Robert Spencer: Islam as a peaceful religion is "hogwash".

I don't quite understand what you mean that it's apologetic and nonsense. I don't think muslim scholars can create history and have that be accepted as truth by a unanimous response.

If you want to discuss the issue of polygamy, we can go to the wars that happened throughout the world and see that after the men of the family were killed during battles, their family came to a ruin. The widows, in some instances were degraded and were sold into slavery as well as their children. The practice began in Islam to stop such actions and marry the widows so that their honor can be retained.
To make sure that such practices can only be secluded to kind of situations described above, the Quran has made restrictions on polygamy to a point that it is very unlikely for any man to follow it through as it should be followed.

And if he doesn't, that will go against his account on the Day of Judgment (according to islamic belief) and that in itself is a fearful factor for all Muslims. Now, if someone disregards his duties, marries another woman, does not treat them equally (sexually, financially, emotionally), that's between him and God.

I think it is impossible for a man to marry more than one woman in this society.

Where is the nonsense in this response?

Originally posted by SamiKismet
I don't quite understand what you mean that it's apologetic and nonsense. I don't think muslim scholars can create history and have that be accepted as truth by a unanimous response.

If you want to discuss the issue of polygamy, we can go to the wars that happened throughout the world and see that after the men of the family were killed during battles, their family came to a ruin. The widows, in some instances were degraded and were sold into slavery as well as their children. The practice began in Islam to stop such actions and marry the widows so that their honor can be retained.
To make sure that such practices can only be secluded to kind of situations described above, the Quran has made restrictions on polygamy to a point that it is very unlikely for any man to follow it through as it should be followed.

And if he doesn't, that will go against his account on the Day of Judgment (according to islamic belief) and that in itself is a fearful factor for all Muslims. Now, if someone disregards his duties, marries another woman, does not treat them equally (sexually, financially, emotionally), that's between him and God.

I think it is impossible for a man to marry more than one woman in this society.

Where is the nonsense in this response?

Well if Mohammed had the left the pagans alone like they asked they would have not needed to do that in the first place.

Furthermore why is polygamy still allowed now? As far as I know long after the battles there were muslims who were allowed more than one wife.

Originally posted by Alfheim
Well if Mohammed had the left the pagans alone like they asked they would have not needed to do that in the first place.

Furthermore why is polygamy still allowed now? As far as I know long after the battles there were muslims who were allowed more than one wife.

For your first response, I do not have an answer simply because I know close to nothing about history of how Islam spread across the globe. I do know, however, that in the beginning, before Muslims were ordained by God to take part in war, Prophet Muhammad's family and any follower who was left in Medinah were kicked out of their homeland into the desert where many suffered and died. Furthermore, anyone who was a Muslim was tortured, forced to refute his/her beliefs, and if the person did not, death was the final destination. Until that time (I am not aware of dates as I mentioned my lack of information on detailed history), the followers of Prophet Muhammad mentioned their desire to retaliate but he did not heed them because he did not receive any such proclamation from God. Later on he received the revelation which told him to protect the Muslims because they were being tortured and such in places where they were hated. Note that until then, there was not any "war" that took place. After the revelation, however, was when they were to fight those who oppressed them. And you can see the rules that were ordained for those who fought about how to treat POWs and women and children during that time.

In historical records, you can see that when Prophet Muhammad and his men conquered Medinah, he did not allow for any injustice to be done to them. But that is another topic for another time.

Now, to answer your second inquiry, it is important to understand that Muslims follow the Quran which was ascended throughout the time when Prophet Muhammad was receiving revelations and the like. And because the entire Quran was revealed piece by piece, little by little all rules and regulations, and belief systems were being relayed to the followers. As events came by, there were revelations to eradicate any false notions and misconceptions that might lead a Muslim astray. Therefore, during those revelations was when Muslim men were allowed to marry more than one wife because of the reasons I described in my previous post.

The Quran does not say one thing at say something else at another point. As far as the Islamic time period is concerned, wars happened during and after, and so women and children were left helpless at all times. But, God knew what atrocities humans are capable of so he forced conditions upon polygamy (of course, during the time of the Prophet) so that one's intention to marry more than one wife is strictly for the sake of God and not for his own desire for wordly pleasures.

All the conditions in the Quran that were imposed centuries earlier are still in use today because that is the main text Muslims follow to guide them in their beliefs.

Hope that answered your question.