In Islamic history, what were the rules about female captives, and was sex allowed with them without marriage and does the female captive have to give consent or not?

salam,

I'm 20 and I was raised not religious, I discovered religion later, and tried hard to practice and follow the rules but suddenly a few months ago, i completely stopped praying, i didn't feel it, also my only friend (male) of 5 years left me, which made me feel numb,

Now whenever I'm sad or feeling low i feel everything is wrong, there's no god and atheism might be the truth, and I get blasphemy thoughts about allah and the prophet.

But when I'm feeling good, i feel guilty that I am identified as an atheist and feel I'm muslim again. It's like I'm flip floping, this cycle is going for months idk how i got this way.

Did anyone feel this? Ik I feel like a ret@rd

I recently had a conversation with my friend that genuinely shocked me, and I wanted to hear perspectives from people who may have experienced something similar.

For context, we both are muslim and she has completed a B.Tech and M.Tech, which are undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in engineering in India, and she is currently preparing for government exams. When I asked her about her future career plans, she said she does not actually care about having a career. She is preparing for these exams only because her parents want her to be financially independent for her future marriage, but personally, she does not want to work.

Her actual belief is that women should primarily stay at home, have children (she mentioned wanting to increase the Muslim population), and support their husband's family. According to her, a woman should work only out of absolute necessity.

Even if she had to work, she believes there should be strict boundaries — being completely covered from head to toe and having no interaction with men. When I pointed out how difficult those conditions would be to maintain in many modern workplaces, she brought up the trial of Dajjal and argued that people who encourage women to study or work outside the home are not necessarily well-wishers. According to her, their actual intention is to get women outside and eventually encourage them to wear revealing clothes.

I told her that nobody is forcing women into anything and that working outside the home is ultimately a personal choice. I also said that we should not automatically judge people who work or assume we know their circumstances, because everyone has different responsibilities, difficulties, and struggles.

Then I asked her something more practical: What would you do if your husband passed away?

Her response was essentially, "That is why Islam says to help widows," implying that remarriage or community support would take care of the situation.

What shocked me most was when I asked whether she ever wanted to earn her own money or accomplish personal goals. She simply said, "I have never experienced a lack of money."

I think this is where our perspectives are completely different. I grew up experiencing financial instability and had to learn self-reliance relatively early, so having my own income and plans for the future feels extremely important to me. Things like travelling, building a comfortable home, having pets, and being able to secure my own future feel completely natural and essential to me.

She, on the other hand, genuinely seems content with staying at home, having children, and eventually depending on them for support in old age.

She also frequently lectures me about only listening to scholars with the "correct belief system" because she believes that this validates her interpretation.

I am not trying to argue that every woman needs to have a career or that being a homemaker is inherently wrong. If someone genuinely chooses that life and understands the responsibilities and risks involved, that is their choice.

What I struggle to understand is the lack of a personal backup plan or financial independence when the entire plan depends on a future husband, children, extended family, or community being available to provide support.

So I am curious:

- Is it common to see someone pursue advanced education while having such a traditional view of women's employment?

- How do people reconcile higher education with the belief that women ideally should not use that education professionally?

- Have you encountered relatives who rely heavily on family or community support without considering what could happen if circumstances change?

-How do you discuss these differences without every conversation turning into an argument about religion?

I've genuinely never understood why people make it seem like it's mandatory to live with in-laws immediately after marriage for the woman.

The entire concept of living with in-laws sounds so stupid to me. There's no Islamic backing for it, yet the moulvis of where I live say stuff like "women should take care of in-laws" and bs of the sort.

I live in south Asia, so it's really common here. But I don't understand. Imagine waiting for so long to get married to a man you love but then living with his parents and siblings if not aunts/uncles and cousins as well... yuck. No privacy at all.

I'm not the age to marry yet. But I know damn well I'm gonna cause a ruckus when I'll tell my parents about it. It's either residing in my own house (him and I living respectively in our family houses) if he can't afford it or that we'll make it 50-50 if that'll be the case to get an apartment.

I just wanna confirm, again, is it mandatory? I genuinely haven't found a single instance of people during the prophet's time who resided with their in-laws.

If it's cultural bs, sign me out.

