ISLAM
MUHAMMAD AND THE Quran
By: Dr. Labib Mikhail
 MUHAMMAD
Introduction Chapter 1  Muhammad’s
Roots and His First Marriage
Arabian Society in Muhammad’s Time Muhammad’s
First Marriage Chapter 2 Muhammad’s
Call Analysis
Of Muhammad’s Call Was
the Spirit Really the Angel Gabriel? Muhammad’s
Call Was Not Like the Call Of Moses Or Jesus Muhammad
Does Not Pass the Test Of A True Prophet Chapter 3 Muhammad’s
Wives Muhammad
Married A Six Year Old Child |
Muhammad
Married His Daughter-in-Law Analysis
of Muhammad’s Marriage to His Daughter-in-Law
Jesus
Is the Best Example Chapter 4 Muhammad’s
Migration To Al-Madina The
Meccans Rejected Muhammad The
Migration Chapter 5 Muhammad’s
Battles Muhammad
Convinces His Followers to Fight The
Sword Of Islam Goes Forth Chapter 6 Muhammad’s
Death Muhammad’s
Death Compared To That Of Moses |
|
THE Quran Chapter 7 The
History of The Quran Strange
Names How
The Quran Was Written The
Bible Is the Gold Standard Contradictions
Between the Bible And the Quran Is
the Bible Corrupted? Chapter 8 Is
the Quran A Miracle? The
Teacher Who Corrected the Quran Quran’s
Principles Not Consistent With the Bible Love
or retaliation and racism? Peace
or Sword? One
wife or four? Love
your wife or beat her? The
case of the divorced wife The
Islamic Veil Chapter 9 Does
the Quran Teach Polytheism? Our
Knowledge About the True And Living God? No
One Can Fully Comprehend God The
Bible Reveals A Triune God The
Bible Reveals A Supreme God The
Quran Reveals That Allah Is Lower Than His Creation
The
Quran Positioned Muhammad As the Center of Praise In Heaven , And
On Earth Chapter 10 The
Quran And the Crucifixion Of Christ The
Quran Denies the Crucifixion Of Christ The
Three Days Of the Quran Eye
Witnesses To the Crucifixion |
Chapter
11 Testing
the Truthfulness Of the Quran True
Source Of Inspiration The
Story Of Joseph In the Quran is Distorted Muhammad
Used the Quran To Solve His Own Problems And To Satisfy His Own
Desires Chapter 12 The
Challenge Offered By The Quran Chapter 13 Internal
Discrepancies Chapter 14 Providing
Spiritual Needs The
Need to be loved and to love The
Need Of Total Forgiveness Does
the Quran Provide A Decent Way Of Life? Does
the Quran Provide Assurance Of Eternal Life With God In Heavenly
Bliss? Chapter 15 Fruits
Of True Religion Muhammad’s
Household The
Society Muhammad Created The
Story Of Zia Nodrat Contribution
Of Islam To Mankind Chapter 16 A
Muslim’s Personal Testimony Chapter 17 It
Is Your Decision |
|
[TOP] Muhammad is one of the most controversial person in the history of mankind. Muslims believe that he is the greatest prophet, the seal of the prophets, and that no prophet will come after him. Christians believe that Muhammad is a false prophet. More than eight hundred million human beings confess Islam, the religion Muhammad founded. Therefore it is important to know Muhammad and his teachings. It is fitting that we study Muhammad's life from his birth to his death as well as the Quran. Thomas Carlyle, a Scottish historian who lived between 1795 and 1881, wrote concerning Muhammad:
Alighieri Dante, the Italian poet who lived between the years 1265 and 1321 A.D., wrote THE DIVINE COMEDY. In it he describes Muhammad, with his body split from the head down to the waist, in the twenty-eight sphere of the inferno and shows him tearing apart his severed breast with his own hands, because he is the chief among the damned souls who have brought schism into religion. To the medieval mind, Muhammad's claim to deliver a divine revelatin, superseding Judaism and Christianity, can only be regarded as an implausible fraud. Yet, Anis Mansoor, a well known Egyptian journalist, wrote a book entitled THE DISTINGUISHED PERSONALITIES IN HISTORY ARE ONE HUNDRED, MUHAMMAD IS THE GREATEST OF THEM. How can there be such diverse and extreme opinions regarding one man such as there are about Muhammad? Let us
study this man Muhammad. Let us also study the Quran.
What is the Quran? The Quran is the Muslims's Holy Book - they call it "The Glorious Qur'an" or "Al-Mushaf Al-Shareef." The Quran came almost 600 years after Christ. Many of its contents contradict the Bible and it records many of the Bible stories with great distortion. It commands the killing of Jews and Christians, permits polygamy (marring more than one woman at one time), permits the husband to beat his wife, and permits a Muslim man to marry a Christian or a Jewish woman, but forbids the Muslim woman to marry a Christian or a Jew. Many more things are mentioned in this book. It would be helpful for the English speaking reader to buy an English translation of the Quran and read it carefully to see the great contradictions between it and the Bible, and at the same time to discover the discrepancies in the Quran itself.
It is offered with much prayer. FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS DEATH Chapter 1 Muhammad was born in Mecca in the Arabian Peninsula in the year 570 A.D. to a pagan family who worshipped idols and had no faith in God. It is of great interest to note that the Quran, the holy book of Islam, does not mention Muhammad's birth, his father or his mother, or any of his ancestors. The only ones who are mentioned in the Quran are Abu Lahab, Muhammad's uncle, and his wife. In Surat Al-Lahab both were destined to hell fire because Abu Lahab refused to support Muhammad and ridiculed him. (Surat Al-Lahab 111:1-5). But we read in the Bible about Moses' father and mother and all the details of his birth (Exodus 2:1-10). Moses was born into a family of strong faith in God as we read in the letter to the Hebrews:
The full name of Muhammad is Muhammad Ibn (Ibn means son) Abdullah, Ibn Abdul-Muttalib, Ibn Hashim, Ibn Admanaf, Ibn Qussai. Ibn Hesham mentioned in his book tha Qussai, the great grandfather of Muhammad, was the governor of Mecca and the Guardian of the Kaaba where three hundred and sixty idols were worshipped by the different Arab tribes. The Kaaba was the holy shrine of the Arabs. Muhammad's father's name was Abdullah, which means the "slave of Allah." We can see from that name that Allah was a deity known to the Arabs before Islam. He is the moon god and not the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible, whom the Jews and Christians worshipped, was not called Allah but Jehovah (Psalm 83:18). Abdullah died before Muhammad's birth. When he was born, his mother Aminah, daughter of Wahab, could not breast feed him, so she gave him to a woman by the name of "Halima" to nurse him with her son. Muhammad's mother Aminah died when he was six years old and his grandfather, Abdul Muttalib, assumed responsibility for him. After the death of his grandfather, his uncle Abu-Talib cared for him. The only verse we read in the Quran concerning Muhammad's childhood is recorded in Surat Al-Duha 93:6:
Arabian Society in Muhammad's Time [TOP] Muhammad's uncle Abu-Talib was a merchant and he used to take Muhammad with him on trading caravans across Arabia. Muhammad was introduced to the surrounding world and many different kinds of people during these journeys with his uncle. H.A.R. Gibb, professor of Arabic at Oxford University, wrote in his book, MUHAMMADANISM:
There were also many Christian cults in Arabia: the Ebionites who denied the deity of Christ: the Docetic Gnostic who emphasized His diety but denied His humanity; the Arians who attributed to Him a subordinate deity; and the Nestorians, who denied the proper union of His two natures. In one of these caravans Muhammad met Buhaira, a Nestorian monk. Ibn Hesham recored that Buhaira looked at Muhammd's back and saw a mole on it, which was supposed to be a sign of prophethood, and warned his uncle Abu-Talib to protect him from the Jews. In addition to these cults there
were also true Christians in Arabia. We will read Muhammad's
response to all of them in the Quran. A wealthy Meccan widow, Khadija, hired Muhammad to manage her business. After a short time she fell in love with him and sent her maid, Nafisa, to propose marriage to him on her behalf, He was twenty-five years old, she was forty. Muhammad accepted her proposal of marriage as her wealth was more important to him than her age. Muhammad's marriage to Khadija assured him of prestige among his tribe, the tribe of Quraysh (THE MIND CRISIS IN ISLAM, page 89, written by Mustafa Geha). Her cousin, Bishop Waraka Ibn Nofal, who was the Ebionite Christian Bishop of Mecca, officiated at the marriage ceremony. So Muhammad's marriage was in a way a Christian marriage, which explains why Muhammad did not marry any other woman as long os Khadija lived (KASSON WANABI - A Bishop and a Prophet, page 37).
FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS DEATH Chapter 2 MUHAMMAD'S CALL [TOP] After Muhammad's marriage to Khadija, Bishop Waraka Ibn Nofal befriended him and set his mind to train and disciple Muhammad to succed him as the Ebionite Bishop of Mecca. Muhammad's prosperous union with khadija gave him time for solitude at the cave fo Mount Hira in a suburb of Mecca. It was there that Bishop Waraka began to teach and train him. Bishop Waraka taught Muhammad many of the Old and New Testament stories of the Bible. These stories are mentioned in the Quran with great distortion. He also taught Muhammad about Jesus according to the Ebionites' belief, which as we mentioned before denies the deity of Christ. One night when Muhammad was forty years old, he was alone in the cave of Hira when a spirit appeared to him at the door of the cave. That spirit grasped him suddenly and squeezed him until he thought he would die and commanded him, "Read." "I cannot read," Muhammad answered, because he was illiterate. The spirit squeezed him again so tightly he that thought he would die, and commanded him again, "Read." "I cannot read," he answered. The The spirit tightened his grasp and squeezed him more and said for the third time, "Read." Afraid that he might die, Muhammad said, "What shall I read?" The spirit said:
Khadija covered him, suprised by his fear, his shivering, and his pale face. Khadija took Mohammad to her cousin, Bishop Waraka Ibn Nofal, who declared his belief that Muhammad was chosen to be the prophet of his people. Keep in mind it was an Ebionite Bishop who declared that Muhammad was a prophet! Muhammad declared in his Quran in Surat Al-Imran 3:19: The religion before Allah is Islam. Again in verse 85 of the same Surat:
At this point we have to analyze Muhammad's call to decide if he is a true or a false prophet. We will address this issue with the following questions: First:
Since Islam is the only religion accepted before Allah and Muhammad
is the seal of the prophets as the Quran declares, why was it
that the call of Muhammad came through that spirit and not by
a direct call from God?
Second: Who will testify concerning that call? Muhammad was the only witness to that experience. One witness is not acceptable in substantiating such a claim. God said in the book of Deuteronomy 19:15:
Third: God authenticated the call of Moses with miracles and He witnessed concerning His Son, Jesus Christ, with miracles. Why was it that Muhammad was unable to perform miracles? Concerning Moses' miracles, the Bible says:
He sent Moses His servant, and Aaron whom He had chosen. They performed His signs (miracles) among them, and wonders in the land of Ham. He sent darkness, and made it dark; and they did not rebel against His word. He turned their waters into blood, and killed their fish. Their land abounded with frogs, even in the chambers of their kings. He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, and lice in all their territory. He have them hail for rain, and flaming fire in their land. He struck their vines also and their fig trees, and splintered the trees of their territory. He spoke, and locust came, young locusts without number, and ate up all vegetation in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground. He also destroyed all the firstborn in their land, the first of all their strength. (Psalms 105:23, 26-36 NKJ).
