God has protected him until the moment of his death. So, if his death was due to the effect of poison later on or from another cause, that doesn’t make the Jews triumphant over him by murdering him to impede him from completing the mission he was sent for, instead, the Prophet's death was done by God’s ordinance after he had finished conveying his message. Accordingly, the story does not refute his infallibility.

Someone said: Although, the Qur’an is in a high degree of order and accuracy; nonetheless, the disjointed and incomprehensible letters in it are evidence of deficiency and defect.

I retorted: You are like a person who sees a high building with a great degree of order and accuracy, then he sees several designs at an angle of the building that he sees as unnecessary, and says: ‘I do not understand them, then that is a defect in the structure. Is your level of understanding and perception of things a measure of their quality?

Instead, we would say that whoever constructed that building with all its grandeur, precision and sophisticated systems cannot ignore these elements. He must have put them there for a good reason, which my ignorance of it does not negate its existence. It is peculiar that no one during the Qur'an’s decent objected to these letters; they always praised its miracle and uniqueness even from its enemies.

He asked me: Why was the Qur'an revealed in Arabic?

I answered: In what language would you like it to be? You have thousands of languages and dialects in India, so which language would you prefer? If it was in one of these languages, you would have said why not the other.

I said further: God sends the holy books in the language of their people.

God Almighty chose His Messenger Muhammad to be the seal of all His messengers.

The language of the Qur’an was in the language of his people. God safeguarded it from distortion until the Judgment Day. Similarly, He chose -for example- the Aramaic for the book of the Messiah.

He countered: What is the story of collecting the Qur’an during Caliph Abu Bakr’s era and its burning during the reign of Caliph Uthman?

I answered: The Messenger left the Qur’an documented and written in the hands of his companions to recite it and teach others. When Abu Bakr, may God be pleased with him, became the caliphate, he ordered the collection of these scrolls to be in one place and for reference.

Whereas during the reign of Uthman, may God be pleased with him, he ordered the burning of the copies and scrolls that were with the companions all over the counties and provided them with new copies identical to the original copy which was left by the Prophet Muhammad and collected by Abu Bakr.

He ensured that all the regions will refer to the same original and only copy that the Messenger has left. Thus, The Qur’an remained as it was without change or alteration ever since it has been inherited to Muslims throughout the ages for them to contemplate among themselves and recite in their prayers.

He said: The Qur’an says:

Your Lord is God; He who created the heavens and the earth in six stages, then established Himself on the Throne. He makes the night overtake the day, as it pursues it persistently; and the sun, and the moon, and the stars are governed by His command. His is the creation, and His is the command. Blessed is God, Lord of all beings.[258]

Here, it says that God has created the heavens and the earth in six days, He said ‘in six days’ to teach the humans not to haste in getting things done, and this is comprehensible.

Yet here He says:

Do you reject the One who created the earth in two stages? And you attribute equals to Him? That is the Lord of the Universe. He placed stabilizers over it, and He blessed it, and He assigned its foods in four stages—equally for the seekers. Then He turned towards the sky, and it was smoke, and He said to it and to the earth, “Come, willingly or unwillingly.” They said, “We come willingly.” Then He completed them seven universes, in two Days. And He assigned to each universe its law. And We decorated the lower universe with lamps, and for protection. That is the design of the Almighty, the All-Knowing.[259]  

Here, God has created the earth in two days, placed the stabilizers over it, and estimated the sustenance in four days, so the sum becomes six. Then He made the heavens in two days. Thus, the total is eight days. Is this not a contradiction in the Qur’an?

I responded: If I told you that I travelled from Paris to London in ten days, and to Chicago in fifteen days, then this means that I completed my journey in fifteen days, and this is what is meant by this verse.

The questioner said: You Muslims live in broadly scattered groups because you do not have a religious leader like the Pope of the Vatican to govern you.

I said: How did the Vatican help Christianity? Was the Vatican able to unify the Christian sects? The rift is increasing.

His colleague said: We will leave now, but we have meetings to come.

Who argues in God without knowledge:

One day in Africa, I attended a language class where I was the only Muslim among everyone.

The language teacher asked me a surprising question: Do you pray five times a day? You pray at five in the morning? Isn't this weird?

I had prior knowledge that this professor is employed on a part-time contract, which means that he’ll be paid only if he gave the class, so, I told him: If this lesson was at five in the morning, would you give it, or will you stay asleep?

