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10 The Sixth Year.

-A.D. 627, 628

 

In the sixth year of Hajira Muhammad undertook sixteen or seventeen marauding expeditions. This was a time that he targeted small villages and caravans for the sole purpose of stealing and taking their flock and herds. These robberies sanctioned by Allah and his messenger, enriched the believers and added to their fervor and zeal. Their success in razing helpless populations and coming back victoriously with their wealth was to them the confirmation of divine assistance which raised the statute of terror of the new potentate. These are tiresome tales of robberies, plunders and reprisals that are of more historic interest than the purview of this book.

 

Among these raids was the plunder of a rich caravan that the Quriash had ventured to send off by the seashore route to Syria . Muhammad sent 170 men to intercept it. They caught with it when the caravan had reached Al Is. The whole caravan was plundered and the guards were taken as prisoners.

One of the prisoners was Abul Aas, the husband of Zeinab, one of the daughters of Muhammad. This is a love story that deserves to be mentioned, not just for its tenderness but also to highlight the brutality of Muhammad and how he tried to destroy it. Abul Aus was a well do businessman and Zeinab’s cousin from Khadijah’s side. When Muhammad declared himself to be a prophet, Abul Aas declined to embrace his cause. However his love for Zeinab was such that when the Quraish offered him any of their daughters if he divorced the daughter of Muhammad, his response was:  "I will not separate from my wife; neither do I desire any other woman from amongst your daughters".

The attachment was mutual, for when Muhammad and the rest of his family emigrated to Medina Zeinab stayed behind along side her husband.

A few years earlier at the Battle of Badr Abu Ass was taken prisoner. When Muhammad demanded ransom to free the hostages, Zeinab sent whatever she had including a necklace that was given to her by Khadijah. Upon seeing that necklace the heart of the heatless tyrant was touched and addressing his marauding men he said, “If it is okay with you, let my daughter's husband go free, and send back these things unto her." All agreed to this and the prisoner was set free. As a condition of his freedom, Muhammad asked him to send Zeinab to Medina .

Note that other prisoners also had families who cared for them and sent whatever they had to ransom them. But Muhammad’s tender feelings were reserved only for his own kit and kin and not for others. Moreover, according to the law set by robbers and marauders only 20% of the money collected in ransoming the prisoners would go to the chief and the rest belongs to the marauding gang. Muhammad pleads with his men to let go of their portion of the ransom money instead of paying them off form the share that he collected from the rest of the booty. The sycophant followers of the emerging potentate were more than willing to appease their chief in whatever he desired.

After his return to Mecca and in compliance to his pledge, Abul Aas made arrangement to send his beloved and pregnant wife to Mecca . He instructed his brother Kinana to accompany her in the trip. A couple of ruffians, one going by the name of Habbar and other possibly Huweirith from the Mecca chased the party and struck Zeinab’s camel with a spear. This sudden attack affrighted Zeinab so much that caused her to lose her child in a miscarriage. Kinana reacted swiftly. He made the camel sit down and promptly reaches his bow and quiver, and the assailants run away. Upon their return Abu Sofian reproved Kinana for announcing publicly of his mission, and advised him to stay in Mecca for a few days until things calm down and then go. He adds “The open departure of Muhammad’s daughter will be accounted as proof of our weakness and humiliation. But we have no intention to keep back this woman from her father, or to retaliate on her for what her father did to us. Stay then, for a little while in Mecca , and when this excitement shall have died away, then set out secretly." Acting upon Abu Sofian’s advice they delayed the trip for a few more days and after that they set secretly to Medina this time accompanied by Zeid ibn Harith, the adopted son of Muhammad.

It is noteworthy to compare Abu Sofian’s magnanimity and generosity of spirit with Muhammad’s pettiness and cruelty. While the man who claimed to be the prophet of the Merciful was engaged in raiding caravans, taking people, including women and children as hostages, killing his prisoners, selling them as slaves or demanding ransom for their release, his opponents, those whom he berated as “ignorant” and idolaters, were above these dastardly acts of inhumanity. They proved to be far more compassionate and gracious than the man who claimed to be the “mercy of God to all the creatures”.

In fact  Habbar and Huweirith who were implicated in this cowardly attack against a pregnant woman received wild condemnation from the citizens of Mecca , including Hind, the wife of Abu Sofian and the mortal enemy of Muhammad who is reported to have reviled the dastardly act of these two ruffians and have composed these verses said: “Ah! in time of peace ye are very brave and fierce against the weak and unprotected, but in the battle ye are like women with gentle speeches”. [Hishami 234; K. Waqidi, 116]

Compare that to the sentiments of Muslims under the influence of Islam. Entire villages were raided, men massacred and women and children enslaved and raped. Yes we are to believe that the Arabs prior to Islam were “ignorant” and what Muhammad brought to them was “guidance”.

When Abul Aas was made a prisoner of Muhammad for the second time, he, along with other hostages was taken to Medina . Zeinab was informed and she managed to visit him and contrived to release him by night. In the morning when people began to congregate for their prayer in the Mosque, she called out aloud from her window and announced that she had given protection to Abul Aas. Upon hearing this, Muhammad addressed the worshipers and said “You heard the words of my daughter. I swear by Him in whose hands is my life, that I knew nothing of her guarantee until this moment. But the pledge of even the least of my followers must be respected." Thus Abul Aus got a lease for life for the second time.

Muhammad of course was not telling the truth. He massacred the entire population of the Bani Quraizah despite the fact that all the Muslims of Aus wanted to protect them. He had no compassions for those who were not related to him or whom he could not manipulate.

Muhammad then  addressed the captors of Abul Aas reminding them of his ties with him and said: "If you treat him well, and return his property unto him, it would be pleasing to me; but if not, the booty is yours, which the Lord hath given into your hands, and it is your right to keep the same." They, of course consented to set the prisoner free, and to restitute his stolen property.

These gestures of generosity of Muhammad were only reserved to his own kin. People who were not related to him were always dealt with brutally and mercilessly.  

However, after setting him free, Muhammad told Abul Aus that if he wanted to have Zeinab as his wife, he should convert to Islam otherwise he must leave. Abul Aas had no choice but to either forgo his love or feign to profess Islam in order to rejoin his beloved wife. The coercion worked and finally love overcame all other constraints. He promised to return to Mecca and after attending to his business there come back, embrace Islam and reunite with his wife. However his conjugal happiness was short lived, for Zeinab died after one year. Her death is said to have been caused by the complications resulted from her miscarriage a few years earlier. 

Stories like this reveal to us the secret of Muhammad’s success. We see him as a single mined and relentless man. He was ready to sacrifice anyone and anything to achieve his ambitious goal of domination. He needed everyone to bow for him and submit to his bogus claims and hold him with highest esteem as the messenger of the only God.

His obstinacy was the sign of his narcissistic pathological disorder; a trait that he shared with other highly disturbed and highly successful narcissist such as Hitler, Stalin, Idi Amin, Mao, Pol Pot and Saddam. But ironically it is this pathological disorder that is the reason of success of these sick individuals. In the chapter dedicated to Muhammad’s psychological analysis I shall discuss this point in more detail.  

The death of Zeinab left Muhammad distraught. He vowed to revenge her death and kill the couple who were responsible for her miscarriage. When he attacked Mecca , he ordered his men to capture and burn the two men alive. However at night he reconsidered and his order saying burning by fire is the prerogative of Allah and that the culprits should be put to death by decapitation. This honor fell in the lot of Ali who was by now the expert in beheading and the official butcher of the new religion.

 

The chastisement of Bani Judham October.627.

On his way back to Madinah, Dihyah Al-Kalbi was intercepted by people from Judham tribe in Hasmi, who looted the presents sent to the Prophet [pbuh]. Zaid bin Haritha at the head of five hundred men was despatched to that spot, inflicted heavy losses on those people and captured 1000 camels, 5000 of their cattle and a hundred women and boys. The chief of Judham who had embraced Islam filed a complaint with the Prophet, who gave a positive response to the former’s protest, and ordered that all the spoils and captives be returned.

In the year 627, Muhammad sent Dihya Al Kalabi as messenger to a governor of Syria perhaps to talk about trade. He was received courteously but on his way back. He was plundered at Hisma, by a group of bandits from Bani Judham. Dihya complained to a neighboring tribe and they compelled the robbers to return the spoils and restored it to him intact. Once Muhammad heard of the robbery, he found an immediate excuse to raid another place. He dispatched Zaid with five hundred men ostensibly to retaliate, despite the fact that no harm had been done and the stolen goods were restored. The army did not go to find and chastise the delinquents but to take revenge on the entire population, to rob all of them and to make more slaves for the growing empire or Muhammad.