(Surat Al-Isra 17:101). We also read about Jesus' miracles in the New Testament. Jesus said to His disciples:
But Muhammad declared that he could not perform any miracles. The Quran does not mention a single miracle attributed to him. The Quran declares in Surat Al-Ankabut 29:50:
(Surat Al-Isra 17:93). Who Was The Spirit That Squeezed Muhammad At The Cave? It is of great importance to identify the spirit who squeezed Muhammad at the cave of Hira near Mecca. After his encounter with the spirit, Muhammad was afraid that what happened to him was from a Jinni. Then later, Muhammad declared in the Quran that the spirit who squeezed him was the angel Gabriel. We read in Surat Al-Baqarah 2:97:
The answer is: Absolutely not! First: Had the spirit been Gabriel, he would have calmed Muhammad and relieved his fear. But the spirit left him in extreme distress. Gabriel appeared to many people before his alleged visit to Muhammad and each time the first thing he did was to allay that person's fear. Gabriel appeared to the prophet Daniel. Daniel was afraid but Gabriel touched him, he did not squeeze him, he only touched him:
Second: Had the spirit been Gabriel, he would not have contradicted his former revelations. Six hundred years before Muhammad, Gabriel said to Mary when he appeared to her:
(Surat Al-Tawbah 9:30 MPT). Was the spirit really the angel Gabriel? Could Gabriel contradict himself in such an important matter? Third: Had the spirit been Gabriel, Khadija would have believed Muhammad's testimony and would not have tested the spirit the way she did. We are told by Ibn Hesham, who wrote Muhammad's biography, that Khadija tested the spirit who squeezed Muhammad. She said to Muhammad:
Fourth: Had the spirit been Gabriel he would not have given a false scientific revelation to Muhammad. The spirit said to Muhammad:
Man was created from the dust of the ground, not from frozen blood. Even the Quran states this fact:
Dr. William Campbell in his book, The Quran and The Bible, says on page 185:
Fifth: Had the spirit been Gabriel, he would have taught Mohammad to read and write. The Quran declares that Allah taught Jesus how to write. In Surat Al-Imran 3:48 it is said concerning Jesus:
There came a time when Muhammad was in doubt concerning the revelations he received from the spirit. The Quran recorded:
Muhammad had the right to be in doubt of the revelations given to him by the spirit which appeared to him at the cave of Hira, for that spirit was not the angel Gabriel. If he was a learned man, he would have known what the New Testament says concerning Satan:
Muhammad's
Call Was Not Like the Call Of Moses Or Jesus,
[TOP] Moses' mission as expressed in the Bible was:
Createth man from a clot (Surat Al-Alaq 96:1-5). In the final analysis, we find that Muhammad is not a true prophet, for the true prophet according to the Bible must have special qualifications. 1. The true prophet, who is chosen by God to be the founder of a new religion must receive a direct call from God (Exodus 3:9,10). Muhammad received his call from the spirit which squeezed him at the cave of Hira. 2. The true prophet, chosen to declare a new religion, must be committed to holiness (2 Peter 1:21). The main interest of Muhammad was to have as many wives as he could, and not to live a holy life.
4. The true prophet must utter prophecies that must be fulfilled to the letter. The only so-called prophetic utterance Muhammad recorded in his Quran is Surat Ar-Rum it says:
Why do they not rejoice today for the victories of the Christians? If one apples this set of criteria and the required qualifications of the prophet to Muhammad, one must conclude that he is not a true prophet. In addition, Islam did not establish commandments or principles superior to those of judaism and christianity. All Muhammad did was to permit:
Lo! and it is We, even We, Who quicken and give death, and we are the inheritor (Surat Al-Hijr 15:23 MPT).
MUHAMMAD
Muhammad's Wives After the death of Khadija, his wife of almost twenty years, and after proclaiming himself the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad unleashed his sexual desires and in a span of ten years he married fourteen wives in addition to his many concubines. Not one of them was mentioned in the Quran by name, for Islam has no regard for women. They were, however, mentioned in Muhammad's biography written by Ibn Hesham. Before we mention the wives of Muhammad, we have to remember the words of the Quran concerning Muhammad.
