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The examples of Muhammad 

 

A Page from  "A World Apart" 

 

By Ali Sina

 

On April 2004, four American contractors working in Iraq were assailed by the mob in Fallujah and after being killed; their bodies were mutilated and set on fire. 

 

The New York Times published an article titled New Violence, Old Problem.  By Neil MacFarquhar. (June 6, 2004)

 

He wrote: 
”KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia — A recent fatwa posted on a popular Islamic Web site in Saudi Arabia explains when a Muslim may mutilate the corpse of an infidel.


The ruling, written by a Saudi religious sheik named Omar Abdullah Hassan al-Shehabi, decrees that the dead can be mutilated as a reciprocal act when the enemy is disfiguring Muslim corpses, or when it otherwise serves the Islamic nation. In the second category, the reasons include "to terrorize the enemy" or to gladden the heart of a Muslim warrior.

The religious ruling was evidently posted to address questions about the conflict in Iraq , but is not limited by geography. In fact, in each of two gruesome attacks in Saudi Arabia last month that left 25 foreigners and 5 Saudis dead, a Western corpse was dragged for some distance behind a car. One was the body of an American engineer in Yanbu on May 1, the other a British businessman in Khobar last weekend."

The above was posted by a cleric, which explains how the most radical interpretations of the Quran flourish in Saudi Arabia .

 

With ruling such as "To terrorize the enemy or to gladden the heart of a Muslim warrior” it is hard to imagine when mutilation can not be justified. 

In the "Ask the Scholar" section of the popular Islamic site (www.islamonline.net) it was asked: - "How Islam views the issue of mutilating dead bodies of enemies."  Sheik Faysal Mawlawi, the deputy chairman of the European Council for Fatwa and Research answered by declaring that mutilation is "not allowable" under Islam. But then came the loophole:

    "It is possible to mutilate the dead only in case of retaliation. . . . If he inflicts any physical damage on anyone, he should be retaliated against in the same manner. In case of war, Muslims are allowed to take vengeance for their mutilated dead mujahids (fighters) in the same way it was done to them." This, then he explained, is the teaching of the Koran (16:126), which recommends patience but authorizes revenge.  

June 19 2004 Saudi Arabia: Paul Johnson an American Engineer was behead and the gory picture of his severed head was posted on the Internet.

 

May 2004, Iraq: Nicholas Berg an American citizen in Iraq was caught and beheaded. The gruesome act was shown in Arab television Al Jazeerah.   

 

February 2002, Pakistan: Daniel Pearls suffered the same end. His assassins, video taped their grim crime proudly and showed to the world the level of savagery to which they can stoop.

 

Mutilations, decapitations and other horrendous acts of barbarity have become the hallmark of Islamic terrorism. But where these Muslims "fighters" get their inspiration from?

 

To answer this question we have to look into the history of Islam and more importantly the examples set by Muhammad, the founder of Islam who repeatedly urged his cohorts to follow his examples and do as he did.

 

"...If you love Allah, then follow me (Muhammad)..." (Sura 3:31).

"Ye have indeed in the Apostle of Allah a beautiful pattern of (conduct) for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Final Day." (Sura 33:21).

"I leave with you two things. If you hold fast by them both, you will never be misguided - the Book of Allah and Sunnah of the Prophet." ("Mishkat" I, page 173).

 

In this chapter we shall see a few examples set by Muhammad in the hope that they will make us understand better the Muslims and their world.  

 

After his success in Nakhlah, where for the first time after six failing attempts, his followers managed to plunder a small merchant caravan, Muhammad decided to raid a bigger caravan destined for Mecca that was coming from Damascus. The population of Mecca was forewarned of the plot and they went out to protect their property. The Caravan managed to escape and reach Mecca safely, but the Quraish, pestered by continuous attacks at their caravans, decided to confront Muhammad’s marauding gang who had come for the kill. In this battle, that took place in Badr and marks the begging of Muhammad’s rise to power, the Meccans lost 49 men and about the same number of them was taken as hostage. (1)

 

How Muhammad dealt with the injured and the captives in this war and in other wars set the tone for the subsequent Islamic savagery that has lasted up to this day.