The army traveled by night and concealed themselves during the day until they reached Bani Judham and then they fell on their victims unexpectedly. The concept of chivalry was alien to this marauding chief. Muhammad knew that he would get the best results if his victims were taken by surprise. The Muslim warriors of Allah rode into the town when everyone had gone after their daily business, and after killing several of them, including their chief, they carried off a hundred of their women and children, with a great collection of herds and flocks.(1000 camels, 5000 of their cattle and a hundred women and boys.)

This was a tribe with which Muhammad had signed a treaty. Even though a few thugs from them had plundered one of Muhammad’s men, they had restored all the stolen goods and had left him unscathed. There was no justification for this action of Muhammad. Another chief of the same tribe who according to some historians had embraced Islam hastened to Medina and  while the Muslims were busy looting the town he met with Muhammad in the Mosque he produced the treaty that he had signed with him demanding Justice in front of his followers. Little Muhammad could say to justify this ignominious act. “But how can I compensate you for those that have been slain?" Said the Prophet. “Release the living,” Responded the chief. Muhammad must have judged the delicate situation. It was obvious that the motivation for this raid was nothing but greed, but at the same time he had to preserve his position of respect among his followers who were not watching to see what would be his reaction. He had broken many treaties but for each he had found and excuse and a justification. In this case there were none. Assessing the situation and to save face was left with no other option but to acknowledged the justice of the demand, and instructed Ali to reach Zaid and order the restoration and hence the prisoners and booty were returned to the chief.

 

Expedition to Duma. November, 627

The raid of Bani Judzam took place in October.627. In the November of the same year Muhammad dispatched Abd al Rahtnan with seven hundred men, on a second expedition to Jandal. These were a Christian tribe and the order was to call them to Islam first and give them three days to make their minds, however, if they declined, then to attack them and subdue them. This time the Mercy of God for all the creatures showed great magnanimity and instructed his men not to kill any child nor use deceit or perfidy. Naturally there was no need for deceit because the Muslims were a powerful army and the poor citizens had little hope to withstand their onslaught.

Al Asbagh, a Christian chief of the Bani Kalb, felt resistance is futile and pledged his adhesion to Islam. Many followed suit. Others preferred to keep their faith and pay the Jiyah. This is how Islam spread among most of the cities of Arabia “peacefully”. It is peacefully because the victims had not choice but to surrender and fight would have meant certain death.

 

The Bani Fezara Dec. A.D. 627

After a few raids Zeid ibn Harith headed a mercantile expedition carrying goods from many citizens to barter in Syria . The caravan was cut off near Wadi al Qora, seven marches from Medina , and plundered by the Bani Fezara and Zeid received some wounds. When he recovered, Muhammad sent him with a strong army to chastise the robbers. Zeid approached, as usual, stealthily, and falling on his enemies by complete surprise, he captured their stronghold at once. 

Omm Kirfa, was the mistress of this fortress. She was taken prisoner with her daughter. Zeid ordered each leg of this old woman be tied to a separate camel and then the camels were driven in two different directions. Omm Kirfa was thus torn asunder and her two young sons were also put to death. On his return when he gave the account of his murderous acts to Muhammad, the prophet was so overjoyed that kissed him and approved the inhumanity of his adoptive son in murdering in an old woman in such horrendous way. Her young daughter became the share of Muhammad who presented her to one of his followers. They Bani Fezara had committed theft. But wasn’t this exactly how Muhammad and his followers earned their living?

After Muhammad had expelled the Jews of Bani Nadir from Median, a party of them had headed north and settled in Kheibar. Muhammad had already assassinated two of their chiefs, Ka’b ibn Ashraf and Huyay ibn Akhtab. The new chief was Abul Huckeick (also called Sallam and Abu Rafi) aided the confederates who besieged Medina . Muhammad suspected that he was inciting the Bani Fezara and other Bedouin tribes in their hostility against the Muslims.

Ali headed an expedition of a hundred men to fight the Bani Sad ibn Bakr, whom were accused of being in cahoots with the Jews of Kheibar. However, what they did nothing but to rob their camels and flock and bring back a rich booty. This plunder took place in November. K.Waqidi, 117

But Muhammad desired that Abu Rafi be assassinated. This story is told by Ibn Ishaq.

 

The Assassination of Sallam Ibn Abu'l-Huqayq (Abu Rafi) December, A.D. 627

“When the fight at the trench and the affair of the B. Quraizah were over, the matter of Sallam b. Abu'l-Huqayq known as Abu Rafi` came up in connation with those who had collected the mixed tribes together against the apostle. Now Aus had killed Ka`b b. al-Ashraf before Uhud because of his enmity towards the apostle and because he instigated men against him, so Khazraj asked and obtained the apostle's permission to kill Sallam who was in Khaybar.

Muhammad b. Muslim b. Shihab al-Zuhri from `Abdullah b. Ka`b b. Malik told me: One of the things which God did for His apostle was that these two tribes of the Ansar, Aus and Khazraj, competed the one with the other like two stallions: if Aus did anything to the apostle's advantage Khazraj would say, "They shall not have this superiority over us in the apostle's eyes and in Islam" and they would not rest until they could do something similar. If Khazraj did anything Aus would say the same.

When Aus had killed Ka'b for his enmity towards the apostle, Khazraj used these words and asked themselves what man was as hostile to the apostle as Ka'b? And then they remembered Sallam, who was in Khaybar and asked and obtained the apostle's permission to kill him.

Five men of B.Salima of Khazraj went to him: 'Abdullah b.`Atik; Mas`ud b. Sinan; `Abdullah b. Unays; Abu Qatada al-Harith b. Rib'i; and Khuza`i b. Aswad, an ally from Aslam. As they left, the apostle appointed `Abdullah b.`Atik as their leader, and he forbade them to kill women or children. When they got to Khaybar they went to Sallam's house by night, having locked every door in the settlement on the inhabitants. Now he was in an upper chamber of his to which a ladder led up. They mounted this until they came to the door and asked to be allowed to come in. His wife came out and asked who they were and they told her that they were Arabs in search of supplies. She told them that their man was here and that they could come in. When we entered we bolted the door of the room on her and ourselves fearing lest something should come between us and him. His wife shrieked and warned him of us, so we ran at him with our swords as he was on his bed. The only thing that guided us in the darkness of the night was his whiteness like an Egyptian blanket. When his wife shrieked one of our number would lift his sword against her; then he would remember the apostle's ban on killing women and withdraw his hand; but for that we would have made an end of her that night. When we had smitten him with our swords `Abdullah b. Unays bore down with his sword into his belly until it went right through him, as he was saying Qatni, qatni, i.e. it's enough.

We went out. Now `Abdullah b.`Atik had poor sight, and fell from the ladder and sprained his arm (729) severely, so we carried him until we brought him to one of their water channels and went into it. The people lit lamps and went in search of us in all directions until, despairing of finding us, they returned to their master and gathered round him as he was dying. We asked each other how we could know that the enemy of God was dead, and one of us volunteered to go and see; so off he went and mingled with the people. He said, "I found his wife and some Jews gathered round him. She had a lamp in her hand and was peering into his face and saying to them 'By God, I certainly heard the voice of `Abdullah b.`Atik. Then I decided I must be wrong and thought, "How can Ibn`Atik be in this country?"' Then she turned towards him, looking into his face, and said, 'By the God of the Jews he is dead!' Never have I heard sweeter words than those."

Then he came to us and told us the news, and we picked up our companion and took him to the apostle and told him that we had killed God's enemy. We disputed before him as to who had killed him, each of us laying claim to the deed. The apostle demanded to see our swords and when he looked at them he said, "It is the sword of `Abdullah b. Unays that killed him; I can see traces of food on it"

Siratu'l Rasul, vs. 714-715

After accomplishing their mission, the assassins hid themselves in caves until the pursuit was over and then rushed to their prophet to convey the good news. When Muhammad who was awaiting their return anxiously saw them approaching, he exclaimed, "Success attend you!" ---- "And thee, O Prophet!" they replied. Then the holy Prophet listened to the details of the gruesome murder with gusto and upon examining their weapons decided who should be honored most for killing  Abu'l-Huqayq

After this cowardly assassination, Hassan b. Thabit the official poet of Muhammad rejoiced the killing of Ka`b and Sallam and wrote:

God, what a fine band you met,
O Ibnu'l-Huqayq and Ibnu'l-Ashraf!
They went to you with sharp swords,
Brisk as lions in a tangled thicket,
Until they came on you in your dwelling
And made you drink death with their swift-slaying swords,
Despising every risk of hurt.

 

These shameful stories of pusillanimous treachery and of terror and crime are recounted for the young Muslims to stir their zest and devotion to the cause of Islam.

 

Those who still wonder why Muslims are drowned to violence, and terrorism, must read these stories in order to understand the source of terrorism in Islam. These tales may disgust, shock and nauseate an average reader, but these very stories inspire the Muslims and are examples of faith and devotion for them to follow. 

 

The slaying of Oseir ibn Zarim  January, A.D. 628.

