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The Hadith: The Traditions of Mohammed
The Hadith The Koran repeatedly commands every Muslim to follow the perfect example of Mohammed's life. His actions and words are called the Sunna. The Sunna is found in the Traditions of Mohammed called the Hadith. A Muslim is far more governed by the Hadith than the Koran. The Hadith give us fascinating accounts about Mohammed. We know what he looked like, his sense of humor, his superstitions and how he ate. Details about his sex life, family life and leadership are all recorded. If only the Koran existed, there could be no Islam. The Koran does not have enough information to practice Islam, but the Hadith has all that is needed to follow the example of Mohammed as a husband, a father, a leader, a warrior and the perfect husband. The Hadith is an easy place to begin learning about Mohammed and Islamic doctrine.This book is a condensation of The Political Traditions of Mohammed
104 pages, Paperback
First published July 15, 2010
About the author
Bill Warner
60 books68 followersBill Warner is the pen name of Bill French (born 1941, United States), a writer, critic of Islam, and the founder of the Center for the Study of Political Islam. He is a former Tennessee State University physics professor. He is listed by the Southern Poverty Law Center as part of a core group of 10 Anti-Muslim hard-liners.
Warner has said that his focus is on the political aspects of Islamic doctrine related to kafirs (non-Muslims) rather than on the beliefs of contemporary Muslims. He differentiates Islam as a religion and what he refers to as Political Islam. Warner defines "political Islam," which he also calls Islamism, "as a belief that Islam should control society and politics, not simply personal religious life."
Warner has said that his focus is on the political aspects of Islamic doctrine related to kafirs (non-Muslims) rather than on the beliefs of contemporary Muslims. He differentiates Islam as a religion and what he refers to as Political Islam. Warner defines "political Islam," which he also calls Islamism, "as a belief that Islam should control society and politics, not simply personal religious life."
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 12, 2016
For Muslims, the Qur’an is the word of Allah. This is more personal than the Bible is for Christians. The Bible is a collection of stories written by prophets about their relationships with God and the things he told them. The Qur’an consists of the actual words of Allah, revealed to Mohamad and copied by him word for word. In the Qur’an, Allah instructs Muslims to do what Mohamad does and follow what he says. Mohamad is the perfect example of every aspect of Islam.
The Sira is the Islamic approved biography of Mohamad highlighting his life story.
The things that Mohamad did and said are found in the Hadith. There are two Hadiths that are accepted by Islam; each is more than 2000 pages. There is a lot of repetition of specific stories told multiple times in each Hadith. Warner’s Hadith is a collection of stories and sayings of Mohamad from each of those two. It is about 70 pages, definitely not all encompassing, but it does give a flavor of Mohamad and what is expected of Muslims in several areas.
I found Warner’s comments at the end of the book very enlightening. According to true Islam, there are only two types of people in the world, Muslims and Kafirs. Muslims are the people of Allah and Kafirs are everyone else. They are the disgusting lowest form of life. The Qur’an, Sira, and Hadith devote 60% of their content to Kafirs. Kafirs can be lied to, cheated, murdered, raped, dismembered, anything. That is according to the Medinan set of ethics. On the other hand, Meccan ethics allow Muslims to live peaceably with Kafirs. But no matter what ethics are being followed at any particular time, a Kafir can never be accepted as equal to a Muslim.
According to all three books of Islam, all people must submit to the rule of Islamic law. Peaceably, or by force, the global dominance of Islam must ultimately be brought about. Though there are two sets of ethics; both belong to the eternal, unchangeable Islam. The Meccan ethics allow Muslims to live among Kafirs, but this is only a temporary state. Ultimately, Kafirs must be killed or subjugated to Islam. If Kafirs do not submit peacefully, the Medinan ethics will force them or kill them. Fundamentalists do not practice a different Islam than moderates. They are following Medinan ethics. A person who has been “radicalized” has not changed his belief in the slightest; he has not given up any part of his belief; he has simply switched from one Islamic path to the other.
There is an attempt to reform Islam with a third set of ethics labeled, Unitary Ethics. I believe this is the reformation Ayaan Hirsi Ali hopes to see. However, Unitary Ethics suggests, among other things, that all people are equal. In almost every way, the unitary precepts run counter the very foundation of Islam and its relation to Kafirs. There is no middle ground between true Islam and unitary ethics. There is no path to negotiation. A Muslim who pretends there is any form of equality between Kafirs and Muslims has hijacked Islam and is trying to replace Islam with a new religion. It would be like reforming Christianity by declaring Christ was not the son of God, did not perform any miracles, died on the cross and was not resurrected. That is not a reformation; that is a new church.
As long as Islam exists, the Medinan ethics will exist, and there will be continued outbreaks of terrorism, as there have always been since Mohamad introduced Islam to the world.
The Sira is the Islamic approved biography of Mohamad highlighting his life story.
The things that Mohamad did and said are found in the Hadith. There are two Hadiths that are accepted by Islam; each is more than 2000 pages. There is a lot of repetition of specific stories told multiple times in each Hadith. Warner’s Hadith is a collection of stories and sayings of Mohamad from each of those two. It is about 70 pages, definitely not all encompassing, but it does give a flavor of Mohamad and what is expected of Muslims in several areas.
