American Atheist Magazine Winter 2001-02

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to stimulate and promote free-

dom of thought and inquiry concern-

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tenets, rituals, and practices;

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American Atheist

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3/56

American Atheist

A Journal of Atheist News and Thought

CoverArt: The Winter Solstice at

Stonehenge, by Ann Zindler.

Christmas originally fell on the winter

solstice, which marked the birthdays of

solar deities such as Krishna, Jesus, and

Mithra. The Nativity Madonna-and-

Child image was copied from Egyptian

statues of Isis with the infant Horus.

Gift-giving

a

la Santa Claus was custom-

ary in ancient solstice celebrations and

the practice survives today. Hanukkah is

an attempt to adapt a lunar religious cal-

endar to incorporate a solar festival.

Crosses and anchors represent the posi-

tion of the sun at the equinoxes, the

celestial points where the celestial equa-

tor intersects the ecliptic - the apparent

path of the sun and planets across the

sky.The Christian fish symbol commem-

orates the birth of a NewAge Religion,

when the vernal equinox moved from

Aries into Pisces at the start of the

Common Era.

Volume 40, No.1

Parsippany, New Jersey

EDITOR'SDESK

ThePromise of Cloning

vs. the Curse of Christ 3

FrankR.Zindler

Russian Atheists Petition

Government 4

Translatedby MarkR.Hatlie

AnAtheist's Guide to

Mohammedanism 5

FrankR.Zindler

A critical examination of the origins

ofthe Qur'an, the problem of the his-

torical Mohammed, and the threat to

civilization posed by Islam.

AMessage FromFrance 19

Roger Lepeix

The President of the French Free

Thought National Federation address-

es the 27th National Convention of

American Atheists.

American Atheist Interview with

WilliamB. Davis 22

ConradF.Goeringer

A scientifically savvy actor from

The X-Files

gives his skeptical opin-

ions on the paranormal as well as

more important subjects.

Emily Dickinson:

Pagan Sphinx 26

GarySloan

Whatever her innermost religious

identity may have been, this reclusive

poet most certainly was not a

Christian.

Sublime Hatred:Nietzsche's

Anti-Christianity 29

Jason DeBoer

Nietzsche didn't waste time arguing

about the existence of gods. He went

straight for the jugular vein of

Christianity.

WiseMter The Event 32

MargaretBhatty

Our Indian correspondent amuses

us with her report on

Vaastu Shastra,

the Vedic 'science' of architecture.

Winter 2001-2002

Winter 2001-2002

VardisFisher:AnAmerican and

Atheist Novelist on the History of

Religious Ideas PARTVI 35

Earl Doherty

The author of The Jesus Puzzle con-

cludes his review of the monumental

20th-century work THE TESTAMENT OF

MAN,

examining the novels Peace Like

A River

and

My Holy Satan.

TheDevil MadeMeDo It 39

Kevin Courcey

Areview of So Help Me God:

Substance Abuse, Religion and

Spirituality,

from The National

Center on Addiction and Substance

Abuse at Columbia University.

Dying AnAtheist InAmerica 43

Chris Morton

The American Atheists' Director for

New York State warns of the religious

as well as financial pitfalls that dying

Atheists need to avoid.

I Dreamt the World

WasSquare 46

Francis Seth Dudley

An elaboration of Plato's allegory of

the cave takes on a rather fanciful

form.

Reasoning Withthe

Unreasonable 49

Paul Kondon

A speech given before a Detroit

Regional Atheists Meet in November

of 2001 by a past-president of the

Atheist Society at Western Michigan

University.

Page 1


4/56

American

Atheist

Volume 40 Number 1

EDITOR / MANAGINGEDITOR

Frank R. Zindler

ASSOCIATEEDITOR

Ann E. Zindler

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Conrad F.Goeringer

BUSINESS MANAGER

Ellen Johnson

The

American Atheist

is published by

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year, in December, March, June, and

September.

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Atheist Press. All rights reserved.

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Winter

2001-2002

American Atheist


5/56

Editor's Desk

The Promise of loning

versus

the urse of hrist

A

corns are not oak trees, and

toasting them is not the same

thing as starting a forest fire. It

is a pity that the Russian Orthodox

Church's leaders do not understand

that simple fact of life. Without a pope

of their own, but with the pope in Rome

in full agreement, they have pontificat-

ed that the death of the recently cloned

six-celled human embryo is tanta-

mount to murder. With members of

Congress chorusing Amen, few have

seen the irrationality of the charge.

Tohave a murder, you have to have

a person. How can a tiny clump of cells

be confused with a person? Even accord-

ing to religious views, there would have

to be a soul in that ball of cells for it to

be a person. Accordingto the unscientific

views of the churches, souls enter a

zygote only after a sperm fuses with an

egg. No sperms are involved in cloning.

Certainly, then, there was no soul in the

test-tube that cultured that clone. Even

by religious logic, there could be no

murder in such a case.

So why are religious leaders and

politicians so upset about cloning that

they want to outlaw the procedure and

halt the most promising medical

research in history? Cloning shows very

dramatically that the religious notion of

souls and spirits is nothing more than

theological eyewash. Cloning shows

that the human species is no different

from other forms of life in its molecular

mechanics. It shows that we are sys-

tems of matter and energy - period.

There is no ghost in the machine.

Priests and preachers are dealers in

souls, however. If there are no souls,

they are out of business. Politicians

depend upon priests and preachers to

provide them with obedient, uncritical

followers; they can't let the soul-mon-

gers go out ofbusiness.

Frank R. Zindler


There are dire consequences if

Congress outlaws human cloning for

therapeutic purposes or ratifies a House

bill specifying a $1 million fine and ten

years in prison as the penalty for

human cloning. Therapeutically, cloning

presents us with the dazzling prospect

of practical immortality. If we could use

stem cells from our own embryonic

clones to replace worn-out organs ofour

bodies, we could almost live forever.

Unlike ordinary organ transplants,

these stem cells would be identical anti-

genically to ourselves, sothey would not

be rejected by our immune systems. We

could even use stem cells to replenish

the declining numbers of neurons in

aging brains. This would not, be it

noted, require the cloned embryo to

develop into an unborn baby, as the

Right-to-Single-Celled-Lifers so inaptly

call a fetus. Ablastocyst - a hollow ball

ofcells - with less than a thousand cells

probably would be an adequate source

of stem cells. In fact, by the time the

embryo has developed recognizable, dif-

ferentiated organs and tissues it is

probably too late to get true stem cells -

cells that can literally develop into any

part of the body from nerves to nails.

Only religious superstition can

make otherwise normal people think

that destruction of a single-celled

zygote or early embryo is the equivalent

of murder - Dr that it has any ethical

significance whatsoever. An embryo

resulting from cloning is no more and

no less a potential person than is any

ordinary nucleated cell of the human

body. Every nerve cell, skin cell, liver

cell, and hair follicle contains in its

nucleus the complete instructions for

manufacturing the person in which it is

found. Every one of these cells is a

potential person. Are we committing

murder every time we brush our teeth

and swallow cells sloughed off our

gums?

Winter 2001-2002

Nuclei from such cells, when trans-

ferred into unfertilized egg cells

(oocytes) which have lost their own

nuclei, are the source ofthe information

required to control cell division and

form embryos. Unidentified factors in

the oocyte cytoplasm act upon the chro-

mosomes of the transplanted nucleus to

dedifferentiate them and rejuvenate

them. In a very real sense, otherwise

mortal cells with finite life expectancies

become immortalized and transformed

into stem cells - which not only can

replicate themselves indefinitely, but

can redifferentiate into all the types of

cells found in the body, including eggs

and sperms. Nowhere in this process is

there a role for the hand of God - only

the hands oflab technicians are needed.

We must turn to chemistry, not theolo-

gy, if we would understand the human

body or find an answer to Shakespeare's

question, What is a man?

