Rebuttal to Jochen Katz's Article, "Abdullah's Breasts: How to concoct a perversion"
by
Bassam Zawadi
Jochen Katz's article can be found here. I want to let the readers know that most of Jochen's article has already been refuted here and that I am only interested in addressing a few unanswered points.
Jochen Katz said:
The Arabic word for a woman's breasts is "thadee". A Muslim medical doctor will provide us with an authoritative definition. Dr. Nori al-Mudars, head of the Department of Radiological Diagnosis, University of Damascus, Syria, states:
" الثدي هو العضو الذي ميز الله سبحانه و تعالى به المرأة عن الرجل، و هو رمز الأمومة و رمز الأنوثة "
The breasts (thadee) are the organ by which Allah Almighty differentiates between men and women. It is the symbol of motherhood and the symbol of femininity. (Arabic source, translation ours)
With this established, let us now turn to the authoritative hadiths:
3159 - حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ بَشَّارٍ حَدَّثَنَا مُعَاذُ بْنُ هَانِئٍ أَبُو هَانِئٍ الْيَشْكُرِيُّ حَدَّثَنَا جَهْضَمُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ عَنْ يَحْيَى بْنِ أَبِي كَثِيرٍ عَنْ زَيْدِ بْنِ سَلَّامٍ عَنْ أَبِي سَلَّامٍ عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ عَايِشٍ الْحَضْرَمِيِّ أَنَّهُ حَدَّثَهُ عَنْ مَالِكِ بْنِ يَخَامِرَ السَّكْسَكِيِّ عَنْ مُعَاذِ بْنِ جَبَلٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ
احْتُبِسَ عَنَّا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ذَاتَ غَدَاةٍ عَنْ صَلَاةِ الصُّبْحِ حَتَّى كِدْنَا نَتَرَاءَى عَيْنَ الشَّمْسِ فَخَرَجَ سَرِيعًا فَثُوِّبَ بِالصَّلَاةِ فَصَلَّى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَتَجَوَّزَ فِي صَلَاتِهِ فَلَمَّا سَلَّمَ دَعَا بِصَوْتِهِ فَقَالَ لَنَا عَلَى مَصَافِّكُمْ كَمَا أَنْتُمْ ثُمَّ انْفَتَلَ إِلَيْنَا ثُمَّ قَالَ أَمَا إِنِّي سَأُحَدِّثُكُمْ مَا حَبَسَنِي عَنْكُمْ الْغَدَاةَ أَنِّي قُمْتُ مِنْ اللَّيْلِ فَتَوَضَّأْتُ وَصَلَّيْتُ مَا قُدِّرَ لِي فَنَعَسْتُ فِي صَلَاتِي فَاسْتَثْقَلْتُ فَإِذَا أَنَا بِرَبِّي تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى فِي أَحْسَنِ صُورَةٍ فَقَالَ يَا مُحَمَّدُ قُلْتُ لَبَّيْكَ رَبِّ قَالَ فِيمَ يَخْتَصِمُ الْمَلَأُ الْأَعْلَى قُلْتُ لَا أَدْرِي رَبِّ قَالَهَا ثَلَاثًا قَالَ فَرَأَيْتُهُ وَضَعَ كَفَّهُ بَيْنَ كَتِفَيَّ حَتَّى وَجَدْتُ بَرْدَ أَنَامِلِهِ بَيْنَ ثَدْيَي َّ فَتَجَلَّى لِي كُلُّ شَيْءٍ وَعَرَفْتُ فَقَالَ يَا مُحَمَّدُ قُلْتُ لَبَّيْكَ رَبِّ قَالَ فِيمَ يَخْتَصِمُ الْمَلَأُ الْأَعْلَى قُلْتُ فِي الْكَفَّارَاتِ قَالَ مَا هُنَّ قُلْتُ مَشْيُ الْأَقْدَامِ إِلَى الْجَمَاعَاتِ وَالْجُلُوسُ فِي الْمَسَاجِدِ بَعْدَ الصَّلَوَاتِ وَإِسْبَاغُ الْوُضُوءِ فِي الْمَكْرُوهَاتِ قَالَ ثُمَّ فِيمَ قُلْتُ إِطْعَامُ الطَّعَامِ وَلِينُ الْكَلَامِ وَالصَّلَاةُ بِاللَّيْلِ وَالنَّاسُ نِيَامٌ قَالَ سَلْ قُلْ اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ فِعْلَ الْخَيْرَاتِ وَتَرْكَ الْمُنْكَرَاتِ وَحُبَّ الْمَسَاكِينِ وَأَنْ تَغْفِرَ لِي وَتَرْحَمَنِي وَإِذَا أَرَدْتَ فِتْنَةَ قَوْمٍ فَتَوَفَّنِي غَيْرَ مَفْتُونٍ أَسْأَلُكَ حُبَّكَ وَحُبَّ مَنْ يُحِبُّكَ وَحُبَّ عَمَلٍ يُقَرِّبُ إِلَى حُبِّكَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ إِنَّهَا حَقٌّ فَادْرُسُوهَا ثُمَّ تَعَلَّمُوهَا
قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيحٌ سَأَلْتُ مُحَمَّدَ بْنَ إِسْمَعِيلَ عَنْ هَذَا الْحَدِيثِ فَقَالَ هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيحٌ و قَالَ هَذَا أَصَحُّ مِنْ حَدِيثِ الْوَلِيدِ بْنِ مُسْلِمٍ
An online edition of the Arabic hadith is available here. The word highlighted in red is "thadee". On the ALIM CD-ROM Version this hadith is translated as follows:
Narrated Mu'adh ibn Jabal
Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) was detained one morning from observing the dawn prayer (in congregation) along with us till the sun had almost appeared on the horizon. He then came out hurriedly and Iqamah for prayer was observed and he conducted it (prayer) in brief form. When he had concluded the prayer by saying As-salamu alaykum wa Rahmatullah, he called out to us saying: Remain in your places as you were. Then turning to us he said: I am going to tell you what detained me from you (on account of which I could not join you in the prayer) in the morning. I got up in the night and performed ablution and observed the prayer as had been ordained for me. I dozed in my prayer till I was overcome by (sleep) and lo, I found myself in the presence of my Lord, the Blessed and the Glorious, in the best form. He said: Muhammad! I said: At Thy service, my Lord. He said: What these highest angels contend about? I said: I do not know. He repeated it thrice. He said: Then I saw Him put his palms between my shoulder blades till I felt the coldness of HIS FINGERS between the two sides of my chest. Then everything was illuminated for me and I could recognize everything. He said: Muhammad! I said: At Thy service, my Lord. He said: What do these high angels contend about? I said: In regard to expiations. He said: What are these? I said: Going on foot to join congregational prayers, sitting in the mosques after the prayers, performing ablution well despite difficulties. He again said: Then what do they contend? I said: In regard to the ranks. He said: What are these? I said: Providing of food, speaking gently, observing the prayer when the people are asleep. He again said to me: Beg (Your Lord) and say: O Allah, I beg of Thee (power) to do good deeds, and abandon abominable deeds, to love the poor, that Thou forgive me and show mercy to me and when Thou intendst to put people to trial Thou causes me to die unblemished and I beg of Thee Thy love and the love of one who loves Thee and the love for the deed which brings me near to Thy love. Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) said: It is a truth, so learn it and teach it. Transmitted by Ahmad, Tirmidhi who said: This is a hasan sahih hadith and I asked Muhammad ibn Isma'il about this hadith and he said: It is a sahih hadith. (Tirmidhi Hadith, Number 245; ALIM CD-ROM Version; emphasis mine)
Instead of rendering the word "thadee" as (woman's) breasts, i.e. writing "I felt the coldness of his fingers between my breasts", they fudged the issue and wrote "... between the two sides of my chest". Could it be that the Muslim translators were too embarrassed to translate the word "thadee" in the Arabic text correctly?
