When a woman's marriage ends, the Quran requires her to observe a waiting period, which it calls an interim, before she may marry again. The length depends on her situation. For a widow, the rule appears in the second sura: [2:234] Those who die and leave wives, their widows shall wait four months and ten … Continue reading Can the Quran Explain Itself Without Hadith? The Pregnant Widow Dilemma (2:234 & 65:4)
Jesus Declares Himself a Liar in Sahih Hadith (Hadith vs. Quran)
Imagine a man of unquestioned honesty who watches a theft unfold before his eyes. The thief, confronted, swears by God that he did nothing. The witness then turns around and declares that he is the one who has lied. Few would call that humility. Most would call it a collapse of both truth and justice. … Continue reading Jesus Declares Himself a Liar in Sahih Hadith (Hadith vs. Quran)
Three False Equivalences in the Defense of Hadith
When Sunnis diminish the Quran to elevate the Hadith When traditionalists are challenged on the authenticity, reliability, or internal consistency of the Hadith corpus, the response often shifts away from defending those problems on their own terms. Instead, the discussion shifts to a challenge to the Quran: it too is said to produce disagreements, contain … Continue reading Three False Equivalences in the Defense of Hadith
A Hundred Years in Herodotus and the Hadith
In the spring of 480 BC, Xerxes stood at Abydos and looked out over the Hellespont. The strait was covered with his ships; the shore and every plain around the city were dark with men. Herodotus tells us the Persian king congratulated himself on his good fortune—and then, a moment later, he wept. His uncle … Continue reading A Hundred Years in Herodotus and the Hadith
Who Are the Baddies? Apostasy, Coercion, and the Mirror the Quran Holds Up to Today’s Islam
There is a famous comedy sketch by Mitchell and Webb in which two Nazi soldiers, mid-battle, pause to notice the skull-and-crossbones insignia on their helmets. One turns to the other and asks the question that has apparently never occurred to them before: "Are we the baddies?" It is a devastatingly simple joke. But it captures … Continue reading Who Are the Baddies? Apostasy, Coercion, and the Mirror the Quran Holds Up to Today’s Islam
The Failure of Asbāb al-Nuzūl (Cause of Revelation Hadith)
Sunni Muslims often argue that the Hadith is necessary for understanding the context of the Quranic verses. Within the classical Islamic sciences, this genre is known as asbab al-nuzul — literally "the occasions of revelation" or "the causes of descent." Its intended purpose is to document the specific historical circumstances, events, and questions that allegedly … Continue reading The Failure of Asbāb al-Nuzūl (Cause of Revelation Hadith)
Sunni Apologists Continue to Perpetuate the Very Deception Their Tradition Claims to Protect Against
The Unchanging Nature of Human Behavior One of the most important insights in historical study is that human nature doesn't change—only the environment does. The ancients were not a different species; they possessed the same cognitive capacity, emotional impulses, biases, temptations, ambitions, and insecurities as people today. Whether we examine Babylonian school tablets, Roman letters, … Continue reading Sunni Apologists Continue to Perpetuate the Very Deception Their Tradition Claims to Protect Against
The Night Journey and Ascension: How Jewish Folklore Became Sunni Doctrine
In Sunni Islamic tradition, the Isrāʾ wal-Miʿrāj (الإسراء والمعراج) refers to two separate but interconnected miraculous events that are said to have occurred in a single night — the Night Journey (al-Isrāʾ) and the Ascension (al-Miʿrāj). According to Sunni accounts, this journey began in Mecca, when Muhammad is said to have been visited by the … Continue reading The Night Journey and Ascension: How Jewish Folklore Became Sunni Doctrine
The Many Incoherencies of Ibn Hanbal
Few figures in Islamic history embody incoherency as completely as Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (780 – 855 CE). He is venerated as the purest defender of prophetic tradition, a martyr of the Mihna who resisted the Abbasid Caliph al-Maʾmūn’s demand to declare the Quran “created.” Yet beneath that saintly veneer lies a theology built on suspicion … Continue reading The Many Incoherencies of Ibn Hanbal
Cultivate Your Garden: Lessons from Voltaire and the Quran
In 1759, at the height of the Enlightenment—when European philosophers preached that reason would perfect humanity and history marched inevitably toward paradise—Voltaire published a novel called Candide to serve as a scathing critique of this naive optimism. In this book, the hero is dragged through every conceivable horror—war, plague, earthquakes, and executions—yet ends not with … Continue reading Cultivate Your Garden: Lessons from Voltaire and the Quran
