بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم الحمد لله وحده و
الصلاة و السلام على من لا نبي بعده و على آله و أصحابه أجمعين
Abu Bakr responded to the representative of pagans of Makkah with strong wording. Missionary critics of Islam like Sam Shamoun and David Wood ignore the context and use it to convey that Muslims attacked religious beliefs of others for no reason. Here is a detailed exclusive response to the misleading propaganda. Yes, Abu Bakr did say what is reported but he was perfectly justified in doing so.
1- Introduction
Sam Shamoun, the well-known
Islamophobe, wrote a long article in which he expressed concern about Muslims’ condemnation
of Pagans. This individual has been trying to make an issue of a reply of the Prophet’s
companion Abu Bakr -may Allah bless them both- to Urwah bin Mas’ud when he
represented the Pagans on the eve of the Truce of Hudaybiya.
Sam and his friends
quote part of a longer narration from History
of al-Tabari. As it appears on their pages, it reads:
“Then ‘Urwah said: “Muhammad, tell me: if you extirpate your tribesmen, have you ever heard of any of the Arabs who destroyed his own race before you? And if the contrary comes to pass, by God I see both prominent people and rabble who are likely to flee and leave you.” Abu Bakr said, “Go suck the clitoris of al-Lat!” – al-Lat was the idol of Thaqif, which they used to worship – “Would we flee and leave him?” … (The History of al-Tabari – The Victory of Islam, translated by Michael Fishbein [State University of New York Press (SUNY), Albany 1997], Volume VIII (8), p. 76; bold and underline emphasis ours)”[1]
David Wood quotes
the same and says:
“Notice that Abu
Bakr responds to Urwah's reasonable comment with an extraordinarily offensive
insult against Urwah's religious beliefs.”[2]
2- Background
In the sixth year
after Hijra the Holy Prophet -peace and blessings of Allah be upon him- along
with some 1400 companions, left for Makkah to perform the lesser pilgrimage
(Umrah) to the Holy Ka’ba. The Muslims reached close to Makkah and camped at a
place called Hudaybiya. While Muslims stayed there, a series of events took
place and a number of emissaries of the people of Makkah came to the Holy
Prophet. Urwah too came and assuming that Prophet had actually come to make a
fight, he said:
"O Muhammad!
Won't you feel any scruple in extirpating your relations? Have you ever heard
of anyone amongst the Arabs extirpating his relatives before you? On the other
hand, if the reverse should happen, (nobody will aid you, for) by Allah, I do
not see (with you) dignified people, but people from various tribes who would
run away leaving you alone."[3]
Hearing this Abu
Bakr - May Allah be pleased with him- could not contain his anger and said:
امصص ببظر اللات، أنحن نفر عنه وندعه؟
Muhsin Khan (whose
translation of Sahih Bukhari is widely
used) renders it as:
“Abu Bakr abused him
and said, ‘Do you say we would run and leave the Prophet alone?’"[4]
Ustadha Aisha Bewley
puts it as:
“Suck al-Lat's
nipples! Would we flee from him and desert him!”[5]
Alfred Guillaume
translated it likewise in his translation of Sirat Ibn Ishaq:
Others who
translated it literally have put it somewhat differently; Michael Fishbein in
his translation of the relevant section of History
of al-Tabari gives it as:
“Go suck the
clitoris of al-Lat! (…) Would we flee and leave him?”[7]
3. The Point
Explained
As evident,
missionaries assert, the first part of Abu Bakr’s reply was actually an insult to
the religion Urwah then professed. David Wood even goes on to say that this was
a response to a rather “reasonable comment”[8] of
Urwah.
Before looking at
the implication of Urwah’s words and their merit as trigger for Abu Bakr’s
flamboyant response, let’s first make a literary analysis of Abu Bakr’s words.
