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Timeline of Muhammad's Life
(A.D)
570 - Born in
Mecca
576 - Orphaned upon death of mother
595 - Marries Kadijah - older, wealthy widow
610 - Reports first revelations from angel at age of 40
619 - Protector uncle dies
622 - Emigrates from Mecca to Medina (the Hijra)
623 - Orders raids on Meccan caravans
624 - Battle of Badr (victory)
624 - Evicts Qaynuqa Jews from Medina
624 - Orders the assassination of Abu Afak
624 - Orders the assassination of Asma bint Marwan
624 - Orders the assassination of Ka'b al-Ashraf
625 - Battle of Uhud (defeat)
625 - Evicts Nadir Jews
627 - Battle of the Trench (victory)
627 - Massacre of the Qurayza Jews
628 - Signing of the Treaty of Hudaibiya with Mecca
628 - Destruction and subjugation of the Khaybar Jews
629 - Orders first raid into Christian lands at Muta (defeat)
630 - Conquers Mecca by surprise (along with other tribes)
631 - Leads second raid into Christian territory at Tabuk (no battle)
632 - Dies
Origins
To understand Islam, you must
understand the harsh circumstances into which the religion was born. The
Arabian Peninsula at the time of Muhammad (b.570 AD) was a barren and desolate
region with a scorching sun and oppressive heat by day, and a chilling cold at
night. There was little vegetative growth, and the nomadic inhabitants
lived between jagged rocks and sifting sand dunes.
While Europe and much of the Middle
East was transitioning from the Roman to the Byzantine Empire, with roads,
irrigation canals, aqueducts, and a culture that included philosophical
discourse and theater, the Arabians lived short and brutal lives in warring
tribes with little to offer the rest of the world beyond their own harsh
existence.
This partly explains the inherent hostility
within the religion to music and art, which some extremists, such as the Taliban, take
quite literally. Islam does not encourage the pursuit of knowledge
outside of itself, and it has sometimes been referred to as “the religion which
has produced nothing but religion” (from Oriana Fallaci, The Rage and the
Pride)
The inhospitable climate protected
the peninsula from conquest and cultural influence, although the Persians did
manage to impose a written language along the coastal edges of the region, which
is the origin of Arabic. No foreign army felt that sheep and goats were
worth taking from the desert fighters and the area was remarkably isolated.
The renaissance of knowledge that the rest of the world had been experiencing
since the Greek revival was largely missed out on by the Arabs, whose entire
energies were devoted to daily survival against the ruthless environment and
other tribes.
For these people, morality was
dictated merely by necessity, and obligations did not extend beyond one’s tribe.
This is a critical basis for the development of the Islamic attitude toward
those outside the faith, including the moral principle that the ethics of any
act are determined only by whether or not it benefits Muslims.
There were pagan
religious traditions in
Arabia, particularly among those based in the trading centers, such as Mecca,
where Muhammad was born. Some of these towns had Kaabas - cube-like
structures that would attract pilgrims during holy months. The Kaaba at
Mecca housed various idols, including the black meteorite that remains to this
day.
In addition to the black rock,
Muhammad's Quraish tribe worshipped a moon god called Allah. Other gods
were recognized as well and the town of Mecca was renowned for religious
tolerance, where people of all faiths could come and pray at the Kaaba. (This
would later change once Muhammad gained the power to establish his authority by
force).
Islam was
created both from these crude pagan practices and from the basic theological elements of
Christianity and Judaism as Muhammad understood them (often
erroneously - his inaccurate interpretation of
Christianity, for example, is often attributed to an early experience with
fringe cults in the Palestinian region, then known as Syria).
Early Life at Mecca
Muhammad was born around 570 AD
to a widowed mother who died just six years later. He grew up poor and orphaned on the margins of society, which was
controlled by tribal chiefs and trading merchants. He worked for his uncle,
Abu Talib,
as a camel herder. Although his uncle had some standing in the community,
Muhammad himself did not rise above his lowly station until he was 25, when he
met and married a wealthy widow, Khadija, who was 15 years older.
His wife's trading business gave
Muhammad the
opportunity to travel and acquire knowledge that was not as accessible to the
local population. He would later use this to his advantage by
incorporating the stories that he had come across into his "revelations" from Allah, particularly the tales from
the earlier religions, Judaism and Christianity.
