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**Faisal** · Feb 16, 2004, 02:08 PM

Re: Question about Muhammad

Greetings to you too.

Originally posted by lyrixforu:
I am curious why Muhammad seems to be the only prophet who changes his mind daily about what God says.

Can you provide some examples of what you mean? Quran, which is the word of God Almighty according to the belief of all muslims, was revealed over a period of 23 years. It encompasses a whole range of issues, stories and commandments.

Originally posted by lyrixforu:
I'm also curious why most Muslims claim that the only prophecy that counts when something is contradictory is the most recent one.

From Adam (Peace be Upon him) to Muhammad (Peace be Upon him), there were many Prophets (May peace be upon them all) of God, who all came with the same message: There is only one God. Muslims believe that all the Prophets who came before Muhammad were messangers of God and called their people to the right path. With Muhammad, the line of Prophets has ended. Islam, in many ways reiterates the message of all the previous messangers, and it refines and perfects the commandments of our Creator - God Almighty. While all the previous prophecies (be it Psalms, Old Testament or the New Testment) were revealed by God Almighty to those prophets, however Quran is the final word and to this date has remained unchanged, word-to-word, as to what was revealed, and will remain so, till the Day of Judgement.

**lyrixforu** · Feb 16, 2004, 02:24 PM

My friend faisal,

I am only refering to things I have read on this site and other Islam forums at this time. My own knowledge of the Quran is very limited but I have often seen people post here that Muhammad said to do this, but he did this, I guess the first thing that pops into my mind is the number of wives he had. How many prophets do you know of who tell us to do one thing and then do another thing themselves? I guess that just doesn't make sense to me and I want to understand where it was written that the word of God is any different for the prophets. I only know of a place somewhere that says to those given little, little will be required but to those given much, much will be required. So if I understand this right we should expect more from one who is a prophet than we should expect from the common man. Meaning to me, they should follow what they preach. But I could be wrong. Please understand I am only asking questions to understand. Maybe you could help me.

Bless you,
Barry

**Faisal** · Feb 16, 2004, 02:38 PM

Well, lets take it step by step. You asked two questions in your first post. Are you clear about the answer to your question #2?

Originally posted by lyrixforu:
I am only refering to things I have read on this site and other Islam forums at this time. My own knowledge of the Quran is very limited but I have often seen people post here that Muhammad said to do this, but he did this, I guess the first thing that pops into my mind is the number of wives he had. How many prophets do you know of who tell us to do one thing and then do another thing themselves?

Things that you read on this forum and other forums, where muslims are debating issues in the light of Islam, are in many instances, of an advanced level. One can not understand those discussions if they are not familiar with the initial foundations of Islam. So, if you have little information about Islam, then I suggest you keep asking questions here on the issues which confuse you, and members here will attempt to provide answers. Like any other internet forum with a wide variety of members, not all members will agree on their answers, but they all attempt to provide their input based on their knowledge.

Coming back to the question you raise... the comment that why did the Prophet of Islam married several wives, is often asked by non-muslims. To understand the answer, you have to understand the culture of Arabia at that time and the accurate history of our Prophet Muhammad (May Peace be Upon Him). He married at the age of 25 to a woman who was a 40-years old widow. They remained married for 20 years and had children together. Until her death she remained his only wife. None of the other women he married, with the exception of one, were virgins. In most cases they were widows. It was a custom of that time that when men die in wars, the sons will marry their mothers, and other such rituals which belittle women. Islam put a stop to that. In times of war, when men die and women become widows, in order to take care of them as a society, Islam permits men to marry more than once, but it cautions them to be just and treat all wives fairly and equally. Being a prophet, Muhammad's (May Peace Be Upon Him) life was a lesson to all of us, on how to treat all wives justly and properly. Having said that, Quran makes it clear that if someone can not do justice to all his wives, they should only marry once.

**lyrixforu** · Feb 16, 2004, 04:08 PM

Greetings again,

[QUOTE]Well, lets take it step by step. You asked two questions in your first post. Are you clear about the answer to your question #2?[QUOTE]

The bigger question in my head is why the Prophet does not practice what he preaches?

