The Comedy of the Ten Men Promised of Paradise

Was published in Arabic in October 23, 2015

Translated by Ahmed Fathy

He said to me: What do you think of the Sunnite story of the ten men promised to enter into Paradise?

I said to him: This is sheer nonsense!

He said: But Sunnites claim there is a hadith (saying) attributed to Prophet Muhammad in which he named these ten men.

I said: Such saying is falsely attributed to Prophet Muhammad; as a Quranist Muslim, I do not believe in the so-called hadiths/oral traditions. Such a statement to which you have alluded sounds like announcement of winners of a competition or elections results! Why such a fabricated hadith ignores people of Yathreb, then?

He said: Oh, yes, why they are ignored?

I said: Another query raised: such a fabricated hadith includes men only from the Qorayish tribe in a sequence that takes in mind caliphs in temporal order along with their men. Why is that?

He said: I cannot possibly know!

I said: Why does this false hadith ignore the formerly rich youth, Muss'ab Ibn Omayrah, who was tortured and fought for the sake of the new religion and defending Muslims and later on got killed in battle in the prime of his youth after leading a life of poverty after his conversion to Islam? Of course, he was merely a historical character, but at least his history is flawless; he never engaged in a war for the sake of transient worldly material comfort and wealth. He died while trying to defend Yathreb against the Qorayish attack against it at the time, as you know.

He said: I do not know actually why his name is not included in that hadith.

I said: Why does such a false hadith ignore the weak believers who were tortured by unbelievers because of their conversion to Islam?

He said: What do you mean?

I said: the fabricator of this hadith is an inveterate liar among the Sunnites; he made it up to spite the Shiites who hate those ten men, except no. four: Ali Ibn Abou Talib, of course, their mortal deity.

He said: Did this false hadith succeed in inciting the hatred of Shiites?

I said: Of course, for it has spread until our present time despite its refutation by Shiite clergy that was in vain.

He said: It has spread now due to its compatibility with the Sunnite creed whose followers exceed in number the Shiites, I presume.

I said: True, but this false hadith contradicts other Sunnite hadiths as well revered by the Sunnites now.

He said: Do you mean to tell me that there are some 'right' or 'true' hadiths?

I said: Of course not. There is nothing in Islam called hadiths at all. All of them have been fabricated during the Umayyad era until now.

He said: Then what are the contradictory hadith to the one I have cited?

I said: The one asserting that if two Muslims fight one another, both are condemned to Hell in the Afterlife. Sunnites revere hadiths as a source of legislation in Islam; yet, they adhere to contradictory notions that are certainly not based on the only kind of divine revelation of Islam: the Quran.

He said: Tell me another contradictory hadith, please.

I said: The hadith you have cited about ten men promised of Paradise contradicts another one dealing with admonishment against fighting one another after the prophet's death. They fought one another for so many years once Prophet Muhammad died. All hadiths, without any exceptions whatsoever, contradict the Quran. The same applies to the hadith you have quoted.

He said: How is that?

I said: The Quran asserts that Muhammad knew neither the unknown nor the near or far future in the transient world and the Afterlife: "Say, "I do not say to you that I possess the treasuries of God, nor do I know the future, nor do I say to you that I am an angel. I only follow what is inspired to me." Say, "Are the blind and the seeing alike? Do you not think?""(6:50), "Say, "I have no control over any benefit or harm to myself, except as God wills. Had I known the future, I would have acquired much good, and no harm would have touched me. I am only a warner, and a herald of good news to a people who believe.""(7:188), and finally "Say, "I am not different from the other messengers; and I do not know what will be done with me, or with you. I only follow what is inspired in me, and I am only a clear warner."" (46:9). Anyone who denies these Quranic facts denies and disbelieves in the Quran as well and is accusing Prophet Muhammad of disobeying God. We, Quranists, conclude then that those who had fabricated sayings and attributed them to Muhammad are his enemies. Every prophet had enemies who lie and attribute their lies to him after his death. This happened to all prophets.

He said: Do you suppose this or is it a Quranic verse?

I said: Let me remind you of these verses: "Likewise, We have assigned for every prophet an enemy-human and jinn devils-inspiring one another with fancy words in order to deceive. But had your Lord willed, they would not have done it. So leave them to their fabrications.So that the hearts of those who do not believe in the Hereafter may incline to it, and be content with it, and that they may perpetrate whatever they perpetrate."Shall I seek a judge other than God, when He is the One who revealed to you the Book, explained in detail?" Those to whom We gave the Book know that it is the truth revealed from your Lord. So do not be of those who doubt."(6:112-114) and the following verses as well: "And the Messenger will say, "My Lord, my people have abandoned this Quran." Likewise, to every prophet We assign enemies from among the wicked. But your Lord suffices as a Guide and Savior."(25:30-31).

He said: Do you mean to tell me that those narrators of hadiths are the most devilish among human beings and they are the foes of Prophet Muhammad?

I said: Yes. I mean these books, volumes, and tomes, and all those who wrote them, and those who have propagated them until our present time as part of faith.