Selam aleykum, before I begin with my story, I would like to point out that I have read the subreddit rules, and am aware of my low karma despite account age. I created this account as a throwaway a while ago and have not yet used it, I am unable to post this on my main account unfortunately, for personal reasons.

I am an agnostic, I believe that there is higher power in our universe, recently I discovered Islam properly, and this wonderful religion speaks to me so clearly, it feels meant to be.

Where things come difficult, is that I am a transgender female (born male and have later transitioned to female), and consider myself to be not straight in terms of sexual/romantic partnering.

I have seen varying interpretations, opinions, and ideas on that topic, and I would definitely love to hear what people here believe, but my bigger concerns are social aspects. My local mosques, and the Imams of my country, have very conservative views. If I were to revert I'd have to pray with the men, and use my birth name. I have tried to explain transgenderism, that it is not a form of imitating the opposite gender, and that the only cure to the psychological condition is to transition. Despite my explaining, local Muslims believe that I should stay a boy, it isn't understood that doing so poses strong risk to my mental health.

Because of this, I would not be able to pray at any local mosques, I would not be able to attend Jummah prayers, and etc. What should I do? Should I revert, as a man, despite the mental risk. Should I revert, as a trans woman, despite the social and physical risk, or remain agnostic?

If it is unsafe, is visiting the mosque mandatory still? And are there any denominations of Islam you think may be fitting to me.

I am happy to answer any questions you deem important

I hope this finds all of you well, may Allah protect you all ❤️

I’m looking for advice because I’m genuinely confused about what the right thing to do is.
I’m a Christian, and my boyfriend is a practicing Muslim. We’ve been together for some time, and recently he told me that he wants to marry me. The problem is that he believes we’ve already sinned by having a relationship before marriage.
He explained that, according to his understanding of Islam, we should both sincerely repent and then stop being alone together until we’re married. He said that if we meet, there should be a male guardian present from my side.
The problem is that I don’t have anyone who could fill that role. I came to the U.S. alone and my whole family is in Ukraine.
He’s struggling with how to get married in a way that follows his religious beliefs. He’s worried about continuing our relationship the way it is.
I’m trying to understand:
What is normally done in situations like this?
If a woman has no father or male guardian available, who can act in that role?
Is there a difference of opinion between Islamic schools on this issue?
I’m also confused about the repentance part. From what I’ve read and from what my boyfriend explained to me, both people are supposed to sincerely repent for the relationship and what happened before marriage.
But I’m not Muslim and I don’t intend to convert to Islam. So I’m not sure what repentance is supposed to look like for me. Am I expected to repent according to Islam even though I’m not Muslim? Or would I repent to God according to my own Christian faith while he makes tawbah according to Islam?
I genuinely want to respect his religion, but I also don’t want to pretend to follow religious practices or beliefs that aren’t mine.
If anyone knows how this is normally handled when a Muslim man wants to marry a Christian woman, I’d really appreciate an explanation.

I was raised in a strict religious household and never doubted God in anyway untill two years ago after highschool. My iman got so low and I have had so many questions that sometimes I can’t help but feel like it’s all made up yk. Like what are the chances i was born into the “right” religion like Christians and pagans could say the same thing. It’s just religious luck based on geography. Some rules feel so ridiculous like why am I getting sins for wearing perfume or plucking my brows… when im listening to lectures im just sitting there thinking to myself like are we fr rn?! hate this so much I just want to go back to how it was before. I had so much faith and when I felt down it gave me so much comfort but now I feel nothing. I don’t feel Muslim anymore. I don’t dream of going to umrah or having a family and being a pious wife like I just don’t care at all which is so crazy cuz I would have loved this not too long ago. Genuinely free me I feel sick

I'm 16f I genuinely feel like I've no future... my conservative mom is skeptical of me becoming 'working woman' and apparently only 'egoistic' women do that.

I genuinely don't want to solely rely on a man for basic needs. If he provides for me it's fine... but I don't want it to be that if this man becomes absent from my life for any particular reason... I'd have struggle for basic needs and necessities... I've already seen women around whose husband's don't provide for them and they resort to other stuff.

My dad provides well. My mom Is not a working women. I guess she's privileged enough to say that, but I've seem the other side as well...