Christian opposition to science and

learning brought on the Dark Ages, and

Catholic opposition to dissection and

medical research held back medicine for

many centuries. Without Christianity,

we would have cured cancer centuries

ago. Without papal opposition to the

physical sciences and free inquiry,

Columbus would have landed on the

moon, not a Caribbean island, as

Madalyn O'Hair observed many years

ago. Christian antiscience now curses

us once again.

We must urge Congress not to be

stampeded blindly into outlawing scien-

tific research. Abenefit to humankind of

almost unimaginable proportions

awaits us in those cloning laboratories.

We must hope our elected representa-

tives will spurn the threats of the

preachers and act in the best interests

of humanity. In the long line of genera-

tions extending into the dateless times

of prehistory, no society has ever had a

chance like this one

Page 3


6/56

We call upon the President and

the Government of the Russian

Federation, as well as regional

authorities, to abide by the

Constitution, which establishes the

principle of a secular state, and the

separation of church from state and

state education. We think that those

people at the head of academic and

educational organizations who try to

introduce Orthodox Christian beliefs

into universities and schools, at the

expense of the state, violate not only

the laws of our country, but also the

ethical norms of science, and their

behavior is inconsistent with their

status.

Finally, we appeal to the top

clergy of the Russian Orthodox

Church, both in Moscow and in the

regions, to turn down their revan-

chist fervor. We insist that they

respect the norms ofRussian legisla-

tion, taking into account the inter-

ests of those Russian citizens who

are alien to the Orthodox worldview,

including millions of Russian

Atheists, and abstain from unbridled

torment, insults, and oppression of

those people.

Observing the principles of free-

domofconscience and a secular state

will serve to consolidate civil society,

prevent the growth of national or

religious separatism and ideological

breach among Russians, and will be

a source of true revival of Russia.

Russian Atheists

Petition Government

(Translated from the Russian by Mark R. Hatlie)

The document below is a

Declaration adopted by the First

Anticlerical Conference, which was

held in Russia early this year. This

Declaration, together with an Open

Letter, was sent to President Putin

and Prime Minister Kasyanov. The

Open Letter was made public on 20

April 2001 at a press conference that

received some media coverage (It was

even mentioned in the Guardian and

the

Observer).

Signatures to support the

Declaration were collected in just a

few Russian cities, most prominently,

Moscow and St. Petersburg. The

Declaration was signed by scientists

of different status and rank (includ-

ing three Academicians), university

students, and other citizens. Mr.

Sergey Kovalyov, a well-known

human rights activist, also put his

name to the document.

This Declaration is the first seri-

ous attempt, after the collapse of

Communism, to make the voice of

non-believers heard. Of course, it

goes against the pro-religious trend

that currently prevails in Russia. But

it is only the first step.

In Defense of Freedom

of Conscience and a

Secular State

W

e, the participants of the

First Anticlerical Scientific

Conference on Science,

Religion, and Atheism, express our

deep concern about growing mani-

festations of clericalism in the

Russian Federation, especially on

the part of the Russian Orthodox

Church. In particular, we think it is

Page 4

unacceptable for the church to be

involved in political activity, to infil-

trate into the armed forces, and law-

enforcement agencies.

We consider it unlawful for the

state to finance the construction of

church buildings, to transfer cultur-

al and museum treasures into the

hands of the Russian Orthodox

Church, or to extend economic and

tax privileges to the latter. We deem

unconstitutional the practice of reli-

gious ceremonies within public agen-

cies and the introduction of

Christmas and Easter into the list of

national holidays, as well as open

promotion of religious beliefs in

mass media without giving the floor

to alternative viewpoints. Moral ter-

ror aimed to discourage Atheists is

outrageous. The plans ofintroducing

theology into the official curriculum

of Russia's state-run educational

institutions make a special part of

the process. These plans are sup-

ported by certain officials including

V.Filipov,Minister ofEducation; Yu.

Osipov, President of the Russian

Academy of Science, N. Nikandrov,

Head ofthe Education Academy,and

V.Sadovnichiy,Rector ofthe Moscow

State University.

We regard the attempts of some

scientists to put science at the serv-

ice of theology as highly unreason-

able, because science and religion

are based on fundamentally differ-

ent principles and thus cannot be

blended together. Such efforts can

only result in worsening the miser-

able condition of Russian science,

preparing the ground for pseudosci-

entific theories which tarnish the

image of Russian scientists at home

and abroad.

Winter 2001-2002

American Atheist


7/56

An Atheist s Guide to

Mohammedanism

By Frank R. Zindler

M

ohammedans don't like to be called Moham-

medans - that smacks too much of terms such as

Christians.

As everybody knows, Christians wor-

ship Christ as a god. Mohammedans don't want people to

think they worship Mohammed (Arabic, Muhammad -

*In transliterating Arabic, Hebrew, and other Semitic lan-

guages several special characters are required for sounds that

either are not found in English or are not recognized as sepa-

rate sounds having their own alphabetic characters. The char-

acter

I I

is used to represent the glottal stop - the brief con-

striction of the throat that occurs when one pronounces a

vowel at the beginning of an isolated word, but which is often

absent when the word is preceded by

an.

Thus, wehave

apple,

pronounced with a glottal stop, but an apple which, when

smoothly pronounced, lacks the glottal stop before the second

a.

In Semitic languages, the glottal stop is given a symbol of

its own and has the honor ofbeing the first letter ofthe alpha-

bet -

alef -

although in Arabic it carries a special diacritical

mark called hamza to make it clear that the glottal stop is

actually pronounced. Modern Arabic and ancient Hebrew have

another special sound, a deep-throated, laryngeal glide, which

is lacking in English but is considered to be a separate letter

ofthe alphabet -

ayin -

and is transliterated with the special

character

I I

The difference between

alef I I

and

ayin I

c I can be illustrated by two rather undignified examples. A

string of alefs (glottal stops) is pronounced when one imitates

the sound ofa machine-gun:

-aal-aal-aal-aal-aal

The

ayin,

on

the other hand, is the dipping glide one makes when imitating

the sound of an automobile engine being started up when it's

ten below zero: aah -aah , 'aah ,-aah , -aah, Arabic, like most

Semitic languages, has three gradations of aitch. The lightest

ofthem, transliterated as h, is identical to the aitch ofEnglish.

The harshest of them, usually transliterated as

kh,

is like the

ch in the German name Bach. The middle aitch, transliterat-

ed with the special character h, is pretty much like the sound

one makes when breathing heavily on bifocals to fog them for

cleaning.

Formerly a professor of biology and geology,

Frank R. Zindler is now a science writer. He is a

member of the American Association for the

Advancement of Science, the New York Academy

of Science, the Society of Biblical Literature, and

the American Schools of Oriental Research. He is

the editor of

American Atheist.

His book

The

Jesus The Jews Never Knew: Sepher Toldoth

Yeshu and the Quest of the Historical Jesus in

Jewish Sources will be published by American

Atheist Press in the spring of2002.


'Praiseworthy'), and so dislike referring to their religion

Mohammedanism. However, Confucians don't worsh

Confucius (Chinese,

K'ung

Fu-tsu - 'K'ung [a family nam

the Grand Master'), even though their system is call

Confucianism

and often is considered to be a religion. Ev

so, Mohammedans don't want Mohammed to be viewed

a parallel of the Christ of the Christians.

