MUHAMMAD AND THE SNAKES!
by Silas
A young Muslim man returns home and
finds his wife standing near the door.
He assumes immediately she’s an adulterer and raises his weapon to kill
her. But she warns him that something
dangerous is within their house. The man
rushes in and on the bed is a large snake.
The man attacks the snake and kills it, but during the struggle he is
also bitten, both die quickly.
Snakes kill people, people kill
snakes. There is nothing uncommon about
it; its been happening for thousands of years.
So, what is unusual about this
instance?
Muhammad had some very unusual
things to say about this event. As you
read Muhammad’s words try to determine if he relied upon his own ideas, upon
Allah's wisdom, or perhaps another source of information? Think about his statements, then decide if
he was superstitious, irrational, or telling the truth.
PRESENTATION
OF MATERIAL
The following are a collection of
Hadith from several Islamic sources.
Each one contains a unique detail that I feel is necessary to present
the overall picture. Try to form a
composite in your mind of what Muhammad intended.
(1) From Muslim's collection of Hadith [1],
Book 026, Number 5557:
Abu as-Sa'ib, the freed slaved of
Hisham b. Zuhra, said that he visited Abu Sa'id Khudri in his house, (and he
further) said: I found him saying his prayer, so I sat down waiting for him to
finish his prayer when I heard a stir in the bundles (of wood) lying in a comer
of the house. I looked towards it and found a snake. I jumped up in order to
kill it, but he (Abu Sa'id Khudri) made a gesture that I should sit down. So I
sat down and as he finished (the prayer) he pointed to a room in the house and
said: Do you see this room? I said: Yes. He said: There was a young man amongst
us who had been newly wedded. We went with Allah's Messenger (to participate in
the Battle) of Trench when a young man in the midday used to seek permission
from Allah's Messenger to return to his family. One day he sought permission
from him and Allah's Messenger (after granting him the permission) said to him:
Carry your weapons with you for I fear the tribe of Quraiza (may harm you). The
man carried the weapons and then came back and found his wife standing between
the two doors. He bent towards her smitten by jealousy and made a dash towards
her with a spear in order to stab her. She said: Keep your spear away and enter
the house until you see that which has made me come out. He entered and found a
big snake coiled on the bedding. He darted with the spear and pierced it and
then went out having fixed it in the house, but the snake quivered and attacked
him and no one knew which of them died first, the snake or the young man. We
came to Allah's Apostle and made a mention to him and said: Supplicate to Allah
that that (man) may be brought back to life. Thereupon he said: Ask forgiveness
for your companion and then said: There are in Medina “Jinns”
who have accepted Islam, so when you see any one of them, pronounce a warning
to it for three days, and if they appear before you after that, then kill it
for that is a devil.
NOTE: If you don’t know what “Jinn” are, see the link below for further
information.
http://answering-islam.org/Index/J/jinn.html
(2) From Muslim's collection of Hadith Book
026, Number 5558:
Asma' b. 'Ubaid reported about a
person who was called as-Sa'ib having said: We visited Abu Sa'id Khudri. When
we had been sitting (with him) we heard a stir under his bed. When we looked we
found a big snake, the rest of the hadith is the same. And in this Allah's
Messenger is reported to have said: Verily in these houses there live aged
(snakes), so when you see one of them, make life hard for it for three days,
and if it goes away (well and good), otherwise kill it for (in that case) it
would be a nonbeliever. And he (the Holy Prophet) said (to his Companions):
Go and bury your companion (who had died by the snake bite).
(3) Sunan of Abu Dawud, Book 41, Number 5236:
Narrated
Abu Sa'id al-Khudri:
Muhammad
ibn Abu Yahya said that his father told that he and his companion went to Abu
Sa'id al-Khudri to pay a sick visit to him. He said: Then we came out from him
and met a companion of ours who wanted to go to him. We went ahead and sat in
the mosque. He then came back and told us that he heard Abu Sa'id al-Khudri
say: The Apostle of Allah said: Some
snakes are jinn; so when anyone sees one of them in his house, he should give
it a warning three times. [4521]. If it return (after that), he should kill it, for it is a
devil.
Hasan’s note 4521 states:
The verb means to make things
difficult. It means that one should
tell the snake three times that it will be in difficulties if it returns. It should not blame one if it is driven away
and killed. The warning should be given
for three days. There is a difference
of opinion whether it should be given three times or for three days. What is agreed is that it should be given
three times for three days.