Having attained a comfortable
lifestyle and the idle time that wealth affords, Muhammad would wander off
occasionally for periods of meditation and contemplation. One day, at the
age of 40, he told his wife that
he had been visited by the angel Gabriel. Thus began a series of
revelations which lasted almost until his death 23 years later. The Qur’an
is based on the oral traditions of these revelations. The Hadith
is a collection of narrations of the life and deeds of Muhammad. The
Sira is his recorded biography. The
Sunnah is said to be Muhammad's way of life, on which Islamic law (Sharia)
is based.
With his wife’s influence and
support, Muhammad proclaimed himself a prophet and began trying to convert those around him to his new religion.
His amalgamation of Judeo-Christian theology and pagan tradition grew more
sophisticated over time. In the beginning, Muhammad did his best to compromise
his teachings with the predominant beliefs of the community’s elders, such as
combining all 300 of their idols under the name “Allah.”
Preaching and Persecution at Mecca
According to early Muslim historians,
the Meccans did not mind Muhammad practicing his religion, nor did
they feel threatened by his promotion of it. This changed only after the
self-proclaimed prophet began attacking their religion, including the
customs and ancestors of the people (Ibn Ishaq 167). This was enough to stir
up the resentment of the influential leaders of Mecca, who then mocked
his humble background against his pretentious claims. (See also
MYTH:
Muhammad was Persecuted for Preaching Islam)
Still, Mecca at the time was a
remarkably tolerant society. Muhammad was allowed to attack the local customs for
thirteen years, even though the town's economy depended on the annual
pilgrimage attended by visiting pagans, whose religion he actively disparaged..
At first, Muhammad was only
successful with friends and family. After thirteen years, “the street
preacher” could boast of only about a hundred determined followers, who called
themselves Muslims. His first convert, outside of his wife, was his young
cousin Ali (who would later become his son-in-law and the fourth caliph of
Islam). Another early convert was Abu Bakr, a wealthy merchant whose money
and credulous acceptance of
Muhammad can be credited with the survival of the fledgling cult.
Relations with the Meccans turned
particularly sour after an episode known as "the Satanic Verses," in which
Muhammad agreed to recognize the local gods in addition to Allah. This
delighted the Meccans, who generously extended their welcome. But Muhammad
soon changed his mind after seeing his own people begin to lose faith in him.
He claimed that Satan had spoken through him, and he rescinded recognition of
the Meccan gods (Tabari 1192, Qur'an
22:52 &
53:19-26).
The locals intensified their mockery
of Muslims and made life particularly difficult for some of them. Although Muslims today often
use the word "persecution" to describe this ordeal (justifiably, in some cases),
it is important to note that the earliest and most reliable biographers (Ibn Ishaq
and al-Tabari) record the death of only one Muslim during this period, an older
woman who died from stress.
This fact is a source of
embarrassment to modern apologists, who do not like admitting that Muslims were
the first to become violent at Mecca (see
MYTH: The
Meccans Drew First Blood against Muhammad) and that Muhammad was the first to
resort to militancy...
and at a later time, when it was
entirely unnecessary.
To deal with this unpleasant
truth, sympathetic narratives of the early Meccan years usually exaggerate the struggle of the
Muslims with claims that they were "under constant torture."
They may also include apocryphal accounts that are unsupported by earliest and
most reliable historians (see
MYTH: Persecution of Muslims at Mecca - Many Deaths).
Modern storytellers and filmmakers
(such as those behind 1976's The Message) have even been known to invent
fictional victims of Meccan murder, either to dramatize their own tale or to
provide justification for what followed. But, in fact, the only Muslim
whose life was truly in danger was that of Muhammad - after 13 years of being
allowed to mock the local religion. (See also
MYTH:
Muhammad was Tortured at Mecca).
The Hijra - Flight from Mecca to Medina
The death of his uncle, Abu Talib, in
619 left Muhammad without a protector against the Meccan leadership, which was
gradually
losing patience with him. The true agitator in this situation, however, is
quite clearly Muhammad himself, as even Muslim historians note. Consider
this account of what happened at Abu Talib's deathbed, as the Meccans implored
him a final time for peace with his nephew:
Abu Sufyan, with other sundry
notables, went to Abu Talib and said: "You know the trouble that exists between
us and your nephew, so call him and let us make an agreement that he will leave
us alone and we will leave him alone; let him have his religion and we will
have ours." (Ibn Ishaq 278)
Muhammad
rejected the offer of peaceful co-existence. His new religion was
obviously intended to dominate the others, not be on equal standing with them.