 

Among the people who were slain was Aba Hakam (Abu Jahl, as derogatorily he came to be called by Muslims).  Aba Hakam was severely wounded but still alive when Abdullah, the servant, of Muhammad, ran up, put his foot on Aba Hakam’s neck, got hold of his beard and started insulting the fatally wounded man whom his own people had named the father of wisdom. Abdullah cut off Aba Hakam’s head and carried it to his master. "The head of the enemy of .Allah!" exclaimed Muhammad joyously; ---- "Allah! There is none other god but he!" - "Yea There is no other!" responded Abdullah, as he cast the severed head at the Prophet’s feet. "It is more acceptable to me;" cried Mohammad, hardly able to contain his joy, "than the choicest camel in all Arabia.

 

It’s only by knowing these stories about Muhammad that we can understand the fascinations that the terrorists have for cutting the heads of their victims and why when a Muslim mob commits murder they invoke the name of their god and cry out “Allah is great”. It is because of the examples set by the Prophet himself.

 

According to some historians, Muhammad is said to have given orders for Aba Hakam’s body to be mutilated and disfigured. (2)

Another man who fell in Badr and whose body was mutilated was Umaiya bin Khalaf. The reference to his mutilation can be found in the Book of Bukhari. (3)

 

These were men with whom Muhammad had personal enmity. According to one Hadith, Muhammad had vowed to kill Umaiya long time before the battle of Badr. (4)

 

After three days the bodies of the slain were dragged and dumped in a well. Muhammad stood by the well and looked on triumphantly, as the bodies were brought up and cast in. Abu Bakr stood by, and examining their features, called aloud their names. Unable to contain his joy Muhammad started calling them by name and bragged to the corpses about his victory.  

Anas b. Malik reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) let the dead bodies of the unbelievers who fought in Badr (lie unburied) for three days. He then came to them and sat by their side and called them and said: O Abu Jahl b. Hisham, O Umayya b. Khalaf, O Utba b. Rab'ila, O Shaiba b. Rabi'a, have you not found what your Lord had promised with you to be correct? As for me, I have found the promises of my Lord to be (perfectly) correct. Umar listened to the words of Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) and said: Allah's Messenger, how do they listen and respond to you? They are dead and their bodies have decayed. Thereupon he (the Holy Prophet) said: By Him in Whose Hand is my life, what I am saying to them, even you cannot hear more distinctly than they, but they lack the power to reply. Then he commanded that they should be buried in the well of Badr. (5)  

The “promise” that Muhammad was talking about was a curse that the vindictive prophet had laid on these men when he was in Mecca and they had derided him when someone dumped the manure of camel on his back. On that occasion Muhammad said:  

"O Allah! Punish Abu Jahl, 'Utba bin Rabi'a, Shaiba bin Rabi'a, Al-Walid bin 'Utba, Umaiya bin Khalaf, and 'Uqba bin Al Mu'it. (6)  

The following story can cast more light on the revengeful and implacable character of Muhammad.

Among the captives was Abul Bokhtari. He had shown kindness to Muhammad and was especially instrumental in procuring his and his followers release from the quarters of Abu Talib, in a time that the Quraish had boycotted him and his family and they were living in a state of self-imposed house-arrest,  Muhammad, mindful of this favor, proclaimed that he should not be harmed. However, Abul Bokhtari had a companion whom Muhammad did not want to let go. He pleaded for his friend’s life but Muhammad would not budge. So he exclaimed: "The women of Mecca; shall never say that I abandoned my comrade through love of life. Do thy work upon us both." Thus, Muhammad feeling released from all moral obligations, killed both of them.

Here we see Muhammad not only murdering his prisoners of war but he also kills someone to whom he owed a favor because he could not let go of the pleasure of taking revenge from his enemy.

In order to understand the kind of sway that Muhammad had over his men it is noteworthy to mention a couple of episodes in relation to the battle of Badr.

