A bundle of twigs is not a tree

  end of presentation < back >                                                                                                             < see blurb > To buy your copy of A bundle of twigs is not a tree , click on the ISBNs: paperback 9781836154105 - eBook 9781836154112 A need exists to teach critical thinking skills & history. The books from which Daesh propagandists took and translated quotations out of context were either complicated legal texts or texts relied on by jurists to deduce the Sharia and to issue legal rulings. The intended readers of those texts highly trained experts who had received years of formal education in all the Islamic sciences. The books were never intended to be give...

  < back >                                                                                                             < next slide > To buy your copy of A bundle of twigs is not a tree , click on the ISBNs: paperback 9781836154105 - eBook 9781836154112 If the answer to the earlier question is “Yes!” how does one explain the contradiction between it and the clear instruction in Q.6:108 against insulting whatever other people worship apart from God, or the sound hadith in Jami‘ al-Tirmidhi that “The believer is not defamatory, given to cursing, indecent, or foul-mouthed.”?

  < back >                                                                                                             < next slide > To buy your copy of A bundle of twigs is not a tree , click on the ISBNs: paperback 9781836154105 - eBook 9781836154112 If the answer to the previous question is “No!” then can we think of a scriptural basis for choosing not to copy something that occurred in the presence of the Prophet ﷺ, apparently without any explicit objection from him?

  < back >                                                                                                             < next slide > To buy your copy of A bundle of twigs is not a tree , click on the ISBNs: paperback 9781836154105 - eBook 9781836154112 Is it justifiable to argue that this insult is not to be seen as a deeply offensive outburst blurted out by an angry Abu Bakr, the first of rightly-guided caliphs, in the heat of the moment, but rather that they should be adopted as a ‘sunnah’ to be followed by all Muslims?

  < back >                                                                                                             < next slide > To buy your copy of A bundle of twigs is not a tree , click on the ISBNs: paperback 9781836154105 - eBook 9781836154112 Exposing how easy it is to mislead by selective quoting ‘Urwah ibn Mas‘ud al-Thaqafi […] set off until he came to Allah’s Messenger ﷺ and sat in front of him, saying, “O Muhammad, you’ve gathered the dregs of society, then you’ve brought them to your hometown to settle a score. Yet Quraysh have come forth bringing with them the she-camels with their young and wearing tiger skins, and they have entered into a covenant with Allah that you shall never pr...

  < back >                                                                                                             < next slide > To buy your copy of A bundle of twigs is not a tree , click on the ISBNs: paperback 9781836154105 - eBook 9781836154112 Exposing how easy it is to mislead by selective quoting  ‘Urwah ibn Mas‘ud al-Thaqafi […] set off until he came to Allah’s Messenger ﷺ and sat in front of him, saying, “O Muhammad, you’ve gathered the dregs of society, then you’ve brought them to your hometown to settle a score. Yet Quraysh have come forth bringing with them the she-camels with their young and wearing tiger skins, and they have entered into a covenant with Allah that you shall ne...

  < back >                                                                                                             < next slide > To buy your copy of A bundle of twigs is not a tree , click on the ISBNs: paperback 9781836154105 - eBook 9781836154112 Exposing how easy it is to mislead by selective quoting The next excerpt comes from the same sound hadith on the Treaty of Hudaybiyah. Like the previous excerpt, it contains a soundbite that could easily be used to justify hostility towards non-Muslims.

  < back >                                                                                                             < next slide > To buy your copy of A bundle of twigs is not a tree , click on the ISBNs: paperback 9781836154105 - eBook 9781836154112 Is 18th quotation sufficient to justify killing non-Muslims covered by a legally binding treaty? Was ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab proud of what he is reported to have said about the blood of non-Muslims? What is your evidence for this answer? Give at least two reasons why it would have been wrong for Abu Jandal killing his father. What could be the effect on some Muslims of not telling them what ‘Umar went on to do years later, long after the Prophet ﷺ had di...

