One of the myths repeated continously by Islamophobes and their supporters is the idea that Islam does not have an equivalent to the golden rule any where in its sacred texts. This myth is transformed into talking points and repeated over and over again until it takes on the status of truth.
This is a well known method amongst those in the Islamophobic Industrial Complex, “Repeat a lie enough times and it becomes truth.” This method of propaganda was employed by the Nazis to devestating effect and today such wackos as JihadWatch, LGF, Ali Sina’s FaithFreedom and other clones are using it to achieve similar ends: the dehumanization of Muslims (who ‘unlike’ everyone else have no golden rule and thus are barbarians) and the extermination of Islam.
The bone of contention lies in the hadith narrated in Bukhari and Muslim and also in Nawawi’s Forty Hadith which states that, “None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.”[1] Muslims believe that this applies generally to Bani Adam, or the Children of Adam (all humankind) as has been explained by such luminaries in this Ummah as Imam Ahmad(ra) and Imam Nawawi(ra) himself. The Islamophobes attempt to interpret Islamic scripture by telling Muslims that their belief in the wording of the hadith is wrong and that the true meaning of “brother” is restricted to Muslims only, whereas all non Muslims are excluded.
This re-interpretation flies in the face of classical scholarship and is supported by nothing. The re-interpretation exposes and highlights the pseudo-scholarship of these Islamophobes.
Lets for a second say that this illegitimate interpretation is allowed, it still does not explain the following hadith that also refers to the golden rule, (I tried to give it in Arabic but wasnt able to, but I provide the link and here it is in English):
It has been narrated on the authority of ‘Abd al-Rahman b. Abd Rabb al-Ka’ba who said: I entered the mosque when ‘Abdullah b. ‘Amr b. al-’As was sitting in the shade of the Ka’ba and the people had gathered around him. I betook myself to them and sat near him. (Now) Abdullah said: I accompanied the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) on a journey. We halted at a place. Some of us began to set right their tents, others began to compete with one another in shooting, and others began to graze their beasts, when an announcer of the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) announced that the people should gather together for prayer, so we gathered around the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him). He said: It was the duty of every Prophet that has gone before me to guide his followers to what he knew was good for them and warn them against what he knew was bad for them; but this Umma of yours has its days of peace and (security) in the beginning of its career, and in the last phase of its existence it will be afflicted with trials and with things disagreeable to you. (In this phase of the Umma), there will be tremendous trials one after the other, each making the previous one dwindle into insignificance. When they would be afflicted with a trial, the believer would say: This is going to bring about my destruction. When at (the trial) is over, they would be afflicted with another trial, and the believer would say: This surely is going to be my end. Whoever wishes to be delivered from the fire and enter the garden should die with faith in Allah and the Last Day and should treat the people as he wishes to be treated by them. He who swears allegiance to a Caliph should give him the piedge of his hand and the sincerity of his heart (i.e. submit to him both outwardly as well as inwardly). He should obey him to the best of his capacity. It another man comes forward (as a claimant to Caliphate), disputing his authority, they (the Muslims) should behead the latter. The narrator says: I came close to him (‘Abdullah b. ‘Amr b. al-’As) and said to him: Can you say on oath that you heard it from the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him)? He pointed with his hands to his ears and his heart and said: My ears heard it and my mind retained it. I said to him: This cousin of yours, Mu’awiya, orders us to unjustly consume our wealth among ourselves and to kill one another, while Allah says: “O ye who believe, do not consume your wealth among yourselves unjustly, unless it be trade based on mutual agreement, and do not kill yourselves. Verily, God is Merciful to you” (iv. 29). The narrator says that (hearing this) Abdullah b. ‘Amr b. al-As kept quiet for a while and then said: Obey him in so far as he is obedient to God; and diqobey him in matters involving disobedience to God.[2]
PAY ATTENTION TO THE BOLD! It states “whoever wishes to be delivered from the fire and to enter Paradise…should treat the people as he wishes to be treated.” The statement is clear and obvious and there is no way around it for the pseudo-scholars of the Islamophobic Industrial Complex. Here the Prophet(pbuh) uses the Arabic word “Naas” which means PEOPLE, not “brother,” “Muslim brother” but ‘people’ which is as general as possible.
This not only highlights the shoddy scholarship, lack of intellectual integrity, flimsy research of the Islamophobes but a deeper pyschological hatred on the part of the Islamophobes. They could have easily found this hadith, as they should know well that Sahih Muslim is one of the major texts of Islam. Yet most of these Islamophobes dont have the tools to understand Islamic scholarship or it’s texts because most of them dont even know Arabic! How long will their sheep follow them into the abyss of ignorance and hate?