 

After the assassination of Abu'l-Huqayq the Jews elected Oseir ibn Zarim as their new chief. Muhammad deputed Abdullah ibn Rawaha, a leader of the Bani Khazraj, to get rid of him too. But the Jews were too alert to allow intruders among themselves. So Muhammad devised a different stratagem.

He dispatched another person, Abdullah ibn Oneis accompanied by thirty men to deceive Oseir. Mounted on their camels and upon reaching Kheibar the Muslims asked for an audience. In their meeting, they were cordial and declared that they have been sent by the Prophet to invite Oseir to visit Medina . They said Muhammad intended to make him ruler over Kheibar and assured him that as a gust of honor he would be treated with respect and solemnly pledged his safety and that of those who would accompany him. After some deliberation Oseir accepted the invitation. Thirty men volunteered to accompany him. Each Muslim taking one of them behind him on his camel with Oseir riding on the camel of Abdullah and the party head off towards Medina . After some distance Abdullah ibn Oneis signaled the Muslims and all of them suddenly attacked and murdered the Jews riding behind them. Abdullah himself leaped and aimed a deadly blow at Oseir. Oseir fell from the camel mortally wounded but on falling he managed to wound the head of Abdullah with the camel staff, the only weapon available to him at the time.

Abdullah ibn Oneis, later narrated that he felt Oseir was reaching for his (Abdulah’s) sword and fearing treachery acted first and killed his unfortunate travel companion.

Is this claim believable? We know that Muhammad had already assassinated Abu'l-Huqayq and his original intention was assassinate Oseir. It makes no sense to believe that he had suddenly had changed his mind to the extent that wanted to depute him as the ruler.

Abdullah’s version of the story is of course unlikely. Had the Jews wanted to kill the Muslims, they had ample opportunity to do that when the Muslims had gone to their town. These men were unarmed. They had no need to carry their arms as they were give guarantees for their safety and had been invited officially as guests of honor. The fact that no Muslim was harmed while all the Jews were murdered is proof that the Jews not only were unarmed but also were taken by surprise. 

The reason Muslims decided to slay the Jews before reaching Medina is also clear. After all Muhammad was too keen to keep the appearances of a just ruler. This act of treachery would have reflected poorly on the image conscious dictator. Hence in a typical Islamic fashion Muslims committed the heinous act of murder through treachery and blamed at once their victims. Committing the crime and accusing the victim for it is a tradition set by Muhammad that Muslims follow meticulously up to this day. That is why the majority of Muslims immediately pointed their fingers at the Jews and CIA after the tragedy of 9/11. Blaming the victim for their own crimes for Muslims is absolutely normal and part of the game of deceit. It is important to understand that Muslims are not bound by the same norms that hold down others. They are convinced that Allah has rendered them free from all constraints and their values are distinct. Muslims think differently and their world is a world apart. It is a world incomprehensible to non Muslims. It is a world so evil that the rest of the world is taken by surprise as no one can imagine a religion professed by over a billion people could be this evil.

Islam owes its success to this confusion and disbelief. The unfortunate chief of the Kheibar, could not have imagined that an official invitation and so much solemn guarantees by someone claiming to be the prophet of God and acting as the head of a state be so vacuous. If the opponents of Muhammad had any idea of the magnitude of evil that this man represented, they would not have been defeated. Human mind is not equipped to handle this much malevolence. Throughout the history it has been always this inability of the non-Muslims to fathom the enormity of the evil of Islam that has contributed to their defeat and the triumph of Islam.

 

Make no mistake. Islam has not changed. The Islam of today is the same Islam brought by Muhammad 1400 years ago. The Muslims’ mind is not changed either. If the humanity fails to grasp the magnitude of this evil today, it would do that to its own detriment. Jews as well as the Arabs, failed to see the enormity of the evil that emanated from the soul of Muhammad. Hence they succumbed, perished or got assimilated. Soon after that, the mighty empires of Persia , Egypt , Rome and India fell under the supremacy of this evil. They were all taken off guard, failing to gauge the enormity of the evil of Islam and underestimating its portent. Today is no different; just like 1400 years ago it would be a terrible mistake to underrate the power of evil inherent in Islam.

After murdering the Jews the party continued their journey to Medina , and reported their victory to Muhammad, who gave thanks and said, - “Verily, the Lord has delivered you from an Unrighteous People.”

What did righteousness meant for him and how Muslims understand this word today? When Muslims talk about “righteousness” they do not mean the same thing you understand by it. Righteousness for Muslims does not mean morally upright, without guilt or sin. In the sight of Muslims righteous is one who obeys Allah and his messenger. Therefore murder, assassination and all crimes are righteous deeds if they are done for the cause of Allah and in accordance to the mandates of his prophet. Good and bad are all relative terms. Man cannot know the difference between good and evil solely relaying on his conscience. It is only Allah and his messenger that can tell him that.

 

This concept of “Allah knows best” is ratified in the Quran. Surah 18:60-82 contains a fable regarding Moses and a certain character called Khadir that according to Muhammad was wiser than him. In this tale Moses accompanies Khadir to learn his divine wisdom and witnesses certain things that to Moses seem horrendous. For example they find a boat and Khathir scuttles it; then they meet an innocent lad and Khadir slays, etc. Moses is horrified of these acts and is perplexed why Khadir would commit such things. Then Khadir explains that behind all his seemingly unreasonable and unjust actions there was wisdom hidden to Moses. He explains that the boat “belonged to certain men in dire want: they plied on the water: I but wished to render it unserviceable, for there was after them a certain king who seized on every boat by force.” (18:79) “As for the youth, his parents were people of Faith, and we feared that he would grieve them by obstinate rebellion and ingratitude (to Allah and man). So we desired that their Lord would give them in exchange (a son) better in purity (of conduct) and closer in affection. (18: 80, 81).

The moral of this asinine story is that man is unable to understand the divine intelligence and therefore must not question the actions of the messenger of Allah who is endowed with divine wisdom and knows things that man does not know.

With this kind of mental conditioning, Muslims stop questioning the actions of their prophet. They are convinced that all the murders, assassinations and even rapes committed by Muhammad were divinely ordained and even though the logics of these actions eludes them, there is indeed wisdom behind everything Muhammad did and Allah and his messenger know best.

This explains why Muslims are not bothered when they read about the horrendous crimes perpetrated by Muhammad. It is not that they think rape, murder, treason, or assassinations are not bad. It is only when they are to judge Muhammad’s actions that all values disintegrate. The messenger of God is the one who sets the standard. His actions should not be judged by the fallible human intelligence but they must be measured according to the divine wisdom. The divine wisdom is what he says and does. With this circular reasoning, the believers are unable to judge the actions of their prophet and condemn it. The only way to overcome this mental blockade is to make them see that Muhammad was not a messenger of God but a liar and an impostor. This might be a hard pill to swallow but the only pill that can save them from this madness and save the world from its doom.

 

Robbers of Uraina

 

During this time a group of eight tribes men of Uraina came to Medina and pledged their allegiance to Islam. The humid weather of Medina did not suit them and so Muhammad told them to follow his shepherd in the desert and drink the milk and urine of the camel as medicine to get better. When out of reach the men killed the shepherd and took off with the herd of the camels. When the story reached Muhammad, he was so furious. He sent a group of his followers to find them and bring them back. The thieves were caught and brought back to Muhammad who ordered their eyes be burned with hot iron and their hands and legs be cut off, and the trunk of their bodies be left in the desert under the sun until they die.  

Bukhari Volume 5, Book 59, Number 505:
Narrated Anas:
Some people of the tribe of 'Ukl and 'Uraina arrived at Medina to meet the Prophet and embraced Islam and said, "O Allah's Prophet! We are the owners of milch livestock (i.e. bedouins) and not farmers (i.e. countrymen)." They found the climate of Medina unsuitable for them. So Allah's Apostle ordered that they should be provided with some milch camels and a shepherd and ordered them to go out of Medina and to drink the camels' milk and urine (as medicine) So they set out and when they reached Al-Harra, they reverted to Heathenism after embracing Islam, and killed the shepherd of the Prophet and drove away the camels. When this news reached the Prophet, he sent some people in pursuit of them. (So they were caught and brought back to the Prophet ). The Prophet gave his orders in their concern. So their eyes were branded with pieces of iron and their hands and legs were cut off and they were left away in Harra till they died in that state of theirs. (See Hadith 234 Vol 1)

This is not a medical book and we leave the discussion of the therapeutic characteristic of the camel urine to the experts. If Muslims think the urine of camel is a remedy to their ailments, let them drink of. What matters to us here is the nature of the punishment that Muhammad meted against these wretched thieves. There is no doubt that what these Bedouins had done was dishonorable and they had to be brought to justice. The question is however that they did nothing that Muhammad and his marauding gang were not doing already. In fact when Muhammad came to Medina he had no camels. All his camels were stolen and he and his men had killed people to steal the camels. So if killing people and stealing the herds was a crime why Muhammad was doing the same?

