A Summary of the David Wood Video “Whitewashing Islam: 20 Errors on 20/20”

by Edward Ulrich, updated September 10, 2022




This article contains a written summary of the information in the David Wood video “Whitewashing Islam: 20 Errors on 20/20”, which exposes deceit about Islam that was propagated in a 2011 ABC News “20/20” television program.  Wood’s debunking video explains the truth about a variety of false claims that are commonly made by Islam apologists. 

(Note that some of the initial issues mentioned may seem relatively superficial, however starting at about a quarter of the way into the video the deceptions become more significant.)


This article is a part of A Summary of Islam Related Issues.








[Note: June 22, 2019— Also see the video “Three Stages of Jihad” which explains the cirumstances of earlier passages in the Quran which preach a message of tolerance to non-Muslims.]












Following is a written summary of the information in the video:



In the introductory section David Wood says, “ABC News masterfully demonstrated what we might call the ‘frightened ostrich’ method of reporting in their 20/20 special ‘Islam Questions and Answers’, where questions about Islam are answered by Dianne Sawyer, Bill Wier, and Lama Hasan— the ‘three blind mice’ of prime-time political correctness.  Let’s see how they run ...”






Error #1:  The video shows clips of Westernized Muslims stating that they are just like every other American.

(@ 2 min)

Wood says, “If ABC had called this program ‘What Westernized Muslims believe’, I wouldn’t have a problem with them saying ‘We’re just like everyone else’.  But this program is called ‘Islam: Questions and Answers’.  ABC is supposedly giving us information about Islam, not about Westernized Muslims who wouldn’t know the Quran from a phone book.  What does Islam teach about Muslims?”

Quran 3:110 — You are the best of peoples ever raised up for mankind.

Quran 98:6 — Indeed, they who disbelieved (in the religion of Islam, the Quran, and the prophet Muhammad) from among the People of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) and the polytheists will be in the fire of Hell, abiding eternally therein.  Those are the worst of creatures.

Wood says, “We are the worst of creatures; Muslims are the best of peoples.  According to the Quran then, are Muslims just like everyone else?  Not a bit.  ABC had a chance to explain this, but accurate information about Islam just wasn’t a priority in their 20/20 special on Islam.”







Error #2:  “In the beginning, Adam and Eve.  In Islam, God created them equally out of dust, not one from the other.”

(@ 2 min 35 seconds)

Wood explains that the Quran says that Eve was created from Adam’s rib, they weren’t created “equally”.  [Note in other video clips Wood has mentioned that the Quran also said that man is created from dust and water (clay), however Dianne Sawyer’s statement is still false.]

Quran 4:1 — O mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from one soul (Adam) and created from it its mate (Eve) and dispersed from both of them many men and women.  And fear Allah, through whom you ask one another, and the wombs.  Indeed Allah is ever, over you, an Observer.

Quran 7:189 — It is He who created you from one soul (Adam) and created from it its mate (Eve) that he might dwell in security with her.

Sahih al-Bukhari 3331 — .. Women is created from a rib. ..







Error #3:  “And until Jesus comes, in the Quran he sits at the right hand of God.”

(@ 4 min 35 seconds)

Wood explains that the Quran does say that Allah raised Jesus to himself, however that isn’t the same thing as “sitting at the right hand of Allah”.  Muhammad said Jesus is in the “second heaven” with John the Baptist, which is several heavens away from Allah.

Sura 3:55 — Allah said, “O Jesus, indeed I will take you and raise you to Myself and purify you from those who disbelieve and make those who follow you [in submission to Allah alone] superior to those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection.  Then to Me is your return, and I will judge between you concerning that in which you used to differ.

Sura 4:158 — Rather, Allah raised him to Himself.








Error #4:  “And also in the Quran— The heart of Islam, Muhammad’s Five Pillars ..”

(@ 5 mins 20 seconds)

Wood says, “.. The Five Pillars don’t come from the Quran, they come from the Hadith.  You won’t find the Shahada in the Quran, you won’t find ‘pray five times a day’ in the Quran.  ...  I’m pointing this out because this is as basic as it gets, and [they’re] not even getting this right.”







Error #5:  “The reality is that the vast majority of the Muslims in the United States are not ‘Mosque attending’ kinds of Muslims, and that’s OK.”

(@ 5 mins 44 seconds)

Wood says, “It’s OK for Muslims to do other things when they’re supposed to be at the Mosque?  Seriously?  In Sahih al-Bukhari 657 Muhammad was about to burn Muslims alive and burn their houses to the ground because they didn’t show up for prayer.  It seems Muhammad took this whole ‘Mosque’ thing pretty seriously.  But, don’t you worry all you Muslims who don’t want to go to the Mosque, ABC News has a thoroughly Westernized woman telling you it is OK to ignore your Prophet’s commands.”

Sahih al-Bukhari 657 — The Prophet said, "No prayer is heavier upon the hypocrites than the Fajr and the `Isha' prayers and if they knew what is in them, they would have attended them, even if crawling.  Certainly, I felt the urge to order the Mu'adh-dhin (call-maker) so that he would pronounce Iqama, then order a man to lead the people, then take a flame of fire so that I burn upon those who had not left for the prayer yet."









Error #6:  “Muhammad said that we should all be tolerant of each other’s religion.”

(@ 6 mins 25 seconds)

[Note:  As Wood explains elsewhere, the Quran does have some initial passages that are peaceful to others (during the time when they were initially outnumbered by non-Muslims in Mecca), however whatever “peaceful” passages that exist have been “abrogated” (meaning “canceled”) by the newer and more hostile passages.]

Wood explains that Muhammad never said to be tolerant of other people’s religions, but he did say the following:

Quran 9:29 — Fight those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth from those who were given the Scripture - [fight] until they give the jizyah (an extortion tax on non-Muslims) willingly while they are humbled.

Quran 9:123 — O you who believe!  Fight those adjacent to you of the disbelievers and let them find in you harshness.  And know that Allah is with the righteous.

Quran 48:29 — Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and those with him are severe against the disbelievers, and merciful among themselves.

Sahih Muslim 33 — [Muhammad said:] I have been commanded to fight against people till they testify that there is no god but Allah, that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, and they establish prayer, and pay Zakat and if they do it, their blood and property are guaranteed protection on my behalf except when justified by law, and their affairs rest with Allah.

Quran 5:51 — O you who believe!  do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends.  They are [in fact] allies of one another.  And whoever is an ally to them among you - then indeed, he is [one] of them. Indeed, Allah guides not the wrongdoing people.

Sahih Muslim 4366 — [Muhammad said:] I will expel the Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula and will not leave any but Muslims.








Error #7:  “.. And after [Muhammad] died, history saw the first real interfaith era.”  ..  “For hundreds of years, Jews, Christians, Muslims, and Atheists— lived together debated God and debated religion.”

(@ 7 min 35 seconds)

Wood explains that according to Muslim sources, after Muhammad died Abu Bakr went on a killing spree against all the people who tried to leave Islam, because they only became Muslims in the first place to avoid being slaughtered by Muhammad.  Umar then took over over after Abu Bakir, and he forced Christians to sign an agreement (the pact of Umar) saying they wouldn’t build Churches, or repair damaged Churches, or sing loudly in their churches, or wear crosses.  Christians had to give up their seats for Muslims, they had to feed Muslims, and they had to let Muslims sleep in their Churches.  And if the Christians ever violated any of those rules, the penalty was death.  Over the next 14 centuries, more than 270 million people were slaughtered by Islam— Christians, Jews, Hindus, Zoroastrians, and everyone else who refused to become a Muslim.

“.. And Dianne Sawyer and ABC News whitewashed all of it, describing life under Islamic rule as an ‘interfaith paradise’.  It’s kind of offensive, isn’t it?”







Error #8:  The video denies that earlier teachings in the Quran are “abrogated”— meaning “cancelled” by newer passages.

(@ 9 min)

Wood explains that the Quran is very specific about the rules of “abrogation”, where previous passages which conflict with newer ones must be considered to be no longer valid.  Muhammad and all classical Muslim scholars specifically said that all later teachings abrogate older ones.

Sura 2:106 — We do not abrogate a verse or cause it to be forgotten except that We bring forth [one] better than it or similar to it.  Do you not know that Allah is over all things competent?

Sura 16:101 — And when We substitute a verse in place of a verse - and Allah is most knowing of what He sends down - they say, “You, [O Muhammad], are but an inventor [of lies].”  But most of them do not know.

[Note: Also see the article: “Muhammad’s Final Sermon” is shown to be a fraudulent account by an Indian cleric who wanted to “enhance Islam”.]







Error #9:  “While a fundamentalist Muslim follows Muhammad’s instructions to ‘fight the infidels’, moderate scholars argue the infidels he was talking about were specific enemies that have been dead for 1,300 years.”

(@ 9 min 34 seconds)

Wood says, “Wow.. Muhammad’s violent teachings only applied to a few enemies for a certain period of time?  Of course, Muhammad didn’t interpret it that way, the ‘rightly guided’ Califs didn’t interpret it that way, Muhammad’s companions didn’t interpret it that way, centuries of Muslim leaders and scholars didn’t interpret it that way.  But none that that matters, because world-renown Quran scholar and theologian Bill Weir tells us that when the Quran says to Muslims ‘fight those who don’t believe in Allah’, it doesn’t really mean what it says.  Maybe we can get Bill to write his own commentary, and explain why 14 centuries of Muslims didn’t understand the Quran at all.”







Error #10:  “The Quran only calls for Jihad against invaders threatening a Muslim home.”

(@ 10 min 28 seconds)

Wood says, “I’ll tell you what, Bill.  I’ll read the verse, and you tell me where you are getting confused:”

Quran 9:29 — Fight those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth from among the people of the book (Jews and Christians) - [fight] until they give the jizyah (an extortion tax on non-Muslims) willingly while they are humbled.

Wood continues:  “.. It has nothing to do with fighting ‘invaders’.  It’s a command to fight unbelievers, and when this verse was revealed, Muslims began their long tradition of ‘offensive Jihad.’— fighting to subjugate all non-Muslims.  You won’t learn any of this from ABC News though.”








Error #11:  “I don’t see any evidence in the Quran for the pledge of 72 virgins [to a Martyr].  This notion of 72 virgins actually comes from a mistranslation, with the real translation being 72 raisins.”

(@ 11 minutes 53 seconds)

Wood says:  “.. Irshad Manji seems to think that the number 72 comes from the Quran.  It doesn’t, it comes from the Hadith.  Then she tells us the Quran doesn’t say Muslims will get virgins in paradise— it says they will get ‘raisins’.  So the houris of the Quran are ‘raisins’, not virgins.  This a mangled version of an argument by Christoph Luxenberg.  The main problem with Irshad Manji’s claim is what the Quran says about these houris.  The Quran says these Muslims will marry the houris, it says the houris will be chaste and beautiful, it says the houris will have beautiful eyes and large breasts, and they’ll love their husbands. ..”

Quran 44:51 through 54 — 

Indeed, the righteous will be in a secure place;
Within gardens and springs,
Wearing [garments of] fine silk and brocade, facing each other.
Thus. And We will marry them to fair women with large, [beautiful] eyes.

Quran 52:20 — They will be reclining on thrones lined up, and We will marry them to fair women with large, [beautiful] eyes.

Quran 55:54 through 56 — 

[They are] reclining on beds whose linings are of silk brocade, and the fruit of the two gardens is hanging low.
So which of the favors of your Lord would you deny?
In them are women limiting [their] glances, untouched before them by man or jinni

Quran 55:70 through 74 — 

In them are good and beautiful women -
So which of the favors of your Lord would you deny? -
Fair ones reserved in pavilions
So which of the favors of your Lord would you deny? -
Untouched before them by man or jinni -

Quran 56:22 through 24 — 

And [for them are] fair women with large, [beautiful] eyes,
The likenesses of pearls well-protected,
As reward for what they used to do.

Quran 56:35 through 38 — 

Indeed, We have produced the women of Paradise in a [new] creation
And made them virgins,
Devoted [to their husbands] and of equal age,
For the companions of the right [who are]

Quran 78:31 through 34 — 

Indeed, for the righteous is attainment -
Gardens and grapevines
And full-breasted [companions] of equal age
And a full cup.







Error #12:  “.. Best sellers like ‘the Way of the Muslim’ are often quoted in place of the Quran [by radical Muslims] and contain dangerous ideas [that devalue human lives such as the concept of ‘blood money’].”

(@ 13:06)

Sunan Abu Dawud 4527 — The value of the bloodwit (financial compensation to the heirs of the victims of murder) of at the time of the Messenger of Allah was eight hundred dinars or eight thousand dirhams, and the bloodwit for the people of the Book (Jews and Christians) was half of that for Muslims.  ...  He left the bloodwit for dhimmis (protected people) as it was, not raising it in proportion to the increase he made in the blood-wit.

Wood says, “.. according to ABC News, the ‘real’ source of Jihad and terrorism isn’t Muhammad’s teachings.  No, the violence springs from modern books, from modern Muslim authors— Who, as you just saw, are getting their views directly from Muhammad’s teachings.”







Error #13:  “.. and radicals have used these ‘murder and martyr myths’ .. ”

(@ 14:40)

Wood says, “.. All this talk about Jihad and fighting unbelievers and Martyrdom— It’s all based on myths?  I guess that’s why Muhammad said:”

Sahih al-Bukhari 2797 — “By Him in Whose Hands my soul is!  I would love to be martyred in Allah’s Cause and then come back to life and then get martyred, and then come back to life again and then get martyred and then come back to life again and then get martyred.”







Error #14:  “Dictators combined that resentment with a perverted version of Islam and manipulate their people with a holy hatred of America.”

(@ 15 minutes 19 seconds)

Wood explains using the following verse as an example that since the United States is attacking the Muslim countries, the Muslims leaders don’t need to ‘pervert’ Islam to fuel hatred against America.

Quran 5:33 —  Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive upon earth [to cause] corruption is none but that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that they be exiled from the land.  That is for them a disgrace in this world; and for them in the Hereafter is a great punishment ..







Error #15:  “A Fatwa is nothing more than just one cleric’s opinion.  You could issue a Fatwa that ‘Coke is evil and you should drink Pepsi’.  Fatwas are a dime a dozen, they are meaningless.”

(@ 16 minutes, 28 seconds)

Wood says, “[Fatwas are] no more than opinions?  Fatwas are rulings by Muslim scholars based on Muhammad’s teachings.  They don’t carry any additional weight beyond the quotations from Muhammad and the Quran, but they’re definitely not ‘meaningless’, they contain the commands of Allah and Muhammad.”







Error #16:  “According to the experts, an obscure law called ‘al Taqiyya’ did allow early Muslims to [deceitfully] deny their faith, but only under the threat of persecution.”

(@ 17 minutes, 4 seconds)

Wood says, “Unlike ABC News, I’ll actually quote the Quran for you:”

Quran 3:28 — Let not the believers take disbelievers for their friends in preference to believers. Whoso doeth that hath no connection with Allah unless (it be) that ye but guard yourself against them, taking (as it were) security.

Ibn Kathir (one of Islam’s most significant scholars)—  “In this case (of being outnumbered by non-Muslims), such believers are allowed to show friendship outwardly, but never inwardly.”

Abu Darda (one of Muhammad’s most significant companions)— “We smile in the face of some people although our hearts curse them.”

Al-Hasan (one of Muhammad’s companions)— “Taqiyya is allowed until the Day of Resurrection.”

[Note: Also see the article Deception is permissible and even prescribed in Islam through the practices of “Taqiyya”, “Tawriya”, “Kitman”, and “Muruna”.]







Error #17:  “The Quran is very clear that in the eyes of God, men and women have equal rights and equal responsibilities.”

(@ 19 minutes, 16 seconds)

Wood says, “Sura 4:3 that says men can marry up to four women.  ..  Sura 4:24 says that Muslim men can have sex with their female captives and slave girls  ..  Sura 4:34 says that men can beat their wives into submission  ..  So do men and women have equal rights and responsibilities in the Quran?  NO.  Men and woman are about as equal and hammers and nails in the Quran.”

Sura 4:3 — And if you fear that you will not deal justly with the orphan girls, then marry those that please you of [other] women, two or three or four.

Sura 4:24 — And [also prohibited to you are all] married women except those captives whom your right hands possess (slave girls).

Sura 4:34 — But those [wives] from whom you fear arrogance - [first] advise them; [then if they persist], forsake them in bed; and [finally], strike them. But if they obey you [once more], seek no means against them.







Error #18:  “The prophet Muhammad’s own beloved first wife Cadiga was a wealthy self-made entrepreneur.”

(@ 20 minutes, 3 seconds)

Wood explains that Cadiga was a wealthy entrepreneur before Islam— before she married Muhammad.

“So what does [Cadiga’s] status as a businesswoman tell us about Islam?—  Absolutely nothing.  If we want to learn something about women in Islam, let’s listen to someone with a little more experience with life with Muhammad.  In Sahih al-Bukhari 58:25, Muhammad’s child bride Aisha says ‘I have not seen any woman suffering as much as the believing women.’  According to Aisha— ‘the mother of the faithful’— the ‘believing’ women— the Muslim women, were suffering more than the pagan women.

“And by the way the context of [Aisha’s statement] was that a Muslim man had beaten his wife until her skin turned green.  Aisha was complaining about Muslim women being brutally beaten by their Muslim husbands.  She realized that non-Muslim women were much safer because their husbands didn’t have a revelation from God advocating spousal abuse.  But his doesn’t matter at all to ABC, because Muhammad, 15 years before he declared himself to be a prophet, married a rich, old widow.”

Sahih al-Bukhari 58:25 — (Muhammad’s child bride Aisha says:) “I have not seen any woman suffering as much as the believing women (women of Islam).”







Error #19:  “And reminding us that all the peaceful American Muslims are part of America’s first line of defense.”

(@ 21 minutes, 52 seconds)

Wood says, “.. Muslims are violently subjugating Christians and other religious minorities in Egypt, Iraq, Pakistan, Sudan, Nigeria, and everywhere else where Muslims have power over unbelievers.  Are all the peaceful moderate Muslims stepping in to protect these non-Muslims?  Are the peaceful moderate Muslims the first line of defense for victims of Muslim aggression?  Certainly not.  But Dianne Sawyer and ABC News are convinced that ‘things will be different’ here in the U.S.— where moderate groups like CAIR constantly tell Muslims not to work with police or the FBI in locating and apprehending terrorists. ..”

Wood also mentions that the clip showed a picture of Sadiq Abdul Malik, claiming he is one of the “moderate Muslims” who are ready to “protect us from extremists”, despite the fact that Sadiq supports Islamic terrorist group such as the Taliban and he calls for the destruction of Israel.

[Note: Also see the website https://www.anti-cair-net.org.]







Error #20:   “It’s my duty as an American Muslim, to stand between you (the American non-Muslim) and the radicals who are trying to attack you.”

(@ 23 minutes 15 seconds)

Wood explains that such a “duty” to protect non-Muslims is never mentioned in the Quran or in any authentic Hadith.

And he continues:  “.. In areas where Muslims make up the majority, the ‘duty’ of Muslims is to violently subjugate all non-Muslims.  In areas like the United States where the Muslims are in the minority, the duty of Muslims is to practice ‘Taqiyya’— Deceiving non-Muslims into believing that Islam is peaceful and tolerant.”







David Wood’s closing statement:

Wood explains, “.. Since the topic is Islam, it is acceptable to broadcast total nonsense to make Islam sound better than it really is.  ABC News, like so many other networks, is a ‘Taqiyya amplifier’.  Muslims come up with soothing lies, and ABC pumps them into your living room.”