Mohammed was merely a prophet, they will argu

who disclaimed the ability to do miracles. Mohammed w

just a man - albeit the perfect man, leading a complete

sinless life which has become the model for all true belie

ers to emulate. Moreover, it will be asserted, Mohamme

did not choose to be a prophet; he was chosen by Allah.

did not himself compose the 'revelations' that were spok

from his mouth; they were delivered to him by an ang

who got them from the 'Mother of the Book' which h

existed in heaven either forever or for just a little bit le

Mohammed was a passive agent ofAllah, simply se

ing as his mouthpiece or oracle. It is his message that

important, not his biography. He was one of a series

prophets who reported Allah's wishes to men (perhap

even to some women). These prophets included Jes

(Arabic

'Issa),

who, to spite the Christians, is demoted

Mohammedans from non-profit to prophet status. M

importantly, Mohammed was Allah's last prophet. Thu

Joseph Smith was an impostor, and Mormon missionarie

are not welcome in Mohammedan territories. (Of cours

no missionaries of

any

kind are welcome in such place

where it is often a capital offense to convert

Mohammedan to 'infidelity'.)

Despite such protestations by the faithful (all no

Mohammedans are infidels), the reverence accorded

Mohammed at times has bordered on the threshold of w

ship if not actually transgressing it. Very early, his follo

ers came to attribute a number of miracles to him a

passed along fabulous tales of supernatural signs and wo

ders relating to his birth and career. (One night, it

believed, Mohammed set out on a nocturnal journey

Mira)

up to the heavens where he communed with All

face-to-face.) It is still believed by many that at the La

Judgment, Mohammed will be an intercessor like t

Virgin Mary and the Catholic saints, pleading for t

exculpation of those who have submitted themselves to h

teachings.

Among the mystical Sufis (from the Arabic suf, mea

ing 'wool' - alluding to the woolen hair shirts worn by ear

Sufis, not to the woolliness of their thinking), exaltatio

and veneration of Mohammed seems to have reache

Christian proportions. In Sufism, Mohammed has becom

Winter 2001-2002

Page


8/56

the eternal manifestation of the Divine Light in the world, unique to Islam. It is a natural attribute of all monotheis-

pre-existent like the Christian Logos, representing the pri- tic religions.

mal, divine force which created and sustains the universe, The second pillar ofIslam, salat, is daily ritual prayer.

the only intermediary through whom one may approach This is mandatory only five times per day (at dawn, noon,

Allah and have knowledge of him. For mid-afternoon, sunset, and nighttime),

all practical purposes, the Sufi 570

CE

but extremely religious Muslims such as

Mohammed (peace be upon him) is a suicide bombers and aerial terrorists

supernatural being, even if not quite a Birth of Mohammed? usually pray more frequently. Prayer

full-fledged god. requires a person to face Mecca and the

Mohammedans prefer to be called

Muslims,*

a term Ka'aba, a roughly cubical building containing a magical

derived from the Arabic aslama, meaning 'to resign one- black stone thought by some to be a meteorite.

self [toAllah)'. They prefer their religion to be called Islam (Archaeological and other evidence shows, however, that in

(from Arabic 'islam, meaning 'submis- 575 CE the early years of Islam, prayers were

sion') rather than Mohammedanism. directed at Jerusalem, not Mecca.)

Most western scholars have gone along Persian occupation of Prayer is preceded by ritual purification

with this, rather than risk the wrath of southern Arabia and involves a series of bowings, pros-

purportedly peaceful members of 'the trations, and recitations from the

third great Abrahamic faith'. Nevertheless, Moham- Qur'an. On Fridays, prayer is communal and conducted in

medanism seems to be a perfectly appropriate name for a a mosque (Arabic masjid, 'place for prostration'). Led by an

religion which currently poses so great a threat to secular imam (from Arabic amma, 'to walk before'), with worship-

civilizations throughout the world. Despite this fact, it pers standing in rows behind him, prayers normally are

must be conceded that Islam is easier to spell than followed by a sermon. (Contrary to common western opin-

Mohammedanism, and Muslim is less tedious to type than ion, it is not mandatory for sermons to contain the slogans

Mohammedan. Consequently, these shorter words will be Death to America or Death to Israel.) Women do not

the terms most often employed in the remainder of this generally attend these public prayers, and when they do

guide. enter into mosques they are segregated from the men.

Although this offends the western sense of sexual equality,

it is quite understandable. The minds of men bowing down

to the ground might wander from thoughts of the singu-

larity ofAllah if their noses were merely

inches away from the raised derrieres of

women kneeling on prayer rugs in front

of them. Even if the women were com-

pletely shrouded in burqas, their inter-

mingled presence would be a deterrent

to patriarchal piety.

The third pillar of Islam is zakat, the giving of a fixed

percentage of one's property to the poor and the homeless.

Since there usually are no formal arrangements made for

collection of zakat, this generally is the

least burdensome of the five pillars.

The fourth pillar is the fasting

required during the lunar month of

Ramadan, which can occur at any sea-

son of the year. During this period, no

food or drink may be consumed during

daylight hours, although pregnant

women and certain others may be

exempted from this rule. Feasting is obligatory at the end

of Ramadan, but with both pork and alcohol being forbid-

den, this feast offers far less fun than that enjoyed at, say,

Irish or Polish Catholic festivals.

The fifth and final pillar of Islam is

the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca every

able-bodied Muslim is required to make

at least once in his life. Pilgrims must

wear special dress, walk seven times

around the

Ka-aba

(Arabic ka'bun, 'a cube'), and kiss the

talismanic black stone enshrined like an idol in the south-

east corner of the edifice. Although probably a meteorite -

and thus a truly heavenly stone - the black stone is

The Five Pillars of Islam

Given the fierce monotheism professed by Muslims

and their sometimes violent rejection of

all religions other than Islam, one

might suppose that intolerance would

be the first and most fundamental 'pil-

lar' upon which their religious practice

rests. Not surprisingly, however, this

greatest of Muslim virtues is not made explicit, but rather

is allowed to lurk hidden within the first of the five duties

('pillars') required of all Muslim men.

The first pillar is the recitation (preferably in Arabic)

of the creed, or

shahada:

There is no

god but Allah, and Mohammed is his

prophet. If Allah is the only god in the

neighborhood, Trinitarian Christians

and Hindus are endlessly blaspheming

true religion. Despite the occasionally

tolerant references in the Qur'an to

People of the Book (Jews and

Christians in addition to Muslims), the

non-Muslims need to be eliminated. Convert them or kill

them, or make them pay a religious ransom to continue the

private practice of their religion. (Of necessity, Muslims

must reject the Universal Declaration of

Human Rights.) Atheists and Agnostics,

who deny the reality of Allah, are also

wicked blasphemers. They need to be

eliminated also. It is preferable to kill

them. Such intolerance, of course, is not

576 CE

Death of Mohammed's

mother, Amina?

602

CE

End

of Arab

principality of Hira,

on Iraq-Arabian

borderlands.

610 CE

Mohammed's first

'revelation'?

*The term Muslim is classical Arabic, whereas Moslem is col-

loquialArabic,where

u

has changed to

0,

and

i

has changed to

e. Thus, Mohammed is the colloquial equivalent of

Muhammad, and Umar becomesOmar.

Page 6

Winter 2001-2002

American Atheist


9/56

having been his employer at the time. Only after her death

in 620 did Mohammed begin to practice polygamy, taking

perhaps a dozen wives. Only one of his children survived,

however, a daughter named Fatima.

(She married her father's cousin -Ali,

making him the ancestor of all the

prophet's later descendants.)

Tradition also tells us that in the

year 610, while meditating in a cave out-

side Mecca, a supernatural voice (later

identified as the voice of the angel

Gabriel, the same heavenly messenger

that previously had delivered the results of the pregnancy

test to the Virgin Mary) commanded him to Recite in the

name of thy Lord, who created. Thus began the alleged

revelations of the Qur'an. This event is revered as the

First Call of the prophet and has been

immortalized as the Night of Power.