Nearly 700 years before Muhammad commit these heinous crimes, Marcus Tullius Cicero wrote: “Let the punishment match the offence.” Did the punishment of these men match their offence? They had killed a man treacherously and they were ungrateful to their host. Let us say all the eight of them merited death for that; but did they have to be killed in such barbarous way? It is in stories such as these that we get a glimpse of the psychopathic mind of Muhammad and realize that he was insane. The exasperation of Muhammad for the ingratitude or these Bedouins is justifiable. However, the mode of punishment inflicted on those poor souls is no means justifiable. Especially when we see this was exactly the kind of life that he and his followers were conducting.

These are all telltales to the character of Muhammad and can be used in our psychological analysis of his state of mind.

The severity of the punishment must have left the Muslims confounded and Muhammad must have sensed that he had overstepped the bounds of humanity to the extent that even his savage followers could hardly brook. Accordingly he pronounced a Revelation in which capital punishment was limiting to beheading and crucifixion. However amputation of hands and feet as a form of penalty was enjoined.

”As to the thief, Male or female, cut off his or her hands: a punishment by way of example, from Allah, for their crime: and Allah is Exalted in power. [Quran 4:38]

And for disbelievers the punishment was the severest. 

“The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter;” [5:33]

 

Hudaibia.

March, A.D. 628.

 

By the end of the sixth year of Hjirah Muhammad decided to go for pilgrimage to Ka’ba. He said that he had a dream which he and his followers had entered the city with no obstruction and had performed the lesser pilgrimage of Umrah. Of course if he was successful, this would have been a political victory for him because in this way he would flouted the Meccans and which would have given him more prestige and credibility among the Arabs.

 

It might seem strange that Muhammad would dare to go to Mecca despite the fact that he had declared war on them, had plundered their caravans and had killed many of their noblemen.  Why would he feel so confident that he and his men would not be put to death once in Mecca ? Muhammad was not the kind of person that would put his life in danger. The answer is that despite the fact that he had killed many people treacherously and had used deceit and sudden raids to defeat his opponents, he trusted the Meccans to be honorable people. We saw when he and Abu Bakr escaped to Medina , both of them left behind their families who joined them later unobstructed. We also saw that Zeinab, his daughter stayed behind for several years and when at his behest was forced to leave Mecca and was assaulted on the way by a couple of ruffians, the whole population of Mecca was outraged.

 

Arabs regarded a few months of the year as sacred. During these months they used to put aside all hostilities and refrained from spilling blood. We saw how Muhammad desecrated this ancient tradition when he sent his men to Nakhlah with the secret mission of robbing the Quraish’s lightly guarded merchant Caravan on its way to Taif a few years earlier.

 

Meccans were more honorable than the Prophet and they were reluctant to kill during these months. Muhammad was aware of that. He knew that during the sacred months he would not be hurt. So when the month of Dhil-Qa'dah arrived, he summoned his men and told them to prepare for the lesser pilgrimage of Umrah. 1500 men responded. Other Bedouin tribes were also called but they did not go. Those who accompanied him carried their arms and their sacrificial animals and set off towards Mecca . When they got closer, they shaved their heads and cut their hairs and wrapped themselves in their two piece pilgrim cloth and approached the town.

 

The reader may recall that at Nakhlah Muhammad’s men also had put on the rope of pilgrimage and had shaved their heads to fool the guards. But after deceiving them had suddenly attacked them, killed one of them and plundered the caravan while taking other guards as hostage.  The Meccans were already familiar with Muhammad’s perfidies and knew about his philosophy of “war is a game of deception”. Therefore they are not to be blamed for not being impressed by Muhammad’s vaudeville performances and for stopping his mighty force of 1500 armed men [or 1400 according to other traditions [Sahih Muslim Book 019, Number 4450:] to enter their town. They called the tribes around them for help barred the entrance of Muhammad and his men to town.

 

Muhammad and his followers chose a circuitous route to Mecca but did not proceed beyond Hudaibiyah, a place not too far from Mecca . The Meccans vowed not to let him enter the town. Messages were exchanged among the Meccans and Muhammad and finally both parties came to agreement. The Quraish deputed Soheil ibn Amr to negotiate and sign the agreement on their behalf and Muhammad signed as the chief of the Muslims. This agreement that came to be known as Hudaibiyah Treaty had the following clauses:

 

There would be a ten-year truce between the two towns.

Muslims would not enter the town this year but would be allowed to return the next year. They would not be allowed to bring any arms except a shielded sword.

Every Arab tribe would have the option to join either side as its ally and enter the treaty.

If any youth from the Quraish escaped and joined the Muslims, they should be returned to their guardians, but if a Muslim decided to leave Muhammad the Quraish would not return him to him.

 

His followers were crestfallen. Muhammad had told them that he had a vision that they would enter Mecca without any problem; not only that had not happened they were forced to sign a treaty that they felt was humiliating. Even Umar impatient went to Abu Bakr and said "Is he not Allah's Messenger, and are we not Muslims, and are they not polytheists? Then, why should we agree to what is humiliating to our Faith?"

After signing this treaty he told his followers to slaughter their sacrificial animals at that very place, shave their heads and put off the pilgrim garments. But no one moved from his place. He repeated the order thrice but his men paid no heed. This was a mutiny; something Muhammad was not prepared for. This caused him a great shock, and he repaired to his tent and expressed his grief before his wife, Umm Salamah who had accompanied him in this expedition. She advised him to quietly go and slaughter his own camel and call the barber and have his head shaved, and assured him that after that his followers would follow suit. Umm Salamah’s advice proved to work and the pilgrims slaughtered their animals, shaved their heads or cut their hair short and put off the pilgrim garb, but doubt about Muhammad and his claim had crept into their minds. 

 

Muhammad knew that he had to do something to win back the trust of his followers. On their way back to Medina he composed the Surah 48 which he ironically called “Victory”. The intent of this Surah was to uplift the drooping sprits of the Muslims.

 

It is in occasions like this that we can see the manipulative skill of Muhammad and how he was able to bring under control the most difficult situations and the influence that he had over his followers.

 

Standing on top of his camel, he summoned the Muslims and said: “Today such a thing has been sent down to me, which is more valuable to me than the world and what it contains." Then he recited this Surah, especially to Umar, who had openly expressed his doubts of him. The Surah starts with these verses: 

“Verily We have granted thee a manifest Victory:
That Allah may forgive thee thy faults of the past and those to follow; fulfil His favour to thee; and guide thee on the Straight Way ;
And that Allah may help thee with powerful help.” [Quran 48:1-3]

Muhammad’s men looked at each other and could not believe that he was calling this humiliating treaty that to them seemed a clear defeat, victory.

"What! is this the Victory ?" They asked dumbfounded- "Yea," Muhammad replied, "by Him that holds in his hand my breath, it is a Victory." When they reminded him of his vision and his promise that they would enter the town, he told them “yes, but Allah did not say that it would be in this year.”

In the following verses of this Surah he called them to be steadfast, warning of Hell those who doubt and promised them more booty and wealth. The following is a gleaning of some of the verses of this Surah. 

In these verses he promised that Allah will send down tranquility into the hearts of the Believers and promised the believers of “Gardens beneath which rivers flow”. He called those who doubt him to be Hypocrites and prayed that God may punish them and warned them that those who “imagine evil opinion of Allah, on them is a round of Evil and the Wrath of Allah, and that He has cursed them and got Hell ready for them: and evil is it for a destination.”

Assuring that Allah is exalted in Power and full of Wisdom, he then reiterated that he is sent as a witness and a bringer of Glad Tidings. “In order that ye (O men) may believe in Allah and His Messenger, that ye may assist and honour Him, and celebrate His praise morning and evening, and reiterated that the fealty to him means fealty to Allah.

At Hudaibiyah Muhammad sent Othman to negotiate with the Quriash so they allow him to enter the town. Some delay occurred in his return, and a rumor gained currency that he had been murdered. Muhammad and his followers panicked. He summoned everyone under the shade of a big acacia told them that they should prepare to attack and avenge the blood of his son-in-law and extending his hand, he demanded them to pledge fight to death. Each man came close and put his hand on Muhammad’s to pledge and Muhammad struck his left hand over theirs. Soon after that Othman showed up unscathed and it became clear that Muhammad and his followers had alarmed for no reason.

In this Surah Muhammad refers to that “pledge of the tree” and in a verse and says that the hand the he put over theirs was not his but Allah’s and “any one who violates his oath, does so to the harm of his own soul, and any one who fulfils what he has covenanted with Allah,- Allah will soon grant him a great Reward.”

Obviously Muhammad was already thinking of Kheibar, which he raided soon afterwards, killed many and plundered the entire town and as the result he and his followers were greatly rewarded.