This hadith is only one of MANY hadith which highlight the treatment encouraged by Islam and the Prophet. There are many hadith dealing with the responsibility of the Muslim to his neighbor, such as the one that states, “None of you is a believer if he eats his full while his neighbour hasn’t anything.” Who were the Prophet’s neighbours? Are the Islmophobes now going to say they were only ‘brothers,’ or ’Muslims’? The Prophet and the Muslims’ neighbours were Pagans, Jews, Christians and others! This is the stark truth that the Islamophobes dont want to admit, nor can they afford to admit it as their whole house of cards would fall on them.
Their only motive is to slander Islam and present it as evil and barbaric. They dont wish to present these sayings of Islam because it HUMANIZES Muslims and that is the last thing they want. This motley crew of carnival scholars is losing steam in the face of facts. I encourage retirement.
References:
[1]Imam Nawawi’s Fourty Hadith, n13.
[2]Sahih Muslim, Book20:4546
January 12, 2008 at 1:22 am
What a wonderful piece of work. Clear, concise, and beautifully written. I was raised muslim, and though I am non practicing now, I am outraged by the sheer ignorance that dominates most people denouncing all muslims as “jihadists”. So thank you for this, its amazing.
January 12, 2008 at 9:29 am
xarcadia- Thanks for stopping by and thank you for the kind comment. Yes, it is amazing to me as well how many people buy into the ignorance that is being peddled as knowledge. This is just one of the many myths that these Islamophobes perpetrate.
I will continue to write about some more of these Islamophobic myths as well as linking to others who have written on it.
See you around.
MT
July 13, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Something even more equivocal than everything I mentioned is a hadith mentioned in Sahih Muslim, Kitab al Iman, 67-1, Hadith no.45. It states,
“None of you have faith until you love for your neighbor what you love for yourself”
It seems in Islam the golden rule is emphasised more than in other religions.
MT
October 12, 2008 at 11:27 pm
Nowhere in the Koran is there an expression of the Golden Rule therefore, it is of no importance in Islam and Muslims have no reason to observe it. Since Islam’s most important message to humanity (the Noble Koran) does not contain the Golden Rule, it is logical that it was unimportant to Allah. This explains why he entirely omitted it from the Koran. The Golden Rule is held to be central by all religions, except Islam. Muslims are surprised to learn their faith does not teach it.
There is however, a very restricted version of the principle of reciprocity found in the Hadiths. The Hadiths are a non-binding collection of sayings and acts of Mohammed and his companions. They have much less authority than the Koran, but contain a version of the Golden Rule which applies only among “brother” Muslims. This Islamic “brotherhood rule” is not universal and does not apply to non-Muslims.
Islamic reciprocity is restricted to interactions between Muslim “brothers”. (An infidel is not to be addressed as “brother” by a Muslim.)
The Hadith quotes Mohammed as saying: “None of you [truly] believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.” (Number 13 of Imam al-Nawawi’s “Forty Hadiths.)
Other Hadiths clarify the limitation of reciprocity to relations between Muslim brothers:
Bukhari 9,85,83 Mohammed said: “A Muslim is a brother to other Muslims. He should never oppress them nor should he facilitate their oppression.” (Note: but he may oppress infidels)
Bukhari 8,73,70 Mohammed said: “Harming a Muslim is an evil act; killing a Muslim means rejecting Allah.” (Note: but harming or killing an infidel is a mere misdemeanour.)
Finally, the Koran itself makes it clear that brotherhood applies only towards other Muslims: (Koran 48:29) : “Muhammad is the messenger of Allah; and those who are with him are harsh against Unbelievers, (but) compassionate amongst each other.” Moreover, 14 Koranic verses categorically command Muslims not to be friends with the kufaar,thus totally excluding the Golden Rule.
Such a standard of ethics is no higher than that of the mafia. Islam does teach this, and there is the proof of it.
Islam divides the entire world into Islam and the kafirs (unbelievers who are “the vilest of animals”) and has two separate sets of ethics for each sphere.
The basis of the Golden Rule is the universal equality of all humankind, regardless of their religion, race or origin. It does not say: Do unto some persons, as you would have them do unto you, but do unto all persons as you would have them do unto you.