  < back >                                                                                                             < next slide > To buy your copy of A bundle of twigs is not a tree , click on the ISBNs: paperback 9781836154105 - eBook 9781836154112 By contrast with the hostile disbeliever from enemy territory spotted marauding in Muslim-controlled territory, it is reported in Sahih al-Bukhari from ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Amr that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever kills a non-Muslim who has been granted a guarantee of protection, he shall not smell the fragrance of Paradise even though its scent wafts for as far as one can travel in forty years.” مَنْ قَتَلَ نَفْسًا مُعَاهَدًا لَمْ يَرَحْ رَائِحَةَ الْجَنَّةِ...

  < back >                                                                                                             < next slide > To buy your copy of A bundle of twigs is not a tree , click on the ISBNs: paperback 9781836154105 - eBook 9781836154112 (Q.4:92) “& it is not right for a believer to kill another believer except by mistake. Whoever kills a believer by mistake, then freeing a believing slave is a must and blood money handed to the family of the victim, unless they waive it out of charity. If the victim is from a people who are your enemy, and he is a believer, then freeing a believing slave is a must. If he is from a people between you and whom there is a treaty, then blood money mu...

  < back >                                                                                                             < next slide > To buy your copy of A bundle of twigs is not a tree , click on the ISBNs: paperback 9781836154105 - eBook 9781836154112 The words are certainly not the same, but how different in principle is the intention behind the mediaeval Muslim scholars’ words from the Charter of the United Nations (Chapter VII, Article 51)? “Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations…”

  < back >                                                                                                             < next slide > To buy your copy of A bundle of twigs is not a tree , click on the ISBNs: paperback 9781836154105 - eBook 9781836154112 Does the law of this country permit the use of force to repel an intruder?  If the force used is reasonable, would you expect the intruder to be paid compensation if harmed? What about compensation for destroyed illegal drugs or contraband alcohol or cigarettes? In different societies, different things are haram or forbidden.

  < back >                                                                                                             < next slide > To buy your copy of A bundle of twigs is not a tree , click on the ISBNs: paperback 9781836154105 - eBook 9781836154112 The historical context suggests that ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab was not making a legal point but was extremely angry when he urged Abu Jandal to kill his father after the signing of the Treaty of Hudaybiyah (6/628). However, when mediaeval jurists wrote (also taken from the Daesh propagandists’ list of twenty decontextualised quotations): 15th quotation: Ibn Muflih said, “There is no expiation, no blood money paid for killing a kafir that has no peace treat...

  < back >                                                                                                             < next slide > To buy your copy of A bundle of twigs is not a tree , click on the ISBNs: paperback 9781836154105 - eBook 9781836154112 This quotation from Imam al-Shafi‘i doesn’t mention what ‘Umar said to Abu Jandal, but does it support it? The Battle of Uhud (3/625), mentioned by Imam al-Shafi‘i, was fought three years before ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab urged Abu Jandal to kill his father after the signing of the Treaty of Hudaybiyah (6/628). Both Abu Bakr and ‘Umar were among the closest companions of the Prophet ﷺ and close friends of each other.

  < back >                                                                                                             < next slide > To buy your copy of A bundle of twigs is not a tree , click on the ISBNs: paperback 9781836154105 - eBook 9781836154112 Imam al-Shafi‘i said, “I detest that a man of the people of just cause should deliberately kill one of his kinsfolk from amongst the people of rebellion. Moreover, if he should hold back from killing his father, one of his kinsfolk or his brother from amongst the associators, I do not detest him doing that; rather I love him for it. That is because the Prophet ﷺ held Abu Hudhayfah ibn ‘Utbah back from killing his father and also Abu Bakr, on the day o...

  < back >                                                                                                             < next slide > To buy your copy of A bundle of twigs is not a tree , click on the ISBNs: paperback 9781836154105 - eBook 9781836154112 The following slide shows an excerpt from Kitab al-Umm by Imam Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi‘i (d.204/820), founder of the third surviving Sunni school of law. In all, Daesh propagandists took three decontextualised quotations in their list of twenty from this book. This next excerpt is from the broader context of the 10th quotation in that list.