I have never seen any prophet who told followers of God to do one thing and follow a rule and does not follow that rule himself. But I do know that anytime any of the followers, prophet or not, of God did not follow his rules or what he said to do they were punished. Why is it that when Muhammad does not follow God's rules he is not punished and in fact God makes special cases for him.

Moses did not see the promised land because of his disobediance in the desert.
David was punished for taking another man's wife and sending her husband to his death in war.
Jonah into the belly of the whale.
Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu when offering unauthorized fire died.
Adam was banned for eating the apple.

Why when Muhammad is found taking more wives than the 4 allowed is he not punished? I know I have heard of more things that Muhammad did aginst rules he himself gave that he was alotted "special" privileges for on this site but I can't recall any right now.

I guess what I want to know is why is Muhammad different than any other prophet?

Peace,
Barry

**Lajawab** · Feb 16, 2004, 04:47 PM

Lyrix, in many instances there have been Prophets who have been deemed to do things which their followers did not...

How many people do you know that can raise the dead like Jesus :as:?

How many people do you know that will follow the command of Allah :swt: and sacrifice their offspring like Abaraham :as:?

How many do you know that would be willing to die on the cross like Jesus :as:?

How many people do you know that talk to God like Moses :as:?

And many many other cases...

Many things the Prophets were given to do and follow yet their followers were barred from doing it or stopped...Prophets are not everyday folks like you and me...You know what they say, different strokes for different folks...

**lyrixforu** · Feb 16, 2004, 05:09 PM

Thank you for your response Lajawab,

I know that Prophets did special things, but what you mention are things that edify God. And what you are not mentioning is that anytime one of these followers of God did not do what God commanded he was punished. Especiallly in the time before Jesus.

Please explain how disobeying a rule, that Allah/God has given, can be edifying God.

It only leads to a question asked by those outside Islam. "Is Quran Truth and revelation of Allah, as given by Muhammad. When Muhammad himself did not follow its rules, nor was he punished for disobedience?"

Yes prophets are not everyday people you are right. But all other prophets save one are bound by the laws. I am still waiting for an answer why is Muhammad above the law?

maybe through this discussion I will understand better.

Blessings,
Barry

**Lajawab** · Feb 16, 2004, 06:08 PM

Our Holy Prophet (saw) was not above the law, and like all Prophets before him was subject to reprimand by Allah :swt: too...

As for punishments, there are no punishments that befall Prophets, only trials and corrections...

One Hadith which I remember is that when the Holy Prophet :saw: was in Medina and fame of his Prophethood had reached many parts of the world, a delegation of learned elders of the Jews came to see him with questions to verify whether in reality he was a true Prophet of Allah :swt: or not...They met with him and asked him the questions that they were here to ask him...

So they came to see him and the Holy Prophet :saw: said that he will receive an answer from Allah (swt) tomorrow regarding their questions, and told the delegation to come the next day...

However, no revelation came the next day, so the Prophet :saw: said to come the following day, but still no revelation...Many days had passed but there was still no revelation whereupon the delegation decided that the Holy Prophet :saw: was not a real prophet and they were about to return...

However before the delegation left, Hazrat Gabriel :as: descended with the answers to the Jews' queries, alongwith with a verse from the Quran reprimanding the Holy prophet (saw) for being overly confident and claiming to be revealed the answer the next day...The reprimand was for the fact that the Holy prophet (saw) did not say InshAllah (Allah willing) when he told the Jews to come tomorrow...Meaning, the Prophet (saw) had become so sure of Allah (swt)'s help that he did not seek Allah's intervention...

The Hadith including the questions posed by the Jews, I can't recollect right now, however I will search for it and see if I can come up with it...

**Munni** · Feb 16, 2004, 06:15 PM

An answer, whether it is beneficial to you or not, isnt my concern, but this is the answer to your question nonetheless. *smile*

Prophet Muhammad (may peace be upon him) 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 behavior yet.

After that, the Divine order came to Muslims through their Holy book (Qur�an), to restrict the number of their wives to a maximum of four. God said to them:

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.

Surah 4 Verse 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 (may peace be upon him) - who had nine wives at the time the order was revealed - was exempted from this order in a later verse of Qur�an:

O Prophet! We have made lawful to thee thy wives to whom thou hast paid their dowers; ...

Surah 33 Verse 50

This exemption was because there was a prohibition in the Qur�an 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.

