I'll begin with a hadith:

Hudhayfah reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said,
“Tribulation will be exposed to the hearts of people like a reed mat woven, stick by stick. Any heart afflicted by them will have a black mark put into it, but any heart that rejects them will have a white mark put into it. Thus, there will be two kinds of hearts: one is pure like a white gemstone; it will not be harmed by any trial as long as the heavens and earth endure. The other is black and dusty like a worn-out vessel, neither acknowledging good nor rejecting evil, rather absorbed in its desires.”
Sahih Muslim 144a

Reed mats are rectangular in shape, just like mobile phones and television. What's interesting is that this hadith talks about this "reed mat" shaped fitnah causing hearts to become black and absorbed in desires. Sounds familar, right?
Allah knows best.
Now, to the topic of social media.
Social media causes one to become addicted to notifications (such as "likes"), which causes many problems such as neglecting deen and psychological issues. It is not a coincidence that people say they felt better without social media. Here's a few studies I found:
1) Social media and depression

"In fully adjusted models, participants in the highest quartile of total time per day on social media had significantly greater odds of having depression (AOR = 1.66, 95% CI = 1.14 – 2.42) compared to those in the lowest quartile (Figure). Compared to those in the lowest quartile, participants in the highest quartiles of social media site visits per week (AOR = 2.74, 95% CI = 1.86 – 4.04) and global frequency score (AOR = 3.05, 95% CI = 2.03 – 4.59) reported greater depression. Sensitivity analyses demonstrated that all associations between independent variables and depression had strong, linear, dose-response trends (P = .002 for total time per day and P < .001 for both visits per week and global frequency score)."

This study demonstrates a strong and significant association between social media use and depression in a nationally-representative sample of U.S. young adults. There was a linear association between social media use and depression for all three social media use variables. While some prior studies have found no association or mixed results,[16,33] our findings are consistent with prior research that showed an association between social media use and mood dysregulation.[17,34]

SM use was significantly associated with increased depression. Given the proliferation of SM, identifying the mechanisms and direction of this association is critical for informing interventions that address SM use and depression.

2) Social media and divorce

Results show that using SNS is negatively correlated with marriage quality and happiness, and positively correlated with experiencing a troubled relationship and thinking about divorce

3) Social media and marriages

To conclude, the study conducted shows all three-mentioned hypothesis to be true. Social media addiction as well as increased use of social media can lead to negative impact on the relationship especially it is damaging the marital relationships. Lack of trust, loneliness and inappropriate posts by the spouse are considered to be the main factors causing negative vibes on the relationship between spouses. Current study can be considered as a profound addition to the literature investigating the relationship between social media use and martial relationships especially in Middle East.

4) Social media and self-objectification

"Wanting attention on social media was the strongest predictor of posting self-sexualized photos, and indeed, more sexualized photos garnered more likes on Instagram than less sexualized photos". N = 61 undergraduate women

Links:

˹O Prophet!˺ Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and guard their chastity. That is purer for them. Surely Allah is All-Aware of what they do.

And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and guard their chastity, and not to reveal their adornments

[Quran An-Nur 30-31]

those who believe and whose hearts find comfort in the remembrance of Allah. Surely in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find comfort.

[Quran Ar-Ra'd 28]

Except for those who repent, believe and do righteous work. For them Allah will replace their evil deeds with good. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful.

[Quran, 25: 70]

"The believer sees his sins as if he was at the base of a mountain, fearing that it was about to fall upon him. The wicked person sees his sins as if (they are) flies are hitting his nose" he said: "Like this" - motioning with his hand - "to get them to fly away."

The Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم (English translation : Vol. 4, Book 11, Hadith 2497. Arabic reference : Book 37, Hadith 2685.)

In along with traditional interpretations of the Quran permitting the enslavement of and sexual activity with such vulnerable women as female civilian captives of war - all a violation of international law, Geneva conventions and the personal morality of most people - and containing nothing in regards to 'consent' with female captives or a firm prohibition of slavery.
It's apparent from various hadiths and throughout the Muslim world's history, that it wasn't just captured or surrendered combatants that were enslaved. But civilian captives (including girls not just adult women) were also enslaved, trafficked, traded and groomed to be household slave servants or concubines to their Muslim captors. This was enslavement often after destruction or humiliation of their community and the imprisonment, enslavement, exile or execution of their men, women and children.
Thus to any person with a hint of empathy, humanity and rationality, can easily decipher that such a captive is highly unlikely to give 'informed consent' to sex with her oppressive Muslim captors, hence why the term 'rape' is utilized. Even the western Muslim apologist Dr Jonathan Brown, (popular with modern Muslims in the west) makes it discernible that a slave cannot provide informed consent to sex with her captors/owners...

"Salam, 'slave rape' is a tough term to decipher from a Shariah perspective. A male owner of a female slave has the right to sexual access to her. Though he could not physically harm her without potentially being held legally accountable if she complained, her 'consent' would be meaningless since she is his slave" - Dr Jonathan Brown (Muslim apologist convert).^[1][2]
"...But it's not possible to say that slavery is inherently, absolutely, categorically immoral in all times and places, since it was allowed by the Quran and the Prophet. 4) Slave women do not have agency over their sexual access, so their owner can have sex with them." - (Dr Jonathan Brown)^[3][4]
"I don't think there is anything to assume or not. I could be wrong but I think it just means that slaves' consent, like children's consent on things, doesn't really matter." - (Dr Jonathan Brown)^[3][5]
"In light of the accusations leveled against me for making a simple statement of historical fact (including, apparently, one person saying they were 'mortified' by my post), here is a sentence from Kecia Ali's very good Huff post article: "For premodern Muslim jurists, as well as for those marginal figures who believe that the permission [for slavery] still holds, the category "rape" doesn't apply: ownership makes sex lawful; consent is irrelevant." - (Dr Jonathan Brown)^[3][6] [Concubinage and Consent in Islam, by Dr. Kecia Ali]

[Above Images in a document - Backup Link]
Upon considering the rape of captives by their Muslim captors/owners and the implicit permissibility for it by Islam. Mendacious Muslims, will often attempt to rebut this, by disingenuously citing ambiguous hadiths/quotes (authored particularly, by Imam Malik and Al Shafi'i) that rather appears to be absent of a firm prohibition upon the captothe slave owner in engaging in sex or non-consensual sex with his captives/slaves.
Rather such hadiths/quotes, would refer to what Dr Jonathan Brown (in his post) See and save [PDF link 1 - PDF Backup Link] elucidates as 'property usurpation' i.e. the prohibition of one seizing and engaging in sex with someone else's 'property' i.e. the captive/slave (note the dehumanization).
Not from Brown's long article, but shorter...

1. Slaves as property : In Islamic jurisprudence, slaves are considered as the owner’s property. For instance, discussions on rape of a free woman are discussed under chapters on hudood (divinely-ordained punishments) and zina (illegal intercourse), while that of slave girl, in chapters on ghasb (property usurpation). Rape of a slave girl “was a form of property damage that required financial compensation to her owner for depreciation of the property’s value… usually equal to the amount by which she was depreciated by the act (this being of particular relevance if she was previously a virgin).“18 According to one scheme, the fine would be 1/10th of her price if she was a virgin, and 1/20th, if she was a matron.19 (Hadd was applied upon the rapist). Sexual assaults upon slaves (other than from the owner, of course) that did not amount to intercourse, resulted in a fine to the owner, for property damage.20
...Anyone familiar with the rules of concubinage in Islam will immediately see that this refers to a slave girl acquired unlawfully, not one who is being forced by her lawful master. In fact, this quote comes from the section on ghasb (property usurpation) and the fine mentioned above would be paid to the slave’s master (as mentioned above in point 1) for property violation. [Fines for raping slave girls were always paid to the master40]

https://miningthemadness.wordpress.com/2017/08/06/can-islamic-slavery-be-defended/
The entire issue could have been clarified, had the Quran discussed 'consent' and provided a firm prohibition of engaging in non-consensual sex, heck given the vulnerable nature of captives/slave - to which even the Muslim Scholar, Dr Jonathan Brown alludes to...

"Yes, the emotions and disturbances caused by slavery and rape are beyond my capacity to adresss."^[3][7]

[Above Images in a document - Backup Link]
...provide a firm prohibition of all sex with captives and of slavery (in tune not just with international law/Geneva conventions, but with most people's/muslim's personal morality and desire of not wanting to be enslaved or raped). Thus quelling the ambiguity on the topic of slave rape, but more importantly preventing further oppression, suffering and future acts of rape and enslavement by Muslim troops. But clearly slave rape or even martial rape, isn't as much of a priority of clarification for the almighty, as telling people to get out of Muhammad's house, contempt for Muhammad's uncle, how many wives Muhammad can have, or where Muhammad can eat.
The justifications of slavery and slave rape by Muslims is also evident of their moral hypocrisy and their lack of empathy, humanity and rationality. They would never want themselves or their loved ones e.g. their mothers, wives or daughters to be enslaved as concubines to victorious non-Muslim soldiers e.g. Israeli troops. They would hardly be convinced of the sex being consensual and would express much anger, cry 'rape' and likely criticise the concept of slavery/collective punishment of civilians, particularly sex with enslaved Muslimah captives...that is of course when Muslims are the slaves and non-Muslims are the captors. But it's no surprise that the empathy and humanity of many Muslims is not always shared for those who reject and disbelieve Islam, hence their apologetics for Islamic slavery to whom it's victims were primarily non-Muslims: even conversion to Islam did not mandate in Islamic law that they'd be freed, hence a small minority of Muslims were held as slaves.
As mentioned earlier, international law and the Geneva Conventions have been agreed upon by practically all countries including Muslim majority ones - implicitly agreeing to the superiority of man made law, over Allah's laws (that permit slavery). They both categorise slavery and sex with captives as war crimes and rightly so. No human, including Muslims themselves and their loved ones, should face such degradation as slavery and concubinage...

"...It also defines sexual enslavement as a war crime and a breach of the Geneva Conventions when committed during an international armed conflict (Article 8.b.xxii) and indirectly in an internal armed conflict under Article(8.c.ii),..."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_slavery
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Conventions
Islam's permission of intercourse with female prisoners of war - https://islamqa.info/en/20085
Concubinage and Consent in Islam, by Dr. Kecia Ali
I'm sure we can agree, the world needs empathy, humanity and reason, not unnecessary and unreasonable Muslim apologetics for slavery and rape. Then some Muslims wonder why they're so disliked over other religious groups.
(2017): After controversy and criticism of his thoughts on slavery, consent and rape. He deleted his Facebook account but thankfully many screenshotted his comments and a [PDF link 1 - PDF Backup Link] file of his entire post is available. I recommend you save this file and other images and links in this post, for future reference in case they all get deleted. Feel free to copy, improve and share this entire post, the more people know about the often harmful reality of Islam, the better. After the controversy and criticism, he now condemns slavery and rape - damage control comes to mind. https://redd.it/68vo1r
More criticism on Islamic slavery and rape...

https://wikiislam.net/index.php?title=Rape_in_Islamic_Law&mobileaction=toggle_view_mobile
https://old.reddit.com/exmuslim/comments/58rfiu/does_islam_allow_slavery/d930evt/

From critiqueIslam

In along with traditional interpretations of the Quran permitting the enslavement of and sexual activity with such vulnerable women as female civilian captives of war - all a violation of international law, Geneva conventions and the personal morality of most people - and containing nothing in regards to 'consent' with female captives or a firm prohibition of slavery.
It's apparent from various hadiths and throughout the Muslim world's history, that it wasn't just captured or surrendered combatants that were enslaved. But civilian captives (including girls not just adult women) were also enslaved, trafficked, traded and groomed to be household slave servants or concubines to their Muslim captors. This was enslavement often after destruction or humiliation of their community and the imprisonment, enslavement, exile or execution of their men, women and children.
Thus to any person with a hint of empathy, humanity and rationality, can easily decipher that such a captive is highly unlikely to give 'informed consent' to sex with her oppressive Muslim captors, hence why the term 'rape' is utilized. Even the western Muslim apologist Dr Jonathan Brown, (popular with modern Muslims in the west) makes it discernible that a slave cannot provide informed consent to sex with her captors/owners...

"Salam, 'slave rape' is a tough term to decipher from a Shariah perspective. A male owner of a female slave has the right to sexual access to her. Though he could not physically harm her without potentially being held legally accountable if she complained, her 'consent' would be meaningless since she is his slave" - Dr Jonathan Brown (Muslim apologist convert).^[1][2]
"...But it's not possible to say that slavery is inherently, absolutely, categorically immoral in all times and places, since it was allowed by the Quran and the Prophet. 4) Slave women do not have agency over their sexual access, so their owner can have sex with them." - (Dr Jonathan Brown)^[3][4]
"I don't think there is anything to assume or not. I could be wrong but I think it just means that slaves' consent, like children's consent on things, doesn't really matter." - (Dr Jonathan Brown)^[3][5]
"In light of the accusations leveled against me for making a simple statement of historical fact (including, apparently, one person saying they were 'mortified' by my post), here is a sentence from Kecia Ali's very good Huff post article: "For premodern Muslim jurists, as well as for those marginal figures who believe that the permission [for slavery] still holds, the category "rape" doesn't apply: ownership makes sex lawful; consent is irrelevant." - (Dr Jonathan Brown)^[3][6] [Concubinage and Consent in Islam, by Dr. Kecia Ali]

[Above Images in a document - Backup Link]
Upon considering the rape of captives by their Muslim captors/owners and the implicit permissibility for it by Islam. Mendacious Muslims, will often attempt to rebut this, by disingenuously citing ambiguous hadiths/quotes (authored particularly, by Imam Malik and Al Shafi'i) that rather appears to be absent of a firm prohibition upon the captothe slave owner in engaging in sex or non-consensual sex with his captives/slaves.
Rather such hadiths/quotes, would refer to what Dr Jonathan Brown (in his post) See and save [PDF link 1 - PDF Backup Link] elucidates as 'property usurpation' i.e. the prohibition of one seizing and engaging in sex with someone else's 'property' i.e. the captive/slave (note the dehumanization).
Not from Brown's long article, but shorter...