He said: Of course, I will give it because this is the livelihood of my children and I.

I said: Prayer is our livelihood, and for us, it is more significant than millions of dollars. Then followed: How many times does your wife talk to you on the phone a day?

He laughed: She never stops calling.

I inquired: Are you deprecating us for addressing our Lord five times a day?

He said: Why pray, though?

I told him: I wake up for prayer at five in the morning every day, while my non-Muslim friends are doing morning exercises at precisely the same time.

For me, my prayers nourish my body and soul, but exercising is only physical sustenance. Look at how much we take care of our bodies, although our souls are starving from hunger; the result is countless suicide cases for the world's wealthiest people.

Worshipping abolishes the sensation found in the center of the brain, particularly responsible for self-awareness and those around us. As a result, a person will feel a great sense of sublimation, and that is a feeling that you will not understand unless you experienced it.

I went on: Worshipping stimulates the centers of feeling in the brain, and the faith transforms from theoretical information and rituals into subjective, emotional experiences. For example, let’s say that a father wants to greet his son after returning from a trip. Would the father be satisfied if he only told his son “Welcome”? He will not feel happy until he hugs and kisses him.

The mind has an innate desire to embody our beliefs and thoughts in a physical form. Therefore, worship rituals were provided to satisfy this craving. Serving and obeying God are manifested in prayer and fasting, and so on.

Dr Andrew Newberg said: ‘Worship rituals play a significant role in improving physical, mental and psychological health, along with achieving tranquility and spiritual transcendence. Likewise, turning to the Creator leads to more tranquility and transcendence.

The teacher said: You’re right, and we are always depressed, gasping after our worldly pleasures.

During my dialogue with a Muslim who belittled the importance of prayer and supplication, he said: The concept of supplication contradicts the divine laws, and a deity must not be debased as to alter his words and amend his rulings.

I told him: The reality of the laws of nature is endorsed by religion and science. The fact that God exists is not sufficient alone, nor it satisfies our need to communicate with Him. The existence of the laws does not mean that God does not communicate with His creation, nor it says that being connected to Him and segregated from Him are alike.

Oliver Lodge, one of the most acclaimed scientists in Physics, responded to those who claim that supplication contradicts the universal laws by saying: They consider prayer as if they are observing a natural phenomenon outside the boundaries of the universe. It is a cosmic phenomenon to be reckoned within the works of the universe, as it governs all other incidents that occur in our lives without the prayer. Prayer is a psychological education, so why do protesters think that this education is not a reason to achieve some incidents caused by every other rearing method in which a person is being prepared for any other goal?

He said: There is no difference between a person praying for himself, someone else, or his Lord.

I replied: One cannot give what he does not have. How can I ever ask someone for help when he is incapable of helping himself? Besides, appealing to God Almighty is glorifying while doing so with others is degrading. Is it reasonable to equalize the king with the general public when it comes to requests? Both reason and logic refute this concept entirely.

He said: The request is either in conformity with the Divine Will, fulfilled with no claim, or it is contrary to the Divine Will, meaning that there is no meaning to this request.

I countered: The will of God is represented in creating the human’s nature, and that it is human nature to seek aid when needed.

But pursuing this from someone other than God is in vain when believing in God Almighty's existence.

He said: The universal laws were an ancient matter that has happened and is done with.

I countered back: The train's whistle blows before its arrival but it is not the reason for arrival, and the light of the missile is seen upon explosion before hearing its sound. There is no relationship between the reason for seeing or hearing.

We did not limit all factors of the universal laws. We achieve what might help us estimate the consequences resulting from them in general, but estimation is only valid through approximation.

Although God has allowed scientists to study the universe which is not limited by laws, God Almighty remains the Doer of whatever He wills. Creation is a continuous process and not a mechanical one that the Divine Providence has left in negligence without alteration.

Indeed, there is no changing in the laws of God. Although we do not know from these laws except what we are led to with our minds and God's guidance.  The laws of God in the humans’ destiny might be dependent on psychological breeding through praying. This psychological breeding might be a conditional reason for the Divine laws that the believer may not disable.

Praying for the Unitarians (who worship God alone) is a sign of human progress in understanding the universe's facts, comprehending the Divine Attributes, and communicating with the source of all goodness.