Muhammad called on some Bedouin Arabs to accompany him in this trip. They declined and said they have to look after their flock and their families and as a matter of formality bade him to ask forgiveness for them when he performs his pilgrimage. He berated them harshly and after telling them that Allah has prepared for them a Blazing Fire for turning down his invitation, he said that these people will not be able to accompany him in his future marauding activities and will not have any share of the booty. This part is so petty and so descriptive of the narcissistic personality disorder of Muhammad that deserves to be quoted in its entirety:

“Those who lagged behind (will say), when ye (are free to) march and take booty (in war): "Permit us to follow you." They wish to change Allah's decree: Say: "Not thus will ye follow us: Allah has already declared (this) beforehand": then they will say, "But ye are jealous of us." Nay, but little do they understand (such things). [Quran 48:15]

In the next verse he again reminds them that if they want the booty they have to be obedient and hearken to his calls when he summons them.

“Say to the desert Arabs who lagged behind: "Ye shall be summoned (to fight) against a people given to vehement war: then shall ye fight, or they shall submit. Then if ye show obedience, Allah will grant you a goodly reward, but if ye turn back as ye did before, He will punish you with a grievous Penalty." [Quran 48:16]

Again using the trite carrot and stick approach, he gave assurances to he who obeys Allah and his Messenger Allah “will admit him to Gardens beneath which rivers flow; and he who turns back, (Allah) will punish him with a grievous Penalty.” And reminding them of their oath under the tree he said:

“Allah's Good Pleasure was on the Believers when they swore Fealty to thee under the Tree: He knew what was in their hearts, and He sent down Tranquillity to them; and He rewarded them with a speedy Victory;” [Quran 48.18]

Reminding them of the many gains that they had already received, he promised them that there would be “other gains, which are not within your power, but which Allah has compassed: and Allah has power over all things.” And He will continue to assist them in future just as He had done in the Past.

Calling again his treaty with the Meccans a victory, he said that it is “Who has restrained their hands from you and your hands from them in the midst of Mecca ,” and that “Allah sees well all that ye do.” Then to pacify them he said that the reason Allah withheld their hands to punish the disbelievers is that among the Meccans there are still some who want to convert to Islam and had the Muslims been allowed to attack that town they would have trampled down these potential believers unknowingly and would have committed a crime and insisted that his vision of entering the Mecca was already fulfilled.  

“Truly did Allah fulfill the vision for His Messenger: ye shall enter the Sacred Mosque, if Allah wills, with minds secure, heads shaved, hair cut short, and without fear. For He knew what ye knew not, and He granted, besides this, a speedy victory.”

In the chapter dedicated to the psychological analysis of Muhammad we shall see that this kind of heightened mood, exaggerated optimism, self-confidence and denial were caused by his bipolar disorder. Ironically the mania and grandiosity delusions of the bipolar patient fascinate those who are not familiar with this disorder and add to his charisma. The manic depressive lives in a world of delusions where, when in his manic moods, he interprets defeats as victory. Thanks to the unwavering faith of the follower of those suffering from bipolar disorder, their delusions become self-fulfilling prophecies. The benighted followers will not rest until those delusions are realized and this is taken as another proof of their greatness and superiority. 

Surah Victory ends by these words of assurances: 

“Muhammad is the messenger of Allah; and those who are with him are strong against Unbelievers, (but) compassionate amongst each other. Thou wilt see them bow and prostrate themselves (in prayer), seeking Grace from Allah and (His) Good Pleasure. On their faces are their marks, (being) the traces of their prostration. This is their similitude in the Taurat; and their similitude in the Gospel is: like a seed which sends forth its blade, then makes it strong; it then becomes thick, and it stands on its own stem, (filling) the sowers with wonder and delight. As a result, it fills the Unbelievers with rage at them. Allah has promised those among them who believe and do righteous deeds forgiveness, and a great Reward.”

After listening to these verses, Muslims are once again reassured and enthusiastically they pledge their readiness to help Muhammad in his quest for power and increased bloodshed and plunder.

Despite the apparent defeat, the Hudaibiyah treaty was in a sense a victory for Muhammad. Prior to that, he was considered to be a rebel and a marauding chieftain. In this treaty he was recognized as the leader of Medina and gained an instant credibility. Before Hudaibiyah, he was just a terrorist and now he was officially recognized as the head of a state.

By admitting the right to pilgrimage to Muslims, this treaty also recognized Muhammad’s heretic religion that blasphemed every other religion of the Arabs as a legitimate religion. This allowed the Arabs to be more accepting of Islam while Muhammad, with his fiery verses denouncing the unbelievers kept the hatred of the pagans alive in his followers. 

The signing of a no-war pact for ten years provided full peace to the Muslims, and allowed them to spread their religion, raiding any town as they wished without the fear of the Meccans. This truce accorded Muhammad with assurance from the South and allowed him to expand his domain towards the North and central Arabia . In Maududi’s words: “Just three months after Hudaibiyah, Khaiber, the major stronghold of the Jews, was conquered and after it the Jewish settlements of Fadak, Wad-il Qura, Taima and Tabuk also fell to Islam one after the other. Then all other tribes of central Arabia , which were bound in alliance with the Jews and Quraish, came under the sway of Islam. Thus, within two years after Hudaibiyah the balance of power in Arabia was so changed that the strength of the Quraish and pagan gave way and the domination of Islam became certain. [Maududi's introduction to Surah Victory]

However, Muhammad, as usual had no intention to keep his side of the treaty and as soon as his army was strong enough, he invaded Mecca just two years after signing the treaty. In these two years the number of the people who converted to Islam far exceeded those who had embraced it during the past 19 years. When he invaded Mecca , he was accompanied by an army 10,000 strong, whereas on the occasion of Hudaibiyah only 1,500 men had joined him in the march.

The rapid success of Muhammad fascinated the disenchanted youth of Mecca . The victories of Muslims and their newfound wealth, along with the life of a warrior, the lust for booty, the promise of an orgiastic heaven all added to the thrill of the momentum and proved to be more enticing than a rebellious youth could ignore.

Islam 1400 years ago attracted the same kind of people that attracts today, i.e. the inexperienced youth, the least educated, the rebel and the criminal.

Soon after the treaty was signed Soheil’s son ran to the Muslims and pleaded to be accepted as a Muslim. Soheil pointed out that the treaty obliges Muhammad to return his son and accordingly Muhammad complied. But the youths kept escaping from Mecca and wanted to join the Muslims.

Soon after Muslims reach Medina , another youth by the name of Abu Basir runs to Medina and desires to join the Muslims. His guardians send two servants to demand their restitution. Muhammad had no choice but to comply. However on their way back, just a few miles after they party leave Medina , this young and rebellious man treacherously seized the sword of one of the servants of his father and slew him. The other fled back to Medina and complained to Muhammad of the murder. Abu Basir arrived with the bloodied sword in his hand and renewed his plea for freedom.

The young man contended that the Prophet had had fulfilled the letter of the treaty and had delivered him to his father’s emissaries. What he does from thereon is up to him. Muhammad gave no direct answer and instead of reprimanding the lad for murdering an innocent man, he praised his bravery and strength of faith and expressed his admiration for the lad for being "a kindler of War” and hoped all his followers have the same spirit of devotion! So instead of rebuking Abu Basir, he encouraged him. Abu Basir left Medina and went to Al Is by the sea shore where he, in emulation of his beloved prophet, became a highway robber, stealing from travelers. The restless youth of Mecca soon learned of him and gradually about seventy of them joined him in his marauding enterprises. They waylaid the caravans of the Quraish, attacked, killed and robbed and caused so much harassment that the Quraish solicited Muhammad to let them stay in Medina provided they stopped their assaults at their merchant caravans that had been resumed since the treaty of Hudaibiyah.

Any sensible person can see that Muhammad, by failing to condemn Abu Basir for killing an innocent man and instead admiring his “bravery”, had encouraged him and those who joined him to become thieves and terrorists. Muhammad did not care about righteousness nor did it matter to him the wellbeing of these kids. Many of them were killed, their families were torn asunder and their mothers were left to weep for their sons. But Muhammad was a man bereft of conscience. He had one goal and that was domination and if he had to sacrifice the entire humanity to get what he wanted, he would not hesitate. Even though he might have been within the letter of the accord, Muhammad had breached his end of the treaty. He had tacitly encouraged the hostility of these misguided youth to their parents and their town, fomented discord and vented animosity among the Meccans. It is clear that Abu Basir as a professed follower of Muhammad would have been obedient to him, had he ordered him to stop his criminal activities and go back to his home. But instead he implicitly incited him to a course of rapine and crime. Muhammad had no intentions to foster amity with anyone. He did everything possible, through manipulation and deceit, to weaken and destabilize his enemies and then destroy them. 