At least at first, Mohammed's 'reve-

lations' were like those of other oracles,

soothsayers, and religious con-artists

whose utterances took the form of

rhymed prose. Mohammed convinced himself that he had

been called to be a prophet in the tradition of the Jews and

of Jesus. He also convinced a small coterie of relatives and

friends that he had tapped into a direct line to Allah. This

quickly led to friction with his tribe, the

Quraysh, who were custodians of the

Kaaba, which at the time was a pagan

shrine housing all the idols of economic

significance to his tribe.

As is necessary for foundation

myths of virtually all religions, the first

followers of the new faith had to endure

persecution, fleeing to Christian

Ethiopia around the year 615. While those Muslims-in-the-

making were out of town, Mohammed and the disciples

who had stayed with him in Mecca were confined under

siege - to be starved into submission.

Just in the nick of time, Mohammed received a revela-

tion that helpfully clarified the theopolitical questions at

Although Mohammed is believed to have been born in issue for the Meccan guardians of the gods in the Ka-aba.

the year 570 or 571 CE, it is not known what name he was When Mohammed had reported that Allah was the only

given by his mother.

Mohammed

god in town, it turned out that he hadn't

('praiseworthy' or 'highly praised') is

622 CE

received the entire satellite transmis-

obviously an honorific title, not a name. Hegira of Mohammed from sion. Perhaps Gabriel had mumbled and

In fact, once in the Qur'an (at 61:6) he is

Mecca to Medina?

Mohammed missed part of the message.

called Ahmad, which in Arabic means Wouldn't you know? The three favorite

'more praiseworthy', and at times his

Islamic era begins July 16

goddesses of Mecca - al-Lat, al-Uzzah,

contemporaries are said to have called Muslims win the Battle and al-Manat - were also real This

him

al r/ smin

which means 'the trust-

of Badr?

saved Mohammed's neck and all body

worthy one'. Despite this problem,

Jewish tribe of al-Nadhir

parts attached thereto, and the exiles

Muslims believe that Mohammed - who- were able to return from Ethiopia. Later,

ever he may have been - was born in

is crushed and expelled?

when it was safe to do so, this all-imp or-

Mecca, an Arabian city supposed to have The War of the Trench, tant revelation was expunged from the

been located at the intersection of major

where Muslims in Medina

Qur'an and it was explained that the

caravan trade routes. Orphaned early in

repulse attack from Mecca?

revelation had come from Shaitan

life, when he reached the age of twenty- (Satan), not Allah. Thus began the leg-

five (595 CE) he married a wealthy widow named Khadija, end of the Satanic Verses, which more than a thousand

fifteen years his senior. According to a traditional account, years later was to prompt the Ayatollah Khomeini to issue

Mohammed had married his boss - the merchant Khadija a fatwa of death against the novelist Salman Rushdie.

claimed to be one of the precious stones of paradise given

by the angel Gabriel to the patriarch Abraham when he

built the Kaaba - in Arabia, contrary to Jewish and

Christian opinion Even though the

stone has been stolen, burned, and bro-

ken, it is the veneration focal point for

more than a billion Muslims in the

world today. (With so many Muslims

required to come to Mecca, the logistics

of the Hajj are rapidly bursting the

bounds of the possible.) The Kaaba tem-

ple is widely believed to be older than

Mohammed, having housed the pagan Arabian pantheon.

All its idols were destroyed when it was adapted to serve

the Islamic cultus.

When in Mecca kissing the Ka-aba, it is also incumbent

upon pilgrims to

kll

an animal in the

Mina valley on the tenth day of the

month of pilgrimage, since Allah, like

the Yahweh of the Jews, is believed to

enjoy having animals killed for his view-

ing pleasure. (It is amusing to imagine

what will happen if PE.TA and the Animal Liberation

Front ever get wind of this. How Muslims would deal with

the threat of animal-rights terrorism would be something

worth watching closely.) After killing a goat or other suit-

able sacrificial species (for some reason,

dogs and pigs are deemed unsuitable),

most pilgrims then betake themselves to

Medina (Yathrib), a city located 210

miles north of Mecca, in order to pray at

what is claimed to be Mohammed's

tomb. (If there are in fact human

remains in the tomb, it would be inter-

esting to see if the DNA could be

matched up to that of persons claiming descent from the

prophet.) I have been unable to learn whether pilgrims face

the tomb or Mecca when performing their Medina prayers.

The Legend of Mohammed


613 CE

Mohammed begins

preaching?

Flight of his followers

to Ethiopia?

619 CE

Deaths of Khadija and

Abu Talib?

620CE

Mohammed's Night-

Flight from Mecca to

Jerusalem and then to

the Seventh Heaven?

Winter 2001-2002

Page 7


10/56

Once his power base had grown sufficiently,

Mohammed took to banditry, attacking a Meccan caravan

led by Abu-Sufyan of the Quraysh tribe as it was returning

from Syria in the year

624 CE,

during the

holy month of Ramadan when fighting

was prohibited. Somehow, the Meccans

learned of this and rushed to the aid of

the caravan, meeting

300

Muslims-in-

the-making with a thousand Meccan

fighters on a battlefield called Badr,

approximately twenty miles southwest

of Medina. Naturally, a miracle occurred

and the prophet's force was victorious.

From this time forward, the name

Islam

('submission') was to belie the true nature of the militant

polity which to this day is an obstacle in the path to

planetary peace.

To draw attention to the Satanic Verses is to galvanize

a still-raw nerve in the body politic of Islam.

Todraw attention to the Satanic Verses is to galvanize

a still-raw nerve in the body politic of Islam. The Satanic

Verses are an acute embarrassment to Mohammedan

authorities because they imply that it

was Satan, not Allah, who had saved

their prophet's life. If Allah was the only

god, and if he had previously selected

Mohammed to be his last and greatest

mouthpiece on this planet, why didn't

he save his own appointed prophet?

Why would the god of evil want to save

his enemy's ambassador? Might not

there be more Satanic Verses in the

Qur'an - verses that have never been

recognized as the handiwork of the prince of devils? Who

knows what evils yet may lurk in the Book of Books?

In any event, the Satanic Verses didn't solve

Mohammed's problems for the long

term, and Mohammed and his gang

would have to leave Mecca. On 16 July

622 CE - a date that later would become

the starting point of the Moslem calen-

drical era* - some of his disciples left

for the town ofYathrib, several hundred miles to the north.

Mohammed and his friend Abu-Bakr followed them,

arriving in Yathrib on 24 September 622 and renaming the

town Medina (Arabic

al-Madinah,

'the

city' [of the prophet]). Although the

house-moving does not seem to have

been all that remarkable to a western

observer, it was considered to be a founda-

tional event in the history of Islam. In

Muslim literature, the migration from

Mecca to Medina is referred to as the

Hegira

(Arabic

hijrah

'migration').

While in Medina, Mohammed con-

tinued to dictate 'revelations' to various of his disciples,

apparently including some who were able to write.

(Mohammed is believed to have been illiterate.) More

importantly, however, he became a suc-

cessful politician, contracting many

alliances by means of marriages. The

most notable of these marriages was

with Aisha, the infant daughter ofAbu-

Bakr, who became the most influential

of all the prophet's wives. Many of the 'traditions' of the

prophet are claimed to have been transmitted through her.

The Muslim calendar, like the Jewish calendar, is a lunar cal-

endar - the year consisting of six months of 29 days and six

months of 30 days each. This adds up to only 354 days,

creating a discrepancy with the solar year of a little over three

years per century. Unlike Jewish calendrical practice, no

attempt is made to bring the Moslem year into accordwith the

solar year (the Muslim calendar falls behind eleven days every

solar year), intercalary days are added every three years or so

to make up for the fact that a lunation is a bit more than

29.5

days long.

Page 8

627CE

Jewish Qurayza tribe

attacked by Mohammed?

Treaty of Hudaybiyya?

Truce with the Quraysh?

Jews of Khaybar are

exterminated?

