Hmm… This is kind of concerning for me. The problem I have with Hadith’s is that it is a record of the words and deeds of the Prophet, his family, and his companions. Therefore
#1 It is written by man,
#2 Man is fallible, and
#3 What one might read could be false. Now to be fair I could say the same of the Bible but I don’t want to defocus from my thought. I also read that no Hadith can contradict that of the Qur’an for it can be labeled as a false Hadith. So to be fair what can one believe when it comes to fact or fiction?
Now upon reading this particular Hadith and seeing feedback from several Islamic forums it appears the majority claim it is a true Hadith but labeled as misinterpreted. The last post I came across brought me to the following link below for further reading. If I am interpreting everything correctly it appears we have a case that even one will find in the Bible as an “eye for an eye” mentality in which the punishment suited the crime.
load-islam.com/artical_det.php?artical_id=414§ion=wel_islam&subsection=Misconceptions#18
But the rationalist in me doesn’t agree with this mindset so I am going to do a little hypothetical scenario to see if it makes sense. Again this is hypothetical and not here to offend anyone depending your viewpoint.
Let’s suppose the following is statements are True
- Jews, Christians, and Muslims worship the same God.
- Jesus wasn’t divine but that of a prophet.
- God is infallible.
- Jesus and Muhammad were God’s only prophets.
Let’s start with Jesus and just go along with the story of Christs life as spoken about in the Bible. Jesus is portrayed as a peaceful, loving man, who loved his fellow man. He performed miracles and preached peace. In fact the majority of the world won’t even debate that but I am sure you could find a few sites out there to contradict this. Even doing a quick search I can’t even find anything negative about Christ according to Islam. So let’s just say Christ was a saint.
Now we move towards Muhammad. I am not a scholar of Muhammad and from what I can find performing a quick search he was a merchant and shepherd and did not receive his first revelation till age 40. So let’s just say till age 40 he was considered an average man who lived an honest life. Then one day he receives his first revelation and so on for the next 23 years. Now this isn’t a debate between the Bible and the Qur’an but we have to come back to the “eye for an eye” mentality.
If God is infallible then why in one hand his first prophet promotes peace at all costs and on his other hand his second prophet promotes balance. For me if God is loving (Christian) and merciful (Islam) then why would Muhammad deem
#1 violence towards man and
#2 lay upon such cruelty to the accused even if the punishment suited the crime. Doesn’t it seem a little off that any prophet of God would use violence at all especially if Jesus came first?
Conclusion
Even though I have publicly showed support for Islam and would still no matter the religion I finally decided to follow, I must also be reasonable and look at all evidence. I for one unless proved otherwise can’t believe a prophet of God would be allowed to conduct themselves in such a fashion towards his fellow man. Because this seems to be true unless I am corrected otherwise I have to agree that this shows God is fallible, therefore Muhammad has fallibility and if fallibility exists does Islam represent the word of God?
Now I call upon any Christian or Muslim to rip this apart and correct me if my mindset or information is false. I am just stating my opinion to how I am gathering and interpreting the information I find.