Well this is a Muslim forum so the number of options I could specify would be limited, but presumably there are dozens of them if not more. Let's go with what we have and see how things work out.
As you wish. It would be better not to post it here if it may seem offensive.This discussion cannot proceed constructively without a goal in mind.After all, muslims cannot debate or discuss just for the sake of it.But anyway,we'll see how things turn out.
These days, perhaps, there are people who argue that Muhammed was crazy but they tend to be ex-Muslims.
It's obviously hatred, for their former belief.
Western scholars try to be polite about other religions these days and so won't say it even if they believe it. But if you know of any credible scholar who argues that I would be interested to know.
The only scholars i happen to know of are Muslim scholars or Convert muslim scholars such as the author of this book.
It is what I would expect of someone who believed in what he was doing or someone who wanted you to believe in what he was doing. The first is compatible with many things (including being a prophet or being insane) while the second is compatible with others (including being a liar). What what else is he going to do in that cave? Caves don't have back doors. In a similar circumstance a liar would have nothing to lose - if they are not discovered he is famous for being calm, if they are it doesn't matter as there is no other option. Hong was very calm as the Chinese army beseiged Nanjing. Why not?
Neglecting Allah's role regarding the incident at the cave would prove to be a true example of bravery on the Prophet's part.Acknowledging Allah's role in safeguarding the Prophet from the meccans would only mean the Prophet had faith in Allah. Either way, Bravery and faith are not synonymous with Insanity. There's no room for 'insanity' anywhere in this story or any other story of the Prophet.
Of course I'd ask how well sourced that claim is - does it come from a later generation of pious Muslims who would expect Muhammed to behave this way and if so what is its isnad? After all the story is odd - I see no evidence that the Quraysh were not happy to see him go and if they wanted to kill him surely they would have done so while he was in Mecca.
Just before the Prophet's migration to medina, the Quraish did hatch a plot to kill him, this time with the help of other tribes, so that all of them would be equally blamed for the murder.As you may know, the Prophet came from a respectable family and tribe, killing him without the correct precautionary measures would have started a war.
Of all the possible prophets in the world only a few create large religions. Only a few of them last more than a short while. Things turn out in favour of those few - now that may just be luck or it may be God looking out for them. But some of them have to be luck as they can't all be true. Think of all the would-be prophets you have never heard of because they were discovered in their caves?
Allah doesn't send prophets to caves, so that they may be ignored.there is a verse in the Qur'an which says that Allah has sent a Prophet to every nation(so that they may be guided).
Well yes I think there were. Linus Pauling was a little odd. Newton was seriously odd. I do not know about the poetry because I am not placed to judge it. I notice that Western scholars who think it is great tend to be converts and those that think it is awful do not. Which comes first - the conversion or the belief in the poetry?
Dedicated people are engrossed in their work so badly, that they lose track of reality. Insanity would be the wrong word here. Abnormality would be a better word.
Egyptians used to worship Gods with Donkeys' heads. Now we find this silly but that is because we do not worship Gods with Donkeys' heads. Egyptians, who grew up thinking that Gods had donkey heads, did not think it was stupid but divine. Has anyone ever told you the poetry of the Quran was anything other than beautiful?
Many Arab Christians have themselves admitted to the fact that the Qur'an is unmatchable.It is the Qur'ans' poetry that gives them the thought that the Qur'an cannot be the work of man.Probably why you hear a lot of them say that the Prophet was demon inspired.
What information? I think that the "miracles of the Quran" are mostly spurious.
People can twist verses to suit their needs, especially those who do not know arabic. For eg:there is a verse that says the earth is egg shaped.it would sound ridiculous that the earth is oval, like an egg.But the arabic word for egg mentioned here is "dahaha"(I dont' know arabic, but i do know this one) or an ostrich's egg, which is in fact geospherical like the shape of the earth.One of my favoirite miracles would be the prophecy regarding the Pharoah of moses.have you heard of this one?
Well in the north of Persia near the border with Turkmenistan there is a wall that was built by the Persians. Yet the Muslims there, descendents of those Persians, claim it was built by Alexander the Great (or more accurately I expect they think it was built by Dhul-Qarnayn). This is obviously because their religion informs their culture which does not talk about Darius but about Dhul-Qarnayn. It is a possibility. Find me any reference to D-Q at all outside the Muslim tradition.