1. Slaves as property : In Islamic jurisprudence, slaves are considered as the owner’s property. For instance, discussions on rape of a free woman are discussed under chapters on hudood (divinely-ordained punishments) and zina (illegal intercourse), while that of slave girl, in chapters on ghasb (property usurpation). Rape of a slave girl “was a form of property damage that required financial compensation to her owner for depreciation of the property’s value… usually equal to the amount by which she was depreciated by the act (this being of particular relevance if she was previously a virgin).“18 According to one scheme, the fine would be 1/10th of her price if she was a virgin, and 1/20th, if she was a matron.19 (Hadd was applied upon the rapist). Sexual assaults upon slaves (other than from the owner, of course) that did not amount to intercourse, resulted in a fine to the owner, for property damage.20
...Anyone familiar with the rules of concubinage in Islam will immediately see that this refers to a slave girl acquired unlawfully, not one who is being forced by her lawful master. In fact, this quote comes from the section on ghasb (property usurpation) and the fine mentioned above would be paid to the slave’s master (as mentioned above in point 1) for property violation. [Fines for raping slave girls were always paid to the master40]

https://miningthemadness.wordpress.com/2017/08/06/can-islamic-slavery-be-defended/
The entire issue could have been clarified, had the Quran discussed 'consent' and provided a firm prohibition of engaging in non-consensual sex, heck given the vulnerable nature of captives/slave - to which even the Muslim Scholar, Dr Jonathan Brown alludes to...

"Yes, the emotions and disturbances caused by slavery and rape are beyond my capacity to adresss."^[3][7]

[Above Images in a document - Backup Link]
...provide a firm prohibition of all sex with captives and of slavery (in tune not just with international law/Geneva conventions, but with most people's/muslim's personal morality and desire of not wanting to be enslaved or raped). Thus quelling the ambiguity on the topic of slave rape, but more importantly preventing further oppression, suffering and future acts of rape and enslavement by Muslim troops. But clearly slave rape or even martial rape, isn't as much of a priority of clarification for the almighty, as telling people to get out of Muhammad's house, contempt for Muhammad's uncle, how many wives Muhammad can have, or where Muhammad can eat.
The justifications of slavery and slave rape by Muslims is also evident of their moral hypocrisy and their lack of empathy, humanity and rationality. They would never want themselves or their loved ones e.g. their mothers, wives or daughters to be enslaved as concubines to victorious non-Muslim soldiers e.g. Israeli troops. They would hardly be convinced of the sex being consensual and would express much anger, cry 'rape' and likely criticise the concept of slavery/collective punishment of civilians, particularly sex with enslaved Muslimah captives...that is of course when Muslims are the slaves and non-Muslims are the captors. But it's no surprise that the empathy and humanity of many Muslims is not always shared for those who reject and disbelieve Islam, hence their apologetics for Islamic slavery to whom it's victims were primarily non-Muslims: even conversion to Islam did not mandate in Islamic law that they'd be freed, hence a small minority of Muslims were held as slaves.
As mentioned earlier, international law and the Geneva Conventions have been agreed upon by practically all countries including Muslim majority ones - implicitly agreeing to the superiority of man made law, over Allah's laws (that permit slavery). They both categorise slavery and sex with captives as war crimes and rightly so. No human, including Muslims themselves and their loved ones, should face such degradation as slavery and concubinage...

"...It also defines sexual enslavement as a war crime and a breach of the Geneva Conventions when committed during an international armed conflict (Article 8.b.xxii) and indirectly in an internal armed conflict under Article(8.c.ii),..."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_slavery
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Conventions
Islam's permission of intercourse with female prisoners of war - https://islamqa.info/en/20085
Concubinage and Consent in Islam, by Dr. Kecia Ali
I'm sure we can agree, the world needs empathy, humanity and reason, not unnecessary and unreasonable Muslim apologetics for slavery and rape. Then some Muslims wonder why they're so disliked over other religious groups.
(2017): After controversy and criticism of his thoughts on slavery, consent and rape. He deleted his Facebook account but thankfully many screenshotted his comments and a [PDF link 1 - PDF Backup Link] file of his entire post is available. I recommend you save this file and other images and links in this post, for future reference in case they all get deleted. Feel free to copy, improve and share this entire post, the more people know about the often harmful reality of Islam, the better. After the controversy and criticism, he now condemns slavery and rape - damage control comes to mind. https://redd.it/68vo1r
More criticism on Islamic slavery and rape...

https://wikiislam.net/index.php?title=Rape_in_Islamic_Law&mobileaction=toggle_view_mobile
https://old.reddit.com/exmuslim/comments/58rfiu/does_islam_allow_slavery/d930evt/

Besides the often unsubstantiated, nonsensical and or harmful content of Islam. It's numerous derivative aspects is just another one of many hints to its artificial nature. Just like its Abrahamic sister faiths, Islam is a concoction of various pre-Islamic cultures, religions and ideas that is easily seen when under a comparative religion analysis. Not much is new, indeed this is something Islam itself kind of admits to, that it is a continuation of past (supposed 'divine') Abrahamic religions. Though (not surprisingly) Islam like it's Abrahamic predecessors and successors is not very vocal on it's pagan and unIslamic origins, masking the faults and fraud of Islam. Though there's much that can be said, below are a few links regarding the derivative features of Islam. If you know of other pagan and unholy origins of Islamic beliefs, rituals, stories etc please do mention them...(Thank you!)

Such derivative Islamic material from other pre-Islamic cultures and sources likely originated from the authors of Islam, like Muhammed, being a traveling merchant interacting with foreign societies and individuals; this further aided by being born and raised in a a multi-cultural/racial/faith city.^[1] Dogmatic Muslim apologists rationalise the derivative nature of their religion via nonsensical and unsubstantiated cries of these much older pre-Islamic, unIslamic and pagan sources, supposedly being a 'corrupted' form of Islamic beliefs, a religion they claim apparently existed since before 7th century Arabia, as far back as the dawn of humanity! Yet they are unable to provide sound evidence for such wild claims, hence why practically all historians don't accept Islamic 'corruption' argument as factual, let alone the incompetence of a supposed omnipotent deity incapable of preventing his messages being corrupted numerous times! It's the same desperate and flawed apologetics other dogmatic religionists say to hide their religions unoriginality and human origins.

The Specifics of the 'Corruption' Claim.
Did Muhammed Borrow From Judeo-Christian Scriptures? - also see the interesting comments by the user 'Itistemp'.
The Biased and Unreliable Nature of Islamic history.

EDIT; Due to the inconvenient nature of Reddit's mobile like format, I’ve re-edited all the main links in this thread. For secondary links in posts, if you're having trouble accessing those links - then please replace the 'www' in the address link with 'old' e.g. old.reddit.com or https://old.reddit.com. I apologise for any inconvenience.
If you made it this far...
Bonus material 1
Bonus material 2 - 100 reasons Why I left Islam, by MudassirMEMD - [Backup Link]
Bonus material 3 - Various Criticisms of Islamic Beliefs and Apologetics (V1).pdf - its a rough copy, my apologies.
Remember. Anyone can make up events, figures or gods, proving their veracity with sound evidence is a whole other matter. That asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence, particularly claims that are nonsensical. Islam is filled with unsubstantiated, nonsensical and harmful claims, nor do its common apologetics make it sound any less false and harmful…

Criticism of Scientific miracles
Criticism of Inimitability of Quran/Linguistic miracle
Criticism of Predictions/Prophecies argument
Criticism of 'Fitrah' claim
Criticism Of Hell/Jahannam - Its Artificial Origins, Absurdity and the Irrational Fear due to the Legacy of Childhood Indoctrination
The Biased and Unreliable History of Islam
The False Trichotomy, that Muhammad was either a Liar, Deluded or a Prophet, When this is disingenuous, for he could have been all of those things.
Criticism of the Unnecessary and Cruel Nature of Islamic Punishments - Mutilation/Amputation, Flogging, Beheading, Crucifixion and Stoning
Criticism of Muhammad and his Followers Stoning People to Death
Criticisms of Muhammad's and the early Muslims Unnecessary Cruelty/Collective Punishment towards the Banu Qurayza and Others
Slaves: their 'consent' and rape in Islam and it's history
Slavery in Islam
Quran and violence
Criticism of the Muslim Mental Gymnastics and Long Winded Apologetics Rationalizing Flaws in Islam
The Pre-Islamic and Pagan Origins of Islam, PDF file above may be updated here.
Pre-Islamic Origins of Noah's Ark and the Flood
Allusions to a Flat Earth in Islam and it's Pre-Islamic Origins
Islam's Night Journey and it's Pre-Islamic Origins
Brief critiques on various Islamic topics e.g. it's history, theology and social rulings
Why we left Islam
Why I left Islam

Feel free to copy, improve, save or share all posts as your own.

Salam,
I have been wanting to make this post for a long time.
I saw a muslim sibling on reddit discussing with a non-muslim regarding the splitting of the moon. The non-muslim said that we muslims have no evidence nor historical records of the moon splitting and our muslim sibling replied with saying that we muslims don't truly believe that the moon was split, we believe that it is metaphorical and not literal.
I do not blame them, as they may not have come across substantial proof in order to refute the non-muslim.
For this reason, I wanted to show fellow muslims the top 4 (of what I call) evidence that the moon was split by the Prophet. But before that, context:
How did the Miracle of the Splitting of the Moon occur?
The miracle of the splitting of the moon occurred before the migration to Medina (2) upon the demands of the polytheists with the permission of God and it was shown by the prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as narrated by many companions like Anas b. Malik (3), Hz. Ali, Huzayfa b. Yaman (4), Abdullah b. Mas’ud (5), Abdullah b. Abbas (6), Abdullah b. Umar (7), Abdullah b. Amr b. As (8), Jubayr b. Mut’im (9) (May Allah be pleased with all of them). (10)
Among Quraish polytheists, Walid b. Mughira, Abu Jahl. As b. Wail, As b. Hisham, Aswad b. Abdi Yaghus, Aswad b. Muttalib, Zama b. Aswad, Nadr b. Harith and others (11) said to the prophet Muhammad (PBUH):
“If you truly are a Prophet that has been appointed by Allah, then split the moon in half. Let it be in such a way that one half will appear over the Mount Abu Qubais and the other half will be seen over Mount Quayqian.”
The prophet Muhammad (PBUH) asked: “If I do it, will you become Muslims?”
The polytheists answered: “Yes, we will.”
On the 14th night, when it was full moon, the prophet Muhammad (PBUH) wanted Almighty Allah to give him the miracle which the polytheists demanded from him. (12)
When the Gabriel (AS) informed the prophet Muhammad (PBUH) that God had accepted his prayer, he announced it to the Meccans. The polytheists witnessed the splitting of the moon on the 14th night. (13)
When Almighty God let the moon split in half, one half standing over Mount Abu Qubais and the other half over Mount Quayqian, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) shouted at Muslims:
“O Abu Salama b. Abdulasad! Arqam b. Abi’l Erqam! Bear witness! (14)
And to the polytheists, he said, “Bear witness! So and so! (15)
However, the polytheists said “This is one of the spells of Abu Kabsha’s Son.” (16) “The son of Abu Kabsha cast a spell on you!” (17) They said “Muhammad cast a spell on us!” (18)
Some of them also said:
“If Muhammad had cast a spell on us then (19), He couldn’t have cast a spell on everyone! (20) Let us ask the wayfarers who came from the surrounding areas (21) if they saw what we saw.” (21)
They asked the people who came from every everywhere. (22-23)
“Yes! We also did see the moon in that state! We saw the moon as split! They informed that the moon was split. Among the people who came from everywhere and seen the moon split, there was no one who had not informed them about it. (24)
However, the polytheists rejected to be Muslims and to believe by saying: “This is a prevalent magic!” (25), they said “Abu Talib’s orphan affected the sky with his spell!” (26).
https://questionsonislam.com/article/miracle-splitting-moon-0
Now onto the proofs
Proof no.4: NASA
This is one of my evidence but it does have its criticisms hence it is my no.4 evidence. Brothers and sisters I highly recommend you see through this sideshow as the evidence by NASA has a lot of information that I cannot do it justice by writing it in this post: https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/huseinmhanna/did-prophet-muhammad-split-the-moon
https://youtu.be/fuoqAQM-WDE
https://youtu.be/xzsNyBbVfqY
According to muslim researchers, there are proofs of the splitting of the moon in pictures of the moon taken by NASA's missions.
After Apollo mission photographs were published of Rima Ariadaeus, the 300 km-long rift line on the surface of the Moon,[16] it was suggested by Muslims on some internet sites that this was result of the splitting mentioned in the Quran.
The surface of the moon is replete with long channels or grooves that continue to create unsolved puzzles and contradictions for geologists. Every traditional theory, when tested against photographic evidence, has failed. Planetary scientists often say that it was formed by molten lava and they draw comparisons to lava channels in Hawaii. But the differences between the two are so profound as to render such comparisons meaningless.
Rima Ariadaeus is the rille that is usually referred to as the scar of the split that happened as a miracle of the Prophet PBUH, show clearly that it's a relatively small scar on the face of the moon and doesn't extend across the length of the moon as one would expect.

In 2010, NASA scientist Brad Bailey was asked about this and replied "My recommendation is to not believe everything you read on the internet. Peer-reviewed papers are the only scientifically valid sources of information out there. No current scientific evidence reports that the Moon was split into two (or more) parts and then reassembled at any point in the past."

Does this mean the split never happen? Does that disprove the miracle?
Even though the pictures can not be used as a strong evidence of the miracle that happened in the 7th century A.D. yet there's still no conclusive explanation to the origins of the structures in question.
Proof no.3: Authenticated Hadiths

Abdullah ibn Mas’ud reported: The moon split when we were with the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and it became two separate pieces. The Prophet said to us, “Bear witness. Bear witness.”
In another narration, Ibn Mas’ud said, “A piece was behind the mountain and another piece was below it.” Source: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4584, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2800 Grade: Muttafaqun Alayhi (authenticity agreed upon) according to Al-Bukhari and Muslim عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ مَسْعُودٍ قَالَ انْشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ وَنَحْنُ مَعَ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَصَارَ فِرْقَتَيْنِ فَقَالَ لَنَا اشْهَدُوا اشْهَدُوا وفي رواية أخرى قال ابن مسعود فَكَانَتْ فِلْقَةٌ وَرَاءَ الْجَبَلِ وَفِلْقَةٌ دُونَهُ 4584 صحيح البخاري كتاب تفسير القرآن سورة اقتربت الساعة باب وانشق القمر وإن يروا آية يعرضوا 2800 صحيح مسلم كتاب صفة القيامة والجنة والنار باب انشقاق القمر

https://abuaminaelias.com/dailyhadithonline/2019/07/14/bear-witness-moon-split/

Muttafaqun Alayi: When the Hadith Masters use this term, it means that the Hadith in question is found in both books; Sahih Bukhari & Sahih Muslim, on the authority of the same Sahabi (radiyallahu’anhu) even if there exists variation in the wording.