It was not known to the polytheists in that way. They performed their prayers in a bargaining method, as they believed that their gods needed their offerings.

There is no basis for religion without the belief in praying based on request and supplication. Also, believing in its spiritual exercise and its close relevance that links the world of the unseen with our life making the existence of God a reality grander than the validity of the universal laws. In addition, the validity of universal events that concern a person in the pursuing the demands of his livelihood, as well as in the compelling of his conscience.[260]

And allows for them all good things, and prohibits for them wickedness:

I remember being very impressed by the story of a Filipino colleague of mine who converted to Islam. She told me that the reason behind her conversion to Islam was the swine.

I asked her in astonishment: How come?

She said: I knew very well that this animal is very filthy and inflicts the body with many diseases. I’ve hated this animal for my whole life. I used to think that Muslims worshipped it because they are prohibited from eating it, which caused me to hate them. Until I left the Philippines and lived in an Arabic country, I realized that Muslims forbid pork because it is a filthy animal, and its meat is harmful to health. I then appreciated this religion’s greatness, and since then, I am dedicated to reading and searching the content of this hidden gem.

I recall a conversation I’d had with a Brazilian man who was very interested in monotheism. Consuming animal meat prevented him from converting to Islam because he is vegetarian and mistakenly assumed that converting to Islam would force him to eat meat.

I explained: The fact that the consumption of red or white meat is permissible in Islam does not mean that you are obliged to eat it.

He said: Why is it allowed in the first place?

I said: Meat is an essential source of protein. Humans have incisors, molars, and canines. These teeth are suitable and prepared to cut, chew and grind meat. God created human’s teeth for masticating both plants and meat and designed our digestive systems to digest one and the other fully. That is the reason behind the sanctioning of their consumption.

He persisted: Isn’t the method of slaughter inhumane?

I corrected: The method of Islamic slaughter, which is severing the animal’s neck with a sharp blade, is more merciful than the stunting and strangulation, which the animal suffers from, because once the blood flow to the brain is interrupted, the animal does not feel pain. The animal’s convulsions are not from pain, instead due to the blood gushing out of the veins. It facilitates the drainage of all the blood outward, unlike other methods that seal the blood within the animal's tissue, which harms the health of those who devour that meat.

He criticized: Don’t these animals have spirits just like us?

I clarified: There is a difference. An animal’s soul is the driving force of the body. If it is separated from the body by death, the animals turn into lifeless bodies, and that is a form of life. Plants and trees also have a type of life which is not called a soul, instead, it is a life that passes through its particles with water. If they get separated, they whither and fall.

…And We made from water every living thing. Will they not believe?[261]

However, the animal soul is not like a human spirit that has been attributed to God to honor and dignity. Its essence is known only to God and is pertaining only to human beings.

The soul of a person is a divine issue that a man is not required to understand its essence. It is merging the body's force, combined with reasoning power (the mind), perception, knowledge, and faith; and that is what distinguishes it from the spirit of animals.

A person has a visible external nature, which is the body, portraying all the characteristics of matter. It is capable of being weighed and measured. Then there is another nature utterly contrary to the first, characterized by serenity, unlimited by time and place.

He said: This nature, according to my understanding, is supposed to belong to the body?

I replied: The body belongs to it, because when we fast during Ramadan, for example, what motivates us to be patient and refrain from eating? That is due to a strong urge within ourselves that drives us to make this decision.

He said: Why don’t we feel it?

I explained: When we use the elevator, for example, we do not feel its movement because we’ve become part of it, and we can only feel it when it starts moving or when it stops.

He asked: What is the human soul (self)?

I answered: The human soul is the product of the soul’s encounter with the body in which a person is defined by his spirit, conscience, his feelings, and his perceptions. The person himself carries the forces of good and evil, therefore a person commits sins or is keen to obey.

He said: What is a human?

I told him: A person is a human personality as a whole, along with flesh, blood and character.

He challenged: What is the difference between the angel, the jinn and Satan?

I answered back: As for the angels, they are one of God’s glorious creation; they were created from light. They are compelled for goodness, obedient to the orders of God; they are ever glorifying, ever worshipping, tireless and weariless.

They praise night and day, without ever tiring.[262]

...They never disobey God in anything He commands them, and they carry out whatever they are commanded.[263]

Believing in angels is shared by Muslims, Jews, and Christians. Among them is Gabriel, whom God has assigned to mediate between Him and His messengers. He used to descend with the revelation to them. Michael’s assignment is rain and vegetation. Israfil’s responsibility is to blow the Horn on the Day of Resurrection, and many others.