Meanwhile, the Muslims were beginning to become
violent with the people
around them.
Muhammad's search for political alliance led
him to make a treaty of war against the Meccans with the people of Medina,
another Arab town far to the north (Ibn Ishaq 299-301). This was the last straw
for the Meccans, who finally decided to capture Muhammad and put him to
death. (see also
MYTH: Muhammad
and his Muslims Fled Mecca because of Persecution)
Although this sounds harsh against
Western standards, it is important to note the contrast between the Meccan
reaction and that of Muhammad when he had the opportunity to deal with perceived
treachery in Medina at a later date.
The Meccans limited their deadly
aggression to Muhammad himself. This is quite clear from the episode in
which Muhammad escapes his home by using his son-in-law, Ali, to trick his
would-be assassins into thinking that they had him trapped (Ibn Ishaq 326). No
harm was done to Ali or his wife, both of whom subsequently remained in the city
for several days to complete Muhammad's business transactions.
Compare this to the episode of the
Banu Qurayza (below), in which Muhammad slaughtered an entire tribe of
people based on their leader having switched loyalties in a conflict in which
none of them even participated.
The year that Muhammad fled Mecca for
Medina was 622, which marks the beginning of the Muslim calendar.
Medina and the Origin of Jihad
Stinging from the rejection of his
own town and tribe, it was at Medina that Muhammad's message began to become
more intolerant and ruthless - particularly as he gained power. Islam's
holiest book clearly reflects this contrast, with the Qur'an of Mecca threatening
eternal damnation for not believing in Muhammad, and the Qur'an of Medina
promising that a violent and earthly defeat for unbelievers at the hands of Muslims
might be in the cards as well.
To fund his quest for control,
Muhammad first directed his followers to raid Meccan caravans in the
holy months, when the victims would least expect it. This was despite
the fact that the Meccans were not bothering him in Medina (see
MYTH: Muhammad and his Muslims were Persecuted by the Meccans at Medina).
Revelations "from
Allah" were
conveniently provided to Muhammad which allowed his people to murder innocent
drivers and steal in his service (Ibn Ishaq 426). The people around him gradually
developed a lust for things that could be taken in battle, including material
comforts and captured women and children. (See also
MYTH:
Muhammad Raided Caravans to Retrieve Stolen Property).
Often the people captured in battle
would be brought before the self-proclaimed prophet, where they would plead for
their lives, arguing, for example, that they would never have treated the
Muslims that way. The traditions are quite clear in portraying Muhammad as
largely unmoved by their pleas, and ordering their deaths anyway, often by
horrible means. In one case, he orders a man slain, telling him that
“Hell” will take care of the poor fellow’s orphaned daughter (Ishaq 459).
(See also
MYTH:
Muhammad Never Killed Captives)
The raids on caravans preceded the
first major battle involving a Muslim army, the Battle of Badr. This was
the spot where the Meccans had sent their own army to protect their caravans
from Muslim raiders. Although, Muslims today like to claim that they only
attack others in self-defense, this was clearly not the case in Muhammad's time.
In fact, he had to compel his reluctant warriors with promises of paradise and
assurances that their religion was more important than the lives of others.
(See also MYTH:
The Battle of Badr was Defensive).
The Consolidation of Power
Muhammad defeated the Meccan army at
Badr, which emboldened him to begin dividing and conquering the three local
Jewish tribes at Medina. Their mistake was to accept the Muslim presence,
but to reject Muhammad's claim that he was in the line of Jewish prophets.
His stories from the Torah simply did not agree with their own. (Muhammad's
recited version of Bible stories sounds more like fairy tales with the same moral -
believe in his personal claim to be a prophet or else).
How
these three tribes, the Banu Qaynuqa, the
Banu Nadir, and the Banu Quyrayza met their fate
is insightful into the Muslim mindset, which employs an inherent double standard
in its relations with those outside the faith.