This should serve us as a lesson. The Islam of today is the same Islam taught and practiced by Muhammad 1400 years ago. Today Islam is infiltrating in non-Muslim countries, targeting the youth and using them as weapons to destabilize their own countries. It transforms them into the inside enemies. Once the non-Muslim countries are weakened they would be vulnerable to attack and will fall under the domination of Islam with the same ease that Mecca fell. This pattern has worked for 1400 years and it will work again, unless the non-Muslims become alert and eliminate the threat by nipping it in the bud.   

After the Meccans allowed Muhammad to let their children inside Medina , every young man and woman of Mecca wanted to be part of the excitement. They kept coming to Medina and their number kept increasing every day. Embracing Islam became the fad and fashionable. Once something becomes fashionable with the youth, it becomes a revolution. Their sheep mentality, characteristic of their age, made every young boy and girl wanting to become a soldier of Allah and his Messenger. It is enough to look back into the sixties and the Hippy movement to understand the new euphoria that Islam had enkindled among the youth. Devotion to the new cult leader was in. Defying your parents and converting to Islam was cool. The insanity had caught up with the impressionable and foolish youth and there was nothing that could stop it. The anti establishment nature of Islam and its doing away all norms of civility where war becomes sacred, killing and robbing in the name of God is holy and disobedience to one’s unbelieving parents is permissible, attracted many rebellious and unruly youths of Mecca. The successes of Islam in wars gave to it instance credibility and the gullible converts neglected completely the treacherous method by which these victories had been achieved.   

Sir William Churchill offers, a penetrating analysis of fanaticism:

"In countries where there is education and mental activity or refinement, this high and often ultra-human motive is found in the pride of glorious traditions, in a keen sympathy with surrounding misery, or in philosophical recognition of the dignity of the species. Ignorance deprives savage nations of such incentives. Yet in the marvelous economy of nature this very ignorance is a source of greater strength. It affords them the mighty stimulus of fanaticism. . . . The desert tribes proclaimed that they fought for the glory of God [referring to the Mahdi movement in Sudan in 1890s]. But although the force of fanatical passion is far greater than that exerted by any philosophical belief, its function is just the same. It gives men something which they think is sublime to fight for, and this serves them as an excuse for wars which it is desirable to begin for different reasons. Fanaticism is not a cause of war. It is the means which helps savage peoples to fight."  [The River War An Account of the Reconquest of the Sudan by Winston Churchill]

I am sure the reader will remember the unforgettable image of a teenager standing alone at a checkpoint, with explosives strapped to his chest, confused, trying to follow Israeli order to get him to dismantle his bomb. That was March 2004.

A few months later The BBC Jerusalem correspondent James Reynolds interviewed this young man in his prison. What he said will shed some light as why kids become terrorists and perhaps this will answer our question why at the time of Muhammad so many young men and women were attracted to Islam.  

James Reynolds: Were you scared of dying?

Hussam: No. I'm not afraid of death.

JR: Why not?

Hussam: Nobody is going to live forever. We're all going to die.

JR: But you were only 15 years old at the time.

Hussam: I wanted to be relieved of school.

JR: Some teenagers want to be footballers, others want to be singers. You wanted to be a suicide bomber. Why?

Hussam: It's not suicide - it's martyrdom.

I would become a martyr and go to my God. It's better than being a singer or a footballer. It's better than everything.

JR: What was the main reason for you deciding to become a suicide bomber? The one reason in particular.

Hussam: The reason was because my friend was killed.

The second reason I did it is because I didn't want to go to school.

My parents forced me to go to school and I didn't feel like going.

JR: It seems extreme that if you don't like your teacher it could partially propel you towards murder and suicide.

Hussam: The thing is my parents forced me to go to school and I didn't want to go.

So I used to go there and run away. Then I had problems with the teachers. The principal took me to the police because I got into a fight with the teachers."  

This is the way of thinking of Muslim youngsters. Life is boring; the pressure is too much; if I die for Islam I’ll go to heaven; so it is not a big deal. I am tired of my controlling parents. I can easily give up my worthless life for a bigger cause and even if I die I’d be a martyr and that is better than anything I could ever have.

Thus many dissatisfied and restless young men saw in Islam their liberation. They could be free from the yoke of their controlling fathers, live the glamorous life of a warrior, become rich and if they are killed, they would be martyred and will be rewarded even more.    

Among the new wave of the refugees there were also many women. Aisha said that Muhammad used to examine the women emigrants. The verse 60:10 was given in that occasion.

"O you who believe! When the believing women come to you as emigrants. Examine them, Allah knows best as to their belief, then if you know them for true believers, Send them not back to the unbelievers, (for) they are not lawful (wives) for the disbelievers, Nor are the unbelievers lawful (husbands) for them (60.10)

This was in contravention of the agreement. So if a woman escaped to Medina and claimed to be a Muslim, Muhammad automatically declared that her marriage with the unbelieving husband was null and she was given in marriage to Muslim who had emigrated leaving behind his unbelieving wife. 

Muhammad also ordered that Muslims should divorce their pagan wives. Accordingly Umar divorced two of his unbelieving wives. [Bukhari Volume 3, Book 50, Number 891]

 “So, Allah ordered that the Muslim whose wife, has gone, should be given, as a compensation of the Mahr he had given to his wife, from the Mahr of the wives of the pagans who had emigrated deserting their husbands.” [Bukhari Volume 3, Book 50, Number 891]

 

 

Khaibar A.D. 628

On his return from Hodaibiyah, as we saw above, Muhammad had promised to those who accompanied him in that pilgrimage, “great Rewards”. For three months no plunder was conducted and Muslims who had become accustomed to the easy wealth through booty were becoming impatient for the fulfillment of that promise.

 

Before going to Medina , Muhammad had assassinated Abu'l-Huqayq, Oseir and thirty of the chiefs of the Kheibar. He hoped that the Jews would retaliate for the treacherous murders of their leaders and this would provide him with an excuse to attack them. But that opportunity did not arise and weary of waiting, on August of the same year, and about 1600 of his men with 100 cavalry (or 200 according to other estimates) marched on Khaibar and raided that town with no provocation and with no prior warning. [One tradition claims that the expedition to Kheibar took only three days after the pilgrims returned to Medina . Sahih Muslim Book 019, Number 4449:]

In this expedition he did not invite the Bedouin tribes who had neglected his call to accompany him to Medina and hence deprived them of partaking from a rich booty and their mortification was great for this loss. Just as in Hudaibiyah, Muhammad chose Umm Salma among his wives to accompany him.

The distance between Medina and Khaibar (about 100 miles) that would normally take five days was covered in three fast marches. The arrival of the army at Khaibar was a total surprise. Men had gone to their fields to attend to their crops and everyone was after his or her daily business when they saw the cavalry advancing fast towards the fortress. They dropped everything and rushed inside the town, pandemonium and panic overwhelmed everyone. But Muhammad and his men arrived before they could prepare themselves for any defense. This sudden attack also eliminated the possibility that the Bani Ghatafan who were the allies of the Jews of Khaibar could come to their help.

Khaibar was a cluster of fortresses built on rocks and raising amidst the corn fields and palm plantation. They all fell one after the other, before the inhabitants could set any resistance.

Bukhari describes this tragic scene tradition.

 “Allah's Apostle reached Khaibar at night and it was his habit that, whenever he reached the enemy at night, he will not attack them till it was morning. When it was morning, the Jews came out with their spades and baskets, and when they saw him (i.e. the Prophet ), they said, "Muhammad! By Allah! Muhammad and his army!" The Prophet said, "Khaibar is destroyed  for whenever we approach a nation, then evil will be the morning for those who have been warned." [Volume 5, Book 59, Number 510]

In another Hadith adds:

Then the inhabitants of Khaibar came out running on the roads. The Prophet had their warriors killed, their offspring and woman taken as captives. Safiya was amongst the captives, She first came in the share of Dahya Alkali but later on she belonged to the Prophet. The Prophet made her manumission as her 'Mahr'. [Volume 5, Book 59, Number 512:]

The term “warriors” should not confuse the reader. Here the term warrior applies to able bodied men who could have been warriors had they had any weapons. But people were taken by surprise. The horsemen simply rode through the streets and massacred all the men they found. And then rounded up the women and children and made them slaves.

As the villages, one after the other fell under the army of Muhammad with no resistance whatsoever, the news reached the fortress of Qutaiba and the inhabitants of that fortress had time to rally around their chief Kinana and resolved desperately not surrender without a fight. Kinana was the grandson of Abu'l-Huqayq and had succeeded him as the chief after Abu'l-Huqayq and Oseir were assassinated. He was the husband of Safiyah whose father had been beheaded by Muhammad along with the Bani Quraizah.

By evening the Muslims had already conquered most of the Khaibar. He gathered his men and in preparation for attacking the last bastion of the Jews he told them “I will give the banner to a man who loves Allah and His Messenger and whom Allah and His Messenger love.” The next day he placed the great black flag of Islam into the hands Ali and the troops advanced.