Authenticated hadiths are a good historical record as Al-Bukhari used rigorous means to verify and authenticate the hadiths. To us muslims, these are substantial pieces of record that prove the event of the moon splitting.
Proof no.2: Other historical records
The Mayans may have recorded the miracle!
https://web.archive.org/web/20111028081146/http://www.mayalords.org/restfldpersia.html

At the top of page 139 in the 1997 Maya Hieroglyphic Forum, the dot and bar numbers have been inserted as corrections for the tops of the other columns (missing in V and K's works). On the basis of the number sequences, the date of the first (and, what I am surmising, was the original change) is 9.9.9.16.0 or the Gregorian date of 9 February 623 (the Julian date calculated the 6th of February, that same year).
But, if one reads the Rabbit and the Mirror, one will see, that not only was the rabbit a new addition to the home of the moon goddess, but also the cosmic tree (probably the Milky Way) was new. Being held up to the mirror, the rabbit is shown where it was then (now) located, not how it was born. In agreement with that statement is vase K2772. It shows the same three women as in the so-called birth scene, but instead of a pregnant woman with two midwives, it shows that the palace of the moon is being shaken by a quake, indicated by the same "question mark" curls found in the ears of the split-faced moon rabbit and identified by Eric Thompson as a symbol of the Moon Goddess glyphs. This "quake" or catastrophe is well recorded world-wide, even in Peru as the Rebellion of the Artifacts.The rabbit arrives later to view, in the mirror, the new star arrangement of the skies
The rabbit replaced the monkey (possibly the old north star?) As the records of time and became a very important figure with the same split face of the moon, with a the same question mark curl in each ear. And later (K1491) where the rabbit waits for the monkey to finish his final work.

Edit: A brother has pointed out that the picture in the mayalords website doesn't resemble typical mayan hieroglyphs.
https://www.reddit.com/islam/comments/ippi5q/proving_that_the_prophet_pbuh_did_split_the_moon/ggz9bcn?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3
Upon further research, K1208 comes up in this appendix and this document shows other similar images. With K1208, I would recommend looking up K5166, K1398 and K1491.
K1208 also shows up here as a picture on a vase. At page 282, you can see the exact image as the one on the website.
http://research.mayavase.com/kerrmaya_list.php?_allSearch=&hold_search=&x=25&y=13&vase_number=1208&date_added=&ms_number=&site=
Indians may have also seen the miracle too!

Of interest in relation to the moon splitting an Indian historical manuscript (India Office Library, London, manuscript #2807/152-173), which says that this incident was observed by the Indian king of Malibar, Chakrawati Farmas- was the starting point of Islam spreading to India. It was also mentioned in the book "Muhammad Rasulullah," by M. Hamidullah.
On a moon-lit night the Indian King Chakrawati, while walking on the rooftop of his palace along with the queen saw the moon suddenly splitting into two halves. Later he came to know through Arab traders that a prophet called Muhammad PBUH had wrought a miracle on that fateful night and sundered the moon before the crowd of dazed spectators.
Learning on inquiry that there was a prediction of the coming if a Messenger of God from Arabia, he appointed his son as regent and set out to meet him. He embraced Islam at the hand of the Prophet.
The king died on his way back to India but wrote letters to the local rulers of Malabar to "help construct mosques at Kodungallur and elsewhere". The rulers of Kerala honoured his wishes and built mosques in the early 7th century, one of them being Cheraman Malik Masjid at Kodungallur, said to be one of the oldest in the sub-continent.

Travellers from Syria and Yemen also witnessed the splitting of the moon that night!
Narrated by Anas ibn Malik (Al-Bukhari)

"The Makkan people requested Allah's messenger to show them a miracle, and so he showed them the splitting of the moon.
At this point, some of the wise men explained that magic could only affect the attendees whereas it cannot maintain influence on everybody in general. They waited for travellers who were coming back from their journeys. The pagans hurried up to the borders of Mecca in anticipation to meet the travellers.
When the first arrivals appeared, they asked them did you see anything extraordinary happened to the moon?
The travellers answered 'yes, on one night we saw the moon splitting into two parts which remained asunder for some time then reattached.'
Upon this statement, a number of the group believed while the rest remained pagans.

But I have heard people say, "this is hocus pocus, if Muhammad PBUH did split the moon, then why didnt the Europeans record it? After all, the Roman empire was still around. It's hard to believe that if the moon was split, why more people wouldn't record such phenomena"
This is easily explained with this case study:
At the beginning of the 20th century, people lived with the well-established idea of a static universe where the motion of stars never varies. This is probably due to Aristotle's teachings, stating that the sky is immutable, unlike Earth, which is perishable. This idea caused a historical anomaly:
in 1054, the Chinese noticed the appearance of new light in the sky, but no European document mentions it!
Yet it could be seen in full daylight and lasted for several weeks.
It was a supernova, that is, a dying star, the remnants of which can still be seen as the Crab Nebula. Predominant thought in Europe prevented people from accepting a phenomenon that so utterly contradicted the idea of an unchanging sky. A supernova is a very rare event, which can only be observed by the naked eye once a century. The most recent one dates back to 1987. So Aristotle was almost right in thinking that the sky was unchanging - on the scale of a human life at least.
This article can be found here: https://theconversation.com/einsteins-two-mistakes-139003
If the Europeans were unwilling to document a supernova in 1054, what makes you think they would be even more willing to document in the 7th century?
Subhan'Allah, we are now at our last proof of the splitting of the moon:
Proof no.1: The Qur'an
Almighty God mentions this miracle in the chapter of al-Qamar 1-5 as follows:
“The hour (of Judgment) is nigh, and The moon is cleft asunder.
But if they see a Sign, they turn away, and say "This is (but) transient magic."
They reject (the warning) and follow their (own) lusts but every matter has its appointed time.
There have already come to them Recitals wherein there is (enough) to check (them),
Mature wisdom― but (the preaching of) Warners profits them not.” (27)
How does this show that the miracle occurred?
Well, the Quran is telling us that the moon was split, but the disbelievers said that it was magic.
Remember, this verse wasn't preached once, recorded and never preached again. The Prophet repeatedly preached this exact verse to his followers and the non-muslims for decades. The non-muslims never refuted this verse!
The people that aren't even muslims, the paganists, NEVER SAID THAT THE MOON WASN'T SPLIT!!!!!
Even Al-Tabari, the one who wrote down whatever rumour he heard, the one who wrote down about the rumours of the Satanic Verses, NEVER wrote down anywhere that the pagans did not see the moon split.
The pagans saw the moon split and said "oh, it's just MAGIC!"
Never did they say "huh? A split moon? Never occured. Fake news"
Subhan'Allah, the biggest proof of the moon splitting isn't even from the muslims, but the non-muslims. They are the ones who authenticated the verse by claiming Allah did not allow Muhammad PBUH to split the moon, Muhammad PBUH performed magic! They are the witnesses of the miracles!
Allahu Akbar! The Qur'an is the biggest miracle and historical record we have of the moon splitting!
The Holy Quran is a miracle by itself, and a book full of all sorts of miracles. We as muslims should wholeheartedly have faith in the Quran and not attempt to explain scientific miracles of the Quran in a way that does harm the credibility of the holy book.
There is no need to exaggerate certain evidences to make them fit some facts mentioned in the Quran.
Until recently, a lot of the scientific facts in the Quran were in contradiction with the scientific theories at the time. Yet this never meant that the science is right and the Quran was wrong.
In many cases, new discoveries proved the old theories wrong and the Quran right (like the expansion of the universe for example.)
In other cases, our interpretation of the Quranic verses was wrong.
Either way, as a Muslim, the Quran's credibility is above any doubt. So as Muslims, hold the Quran over your own beliefs as nothing is as perfect as the Holy Quran.
I hope you found this interesting. Insha'Allah these are enough proofs of the miracle.
Edit: I just want to clarify as people in the comments have rightfully brought up:

Thank you to all who have replied. I am grateful that you have taken the time to read this.
I just want to clarify, I intended to write this post mainly for my muslim brothers and sisters. This miracle is one of the miracles that is associated with the Prophet PBUH but I know that a lot of muslims may have a hard time believing in its authenticity.
If I could make non-muslims interested in the deen, that would be great Alhamdulillah. However, this post is not directed at non-muslims, hence I used a lot of islamic articles as my target audience was my fellow brothers and sisters.
Insha'Allah, what I call proofs may not be proofs for many, including muslims but for me, these are the reasons in why I believe that the moon splitting miracle is authentic and real.
Take care and have a great day, salam!

Not only that, but many people have asked and enquired about the historical records from other civilisations and its validity, as well as why I even included proof no.4 when NASA themselves have said that they don't believe the moon was split in the past. Here is a comment I made that will address these concerns:
https://www.reddit.com/islam/comments/ippi5q/proving_that_the_prophet_pbuh_did_split_the_moon/g4uglh3?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3
Salam

Besides the often unsubstantiated, nonsensical and or harmful content of Islam. It's numerous derivative aspects is just another one of many hints to its artificial nature. Just like its Abrahamic sister faiths, Islam is a concoction of various pre-Islamic cultures, religions and ideas that is easily seen when under a comparative religion analysis. Not much is new, indeed this is something Islam itself kind of admits to, that it is a continuation of past (supposed 'divine') Abrahamic religions. Though (not surprisingly) Islam like it's Abrahamic predecessors and successors is not very vocal on it's pagan and unIslamic origins, masking the faults and fraud of Islam. Though there's much that can be said, below are a few links regarding the derivative features of Islam. If you know of other pagan and unholy origins of Islamic beliefs, rituals, stories etc please do mention them...(Thank you!)

Such derivative Islamic material from other pre-Islamic cultures and sources likely originated from the authors of Islam, like Muhammed, being a traveling merchant interacting with foreign societies and individuals; this further aided by being born and raised in a a multi-cultural/racial/faith city.^[1] Dogmatic Muslim apologists rationalise the derivative nature of their religion via nonsensical and unsubstantiated cries of these much older pre-Islamic, unIslamic and pagan sources, supposedly being a 'corrupted' form of Islamic beliefs, a religion they claim apparently existed since before 7th century Arabia, as far back as the dawn of humanity! Yet they are unable to provide sound evidence for such wild claims, hence why practically all historians don't accept Islamic 'corruption' argument as factual, let alone the incompetence of a supposed omnipotent deity incapable of preventing his messages being corrupted numerous times! It's the same desperate and flawed apologetics other dogmatic religionists say to hide their religions unoriginality and human origins.

The Specifics of the 'Corruption' Claim.
Did Muhammed Borrow From Judeo-Christian Scriptures? - also see the interesting comments by the user 'Itistemp'.
The Biased and Unreliable Nature of Islamic history.

EDIT; Due to the inconvenient nature of Reddit's mobile like format, I’ve re-edited all the main links in this thread. For secondary links in posts, if you're having trouble accessing those links - then please replace the 'www' in the address link with 'old' e.g. old.reddit.com or https://old.reddit.com. I apologise for any inconvenience.
If you made it this far...
Bonus material 1
Bonus material 2 - 100 reasons Why I left Islam, by MudassirMEMD - [Backup Link]
Bonus material 3 - Various Criticisms of Islamic Beliefs and Apologetics (V1).pdf - its a rough copy, my apologies.
Remember. Anyone can make up events, figures or gods, proving their veracity with sound evidence is a whole other matter. That asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence, particularly claims that are nonsensical. Islam is filled with unsubstantiated, nonsensical and harmful claims, nor do its common apologetics make it sound any less false and harmful…

Criticism of Scientific miracles
Criticism of Inimitability of Quran/Linguistic miracle
Criticism of Predictions/Prophecies argument
Criticism of 'Fitrah' claim
Criticism Of Hell/Jahannam - Its Artificial Origins, Absurdity and the Irrational Fear due to the Legacy of Childhood Indoctrination
The Biased and Unreliable History of Islam
The False Trichotomy, that Muhammad was either a Liar, Deluded or a Prophet, When this is disingenuous, for he could have been all of those things.
Criticism of the Unnecessary and Cruel Nature of Islamic Punishments - Mutilation/Amputation, Flogging, Beheading, Crucifixion and Stoning
Criticism of Muhammad and his Followers Stoning People to Death
Criticisms of Muhammad's and the early Muslims Unnecessary Cruelty/Collective Punishment towards the Banu Qurayza and Others
Slaves: their 'consent' and rape in Islam and it's history
Slavery in Islam
Quran and violence
Criticism of the Muslim Mental Gymnastics and Long Winded Apologetics Rationalizing Flaws in Islam
The Pre-Islamic and Pagan Origins of Islam, PDF file above may be updated here.
Pre-Islamic Origins of Noah's Ark and the Flood
Allusions to a Flat Earth in Islam and it's Pre-Islamic Origins
Islam's Night Journey and it's Pre-Islamic Origins
Brief critiques on various Islamic topics e.g. it's history, theology and social rulings
Why we left Islam
Why I left Islam

Feel free to copy, improve, save or share all posts as your own.

بسم الله الرحمان الرحيم

الحمد الله ربّ العلمين والصلاةُ والسلمُ على رسول الله و على أهلهِ وَ أصحابِهِ أجمعين.

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

In the name of Allah, The Most Merciful and the Especially Merciful, all praise is due to Allah, Lord of the Alameen. [May He] send his peace and blessings upon the Messenger of Allah, the Prophet SAW and his family and his companions all together. May the Peace and Mercy and Blessings of Allah be Upon You.
This is a response to u/whateverwhocaresbye on her post I think I'm having a "crisis of faith" :(
Many of our misconceptions about women, marriage, gender roles today emerge from the Colonial Era as well as "modernity;" This is the typical cultural narrative Muslims have adopted today.
However, there is more to be said from this because in many instances we willfully adopted nationalistic, Cultural, Social, Scientific beliefs that affect the way we think about the world.
Another way our misconceptions about marriage arises come from rhetoric and polemics. Many Muslims assume that anything deemed "traditional," existing in or as part of a tradition (usually from religion); long-established, is comparable to what the "Islamic tradition" says. So when American politicians/moralists (abuse) utilize family values, traditional values, etc they are using it in a certain way that is not necessarily for family values but ulterior motives such as racial suburban segregation (Biden called out Trump on this in the first debate) and more recently privatization of the economy (neo-liberalization).
Another way is how many Muslims adopt silent ideologies/movements out of opposition to more apparent movements; so being reactionary without deliberate thought.
So many mainstream shaykhs and speakers, as well as more abrasive speakers like Daniel Haqiqatjou actually utilize anti-feminist, anti-collective, Masculinism (yes this is a real thing), pro-capitalist rhetoric for the mere purpose of "owning liberals," the all-powerful, but weak ambiguous yet pervasive, silent but loud Muslims who are deemed to be people who will destroy Islam.
So the following articles, chaptebook suggestions, podcasts, videos are basically tackling this issue holistically from science, culture, politics, economics, etc
You should not find these books on libgen, Hint hint,

Conservative politicians using "Family Values" starting in the late 60s to subvert and destroy socio-economic supports systems through neoliberal privatization, making it harder for people to get married, have kids, take care of the elderly, etc

All in the Family Debt: How Neoliberals and Conservatives Came Together to Undo the Welfare State essay based on the Book Family Values: Between Neoliberalism and the New Social Conservatism.
The End of Family Values: Neoliberalism rests on the myth that “good” families can provide for their own without public support. COVID-19 may finally change all that.
“Family Values”: The Uses and Abuses of American Family History
Stephanie Coontz's article on the myth of "traditional family values"
Chapter 1, The Way We Wish We Were Defining the Family Crisis from the book The Way We Never Were American Families and the Nostalgia Trap
Chapter 1 and 2 Inventing Family Values and The Evangelical Resurgence of the 1970s from the Book Rightward Bound: Making America Conservative in the 1970s

The emergence of Eugenic Sciences in the late 19th century

Chapter 1: Motherhood Morality Morons from the book Building a Better Race: Gender, Sexuality, and Eugenics from the Turn of the Century to the Baby Boom, Why working-class women are demonized in relation to eugenics sciences
The Biopolitics of Marriage and Motherhood: Understanding the Transformative Role of White Middle-Class Women in the American Eugenics Movement 1900-1930
The Role of Eugenics in the Restoration of The Nuclear Family Post-WWII
Chapter 4 Preserving the Family and the Nation: Eugenic Masculinity Concepts, Expert Intervention and the American Family in the United States, 1900-1960 from the book Masculinities and the Nation in the Modern World: Between Hegemony and Marginalization

Other 19th-century stuff

Introduction, The Discourse of Secularism from the Book Sex and Secularism. This book shows how "traditional" gender roles emerged from secularism (refer back to the biopolitics of marriage and motherhood) and is inherently unequal in its conception despite today's claim that secularism promotes gender equality as opposed to religion, namely Islam in the clash of civilization thesis. So many Muslims claim they follow the tradition by adhering to traditional gender roles, but most of these prove how recent an invention it is.
Theory of the Leisure class, skim it for marriage and housewife stuff

Sex, gender, and marriage stuff

TRIGGER WARNING THIS BOOK TALKS ABOUT RAPE Introduction from The Age of Scientific Sexism: How Evolutionary Psychology Promotes Gender Profiling and Fans the Battle of the Sexes. This book argues that the idea that women are sexually coy and men are sexually aggressive/impulsive and that rape as "evolutionary benefits" comes from Darwinism in the 19th century and has no scientific basis despite evolutionary psychologists championing these beliefs. This matters because of the way think about marriage. Often we say men provide for women and in exchange women provide sex many of the rhetoric around this denies women sexual autonomy and pleasure, cultivates accessible beliefs/behaviors of abuse in marriage using religious texts. But many of our beliefs about sex in marriage doesn't come from Islam but secular evolutionary (eugenics) scientism (the promotion of science as the best or only objective means by which society should determine normative and epistemological values) vs. doing science
The Gender Similarities Hypothesis
Sexual dinosaur: The charge of ‘feminist bias’ is used to besmirch anyone who questions sexist assumptions at work in science. This article goes through the history of science and famous experiments where scientist deliberately choose experiments that aligned with the cultural gender ideological beliefs about sexual tendencies in men and women, (men aggressive, women coy)
25 Years’ Worth of Marriage Advice: Hina Khan-Mukhtar Compare this article to this podcast episode Sexing History Episode 5 Touch Me! I'm Yours! In the 1970s, Evangelical women published bestselling marriage manuals. These books encouraged millions of American women to have active and exciting sex lives. They also insisted that in order to find happiness, a woman must submit to her husband's divinely ordained authority.
Evangelical churches believe men should control women. That’s why they breed domestic violence. A lot to learn from the "Ahli Kitaab"

>"In the 1980s, Christian feminists began to challenge the exclusivity of male leadership in the church, as well as aspects of theology, including the assumption God was masculine in nature. The feminist movement that had been gaining momentum in wider society during the 1960s and 1970s underpinned this revolt against male privilege in the church. In fervent response, evangelical factions of the Christian church began to double down on men’s authority over women. In fact, evangelical Christian leaders who believed in the infallibility of biblical scripture, began to blame Christian feminists for creating more divorce, sexual abuse and promiscuity."

Anti-feminism

In Defense of Old-School Feminism: A new book, Feminism’s Forgotten Fight, pushes back on the notion that second-wave feminists only cared about sexual liberation. They fought for family values, too.
Chapter 1 'Radical Feminism's Misogynistic Crusade" or the conservative Tax Revolt from the book How All Politics Became Reproductive Politics: From Welfare Reform to Foreclosure to Trump
Digesting the Red Pill: Masculinity and Neoliberalism in the Manosphere.

> This article undertakes the first known qualitative study focusing on The Red Pill, an online forum wherein heterosexual men attempt to improve their seduction skills by discussing evolutionary psychology and economic theories. My content analysis of twenty-six documents (130,000 words) designated by the community as central to its purpose and ideology shows that The Red Pill is not just an expression of hegemonic masculinity but also explicitly integrates neoliberal and scientific discourses into its seduction strategies. I theorize that the resulting philosophy superficially resolves a contradiction between hegemonic masculinity’s prescriptive emotional walls and an inherent desire for connection by constructing women as exchangeable commodities.

Sexual Violence in the ‘Manosphere’: Antifeminist Men’s Rights Discourses on Rape

> This paper explores the role that men’s rights activism (MRA) is playing in a contemporary backlash to feminist anti-rape activism. We engage in a discourse analysis of popular MRA websites to reveal a set of interrelated claims, including: that sexual violence, like domestic violence, is a gender-neutral problem; that feminists are responsible for erasing men’s experiences of victimization; that false allegations are widespread; and that rape culture is a feminist-produced moral panic. We argue that sexual violence is emerging as a new focus of the men’s rights movement, competing with a longstanding emphasis on fathers’ rights. The subject of MRA activism has shifted and is becoming less familial and more sexual. MRAs appear to be using the issue of rape to mobilize young men and to exploit their anxieties about shifting consent standards and changing gender norms.

When Women are the Enemy: The Intersection of Misogyny and White Supremacy
Reviwe of Francis Dupuis-Déri's book The crisis of masculinity. Autopsy of a tenacious myth Right-click then click translate if you're using chrome
The “crisis of Masculinity” Discourse as Refusal of Equality and as Antifeminist Rhetoric: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives right click then click translate if you're using chrome basically the whole anti-feminist rhetoric and crisis of masculinity is not psychological but political, it's just trying to mobilize resources to ensure white male dominance

Islamic History and stuff

Chapter 2 Working Women, single women, and the rise of the Female Ribat from the book Marriage, Money and Divorce in Medieval Islamic Society. This talks about Muslim women's financial independence and income while married in the Mamluk Era
Chapter 3 Ethics of Marriage and the domestic Economy from the book Gendered Morality: Classical Islamic Ethics of the Self, Family, and Society. Demonstrates the male-centric perspective of 3 famous scholars including Ghazali that sets up women as asymmetrical moral support functions for elite men
I wrote a post investigating the marriage of Asma Bint Bakr RA and Zubayr Ibn Awwam RA and showed how there aren't necessarily distinct gender roles as we conceive them today
Marriage Reformed: Modernist Intellectuals and the new family ideology from the book Modernizing Marriage: Family, Ideology, and Law in Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Egypt Egyptians adopting the new (invented) family ideology (which comes from the scientific understanding of eugenics/nation-building) Also mostly upper-class families adopted this which is the running trend in all of this, class position and access to being able to exemplify masculinity and femininity, working-class men are not the elusive breadwinners and working-class women are not feminine enough
Empire and Degradation: On the links between colonialism and sexual control
THE ‘THREAT’ OF REACTIONARY RELIGION

I'm working on other things mainly arguing that the sahaba RA did not view things like we do including sex (male-centric), hoor al ayn (we hyper sexually objectify them rather than see them as loving spouses), and other sexual ethics stuff including the assumed sexual agency of Sahabiyat RA
we ignore hadiths that suggest even one instance of hitting your wife makes unable to be the best of men (best of you is who treats his womenfolk the best), and general recreating the sexual culture during the time of the Prophet SAW through hadith, Arabic language, the Quran and other things
So feel free to ask about that as well if you want
u/bubbblez I made it male and female participation but I'm known to be stalked and harassed by guys on here bc I'm pretty much a Low testosterone Dayooth, sad
you'll be able to tell, just delete them I don't care to deal with them. Please and thank you sis
I'll add more stuff inshallah. I'm missing something i can't think what I'm missing atm
Edit: reminder for me mohyian report/welfare queen, federal segregation, intro Islamic law, 9/11 gender, affirmative action Nixon reagan adviser Edward banfield,

Besides the often unsubstantiated, nonsensical and or harmful content of Islam. It's numerous derivative aspects is just another one of many hints to its artificial nature. Just like its Abrahamic sister faiths, Islam is a concoction of various pre-Islamic cultures, religions and ideas that is easily seen when under a comparative religion analysis. Not much is new, indeed this is something Islam itself kind of admits to, that it is a continuation of past (supposed 'divine') Abrahamic religions. Though (not surprisingly) Islam like it's Abrahamic predecessors and successors is not very vocal on it's pagan and unIslamic origins, masking the faults and fraud of Islam. Though there's much that can be said, below are a few links regarding the derivative features of Islam. If you know of other pagan and unholy origins of Islamic beliefs, rituals, stories etc please do mention them...(Thank you!)

Such derivative Islamic material from other pre-Islamic cultures and sources likely originated from the authors of Islam, like Muhammed, being a traveling merchant interacting with foreign societies and individuals; this further aided by being born and raised in a a multi-cultural/racial/faith city.^[1] Dogmatic Muslim apologists rationalise the derivative nature of their religion via nonsensical and unsubstantiated cries of these much older pre-Islamic, unIslamic and pagan sources, supposedly being a 'corrupted' form of Islamic beliefs, a religion they claim apparently existed since before 7th century Arabia, as far back as the dawn of humanity! Yet they are unable to provide sound evidence for such wild claims, hence why practically all historians don't accept Islamic 'corruption' argument as factual, let alone the incompetence of a supposed omnipotent deity incapable of preventing his messages being corrupted numerous times! It's the same desperate and flawed apologetics other dogmatic religionists say to hide their religions unoriginality and human origins.

The Specifics of the 'Corruption' Claim.
Did Muhammed Borrow From Judeo-Christian Scriptures? - also see the interesting comments by the user 'Itistemp'.
The Biased and Unreliable Nature of Islamic history.

EDIT; Due to the inconvenient nature of Reddit's mobile like format, I’ve re-edited all the main links in this thread. For secondary links in posts, if you're having trouble accessing those links - then please replace the 'www' in the address link with 'old' e.g. old.reddit.com or https://old.reddit.com. I apologise for any inconvenience.
If you made it this far...
Bonus material 1
Bonus material 2 - 100 reasons Why I left Islam, by MudassirMEMD - [Backup Link]
Bonus material 3 - Various Criticisms of Islamic Beliefs and Apologetics (V1).pdf - its a rough copy, my apologies.
Remember. Anyone can make up events, figures or gods, proving their veracity with sound evidence is a whole other matter. That asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence, particularly claims that are nonsensical. Islam is filled with unsubstantiated, nonsensical and harmful claims, nor do its common apologetics make it sound any less false and harmful…

Criticism of Scientific miracles
Criticism of Inimitability of Quran/Linguistic miracle
Criticism of Predictions/Prophecies argument
Criticism of 'Fitrah' claim
Criticism Of Hell/Jahannam - Its Artificial Origins, Absurdity and the Irrational Fear due to the Legacy of Childhood Indoctrination
The Biased and Unreliable History of Islam
The False Trichotomy, that Muhammad was either a Liar, Deluded or a Prophet, When this is disingenuous, for he could have been all of those things.
Criticism of the Unnecessary and Cruel Nature of Islamic Punishments - Mutilation/Amputation, Flogging, Beheading, Crucifixion and Stoning
Criticism of Muhammad and his Followers Stoning People to Death
Criticisms of Muhammad's and the early Muslims Unnecessary Cruelty/Collective Punishment towards the Banu Qurayza and Others
Slaves: their 'consent' and rape in Islam and it's history
Slavery in Islam
Quran and violence
Criticism of the Muslim Mental Gymnastics and Long Winded Apologetics Rationalizing Flaws in Islam
The Pre-Islamic and Pagan Origins of Islam, PDF file above may be updated here.
Pre-Islamic Origins of Noah's Ark and the Flood
Allusions to a Flat Earth in Islam and it's Pre-Islamic Origins
Islam's Night Journey and it's Pre-Islamic Origins
Brief critiques on various Islamic topics e.g. it's history, theology and social rulings
Why we left Islam
Why I left Islam

Feel free to copy, improve, save or share all posts as your own.

The Plot
We all know the story as laid out in the prosecution’s case. Adnan, angered at having been replaced in Hae’s heart by Don, decided to murder her. He secures a cell phone, calls Hae the night before to set her up to give him a ride after school. He places the phone and his car in the hands of his accomplice, Jay Wilds. He gets Hae to drive him after school during which time she is murdered. He contacts Jay and they dump Hae’s car at the Park n Ride lot after which Jay drives Adnan back to Woodlawn HS. He attends track practice and makes sure he is seen by his coach. Jay picks him up after practice and the two go to Kristi’s place where Adnan gets calls from Hae’s brother and then the cops. Adnan and Jay leave Kristi’s, retrieve Hae’s car, drive to Leakin Park and do a half-assed job at burying Hae’s body. They dump Hae’s car and Jay gets picked up by Jen.
We know that Bilal got Adnan the phone on January 11, 1999 and Adnan activated it the next day. We know through Adnan’s dad’s inexplicably long testimony on the subject that Adnan led prayers at the ISB on January 14, 1999. We know that Adnan was a 17 year-old kid when he was arrested for murdering Hae Min Lee—or do we?
Maryland's inmate record (type his name in the linked page to pull it up) has Adnan's date of birth listed as May 21, 1980. I'm sure this has been discussed to death, but there appears to be some controversy over Adnan's age and whether he was 17 or 18 at the time Hae was murdered. His arrest warrant also shows the same birthdate in 1980.This unauthenticated image from what appears to be Adnan's old passport indicates that his birthday is May 21, 1981. Which is correct? Why might the age in his passport have been falsified? Well, a few months ago, I commented on how my parents shipped me off to India a few weeks before school was out for the summer because if I traveled before my 12th birthday, the price of my ticket would be half. My family joined me a few weeks later. I didn't fly alone, mind you, but with my dad's cousin and her shitty son who was a couple of years younger than me. That fucker threw gum in my hair during our layover in Mumbai (Bombay back then). The kid is now an accomplished physician, but when I see him at family gatherings, I still think, "screw that guy." At any rate, note that Adnan's passport was procured in May 1992. If the timing of the passport was in advance of a family trip to Pakistan, I can totally see his parents using a phony birth certificate to make their kid 11 years old to avoid paying the full fare. Yeah, even when you exclude the murderers, my people from the subcontinent kind of suck. Regardless, I'll keep with Serial's possibly false assertion that Adnan was 17 at the time of the murder because I don't think adding an extra year would have made Adnan more of a criminal mastermind. But it is important to note that if Adnan's birthday is, in fact, May 21, 1980, his side and the complicit, non-fact-checking, lazy-ass media has been spinning this fiction that he was 17 at the time of the murder and should not have been tried as an adult. More relevant to my analysis, however, is the fact that if Adnan was 18 on January 11, 1999 when he got the cell phone, he would not have needed Bilal to get it for him. Thus, if Adnan was already 18 and could have procured it himself, it was Bilal who was forcing the cell phone into Adnan's hand consistent with my conclusions that Bilal was, in fact, the mastermind.
The Phone
I received a message a few months ago asking why Adnan needed a cell phone to kill Hae. It was a damned good question. It's one of those questions that we gloss over and never bother asking, taking for granted that Adnan needed a phone. Why not just tell Jay to meet him at some place at a particular time? Were they pressed for time? Did the plan to murder Hae have to operate like clockwork? The way Jay and Adnan floated around from the time Jay picked up Adnan after track practice until Jen Pusateri picked up Jay after they finished burying Hae at Leakin Park, it certainly didn’t seem like they were in a hurry to get anywhere. So why did a phone have to come into the equation? Because the original plot to murder Hae likely differed from the one that was actually carried out. The original plot was far more time sensitive and had to be executed like clockwork to make sure everything happened on time. At some point, the wheels came off the plan and Adnan had to improvise.
Do you know who relied heavily on their phones in 1999? Criminal informants. CIs live and die by their cell phones. They are used to keep in contact with their handlers. They are used to help set up sting operations. They are used to make sure that the operations run like clockwork. A heavy cell phone user like Bilal would not be able to conceive taking a shit without coordinating it on his phone.
Sticking with the prevailing narrative that Adnan was 17, he couldn’t get a phone on his own because you need to be 18 to sign a cell phone contract. He didn’t use a fake ID. He didn’t try to convince his parents that he needed one for work and have them sign the contract. He was taken to the cell store by Bilal who signed the contract for him on January 11, 1999.
During the 9 day stretch from January 3 to January 12, 1999, there are 14 calls between Bilal’s mobile and Adnan’s home. After Adnan activated his phone on January 12, 1999 until he was arrested on February 28, 1999 how many times did Bilal call Adnan on his mobile? Two bloody times. Both on January 26, 1999 one day after the police visited Adnan’s house asking about Hae causing Adnan and his mom to panic and shit themselves. In the days immediately following Adnan activating his phone, not one call from Bilal asking: “Hey kid who I’ve known and been close to for the past six years to whom I made a dozen calls in the past week and whose photo I carry around in my wallet, how is that new phone I got you working out?” For those looking for incriminating calls linking Bilal with the events that transpired on January 13, Bilal was very careful in covering his tracks. In fact he was too careful because we go from a high volume of calls to complete radio silence on the day of Hae’s murder. The lack of calls between them screams, “I will not incriminate myself by calling that new phone I just bought for you to facilitate the murder we planned!”
For some reason, Bilal chose to get Adnan a cell phone from ATT instead of Sprint on which Bilal had at least three lines. Perhaps he liked the fact that ATT does not show the numbers for incoming calls. Clearly, Bilal neither asked about nor was aware that ATT, unlike Sprint, includes cell tower location info in their records. Had he known, he would have admonished Adnan to avoid making calls to Hae late at night on January 12, 1999. One call pinged tower L602C in western downtown Baltimore. Specifically, L602C is located just south of US-40, west of MD-2 and just north of where I-395 ends. Do you know what else is at that exact same location?
THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF DENTISTRY WHERE BILAL HAD AN OFFICE.
Nah, there is no way that 17-year old Adnan would have been finalizing the details of the plot with career criminal Bilal the night before the murder. It’s much more likely that Adnan was clubbing on a school night on the west side of downtown Baltimore where Bilal happened to have an office calling Hae on the phone that Bilal just happened to have bought for him a day earlier and immediately before Hae happened to be murdered, right?
Leading Prayers
Adnan led prayers at ISB on January 14, 1999. At first we are led to believe that he led prayers of the entire congregation of hundreds of families during Ramadan. Any Muslim who is part of a large community upon reflection for a moment will realize that Adnan DID NOT lead the entire congregation. The Imam who leads prayers during Ramadan is a hafiz, or someone who has memorized the Quran. Although Adnan used his time in prison to become a hafiz, he was not one when he was 17. As indicated in Bilal’s grand jury testimony, the prayer Adnan led was of a small youth group of about 20 boys for which Bilal served as leader. As youth leader, Bilal was in charge of coordinating who led this smaller prayer and on what days. This prayer wasn't nearly as big a deal as it was made to sound during trial. The group of boys could have set up anywhere in a corner of the prayer hall and performed the prayer followed by a brief talk. While this was an unremarkable event in that it would not require everyone in the mosque to stop and take note, it was notable enough for some people to see and acknowledge that it took place. Most importantly, it was something over which Bilal had control. Now let’s put it all together.
The Original Plan
There are varying opinions on Adnan’s ability to concoct the plot to murder Hae. Some say he lacked the sophistication to come up with the plan while others are convinced that he is a precocious, manipulative sociopath who was criminally wise beyond his years. Adnan may have been a manipulative turd, but I do not think he could have come up with this plan on his own, especially in view of the obvious help he received from Bilal. The original plan was time sensitive and required a high degree of precision, thus requiring a cell phone to execute. It was important for Adnan to be seen by others throughout the day so that the window during which he could have committed the murder would be impossibly small thereby insulating him from suspicion.
Phase 1: Give Jay Adnan’s phone and car so that Jay would be on call to immediately pick up Adnan after Hae was murdered.
Phase 2: Get a ride from Hae to the location of her murder and call Jay.
Phase 3: Drive Hae’s car to the Park n Ride while Jay follows in Adnan’s car.
Phase 4: Have Jay drive Adnan to track practice and make a big show to the coach to whom Adnan hardly spoke before to leave an impression so that the coach would remember Adnan was there.
Phase 5: Get high with Jay and go to Kristi’s where more people would see Adnan and could vouch that he was there.
Phase 6: Go home, shower and change for prayers at the ISB.
Phase 7: LEAD PRAYERS OF THE SMALL YOUTH GROUP SO THAT ISB MEMBERS COULD VOUCH THAT ADNAN WAS AT THE ISB THAT EVENING. Yeah, I know this didn’t happen, but this was Bilal’s ORIGINAL plan that got screwed up. Please read on to see how.
Phase 8: Live happily ever after knowing that he got away with murder (preceded by some plan in the days following Hae's murder to dispose of her body in something other than a shallow grave).
Of all the steps, I am most impressed by Phase 7: Not only is Adnan establishing his presence at the mosque for all to see, but by leading the prayers he is also spiritually cleansing himself of the heinous act that he just committed and asking God for forgiveness. What a twisted monster this Bilal is. He wields spiritual abuse like a magician. He uses religion to draw in his victims. He uses religion to reinforce his victims’ shame and silence. He uses religion to cleanse the unspeakable acts he manipulates his victims into performing. Unfortunately for Adnan, something went wrong at Phase 5 causing the shit to hit the prophy cup (the motorized dental tool that spins like crazy when used to polish teeth--yeah, I had to look that up).
The Audible
While sitting there at Kristi’s place establishing his presence, Adnan received a call. Recall that Adnan was high at the time and probably feeling a little paranoid. This paranoia likely went into overdrive when Adnan saw that the number calling him was Hae’s! Adnan’s head was spinning (like the now proverbial prophy cup) at the incredibly short turnaround time between Hae being murdered and her almost instantly haunting him. He trepidly answered and was relieved to hear the voice of Hae’s brother who actually meant to call her current boyfriend, Don, to ask of his sister’s whereabouts. Her brother’s mistake is easy to understand given that Hae wrote Adnan’s number in the last entry in her diary where she had also written Don’s name 127 times (see page 66 of the PDF). Adnan relaxed again for a moment before shit suddenly got real when his phone rang again a few minutes later with the police asking him about Hae’s whereabouts. Within a couple of hours of his killing Hae, the cops called Adnan on his cell phone that he had only activated 24 hours earlier. At this point, Adnan’s brain hit DEFCON fucked. He probably figured, if the cops could zero in on him and his phone that quickly, it’s just a question of time before they find Hae’s car and her body in the trunk and find a way to link it to him!
In a state of panic, paranoia and desperation, Adnan deviated from the plan and called an audible. He and Jay would retrieve Hae’s body from her car and bury it in Leakin Park. This was the point where the murder plot switched from being that of a criminal mastermind to the half-baked brain fart of two pot-heads. It transitioned from being Bilal's plan to Adnan's plan. In his panicked state, Adnan started to make mistakes. He popped the glove box in Hae’s car and frantically searched for the route to the park, but left a revealing palm print on the map book. After picking up Hae’s car and body, he realized that there was no way he would be able to make it to the ISB and lead prayers as required under Phase 7 of the plot. So Adnan called Yaser from his cell asking Yaser to relay to Bilal, who Adnan was NOT supposed to call, that Adnan would not be able to make it to the ISB that evening. The alternative explanation is absurd wherein while digging a grave for his ex-girlfriend whom he just murdered, Adnan suddenly became curious about whether he had cell reception in Leakin Park and decided to test the signal strength by calling his buddy. Remember, he was high on pot, not crystal meth. Had they been on meth, they would likely have dug a hole deep enough, but would have neglected to place the body inside. All kidding aside, I cannot underscore the importance of this call to Yaser enough. It strongly suggests that the pièce de résistance of the original plot was, in fact, Adnan leading the prayers on January 13, 1999 at the ISB. Prayers over which Bilal had control to designate who would lead and when. If true, this establishes Bilal as the mastermind behind the murder plot. The audible cost Adnan the possibility of legit alibi witnesses at the ISB for the evening of January 13, 1999.
Thus, Adnan screwed up his evening alibi, although, unsurprisingly, Bilal was supposedly prepared to commit perjury and say that Adnan was at the ISB anyway because that’s how Bilal rolls. While the alibi aspect of leading the prayers was lost, Bilal still saw value in Adnan leading the prayers on January 14 likely for the spiritual cleansing effect and to emotionally put the unpleasant matter behind him.
The Tip
A brief word about the February 12, 1999 phone tip wherein the tipster suggested that the cops take a closer look at Adnan for Hae's murder. We know that Adnan placed a call to Yasser at 6:59 PM on Jan 13. From there, it all likely unfolded as follows: As suggested above, this call was Adnan asking Yasser to cover for him at the mosque because Adnan was supposed to lead the youth group’s prayer per Bilal’s plan to give him an evening alibi. Yasser returned to Bilal's youth group of 20 boys, told them that Adnan would not be able to make it and Bilal designated one of the other boys to lead that evening. By itself, that's pretty unremarkable and the boys may not have thought much of it at the time. But then Hae’s disappearance started making the news. Based on Yasser’s testimony, many of the boys knew Adnan had been dating Hae. When the news of her body being found on Feb 9 broke, one of the boys in the youth group made the connection that Hae was last seen on the day that Yasser said he got the call and Adnan would not be leading them in the prayer. The kid only knows that Adnan called Yasser the evening of January 13, but does not know specifically what was discussed besides Adnan telling Yasser that he would not be able to make it to the mosque. The kid called the cops a couple of days later on Feb 12 telling them to look at Adnan who the kid knew was Hae's ex. More importantly, he called the cops back a few minutes later telling them to talk to Yasser. But the kid didn't tell the cops that Yasser received a call from Adnan the evening of January 13. The kid didn't tell the cops that Yasser was the one who told the youth group and Bilal that Adnan would not be leading them in prayers. The kid assumed that Yasser knew more about what else Adnan did that evening with regard to the murder because Yasser is the one who Adnan chose to call. The kid, wanting to preserve his anonymity and not wanting it known that he was one of the boys in Bilal's youth group, made Yasser's knowledge of what Adnan likely did to Hae about some remote bullshit story "from about a year ago" where Adnan allegedly told Yasser about hurting Hae and driving her car into a lake. One year earlier, Adnan and Hae were not dating. The kid's bullshit story was a feeble attempt to direct the cops to Yasser without having to tell them about the call Yasser received on January 13, 1999 that would have identified the tipster as one of the 20 boys in Bilal's youth group. Take it out of the context of this analysis. Is there a more logical reason why the tipster would call back and give the cops Yasser’s name?
What About Jay?
In the original plan, Jay was only supposed to drive Adnan's car: follow Adnan to where they dumped Hae's car with her body inside and accompany him to Kristi's. I imagine Bilal's instruction on this was something like this: "Get someone to drive your car and pick you up where you dump Hae and her car. Use that black guy you buy pot from. Threaten to turn him in if he doesn't agree to help." Jay went along initially because all he had to do was drive Adnan's car. Then when things went to hell and Adnan panicked at Phase 5 and called the audible, the plan suddenly went way beyond what Jay signed up for. Going back and getting Hae's body, helping drag her body out of the car to the burial site, helping bury (or watching Adnan bury) the body all freaked Jay out. Based on Jen's account of when she came to pick up Jay, he was shaken. He let it drop right then that Hae was murdered. Had they stuck to the original plan and spared Jay having to help drag Hae's dead body out and bury it, he probably would have kept his mouth shut and said nothing to Jen that night. Being a craven piece of shit, Bilal was not going to allow himself to have any active role in Hae's murder. Aside from being enlisted to drive Adnan's car, Jay may have also been engaged to assist so that Bilal and Adnan could have a patsy to blame for Hae's murder if the cops got too close. Recall that just before Hae's body was found, Adnan made an appointment to finally speak with the police after consulting with Bilal. The cops cancelled the meeting with Adnan after Hae's body was found so Adnan didn't have a chance to throw Jay under the bus.
Why didn't Adnan inform Bilal about the audible? As mentioned above, Adnan was under strict instructions to NOT call Bilal because Bilal didn't want to have any calls between himself and Adnan's new phone. Given that, it does seem strange and stupid for Bilal to have signed the cell phone contract two days earlier, but that also goes to the idea of Bilal being a CI who was pre-programmed into convincing himself that a cell phone is absolutely necessary for the operation. It's almost as though Bilal wasn't able to help himself like Yosemite Sam in this clip where he can’t stop his own actions despite knowing there will be a disastrous result.
We are not clear on what happened after Adnan dropped off Jay, but my guess is that Adnan went to the mosque to tell Bilal in person what had happened. The taraweeh prayers during Ramadan typically last 1.5 to 2 hours. If they started at around 7 PM they would have been wrapping up at close to 9 PM and people would still be hanging out. Jen was paged at a little after 8 PM to pick up Jay and Adnan likely headed home at about 8:15 PM. I assume he would have gone home to clean up before heading over to the mosque, which would have put him there at around 9ish when most people were leaving or had already left, thus the lack of people willing to testify that he was there that evening. Wait, I take that back...Jan 13, 1999 landed on an odd night (25th of Ramadan) during the last 10 days of the holy month. Odd nights during the last ten days are of particular significance for reasons you can look up on your own, but Muslims tend to spend extra time in prayers and dhikr (remembrance/thinking about God) on these nights. ISB members would have definitely stuck around after 9 pm. I imagine that deviating from the plan and physically burying Hae freaked Adnan out as well and he probably was too weirded out to go into the mosque and may have waited outside in his car for Bilal to come out. While waiting, he may have made those calls to Nisha at Krista at around 9 PM. Then again, he may have just gone home and made the calls from there and connected with Bilal in person the following day. What we do know is that Adnan did not go to the mosque on January 13, 1999 despite his dad—and ONLY his dad in a community of hundreds—having testified otherwise.
The Arrest
In the weeks following Hae’s murder, Adnan and Bilal did their best to keep a low profile occasionally shitting themselves every time the cops reached out. When Adnan was arrested, Bilal knew that he had to make himself indispensable to Adnan and his family. There is desperation in the way Bilal completely threw himself into assisting Adnan. As mentioned before, Bilal was Adnan’s first call from prison. Bilal quickly retained attorneys to represent Adnan and organized the community to pay for the legal fees and write letters of support too in hope for a favorable bail hearing. Even the attorneys Bilal hired were under the impression that Bilal was a close relative of Adnan’s. As devastated as Adnan’s parents were, they felt blessed to have Bilal in their corner. How can this amazing man who selflessly took such an active interest in their son for the past several years be any more of an angel???!!! “Bilal, we are so lucky to have you in our lives!” There are nearly 100 calls between Bilal and Adnan’s parents during the 45-day stretch between when Adnan was arrested and when he was indicted. Not only was Adnan groomed to be dependent upon and completely devoted to Bilal, Bilal groomed Adnan’s parents to feel that way as well.
It had to be Gutierrez
While Bilal deserves to be universally hated, Rabia somehow manages to even get her reasons for hating Bilal wrong. In her mind, Bilal’s most egregious offense was hiring Cristina Gutierrez to represent Adnan. Rabia convinced herself that Gutierrez was a shitty attorney who sabotaged Adnan’s defense. In reality, Rabia is oblivious to the fact that she herself is a far shittier attorney who did immeasurable damage to Adnan’s case by providing inept assistance guaranteeing that Adnan will rot in prison for the rest of his life. All Rabia accomplished was finding a new way to leverage social media to weaponize uninformed public opinion and unleash it against our imperfect criminal justice system making it worse than it was before. As I posted previously, Gutierrez was more than competent and did well with the shitty hand that she was dealt. What I did not realize until recently is that Bilal was likely the dealer and made sure she received an extra helping of shit.
There is no shortage of competent defense attorneys in the Baltimore area. Yet, Bilal insisted that Adnan use Gutierrez, the same attorney who represented Bilal (and Rabia’s brother, Saad) during the grand jury proceedings. The lengths to which the defense went to shoehorn Gutierrez into this case were extraordinary. While I stand by the fact that she was a good attorney, her courtroom presence, admittedly, left something to be desired and moving heaven and earth to convince the court to allow her to represent Adnan was initially a head scratcher. Looking at it now, I’m sorry, but this Bilal fucker is an evil genius. Having Gutierrez represent Adnan was the ultimate hedge move wherein she would be bound by attorney-client privilege to not disclose ANYTHING Bilal told her short of his intending to commit a future crime. After his less than stellar performance as a witness during the grand jury proceedings, Bilal had Adnan change his legal representation. Recall that Bilal’s testimony resulted in the prosecution subpoenaing Bilal’s cell phone records and wondering if he was involved in Hae’s murder. Also recall Bilal’s strange, paranoid behavior during his testimony where he would excuse himself after even the most innocuous question and consult with Gutierrez who was sitting outside the courtroom. Within a couple of weeks of Bilal's grand jury testimony, Gutierrez was suddenly retained to take over Adnan's defense.
To be clear, I don’t think Bilal said anything to Gutierrez to lead her to suspect that he was in any way involved in Hae's murder. Sure, he bought Adnan the phone, but that’s all she knew. She could not have known that Adnan was lurking near Bilal’s office at the dental school the night before or that Bilal originally intended for Adnan to lead prayers on Jan 13. She did not know about Bilal’s predatory behavior. She did, however, suspect that there was something fishy going on during the grand jury proceedings when she told the attorney who was representing Adnan at the time to warn Shamim (Adnan’s mom) about seeing Bilal during the days he was testifying. She also likely knew that Bilal was involved in the plot to fabricate the Asia alibi, but thought she had control over the situation. She did not have any concrete proof or admission from Bilal or Adnan with which to go to the judge to raise a conflict of interest and request to be removed as counsel. Bilal’s main motivation in having her represent Adnan was that because of her earlier representation of Bilal, she would be precluded from investigating and raising an affirmative defense that Bilal was an accomplice who coerced/manipulated Adnan into committing the murder. At the time she agreed to represent Adnan, this was hardly conceivable. By the time she learned of Bilal’s predatory behavior, it was the 11th hour before the trial and very unlikely that the judge would allow her to withdraw. I don’t think she acted unethically although she should have thought twice about agreeing to take Adnan as a client. But she was duped into representing Adnan by Bilal, a master manipulator: “We need the best representation Ms. Gutierrez and that is you! Adnan’s only chance is if an excellent attorney like you represents him! The entire ISB community is prepared to pitch in and pay your legal fees!” All this fucker did was groom people.
Had Adnan been represented by an independent attorney who was in no way connected to Bilal, that attorney may have had the option to argue an affirmative defense under the theory that Adnan’s actions were the result of his being controlled and manipulated by the predator, Bilal. In fact, Judge Mitchell raised these concerns during the July 9, 1999 motion hearing to determine whether Gutierrez should represent Adnan at pages 12-13. Technically, Gutierrez could notify the court if she encountered a conflict of interest, but there was nothing concrete to which she could point. While she was probably sharp enough to connect the dots for how Hae's murder likely went down, she was ethically precluded from connecting them through Bilal because he too was her client. Thus, Bilal made sure that there would be no opportunity to direct the prosecution to look harder at him for treating Adnan like a pawn in the hands of a grand master. By having Gutierrez represent both Adnan and Bilal, Bilal effectively tied her hands and insulated himself from suspicion.
Why
There is no good answer for "Why?" when it comes to a craven, insane predator like Bilal. You might as well ask why he felt compelled to prey on young boys or sexually assaulted his patients and employees. Having spent way too much time trying to understand how his toxic mind works, I have a few guesses.
There are clues in Hae’s diary. It should be noted that Hae was likely guarded in what she wrote and avoided disclosing any explicit, substantive information because, as stated in an early entry dated April 5, 1998, she knew her brother reads the diary. In her May 7, 1998 entry she wrote of Adnan telling her of a sexual issue about himself that he needed to discuss. The July 1, 1998 entry suggests Adnan’s inability to perform sexually. Look at the entry. According to Hae, Adnan told her, "You said that I can't fulfill you physically, well, you can't fulfill me emotionally." Hae went on to write that her friend told her re Adnan, "Even if you don't have a great sex life, at least you have a strong emotional relationship." Kinda cuts against Team Adnan's narrative that he was some huge player who was having sex with Hae all over the place. It felt like Rabia, Saad and Adnan oversold it when they talked about the hotel rooms and parked cars where Adnan and Hae would screw. Like the un-layable kid who brags about his girlfriend who lives in Canada that nobody met. Based on Hae's diary, I'd be surprised if Adnan and Hae had sex at all. It puts an entirely different spin on for whom Bilal was renting hotel rooms. This gives more weight to the likelihood that the "player" narrative was a smokescreen to mask the reality of who was screwing who. The shitty HBO documentary makes it a point to discuss Hae telling Adnan that she was sexually assaulted by a family member although she makes no reference to this in her diary. While Adnan is hardly a credible source for Hae having been molested, the attention-starved Debbie backs up this story. In the context of Hae’s diary entries, it’s possible that they shared their respective victimhood with one another, which may explain the strong emotional bond Hae appeared to have with Adnan.
It is possible that Adnan disclosed his relationship with Bilal to Hae and, after Hae dumped him, admitted to Bilal that he made such a disclosure. This would cause Bilal great consternation and fear of criminal consequences because Hae is outside the scope of Bilal’s control. While most of us have boundaries that govern our behavior, Bilal is basically borderless. His developing the plot to murder Hae may have been driven by his warped sense of self-preservation. Bilal had no control over Hae and her knowing about Bilal preying on her ex since he was a child was a direct threat that Bilal needed to eliminate. Alternatively, he may have concocted the plot out of jealousy because he hated that Adnan was pining for Hae and felt compelled to manipulate Adnan into murdering her. Or, as astutely noted by another user, he may have been tempted by the prospect of giving himself life-long leverage by holding his knowledge of the crime over Adnan in perpetuity if they got away with it. It is likely that a manipulative monster like Bilal convinced Adnan that Hae is now a loose cannon who knows something that would destroy Adnan's reputation. Despite Adnan being Bilal's victim, Bilal would leverage the shame Adnan felt over the "relationship" they shared. Adnan did not understand that Bilal was not only physically preying on him but also preying on Adnan's fear that Adnan would be a pariah if the community found out about his relationship with Bilal. Because in the eyes of the community, they would not see Adnan as the victim he was, but rather a willing participant in a sordid affair. Bilal likely told Adnan that his parents would die of shame. Admitting to murdering Hae masks a deeper admission wherein lies what was likely Adnan's true motive for committing the crime. Then again, only Adnan knows.
Imprisonment
Both Adnan and Bilal are currently in prison. Bilal is two years into his 16.5 year sentence for sexually assaulting patients and employees at his dental practice. On January 17, 2020, Bilal is scheduled to be sentenced for defrauding Medicare/Medicaid. His attorneys will make a case that his sentence for stealing nearly $6 million should run concurrently with his sentence for forcing several people into performing oral sex on him while they lay unconscious in a dental chair. Bilal may, at most, spend the next 14 years in jail.
Adnan has remained in prison since his arrest almost 21 years ago. The likelihood of his being released was killed not long ago when he exhausted his appeals and the Supreme Court denied cert. The arguments made were stupid. There was enough against him where the case would not have turned without the cell tower location evidence. The absurd notion that Guteirrez was ineffective is patently offensive to logic and her memory. The fabricated Asia alibi only confirmed Adnan’s guilt. Rabia and the rest of the passengers in her clown car masquerading as attorneys have litigated Adnan into a corner where he can no longer tell the truth. He can no longer admit that he was merely a marionette in the hands of a puppet master.
Adnan’s imprisonment did not begin in 1999. It started when he was 11 years old and was placed in the hands of this monster. The monster groomed Adnan into being utterly devoted to him. It is unfortunate that in a community like the ISB, members would likely have a difficult time distinguishing between homosexuality and a child being preyed upon by a predator. It is that lack of distinction that scares the child into shame and silence. Adnan has been locked in that emotional prison for the past 27 years. The predator who made Adnan into what he is and made him kill Hae Min Lee will likely reenter society around the time that Adnan celebrates his 51st birthday in jail.
Hae Min Lee’s death was unspeakably tragic. The tragedy for her family was compounded over the past five years by the pervasive reminder of Hae’s death through the wildly popular podcast, countless news articles, books, blogs, and, of course, the shitty documentary that advocated for Adnan’s innocence while pretending to mourn Hae’s murder. Their misery was fodder for our entertainment in which they will continue to be imprisoned for as long as we continue to be fascinated by this case.
I’ve been all over the map with Adnan, starting as a staunch supporter who was duped by Rabia to a mild hater upon realizing his guilt to an extreme hater for his team’s unfair treatment of Gutierrez to where I am now. It is easy to revel in schadenfreude, celebrating the misfortune of one we choose to regard as a smug, manipulative piece of shit. But I don’t know if that’s what Adnan is. I hope I’m wrong about this entire analysis, but it doesn’t feel like I am. I don’t think Adnan is capable of admitting guilt because acknowledging his part in Hae’s murder would likely open deep-seated scars Adnan has been carrying since he was 11 years old. I can’t help but to think that it’s easier for Adnan to remain in prison than to admit that he was molested. If the content of this post is accurate, this story is extremely tragic because there are only victims and the primary perp has escaped accountability--for this crime anyway. As to Adnan, it saddens me that he is imprisoned by the perception of his community. He is imprisoned by the crippling shame. He is imprisoned by the belief of his supporters that he is innocent. And somehow Asia inexplicably knows the address to every one of those prisons. Dammit, I know that killed the vibe I had going there, but I can’t stop myself from taking a cheap shot at Asia.
Then, of course, there is us and the self-imposed prisons in which we lock ourselves, addicted to unresolved cases. Addicted to this case that has no real impact on our day-to-day lives. It is the wee hours of the morning on a weekday and I’m sitting here, again, writing about this goddamn case. I hate thinking about how much time I devoted to reviewing evidence and analyzing facts. It takes me to a dark place of self loathing to think about all the things I could have been learning or doing instead of diving down this rabbit hole.
The title of this post borrows from a far more compelling and impactful documentary that recently aired on HBO, Leaving Neverland. The emotional imprisonment suffered by the two men featured in that documentary was more real and relevant to the Serial case than the asinine sophistry peddled in the deceptively named, The Case Against Adnan Syed.
Thanks to all of you with whom I have engaged over the past year, particularly those who challenged my ideas. I sincerely appreciate your sticking around to reach this point in my ridiculously long post. I hope we can all find a way to finally leave Baltimore and get on with our lives.

Why Prabowo-Sandi Lost: Caught by the Javanese Tsunami Part 1

PLAYING WITH STEREOTYPES

The second reason why Javanese backed Jokowi, was Prabowo and Gerindra looking down and stereotyping people in Central Java. Prabowo uses the politics of fear, and he has been doing this since 2014, and it has worked pretty well .In 2019 Election Prabowo upped his game by stereotyping the Central Javanese, some of it was unintentional like the Boyolali incident, others wasintentional like saying farmers in Central Java committed suicide. Moreover, many Javanese started to see attacks against Jokowi personal attributes and religion as attacks against them, because they realized they played on stereotypes many other Indonesians have of Javanese. Why would Prabowo "insult" Javanese voters. There are two explanations

They stereotyped voters in Central Java during the 2018 Governor's election, and they did reasonably well.
Prabowo knew he would lose in Central Java, but it was to motivate voters in regions supporting him to not vote for Jokowi or PDI-P or you will end up like the Central Javanese.

From the 2018 Governor's campaign in Central Java, Gerindra-PKS coalition tried to place the blame on the poverty of Central Java on the PDI-P. Here is a good example

Dan bagaimana cara kerja mereka melanggengkan dominasi kekuasaan di Jawa Tengah di tengah masyarakat Jawa Tengah yang tetap miskin, (Waketum Gerindra, Ferry Juliantono )

The reality is PDI-P only had effective control over Central Java starting from 2013 when Ganjar Pranowo took over. After Ganjar took over in 2013, there has been big jump in the amount of foreign investment Central Java has been receiving. Under Jokowi, both East and Central Java economies didn't suffer very much from the drop in commodity prices. Compare to the last 4 years of the SBY period, growth in real per capita income dropped from 5.5% a year to 5% in East Java, while in Central Java it actually rose slightly from around 4.35% to 4.58%.
I am going to talk about Javanese stereotypes, because much of the hate toward Jokowi is rooted in him being a walking billboard of these stereotypes. Many upper middle class outer islander particularly in Sumatra have a negative attitude toward working class Javanese.
First, the Javanese were seen as backward, poor, bangsa tempe and servile. Literacy rate in Indonesia in the 1930s was about 8%, and among the Javanese much lower.

In 1930, some of the lowest adult literacy rates in all Indonesia were recorded in the sultanates of Jogyakarta and Surakarta, and one suspects the feudal social structure and poverty in those regions had militarted against the extension of education for any but the bangsawan (nobility)

In the colonial era, the highest rates were in Christian areas like Batakland, Manado, Ambon and followed by conservative Muslims areas like Aceh and West Sumatra. The Javanese were also poor The Javanese transmigrants were the poorest and most deprived of the lot -- landless peasants. THe Javanese were also seen as Bangsa Tempe

Kami menggoyangkan langit, menggemparkan darat, dan menggelorakan samudera agar tidak jadi bangsa yang hidup hanya dari 2,5 sen sehari. Bangsa yang kerja keras, bukan bangsa tempe, bukan bangsa kuli. Bangsa yang rela menderita demi pembelian cita-cita,

At the time the only people in Indonesia who eat tempe were the Javanese and Sundanese.
Given the Javanese were also a hierarchical society, those Javanese peasants were easily pushed around by higher status locals. The victims depicted in Joshua Oppenheimer's sequel to the Act of Killing, Look of Silence, was a Javanese farming family., while the perpetrators were Malays
Because of the hierarchical culture on Java, Javanese women and men were often better suited to be employed as household servants. Up until his second year he became President, Jokowi often acted deferentially toward Megawati. To older generation of non-Javanese he was the Javanese man servant in his Blangkon and servant uniform asking the lady of the house what type of refreshments should he serve the guests. Even his name "Jokowi" was given by a Westerner which reinforces the image of servility..
To many older outer islanders, Jokowi could only be two things. With his medok accent, his skinny frame and his preference for food of the Javanese peasantry, Jokowi is a reincarnation of the 1960s PKI supporting Javanese plantation worker who wanted to overthrow traditional Malay rulers. Or with his servility toward Megawati, he is stereotypical Javanese butler.
The second stereotype applies to working class abangan Javanese is they are childlike and gullible. First the preference for sweet food among the Central Javanese gives off the air they are childlike. In making the Boyolali comment, Prabowo assumed the people of Boyolali, weren't just poor, but unaware of the wider world around them. This childlike image is reinforced by the tendency of working class Javanese to give their children one name, often very simple, names like Suharto, Sumarti, Wiranto, Mulyono and Suparman, The image of the childlike abangan Javanese is really reinforced by their preference for visual imagery over words whether or oral or written. Jokowi symbolizes this childlike nature by allowing people to use his nickname "Jokowi", his popularity with children and his preference for visual imagery.
The third is Javanese are unislamic and Javanese Islam of the NU variety is improper
Prabowo's false statement of Central Javanese hanging reinforces the notion the Javanese aren't Muslim, because committing suicide is a sin in Islam,
First, the popular sentiment that Javanese are un islamic stems from the relative relaxed approach toward Islam found among the Javanese.. Eating dogs, frogs and snakes is popular in Central Java. Here is a story of a Javanese Muslim pig farmer. There is a tolerance about converting away from islam to other religions in Javanese society.
Secondly, Muslim Javanese often put interest of non-believers over Muslims, particularly if they are fellow Javanese. Javanese Christians make up the most of the missionaries operating in Muslims areas in Sumatra, and yet there are is little restriction on their activities relative to neighboring countries. In Singapore, a Christian can be arrested for trying to convert Muslims, in Indonesia they can't
Even NU has a habit of bashing Muslim countries over non-Muslim ones, when fellow Javanese are affected.

Ketua Umum Pengurus Besar Nahdlatul Ulama (PBNU) KH Said Aqil Siroj, turut menyikapi terjadinya penembakan terhadap Tenaga Kerja Indonesia (TKI) di Malaysia. Terjadi ironi dalam kejadian tersebut, dimana TKI di negara non-Muslim dinilainya mendapatkan perlakuan yang lebih baik dibandingkan negara berpenduduk mayoritas Islam

As for the opinion on NU style Islam or Islam Nusantara being improper. People like Rizieq Shabib have criticized Islam Nusantara, but even he is careful enough to say it in jest. What many want to say is NU is "deviant", which only people in organizations like HTI would say openly. What Malay in Malaysia say about Indonesian (Javanese) is what Conservative Sumtrans Muslim think about the Javanese in the deep recess of their consciousness, but don't dare say.
The forth stereotype is the Javanese close association with non-Muslims or even secretly being non-Muslim. These reasons are rooted in history and political considerations.
First, the diffusion of Islam among the Javanese was slow and ad hoc. In the 19th century, in the interior regions of Java, among the abagan peasants, religion was most likely a combination of hindu-buddhism, folk religion and Islam. It didn't help that Quran wasn't fully translated (Kitab tafsir) into Javanese until the last decade of 19th century. Many Muslim Sumatrans, particularly the Acehnese, view the Javanese tolerance of Christianity as a Javanese weakness and servility to the West.
Secondly, outside of Habibie, who's father wasn't Javanese, all of Indonesia's Javanese Presidents have been slandered for having non-Muslims family members or being accused of being non-Muslim themselves, whether real or not. Sukarno's mother was Balinese Hindu, and many believed she had remained Hindu and died a Hindu, Sukarno had to release a photo showing her Muslim funeral ceremony. Tien Suharto was often accused of being born a Catholic. Suharto himself was rumored to be the bastard offspring of a Chinese merchant .Even SBY wasn't immune, there was rumors flying that Ibu Ani was Christian, since her maiden name was Kristiani Herrawati and she went to Christian University of Indonesia. Jokowi's daughter in law was Christian, and luckily for Jokowi the national press, which is controlled largely by Chinese Indonesians, didn't mention her former religion or her conversion to Islam.
Thirdly, Jokowi and Suharto like the Sultans before them use non-Muslims advisors. The Sultan often kept Balinese political and Chinese economic advisors. A Balinese advisor would know the intricacies of the Sultan's relations with various noble houses, but because they weren't Muslim, wouldn't pose a threat. One of Suharto most trusted advisors was Benny Moerdani, and Luhut Panjaitan serves the same function for Jokowi.
Fourthly, the Javanese have complicated relationship with Chinese Indonesians. Relations with Chinese and the javanese were generally good until the late 18th century, when the Dutch and Sultanate of Yogyakarta and Surakarta started sub-contracted the collector of tolls to the Chinese, as non-Muslims they didn't pose a political threat, and the Chinese would act as scapegoats.
After independence, Javanese Presidents have preferred to leave Chinese businesses alone, or favored them over Muslim outer islanders. The reasons are two fold, as non-Muslim, Chinese Indonesians don't pose a political threat, and because the Javanese as an agricultural society don't have a large business class. In contrast, other predominately Muslim ethnic groups in Indonesia, like the Minang and Bugis do, and see the Chinese as competitors. This is the reason why Suharto had no problem giving monopolies to Sudono Salim, at the expense of pribumi businessmen.
If you look at relations with Singapore/China/Chinese Indonesians, Habibie had the most distant relationship. While Suharto's enacted discriminatory policies toward Chinese Indonesians, his close relations with Chinese Indonesian businessmen negated this in the eyes of many Indonesians. While Sukarno, Megawati and Gus Dur might have better policies toward China and Chinese Indonesian than Jokowi, their personal connections with the Chinese isn't as strong as Jokowi. Jokowi as a furniture exporter had a lot of business in Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong. He sent his two sons to Singapore to study for both secondary school and university.
Because the relaxed nature of Javanese Islam and Javanese are the work horses of Nusantara, they often work for non-Muslims. Most of the staff working in non-halal Chinese restaurants are Javanese. Javanese maids prefer working in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore, while Muslim maids from other ethnic groups in Indonesia prefer to work in the Middle East or Malaysia.
Jokowi is attacked so viciously is 1) He comes from a working class Javanese abangan, a pagan people only recently "tamed" by Islam 2) He is a member of the PDI-P, which many conservatives believe is a reconstituted PKI. We know Jokowi's father was Muslim. But what about his grand father and great grandfather. Jokowi could claim they were Muslim, but how Muslim were Javanese peasants in the Central Java interior in the early 20th and late 19th century? The Javanese sultan never cared if ordinary Javanese under his rule didn't convert to Islam. Secondly, because the Sultans felt the pesantrens threatened their authority, and until the 20th century restricted clerical activity on their lands.
For the Acehnese, Minang and Malays, the abangan were just a step above the Christian Batak, a people they have a long history of conflict with. The same with Malays vs Dayak, The Batak would raid Acehnese and Minang settlements in head hunting expeditions, and the Acehnese and Minang would retilate by raiding Batak settlements for slaves. The Dayaks also launched headhunting raids into Malay settlements, . The Dayaks more often served as slaves and occupying menial jobs in Malay communities in Kalimantan.
The two other ethnic Javanese Presidents of humble birth, Suharto and SBY avoided this scrutiny by doing exactly that. Suharto did so by being the architect in purging hundred of thousands of mostly Javanese abangan for this membership in the PKI. Or in the case of SBY marrying into the family of the lead figure in the purges in Central Java, Sarwo Edhie Wibowo. Jokowi hasn't done anything that reassures his detractors of his loyality.

CULTURE CLASH: INDONESIAN CAMPAIGN VS JAVANESE CAMPAIGN

The third reason why Prabowo-Sandi lost heavily to Jokowi in Tanah Jawa, is Prabowo ran a Indonesian campaign, while Jokowi ran a Javanese campaign.
ECONOMIC MODEL
Traditionally the Javanese and Sundanese traded rice, a labor intensive crop, for land intensive crops of the outer islands. In the 18h century new lands were opened up on Java, and cash crops were planted, this expanded greatly in the 19th century under the cultivation system. When land ran out on Java,, the Europeans opened plantations in the outer islands (Sumatra). The British did the same in Malaya. Both the Dutch and British imported labor from Java, China and India for the plantations and mines. When Indonesia became independent, this economic system of extracting natural resources and trading them continued. Transmigration program exported Javanese and Balinese to serve as the manpower for newly opened lands.
Gerindra is comfortable with this economic model and its analogies. For Gerindra it all comes down to lack of strong and wise leadership. First they assume land and natural resources is Indonesia's most valuable resource, but resources need tp be better managed. Secondly, it has a confused economic message. It argues Java is reaping all growth and development, but calls Central Java poor. The accusations, Java is benefiting more happens every time there is a commodity crash. Thirdly, there is a assumption working class Indonesians will take up any job they want them to do.
In the first term, Jokowi has promoted tourism and creative industries (e-commerce, film). In his second Jokowi plans lay the ground work for improving Indonesia's manufacturing base, particularly in East and Central Java. The reason why Jokowi given a priority to these industries is there are labor intensive and the majority of Indonesia's population, particularly on Java, don't live in areas blessed with land and natural resources. You need as much foreign investment and expertise as possible, and that is why Jokowi has opened them up.
Even during the campaign stops in Central and East Java, Prabowo hammered at the natural resource theme. Its shows a lack of understanding Java's economic history . In the 1930s, Java was the second largest exporter of sugar in the world after Cuba, In Java and Cuba's case the reason for the decline was nationalization and mismanagement, but the real reason was competition from Brazil. Also starting from the 1970s, sugar cane farming moved from Java to the outer islands. Brazil wants to repeat what they did to Java in the 1950-60s with Palm Oil.
The Javanese have been sending people abroad to work for 150 years, whether within Indonesia or in other countries. Unlike other ethnic groups like Minang or Bugis, where most migrants are men, lower class Javanese women also migrate in search of work, in some cases in greater numbers than men. The priority for the Javanese is breaking this cycle of migration.
Javanese society has an agrarian working class mentality, not a trading mentality. They don't care whether they work for a foreign or local company, the most important thing is they get paid on time, which Prabowo doesn't have a habit of doing with his own companies. To your average working class youth in small town in East Java, what is the difference between working in Sumatra vs Taiwan? There are 270,000 Indonesians working in Taiwan, a good % of them are working in factories. How do you convince the Taiwanese factory owner to move his factory in Central Java? Prabowo-Sandi offers no credible solutions to getting the factory owner to move the factory.
NATIONAL CAMPAIGN VS REGIONAL CAMPAIGN
Prabowo ran a national campaign with the same 2014 message, of elites and foreigners stealing Indonesia's natural resources, and he is the only one who can stop them. The difference this time was the added veneer of Islam, His last campaign rally in Surakarta, it looked like it could have been taken place in West Sumatra or Banten. In contrast, Jokowi campaign rallies were tailored to the region. In Surakarta, PDI-P red dominated and you had dangdut singers performing, while in more conservative cities in East Java, supporters from NU dominated.
It was noticeable in advertising. The difference between Prabowo's music videos this year and in 2014. It was like Prabowo decided to change his sex and become a born again Muslim all at the same time. Nevertheless, Prabowo's video are like a typical music video, you have background and singers signing a catchy campaign tune. Jokowi's Goyang Jempol campaign video has a storyline mixed in with the song, which is typical of Javanese music videos produced by groups like Guyon Waton and Pendhoza. Goyang Jempol gives the impression you are in some 3rd tier town in Central or East Java, while in Prabowo's videos they could be anywhere in Indonesia. The characters are dressed how working class Indonesians would dress when going to the market . Lastly, they also mix in common Javanese words most Indonesians would understand.
ARCHETYPES
The final problem with Prabowo-Sandi's campaign in Tanah Jawa was they went in with Indonesian archetypes. Archetype is defined as a typical example of a person or thing. For our purposes archetype is representative voter persona. The problem with the Indonesian media is they refuse or too scared to acknowledge certain archetype exist. A typical Indonesian archetype might not necessarily resonate well with Javanese voters. The PDI-P and NU, being primarily Javanese organizations, know and target those archetypes. Even in mature democracies people can miss out on archetypes. In the book "Great Revolt" about Trump's 2015 election win, the authors into depth about archetypes. People talk about social media advertising as a conduit for creation of hoaxes. But the true value of social media advertising is marketing to archetypes.
Certain archetype exists in one society, but not in others. Many Sumatran ethnic groups don't have a large working class, people who work for a wage for non-relatives. In Javanese society because of its size and social conditions, there is a large Javanese working class. When you think of Indonesian maid, you don't think of a Acehnese or Minang woman named Siti Fatimah, but a Javanese woman named Sumiarti. When you think of a carpenter or word carver its usually a Javanese fellow name Mulyono or Balinese man named Nyoman, not Ahmad Nasution..
The Javanese are experts are creating archetypes. The wayang characters are all archetypes. Soekarno created a modern archetype in mythologizing his childhood maid, Sarinah.
Now, I will show you how the Indonesian media and Prabowo-Sandi approach a particular archetype, and why it fell flat in the Javanese context. During the election Prabowo-Sandi used the emak-emak archetype for Indonesian women. An emak-emak is defined as

Long before the recent sensation around the term, emak was understood by many Indonesian women (especially middle-aged women) to imply power, agency, toughness, mobility, freedom, resilience, independence, as well as stubbornness.

There have been a lot of memes about emak-emak. Prabowo's Sandi's side was done a campaign video with emak-emak. Sandi: Kita Tidak Boleh Remehkan The Power of Emak-Emak. The emak-emak video is a good example of how they approach archetypes.
Jokowi's camp was caught off guard, and wanted to use the term emak-emak, but Jokowi backtracked

Two weeks ago, the Indonesian Women’s Congress (KWI) denounced the use of the term emak-emak,(link is external) and declared a preference for Indonesian mothers to be called ibu bangsa (mothers of the nation). Reflecting how politicised this debate has now become, Jokowi soon after tweeted in support of ibu bangsa,(link is external)

First emak-email falls short in Javanese society for several reasons. First, it reminds people of Suharto era archetype of women largely as mothers.
Secondly, Javanese society has organizations that place women's role as equal or close to equal as men. PDI-P, Indonesia's largest political party, is organization dominated at the top by Javanese women. NU and PKB have strong women's branches. In East Java's the governor and the mayor of the largest city are women. In Jokowi's cabinet, the Finance and Foreign Affairs Minister are Javanese women tHE Sultan of Yogyakarta and his daughter IS trying to upend centuries of tradition. Among lower class women in Indonesia, Javanese women, because of labor surplus, have a long history of travelling to other regions in search of work
Thirdly, the Sandi-Prabowo camp doesn't have room for single women and fallen women. In the Indonesian context, fallen women includes divorced women, women who marry non-Muslim men, women who convert and women in the entertainment industry (dangdut singers, bargirls etc). A good example is Susi Pudjiastuti, even though she is Sundanese, she is from Pangandaran, a region with a lot of Javanese influence. It is next door to Central Java, and this region acted as launch pad for Mataram Sultanate invasion of West java. It is culturally similar to regions on Jalur Pantura, in the North Coast of Java. All these regions have a seedy underbelly.

RISING JAVANESE IDENTITY

Lastly, Prabowo-Sandi's loss in Tanah Jawa was due to a rising Javanese identity. There are three factor to this rising identity. The first is rising availability of cheap broadband in Central and East Java, this allows the Javanese to use their preferred medium and social network, videos and Youtube. This enables people to connect and expresses themselves outside the national media. The second, is the sentiment which Javanese culture and language has reached a critical juncture, and more must be done to safeguard it. The last is decentralization which contributed to the rise of modern regional politicians like Jokowi.
Since Jokowi became President in 2014, you see a rise in Javanese popular culture whether the rise in popularity of singers who sing in Javanese with Nella Kharisma and Via Vallen being the most popular. Last year the first full length Javanese film, Yowis Ben was released. While musicians who sing Javanese Dangdut or Campursari have been popular like Didi Kempot, their image was kitschy and old fashioned. However, what is more important is what is happening online, particularly on youtube. Bayu Skak, Yowis Ben's director and lead actor, got his start on youtube. Youtube has extended the reach of existing Javanese singers. People might not want to buy a cassette or CD, but won't mind listening to one song. Some of the new Javanese musicians like Guyon Waton, Pendhoza and NDXAKA primary distribution channel and revenue model is youtube. The importance of youtube, doesn't just extend to popular culture, but as channel for voices that aren't fully represented in the national media. Javanese Kyai, some known to the national media and others less well known, use youtube as a medium to release sermons and discussions. There are youtube channels of life in contemporary rural Java, farming, channels by maids working overseas.
Youtube channels are like reliefs in Borobudur,

The bas-reliefs in Borobudur depicted many scenes of daily life in 8th-century ancient Java, from the courtly palace life, hermit in the forest, to those of commoners in the village. It also depicted temple, marketplace, various flora and fauna, and also native vernacular architecture. People depicted here are the images of king, queen, princes, noblemen, courtier, soldier, servant, commoners, priest and hermit.

Javanese are introverted and like to communicate visually and through storytellimg, because you can express yourself without confronting people. Many of these youtube channels were started within the last five years. If you watch enough of these videos, you being to realize why Jokowi resonates with his fellow Javanese. A theme found in Javanese Dangdut songs, whether in lyrics or the videos, is work and struggle. Laoneis Band - Ayo Kerjo, Pendhoza - Aku Cah Kerjo, NDXAKA - Pamit Kerjo. Even music videos that aren't about work, the characters in the video are seen working like Guyon Waton Korban Janji and DARBOY GENK - BALUNGAN KERE. The theme of work play heavily in Jokowi's image and slogans. Kabinet-Kerja and the slogan Kerja, Kerja, Kerja
Loss of Culture
Idur Fitri is upon us, and people have arrived in their hometowns. Javanese families in Jakarta will take their kids to see the grandparents in Tenah Java. One refrain will be heard tens of thousand times across Central and East Java, will be grand parents scolding parents for not teaching their grand kids Javanese. There is this youtuber, Budi Sarwono, who did a series of videos in Suriname talking to Javanese there. Here is the top rated comment on one of the videos
The efforts to attract foreign investment in Javanese home provinces is to stop migration which often leads to culture and language loss. Even in East and Central Java teachers are worried about the declining use of Javanese among young people, and are trying to reverse the trend. Its also the reason why groups like Pendhoza and Guyon Waton are invited by schools to hold concerts. Javanese is the most widely spoke n language in the world without official status.
There is a long held view among many Westerners and many people in the outer islands, that Indonesia is a Javanese Empire. However, the Javanese didn't force anyone to learn Javanese, instead they learned Malay, If regions in Indonesia decided separate and form individual independent countries after independence, cultureally those in Sumatra and Kalimantan wouldn't look too different to what we have today. A Sundanese or Javanese state would be culturally very different from what we find in their respective regions today. Its why Sumatrans and Malaysia embrace Islam so strongly, because their "language" is protected. While Minang is different from Malay, its not fundamentally different the way Javanese is. In his 1966 work The Language of Indonesian Politics Benedict Anderson explains how different Javanese is to Malay
When discussion were held as to what language to use as a national language, the Javanese had much lower literacy rates than people in Sumatra. Most of the schools setup by the Dutch on Java were still teaching in Malay. Not only was Malay easier to learn than Javanese, it also had the advantage of a much larger pool of teachers spread out across the country. In the 1910s some Javanese tried to setup modern Javanese schools like Taman Siswa, and the Dutch setup Kartini schools which taught Javanese and Dutch. If there was more literate Javanese there would have been a greater push to make it the national language. I suspect the priority for Javanese leaders was to educate the millions of illiterate landless Javanese peasants, to speak Malay, so they could integrate more easily with Malay speaking communities in Sumatra and Borneo.

JOKOWI: THE JAVANESE MUSE AND STORYTELLER

The decisive factor in Prabowo-Sandi horrible loss in the Javanese homeland was they faced Joko Widodo, Indonesia's most potent base politician she has seen -- a base politician is a politician who draws the bulk of his support from group of people. Jokowi is the most Javanese of all of Indonesia's Presidents. Jokowi got 56% of the vote, 15% points comes from non- Javanese Muslim voters, 11% points from religious minorities and 30% points come from his fellow Javanese. Jokowi won over 70% of the Javanese vote.
Jokowi is the embodiment of Javanese hopes, struggles, frustrations and injustices. While Sukarno could inspire ordinary Javanese, he never had the same emotional connection Jokowi had with ordinary Javanese. Unlike Soekarno and Prabowo, Jokowi doesn't manipulate people's emotions, but channels them. In Yogyakarta on March 26, 2019, Jokowi made an angry speech

Sudah empat setengah tahun saya difitnah, dijelek-jelekkan, dihujat, dihina, saya diam, tetapi hari ini di Yogya, saya akan lawan, ingat, sekali lagi, saya akan lawan,

If you look at the angry crowds in East and Central Java jeering at FPI convoys, Jokowi was channeling that anger.
Unlike in 2014, in Jokowi spoke more Javanese, wore the Blangkon more often, and used more Javanese symbolism. But more importantly, from the start he was much more combative, like he was leading his people to war.

Selamat siang. Segala sifat keras hati, picik, dan angkara murka hanya bisa dikalahkan dengan sikap bijak, lembut, dan sabar.

For Javanese traditionalist (aka 80 year old Javanese grandmothers), Jokowi is the epitome of Javanese manners, good behavior and respect for elders. Older people in Dharmic cultures like the Sundanese and Balinese see Jokowi attitude toward Megawati and how he treats people older than him, regardless of class, as a virtue. Its why Jokowi polls extremely high among people 71 and over, 65% to 19% compared to Prabowo, and if you go back to 2014 it is the same. Even the Western press consider Prabowo mentally unstable and explosive, how do you think your average 75 year Javanese would feel?
Jokowi is a stereotypical Javanese. He is introverted, more comfortable with symbols and visual imagery than words. Sukarno and Prabowo communication style is stereotypical Malay, not Javanese, with their speeches being bombastic and fiery. The same could apply to Rizieq Shibab, who is more bite than bark. This is in sharp contrast to a Javanese-Arab like Abu Bakar Ba'asyir. Being bombastic and fiery is one Malay speaking style, another is putting word play above action, a good example is Fadli Zon and Anies Baswedan. WIth Prabowo and Anies you remember what they say, with Jokowi you don't, but you remember him from images, like this and this
As I said before, Jokowi presidency can be defined by the slogan "Kerja. kerja, kerja". Some people have criticized this slogan as Ketua Umum Pengurus Pusat (PP) Pemuda Muhammadiyah, Dahnil Azhar Simanjuntak said

Menurut saya ini tradisi buruk, kata-kata kerja, kerja, kerja itu cuma ungkapan untuk menganulir pikir, pikir, pikir. Karena nggak bisa mikir, maka pilihan katanya adalah kerja, kerja, kerja. Karena nggak bisa pidato, maka pilihan katanya adalah kerja, kerja, kerja untuk menutupi ketidakmampuan yang sesungguhnya,

What Simanjuntak wants to say "Is what does a working class abangan carpenter know about government, its not like making a coffee table for the Nonya" While the national media didn't criticize the slogan, but they didn't put much thought into it. As I said before, for working class Javanese, there is a strong connection. Unlike most other ethnic groups in Nusantara, the Javanese have a long history of working to the bone. Jalur Pantura which was built over one year, and which thousands of forced Javanese and Sundanese laborers died building it. Even with Jokowi, this work to death culture is reflected in the number of workers killed in accidents due to disregard for safety.
While Trump's medium is twitter, Jokowi's medium is photos and youtube. Jokowi communicates visually through symbols and storyboard (video), Ganjar Pranowo , the governor of Central Java, also has a video channel as well as that official channel. In a previous comment I described the significance of Jokowi's taking up the hobby of archery and the photo with his wife. His youtube channel is like a modern version of the relief panels in Borobudur. Imagine Jokowi is the lead stone mason in Borobudur, he is sculpting the grand story, like the life of the Buddha, through his youtube channel. Or he could telling the story of Arjuna was inspecting his kingdom before the battle with Rawasa in the Javanese Kekawin Arjunawijaya, His videos of him visiting finished tolls roads, dams, airports is like Arjuna on an inspection tour. While junior stone masons are working on reliefs panels of ordinary Javanese life, just as hundreds of ordinary Javanese are telling their life journey through youtube.
Why Prabowo-Sandi Lost: Caught by the Javanese Tsunami Part I

Al Quran for mobile

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quran pdf for mobile - win

Social media is bad spiritually and psychologically.

˹O Prophet!˺ Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and guard their chastity. That is purer for them. Surely Allah is All-Aware of what they do.

And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and guard their chastity, and not to reveal their adornments

those who believe and whose hearts find comfort in the remembrance of Allah. Surely in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find comfort.

Except for those who repent, believe and do righteous work. For them Allah will replace their evil deeds with good. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful.

"The believer sees his sins as if he was at the base of a mountain, fearing that it was about to fall upon him. The wicked person sees his sins as if (they are) flies are hitting his nose" he said: "Like this" - motioning with his hand - "to get them to fly away."

Slaves: their 'consent' and rape in Islam and it's history

Slaves: their 'consent' and rape in Islam and it's history

The Pre-Islamic and Pagan origins of Islam/It's derivative nature

Proving that the Prophet PBUH did split the moon

The Pre-Islamic and Pagan origins of Islam/It's derivative nature

Resources and Historical Materials To Help Affirm (Mostly) Sisters

بسم الله الرحمان الرحيم

الحمد الله ربّ العلمين والصلاةُ والسلمُ على رسول الله و على أهلهِ وَ أصحابِهِ أجمعين.

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

Conservative politicians using "Family Values" starting in the late 60s to subvert and destroy socio-economic supports systems through neoliberal privatization, making it harder for people to get married, have kids, take care of the elderly, etc

The emergence of Eugenic Sciences in the late 19th century

Other 19th-century stuff

Sex, gender, and marriage stuff

Anti-feminism

Islamic History and stuff

If of interest, some thoughts/links on derivative and pre-Islamic origins of aspects of Islam

Leaving Baltimore - Part 2

Why Prabowo-Sandi Lost: Caught by the Javanese Tsunami Part 2

PLAYING WITH STEREOTYPES

CULTURE CLASH: INDONESIAN CAMPAIGN VS JAVANESE CAMPAIGN

RISING JAVANESE IDENTITY

JOKOWI: THE JAVANESE MUSE AND STORYTELLER

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