Reply to Be Wary of Racism and Islamophobes

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Pp, if the Prophet questioned a man before taking the oath about illegitimate children, the man would need to know with certainty which illegitimate child was his. Given that adultery and fornication were common pre islam, tell me how the man would know which children were his.[/quote]

I see.  You are now making an argument that it is in fact well and proper women were asked about illegitimate children, and men weren't, because women WOULD know which children were illegitimate, and men would not.  Ridiculous as it is, let us unpack it.

First of all, if fornication and adultery were as common pre-Islam as you say (and remember, we only have the Muslims' word for that - no actual scholarship), then fornication and adultery would be as common for women as they were for men.    Then consequences of fornication (illegitimate children) should have been written off for both men and women - if you proceed from the assumption that Islam treats women and men equally.

Secondly, a man does have ways of knowing.  First, at a minimum, men would know IF they have slept with women other than their wives.  That alone would rule out men who wouldn't have had illegitimate children.

Thirdly, women DON'T always know if their children are legitimate. If sexual contact with husband and lovers occurs regularly and on the same days, then it isn't actually possible to know with certainty who the father of the child was.

So we have taken care of your presumption that women WOULD know which children were illegitimate, and men would NOT.

But actually, none of this matters. Let us examine the language of the verse again:

O Prophet! When believing women come to you to give you the Bai'a (pledge), that they will not associate anything in worship with Allah, that they [b]will [/b]not steal, that they [b]will [/b]not commit illegal sexual intercourse, that they [b]will [/b]not kill their children, that they [b]will[/b] not utter slander, intentionally forging falsehood (i.e. by making illegal children belonging to their husbands), and that they [b]will[/b] not disobey you in any Ma'ruf (Islamic Monotheism and all that which Islam ordains) then accept their Bai'a (pledge), and ask Allah to forgive them, Verily, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

This verse doesn't set out the conditions for new immigrants based on what they did in the past. It is forward-looking.  It doesn't say "swear that you didn't commit illegal sexual intercourse."  It says "swear that you WON'T do it", future tense.  Given that prohibition against extramarital sex in Islam is equally strong for men and women, there is no reason why believing men who wanted join Muslims in Medina should not have been asked to swear that they won't father illegitimate children IN THE FUTURE.  The Quran, though, does not provide evidence that men were ever asked to comply with the same conditions before joining the Medinans. [/quote]

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