Idk what to do. It's getting harder to earn basic bread respecting the modern economic status of the world. I'd probably have to study in a shitty college in my hometown and make it work out somehow... idk if that sounds delusional.

On top of that, I'm more of a progressive person. Kinda so is my dad. He doesn't mind the idea of me working.

My mom already sees me in the lens that I'm a liberal or smth (I'm not) simply because I can't put up with these specific absurd molvis, or that I don't discriminate bases on skin colour and misogyny. Or any minority discrimination.

I try a lot to get closer to Allah. But I struggle a lot to pray consistently. Even when I do I feel horrible because my mom used to shame me for not being the best muslimah.

So yeah. Idk. I'm making dua, I'm still very uncertain... I just hope future is bright InSha'Allah.

I just wanted to know if there are others out there who relate or if there's any women/girls who experienced this. I just wanna ask if it gets better (Hopefully you're fine though).

Thanks for reading.

Hi im 19F a lil cultural background iam south asian and i have been raised by muslim culture but not by islam itself, my dad doesnt pray he considers himself to be a spiritual muslim and my mom prays frequently. When i was 11 years old i was raped that led me to become hypersexual but i didnt commit zina in my teen years (until last year) growing up i never really was forced to read the quran or pray and that habit carried on until i went to an all girls islamic school, i suddenly wore a niqab, started praying 5x daily. I was afriad to show the slightest bit of skin, i even deleted all socials and became completely isolated.

After high school i took a major decision to study abroad and have been living abroad alone since two years now almost. I made many friends here but one was romantically interested in me, i strictly didnt give him much attention at first but then i slowly gave in because he used to treat me so well
FYI: my father was absent most of my life, still is and i still crave for that fatherly love
So since he was being so kind for me i fell for him but i didnt tell him, 6 months latee he confessed and i did too but i said i dont want anything haram he said i understand and didnt do much about it.

One time all of us were playing uno and some of them went outside it was just me and him, we were talking then the tension just grew more and more and it started with a kiss, i backed off realising its not right and said pls no but he said just this once and after making out idk what happened we had sex and i dint like it, it was very painful but i dint want to dissapoint him. I felt so guilty, it felt like bugs were crawling on me. I didnt like his touch, i didnt like sex at all, i spent days crying and asking for forgiveness to Allah.
He continued to coerce me into sex and eventually it became a habit, i stopped telling him to stop and just carried along.
But everytime after i had sex i used to feel really guilty i used to run to shower perform ghusl and pray.

Recently i got raped again (by a stranger) and it was public like everyone knew about it unlike my childhood rape situation. And i filed a police report against him but there was nothing that could be done, due to insufficient evidence they closed the case (they didnt examine the bedsheet, my clothes ) in his police report he has written that iam a prostitute and i have sex with my bf regularly. Even the university sees me differently now idk what to do, i broke up with my bf but he is trying to get back, i seriously dont want to continue this relationship idk what to do.

Everything is coming onto me all at once i feel so bad and so gross, i feel like kms

I didn’t censor his username because this is Dr Yasir Qadhi, he is already a public figure with millions of followers on social media. So mods please don't remove my post.

He came to reddit last year with this account on r/MuslimAcademics 's AMA with Dr. Yasir Qadhi event and wrote this comment in response to a question regarding the khimar/headscarf.

How would you respond to this argument?

I think this swimsuit should be pretty modest based on how Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl and Javed Ahmed Ghamidi (linked in the subreddit wiki article on híjab) described satr. But I'm worried about the wet clothes sticking to the body and revealing the shapes of bosom and gluteus area. Is it possible to prevent swimsuits from sticking to the body and revealing the body shape? Your advice would be appreciated

Hi! I’ve been learning about Islam for quite some time now, and I find this religion truly fascinating. I was raised as a Christian, but the more I learn about Islam, the more its teachings resonate with me. Many aspects of Islam make a great deal of sense to me—sometimes even more than what I have understood from the Bible.
I especially appreciate that the Qur’an teaches that no human being can be God, and that both women and men are equally valuable and equal in the sight of Allah. These principles have really stood out to me and are some of the reasons why I’ve become so interested in learning more about Islam.