Ye have indeed in the Messenger
of Allah an A Washington Post Parade Magazine reporter printed a column entitled "Sex in Saudi Arabia." Here is that column.
One of Gray's must illustrious patients was Prince Ibrahim Mugrin el-Kabir, who had fought alongside Ibn Saud early in the century. The prince complained of "decreasing sexual prowess" and explained that he had fathered no offspring for five years. He demanded improvement of his waning potency, but-at 90-age was against him. He soon died, leaving an estate valued at $32 billion, which was divided among his four wives, 23 sons and 11 daughters (Washington Post Parade Magazine, November 13, 1983, page 9). These people and many more are just following Muhammad's excellent example. There is a story related to every wife of Muhammad but space only allows us to mention the most interesting one. Muhammad Married A Six Year Old Child [TOP] Aisha, daughter of Abu-Bakr was a beautiful little girl. Muhammad married her when he was fifty three years old and she was only six years old. He had intercourse with her when she was nine years old. (Wives of the Prophet, pages 57-61). This is a gross case of child abuse by the prophet of Islam. When Muhammad married Aisha, he set an example for the Muslims. To this day older Muslim men marry much younger girls, following Muhammad's example. The Egyptian weekly magazine Almussawar printed a letter sent to Ameenah Al-Saaeed, one of its editors, from a woman who was a teacher of languages in Egypt. The letter appeared in the September 6, 1991 issue. Here is a part of that letter: Dear mother Ameenah Al-Saaeed:
Zainab, daughter of Gahsh. Dr. Aisha Abd-Alrahman cited in her book, Wives of the Prophets, page 130, what Al-Tabari, the great Muslim expositor, wrote concerning that marriage with Zainab:
One day Muhammad went to visit Zaid. Zainab was in her room wearing her nightgown, the wind moving the drape hanging at the door. Muhammad saw his daughter-in-law and his heart was moved by her beauty. She asked him to come in. He refused and went talking to himself in a loud voice saying "Praise be Allah who changes hearts." When Zaid came home Zainab told him about Muhammad's visit and what he said. Zaid went to Muhammad and asked him "Shall I divorce Zainab?" "Retain her as your wife," Muhammad answered. After that day Zainab treated her husband, Zaid, harshly and with no respect. He could not take it any more, so he divorced her. It was very difficult situation for Muhammad. He had a great desire for Zainab and he wanted to marry her, but she was his daughter-in-law. Muhammad needed help and that help must come from his Allah. At last help came in a revelation brought by the spirit who appeared to him at the cave of Hira, in the following verses recorded in the Quran.
Muslim commentators tried very hard to justify that marriage but in vain. For Muhammad to marry his daughter-in-law was a disgrace. Analysis of Muhammad's Marriage to His Daughter-in-Law [TOP] First: Since that marriage was planned by Allah and Muhammad, we would rightly expect that the married couple couple would live happily ever after. Instead, that marriage turned out to be a very miserable marriage. Second: Muhammad claimed that he counseled with Allah before they (he and Allah) made the decision that Zainab should marry Zaid. But we read in the pure word of God:
has become His counselor? (Romans 11:34 NKJ). himself equal to Allah. Third: When Muhammad made the decision that Zainab should marry Zaid, so he could demonstrate that in Islam there is no difference between the rich and the poor, the slave and the free, he did not care care about Zainab's happiness and satisfaction. Muhammad's decision regarding that marriage turned into a failure. Fourth: When Muhammad lusted after his daughter-in-law, he opened the door for any Muslim man to lust after the wife of his friend and marry her after she is divorced. God's command says:
Fifth: In light of Jesus' words, Muhammad is considered an adulterer, because he married a divorced woman. Jesus Christ said:
adultery (Matthew 5:32).