After consolidating his hold on

Medina, Mohammed chased the Jews

from their farms and divorced his devel-

oping system from both Judaism and

Christianity. He ordered the faithful

henceforth to pray facing Mecca, not

Jerusalem as had been the case up to then. In

628

Mohammed obtained a truce with Mecca allowing his

followers to make the pilgrimage to the Ka'aba, Mecca

became the religious capital ofIslam and

Medina remained the political capital. In

630 Mohammed attacked Mecca, con-

quered it, and smashed the

360

idols in

the Ka'aba, He declared the territory

surrounding the shrine to be haram -

forbidden - to all non-Muslims. Even

today, no Atheist or Christian could visit

the taboo area and escape with his life.

Indeed, the entire region of Saudi Arabia

in which the holy cities of Mecca and Medina are located

(the Hijaz) is considered by Wahabi Muslims such as

Osama bin Laden to be haram and out-of-bounds for

American military infidels.

On 8 June 632, Mohammed came

down with a truly killer headache and

died suddenly. He died in Aisha's apart-

ment and was buried right there. (There

is no proof whatsoever that he ever

uttered the famous line, Not tonight, honey, I've got a

headache. ) Before he died, he had sent forces to attack

Syria, beginning a struggle that would not end until a

major part of the civilized world was subject to Arabs and

their new-fangled religion.

630 CE

Mohammed conquers

Mecca?

632 CE

March, Pilgrimage of

farewell?

Death of Mohammed?

Abu Bakr becomes

first caliph?

633-637 CE

Arabs conquer Syria

and Iraq

The Legend of the Qur'an

The Qur'anIKoran (Arabic Qurdn, 'reading' or 'recita-

tion'), as everybody knows, is the bible of the

Mohammedans. It is the source of their 'knowledge' that

there is but a single god, Allah, and that for men (and

Winter

2001-2002

American Atheist


11/56

probably for women as well) after death there will be a

limbo-like state leading to the Last Day, the Resurrection,

and Retribution. In the thereafter, wicked men such as infi-

dels will suffer damnation. According to

Sura 44:43-50, the fruit of the Zuqqum

tree will be their food and it will burn in

their guts like molten brass and boil like

scalding water. They will be dragged

into the midst of blazing fire and then,

just for good measure, boiling water will be poured over

their heads. In front of such a one is Hell, and he is given

for drink boiling, fetid water. In gulps will he sip it, but

never will he be near swallowing it down his throat. Death

will come to him from every quarter, yet he will not die; and

in front of him will be a chastisement

unrelenting [14:~6-17]. Islamic Hell

would appear to be even worse than 'life'

in a Taliban society - which at least can

be circumvented by death.

The Muslim Paradise is decidedly a man's heaven,

despite the fact that Sura 9:72 promises to both believing

men and women gardens under which rivers flow,to dwell Unfortunately for Islamic orthodoxy, this encouraging

therein, and beautiful mansions, in gardens of everlasting tale of Qur'anic origins proves to be a bit more complicated

bliss. Sura 44:51-54 promises believers they will be (and less certain) than the mullahs and ayatollahs would

rewarded in Paradise with houris have us believe. As is the case when

(Arabic hur with beautiful, big, and

650

CE trying to reconstruct the early history of

lustrous eyes. Such damsels are clearly

Capture of island

any religion, there are conflicting tradi-

the reward for

jihad-fighting

men. That

of Arwad

tions to be dealt with. There is a tradi-

they could also be rewards for burqa- tion which has Abu Bakr first have the

wearing women is unthinkable. Occasional proof-texts to idea to collect the Qur'an, but other traditions give the

the contrary notwithstanding, Mohammed's heaven is a credit to the fourth caliph, 'Ali - the Prophet's son-in-law

penile paradise. (It is a pity no reliable translation of the and cousin (or brother, in one tradition). (It is from -Alithat

Qur'an exists in English; all available English versions the Shi'a sect claims its descent.) Adding to the uncertainty

have been cleaned up and civilized by apologetic trans la- and confusion, there are versions that exclude Abu Bakr

tors.) completely

As already noted, the Qur'an is sup-

656

CE It is implausible, moreover, that

posed to have been revealed to the such a task could be completed in a mere

allegedly illiterate Mohammed over a

Murder of 'Uthman?

two years. Furthermore, the warriors

period ofyears until his death in 632

CE o Beginning of first

who fell at Yamama were apparently

(It is possible, of course, that his illitera- mostly new converts who would unlikely

cy was a fabrication designed to counter

civil war in Islam?

have known many verses by heart. On

charges that Mohammed had written up top of this, it seems inexplicable that no

the 'revelations' himself and had been educated enough to publication of the Qur'an thus compiled was carried out.

be able to author the supposedly matchless Arabic prose Instead, it was treated as the private property of Hafsa. It

with which they are expressed.) There is a tradition that seems likely that the tradition ofAbu Bakr's collection was

Mohammed dictated his revelations to his secretaries, who invented in order to establish the authenticity of the sacred

either memorized them or wrote them text - by taking it as close to the time of the Prophet as pos-

down on things like palm leaves, stones,

657 -659

CE

sible.s

It has also been suggested that

and even perhaps camel shoulder the story was made up in order to take

blades- and other such publication

Battle of Siffin

away the glory of Qur'anic creation from

media that existed in the advanced soci-

Murder of 'Ali -Uthman,

the third caliph, who appears

ety which the Lord of the Universe had to have been widely disliked. (This might

chosen as the model for all subsequent

Beginning of Umayyad

explain why he was murdered in 656 CE.)

earthly societies. Almost certainly, at

dynasty

'Uthman became the third caliph

the time of Mohammed's death no sin- [644-656] a mere dozen years after the

gle manuscript of the entire' Qur'an

Massacre of Husayn and

time allotted by tradition to Moham-

existed.

Alids at Karbala

med's death. Tradition credits him also

There is a tradition that indicates with having collected the Qur'an after

that immediately after the death of Mohammed in 632, being asked to do so by one of his generals, who complained

during the caliphate of his friend Abu Bakr [632-634], his that theological quarrels had broken out among troops

friend 'Umar (Omar) became alarmed over the fact that so from different provinces in regard to the correct readings of

many Muslims who knew by heart various parts of the

Parsippany, NewJersey

Qur'an had been killed during the Battle of Yamama in

Central Arabia. Unless all parts of the Qur'an were collect-

ed, there was serious danger that irreplaceable rules and

regulations for living would be lost forev-

er. Very shortly after the death of the

prophet, then, Abu Bakr asked

Mohammed's former secretary Zaid ibn

Thabit to write down all those dicta still

in people's memories, the entire collec-

tion then being transcribed onto a more suitable writing

material. The Qur'an thus assembled passed from Abu

Bakr after he died to his successor -Umar, who in turn

bequeathed it to his daughter Hafsa. Ultimately, those pre-

cious words carried by Gabriel to Mohammed were trans-

mitted to sinful mortals such as we -

with perfect fidelity, so that we all can

know Allah's whims and wishes without

ambiguity and without excuse.

636

CE

Battle of Qadisiyya,

defeat of the Persians

639-642 CE

Conquest of Egypt

The Legend of the Qur'an Examined

Winter 2001-2002

Page 9


12/56

the Qur'an. (Tradition is curiously silent as to where these

different versions of the Qur'an had come from and who

had written them down.)

It will be recalled that in the story of

Abu Bakr's Qur'an, it was the prophet's

secretary Zaid ibn Thabit who wrote

everything down. Apparently unaware

that he had done it all before, -Uthman

commissioned ibn Thabit to prepare an official, standard

text. Supposedly, this was done with the aid of three repre-

sentatives of noble Meccan families, who compared a copy

of unknown provenance in the posses-

sion of'Uthman with the 'leaves' (Arabic 685-687 CE

suhuf)

owned by -Umars daughter

Revolt of Mukhtar

Hafsa - the same manuscript that ten in Iraq

years earlier Zaid is supposed to have

written out himselfl

Beginning of extremist

Copies of -Uthman's new version Shia'

were sent to Kuf~, Basra, Damascus,

'Abd aI-Malik

and Mecca some time between 650 and

656, the year of -Uthman's death. The introduces Arab coinage.