Islam denies the universality of the Golden Rule because Islam starts with the division of all humanity, into two different groups: Islamic and non-Islamic. Every aspect of Islamic ethics is based upon this separation, thus Islam has two different ethical codes. Said another way, Islam has dualistic ethics: one set for treating “brother” Muslims and a different set for kafirs. Thus, in Islam, “Good” is whatever advances Islam; “Evil” is whatever resists Islam.
In the Koran, the main concern is that of forcing the peoples of the earth into submision to Islam and then keeping them in it, as if in a mental prison from which they may never escape. Thus, Allah did not forget to include 164 verses commanding Muslims to go on jihaad (holy wars of conquest), and many verses commanding Muslims to murder renegades from Islam. Such verses are opposed to and irreconcilable with the unitary Golden Rule. If such angry verses were removed 61% of the Koran, 75% of the Sira and 20% of the Hadiths would disappear.
This is perhaps the strongest argument against Islam: The Golden Rule is missing from the Koran.
October 13, 2008 at 5:07 am
thinkomatic, you should really do some more thinking before pasting drivel from Spencer and other acolytes. Everything you have written I’ve already refuted with clear evidences from the Islamic texts.
Because the Holy Qur’an doesnt have the golden rule all of a sudden its supposed to mean its not important any more? Maybe revisionist non-Muslims would like it this way but Islam does not see it that way.
Chew on this for a little while:
Sahih Muslim, Kitab al Iman, 67-1, Hadith no.45. It states,
“None of you have faith until you love for your neighbor what you love for yourself”
-MT
October 23, 2008 at 1:01 am
Some more via Maryams.net:
“Do unto all men as you would wish to have done unto you; and reject for others what you would reject for yourselves.” (Abu Dawud)
“Hurt no one so that no one may hurt you.” (Farewell Sermon)
“There should be neither harming nor reciprocating harm.” (Ibn- Majah)
December 23, 2008 at 3:19 am
More and this time from the Qur’an. SubhanAllah:-
“Serve Allah, and join not any partners with Him; and do good- to parents, kinsfolk, orphans, those in need, neighbors who are near, neighbors who are strangers, the companion by your side, the wayfarer (ye meet), and what your right hands possess [the slave]: For Allah loveth not the arrogant, the vainglorious” (Q:4:36)
March 15, 2009 at 9:55 pm
How this Golden Rule was practiced amongst the early generations of Muslims:
Abdullah bin Mubarak had a Jewish neighbor. The Jewish man decided to sell his home. It was said to him, ”How much are you selling it for?”
He responded, ”I’m selling it for 2 thousand dinār.”
It was said, ”It is only worth a thousand dinār!”
The Jewish man responded, “You are correct. However, one thousand is for my house, and one thousand is for my neighbor, Abdullah!” when ‘Abdullah bin Mubarak heard about this, he sent for the Jewish man, told him not to sell and bought the house from him.
April 28, 2009 at 9:53 am
It is most astonishing to see how the world has demonised and persecuted muslims and Islam itself, hardly would you ever hear that a christian extremist has killed people, lovely piece of work, very well written would like the rest of the world to read and understand it.
May 18, 2009 at 5:44 am
I am fully in favor of this being taught. I hope and pray that it is. I don’t know any muslems who would say this was something taught to them.
Nearly everyone across the Earth knows the Christian Golden Rule. I guess it takes a scholar to find these Islamic writings in secondary texts and then promote them as if they are key tenants of the Islamic faith. My hope is that your right on a heart level.
No matter where they are written if Muslems are embracing the heart of the concept I will never discourage it. Thank you for sharing your discoveries. Anyone can benefit from implementing this kind of compassion.
May 18, 2009 at 7:10 pm
smcd,
I hope you are in favor of this being taught, it would be sad if you weren’t. I also doubt you know any Muslims or what they have been taught in their whole lives.
Your comment speaks much to your own subjective reality. It is also interesting to note that whenever Anti-Muslims want to demean Islam with an unfavorable quote or verse they will say how the texts are so crucial and primary to Islam, but when they want to undermine a favorable quote they will say they are “secondary.”
As a Muslim let me tell you these are primary texts. It doesn’t get anymore primary than the Quran or Sahih Muslim, Bukhari.
Muslims embrace Islam and that is why we must act upon the universal golden rule. It is what was taught to us by God the Most Hight and the Prophet Muhammad pbuh.
May 19, 2009 at 6:10 am
Asalaualaikum,
Well said! Islam is being judged upon an action of a Muslim(s).
June 11, 2009 at 10:48 pm
Excellent response.