Criticism Of Islam

Criticism of Islam is broadly defined as criticism of the Islamic religion in its beliefs, principles, and/or any other ideas attributed to Islam.

Criticism of Islam has existed since Islam's formative stages.
Early written disapprovals came from Christians and Jews as well as from some former Muslims such as Ibn al-Rawandi.De Haeresibus by John of Damascus. See Migne. ''Patrologia Graeca'', vol. 94, 1864, cols 763–73. An English translation by the Reverend John W Voorhis appeared in ''The Moslem World'' for October 1954, pp. 392–98. Later the Muslim world itself received criticism.Ibn Kammuna, ''Examination of the Three Faiths'', trans. Moshe Perlmann (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1971), pp. 148–49 Western criticism of Islam grew after the September 11 attacks and other terrorist incidents, in regard to its scriptures and teachings, which were claimed to be a significant source of terrorism and terrorist ideology.

Objects of criticism include the morality of the life of Muhammad, the founder of Islam, in both his public and personal lives.Ibn Warraq, The Quest for Historical Muhammad (Amherst, Mass.:Prometheus, 2000), 103. Issues relating to the authenticity and morality of the scriptures of Islam, both the Quran and the hadiths, are also discussed by critics.Bible in Mohammedian Literature.
by Kaufmann Kohler Duncan B. McDonald, ''Jewish Encyclopedia''. Retrieved 22 April 2006. Islam has also been viewed as a form of Arab imperialism and has received criticism by figures from Africa and India for the destruction of indigenous cultures. Islam's recognition of slavery as an institution,Brunschvig. 'Abd; ''Encyclopedia of Islam'' which led to Muslim traders exporting as many as 17 million slaves to the coast of the Indian Ocean, the Middle East, and North Africa, has also been criticized. The Shafi'i version of Islam has received criticism for advocating female genital mutilation and introducing this practice to Southeast Asia, where it was previously nonexistent. More recently, Islamic beliefs regarding human origins, predestination, God's existence and nature, have received criticism for their apparent philosophical and scientific inconsistencies.

Another criticism focuses on the question of human rights in the Islamic world, both historically and in modern Islamic nations, including the treatment of women, LGBT people, and religious and ethnic minorities, as shown in Islamic law and practice. As of 2014, about a quarter of the world's countries and territories (26%) had anti-blasphemy and (13%) had anti-apostasy laws or policies. In 2017, 13 nations, all of which were Muslim majority nations, had the death penalty for apostasy or blasphemy. In the wake of the recent multiculturalism trend, Islam's influence on the ability or willingness of Muslim immigrants to assimilate in the host nations has been criticized. Assimilationist arguments have also been made in other countries where Muslims are a substantial minority, such as China, India and Russia.

History

Early Islam

The earliest surviving written criticisms of Islam are to be found in the writings of Christians who came under the early dominion of the Islamic Caliphate. One such Christian was John of Damascus (c. 676–748 AD), who was familiar with Islam and Arabic. The second chapter of his book, ''The Fountain of Wisdom'', titled "Concerning Heresies", presents a series of discussions between Christians and Muslims. John claimed an Arian monk (who he did not know was Bahira) influenced Muhammad and viewed the Islamic doctrines as nothing more than a hodgepodge culled from the Bible. Writing on Islam's claim of Abrahamic ancestry, John explained that the Arabs were called "Saracens" (Greek Σαρακενοί, Sarakenoi) because they were "empty" (κενός, kenos, in Greek) "of Sarah". They were called "Hagarenes" because they were "the descendants of the slave-girl Hagar". In the early formative stage, criticism on Islam was usually hidden, because openly questioning Muhammad or the Quran was punishable not only for the critic but also for the critic's entire community. Jews, for example, passed on criticism on Muhammad by oral-traditions. Although it is hard to verify oral traditions, certain tales and statements could be found of independent communities. According to one narrative, some Jews included hidden messages in the Quran, like the '' Muqatta'at'' (Mysterious Letters), which allegedly refers to certain parts of the Tanakh.

Other notable early critics of Islam included:
* Abu Isa al-Warraq, a 9th-century scholar and critic of Islam.
* Ibn al-Rawandi, a 9th-century atheist, who repudiated Islam and criticised religion in general.
* al-Ma'arri, an 11th-century Arab poet and critic of Islam and all other religions. Also known for his veganism and antinatalism.Reynold Alleyne Nicholson, 1962, ''A Literary History of the Arabs'', p. 319. Routledge
* Abu Bakr al-Razi, a Persian physician, philosopher and alchemist who lived during the Islamic Golden Age. He criticized the concepts of prophethood and revelation in Islam.

Medieval world

Medieval Islamic world

In the early centuries of the Islamic Caliphate, Islamic law allowed citizens to freely express their views, including criticism of Islam and religious authorities, without fear of persecution. Accordingly, there have been several notable critics and skeptics of Islam that arose from within the Islamic world itself. One eminent critic, living in the tenth and eleventh-century Syria was the blind poet Al-Ma'arri. He became well known for a poetry that was affected by a "pervasive pessimism". He labeled religions in general as "noxious weeds" and said that Islam does not have a monopoly on truth. He had particular contempt for the ''ulema'', writing that:

In 1280, the Jewish philosopher, Ibn Kammuna, criticized Islam in his book ''Examination of the Three Faiths''. He reasoned that the Sharia was incompatible with the principles of justice, and that this undercut the notion of Muhammad being the perfect man: "there is no proof that Muhammad attained perfection and the ability to perfect others as claimed." The philosopher thus claimed that people converted to Islam from ulterior motives:

According to Bernard Lewis, just as it is natural for a Muslim to assume that the converts to his religion are attracted by its truth, it is equally natural for the convert's former coreligionists to look for baser motives and Ibn Kammuna's list seems to cover most of such nonreligious motives.

Maimonides, one of the foremost 12th-century rabbinical arbiters and philosophers, sees the relation of Islam to Judaism as primarily theoretical. Maimonides has no quarrel with the strict monotheism of Islam, but finds fault with the practical politics of Muslim regimes. He also considered Islamic ethics and politics to be inferior to their Jewish counterparts. Maimonides criticised what he perceived as the lack of virtue in the way Muslims rule their societies and relate to one another.The Mind of Maimonides
by David Novak. Retrieved 29 April 2006. In his Epistle to Yemenite Jewry, he refers to Mohammad, as "''hameshuga''" – "that madman".

Apologetic writings, attributed to Abdullah Ibn al-Muqaffa, not only defended Manichaeism against Islam, but also criticiz