'original' was kept in Medina.

All other

Muslims land in Spain.

versions of the Qur'an supposedly were

destroyed.

Since we know absolutely Umayyads gIve way to

nothing of the origins or authenticity of

Abbasids.

these other versions, we have no way to Umayyad prince 'Abd

know that -Uthman's edition is the

truest copy of the heavenly 'Mother of ar-Rahman IS Amir- of

the Book'. The Qur'an emanating from

Cordova.

-Uthman looks suspiciously like the

product of political expediency.

Lest even this analysis be thought to provide too much

certainty regarding Qur'anic origins, there are discrepan-

cies even in the traditions from which it

has been constructed In some cases, the

number of men on Zaid's commission

varies, and men known to have been

enemies of -Uthman are included on the

roster. Without a wink anywhere to be

seen among the swarthy swappers of these traditions, men

are included in the project who were already dead at the

time they were supposed to have been enlisted for the job.

Finally, the 'Uthman traditions seem completely to be

unaware of the 'fact' that Zaid ibn Thabit had already tran-

scribed the Qur'an ten years earlier,

having himself produced the standard

'leaves' in the possession of Hafsa. (That

the compiler of the Qur'an didn't

remember he had done it all before, let

alone know by heart the entire text of

Hafsa's 'leaves' undercuts the apologetic Muslim notion

that the early Arabs involved in the transmission of the

Qur'anic text had prodigious, 'Oriental' memories.)

From the conflicting welter of traditions regarding the

origins of the Qur'an there emerges a

picture of somewhat coarse resolution. It

would appear that by the time of

-Uthman there had emerged a theopolit-

ical class that was challenging the

authority of the caliphs (Arabic

kalifa,

'successor'), who had become the succes-

sors to Mohammed's political office and were losing ground

as successors to his religious authority. The ubiquitous reli-

gious contest between priests and politicians was begin-

ning to develop in what we may call

Islam's embryonic period. Competing

with the caliphs were the

Qurra

(Arabic

for 'reciters' or 'readers') - men who were

the masters oflarge volumes of Qur'anic

verbiage and could recite the supposed revelations when

called upon to lead in worship or settle disputes. Many

Qurra claimed to have actually learned their verses from

Mohammed himself, although many by

now were second or even third scholarly

generations removed from the Prophet.

The fact that the whole application of

the Qur'an depended upon memory

invited abuse. Verses claiming to be

Qur'anic revelations could be - and were

- invented to serve the economic and

political needs of individual Qurra. (It is

likely that some of these recited verses

were written down in manuscripts of

varying size, but of course, no Qur'anic

manuscripts have survived from this

period - forgeries to the contrary not

withstanding.) To consolidate the power

of the caliphate and stop the abuses of

the Qurra, it was necessary to eliminate

the contradictory oral Qur'ans and

replace them with a standardized writ-

ten text, which could not be manipulated when expedient.

Exactly when this happened is not really known, but it

may have taken place as early as the reign of the caliph

'Uthman

[644-656],

as many traditions

record. Even so, Ibn Warraq has argued

quite persuasively in his The Origins Of

The Korans

that both the Abu Bakr and

'Uthmanic traditions of Qur'anic compi-

lation and standardization are tenden-

tious tales confected in later times.

The earliest account of the compilation of the Qur'an is

that ofIbn

Sa-ad [844

CE], followed by Bukhari

[870

CE] and

Muslim [874

CE].4

(Remember, Mohammed is supposed to

have died in 632

CE.)

Ibn Sa-ad transmits ten somewhat

contradictory traditions in which the

'Companions' of Mohammed had 'collect-

ed' the Qur'an during the life of the

prophet. Still another tradition has

'Uthman ibn -Affan collect the Qur'an,

during the caliphate of -Umar, not dur-

ing the lifetime of Mohammed. Still another tradition

passed on by Ibn Sa-ad attributes the collection of the

Qur'an in suhufs to the caliph 'Umar himselfl

More important in terms of influence, even though

later, is Bukhari.f He reports a tradition

in which the Qur'an was collected during

the lifetime of Mohammed by four

helpers: Ubai ibn Ka-ab, Muadh ibn

Jabal, Zaid ibn Thabit, and Abu Zaid. In

another tradition, Ubai ibn Ka'ab is

replaced by Abud-Darda. Still another

683-690 CE

Second civil war

762-763

CE

Foundtion of Baghdad

by Mansur

809-813

CE

Civil War of Amion and

Mamun

813-833

CE

Reign of Mamun

Development of Arabic

science and letters

Page 10

Winter 2001-2002

American Atheist


13/56

THECALIPHS

Orthodox Caliphs

11 40 AHf632 661

CE?

Abu Bakr

11/632?

'Umar

13/634?

'Uthman

23/644?

'Ali

35-40/656-661?

Umayyad Caliphs

41-132 AHf661-750

CE

Abbasid Caliphs in

Baghdad/Iraq

132-656

AHf749 1258 CE

tradition 'proves' that the entire Qur'an was compiled

under the caliphate of Abu Bakr and was exclusively the

product of Zaid ibn Thabit. This is followed in Bukhari's

account by the tradition which we have already examined,

viz.,

that Zaid had the help of three Qurayshites, and that

all variant versions in the provinces

were destroyed. (Even though this

account appears 238 years after the

death of Mohammed and is

26

years

later than the traditions recorded by Ibn

Sa-ad, this is the 'True Account' accepted

by most scholars writing before the mod-

ern period of skeptical inquiry.)

Yet further traditions about the ori-

gins of the Qur'an are found in Arab his-

torians such as Waqidi [d.

207 AH*/823

CE] who says that a Christian slave

named Ibn Qumta was the amanuensis

of the prophet, along with a certain


14/56

but this is not the case, for it was lost in the insurrection

of Mukhtar (AR. 67). The copy at Mecca remained there

till the city was stormed by Abu Sarayah (AR.

200);

he

did not carry it away; but it is supposed to have been

burned in the conflagration. The Medina exemplar was

lost in the reign of terror, that is, in the days ofYazid b.

Muawiah (AR.

60-64).

[Emphasis added]

Thus, by the year 835 CE, three of the four official

copies of the Qur' an had been lost. But of course, other ver-

sions of the Qur'an were intentionally destroyed:

After what we have related above, 'Uthman called in

all the former leaves and copies, and destroyed them,

threatening those who held any portion back; and so only

some scattered remains, concealed here and there, sur-

vived. Ibn Mas'ud, however, retained his exemplar in his

own hands, and it was inherited by his posterity, as it is

this day; and likewise the collection of Ali has descended

in his family. [Emphasis added]

Assuming, as devout Muslims do, that the Qur'an con-

tains the very words of Allah, how can one know that the

version of the Qur'an surviving today is the correct one?

Mohammedans are faced with the same problem

Assuming, as devout Muslims do,

that the Qur'an contains the very

words of Allah, how can one know

that the version of the Qur'an

surviving today is the correct one?

Christians must resolve when asked the embarrassing

question, Since there once existed almost a hundred

gospels that were sacred to various Christian groups, how

do you know that just these four gospels are the right

ones? But the headache for Muslim apologists becomes a

migraine, if what al-Kindi wrote is true:

12

Then followed the business of Rajjaj b. Yusuf, who

gathered together every single copy he could lay hold of,

and caused to be omitted from the text a great many pas-

sages. Among these, they say, were verses revealed con-

cerning the Rouse ofUmayyah with names ofcertain per-

sons, and concerning the Rouse ofAbbas also with names.