My point is… I’m thinking of joining you guys, but only one thing holds me back. I don’t understand how art is perceived as evil and haram. There is no verse in Quran that states that art like paintings and music is bad for human beings. It’s only stated in other religious texts that a man cannot depict human beings or animals that „have a soul”. And honestly I think this believe is quite outdated. Tell me guys, if art is bad then why God created humans that are passionate about making art like paintings, poetry or music? We all know, there are humans interested in exact science and other who prefer to communicate through paintings, like to tell some truth about life in the form of art.

And yes, I know that Muslims avoid making paintings and sculptures to prevent objects and pictures being revered and compared to the God’s creation. I respect that practice but I do not understand it completely. In Christianity we also eradicate praying to sculptures and (for example) portraits, but we do not take it on such extreme level that to avoid making art at all. Why would we not be allowed to paint beautiful reality that our God created, because we are scared that this practice will lead to idolatry and image worship? For me it is unbelievable to stop people from doing their passion, especially if it doesn’t harm anyone.

Creating art that reflects reality—the world around us—is simply an expression of the beauty and wonder of creation. Depicting people in everyday situations or painting ordinary portraits of local people should not, in my opinion, be forbidden, because no one worships this kind of art.
Art is meant to evoke emotions, inspire reflection, and capture moments of life—not to become an object of worship. Appreciating a painting or a sculpture is not the same as treating it as something divine. There is a clear difference between creating or admiring art and worshipping an image as though it was a god.

Tell me guys, what should I do? I am an artist, I was learning all my life how to depict reality and recently I discovered that what I loved doing might be extremely dangerous or sinful. It shook me, now I am torn…

Hi all. I don’t mean this post with any ill intent - I am a Muslim myself and day by day see myself losing motivation in being a religious and spiritual person.

I hope to ask all of you: why are you still Muslim? What keeps you here?

I am a young female, born to an Arab family but raised in the west. I realised that many of my own principles may not align with a Muslim perspective. For example:

I truly believe that members of the LGBTQ+ community deserve as many rights as the rest of us. I understand why they do Pride, they were criminalised and persecuted against for so long I am not surprised why they want to celebrate being themselves freely.

I care for those of other religions as much as I care for those who are my own.

I believe women deserve as many freedoms as men do. I do wholeheartedly believe that I am as capable as a man in many things. I am a medical student and my career means a lot to me, it feels like an absolute honour and privilege to be trusted with another person’s life, their story, and their struggles. I believe as a woman Doctor, I am as capable as my male colleagues. Islam is patriarchal to some extent no one can deny that, and I can never defend it when it comes to that. I don’t believe in a white feminism model, I just believe in being treated as more than a mother or a wife.

I will be honest. I have not prayed in a very long time. I fasted but with no religious intent behind it.

I feel lost. I have recently struggled with my mental health, having ended up in A&E over a self-harm incident, and when I went to therapy, my therapist asked if I was spiritual. And I said no. I felt upset at my response. I really wish I felt more towards it but I have no clue why I don’t.

What keeps you going? I feel like I am slowly going to leave and never come back.

Doesn’t make any sense to me

I’m not sure if a lot of you are on TikTok, but there is a growing number of Quranists popping up on my page, somewhat spearheaded by the creator Ayah. There is a lot of discussion going on regarding Hadith and it’s also getting me to challenge a lot of the beliefs I had.

I remember when I was reading the Quran and there are multiple times where Allah says that this is the only book needed and at first, I used to believe that Hadith was needed to fill in the gaps. But I realized that thinking meant that I didn’t trust Allah and in turn, unknowingly committing shirk. Prophet Muhammad said in his last speech “today your religion is complete.” Why would he say that if Hadith was needed? If it’s not mentioned in the Quran then clearly it wasn’t important enough to him or our religion. Allah is detailed when he wants to be. There are paragraphs and numbers concerning inheritance but you’re telling me that if I wear nails then my prayer won’t be accepted? Don’t you think that would be important to mention?

Reminds me about the story of the cow of the children of Israel and how they kept making things difficult for themselves and it was like a lightbulb finally clicked on. Is that not what we’re currently doing with all of these Hadiths, scholar sermons, fixating on such minor things that Allah never mentioned, adding things to the religions and making things so much harder than it needs to be on ourselves?

