Summary of the lecture delivered by Dr. Zakir Naik of Bombay, India, on "The misconceptions about Islam", on
Friday, November 26, 1999 at the Rakkah Stadium, Dammam, under the aegis of the Islamic Dawah and Guidance
Center, Dammam.
The meeting was coordinated by Mr. Ahmed Nooruddin of New York.
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Dear brothers and sisters, As-salaam-u-alaikum-wa-rahmatullah-wa-barkat-hu. May peace be with you and may
God's mercy and blessings be on you.
It is my honor to be here for the third time in three years.
The topic of my lecture today is "Misconceptions about Islam". It is the duty of every Muslim to help remove some
of the misconceptions non-Muslims have about Islam. By engaging in a dialogue with the non-Muslims, you will
help lessen the level of anti-Muslim feelings in their hearts. These misconceptions prevent non-Muslims from seeing
the beauty of Islam.
Some of the methods of conveying the message of Islam are effective and some are ineffective. The best way to
start a dialogue is to first ask them: "What is it that you do not like about Islam". This opening makes them feel
comfortable to talk to you. Also, it gives you a good chance to know what they have to say about Islam in their
own words.
I have found from my lecture tours around the world that these misconceptions hinge around only 20 issues, by and
large. I will try to cover as many of them today in the one hour I have to deliver my talk. I will also suggest ways you
may tackle them.
There may be one or two issues that may be unique to Singapore, or Malaysia, Canada, etc, but essentially the
various issues can be grouped into only twenty. These issues change from time to time. What I will be listing are
issues that non-Muslims of today bring up. Twenty years ago, these were not the issues... there were other issues.
Similarly, twenty years from now, there will be different issues that will come up.
So if you master the answers to these typical questions about today's misconceptions about Islam, you can help
remove most of them from the hearts and minds of your non-Muslim friends. However, most lay non-Muslims have
only about four or five issues they dislike about Islam; so it is not difficult for you to remove this animosity they have
against Islam.
Misconception # 1: It is not civilized to have more than one wife at a time.
Reply: The only religious book that says: "... then marry only once" is the Quran, the holy book of the Muslims. This
injunction is not found in the Christian Bible in the Hindu Geeta, or in the Jewish holy book etc. In the Bible there are
so many references to various prophets and kings who had numerous wives. Abraham had three wives, while King
Solomon had seven hundred wives, etc. In the Hindu literature the various gods have hundreds of wives. Krishna had
one thousand women and concubines. Similarly, the Jews used to marry more than once, till as late as the 1950s.
None of these faiths regulated the number of wives a man could have at a time. Only Islam limits the wives to four.
The monogamy that the Christians, the Hindus, and Jews practice today, is not from their religion, but from their
government. So the issue of monogamy has no religious significance; it is a man-made rule. Monogamy was the
result of an act of parliament, not their faith. Example: The Indian Parliament in 1954 passed the Hindu Marriage
Act prohibiting the Hindu male from taking up more than one wife. The Jewish Rabbis in the 10th Century AD made
monogamy a rule, although it was not enforced till as late as the 1950s. Similarly, the European countries and the
American government passed laws to make monogamy the rule in their lands some time ago. Mormons still marry
more than once.
In Surah Nissah God allows a Muslim to marry, one, two, three or four women as long as he can do justice between
them. If the man can't do justice, the exhortation for him is: "... then marry only once".
Marrying more than once is not compulsory, but only an option to tide over unique circumstances that societies face
from time to time. You will find in many societies today that the ratio between females and males is not 50:50. There
are more females than males in Europe, USA and elsewhere. On the other hand, in India, because of the rampant
female fetus abortions, the number of females is dropping, and a crisis is in the making, as not enough number of
females will be available for Hindu men to marry a few years from now.
The option for women in countries with a bigger female ratio than male is to share a husband with another women, to
remain single, or to become public property. "Become public property" is a decent phrase I'm using for what it really
means. Ask any woman who cannot find an unmarried man to marry, if it is a better choice to share a husband with
another woman, to remain single, or to become a mere mistress. As a lawfully wedded wife she will get the same
right as the first wife, get legal status for herself and her children, get inheritance rights for herself and her children,
and most importantly, get respect and dignity. Becoming a mistress is no choice. In the West becoming a mistress
or a girlfriend is no problem, but becoming a second wife is totally unacceptable. The government will come after you,
the society will come after you...
Misconception # 2: There is no equality between genders in Islam, as Islam gives men the right to have
more than one wife, but does it not give the same right to women to have more than one husband.
Reply: Islam does not approve of polyandry, i.e., a woman taking up more than one husband. It is the male whose
children the women bear. If a woman had multiple husbands, it would not be easy to know who is the biological father
of the child. When a child is conceived, God puts love and affection in the hearts of the parents so that they can bring
up the child. Without this love, life cannot be sustained. But if there was dispute about who really has fathered the
child, there would be no love in the heart of the fathers. Psychologists say that children who grow up without knowing
who their father is, are lacking in stability and maturity. These days because of scientific progress in DNA testing,
one can say who the father is; but these tests were not available for mankind till now. Islam has historically provided
for peace and stability in the family, not discord.
