Islam Watch

The Model Man Problem

Why Muhammad’s Example Cannot Be Defended or Followed

🔥 Introduction: The Prophet as the Pattern — or the Problem?

The Qur’an commands Muslims:

“Indeed in the Messenger of Allah you have an excellent example to follow…” (Qur’an 33:21)

Islam claims that Muhammad’s life is:

Morally perfect
Universally applicable
Timeless in relevance

In fact, emulating Muhammad is the core of Islamic piety.
Muslims wear like him, eat like him, speak like him, marry like him, wage war like him.

But here's the dilemma:

What if Muhammad’s example cannot be known, cannot be proven, or worse — cannot be defended?

This post exposes the three fatal flaws in the “Model Man” doctrine:

Epistemological Breakdown – We can’t know what he really did.
Moral Collapse – What is attributed to him is often indefensible.
Theological Incoherence – The model contradicts the message.

🧠 Part 1: We Can’t Know What Muhammad Actually Did

The idea of a "perfect example" assumes that we have:

Accurate records
Eyewitness details
Trustworthy narratives

But as shown in Parts 1–7:

The Qur’an gives almost no biographical information about Muhammad
The Hadith are historically unreliable
The Sira literature was compiled centuries later
There is no non-Muslim contemporary account of Muhammad

No eyewitness. No writings. No recordings. No archaeology.

Just chains of hearsay — from generations after his death.

This raises a basic question:

How can you follow the example of a man whose real life is historically inaccessible?

You can't.

You can only follow the constructed Muhammad — the version created by later scholars, not the one who actually lived.

📉 Result: The “Model” Is a Mythical Composite

The Muhammad of modern Islam is:

Part warrior-king
Part spiritual mystic
Part tribal patriarch
Part legal theorist
Part diplomat
Part miracle-worker

This is not a coherent individual. It is a composite character crafted to:

Justify conquest (military Hadiths)
Enforce patriarchy (marriage Hadiths)
Build law (judgment Hadiths)
Promote ritual (Salah, fasting, Hajj Hadiths)
Preach obedience (loyalty Hadiths)

He’s not a model. He’s a mirror — reflecting whatever the scholars needed at the time.

⚖️ Part 2: Much of Muhammad’s Example Is Morally Indefensible

Let’s look at what Islamic sources say Muhammad did — and ask the hard question:

Even if true, is this “model man” morally defensible?

1️⃣ Marriage to Aisha

Hadith (Bukhari 5133, Muslim 3480) says:

Aisha was 6 at marriage, 9 at consummation

Muslims defend it as “normative for the time.”
But that’s the point:

A timeless moral model cannot be based on 7th-century tribal norms.

2️⃣ Raids and Booty

Muhammad led or ordered dozens of raids (Badr, Uhud, Khaybar, etc.)
Took war captives and enslaved women
Distributed captured wealth and slaves among followers

Hadith:

“War booty has been made lawful for me.” (Muslim 1731)

📉 Is this a model for justice — or imperial conquest?

3️⃣ Execution of Prisoners

Banu Qurayza episode (Ibn Ishaq, Hadith):

600–900 Jewish men executed by Muhammad’s order
Women and children enslaved

Muslim apologists call it “justified treason punishment.”
But the moral optics are horrendous — even in wartime.

4️⃣ Multiple Wives and Slave Concubines

11+ wives, many taken through war
Surah 33:50 permits him alone to exceed the 4-wife limit
Had slave concubines like Maria al-Qibtiyya

📉 Hardly a model of restraint or equality — especially when promoted as a universal ethic.

5️⃣ Suppression of Critics

Hadiths and Sira describe:

Poets who mocked Muhammad being assassinated (e.g., Asma bint Marwan)
Muhammad allegedly said:

“Who will rid me of this man?” (Abu Dawud 2765)

📉 This is the blueprint for modern blasphemy laws and fatwas.
But is that a model of confidence — or of authoritarianism?

🔁 Part 3: The Theological Contradiction — “Follow the Prophet” vs. “Worship God Alone”

Islam says:

“Worship Allah alone.”
“Follow Muhammad in everything.”

But what happens when:

Muhammad’s actions are questionable?
His example seems contrary to the Qur’an?
His privileges conflict with his followers’ duties?

Contradictions include:

Muhammad could marry as many women as he liked (33:50) — others could not
Muhammad could take extra privileges — others were forbidden
Muhammad could accept gifts — his followers were warned against worldly gain

This is not equality before God.
This is prophetic exceptionalism.

So is he a model? Or a divine exception?

🧱 Syllogistic Breakdown: The Model Man Fallacy

Syllogism 1: Knowability

A model must be historically knowable.
Muhammad’s life is historically inaccessible.
🔚 Conclusion: Muhammad cannot be a model.

Syllogism 2: Moral Universalism

A moral model must be timeless and universally valid.
Muhammad’s actions are context-bound, tribal, and ethically problematic.
🔚 Conclusion: Muhammad cannot be a universal model.

Syllogism 3: Consistency

A moral model must embody the moral standard.
The Qur’an’s moral standard (mercy, monogamy, justice) often conflicts with Muhammad’s example.
🔚 Conclusion: Following Muhammad may contradict the Qur’an itself.

💣 Final Collapse: You Can’t Defend or Follow the Example

At this point, Muslims have three untenable options:

Option	Problem
1. “That Hadith is weak.”	Then you admit you don’t know what Muhammad did.
2. “It was moral for the time.”	Then it’s not a universal model.
3. “God made an exception.”	Then it’s not a model at all — it’s a divine anomaly.

All three options destroy the claim that Muhammad is:

A moral authority
A timeless pattern
A guide for all people

🔚 Final Word: The Model Collapses — And So Does the Claim

If you can’t verify what someone did…
If you wouldn’t defend what they did…
And if you don’t follow it in real life…

Then that person is not your moral model.

He’s just a name — a theological placeholder.
Used to justify whatever behaviors the system needs.

And that, in the end, is what Muhammad has become:

A man whose image is constructed, not remembered.
Whose words are shaped, not preserved.
And whose example is followed only when it’s convenient — and quietly ignored when it’s not.

📘 Coming Next:

Part 9 – “From Revelation to Ruin: How Islam Self-Destructs by Its Own Standards”

This final part ties everything together into a total theological collapse: the Quran confirms previous scriptures, denies change in God’s word, yet claims corruption — creating the fatal contradiction at the heart of Islam.