Whatever the reason for this particular translation, this hadith clearly shows that Muhammad had female breasts.[5] Again, this makes perfect sense when we compare it with Sura 94:1. Before Muhammad's breast enlargement (near the beginning of his prophetic career) the generic word "sader" is used. After this enlargement procedure we find that the hadith now uses "thadee" in reference to Muhammad's breasts. There seems to be little room for doubt that Allah enlarged Muhammad's "sader" into becoming a pair of true "thadee".
My Response:
I don't know whom to blame. Jochen's Arabic translator for being ignorant about Arabic and not letting Jochen know that the Arabic word Thadee could be used for both men and women or blame Jochen for not asking several reliable people who know Arabic to make sure what the word Thadee means?
Regardless of who is blamed, the issue needs to be sorted out. Let's see what some of the most reliable Arabic dictionaries have to say about the word Thadee.
Al Muhbatt dictionary says:
غُدَّةٌ ثابتةٌ في صدر الرجل والمرأة
A fixed gland in the chest of the man and woman. (Source)
Muhbatt al-Muhbatt dictionary says:
الثَّدْي معروف , يذكر ويؤنث , وهو للمرأَة والرجل أَيضاً
The Thadee is known. It can be male or female, and it is for both women and men. (Source)
Al Ghaneey dictionary says:
(يُذَكَّرُ وَيُؤَنَّثُ)
It can either be male or female. (Source)
Lisaan al-Arab dictionary says:
ويُطلَق على ما يقابلهُ في الرجل
. and can also refer to the man. (Source)
So, as we can see, the Arabic word Thadee is not exclusive to women. Thus, Jochen has failed to muster up an argument against Islam just as Abdullah Smith has done against the Bible. (see here and here)
Jochen's translator failed to inform Jochen about the context in which the doctor was speaking over here. The doctor was talking about breast implant procedures for women and so on. Thus, the word Thadee used in that context referred to the woman. However, that does not mean it can only refer to the woman.
Thus, Jochen has failed here.
However, the ignoramus Jochen is worthy of blame for failing to understand the meaning of Surah 94, Verse 1, since there are a good number of commentaries in English that he could have checked.
Ibn Kathir states:
(Have We not opened your breast for you) meaning, `have We not opened your chest for you.' This means, `We illuminated it, and We made it spacious, vast and wide.' (Source)
Al Suyuti states:
Did We not expand (an interrogative meant as an affirmative, in other words, 'We did [indeed] expand') your breast for you, O Muhammad (s), by means of prophethood and otherwise, (Jalal ud-Din Siyuti, Tafsir al-Jalalayn, Commentary on Surah 94:1, Source)
Ibn Abbaas states:
And from his narration on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas that he said concerning the interpretation of Allah's saying (Have We not caused thy bosom to dilate): '(Have We not caused thy bosom to dilate) this is in conjunction with His saying (Did He not find thee destitute and enrich (thee)?), and so Allah says: did We not open your heart for Islam? i.e. did We not soften your heart on the Day of the Covenant through knowledge, understanding, help, reason and certainty, as well as with other things? It is also said this means: did We not expand your heart through prophethood? And the Prophet (pbuh) said: "Yes, indeed!" (Ibn Abbaas, Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn 'Abbâs, Commentary on Surah 94:1, Source)
Thus, we see that the Prophet's chest did not expand in the literal sense that Jochen wants the readers to think, but broadened with illumination, wisdom, certainty, etc., due to attaining Prophethood.
Jochen Katz said:
And there is yet another prophet whom perverted Muslims have degraded by claiming he got female breasts ? at least for a certain period of time. Professor Stephen Vicchio writes:
Abu Jafar Al-Tabari, an early nineth-century Qu'ranic interpreter, gives this account of Job's troubles:
Satan rushes back and forth from heaven to earth. He resorts to various ruses and disguises. He causes female breasts to grow on Job's chest, and warts the size of sheep's buttocks.[22]
[22] Hanna Kassis, A Concordance to the Quran (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982) p. 267. (The Image of Ayyub (Job) in the Qur'an and Later Islam; online source)
And who will even dare to make a guess today how many more female-breasted Islamic prophets future research is going to uncover?
