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Understanding the Hadith
Noted Indian writer and polymath Ram Swarup explores the meaning of Islam through the words of the Sahih Muslim, considered by Muslims to be one of the most authoritative of the collections of "traditions" (Arabic Hadith) about the life of the Prophet Muhammad. Like the Koran, these traditions are believed to be divinely revealed by Allah and they complement the verses of the Koran, in many cases expanding upon them and explaining the context of their revelation. As Swarup notes in his introduction, to Muslims the Hadith literature represents the Koran in action, stories of "revelation made concrete in the life of the Prophet." Among the orthodox they are considered as sacred as the Koran itself.Swarup is plainly skeptical of the claim that the Hadith literature is divinely inspired. In the introduction he says, "The Prophet is caught as it were in the ordinary acts of his life - sleeping, eating, mating, praying, hating, dispensing justice, planning expeditions and revenge against his enemies. The picture that emerges is hardly flattering. . . . One is . . . left to wonder how the believers, generation after generation, could have found this story so inspiring. The answer is that the believers are conditioned to look at the whole thing through the eyes of faith. To them morality derives from the Prophet's actions. . . .his actions determine and define morality."The Sahih Muslim, a massive work consisting of 7,190 traditions divided into 1,243 chapters, is hardly accessible to the average reader; so Swarup quotes representative selections that touch upon the main tenets of faith, purification, prayer, fasting, pilgrimage, marriage and divorce, crime and punishment, religious wars (jihad), paradise, hell, repentance, and many other features of the religion.To non-Muslims this work provides many insights into the mindset of the average Muslim who is raised on these traditions about Muhammad. It also underscores the gulf that exists between the sanctum of orthodox Islam and an increasingly secularized Westernized world.
266 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1983
18 people are currently reading
492 people want to read
About the author
Ram Swarup
33 books85 followersRam Swarup (राम स्वरूप)(1920 – 26 December 1998), born Ram Swarup Agarwal, was an independent Hindu thinker and prolific author. His works took a critical stance against Christianity, Islam and Communism. His work has influenced other Indian writers.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 14, 2022
It is first book written by Ram Swarup ji which I have read. In his books Sitaram Goel ji has spoken very high about Ram Swarup ji.
Many a times I come across people who ask question ‘why a non-muslim should know about Islam’? And this book is itself an answer. Because there is very much discussion about non-believers(non-muslims) in Quran/Hadis. And we should know what is written about us in their books.
In true sense, Islam should not be called religion, it is an ‘imperialistic organisation’. There is no self-seeking/self purification, no spirituality in Islam. According to Quran/Hadis, what-ever crime and sin a man commits, if he has brought his faith in Allah and Mohammad, he will go to heaven and hell is for non-muslims only. This in nut-shell gives answer to the question ‘why most of the criminals are muslims? Because by having brought faith to Allah/Mohammad their crimes/sins can be exonerated. Additionally, this book also provides question to an important riddle: “Even after knowing the reality of Mohammad and Islam, why a same people does not leave Islam?”
Ram Swarup ji has done an excellent work that is - by not being sarcastic or critical of Islam and Mohammad and did not put his own thoughts. He has presented facts same as it is in original book only presented the portion which is relevant to non-muslims. A must read for both muslims and non-muslims.
Many a times I come across people who ask question ‘why a non-muslim should know about Islam’? And this book is itself an answer. Because there is very much discussion about non-believers(non-muslims) in Quran/Hadis. And we should know what is written about us in their books.
In true sense, Islam should not be called religion, it is an ‘imperialistic organisation’. There is no self-seeking/self purification, no spirituality in Islam. According to Quran/Hadis, what-ever crime and sin a man commits, if he has brought his faith in Allah and Mohammad, he will go to heaven and hell is for non-muslims only. This in nut-shell gives answer to the question ‘why most of the criminals are muslims? Because by having brought faith to Allah/Mohammad their crimes/sins can be exonerated. Additionally, this book also provides question to an important riddle: “Even after knowing the reality of Mohammad and Islam, why a same people does not leave Islam?”
Ram Swarup ji has done an excellent work that is - by not being sarcastic or critical of Islam and Mohammad and did not put his own thoughts. He has presented facts same as it is in original book only presented the portion which is relevant to non-muslims. A must read for both muslims and non-muslims.
May 22, 2022
The most glorious lines of the book were these:
“In the distribution of the booty, the Prophet received a fifth of all the spoils taken from the enemy. As a chief, he also had the first choice in everything, whether slaves or women or property. Spoils obtained without a battle went entirely to him. The properties of the exiled BanU NazIr, a Jewish tribe of Medina, were confiscated by Muhammad. He distributed some of them among his Quraish followers, to the exclusion of the ansArs, but kept a large part for himself. As Umar says: The properties abandoned by BanU NazIr were the ones which Allah bestowed upon His Apostle for which no expedition was taken either with cavalry or camel. These properties were particularly meant for the Holy Prophet. He would meet the annual expenditure of his family from the income thereof, and would spend what remained for purchasing horses and weapons as preparation for Jihad (4347)……….