 

One is the zealotry of the two boys who murdered Aba Hakam. These two young men were from Medina. They had never seen Aba Hakam before. But as the story goes, they looked for him and when enquired about him from a Meccan. He asked “What do you want from him?" (i.e. Aba Hakam) one of them responded: "I have been informed that he abuses Allah's Apostle. By Him in Whose Hands my life is, if I should see him, then my body will not leave his body till either of us meet his fate."  When they find Aba Hahakam, both of them attacked him and pierced his body with their swords. (7)

 

Muslims recount these stories gloatingly. Each Muslim tries to beat others in blind obedience to Muhammad. Neither those lads who killed Aba Hakam, nor other Muslims, ever wonder what the guilt of Aba Hakam was. The fact that he disliked Islam and Muhammad hated him is enough proof to his guilt and those boys vied with each other to kill him. Muslims for 1400 years relish listening to the details of this gruesome murder and release a sigh of relief.

 

The same mentality permeates the Muslims even today and if for example Salman Rushdie, who in the eyes of the Muslims, is the equivalent of Abu Jahl is murdered, a great number of them will celebrate.

Another story about how Muhammad had brainwashed his followers is that of Abu Hudhaifa whose father’s corpse, along other victims of Badr was dragged and tossed into a pit. Abu Hudhaifa was overtaken by emotions watching his own father dead and being thus unceremoniously dumped into a hole in the ground, piled with other corpses. Upon noticing his distress, Muhammad turned to him and enquired:-" Perhaps you are distressed for your father's fate?" "Not so, O Prophet of the Allah!  I do not doubt the justice of my father's fate; but I knew well his wise and generous heart, and I had trusted that the Lord would lead him to the faith. But now that I see him slain, and my hope destroyed! ---- it is for that I grieve”  (8)

It is difficult to know what moved Abu Hudhaifa to tears. Did he really grieve the death of his father out of filial love and humanity or was he distressed for him dying in disbelief? But that is not important. What is important is to see the degree of zealotry and sycophancy of the companions of Muhammad. They prided themselves in demonstrating bravado, being heartless, ruthless and brainless.

Today Muslims pride themselves for having the same qualities of zealotry and mindless devotion. They congratulate the families of the terrorists killed in action. The mothers of suicide bombers rejoice when the news of their children reaches them. Showing emotions of grief is considered lack of faith.   

Among the captives was Nadhr ibn Harith, a poet who was more popular than Muhammad when he was preaching in Mecca. Muhammad was envious of him as his stories about the kings of Persia gathered more crowd, a sin that cost him his life.  

 “The prisoners were brought up before Muhammad. As he scrutinized each, his eye fell fiercely on Nadhr, the son of Harith. "There was death in that glance," whispered Nadhr, trembling, to a by-stander. "Not so," replied the other; "it is but thine own imagination." The unfortunate prisoner thought otherwise, and besought Musab to intercede for him. Musab reminded him that he had denied the faith and persecuted the believers. "Ah!" said Nadhr, "had the Quraish made thee a prisoner, they would never have put thee to death!" "Even were it so," Musab scornfully replied, "I am not as thou art; Islam hath rent all bonds asunder." Miqdad, the captor, seeing that the captive, and with him the chance of a rich ransom, was about to slip from his hands, cried out, "The prisoner is mine"! At this moment, the command to "strike off his head!" was interposed by Muhammad, who had been watching all that passed.-" And, O Lord!" he added, "do thou of thy bounty grant unto Miqdad a better prey than this?' Nadhr was forthwith beheaded by Ali.” (9)

To justify that murder, Muhammad made his Allah reveal the following verse:

“Ye wished that the one unarmed should be yours, but Allah willed to justify the Truth according to His words and to cut off the roots of the Unbelievers”  (10) 


References: 

1- Other traditions put these numbers to 70 killed and 70 captured.Sahih Bukhari Volume 4, Book 52, Number 276
2-  Waqidi, p. 85  
3-
Bukhari Volume 5, Book 58, Number 193:
4-
Bukhari Volume 4, Book 56, Number 826:  See also Bukhari Volume 5, Book 59, Number 286:
5-
Sahih Muslim Book 040, Number 6869:  
6-
Bukhari Volume 1, Book 4, Number 241 
7-
Bukhari Volume 4, Book 53, Number 369
8-
Waqidi, 106; Hishami 230; Tabari, 294

9- Muir on the authority of Waqidi p. 101. Hishami , p.251; Tabari, p.297

10-
Quran 8:7

 

 

 

 

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