After some vain attempts to dislodge them, Muhammad decided a grand attack. Marhab, a valiant leader of Khaibar stood before the army of Islam and in the traditional ways of the Arabs challenged them to single combat. Amir ibn al-Akwa', a sycophant among the Muslims who in the previous night had composed the following eulogy in praise of Muhammad and had received his praise accepted to confront him. This is what he had written: 

“By God, if Thou hadst not guided us aright,
We would have neither practiced charity nor offered prayers.
(O God! ) We cannot do without Thy favors;
Keep us steadfast when we encounter the enemy,
And descend tranquillity upon us.”

Marhab and Amir closed and they blew their swords at each other, until Amir bent forward to attack his opponent from below, but his sword recoiled upon him and cut the main artery in his forearm which caused his death.

Then Marhab stood up and challenged someone else.

“Khaibar knows certainly that I am Marhab,
A fully armed and well-tried valorous warrior
When war comes spreading its flames.”

Ali chanted in reply”

“I am the one whose mother named him Haidar (Lion).
Like a lion of the forest with a terror-striking countenance.
I give my opponents the measure of sandara in exchange for sa' (I return their attack with one that is much more fierce).” [Muslim Book 019, Number 4450:]

After howling these verses of bravado (rajaz), customary among the Arabs, the combatants closed, and Ali cleft the head of Marhab in two. Then the brother of Marhab came forth and renewed the challenge. He too was dispatched by Zobeir.

Ibn Hisham says that it was Muhammad ibn Maslama who fought with Mahrab and killed him and not Ali. [Ibn Hisham, 385] This could be true because it is in the nature of the Muslims to exaggerate about Ali and his feats. 

Muslims had the upper hand. They were more numerous and after years of warfare they were veteran warriors. The Jews suffered big casualties and forced to set back. Tradition attributes a lot of prowess to Ali in this battle. It is said that he lost his shield in the battle and seized portion of the door of the Khaibar which he wielded in its stead. The victory was forgone and the Jews lost ninety-three of their fighting men. Muslim’s casualties were only nineteen. This was the only fortress of Khaibar where the Muslims had to wage a war. The other fortresses were taken by surprise and since the Jews were unarmed, only they were the once who were killed in great numbers.  

 

The Torture of Kinana,

 

The Jews were defeated and negotiated their capitulation. Muhammad agreed to spare their lives and give them the freedom to leave the country provided they hand him all their properties. They had no choice but to agree.

 

They brought everything they possessed of valuables and placed it in front of the conqueror. When Kinana and his cousin did the same, Muhammad said that they are hiding the treasures. They denied. But Muhammad was already tipped off by a traitor sycophant seeking favorable treatment that Kinana had buried some treasure in a ruin. Muhammad accused them of lying and contravening the clauses of the surrender. He said “Where are the vessels of gold, which you used to lend to the people of Mecca ?"  They responded that they do no longer have them. We read the rest of the story from Sirat:

 

“Do you know that if we find you have it I shall kill you?” He [the Prophet] said, “Yes” [Responded Kinana] . 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 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.” 

[Ibn Hisham, "Sirat Rasulallah", as translated by A. Guillaume under the title "The Life of Muhammad", page 515]

 

1400 years later, torture remains a legitimate method for extracting information in all Islamic countries. In June 12, 2002, the Human Rights Watch condemned the decision by Iran 's Council of Guardians to veto a parliamentary bill designed to discourage torture and released the following:

“In March 2002, Iran 's parliament (Majles) passed a bill aimed at limiting the widespread practice of torture and the use of forced confessions in criminal trials. On Sunday June 9, the bill was rejected by the Council of Guardians, a body of twelve senior clerics appointed by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamene'i, whose role is to ensure that all laws passed by the Majles are compatible, in their view, with Islam. The Council argued that the bill would limit the authority of judges to adjudicate on the admissibility of confessions and therefore ruled that the bill was against the principles of Islam.” [http://www.hrw.org/press/2002/06/iran0612.htm]

It is not difficult to see where the Council of Guardians gets their inspiration. This is proof that until and unless Islam is not removed, or weakened to the extent that it becomes completely irrelevant in the lives of the Muslims, not realistic improvement would ever take place in Islamic countries and savagery will remain the norm.

At the night of the same day, Muhammad took Safiya to his tend and slept with her. The story is recorded in a Hadith reported by Bukhari.

 

When he entered the town, he [the Prophet] said, 'Allahu Akbar! Khaibar is ruined. Whenever we approach near a nation then evil will be the morning of those who have been warned.' He repeated this thrice. The people came out for their jobs and some of them said, 'Muhammad! (has come).' Some of our companions added, "With his army." We conquered Khaibar, took the captives, and the booty was collected. Dihya came and said, 'O Allah's Prophet! Give me a slave girl from the captives.' The Prophet said, 'Go and take any slave girl.' He took Safiya bint Huyai. A man came to the Prophet and said, 'O Allah's Apostles! You gave Safiya bint Huyai to Dihya and she is the chief mistress of the tribes of Quraiza and An-Nadir and she befits none but you.' So the Prophet said, 'Bring him along with her.' So Dihya came with her and when the Prophet saw her, he said to Dihya, 'Take any slave girl other than her from the captives.' Anas added: The Prophet then manumitted her and married her." [Volume 1, Book 8, Number 367 ]

And explanation would be superfluous. Muhammad tortured a young innocent man to get at his wealth and then when he sets eyes on his wife, he was so filled with lust that took her to his bed on that very night. On top of that, he had beheaded the father of this very young woman only a year earlier.

 

There should be no doubt that anyone who reads this story and still believes that Muhammad was a prophet of God is evil. Truth must be said and we should not give in to political correctness. A spade must be called a spade and evil must be denounced. If one is unable to condemn this much wickedness, one has no right to call himself or herself a human being.   

After hearing about the unsurpassed beauty of Safiyah, Muhammad asked Bilal to fetch her and bring her to him. Bilal found Safiyah in the company of her cousin and while taking them to Muhammad, he deliberately made them pass by the disfigured and beheaded corpses of Kinana and his cousin. At the ghastly sight of their headless trunks, the companion of Safia screamed wildly, beating her face, and casting dust upon her head. When Muhammad saw her, she was still screaming. Her piercing cries bothered the peace of the holy Prophet and angrily ordered “Take that she devil away from here” and chided Bilal for his lack of consideration. Bilal retorted that he had shown them the corpses on purpose so “to see their grief and anger stirred up”. It is hard to know whether the followers of Muhammad had all been inspired by their prophet's sadism or their own innate cruelty had made them come to Muhammad. But as we read the history of Islam, we come to see this sadistic predisposition was common amongst the companions of Muhammad and all of them whose names have passed through the history excelled in cruelty and spite. Indeed they became important thank to their depravity and sheer cruelty. These were the qualities that Muhammad embodied and encouraged in his followers. That is why the Islamic terrorists who brutally behead innocent people or bomb them, are regarded as heroes for millions of Muslims across the world. 

Safiyah however, was silent. She managed to keep her pains to herself. The same tyrant had beheaded her father only a year ago and she was aware of the darkness of his soul. She was a wise woman and was aware of her helpless predicament. On laying eyes on her continence, Muhammad’s heart was stirred with lust, and he tenderly cast his mantle around her, in token that she is now his property.

Ibn Ishaq says  “When Dihyah protested, wanting to keep Safiyah for himself, the Apostle traded for Safiyah by giving Dihyah her two cousins. The women of Khaybar were distributed among the Muslims.” [Ishaq:511] Then he ordered Bilal to make preparations so he can spend the night with Safiyah on that very night.

In the chapter dedicated to Wives of the Prophet, we shall discuss the case of Safiyah in more detail

The next day, Muhammad decided to take Safiyah as his bride and ordered a feast be prepared. A woman from Khaibar was asked to prepare roast a kid for the nuptial. She was Zeinab, whose brother Mahrab, her husband, her father, her uncle and many of her relatives had been killed by Muslims. Zeinab enquired which part of the animal Muhammad liked best and upon being told, its shoulder, she dressed the shoulder of the kid with a deadly poison.

 

When Muhammad sat at the feast, he took the shoulder and gave from it partly to Bishr who sat next to him and then to Abu Bakr and other followers. When he swallowed a little bit of that he realized that the food has been poisoned and spitting what he had in mouth he told everyone to hold and said, this shoulder has been surely poisoned.   

 

Bishr, however had already eaten too much and he died. Traditions vary. Some say he changed color and died on the spot and others claimed that he was paralyzed and died a year later with excruciating pain.

 

He immediately summoned Zeinab and interrogated her as to her motive. The bravery and courage of that woman in such an occasion is noteworthy. “You have inflicted;" she remarked valiantly, "these grievous injuries on my people; you have slain my father, and my uncle, and my husband. Therefore I said to myself, if he is a Prophet he will be aware of the poison but if he is an impostor, then we shall be rid of him." Muhammad ordered her to be put to death.

