Bigotry: The Dark Danger

The Foul Nature of the Fanatic

“Anas b. Malik reported that some people belonging (to the tribe) of 'Uraina came to God's Messenger (pbuh) at Medina, but they found its climate uncongenial. So God's Messenger (pbuh) said to them: If you so like, you may go to the camels of Sadaqa and drink their milk and urine. …” (Sahih Muslim, Book 16, Hadith 4130)

“Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said ‘If a house fly falls in the drink of anyone of you, he should dip it (in the drink), for one of its wings has a disease and the other has the cure for the disease.’" (Sahih Bukhari, Book 54, Hadith 537)

“Narrated Ibn 'Abbas: The Prophet said, 'When you eat, do not wipe your hands till you have licked it, or had it licked by somebody else.’" (Sahih Bukhari, Book 65, Hadith 366; Sahih Muslim, Book 23, Hadith 5037)

“Narrated Maimuna: God's Apostle was asked regarding ghee (cooking butter) in which a mouse had fallen. He said, ‘Take out the mouse and throw away the ghee around it and use the rest.’" (Sahih Bukhari, Book 4, Hadith 236; Malik’s Muwatta, Book 54, Hadith 54.7.20; Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 27, Hadith 3833)

These false hadiths, of which only a few examples are given here, are important evidence of the filthy and horrible life styles of people with a fanatical mentality. With these fabricated hadiths, fanatics foolishly slander even our Prophet (pbuh). These false hadiths acted upon by the fanatics also reveal these people’s conceptions of cleanliness and good manners. God has never permitted anything so disgusting. According to the Qur’an, Muslims have a duty to be spotlessly clean, to keep their homes clean, to wear clean clothes and to eat clean food. According to the Qur’an, Muslims are clean but polytheists are filthy; fanatics who live lives apart from the Qur’an, that invent a faith other than that sent down by God and that therefore ascribe equals to Him meet that description very well indeed. God reveals in verses:

You who have faith! The idolaters are unclean... (Qur'an, 11:28)

... God places a blight on those who do not use their intellect. (Qur'an, 10:100)

As we have seen, God speaks in verses of a community who fail to use their intellect. That is an excellent description of fanatics who go along with superstition despite the truths in the Qur’an. God afflicts with a terrible blight communities that go along with superstition without using their minds, and that manufacture a whole different religion despite having the Qur’an in their hands, even though they know that this fabricated faith is false. That is really what happens. Because of their foolishness, fanatical communities believe in all the filth set out in the false hadiths above and live lives steeped in foulness.

Of course there are some people among them who live such lives unwillingly, largely out of ignorance and such people are actually in the majority; therefore, we need to consider them separately from the mindless fanatic communities in question. They always need an education based on the facts set out in great detail in this book, based on evidence from the Qur’an, in other words.

According to the Qur’an, what God wants from Muslims is for them to have a highly detailed and immaculate conception of cleanliness. Some of the verses of the Qur’an calling on Muslims to be clean read as follows:

According to the Qur'an, Muslims have a responsibility to be clean, to keep their homes clean, to wear clean clothes and to eat clean food. According to the Qur'an, Muslims are clean but idolaters are dirty. Fanatics who live their lives outside the Qur'an, who abide by a faith other than that sent down by God and who therefore ascribe equals to Him certainly meet that definition.

Purify your clothes, shun all filth. (Qur'an, 74:4-5)

Mankind! Eat what is good and lawful on the earth. And do not follow in the footsteps of satan. He truly is an outright enemy to you. (Qur'an, 2:168)

... A mosque founded on piety from the first day has a greater right for you to stand in it. In it there are men who love to purify themselves. God loves those who purify themselves. (Qur'an, 11:108)

You who have faith! Eat of the good things We have provided for you and give thanks to God if you worship Him alone. Qur'an, 2:172)

But as for those who have faith and do right actions, We will admit them into Gardens with rivers flowing under them, remaining in them timelessly, for ever and ever. In them they will have spouses of perfect purity … (Qur'an, 4:57)

They will ask you what is lawful for them. Say: “All good things are lawful for you...” (Qur'an, 5:4)

Today all good things have been made lawful for you.(Qur'an, 5:5)

