Sexual Purity of Muslims-Suras 24 and 33

I have resisted posting this for several weeks. But with the boldness of giving copies of the Koran to Oklahoma state officials, I must overcome my hesitancy. They and all should know what the Koran actually teaches. For how can there be honest interaction without clear vision? Hiding from the truth merely allows lies to fester. Though any and all desire purity and faithfulness to their faith, let it be to a true faith, based on true truth (as Francis Schaeffer used to preach.)

Muslims put a lot of emphasis on sexual purity. The Koran says so. Not only should women be chaste, covering themselvs, they should avert their eyes. No one should commit adultery. Should they do so, they should only marry another similarly guilty, or an Unbeliever.

If they do sin, they should be flogged with one hundred stripes, with compassion failing to move the enforcer (who should be monitored by other believers.) Lest these accusations be made recklessly, they should produce four witnesses. If they don't, then the accusers themselves should be flogged with eighty stripes. And the evidence should be rejected. The main person bringing the accusation may earn an even more serious penalty. (V. 11)
If a man brings accusation with only his own testimony, his words can be heard if he bears witness four times with an oath from Allah that he is solemnly telling the truth. Then a fifth oath invokes the curse of Allah if he is telling a lie.
But the woman can avert the punishment if she bears witness four times with an oath to Allah that her husband is telling a lie. Then she makes a fifth oath invoking the wrath of Allah if the accusation is true. (I fear what would happen if she were an Unbeliever who claims innocence, but cannot invoke Allah.)

It charges them not to listen to gossip. Or even to enter someone else's home without permission. V. 27. Personally, I see that as a "Don't ask, don't tell" position.

Men are allowed four wives, not to mention sexual slaves that their right hand possesses. Those who cannot afford wives should keep themselves chaste. They should marry a believer, or a slave who is a believer. (24:26) The next is 24:33. They should not force their maids to prostitution in order that the men might make a gain in the goods of this life, if the women desire chastity. "But if anyone compels them, yet, after such compulsion, is Allah oft-forgiving, most merciful (to them)."

That quote in verse 33 has the "to them" in parenthesis. It should be noted that those words are not in the Arabic. And only the Arabic is the "inspired" version. As Muslims who study the Bible want to consider only the words in red, discounting any passages not spoken by Jesus Himself, and eliminate any verses noted "not in the earliest manuscripts," though included and accepted by church fathers, I think it fair to note their dedication to detail here.

I deduce that their dedication to sexual purity excludes the Unbelievers and slaves, to whom anything can be done without their permission. (And somehow the men's choices to behave this way does not reflect on them morally.) I guess that the slaves might disagree. I also note the verse in the previous paragraph does not condemn them if they do rent out women for prostitution.

The sura moves on to discuss the light of Allah, and of such purity in their homes. It notes that the deeds of the Unbelievers (who are limited to one wife if they are Christian) are like a mirage in sandy deserts that thirsty men mistake for water.

In the first thirty verses of Sura 33, many subjects are treated before he gets to the subject of marriage. One point is made in verses 4-5. Your adopted sons are not your sons, so you should call them by their father's names, or call them a brother in the faith. (I don't know what kind of adopting it is, if they aren't to be considered your son. That's just the definition of adoption to me, but maybe that's just me.) This is a very important point which he returns to later.

He discusses the battles with the Unbelievers, including the People of the Book who aided them. (Another name for Christians, and Jews). "Allah did take them down from their strongholds and cast terror into their hearts so that some ye slew and some ye made prisoners. And He made you heirs of their lands, their houses, and their goods," and extended the area under Islam's control. S.33:26.
After that event, Mohammed tells his consorts if they want a worldly life, he will set them free, "in a handsome manner." Apparently this is after their homes and property are destroyed, and their land is conquered by a bunch of men who consider Unbelievers fair game to capture (for their right hand to possess.) Or they can stay with the head honcho and have some protection. (A couple of his wives were captives taken in raids.)

He moves into what is expected of his women. V.30 If any of you were guilty of evident unseemly conduct, the Punishment would be doubled to her. But if devout in service to Allah, and his Apostle, she'll get a double reward.

Verses 31-35 discuss how his wives, and all Muslim men and women can guard their chastity, being "pure and spotless." This includes their speech and dress, and staying at home. If the men want to speak to unrelated women, they can speak to them separated by screens. And women can cover themselves when they go out.


Next the subject is Mohammed. As Christians, we are taught that teachers are held to a higher standard, James 3:3. The Koran agrees this is the case, in S.33:21, "Ye have indeed in the Apostle of Allah a beautiful pattern of (conduct) for anyone whose hope is in Allah." What higher standard does Allah's Messenger, the Seal of the Prophets," set? Well, Allah out of concern for a lack of example for the men, instructs Mohammed to take his adopted son's wife.

We joined her in service to thee: in order that (in future) there may be no difficulty to the Believers in the matter of marriage with the wives of their adopted sons, when the latter have dissolved with the necessary (formality) (their marriage), and Allah's command must be fulfilled." 33:37.