He said: Then you mean to tell me that the ten men of the above-mentioned hadith were historical personalities and not mentioned in the Quran, right?

I said: Yes, and history is not religion, you know. But it is so in the creeds of the Muhammadans who transformed such historical personalities into saints/gods and symbols to be revered and worshipped. We might read their history, but we are not to consider it part of faith.  The Quran refutes their being promised of Paradise, as you see. We can judge their histories by the Quran to prove that easily.

He said: What is your opinion of Abou Bakr? He did not witness the civil wars, right?

I said: He waged wars to impose Zakat (alms) and hence, he was the first to pave the way of coercion in religion, forbidden by the Quran. Zakat could never be forced upon according to the Quran. Remember these verses about hypocrites: "Say, "Whether you spend willingly or unwillingly, it will not be accepted from you. You are evil people."What prevents the acceptance of their contributions is nothing but the fact that they disbelieved in God and His Messenger, and that they do not approach the prayer except lazily, and that they do not spend except grudgingly."(9:53-54). We conclude from history then that Abou Bakr committed the sin of killing people in battles that cost tens of people their lives during the four lunar months made holy due to the pilgrimage season and in which wars and battles were not allowed. He set himself an example to follow by all: Omar, Othman, Ali, the Umayyads, the Abbasids, the Ottomans, as well as the Wahabis in the KSA and the ISIS terrorists now. 

He said: Then the ten men I have mentioned are bad people, right?

I said: Details of this are to be found in our book published here in our website titled "The Unspoken of in the History of the Four Caliphs". In short, they were like criminals of war in our today's terms. All of them were killers and thieves: Abou Bakr, Othman, Omar, Khaled, Amr, Saad, Talha, Al-Zubayr…etc.

He said: What about Ali Ibn Abou Talib?

I said: He waged a major civil war against Aisha, Talha, and Al-Zubayr, especially in the famous Battle of the Camel, as well other civil wars against Mu'aweya, the first Umayyad caliph later on, in the famous Battle of Suffein. He was at another war against those who revolted against him.

He said: I think he was dealt with unjustly and he was right, what do you think?

I said: I refer you to our book, but in short, I say it was a conflict for the material gains of our transient world. Ali failed and caused his own death as well as the death of his enemies and allies. If he were to look forward to Paradise, he should have left the position of a caliph instead of causing the killing of tens of thousands.

He said: Did the other men gain any profits?

I said: We have proved historically via research that Abou Bakr confiscated all spoils sent to him by Khaled; that was the direct reason that led Omar to kill Abou Bakr, possibly by poisoning, with the help of Abdul-Rahman Ibn Awf. Omar later on became the caliph.

He said: Then conquering other nations and countries has been for the sake of wealth not propagating Islam, right?

I said: Exactly.

He said: Do historical accounts mention the amount of wealth of these ten men presumably promised of Paradise?!

I said: Parts of it. What was left by Abou Bakr was confiscated by Omar, and later on by Othman who was spendthrift and a corrupt person. These personal traits led all people to revolt against him and to siege his house. Eventually, he was killed.

He said: What did he leave?

I said: Despite his being a spendthrift, when he was killed, he left thirty and a half million Dirhams as well as one hundred thousand of Dinars. Revolting men stole all this money as well as two hundred thousand of Dinars in assets.

He said: What did Al-Zubayr leave after his death?

I said: between 35 to 52 million of Dirhams and two hundred thousands of Dinars as well as a spacious garden sold for a million and six hundred thousand of Dinars.

He said: What did Abdel-Rahman leave after his death?

I said: he died in 32 A.H. shortly before Othman: he left countless and priceless amounts of gold.

He said: What did Saad leave after his death?

I said: 250 thousands of Dirhams as well as a spacious palace.

He said: What did Talha leave after his death?

I said: He used to wear a gold ring with a red ruby; his revenues from lands in Iraq were between 400 to 500 thousands of Dirhams annually. He left two millions of Dirhams and another 200 thousands of Dirhams as well as 200 thousands of Dinars. He left assets worth 30 million of Dirhams as well as 300 big jars of gold.

He said: Did you get such historical accounts from the books of their enemies the Shiites?

I said: All these accounts are written in Sunnite books revered by all Sunnites past and present.

He said: What about other men of the conquest and civil wars?

I said: I will cite a few other examples: Amr Ibn Al-As left 210 big jars of gold, which was refused by his sons as they suspected them to be ill-gotten money by injustice and stealing. All such wealth was confiscated by the first Umayyad caliph, Mu'aweya. Zeid Ibn Thabit left countless priceless ingots of gold and silver. Others left thousands of Dinars as well as debts; they did not repaid their debts despite the financial ability to do so!

He said: Why such historical accounts are not made public for us to know the truth?

I said: The Wahabi oil-money is the curse that spread Wahabism all over the world among Arabs; one of the basic tenets of Wahabism is to worship/ deify/ revere those criminal historical men.