The chapter was named ‘Jihad’.
This book is a rip-away-the-facade, stunningly bold book of facts on the Hadith. From cover to cover it holds back absolutely nothing concerning the the violence, perversion and abject immorality of the Hadith. Ram Swarup opens up the Hadith, verse by verse like a recipe book to show how Muslims can validate murder, torture, sexual slavery and the subjugation of entire societies.
The fact of the matter is best summarized by the author in his analysis of the thirty-sixth book of Hadith – the one on the Hypocrites, Their Characteristics and Command Concerning Them (Kitab Sifat Al-Munafiqin Wa Ahkamihim).
The thirty sixth book, is a small book, containing only twenty-one ahadis, but in some ways it is important.
The Quran refers to the hypocrites very often (twenty-five times), and there is a whole chapter, or Sura, named after them, called MunAfiqIn.
Muhammad repeatedly threatens the hypocrites with blazing hellfire. The Quranic scholars coming after him put them in the hottest region of Hell, HAwiyah, a bottomless pit of scorching fire. Allah has promised the hypocrites, men and women, and the rejecters of Faith, the Fire of Hell; therein shall they dwell. . . . For them is the curse of Allah and an enduring punishment, as the Quran says (9:68).
The name hypocrites does not derive from any moral category but was applied to people who no longer believed in the prophethood of Muhammad in their hearts but were afraid to admit it openly in public.
They were doubters, skeptics, men of deficient faith, men who began to entertain questions about the apostleship of Muhammad as they came to know him somewhat better.
But in the peculiar theology of Islam, such doubts were ethically the most monstrous. Doubting Muhammad’s prophetic mission was hypocrisy.
So those Muslim converts of Medina who became doubters were regarded as hypocrites.
Many Medinans had offered Muhammad and his follower’s refuge and protection in their city-some out of conviction, others out of chivalry, and some out of spite for the Meccans.
But very soon the refugees became stronger than the citizens. Some of the citizens saw, with pain and alarm but also with increasing helplessness, that they were being reduced to a second-class status in their own hometown.
Some of them murmured to each other: See what we have done to ourselves. We have laid open our lands to them and have shared with them all that we possessed. If we had kept our own for ourselves, then by Allah, they would have gone somewhere else. The Medinans gave Muhammad and his followers an inch, and soon they seized a whole yard. It was the proverbial story of the camel and the old woman in a hut.
Now that Muhammad had been in town with them for some days, the Medinans were also able to arrive at a better estimate of him. Some of them thought that he was no better than a religious humbug.
But the realization came too late.
For now Muhammad was strong and they were weak. Those who no longer believed in him had come to fear him. But the result was the same: paralysis of will and action. The opposition could now be intimidated, and much of it could also be bought, for though they did not believe in Muhammad, many of them believed in war spoils.
The resistance to Muhammad did not originate only from munAfiqIn, the disillusioned converts.
It also came from those who had never given up their ancestral faith or surrendered their judgment and had not been swept off their feet by the new religious fad. Some of the members of the opposition were gifted.
They could put their ideas into verses. A woman poet named AsmA hint MarwAn, belonging to the BanI Aws, appealed to the Medinan tribes of MAlik, Auf, and Khazraj in the name of their old heroes. You obey a stranger who does not belong among you, she sang.
Abu Afak, a centenarian poet belonging to the Khazrajite clan, related to Aws ManAt, said in a poem that the different tribes of Medina were good neighbors and loyal allies, Yet there is a rider come among them who divided them. Some of these verses are quoted by Ibn HishAm and WAqidI and reproduced by Maxime Rodinson.
Muhammad was much perturbed. The poets of that time were like the journalists of our age. Muhammad detested them, and lay in wait for an opportunity to deal with them effectively.
His victory at Badr in January A.D. 624 brought him the opportunity. His success against the Quraish gave him a new power in Medina. The equation with respect to both local supporters and local adversaries changed appreciably to his advantage.
He seized the opportunity and struck fast. First he dealt with the poets whom he feared the most……………
Who will rid me of this pestilential woman? he said about AsmA.
Omayr ibn AdI, a blind man and a fanatic convert from her own clan, offered to assassinate her, which he did while she was asleep with her child in her arms.
Have you slain the daughter of MarwAn? Muhammad inquired eagerly when Omayr returned from his mission. When he replied in the affirmative, Muhammad commended him to his Companions.
If you desire to see a man that has assisted the Lord and His Prophet, look ye here, he told them.
The same fate overtook Abu Afak the very next month.
Who will rid me of this scoundrel? Muhammad uttered aloud. And again there was a ready assassin at hand. SAlim ibn Umayr of BanI Amr, the people with whom Abu Afak had cast his lot and lived, stabbed the man one night while he was sleeping.
Most of the local converts, including the two assassins named above, had not fought at Badr. So they still had to prove their loyalty in action to the Prophet and to the new creed. This they did by these perfidious acts.
Hardly had six months elapsed when the blow fell on another influential half-Jewish poet, Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf. We have already mentioned his case.
Muhammad made a special petition to Allah for his elimination. Lord, deliver me from the son of Ashraf . . . because of his open sedition and verses, he prayed. Go with the blessings of Allah and assistance from high, he told the departing assassins, and when they returned after fulfilling their task, Muhammad met them at the very gate of the mosque in welcome. One of the conspirators had received a wound by accident.
Muhammad treated it in his usual way-he spat on it and it was healed.
Ram Swarup paints the entire account in blood………..
Twenty chapters of truth :
*Introduction
*Faith (Iman)
*Purification (Taharah)
*Prayer (salat)
*The Poor Tax (zakat)
*Fasting and Pilgrimage (Sawm and Hajj)
*Marriage and Divorce (Al-Nikah and Al-talaq)
*Business Transactions, Inheritances, Gifts, Bequests, Vows and Oaths
*Crime and Punishment (Qasamah, Qisas, Hadud)
*Religious Wars (Jihad)
*Government (Al-Imaaa)
*Hunting, Food and Drink
*Clothing, Decorations, General Behavior, Greetings, Magic, Poetry, Visions, Dreams
*Muhammad on Muhammad
*The Prophet's Companions
*((Virtue, Destiny, Knowledge, Remembrance of God
*Paradise, Hell, Their Inmates, the Last Day
*Repentance (Tauba), I
*Repentance, II (The Self-Criticism of Ka'b b. Malik)
*Hypocrites (Munafiqin)
Read it infidels. And bask in the glory of PBUH….
“In the distribution of the booty, the Prophet received a fifth of all the spoils taken from the enemy. As a chief, he also had the first choice in everything, whether slaves or women or property. Spoils obtained without a battle went entirely to him. The properties of the exiled BanU NazIr, a Jewish tribe of Medina, were confiscated by Muhammad. He distributed some of them among his Quraish followers, to the exclusion of the ansArs, but kept a large part for himself. As Umar says: The properties abandoned by BanU NazIr were the ones which Allah bestowed upon His Apostle for which no expedition was taken either with cavalry or camel. These properties were particularly meant for the Holy Prophet. He would meet the annual expenditure of his family from the income thereof, and would spend what remained for purchasing horses and weapons as preparation for Jihad (4347)……….
The chapter was named ‘Jihad’.
This book is a rip-away-the-facade, stunningly bold book of facts on the Hadith. From cover to cover it holds back absolutely nothing concerning the the violence, perversion and abject immorality of the Hadith. Ram Swarup opens up the Hadith, verse by verse like a recipe book to show how Muslims can validate murder, torture, sexual slavery and the subjugation of entire societies.
The fact of the matter is best summarized by the author in his analysis of the thirty-sixth book of Hadith – the one on the Hypocrites, Their Characteristics and Command Concerning Them (Kitab Sifat Al-Munafiqin Wa Ahkamihim).
The thirty sixth book, is a small book, containing only twenty-one ahadis, but in some ways it is important.
The Quran refers to the hypocrites very often (twenty-five times), and there is a whole chapter, or Sura, named after them, called MunAfiqIn.
Muhammad repeatedly threatens the hypocrites with blazing hellfire. The Quranic scholars coming after him put them in the hottest region of Hell, HAwiyah, a bottomless pit of scorching fire. Allah has promised the hypocrites, men and women, and the rejecters of Faith, the Fire of Hell; therein shall they dwell. . . . For them is the curse of Allah and an enduring punishment, as the Quran says (9:68).
The name hypocrites does not derive from any moral category but was applied to people who no longer believed in the prophethood of Muhammad in their hearts but were afraid to admit it openly in public.
They were doubters, skeptics, men of deficient faith, men who began to entertain questions about the apostleship of Muhammad as they came to know him somewhat better.
But in the peculiar theology of Islam, such doubts were ethically the most monstrous. Doubting Muhammad’s prophetic mission was hypocrisy.
So those Muslim converts of Medina who became doubters were regarded as hypocrites.
Many Medinans had offered Muhammad and his follower’s refuge and protection in their city-some out of conviction, others out of chivalry, and some out of spite for the Meccans.
But very soon the refugees became stronger than the citizens. Some of the citizens saw, with pain and alarm but also with increasing helplessness, that they were being reduced to a second-class status in their own hometown.
Some of them murmured to each other: See what we have done to ourselves. We have laid open our lands to them and have shared with them all that we possessed. If we had kept our own for ourselves, then by Allah, they would have gone somewhere else. The Medinans gave Muhammad and his followers an inch, and soon they seized a whole yard. It was the proverbial story of the camel and the old woman in a hut.
Now that Muhammad had been in town with them for some days, the Medinans were also able to arrive at a better estimate of him. Some of them thought that he was no better than a religious humbug.
But the realization came too late.
For now Muhammad was strong and they were weak. Those who no longer believed in him had come to fear him. But the result was the same: paralysis of will and action. The opposition could now be intimidated, and much of it could also be bought, for though they did not believe in Muhammad, many of them believed in war spoils.
The resistance to Muhammad did not originate only from munAfiqIn, the disillusioned converts.
It also came from those who had never given up their ancestral faith or surrendered their judgment and had not been swept off their feet by the new religious fad. Some of the members of the opposition were gifted.
They could put their ideas into verses. A woman poet named AsmA hint MarwAn, belonging to the BanI Aws, appealed to the Medinan tribes of MAlik, Auf, and Khazraj in the name of their old heroes. You obey a stranger who does not belong among you, she sang.
Abu Afak, a centenarian poet belonging to the Khazrajite clan, related to Aws ManAt, said in a poem that the different tribes of Medina were good neighbors and loyal allies, Yet there is a rider come among them who divided them. Some of these verses are quoted by Ibn HishAm and WAqidI and reproduced by Maxime Rodinson.
Muhammad was much perturbed. The poets of that time were like the journalists of our age. Muhammad detested them, and lay in wait for an opportunity to deal with them effectively.
His victory at Badr in January A.D. 624 brought him the opportunity. His success against the Quraish gave him a new power in Medina. The equation with respect to both local supporters and local adversaries changed appreciably to his advantage.
He seized the opportunity and struck fast. First he dealt with the poets whom he feared the most……………
Who will rid me of this pestilential woman? he said about AsmA.
Omayr ibn AdI, a blind man and a fanatic convert from her own clan, offered to assassinate her, which he did while she was asleep with her child in her arms.
Have you slain the daughter of MarwAn? Muhammad inquired eagerly when Omayr returned from his mission. When he replied in the affirmative, Muhammad commended him to his Companions.
If you desire to see a man that has assisted the Lord and His Prophet, look ye here, he told them.
The same fate overtook Abu Afak the very next month.
Who will rid me of this scoundrel? Muhammad uttered aloud. And again there was a ready assassin at hand. SAlim ibn Umayr of BanI Amr, the people with whom Abu Afak had cast his lot and lived, stabbed the man one night while he was sleeping.
Most of the local converts, including the two assassins named above, had not fought at Badr. So they still had to prove their loyalty in action to the Prophet and to the new creed. This they did by these perfidious acts.
Hardly had six months elapsed when the blow fell on another influential half-Jewish poet, Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf. We have already mentioned his case.
Muhammad made a special petition to Allah for his elimination. Lord, deliver me from the son of Ashraf . . . because of his open sedition and verses, he prayed. Go with the blessings of Allah and assistance from high, he told the departing assassins, and when they returned after fulfilling their task, Muhammad met them at the very gate of the mosque in welcome. One of the conspirators had received a wound by accident.
Muhammad treated it in his usual way-he spat on it and it was healed.
Ram Swarup paints the entire account in blood………..
Twenty chapters of truth :
*Introduction
*Faith (Iman)
*Purification (Taharah)
*Prayer (salat)
*The Poor Tax (zakat)
*Fasting and Pilgrimage (Sawm and Hajj)
*Marriage and Divorce (Al-Nikah and Al-talaq)
*Business Transactions, Inheritances, Gifts, Bequests, Vows and Oaths
*Crime and Punishment (Qasamah, Qisas, Hadud)
*Religious Wars (Jihad)
*Government (Al-Imaaa)
*Hunting, Food and Drink
*Clothing, Decorations, General Behavior, Greetings, Magic, Poetry, Visions, Dreams
*Muhammad on Muhammad
*The Prophet's Companions
*((Virtue, Destiny, Knowledge, Remembrance of God
*Paradise, Hell, Their Inmates, the Last Day
*Repentance (Tauba), I
*Repentance, II (The Self-Criticism of Ka'b b. Malik)
*Hypocrites (Munafiqin)
Read it infidels. And bask in the glory of PBUH….
July 31, 2022
To the infidel with his critical faculty still intact, the hadis is a collection of stories, rather unedifying, about a man, rather all too human. But the Muslim mind has been taught to look at them in a different frame of mind. The believers have handled, narrated, and read them with a feeling of awe and worship. It is said of Abdullah ibn MasUd (died at the age of seventy in A.H. 32), a Companion and a great Traditionist (authority for 305 traditions), that he trembled as he narrated a hadis, sweat often breaking out all over his forehead. Muslim believers are expected to read the traditions in the same spirit and with the same mind. The lapse of time helps the process. As the distance grows, the hero looms larger.
April 6, 2018
Great book for us "Kaffir/infidels/non-muslims" He goes step by step through the Hadis and covers almost every point.
I do wish it was longer and covered more material though. Also the annotations are weird. He will give a quote and give a number, but it's not clear what passage the number refers to.
I do wish it was longer and covered more material though. Also the annotations are weird. He will give a quote and give a number, but it's not clear what passage the number refers to.
September 25, 2016
A little obnoxious, a fair bit sarcastic, and sometimes outright critical. But what a read to understand the religion and its choices and beliefs. Outstanding.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 31, 2023
I would like to start out by saying that it is difficult to believe that this book was written in the '80s considering the fact that it is still an unspoken taboo to discuss Islamic theology in public today. It is immensely difficult for a non-Muslim to learn about Islam from a neutral point of view. Either there are Islamic preachers who give a hagiographic view about every little aspect or there are critics criticizing every little aspect. Either there are people building false narratives to push a fake positive image or people exaggerating facts to push a fake menacing image.
Ram Swarup Ji does an excellent job at condensing and presenting Islamic theology in a coherent way to a person unaware of even the basic tenets of the religion, without any lens that a believer or a critic may wear.
The sources used by the author are declared early on, all of them the most authentic and most widely used ones. The author relies mainly on the Hadis, with occasional interjections from the Quran and a few from the Sira (biography) for context. Sahih Muslim as the base Hadith, supplemented by Al-Bukhari. Yusuf Ali's English translation of the Quran. The earliest and most extensive biography, ie, Ibn Ishaq's SiratRasulAllah, supplemented by Tabari's Sirat al-Nabi.
The aim of the book, as Swarup Ji mentions in the introduction, is to make an average non-Muslim aware of the basic concepts of Islam. Interestingly, 64% of the Quran, 37% of the Hadis, and 81% of the Sira are devoted to the Kaafirs (a pejorative term for non-Muslims), which makes it all the more important for non-Muslims to know about the theology of Islam.
The structure of the book is simple. It follows the chapters as in Sahih Muslim, often clubbing together the small similar chapters. After a brief introduction explaining the basic framework of the Hadis and Quran, there are 19 chapters dedicated to specific topics. From Iman, Salat, and Hajj to Nikah and Tauba as the religious aspects of Islam, the book also covers the socio-political aspects in the chapters as that of Jihad, Prophet's Companions, and the Munafiqin; in the same order followed in Sahih Muslim.
The book was not an easy read as almost 85-90% of the text is direct quotations. Verbatim quotations from all the 3 sources, with negligible personal inputs by the author. There are no opinions pushed, no conclusions drawn. Only context and quotations, save a few rare comments.
The chapters on the religious aspects provide insight into the reasonings and meaning of the rituals we often see in the public discourse. Iman(faith), Salat(prayer), Hajj(pilgrimage), and Nikah(marriage) are some of the early chapters, followed by chapters on gifts, inheritances, food & drink, clothing, veiling, oaths, etc.
The socio-political aspects are covered in the chapters on al-Imaa(government), Jihad, Talaq, Qasamah-Qisas-Hadud(Crime, punishment and blood money) and the Prophet's companions.
Reading such a detailed account of every issue from authentic Islamic literature automatically busts a lot of fake narratives that are peddled around the religion.
An interesting conclusion that one is bound to draw after completion, which contrary to the popular understanding is - (as the author states in the very beginning) -
Islam is not merely a theology or a statement about Allah and his relationship with His creatures. Besides containing doctrinal and creedal material, it deals with social, penal, commercial, ritualistic, and ceremonial matters. It enters into everything, even into such private areas as one's dress, marrying, and mating.
In the language of the Muslim theologians, Islam is a complete and completed religion. It is equally political and military. It has much to do with statecraft, and it has a very specific view of the world peopled by infidels. Since most of the world is still infidel, it is very important for those who are not Muslims to understand Islam.
- Pg. 3
There are 3 noticeable strands of principles running throughout the Hadis, without any specific chapter dedicated to them.
First, the absence of spirituality or introspection, whether it be in prayer or pilgrimage. Divinity or god is not a personal construct but a social one, relating to society at large which very prominently excludes Kaafirs.
Second, the lowly status of women. In almost all matters such as divorce, inheritance, punishment, or even menstruation, the women are very badly disadvantaged. In a few instances, there is almost a commodification of sorts. Although there are few matters where women have equal status (on the Day of Judgement) or even a higher status (pertaining solely to women who are mothers). As the CSPII calculated, only 19.3% of the theology gives females an equal or higher status, the other 80.7% giving a lower status than men.
Third, the otherization of non-Muslims. There are many terms used such as mushrikeen(polytheist) and ahl al-Kitaab(people of the Book) but the most common being the word Kaafir, an extremely biased pejorative which applies to all infidels. Although the averseness becomes prominent in Mecca itself, it is greatly strengthened after the Hijrat(migration) to Medina. The otherization turns into a vilification of the Kaafirs in all aspects of life, which is prominent in many issues such that of punishment, slavery, social conduct, etc.
One chapter that I found the most interesting was that on the Munafiqin which translates to hypocrites. This might quite possibly be a concept unique to Islamic theology. A Munafiq is a person who is outwardly a believer but inwardly carries doubts about the religion. Such a person will face the wrath of god in the afterlife even if he never shows any outward signs of contempt in his life, let alone criticize the religion. Now this concept becomes interesting because not only does Sahih Muslim have a chapter dedicated to the Munafiqin but also the Quran itself.
Another interesting observation is about Fate and free will. The theology has a dualistic approach to it. Free will exists but at the same time, there is a godly scheme that makes all actions pre-determined. One may ask which is right, free will or pre-determined fate? Both are right, that is the nature of duality.
If I were to pen down all the thoughts I had while reading the book in an academic fashion, this review would turn into a small book itself. The book provides an insight into a multitude of topics, all of which cannot obviously be mentioned here. I wrote such a long review to keep my thoughts documented somewhere and lo, what better place than the Goodreads review section?
Before ending my 'review', I must reiterate the disbelief I felt upon finding out that this book is more than 40 years old and I must also appreciate Ram Swarup Ji's efforts in this book, to present such an immense amount of information in a condensed yet coherent manner, without drawing any conclusions himself.
****
Ram Swarup Ji does an excellent job at condensing and presenting Islamic theology in a coherent way to a person unaware of even the basic tenets of the religion, without any lens that a believer or a critic may wear.
The sources used by the author are declared early on, all of them the most authentic and most widely used ones. The author relies mainly on the Hadis, with occasional interjections from the Quran and a few from the Sira (biography) for context. Sahih Muslim as the base Hadith, supplemented by Al-Bukhari. Yusuf Ali's English translation of the Quran. The earliest and most extensive biography, ie, Ibn Ishaq's SiratRasulAllah, supplemented by Tabari's Sirat al-Nabi.
The aim of the book, as Swarup Ji mentions in the introduction, is to make an average non-Muslim aware of the basic concepts of Islam. Interestingly, 64% of the Quran, 37% of the Hadis, and 81% of the Sira are devoted to the Kaafirs (a pejorative term for non-Muslims), which makes it all the more important for non-Muslims to know about the theology of Islam.
The structure of the book is simple. It follows the chapters as in Sahih Muslim, often clubbing together the small similar chapters. After a brief introduction explaining the basic framework of the Hadis and Quran, there are 19 chapters dedicated to specific topics. From Iman, Salat, and Hajj to Nikah and Tauba as the religious aspects of Islam, the book also covers the socio-political aspects in the chapters as that of Jihad, Prophet's Companions, and the Munafiqin; in the same order followed in Sahih Muslim.
The book was not an easy read as almost 85-90% of the text is direct quotations. Verbatim quotations from all the 3 sources, with negligible personal inputs by the author. There are no opinions pushed, no conclusions drawn. Only context and quotations, save a few rare comments.
The chapters on the religious aspects provide insight into the reasonings and meaning of the rituals we often see in the public discourse. Iman(faith), Salat(prayer), Hajj(pilgrimage), and Nikah(marriage) are some of the early chapters, followed by chapters on gifts, inheritances, food & drink, clothing, veiling, oaths, etc.
The socio-political aspects are covered in the chapters on al-Imaa(government), Jihad, Talaq, Qasamah-Qisas-Hadud(Crime, punishment and blood money) and the Prophet's companions.
Reading such a detailed account of every issue from authentic Islamic literature automatically busts a lot of fake narratives that are peddled around the religion.
An interesting conclusion that one is bound to draw after completion, which contrary to the popular understanding is - (as the author states in the very beginning) -
Islam is not merely a theology or a statement about Allah and his relationship with His creatures. Besides containing doctrinal and creedal material, it deals with social, penal, commercial, ritualistic, and ceremonial matters. It enters into everything, even into such private areas as one's dress, marrying, and mating.
In the language of the Muslim theologians, Islam is a complete and completed religion. It is equally political and military. It has much to do with statecraft, and it has a very specific view of the world peopled by infidels. Since most of the world is still infidel, it is very important for those who are not Muslims to understand Islam.
- Pg. 3
There are 3 noticeable strands of principles running throughout the Hadis, without any specific chapter dedicated to them.
First, the absence of spirituality or introspection, whether it be in prayer or pilgrimage. Divinity or god is not a personal construct but a social one, relating to society at large which very prominently excludes Kaafirs.
Second, the lowly status of women. In almost all matters such as divorce, inheritance, punishment, or even menstruation, the women are very badly disadvantaged. In a few instances, there is almost a commodification of sorts. Although there are few matters where women have equal status (on the Day of Judgement) or even a higher status (pertaining solely to women who are mothers). As the CSPII calculated, only 19.3% of the theology gives females an equal or higher status, the other 80.7% giving a lower status than men.
Third, the otherization of non-Muslims. There are many terms used such as mushrikeen(polytheist) and ahl al-Kitaab(people of the Book) but the most common being the word Kaafir, an extremely biased pejorative which applies to all infidels. Although the averseness becomes prominent in Mecca itself, it is greatly strengthened after the Hijrat(migration) to Medina. The otherization turns into a vilification of the Kaafirs in all aspects of life, which is prominent in many issues such that of punishment, slavery, social conduct, etc.
One chapter that I found the most interesting was that on the Munafiqin which translates to hypocrites. This might quite possibly be a concept unique to Islamic theology. A Munafiq is a person who is outwardly a believer but inwardly carries doubts about the religion. Such a person will face the wrath of god in the afterlife even if he never shows any outward signs of contempt in his life, let alone criticize the religion. Now this concept becomes interesting because not only does Sahih Muslim have a chapter dedicated to the Munafiqin but also the Quran itself.
Another interesting observation is about Fate and free will. The theology has a dualistic approach to it. Free will exists but at the same time, there is a godly scheme that makes all actions pre-determined. One may ask which is right, free will or pre-determined fate? Both are right, that is the nature of duality.
If I were to pen down all the thoughts I had while reading the book in an academic fashion, this review would turn into a small book itself. The book provides an insight into a multitude of topics, all of which cannot obviously be mentioned here. I wrote such a long review to keep my thoughts documented somewhere and lo, what better place than the Goodreads review section?
Before ending my 'review', I must reiterate the disbelief I felt upon finding out that this book is more than 40 years old and I must also appreciate Ram Swarup Ji's efforts in this book, to present such an immense amount of information in a condensed yet coherent manner, without drawing any conclusions himself.
****
April 21, 2025
Understanding Islam through Hadis by Ram Swarup is a controversial & polemical examination of Islam, grounded primarily in a study of the Hadith literature. The book is based on the English translation by Abdul Hamid Siddiqi's Sahih Muslim. As “Muslim theologians make no distinction between the Quran & the Hadis. To them both are works of revelation or inspiration. In the Quran, Allah speaks through Muhammad in the Sunnah, He acts through him” (Loc:240) Thus presenting from 2nd most important collection, a thematic analysis of various Hadith he argue that Islam is not a spiritual religion, but a comprehensive ideological system characterized by authoritarianism, exclusivism, & legalism. Sahih Muslim contains 7,500 hadith narrations however only 3,033 hadiths are without repetition spread over 56 books.” However, in this book author has “quoted about 675 individual hadis having this representative character. Another 700 of the ahadis we have quoted are group ahadis or their summaries. Portions that deal with mere rituals & ceremonies & have no particular importance to non-Muslims we omitted altogether”(Loc:335)
Swarup’s method involves presenting Hadiths with minimal commentary, “quoted extensively & faithfully from it” as he states, so that texts to speak for themselves. However, this approach is inherently interpretative, shaped by his selection & arrangement of passages. Though largely accurate in textual terms, is heavily weighted toward those that support not only negative portrayal of Islam but also difficult to reconcile with modern ethical norms yet remain part of the doctrinal infrastructure of traditional Islam.
The book, first published in the U.S. in 1982 & later banned in India by 1991, dares to ask tough questions about faith. Any critique, drawn from Islamic texts themselves, often stirs intense reactions sometimes even unrest. This speaks to how deeply reverence is ingrained in the way many Muslims are taught to engage with scripture. But for any faith to grow, reflection & openness to dialogue are vital not suppression or riots. Unfortunately, while intellectuals believe, “Violence is not the weapon of the wise, but Islam thinks otherwise"
Swarup’s method involves presenting Hadiths with minimal commentary, “quoted extensively & faithfully from it” as he states, so that texts to speak for themselves. However, this approach is inherently interpretative, shaped by his selection & arrangement of passages. Though largely accurate in textual terms, is heavily weighted toward those that support not only negative portrayal of Islam but also difficult to reconcile with modern ethical norms yet remain part of the doctrinal infrastructure of traditional Islam.
The book, first published in the U.S. in 1982 & later banned in India by 1991, dares to ask tough questions about faith. Any critique, drawn from Islamic texts themselves, often stirs intense reactions sometimes even unrest. This speaks to how deeply reverence is ingrained in the way many Muslims are taught to engage with scripture. But for any faith to grow, reflection & openness to dialogue are vital not suppression or riots. Unfortunately, while intellectuals believe, “Violence is not the weapon of the wise, but Islam thinks otherwise"
November 21, 2022
ram swarup is very careful not to get too emotional over islam. you have to read carefully to figure out that islam is good for muslims only. it is bad for non muslims. in case you don't know hadiths are tens of thousands of sayings and actions from muhammad that supposedly were heard and seen by his closest companions. it is an article of faith in islam that muhammad is the perfect man and every muslim needs to read hadiths to copy what he does. even stupid things. that answers the question in the book's title "religious faith or fanaticism?". muslims are religious fanatics who speak nonsense to justify muhammad's bad behaviour and lie to non muslims about what their faith is really like.
September 4, 2021
If you need to understand the basis of Islamic invaders fanaticism, this is a good read. The sources of Islam are two: Quran and Hadis. Quran contains Prophets revelations, while Hadis contains what Prophet said, did, approved or disapproved. Apart from topics of religious faith, Hadis covers topics like Jihad (holy war), jeziya, marriage, divorce, on women and slaves.
April 1, 2015
This book is hatchet job on the Islamic religion written by a Hindu who has read the Hadith in English and in Urdu. Ostensibly Swarup has taken the "key" points from the multiple volumes of the Hadith in order to give the reader an understanding of Islam. The result is a horrifying picture of Islam. Mohammed is presented as lecherous, blood thirsty, opportunistic, superstitious and given to capricious pronouncements that would then become enshrined in fiq (i.e. Islamic Jurisprudence).
The extracts that Swarup pulls from the Haddith are often comical and more often horrifying. The prophet is against chess and dogs. He appears to be obsessed with enforcing his right to choose from war booty before any of his followers. He is an aggressive warrior who often massacres all his prisoners. He prescribes ritualistic prayer but has no notion of using prayer to establish a personal relationship with God. He cheerfully orders hands to be amputated from thieves, fornicators to be whipped and adulteresses to be stoned. Before going to the married bed, the man and wife must bath to be in a state of ritual purity. If they decide to make love a second time that night, they do not need to bathe again but are required to wash their sexual organs before committing a second act. The prophet's last bride was nine years old when he consummated the marriage.
Swarup is a Hindu who appears bent on showing Islam in the worst possible light. His book is a nasty polemic. Other more balanced writers on Islam have acknowledged many of the contentious pronouncements that Mohammed made his life. As a practicing Catholic I feel that the religion which I subscribe to offers a far better means of discerning the will of God and am grateful Jesus for having asked to follow in his footsteps. Thus I am by no means a Muslim but I feel that Swarup's attack on Islam is absolutely scurrilous. However, many people love scurrilous books and you might be one of them.
The extracts that Swarup pulls from the Haddith are often comical and more often horrifying. The prophet is against chess and dogs. He appears to be obsessed with enforcing his right to choose from war booty before any of his followers. He is an aggressive warrior who often massacres all his prisoners. He prescribes ritualistic prayer but has no notion of using prayer to establish a personal relationship with God. He cheerfully orders hands to be amputated from thieves, fornicators to be whipped and adulteresses to be stoned. Before going to the married bed, the man and wife must bath to be in a state of ritual purity. If they decide to make love a second time that night, they do not need to bathe again but are required to wash their sexual organs before committing a second act. The prophet's last bride was nine years old when he consummated the marriage.
Swarup is a Hindu who appears bent on showing Islam in the worst possible light. His book is a nasty polemic. Other more balanced writers on Islam have acknowledged many of the contentious pronouncements that Mohammed made his life. As a practicing Catholic I feel that the religion which I subscribe to offers a far better means of discerning the will of God and am grateful Jesus for having asked to follow in his footsteps. Thus I am by no means a Muslim but I feel that Swarup's attack on Islam is absolutely scurrilous. However, many people love scurrilous books and you might be one of them.
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September 13, 2022how many non-muslims know that Islam has two tiers of justice? Muslims get preferential treatment. even in everyday life. if a muslim encounters another on the road he gives way as good manners. if muslim meets a jew or christian they have to make way for him. so muslim proselytizers are lying when they imply islam is a universalist religion or hide it when trying to make western converts. i should declare muhammad the greatest of deceivers rather than the greatest of men, the best of allah's 124,000 prophets.
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