
He was a model example of justice and kindness to them all regardless of his neutral feelings towards many of them, he would never discriminate among them or reveal the special feelings he had for `A'ishah rather than the others…
So my Muslim brethren, educate yourself about this issue… educate yourself about Islam… lets defend the dignity of our beautiful religion via credible arguments, let us defunct the rumours about Islam…
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