Jack Symes on Piers Morgan: The Art of lying to the world with a big smile on your face
Jack Symes on Piers Morgan told the whole world that there is absolutely nothing in the Islamic texts that allows for forced marriage or abusing children. He further claimed to have a PhD in “Philosophy of Religion” so is very qualified to speak on the issue. He further claimed to have grown up in Birmingham, a multicultural place and said there is no British Muslim who would say the Quran allows for such, if anything it expressly forbids it!
Well, given this bloke has a philosophy, he should be aware of the logical fallacies being committed here. First, there is an inappropriate appeal to authority because a philosophy of religion PhD does not qualify you to speak as an authority on Islam. An ex-Muslim (by ex-Muslim, I mean some one who really practised this stuff and grew up in a practising Muslim family and went to a Madrassa) is far more qualified on the topic than someone with such a PhD. in philosophy of religion.
Secondly, there is the anecdotal fallacy. “X has happened to me, therefore X is the case in general”. Anyone with half a brain should know that the fact you have never had something happen to you does not mean that thing is not happening. Most of us have never been in the midst of war, we get along very well with our neighbours, that does not mean wars do not happen or that people do not have horrible, Psychopathic neighbours.
More to the point, Jack Symes is just horribly wrong. He is in fact an ignoramus on this subject. Mohammed Hijab a British Muslim and Ali Dawah, another British Muslim are open defenders of “child marriage”. The former said in one of his speaker’s corner videos on YouTube,
“If you look just at the Quran, you will get the indication that you can have s*x**l intercourse with a five year old, the reason why it is haram to do that is not found in the Quran at all, if you just read the Quran, it is halal…chapter 65 verse 4, Allah SWT tells us who you can divorce and who you cannot and then he says ‘and the ones who have never been pubescent before’…you cannot go around that…the Quran does not say anywhere in the Quran that the woman has to be pubescent…”
To be clear, Mohammed Hijab was not in that video advocating for child marriage. He was debating a “Quran-only” Muslim and his point was that it is impossible to be Quran only because p****philia is one of the results of sticking with the Quran alone, thus Muslims need the Hadith as well. As we will see shortly, even the Hadith does not rebut the conclusion that P****philia is fine is Islam because it is in the hadith we learn that Mohammed married Aisha at six and had intercourse with her at nine. Even Mohammed Hijab himself in another video with Sneako, in justifying and defending his prophet’s marriage to Aisha would later say “P****philia is relative”.
Ali Dawah on his own part says if his daughter gets her period at nine years old, he will tell her she is ready for marriage.
So back to the ignoramus Jack Symes, we have now found him two British Muslims who say intercourse with children is something permitted by the Quran. In America, we have Daniel Haquiqatjou engaging in a 3 hour debate on “Is child marriage immoral?”, why? All because of Islam and the prophet Mohammed! Yet Jack Symes says, there is no such thing in Islam or the Quran.
But what if all these guys are just misinterpreting the texts? Let us see chapter 65:4 of the quran and see what the commentaries and Islamic scholars with big beards have to say on it.
“And those who no longer expect menstruation among your women — if you doubt, then their period is three months, and [also for] those who have not menstruated. And for those who are pregnant, their term is until they give birth.”
(Surah 65:4)
Book of Asbab Al-Nuzul (Reason for the revelation)
“…Abu Ishaq al-Muqri’ informed us… “When the waiting period for divorced and widowed women was mentioned in Surah al-Baqarah, Ubayy ibn Ka‘b said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, some women of Medina are saying: there are other women who have not been mentioned!’ He asked him: ‘And who are they?’ He said: ‘Those who are too young [such that they have not started menstruating yet], those who are too old [whose menstruation has stopped] and those who are pregnant’. And so this verse (And for such of your women as despair of menstruation…) was revealed”.