Surah 33 Verse 53

**zakiahmed** · Feb 16, 2004, 06:39 PM

Chapter : 33 (Al-Ahzab) Verse : 51 [Short Commentary]

"O Prophet! We have made lawful to thee thy wives whom thou hast paid their dowries, and those whom thy right hand possesses from among those whom Allah has given thee as gains of war, and the daughters of thy paternal uncle, and the daughters of thy paternal aunts, and the daughters of thy maternal uncle, and the daughters of thy maternal aunts who have emigrated with thee and any other believing woman if she offers herself for marriage to the Prophet provided the Prophet desires to marry her; this provision is only for thee, and not for other believers - We have already made known what We have enjoined on them concerning their wives and those whom their right hands possess - in order that there may be no difficulty for thee in explaining the Law to them. And Allah is Most Forgiving, Merciful. "

The Holy Prophet's (saw) marriages were motivated by highly noble considerations and not by those imputed to him by his ignorant and ignoble critics. With the solitary exception of his marriage with Hadhrat Aisha (ra), he married only widows or divorced women. He married Hafsha(ra) whose husband was killed in battle of Badr; Hadhrat zainab whose husband was killed in battle of Uhud; and Umm Habibah, daughter of Abu sufiyan who became a widow in 5 or 6 A.H. (in exile in Abyssinia); he married Jawairiyah and Safiyya, both widows in 5 A.H and 7 A.H respective, seeking a union with and pacification of their tribes. It is to be noted that hundred families of the Bani Mastaliq were liberated by muslims when the Holy Prophet married Jawairiyah. Maimunnah, another widow. He married Mariah in 7 A.H, and thus by raising a freed slave girl to the highly eminent spiritual status of the 'Mother of faithful' he gave a death blow to slavery.

Such were the pious and noble motives of our Master Hadhrat Muhammad (saw).

In the above mentioned verse, the clause "this provision is only for thee, and not for other believers" means that it was a special privilege of the Holy Prophet and was due to the special permission granted to the Holy Prophet, to retain all his wives, after the commandment contained in 4:4 was revealed limmiting to four the number of wives allowed to muslims at one time.

The words, "We have already made known what We have enjoined on them concerning their wives and those whom their right hands possess " refer to commandment contained in 4:4, according to which only 4 wives at the most at a time are allowed to muslime men. But in view of Holy Prophet's own and of his wives' very high spiritual status and other spiritual and moral considerations, exception was made in the case of Holy Propohet (saw) in the opening words of this verse.

LOVE FOR ALL, HATRED FOR NONE.....

**lyrixforu** · Feb 16, 2004, 07:33 PM

Greetings and thanks,

Ok, I think we need to get on the same page. We obviously do not have the same definitions of the words which we are using to discuss this topic.

I will give my definitions and you can give me yours.

Punish- Impose a penalty on. IE. Your mom doesn't let you go out for the evening because you didn't take out the trash.

Therefore according to the definition I have given for the word punish:

Against will of God--
Jonah did not go to warn the people when told to do so by God.
Punishment--
Swallowed by whale.

Against will of God--
Moses did not give God the credit when he hit the rock in the desert and brought forth water.
Punishment--
Not allowed into the promised land.

Did you get my question? How can disobeying a rule given by God/Allah be glorifying God. And yes the prophets are special but no they are not given special rules. I can not think of any others that were given special rules when they could not follow God's laws. As a matter of fact all the others were punished, according to the definition above. Please, if you can think of any, tell me.

Specifically why is it OK for Muhammad to take 7 wives at a time when he clearly states the law is 4?

Peace,
Barry

**lyrixforu** · Feb 16, 2004, 07:48 PM

Hi Zakiahmed,

Sorry I posted my last message before I got your response. Thanks for the smile, smilin' right back at ya!

Ok, so I can see that it was special for the prophet. I can buy that, not sure about the special prophecy, but at least I can buy it.

My question then is why is it that other prophets are punished when outside of the law and Muhammad gets special prophecy? I have heard people say that he got special prophecy for various different cases here on this site, unfrotunately I can not remember them all. I'm sorry I just don't understand why this prophet doesn't seem to be bound by the same rules as other prophets. What changed between the time of the last prophet and Muhammad that he was so special?

