Prophet Muhammad and women
Afghan men now once again have the legal right to beat their wives. This is permitted under the criminal law that came into force at the beginning of 2026, which is binding on all criminal courts in Afghanistan.
In fact, no further evidence was needed to understand the pitiful situation of women in unrestrained Islam. Tragic incidents do not only take place in distant Afghanistan. Brutal and horrific acts also occur in migrant communities on our doorstep. A Pakistani father pours acid over his daughter because she paid too much attention to a young man. Another kills his daughter with an axe for the same reason. But whatever happens near and far, the myth of Islam as a “religion of peace” refuses to die.
Of course, there are friendly, lovable Muslims who respect their wives and daughters and wouldn't hurt a fly. But they are not the ones who have been appearing more and more often in Western news columns in recent years because of violent crimes. And above all, they are not the ones who follow the example of Mohammed.
From widower to owner of a large harem
A fair and comprehensive discussion of the image of women in Islam is only possible if one takes a close look at the life and teachings of Muhammad.
The founder of Islam was not only a power-hungry ruler and brutal warlord. He also had a great weakness for the female sex. Why the once monogamous husband mutated into the head of a large harem can only be guessed at. It was probably a consequence of his personal gain in power.
Mohammed had lived for many years with Khadija bint Khuwaylid (555-619 AD) in his first marriage. At the age of 25, Mohammed, who came from a poor family, married his employer at the time, Khadija, a merchant's widow 15 years his senior. This made Mohammed a member of Mecca's upper class and ensured his financial security.
Since people in Mecca did not want to believe his revelations, the “prophet” emigrated to Medina (Yathrib) three years after Khadija's death. There he found fertile ground for both Islam and the establishment of an impressive harem. Until his death in 632, Mohammed married 12 more women. And he had countless sex slaves.
Wives and slaves for every Muslim
Ordinary Muslims were only allowed to have four wives, because Muhammad says in Sura 4: “Take wives who seem good to you... two, three, or four... or what your right hands possess” (Sura 4:3). The expression “whatever your right hands possess,” often used in the Quran, refers to female slaves who were brought home from caravan raids or from the battlefield (e.g., Sura 23:6; 33:50; 70:30). It goes without saying what the female slaves sometimes had to endure. They could also be taken if they were married (Sura 4:24). In the same verse, Muhammad also gives instructions for the purchase of women. He himself had bought his wife, Safiya bint Huyai bint Ahtab, a Jewish slave, from the spoils of war.
The restriction to four wives did not apply to Mohammed himself. He revelled in the midst of his harem. The prophet did not have his own chamber. Nine huts surrounded the mosque in Medina. Mohammed's wives lived in them, awaiting the prophet's nightly visit according to a fixed order. Irritation arose when he wanted to spend the night with a pretty slave girl in the hut of one of his wives. But that did not seem to bother Mohammed. After all, every problem could be solved by an instruction from Allah.
This was particularly useful to him when he desired the wife of his adopted son Zaid. At Allah's behest, Muhammad took his adopted son's wife and married her himself: "And when Zaid had finished with her, We married her to you, so that there would be no sin on the believers in marrying the wives of their adopted sons... and Allah's command is to be done. The Prophet commits no sin in what Allah has decreed for him." 33:37-38). In Sura 33:50-51, Muhammad attributes general sinlessness to himself in the name of Allah with regard to the choice and consumption of women.
Allah did not allow his subjugated followers such colorful activities. However, Muhammad granted men a clear superiority over women in the Koran: Muslims were allowed to have several wives, while women were only allowed to have one husband. Only men could file for divorce (Sura 2:227 ff.). Women inherited only half as much as men (Sura 4:11). Wives had to obey. If they were rebellious, they could be locked up or beaten (Sura 4:34). So the Afghan Taliban did not invent anything new in 2026.
Girls are married off to men who could be their grandfathers.
Apparently, Mohammed found it a bit too much to cope with so many wives as he grew older. So “Allah” imposed a ban on marriage on him: “You are not permitted to take any more wives, nor may you exchange them for other wives, even if their beauty pleases you, except for the slave girls who are your property” (Sura 33:53). Mating with slave girls, such as the fair-skinned, curly-haired Coptic girl Maria, was therefore still permitted. Maria even gave the prophet his long-awaited heir, Ibrahim. However, the boy died at the age of one.