I went on: As for the jinn, it is of the realm of the prescience. They live with us on this earth, and they are commanded to obey God, and forbidden to disobey Him, like humankind, but we do not see them. God mentioned stories that show the extent of the power and ability of the jinn, including their ability to influence through whisper or allusion without physical intervention, still, they do not know the invisible nor are they able to harm the firm believer.

The devils inspire their followers to argue with you… [264]

The Devil is any dispassionate rebellious, whether human or jinn.

He said: Aren’t the sins of Man from Satan?

I said: There are two types of sins; sins that are self-invited and sins committed because of Satan’s whispers.

He exclaimed: Which is more dangerous for a person? How can we differentiate between them?

I clarified: The soul is much more dangerous if you do not persevere, just as a baby is weaned from breastfeeding by gradual taming.

The soul that commands evil is the soul that coax a person and pushes him to commit sins. It persists on a specific sin, such as planning and plotting to kill a human being, and there is no rest for it or retreat until it achieves its desired goal.

Likewise, the soul adorns the vile act and shows it right, and it goes overboard in the path of sin and disobedience until its instinct is buried. Then the soul loses the ability to distinguish the good from the bad. For it, the bad deeds look like good deeds, as what happened with the brothers of Prophet Joseph, peace be upon him, when they threw him into the bottom of the well, and they assumed that they were doing well.

And they brought upon his shirt false blood. [Jacob] said, "Rather, your souls have enticed you to something, so patience is most fitting. And God is the one sought for help against that which you describe". [265]

Those whose efforts in this world are misguided, while they assume that they are doing well.[266]

What of him whose evil deed was made attractive to him, and so he regards it as good? God leads astray whomever He wills, and He guides whomever He wills. Therefore, do not waste yourself sorrowing over them. God knows exactly what they do.[267]

Speaking of Satan, God Almighty has told us that he is weak. He said:

Surely the strategy of the Devil is weak.[268]

So, Satan’s plotting is confined to the boundaries of Man's mandatory duties by whispering and displaying falsehood in the appearance of truth, but he has no authority over Man.

So, when you recite the Qur'an, [first] seek refuge in God from Satan, the expelled [from His mercy][269].

He has no authority over those who believe and trust in their Lord. His authority is only over those who follow him, and those who associate others with Him. [270]

The devil’s primary concern is to make a person disobey God, no matter how. Therefore, Satan whispers to a person various sins, such as stealing, or committing adultery, lying, adulation, or disbelieving, and other sins. When a person closes the door of disobedience, Satan comes to him from another door, and the obsessive whispering of Satan for a person may be by acting the part of a loving advisor.

And he swore to them, I am a sincere advisor to you.[271]

Those who are righteous—when an impulse from Satan strikes them, they remind themselves, and immediately see clearly.[272]

Satan knows this and admits it, on the Day of Resurrection he will say to the guilty:

And Satan will say, when the issue is settled, “God has promised you the promise of truth, and I promised you, but I failed you. I had no authority over you, except that I called you, and you answered me. So do not blame me but blame yourselves. I cannot come to your aid, nor can you come to my aid. I reject your associating with me in the past. The wrongdoers will have a torment most painful. [273]

Scholar Ibn al-Qayyim says: “The soul shortens the hearts from reaching the road of the Lord. It is a road only reached after its demise. People are divided into two parts, a group that their selves has triumphed over them only to annihilate them, and another group that has triumphed over their selves, so that they have yielded to their commands.”

God glory be to Him, described the human self in the Qur’an as having any one of three characteristics: Tranquil, evil-minded, and reproving.

The Tranquil Soul: Is the one that became serene through the remembrance of God and longed to meet Him, and is addressed upon death.

Return to your Lord, pleased and accepted.[274]

The soul then emerges from doubt to certainty, from ignorance to knowledge, from forgetfulness to remembrance, and from showing off to sincerity.

The soul that is evil-minded: Is the one that commands its owner of whatever it desires.  This is its nature except if God has guided it and help it, so no one gets rid of the one’s evil self except with the Grace of God. The Messenger, peace be upon him, sought refuge from the evil of the soul, saying: We seek refuge in God from the evils of ourselves.