It cannot be Alexander the great for a number of reasons.The last material i read on this matter, was hoping to prove that Dul-Qarnayn was Cyrus(but i don't know which cyrus). Not familiar with the topic here.But historical figures could be known by different names throughout the world, can't they?
I disagree. And I am not convinced of anything that MB says as I have read his book. What do you think you would need a microscope to say?
Since i am not familiar with the topic of embryology.I suggest you read a good book by Harun Yahya titled "The Miracle of Human creation". The latter half of the book deals with embryology and its links to the Qur'an.Here is the link to the file. If you happen to read the book, let me know your comments on it.
http://www.harunyahya.com/creation04.php
Showed their true colors at a later stage. The Muslims were used to the idea that Muhammed declared people hypocrits even though they gave every sign over long periods of time of being good Muslims?
The companions trusted the Prophet with their very lives.Why should so many people trust a man with their lives and believe every word he said? it certainly wasn't blind faith in a Prophet.Would you and I follow a man tomorrow who claims to be a Prophet? Why then should these companions follow the Prophet of Islam, when they were so accustomed to their own polytheistic religion? When the companions were living in luxury, why then would they sacrifice so much? Incredible isn't it..
Ten years is a long time to build an Islamic state. Think of the damage that Muhammed and AL would do to AL's "real" cause - resisting Islam - in that time. Is it really a useful thing for AL to have done? From our perspective perhaps, in retrospect, but not when you're there at the time. Better things could be done.
Sorry.I didn't get you. Are you asking the reason why the Prophet was quiet and took no action against the hypocrites?
By all means. But the Holocaust analogy is nuts because no one wants the Holocaust to be true. There is a wealth of documentation and from both sides. There is only Muslim histories for the early Muslim period. And those histories show signs of being written by pious people.
Since you yourself insist that this narration was recorded by pious people, it only reinforces the idea that auch narrations are truly authentic.Allow me to quote another hadith.
Volumn 001, Book 003, Hadith Number 107.
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Narated By 'Abdullah bin Az-Zubair : I said to my father, 'I do not hear from you any narration (Hadith) of Allah s Apostle as I hear (his narrations) from so and so?" Az-Zubair replied. l was always with him (the Prophet) and I heard him saying "Whoever tells a lie against me (intentionally) then (surely) let him occupy, his seat in Hell-fire.(Bukhari)
You can see here, any pious muslim would heed his Prophet's advice, and narrate the story as it is.
As for the story itself, i will paste it here:
"Then Allah's Apostle and Abu Bakr reached a cave on the mountain of Thaur and stayed there for three nights. 'Abdullah bin Abi Bakr who was intelligent and a sagacious youth, used to stay (with them) aver night. He used to leave them before day break so that in the morning he would be with Quraish as if he had spent the night in Mecca. He would keep in mind any plot made against them, and when it became dark he would (go and) inform them of it. 'Amir bin Fuhaira, the freed slave of Abu Bakr, used to bring the milch sheep (of his master, Abu Bakr) to them a little while after nightfall in order to rest the sheep there. So they always had fresh milk at night, the milk of their sheep, and the milk which they warmed by throwing heated stones in it. 'Amir bin Fuhaira would then call the herd away when it was still dark (before daybreak). He did the same in each of those three nights. Allah's Apostle and Abu Bakr had hired a man from the tribe of Bani Ad-Dail from the family of Bani Abd bin Adi as an expert guide, and he was in alliance with the family of Al-'As bin Wail As-Sahmi and he was on the religion of the infidels of Quraish. The Prophet and Abu Bakr trusted him and gave him their two she-camels and took his promise to bring their two she camels to the cave of the mountain of Thaur in the morning after three nights later. And (when they set out), 'Amir bin Fuhaira and the guide went along with them and the guide led them along the sea-shore."(This is only a part of the hadith, it was too big to post)(58-255) Bukhari.
And as for the Prophet's faith in Allah at that critical moment:
Volumn 006, Book 060, Hadith Number 185.
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Narated By Abu Bakr : I was in the company of the Prophet in the cave, and on seeing the traces of the pagans, I said, "O Allah's Apostle If one of them (pagans) should lift up his foot, he will see us." He said, "What do you think of two, the third of whom is Allah?"