3.1 A proverb
The words that are
literally translated as ‘suck the clitoris of so and so’ are actually a
proverb. Edward William Lane writes:
Al-‘Ayni (d. 855
A.H.) writes;
وقال ابن التين: هي كلمة تقولها العرب عند الذم والمشاتمة، لكن تقول:
بظر أمه، واستعار أبو بكر، رضي الله تعالى عنه، ذلك في اللات لتعظيمهم إياها
“And Ibn al-Teen
said: This is the phrase Arabs use for condemnation and vilification, but they
say: ‘Clitoris of his mother’. And Abu Bakr used it with reference al-Lat due
to their [i.e. pagans’] respect for her.”[10]
We shall see the
meaning of the shift from the regular use of the idiom in the contextual
explanation and a related example in the following lines.
3.2 Contextual
Explanation- What Trigged this Response?
It might be easy for
David Wood to see Urwah’s remarks that invited Abu Bakr’s response as
“reasonable”; however, a diligent student of history would have no choice but
to strongly differ with him. On this point one needs to understand Abu Bakr’s
position before making an assessment.
Muslims came out of
Madinah without any intention for war and therefore without any preparation.
However, the pagans of Makkah decided not to let the Muslims enter the city and
venerate the Holy Ka’ba. When the Muslims set on this journey, they received
disturbing news about the plans of the Quraysh of Makkah. It was for this
reason that the Prophet - peace and blessings of Allah be upon him- had to take
an unconventional route so as to ensure that he could reach the holy precincts
of Makkah and proceed with the rituals.[11]
Yet the Pagans were
not ready to give Muslims an easy passage to the holy sanctuary, and being
unarmed they were in a vulnerable state. The severity of the situation can
further be known by the fact that later, when some incidents lead to the pledge
under the tree (i.e. Bayt al-Ridwan), the attendees were promised abundant
reward and blessings. This was only proportional to the danger Muslims were
then exposed to in that particular condition of being unarmed and unprotected
in a hostile territory.
In this backdrop,
basing his argument on a baseless assumption of Muslims coming to Makkah with
hostile designs, Urwah actually threatened the Muslims. He did not just stop at
that; he even went on to attribute cowardice and infidelity to the Prophet’s
companions. This was more than just a mere comment. It was an attempt to make
the Prophet feel skeptical of his companions. It was, therefore, natural for
the companions to take exception to it and respond with strong words. The Qur’an
in Surah 8:15-16 defines fleeing from an encounter with enemies as a major sin.
Further, deserting a prophet in person was even more serious. Therefore, any
suggestion to it was a direct attack on the persons and beliefs of the noble
companions of the Holy Prophet –may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon
them all.
In this context, it
is easy to understand why Abu Bakr verbally attacked Urwah, using the name of
his deity. He was actually telling him that a believer in a pagan deity should
have never have misgivings about the faithful companions of the Prophet - peace
and blessings of Allah be upon him-, whose conviction rested on the belief in
the All-Powerful One True God.
With reference to a
classical scholar Ibn Hajr points to rhetoric significance of these words.
وقال بن المنير في قول أبي بكر تخسيس للعدو وتكذيبهم وتعريض بإلزامهم
من قولهم إن اللات بنت الله تعالى الله عن ذلك علوا كبيرا بأنها لو كانت بنتا لكان
لها ما يكون للإناث
“Ibn al-Munir said,
in the words of Abu Bakr there is condemnation and rejection of the adversaries
and a response to their allegation that al-Lat is the daughter of Allah –Allah
is exalted above this- for if it were a daughter [of Allah] it would have what
the females do.”[12]
4. More on the
usage of these words
With reference to
Lane’s lexicon we have seen that the words used are actually a proverb of the
Arabs used for condemnation and to express one’s strong reaction.
Here are a couple of
examples that help us understand the true sense of these words.
Ibn Abd Rabbih (d.
328 A.H.) writes;
ومن أعزّ الناس نفسا وأشرفهم همما: الأنصار، وهم الأوس والخزرج ابنا قيلة،
لم يؤدّوا إتاوة قطّ في الجاهلية إلى أحد من الملوك، وكتب إليهم تبّع يدعوهم إلى طاعته
ويتوعّدهم إن لم يفعلوا؛ فكتبوا إليه:
العبد تبّع كم يروم قتالنا ... ومكانه بالمنزل المتذلّل
إنّا أناس لا ينام بأرضنا ... عض الرسول ببظر أمّ المرسل
فغزاهم تبّع أبو كرب، فكانوا يقاتلونه نهارا ويخرجون إليه القرى ليلا،
فتذمّم من قتالهم ورحل عنهم.