Six copies of the text thus revised were distributed to

Egypt, Syria, Medina, Mecca, Kufa, and Basra. After that

he called in and destroyed all the preceding copies, even

as Uthman had done before him. The enmity subsisting

between 'Ali and Abu Bakr, 'Umar and 'Uthman is well

known; now each of these entered in the text whatever

favored his own claims, and left out what was otherwise.

Row, then, can we distinguish between the 'genuine and

the counterfeit? And what about the losses caused by

Hajjaj? The kind of faith that this tyrant held in other

matters is well-known; how can we make an arbiter as to

the Book of God a man who never ceased to play into the

hands of the Umayyads whenever he found opportunity?

Page 12

THE L W OF SH RI

A

Woman's Plight

Early in December of 2001, a Sharia religious

court of appeal in Muslim-dominated northwest

Nigeria ordered a stay of execution for a woman who

had been sentenced by a lower court to be stoned to

death for having sex outside of marriage. The woman

contended that she had been raped. The court granted

the stay to allow Safiya Hussaini, 33, to appeal her

sentence by a lower Sharia court in the state of Sokoto.

The woman is a divorced mother with five children

who would be orphaned and probably perish if the exe-

cution were carried out.

The court imposed the sentence after Hussaini

asked it to compel a man to pay for her infant daugh-

ter's naming ceremony. She charged he had raped her

three times and impregnated her. When she charged

the man with rape, the court dismissed the charges

against him, citing a lack of evidence because she was

the sole witness. After dismissing the rape charge

against the man, the lower Shari a court then charged

the woman with adultery and sentenced her to death

in mid-October. She was given thirty days to appeal.

According to Sura 2:282 of the Qur'an, the testimony

of a woman is equal to only half the testimony of a

man, so Hussaini's appeal will automatically be

trumped by the rapist's counter-charge.

Hussaini was sentenced to death because she was

divorced. Had she never been married, the sentence

would only have been one hundred lashes. The fate of

her five children, of course, was of no concern to the

religious court.

The Nigerian federal government has said it will

not allow the sentence to be carried out, but officials in

Sokoto indicated that the federal government had not

contacted them about the up-coming stoning. Nigeria

is not yet One Nation Under God, since Sharia has

been imposed on less than a half of its 36 states. More

than a thousand people have lost their lives in riots

protesting the introduction of religious law.

How, indeed It is immensely significant, I believe,

that twenty years after al-Kindi, when -Ali b. Rabbanat-

Tabari was asked by the caliph Mutawakkil to write a

counter-apology on behalf of Islam.lf he addressed not a

single one of al-Kindi's charges concerning the transmis-

sion of the Qur'an, falling back on a lame - but extremely

perceptive -

ad hominem:

If such people may be accused

of forgery and falsehood, the disciples of the Christ might

also be accused of the same.

The Christian apologist receives unexpected corrobo-

ration from one of the most famous Muslim commentators

on the Qur'an, as-Suyuti [d. 1505 CE], who quoted Ibn

Umar al-Khattab as saying, Let no one of you say that he

Winter 2001-2002

American Atheist


15/56

edited the copies of the Koran, only the current [73

verses]

were recorded. (Among the alleged verses omitted was

that of 'The Stoning', which is supposed to have been

Allah's order that If an old man or woman committed

adultery, stone them to death. )

There remain more subtle problems, however, in the

story of the transmission ofAllah's instructions to mankind

after Gabe gave them to Mohammed. Some of the suras of

the Qur'an are extremely long chapters. How could

Mohammed have kept the whole thing in his head after

only one hearing? How could his amanuenses and secre-

taries have remembered them, perhaps after a single

recitation by the ecstatic reporter ofAllah's will?And when

they wrote those priceless words down on leaves and stones

and camels' bones, how reliable was their record? Even

today, Arabic is written in a defective script, which does not

normally indicate the short vowels in words and makes the

reading of Arabic extremely difficult for a non-native

speaker of the language. Furthermore, in ancient times,

the problem was even greater. For at least a century after

the death of Mohammed in 632, Arabic writing was

'unpointed' - that is, the dots now placed above or below

certain consonants to distinguish them were not used. This in Jerusalem, executed during the reign ofAbd al-Malik in

could cause enormous ambiguity, since b, t, and th could not the seventy-second year of the Islamic era [691-692 CE].

be distinguished from an initial or medial y; f could be con- Finally, some scholars have concluded that much of the

fused with q; j, h, and kh would have looked the same;

r

Qur'an actually predates Mohammed, being liturgical

could not be distinguished from z,

s

from

4 ,

s from

sh, d

from material that was used by monotheistic Arabs, perhaps

dh,

norr from

7

JudCEo-Christians or the mysterious Hanifs to whom

So great is the ambiguity resulting from the defective- Mohammed joined himself early in his career. Much of this

ness of the Arabic script that even after pointed texts material, of course, was unintelligible to later commenta-

appeared it was necessary to borrow (perhaps from the tors of the Qur'an who had to invent far-fetched explana-

Arameans) a system for indicating the short vowels in the tions for the obscurities.

sacred text. That this was understood to be ofextreme the- After this lengthy investigation of the origins and

ological importance can be inferred from the fact that today transmission of the Qur'an, we can only come to the con-

the Qur'an is practically the only book in which these elusion that Muslims have even less grounds for thinking

vowel marks are employed - apart from Arabic language they have the genuine words of a god than do the

textbooks and dictionaries used to teach the throat disease Christians with their epistles and gospels.

In

Islam as in

believed by pious Muslims to be the language in which the Christianity, a god is made to say what is expedient to sup-

creator of the universe speaks. port the theopolitical claims of the parties that created him

The problem of this defective script led to a situation in - parties that make a living selling him to hapless buyers

which different centers of Islamic studies had variant rules who have no Better Business Bureau to which they can

concerning the pointing and vocalization of the sacred text. appeal.

Parsippany, New Jersey Winter 2001-2002

has acquired the entire Koran, for how does he know that

it is all? Much of the Koran has been lost; thus let him say,

'I have acquired of it what is available'. 14 He also quotes

'Aisha, the favorite wife of Mohammed as having said that

During the time of the Prophet, the chapter of the Parties

used to be two hundred verses when read. When Uthman

In Islam as in Christianity, a god is

made to say what is expedient to

support the theopolitical claims of

the parties that created him -

parties that make a living selling

him to hapless buyers who have no

Better Business Bureau to which

they can appeal.

Variant texts survived, despite -Uthman's attempts at cre-

ating a Procrustean uniformity.

Ibn

Warraq-> quotes

Charles Adams declaration that It must be emphasized

that far from there being a single text passed down invio-

late from the time of'-Uthman's commission, literally thou-

sands of variant readings of particular verses were known

in the first three

[Muslim]

centuries. These variants affect-

ed even the 'Uthmanic codex, making it difficult to know

what its true form may have been.

The problem of ambiguity never ceased to plague

Muslims who desired an absolutely certain version of

Allah's instructions on camel-castrating or whatever.

Under the direction of the Qur'anic scholar Ibn Mujahid

[d. 935 CE],16there was a canonization of a specific conso-

nantal system and a limit was placed on the vowels that

could be used. This resulted in seven officially sanctioned

systems for reading ofthe Qur'an, although some scholars

accepted ten readings and still others found fourteen of

merit.

In

the end, just three systems prevailed: the Medina

system of Warsh [d. 812 CE],the Kufa system of Hafs [d.

805], and the Basra system of ad-Duri [d. 860]. Presently,

only two of these seem to be in evidence: the system of

Hafs, which was adopted for the Egyptian edition of the

Koran issued in 1924, and the system of Warsh, which is

used elsewhere in Africa. (Although Muslim apologists

often claim that the seven versions pertain only to meth-

ods of recitation, this simply is not true.) ?