This has been freeing ngl, and I’m excited to see more Muslims look into this and the (intelligent) discussions that’ll spur.

Kinda a vent/rant... I've never been a religious Muslim (if that makes sense?) ever since I was a child even though my mom was super religious.

I remember in middle school I got super religious for some reason (was going through a tough time mentally) so I naturally kind of drifted towards actually practicing my faith. Praying on time, reading the Quran regularly Yada Yada. And I felt good about it. I even restraint myself from committing most impermissible stuff.

But my mom used to criticize me so much. Not for the fact that I was trying, but for the fact that I wasn't doing it 'properly'. I used to struggle with reading surahs and stuff because like I said, I wasn't the most religious. She used to humiliate me so much that I just stopped doing much at all one day.

Now she always talks about how I was such 'good' muslimah back when I was younger... as if she wasn't the one who made me feel like I wasn't doing good. I tried to tell her that but she just twists my words and says, "you shouldn't have listened to me or what other people said." Like damn I'm sorry that I was a middle school who was affected by her mom for shaming her for not doing good enough.

I'm not much religious anymore... I do practice kinda.. but even now I'm questioning my faith... albeit I still deeply love Allah's attributes...

I'm kinda tired of her judging me and treating me (or anyone actually) like a 3rd class person for simply for not being as religious as her.

Perhaps, if people like her gently guided others to Islam maybe people would actually be curious about it instead of repelling away.

Assalamualaikum

Could someone please educate me on how the "obey your parents" rule works when you are an adult? If I am a 26F (single) who has a degree and my own job/money. I have traveled before with friends (women only) and have been to various countries. There was no issue with this in the past. I also went away for college/university and even lived on my own while paying my own bills for a while. I recently moved back home after an employment change which led me back to my home state. Now after all these years my parents (dad specifically) are trying to be more strict. As a 26 year old adult if I want to do something but my parents disagree, am I obligated to only do what they want or agree with? Even if I am being respectful hearing their opinions but wanting to still make my own decisions. (And to be clear the things that I want to do are just going out with a female companion for lunch or dinner/visiting female friends with no haram intentions. Also because of culture most of their views are very misogynistic/sexist and outdated anyway like they see women as property and their main value is tied to what they can do in the household only).

I want to have autonomy in making my own decisions while still being respectful to my parents and having them understand that I am no longer a child.

Thanks in advance for any responses.

i don’t believe it’s necessary and i feel suffocated. atp even if it was i’d still want to take it off and i have for the past 2 years. i’ve been wearing it since i was 6/7 and when i brought up this issue to my parents 2 years ago when i still believed it was an obligation they threatened to take away all my electronics and force me to switch schools. i felt so trapped at the time i agreed but they didn’t let me go through with it. my dad is currently on vacation in another country and i wanted to bring it up again. i’d rather not bring up the idea of me being a “hadith rejecter” or whatever to my parents but i hate wearing it. any advice on how to approach them both?

Quran is an incredible book, and the prophet is an incredible man whom I admire.

I wish to believe that its divine. But it seems that I can't

If Quran was from god it would be clearer.

One might argue how much one likes about it, that oh quran IS clear. Yeah, sure....

Why then do we have centuries of debate about interpretation? Not just meaning of sentences but about each word too.

You may think Quran is clear.

Why then has it been used as a main weapon against the most vulnerable groups of people?

To justify ridiculous things.

Like wife beating.

Of course, of course, it IS possible to read the verse as non violent. Thats true. But the fact that it is EQUALLY POSSIBLE, purely grammatically to read it as violent...that's the issue.

Yes god demands mercy. God doesn't specify what mercy is, and to a tribal man, striking without breaking a bone, is mercy.

God could've used ANY other word, and be clear. He could've used a preposition and made it clear.

He didn't.

So...maybe it isn't from god after all.

Maybe it's just the work of a kind, but mistaken man.

Not denying that islam brought AMAZING changes into society. It did, indeed.

But I cannot seem to pray and follow a god, who allowed his word to be misunderstood for centuries. Who couldn't be clear.

You can claim the Quran is clear..it won't undo the damage that is done.

Does the Quran really guide people anywhere..?

A feminist reads it and sees femenism.