“Al-Ansar were among
the most high-spirited and honorable people, and they were descendants of
al-Aws and al-Khazraj, the sons of Qayla. They never paid tribute to any king
in the Jahiliyya. [King] Tubba' wrote to them, calling upon them to obey him
and threatening them if they did not. They wrote back to him saying:
How eagerly the slave, Tubba', yearns to fight us!
Yet his place is ever a home of ignominy.
We are a people in whose land no [enemy] dares sleep.
May the messenger
bite the clitoris of the sender’s mother.
So Tubba' Abu Karib
attacked them, and they used to fight him by day and send him a guest’s meal by
night. He finally got weary of fighting them and left.[13]
This is a good
parallel to what is at hand. The context is almost the same related to
sovereignty and chivalry. When an Arab’s chivalry is put to doubt by someone he
lashes out with these words at the one who does it.
Also note another
point of comparison; that messenger from King Tubba asked the Ansar to subdue
to an alien authority so they used the proverb making the mother of the sender
the object, “May the messenger bite
the clitoris of the sender’s mother.” Likewise, when Urwah attacked
the belief of the companions by making an attempt to cast aspersions on their
fidelity to the Prophet – peace and blessings of Allah be upon him- and their chivalry
at a certain stage in the long religious conflict, Abu Bakr responded by
bringing in his deity for whose sake he and his people were troubling the
Muslims.
.
In fact, the proverbial phrase is not meant as real abuse. It is a way to strongly condemn or point out to worthlessness of something. Consider the following line by renowned classical Arabic literary critic, Ibn Rashiq al-Qayrawani (d. 463 A.H.);
In fact, the proverbial phrase is not meant as real abuse. It is a way to strongly condemn or point out to worthlessness of something. Consider the following line by renowned classical Arabic literary critic, Ibn Rashiq al-Qayrawani (d. 463 A.H.);
إن الشعراء ثلاثة: شاعر، وشويعر، و ماص بظر أمه
Literally it would
be translated as:
"Verily
the poets are of three categories: An excellent poet, an ordinary poet and the
one who bites the clitoris of his mother."[14]
The meaning here is that the third category is of third-class poets
who produce valueless work in literary terms. This is the ultimate proof that
original sense of the words is not meant as an obscene comment, but it is an
expression used for forceful condemnation.
‘Amr bin Bahr al-Jahiz (d. 255 A.H.) referring to this narration,
along with a few more, says;
وإنما وُضعت هذه الألفاظ ليستعملها
أهل اللغة، ولو كان الرأي ألاّ يُلفظ بها ما كان لأوّلِ كونها معنىً، ولكان في التَّحريم
والصَّون للُغة العرب أن تُرفع هذه الأسماء والألفاظ منها.
وقد أصاب كلَّ الصَّواب من
قال: "لكلِّ مقامٍ مقال"
“These words were created to be used by all
Arabic-speaking people, and to hold that they ought never to be uttered
would be to make nonsense of their creation; in that case it would be more
logical and better for the purity of the Arabic language if these words were to
be withdrawn from it. Verily he uttered the total truth who said, ‘Every
single audience and situation has a talk to it.’”[15]
This indeed is the truth; every audience has a talk to it! In this
given situation Abu Bakr -may Allah be pleased with him- felt absolutely
justified in using the words we have shown with reference to Arabic literature
to be nothing but a tool for expressing contempt. Urwah, at that time a Pagan,
attacked Abu Bakr and received a befitting response.
5. Summary and Conclusion
1- It was Urwah who
first hurt the religious feelings of Abu Bakr and other Muslims.
Therefore, anyone learning of the incident cannot reasonably object to Abu Bakr’s
words, who represented Muslims in this reaction- may Allah be pleased with
him.
2- Abu Bakr used a
well-known and then current Arabic proverb that was used for condemnation in
different contexts. When used in general description or ordinary personal
disagreements, it was related to addressee's mother (cf. Ibn Rashiq)
When, for instance, the
people of Madinah used it speaking about a messenger of a man who wanted them
to submit to his authority they made a reference to sender's mother as it had
to be a female anyway. (cf. Ibn ‘Abd Rabbih)
When used in a
religious context to respond to an attack by a believer in idols, a goddess
became the object of the scorn invited by one of its devotees. This scorn even
had rhetoric against the false belief.