The Prophet's favorite wife was Aisha bint Abi Bakr (613/14-678 AD). She was the daughter of the businessman and later Caliph Abu Bakr (573-634 AD). According to Islamic tradition, Aisha was six years old when she married Muhammad. The marriage was consummated when Aisha was nine. Muhammad himself was 53 years old when he married the 9-year-old!
The marriage of Muslim men to girls has lost none of its appeal in the 3rd millennium AD. Endless YouTube videos show distraught girls at wedding ceremonies with adult, sometimes even elderly men.
Paradisiacal eternity for sex-hungry Muslims
The Koran's descriptions of paradise further diminish the value and role of women. They claim to fix the image of women for eternity. Paradise appears as a heavenly harem in which everything revolves around men. Even in the afterlife, good Muslims are accompanied by their pure wives (Sura 4:57; 43:70). Far more important, however, are the black-eyed girls (houris) often mentioned in the Koran, who have never been touched by humans or spirits (Sura 37:48; 44:54; 56:22; 55:70-77; 56:36-38). These virgins wait in locked tents for Muhammad's successors. The men, dressed in silk and brocade, recline on cushions and carpets with green pillows. Their beds are lined with brocade. They are fed by virgins with swelling breasts (Sura 78:33) and immortal boys who serve wine in abundance in tankards and cups (Sura 56:18). Muslims will finally be allowed to enjoy alcohol. Wine will flow in streams (Sura 47:15) and will not even cause headaches (Sura 56:19; 83:25)! Needless to say, the enemies of Islam will be doused with manure (Sura 44:45ff; 78:25). They will be fed pus, drenched with boiling water and ore, and they will burn in eternal fire (Sura 14:16; 69:36).
The Koran and human rights are mutually exclusive
The image of women in Islam alone proves that Muhammad's religion is incompatible with the liberal view of humanity in the Judeo-Christian West. Islam, as conceived by the founder of the religion, does not grant women any civil, family, social, entrepreneurial, or economic freedom. Not to mention religious freedom. Women who turn their backs on Islam live dangerously. They are usually ostracized, persecuted, and often killed.
In recent decades, neither politicians, lawyers, nor Christian theologians have forced a public discourse on the “image of women in Islam” that would do justice to the issue. Most thought leaders are probably simply afraid to face the facts and speak out. They fear the furor or even the terror of Muslims. So they resort to silence.
There are now almost 50 million Muslims living in Europe. There are two ways in which the situation of women on our continent will develop in the near future:
1) Politicians, lawyers, and Christian theologians are stepping up to fight for freedom and equality for Islamic girls and women in Western countries:
- These folks are shaping public discourse by clearly naming and condemning Islamic values and practices that go against Western law but are allowed by the Quran or Sharia law.
- They determine political and social PR that familiarizes the Islamic population with Western values of freedom and equality (political, educational, and religious education).
- They enact laws to prevent, expose, prosecute, and punish illegitimate violence against girls and women and the disregard of equality (genital mutilation, polygamy, honor killings, etc.). In doing so, they disempower Islamic legal systems that have already spread in Western nations. They consistently enable fellow human beings of Islamic origin to live in personal freedom.
- Special attention is paid to enforcing religious freedom, which makes it possible to turn away from Islam and turn to Christianity at any time.
2) Social leaders are letting things slide. Whether it's because of negligence, selfish fear, or just plain old malice toward Western culture.
- Legal systems based on the Koran and Sharia law are spreading.
- Oppression and violence against girls and women in Islamic communities are getting worse.
- Western values, laws, and justice are losing their importance.
- Islamic values, laws, and jurisprudence are gradually taking over the social and political public sphere in Europe.
- As a result, girls and women who did not grow up in Islam are also increasingly exposed to the demands and acts of violence of Islamic men.
Unfortunately, Europe is already well advanced on path 2. One example of organized violence against non-Islamic young women is gang rape by Islamic male cliques in England (gang bangs). The next blog article by the Citizens' Forum in the series on the legal situation of girls and women in Islam reports on how the highest political authorities cover up such crimes in order to “not disturb religious peace.”
The desirable path for a good future in Europe and Switzerland is to follow path 1.
The "Swiss Civil Forum" is continuing its work to fight for a return to the Christian values that founded Switzerland and made it strong and successful.