The reproving soul: Is ever self-blaming, yet it turns a lot between remembering and forgetting, advancing and turning away, loving and hating, being content and discontent, being satisfied and angry, and of being good and envious.

Al-Hassan Al-Basri said: “The believer is always reprimanding himself, even on the Day of Resurrection. He always blames himself, whether he was virtuous or not. If he was virtuous, then he blames himself for his dereliction.” 

He questioner asked: What is the difference between delight and envy?

I answered: Elation is a person disliking another person's superiority over him, and he wishes to be like him or better, so this is jealousy, and it is known as “ghibta”.

…This is what competitors should compete for.[275]

I continued:  Envy is extremely disliking the blessings bestowed upon the envied. This is the type of jealousy that bears blame. So, when a person detests something, he feels hurt acknowledging what he hates; this becomes a sickness in his heart; he enjoys it when the envied has their blessings taken away even if this does not result in any benefit to the envious except the single advantage of having the pain that was in his soul removed.

…But the evil plot does not encompass except its own people[276]

He asked: What is the difference between evil occurring from humans and the one that happens from God?

I countered: Evil never comes from God! Evil is not existential matters; existence is pure goodness.

He asked, wanting to know more: How come?

I answered: If a person, for example, beat another person until he loses his ability to move, then he has acquired the attribute of injustice, and injustice is evil. But the presence of strength for someone who grabs a cane and uses it to hit someone else is not wrong. The existence of the will that God has given to him is not wrong as well.

His ability to move his hand is not evil.

The presence of the capacity of beating in the stick is not evil.

All these existential materials are good, and the attribute of evil is not acquired unless it led to harm through its misuse, which is the paralysis in the previous example. Thus, based on that example, the scorpion and snake are not evil if they didn’t bite a person that came in front of them. As such, God Almighty is not credited with evil in His actions for those are pure goodness, but rather in their effects that resulted from the misuse of this goodness by humans.

He said: What about people who were born disabled?

I answered: A fifty-year-old disabled person once said: ‘I now realize the underlying blessing behind the severe accident that left me crippled.

Before the accident, I intended to turn to atheism. I was too distant from God, and I was hell-bent on immigrating to become an atheist. My injury prevented me from fulfilling my wish, and after thirty years of the accident, I thank God for it, and I see it as one of the greatest blessings that God has bestowed upon me, and that it brought me closer to Him. I am certain that myself was wayward enough to make me not return to God except with such an affliction. God knows the souls of His servants even before they are born.

I said to my inquisitor: Since evil is relative and not absolute, life is a test and not a rewarding place, and the reward is as great as the amount of work. So, handling the difficulties is like someone who travels long distances hoping to reach his goal and his beloved.

He asked, wanting to know: What is the evidence for the resurrection?

I explained: The evidence and phenomena of existence all indicate a constant rebuilding and creation in life all around us. The examples are abundant, such as reviving the earth after its death by rain and other examples.

He brings the living out of the dead, and He brings the dead out of the living, and He revives the land after it had died. Likewise, you will be resurrected.[277]

Did you think that We created you in vain, and that to Us you will not be returned?  So Exalted is God, the Ruler, the Real. There is no god except He, the Lord of the Noble Throne.[278]

Another evidence for the resurrection is the interlocked system of the balanced universe; even the infinitesimally small electron cannot travel from one orb to another in the atom unless it gives or takes an amount of energy equal to its movement. How do you imagine in this system that the killer escapes or that the unjust flees without punishment? I uttered.

Do those who perpetrate the evil deeds assume that We will regard them as equal to those who believe and do righteous deeds, whether in their life or their death? Evil is their judgment! God created the heavens and the earth with justice, so that every soul will be repaid for what it has earned. And they will not be wronged.[279]

I went on: Do you not notice that in this life we lose a lot of our relatives and friends and know that we will die like them one day, but we feel deep in our hearts that we shall live forever? If the human body was a material object within the framework of a worldly life within the material laws, there would be no meaning to this innate sense of freedom that the spirit transcends time and overcomes death.

He asked: How can the Creator resurrect them?

I replied: Just as He created them the first time.

