- -

Muhammad a frank look at his influential (and violent) life and teachings

In The Truth about Muhammad New York Times bestselling author and Islam expert Robert Spencer offers an honest ancl telli~ig portrait of the founder of Islarn unbol~nded by fear and political correct~iess unflinching and willi~lg to face the hard facts about Muham~nads life that conti~nle to affect our world today

Spencer details Muham~nads develop~nerlt from a preacher of hellfire and damnation illto a political and military leader who expanded his rule by force of arnls promising his war- riors luridly physical delights in Paradise if they were killed i11 his cause He explains how the Qurans teaching on warfare against unbelievers developed-with constant war to establish the hege~llony of Islan~ic law as the last stage

Spencer also gives the truth about Muharnmads convenient revelations justifying his own licentiousness his joy in the brutal murders of his enemies and above all his clear rnarching orders to his followers to convert non-Muslims to Islarn-or force then1 to live as inferiors under Isla~~lic rule

Recognizi~lg the true nature of Islam Spencer argues is crucial Every citizen (and policy- maker) who loves freedom should read and ponder The Truth about Muhammad

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Praise for The Truth about Muhammad ldquointrepid Robert Spencer continues his quest to dispel myths cure ignorance and open our eyes to

hard truths about Islam If we are going to win the War on Terror we need to know how Muha~nmad really lived-and why he endures as the inspiration for global jihad This book is a threat to religion of peace propaganda that lulls the West into submission Strike a blow for survival buy it

-Michelle Malkin nationally syndicated colun~nist and bestselling author

~ t a time when even in the West the pious narrative of Muhammad has gained a near-hegemonic hold Robert Spencer offers a rare skeptical biography and interpretation of the prophet of Islam Relying exclusively on Islanlic sources The Truth about Muhammad argues that for fourteen hundred years the words and deeds of Muhammad have been moving Muslin~s to co~llnlitacts of violence

-h l ie l Pipes director of the hliddle East Fhrunl and author of Slave Soldiers and Islam

CHAPTER S E V E N

War is deceit

O The Battle of Badr Islams greatest early jihad victory

O The theological explailation of the Battle of Badr

O Colltroversies over the spoils of war

O Muhammads battles against Jewish tribes

O Muhammad orders his enemies assassi~lated

O The Quraysh strike back the Battle of Uhud

The Battle of Badr AS THE MUSLIMS RELATIONS WITH THE JEWS STEADILY deteriorated

they reached their final breaking point with the Quraysh The Muslim raids

on Quraysh caravans precipitated the Muslims first major battle Muham-

mad heard that a large Quraysh caravan laden with Inoiley and goods was

coming from Syria This is the caraan of the Qurasli possessi~lg wealth

he told his followers It is likely that Allah may give it to you as booty Ibn

Ishaq reports that the people ansvered his surninons some eagerly others

reluctantly because they had not thought that the apostle [vould go to war

104 THE TRUTH ABOUT MUHAMMAD

Muharnmad received a revelati011 from ~4Ilah berating those Muslims who

were reluctant to wage war for the Prophet of Islam Those who believe say

Why is not a sura sent down (for us) But ~vhena sura of basic or categor-

ical meaning is revealed and fighting is mentioned therein thou milt see

those in whose hearts is a disease looking at thee ~vith a look of one in swoon

at the approach of death (Quran 4720)

Allah told Muhammads follovers to fight fiercely and behead their

enemies Tlierefore tvhen yc nleet the Unbelievers (in fight) smite at

their necks At length ivhen ye have thoroughly subdued thern bind a

bond firmly (on them) thereafter (is the time for) either generosib- or ran-

som tunti1 the war lays down its burdens He reminded them that this was

his will and a test he was giving thern Th~is (are ye commanded) but if

it had been Allahs Will He could certainl have exacted retribution from

them (Himself) but (He lets you fight) in order to test you some with oth-

ers But those mho are slain in the Way of Allah He frill never let their

deeds be lost (Quran 474)

Muhammad set out toward Mecca to lead the raid He knew that the

Qura)sh ~vould be defending their caravan with an army this time but he

vas confide~lt Forlvard in good heart he told his nie11 for God has prom-

ised me one of the two parties -that is either the caravan or the arm And

b) God it is as tllot~gh I no~vsee the enemy Ijing prostrate When he sav

the Quravsh marching totvard the hluslims he prayed 0God here corne

the Quraysh in their vanit and pride contending +it11 Thee and calling Thj

apostle a liar 0God grant the help mhich Thou didst promise me Destroj

them this morning One of the Quraysh leaders Abu Jahl (vhich means

Father of Ignorance a nalne gierl him by hluslim chroniclers his real

name vas Amr ibn Hisham) also felt as if a defining moment azas at hand

Oiling a coat of mail before the battle he declared No by God we tvill not

tui-11 hack until Cod decide hetuecn us a ~ l d AZulla~n~llad~

And this time the Quraysh were nluch more prepared to face the Mus-

lims than they had been at Nakhla Ihc came out to 11iect Aluhan~mads

threc hundred me11 -it11 a force marl[ a thousand strongi I l ~ ~ I ~ a m m a d

105 War is d e c e t

seerns not to have expected these numbers and cried out to Allah i11 anxi-

e b 0God if this band perish toda Thou wilt be norshipped no more

But after a short rest Muhammad felt bettcr telling his key follower Abu

Bakr who was to succeed him as the leader of the RIuslirns Be of good

cheer 0 Abu Bakr Gods help is come to you Here is Gabriel holding the

rein of a horse and leading it The dust is upon his front t e e t l ~ ~

Muhammad strode among his troops and issued a momentous

promise-one that has en heart to Muslirn ~varriors throughout the ages

By God in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad no man will be slain

this day fighting against them ~ i th steadfast courage advancing not retreat-

ing but God nil1 cause him to enter Paradise One of the assembled Mus-

lirn warriors Umayr bin al-Humam exclaimed Fine Fine Is there

nothing betlveen me and Iny entering Paradise save to be killed by these

men He flung away some dates that he had been eating rushed into the

thick of the battle and fought until he kvas killed In a similar vein another

Muslim tvarrior Auf bin Harith asked Muhammad 0apostle of God

what makes the Lord laugh with joy at His servant Muhammad

anscverecl When he plunges into the midst of the enemy without mail

Auf threw off his coat of mail and plu~iged into the thick of the battle

fighting tenaciously until he as killed

Ihe Prophet of Islam picked up a few pcbblcs and thre~v t l ic~n in the

direction of the Qurash saying Iio~11 be those faces Then he ordered

the Muslims to c l ~ a r g e ~ wereDespite their superior numbers the Q i ~ r a ~ s h

ror~ted Some Muslim traditions say that Muha~nmad himself participated

in the fighting others that it cvas more likely that he exhorted his follovers

fro111 the sidclines In any eent it mas an occasion for him to avenge years

of frustration resentment and hatred toward his peoi~le who had rejected

him One of his follo~zers later recalled a curse bluhammad had pro-

no1111ced011 the leaders of the Q ~ ~ r a J s l l Il~e Prophet said 0Allah

Lestro the chiefs of Quraish O Allah Llestroy Ab11 Jahl bin Hishan~

Itba bin Iiabia Shaiba bin Rahia lJclba bin ihi Aluait Umai~a bill

Khalaf (or Ul~ai bin Kalaf)

CHAPTER S E V E N

War is deceit

O The Battle of Badr Islams greatest early jihad victory

O The theological explailation of the Battle of Badr

O Colltroversies over the spoils of war

O Muhammads battles against Jewish tribes

O Muhammad orders his enemies assassi~lated

O The Quraysh strike back the Battle of Uhud

The Battle of Badr AS THE MUSLIMS RELATIONS WITH THE JEWS STEADILY deteriorated

they reached their final breaking point with the Quraysh The Muslim raids

on Quraysh caravans precipitated the Muslims first major battle Muham-

mad heard that a large Quraysh caravan laden with Inoiley and goods was

coming from Syria This is the caraan of the Qurasli possessi~lg wealth

he told his followers It is likely that Allah may give it to you as booty Ibn

Ishaq reports that the people ansvered his surninons some eagerly others

reluctantly because they had not thought that the apostle [vould go to war

104 THE TRUTH ABOUT MUHAMMAD

Muharnmad received a revelati011 from ~4Ilah berating those Muslims who

were reluctant to wage war for the Prophet of Islam Those who believe say

Why is not a sura sent down (for us) But ~vhena sura of basic or categor-

ical meaning is revealed and fighting is mentioned therein thou milt see

those in whose hearts is a disease looking at thee ~vith a look of one in swoon

at the approach of death (Quran 4720)

Allah told Muhammads follovers to fight fiercely and behead their

enemies Tlierefore tvhen yc nleet the Unbelievers (in fight) smite at

their necks At length ivhen ye have thoroughly subdued thern bind a

bond firmly (on them) thereafter (is the time for) either generosib- or ran-

som tunti1 the war lays down its burdens He reminded them that this was

his will and a test he was giving thern Th~is (are ye commanded) but if

it had been Allahs Will He could certainl have exacted retribution from

them (Himself) but (He lets you fight) in order to test you some with oth-

ers But those mho are slain in the Way of Allah He frill never let their

deeds be lost (Quran 474)

Muhammad set out toward Mecca to lead the raid He knew that the

Qura)sh ~vould be defending their caravan with an army this time but he

vas confide~lt Forlvard in good heart he told his nie11 for God has prom-

ised me one of the two parties -that is either the caravan or the arm And

b) God it is as tllot~gh I no~vsee the enemy Ijing prostrate When he sav

the Quravsh marching totvard the hluslims he prayed 0God here corne

the Quraysh in their vanit and pride contending +it11 Thee and calling Thj

apostle a liar 0God grant the help mhich Thou didst promise me Destroj

them this morning One of the Quraysh leaders Abu Jahl (vhich means

Father of Ignorance a nalne gierl him by hluslim chroniclers his real

name vas Amr ibn Hisham) also felt as if a defining moment azas at hand

Oiling a coat of mail before the battle he declared No by God we tvill not

tui-11 hack until Cod decide hetuecn us a ~ l d AZulla~n~llad~

And this time the Quraysh were nluch more prepared to face the Mus-

lims than they had been at Nakhla Ihc came out to 11iect Aluhan~mads

threc hundred me11 -it11 a force marl[ a thousand strongi I l ~ ~ I ~ a m m a d

105 War is d e c e t

seerns not to have expected these numbers and cried out to Allah i11 anxi-

e b 0God if this band perish toda Thou wilt be norshipped no more

But after a short rest Muhammad felt bettcr telling his key follower Abu

Bakr who was to succeed him as the leader of the RIuslirns Be of good

cheer 0 Abu Bakr Gods help is come to you Here is Gabriel holding the

rein of a horse and leading it The dust is upon his front t e e t l ~ ~

Muhammad strode among his troops and issued a momentous

promise-one that has en heart to Muslirn ~varriors throughout the ages

By God in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad no man will be slain

this day fighting against them ~ i th steadfast courage advancing not retreat-

ing but God nil1 cause him to enter Paradise One of the assembled Mus-

lirn warriors Umayr bin al-Humam exclaimed Fine Fine Is there

nothing betlveen me and Iny entering Paradise save to be killed by these

men He flung away some dates that he had been eating rushed into the

thick of the battle and fought until he kvas killed In a similar vein another

Muslim tvarrior Auf bin Harith asked Muhammad 0apostle of God

what makes the Lord laugh with joy at His servant Muhammad

anscverecl When he plunges into the midst of the enemy without mail

Auf threw off his coat of mail and plu~iged into the thick of the battle

fighting tenaciously until he as killed

Ihe Prophet of Islam picked up a few pcbblcs and thre~v t l ic~n in the

direction of the Qurash saying Iio~11 be those faces Then he ordered

the Muslims to c l ~ a r g e ~ wereDespite their superior numbers the Q i ~ r a ~ s h

ror~ted Some Muslim traditions say that Muha~nmad himself participated

in the fighting others that it cvas more likely that he exhorted his follovers

fro111 the sidclines In any eent it mas an occasion for him to avenge years

of frustration resentment and hatred toward his peoi~le who had rejected

him One of his follo~zers later recalled a curse bluhammad had pro-

no1111ced011 the leaders of the Q ~ ~ r a J s l l Il~e Prophet said 0Allah

Lestro the chiefs of Quraish O Allah Llestroy Ab11 Jahl bin Hishan~

Itba bin Iiabia Shaiba bin Rahia lJclba bin ihi Aluait Umai~a bill

Khalaf (or Ul~ai bin Kalaf)

104 THE TRUTH ABOUT MUHAMMAD

Muharnmad received a revelati011 from ~4Ilah berating those Muslims who

were reluctant to wage war for the Prophet of Islam Those who believe say

Why is not a sura sent down (for us) But ~vhena sura of basic or categor-

ical meaning is revealed and fighting is mentioned therein thou milt see

those in whose hearts is a disease looking at thee ~vith a look of one in swoon

at the approach of death (Quran 4720)

Allah told Muhammads follovers to fight fiercely and behead their

enemies Tlierefore tvhen yc nleet the Unbelievers (in fight) smite at

their necks At length ivhen ye have thoroughly subdued thern bind a

bond firmly (on them) thereafter (is the time for) either generosib- or ran-

som tunti1 the war lays down its burdens He reminded them that this was

his will and a test he was giving thern Th~is (are ye commanded) but if

it had been Allahs Will He could certainl have exacted retribution from

them (Himself) but (He lets you fight) in order to test you some with oth-

ers But those mho are slain in the Way of Allah He frill never let their

deeds be lost (Quran 474)

Muhammad set out toward Mecca to lead the raid He knew that the

Qura)sh ~vould be defending their caravan with an army this time but he

vas confide~lt Forlvard in good heart he told his nie11 for God has prom-

ised me one of the two parties -that is either the caravan or the arm And

b) God it is as tllot~gh I no~vsee the enemy Ijing prostrate When he sav

the Quravsh marching totvard the hluslims he prayed 0God here corne

the Quraysh in their vanit and pride contending +it11 Thee and calling Thj

apostle a liar 0God grant the help mhich Thou didst promise me Destroj

them this morning One of the Quraysh leaders Abu Jahl (vhich means

Father of Ignorance a nalne gierl him by hluslim chroniclers his real

name vas Amr ibn Hisham) also felt as if a defining moment azas at hand

Oiling a coat of mail before the battle he declared No by God we tvill not

tui-11 hack until Cod decide hetuecn us a ~ l d AZulla~n~llad~

And this time the Quraysh were nluch more prepared to face the Mus-

lims than they had been at Nakhla Ihc came out to 11iect Aluhan~mads

threc hundred me11 -it11 a force marl[ a thousand strongi I l ~ ~ I ~ a m m a d

105 War is d e c e t

seerns not to have expected these numbers and cried out to Allah i11 anxi-

e b 0God if this band perish toda Thou wilt be norshipped no more

But after a short rest Muhammad felt bettcr telling his key follower Abu

Bakr who was to succeed him as the leader of the RIuslirns Be of good

cheer 0 Abu Bakr Gods help is come to you Here is Gabriel holding the

rein of a horse and leading it The dust is upon his front t e e t l ~ ~

Muhammad strode among his troops and issued a momentous

promise-one that has en heart to Muslirn ~varriors throughout the ages

By God in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad no man will be slain

this day fighting against them ~ i th steadfast courage advancing not retreat-

ing but God nil1 cause him to enter Paradise One of the assembled Mus-

lirn warriors Umayr bin al-Humam exclaimed Fine Fine Is there

nothing betlveen me and Iny entering Paradise save to be killed by these

men He flung away some dates that he had been eating rushed into the

thick of the battle and fought until he kvas killed In a similar vein another

Muslim tvarrior Auf bin Harith asked Muhammad 0apostle of God

what makes the Lord laugh with joy at His servant Muhammad

anscverecl When he plunges into the midst of the enemy without mail

Auf threw off his coat of mail and plu~iged into the thick of the battle

fighting tenaciously until he as killed

Ihe Prophet of Islam picked up a few pcbblcs and thre~v t l ic~n in the

direction of the Qurash saying Iio~11 be those faces Then he ordered

the Muslims to c l ~ a r g e ~ wereDespite their superior numbers the Q i ~ r a ~ s h

ror~ted Some Muslim traditions say that Muha~nmad himself participated

in the fighting others that it cvas more likely that he exhorted his follovers

fro111 the sidclines In any eent it mas an occasion for him to avenge years

of frustration resentment and hatred toward his peoi~le who had rejected

him One of his follo~zers later recalled a curse bluhammad had pro-

no1111ced011 the leaders of the Q ~ ~ r a J s l l Il~e Prophet said 0Allah

Lestro the chiefs of Quraish O Allah Llestroy Ab11 Jahl bin Hishan~

Itba bin Iiabia Shaiba bin Rahia lJclba bin ihi Aluait Umai~a bill

Khalaf (or Ul~ai bin Kalaf)

105 War is d e c e t

seerns not to have expected these numbers and cried out to Allah i11 anxi-

e b 0God if this band perish toda Thou wilt be norshipped no more

But after a short rest Muhammad felt bettcr telling his key follower Abu

Bakr who was to succeed him as the leader of the RIuslirns Be of good

cheer 0 Abu Bakr Gods help is come to you Here is Gabriel holding the

rein of a horse and leading it The dust is upon his front t e e t l ~ ~

Muhammad strode among his troops and issued a momentous

promise-one that has en heart to Muslirn ~varriors throughout the ages

By God in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad no man will be slain

this day fighting against them ~ i th steadfast courage advancing not retreat-

ing but God nil1 cause him to enter Paradise One of the assembled Mus-

lirn warriors Umayr bin al-Humam exclaimed Fine Fine Is there

nothing betlveen me and Iny entering Paradise save to be killed by these

men He flung away some dates that he had been eating rushed into the

thick of the battle and fought until he kvas killed In a similar vein another

Muslim tvarrior Auf bin Harith asked Muhammad 0apostle of God

what makes the Lord laugh with joy at His servant Muhammad

anscverecl When he plunges into the midst of the enemy without mail

Auf threw off his coat of mail and plu~iged into the thick of the battle

fighting tenaciously until he as killed

Ihe Prophet of Islam picked up a few pcbblcs and thre~v t l ic~n in the

direction of the Qurash saying Iio~11 be those faces Then he ordered

the Muslims to c l ~ a r g e ~ wereDespite their superior numbers the Q i ~ r a ~ s h

ror~ted Some Muslim traditions say that Muha~nmad himself participated

in the fighting others that it cvas more likely that he exhorted his follovers

fro111 the sidclines In any eent it mas an occasion for him to avenge years

of frustration resentment and hatred toward his peoi~le who had rejected

him One of his follo~zers later recalled a curse bluhammad had pro-

no1111ced011 the leaders of the Q ~ ~ r a J s l l Il~e Prophet said 0Allah

Lestro the chiefs of Quraish O Allah Llestroy Ab11 Jahl bin Hishan~

Itba bin Iiabia Shaiba bin Rahia lJclba bin ihi Aluait Umai~a bill

Khalaf (or Ul~ai bin Kalaf)

