robert spencer-did muhammad exist__ an inquiry into islams obscure origins-intercollegiate studies institute (2012) (1)

23. Forbidden to you are your mothers, and your daughters, and your sisters, and your father's sisters,
and your mother's sisters, and your brother's daughters and your sister's daughters, and your
foster-mothers, and your foster-sisters, and your mothers-in-law, and your step-daughters who
are under your protection, born of your women unto whom you have gone in—but if you have not
gone in unto them, then it is no sin for you—and the wives of your sons who spring from your
own loins. And (it is forbidden to you) that you should have two sisters together, except what
has already happened in the past. Lo! Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful.
24. And all married women (are forbidden to you) save those captives whom your right hands
possess. It is a decree of Allah for you. Lawful to you are all beyond those mentioned, so that
you seek them with your wealth in honest wedlock, not debauchery. And those of whom you seek
content by marrying them, give them their portions as a duty. And there is no sin for you in what
you do by mutual agreement after the duty has been done. Lo! Allah is ever Knower, Wise.
25. And whoever is not able to afford to marry free, believing women, let them marry from the
believing maids whom your right hands possess. Allah knows best your faith. You proceed one
from another; so wed them by permission of their folk, and give them their portions in kindness,
they being honest, not debauched nor of loose conduct. And if when they are honorably married
they commit lewdness, they shall incur the half of the punishment prescribed for free women.
This is for him among you who fears to commit sin. But to have patience would be better for
you. Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
26. Allah would explain to you and guide you by the examples of those who were before you, and
would turn to you in mercy. Allah is Knower, Wise. 32
Bell posits that “the marriage laws in Sura IV are a clear case of alternative continuations”—that is, an
instance in which an editor simply tacked on his addition to an already complete passage, doing nothing to
address the resulting contradictions. The first verse above, says Bell, “lays down the forbidden degrees
of relationship, and reproduces the Mosaic list with some adaptation to Arab custom.” This was
deliberate, Bell argues, as indicated by verse 26: “Allah would explain to you and guide you by the
examples of those who were before you.” But, Bell continues, “at a later time…some relaxation appeared
necessary.” Thus verse 25 was added, “allowing marriage with slaves,” and finally verse 24, which
“gives ample liberty.”
Bell points out that the similar endings of verse 24 (“Allah is ever Knower, Wise”), the first part of
verse 25 (“Allah knows best your faith”), and the latter part of verse 25 (“Allah is Knower, Wise”)
provide evidence that “substitutions have been made.” 33 Repeating whole phrases as taglines may have
been an attempt to make sense out of what would otherwise be the most awkward of rhyme schemes—an
attempt to make poetry out of prosaic, didactic material. 34
Of course, many passages in the Qur'an can be adduced in which such recurring taglines are the only
unifying aspect. The Qur'an, as we have seen, is remarkably devoid of context. 35 Islamic spokesmen in the
West frequently argue that those who point out the book's violent and hateful passages are taking them out
of context, but there is hardly any context to begin with. Nonetheless, when one encounters discussions of
a subject that is interrupted and then resumed, it is not unreasonable to suspect that the textual integrity of
the passage has been compromised. Such interruptions appear fairly often in the Qur'an. Another example
is Qur'an 2:221–242. For seventeen straight verses this passage discusses women, marriage, and divorce,