First, to try and gain their favor, Muhammad
briefly preached that Christians and Jews could attain salvation through their
own faith. In fact, he changed his followers' direction for prayer from
Mecca to Jerusalem, which prompted the Jews' tolerance of him while he worked
surreptitiously for the power to evict them. These earlier concessions
and teachings were later revoked by Muhammad, since the Jews ultimately refused
his religion. The rare early verses of tolerance in the Qur'an are
abrogated by later verses such as
9:29.
When he was strong enough to do so,
Muhammad finally made his intentions clear:
While we were in the Mosque, the
Prophet came out and said, "Let us go to the Jews" We went out till we reached
Bait-ul-Midras. He said to them, "If you embrace Islam, you will be safe.
You should know that the earth belongs to Allah and His Apostle, and I want
to expel you from this land. So, if anyone amongst you owns some property,
he is permitted to sell it, otherwise you should know that the Earth belongs to
Allah and His Apostle."
Bukhari 53:392
The Jews of Mecca were the first in a
very long line of unfortunate people to be offered the opportunity to convert to
Islam under obvious duress. Forcible conversion is very much a Muslim
tradition started by Muhammad (see
MYTH: Muhammad Rejected Conversions to Islam made under Duress)
Since they chose to hold to their
religion (and their property) Muhammad looked for reasons to go to war against
the Jews at Medina. According to some Muslims, the first tribe, the
Qaynuqa, were driven from their homes and land on the
pretext that one of their own had harassed a Muslim woman. Although the
offender was killed prior to this by a Muslim, the Muslim was also killed by
Jews in retaliation for the first murder.
After laying siege to the entire
community and defeating the tribe, Muhammad wanted to put every male member to
death, but was talked out of it by an associate - something that Allah later
"rebuked" him for. The Qaynuqa were forced into exile and the Muslims
took their possessions and property, making it their own. Muhammad
personally reserved a fifth of the ill-gotten gain for himself (a rule that he
was sure to include in the Qur'an).
This episode helped ingrain within
Islam the immature principle of group identity, whereby any member of a religion
or social unit outside of Islam is just as guilty as any of their peers who
insult or harm a Muslim - and just as deserving of punishment. (Muhammad's
punishments usually did not fit the crime).
Members of the second tribe, the
Banu
Nadir, were accused by Muhammad of plotting to kill
him. What is most intriguing about this episode is that it occurred
after the Muslims had killed several prominent Jews on Muhammad's order,
including a leader of the Banu Nadir (named Ka'b al-Ashraf). (See also
MYTH: Muhammad
Never Approved of Murder)
When the prophet of Islam learned
that he might be targeted in retaliation (something that he claimed was
"revealed" to him by Allah), he promptly laid siege to the Banu Nadir community.
After forcing them to surrender, these
original inhabitants of Medina were then banished from their homes and land by
the Muslim newcomers, who again took as much as they could for themselves (Ibn Ishaq
653). (To the disappointment of his people, this time Muhammad produced a
revelation from Allah that allowed him to confiscate the entire portion for
himself).
In a critical example of how
deception is sanctioned under Islam, a surviving contingent of the Banu Nadir
(under Usayr ibn Zarim) was later tricked into leaving their fortress by promise of
peace talks. The contingent of Muslims sent by Muhammad to "escort" them,
however, easily slaughtered the victims once they let down their guard (Ibn Ishaq
981). (See also
MYTH:
Muhammad always Disapproved of Dishonesty).
The Qurayza Massacre
By the time the Banu Qurayza met
their fate, Muhammad was wealthy and powerful from his defeat of the other two
tribes.
The Jews of the
Banu Qurayza tasted Muhammad's wrath after their
leader
half-heartedly sided with the Meccan army during a siege of Medina (the Battle of
the Trench). By then, Muhammad had evicted the other Jews and declared
that all land at Medina belonged to him, so the original constitution of the
town was no longer in effect. It is important to note that the Qurayza did
not attack the Muslims, even after switching loyalties (contrary
to another popular myth).
Although the Qurayza surrendered
peacefully to the Muslims, Muhammad determined to have every man of the tribe
executed, along with every boy that had reached the initial stages of puberty
(between the ages of 12 and 14). He ordered a ditch dug outside of the town
and had the victims brought to him in several groups. Each person would be forced
to kneel, and their head would be cut off and then dumped along with the body
into the trench.
