5. RAPE AND ISLAM

Mohammed distributed captured women to the soldiers who participated in the raid to capture them. However, Muslims faced a dilemma after receiving the women as war booty.  They wanted to have sex with the captured women but also wanted to return them for ransom and therefore did not want to make them pregnant.  Some of these women were already married.  Their husbands might have managed to escape and might be still alive.  It was possible that these people might agree to pay ransom and buy back their wives. The raiders, therefore, considered the possibility of coitus interrupts (withdrawing from intercourse prior to ejaculation).  Unsure of the best course of action, they went to Mohammed for advice.

Abu Saeed said: “We went out with Allah’s Apostle for the attack of Banu Al-Mustaliq and we received women captives from among the lost Arab tribe and we desired women and celibacy became hard on us and we loved to do coitus interrupts.  So when we intended to do coitus interrupts, we said, 'How can we do coitus interrupts before asking Allah’s Apostle who is present among us?"  We asked him about it and he said, 'It is better for you not to do so, for if any soul (till the Day of Resurrection) is predestined to exist, it will exist."

Notice that Mohammed did not forbid sex with women captured in war.  Instead, he indicated that when Allah intends to create anything, nothing can prevent it.  In other words, withdrawal cannot prevent pregnancy if Allah desires.  So Mohammed was supporting sex with captured women and impregnating them.

In the Quran, Mohammed made it legal to do intercourse with slave women, the so-called “right hand possessions,” even if they were married before their capture.  Slave women had no choice.

Mohammed had only one wife Khadijah for 25 years and had a contented conjugal life. But after death of Khadijah, Mohammed became a lustful person. He went on to marry fourteen times.  He had eleven living wives at one time. Some of his wives were actually captives and Mohammed forced himself upon them. Over and above he maintained at least four sex slaves.  Some important incidences are reproduced.

Juwairiya:

Ibn Aun has narrated: “I wrote a letter to Nafi and Nafi wrote in reply to my letter that the Prophet had suddenly attacked Bani Mustaliq without warning while they were headless and their cattle were being watered at the place of water. Their fighting men were killed and their women and children were taken as captives. The Prophet got Juwairiya on that day." Nafi said that Ibn Umar had told him the above narration and that Ibn Umar was in that army. Mohammed had sent one of his companions; Bareeda bin Haseeb, to spy on the Bani al-Mustaliq and after assessing that the men of the Bani out for tending the cattle, he had ordered his men to attack.

Juwairiya was one of the captives during the raid of Banu Mustaliq. When all the prisoners were made slaves and distributed among the victorious Muslim soldiers, Juwairiyah fell to the lot of Thabit bin Qais. She was the daughter of Haris, the leader of the clan. Therefore, she felt disgraced of being made slave of an ordinary Muslim soldier. She requested him to release her on payment of ransom. Thabit agreed to this, if she could pay him 9 Auqias of gold. Juwairiyah had no ready money with her. She tried to raise this amount through contributions, and approached the Holy Prophet also in this connection. She said to him "0' Prophet of Allah! I am the daughter of Al Haris bin Zarar, the Lord (chief) of his people. You know that it is by chance that our people have fallen captive and I have fallen to the share of Thabit bin Qais and have requested him to release me considering my status, but he has refused. Please do an act of kindness and save me from humiliation". The Holy Prophet was moved and asked the captive woman if she would like a thing still better. She asked as to what was that thing. He said that he was ready to pay her ransom and marry her if she liked. She agreed to this proposal. So the Holy Prophet paid the amount of ransom and married her.”  

First he raided a population without warning because they were easy target and wealthy. There he killed unarmed able-bodied men, plundered their belongings and then enslaved the women and children. Mohammed’s act of purchasing freedom for Juwairiyah was not a benevolent act. He did it on condition. Did Juwairiyah had any option? She will be raped either by Thabit or by Mohammed. Juwairiyah opted for Mohammed. Although Muslims call this marriage, it was a rape.

Arabs practiced slavery and especially sex slavery and Mohammed gave it sanction of God. By doing so, he set an example which became standard practices of the Muslims forever. Today all Muslim terrorist groups follow the same.

Safiyah 

Safiyah was a beautiful 17 years old Jewish woman who was captured when Mohammed’s troops raided Kheibar. She was the daughter or Huyeiy Ibn Akhtab, the chief of the Banu Nadir, a Jewish tribe of Medina , whom Mohammed had beheaded two years earlier along with the men of Banu Quraiza. The tribe of Banu Nadir had been already banished from Medina and their properties were confiscated.

Safiyah was married to her cousin Kinana, who was a young Jewish leader of Kheibar. When Mohammed raided that fortress, he killed its men and captured the women and children. A Jewish traitor, to gain Mohammed’s favor and be spared from death, told him that Kinana was the treasurer of the town and that he used to hide the money in some ruins. Mohammed ordered Kinana to be tortured to reveal the whereabouts of the treasures and finally killed him.