My Response:
Again, whom should we blame here? Should we only blame Professor Stephen, or should we also blame Jochen for not being motivated enough to have an Arabic translator go to the commentary of Imam Tabari, look at the Arabic, and see if Professor Stephen has translated it correctly?
I went to Imam Tabari's commentary on Surah 21:83 over here to see what was being said about the inflictions of Prophet Job. Nowhere do I find 'female breasts' being given to Job. The two closest narrations that I have found and am confident that Professor Stephen was referring to were the following:
فَنَفَخَ فِي مَنْخِره نَفْخَة اِشْتَعَلَ مِنْهَا جَسَده , فَتَرَهَّلَ , وَنَبَتَتْ ( بِهِ ) ثَآلِيل مِثْل أَلْيَات الْغَنَم
Then he blew into his nostrils, which inflamed his body; then it (body) became limp, and the blow caused warts to grow like the buttocks of sheep.
And:
فَنَفَخَ فِي جَسَده نَفْخَة أَشْعَلَ مَا بَيْن قَرْنه إِلَى قَدَمه كَحَرِيقِ النَّار , ثُمَّ خَرَجَ فِي جَسَده ثَآلِيلكَأَلْيَاتِ الْغَنَم
Then he blew into his body, inflaming him from tip to toe like he was on fire. Then warts appeared on his body like the buttocks of sheep.
Nowhere do I even see the word 'breasts' in these two narrations or anywhere else in the entire commentary. Thus, we demand Jochen locate the true narration that says that Job grew female breasts or admits his mistake for relying on a phony professor.
Even if Jochen is successful in finding the narration, we see that he would have grown female breasts due to being inflicted, but this still won't vindicate the Biblical Jesus from having female breasts as the Bible implies unless Jochen would like us to believe that the 'incredible Godman' had bodily disorders.
Appendix
Jochen, the ignoramus, wrote a response here in which he claims that my rebuttal above was unnecessary and that this argument was only a parody.
First of all, Jochen's arguments were not portrayed as sarcastic despite his claim that this was his intention. He quoted authorities to try and prove a point, and those needed to be refuted. He wanted to show that he could vindicate his Bible by launching a similar attack against Islam. Thus, the primary intent and purpose behind his 'parody' was severe, not a joke.
Secondly, THE WHOLE INTENTION of my article was to show that Jochen can't be as successful as Abdullah Smith in leveling the argument. I made this clear above:
Thus, Jochen has failed to muster up an argument against Islam just as Abdullah Smith has done against the Bible.
and:
but this still won't vindicate the Biblical Jesus from having female breasts as the Bible implies unless Jochen would like us to believe that the 'incredible God man' had bodily disorders.
I already knew what Jochen's intentions were the whole time. He was trying to show that if Abdullah Smith were to be consistent, then he would be shooting himself in the foot. THE WHOLE PURPOSE OF THE ABOVE REBUTTAL WAS TO SHOW THAT THIS WAS NOT THE CASE. I wanted to show that Jochen can't apply the same standard to Islam as Abdullah Smith did to his Bible.
That is all. I call Jochen an ignoramus based on this article and all his other articles, and I am not going to apologize for calling him an ignoramus since it is not a curse word but a statement of fact.
However, if Jochen is going to cry and suck on his pacifier and demands that I admit that I am wrong, then fine. Here is my apology to Jochen:
Dear Jochen,
I apologize for stating that you are an ignoramus by falsely accusing you (even though I didn't) of truly believing in the sarcastic arguments that you have put forth. Instead, I should have made it clearer that I only accussed you of being an ignoramus since you thought that you could level an argument against Islam just as Abdullah Smith did against your Bible and for thinking that you can vindicate the Bible by launching a similar, yet unsuccessful attack against Islam.
Happy now, Jochen?
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