The recent terrorist attack in France has started a flurry of criticisms against Islamic fundamentalism and the intolerance that goes with it. While many people have strongly condemned the heinous acts perpetrated by three masked gunmen purportedly in the name of vengeance for the Islamic prophet Muhammad, there are people like former Democrat leader Howard Dean who refuse to make the connection between terrorism and the Muslim faith. This article does not intend to paint Islam with a broad brush nor does it intend to pander to Muslim sensitivities for the sake of political correctness. The intent of this piece is to provoke a discussion on the merits of criticizing one of the world’s major religion that seem to attract the most violence in today’s world. It aims to raise the question on what it is about Islam that may have contributed to the instability that goes with the mindset of the zealots amongst its fold.
So where do we start? I certainly do not feel like delving into a very scholarly and cerebral approach. Sometimes we can get a glimpse of the answer in the simplest angle. In this case, perhaps sex has something to do with it! You see, Islamic tradition depicts Muhammad as a great Casanova; a loverboy who would be the envy of Hugh Hefner, Randy West, Peter North, even Ron Jeremy. This guy, as Islamic tradition says, is the superman of sex. I won’t be surprised if Islamic propagandists who claim Islam to be pioneers of science would also claim that they invented Viagra way before Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Corporation did.
From Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 5, Number 268:
Qatada narrated:Anas bin Malik said, “The Prophet used to visit all his wives in a round, during the day and night and they were eleven in number.” I asked Anas, “Had the Prophet the strength for it?” Anas replied, “We used to say that the Prophet was given the strength of thirty (men).” And Sa’id said on the authority of Qatada that Anas had told him about nine wives only (not eleven).
In Volume 1, Book 5, Number 282:
Anas bin Malik narrated:The Prophet used to visit all his wives in one night and he had nine wives at that time.
Well now, how credible are these accounts? At that time, Muhammad was no longer a young stud. It would really be incredible for a 60 year old geezer to get it on with 9 ladies in one night. Muhammad was already around 60 at the time when he had 9 wives. Some of you may say that maybe Muhammad just got lucky one night and felt really randy! Well, unfortunately this was not a one night event. The accounts state that Muhammad did this regularly. So how are we to take these accounts? Was Muhammad really the superman of sex as Islamic traditions depict him to be? Did Allah grant his favorite apostle some sort of a spiritual pre-modern times Viagra? (a possible perk that came with the job) Or is it possible that there may be some other more plausible explanation to the accounts of the sexual prowess of the 60 year old Islamic icon?
It is interesting to note that in Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 71, Number 660 and 661, Aisha, one of Muhammad’s girls (well, literally as she was 6 when Muhammad married her and she was 9 when he had sex with her) narrated:
Magic was worked on Allah’s Apostle so that he used to think that he had sexual relations with his wives while he actually had not.
Maybe this hadith relating to Muhammad having imaginary romp sessions in the sack with his women is a commentary or explanation to the other depictions of him being a sex machine. Again, this is coming from Aisha’s words (her being Muhammad’s favorite sex partner).
Imaginary sex is not only the psychological kink in Muhammad, he also had other psychological issues. The following links show articles that talk about Muhammad’s psychological (in)stability:
Now, given that Muhammad may not really have been the super sex machine that Muslim apologists depict him to be (he may have probably been even a dud in the sack at 60 that’s why he often resorted to imaginary sex), this by no means, suggests that he was all a sexual sham. Sex was prominently on Muhammad’s mind and he had quite a huge sexual appetite!
Anyway, looking beyond Muhammad’s sex life, it is important to note that we have evidence that suggests that the hadiths that tell of Muhammad’s sexual prowess may have been reporting Muhammad’s sexual illusions and hallucinations as factual and not imaginary. So if that is the case, then how many more of the hadiths may have been compromised?
We have to realize here that many of the teachings of Islam are based on these hadiths. So could Islam be built on illusions and hallucinations of a psychologically unstable person? And if Muhammad’s illusions are to be taken as facts in the hadiths, then this seriously undermines the Quran’s credibility. What if some or all of the alleged visitations of the angel Gabriel and the “revelations” given to Muhammad by the angel are nothing more than creations of his unstable mind?
Is it any surprise then that a religion that may have been based on delusion foster a kind of deluded mindset as exemplified by Islamic terrorists?
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