Am I Islamophobic for finding it hard to trust a Muslim?
I recently read the Quran from cover to cover and came to a sobering realisation. I find it hard to trust a Muslim. Hold on! Is that not painting people with a broad stroke? Isn’t this the fallacy of hasty generalisation? Isn’t this prejudiced and bigoted?
You see, I would ordinarily agree but the Quran does the exact same thing when it says for instance,
“Indeed, the worst of living creatures in the sight of Allah are those who have disbelieved, and they will not [ever] believe -”
(Surah 8:55)
“Indeed, they who disbelieved among the People of the Scripture and the polytheists will be in the fire of Hell, abiding eternally therein. Those are the worst of creatures.”
(Surah 98:6)
And again,
“Fight those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth from those who were given the Scripture — [fight] until they give the jizyah willingly while they are humbled.
The Jews say, “Ezra is the son of Allah “; and the Christians say, “The Messiah is the son of Allah.” That is their statement from their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved [before them]. May Allah destroy them; how are they deluded?”
(Surah 9:29-30)
In the above verses, believers in general are said to be the worst creature. Worse than pigs, goats and are compared to cattle. Christians and Jews who do not believe in Allah are in general cursed according to the Quran. Muslims are commanded to fight Christians and Jews who do not believe in Allah in general.
If generalizing is bigoted and prejudiced, if it commits the fallacy of hasty generalisation, if it is wrong to paint in broad strokes, Allah and his book should be the first ones to be condemned.
So why exactly does the Quran make it difficult for me to trust a Muslim? Well, there is the small matter of the Quran telling as many as believe in it to hate Christians like me and not make friends of them,
“O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians for friends. They are friends one to another. He among you who taketh them for friends is (one) of them. Lo! Allah guideth not wrongdoing folk.”
(Surah 5:51)
And again,
“ O ye who believe! Choose not disbelievers for (your) friends in place of believers. Would ye give Allah a clear warrant against you?”
(Surah 4:144)
Allah in the Quran clearly says he has nothing but hate for as many as do not believe in him and his messenger,
“Say: Obey Allah and the messenger. But if they turn away, lo! Allah loveth not the disbelievers (in His guidance).”
(Surah 3:32)
Allah also admonishes as many as follow him and his messenger to hate their own family members if they do not worship him.
“O ye who believe! Choose not your fathers nor your brethren for friends if they take pleasure in disbelief rather than faith. Whoso of you taketh them for friends, such are wrong-doers.”
(Surah 9:23)
And again,
“You will not find a people who believe in Allah and the Last Day having affection for those who oppose Allah and His Messenger, even if they were their fathers or their sons or their brothers or their kindred. Those — He has decreed within their hearts faith and supported them with spirit from Him…”
(Surah 58:22)
If a good follower of Allah is to hate his own non-Muslim family member, what chance does a random Christian like me with no family ties to a follower Allah have?
What other reason do I have for struggling to trust a Muslim? A Muslim is by virtue of his religion allowed to lie. Allah says in the Quran,
“Whoever disbelieves in Allah after his belief… except for one who is forced [to renounce his religion] while his heart is secure in faith.”
(Surah 16:106)
This verse is the foundation of the doctrine of “Taqiyyah”. A Muslim is allowed to lie when it is conducive to do so. This is further enforced by the statement of prophet Muhammad,
“Asma bint Yazid narrated that the Messenger of Allah said:
“it is not lawful to lie except in three cases: Something the man tells his wife to please her, to lie during war, and to lie in order to bring peace between the people.”
(Jami At-Tirmidhi Book 27 Hadith 45)
Remember Muhammad is at war with the world until they become Muslim,
“Narrated Anas bin Malik:
Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “I have been ordered to fight the people till they say: ‘None has the right to be worshipped but Allah.’ And if they say so, pray like our prayers, face our Qibla and slaughter as we slaughter, then their blood and property will be sacred to us and we will not interfere with them except legally and their reckoning will be with Allah.”
(Sahih Al-Bukhari Book 8 Hadith 44)
So the lying permitted here does extends to lying to non Muslims Muhammad is at war with. In the words of Muhammad himself,
“It was narrated from ‘Aishah that the Prophet (ﷺ) said:
“War is deceit.”
(Sunan Ibn Majah Book 24 Hadith 81)
According to the Shia sect,
“Nine tenths of religion is taqiyyah (dissimulation), hence one who does not dissimulate has no religion.”
(Al-Kafi vol.9 p.110)
A Muslim is permitted by Allah to lie if it advances his cause. Ironically the hadith on the exceptions to lying is in the chapter of righteousness and maintaining good relations with relatives. The hadith on war being deceit is in the chapter on Jihad. So it is a righteous thing for a Muslim to lie to me to advance the cause of Jihad. And speaking of which Jihad!
Jihad is not what CAIR says. It is a call for violence against unbelievers. This would make sense given the Quran sets the scene by advocating absolute hatred of unbelievers. This leads to the question, “Why in the world would I trust someone whose book calls for my bloody violent death?”. Now at this point, one might say, surely not all Muslims believe that…and you would be right!
However, this is where Allah himself comes in. He says,
“ It is not fitting for a Believer, man or woman, when a matter has been decided by Allah and His Messenger to have any option about their decision: if any one disobeys Allah and His Messenger, he is indeed on a clearly wrong Path.”
(Surah 33:36)
And again,
“But no, by your Lord, they will not [truly] believe until they make you, [O Muhammad], judge concerning that over which they dispute among themselves and then find within themselves no discomfort from what you have judged and submit in [full, willing] submission.”
(Surah 4:65)
Anybody who does not believe in the commands of Muhammad and Allah is not a real Muslim. Jihad is commanded and enjoined upon Muslims,
“ Fighting has been enjoined upon you while it is hateful to you. But perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you; and perhaps you love a thing and it is bad for you. And Allah Knows, while you know not.”
(Surah 2:216)
Anyone who disagrees with this is not a Muslim.
Now this is the problem. Given all the hateful things we know the Quran says and given what we know tends to follow screams of “Allahu Akbar!”, why is the expectation that I trust someone when there is a chance he believes and adheres to a book that teaches he should hate me, fight me until I think like him and is allowed to lie me? “But not all of them believe those things AB Melchizedek, don’t be a bigot” I here you say?
Good point but two issues though. Should the burden of proof not be on the Muslim to show he does not believe in the things his own books tell him to think about and do to me? Secondly and more importantly, if a person labels themselves as adhering to a belief which they have not thoroughly investigated and acquainted themselves with, if a person can label himself a Muslim without being conversant with what the religion teaches about Jihad and hatred for unbelievers, such a person’s judgment cannot be trusted. Is it really wrong to be wary of a person who associates with a religion whose book advocates for and has brought us terror, discrimination, oppression of women and child marriage (to mention a few of its fruit)?
Either way it is a lose lose. How do we prima facie know which Muslim believes what? And even if they say they do not believe the terrible things Islam teaches, how do we know they are not practicing Taqiyyah? And even if they are not practicing Taqiyyah, it takes questionable judgment to believe in such a religion without prior thorough investigation.
To not trust a Muslim prima facie is not Islamophobic. If there was a chance somebody salivated over the day they could subjugate you, like Ali Dawah looking forward to apostates’ heads being chopped off while he eats popcorn and watches. Or like Ali Dawah looking forward to the day “The trees talk to Muslims” (A veiled reference to the Hadith where Muhammad says the hour would not come until Muslims fight the Jews and a tree says “Oh Muslim, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him”). It is common bloody sense to not trust such a person.