O, people! If you are in doubt about the Resurrection: We created you from dust, then from a drop, then from a clinging clot, then from a lump—developed and undeveloped. To clarify things for you. And We settle in the wombs what We will, for a designated term, and then We bring you out as infants. Then you may reach your maturity. Some of you will pass away, and some of you will reach the vilest age, so that after having known he may not know. And you see the earth still, but when We send down water on it, it vibrates and swells, and grows every delightful pair.[280]

Does the human being not consider that We created him from a drop? Yet he becomes a fierce adversary. And he produces arguments against Us, and he forgets his own creation. He says, “Who will revive the bones when they have decayed?” Say, “He who initiated them in the first instance will revive them. And He knows every creation.[281] 

So, observe the impact of God’s mercy: how He revives the earth after its death. That is the Reviver of the dead, and He is capable of all things.[282]

He challenged: Also, how does He hold them all accountable at the same time?

I rejoined: Just as He provides for them all at the same time.

Those who disbelieve argue with false arguments:

In the dialogue that I’ve conducted with a large group of French women working in an international organization, I had difficulty dealing with Muslim women of Arab descents who were among these them. The non-Muslim French women were highly interactive and responded effectively, but on the other hand, I was concerned about the Muslim women.

One of them angrily interrupted me while I was answering a non-Muslim woman who asked a question about the headcover’s ordinance in the Holy Qur’an saying: The headcover is not an obligation in Islam!

I challenged: Do you pray the prayers in their due time?

She answered: No, I do not pray.

I said: Then you are right. Praying for you, in this case, is a priority. Pray first, then come to discuss with me the subject of the headcover’s ordinance.

I could tell that she felt very embarrassed.

Another one interjected: But when a woman is born, she is bareheaded. Hence the principle is to reveal her head.

I challenged: In that case, she must come out completely naked because she is born without any clothes.

She persisted: The headcover is retardation and backwardness.

I challenged: Is there any backwardness beyond Adam's time? Exposing the head itself is the backwardness. Go back to the photos of your grandmother on her way to school, and see what she was wearing. When the swimming suite appeared for the first time, demonstrations took place all over Europe and Australia that were against it because it violated the human nature and traditions not for religious reasons. Therefore, the manufacturing companies embarked on making extensive advertisements using girls at the age of five, wearing it initially to encourage women to wear it. The first girl who walked out wearing it was too ashamed to continue with the show.

At that time, women and men used to swim in white and black swimwear covering their entire bodies.

She countered back: How did you know that?

I replied: I learned it through my university’s education. When I’ve decided to wear the head cover in high school, I had a strong desire to imitate faithful women throughout history who have taken from the veil a symbol of their righteousness, such as the blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of the Messiah and the wives of the Messenger Muhammad.

At that time, I realized that there was no way for me to find something beautiful and elegant for veiled women in the market, so I decided to study fashion design for this purpose.

I elaborated: what is the difference between the veil of the Catholic nun and the Muslim woman's veil? If you looked at both women from the back, you wouldn’t be able to differentiate between them; not until you see them from the front, only then you could tell the difference by noticing if they wear a cross or not. This is the main difference between Muslim and Christian’s creed.

Another one cut in: But the nun is religious, she gave herself to God and renounced marriage.

I asked: So, in your opinion, should we choose between marriage and being religious? Isn’t this an injustice against ourselves and a great disparagement, forcing our souls to struggle between their physical needs and their spiritual ones? That is a slow destruction of the soul and eternal torment in this life and the Hereafter.

She said: But the headcover is not a normal thing for us.

I smiled and said gently: I’ll tell you a symbolic story. There once was a ruler of a village who fell grievously ill, that his nose was amputated because his doctor insisted.

On the following day, the minister came in to check up on the king, but he was so startled by the sight of the nose-less king that he burst out in laughter.

The king was furious and ordered his doctor to cut out the minister's nose.

On the third day, the minister’s assistants laughed at the sight of their minister without a nose. So, the minister got offended and told the king what had happened. So, the king ordered his doctor to chop off the noses of all the ministers.

On the fourth day, the ruler went out with his minister and minister’s assistants to solve some of the people's problems, and the people laughed at them. Therefore, the king decreed that the doctor should also cut off the noses of all people and noses of any newly-born children.

As a result, all folks of the village became without noses. Later, when a natural person, with a healthy nose from another town came to visit their town, everyone pointed at him and jeered: This one has a nose, he is not a normal human being.

The group laughed out loud at the tale, and someone said: Yes, your story has a lot of truth in it.

