I have a Christian friend that read the Quran and Sahih Bukhari but didn’t find Islam. We’ve compared shia evidences of hadith and how opinions differ but there are 2 things that are bothering my friend that I feel are outside of my knowledge. This person doesn’t not believe that Quran is the word of God because of how it was compiled according to sunni history after the time of the Prophet, and a just God would not allow 4 wives when Adam had 1.

I’ve looked in the Islamic sources on al-islam.org.

A quote from this friend:

Questions I would like the shia teacher to answer are:

– If the kaaba was built by Abraham why are there no historical sources for 3500 years, up to the time of muhammed, that do not mention the kaaba
– How Muhammed is a more moral example than Isa.

The examples mentioned are offensive for me to mention but they are based on the hadiths in bukhari that we as Shia do not accept. Mainly around marrying a child (which I’ve already explained according to shia history that Aisha was not 6 or 9 yrs or pre-pubescent).
The prophet muhammed (s) had slaves and it is halal in Islam to have relationships with what your right hand possesses. The prophet married 9 wives, Jesus did not marry, Prophet Muhammed had wars with the Christians and Jews, Jesus was defenceless. (I’ve explained about Islam coming to reduce polygamy and to abolish slavery, wars being about jihad and self defence for the Ummah but this is more about why prophet Muhammed did these and Isa didn’t but prophet Muhammed is still classed as the best of creation). Is the superiority more related to how he came for the largest nation of people of all time?

Bukhari does not paint a morally virtuous picture of the Prophet Muhammed (s).

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1- Mecca existed before Christianity. Yes it was a small village, so one should not expect a lot of archaeological evidence for it and its buildings. But here is a study that proves some archaeological evidence:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/314394211_Glimpses_into_the_Archaeological_History_of_of_Makkah_Vol_I_-_Vol_II

2- There are old fragments of the Qur’an dating back to the era of Prophet Mohammad (s), and this proves the Qur’an came from his era. Here’s an article on some of those old fragments verified by carbon dating:

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-33436021.amp

3- Polygamy existed in previous monotheistic religions. What does your Christian friend say about that? Great prophets of God like Abraham and Solomon practiced polygamy.

4- Prophet Mohammad (s) married several women due to noble reasons such as breaking the barriers of racism, bringing interfaith tolerance, teaching others to take care of widows (in the absence of a well established welfare state), neutralizing enemy tribes to bring peace, and encouraging others to free slaves.

5- Prophet Jesus (a) did not have a state or city to rule for him defend it by going to war with his enemies. He would travel from one village to another. He was not settled in one place. Had he had a state/community, he would have defended it. Prophet Mohammad (s) in Mecca lived like Jesus (a). His enemies persecuted him but he forgave them. When he migrated to Medina, he had a community to defend. Also, Jesus was accused by Romans of sedition, so one can conclude that he encouraged his followers to rise against the just state.

Also share with your friend Matthew 10:34-35:

Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.

For I have come to turn “’a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law…

Tell your friend the Day God granted Prophet Mohammad (s) victory in Mecca he freed all his enemies. After 20 years of persecution he forgave them. He did not kill them.

6- Yes there are a lot of false hadiths in books like Bukhari that we reject. Aisha was not 9 when the Prophet (s) married her. This is a historical fabrication.