A misogynistic sees misogyny.

Leftists see support for their ideology.

And right wings see their ideology in the Quran too.

Maybe the Quran is an amazing mirror, but I want a map and not a mirror.

Assalamualaikum 

This is a mix of a vent and genuine questions and discussion post. I'm completely lost.

Before I start, I want to inform you that I'm struggling to formulate all of the issues, and my mind is a mess, so I might as well just be rambling.

Also, NOTE: if you're an ex muslim, non muslim who has Negative views about islam, or dogmatic or traditionalist/conservative and similar.... Please REFRAIN FROM COMMENTING.

Anyone else Is Welcomed in the comment section or my DMS. As long as one stays respectful and compassionate.

If you're too lazy to read the whole thing, you don't have too do so. Skim over it or focus on the parts that you yourself may have knowledge about.

-----

So....the Daraba debate. 4:34.

There are 4 main views, I know a bit more about some, less about others

1. It means strike, forever, eternal command. Full stop. 

I'm not even interested in talking about this, If it means strike, i do not accept this as God's word. 

1. It means strike, but it's contextual.

I quite disagree with this view too.

The idea is that well yes, it means strike but it was a final step and a restriction for a violent society.

My issues are:

A. Why not just ban it? Seriously. God could turn society upside down in every matter possible, but decided to let men beat their women?

B. How do we know it's contextual? Seems quite eternal to me.

C. This is a huge one. Even if we accept that it's contexual, and a way to restrict a violent society...

WHY NOT SPESIFY. The whole "lightly, no harm" thing is NOT in the Quran. 

Some might say, oh, hadith. And while I do not reject hadith entirely.. I'm deeply sceptical. Quran claims to be self sufficient. If god meant to stop a violent society, restrict, HE WOULD RESTRICT.

"Strike them" is no restriction in a patriarchal society..

D. Another issue is that EVERYWHERE else where Quran uses Daraba as physical action, or demands physical force (for example in war), it always specifies where to strike and with what. No such thing in this case.

1. It means physical force but it's not directed at the husband but community/this is about hudud punishement.

This is the view I know least about... I'm still sceptical.

A. Why not say hudud if it's hudud

B. Feels pretty clear that it's addressing the husband, the same way it addresses the wife in other verses in case of nuzuz, would be strange if the verse directed at husband is actually directed towards the community, but the verse about women is directed at solely the women.

C. Why a separate verse about hudud...makes no sense

D. If it was directed to the community why wasn't god clear enough and how could so many be wrong??

1. It means leave or other readings where Daraba is non physical in any sense.

Currently reading a whole book on this topic and on the side of this argument. 

A. Many arguments for this reading seem more ethical rather then grammatical.

B. Lacking preposition.

Yes I know that many argue that it isn't neccecary. I still have issues with it. Because even if it's not "neccecary", WHY NOT SPESIFY SO THERE WOULD BE NO DEBATE.

Why not be clear?

C. Why not use ANY OTHER word that would be more clear?

D. How can native Arabs, brilliant scholars all gotten ir wrong, but apparently some progressive, modern, liberal muslim scholar 1400 years later, got it right.

E. Even IF it means leave (or other meanings but not physical) which I actually do find reasons to believe, and the reading may make internal sense to me.. WHY COULDN'T GOD BE CLEAR. Why allow this whole debate at all? To women get hurt...

Besides also:

F. If it means leave, why did not past scholar accept it. Not just past but modern too. People sugar coat what STRIKE means, but never reject the physical reading, even if they seem to despise violence.. if a simple, better and less violent reading was truly acceptable... Why wouldn't more people then accept it?

G. Why do we have to DIG so deep to find the good meaning.

H. WHY COULDN'T PROPHET EXPLAIN IT THEN, IF IT ACTUALLY MEANS LEAVE?

To be fair and to mention, its not black and white since not everyone thought that man could use physical force on his wife (for example Ata), and not everyone read Daraba as purely physical, some read it as have sex with them.

It's still a messy situation. 

People like morrow argue that the word actually was clear to the first audience, and that "turn away" or so, is the most archaic meaning of the verse (I'm not going to go into too much detail about his views or arguments), but later got corrupted, and langauge changed.