Thanks again and cheers to all who read

Barry

**Lajawab** · Feb 16, 2004, 08:23 PM

Lyrix, first of all, Muslims don't hold the concept of punishments for Prophets...No Prophet was ever punished and the trials that you mention about the other Prophets were in fact a lesson for mankind...We all know that every Prophet has been the most beloved of creatures of Allah :swt:...He adored them and cherished them, and the afflictions that befell them were but part of lessons for future generations to ponder upon and learn...

If we are to take trials as 'punishments', as you call them, then you'd see that the entire life of our Prophet :saw: was a punishment...His struggles, his life, the persecution he faced by the people, the ridicule and the hate that he received from people was punishment in itself enough...In fact, except for Prophet Job :as:, whose entire body was besotten with worms and his great wealth taken from him as well as family and friends, I don't see a prophet who was more persecuted than our Holy Prophet (saw)...

As for breaking the commands and being punished for them is concerned, we Muslims believe that the Holy Prophet :saw: being the last of the Prophets, was the most beloved of Allah :swt:. Why you ask? Because he was one of the only prophets who led his life by the most letter perfect example of the Holy Quran, Allah :swt:'s word...The Prophet (saw) wrapped his life in the words of the Holy Quran, and that rarely left any margin of error to be punished for...

Lyrix: You are welcome to pose as many questions as you like and we would be more than happy to reply to them...If something is unclear to you, do not hesitate to ask again and again...

Your questions are formed very respectfully and truly show a person who is in pursuit of knowledge, and according to Islam, there is nothing more worthy in the eyes of Allah :swt: than the pursuit of knowledge...

I hope that we are able to answer your questions in a fashion that you like and understand, if not you can always ask what you require an answer to...

**zakiahmed** · Feb 16, 2004, 08:43 PM

Originally posted by lyrixforu:
Hi Zakiahmed,

Sorry I posted my last message before I got your response. Thanks for the smile, smilin' right back at ya!

Ok, so I can see that it was special for the prophet. I can buy that, not sure about the special prophecy, but at least I can buy it.

My question then is why is it that other prophets are punished when outside of the law and Muhammad gets special prophecy? I have heard people say that he got special prophecy for various different cases here on this site, unfrotunately I can not remember them all. I'm sorry I just don't understand why this prophet doesn't seem to be bound by the same rules as other prophets. What changed between the time of the last prophet and Muhammad that he was so special?

Thanks again and cheers to all who read

Barry

First of all, our belief as 'muslims' is that Hadhrat Muhammad (saw) is 'khatam-un-nabiyyeen' meaning 'Best of all prophets'. He is the 'master' of the prophets and is the 'Best' human being that Allah has produced. No other human being can reach to a status of spirituality that Huzur(saw) has been blessed with. He is 'rahmatul lil alameen' (blessing for all worlds). These blessings have not been bestowed upon any other prophets in the history of religion.

It was Allah's decision who to make the best of the prophets and he is the best judge among all.

As far as working under the laws are concerned, Quran clearly states that if this prophet says or does anything that is against the direct teachings from Allah, Allah will show no mercy upon him.

[69:41] That it is, surely, the word brought by a noble Messenger,
[69:42] And not the word of a poet; little is it what you believe!
[69:43] Nor is it the word of a soothsayer; little is it that you heed!
[69:44] It is a revelation from the Lord of the worlds.
[69:45] And if he had forged and attributed any sayings to US,
[69:46] We would, surely, have seized him by the right hand,
[69:47] And then, surely, We would have cut his life-vein,
[69:48] And not one of you could have held Our punishment off from him.
[69:49] And verily, it is a reminder for the righteous,

Now as we believe, Quran is the word of God, therefore we have to believe that Muhammad(saw) could not have done or have said anything that can go against the direct teachings from God. Therefore, all that he(saw) did, was under the direct commandment of Allah.

I hope this helps you understand this point....

**bao bihari** · Feb 16, 2004, 09:20 PM

Brother Barry/.......

You may consider this question :topic: ...... it may help me understand ur question.....

1-Do u belive/think the Prophet MUHammad:saw: was a prophet ......

if u consider him as one.....then no point in arguing whether ALLAH taala gave him punishment or not......

kindly state that....