Islam and Western Criticism

Islam does not only ask women to dress modestly, it also urges men to dress modestly. What is awrah? Awrah  (Arabic: عورة‎) is a term used within Islam which denotes the intimate parts of the body, for both men and women, which must be covered with clothing.  For the man, the 'awrah is defined as the area between the navel and the knees. Within the definition of 'awrah for men and women, all the four basic requirements are essentially the same: 1. Man should fully cover his 'awrah. 2. Men's clothes should be loose enough so as not to describe what he is covering (his 'awrah). 3. They should be thick enough so as not to describe the color of the skin or the parts required to be covered. 4. They should not be designed in a way to attract attention. The basic rule of modesty and avoiding "show off" applies to all believers’ men and women. The three other additional requirements discussed under the Muslim woman's code of dress ap...

This part of the history of honor killings you’re unlikely to read or hear about. In 1947 in the British colony of Nigeria, English judges had to overturn what they viewed as the backwards ruling of a local Shariah court. A man had been sentenced to death for murder, but the British superior court pointed out that it had been a crime of passion. The man had killed his wife’s lover. The Shariah court had been unimpressed by this excuse, but the British court decided that the murderer did not deserve to die.(1)  Yes, you read that correctly. A Shariah court, applying Shariah law, did not buy the ‘crime of passion’ argument that has long served as a justification for honor killings. The British court did. Honor killings are never far from the headlines. The Islamophobic Clarion Fund even released a documentary called Honor Diaries, which repeats the accusation that Islam supports honor killings and that these acts of violence are endemic to Muslim societie...

Islam on slave girls/concubines It is true that a lot of people push this subject ‘under the rug’ and do not understand it or are sometimes ashamed of this concept. That is because, today’s society and behavior is absolutely different from the conditions prevalent 1500 years ago at the time of Revelation of the Quran. There is no place on earth where this concept is practiced today, thus to really understand the concept in its entirety, we must try to imagine the times of the Revelation of the Glorious Quran. Since time immemorial, slavery was an accepted practice; thus it was not Islam that started this practice, but rather Islam was the first system to inculcate the freedom of slaves and take steps to make them equal citizens of society. Slavery was abolished in modern society only a couple of centuries ago, and was openly practiced in almost all parts of the civilized world even until the early 1900s. But Islam made it a virtue to free slaves, and inculcate them into society as ...

It is believed that Muslims hate Jews and banished two innocent Jewish tribes. However, history describes what truly happened on both sides. Who was innocent and who was not! Jewish tribes:  In Safar of 4 A.H., Abu Bara' of Banu Kalb approached the Prophet to lend the services of his companions to preach to his tribe and to instruct them in the way of Islam. Seventy pious disciples were sent with him but, with the exception of one person, namely Abr ibn Umayyah, the entire party was put to death when it reached Bi'r Ma'unah. Same thing was done by the tribes of Adh'al and Quarah. the envoys instigated Banu Lahyan to kill seven of the disciples and to capture the rest. The captives were sold at Mecca and those who purchased them put them to death. The Jewish tribes would distort the words and verses of the Qur'an and mock and jeer at the Muslims. Some Jews would accept Islam one day and renounce it the next in order to show that there was nothing (important) in...

So many people say that Muhammad PBUH was not peaceful because he fought so many wars. Muhammad PBUH participated in many wars, but all those wars were started by his enemies. Muhammad PBUH never attacked a peaceful nation. Although, Muslims were attacked each and every time. Muslims fought only to defend themselves. War of Badar: first battle, started by Quraish. 1000 Quraish men vs 200 Muslims. (Muslims won) Invasion  of Sawiq: after war, the desperate Qureshi in order to take revenge burnt houses of Muslims at night. Raid on ghatfan: when two tribes attacked Medina first but later fled. Battle of Uhud: when a number of tribes united against Muhammad (PBUH) to take revenge of the Battle of badar. 3000 Qureshi vs 1000 Muslims. (Muslims lost) Battle of trench: 20 leaders from Jews and 50 from Quraish joined together to attack Medina. (Muslims won) Battle of khayber: 2 banished Jewish tribes again started making allies in order to fight Muslims. Prophet Muhammad PBUH h...

Taqiya is much criticized by modern western critics. According to western critics, taqiya is just a way for Muslims to deceive non-muslims. Although it is not entirely true. Muslims can not use taqiya in every situation. There are some rule and conditions that they need to follow. “Lies (taqiyya) are allowed if a person faces war or a grave situation of life and death. A common example of takiya (taqiyyah, taqiya) involves a Muslim (Ammar B. Yasir, a companion of the Prophet Muhammad, p) being forced to worship idols and insult the Prophet of Islam.  The level of force the polytheists applied on Ammar bin Yasir can be imagined by Amr bin Maymoon’s statement, “The polytheists tortured Ammar with fire”.  “Abu Ubaydah bin Muhammad bin Ammar bin Yasir said: The polytheists seized Ammar and they did not let him off until he was forced to insult the Messenger of Allah and say good things about their deities” Ammar bin Yasir told Prophet Muhammad (p) of what he was forced to say....