Tafsir Ibn Abbas:
“And for such of your women as despair of menstruation) because of old age, (if ye doubt) about their waiting period, (their period (of waiting) shall be three months) upon which another man asked: “O Messenger of Allah! What about the waiting period of those who do not have menstruation because they are too young?” …”
Tafsir Al-Jalalayn:
“And [as for] those of your women who (read allā’ī or allā’i in both instances) no longer expect to menstruate, if you have any doubts, about their waiting period, their prescribed [waiting] period shall be three months, and [also for] those who have not yet menstruated, because of their young age, their period shall [also] be three months”
Tafsir Ibn Kathir:
“…There are two opinions: First, is the saying of a group of the Salaf, like Mujahid, Az-Zuhri and Ibn Zayd. That is, if they see blood and there is doubt if it was menstrual blood or not. The second, is that if you do not know the ruling in this case, then know that their `Iddah is three months. This has been reported from Sa`id bin Jubayr and it is the view preferred by Ibn Jarir. And this is the more obvious meaning. Supporting this view is what is reported from Ubay bin Ka`b that he said, “O Allah’s Messenger! Some women were not mentioned in the Qur’an, the young, the old and the pregnant.’’ Allah the Exalted and Most Honored sent down this Ayah
Ibn Abi Hatim recorded a simpler narration than this one from Ubay bin Ka`b who said, “O Allah’s Messenger! When the Ayah in Surat Al-Baqarah was revealed prescribing the `Iddah of divorce, some people in Al-Madinah said, `There are still some women whose `Iddah has not been mentioned in the Qur’an. There are the young, the old whose menstruation is discontinued, and the pregnant.’ Later on, this Ayah was revealed…”
Imam Maududi
“They may not have menstruated as yet either because of young age, or delayed menstrual discharge as it happens in the case of some women, or because of no discharge at all throughout life which, though rare, may also be the case. In any case, the waiting-period of such a woman is the same as of the woman…”
Tafsir Al-Tabari
“The same applies to the ‘idaah for girls who do not menstruate because they are too young, if their husbands divorce them after consummating the marriage with them”
Imam Abu Hanifa (Leader of Hanafi school of thought)*
“No age limits have been fixed in Islam for marriage, and quite young children may be legally married, although a girl is not handed over to her husband until she is fit for marital congress. The Hanafite legal code lays down that a wife must not be taken into her husband’s house until she reaches that condition. In case of dispute on the matter, between the husband and the bride’s wali, who is her nearest male kinsmen and her guardian, the qadi is to be informed, and he is to appoint two matrons to examine the girl and report on her physical preparedness for marriage. If they decide she is too young, she must return to her father’s house until she is declared fit.”
Imam Malik* (Leader of the Maliki school of thought)
“…For females, it is when she had come of age and could tolerate intercourse with men (tudrik wa tuṭīq al-rijāl)”
Imam Shafi (Leader of the Shafi school of thought)
“If a man is contractually married to a woman upon the like of whom the sexual act can be performed, even if she is not pubescent, and she allows him to visit with her or her family allows them to be together…”
Ibn al-Mundhir’s critique of the Hanbali sect:
“Our opinion is other than this: If she reaches [nine years of age] and does not possess the body and strength [that would allow her to] tolerate a man, her family may keep her away from him (li-ahlihā manʿuhā minhu). And if she is not yet nine, and she possesses the body and strength that would tolerate a man, they should not keep her away from him.”
Imam Hanbal (Leader of the Hanbali school of thought)
“if a husband requests his minor spouse, she must be given to him if she has reached the age of nine: “[Her family] cannot keep her from him after the age of nine…”
Al- Nawawi’s summary of the 4 Islamic schools of thought’s view of child marriage:
“Regarding the timing of the wedding of a minor wife and consummation of her marriage, if the husband and the minor’s legal guardian both agreed on something that doesn’t harm the minor then it’s done. If they disagree, Ahmad (the Imam of one of the 4 major legal schools in Sunni Islam) said that she is forced to be wed at the age of 9. Malik, Al-Shafi’i and Abu Hanifa (the remaining 3 Imams of the 4 major legal schools) said the timing is when she’s capable of enduring sexual intercourse which differs from one person to another and can’t be determined by age. This is the correct view.”
Fatwa No 6058 issues by the Ministry of Religious Endowments and Islamic Affairs in Kuwait
“Question: Is it allowed to marry a suckling baby and is it allowed to pleasure myself with her by kissing her and doing other unharmful acts excluding sex?
Answer: If the marriage contract fulfills the Islamic legal requirements then she’s considered to be his wife in all respects and he’s allowed to look at her, touch her and kiss her. He’s not allowed to have sex with her until she can endure sex without causing her any harm.”
And believe me, the above does not begin to scratch the surface on the sources proving s*x with children is permitted by Allah in Islam. Muhammad himself had s*x with a child and according to the hadith, Allah himself gave him that child as a wife.
I am tempted to go into the other rebuttal of Jack’s point that Islam does not permit “forced marriage” but suffice it to ask Jack whether a woman has the right to divorce her husband according to the Quran. There is a chapter on divorce (Surah 65) and it only addresses men.
Finally, I refer Jack to look up the phrase “those whom your right hand possess” and have fun with the results! Surah 23:5–6, 70:30 and 4:24 of the Quran say Muslim men are allowed to have intercourse with these “captives of the right hand”, where is the consent of said captives envisaged in those verses?
I hope with the above, we have shown Jack Symes to be an utter buffoon. A charming, smiling one but a buffoon nonetheless because with lies like the fact child abuse of the scale we saw in the UK has nothing to do with Islam, he is part of the cover up, he is an enabler and should be lampooned and ridiculed as such.
*Taken from paraphrase at Islamwiki, original source in the citation