106 THE TRUTH ABOUT MUHAMMAD

All these men were captured or killed during the battle of Badr One

Quraysh leader named i11 this curse Uqba pleaded for his life But who

will look after my children 0 Muham~nad

In the confrontation Uqba had thrown camel dung blood and intes-

tines on the Prophet of Islam to the great merriment of the Quraysh chief-

tans while Muhammad prostrated himself in prayer Muhammad had

pronounced a curse on them and now it was being fulfilled Who would

care for Uqbas children Hell Muharnmad declared and ordered

Uqba killed

Abu Jahl of the Quraysh was beheaded Ihe Muslim who severed his

head proudly carried the trophy to Muhammad I cut off his head and

brought it to the apostle saying This is the head of the enemy of God Abu

Jahl

Muhammad was delighted By God than Whom there is no other is

it he exclaimed and gave thanks to Allah for the death of his enerny12

According to another account two young Muslims murdered Abu Jahl

as he was walking amongst the people One of the murderers explains

why I have been informed that lie abuses Allahs Messenger By Him in

Whose Hands Iny soul is if I should see him then my body will not leave

his body till either of us meet his fate After the have done the deed they

go to see the Prophet of Islam who asks Which of you has killed him

Both youths answered I have killed him

Muhammad thought of a way to resolve the dispute asking them

Have you cleaned your swords Ihey answered that they had not so

Muhammad inspected their weapons and announced No doubt you

both have killed him and the spoils of the deceased will be given to

Muadh bin Amr bin Al-Jamuh who was one of the murderers13

The bodies of all those named in the curse ere thrown into a pit As

an eyevit~less recalled Later on I saw all of thenl killed during the battle

of Badr and their bodies were th ro ~n into a well except the body of U~naiva

or Ubai because he nas a fat man and vhen he vas pulled the parts of

his hod got separated before Ile -as t1ironn illto the ~~-cl l 711cn

lullammad taunted tlle~n as people of the pit and posed a theological

War is deceit

q~~est ionHave you fo111ld vllat God promised you is true I have found

that ~illlat my Lord promised nle is true 17hen asked vh he as speaking

to dead bodies lie replied You callnot hear hat I sa) better than the

but they cannot ansver meli

Allah fights for the Muslims 171~ victory at Aadr vas the turning point for the hlusli~ns It hecame the

stuff of legend a cornerstone of the new religion Muhammad eIren

received a reelation al~~louncil ig tllat armies of angels joined $it11 the

hluslirns to smite the Quraysh-and that sinlilar help voulcI come in the

future to hluslims nho remained faithful to Allah Allah had helped ~ L I

at Badr vhen c verc a contemptible little force then fear Allah t1111s Inay

ye shotv your gratitude Rcme~nber thou saidst to the Faithful Is it not

enough for ou that illah sl~ould help ou I it11 three tho~lsand angels spe-

cially sent do~vn Yea if ye rc~nain firm and act aright even if the enemy

sho11ld rush here on you i11 hot haste jollr Lord fould help jou it11 five

tho~~sand (Q11rall 3 123-1 2 5 ) Allahangels nlaking a terrific o~~slaugllt

told illuhammad Rememl~er re implored the assistance of your Iord

ancl I-ie a~lsvered j011 I ill assist ou ~vitli a thousand of the angels ranks

on ranks Re~i ie~nber Ith Lord inspired the angels (vith the ~nessage)

all1 ~vith you gi1e fir~nness to the Believers I ill instill terror into the

hearts of the U~~belieers all their fill- smite e above their necks and s~nite

ger-tips off them This because the- contended against illlall and His hles-

scnger If all contend against illah ancl I Iis h~lessenger Allall is strict i l l

p l l~~ i sh~ l l e~ l t (Quran 89 12-1 3) The latter Irrse vith its exhortation to

the angels to behead the enemies of Allah and h4~1hammac1 became one

of the chief iustificatio~ls for the Islaniic practice-the11 ancl nov-of

bc11eadi1ig I~ostagcs a ~ l d nar capties

Ib11 Ishaq sas that hluhammad received anothcr revelation consigning

to hell some ex-hlr~slims nllo liad fougllt alo~lgsitle the Ql~rasl~ llien

allgels take tlle souls of tliose h o (lie i l l 5i1i against theil- sor~ls the a 111

nhat (pliglrt ere c ll~c rcpl- ah ai~tl ol~l~resscd 11-crc n c i l l tlle

War is deceit

q~~est ionHave you fo111ld vllat God promised you is true I have found

that ~illlat my Lord promised nle is true 17hen asked vh he as speaking

to dead bodies lie replied You callnot hear hat I sa) better than the

but they cannot ansver meli

Allah fights for the Muslims 171~ victory at Aadr vas the turning point for the hlusli~ns It hecame the

stuff of legend a cornerstone of the new religion Muhammad eIren

received a reelation al~~louncil ig tllat armies of angels joined $it11 the

hluslirns to smite the Quraysh-and that sinlilar help voulcI come in the

future to hluslims nho remained faithful to Allah Allah had helped ~ L I

at Badr vhen c verc a contemptible little force then fear Allah t1111s Inay

ye shotv your gratitude Rcme~nber thou saidst to the Faithful Is it not

enough for ou that illah sl~ould help ou I it11 three tho~lsand angels spe-

cially sent do~vn Yea if ye rc~nain firm and act aright even if the enemy

sho11ld rush here on you i11 hot haste jollr Lord fould help jou it11 five

tho~~sand (Q11rall 3 123-1 2 5 ) Allahangels nlaking a terrific o~~slaugllt

told illuhammad Rememl~er re implored the assistance of your Iord

ancl I-ie a~lsvered j011 I ill assist ou ~vitli a thousand of the angels ranks

on ranks Re~i ie~nber Ith Lord inspired the angels (vith the ~nessage)

all1 ~vith you gi1e fir~nness to the Believers I ill instill terror into the

hearts of the U~~belieers all their fill- smite e above their necks and s~nite

ger-tips off them This because the- contended against illlall and His hles-

scnger If all contend against illah ancl I Iis h~lessenger Allall is strict i l l

p l l~~ i sh~ l l e~ l t (Quran 89 12-1 3) The latter Irrse vith its exhortation to

the angels to behead the enemies of Allah and h4~1hammac1 became one

of the chief iustificatio~ls for the Islaniic practice-the11 ancl nov-of

bc11eadi1ig I~ostagcs a ~ l d nar capties

Ib11 Ishaq sas that hluhammad received anothcr revelation consigning

to hell some ex-hlr~slims nllo liad fougllt alo~lgsitle the Ql~rasl~ llien

allgels take tlle souls of tliose h o (lie i l l 5i1i against theil- sor~ls the a 111

nhat (pliglrt ere c ll~c rcpl- ah ai~tl ol~l~resscd 11-crc n c i l l tlle

108 THE TRUTH ABOUT M U H A M M A D

earth Then say as not the earth of lllah spacious enough for ou to

move yourselves ava (from evil) Such men ~vill find their abode in Hell

What an evil ref~ige (Quran 499)

Yet another revelation from Allah emphasized that it as pie not mil-

itary might that brought victor- at Badr There has already been for you

a sign in the hi-o armies that met in combat one was fighting in the cause

of Allah the other resisting Allah these sarv $-it11 their oivn eyes ttice their

number But Allah doth support vith His aid ihom He pleaseth In this is

a warning for such as have e-es to see (Quran 313) illah varned the

Quraysh not to attempt another attack telling them the tvould again be

defeated no matter how much more numerous they ivere than the hlus-

lims (819)

Still another Quranic passage asserts that the Illuslims vere merely

passive instruments at Badr Even the pebbles Xluhammad threw toard

the Quraj-sh -ere not thr0nn by him but b Allah It is not ye 13ho slew

them it vas Allah When thou threwest (a handful of dust) it Lvas not thy

act but Allahs in order that He might test the Belieers b a gracious trial

from Himself for Allah is He 17ho heareth and kno~veth (all things)

(817) iind Allah ~vould grant such ictories to pious hluslims een though

they faced odds even more prohibiti1e than those they had overcome at

Badr 0Prophet Rouse the Belieers to the fight If there are tjenb

amongst ou patient and persevering they vill anquish t~vo hundred if a

hundred the nill vanquish a thousand of the unbelieers for these are a

people without understanding (Quran 865)

These became recurring themes of jihad literature throughout the cen-

turies up to the present day piety nill bring military ictor~ llillah Ivill

send angels to fight with the believing Iuslims and the till conquer

even against over~vhelming odds The -ictorj- at Badr continues to resound

tlirough histor Lt the beheading of cimerican hostage Nicholas Berg in

May 2004 for example Iraqi jihad leader Xbu hlusab al-Zarqan-i in-oked

the great battle Is it not time for oil [ l l ~ ~ s l i m s - to take the path of jihad

and carr- the sord of the Prophet of propliets Ihe Prophet the most

109 War is deceit

n~erciful ordered [his ar~ny] to strike the necks of some prisoners in [the

battle of] Badr and to kill them And he set a good exa~nple for us

The problem of booty Allah re~varded those to ~vllom he had granted victory lhere vas great

booty for the victors-so I I IUC~ fact that it became a bone of con- i l l

tention So divisive did this threaten to become that Allah himself spoke

about it i11 a chapter of the Quran devoted e~~t i re ly to reflections 011the

battle of Badr the eighth chapter entitled Al-Anfal the Spoils of War or

Booty Allah warns the Musli~ns rlot to corlsider booty won at Badr to

belong to anyone but Muhammacl The ask thee concer~ling thi~lgs

taken as spoils of var Say (Such) spoils are at the disposal of Allah and the

Messenger so fear Allah arid keep straight the relations hetnee11 otir-

selves Obey Allah and His hlessel~ger if ve do believe (8l) Ultimatel)

Muhamrnad distributed the boot- a~llollg the hluslirns equally keeping a

fifth for himself (841) lhis -as in accord with a special privilege that

Allah had granted to Muham~nad Muhanlmad explained I have been

given five (things) which were the Prophets not given to an)- a m o ~ ~ g s t

before me lhese i~lcluded the fact that illah made ~ n e victorio~~sby ave

(by His frightening my enemies) and the booty has been ~ n a d e Hula1

(lavful) to me (and vas not made so to anyone else)

Muharnmad exercised this privilege at Badr vhen two of his most

important companions Abu Bakr and Umar disagreed over hat they

should do with the prisoners

The h4usli1ns that day (i e the clay of the Battle of Badr) killed

seve~~typersons a11d captured sevenamp The hlesse~lger of Allah

(111a- peace be up011 him) said to Ahti Rakr a ~ i d U111ar (rllali

be pleased vith them) What is your opinio11 about these cap-

tives Ahu Bakr said 1711e- are o w kit11 a ~ i d kill I tlii~ik -ou

shol~ld release them after getti~ig fro111 them a ransoln lliis

THE TRUTH ABOUT M U H A M M A D

IT 111 be a source of streiigtli to us against the infidelc It 15 q111te

posslble tliat Allali ina) g ~ ~ i d e them to Islani

T h e ransom of course nould Increase the boofi for tlie Illusl~rns But

Umar disagreed

Ihen the hlessenger of iillali (ilia peace be upon h i ~ n ) said

M7hat is your opinion Ibn Khattah [that is U~i ia r l H e said

Illessenger of Allah I d o riot hold the same opinion as Abu

Bakr I ain of the op i i~ ion that ou should hand them oi-er to us

so that Lye ma cu t off their heads Hand oer 4qil to Ali tliat

h e may cu t off his head and hand oer such and such relative

to llie that I ma- c ~ i t off his head Ihey are leaders of the dis-

beliezers and veterans among them

hluharnmad slded n i th Xbu B A r but the next dal Ilinar ids appcilled to

collie upon luI iani~nad and Xbu Bakr neeplng Ale5senger of 4llah he

w e d ~ l i are L O U and Lour Coii ipa~lion 511eddlng tears7

luharnrnad dnsliered I n e e p for n h a t has h ~ p p e n e d to o u r com-

panlons for tdl ~ng ranson1 (from the p r ~ r o ~ i e r s l 1 nds s1ioi1 the torture to

~ l i ~ c l i Zndthe +ere s~tblected It as b r o u ~ h t to m e as close as this tree

he p o ~ n t e d to a 11earb~ tree n ~ sThe Prophet of I s la~n referring to tlie tor-

tures of hellfire for Alldh s ~ d e d it11 Umar reealing to l u h d m ~ n a d thdt

it 1s not for an1 prophet to ha e c a p t l ~ e s u1it11 lie hath made slaughter 111

the l a n d H e scolded h I ~ ~ h a i n r n a d for des l r~ng book Illstead of do111g ac

Allali tlshed b 11ial111g slaughter Ye declrc the lure of t h ~ s norld and

Allah desiretli (for o u ) the Hereafter aiid 411~11 IS light I 1se H o n -

e le r the Cori lpan~ons toulcl be spared the tortures tliat ~ r o u l d othernise

have aaited tliem because of illahs pre-ious g r a ~ ~ t of per- to I ~ ~ l l a ~ i l ~ i ~ a d

mission to take boob Had it not been for an ordinance of Allah nhich

had gone before a n anflil doom 11ad coin up011 ou on accoliilt of ha t

)e took KO enio r hat e Iia e roil as 1anti1l and good a11d keep our

d l~ t to Zllali Lo illah t-orgi~ing lerciful S i ~ ~ c ei 5 I 56--6)1 tllcn

War is deceit 111

i ~ ~ ~ l l ~ r n e r a b l e have taken to heart the concept that killing the ene- Musli~ns

111ies of Allah helps to according to Ibn Isaq manifest the religiorr which

He I+-ishes to manifest19

The Muslims had grown frorn a tiny despised community into a force

with which the pagan Arabs had to reckon They began to strike terror in

the hearts of their enemies Against them make ready your strength to the

utmost of your power including steeds of war to strike terror into (the

hearts of) the enemies of Allah and your enemies and others besides

whom ye may not know but who111 Allah doth know Whatever ye shall

spend in the cause of Allah shall be repaid t~n to you and ye shall not be

treated unjustly (Quran 860)

The battle of Badr was the first practical example of what came to be

known as the Islamic doctrine of jihad

The Qaynuqa Jews Flushed with victory Muhammad stepped up his raiding operations Dur-

ing one of them against the pagan Ghatafan tribe he was surprised by an

enemy warrior while resting The warrior asked hiin Who will defend you

fro111 rne today

The Prophet of Islam replied coolly Allahn--vllereupo~~ the warrior

dropped his svord Muha~nlilad seized it quickly and asked Who will

defend ~ O L Ifro111 me

None said the warrior and he recited the Shahada the Islanlic pro-

fession of faith (there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his

Igtropliet) arid becalue a Mr~slim

Around this time Muhammads attitude hardened tovard the Jewish

tribes of the region His prophetic calls to them hcgan to emphasize earthly

cliastise~iient more than punishment in the ncxt ~vorld-cartlil chastise-

lnerlt at the hands of the Muslims Allah ga1e him a revelation alloving

11i1n to break treaties he had ~iiade vitli g r o ~ ~ p s that Ile feared not11tl bctra

him If thou fcarest treacher froni any group thro hack (their coenant)

to thein ( so as to he) on equal tenlis for -Illall lo-eth not thc trcachero~~s

112 THE TRUTH ABOUT MUHAMMAD

(QLII-an858)After he receicd this reelatio~l M l ~ h a ~ l l ~ n a dsaid I fear

the Ranu Qayliuclan-a Je~visll tribe ~vitli wlnon~ lie liad I truce He

rcsolvcd to 111ove aga i~~s t thc~ii

Striding into the ce~iter ofthe nlarketplacc of the Qaylluqa the Prophet

of Isla~n a111lo~unced to the crovds 0JeIvs beware lest Cod bring upon

you the vengeance that He I~rougl~t M~~slirnsupo~ i Quraysh 11ld I ~ e c o ~ n e

You hnov that I all1 a prophet vho has I~een sent-you tvill find that in

)011r scriptl~res and Gods co c~lal~t tvitl~ jo~i IIe huttressed this threat

~vitha revelati011 from Allall Say to those who reject Faith Soon tvill ye

be va~ l~u i shed and gathered together to Hell an evil bed indeed (to lie on)

Illerc lias already been for yo11 a Sign in the tnzo armies that met (in co~ll-

bat) olie vas fighting in the cause of Allah the other resisting Allah these

saw zith their own ees hvicc their ~ ~ ~ u i l b e r Rut Allah tloth support vith

His aid vhom He plcasctli 111 tliis is a wanling for suc l~ as Ilave eyes to see

[Quran 3lO) 1Ile hvo armies that met of course ltere the h1I11slirns and

the Q ~ ~ r a s l ~ at Radr

Ihe Qayliucla Jcws replied vith disdain infl~riating the Prophet of

Islarn still more by denigrating him for his hope that the Jcvs would accept

I ~ i mas a prophet 0Muham~nadyou seen1 to tllink that Lve are your peo-

ple Do not deceive yourself because jou encountered a people vitln 110

kno~vledge of war and got the better of them for b God if Lve fight Y ~ I I

yo11 will find tllat we are real mell

Mulia~nmads forces laid sicgc to tlie Qaynuqa until the offered hirn

u~lconditio~lalsurrc~lder Hut the Qay1111qa had made alliances among the

M~~s l ims and now some of them came forward to plead their case before

the Prophet of Isla~il Mullammad anted to have all the men of the tribe

put to death However a Musli~n-one of the Hjpocrites-named

Abdullal~ bin Ilbayy told Muharn~llad 0Muliammad deal kindly with

In- cl ic~~ts ignored I I I I I I h lul~iun~llad so Abdullal~ I-epeated the recluest

wl~crcupon the Prol~het of 1sla111 turned his face ava- from AldullaIi

Zl~t l~~l la l~ cauglit ~ I ~ I ~ ~ ~ I I I I I ~ I ~ bill lll~a the11 i~l lpet~~o~~sl 11y the collar of

l ~ i srol~e accortlillg to [ I j ~ rI~ l~ac ] rpostle as so angr tllat vhereill~on h ~ e

113 War is d e c e ~ t

his face beca~iie almost black Muhainnlad said to Abdullah Confo~und

you let me go

But Ahdullah replied No h God I nil1 not let ou go until ou deal

kindly with Iny clients Four hundred men without mail and three hun-

dred mailed protected me froill all mine e~lei~iies iotlld you cut them

down in one morning BJ God 1 am a man vllo fears that circumstances

ma cha~lge Muham~nad then granted him his request agreeing to spare

the Qayrluqa as long as they turrled oer their propert) as booty to the hllus-

lims and left Mediila which they did forthwith

Still Ml~hammad vas 1111happy vith the alliance 4bdullah had made

mith the Jevisli tribe It as at this point that he received a key reidation

about tlie relationships that should prevail bctveen Muslims and 11oi1-

Muslims 0ye who believe Take not tlie Jews and the Christians for your

friends and protectors Ihey are but friends and protectors to cach other

And he amoilgst you that turns to them (for frieildship) is of them Verily

Allah guideth not a people unjt~st (Quran 551) And Allah scolded in

llarsh terins those who like 4bdullali bin Ubay feared a loss of b~isiness

prospects because of tlie misfortunc of the Qaylluqa (552)

Anger toward Jews and Christians Clearl Abdullall bin IJbayY1s for the lives of this Jenzish tribe did

not sit well ~vitli Muhammad and he grcv angrier to~vard the Jets A rcv-

elatiori prono~~nced them under Allalls curse for changing the content of

his earlier revelations and declared that most of them co~lld not be trusted

But because of their breach of their coe~la~lt We cllrsed them and made

their hearts grotv hard the change tlie irords from tllcir (right) places and

forget a good part of the message that vas se11t them nor vilt thou cease to

fiild tllc111-barri~ig a felv-eer h e ~ ~ ton inerr) deceits Still Allah coun-

seled mere But forgi1e them and overlook (their misdeeds) for 4llali

loetl~ thosc ho are kintl ((211rall 513 IForgie the111 I x ~ t gie 11p an

holx of their co~i~ersio~i to Isla111 I l a c -c all llolle tliat tlic IT-ill1)c h-11e

114 THE TRUTH ABOUT M U H A M M A D

to you Lvhen a parh of them used to listen to the word of Allah the11 used

to change it after the had t~nderstood it k~loningl (Quran 275 )

A clelegatioil of Christians came from Nairan to discuss theolog- I-it11

hluhammad and the Prophet of Islaill ias 110less impatient vith t h e ~ n He

vas particularl incensed b their avowal of Jesus as the Son of God for-

as he often repeated-It befitteth not (the llaies ofi illah that He should

take unto Himself a son (Quran 1935)She Prophet of Islam took it upon

himself again to correct the errors of Christian theolog- lhe indeed ha-e

clisbelieed ~ v h o say Lo Illah is the AIessiah so11 of liar Sa Vho the11

can do aught against illah if He had nilled to destroi the Iessiah son of

hlarj and his mother and eerone on earth -llahs is the Soereignt of

the heavens and the earth and all that is behIeen them He createth ~vllat

He ivill nd Allah is able to do all things ( 5 17) Jesus nas not dii~le and

ivas not crucified-and the Prophet of Isla111 rebuked the Jens for boasting

that they had indeed crucified him -ind because of their saii~g Ie slen

the Alessiah Jesus soil of hIari Allahs i~iessenger-the slew him not nor

crucified him but it appeared so unto them 4nd lo Ihose n11o disagree

concerning it are in doubt thereof the 11ae 110 knoiledge thereof sa1e

pursuit of a conjecture the slen him not for certain (Quran 4151

De~nonstratiilg o111y a dim grasp of the Christian doctrine of the Trin-

ihhluhammad a~ lno t~nced i11 another re-elation that Jesus himself nould

deny this doctrine nhen questioned br- Allah And vhen -illah saith 0

Jesus son of hIar Didst thou sa- unto mankind E k e me and 111~-inother

for b o gods beside illah He saith Be glorified It nas not mine to utter

that to nhich I had no right If I used to sa it the11 Thou knelr-est it Thou

knonest ivhat is i11 m mind arid I knor not hat is in Th PLlind Lo

Thou old Thou art the Knoner of Things Hidden (Quran 5 116)

Hon then did the Christians get these ideas Because the- stra-ed from

r-hat Jesus had actuall tauglit -41ld n-it11 those n110 sa Lo are

Christians e rnade a coenant but the forgot a part of that 11-hereof the-

n-ere adrno~lished Illerefore e 11aie stirred L ~I enmih and hatred among

them till the Da of Re~~rrection Allah i l l inform theii~ of their 1x11

Ilaildinorl 1 5 It I

War IS dece~t 115

Muhamlnad called both Jevs and Cliristialls to Islam presenting it as

the correction of the Judaism and Christianity of his day and tlie restoration

of the original messages of hlloses and Jesus 0People of tlie Scripture

Nov hat11 Our messenger colne unto you expou~lding unto you much of

that which ye used to hide in the Scripture and forgiving much Now hath

come unto jou light from Allah and plain Scriptl~re (515-16)

Assassination and deceit After the Battle of Badr and the attack against the Q a y ~ n ~ q a Jevs the

Prophet of Idam directed his anger at the Jel ish poet Kab hi11 41-Ashraf

who accordi~lg to Ihn Ishaq composed amatory verses of an i~lsulti~lg

nature about the Muslim wo~i~en Incensed Muhammad asked his fol-

lowers Who is willing to kill Kab bin Al-Ashraf who has hurt Allah and

His Ap~stle ~

He found a volunteer in a young Muslim named Muhammad bin

Maslarna Messenger of Allah do you ~vish that I should kill him

Ihe Prophet of Islam anslvered in the affirmatire and hluhammad bin

Maslama lnade a request lhen allow me to say a (false) thing (ie to

deceive Kab)

