Islam Does Not Understand Consent
Thesis: Islam forces Muslims to either reject or ignore the basic definition of consent, because acknowledging the basic definition would clearly identity Mohammed and his companions as serial rapists (thereby making Islam false, because it claims Mohammed is a “perfect moral example until the Last Day” and the companions are “the best of all people”).
The focus of this argument will focus on three main examples, with sources from the Quran, authoritative Tafsir, and Authentic Hadiths:
- The use and permitting of sex slaves
- The having of sexual relations with children even by Islamic standards
- The coercion of Muslim women to sleep with their husbands with threats of curses if they say no.
Each of these points individually would be enough to prove the case, but combined they are insurmountable.
Basic Definition of “Consent”:
(Cornell University Legal Law Institute)
Consent: “Consent means that a person voluntarily and willfully agrees in response to another person's proposition. The person who consents must possess sufficient mental capacity. Consent also requires the absence of coercion, fraud or error. Consent is an essential constituent of a contractand a defense to a tort.
In cases of rape and sexual assault, someone’s consent is not their true intent if they are under duress or fear. For example, coercion and/or subsequent compliance when resistance is no longer useful cannot be considered consent. In addition, a person who is impaired, developmentally disabled, or under the legal age of consent may voluntarily engage in sexual activity and still be unable to give valid consent because they do not have the legal capacity to consent.”
This is a very straightforward concept. Agreement or permission to have sex is something that must be freely given without coercion or force, and it must be given by someone who is physically and mentally able to give consent. If consent is not given, or permission is only achieved through force, or it is given by someone not of sound body and mind (like a mentally disabled person or a child), that is not consent. ANY SEXUAL ACT TAKEN WITHOUT PROPER CONSENT IS BY DEFINITION RAPE AND/OR SEXUAL ASSAULT.
This seems like basic common sense. If you threaten violence to get sex, that is rape. If you have sex with a child under any circumstances, that would be rape because children are by definition not mentally or physically ready to consent to sex. Obviously, you would not want someone to threaten violence against you to have sex, you would not want someone to take advantage of you while you are in a vulnerable state.
…
But Muslims cannot affirm this definition. Why? Because it would make their Prophet and his companions serial rapists. People who the Quran calls the “perfect moral example until the Last Day” and “the best of all people”. This leads Muslims to have to twist the concept or outright ignore what the word means so they can remain a Muslim. Though, if you ask me, I believe they do understand the concept but family, political, and societal pressures prevent them from outwardly acknowledging it. Mohammed did say “He who leaves his religion (of Islam), kill him” in Sahih Al Bukhari 6922, after all and that is law in multiple Islamic majority countries like Afghanistan, Brunei, Mauritania, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and the UAE.
Below are a list of several examples from the Quran and Authentic Hadith that clearly show Mohammed and his companions both violating the consent of others and promoting such behavior. If you are a Muslim reading this, I’m willing to be you feel that conflict within you. Don’t shut that part of yourself off. Truth holds up to scrutiny. If you believe Islam is true you should scrutinize it thoughtfully. Either you will read all of these and your faith will be bolstered because it stands up to reason, or you will realize the horror of these teachings and free yourself from a false religion.
1. Allah permits sex slaves, and Mohammed and his companions owned MANY.
Surah 4:24: “And (It is impermissible for you to have sex with) all married women except those whom your right hand possess”.
“Those whom your right hand possess” is a common Arabic idiom that means the slaves that you own. This is verified in other verses of the Quran as well as the Tafsirs of this verse:
Tafsir Ibn Abbas, 4:24: “And all married women are forbidden to you, save those captives whom your right hand possess of captives, even if they have husbands in the Abode of War
Tafsir Al-Jalalayn, 4:24: “And forbidden to you are wedded women… save what your right hand owns of captured slave girls whom you may have sexual intercourse with even if they should have husbands among the enemy camp”
Tafisr Ibn Kathir, 4:24: “Imam Ahmad recorded that Abu Sa’id Al-Khudri said “we captured some women from the area of Atwas who were already married, and we disliked having sexual relations with them because they already had husbands. So we asked the Prophet on this matter, and this Ayah was revealed … consequently, we had sexual relations with these women”. This is the wording collected by At-Tirmidhi An-Nasa’i, Ibn Jarir, and (Imam) Muslim in his Sahih”.