Between 700 and 900 men and boys were
slaughtered by the Muslims after their surrender.
The surviving children of the men
became slaves of the Muslims, and their widows became sex slaves. This included the Jewish girl, Rayhana, who became one of
Muhammad's personal concubines the very night that her husband was killed.
The prophet of Islam apparently "enjoyed her pleasures" (ie. raped her) even as
the very execution of her people was taking place.
Women were much like any other
possession taken in battle, to be done with however their captors pleased.
Muhammad ordered that a fifth of those taken captive be reserved for him, many of whom became his sex
slaves in addition to his eleven wives. Some of these he also doled out to
others. (See
MYTH: Muhammad was an Abolitionist)
At one point following a battle,
Muhammad
provided instructions on how women should be raped
after capture, telling his men not to worry about coitus interruptus, since
"Allah has written whom he is going to create." (See also
MYTH: Muhammad
Never Approved of Rape)
Following the battle against the
Hunain, late in his life, Muhammad's men were reluctant to rape the captured
women in front of their husbands (who were apparently still alive to witness the
abomination), but Allah came to the rescue with a handy "revelation" that
allowed the debauchery. (This is the origin of Sura 4:24 according to Abu Dawud
2150).
The Origin of Islamic Imperialism
The tribes around the Muslims began
to convert to Islam out of self-preservation. Those that didn’t were
gradually defeated in battle in a pattern that became the blueprint for the
successful establishment of Islam as a world religion. Typically, the
enemy’s trust would be gained by non-intrusive measures in which the Muslims
would insert themselves into the foreign community while professing their
respect for local traditions and political structures. As they began to
gain power, however, they would divide loyalties and exercise violence to
acquire local hegemony.
The excuse for military campaign
began to shrink to the point that it hardly existed at all. Muhammad told
his followers that Muslims were meant to rule over other people, and this seemed
to be the
driving force behind Jihad. (See also
MYTH:
Muhammad Waged War Only in Self-Defense).
This is demonstrated most plainly by
the brutal conquest of the people of Khaybar, a peaceful farming community that
was not at war with the Muslims. Muhammad marched against them anyway,
taking them by surprise and easily defeating them. He had many of the men
killed, simply for defending their town, enslaved women and children, and had
surviving families pay them an ongoing share of their crops not to do it again.
Muhammad suspected that the town's
treasurer was holding out and had his men barbarically
torture the poor fellow by building a fire on his
chest until he revealed the location of hidden treasure. (See also
MYTH: Muhammad
Never Approved Torture).
Afterwards, the
prophet of Islam beheaded the man and "married" his wife on the same day that
she became a widow (she was forced to first pass through the hands of one of his
lieutenants). Given that the woman's father was also killed by Muhammad,
it isn't much of a stretch to say that true love had very little to do with this
"marriage."
A Life of Hedonism and Narcissism
Muhammad's personal life became the
picture of hedonism and excess, all justified by frequent “revelations.”
(See also MYTH:
Muhammad was a Brave Warrior who Trusted in Allah to Protect him).
The man, who earlier in his career
had justified his claims as a prophet by
saying that he "asked for no reward" from others,
reversed course and began to demand a fifth or more of all booty taken from conquered
tribes. According to his biographers, he became
fat from living off this enormous share of ill-gotten
gain.
In the span of a dozen years, he
married eleven women and had access to an array of sex slaves (see
MYTH:
Muhammad Married Multiple Women as a Favor to them). When he
wanted a woman, even if she were the wife of another man, his own
daughter-in-law, or a child as young as 6-years-old (see
MYTH:
Muhammad Condemned Pedophilia), Muhammad was able to justify his lust and
inevitable consummation with an appeal to Allah’s revealed will
for his sex
life - which was then preserved forever in the Qur'an,
to be faithfully memorized by future generations for whom it has no possible
relevance.
(For the Muslim faithful, it must
surely be a source of embarrassment that Allah evidently had more interest in
Muhammad's personal sex life than he did about tolerance. There are also
far more open-ended Qur'anic verses that advocate "fighting in the cause of Allah" than
there are in showing love for all people. Allah encourages sex with slaves
in multiple places as well).