The Prophet of Islam again took the of expedient oer ~noral

absolutes YOLI may say it

Then M~~l ia~nmac l bin hlaslania vent to Kab and began to complain

about his ~naster That Inan [ie Muhaii~niad] demands Sadaqa [that is

zakat alms] from us and lie has troubled us and I have come to borrolv

something from you

Kab was not surprised exclaiming By Allah ou vill get tired of

him-h l u h a ~ n n ~ a dbill Illaslanla plaed his role to the hilt Ihe c o ~ n i r ~ g of

this man [that is the Prophet] is a great trial to us It has prooked the hos-

tilib- of the Arabs and the arc all in league aga i~~s t us l l~c roads ]la-c

become impassable so that our fa~~iilics are i11 I-alltand privatio~land I e

and our falnilics are in great di5tre~s hluhammad hin llaslama the11

116 THE TRUTH ABOUT MUHAMMAD

offered Kab a deal trying to enlist the poets help in aiding him to break

from Islam and its Prophet Now as vc have folloned him we do not want

to leave him unless and 11iitil we see hov his end is going to be Now we

want you to lend us a camel load or two of food It volilcl not be the last

time i11 history that a Muslim professed to be dise~lcha~lted with M~iham-

mad and his religion and interested in striking a deal with 11011-Muslims

And it would not be the first time that those non-M~~slims would be

deceived even at the cost of their lives

Kab agreed to Muhammad bin h4aslamas plan but with a caveat

Yes (I will lend you) but J-ou should mortgage sornetliing to me

Mortgage your women to me

Muhammad bin Maslama was incredulous How can we mortgage

our wornen to you and you are the most handsome of the Arabs Fi~lally

they struck a deal 011other terms and bluhammad bin hlaslama promised

to return that night He did along with his foster brother Abu Naila and

some others Having gained Kabs trust Muhammad bin Maslama and the

men with him were admitted into Kabs presence 10 get close enough to

Kab to be able to kill him Muhammad bin Masla~na professed to admire

Kabs perfume I have never smelt a better scent than this Will you

allow me to smell your head Kab agreed Muha~nrnad bin Maslamas

companions smelled it also Muhammad bill hlasla~na thereupon caught

Kab in a strong grip and comlna~lded his companions Get at him

They killed Kab and then hurried to i~lform the Prophet carrying Kabs

head with them When Muhammad heard the news he cried out

Allahu akbar and praised Allah for the death of his e n e ~ n y ~

The outraged Jews said to Muhammad Our chief has been killed

treacherously Muhammad according to Ibn Sacl reminded them of his

misdeeds and how he had been instigating them and exciting them to fight

with them (Muslims) and hob$ he had been har~ning thcn~ Ihe murder

in other words came after ir~telise provocation-a line of defense that

jihadists to this day use to justif their actioi~s

After the murder of Kab AIuhalnmad issued a blanket command Kill

an Jev that falls into your lgtoner Ihis 1225 not a militar- order tlie first

109 War is deceit

n~erciful ordered [his ar~ny] to strike the necks of some prisoners in [the

battle of] Badr and to kill them And he set a good exa~nple for us

The problem of booty Allah re~varded those to ~vllom he had granted victory lhere vas great

booty for the victors-so I I IUC~ fact that it became a bone of con- i l l

tention So divisive did this threaten to become that Allah himself spoke

about it i11 a chapter of the Quran devoted e~~t i re ly to reflections 011the

battle of Badr the eighth chapter entitled Al-Anfal the Spoils of War or

Booty Allah warns the Musli~ns rlot to corlsider booty won at Badr to

belong to anyone but Muhammacl The ask thee concer~ling thi~lgs

taken as spoils of var Say (Such) spoils are at the disposal of Allah and the

Messenger so fear Allah arid keep straight the relations hetnee11 otir-

selves Obey Allah and His hlessel~ger if ve do believe (8l) Ultimatel)

Muhamrnad distributed the boot- a~llollg the hluslirns equally keeping a

fifth for himself (841) lhis -as in accord with a special privilege that

Allah had granted to Muham~nad Muhanlmad explained I have been

given five (things) which were the Prophets not given to an)- a m o ~ ~ g s t

before me lhese i~lcluded the fact that illah made ~ n e victorio~~sby ave

(by His frightening my enemies) and the booty has been ~ n a d e Hula1

(lavful) to me (and vas not made so to anyone else)

Muharnmad exercised this privilege at Badr vhen two of his most

important companions Abu Bakr and Umar disagreed over hat they

should do with the prisoners

The h4usli1ns that day (i e the clay of the Battle of Badr) killed

seve~~typersons a11d captured sevenamp The hlesse~lger of Allah

(111a- peace be up011 him) said to Ahti Rakr a ~ i d U111ar (rllali

be pleased vith them) What is your opinio11 about these cap-

tives Ahu Bakr said 1711e- are o w kit11 a ~ i d kill I tlii~ik -ou

shol~ld release them after getti~ig fro111 them a ransoln lliis

THE TRUTH ABOUT M U H A M M A D

IT 111 be a source of streiigtli to us against the infidelc It 15 q111te

posslble tliat Allali ina) g ~ ~ i d e them to Islani

T h e ransom of course nould Increase the boofi for tlie Illusl~rns But

Umar disagreed

Ihen the hlessenger of iillali (ilia peace be upon h i ~ n ) said

M7hat is your opinion Ibn Khattah [that is U~i ia r l H e said

Illessenger of Allah I d o riot hold the same opinion as Abu

Bakr I ain of the op i i~ ion that ou should hand them oi-er to us

so that Lye ma cu t off their heads Hand oer 4qil to Ali tliat

h e may cu t off his head and hand oer such and such relative

to llie that I ma- c ~ i t off his head Ihey are leaders of the dis-

beliezers and veterans among them

hluharnmad slded n i th Xbu B A r but the next dal Ilinar ids appcilled to

collie upon luI iani~nad and Xbu Bakr neeplng Ale5senger of 4llah he

w e d ~ l i are L O U and Lour Coii ipa~lion 511eddlng tears7

luharnrnad dnsliered I n e e p for n h a t has h ~ p p e n e d to o u r com-

panlons for tdl ~ng ranson1 (from the p r ~ r o ~ i e r s l 1 nds s1ioi1 the torture to

~ l i ~ c l i Zndthe +ere s~tblected It as b r o u ~ h t to m e as close as this tree

he p o ~ n t e d to a 11earb~ tree n ~ sThe Prophet of I s la~n referring to tlie tor-

tures of hellfire for Alldh s ~ d e d it11 Umar reealing to l u h d m ~ n a d thdt

it 1s not for an1 prophet to ha e c a p t l ~ e s u1it11 lie hath made slaughter 111

the l a n d H e scolded h I ~ ~ h a i n r n a d for des l r~ng book Illstead of do111g ac

Allali tlshed b 11ial111g slaughter Ye declrc the lure of t h ~ s norld and

Allah desiretli (for o u ) the Hereafter aiid 411~11 IS light I 1se H o n -

e le r the Cori lpan~ons toulcl be spared the tortures tliat ~ r o u l d othernise

have aaited tliem because of illahs pre-ious g r a ~ ~ t of per- to I ~ ~ l l a ~ i l ~ i ~ a d

mission to take boob Had it not been for an ordinance of Allah nhich

had gone before a n anflil doom 11ad coin up011 ou on accoliilt of ha t

)e took KO enio r hat e Iia e roil as 1anti1l and good a11d keep our

d l~ t to Zllali Lo illah t-orgi~ing lerciful S i ~ ~ c ei 5 I 56--6)1 tllcn

War is deceit 111

i ~ ~ ~ l l ~ r n e r a b l e have taken to heart the concept that killing the ene- Musli~ns

111ies of Allah helps to according to Ibn Isaq manifest the religiorr which

He I+-ishes to manifest19

The Muslims had grown frorn a tiny despised community into a force

with which the pagan Arabs had to reckon They began to strike terror in

the hearts of their enemies Against them make ready your strength to the

utmost of your power including steeds of war to strike terror into (the

hearts of) the enemies of Allah and your enemies and others besides

whom ye may not know but who111 Allah doth know Whatever ye shall

spend in the cause of Allah shall be repaid t~n to you and ye shall not be

treated unjustly (Quran 860)

The battle of Badr was the first practical example of what came to be

known as the Islamic doctrine of jihad

The Qaynuqa Jews Flushed with victory Muhammad stepped up his raiding operations Dur-

ing one of them against the pagan Ghatafan tribe he was surprised by an

enemy warrior while resting The warrior asked hiin Who will defend you

fro111 rne today

The Prophet of Islam replied coolly Allahn--vllereupo~~ the warrior

dropped his svord Muha~nlilad seized it quickly and asked Who will

defend ~ O L Ifro111 me

None said the warrior and he recited the Shahada the Islanlic pro-

fession of faith (there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his

Igtropliet) arid becalue a Mr~slim

Around this time Muhammads attitude hardened tovard the Jewish

tribes of the region His prophetic calls to them hcgan to emphasize earthly

cliastise~iient more than punishment in the ncxt ~vorld-cartlil chastise-

lnerlt at the hands of the Muslims Allah ga1e him a revelation alloving

11i1n to break treaties he had ~iiade vitli g r o ~ ~ p s that Ile feared not11tl bctra

him If thou fcarest treacher froni any group thro hack (their coenant)

to thein ( so as to he) on equal tenlis for -Illall lo-eth not thc trcachero~~s

112 THE TRUTH ABOUT MUHAMMAD

(QLII-an858)After he receicd this reelatio~l M l ~ h a ~ l l ~ n a dsaid I fear

the Ranu Qayliuclan-a Je~visll tribe ~vitli wlnon~ lie liad I truce He

rcsolvcd to 111ove aga i~~s t thc~ii

Striding into the ce~iter ofthe nlarketplacc of the Qaylluqa the Prophet

of Isla~n a111lo~unced to the crovds 0JeIvs beware lest Cod bring upon

you the vengeance that He I~rougl~t M~~slirnsupo~ i Quraysh 11ld I ~ e c o ~ n e

You hnov that I all1 a prophet vho has I~een sent-you tvill find that in

)011r scriptl~res and Gods co c~lal~t tvitl~ jo~i IIe huttressed this threat

~vitha revelati011 from Allall Say to those who reject Faith Soon tvill ye

be va~ l~u i shed and gathered together to Hell an evil bed indeed (to lie on)

Illerc lias already been for yo11 a Sign in the tnzo armies that met (in co~ll-

bat) olie vas fighting in the cause of Allah the other resisting Allah these

saw zith their own ees hvicc their ~ ~ ~ u i l b e r Rut Allah tloth support vith

His aid vhom He plcasctli 111 tliis is a wanling for suc l~ as Ilave eyes to see

[Quran 3lO) 1Ile hvo armies that met of course ltere the h1I11slirns and

the Q ~ ~ r a s l ~ at Radr

Ihe Qayliucla Jcws replied vith disdain infl~riating the Prophet of

Islarn still more by denigrating him for his hope that the Jcvs would accept

I ~ i mas a prophet 0Muham~nadyou seen1 to tllink that Lve are your peo-

ple Do not deceive yourself because jou encountered a people vitln 110

kno~vledge of war and got the better of them for b God if Lve fight Y ~ I I

yo11 will find tllat we are real mell

Mulia~nmads forces laid sicgc to tlie Qaynuqa until the offered hirn

u~lconditio~lalsurrc~lder Hut the Qay1111qa had made alliances among the

M~~s l ims and now some of them came forward to plead their case before

the Prophet of Isla~il Mullammad anted to have all the men of the tribe

put to death However a Musli~n-one of the Hjpocrites-named

Abdullal~ bin Ilbayy told Muharn~llad 0Muliammad deal kindly with

In- cl ic~~ts ignored I I I I I I h lul~iun~llad so Abdullal~ I-epeated the recluest

wl~crcupon the Prol~het of 1sla111 turned his face ava- from AldullaIi

Zl~t l~~l la l~ cauglit ~ I ~ I ~ ~ ~ I I I I I ~ I ~ bill lll~a the11 i~l lpet~~o~~sl 11y the collar of

l ~ i srol~e accortlillg to [ I j ~ rI~ l~ac ] rpostle as so angr tllat vhereill~on h ~ e

113 War is d e c e ~ t

his face beca~iie almost black Muhainnlad said to Abdullah Confo~und

you let me go

But Ahdullah replied No h God I nil1 not let ou go until ou deal

kindly with Iny clients Four hundred men without mail and three hun-

dred mailed protected me froill all mine e~lei~iies iotlld you cut them

down in one morning BJ God 1 am a man vllo fears that circumstances

ma cha~lge Muham~nad then granted him his request agreeing to spare

the Qayrluqa as long as they turrled oer their propert) as booty to the hllus-

lims and left Mediila which they did forthwith

Still Ml~hammad vas 1111happy vith the alliance 4bdullah had made

mith the Jevisli tribe It as at this point that he received a key reidation

about tlie relationships that should prevail bctveen Muslims and 11oi1-

Muslims 0ye who believe Take not tlie Jews and the Christians for your

friends and protectors Ihey are but friends and protectors to cach other

And he amoilgst you that turns to them (for frieildship) is of them Verily

Allah guideth not a people unjt~st (Quran 551) And Allah scolded in

llarsh terins those who like 4bdullali bin Ubay feared a loss of b~isiness

prospects because of tlie misfortunc of the Qaylluqa (552)

Anger toward Jews and Christians Clearl Abdullall bin IJbayY1s for the lives of this Jenzish tribe did

not sit well ~vitli Muhammad and he grcv angrier to~vard the Jets A rcv-

elatiori prono~~nced them under Allalls curse for changing the content of

his earlier revelations and declared that most of them co~lld not be trusted

But because of their breach of their coe~la~lt We cllrsed them and made

their hearts grotv hard the change tlie irords from tllcir (right) places and

forget a good part of the message that vas se11t them nor vilt thou cease to

fiild tllc111-barri~ig a felv-eer h e ~ ~ ton inerr) deceits Still Allah coun-

seled mere But forgi1e them and overlook (their misdeeds) for 4llali

loetl~ thosc ho are kintl ((211rall 513 IForgie the111 I x ~ t gie 11p an

holx of their co~i~ersio~i to Isla111 I l a c -c all llolle tliat tlic IT-ill1)c h-11e

114 THE TRUTH ABOUT M U H A M M A D

to you Lvhen a parh of them used to listen to the word of Allah the11 used

to change it after the had t~nderstood it k~loningl (Quran 275 )

A clelegatioil of Christians came from Nairan to discuss theolog- I-it11

hluhammad and the Prophet of Islaill ias 110less impatient vith t h e ~ n He

vas particularl incensed b their avowal of Jesus as the Son of God for-

as he often repeated-It befitteth not (the llaies ofi illah that He should

take unto Himself a son (Quran 1935)She Prophet of Islam took it upon

himself again to correct the errors of Christian theolog- lhe indeed ha-e

clisbelieed ~ v h o say Lo Illah is the AIessiah so11 of liar Sa Vho the11

can do aught against illah if He had nilled to destroi the Iessiah son of

hlarj and his mother and eerone on earth -llahs is the Soereignt of

the heavens and the earth and all that is behIeen them He createth ~vllat

He ivill nd Allah is able to do all things ( 5 17) Jesus nas not dii~le and

ivas not crucified-and the Prophet of Isla111 rebuked the Jens for boasting

that they had indeed crucified him -ind because of their saii~g Ie slen

the Alessiah Jesus soil of hIari Allahs i~iessenger-the slew him not nor

crucified him but it appeared so unto them 4nd lo Ihose n11o disagree

concerning it are in doubt thereof the 11ae 110 knoiledge thereof sa1e

pursuit of a conjecture the slen him not for certain (Quran 4151

De~nonstratiilg o111y a dim grasp of the Christian doctrine of the Trin-

ihhluhammad a~ lno t~nced i11 another re-elation that Jesus himself nould

deny this doctrine nhen questioned br- Allah And vhen -illah saith 0

Jesus son of hIar Didst thou sa- unto mankind E k e me and 111~-inother

for b o gods beside illah He saith Be glorified It nas not mine to utter

that to nhich I had no right If I used to sa it the11 Thou knelr-est it Thou

knonest ivhat is i11 m mind arid I knor not hat is in Th PLlind Lo

Thou old Thou art the Knoner of Things Hidden (Quran 5 116)

Hon then did the Christians get these ideas Because the- stra-ed from

r-hat Jesus had actuall tauglit -41ld n-it11 those n110 sa Lo are

Christians e rnade a coenant but the forgot a part of that 11-hereof the-

n-ere adrno~lished Illerefore e 11aie stirred L ~I enmih and hatred among

them till the Da of Re~~rrection Allah i l l inform theii~ of their 1x11

Ilaildinorl 1 5 It I

War IS dece~t 115

Muhamlnad called both Jevs and Cliristialls to Islam presenting it as

the correction of the Judaism and Christianity of his day and tlie restoration

of the original messages of hlloses and Jesus 0People of tlie Scripture

Nov hat11 Our messenger colne unto you expou~lding unto you much of

that which ye used to hide in the Scripture and forgiving much Now hath

come unto jou light from Allah and plain Scriptl~re (515-16)

Assassination and deceit After the Battle of Badr and the attack against the Q a y ~ n ~ q a Jevs the

Prophet of Idam directed his anger at the Jel ish poet Kab hi11 41-Ashraf

who accordi~lg to Ihn Ishaq composed amatory verses of an i~lsulti~lg

nature about the Muslim wo~i~en Incensed Muhammad asked his fol-

lowers Who is willing to kill Kab bin Al-Ashraf who has hurt Allah and

His Ap~stle ~

He found a volunteer in a young Muslim named Muhammad bin

Maslarna Messenger of Allah do you ~vish that I should kill him

Ihe Prophet of Islam anslvered in the affirmatire and hluhammad bin

Maslama lnade a request lhen allow me to say a (false) thing (ie to

deceive Kab)

The Prophet of Islam again took the of expedient oer ~noral

absolutes YOLI may say it

Then M~~l ia~nmac l bin hlaslania vent to Kab and began to complain

about his ~naster That Inan [ie Muhaii~niad] demands Sadaqa [that is

zakat alms] from us and lie has troubled us and I have come to borrolv

something from you

Kab was not surprised exclaiming By Allah ou vill get tired of

him-h l u h a ~ n n ~ a dbill Illaslanla plaed his role to the hilt Ihe c o ~ n i r ~ g of

this man [that is the Prophet] is a great trial to us It has prooked the hos-

tilib- of the Arabs and the arc all in league aga i~~s t us l l~c roads ]la-c

become impassable so that our fa~~iilics are i11 I-alltand privatio~land I e

and our falnilics are in great di5tre~s hluhammad hin llaslama the11

116 THE TRUTH ABOUT MUHAMMAD

offered Kab a deal trying to enlist the poets help in aiding him to break

from Islam and its Prophet Now as vc have folloned him we do not want

to leave him unless and 11iitil we see hov his end is going to be Now we

want you to lend us a camel load or two of food It volilcl not be the last

time i11 history that a Muslim professed to be dise~lcha~lted with M~iham-

mad and his religion and interested in striking a deal with 11011-Muslims

And it would not be the first time that those non-M~~slims would be

deceived even at the cost of their lives

Kab agreed to Muhammad bin h4aslamas plan but with a caveat

Yes (I will lend you) but J-ou should mortgage sornetliing to me

Mortgage your women to me

Muhammad bin Maslama was incredulous How can we mortgage

our wornen to you and you are the most handsome of the Arabs Fi~lally

they struck a deal 011other terms and bluhammad bin hlaslama promised

to return that night He did along with his foster brother Abu Naila and

some others Having gained Kabs trust Muhammad bin Maslama and the

men with him were admitted into Kabs presence 10 get close enough to

Kab to be able to kill him Muhammad bin Masla~na professed to admire

Kabs perfume I have never smelt a better scent than this Will you

allow me to smell your head Kab agreed Muha~nrnad bin Maslamas

companions smelled it also Muhammad bill hlasla~na thereupon caught

Kab in a strong grip and comlna~lded his companions Get at him

They killed Kab and then hurried to i~lform the Prophet carrying Kabs

head with them When Muhammad heard the news he cried out

Allahu akbar and praised Allah for the death of his e n e ~ n y ~

The outraged Jews said to Muhammad Our chief has been killed

treacherously Muhammad according to Ibn Sacl reminded them of his

misdeeds and how he had been instigating them and exciting them to fight

with them (Muslims) and hob$ he had been har~ning thcn~ Ihe murder

in other words came after ir~telise provocation-a line of defense that

jihadists to this day use to justif their actioi~s

After the murder of Kab AIuhalnmad issued a blanket command Kill

an Jev that falls into your lgtoner Ihis 1225 not a militar- order tlie first

THE TRUTH ABOUT M U H A M M A D

IT 111 be a source of streiigtli to us against the infidelc It 15 q111te

posslble tliat Allali ina) g ~ ~ i d e them to Islani

T h e ransom of course nould Increase the boofi for tlie Illusl~rns But

Umar disagreed

Ihen the hlessenger of iillali (ilia peace be upon h i ~ n ) said

M7hat is your opinion Ibn Khattah [that is U~i ia r l H e said

Illessenger of Allah I d o riot hold the same opinion as Abu

Bakr I ain of the op i i~ ion that ou should hand them oi-er to us

so that Lye ma cu t off their heads Hand oer 4qil to Ali tliat

h e may cu t off his head and hand oer such and such relative

to llie that I ma- c ~ i t off his head Ihey are leaders of the dis-

beliezers and veterans among them

hluharnmad slded n i th Xbu B A r but the next dal Ilinar ids appcilled to

collie upon luI iani~nad and Xbu Bakr neeplng Ale5senger of 4llah he

w e d ~ l i are L O U and Lour Coii ipa~lion 511eddlng tears7

luharnrnad dnsliered I n e e p for n h a t has h ~ p p e n e d to o u r com-

panlons for tdl ~ng ranson1 (from the p r ~ r o ~ i e r s l 1 nds s1ioi1 the torture to