 

Some traditions say that she was given to the relatives of Bishr to avenge his death and some even say that Muhammad let her go free. However, knowing the character of Muhammad, and how merciless was he towards those who merely rejected him we can safely discard the later version as unreliable and uncharacteristic of a vengeful man. It is unlikely that a man who would kill anyone who disagreed with him, would let someone who had attempted to kill him to let go free.  

Muhammad did not eat enough to die from but the effect of that poison lingered with him until his last days of life and pained him greatly. [K. Waqidi, 121,140 , 290 ; Hishami, 288]

 The remaining fortresses surrender

The fortress of Kinana suffered the heaviest casualties. The remaining strongholds, realizing that they had no chance to withstand the army of the enemy capitulated and thus were saved from being ransacked.

Muhammad granted amnesty to the surviving inhabitants of Khaibar, provided they tiled their lands, now passed to the ownership of Muhammad, and give him half of the produce. This is the first Jazyah imposed by the Muslims on the people of the Book, a tradition that was carried out until the 19th Century when the Europeans prohibited it. However, it must be noted that hardly ever, any Muslim ruler was as cruel ad Muhammad and the penalty tax that they levied on their Christian and Jewish subjects almost never reached half of the income. In some cases this tax was collected only symbolically and merely to comply with the letter of the law. However, the amount of this tax is left to the whim of the Muslim ruler and his needs and there is no definite ruling on this. But according to the sunnah (examples) of Muhammad, it can be as high as fifty percent of the income.

Fadak, the neighboring Jewish town surrendered to Muhammad and submitted to pay what Muhammad demanded and hence its inhabitants were spared. Muhammad donated this whole town to his favorite Fatima the wife of Ali. In later years the Caliph Abu Bakr intended to take away this town from Ali claiming he should have no special rights over other Muslims. This dispute over a piece of stolen property became the cause of the animosity between Ali and the ruling Caliph which eventually gave birth to Shiism and the division between the Muslim. Millions of followers of Muhammad were killed from either side during these 14 centuries and the bloodshed continues.    

On his way back to Medina , Muhammad laid siege on the Wadi al Qura another Jewish settlement and after resisting for a day or two the inhabitants of that fortress also surrendered. Another Jewish settlement that fell under the sway of Muhammad was Tayma. So in this way all the Jewish settlement of Northern Arabia became tributaries to Muhammad. This status quo was changed when Muhammad ordered all the Christians and Jews be expelled from Arabia in his will, which was carried out by Umar during his Caliphate.

 

The spoils collected in this expedition, exceeded anything Muhammad had taken from his other victims. Khaibar was by far the wealthiest Jewish cluster of towns and fortresses of Arabia . Vast stores of dates, oil, honey, and bailey; flocks of sheep and herds of camels; and the spoil in treasure and jewels fell into the hands of Muhammad. A fifth of all that was put aside for Muhammad and the rest was divided among the Muslims with the horsemen receiving three times the share of the foot soldiers.

Ibn Hisham mentions that after the conquest of Khaibar “slaves became very plentiful among the Moslems,” [Sirat p. 333] It is not clear whether some of the Jews were taken as slaves or that with the immense wealth that fell into the hands of the Muslims they could afford to purchased these slaves in free markets of Arabia.

Bukhari narrates twice a hadith where Aisha makes an oath not to speak with someone and then breaks that oath and in expiation of her breaking the oath she offers to manumit forty of her slaves. This gives us an idea of who were the states of the affair in Medina among the household of Muhammad and the rest of the Muslims. Only after ten years, a man who often dined with a few dates or slept without food, had become the wealthiest man in the entire country, where just one of his numerous wives could afford to manumit, forty of her slaves in one go. How many more slaves she had, is not known and how many slaves Muhammad’s other wives had inherited is not mentioned either. [Volume 4, Book 56, Number 708 and Volume 8, Book 73, Number 98:]

As for the lands and villages, Muhammad kept half for himself and divided the moiety among his soldiers with the same arrangement that the horsemen received three times more than the foot soldiers. Khaibar became a great source of income for Muslims and all of them benefited greatly thereof. Muhammad’s promise at Hudaibiyah of “a great reward” was completed beyond anyone’s expectation and their love and devotion for him grew even more.  

Muhammad founded his empire on booty and spoils of war and killed thousands of innocent people to steal their properties had no brook for those who stole from him or dealt with him perfidiously. To ascertain that no one would take the best part of the booty for himself before he claimed his lion’s share, he issued the strict rules such as:

 "No Believer shall sell aught of the spoil, until it has been divided; nor shall he take a beast therefrom, and after riding upon it until it become lean, return it; nor shall he take and wear a garment, and then send it back threadbare." A follower was convicted of plundering two sandal straps; the articles in themselves were insignificant: yet, said the Prophet to the thief "Verily there shall be cut out for thee hereafter two thongs like unto them of fire." [K. Waqidi, 122; and Hishami, 339.]

Another tradition states that “When the army alighted before Wadi al Qora, a servant of Mahomet, was caught stealing and he was shot by an arrow. " Welcome to Paradise !" exclaimed the bystanders sarcastically. "Never!" said Mahomet who saw the proceeding and perhaps had ordered the shooting; "by him in whose hand my life is! Even now his vestment is burning upon him in the fire of Hell; for he pilfered it before Khaibar from amongst the booty." [Hishami 338.]

Muir argues that due to its harshness this hadith makes might be exaggerated and is included later to emphasize the importance honesty towards the Messenger and other believers. However, based on the character of Muhammad and on the tenor of other tales attributed to him, this does not seem to be an improbable story. Muhammad was a thief but he could not tolerate treachery against himself and lives meant nothing to him anyway. It is entirely possible that he instigated the murder of his servant to set an example among the other followers.

As a counterpart to this incident, there is a story that merits our attention, not for its historic significance but because it makes us see the manipulative and cunning nature of the Prophet. A tradition reports that in Khaibar a shepherd of the Jews came to Muhammad and pledged his allegiance [perhaps out of fear or out of greed] and abandoning his flock he joined the army of the believers. But before he had a chance to say his first prayer, he was killed. When Muhammad came to see his dead body, he suddenly turned his head away. His followers enquired of the reason and he told them, “"Because, I see two black-eyed houries of Paradise , his wives, are with the him now; wiping off the dust from off his face, and fondly solacing  him." And added:

"Whenever a martyr is slain in battle, his two black-eyed wives, the houries, draw near unto him, wipe the dust from off his face, and say, - 'The Lord cast dust on the face of him who hath cast dust on your and slay him who slew you!'" [Hishami, p.541]

In many occasions Muhammad would make such outlandish claims of seeing angels, houris or demons to impress his gullible followers. In one occasion he started struggling with an imaginary opponent while he was standing in front of them leading them in prayers. Here is that asinine story:

“The Prophet once offered the prayer and said, "Satan came in front of me and tried to interrupt my prayer, but Allah gave me an upper hand on him and I choked him. No doubt, I thought of tying him to one of the pillars of the mosque till you get up in the morning and see him. Then I remembered the statement of Prophet Solomon, 'My Lord ! Bestow on me a kingdom such as shall not belong to any other after me.' Then Allah made him (Satan) return with his head down (humiliated)." [Bukhari Volume 2, Book 22, Number 301: ]

   

 

After the return from Khaibar, Muhammad continued sending his men around to plunder and subdue the tribes of Arabia . During the rest of the year five or six more expedition were dispatched under the command of various companions. Among these expeditions was the one headed by Umar accompanied by thirty men going after the Bani Hawazin in the west. This expedition was unsuccessful. Abu Bakr lead a bigger army agaist Bani Kilab in Najd and succeeded slaying many of them, plundering their wealth and taking many as prisoners. Bashir with thirty men was sent to Bani Murra towards north near Fadak. They managed to drive their camels and flock but were pursued by the warriors of that tribe and many of them died. Bashir himself was wounded but managed to escape and reach Medina alive. Another incursion against Bani Uwas of Mayfaak was undertaken in which one hundred and thirty men participated. This one was a success. As usual the population was taken by surprise; many of them were put to death without being able to defend themselves and their flock and camels were driven off. In this trip, a man shouted Allah’u’Akabar, perhaps to save his life, but it did not avail him to much because Usama bin Zeid pierce his heart and killed him. Upon learning this, Muhammad chided him and said, “what, did you open his heart to see whether he was telling the truth?” Usama promised not to do that again. In January 629 Bashir again spearheaded an expedition to Yamm and Jabbar near Wadi al Qora and Kheibar against the Bani Ghatafan. The Ghatafan were tipped off and deserted their houses in time avoiding confrontation. But Bashir found their huge herd of camels and drove them to Medina . These smaller robberies kept the Muslims busy until the time of the lesser pilgrimage of Umrah

 

 

 

 

 

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