Another woman asked: Why does a man not cover his beard just as a woman covers her hair? Why is the dress code worn by a man different than a woman’s dress code in Islam? Why do they not cover their bodies in the same way?

I laughed at her question and stated: How peculiar! So why do you wear a two-piece bathing suit, and your husband swims in a one-piece trunk?

The whole group burst out laughing. I continued: A woman covers her hair to ward off sedition; have you heard of a woman raping a man ever in your life?

Women in your countries marsh out in protests demanding for their rights to a safe life without harassment or rape, and we have not heard of a similar demonstration done by men.

One of them had mocked: Why can't a woman be sent as a prophet?

I dared her: Would you want to be sent as a prophet?

She uttered archly: Why not?

I answered: Since your faith is that strong, and you have high endurance, vigor, and determination, then ask God to make you a prophet.

The group laughed again.

Then another lady said: What is the difference between the face cover and headcover?

I clarified: Based on my prior knowledge of their strong reverence to the Virgin Mary, the ones who wear the headcover had emulated the pious women throughout history who took the veil as a symbol of their righteousness such as Virgin Mary, the mother of the Christ, and others.

While the women who put on the face cover are following suit with the Messenger's wives, peace and blessings be upon him.

She said: Why does a man marry four women?

I answered: In France, how many women does a man marry?

She uttered: Only one!

I asked her: And how many mistresses does he keep?

The whole group cried out in one voice while laughing: Too many!

I continued: This situation that you are laughing at is the situation that prevailed before Islam. Islam came to set it right; preserving the rights and dignity of women and transforming them from mistresses into wives who have integrity and rights.

She asked irritably: Who would accept to be a second wife? How can a French woman accept to be a second or third wife?

I replied: Whoever accepts to become a mistress with no rights will prefer to become a wife with secured rights for herself and her children.

A mistress lives a degrading life without rights for her and her children, and, oddly, you accept the concept of ​​relationships without marriage and responsibilities, and children without parents or homosexuality, etc.… while you reject a legal marriage between a man and more than one woman.

She persisted: Why does a woman not have the right to marry four men at the same time, just as a man does?

I clarified: A woman can marry a single or a married man as long as he has less than four wives, and that is her right. In contrast, this right does not apply to a man; as he is only allowed to marry someone who is not married, to protect the rights of children in lineage and inheritance.

She said: The children's rights can be preserved by examining their DNA.

I asked her in surprise:  If you came into the world and found your mother introducing you to your father through this test, what would your psychological state be?

Regardless, how can a woman play the wife of four men with that temperamental moodiness that she has, not to mention the diseases caused by her relationship with more than one man at the same time?

Another woman said: Why are men the guardians of women in Islam?

I clarified: That is esteem for women and an obligation for men taking care of her affairs and fulfilling her needs. A Muslim woman plays the role of a queen that every woman on earth desires.

She countered: But she is not a queen in reality.

I replied: A smart woman chooses what she should be, either an honored queen or a toiler on the side of the road.

She challenged: Have a look at how men misused that guardianship!

I told her gently: This is not a stigma to the guardianship system, but rather to those who misuse it.

She persisted: Look at the men in some Arab countries, how they oppress their wives at home, then go out to the nightclubs to drink wine and dally with women.

I retorted: How many are they? One thousand two thousand three? Do you know the number of Muslims in any of these countries?

She said sharply: Why did the Qur’an allow them to strike the woman?

I clarified: Who said so? Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, never hit a woman in his life. As for the Qur’anic verse that spoke of the beating, it is meant to be a not severe beating in the case of rebellion, just like when you nudge your son's shoulder when you wake him up from a deep sleep so that he does not miss his test.

I continued: Let’s say that you found your daughter standing at the edge of the window to fling herself off. Unintentionally, your hands will reach out to her to grab her and push her backwards so that she does not hurt herself.

That is what is intended here by beating a woman; to prevent her from spoiling her life and destroying her children's future. Of course, that is only after several stages, as mentioned in the verse.

As for those from whom you fear disloyalty, admonish them, and abandon them in their beds, then strike them. But if they obey you, seek no way against them. God is Sublime, Great.[283]

She said: Why does the woman not hit her husband if he misbehaved?

I explained: If she can take her right on her own, she can do so; but that may cause another harmful effect. But the woman is weak in general; Islam has given her the right to resort to the judiciary.