Above: The Prophet Muhammad, in an AP file photo
Posted on 10/04/2004 6:11:52 AM PDT by robowombat
Muslim outrage at prophet slur A POLITICAL researcher working for high-profile UK Independence Party Euro MP Robert Kilroy-Silk has been accused of inflaming racial hatred by claiming the Prophet Mohammed was a paedophile and castigating Islam as a false religion.
Outspoken solicitor Tony Bennett, of Chippingfield, Old Harlow, insists his views, which were published in the Sunday Telegraph at the weekend, are based on historical fact.
His comments have been condemned by the Muslim Council of Britain but Mr Bennett said this week he had received a lot of support.
“These are things that should be brought into the public domain and talked about,” he told the Star.
Mr Bennett, who was sacked from his role as assistant to local UKIP MEP Jeffrey Titford in 2001 for writing disparaging remarks about a former colleague, carried out his research following the 9/11 attacks. He concluded Mohammed had between 16-22 wives and had sexual relations with a child bride.
He criticised those in the Muslim community who “cry Islamophobia” whenever such comments are made. And when asked his opinion on Islam, he said: “It’s a false religion. They deny that Christ was the son of God. The Koran itself talks about Christianity being a false religion.”
Yet Mr Bennett also condemned racial stereotyping, insisting: “There’s no hatred here. Many Muslims in this country are hard-working people who just want to get on and I have no problem with them.
“I am dealing with historical facts that are in Islamic textbooks.”
And he pointed to the fact that he assisted Asian postal worker Mahmood Siddiqui, who was awarded £130,000 compensation after claiming he was subjected to racial abuse while working at the Royal Mail sorting office in Harlow, as proof that he was not anti-Muslim.
Inayat Bunglawala, Essex spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain, described Mr Bennett as an idiot.
“Those kinds of remarks, saying the Prophet was a paedophile, are utterly unacceptable,” he said. “The Prophet is held in huge respect by Muslims the world over and he changed the course of history. The best thing we can do is try to ignore him. I think Mr Bennett is not fit to lick the shoes of the Prophet.”
He added: “His main claim is that the Prophet married an underage girl but at that time in Arabia they had different laws.”
The Rev Andrew Forys, of Our Lady of Fatima Church, in Howard Way, Harlow, said: “I don’t know Mr Bennett’s argument or his views so I can’t comment, but I’m against religions attacking other religions.
“I’m not against religions arguing – that’s something we should be doing to try to prove our point.”
Charles Jackson, president of the Harlow Jewish Community, accused Mr Bennett of trouble-making, while the Rev David Kirk-wood, of St Paul’s Church, in The High, Harlow, said: “There are differences of opinion between Christians and Muslims but it’s very important we respect each other’s beliefs and that we don’t try to undermine the founder of their religions.”
6. The marriage was supposedly consumated when she was 8 or 9.
Is her age in dispute?
I've never heard it seriously disputed.
Hadith: Volume 7, Book 62, Number 64:
Narrated 'Aisha:
that the Prophet married her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage when she was nine years old, and then she remained with him for nine years (i.e., till his death).
The 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia entry on Mohammedanism
In matters political Islam is a system of despotism at home and aggression abroad. The Prophet commanded absolute submission to the imâm. In no case was the sword to be raised against him. The rights of non-Moslem subjects are of the vaguest and most limited kind, and a religious war is a sacred duty whenever there is a chance of success against the "Infidel". Medieval and modern Mohammedan, especially Turkish, persecutions of both Jews and Christians are perhaps the best illustration of this fanatical religious and political spirit.Bring back moral clarity, please!
"It all depends on your definition of "underage".
How old was his wife?
Is her age in dispute?"
She was nine. and no there is no dispute.
"hate it all you want but there were no statuatory rape laws back then"
Are you crazy? Obviously you have no female children and are not female yourself. You yourself must be a pervert to think that it's just A-OK to have sex with a nine year old child. Girls don't even usually have breast buds by then. You ought to be ashamed of your comment and ask God to forgive you right now
These words were written at a time when the Church had moral clarity. Today, morality is governed by the "Proportionalists", although many of us Thomists are beginning to be heard. Proportionalism has clouded the intellect and enhanced and nutured moral relativism.
I'm not familiar with "Proportionalism." Is it like societal utilitarianism?
So why do Muslims hold up Mohammed today as the perfect role model? They are not judging his behavior by today's standards, but they are using his behavior to create modern Muslim standards of behavior.
MY POST WAS A JOKE!!! PLEASE GET OVER IT AND LOOK UP THE WORD "SARCASM" on www.m-w.com!
Thanks!
Hey Publius, Didn't ol' Mohammed also marry rich? I seem to recall something about one of his first wives being rich and influential. Did he use her to build his "religon"?
Another variant—"proportionalism"—"by weighing the various values and goods being sought, focuses rather on the proportion acknowledged between the good and bad effects of that choice, with a view to the 'greater' good or 'lesser evil' actually possible in a particular situation"
It's very similar to old-fashioned utilitarianism. Mill:
As the foundation of his structure Mill asserts that every man necessarily acts in order to obtain his own happiness; but finding this ground logically insufficient to furnish a basis for an adequate criterion of conduct, and prompted by his own large sympathies, he quickly endeavours to substitute "the happiness of all concerned" for "the agent's own happiness". The argument over which he, the author of a formidable work on logic, endeavours to pass from the first to the second position, may serve as an example suitable to submit to the beginner in logic when he is engaged in the detection of sophisms. The argument, in brief, is that, as each one desires and pursues his own happiness, and the sum total of these individual ends makes up the general happiness, it follows that the general happiness is the one thing desirable by all and provides the Utilitarian standard of what is right in conduct.
Yes! That's why I found your post #69 so perceptive.
I'll be damned...the "Prophet" Mohammed and Michael Jackson DO have something in common.
Oh, no..! Not my brand-new wireless keyboard...
Just wondering...
Can I get an "amen", brothers & sisters? :)
An "amen" comin' right up. :)
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