(4) Sunan of Abu Dawud, Book 41, Number 5240:
Narrated
AbdurRahman Ibn Abu Layla:
The
Apostle of Allah was asked about the
house-snakes. He said: When you see one of them in your dwelling,
say: I adjure you by the covenant
which Noah made with you, and I adjure you by the covenant which Solomon made
with you not to harm us. Then if they come back, kill them.
(5) Sunan of Abu
Dawud Book 41, Number 5229:
Narrated
Abdullah ibn Mas'ud:
The Prophet
said: Kill all the snakes, and he who fears their revenge does
not belong to me.
(6) Sahih Muslim, Book 026, Number 5544:
Salim, on the authority of his
father. reported Allah's Apostle as saying: Kill the snakes having stripes over
them and short-tailed snakes, for these two types cause miscarriage (of a
pregnant woman) and they affect the eyesight adversely. So Ibn 'Umar used to
kill every snake that he found. Abu Lubaba b. 'Abd al-Mundhir and Zaid b.
Khattab saw him pursuing a snake, whereupon he said: They were forbidden (to
kill) those snakes who live in houses.
(7) Sunan of Abu Dawud, Number 5232:
Ibn Umar
reported the Apostle of Allah as saying:
Kill snakes, kill those which have two streaks and those with small
tails, for they obliterate he eyesight and cause miscarriage. [4519].
Salim said: Abd Allah used to kill every snake which he
found. Abu Lubabah or Zaid b.
al-Khattab saw him chasing a snake. He
said: He (the Prophet) prohibited
killing house snakes. [4520]
Hasan’s note 4519 says,
They were poisonous snakes and
caused harm to people. The people are
commanded to kill them.
Hasan’s note 4520 says,
The version of al-Bukhari and Muslim
has: For they are resident jinn.
(8) Sahih Muslim, Book 026, Number 5559:
Abu Sa'id
Khudri reported Allah's Messenger having said: There is a group of Jinns in
Medina who accepted Islam, so he who would see anything from these occupants
should warn him three times; and if he appears after that, he should kill him
for he is a Satan. [2607]
Siddiqi’s note 2607 reads:
It is on the basis of this hadith
that some of the scholars are of the opinion that it is not proper to kill
snakes of Medina without issuing them a grim warning with these words: “adjure you in
the name of that Covenant which Hadrat Sulaiman took from you that you should
not harm us and do not appear again.” This is not essential for any other place besides Medina. The reason for this is that some of the
Jinns had embraced Islam and they lived in the houses and at times assumed the
form of big snakes. (Nawawi, Vol II, p.
234).
Muhammad had commanded the killing
of all snakes, except those that lived in houses. Additionally, Muhammad believed that some "Jinn" had
received Islam and somehow turned into snakes. These “Muslim” snakes inhabited homes. If a Muslim snake was found in a home by the human Muslims, they
were to warn the Muslim snakes for three days.
The Muslims were to say, “I adjure you by
the covenant which Noah made with you, and I adjure you by the covenant which
Solomon made with you not to harm us.” If
the snakes left the home, well and good, but if they remained in the house,
they were to be killed because they are “the devil”, i.e. evil, non-Muslim
snakes, perhaps real snakes, perhaps a emissary of Satan.
As I read and study the Hadith I am
struck over and over again at Muhammad’s extreme superstition. Fear and superstition permeated his
theology. Now, for some strange reason
he believed that Jinn had received Islam and morphed into snakes. You can’t blame these Muslim snakes for
wanting to live in homes can you? But,
Muhammad didn’t want these Muslim snakes to live in human Muslim homes, so he
ordered his followers to warn and trouble the snakes in order to drive them
out.
Aren’t people who carry on like this
put into mental hospitals?
Let me ask you. If you saw someone carrying on a
conversation with a large, strange snake in his house, that could be poisonous,
what would you think? Or, what would
you think if a friend or co-worker told you about finding a large snake in his
home and he was now “warning” it? Try
it for yourself…. Speak to one of your friends at work and tell him, as
seriously as possible, that you’re talking with a potentially dangerous snake,
because it could be a Muslim snake, and you’re intending to do this for three
days. Watch his reaction!
Let’s not forget the story about the
poor young Muslim man who died from the snake bite. Imagine if he had allowed the snake to remain in his house for 3
days. It could have bitten his wife or
other visitors to the home.