The prophet of Islam was an extremely
superstitious person, leaving many bizarre rules for Muslims to follow,
including which direction they should defecate and how many stones they should
wash their anus with afterwards (any odd number... for those curious). (See also
MYTH:
Muhammad did Away with Superstition).
Muhammad also had personal critics
executed, including poets. One of these was a mother of five children, who
was stabbed to death by Muhammad's envoy after a suckling infant was removed
from her breast (see
MYTH:
Muhammad Never Killed Women). Other innocent people were killed merely because they
were of a different religion, sometimes including children (see
MYTH:
Muhammad Never Killed Children).
The double standards of Islam that
are so recognizable today were ingrained by the prophet of Islam during his
lifetime. An example would be the death of Umm Qirfa, an elderly woman
who had the bad fortune to be the member of a tribe targeted by Muhammad's
raiders.
Muhammad's son
tied the woman's legs separately to two camels, then set the camels off in opposite directions,
tearing the woman's body in two. He also killed her two young sons -
presumably in gruesome fashion - as well. (See also
MYTH: Muhammad
Never Killed the Elderly).
Today's Muslims inherit this legacy of self-consumption and disregard for those
outside the faith. They may or may not agree with terrorist attacks on
non-Muslims, but they are nearly united in their belief that the victims have no
right to strike back, even if it is in self-defense.
The Qur'an distinguishes Muslims from
others, bestowing the highest praise for believers while heaping the vilest
condemnation on those outside the faith. Islam is a true supremacist
ideology. (See also Is the
Qur'an Hate Speech?)
The Taking of Mecca
Though many of the Arab and Jewish
tribes were eliminated and absorbed through military victory and forced
conversion, the city of Mecca remained.
In 628, six years after fleeing,
Muhammad’s followers were allowed to re-enter the city under an agreement
whereby he set aside his title as “Prophet of Allah.” This was a temporary
ploy that enabled him to gain a political foothold in the city through the same
“fifth column” activities that are still used today
by organizations such as the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), which
use their host’s language of religious tolerance to disguise an ulterior agenda
that includes systematic discrimination against non-Muslims.
Many of his followers were
disappointed that Muhammad had made concessions to the Meccans, not
understanding how it actually fit perfectly with his ultimate agenda of
domination. It was during this time that he led the campaign against the
Khaybar, to assuage their lust for blood and looting.
Technically, Muhammad was the first
to break the treaty with the Meccans when he violated the
portion of it that restricted him from accepting members of the other tribe into
his camp. His own people also staged deadly raids on Meccan caravans (see
MYTH: The
Meccans were the First to Break the Treaty of Hudaibiya). Although he
evidently had no personal obligation to the treaty, the
prophet of Islam held the other party to the letter of the law, particularly
after he amassed the power to conquer in overwhelming fashion.
The excuse that Muhammad eventually
used to march his armies into Mecca was provided when a tribe allied to the
Meccans conducted a raid on a tribe allied with the Medinans. Although a
true man of peace would have heeded the fact that his enemy did not want war,
and used non-violent means to resolve the tension while respecting sovereignty,
Muhammad merely wanted power and vengeance. (See also
MYTH:
Muhammad always Chose Peace over War).
This became the pattern of Islam's
dramatic expansion following Muhammad's death. Muslims would conquer a
region and sign "peace treaties" with new neighbors. Then, when they were
confident in their military strength, the Muslims would look for an excuse to
provoke a conflict and renew aggression.
Following Mecca's surrender, Muhammad
put to death those who had previously insulted him (see also
MYTH:
Muhammad was a Forgiving Man). One of the persons
sentenced was his former scribe, who had written revelations that Muhammad said
were from Allah. The scribe had previously recommended changes to the
wording that Muhammad offered (based on some of the bad grammar and ineloquent
language of "Allah") and Muhammad agreed. This caused the scribe to
apostatize, based on his belief that real revelations should have been
immutable.
Although the scribe escaped death by
"converting to Islam" at the point of a sword, others weren't so lucky.
One was a slave girl who was executed on Muhammad's order because she had
written songs mocking him.
In what would
also become the model for future Muslim military conquests, those Meccans who
would not convert to Islam were required to accept third-class
status. Not surprisingly, almost the entire city - which had previously
rejected his message - immediately "converted" to Islam once Muhammad came back
with a sword in this hand.
Those who would not convert to Islam
were banned from the city a few months later - again underscoring the dual ethics of Islam.