Clear proof that Qur'anic texts have evolved can be

seen from the fact that the first Qur'-anic (more accurate-

ly,

pre-Qur'anic)

quotations known are found on coins and

inscriptions dating toward the end of the seventh century.

Many of these differ from the canonical text. Substantial

differences from the canonical text are also found in the

ornamental inscriptions decorating the Dome of the Rock

And when they wrote those price-

less words down on leaves and

stones and camels' bones, how reli-

able was their record?

Page 13


16/56

The Legend of Mohammed Examined

Amodern book written for beginning English-speaking

Muslims-f

very well summarizes the legend that needs to

be examined critically:

The life of Muhammad is known as the Sira and was

lived in the full light of history. Everything he did and

said was recorded. Because he could not read and write

himself, he was constantly served by a group of 45 scribes

who wrote down his sayings, instructions and his activi-

ties. Muhammad himself insisted on documenting his

important decisions. Nearly three hundred of his docu-

ments have come down to us, including political treaties,

military enlistments, assignments of officials and state

correspondence written on tanned leather. We thus know

his life to the minutest details: how he spoke, sat, sleeped

[sic],dressed, walked; his behaviour as a husband, father,

nephew; his attitudes toward women, children, animals;

his business transactions and stance toward the poor and

the oppressed; his engagement in camps and canton-

ments, his behaviour in battle; his exercise of political

authority and stand on power; his personal habits, likes

and dislikes - even his private dealings with his wives.

Within a few decades of his death, accounts of the life of

Muhammad were available to the Muslim community in

written form. One of the earliest and the most-famous

biographies ofMuhammad, written less than [a] hundred

years after his death, is Sirat Rasul Allah by Ibn Ishaq.

The fire of these ardent assertions is quenched, how-

ever, by the cold water supplied by Professor John

Burton.l? an Islamologist at the University of St. Andrews,

as he comments on a translation of al-Tabari's History as it

deals with the life of Mohammed:

None will fail to be struck by the slimness of a volume

purporting to cover more than half a century in the life of

one ofHistory's giants. Ignoring the pages tracing his lin-

eage all the way back toAdam and disregarding the mere-

ly fabulous with which the author has padded out his

book, is to realize how very meagre is the hard informa-

tion available to the Muslims for the life ofthe man whose

activities profoundly affected their own as well as the

lives ofcountless millions. Of the childhood, the education

ofthe boy and the influences on the youth, all ofwhich set

the pattern of the development of the man, we know vir-

tually nothing. We simply have to adjust to the uncom-

fortable admission that, in the absence of contemporary

documents, we just do not and never shall know what we

most desire to learn.

How is an interested observer to choose between these

diametrically opposite opinions concerning Mohammed?

Only by examining the evidentiary sources upon which

every Life of Mohammed must be based can we decide. So

we must briefly survey the material that has come down to us.

Sources of Information on Mohammed

Evidence on the life of Mohammed is derived from lit-

erary sources, papyri and manuscripts, inscriptions, coins,

and archaeology. The literary sources include the Sira (a

life of Mohammed written by Ibn Ishaq), the

Maghazi

(an

account of the military acts and bandit raids of Moham-

med, ascribed to al-Waqidi, d. 823), the Hadith (originally

oral reports about the sayings and deeds of Mohammed),

the Qur an, the tafsir (commentaries on the Qur'an), and

the writings of early non-Muslim critics and observers.

The Hadith

Since much of the literary evidence ultimately is

derived from the oral traditions captured in the Hadith (or

books of traditions), it is well to begin our criticism of the

life of Mohammed by inquiring into the reliability of the

Hadith. The Hadith are alleged to be the collected records

of what Mohammed did, what he enjoined, what he did not

forbid, and what was done in his presence. They also con-

tain the supposed sayings and deeds of the prophet's com-

panions. Each item is traced back to Mohammed by means

of an isnad, a chain of supposedly honest witnesses and

transmitters. The substance of such a report is called a

matn,

and the total tradition of Islamic law and morals

derivable from the accredited Hadith is known as the

sunna. Adherence to the sunna for guidance in all matters

for which the Qur'an is either obscure or silent is a defin-

ing characteristic of the major Muslim sect of the world

today, the so-called

Sunni.

(The other major group of

Muslims, the Shi-ites, do not generally honor the

sunna,

and trace their origin to a very early dispute over who

should have been the immediate successor of Mohammed,

siding with Mohammed's cousin and son-in-law -Al; and

arguing that the leadership should have remained in

Mohammed's family.)

The Hadith are especially important in post-9-1-1

America, where constant propaganda in favor of Islam is

being broadcast even as part of television news programs.

Islam is a religion of peace, it is said. Islam gave rights

to women, they tell us, not mentioning Sura 2:282 which

accords a woman only half the weight of a man as a wit-

ness in court. We are assured that It is contrary to Islam

to commit suicide, and that the kamikaze terrorists were

not true muslims. Repeatedly it is argued that the

Qur'an forbids the sort of things that the Sunni* terrorists

did to the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. While it is true

that a selective reading of the Qur'an can justify this self-

serving twaddle, it is nevertheless ignoring a major source

that, with very little effort, can be manipulated to justify

the moral outrages that have been inflicted on our nation

and other parts of the civilized world. That source is, of

course, the Hadith. It was the Hadith plus the Qur'an that

justified the Taliban in their restoration of the Dark Ages.

*Most ofthe terrorists, especially those from Arabia, have been

members of a fundamentalist Sunni sect known as the

Wahabis. Founded by Mohammed ibn-Abd-al-Wahab [1703-

1791 CE] ofthe Najd region of Central Arabia, it is noted for its

rejection of all 'novelties' absorbed by Islam, rejecting music

and the wearing ofsilk or jewelry. Wahab rejected consensus of

opinion as a source of authority. By marriage he became allied

with the family of Saud - the ruling family of Saudi Arabia

today. Recently, an Internet news site made the unconfirmed

claim that the great majority of imams who lead American

mosques are Wahabis.

Page 14

Winter 2001-2002

American Atheist


17/56

It was the same two 'moral guides' that propelled the

kamikaze martyrs on their one-way flights up to the houris

in heaven.

Al-Bukhari traveled from country

to country to collect Hadith ...

discovering that more than

600,000 Hadith were current in his

day. Unfortunately, careful study

convinced him that of that vast

number only around four

thousand were authentic - and

European scholars would discard

at least half of that two-thirds of

one percent

Sunni Muslims accept six collections of Hadith as

authentic traditions ofMohammed. These include the com-

pilations ofal-Bukhari [d. 870],Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj [d. 875],

Ibn Maja [d. 887],Abu Dawud [d. 889], al-Tirmidhi [d. 892],

and al-Nisai [d. 915]. In addition to these six collections,

there is the Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal [d. 855], an

encyclopedia which contains nearly 29,000 Hadith

Reminding ourselves that Mohammed died in 632, we

must immediately question the authenticity of traditions

recorded well over two centuries after

his time. Tobe sure, each Hadith is sup-

ported by an isnad tracing its transmis-

sion back to Mohammed. Nevertheless,

modern scholars have been able to

demonstrate that the vast majority of

these isnads are fabrications created to

Ji]

erve the theopolitical need, of their ~

inventors. Indeed, the fraudulent _ 7 :

nature of most of the Hadith was detect- ~ ~:~

ed already in olden times. Al-Bukhari,.:... -

the first of the above-named collectors, . ',~ ...

I .

traveled from country to country to col- .

lect Hadith. He was successful beyond

his wildest dreams, discovering that -,

more than 600,000 Hadith were current ~

in his day.2o Unfortunately, careful

study convinced him that of that vast

number only around four thousand ,

American Atheist Magazine Winter 2001-02

Documents

Transcript of American Atheist Magazine Winter 2001-02