You don’t need to be a herpetologist
to know that Muhammad has some serious problems.
Here are some
issues to be considered.
1) First of all, not all outdoor snakes
are harmful. Many of them are in fact
quite beneficial to humanity. They kill
destructive pests like rodents. What’s
the point in killing beneficial snakes?
2) Second, what does that say with respect
to Islam and the destruction of a beneficial species of animal?
3) Third, isn’t it quite bizarre for
people to be talking with snakes?
Muhammad was a superstitious man, in the Quran he has Solomon talking
with ants. But here, the stakes are a
bit higher – i.e. they are Muslim snakes.
I’d hate to see a Muslim try talking with poisonous snake. Definitely not a good idea. It might make for a good comedy, or “world’s
most dangerous stunts” type show, but certainly not a good idea for a real life
situation.
4) Snakes have poor ability to hear. If Muhammad were really led by God wouldn’t
he have used a more reliable form of communication with the snakes? After all, the motive was to communicate
effectively with the snakes and warn them or drive them away.
5) Should we assume that snakes, at least
the snakes in question, understood Arabic?
Especially the Arabic dialect of the home in which he chose to live?
6) Normally snakes don’t “live” in
homes. If Jinn has morphed into snakes,
would they would live as snakes? Snakes
avoid contact with humans.
7) Do you really think that by speaking to
a snake and referencing Solomon and Noah, that that would prohibit the snake
from biting you or anyone else? Are the
Muslims willing to give it a try? I’m
sure there are many cobras in India that are available for the job.
From the World Book
Encyclopedia entry on Snakes, pages 524 – 536, (1993 edition).
Throughout history, snakes have been
the subjects of many myths and superstitions.
The fear of snakes results from a lack of knowledge about the
animals. Most snakes are harmless to
people. In addition, snakes are helpful
in controlling rats and other rodents.
The main value of
snakes is that they form part of the environment and help preserve the balance
of nature. … Snake venom has several
uses in medicine and biological research.
… Certain pain-killing drugs are
prepared from neurotoxins in venom.
Researches use the powerful enzymes in venom to break down complex
proteins for biochemical studies.
Of course there are many in depth
books and articles about snakes. If you
want to learn more about them do some research. Unfortunately for Muhammad, he only had his myths and
superstitions to go on. As a result, he
ordered the killing of many beneficial creatures.
Here is some additional information
from a article found on the web.
http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/995_snakes.html
About 8,000 people a year receive
venomous bites in the United States; nine to 15 victims die. Some experts say
that because victims can't always positively identify a snake, they should seek
prompt care for any bite, though they may think the snake is nonpoisonous. Even
a bite from a so-called "harmless" snake can cause an infection or
allergic reaction in some people.
Though poisonous snakes can be dangerous, snake venom may have a positive side. Clinical trials are presently under way to test the therapeutic value of a venom-derived product called ancrod in treating stroke. Earlier proposals, using snake venom to treat neuromuscular disorders such as multiple sclerosis, never reached the clinical trial stage.
If you come across a snake in your
house, be careful. It may be
poisonous. Do not follow Muhammad’s
advice and “warn” it for 3 days. If
need be, call the fire department, or, animal society representative (the names
of such agencies vary from State to State), or even the police department. If you follow Muhammad’s advice you, or your
children, or friends, could be bitten by the snake. If the snake is poisonous the bite could prove fatal especially to
small children.
Muhammad’s irrational statements on Jinn and snakes stemmed from his lack of knowledge and superstition. Where he got the idea of Jinn turning into snakes is beyond me. But we see that his commands to kill all snakes is detrimental to the environment. Further, his command to warn dangerous snakes is potentially harmful to people that follow and obey him.
My question to the Muslims is this: why put your trust in the teachings of this man? Are you going to entrust your eternity to someone who taught that people should dialog with snakes?
This prayer is written for
anyone. This includes Muslims who are
seeking the truth and who want to know God in a personal way.
“Lord Jesus, I believe in You. I believe that You are the Son of God and the Lord. I believe that You died for my sins and were
raised from the dead. I confess that I
am a sinner and I ask You to come into my heart, cleanse me from my sins, and
forgive me for my sins. I turn to follow
and obey You – I put my faith in you. I
now receive You as Messiah and Lord and totally commit my life to You.”
Amen.
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Rev A: 10/30/02
Articles by Silas
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