When Muhammad was previously banned from Mecca, he described it as a
"persecution" that justified his "slaughter" of those who prevented him from
performing the Haj. Yet, when he attained power, he immediately chased
anyone who would not convert to Islam from Mecca and prevented them from
performing the Haj.
To this day, people of other
religions are barred even from entering Mecca, the city where Muhammad was free
to preach in contradiction to the established religion. Islam is far less
tolerant even than the more primitive Arab religion that it supplanted. A person
preaching the original Arab polytheism on the streets of Mecca today would be
quickly executed.
Jihad and Jizya
Tellingly, some of the most violent
verses in the Qur'an were handed down following Muhammad's ascension to power,
when there was no threat to the Muslim people. The 9th Sura of the Qur'an
exhorts Muslims to Jihad and dominance over other religions:
"Fight those who do not believe in
Allah, nor in the latter day, nor do they prohibit what Allah and His Messenger
have prohibited, nor follow the religion of truth, out of those who have been
given the Book, until they pay the tax in acknowledgment of superiority and they
are in a state of subjection." (9:29)
The verse that follows curses
Christians and Jews by name and says "May Allah destroy them" (as with other
sections of the Qur'an, it is unclear whether it is Allah or Muhammad speaking).
Before his
death, Muhammad ordered 30,000 men to march
on Christian lands (which were Byzantine at the time). It is possible that
he believed false rumors of an army amassed against him, but there is absolutely
no evidence of such a force having been assembled. Instead, Muhammad
subjugated the local people and extorted "protection" money from them -
something that has come to be known as the jizya (a tax that non-Muslims
pay to Muslims).
Another episode from this period that
offers insight into the legacy of Muhammad is the forced conversion of the
al-Harith, one of the last Arab tribes to hold out against Muslim hegemony.
Muhammad gave the chief of the tribe three days to accept Islam before sending
his army to destroy them.
Not surprisingly, the entire people
immediately accepted the Religion of Peace!
Most Arab tribes recognized
Muhammad's quest for power and wisely pledged their political allegiance without
a fight. This quickly presented a problem for his core band of followers,
however, since they had become used to living off of what could be stolen from
others via raids and battle.
Since it was against the rules
to attack fellow Muslims, Muhammad began demanding tribute from his new
"converts" instead, but this proved to be less profitable than the jizya
- not to mention that it carried the risk of internal resentment and strife.
Khaybar, the remote Jewish city
that had been turned into a sharecropper state on behalf of its Muslim masters
was a more preferable economic model for a growing Islamic empire that had
become dependent on extortion justified by religious superiority.
The subsequent military
expansion that Muhammad personally set in motion - particularly into the
Christian and Persian lands, the wealth of which was a source of open jealousy
among his followers - may have been sanctioned by Allah and powered by religious
zealotry, but the underlying motives of money, sex, slaves and power were no
less worldly than any other conqueror of the time.
The Legacy of Islamic Imperialism
Muhammad died of a fever
in 532 at the age
of 63, with his violent religion now firmly rooted in the Arab lands.
Through his teachings, his followers viewed worldly life as a constant physical
battle between the House of Peace (Dar al-Salaam) and the House of War (Dar
al-Harb).
Over the next fourteen centuries, the
bloody legacy of this extraordinary individual would be a constant challenge to
those living on the borders of the religion’s hegemony. The violence that
Muslim armies would visit on people across North Africa, the Middle East, Europe
and into Asia as far as the Indian subcontinent is a tribute to a founder who
condoned subjugation, rape, murder and forced conversion in the cause of spreading
the rule of his religion.
In Muhammad's words: "I have been
ordered to fight the people till they say: 'None has the right to be worshipped
but Allah.' And if they say so, pray like our prayers, face our Qibla and
slaughter as we slaughter, then their blood and property will be sacred to us
and we will not interfere with them..." (Bukhari
8:387)
It is certainly the basis not just
for modern day terror campaigns against Western infidels (and Hindus and
Buddhists) but also the broad apathy that Muslims across the world have to the
violence, which is an obvious enabler.
As Indonesian cleric, Abu Bakar
Bashir recently put it, "If the West wants to have peace, then they have to
accept Islamic rule."
Go back to
the List of Islamic Terrorist Attacks
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