For all parties, there is no question about obedience. "It is not fitting for a Believer, man or woman, when a matter has been decided by Allah and His Apostle, to have any option about their decision: if anyone disobeys A. and H. A., he is indeed on a wrong path." V.36. So Zaid, Mohammed's adopted son, divorced his wife. (We don't know how he knew it was Allah's decision, othe than taking the Messenger's word on it.)

Of course, Mo really had no option either, as "Allah's command must be fulfilled." However, Allah chastens him, "Thou didst fear the people, but it is more fitting that thou shouldst fear Allah." V. 37. So He tells the Apostle to retain his wife in wedlock, and fear Him. As another defense, just in case someone think it's just the lust of an old man taking advantage of his followers, Allah confirms that it was an approved practice of old that had passed away. V.38. (I wonder why it passed away, or why I've never heard of it.)

Mohammed encourages the others to worship and pray and live a clean life. When they marry women and divorce them without having sex (right-don't laugh), then the men don't have to wait any period (of three months to see if they're pregnant.) They can just send them away with a nice payment, uh, present. Verse 49.

Verse 53 clarifies what might be expected now and when he is gone. When they are invited to dinner they aren't to stay too long, coming either too early or staying too late. This is where he tells the men if they need to speak to his wives, they can speak through a screen.

Just for future reference, the verse continues. "Nor is it right for you that ye should annoy Allah's Apostle, or that ye should marry his widows after him at any time. Truly such a thing is in Allah's sight an enormity." Since the intro to this Sura says it was written in the fifth year after Hijrah (going to Medina), and v.27 was seven years H., he was in his sixties, and died 10 H. (632 A.D.) Aisha wasn't even 20 when he died.

Again Allah addresses Mohammed, telling him what he may do. He can have the wives whose dowries he's paid, and "those whom they right hand possesses out of the prisoners of war whom Allah has assigned to thee, and daughters of thy paternal uncles and aunts, and daughters of thy maternal uncles and aunts, ...and any believing woman...the prophet wishes to wed...." V.50. (Aisha noted, Allah was very generous to him.)

The other believers have "their wives and the captives whom their right hands possess:-in order that there should be no difficulty for thee. V.50 (*All that and seventy virgins!) They can take turns, and visit any of their wives out of turn, to prevent the women grieving.V.51.

As for Mohammed, he is to restrict himself to all the wives he has (13 females), without replacing any. Except for new sex slaves, I mean-uh, handmaidens, v. 52. With this level of sexual purity, their zeal against the flesh makes Christians appear downright frigid!

Instead of wives being a tilth they can take however they want, Christians are to submit one to another, or abstain for a time of prayer. (And if women aren't treated right, God says the men's prayers won't be heard. I Peter 3:7.) Our elders and deacons must be men with only one wife. (I Timothy 3:2,12) That does not endorse bigomy or polygamy for the others since they are taught that the relationship of a man to his wife is that of Christ to the Church-loving her and giving himself for her. For the rest, the general instruction is that if we remarry, we commit adultery unless our first partner is dead. Matthew 5:27-28. If our mates are not Christians and want out of the marriage, or if they commit adultery, then we may be free. I Corinthians 7:10-16. Then, we are free to remarry, only we are not to marry anyone who is not a Christian. 2 Corinthians 6:14.

Although the existence of slavery was tolerated in the Bible, the Christians were not given permission to molest them, to rent them out to earn money for their pimps, or to run houses of prostitution. I will not says Christians (or nominal ones) never participated in this as the history of the South (U.S.) and of slavery disproves it. But Biblically, that is not the standard. It is not endorsed by our Scriptures.

Jesus' standard is also much different that Mohammed's. Not only do we see a life of celibacy, with Him asking "which of you accuses me of sin." (None could.) He instructs us that whoever looks at a woman to lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart, Matthew 5:27-28. (The sin is not the woman's but the man's.) I can, of course, see why Jesus' instructions needed to be replaced and why Muslims consider Mohammed a senior messenger (and final) to that brought by the Lord! ;)

Paul also and Timothy, and all the apostles maintained Jesus' standards. In Romans ch. 13, Paul admonishes us. "Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, ....Rather, ...do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. (V.13-14.)
Galatians tells us the flesh wars against the spirit and the natural man cannot please God. (And Romans does too.) Jesus said the entire law is summed up by a single command. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and spirit, and love your neighbor as yourself. I assume that eliminates any possibility that capturing women, raping them, and keeping them enslaved will be considered acceptable spiritual behavior.

Besides fleeing youthful lusts, in II Timothy 2:22, Paul wrote his disciple to cleanse himself in order that he would be a holy vessel, set aside and useful to the Master. Verses 20-21 tell us that this way he will be prepared for any good work. In the context, the verses before and after give much more detail.

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want... The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissentions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you...that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Along with the list of the fruit of the Spirit, he gives further instruction. Those who belong in Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. (Other sections will explain how to be born of the Spirit-i.e. become a Christian, and how to walk in the Spirit.)

