Muhammad: A Torturer
(From: Understanding Muhammad)
Ibn Ishaq (pronounced Isaac), the first
biographer of Muhammad narrates the story of the conquest of Kheibar.
He reports that Muhammad, without warning, raided this fortress town,
inhabited by Jews and killed many unarmed people as they were fleeing.
Among those captured was Kinana. He writes:
Kinana al-Rabi, who had the custody of the
treasure of Banu Nadir, was brought to the apostle who asked him about
it. He denied that he knew
where it was. A Jew came (Tabari
says �was brought�) to the apostle and said that he had seen
Kinana going to a certain ruin every morning early. When the apostle
said to Kinana, �Do you know that if we find you have it (the
treasure) I shall kill you?� He
said, �Yes.� The
apostle gave orders that the ruin was to be excavated and some of the
treasure was found. When he asked him about the rest (of the
treasure?) he refused to produce it, so the apostle gave orders to al-Zubayr
Al-Awwam, �Torture him until you extract what he has.� So
he kindled a fire with flint and steel on his chest until he was
nearly dead. Then the
apostle delivered him to Muhammad b. Maslama and he struck off his
head, in revenge for his brother Mahmud.
On the same day that Muhammad tortured to death
the youthful Kinana, he took his seventeen year old wife Safiya to a
tent for sexual intercourse.
In another story Bukhari reports:
Anas said, "Some people of 'Ukl or 'Uraina
tribe came to
Medina
and its climate did not suit them. So the Prophet ordered them to go
to the herd of (Milch) camels and to drink their milk and urine (as a
medicine). So they went as directed and after they became healthy,
they killed the shepherd of the Prophet and drove away all the camels.
The news reached the Prophet early in the morning and he sent (men) in
their pursuit and they were captured and brought at noon. He then
ordered to cut their hands and feet (and it was done), and their eyes
were branded with heated pieces of iron, They were put in 'Al-Harra'
and when they asked for water, no water was given to them." Abu
Qilaba said, "Those people committed theft and murder, became
infidels after embracing Islam and fought against Allah and His
Apostle." Bukhari 1.4.234
Another hadith says, �He [Muhammad] had
their hands and feet cut off, ordered nails which were heated and
passed over their eyes, and they were left in a rocky land to die
slowly. Anas said that
they asked for water, and nobody provided them with water till they
died. Bukhari 4.02.261
These Arabs had committed murder and
theft and had to be punished, but why this much torture? Wasn�t
Muhammad doing exactly the same things? Where did Muhammad get his
camels? Weren�t they
stolen? Didn�t he raid
and kill people to loot them?
This double standard is what has
characterized the Muslim world since its inception. The
concept of the Golden Rule and fairness is absent in the psyche of the
Muslims. They demand all
privileges in non-Muslim countries, while they deny the basic human
rights to non-Muslims in countries where they are the majority. They
sincerely believe this is how things should be.
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