Summary:
Allah and Mohammed explicitly say it is permissible to take women as sex slaves and use them for your sexual pleasure, even if they already have husbands that are still living.
Obviously, a sex slave by definition did not consent to be a sex slave. Hence why they are called “slaves”. It explicitly says they were taken captive. They were not there voluntarily. They were already married women and their husbands were still alive. When you forcibly take a married women (or any women) from their home and use them for your sexual pleasure, that is RAPE. These women didn’t consent to be there, and they certainly didn’t consent to be taken from their husbands to be used as sex toys, and the slave owners held immense power over them to make their lives hell if they refused (there’s a shorter world for that, it’s coercion). Imagine a group takes a bunch of married Muslim women captive to be used as sex slaves until the end of their days. Imagine it was your wife taken as a sex slave and forcibly raped by these invaders. Would you finally see and call this despicable act what it is?
2. Mohammed committed and permitted sexual acts with a child, even by Islamic standards
Sahih Al-Bukhari 5134: “Narrated `Aisha:
that the Prophet (ﷺ) married her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage when she was nine years old. Hisham said: I have been informed that `Aisha remained with the Prophet (ﷺ) for nine years (i.e. till his death). “
Muslims often try to defend this horrible action by stating that she was a woman by Islamic standards. Not only is this nonsensical because it’s a literal nine year old, but it’s not even true by Islamic standards:
Sahih Al-Bukhari 6130: “Narrated Aisha: I used to play with dolls in the presence of the Prophet, and my girl friends used to play with me. When Allah’s Messenger would enter (my dwelling place) the used to hide themselves, but the Prophet would call them to join and play with me. (The playing with the dolls and similar images is forbidden, but it was allowed for Aisha at that time, because she was a little girl, not yet reached the age of puberty)”
Did you read that? Playing with folls is forbidden for Muslim women, because it’s considered a form of idolatry/shirk, but Aisha was allowed because she was prepubescent. “But this could have been a Hadith talking about a much earlier stage of her life”, you may say. Nope. Absolutely false. Read the next Hadith:
Sahih Muslim 1422c: “She (Aisha) was taken to his house as a bride when she was nine, and her dolls were with her; and when he (the Prophet) died she was eighteen years old”.
Summary:
Little nine year old Aisha brought her dolls with her to Mohammed’s house on the day of the consummation….. proving that she was prepubescent on the day of the consummation. She was a child, even by Islamic standards. Either that, or Mohammed was letting her commit shirk in his house by playing with dolls, which would make him a false prophet and Islam false as well. That poor child …
As previously established, having sex with a child under ANY circumstance is rape, because children are by definition not mentally or physically developed enough to consent to such a thing. Read that last Hadith back again. Do you really think a prepubescent who was STILL PLAYING WITH DOLLS is actually developed enough to consent to such a thing? What if that were your prepubescent daughter playing with dolls when someone took advantage of her? Would you then finally see the despicable act for what it is?
3. Women do not have autonomy over their bodies and will be cursed if they say “no” to their husbands.
Sahih Muslim 1436d: “When a man invites his wife to bed and she does not come, and he (the husband) spend the night being angry with her, the angels curse her until morning”
Summary: If a woman says “no” to sexual activity to her husband, Allah’s angels will curse her until morning. That is literally a threat. That is literally coercion. That is saying “sleep with me or else I will have angels curse you”. As previously established, consent cannot be gained under coercion or threats. Because a Muslim woman cannot say no without being threatened with curses, Muslim women by definition cannot consent because they are always under the threat of curses. If you are only saying “yes” to sexual activity to avoid being cursed, that is not consent. That would be rape. It’s just the same as threatening violence or blackmail to get sexual activity.
Conclusion:
There is no way around it. There’s no way to say what Mohammed and his companions did wasn’t rape without denying the basic definition of the word “consent”, which would just prove my thesis. You can’t say these sources are weak, they are Sahih, the highest rating possible.
You’ve got two options: deny what you see to be clearly true: that what Mohammed and his companions did was clearly rape, and continue to defend such atrocities. Or: turn over a new leaf. Realize this is obviously not a “perfect moral example” or “the best of all people”, realize you would be horrified if someone did to a girl or woman you love what Mohammed and the companions did, and start calling out these horrific acts for what they are. I trust you’ll make the right choice.