  < back >                                                                                                             < next slide > To buy your copy of A bundle of twigs is not a tree , click on the ISBNs: paperback 9781836154105 - eBook 9781836154112 From the context, do you think that ‘Umar, when he looked back on the incident, was proud of what he’d suggested to Abu Jandal to do? What words support your conclusion?

  < back >                                                                                                             < next slide > To buy your copy of A bundle of twigs is not a tree , click on the ISBNs: paperback 9781836154105 - eBook 9781836154112 Then Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said, “O Abu Jandal, be patient and reflect on the fact that Allah – may He be glorified – has prepared for you and those other powerless Muslims who are with you in Mecca release and a way out. We have concluded a treaty between us and the people of Mecca. We have given them our word on this, and they us; and we will not double-cross them.” The narrator stated that then ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab rushed up to Abu Jandal and, walkin...

  < back >                                                                                                             < next slide > To buy your copy of A bundle of twigs is not a tree , click on the ISBNs: paperback 9781836154105 - eBook 9781836154112 Then Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said, “O Abu Jandal, be patient and reflect on the fact that Allah – may He be glorified – has prepared for you and those other powerless Muslims who are with you in Mecca release and a way out. We have concluded a treaty between us and the people of Mecca. We have given them our word on this, and they us; and we will not double-cross them.” The narrator stated that then ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab rushed up to Abu Jandal and, walkin...

  < back >                                                                                                             < next slide > To buy your copy of A bundle of twigs is not a tree , click on the ISBNs: paperback 9781836154105 - eBook 9781836154112 What did ‘Umar hope would happen? What is likely to be the intention of Daesh propagandists in quoting this sentence? ‘Umar said this straight after the Treaty of Hudaybiyah was signed in 6/628. ‘Umar later became the second of the Rightly Guided Caliphs.

 Link to the text of  Musnad Ahmad , no. 18910 , in Arabic < back >                                                                                                             < next slide > To buy your copy of A bundle of twigs is not a tree , click on the ISBNs: paperback 9781836154105 - eBook 9781836154112 18th quotation: Umar ibn al-Khattab said, encouraging Abu Jandal to kill his own father, Suhayl ibn Amr, “Be patient, Abu Jandal, for they are merely mushrikeen and their blood is nothing but like the blood of a dog.” Musnad Ahmad (hadith no. 18910) The word ‘mushrikeen’ means ‘associators’ of idols or other beings with God in divinity. For the purposes of Daesh propagandists, it is intende...

  < back >                                                                                                             < next slide > To buy your copy of A bundle of twigs is not a tree , click on the ISBNs: paperback 9781836154105 - eBook 9781836154112 The following slide shows a translation of words spoken by ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab, reported in a sound hadith on the Treaty of Hudaybiyah. It is the 18th in a list of decontextualised quotations selected and published by Daesh propagandists, apparently in its online magazine, Dabiq.

< back >                                                                                                             < next slide > To buy your copy of A bundle of twigs is not a tree , click on the ISBNs: paperback 9781836154105 - eBook 9781836154112 the danger of quoting hadiths out of context

  Soundbite 7: “ & if a people in Darul Harb embrace Islam…”   Sahnun (R) said, “& if a people in Darul Harb embrace Islam, it is permissible for them to kill whoever they can & take their wealth.”–An Nawadir wa-ziyadat [1] Link to the Arabic text  (في الأسير المسلم أو من أسلم بدار الحرب  - viewed 01/05/2025) C7/1 Regarding a Muslim prisoner of war or whoever accepts Islam in the land of war, does he have the right to do whatever he can in terms of escaping, criminality, killing or taking captives? What about if they release him conditionally, or he gives them is word over certain matter s ? And what about if he fornicates or steals? C7/2 From Ibn al-Mawaz’s [2] book, and it is also in al-‘Utbiyah , [3] reported from Asbagh and from Ibn al-Qasim, who said about the Muslim prisoner of war , if he is able to escape [4] from whoever of the enemy has him, either he is left to come and go a...