~ l i ~ c l i Zndthe +ere s~tblected It as b r o u ~ h t to m e as close as this tree

he p o ~ n t e d to a 11earb~ tree n ~ sThe Prophet of I s la~n referring to tlie tor-

tures of hellfire for Alldh s ~ d e d it11 Umar reealing to l u h d m ~ n a d thdt

it 1s not for an1 prophet to ha e c a p t l ~ e s u1it11 lie hath made slaughter 111

the l a n d H e scolded h I ~ ~ h a i n r n a d for des l r~ng book Illstead of do111g ac

Allali tlshed b 11ial111g slaughter Ye declrc the lure of t h ~ s norld and

Allah desiretli (for o u ) the Hereafter aiid 411~11 IS light I 1se H o n -

e le r the Cori lpan~ons toulcl be spared the tortures tliat ~ r o u l d othernise

have aaited tliem because of illahs pre-ious g r a ~ ~ t of per- to I ~ ~ l l a ~ i l ~ i ~ a d

mission to take boob Had it not been for an ordinance of Allah nhich

had gone before a n anflil doom 11ad coin up011 ou on accoliilt of ha t

)e took KO enio r hat e Iia e roil as 1anti1l and good a11d keep our

d l~ t to Zllali Lo illah t-orgi~ing lerciful S i ~ ~ c ei 5 I 56--6)1 tllcn

War is deceit 111

i ~ ~ ~ l l ~ r n e r a b l e have taken to heart the concept that killing the ene- Musli~ns

111ies of Allah helps to according to Ibn Isaq manifest the religiorr which

He I+-ishes to manifest19

The Muslims had grown frorn a tiny despised community into a force

with which the pagan Arabs had to reckon They began to strike terror in

the hearts of their enemies Against them make ready your strength to the

utmost of your power including steeds of war to strike terror into (the

hearts of) the enemies of Allah and your enemies and others besides

whom ye may not know but who111 Allah doth know Whatever ye shall

spend in the cause of Allah shall be repaid t~n to you and ye shall not be

treated unjustly (Quran 860)

The battle of Badr was the first practical example of what came to be

known as the Islamic doctrine of jihad

The Qaynuqa Jews Flushed with victory Muhammad stepped up his raiding operations Dur-

ing one of them against the pagan Ghatafan tribe he was surprised by an

enemy warrior while resting The warrior asked hiin Who will defend you

fro111 rne today

The Prophet of Islam replied coolly Allahn--vllereupo~~ the warrior

dropped his svord Muha~nlilad seized it quickly and asked Who will

defend ~ O L Ifro111 me

None said the warrior and he recited the Shahada the Islanlic pro-

fession of faith (there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his

Igtropliet) arid becalue a Mr~slim

Around this time Muhammads attitude hardened tovard the Jewish

tribes of the region His prophetic calls to them hcgan to emphasize earthly

cliastise~iient more than punishment in the ncxt ~vorld-cartlil chastise-

lnerlt at the hands of the Muslims Allah ga1e him a revelation alloving

11i1n to break treaties he had ~iiade vitli g r o ~ ~ p s that Ile feared not11tl bctra

him If thou fcarest treacher froni any group thro hack (their coenant)

to thein ( so as to he) on equal tenlis for -Illall lo-eth not thc trcachero~~s

112 THE TRUTH ABOUT MUHAMMAD

(QLII-an858)After he receicd this reelatio~l M l ~ h a ~ l l ~ n a dsaid I fear

the Ranu Qayliuclan-a Je~visll tribe ~vitli wlnon~ lie liad I truce He

rcsolvcd to 111ove aga i~~s t thc~ii

Striding into the ce~iter ofthe nlarketplacc of the Qaylluqa the Prophet

of Isla~n a111lo~unced to the crovds 0JeIvs beware lest Cod bring upon

you the vengeance that He I~rougl~t M~~slirnsupo~ i Quraysh 11ld I ~ e c o ~ n e

You hnov that I all1 a prophet vho has I~een sent-you tvill find that in

)011r scriptl~res and Gods co c~lal~t tvitl~ jo~i IIe huttressed this threat

~vitha revelati011 from Allall Say to those who reject Faith Soon tvill ye

be va~ l~u i shed and gathered together to Hell an evil bed indeed (to lie on)

Illerc lias already been for yo11 a Sign in the tnzo armies that met (in co~ll-

bat) olie vas fighting in the cause of Allah the other resisting Allah these

saw zith their own ees hvicc their ~ ~ ~ u i l b e r Rut Allah tloth support vith

His aid vhom He plcasctli 111 tliis is a wanling for suc l~ as Ilave eyes to see

[Quran 3lO) 1Ile hvo armies that met of course ltere the h1I11slirns and

the Q ~ ~ r a s l ~ at Radr

Ihe Qayliucla Jcws replied vith disdain infl~riating the Prophet of

Islarn still more by denigrating him for his hope that the Jcvs would accept

I ~ i mas a prophet 0Muham~nadyou seen1 to tllink that Lve are your peo-

ple Do not deceive yourself because jou encountered a people vitln 110

kno~vledge of war and got the better of them for b God if Lve fight Y ~ I I

yo11 will find tllat we are real mell

Mulia~nmads forces laid sicgc to tlie Qaynuqa until the offered hirn

u~lconditio~lalsurrc~lder Hut the Qay1111qa had made alliances among the

M~~s l ims and now some of them came forward to plead their case before

the Prophet of Isla~il Mullammad anted to have all the men of the tribe

put to death However a Musli~n-one of the Hjpocrites-named

Abdullal~ bin Ilbayy told Muharn~llad 0Muliammad deal kindly with

In- cl ic~~ts ignored I I I I I I h lul~iun~llad so Abdullal~ I-epeated the recluest

wl~crcupon the Prol~het of 1sla111 turned his face ava- from AldullaIi

Zl~t l~~l la l~ cauglit ~ I ~ I ~ ~ ~ I I I I I ~ I ~ bill lll~a the11 i~l lpet~~o~~sl 11y the collar of

l ~ i srol~e accortlillg to [ I j ~ rI~ l~ac ] rpostle as so angr tllat vhereill~on h ~ e

113 War is d e c e ~ t

his face beca~iie almost black Muhainnlad said to Abdullah Confo~und

you let me go

But Ahdullah replied No h God I nil1 not let ou go until ou deal

kindly with Iny clients Four hundred men without mail and three hun-

dred mailed protected me froill all mine e~lei~iies iotlld you cut them

down in one morning BJ God 1 am a man vllo fears that circumstances

ma cha~lge Muham~nad then granted him his request agreeing to spare

the Qayrluqa as long as they turrled oer their propert) as booty to the hllus-

lims and left Mediila which they did forthwith

Still Ml~hammad vas 1111happy vith the alliance 4bdullah had made

mith the Jevisli tribe It as at this point that he received a key reidation

about tlie relationships that should prevail bctveen Muslims and 11oi1-

Muslims 0ye who believe Take not tlie Jews and the Christians for your

friends and protectors Ihey are but friends and protectors to cach other

And he amoilgst you that turns to them (for frieildship) is of them Verily

Allah guideth not a people unjt~st (Quran 551) And Allah scolded in

llarsh terins those who like 4bdullali bin Ubay feared a loss of b~isiness

prospects because of tlie misfortunc of the Qaylluqa (552)

Anger toward Jews and Christians Clearl Abdullall bin IJbayY1s for the lives of this Jenzish tribe did

not sit well ~vitli Muhammad and he grcv angrier to~vard the Jets A rcv-

elatiori prono~~nced them under Allalls curse for changing the content of

his earlier revelations and declared that most of them co~lld not be trusted

But because of their breach of their coe~la~lt We cllrsed them and made

their hearts grotv hard the change tlie irords from tllcir (right) places and

forget a good part of the message that vas se11t them nor vilt thou cease to

fiild tllc111-barri~ig a felv-eer h e ~ ~ ton inerr) deceits Still Allah coun-

seled mere But forgi1e them and overlook (their misdeeds) for 4llali

loetl~ thosc ho are kintl ((211rall 513 IForgie the111 I x ~ t gie 11p an

holx of their co~i~ersio~i to Isla111 I l a c -c all llolle tliat tlic IT-ill1)c h-11e

114 THE TRUTH ABOUT M U H A M M A D

to you Lvhen a parh of them used to listen to the word of Allah the11 used

to change it after the had t~nderstood it k~loningl (Quran 275 )

A clelegatioil of Christians came from Nairan to discuss theolog- I-it11

hluhammad and the Prophet of Islaill ias 110less impatient vith t h e ~ n He

vas particularl incensed b their avowal of Jesus as the Son of God for-

as he often repeated-It befitteth not (the llaies ofi illah that He should

take unto Himself a son (Quran 1935)She Prophet of Islam took it upon

himself again to correct the errors of Christian theolog- lhe indeed ha-e

clisbelieed ~ v h o say Lo Illah is the AIessiah so11 of liar Sa Vho the11

can do aught against illah if He had nilled to destroi the Iessiah son of

hlarj and his mother and eerone on earth -llahs is the Soereignt of

the heavens and the earth and all that is behIeen them He createth ~vllat

He ivill nd Allah is able to do all things ( 5 17) Jesus nas not dii~le and

ivas not crucified-and the Prophet of Isla111 rebuked the Jens for boasting

that they had indeed crucified him -ind because of their saii~g Ie slen

the Alessiah Jesus soil of hIari Allahs i~iessenger-the slew him not nor

crucified him but it appeared so unto them 4nd lo Ihose n11o disagree

concerning it are in doubt thereof the 11ae 110 knoiledge thereof sa1e

pursuit of a conjecture the slen him not for certain (Quran 4151

De~nonstratiilg o111y a dim grasp of the Christian doctrine of the Trin-

ihhluhammad a~ lno t~nced i11 another re-elation that Jesus himself nould

deny this doctrine nhen questioned br- Allah And vhen -illah saith 0

Jesus son of hIar Didst thou sa- unto mankind E k e me and 111~-inother

for b o gods beside illah He saith Be glorified It nas not mine to utter

that to nhich I had no right If I used to sa it the11 Thou knelr-est it Thou

knonest ivhat is i11 m mind arid I knor not hat is in Th PLlind Lo

Thou old Thou art the Knoner of Things Hidden (Quran 5 116)

Hon then did the Christians get these ideas Because the- stra-ed from

r-hat Jesus had actuall tauglit -41ld n-it11 those n110 sa Lo are

Christians e rnade a coenant but the forgot a part of that 11-hereof the-

n-ere adrno~lished Illerefore e 11aie stirred L ~I enmih and hatred among

them till the Da of Re~~rrection Allah i l l inform theii~ of their 1x11

Ilaildinorl 1 5 It I

War IS dece~t 115

Muhamlnad called both Jevs and Cliristialls to Islam presenting it as

the correction of the Judaism and Christianity of his day and tlie restoration

of the original messages of hlloses and Jesus 0People of tlie Scripture

Nov hat11 Our messenger colne unto you expou~lding unto you much of

that which ye used to hide in the Scripture and forgiving much Now hath

come unto jou light from Allah and plain Scriptl~re (515-16)

Assassination and deceit After the Battle of Badr and the attack against the Q a y ~ n ~ q a Jevs the

Prophet of Idam directed his anger at the Jel ish poet Kab hi11 41-Ashraf

who accordi~lg to Ihn Ishaq composed amatory verses of an i~lsulti~lg

nature about the Muslim wo~i~en Incensed Muhammad asked his fol-

lowers Who is willing to kill Kab bin Al-Ashraf who has hurt Allah and

His Ap~stle ~

He found a volunteer in a young Muslim named Muhammad bin

Maslarna Messenger of Allah do you ~vish that I should kill him

Ihe Prophet of Islam anslvered in the affirmatire and hluhammad bin

Maslama lnade a request lhen allow me to say a (false) thing (ie to

deceive Kab)

The Prophet of Islam again took the of expedient oer ~noral

absolutes YOLI may say it

Then M~~l ia~nmac l bin hlaslania vent to Kab and began to complain

about his ~naster That Inan [ie Muhaii~niad] demands Sadaqa [that is

zakat alms] from us and lie has troubled us and I have come to borrolv

something from you

Kab was not surprised exclaiming By Allah ou vill get tired of

him-h l u h a ~ n n ~ a dbill Illaslanla plaed his role to the hilt Ihe c o ~ n i r ~ g of

this man [that is the Prophet] is a great trial to us It has prooked the hos-

tilib- of the Arabs and the arc all in league aga i~~s t us l l~c roads ]la-c

become impassable so that our fa~~iilics are i11 I-alltand privatio~land I e

and our falnilics are in great di5tre~s hluhammad hin llaslama the11

116 THE TRUTH ABOUT MUHAMMAD

offered Kab a deal trying to enlist the poets help in aiding him to break

from Islam and its Prophet Now as vc have folloned him we do not want

to leave him unless and 11iitil we see hov his end is going to be Now we

want you to lend us a camel load or two of food It volilcl not be the last

time i11 history that a Muslim professed to be dise~lcha~lted with M~iham-

mad and his religion and interested in striking a deal with 11011-Muslims

And it would not be the first time that those non-M~~slims would be

deceived even at the cost of their lives

Kab agreed to Muhammad bin h4aslamas plan but with a caveat

Yes (I will lend you) but J-ou should mortgage sornetliing to me

Mortgage your women to me

Muhammad bin Maslama was incredulous How can we mortgage

our wornen to you and you are the most handsome of the Arabs Fi~lally

they struck a deal 011other terms and bluhammad bin hlaslama promised

to return that night He did along with his foster brother Abu Naila and

some others Having gained Kabs trust Muhammad bin Maslama and the

men with him were admitted into Kabs presence 10 get close enough to

Kab to be able to kill him Muhammad bin Masla~na professed to admire

Kabs perfume I have never smelt a better scent than this Will you

allow me to smell your head Kab agreed Muha~nrnad bin Maslamas

companions smelled it also Muhammad bill hlasla~na thereupon caught

Kab in a strong grip and comlna~lded his companions Get at him

They killed Kab and then hurried to i~lform the Prophet carrying Kabs

head with them When Muhammad heard the news he cried out

Allahu akbar and praised Allah for the death of his e n e ~ n y ~

The outraged Jews said to Muhammad Our chief has been killed

treacherously Muhammad according to Ibn Sacl reminded them of his

misdeeds and how he had been instigating them and exciting them to fight

with them (Muslims) and hob$ he had been har~ning thcn~ Ihe murder

in other words came after ir~telise provocation-a line of defense that

jihadists to this day use to justif their actioi~s

After the murder of Kab AIuhalnmad issued a blanket command Kill

an Jev that falls into your lgtoner Ihis 1225 not a militar- order tlie first

War is deceit 111

i ~ ~ ~ l l ~ r n e r a b l e have taken to heart the concept that killing the ene- Musli~ns

111ies of Allah helps to according to Ibn Isaq manifest the religiorr which

He I+-ishes to manifest19

The Muslims had grown frorn a tiny despised community into a force

with which the pagan Arabs had to reckon They began to strike terror in

the hearts of their enemies Against them make ready your strength to the

utmost of your power including steeds of war to strike terror into (the

hearts of) the enemies of Allah and your enemies and others besides

whom ye may not know but who111 Allah doth know Whatever ye shall

spend in the cause of Allah shall be repaid t~n to you and ye shall not be

treated unjustly (Quran 860)

The battle of Badr was the first practical example of what came to be

known as the Islamic doctrine of jihad

The Qaynuqa Jews Flushed with victory Muhammad stepped up his raiding operations Dur-

ing one of them against the pagan Ghatafan tribe he was surprised by an

enemy warrior while resting The warrior asked hiin Who will defend you

fro111 rne today

The Prophet of Islam replied coolly Allahn--vllereupo~~ the warrior

dropped his svord Muha~nlilad seized it quickly and asked Who will

defend ~ O L Ifro111 me

None said the warrior and he recited the Shahada the Islanlic pro-

fession of faith (there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his

Igtropliet) arid becalue a Mr~slim

Around this time Muhammads attitude hardened tovard the Jewish

tribes of the region His prophetic calls to them hcgan to emphasize earthly

cliastise~iient more than punishment in the ncxt ~vorld-cartlil chastise-

lnerlt at the hands of the Muslims Allah ga1e him a revelation alloving

11i1n to break treaties he had ~iiade vitli g r o ~ ~ p s that Ile feared not11tl bctra

him If thou fcarest treacher froni any group thro hack (their coenant)

to thein ( so as to he) on equal tenlis for -Illall lo-eth not thc trcachero~~s

112 THE TRUTH ABOUT MUHAMMAD

(QLII-an858)After he receicd this reelatio~l M l ~ h a ~ l l ~ n a dsaid I fear

the Ranu Qayliuclan-a Je~visll tribe ~vitli wlnon~ lie liad I truce He

rcsolvcd to 111ove aga i~~s t thc~ii

Striding into the ce~iter ofthe nlarketplacc of the Qaylluqa the Prophet

of Isla~n a111lo~unced to the crovds 0JeIvs beware lest Cod bring upon

you the vengeance that He I~rougl~t M~~slirnsupo~ i Quraysh 11ld I ~ e c o ~ n e

You hnov that I all1 a prophet vho has I~een sent-you tvill find that in

)011r scriptl~res and Gods co c~lal~t tvitl~ jo~i IIe huttressed this threat

~vitha revelati011 from Allall Say to those who reject Faith Soon tvill ye

be va~ l~u i shed and gathered together to Hell an evil bed indeed (to lie on)

Illerc lias already been for yo11 a Sign in the tnzo armies that met (in co~ll-

bat) olie vas fighting in the cause of Allah the other resisting Allah these

saw zith their own ees hvicc their ~ ~ ~ u i l b e r Rut Allah tloth support vith

His aid vhom He plcasctli 111 tliis is a wanling for suc l~ as Ilave eyes to see

[Quran 3lO) 1Ile hvo armies that met of course ltere the h1I11slirns and

the Q ~ ~ r a s l ~ at Radr

Ihe Qayliucla Jcws replied vith disdain infl~riating the Prophet of

Islarn still more by denigrating him for his hope that the Jcvs would accept

I ~ i mas a prophet 0Muham~nadyou seen1 to tllink that Lve are your peo-

ple Do not deceive yourself because jou encountered a people vitln 110

kno~vledge of war and got the better of them for b God if Lve fight Y ~ I I

yo11 will find tllat we are real mell

Mulia~nmads forces laid sicgc to tlie Qaynuqa until the offered hirn

u~lconditio~lalsurrc~lder Hut the Qay1111qa had made alliances among the

M~~s l ims and now some of them came forward to plead their case before

the Prophet of Isla~il Mullammad anted to have all the men of the tribe

put to death However a Musli~n-one of the Hjpocrites-named

Abdullal~ bin Ilbayy told Muharn~llad 0Muliammad deal kindly with

In- cl ic~~ts ignored I I I I I I h lul~iun~llad so Abdullal~ I-epeated the recluest

wl~crcupon the Prol~het of 1sla111 turned his face ava- from AldullaIi

Zl~t l~~l la l~ cauglit ~ I ~ I ~ ~ ~ I I I I I ~ I ~ bill lll~a the11 i~l lpet~~o~~sl 11y the collar of

l ~ i srol~e accortlillg to [ I j ~ rI~ l~ac ] rpostle as so angr tllat vhereill~on h ~ e

113 War is d e c e ~ t

his face beca~iie almost black Muhainnlad said to Abdullah Confo~und

you let me go

But Ahdullah replied No h God I nil1 not let ou go until ou deal

kindly with Iny clients Four hundred men without mail and three hun-

dred mailed protected me froill all mine e~lei~iies iotlld you cut them

down in one morning BJ God 1 am a man vllo fears that circumstances

ma cha~lge Muham~nad then granted him his request agreeing to spare

the Qayrluqa as long as they turrled oer their propert) as booty to the hllus-

lims and left Mediila which they did forthwith

Still Ml~hammad vas 1111happy vith the alliance 4bdullah had made

mith the Jevisli tribe It as at this point that he received a key reidation

about tlie relationships that should prevail bctveen Muslims and 11oi1-

Muslims 0ye who believe Take not tlie Jews and the Christians for your

friends and protectors Ihey are but friends and protectors to cach other

And he amoilgst you that turns to them (for frieildship) is of them Verily

Allah guideth not a people unjt~st (Quran 551) And Allah scolded in

llarsh terins those who like 4bdullali bin Ubay feared a loss of b~isiness

prospects because of tlie misfortunc of the Qaylluqa (552)