I found Warner’s comments at the end of the book very enlightening. According to true Islam, there are only two types of people in the world, Muslims and Kafirs. Muslims are the people of Allah and Kafirs are everyone else. They are the disgusting lowest form of life. The Qur’an, Sira, and Hadith devote 60% of their content to Kafirs. Kafirs can be lied to, cheated, murdered, raped, dismembered, anything. That is according to the Medinan set of ethics. On the other hand, Meccan ethics allow Muslims to live peaceably with Kafirs. But no matter what ethics are being followed at any particular time, a Kafir can never be accepted as equal to a Muslim.
According to all three books of Islam, all people must submit to the rule of Islamic law. Peaceably, or by force, the global dominance of Islam must ultimately be brought about. Though there are two sets of ethics; both belong to the eternal, unchangeable Islam. The Meccan ethics allow Muslims to live among Kafirs, but this is only a temporary state. Ultimately, Kafirs must be killed or subjugated to Islam. If Kafirs do not submit peacefully, the Medinan ethics will force them or kill them. Fundamentalists do not practice a different Islam than moderates. They are following Medinan ethics. A person who has been “radicalized” has not changed his belief in the slightest; he has not given up any part of his belief; he has simply switched from one Islamic path to the other.
There is an attempt to reform Islam with a third set of ethics labeled, Unitary Ethics. I believe this is the reformation Ayaan Hirsi Ali hopes to see. However, Unitary Ethics suggests, among other things, that all people are equal. In almost every way, the unitary precepts run counter the very foundation of Islam and its relation to Kafirs. There is no middle ground between true Islam and unitary ethics. There is no path to negotiation. A Muslim who pretends there is any form of equality between Kafirs and Muslims has hijacked Islam and is trying to replace Islam with a new religion. It would be like reforming Christianity by declaring Christ was not the son of God, did not perform any miracles, died on the cross and was not resurrected. That is not a reformation; that is a new church.
As long as Islam exists, the Medinan ethics will exist, and there will be continued outbreaks of terrorism, as there have always been since Mohamad introduced Islam to the world.
February 12, 2020
A decent short read, and summary of the historic texts. I read "The Life Of Mohammed" and its companion piece, "The Hadith" one after another. Quite a lot of the information overlaps, and is mentioned more than once.
Both book are written in a bare-bones, no frills manner, ie; he doesn't interject too much of his own commentary or other unrelated writings to the historical texts he cites.
I have been following author Bill Warner for a few years now, and listened to many of his lectures.
While these two books are not the full unabridged versions of the original scriptures, I was not willing to devout the dozens of hours of monotonous reading required to go through the full versions.
Warner has written these books from the viewpoint of the kafir, and he directly mentions this at the start of both. He has, of course, cherry-picked the scriptures to forward his narrative, but rightly doesn't try to pretend otherwise.
Both books detail a brief history of the wars of Islamic conquest that would see the entire Middle East, North Africa, and eventually Spain fall to Islamic rule. He covers jihad and all its accoutrements in great detail here; sex slaves, deceit, seizure of property, and dhimmitude, among others.
Most of what Warner covers in here was not new to me - although I did find these books interesting, nonetheless.
I would definitely recommend these short reads to anyone unfamiliar with Islamic scripture, especially Western apologists who romanticize an intolerant religion that decries them as borderline subhumans.
4 stars.
Both book are written in a bare-bones, no frills manner, ie; he doesn't interject too much of his own commentary or other unrelated writings to the historical texts he cites.
I have been following author Bill Warner for a few years now, and listened to many of his lectures.
While these two books are not the full unabridged versions of the original scriptures, I was not willing to devout the dozens of hours of monotonous reading required to go through the full versions.
Warner has written these books from the viewpoint of the kafir, and he directly mentions this at the start of both. He has, of course, cherry-picked the scriptures to forward his narrative, but rightly doesn't try to pretend otherwise.
Both books detail a brief history of the wars of Islamic conquest that would see the entire Middle East, North Africa, and eventually Spain fall to Islamic rule. He covers jihad and all its accoutrements in great detail here; sex slaves, deceit, seizure of property, and dhimmitude, among others.
Most of what Warner covers in here was not new to me - although I did find these books interesting, nonetheless.
I would definitely recommend these short reads to anyone unfamiliar with Islamic scripture, especially Western apologists who romanticize an intolerant religion that decries them as borderline subhumans.
4 stars.
April 15, 2020
Without having consulted the Hadith myself this seems to be a pretty fair representation of the Prophet's life and teaching.
January 11, 2017
Having previously read the Koran and the Sira, the Hadith completes the three legs of the stool that is the codification of official authority, on which every Muslim is guided in his or her life. Warner provides a concise explanation of everything a non-Muslim ought to know, to enable a reasonably fair judgement of Islam's political and moral aims. In my opinion, this should be required reading for any and all non-Muslims. Their system is incompatible with Western ethics. A must read!
June 3, 2024
Full of pseudo-scientific claims that could not withstand basic logical or empirical scrutiny. Certainly not a balanced presentation of the topic. However it may be the best presentation of the anti-Muslim perspective available in the USA as not many US citizens bother with learning about Islam. This is worth reading or listening to if you balance it with other authors, but should not be you sole source as you may never sleep again.
October 12, 2022
If you're looking to read some of the Hadith, go somewhere else. Bill Warner is clueless.
April 30, 2025
Very informative and digestible to the average reader.
December 12, 2016
Essential for understanding the treatment of Kafirs (unbelievers) according to Islam.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews