Australian senator-in-waiting Pauline Hanson is not sophisticated in her mannerisms nor nuanced in her views, so when she criticises anything, she tends to use blunt language to do the job. Her main political issue (the Islamisation of Australia) has given her fierce opposition, but has also rode her to success in the latest elections. She was recently a guest on Q&A, along with allegedly Muslim MP, Sam Dastyari. While these two clashed over Hanson’s proposal to ban all Muslim immigration, an interesting question from Q&A’s twitter feed was presented, which read, “Can you please explain what constitutes a religion and a cult with respect to Islam?”
Now I thought this was an important question to answer robustly, and it was a pity that nobody gave it the due diligence it deserves. And yet, in saying that, there is a serious flaw with this question. The main flaw is that with 1.6 billion adherents from a variety of cultures, Islam is practiced in a multitude of ways. This is exactly what has given rise to the terminology “moderate” and “radical” when describing Muslims. Therefore, it is impossible to attribute any characteristic to it, without several million Muslims disagreeing. So, I thought, let’s get back to basics. Let’s go all the way back to 630 A.D and check out how the religion was practiced by the founder, Muhammed. But first, I must lay down some important rules for this comparison.
Cults have a different reputation to religions. Although there are overlaps in characteristics (belief in supernatural powers, charismatic leader, promise of rewards etc.), it is the distinctions that make cults so disagreeable to the Western palate. Therefore, my comparison will look at the explicitly cultish habits of cult leaders, to the example of Muhammed.
Leaving the cult
One of the hallmarks of a cult leader is they make it hard for members to leave the cult. This is often done by making it financially difficult for the adherents, through threats of retribution, or by emotional blackmail. The atmosphere in cults is so tense for those who wish to leave, that they genuinely fear for their lives and often times leave in the cover of darkness. For a modern day example, you can look at the testimony given by those who left the Jonestown cult in the 1970s.
Muhammed, for his part, also mandated retribution for those who left Islam. In the hadith narrated by Sahih al-Bukhari, Muhammed makes explicit that if a Muslim discards his religion, he should be killed. This position towards apostates is unfortunately still current, with all schools of Islam agreeing that the death penalty can be administered towards apostates.
Sexual perversion and promiscuity
Cult leaders are not known for their healthy take on sex and their monogamy. They tend to either be asexual, or sexually deviant. For the ones that are sexually deviant, they are usually polygamous and acquire their sexual consorts in heinous ways. For a modern day example, you can check at Warren Jeffs, the previous leader of the fundamentalist church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints or these many others. And it is in this respect that Muhammed was no different. He had multiple wives, and acquired some of them through despicable means. He married a 6-year-old and had sex with her at age 9. He acquired another wife (a jewess from a different tribe) directly after he executed her whole family, including her husband. He acquired another wife by directing his son to divorce his wife, so that he could then marry her. If he behaved like this today, he would be in jail and a pariah.
(If you would like to read more about these women, their names are: Aisha, Safiya and Zaynab).
And unfortunetely within marriage he was just as demeaning, in a disgustingly sexual way. This is what he told his male followers regarding their sexual interactions with their wives.
“Your wives are as a tilth unto you; so approach your tilth when or how ye will; but do some good act for your souls beforehand; and fear Allah. And know that ye are to meet Him (in the Hereafter), and give (these) good tidings to those who believe.” (Al-Quran 2:223)
Muhammed was extremely similar to cult leaders who tend to engage in sexual behaviours that we find abhorrent. Underage rape, he did it. Regular rape, he did it. Stealing other people’s wives, he did it. Treating woman as sexual objects, he did it. Is it any wonder that there is a dearth of women’s rights in the Islamic world?
Complete dictation
Another hallmark of a cult leader is that they like to have complete dictation over the lives of their adherents. This is done by separating the believers from the wider society and enacting not just moral standards but legal standards that can be enforced. It is in this respect that Muhammed really shone.
Muhammed designed Islam without any notion of a separation of religion and state. He was the spiritual leader and the state leader. In essence, his form of government is what we would call a theocracy. There was no area of law that went unnoticed and unchanged by him. He weighed into everything, from family law, to usury law, to taxation law, to inheritance law.
And the laws he decreed also seemed to have a common theme. For example, he made the testimony of one man equal the testimony of two women. He allowed men to beat their wives. Women were to receive half the amount of inheritance as their brothers did. Wives must also be sexually available at all times and dress modestly.
Can you see the theme?
But it’s not just women who drew his ire. Before Muhammed, adopted children had the same rights and protection as biological ones. But Muhammed discarded that idea, and decreed that adopted children should actually be treated differently, and by differently, I mean worse than biological ones.
Extreme sensitivity
Cult leaders are not known for their ability to handle criticism. As they have a massive ego, and need that ego to be protected at all times, any criticism is treated as an attack that needs to be fought. In Muhammed’s time he was presented with many poets who criticised and mocked him. At the beginning of his prophetic revelations he was powerless and he did not exact any form of revenge. But at the height of his power, he was extremely vengeful.
He ordered the execution of a mother of five, Asma bint Marwarn for the crime of writing critical poems about him. The assassin gently crept into Asma’s room, removed Asma’s baby from her breast, and killed her while she was still sleeping.
Another example involves a poem that was more statement than criticism. A follower of Muhammed found himself in the presence of a Bedouin who defiantly stated in a two sentence poem that he would never be a Muslim. When the Bedouin fell asleep the follower killed him for this and then reported the tale back to Muhammed. Muhammed informed him that he did right to kill him.
There are many such examples of Muhammed ordering or condoning the killing of those who criticised him or refused to acknowledge his position.
Treatment of adherents
Muhammed would regularly curse his own followers if they did something that displeased him. He cursed a slave girl by trelling her she will die young. When the slave girls master (Umm Sulaim) heard this, she questioned Muhammed on why he did it.
“Allah’s Messenger smiled and then said: Umm Sulaim, don’t you know that I have made this term with my Lord. And the term with my Lord is that I said to Him: I am a human being and I am pleased just as a human being is pleased and I lose temper just as a human being loses temper, so for any person from amongst my Ummah whom I curse and he in no way deserves it, let that, O Lord, be made a source of purification and purity and nearness to (Allah) on the Day of Resurrection.” (Sahih Muslim, Book 032, Number 6297)
And he did curse and lose his temper frequently. If you happened to be there when he was pissed off, expect cursing, but do not expect any sort of apology afterwards.
Us v Them mentality
“Fight those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth from those who were given the Scripture - [fight] until they give the jizyah willingly while they are humbled.” (Qu’ran 9:29)
Another thing cult leaders like to do is create an “us vs them” mentality. So just as Jim Jones divided his followers from the rest of society, Muhammed also made it clear that Muslims should be treated differently to non-Muslims. And by differently, again, I mean worse. This is the whole basis for the practice of dhimmitude.
Special position
Although cult leaders create difficult rules for their followers to keep, they usually have separate rules for themselves. And by separate, I mean more appealing or sexually deviant. For instance, although Muhammed allowed his followers to take up to four wives, he was allowed an indefinite amount.
Other traits of cult leaders
I urge all readers to become familiar with the life and example of Muhammed. And once that is done, have a look at these traits of cult leaders and ask yourself: Doesn’t Muhammed fit every single one?
I will not claim that Islam is a cult, as the religion is not uniformed enough for such a claim. However, I certainly will claim that Muhammed is the same as any modern day cult leader.