Anger toward Jews and Christians Clearl Abdullall bin IJbayY1s for the lives of this Jenzish tribe did

not sit well ~vitli Muhammad and he grcv angrier to~vard the Jets A rcv-

elatiori prono~~nced them under Allalls curse for changing the content of

his earlier revelations and declared that most of them co~lld not be trusted

But because of their breach of their coe~la~lt We cllrsed them and made

their hearts grotv hard the change tlie irords from tllcir (right) places and

forget a good part of the message that vas se11t them nor vilt thou cease to

fiild tllc111-barri~ig a felv-eer h e ~ ~ ton inerr) deceits Still Allah coun-

seled mere But forgi1e them and overlook (their misdeeds) for 4llali

loetl~ thosc ho are kintl ((211rall 513 IForgie the111 I x ~ t gie 11p an

holx of their co~i~ersio~i to Isla111 I l a c -c all llolle tliat tlic IT-ill1)c h-11e

114 THE TRUTH ABOUT M U H A M M A D

to you Lvhen a parh of them used to listen to the word of Allah the11 used

to change it after the had t~nderstood it k~loningl (Quran 275 )

A clelegatioil of Christians came from Nairan to discuss theolog- I-it11

hluhammad and the Prophet of Islaill ias 110less impatient vith t h e ~ n He

vas particularl incensed b their avowal of Jesus as the Son of God for-

as he often repeated-It befitteth not (the llaies ofi illah that He should

take unto Himself a son (Quran 1935)She Prophet of Islam took it upon

himself again to correct the errors of Christian theolog- lhe indeed ha-e

clisbelieed ~ v h o say Lo Illah is the AIessiah so11 of liar Sa Vho the11

can do aught against illah if He had nilled to destroi the Iessiah son of

hlarj and his mother and eerone on earth -llahs is the Soereignt of

the heavens and the earth and all that is behIeen them He createth ~vllat

He ivill nd Allah is able to do all things ( 5 17) Jesus nas not dii~le and

ivas not crucified-and the Prophet of Isla111 rebuked the Jens for boasting

that they had indeed crucified him -ind because of their saii~g Ie slen

the Alessiah Jesus soil of hIari Allahs i~iessenger-the slew him not nor

crucified him but it appeared so unto them 4nd lo Ihose n11o disagree

concerning it are in doubt thereof the 11ae 110 knoiledge thereof sa1e

pursuit of a conjecture the slen him not for certain (Quran 4151

De~nonstratiilg o111y a dim grasp of the Christian doctrine of the Trin-

ihhluhammad a~ lno t~nced i11 another re-elation that Jesus himself nould

deny this doctrine nhen questioned br- Allah And vhen -illah saith 0

Jesus son of hIar Didst thou sa- unto mankind E k e me and 111~-inother

for b o gods beside illah He saith Be glorified It nas not mine to utter

that to nhich I had no right If I used to sa it the11 Thou knelr-est it Thou

knonest ivhat is i11 m mind arid I knor not hat is in Th PLlind Lo

Thou old Thou art the Knoner of Things Hidden (Quran 5 116)

Hon then did the Christians get these ideas Because the- stra-ed from

r-hat Jesus had actuall tauglit -41ld n-it11 those n110 sa Lo are

Christians e rnade a coenant but the forgot a part of that 11-hereof the-

n-ere adrno~lished Illerefore e 11aie stirred L ~I enmih and hatred among

them till the Da of Re~~rrection Allah i l l inform theii~ of their 1x11

Ilaildinorl 1 5 It I

War IS dece~t 115

Muhamlnad called both Jevs and Cliristialls to Islam presenting it as

the correction of the Judaism and Christianity of his day and tlie restoration

of the original messages of hlloses and Jesus 0People of tlie Scripture

Nov hat11 Our messenger colne unto you expou~lding unto you much of

that which ye used to hide in the Scripture and forgiving much Now hath

come unto jou light from Allah and plain Scriptl~re (515-16)

Assassination and deceit After the Battle of Badr and the attack against the Q a y ~ n ~ q a Jevs the

Prophet of Idam directed his anger at the Jel ish poet Kab hi11 41-Ashraf

who accordi~lg to Ihn Ishaq composed amatory verses of an i~lsulti~lg

nature about the Muslim wo~i~en Incensed Muhammad asked his fol-

lowers Who is willing to kill Kab bin Al-Ashraf who has hurt Allah and

His Ap~stle ~

He found a volunteer in a young Muslim named Muhammad bin

Maslarna Messenger of Allah do you ~vish that I should kill him

Ihe Prophet of Islam anslvered in the affirmatire and hluhammad bin

Maslama lnade a request lhen allow me to say a (false) thing (ie to

deceive Kab)

The Prophet of Islam again took the of expedient oer ~noral

absolutes YOLI may say it

Then M~~l ia~nmac l bin hlaslania vent to Kab and began to complain

about his ~naster That Inan [ie Muhaii~niad] demands Sadaqa [that is

zakat alms] from us and lie has troubled us and I have come to borrolv

something from you

Kab was not surprised exclaiming By Allah ou vill get tired of

him-h l u h a ~ n n ~ a dbill Illaslanla plaed his role to the hilt Ihe c o ~ n i r ~ g of

this man [that is the Prophet] is a great trial to us It has prooked the hos-

tilib- of the Arabs and the arc all in league aga i~~s t us l l~c roads ]la-c

become impassable so that our fa~~iilics are i11 I-alltand privatio~land I e

and our falnilics are in great di5tre~s hluhammad hin llaslama the11

116 THE TRUTH ABOUT MUHAMMAD

offered Kab a deal trying to enlist the poets help in aiding him to break

from Islam and its Prophet Now as vc have folloned him we do not want

to leave him unless and 11iitil we see hov his end is going to be Now we

want you to lend us a camel load or two of food It volilcl not be the last

time i11 history that a Muslim professed to be dise~lcha~lted with M~iham-

mad and his religion and interested in striking a deal with 11011-Muslims

And it would not be the first time that those non-M~~slims would be

deceived even at the cost of their lives

Kab agreed to Muhammad bin h4aslamas plan but with a caveat

Yes (I will lend you) but J-ou should mortgage sornetliing to me

Mortgage your women to me

Muhammad bin Maslama was incredulous How can we mortgage

our wornen to you and you are the most handsome of the Arabs Fi~lally

they struck a deal 011other terms and bluhammad bin hlaslama promised

to return that night He did along with his foster brother Abu Naila and

some others Having gained Kabs trust Muhammad bin Maslama and the

men with him were admitted into Kabs presence 10 get close enough to

Kab to be able to kill him Muhammad bin Masla~na professed to admire

Kabs perfume I have never smelt a better scent than this Will you

allow me to smell your head Kab agreed Muha~nrnad bin Maslamas

companions smelled it also Muhammad bill hlasla~na thereupon caught

Kab in a strong grip and comlna~lded his companions Get at him

They killed Kab and then hurried to i~lform the Prophet carrying Kabs

head with them When Muhammad heard the news he cried out

Allahu akbar and praised Allah for the death of his e n e ~ n y ~

The outraged Jews said to Muhammad Our chief has been killed

treacherously Muhammad according to Ibn Sacl reminded them of his

misdeeds and how he had been instigating them and exciting them to fight

with them (Muslims) and hob$ he had been har~ning thcn~ Ihe murder

in other words came after ir~telise provocation-a line of defense that

jihadists to this day use to justif their actioi~s

After the murder of Kab AIuhalnmad issued a blanket command Kill

an Jev that falls into your lgtoner Ihis 1225 not a militar- order tlie first

112 THE TRUTH ABOUT MUHAMMAD

(QLII-an858)After he receicd this reelatio~l M l ~ h a ~ l l ~ n a dsaid I fear

the Ranu Qayliuclan-a Je~visll tribe ~vitli wlnon~ lie liad I truce He

rcsolvcd to 111ove aga i~~s t thc~ii

Striding into the ce~iter ofthe nlarketplacc of the Qaylluqa the Prophet

of Isla~n a111lo~unced to the crovds 0JeIvs beware lest Cod bring upon

you the vengeance that He I~rougl~t M~~slirnsupo~ i Quraysh 11ld I ~ e c o ~ n e

You hnov that I all1 a prophet vho has I~een sent-you tvill find that in

)011r scriptl~res and Gods co c~lal~t tvitl~ jo~i IIe huttressed this threat

~vitha revelati011 from Allall Say to those who reject Faith Soon tvill ye

be va~ l~u i shed and gathered together to Hell an evil bed indeed (to lie on)

Illerc lias already been for yo11 a Sign in the tnzo armies that met (in co~ll-

bat) olie vas fighting in the cause of Allah the other resisting Allah these

saw zith their own ees hvicc their ~ ~ ~ u i l b e r Rut Allah tloth support vith

His aid vhom He plcasctli 111 tliis is a wanling for suc l~ as Ilave eyes to see

[Quran 3lO) 1Ile hvo armies that met of course ltere the h1I11slirns and

the Q ~ ~ r a s l ~ at Radr

Ihe Qayliucla Jcws replied vith disdain infl~riating the Prophet of

Islarn still more by denigrating him for his hope that the Jcvs would accept

I ~ i mas a prophet 0Muham~nadyou seen1 to tllink that Lve are your peo-

ple Do not deceive yourself because jou encountered a people vitln 110

kno~vledge of war and got the better of them for b God if Lve fight Y ~ I I

yo11 will find tllat we are real mell

Mulia~nmads forces laid sicgc to tlie Qaynuqa until the offered hirn

u~lconditio~lalsurrc~lder Hut the Qay1111qa had made alliances among the

M~~s l ims and now some of them came forward to plead their case before

the Prophet of Isla~il Mullammad anted to have all the men of the tribe

put to death However a Musli~n-one of the Hjpocrites-named

Abdullal~ bin Ilbayy told Muharn~llad 0Muliammad deal kindly with

In- cl ic~~ts ignored I I I I I I h lul~iun~llad so Abdullal~ I-epeated the recluest

wl~crcupon the Prol~het of 1sla111 turned his face ava- from AldullaIi

Zl~t l~~l la l~ cauglit ~ I ~ I ~ ~ ~ I I I I I ~ I ~ bill lll~a the11 i~l lpet~~o~~sl 11y the collar of

l ~ i srol~e accortlillg to [ I j ~ rI~ l~ac ] rpostle as so angr tllat vhereill~on h ~ e

113 War is d e c e ~ t

his face beca~iie almost black Muhainnlad said to Abdullah Confo~und

you let me go

But Ahdullah replied No h God I nil1 not let ou go until ou deal

kindly with Iny clients Four hundred men without mail and three hun-

dred mailed protected me froill all mine e~lei~iies iotlld you cut them

down in one morning BJ God 1 am a man vllo fears that circumstances

ma cha~lge Muham~nad then granted him his request agreeing to spare

the Qayrluqa as long as they turrled oer their propert) as booty to the hllus-

lims and left Mediila which they did forthwith

Still Ml~hammad vas 1111happy vith the alliance 4bdullah had made

mith the Jevisli tribe It as at this point that he received a key reidation

about tlie relationships that should prevail bctveen Muslims and 11oi1-

Muslims 0ye who believe Take not tlie Jews and the Christians for your

friends and protectors Ihey are but friends and protectors to cach other

And he amoilgst you that turns to them (for frieildship) is of them Verily

Allah guideth not a people unjt~st (Quran 551) And Allah scolded in

llarsh terins those who like 4bdullali bin Ubay feared a loss of b~isiness

prospects because of tlie misfortunc of the Qaylluqa (552)

Anger toward Jews and Christians Clearl Abdullall bin IJbayY1s for the lives of this Jenzish tribe did

not sit well ~vitli Muhammad and he grcv angrier to~vard the Jets A rcv-

elatiori prono~~nced them under Allalls curse for changing the content of

his earlier revelations and declared that most of them co~lld not be trusted

But because of their breach of their coe~la~lt We cllrsed them and made

their hearts grotv hard the change tlie irords from tllcir (right) places and

forget a good part of the message that vas se11t them nor vilt thou cease to

fiild tllc111-barri~ig a felv-eer h e ~ ~ ton inerr) deceits Still Allah coun-

seled mere But forgi1e them and overlook (their misdeeds) for 4llali

loetl~ thosc ho are kintl ((211rall 513 IForgie the111 I x ~ t gie 11p an

holx of their co~i~ersio~i to Isla111 I l a c -c all llolle tliat tlic IT-ill1)c h-11e

114 THE TRUTH ABOUT M U H A M M A D

to you Lvhen a parh of them used to listen to the word of Allah the11 used

to change it after the had t~nderstood it k~loningl (Quran 275 )

A clelegatioil of Christians came from Nairan to discuss theolog- I-it11

hluhammad and the Prophet of Islaill ias 110less impatient vith t h e ~ n He

vas particularl incensed b their avowal of Jesus as the Son of God for-

as he often repeated-It befitteth not (the llaies ofi illah that He should

take unto Himself a son (Quran 1935)She Prophet of Islam took it upon

himself again to correct the errors of Christian theolog- lhe indeed ha-e

clisbelieed ~ v h o say Lo Illah is the AIessiah so11 of liar Sa Vho the11

can do aught against illah if He had nilled to destroi the Iessiah son of

hlarj and his mother and eerone on earth -llahs is the Soereignt of

the heavens and the earth and all that is behIeen them He createth ~vllat

He ivill nd Allah is able to do all things ( 5 17) Jesus nas not dii~le and

ivas not crucified-and the Prophet of Isla111 rebuked the Jens for boasting

that they had indeed crucified him -ind because of their saii~g Ie slen

the Alessiah Jesus soil of hIari Allahs i~iessenger-the slew him not nor

crucified him but it appeared so unto them 4nd lo Ihose n11o disagree

concerning it are in doubt thereof the 11ae 110 knoiledge thereof sa1e

pursuit of a conjecture the slen him not for certain (Quran 4151

De~nonstratiilg o111y a dim grasp of the Christian doctrine of the Trin-

ihhluhammad a~ lno t~nced i11 another re-elation that Jesus himself nould

deny this doctrine nhen questioned br- Allah And vhen -illah saith 0

Jesus son of hIar Didst thou sa- unto mankind E k e me and 111~-inother

for b o gods beside illah He saith Be glorified It nas not mine to utter

that to nhich I had no right If I used to sa it the11 Thou knelr-est it Thou

knonest ivhat is i11 m mind arid I knor not hat is in Th PLlind Lo

Thou old Thou art the Knoner of Things Hidden (Quran 5 116)

Hon then did the Christians get these ideas Because the- stra-ed from

r-hat Jesus had actuall tauglit -41ld n-it11 those n110 sa Lo are

Christians e rnade a coenant but the forgot a part of that 11-hereof the-

n-ere adrno~lished Illerefore e 11aie stirred L ~I enmih and hatred among

them till the Da of Re~~rrection Allah i l l inform theii~ of their 1x11

Ilaildinorl 1 5 It I

War IS dece~t 115

Muhamlnad called both Jevs and Cliristialls to Islam presenting it as

the correction of the Judaism and Christianity of his day and tlie restoration

of the original messages of hlloses and Jesus 0People of tlie Scripture

Nov hat11 Our messenger colne unto you expou~lding unto you much of

that which ye used to hide in the Scripture and forgiving much Now hath

come unto jou light from Allah and plain Scriptl~re (515-16)

Assassination and deceit After the Battle of Badr and the attack against the Q a y ~ n ~ q a Jevs the

Prophet of Idam directed his anger at the Jel ish poet Kab hi11 41-Ashraf

who accordi~lg to Ihn Ishaq composed amatory verses of an i~lsulti~lg

nature about the Muslim wo~i~en Incensed Muhammad asked his fol-

lowers Who is willing to kill Kab bin Al-Ashraf who has hurt Allah and

His Ap~stle ~

He found a volunteer in a young Muslim named Muhammad bin

Maslarna Messenger of Allah do you ~vish that I should kill him

Ihe Prophet of Islam anslvered in the affirmatire and hluhammad bin

Maslama lnade a request lhen allow me to say a (false) thing (ie to

deceive Kab)

The Prophet of Islam again took the of expedient oer ~noral

absolutes YOLI may say it

Then M~~l ia~nmac l bin hlaslania vent to Kab and began to complain

about his ~naster That Inan [ie Muhaii~niad] demands Sadaqa [that is

zakat alms] from us and lie has troubled us and I have come to borrolv

something from you

Kab was not surprised exclaiming By Allah ou vill get tired of

him-h l u h a ~ n n ~ a dbill Illaslanla plaed his role to the hilt Ihe c o ~ n i r ~ g of

this man [that is the Prophet] is a great trial to us It has prooked the hos-

tilib- of the Arabs and the arc all in league aga i~~s t us l l~c roads ]la-c

become impassable so that our fa~~iilics are i11 I-alltand privatio~land I e

and our falnilics are in great di5tre~s hluhammad hin llaslama the11

116 THE TRUTH ABOUT MUHAMMAD

offered Kab a deal trying to enlist the poets help in aiding him to break

from Islam and its Prophet Now as vc have folloned him we do not want

to leave him unless and 11iitil we see hov his end is going to be Now we

want you to lend us a camel load or two of food It volilcl not be the last

time i11 history that a Muslim professed to be dise~lcha~lted with M~iham-

mad and his religion and interested in striking a deal with 11011-Muslims

And it would not be the first time that those non-M~~slims would be

deceived even at the cost of their lives

Kab agreed to Muhammad bin h4aslamas plan but with a caveat

Yes (I will lend you) but J-ou should mortgage sornetliing to me

Mortgage your women to me

Muhammad bin Maslama was incredulous How can we mortgage

our wornen to you and you are the most handsome of the Arabs Fi~lally

they struck a deal 011other terms and bluhammad bin hlaslama promised

to return that night He did along with his foster brother Abu Naila and

some others Having gained Kabs trust Muhammad bin Maslama and the

men with him were admitted into Kabs presence 10 get close enough to

Kab to be able to kill him Muhammad bin Masla~na professed to admire

Kabs perfume I have never smelt a better scent than this Will you

allow me to smell your head Kab agreed Muha~nrnad bin Maslamas

companions smelled it also Muhammad bill hlasla~na thereupon caught

Kab in a strong grip and comlna~lded his companions Get at him

They killed Kab and then hurried to i~lform the Prophet carrying Kabs

head with them When Muhammad heard the news he cried out

Allahu akbar and praised Allah for the death of his e n e ~ n y ~

The outraged Jews said to Muhammad Our chief has been killed

treacherously Muhammad according to Ibn Sacl reminded them of his

misdeeds and how he had been instigating them and exciting them to fight

with them (Muslims) and hob$ he had been har~ning thcn~ Ihe murder

in other words came after ir~telise provocation-a line of defense that

jihadists to this day use to justif their actioi~s

After the murder of Kab AIuhalnmad issued a blanket command Kill

an Jev that falls into your lgtoner Ihis 1225 not a militar- order tlie first

113 War is d e c e ~ t

his face beca~iie almost black Muhainnlad said to Abdullah Confo~und

you let me go

But Ahdullah replied No h God I nil1 not let ou go until ou deal

kindly with Iny clients Four hundred men without mail and three hun-

dred mailed protected me froill all mine e~lei~iies iotlld you cut them

down in one morning BJ God 1 am a man vllo fears that circumstances

ma cha~lge Muham~nad then granted him his request agreeing to spare

the Qayrluqa as long as they turrled oer their propert) as booty to the hllus-

lims and left Mediila which they did forthwith

Still Ml~hammad vas 1111happy vith the alliance 4bdullah had made

mith the Jevisli tribe It as at this point that he received a key reidation

about tlie relationships that should prevail bctveen Muslims and 11oi1-

Muslims 0ye who believe Take not tlie Jews and the Christians for your

friends and protectors Ihey are but friends and protectors to cach other

And he amoilgst you that turns to them (for frieildship) is of them Verily

Allah guideth not a people unjt~st (Quran 551) And Allah scolded in

llarsh terins those who like 4bdullali bin Ubay feared a loss of b~isiness

prospects because of tlie misfortunc of the Qaylluqa (552)

Anger toward Jews and Christians Clearl Abdullall bin IJbayY1s for the lives of this Jenzish tribe did

not sit well ~vitli Muhammad and he grcv angrier to~vard the Jets A rcv-

elatiori prono~~nced them under Allalls curse for changing the content of

his earlier revelations and declared that most of them co~lld not be trusted

But because of their breach of their coe~la~lt We cllrsed them and made

their hearts grotv hard the change tlie irords from tllcir (right) places and

forget a good part of the message that vas se11t them nor vilt thou cease to

fiild tllc111-barri~ig a felv-eer h e ~ ~ ton inerr) deceits Still Allah coun-

seled mere But forgi1e them and overlook (their misdeeds) for 4llali

loetl~ thosc ho are kintl ((211rall 513 IForgie the111 I x ~ t gie 11p an

holx of their co~i~ersio~i to Isla111 I l a c -c all llolle tliat tlic IT-ill1)c h-11e

114 THE TRUTH ABOUT M U H A M M A D

to you Lvhen a parh of them used to listen to the word of Allah the11 used

to change it after the had t~nderstood it k~loningl (Quran 275 )

A clelegatioil of Christians came from Nairan to discuss theolog- I-it11

hluhammad and the Prophet of Islaill ias 110less impatient vith t h e ~ n He

vas particularl incensed b their avowal of Jesus as the Son of God for-

as he often repeated-It befitteth not (the llaies ofi illah that He should

take unto Himself a son (Quran 1935)She Prophet of Islam took it upon

himself again to correct the errors of Christian theolog- lhe indeed ha-e

clisbelieed ~ v h o say Lo Illah is the AIessiah so11 of liar Sa Vho the11

can do aught against illah if He had nilled to destroi the Iessiah son of

hlarj and his mother and eerone on earth -llahs is the Soereignt of

the heavens and the earth and all that is behIeen them He createth ~vllat

He ivill nd Allah is able to do all things ( 5 17) Jesus nas not dii~le and

ivas not crucified-and the Prophet of Isla111 rebuked the Jens for boasting

that they had indeed crucified him -ind because of their saii~g Ie slen

the Alessiah Jesus soil of hIari Allahs i~iessenger-the slew him not nor

crucified him but it appeared so unto them 4nd lo Ihose n11o disagree

concerning it are in doubt thereof the 11ae 110 knoiledge thereof sa1e

pursuit of a conjecture the slen him not for certain (Quran 4151

De~nonstratiilg o111y a dim grasp of the Christian doctrine of the Trin-

ihhluhammad a~ lno t~nced i11 another re-elation that Jesus himself nould

deny this doctrine nhen questioned br- Allah And vhen -illah saith 0

Jesus son of hIar Didst thou sa- unto mankind E k e me and 111~-inother

for b o gods beside illah He saith Be glorified It nas not mine to utter

that to nhich I had no right If I used to sa it the11 Thou knelr-est it Thou

knonest ivhat is i11 m mind arid I knor not hat is in Th PLlind Lo

Thou old Thou art the Knoner of Things Hidden (Quran 5 116)

Hon then did the Christians get these ideas Because the- stra-ed from

r-hat Jesus had actuall tauglit -41ld n-it11 those n110 sa Lo are

Christians e rnade a coenant but the forgot a part of that 11-hereof the-

n-ere adrno~lished Illerefore e 11aie stirred L ~I enmih and hatred among

them till the Da of Re~~rrection Allah i l l inform theii~ of their 1x11

Ilaildinorl 1 5 It I

War IS dece~t 115

Muhamlnad called both Jevs and Cliristialls to Islam presenting it as

the correction of the Judaism and Christianity of his day and tlie restoration

of the original messages of hlloses and Jesus 0People of tlie Scripture

Nov hat11 Our messenger colne unto you expou~lding unto you much of

that which ye used to hide in the Scripture and forgiving much Now hath

come unto jou light from Allah and plain Scriptl~re (515-16)

Assassination and deceit After the Battle of Badr and the attack against the Q a y ~ n ~ q a Jevs the

Prophet of Idam directed his anger at the Jel ish poet Kab hi11 41-Ashraf

who accordi~lg to Ihn Ishaq composed amatory verses of an i~lsulti~lg

nature about the Muslim wo~i~en Incensed Muhammad asked his fol-

lowers Who is willing to kill Kab bin Al-Ashraf who has hurt Allah and

His Ap~stle ~

He found a volunteer in a young Muslim named Muhammad bin

Maslarna Messenger of Allah do you ~vish that I should kill him

Ihe Prophet of Islam anslvered in the affirmatire and hluhammad bin

Maslama lnade a request lhen allow me to say a (false) thing (ie to

deceive Kab)

The Prophet of Islam again took the of expedient oer ~noral

absolutes YOLI may say it

Then M~~l ia~nmac l bin hlaslania vent to Kab and began to complain

about his ~naster That Inan [ie Muhaii~niad] demands Sadaqa [that is

zakat alms] from us and lie has troubled us and I have come to borrolv

something from you

Kab was not surprised exclaiming By Allah ou vill get tired of

him-h l u h a ~ n n ~ a dbill Illaslanla plaed his role to the hilt Ihe c o ~ n i r ~ g of

this man [that is the Prophet] is a great trial to us It has prooked the hos-

tilib- of the Arabs and the arc all in league aga i~~s t us l l~c roads ]la-c

become impassable so that our fa~~iilics are i11 I-alltand privatio~land I e

and our falnilics are in great di5tre~s hluhammad hin llaslama the11

116 THE TRUTH ABOUT MUHAMMAD

offered Kab a deal trying to enlist the poets help in aiding him to break

from Islam and its Prophet Now as vc have folloned him we do not want

to leave him unless and 11iitil we see hov his end is going to be Now we

want you to lend us a camel load or two of food It volilcl not be the last

time i11 history that a Muslim professed to be dise~lcha~lted with M~iham-

mad and his religion and interested in striking a deal with 11011-Muslims

And it would not be the first time that those non-M~~slims would be

deceived even at the cost of their lives

Kab agreed to Muhammad bin h4aslamas plan but with a caveat

Yes (I will lend you) but J-ou should mortgage sornetliing to me

Mortgage your women to me

Muhammad bin Maslama was incredulous How can we mortgage

our wornen to you and you are the most handsome of the Arabs Fi~lally

they struck a deal 011other terms and bluhammad bin hlaslama promised

to return that night He did along with his foster brother Abu Naila and

some others Having gained Kabs trust Muhammad bin Maslama and the

men with him were admitted into Kabs presence 10 get close enough to

Kab to be able to kill him Muhammad bin Masla~na professed to admire

Kabs perfume I have never smelt a better scent than this Will you

allow me to smell your head Kab agreed Muha~nrnad bin Maslamas

companions smelled it also Muhammad bill hlasla~na thereupon caught

Kab in a strong grip and comlna~lded his companions Get at him

They killed Kab and then hurried to i~lform the Prophet carrying Kabs

head with them When Muhammad heard the news he cried out

Allahu akbar and praised Allah for the death of his e n e ~ n y ~

The outraged Jews said to Muhammad Our chief has been killed

treacherously Muhammad according to Ibn Sacl reminded them of his

misdeeds and how he had been instigating them and exciting them to fight

with them (Muslims) and hob$ he had been har~ning thcn~ Ihe murder

in other words came after ir~telise provocation-a line of defense that

jihadists to this day use to justif their actioi~s

After the murder of Kab AIuhalnmad issued a blanket command Kill

an Jev that falls into your lgtoner Ihis 1225 not a militar- order tlie first

114 THE TRUTH ABOUT M U H A M M A D

to you Lvhen a parh of them used to listen to the word of Allah the11 used

to change it after the had t~nderstood it k~loningl (Quran 275 )

A clelegatioil of Christians came from Nairan to discuss theolog- I-it11

hluhammad and the Prophet of Islaill ias 110less impatient vith t h e ~ n He

vas particularl incensed b their avowal of Jesus as the Son of God for-

as he often repeated-It befitteth not (the llaies ofi illah that He should

take unto Himself a son (Quran 1935)She Prophet of Islam took it upon

himself again to correct the errors of Christian theolog- lhe indeed ha-e

clisbelieed ~ v h o say Lo Illah is the AIessiah so11 of liar Sa Vho the11

can do aught against illah if He had nilled to destroi the Iessiah son of

hlarj and his mother and eerone on earth -llahs is the Soereignt of

the heavens and the earth and all that is behIeen them He createth ~vllat

He ivill nd Allah is able to do all things ( 5 17) Jesus nas not dii~le and

ivas not crucified-and the Prophet of Isla111 rebuked the Jens for boasting

that they had indeed crucified him -ind because of their saii~g Ie slen

the Alessiah Jesus soil of hIari Allahs i~iessenger-the slew him not nor

crucified him but it appeared so unto them 4nd lo Ihose n11o disagree

concerning it are in doubt thereof the 11ae 110 knoiledge thereof sa1e

pursuit of a conjecture the slen him not for certain (Quran 4151

De~nonstratiilg o111y a dim grasp of the Christian doctrine of the Trin-

ihhluhammad a~ lno t~nced i11 another re-elation that Jesus himself nould

deny this doctrine nhen questioned br- Allah And vhen -illah saith 0

Jesus son of hIar Didst thou sa- unto mankind E k e me and 111~-inother

for b o gods beside illah He saith Be glorified It nas not mine to utter

that to nhich I had no right If I used to sa it the11 Thou knelr-est it Thou

knonest ivhat is i11 m mind arid I knor not hat is in Th PLlind Lo

Thou old Thou art the Knoner of Things Hidden (Quran 5 116)

Hon then did the Christians get these ideas Because the- stra-ed from

r-hat Jesus had actuall tauglit -41ld n-it11 those n110 sa Lo are

Christians e rnade a coenant but the forgot a part of that 11-hereof the-

n-ere adrno~lished Illerefore e 11aie stirred L ~I enmih and hatred among

them till the Da of Re~~rrection Allah i l l inform theii~ of their 1x11

Ilaildinorl 1 5 It I

War IS dece~t 115

Muhamlnad called both Jevs and Cliristialls to Islam presenting it as

the correction of the Judaism and Christianity of his day and tlie restoration

of the original messages of hlloses and Jesus 0People of tlie Scripture

Nov hat11 Our messenger colne unto you expou~lding unto you much of

that which ye used to hide in the Scripture and forgiving much Now hath

come unto jou light from Allah and plain Scriptl~re (515-16)

Assassination and deceit After the Battle of Badr and the attack against the Q a y ~ n ~ q a Jevs the

Prophet of Idam directed his anger at the Jel ish poet Kab hi11 41-Ashraf

who accordi~lg to Ihn Ishaq composed amatory verses of an i~lsulti~lg

nature about the Muslim wo~i~en Incensed Muhammad asked his fol-

lowers Who is willing to kill Kab bin Al-Ashraf who has hurt Allah and

His Ap~stle ~

He found a volunteer in a young Muslim named Muhammad bin

Maslarna Messenger of Allah do you ~vish that I should kill him

Ihe Prophet of Islam anslvered in the affirmatire and hluhammad bin

Maslama lnade a request lhen allow me to say a (false) thing (ie to

deceive Kab)

The Prophet of Islam again took the of expedient oer ~noral

absolutes YOLI may say it

Then M~~l ia~nmac l bin hlaslania vent to Kab and began to complain

about his ~naster That Inan [ie Muhaii~niad] demands Sadaqa [that is

zakat alms] from us and lie has troubled us and I have come to borrolv

something from you

Kab was not surprised exclaiming By Allah ou vill get tired of

him-h l u h a ~ n n ~ a dbill Illaslanla plaed his role to the hilt Ihe c o ~ n i r ~ g of

this man [that is the Prophet] is a great trial to us It has prooked the hos-

tilib- of the Arabs and the arc all in league aga i~~s t us l l~c roads ]la-c

become impassable so that our fa~~iilics are i11 I-alltand privatio~land I e

and our falnilics are in great di5tre~s hluhammad hin llaslama the11

116 THE TRUTH ABOUT MUHAMMAD

offered Kab a deal trying to enlist the poets help in aiding him to break

from Islam and its Prophet Now as vc have folloned him we do not want

to leave him unless and 11iitil we see hov his end is going to be Now we

want you to lend us a camel load or two of food It volilcl not be the last

time i11 history that a Muslim professed to be dise~lcha~lted with M~iham-

mad and his religion and interested in striking a deal with 11011-Muslims

And it would not be the first time that those non-M~~slims would be

deceived even at the cost of their lives

Kab agreed to Muhammad bin h4aslamas plan but with a caveat

Yes (I will lend you) but J-ou should mortgage sornetliing to me

Mortgage your women to me

Muhammad bin Maslama was incredulous How can we mortgage

our wornen to you and you are the most handsome of the Arabs Fi~lally

they struck a deal 011other terms and bluhammad bin hlaslama promised

to return that night He did along with his foster brother Abu Naila and

some others Having gained Kabs trust Muhammad bin Maslama and the

men with him were admitted into Kabs presence 10 get close enough to

Kab to be able to kill him Muhammad bin Masla~na professed to admire

Kabs perfume I have never smelt a better scent than this Will you

allow me to smell your head Kab agreed Muha~nrnad bin Maslamas

companions smelled it also Muhammad bill hlasla~na thereupon caught

Kab in a strong grip and comlna~lded his companions Get at him

They killed Kab and then hurried to i~lform the Prophet carrying Kabs

head with them When Muhammad heard the news he cried out

Allahu akbar and praised Allah for the death of his e n e ~ n y ~

The outraged Jews said to Muhammad Our chief has been killed

treacherously Muhammad according to Ibn Sacl reminded them of his

misdeeds and how he had been instigating them and exciting them to fight

with them (Muslims) and hob$ he had been har~ning thcn~ Ihe murder

in other words came after ir~telise provocation-a line of defense that

jihadists to this day use to justif their actioi~s

After the murder of Kab AIuhalnmad issued a blanket command Kill

an Jev that falls into your lgtoner Ihis 1225 not a militar- order tlie first

War IS dece~t 115

Muhamlnad called both Jevs and Cliristialls to Islam presenting it as

the correction of the Judaism and Christianity of his day and tlie restoration

of the original messages of hlloses and Jesus 0People of tlie Scripture

Nov hat11 Our messenger colne unto you expou~lding unto you much of

that which ye used to hide in the Scripture and forgiving much Now hath

come unto jou light from Allah and plain Scriptl~re (515-16)

Assassination and deceit After the Battle of Badr and the attack against the Q a y ~ n ~ q a Jevs the

Prophet of Idam directed his anger at the Jel ish poet Kab hi11 41-Ashraf

who accordi~lg to Ihn Ishaq composed amatory verses of an i~lsulti~lg

nature about the Muslim wo~i~en Incensed Muhammad asked his fol-

lowers Who is willing to kill Kab bin Al-Ashraf who has hurt Allah and

His Ap~stle ~

He found a volunteer in a young Muslim named Muhammad bin

Maslarna Messenger of Allah do you ~vish that I should kill him

Ihe Prophet of Islam anslvered in the affirmatire and hluhammad bin

Maslama lnade a request lhen allow me to say a (false) thing (ie to

deceive Kab)

The Prophet of Islam again took the of expedient oer ~noral

absolutes YOLI may say it

Then M~~l ia~nmac l bin hlaslania vent to Kab and began to complain

about his ~naster That Inan [ie Muhaii~niad] demands Sadaqa [that is

zakat alms] from us and lie has troubled us and I have come to borrolv

something from you

Kab was not surprised exclaiming By Allah ou vill get tired of

him-h l u h a ~ n n ~ a dbill Illaslanla plaed his role to the hilt Ihe c o ~ n i r ~ g of

this man [that is the Prophet] is a great trial to us It has prooked the hos-

tilib- of the Arabs and the arc all in league aga i~~s t us l l~c roads ]la-c

become impassable so that our fa~~iilics are i11 I-alltand privatio~land I e

and our falnilics are in great di5tre~s hluhammad hin llaslama the11

116 THE TRUTH ABOUT MUHAMMAD

offered Kab a deal trying to enlist the poets help in aiding him to break

from Islam and its Prophet Now as vc have folloned him we do not want

to leave him unless and 11iitil we see hov his end is going to be Now we

want you to lend us a camel load or two of food It volilcl not be the last

time i11 history that a Muslim professed to be dise~lcha~lted with M~iham-

mad and his religion and interested in striking a deal with 11011-Muslims

And it would not be the first time that those non-M~~slims would be

deceived even at the cost of their lives

Kab agreed to Muhammad bin h4aslamas plan but with a caveat

Yes (I will lend you) but J-ou should mortgage sornetliing to me

Mortgage your women to me

Muhammad bin Maslama was incredulous How can we mortgage

our wornen to you and you are the most handsome of the Arabs Fi~lally

they struck a deal 011other terms and bluhammad bin hlaslama promised

to return that night He did along with his foster brother Abu Naila and

some others Having gained Kabs trust Muhammad bin Maslama and the

men with him were admitted into Kabs presence 10 get close enough to

Kab to be able to kill him Muhammad bin Masla~na professed to admire

Kabs perfume I have never smelt a better scent than this Will you

allow me to smell your head Kab agreed Muha~nrnad bin Maslamas

companions smelled it also Muhammad bill hlasla~na thereupon caught

Kab in a strong grip and comlna~lded his companions Get at him

They killed Kab and then hurried to i~lform the Prophet carrying Kabs

head with them When Muhammad heard the news he cried out

Allahu akbar and praised Allah for the death of his e n e ~ n y ~

The outraged Jews said to Muhammad Our chief has been killed

treacherously Muhammad according to Ibn Sacl reminded them of his

misdeeds and how he had been instigating them and exciting them to fight

with them (Muslims) and hob$ he had been har~ning thcn~ Ihe murder

in other words came after ir~telise provocation-a line of defense that

jihadists to this day use to justif their actioi~s

After the murder of Kab AIuhalnmad issued a blanket command Kill

an Jev that falls into your lgtoner Ihis 1225 not a militar- order tlie first

116 THE TRUTH ABOUT MUHAMMAD

offered Kab a deal trying to enlist the poets help in aiding him to break

from Islam and its Prophet Now as vc have folloned him we do not want

to leave him unless and 11iitil we see hov his end is going to be Now we

want you to lend us a camel load or two of food It volilcl not be the last

time i11 history that a Muslim professed to be dise~lcha~lted with M~iham-

mad and his religion and interested in striking a deal with 11011-Muslims

And it would not be the first time that those non-M~~slims would be

deceived even at the cost of their lives

Kab agreed to Muhammad bin h4aslamas plan but with a caveat

Yes (I will lend you) but J-ou should mortgage sornetliing to me

Mortgage your women to me

Muhammad bin Maslama was incredulous How can we mortgage

our wornen to you and you are the most handsome of the Arabs Fi~lally

they struck a deal 011other terms and bluhammad bin hlaslama promised

to return that night He did along with his foster brother Abu Naila and

some others Having gained Kabs trust Muhammad bin Maslama and the

men with him were admitted into Kabs presence 10 get close enough to

Kab to be able to kill him Muhammad bin Masla~na professed to admire

Kabs perfume I have never smelt a better scent than this Will you

allow me to smell your head Kab agreed Muha~nrnad bin Maslamas

companions smelled it also Muhammad bill hlasla~na thereupon caught

Kab in a strong grip and comlna~lded his companions Get at him

They killed Kab and then hurried to i~lform the Prophet carrying Kabs

head with them When Muhammad heard the news he cried out

Allahu akbar and praised Allah for the death of his e n e ~ n y ~

The outraged Jews said to Muhammad Our chief has been killed

treacherously Muhammad according to Ibn Sacl reminded them of his

misdeeds and how he had been instigating them and exciting them to fight

with them (Muslims) and hob$ he had been har~ning thcn~ Ihe murder

in other words came after ir~telise provocation-a line of defense that

jihadists to this day use to justif their actioi~s

After the murder of Kab AIuhalnmad issued a blanket command Kill

an Jev that falls into your lgtoner Ihis 1225 not a militar- order tlie first

117 War is deceit

victim was a Jewisli ~nerchant 11111 Smnayna n110 had social and busi~less

relations with the M L I S ~ ~ I ~ S lhe murderer I~luhayissa was rebuked for

the deed by his brother Hutvayissa ~ v h o was not yet a Muslim Mtthajissa

was unrepentant He told his brother Had the one who ordered rlle to kill

him ordered me to kill you I ~vould have cut your head off

Huwayissa Ivas impressed By God a religion uhich can bring you to

this is marvelous He becanle a Muslirn The world still sees such mar-

vels even today Mohammed Robert Heft a Canadian convert to Islam

who was acql~ai~ltedwith several of the seventeen jihad terror

plotters arrested in June 2006 explained that he personally had gone

through a bout of extremism during ~vhich time he would have killed his

parents if the had interfered vith his corn~nitment to I s l a ~ n ~ Muhayissa

and Huwayissa uould have understood

O n another occasion Muhammad allowed one of his followers to use

deception again in order to kill another of his enemies Sufyan ihn Khalid

al-Hudhali whonl the Prophet of Isla~n likened to the devil himself

When you see him he told the assassin you will be frightened and

bewildered and you rvill recall Satan When the mission was accorn-

plished and Sufyan was dead Muhammad praised the killer and gave him

a staff saying lValk with it to Paradise

The Quraysh strike back After their humiliation at Badr the Quraysh were anxious for revenge

They assernbled three thousand troops against one thousand Muslims at a

mountai~lnear Mecca named U h ~ t d Muharnrnad wore hvo coats of mail

and brandishing a scvord led the hluslirns into battle Muhaminad was

confident +-hen one of the Muslims asked him 0apostle should we not

ask help from our allies the Je~vs the Prophet of Islam replied We have

no need of then^^ Or he ivas tllinking of how bitter his relation-

sh i l~nith the Jcvs llad become

This time the Q~lrlsh 1ere far Inore dcternlincd and the h~luslinis

Yere r o ~ ~ t e d himself fotlght along ~vith his men nounding a lIr iha~ii~iiad

118 THE TRUTH ABOUT MUHAMMAD

Quraysh warrior named Ubajy bin Khalaf in the back of the neck Years

before Ubayy had taunted the new prophet in Mecca Muham~nad I

have got a horse called Aud Lvhich I feed every da (111many measures of

corn I shall kill you mrhen I am riding it

Muhamrnad replied No I shall kill you if Cod nills Ubayy ranem-

bered this whe11 he returned to the Quraysh e~lcampment ivounded very

slightly in the neck and exclaiming By God Muhammad has killed me

When the Quraysh responded By God You have lost heart You are not

hurt Ubayy insisted He said to me in Mecca that he ~vould kill me and

by God if he had spat on me he would have killed me He died as he vas

being transported back to Mecca killed by the warrior prophet just as he

had predicted

Aisha later recounted that the hluslims rvere initially ~vinning at Ullud

but then their lines collapsed in confusion due to a st~pernatural interve11-

tion Satan Allahs Curse be upon hill] cried loudl 0Allahs Worship-

pers beware of tvhat is behind O n that the front files of the (Muslini)

forces turned their backs and started fighting vith the hack files

In the confi~sion the Prophet of Islam hi~nself had his face bloodied

and a toot11 knocked out rumors even flew around the battlefield that he

had been killed Muhammad vashed the blood off his face and vowed

revenge lhe wrath of God is fierce against him vho bloodied the face of

His prophet He laniented again the Ql~rayslis rejection of the man

Allah had chosen from arnong them to be a prophet Hov can a nation

vho injured their Prophets face be successf~~l~ But in this Allah admon-

ished him It is no concern at all of thee ( M ~ ~ h a n i m a d ) whether He relent

toward them or punish them for they are evil-doers (Quran 3128)

When Abu Sufyan the Quraysh leader taunted the Muslims Muhamrllad

reaffirmed that the Quraysh were indeed all evildoers He told his lieu-

tenant 1J1nar to respond God is most high and most glorious LVe are not

equal Our dead are in paradise your dead in hell

h l t ~ l ~ a m ~ n a dvoved revenge again nlie11 he fo111id the bod of his uncle

Halnza Hamza had been killed at Uhud and his bod horribl~ mutilated

by a vornan named Hind hint lJtba iho cut off Hanizas iiose and ears

119 War is deceit

and ate a part of his liver She did this i11 revenge for the MLIS~~ITIS killing

of her father brother uncle and eldest so11 at Badr hluharnniad did not

hesitate to extend the cycle of revenge If Cod gives Ine victory over

Quraysh in the future he exclaimed I will mutilate 30 of their men

Touched by his grief and anger his followers made a similar 1 0 ~ ~ By God

if God gives us ~ic tory oer them in the fi~turc Ire +i l l mutilate them as 110

Arab has ever mutilated anyone

Similar incidents still fill the nevspapers today After jihadist strikes in

Iraq or Israel jihad warriors treat any counter-measures by American or

Israeli forces as unprovoked attacks deserving s~vift and fierce revenge

Ever since Ml~s l in~s began fighti~lg in imitation of their warrior prophet

this has bee11 their sta~ldard of behavior It is not tur11 the other cheek it

is kiting enorn~ities against ones ene~nies

Hanizas killer Mlahshi learned that Mtlhammad would not exact his

revenge and kill hirn if he became a Muslim Wahshi promptly recited the

Shahada and welit to see the Prophet of Islam Muhammad asked him to

tell the story of how he had killed his uncle and then said Woe to you

hide your face from me and never let me see you again Wahshi did as

he was told and outlived the Prophet Also outlibing the Prophet was this

distinction betlvee11 believers arid ~~nbelievers such that Musli~ns would

ever after hesitate to kill other Muslims (excepting of course those whom

they considered heretics or apostates) but would hold the lives of non-

1Cluslims cheap

Assuaging doubts after Uhud One might have expected thc defeat at Uhud to shake the Musli~ns faith

since after Badr Muhammad had frequently insisted that Allah hiinself had

heen fighting for the iCluslims But Nuhammad -as ready with rnore rev-

elations This time the theme tvas that the Mt~slirns were defeated because

the had disobe~ed llah and focllsed 011boo0 rather than ictory (Quran

3 1 5 2 ) Another re-clatio~l eshorted the AIuslims to fight valiantl assuring

tl~elri that their 1iie~ nere in no tlangcr until the da Allah hat1 decreed that

120 THE TRUTH ABOUT M U H A M M A D

they ~liust die Nor can a soul die except by Allahs leac the ten11 being

fixed as by Lvriti~lg If any do desire a revard in this life Ve sllall give it to

him and if a11~ do desire a revard i11tlie Hereafter Me shall give it to liiln

And swiftl shall We re~vard those illat (serve us vith) gratitude (Quran

3145)

Allah reminded tlielil of his help for the luslims i l l the past and made

f~lture help dependent on their obedience Allah had helped -ou at Hadr

~vhenye vere a contemptible little force then fear Allah thus may ye shov

your gratitude Remember thou saidst to the Faithful Is it not enough for

you tliat Allah should help ou with three thol~sancl ansels (specially) sent

dov~i Yea if ye remain firm and act aright even if tlie enemy s h o ~ ~ l d

rush here on jZoui11 hot haste our Lord v o ~ ~ l d help ou vith fi1e thou-

sand angels making a terrific o~ls la~~gl l t (Q~lrall3 123-127)

Again a patter11 was set ivhen things go vrong for the hluslims hlus-

lim leaders inevitably insist it is because they are not Islamic enough In

1948 Sayyid Q~l th the great theorist of tlie hluslilii Brotherhood tlie first

~iiodeni Isla~nic terrorist group declared about the Isla~~lic vorld tliat ne

only have to look in order to see that our social sitllatioll is as bad as it can

be Yet ve colltinuall cast aside all our ovn spiritual heritage all our

i~itcllectual endowment and all tlie solutio~ls ~vl i ic l~ might Lvell be

revealed by a glance at these things ve cast aside our ovn fi~ndame~ital

pr i~~ci~gtlcsand doctrines and we bring in those of democracj or socialism

or c o r n m ~ ~ ~ i i s i n ~ In other cvords the only path to success is Islam and all

failures stem from the abandonment of Islam After Uhud Allah promised

the Muslims that victory would soon be theirs again if they depended

solely 011 hini and rejected all accord ~vith the lion-hluslinls (Quran

3 149-15 1)

Ilie stark theological connection bet~veen victor and obedie~lce on

the one hand and defeat and tlisobedience on the other -as reinforced after

the hluslimsl victory at a later battle the Battle of the lrcnch in 627

h l ~ ~ h a ~ n m a d rcccied reelation that attributed tlic victor toagain a

411aIis super~iiltural inter ell tion 0-c 11-ho I)clic c Re~llcml~erL411alls

121 War is deceit

favor unto you whe11 there came against you hosts and We sent against

them a great wind and hosts ye could not see (Quran 333)

The deportation of the Banu Nadir Not long after the Battle of Uhud sollie members of a Jewish tribe the

Banu Nadir co~lspired to kill M ~ ~ h a r n m a d by dropping a large stone on his

head as he passed one of their houses Sorne Muslims learned of the plot

and warned Muhammad Rather than appealing to the Nadir leaders to

turn over the guilty men WIuhamrnad sent word to the Nadir Leave Iny

country and do not live ~vitll me You have intended treachery His mes-

senger vas Muhammad bin Maslarna (the killer of Kab bin Al-Ashraf) a

member of the AVS tribe of Medina with whom the Nadir liad formerly had

a covenant But when the men of the Nadir protested and invoked that

covenant Muhammad bin Maslarna replied Hearts have changed and

Islam has wiped out the old covenants

Abdullah bin U b a y and solue of the other Hypocrites urged the Ban11

Nadir not to go and pro~nised to come to their aid if attacked Reljing on

this the Nadir told Muhammad We will not leave our settlements so do

as you see fit With the displacement of respo~lsibility onto the enemy that

would become characteristic of jihad warriors throughout the ages

Muhammad told the Muslirns The Jews have declared war Allah gave

hi111 a revelation assuring him that the Hypocrites would prove just as false

to the Jews as they had to Muham~nad He promised the Prophet of Islarn

victory over the Nadir Had he not delivered victory over those who lately

preceded them the Qaynuqa Jews Allah would strike terror into the

Jews hearts Of a truth ye are stronger (than they) because of the terror in

their hearts (sent) by Allah (Quran 591 1-17) Ihe Prophet of Islam ordered his Muslims to march out against the

tribe and lay siege to them During the siege he ordered that the date

palms of the Ban11 Nadir be bur~lt^ Ihe Nadir sl~rprised asked him

Muhanlmad yo11 have prohibited anton destruction a11d hlamed those

122 THE TRUTH ABOUT MUHAMMAD

guilty of it Why then are you cutting dow11 and burning our palm-treesih

Allah justified Muha~nmads action in a nev reelation Whatsoeer

palm-trees ye cut down or left sta~iding on their roots it was by Allahs

leave in order that He nlight co~ifound the evil-livers (Quraii 5 9 5 )

Islamic apologists frequently cite Muhainmads prohibition against wanton

destruction-but dont ~nention Muha~n~nad s own violatio~l of this

decree and Allahs endorsement of the violatio~i

The siege of the Banu Nadir lasted two iveeks before they agreed to go

into exile M t ~ h a m ~ n a d allowed the Jews to carry ~vhat they could on their

camels but demanded that the turii over all veapoi~s~ Sonle of the Nadir

destroyed their on3n l i ~ u s e s ~ What the Jews couldnt carry with them

became Muharnmads personal propert) vhich he distributed as boob

among the muhajiroz~n the Muslims who had emigrated with hi111 from

Mecca to Medina He also kept some of it for his own expenses and for

preparing for flittire jihad vars as Umar later recounted The properties

abarldoned by Banu Nadir yere the ones ~vhich Allah bestowed up011 His

Apostle Ihese properties were particularly meant for the Holy Prophet

(may peace be up011 him) He wo111d meet the annual expenditure of his

family fro111 the income thereof and tvot~ld spend what remained for pur-

chasing horses and weapons as preparation for R l ~ ~ h a m m a dnas

well known as a illail of simple tastes he did not indulge ill lavish displays

live in sumptuot~s quarters or adorn himself i11 pomp and splendor I-Ie

spent as much as he could on jihad

In a revelation Allah told Muhammad that it was divine terror that had

defeated the Banu Nadir and that they were all bound for hell But the

(wrath of) Allah came to them froill quarters from which they little

expected (it) and cast terror into their hearts so that the destroyed their

dwellings by their ow11 hands and the hands of the Believers And had it

i ~ o tbeen that Allah had decreed banish~~ient for them l i e ivould certainl

have punished them in this ~vorld And in the hereafter they shall (cer-

tainly) have the punishlnent of tlie fire (Q~~r a r i 597-31

Ihe reniaining Jen-s of hledina $-ere nest to recei1e the urath of

hluham~ilad

118 THE TRUTH ABOUT MUHAMMAD

Quraysh warrior named Ubajy bin Khalaf in the back of the neck Years

before Ubayy had taunted the new prophet in Mecca Muham~nad I

have got a horse called Aud Lvhich I feed every da (111many measures of

corn I shall kill you mrhen I am riding it

Muhamrnad replied No I shall kill you if Cod nills Ubayy ranem-

bered this whe11 he returned to the Quraysh e~lcampment ivounded very

slightly in the neck and exclaiming By God Muhammad has killed me

When the Quraysh responded By God You have lost heart You are not

hurt Ubayy insisted He said to me in Mecca that he ~vould kill me and

by God if he had spat on me he would have killed me He died as he vas

being transported back to Mecca killed by the warrior prophet just as he

had predicted

Aisha later recounted that the hluslims rvere initially ~vinning at Ullud

but then their lines collapsed in confusion due to a st~pernatural interve11-

tion Satan Allahs Curse be upon hill] cried loudl 0Allahs Worship-

pers beware of tvhat is behind O n that the front files of the (Muslini)

forces turned their backs and started fighting vith the hack files

In the confi~sion the Prophet of Islam hi~nself had his face bloodied

and a toot11 knocked out rumors even flew around the battlefield that he

had been killed Muhammad vashed the blood off his face and vowed

revenge lhe wrath of God is fierce against him vho bloodied the face of

His prophet He laniented again the Ql~rayslis rejection of the man

Allah had chosen from arnong them to be a prophet Hov can a nation

vho injured their Prophets face be successf~~l~ But in this Allah admon-

ished him It is no concern at all of thee ( M ~ ~ h a n i m a d ) whether He relent

toward them or punish them for they are evil-doers (Quran 3128)

When Abu Sufyan the Quraysh leader taunted the Muslims Muhamrllad

reaffirmed that the Quraysh were indeed all evildoers He told his lieu-

tenant 1J1nar to respond God is most high and most glorious LVe are not

equal Our dead are in paradise your dead in hell

h l t ~ l ~ a m ~ n a dvoved revenge again nlie11 he fo111id the bod of his uncle

Halnza Hamza had been killed at Uhud and his bod horribl~ mutilated

by a vornan named Hind hint lJtba iho cut off Hanizas iiose and ears

119 War is deceit

and ate a part of his liver She did this i11 revenge for the MLIS~~ITIS killing

of her father brother uncle and eldest so11 at Badr hluharnniad did not

hesitate to extend the cycle of revenge If Cod gives Ine victory over

Quraysh in the future he exclaimed I will mutilate 30 of their men

Touched by his grief and anger his followers made a similar 1 0 ~ ~ By God

if God gives us ~ic tory oer them in the fi~turc Ire +i l l mutilate them as 110

Arab has ever mutilated anyone

Similar incidents still fill the nevspapers today After jihadist strikes in

Iraq or Israel jihad warriors treat any counter-measures by American or

Israeli forces as unprovoked attacks deserving s~vift and fierce revenge

Ever since Ml~s l in~s began fighti~lg in imitation of their warrior prophet

this has bee11 their sta~ldard of behavior It is not tur11 the other cheek it

is kiting enorn~ities against ones ene~nies

Hanizas killer Mlahshi learned that Mtlhammad would not exact his

revenge and kill hirn if he became a Muslim Wahshi promptly recited the

Shahada and welit to see the Prophet of Islam Muhammad asked him to

tell the story of how he had killed his uncle and then said Woe to you

hide your face from me and never let me see you again Wahshi did as

he was told and outlived the Prophet Also outlibing the Prophet was this

distinction betlvee11 believers arid ~~nbelievers such that Musli~ns would

ever after hesitate to kill other Muslims (excepting of course those whom

they considered heretics or apostates) but would hold the lives of non-

1Cluslims cheap

Assuaging doubts after Uhud One might have expected thc defeat at Uhud to shake the Musli~ns faith

since after Badr Muhammad had frequently insisted that Allah hiinself had

heen fighting for the iCluslims But Nuhammad -as ready with rnore rev-

elations This time the theme tvas that the Mt~slirns were defeated because

the had disobe~ed llah and focllsed 011boo0 rather than ictory (Quran

3 1 5 2 ) Another re-clatio~l eshorted the AIuslims to fight valiantl assuring

tl~elri that their 1iie~ nere in no tlangcr until the da Allah hat1 decreed that

120 THE TRUTH ABOUT M U H A M M A D

they ~liust die Nor can a soul die except by Allahs leac the ten11 being

fixed as by Lvriti~lg If any do desire a revard in this life Ve sllall give it to

him and if a11~ do desire a revard i11tlie Hereafter Me shall give it to liiln

And swiftl shall We re~vard those illat (serve us vith) gratitude (Quran

3145)

Allah reminded tlielil of his help for the luslims i l l the past and made

f~lture help dependent on their obedience Allah had helped -ou at Hadr

~vhenye vere a contemptible little force then fear Allah thus may ye shov

your gratitude Remember thou saidst to the Faithful Is it not enough for

you tliat Allah should help ou with three thol~sancl ansels (specially) sent

dov~i Yea if ye remain firm and act aright even if tlie enemy s h o ~ ~ l d

rush here on jZoui11 hot haste our Lord v o ~ ~ l d help ou vith fi1e thou-

sand angels making a terrific o~ls la~~gl l t (Q~lrall3 123-127)

Again a patter11 was set ivhen things go vrong for the hluslims hlus-

lim leaders inevitably insist it is because they are not Islamic enough In

1948 Sayyid Q~l th the great theorist of tlie hluslilii Brotherhood tlie first

~iiodeni Isla~nic terrorist group declared about the Isla~~lic vorld tliat ne

only have to look in order to see that our social sitllatioll is as bad as it can

be Yet ve colltinuall cast aside all our ovn spiritual heritage all our

i~itcllectual endowment and all tlie solutio~ls ~vl i ic l~ might Lvell be

revealed by a glance at these things ve cast aside our ovn fi~ndame~ital

pr i~~ci~gtlcsand doctrines and we bring in those of democracj or socialism

or c o r n m ~ ~ ~ i i s i n ~ In other cvords the only path to success is Islam and all

failures stem from the abandonment of Islam After Uhud Allah promised

the Muslims that victory would soon be theirs again if they depended

solely 011 hini and rejected all accord ~vith the lion-hluslinls (Quran

3 149-15 1)

Ilie stark theological connection bet~veen victor and obedie~lce on

the one hand and defeat and tlisobedience on the other -as reinforced after

the hluslimsl victory at a later battle the Battle of the lrcnch in 627

h l ~ ~ h a ~ n m a d rcccied reelation that attributed tlic victor toagain a

411aIis super~iiltural inter ell tion 0-c 11-ho I)clic c Re~llcml~erL411alls

121 War is deceit

favor unto you whe11 there came against you hosts and We sent against

them a great wind and hosts ye could not see (Quran 333)

The deportation of the Banu Nadir Not long after the Battle of Uhud sollie members of a Jewish tribe the

Banu Nadir co~lspired to kill M ~ ~ h a r n m a d by dropping a large stone on his

head as he passed one of their houses Sorne Muslims learned of the plot

and warned Muhammad Rather than appealing to the Nadir leaders to

turn over the guilty men WIuhamrnad sent word to the Nadir Leave Iny

country and do not live ~vitll me You have intended treachery His mes-

senger vas Muhammad bin Maslarna (the killer of Kab bin Al-Ashraf) a

member of the AVS tribe of Medina with whom the Nadir liad formerly had

a covenant But when the men of the Nadir protested and invoked that

covenant Muhammad bin Maslarna replied Hearts have changed and

Islam has wiped out the old covenants

Abdullah bin U b a y and solue of the other Hypocrites urged the Ban11

Nadir not to go and pro~nised to come to their aid if attacked Reljing on

this the Nadir told Muhammad We will not leave our settlements so do

as you see fit With the displacement of respo~lsibility onto the enemy that

would become characteristic of jihad warriors throughout the ages

Muhammad told the Muslirns The Jews have declared war Allah gave

hi111 a revelation assuring him that the Hypocrites would prove just as false

to the Jews as they had to Muham~nad He promised the Prophet of Islarn

victory over the Nadir Had he not delivered victory over those who lately

preceded them the Qaynuqa Jews Allah would strike terror into the

Jews hearts Of a truth ye are stronger (than they) because of the terror in

their hearts (sent) by Allah (Quran 591 1-17) Ihe Prophet of Islam ordered his Muslims to march out against the

tribe and lay siege to them During the siege he ordered that the date

palms of the Ban11 Nadir be bur~lt^ Ihe Nadir sl~rprised asked him

Muhanlmad yo11 have prohibited anton destruction a11d hlamed those

122 THE TRUTH ABOUT MUHAMMAD

guilty of it Why then are you cutting dow11 and burning our palm-treesih

Allah justified Muha~nmads action in a nev reelation Whatsoeer

palm-trees ye cut down or left sta~iding on their roots it was by Allahs

leave in order that He nlight co~ifound the evil-livers (Quraii 5 9 5 )

Islamic apologists frequently cite Muhainmads prohibition against wanton

destruction-but dont ~nention Muha~n~nad s own violatio~l of this

decree and Allahs endorsement of the violatio~i

The siege of the Banu Nadir lasted two iveeks before they agreed to go

into exile M t ~ h a m ~ n a d allowed the Jews to carry ~vhat they could on their

camels but demanded that the turii over all veapoi~s~ Sonle of the Nadir

destroyed their on3n l i ~ u s e s ~ What the Jews couldnt carry with them

became Muharnmads personal propert) vhich he distributed as boob

among the muhajiroz~n the Muslims who had emigrated with hi111 from

Mecca to Medina He also kept some of it for his own expenses and for

preparing for flittire jihad vars as Umar later recounted The properties

abarldoned by Banu Nadir yere the ones ~vhich Allah bestowed up011 His

Apostle Ihese properties were particularly meant for the Holy Prophet

(may peace be up011 him) He wo111d meet the annual expenditure of his

family fro111 the income thereof and tvot~ld spend what remained for pur-

chasing horses and weapons as preparation for R l ~ ~ h a m m a dnas

well known as a illail of simple tastes he did not indulge ill lavish displays

live in sumptuot~s quarters or adorn himself i11 pomp and splendor I-Ie

spent as much as he could on jihad

In a revelation Allah told Muhammad that it was divine terror that had

defeated the Banu Nadir and that they were all bound for hell But the

(wrath of) Allah came to them froill quarters from which they little

expected (it) and cast terror into their hearts so that the destroyed their

dwellings by their ow11 hands and the hands of the Believers And had it

i ~ o tbeen that Allah had decreed banish~~ient for them l i e ivould certainl

have punished them in this ~vorld And in the hereafter they shall (cer-

tainly) have the punishlnent of tlie fire (Q~~r a r i 597-31

Ihe reniaining Jen-s of hledina $-ere nest to recei1e the urath of

hluham~ilad

119 War is deceit

and ate a part of his liver She did this i11 revenge for the MLIS~~ITIS killing

of her father brother uncle and eldest so11 at Badr hluharnniad did not

hesitate to extend the cycle of revenge If Cod gives Ine victory over

Quraysh in the future he exclaimed I will mutilate 30 of their men

Touched by his grief and anger his followers made a similar 1 0 ~ ~ By God

if God gives us ~ic tory oer them in the fi~turc Ire +i l l mutilate them as 110

Arab has ever mutilated anyone

Similar incidents still fill the nevspapers today After jihadist strikes in

Iraq or Israel jihad warriors treat any counter-measures by American or

Israeli forces as unprovoked attacks deserving s~vift and fierce revenge

Ever since Ml~s l in~s began fighti~lg in imitation of their warrior prophet

this has bee11 their sta~ldard of behavior It is not tur11 the other cheek it

is kiting enorn~ities against ones ene~nies

Hanizas killer Mlahshi learned that Mtlhammad would not exact his

revenge and kill hirn if he became a Muslim Wahshi promptly recited the

Shahada and welit to see the Prophet of Islam Muhammad asked him to

tell the story of how he had killed his uncle and then said Woe to you

hide your face from me and never let me see you again Wahshi did as

he was told and outlived the Prophet Also outlibing the Prophet was this

distinction betlvee11 believers arid ~~nbelievers such that Musli~ns would

ever after hesitate to kill other Muslims (excepting of course those whom

they considered heretics or apostates) but would hold the lives of non-

1Cluslims cheap

Assuaging doubts after Uhud One might have expected thc defeat at Uhud to shake the Musli~ns faith

since after Badr Muhammad had frequently insisted that Allah hiinself had

heen fighting for the iCluslims But Nuhammad -as ready with rnore rev-

elations This time the theme tvas that the Mt~slirns were defeated because

the had disobe~ed llah and focllsed 011boo0 rather than ictory (Quran

3 1 5 2 ) Another re-clatio~l eshorted the AIuslims to fight valiantl assuring

tl~elri that their 1iie~ nere in no tlangcr until the da Allah hat1 decreed that

120 THE TRUTH ABOUT M U H A M M A D

they ~liust die Nor can a soul die except by Allahs leac the ten11 being

fixed as by Lvriti~lg If any do desire a revard in this life Ve sllall give it to

him and if a11~ do desire a revard i11tlie Hereafter Me shall give it to liiln

And swiftl shall We re~vard those illat (serve us vith) gratitude (Quran

3145)

Allah reminded tlielil of his help for the luslims i l l the past and made

f~lture help dependent on their obedience Allah had helped -ou at Hadr

~vhenye vere a contemptible little force then fear Allah thus may ye shov

your gratitude Remember thou saidst to the Faithful Is it not enough for

you tliat Allah should help ou with three thol~sancl ansels (specially) sent

dov~i Yea if ye remain firm and act aright even if tlie enemy s h o ~ ~ l d

rush here on jZoui11 hot haste our Lord v o ~ ~ l d help ou vith fi1e thou-

sand angels making a terrific o~ls la~~gl l t (Q~lrall3 123-127)

Again a patter11 was set ivhen things go vrong for the hluslims hlus-

lim leaders inevitably insist it is because they are not Islamic enough In

1948 Sayyid Q~l th the great theorist of tlie hluslilii Brotherhood tlie first

~iiodeni Isla~nic terrorist group declared about the Isla~~lic vorld tliat ne

only have to look in order to see that our social sitllatioll is as bad as it can

be Yet ve colltinuall cast aside all our ovn spiritual heritage all our

i~itcllectual endowment and all tlie solutio~ls ~vl i ic l~ might Lvell be

revealed by a glance at these things ve cast aside our ovn fi~ndame~ital

pr i~~ci~gtlcsand doctrines and we bring in those of democracj or socialism

or c o r n m ~ ~ ~ i i s i n ~ In other cvords the only path to success is Islam and all

failures stem from the abandonment of Islam After Uhud Allah promised

the Muslims that victory would soon be theirs again if they depended

solely 011 hini and rejected all accord ~vith the lion-hluslinls (Quran

3 149-15 1)

Ilie stark theological connection bet~veen victor and obedie~lce on

the one hand and defeat and tlisobedience on the other -as reinforced after

the hluslimsl victory at a later battle the Battle of the lrcnch in 627

h l ~ ~ h a ~ n m a d rcccied reelation that attributed tlic victor toagain a

411aIis super~iiltural inter ell tion 0-c 11-ho I)clic c Re~llcml~erL411alls

121 War is deceit

favor unto you whe11 there came against you hosts and We sent against

them a great wind and hosts ye could not see (Quran 333)

The deportation of the Banu Nadir Not long after the Battle of Uhud sollie members of a Jewish tribe the

Banu Nadir co~lspired to kill M ~ ~ h a r n m a d by dropping a large stone on his

head as he passed one of their houses Sorne Muslims learned of the plot

and warned Muhammad Rather than appealing to the Nadir leaders to

turn over the guilty men WIuhamrnad sent word to the Nadir Leave Iny

country and do not live ~vitll me You have intended treachery His mes-

senger vas Muhammad bin Maslarna (the killer of Kab bin Al-Ashraf) a

member of the AVS tribe of Medina with whom the Nadir liad formerly had

a covenant But when the men of the Nadir protested and invoked that

covenant Muhammad bin Maslarna replied Hearts have changed and

Islam has wiped out the old covenants

Abdullah bin U b a y and solue of the other Hypocrites urged the Ban11

Nadir not to go and pro~nised to come to their aid if attacked Reljing on

this the Nadir told Muhammad We will not leave our settlements so do

as you see fit With the displacement of respo~lsibility onto the enemy that

would become characteristic of jihad warriors throughout the ages

Muhammad told the Muslirns The Jews have declared war Allah gave

hi111 a revelation assuring him that the Hypocrites would prove just as false

to the Jews as they had to Muham~nad He promised the Prophet of Islarn

victory over the Nadir Had he not delivered victory over those who lately

preceded them the Qaynuqa Jews Allah would strike terror into the

Jews hearts Of a truth ye are stronger (than they) because of the terror in

their hearts (sent) by Allah (Quran 591 1-17) Ihe Prophet of Islam ordered his Muslims to march out against the

tribe and lay siege to them During the siege he ordered that the date

palms of the Ban11 Nadir be bur~lt^ Ihe Nadir sl~rprised asked him

Muhanlmad yo11 have prohibited anton destruction a11d hlamed those

122 THE TRUTH ABOUT MUHAMMAD

guilty of it Why then are you cutting dow11 and burning our palm-treesih

Allah justified Muha~nmads action in a nev reelation Whatsoeer

palm-trees ye cut down or left sta~iding on their roots it was by Allahs

leave in order that He nlight co~ifound the evil-livers (Quraii 5 9 5 )

Islamic apologists frequently cite Muhainmads prohibition against wanton

destruction-but dont ~nention Muha~n~nad s own violatio~l of this

decree and Allahs endorsement of the violatio~i

The siege of the Banu Nadir lasted two iveeks before they agreed to go

into exile M t ~ h a m ~ n a d allowed the Jews to carry ~vhat they could on their

camels but demanded that the turii over all veapoi~s~ Sonle of the Nadir

destroyed their on3n l i ~ u s e s ~ What the Jews couldnt carry with them

became Muharnmads personal propert) vhich he distributed as boob

among the muhajiroz~n the Muslims who had emigrated with hi111 from

Mecca to Medina He also kept some of it for his own expenses and for

preparing for flittire jihad vars as Umar later recounted The properties

abarldoned by Banu Nadir yere the ones ~vhich Allah bestowed up011 His

Apostle Ihese properties were particularly meant for the Holy Prophet

(may peace be up011 him) He wo111d meet the annual expenditure of his

family fro111 the income thereof and tvot~ld spend what remained for pur-

chasing horses and weapons as preparation for R l ~ ~ h a m m a dnas

well known as a illail of simple tastes he did not indulge ill lavish displays

live in sumptuot~s quarters or adorn himself i11 pomp and splendor I-Ie

spent as much as he could on jihad

In a revelation Allah told Muhammad that it was divine terror that had

defeated the Banu Nadir and that they were all bound for hell But the

(wrath of) Allah came to them froill quarters from which they little

expected (it) and cast terror into their hearts so that the destroyed their

dwellings by their ow11 hands and the hands of the Believers And had it

i ~ o tbeen that Allah had decreed banish~~ient for them l i e ivould certainl

have punished them in this ~vorld And in the hereafter they shall (cer-

tainly) have the punishlnent of tlie fire (Q~~r a r i 597-31

Ihe reniaining Jen-s of hledina $-ere nest to recei1e the urath of

hluham~ilad

120 THE TRUTH ABOUT M U H A M M A D

they ~liust die Nor can a soul die except by Allahs leac the ten11 being

fixed as by Lvriti~lg If any do desire a revard in this life Ve sllall give it to

him and if a11~ do desire a revard i11tlie Hereafter Me shall give it to liiln

And swiftl shall We re~vard those illat (serve us vith) gratitude (Quran

3145)

Allah reminded tlielil of his help for the luslims i l l the past and made

f~lture help dependent on their obedience Allah had helped -ou at Hadr

~vhenye vere a contemptible little force then fear Allah thus may ye shov

your gratitude Remember thou saidst to the Faithful Is it not enough for

you tliat Allah should help ou with three thol~sancl ansels (specially) sent

dov~i Yea if ye remain firm and act aright even if tlie enemy s h o ~ ~ l d

rush here on jZoui11 hot haste our Lord v o ~ ~ l d help ou vith fi1e thou-

sand angels making a terrific o~ls la~~gl l t (Q~lrall3 123-127)

Again a patter11 was set ivhen things go vrong for the hluslims hlus-

lim leaders inevitably insist it is because they are not Islamic enough In

1948 Sayyid Q~l th the great theorist of tlie hluslilii Brotherhood tlie first

~iiodeni Isla~nic terrorist group declared about the Isla~~lic vorld tliat ne

only have to look in order to see that our social sitllatioll is as bad as it can

be Yet ve colltinuall cast aside all our ovn spiritual heritage all our

i~itcllectual endowment and all tlie solutio~ls ~vl i ic l~ might Lvell be

revealed by a glance at these things ve cast aside our ovn fi~ndame~ital

pr i~~ci~gtlcsand doctrines and we bring in those of democracj or socialism

or c o r n m ~ ~ ~ i i s i n ~ In other cvords the only path to success is Islam and all

failures stem from the abandonment of Islam After Uhud Allah promised

the Muslims that victory would soon be theirs again if they depended

solely 011 hini and rejected all accord ~vith the lion-hluslinls (Quran

3 149-15 1)

Ilie stark theological connection bet~veen victor and obedie~lce on

the one hand and defeat and tlisobedience on the other -as reinforced after

the hluslimsl victory at a later battle the Battle of the lrcnch in 627

h l ~ ~ h a ~ n m a d rcccied reelation that attributed tlic victor toagain a

411aIis super~iiltural inter ell tion 0-c 11-ho I)clic c Re~llcml~erL411alls

121 War is deceit

favor unto you whe11 there came against you hosts and We sent against

them a great wind and hosts ye could not see (Quran 333)

The deportation of the Banu Nadir Not long after the Battle of Uhud sollie members of a Jewish tribe the

Banu Nadir co~lspired to kill M ~ ~ h a r n m a d by dropping a large stone on his

head as he passed one of their houses Sorne Muslims learned of the plot

and warned Muhammad Rather than appealing to the Nadir leaders to

turn over the guilty men WIuhamrnad sent word to the Nadir Leave Iny

country and do not live ~vitll me You have intended treachery His mes-

senger vas Muhammad bin Maslarna (the killer of Kab bin Al-Ashraf) a

member of the AVS tribe of Medina with whom the Nadir liad formerly had

a covenant But when the men of the Nadir protested and invoked that

covenant Muhammad bin Maslarna replied Hearts have changed and

Islam has wiped out the old covenants

Abdullah bin U b a y and solue of the other Hypocrites urged the Ban11

Nadir not to go and pro~nised to come to their aid if attacked Reljing on

this the Nadir told Muhammad We will not leave our settlements so do

as you see fit With the displacement of respo~lsibility onto the enemy that

would become characteristic of jihad warriors throughout the ages

Muhammad told the Muslirns The Jews have declared war Allah gave

hi111 a revelation assuring him that the Hypocrites would prove just as false

to the Jews as they had to Muham~nad He promised the Prophet of Islarn

victory over the Nadir Had he not delivered victory over those who lately

preceded them the Qaynuqa Jews Allah would strike terror into the

Jews hearts Of a truth ye are stronger (than they) because of the terror in

their hearts (sent) by Allah (Quran 591 1-17) Ihe Prophet of Islam ordered his Muslims to march out against the

tribe and lay siege to them During the siege he ordered that the date

palms of the Ban11 Nadir be bur~lt^ Ihe Nadir sl~rprised asked him

Muhanlmad yo11 have prohibited anton destruction a11d hlamed those

122 THE TRUTH ABOUT MUHAMMAD

guilty of it Why then are you cutting dow11 and burning our palm-treesih

Allah justified Muha~nmads action in a nev reelation Whatsoeer

palm-trees ye cut down or left sta~iding on their roots it was by Allahs

leave in order that He nlight co~ifound the evil-livers (Quraii 5 9 5 )

Islamic apologists frequently cite Muhainmads prohibition against wanton

destruction-but dont ~nention Muha~n~nad s own violatio~l of this

decree and Allahs endorsement of the violatio~i

The siege of the Banu Nadir lasted two iveeks before they agreed to go

into exile M t ~ h a m ~ n a d allowed the Jews to carry ~vhat they could on their

camels but demanded that the turii over all veapoi~s~ Sonle of the Nadir

destroyed their on3n l i ~ u s e s ~ What the Jews couldnt carry with them

became Muharnmads personal propert) vhich he distributed as boob

among the muhajiroz~n the Muslims who had emigrated with hi111 from

Mecca to Medina He also kept some of it for his own expenses and for

preparing for flittire jihad vars as Umar later recounted The properties

abarldoned by Banu Nadir yere the ones ~vhich Allah bestowed up011 His

Apostle Ihese properties were particularly meant for the Holy Prophet

(may peace be up011 him) He wo111d meet the annual expenditure of his

family fro111 the income thereof and tvot~ld spend what remained for pur-

chasing horses and weapons as preparation for R l ~ ~ h a m m a dnas

well known as a illail of simple tastes he did not indulge ill lavish displays

live in sumptuot~s quarters or adorn himself i11 pomp and splendor I-Ie

spent as much as he could on jihad

In a revelation Allah told Muhammad that it was divine terror that had

defeated the Banu Nadir and that they were all bound for hell But the

(wrath of) Allah came to them froill quarters from which they little

expected (it) and cast terror into their hearts so that the destroyed their

dwellings by their ow11 hands and the hands of the Believers And had it

i ~ o tbeen that Allah had decreed banish~~ient for them l i e ivould certainl

have punished them in this ~vorld And in the hereafter they shall (cer-

tainly) have the punishlnent of tlie fire (Q~~r a r i 597-31

Ihe reniaining Jen-s of hledina $-ere nest to recei1e the urath of

hluham~ilad

121 War is deceit

favor unto you whe11 there came against you hosts and We sent against

them a great wind and hosts ye could not see (Quran 333)

The deportation of the Banu Nadir Not long after the Battle of Uhud sollie members of a Jewish tribe the

Banu Nadir co~lspired to kill M ~ ~ h a r n m a d by dropping a large stone on his

head as he passed one of their houses Sorne Muslims learned of the plot

and warned Muhammad Rather than appealing to the Nadir leaders to

turn over the guilty men WIuhamrnad sent word to the Nadir Leave Iny

country and do not live ~vitll me You have intended treachery His mes-

senger vas Muhammad bin Maslarna (the killer of Kab bin Al-Ashraf) a

member of the AVS tribe of Medina with whom the Nadir liad formerly had

a covenant But when the men of the Nadir protested and invoked that

covenant Muhammad bin Maslarna replied Hearts have changed and

Islam has wiped out the old covenants

Abdullah bin U b a y and solue of the other Hypocrites urged the Ban11

Nadir not to go and pro~nised to come to their aid if attacked Reljing on

this the Nadir told Muhammad We will not leave our settlements so do

as you see fit With the displacement of respo~lsibility onto the enemy that

would become characteristic of jihad warriors throughout the ages

Muhammad told the Muslirns The Jews have declared war Allah gave

hi111 a revelation assuring him that the Hypocrites would prove just as false

to the Jews as they had to Muham~nad He promised the Prophet of Islarn

victory over the Nadir Had he not delivered victory over those who lately

preceded them the Qaynuqa Jews Allah would strike terror into the

Jews hearts Of a truth ye are stronger (than they) because of the terror in

their hearts (sent) by Allah (Quran 591 1-17) Ihe Prophet of Islam ordered his Muslims to march out against the

tribe and lay siege to them During the siege he ordered that the date

palms of the Ban11 Nadir be bur~lt^ Ihe Nadir sl~rprised asked him

Muhanlmad yo11 have prohibited anton destruction a11d hlamed those

122 THE TRUTH ABOUT MUHAMMAD

guilty of it Why then are you cutting dow11 and burning our palm-treesih

Allah justified Muha~nmads action in a nev reelation Whatsoeer

palm-trees ye cut down or left sta~iding on their roots it was by Allahs

leave in order that He nlight co~ifound the evil-livers (Quraii 5 9 5 )

Islamic apologists frequently cite Muhainmads prohibition against wanton

destruction-but dont ~nention Muha~n~nad s own violatio~l of this

decree and Allahs endorsement of the violatio~i

The siege of the Banu Nadir lasted two iveeks before they agreed to go

into exile M t ~ h a m ~ n a d allowed the Jews to carry ~vhat they could on their

camels but demanded that the turii over all veapoi~s~ Sonle of the Nadir

destroyed their on3n l i ~ u s e s ~ What the Jews couldnt carry with them

became Muharnmads personal propert) vhich he distributed as boob

among the muhajiroz~n the Muslims who had emigrated with hi111 from

Mecca to Medina He also kept some of it for his own expenses and for

preparing for flittire jihad vars as Umar later recounted The properties

abarldoned by Banu Nadir yere the ones ~vhich Allah bestowed up011 His

Apostle Ihese properties were particularly meant for the Holy Prophet

(may peace be up011 him) He wo111d meet the annual expenditure of his

family fro111 the income thereof and tvot~ld spend what remained for pur-

chasing horses and weapons as preparation for R l ~ ~ h a m m a dnas

well known as a illail of simple tastes he did not indulge ill lavish displays

live in sumptuot~s quarters or adorn himself i11 pomp and splendor I-Ie

spent as much as he could on jihad

In a revelation Allah told Muhammad that it was divine terror that had

defeated the Banu Nadir and that they were all bound for hell But the

(wrath of) Allah came to them froill quarters from which they little

expected (it) and cast terror into their hearts so that the destroyed their

dwellings by their ow11 hands and the hands of the Believers And had it

i ~ o tbeen that Allah had decreed banish~~ient for them l i e ivould certainl

have punished them in this ~vorld And in the hereafter they shall (cer-

tainly) have the punishlnent of tlie fire (Q~~r a r i 597-31

Ihe reniaining Jen-s of hledina $-ere nest to recei1e the urath of

hluham~ilad

122 THE TRUTH ABOUT MUHAMMAD

guilty of it Why then are you cutting dow11 and burning our palm-treesih

Allah justified Muha~nmads action in a nev reelation Whatsoeer

palm-trees ye cut down or left sta~iding on their roots it was by Allahs

leave in order that He nlight co~ifound the evil-livers (Quraii 5 9 5 )

Islamic apologists frequently cite Muhainmads prohibition against wanton

destruction-but dont ~nention Muha~n~nad s own violatio~l of this

decree and Allahs endorsement of the violatio~i

The siege of the Banu Nadir lasted two iveeks before they agreed to go

into exile M t ~ h a m ~ n a d allowed the Jews to carry ~vhat they could on their

camels but demanded that the turii over all veapoi~s~ Sonle of the Nadir

destroyed their on3n l i ~ u s e s ~ What the Jews couldnt carry with them

became Muharnmads personal propert) vhich he distributed as boob

among the muhajiroz~n the Muslims who had emigrated with hi111 from

Mecca to Medina He also kept some of it for his own expenses and for

preparing for flittire jihad vars as Umar later recounted The properties

abarldoned by Banu Nadir yere the ones ~vhich Allah bestowed up011 His

Apostle Ihese properties were particularly meant for the Holy Prophet

(may peace be up011 him) He wo111d meet the annual expenditure of his

family fro111 the income thereof and tvot~ld spend what remained for pur-

chasing horses and weapons as preparation for R l ~ ~ h a m m a dnas

well known as a illail of simple tastes he did not indulge ill lavish displays

live in sumptuot~s quarters or adorn himself i11 pomp and splendor I-Ie

spent as much as he could on jihad

In a revelation Allah told Muhammad that it was divine terror that had

defeated the Banu Nadir and that they were all bound for hell But the

(wrath of) Allah came to them froill quarters from which they little

expected (it) and cast terror into their hearts so that the destroyed their

dwellings by their ow11 hands and the hands of the Believers And had it

i ~ o tbeen that Allah had decreed banish~~ient for them l i e ivould certainl

have punished them in this ~vorld And in the hereafter they shall (cer-

tainly) have the punishlnent of tlie fire (Q~~r a r i 597-31

Ihe reniaining Jen-s of hledina $-ere nest to recei1e the urath of

hluham~ilad