Dear Mr Sina and others,

I am thankful to you for opening my eyes to see the real Islam. I had almost apostatised from Islam after reading Mr Ali Sina's debate with Mr Ghamdi (Pakistani scholar). I felt Islam was indefensible, all along I knew about issues like sex slaves and slavery, polygyny , subjugated women etc. I tried to keep my faith but all my doubts were like punctures in a big balloon which was patched up with half convincing answers to keep my faith afloat. When I read the realities of Islam, which were supported by Sahih Hadith, my faith bubble burst leaving me shattered.

It took me some time to pick up the pieces and re-frame my faith now I am left without a faith and life seems empty.

I would like to share a few thoughts with all. If you think it worthy please put them on the site.

I used to be a die-hard fan of Dr Zakir Naik till recently. I have purchased all his videos and used to ardently watch his “Peace TV” channel.

Thanks to faithfreedom.org, my eyes have opened and I am able to see Islam rationally. I would like to ask a question to Dr Zakir Naik. In his question and answer sessions, he is very often asked about polygamy. He gives his answer in a typical style starting off with definitions and in the end he gives outdated statistics from carious places New York, London, etc. claiming that there are so many “excess females” in each city, and he asks back a hypothetical question:

“If your sister happened to live in New York and if she was one of the excess females and all the other females had found their partners what would you prefer for your sister? She has two choices either submit to honourable polygamy or become “public property”?”

All his fans start cheering and clapping their hands and the poor questioner is rendered speechless.

I would like to ask Dr. Naik: why does he have to quote statistics about New York when he is lecturing in India?

In most of the cities in India males outnumber females due to female foeticide. Whatever maybe the cause, we have to live in this society and practice Islam. So since there is a dearth of females in India, why is Dr.Naik promoting polygamy?

I would like to ask “Dr. Zakir Naik” this question:

“The quran states that in Mohammed we have the best role model and we ought to follow him exactly. I know it is not compulsory to be polygamous, but the |Muslims of Mumbai have become very religious and thus great “fans” of Mohammed. They wish to emulate him in every manner. Islamic Sunnah has 2 varieties “muaqqida” (i.e. recommended forcefully by the prophet and) and “ghair muaqqida” (i.e. that which is the sunnah he did but did not actually recommend to his followers). Examples of sunnah ghair muaqqida is fasting on Mondays and Thursdays and praying 4 rakats of prayer before Asr prayer.
I have noticed that the “religiosity” [Ed. orthodoxy] of the Muslims is judged by the extent of the Sunnah one practises.

So the Muslims of Mumbai want to practice 100 % Islam, following the “Salaf” (i.e. the earliest muslims). Mohammed practised polygamy, his beloved Umar and Abu Bakr had more than 3 or 4 wives and the great sahaba Ali and Usman, as well as grandsons Hassan and Hussain also practised polygamy.

Suppose all the Muslims of Mumbai want to practise polygamy and suppose Mumbai’s Muslim population is 20 million and the male to female population is 1:1 (in fact the ratio is 1:<1.), then Mumbai’s Mussalman need 40 million females while there are only 10 million females. If the first 2.5 million Mussalman practised polygamy, there would be no more females for the rest of the 7.5 million Mussalman.

If your brother, Dr. Naik, happened to be one of those unfortunate ones – how should he satisfy his sexual needs? He has 2 choices: He can become “public property” or he can ask his fellow males not to follow the polygamy sunnah of the prophet. Which should he do?”

(Personally I would follow the 2nd choice.)

In all the hadith literature, there is not a single hadith denouncing polygamy or setting conditions for polygamy, neither is there a single hadith recommending monogamy. Rather we find willful acceptance and Muhammad leading by his example (the Koran even gives him a “special dispensation” to have more wives than any other Mussalman is allowed!).

I had another shock recently: my friend had some issues with his marriage and wanted to divorce his wife, he wanted to know the conditions that need to be satisfied for seeking a divorce. Shockingly there is no guidance from Quran and Sunnah about conditions that qualify for a Mussalman to divorce his wife! Rather I found flimsy reasons such as if the father tells his son to divorce his wife he must obey! Or that even if a drunken man pronounces divorce 3 times in a state of drunkenness, it should be accepted.

In other words a Mussalman can divorce his wife for any reason and his religion does not object. One can even divorce his wife because he no longer is sexually attracted to her and wants someone else – and younger (as Mohammed nearly did with one of his wives).

But what of the wife? Can she divorce her husband so easily? There are many reasons for a woman to seek divorce, but she is forced to go through mediation in Shariah Courts by Islamic society.

So much for the “complete religion” of Islam!

Dr. K.A. (orthopaedic surgeon)