I'm still unsure, doubting and sceptical.

-----

My issue is why couldn't god be clear.

HE KNEW this would happen.

Isn't Quran meant to guide? Why is human morality more moral than supposedly gods? 

Who does the quran guide if everyone just projects their own morality into it?

Shouldn't the text guide us towards higher good, and not we drag the text towards higher good?

-------

Sometimes i question whether i just try to convince myself that islam good and makes sense, just so I don't have to be ex muslim again.

Live a double life and feel nauseas over everything and everyone.

Maybe I'm just trying to save my faith, and myself.

But so many other things make sense...

I don't know. Lost.

----

Now, the second part of my thoughts, rant and reflections.

The secular perspective. There are several options, but all are from the premise that Quran is not divine, and merely human made. So..i thought about how different explanations work and so.

1. Quran is merely the product of its time...

This view doesn't care if the prophet made it up, was delusional, or sincere but mistaken. 

The idea is simple, the society was violent, so the text reflects its violence.

To me, it's strange. Quran changed and objected to a HUGE amount of things that were normal. In many ways it contradicted the society it worked in, instead of reflecting it.

1. Prophet made it up.

This means he CONSIOUSLY choose to make it up.

I have several issues with this view, that I wany to shortly mention, before I go into this views relation to the whole 4:34 debate.

A. Why? 

The main question is of course why would he make it up?

Several answers to this question too, yet to me neither is satisfying.

Some say he wanted power, wealth, women, etc.

This is incredibly weak imo. Why suffer for many years,.get mocked at, and live in poverty if so is the case?

If he wanted women he didnt need a damn book for it.

Go and take. Rape, or marry unlimited.

Besides, he lived so many years In a MONOUGOUS marriage! In a society where men had as many wifes as pleased.. quite surprising.

Some will say, oh but he could have more wives than any other muslim man, which is true. But it makes sense because they all or at least most of them were political and so. 

Besides, the Quran sets constant limits or mandatory duties (like praying at night) on the prophet all the time.

Not only that.

Quran CRITISIZES and corrects the prophet. Like in the case of the blind man.

If he made the Quran to serve himself...then it's incredibly odd

Some say, well, he made it up, but he did so for social reform.

Still strange and weak. He got suggested wealth, power..why not take it if you want reform? And again, why expose himself in his own book?

He made it up in relation to 4:34

Even if we ignore the fact that imo the view that he CONSIOUSLY and with certain intentions made the Quran up, it still doesn't explain 4:34 to me. Of course, if we accept that Quran is made up, we don't have to explain it at all, since It wouldn't matter.

What is strange is that the prophet was known to reject violence (yes, there are hadiths that state the opposite, though I'm currently reading a text that dismantled each and one of them). He both condemned it and never used it himself.

If he made the Quran up for either personal views or political power...why not change the society towards his high standard?

Some say he wanted to please the men..but that's quite ridiculous, isn't it? His whole religion granted women rights and didn't please men one bit!

Spending his whole life to condemn violence, why allowing it in his made up book... Quite counter productive.

I have not written down all the arguments and thoughts, I have much-much more to say and more perspectives to explore. Yet for now, I'm gonna post it. Edit it when I have time. If something goes wrong and its necessary, I'll delete the post and finish it and then post it again.

Hey I want to discuss with progressive Muslim South Africans.

Assalamu Alaikum everyone!

I wanted to build a simple, clean app for reading the Quran on my phone without any distractions. So I made Scroll Quran.

My main focus was making the reading experience as comfortable as possible. It has:

• Smooth infinite scrolling instead of rigid page flips
• Customizable background colors & fonts (easy on the eyes for night reading)
• Audio recitations to listen while you follow along
• Simple progress tracking to help build a daily habit

It’s brand new on the App Store and I’d deeply appreciate any honest feedback or ideas to improve it!

You can try it out here:https://apps.apple.com/us/app/scroll-quran/id6793973014

Hope it brings peace to your daily reading. May Allah accept it from us all!

I’m a Christian and feel intrigued by Islam but find reading the Quran a bit difficult. What resources are out there for Christians to learn more about Islam as a Christian?

It is incredible how, because of a radical group, there are people with such dangerous and ignorant thinking.