Then he asked the prettiest woman from amongst the captives to be brought to him. Ibn Ishaq writes: "The apostle occupied the Jewish forts one after the other, taking prisoners as he went.  Among these were Safiya, the wife of Kinana, the Khaibar chief, and two female cousins: [sisters of Kinana] the apostle chose Safiya for himself.  The other prisoners were distributed among the Muslims.  Bilal brought Safiya to the apostle, and they passed the bodies of several Jews on the way.  Safiya's female companions lamented and strewed dust on their heads.  When the apostle of Allah observed this scene, he said, 'Remove these she-devils from me.'  But he ordered Safiya to remain, and threw his cloak over her.  So the Muslims knew he had reserved her for his own.  The apostle reprimanded Bilal, saying, 'Hast thou lost all feelings of mercy, to make women pass by the corpses of their husbands?'”

Safiyah was taken to Mohammed’s tent. Mohammed wanted to have sex with her on that very night, only hours after torturing her husband to death. That night Abu Ayyub al-Ansari guarded the tent of Mohammed. When, in the early dawn,  Mohammed saw Abu Ayyub strolling up and down, he asked him what he meant by this sentry-go; he replied: "I was afraid for you with this young lady. You had killed her father, her husband and many of her relatives, I was really afraid for you on her account".

The next day Mohammed covered Safiyah with his mantle, an act signifying that she is now his. Safiyah was groomed and made-up for Mohammed by Umm Sulaim, the mother of Anasibn Malik and was taken to Mohammed who married her in a mock marriage ceremony and raped her. Can this be considered marriage? No young women would like to jump into bed with an old man who murdered her father and young husband and many other relatives just the previous day. That poor woman had no choice; therefore that marriage was nothing but a mockery of this sacred institution. At that time Mohammed was close to sixty years.

Rayhanah

Another victim of Mohammed was Rayhana, a 15 year old girl from the tribe of Banu Quraiza. Mohammed massacred all the men of that tribe. Then women were brought to him to pick and he chose Rayhana. Rayhana never married Mohammed and unlike Juwairiyah and Safiyah never feigned being a Muslim to have an easier life. She preferred to remain a sex slave rather than a wife to the murderer of her father, brothers and uncles.   

 

Mohammed not only legalized rape but actually made it a religious act. A Muslim has to wait at least three months before re-marrying a widow or a divorcee. This waiting period is called Iddah (3 menstrual cycles). But a Muslim can have forced sex with a woman just after capturing her if she is not Muslim.

This is what followed immediately after death of Mohammed.

Mohammed appointed Malik as a tax collector for the tribe of Banu Tamim. Malik was a chief of some distinction: a warrior, noted for his generosity, and a famous poet. Bravery, generosity, and poetry were the three qualities most admired among the then Arabs. As soon as Malik heard of the death of Mohammed, he gave back all the tax to his tribe people, saying “Now you are the owner of your wealth." He was quoted saying: "Today, your wealth are saved.” Most scholars agreed that he was adhering to the normal beliefs of the Arabs of his time in which they should cease to pledge their allegiance to a tribe upon the death of its Sheikh.

Khalid Bin Walid was sent for re-establishing Zakat from Muslims. He sent his cavalry to nearby villages and ordered them to call the Azan (call for prayers) to each party they meet and then claimed Zakat. Malik avoided direct contact with Khalid's army and ordered his followers to scatter, and he and his family apparently moved away across the desert. He refused to give zakat, hence differentiating between prayer and zakat. Nevertheless, Malik was accused of rebellion against the state of Madina. He was also charged for his entering in an anti-Caliphate alliance with Sajjah, a self-proclaimed prophetess. Malik was finally arrested along with his clan men, Malik was asked by Khalid about his crimes. Malik's response was "your master said this and your master said that" referring to Abu Bakr. Khalid declared Malik an apostate and ordered his execution. Khalid killed Malik ibnNuwayra and took his wife. In Medina, ‘Umar told Khalid: “You are enemy of Allah! You killed a Muslim man and then raped his wife. By Allah, I will stone you". Shias claim that according to Islam, Khalid should have waited for her to complete the waiting period of iddah before marrying her. Sunnis believe that since Malik and his tribe was judged apostates, they were taken captives and Iddah rules do not apply to apostates. The death of Malik and Khalid's taking of his wife Layla created a controversy. The controversy was whether Malik was to be considered Muslim or apostate. If Malik was still a Muslim then rape was committed; otherwise no. So Muslims can legally rape any woman they capture if she is not a Muslim. He can rape a Muslim woman as well but after calling her husband apostate and if necessary killing him.

It is not that rape was uncommon in mediaeval history. Rape was used as a mean of terrorizing opponent population. As human civilization progressed women were treated as equal and slowly progressive societies accepted equality of sexes. Like racial discrimination, discrimination on the basis of sex is considered wrong. The whole movement of woman emancipation was led by religious men. All religion treated women with respect which finally resulted into modern day conviction of universal equality of all human being. But Islam is different. Islam does not consider rape of non– Muslim women is wrong. A Muslim can capture women in war and keep them as war booty. These women are called "mal e ganimat" or war booty. Women can be purchased from slave market as well. Both types of women are considered "those that right hand possesses." Islam institutionalized slavery, especially sex slavery. Even today slavery is practiced in all Muslim countries. Governments, Administrations and even Judiciaries fail to abolish slavery all together since it is permissible in Quran.

*********************************************************************************