Say: “Who has forbidden the ornament of God which He has produced for His servants and the good kinds of provision?” Say: “They are, in the life of this world, for those who believe, (and) purely for them on the Day of Resurrection.” In this way We make the signs clear for people who know. (Qur'an, 7:32)

Those who follow the Messenger, the Unlettered Prophet, whom they find written down with them in the Torah and the Gospel, commanding them to do right and forbidding them to do wrong, making good things lawful for them and bad things unlawful for them... (Qur'an, 7:157)

And We located the position of the House for Abraham: “Do not associate anything with Me and purify My House for those who circle it, and those who stand and bow and prostrate.”(Qur'an, 22:26)

There are many verses of the Qur’an that command Muslims to be clean and we have only cited a few of them here. There is one particular point being emphasized in verse 32 of Surat al-A’raf, however, which is that in the same way that there are those who make fine clothing and ornaments unlawful for Muslims, there are also those who make good kinds of provision unlawful for them. Indeed, careful inspection of the life style of the fanatic shows that it is these people with their extremist mindset that would make cleanliness unlawful for Muslims.

According to the Qur’an, a Muslim must be the cleanest and best-groomed person. He must dress well and in a contemporary style, he must eat clean food and must keep his home clean; simply put, he must be clean at all times. Our Prophet (pbuh) was exceptionally immaculate. Any attempts to defame such a fastidious person as our Prophet (pbuh) in the manner described above is certainly a grave offense in the Sight of God. Fanatics, however, behave as if they were ignorant of this.

Let us now look at what our Prophet (pbuh) really said in order to expose the error of the fabricated hadiths cited above. Some trustworthy hadiths on the subject of our Prophet’s (pbuh) cleanliness and fastidiousness read as follows. (These hadiths are regarded as accurate because they are compatible with the Qur’an):

Islam is clean. Therefore, you should keep yourselves clean, too. Only the clean people can enter paradise. (Ahmad Diya'al-Din al-Kamushkhanawi, Ramuz al-Ahadith, vol. 1, 96/2)

A believer is not dirty. (Sahih Bukhari)

Clean everything well. Cleanliness leads to faith, and faith leads to paradise. (al-Tabarani)

Cleanliness is half of faith... (Sahih Muslim, Book 2, Hadith 432)

Narrated Salman al-Farsi: I read in the Torah that the blessing of food consists in ablution before it. So I mentioned it to the Prophet (pbuh). He said: “The blessing of food consists in ablution before it and ablution after it.” (Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 27, Hadith 3752)

He who eats onion and garlic and leek, should not approach our mosque for the angels are harmed by the same things as the children of Adam. (Sahih Muslim, Book 4, Hadith 1147)

Wash your clothes, groom your hair, clean your teeth and dress well with clean clothes. Have cleanliness! (Ibn ‘Asakir)

Whoever eats garlic or onion should keep away from our mosque or should remain in his house. (Sahih Bukhari, Book 12, Hadith 814)

The key to the prayer (salah) is cleanliness ... (Sunan Abu Dawud, Taharah, 31: Tirmidhi, Taharah, 39)

Dress well so the blessings that God has bestowed on you can be seen! (al-Tabarani)

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin: The Apostle of God (pbuh) commanded us … that mosques should be kept clean and be perfumed. (Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 2, Hadith 455)

When God bestows a blessing on His servant, He likes that blessing to be visible on that servant. (al-Tabarani)

Abu Sufyan said: “Abu Ayyub Al-Ansari, Jabir bin ‘Abdullah, and Anas bin Malik told me that when this verse: ‘In it (the mosque) are men who love to clean and to purify themselves. And God loves those who make themselves clean and pure.’ (9:108) was revealed, the Messenger of God (pbuh) said: ‘O Ansar! God has praised you for your cleanliness. What is the nature of your cleanliness?’ They said: ‘We perform ablution for prayer and we take a bath to cleanse ourselves of impurity due to sexual activity, and we clean ourselves with water.’ He said: ‘This is what it is. So adhere to it.’” (Sunan Ibn Majah, Chapter No: 2, Hadith 355)

Of the things of this world, women and perfume have been made dear to me, and my comfort is in prayer. (al-Nasai, 3939, from the hadith of Anas ibn Malik (ra))