3- ‘Urwa practically
asked for and got a befitting response.
-- by Waqar Akbar Cheema
[1] Sam Shamoun, Muhammad the Antagonist still!,
Answering-Islam.org. Accessed April 25, 2013. http://www.answering-islam.org/authors/shamoun/rebuttals/zawadi/mo_antagonizer.html
[2] David Wood, Why do Muslims get to Insult Other
Religions?, Answeringmuslims.com, 2010.
Accessed April 25, 2013. http://www.answeringmuslims.com/2010/05/why-do-muslims-get-to-insult-other.html
[3] Muhammad al-Bukhari, Sahih Bukhari, trans. Muhsin Khan
[4]Muhammad
al-Bukhari, Sahih Bukhari, Book 50,
Hadith 891
[5] Muhammad
al-Bukhari, Sahih Bukhari, Book of Conditions, Chapter 15, Hadith 2581-, trans. Aisha
Bewley. Sunnipath.com. Accessed on May 3, 2013
[6]Alfred
Guillaume, The Life of Muhammad, A
Translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah (Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1997), 502
Note that in Sirat Ibn Hisham,
the original wording for the second part of the sentence is slightly different.
[7]The History of
al-Tabari – The Victory of Islam, trans. Michael Fishbein, (Albany: State University of New York
Press, 1997) Volume 8, 76
[8] Wood, Why do Muslims get to Insult Other
Religions?
[9]Arabic-English
Lexicon, Book 1, 222
[10] Al- ‘Ayni,
Badr al-Din, Umdat al-Qari (Beirut:
Dar al-Ahya al-Turath al-‘Arabi), Vol.14, 10
[11]Guillaume, The Life of Muhammad, A Translation of Ibn
Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah, 500-501
[12]ibn Hajr, Fath al-Bari, Vol.5, 340
[13] Ibn Abd Rabbih, Al-'Iqd al-Farid- The Unique Necklace, trans. Issa
J. Boullata (Reading, Garnet Publishing, 2009) Vol. 2, 54
[14] Hasan Ibn
Rashiq Al-Qayrawani, Al-Umdah fi Mahasin
al-Shi'r wa Adabihi (Beirut: Dar al-Jeel, 1981) Vol.2, 116
[15] Amr Bin Bahr
Al-Jahiz, Rasa’il al-Jahiz (Risalah:
Mufakhara al-Jawari wal Ghilman), (Cairo: Maktaba al-Khaniji, 1964) Vol.2,
93
Excellent , mashaallah , a through demolition of yet another rant of the missionaries .
ReplyDeleteGod bless you Waqar bhai ! , keep it up .
Bro , on the same note both David and Sam also bring the incident in which Prophet asked allegorically to bite the penis of a person who boasted of his lineage , please do address it .
ALI
Jazak'Allahu khair
DeleteIn-sha'Allah we will address that soon.
Wassalam
Alhamdulillah addressed at last
Deletehttp://www.letmeturnthetables.com/2013/08/explained-bite-father-penis-hadith.html
Thanks a lot.
ReplyDeleteYou are really helping people by clearing things up. May Allah bless you further. Ameen
Good work brother.. keep it up. Jazaka Allah the Highest the All-Knower..
ReplyDeleteMazen
I like your blog
ReplyDeletenice
ReplyDeleteAssalamualaikum ya sheikh
ReplyDeleteI had never seen such a great blog in replying the anti Islamic claims. May Allah rewards you!
This blog indeed equiped with authentic reference and not some logical reasoning using by some muslim blogs.
I would really want to spread this ilm to my community in a form of book. As no one has yet to answered this false claim in my local languange so far. so will you allow me to use your blog as a reference and of course will be credit to you.
Also I need to know about your islamic knowledge background which I can insert inside the book.
if you wanted to join this dakwah we can discuss more about it
Email me at xentinel
@hotmail.sg
Jzkk
Qim