People,
Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) did not abuse a little girl. He married Aisha when she was very young. This is not a problem. Someone who traveled by night on a heavenly mount, going beyond the heavens, meeting with God, engaging in intimate Companionship and uniting with Him behind all veils, and coming back in the same night may marry a six year old or less; specially if that 6 year old is the daughter of his very best friend, Abu Bakr. Muhammad said and all Muslims at all ages learn it: Aisha is the most dear person to him, and after her, her father Abu Bakr. The heavenly purity and chastity concept for a girl is that she be married the moment she reaches puberty. That's not perversity. That's chastity. Islam separates the men and the women. They don't mix. Islam, as all religions, is based on chastity. This heavenly chastity ideal is represented by Aisha being married very young to Muhammad. She is the only young girl to have been married to Muhammad. Muhammad had 11 wives, all of whom were previously married, except for Aisha. Aisha said, praising Muhammad, that his personality was the Qur'an. Muhammad said, praising Aisha, that she was the daughter of Abu Bakr.
Muhammad did not encourage his followers to turn women captives of war into servants. The society was a society in which there were masters and there were slaves. The master gave the slave to eat from what he ate, and made him wear from what he wore. I am exaggerating a little bit. Muhammad took that fact into account, and said that the masters and the slaves were brothers. He also said that one must free his slaves. Rich people among the Muslims would buy slaves, only to free them. Abu Bakr for example would buy slaves and set them free. Muhammad would reprimand the people for reminding other people that they had been slaves. Islam was strict about it: between two Muslims, the tie is brotherhood. That was in the 7th century. 12 centuries later, the greatest slave market in the history of mankind was developed. It was the product of the Christian world. Muslims were allowed to have intercourse with their female servants, just as he would have intercourse with his wives. This is normal. the sacredness of marriage allows the Muslim to have intercourse with his wife. So also the sacredness of the relationship between a master ans his female servant, whom he owns, allows him to have intercourse with her. She agreed to be his servant. Some in the society were masters, others were servants. This was the structure of the community. If it happened that she did not agree to be his servant, then she would have to be punished, just as today, a teenager can not ill-treat his parents, whom the law protects. Rape does not take place here. As a matter of fact, rape was severely reprimanded. Umar (may God be well pleased with him) had his own son killed, though Umar was the king of the Muslims, because he raped a woman.
Muhammad was illiterate. He did not know how to read or write. When we say Muhammad, the unlettered Messenger, we point to the fact that he is taught by none other than God Almighty Himself. Reading or writing never made a man more intelligent than others. Being responsible is a sign of the intelligence of a man.
Muhammad was not one who wage war mercilessly. He was a lover of His Lord, and a sword of His Lord. He was a friend of His Lord, and he stood up for his friend, he stood up for God Almighty. He was the lion of the battles, the lion against the enemies of God, whom he killed. God has enemies. He gave people free will, but people choose to love other than Him, though He is worthy of their love and entitled to be loved of them. They are not entitled to love other than Him. That is simple logic.They are the enemies of God. The first battle was going to be the only one, as the 1000 unbelievers, at Badr, were about to slaughter the 313 Muslims. However the Muslims achieved a speedy victory. This is about loyalty to God and sincerity, to the point that they were ready to give their lives for the sake of God. "We will not tell you (O Muhammad), as was said to Moses, go fight you and your Lord alone. We will fight before you and after you, to your right and to your left." These were not the actual words spoken by Sad Ibn Muadh to Muhammad at Badr, but something like it. It made Muhammad very pleased. Less than 10 years later Muhammad marched over Mecca, victorious, without shedding blood. He rid the Kaaba of its idols and made a sermon in the Sacred Mosque. Less than 120 years later Islam had spread as far as Persia (Iran) to the east and North Africa and Spain to the West. It allowed for great civilizations to take place in these lands. This was not the acts of a murderer. These were wars made in order that the name of God Almighty be remembered and proclaimed throughout the land. It was done under the directorship of God Almighty Himself, against people who dared to resist and reject the word of God Almighty Himself, who created them and their fathers before you, who took the lives of their fathers before them just as He would take their lives very soon.
Muhammad did not preach hatred for some people, or for some religion. He taught that everyone is equal. There is no such thing as a master who is better than a slave. There is no such thing as a ruler being better than an ordinary man.There is no such thing as a rich man being better than a poor man. There is no such thing as a man being better than another on account of his lineage. There is no such thing as an elderly man being better than a young man. There is no such thing as a man being better than a woman. All men and women are equal. The most pious one is the best one, and piety is in the heart, not just on the acts. Muhammad was heavenly so he taught that the Companions were all very pious and saintly men. He taught that some Companions were more saintly than others. This is how the Muslims made a difference between them, considering this Companion better that this other Companion, and this other Companion better than that other Companion. For example, he said that the sun never rose on a man other than the prophets better than Abu Bakr. There are things that a pious man will not do. When you see someone doing it, you hate and despise him, out of your love for God and His holiness. This is what God wants of you. Don't consider the righteous and the pious as equal, because they are not. But piety is in the heart, and you can not read in the hearts, so use caution. God created one, loves him, gives him food and drink and countless favours that He chose to give him without being forced to do so. If that one loves other than him, he has fallen below the levels of animals, because do not incur the displeasure of God. One who pleases God is better than one who displeases God.
The Qur'an is not a handbook of war for any Muslim out there. The Qur'an is none other than the word of God Almighty which He revealed to Muhammad. Whenever revelation would come, Muhammad would transpire, and would feel some pain until Gabriel had finished revealing the part he revealed. Then Muhammad recited the verses for the people to know them. The word of God Almighty is not for a human being to understand. It is the word of God to Muhammad, not to the human being. But Muhammad made it known to us, so that we have to cherish the word of the Great Almighty God, and we do that by reading everyday a good portion of this book.
Aside from the Qur'an, there are other sacred scriptures: the Hadiths. The Hadiths are the sayings of Muhammad. Muhammad did not talk out of his personal reasoning and his personal feelings. No, rather he is the unlettered Messenger, who is taught by God Almighty Himself, and by none other. There is not a word he utters but that it was revealed to him by God. Basically, whatever Muhammad said is divine because whatever Muhammad said was revelation. The bottom line is that there are 2 sacred scriptures in Islam: the Holy Qur'an and the Holy Hadiths. The Hadiths also are not for any Muslim out there to understand. They are divine, they are revelation.