While Jesus had friends and follower who were women, the Bible does not include any mention of wives. The Da Vinci Code not withstanding, the apostles-his constant companions, and the sources of the gospels as well as church history, do not mention anyone. Not only that, but when a man wanted to join the ranks of those who traveled with him, the Lord discouraged him by explaining he didn't have a stable home of dwelling.
Matthew 8:20. "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no where to lay his head." If He discouraged men, more accustomed to hardships, he could hardly be expected to have a wife. (Even Robinhood had a stable place in Sherwood Forest!)

Compare this to Mohammed who had several houses, in which to house his multiple wives, and women. Included in this was his second wife Aisha, whom he married when she was six. They waited until she was all of nine to consummate their marriage-or so we are told. (Most people turn 9 in third grade, think about it.)


All this being said, I have met many Muslims who try to live a very circumspect and sexually pure life. As I also have of Christians (much more in number by virtue of where I live.) Personally, I also remained a virgin until marriage and have never physically committed adultery, though I have faced temptations and lusts. Since sexual immorality is an accusation Muslim's make against the western world, let me address this too.

First, western is not the same as Christian. And most of our believers would agree, it is an evil that shames our cultures. We fight or have fought until we were overruled by courts, but still work to confront our society over this. We tell our daughters to dress more modestly, and encourage (or nag) our children to be chaste.

Second, people bearing the Name of Jesus sometimes sin. For small failures, simple repentance restores our hearts and minds. Usually for the devout found in adultery, the encounter is serious, and sometimes results in divorce and remarriage. They are not playing or trifling. One heart has encountered another, due to weakness in a marriage. I do not condone it, but this would be tolerated in Islam, as an addition of another wife. The first wife would just have to stifle her jealousy. But Christianity does not make so much allowance for lust as does Islam.

Thirdly, and as a private opinion, I believe the issue of the Catholic priests is not merely a matter of people doing without, finally succombing to temptation. I believe it was an invasion of the Church by homosexual opportunists. They found a way to support themselves along with an unending supply of naive victims.

Several decades ago, I met a man who had tried to become a priest. He had been kicked out of a seminary because he would not go along with their agenda. I do not remember his name, or have further contact with him, so I have no proof. (He worked at the University of Houston library in the 70's.)

Many of the mainline denominatins have been taken over by those who do not believe the Bible, the gospel, or have respect for those who do. Their efforts for the last half a century (at least) has been to take control, eliminate the preaching of the truth, and own all property that these denominations have built up over the years. So I do not consider my belief to be far-fetched.

Let me emphasize here, none of us are 100% pure. We live within the parameters of our beliefs, or try to. We all have to repent and pray. Sometimes we have more serious temptations-devastating loneliness, marriages unhappy or old, singleness with unfulfilled physical needs. For some, rape or incest have added problems. Homosexual temptations afflict others. Pornography on the web has added temptation to many men who would never have gone out and purchased it. While I condemn none, and ask for mercy as well, I do not excuse sin or put aside Jesus' holy standard. We can only please God by walking in the Spirit, receiving the forgiveness His blood provides.
I do not mean that we have no blessed marriages. We do.(And some vary in stages, fluctuating.) In fact, the marriage rates for Christians have always been significantly higher than for nonbelievers. In the same way, levels of satisfaction are much increased with the direct variation of those having faith, in contrast to those without. And graduation rates for their children, etc. We would be lying if we said we did not have to face temptations. But the levels at which we are arrested for sin is considerably less. And with less threat, our choice is more truly reflective of how much we feel accountable to God, rather than fear of the society to transgress social mores, and face morals police.

You also have devout men and women. With some hypocrisy in standards. (Something liberals do not seem to understand is that when a hypocrisy exists, it is because the people at least remember the standards and want to appear to obey them.) But keeping women at home, while men are free to carouse in clubs and public places is not the answer. And there is a limit to how much forgiveness should be offered, to extreme levels of hypocrisy.

Oh, and while you deny the deed for sacrifice for sin, I am reminded of another Sura. (I bring this up because while repentance is necessary, meaning not only to be sorry for it, but to turn from it-the issue of God forgiving us is required.) In S.22:34, after discussing the appropriate sacrifices of animals at the "the Ancient House"," it says, "to every people did We appoint rites (of Sacrifice)."

Our sacrifice is of Jesus' blood, offered once and effective infinitely. (The Resurrection of Jesus being proof of the Father's acceptance of payment for our sins. That fact being witnessed by over 500 people who were still alive to be qustioned at the time of the recording of I Corinthians 15:6-7. (See posts about Jesus being the Son of God, for further information.)

Muslim tradition still maintains a holiday at the time of remembrance of Abrahams's son Ishmael. Families sacrifice an animal once a year, for the sake of the sins of the family. This is a pre-Mohammedan custom, though I cannot say pre-Islamic, as the Messenger recorded Abraham, Noah, Jesus and everyone else as saying they were Muslims. (And I read that you also perform this kind of ritual when on the hajj pilgrimage in Mecca.)

I guess in conclusion, I would have to note, though I see certain commitment to standards of godliness amongst present day Muslims, I challenge you to look at your role models. Take a fresher look. See them for the molesters they were-of slaves and children. Not that I would encourage you to pursue immorality. But you deserve a holy example, someone worthy to emulate. Seek Jesus.