Sex on the back of a camel, why not? - a failure to understand Arabic idioms

Many people fail to understand the Arabic language or its idioms. One cannot simply take the literal meaning upon translating to other languages.


One hadith mentioned about “into the lizard’s hole”


The prophet (S.A.W.) said, "You will surely follow the ways, steps, or traditions of those who came before you, span by span and yard by yard (very closely) even if they entered into a lizard's hole you will enter it." The companions asked, "O prophet, you mean the Jews and Christians?" He replied, "Who else!?" [Reported by Imaam Bukhaari]

The hadith does not mean literally “enter the lizard hole”, rather do whatever other people do, even stupid as it may seem, like entering the lizard hole.

Similarly, “onto the camel’s back” does not mean literally riding on the camel. The meaning for the Arabs at that time is “while travelling”, as camels were used as a means of travelling. And on the camel’s back means while travelling, be it on a cruise ship, on wheeled vehicles including stoppage at some fancy hotels and rest houses, before reaching the destination.

And last and not least, camel toe does not mean the toe of the camel, it means something else. So be careful about the camel, this animal has so many idioms that people often forget.
To begin with the Arabic language, do not take its literal meaning.

Make ready for them all thou canst of (armed) force and of horses tethered, that thereby ye may dismay the enemy of Allah and your enemy, and others beside them whom ye know not. [TMQ, Pickthall translation, al-Anfaal: 60].

In this verse, it mentions horses, for the army to gather their horses of war, to strike fear against the enemy. Horses were used as a mobile vehicle in the time of war, in the time of Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW), as much as tanks, armoured vehicles, jet-fighters used now in modern warfare. 

This verse does contain references to horses as a mobile vehicle, but in modern warfare, this is not acceptable. Any modern army will not resort horses as a means of weapons, the use of horses will not inflict fear on the hearts of the enemy. Therefore the use of “horses” in the verse cannot be taken literally, as “on the camels’ back” must not be taken literally. For those who have no knowledge on Arabic language, despite the zeal to use the Arabic word “Allah” in the Bible text, the effort to study the Arabic language is simply absent