For Muhammad to claim that Allah joined him in marriage to Zainab is an insult to the word and holiness of God. Let us record the rest of the list of Muhammad's wives:
Jesus Is The Best Example [TOP] If Muhammad had come before Christ, we might have accepted this kind of polygamy. For King Solomon married 700 wives, and he had 300 concubines. Other patriarchs like Abraham and David married more than one wife. But none of them married more than one wife by God's command. In fact, the Bible says that king Solomon ended his life shamefully because of those wives and concubines (I Kings 11:1-10). The Bible declares that polygamy was always a cause of misery and disaster. But Muhammad claimed falsely that he married all those wives by Allah's command and for humanitarian and political reasons. The fact is that Jesus Christ came six hundred years before Muhammad. He is the gold standard and his word is the absolute standard by which we measure any kind of behavior. This is what he said:
Muhammad violated the law of God
and married all those women, claiming falsely that he married
them by Allah's command. Even though he declares in his
Quran that a Muslim can marry only four women at one time, he
gave himself the privilege of marrying fourteen women demonstrating
that he is above the law of Allah. According to the Quran, marrying many women was a privilege for the Prophet of Islam. What a Prophet!
FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS DEATH [TOP] Chapter 4 Al Madina was a city located 200 kilometers from Mecca. Its name was Yathrib. Muhammad migrated with many of his followers to Al-Madina. This migration, called in Arabic "Hijra,"is regarded by Muslims as the key date in the history of Islam, and the Muslim calendar begins with that year. Today, in Muslim lands, documents, letters, and newspapers are dated from the Hijra. The Meccans Rejected Muhammad [TOP] When Muhammad began calling people to Islam in Mecca, the majority of Meccans did not respond to his call. They criticized him, and called him mad (Surat Al-Hijr 15:6, Surat Al-Qalam 68:51), a possessed poet (Surat Al-Saffat 37:36, a forger (Surat Al-Nahal 16:101) and bewitched (Surat Al-Furqan 25:7,8). They persecuted his followers. In the beginning of his call to Islam, Muhammad spoke highly concerning the Jews and declared that Allah assigned the Holy Land to them. The Quran says:
And (remember) when Moses said
unto his people: O my people! Remember Allah's favour
unto you, how he placed among you prophets, and he made you
kings, and Muhammad tried to win the Jews to his side. He also tried to win the people of other religions. He declared in the Quran:
Muhammad's Migration To Al-Madina [TOP] In the year 622 A.D. Muhammad asked his followers to make their way in small numbers to Al-Madina, a journey of several weeks by camel. Learning that the Quraysh were planning to prevent him from leaving Mecca, he and Abu-Bakr escaped from the city, hid for several days in a cave, and then took a safe route to Al-Madina. In Al-Madina, Muhammad established a kingdom for himself. He tried to win the Jews of Al-Madina to his side so he commanded the Muslims to pray toward the destroyed Jewish temple in Jerusalem. But the Jewish clans rejected his claim that he was a true prophet; first, because he was an Arab, not a Jew, and also, because they saw that he lacked all the qualifications of a true prophet. A true prophet must perform miracles, utter prophecies, and be consistent with that which was revealed in the Torah (The Old Testament). They realized that Muhammad performed no miracles. He uttered no prophecies. He contradicted by his revelations the clear teachings of the Torah. And He used the revelations which he claimed that he received from Allah to satisfy his desires and achieve his purposes. They rejected him and rightly so. The Quran did not convince the Meccans, the true Christians, and the Jews, so Muhammad decided to use the sword.
FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS DEATH Chapter 5 In Al-Madina, Muhammad organized a Muslim army to fight the Meccans, and annihilate the Jews and the Christians who rejected Islam. He had decided that he could achieve with the sword the results his Quran had to produce. Using force is a sign of weakness. When a head of state resorts to force against his own people, it shows that he is unable to solve his problems by peaceful means. It is a clear indication of his weakness, fear of losing his authority, and a troubled mind. Muhammad Convinced His Followers To Fight [TOP] To convince his followers to fight, Muhammad had to give them revelations from Allah, especially since they had to fight against their own relatives in Mecca - against their fathers, brothers, and even grandfathers. The revelations came in the following verses in the Quran:
He also mixed the biblical story where God commanded Gideon to bring to the water all the people who were gathered with him to fight so that God might test them, with the story of Saul and his fight against the Philistines, (compare Surat Al-Bqarah 2:245-249 and Judges 7:2-7). Muhammad did just that to motivate the Muslims to fight.
Bethink thee of leaders of the Children of Israel after Moses, how they said unto a Prophet whom they had. Set up for us a king and we will fight in Allah's way. He said: Would ye then refrain from fighting if fighting were prescribed for you? They said: Why should we not fight in Allah's way when we have been driven from our dwellings with our children? Yet, when fighting was prescribed for them, they turned away, all save a few them. Allah is aware of evil-doers. (Surat Al-Baqarah 2:224, 246 MPT).
Lo! Allah loveth those who battle for his cause in ranks, as if they were solid structure (Surat Al-Saff 61:4 MPT).
That (is the award), so taste it, and (know) that for disbelievers is the torment of the Fire. O ye who believe! When ye meet those who disbelieve in battle, turn not your backs to them. Whoso on that day turneth his back to them, unless maneuvering for battle or intent to join a company, he truly hath incurred wrath from Allah, and his habitation will be hell, a hapless journey's end (Surat Al-Anfal 8:12-16 MPT). When the Muslims mourned because they killed their relatives in battle, a revelations came to Muhammad to comfort them:
And thou threwest not when thou didst throw, but Allah threw, that He might test the believers by a fair test from Him. Lo! Allah is Hearer, Knower (Surat Al-Anfal 8:17 MPT). This is what Muhammad said to the Muslims concerning the Jews and the Christians:
The following verse demonstrates the intention of Islam to build and Islamic empire:
To ensure that Muslims would fight even till death, Muhammad promised every Muslim who dies in battle total forgiveness of all his sins and eternal life in Paradise where he will be wedded to women of wide lovely eyes, and enjoy rivers of wine. (Surat Al-Tur 52:17-24). Martyrdom is the only way for a Muslim to obtain forgiveness of sins.
Allah hath purchased of the believers (Muslims) their persons and their goods; for theirs (in return) is the garden (of Paradise). They fight in His cause, and slay and are slain a promise binding him (Surat At-Tawbah 9:111). Fight them, and Allah will torture (literal translation) them by your hands and disgrace them, help you to (victory) over them . . . .(Surat At-Tawbah 9, 14). The only reward of those who make war upon Allah and His messenger and strive after corruption in the land will be that they will be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off, or will be expelled out of the land. Such will be their degradation in the world, and in the Hereafter theirs will be an awful doom (Surat Al-Maidah 5:33 MPT) The Sword of Islam Goes Forth [TOP] With this kind of ammunition, the followers of Muhammad were ready to fight till death. Muhammad led twenty nine raids. The reason for the raid of Badr in the first place was not to promote Islam, but to attack and loot the caravan of Abu-Sufian which was loaded with precious goods (Prophets of Allah, page 438). Abu-Sufian knew of Muhammad's planned raid and escaped by taking another route. Muhammad continued his raids against the Meccans. Meanwhile he decided to exterminate the Jewish clans from Al-Madina. He expelled the Jewish clan of Banu Qainuqa, attacked another Jewish clan, Banu Alnadir, and drove them out of Al-Madina. Banu Quraiza, sympathizers with the Meccans during the battle of Ditch, suffered a worse fate when its women and children were enslaved and its men were slaughtered. In 628 A.D. the Jews of Khaybar were dispossessed of their lands. Al-Madina had no more Jews. Muhammad decided to use force to subdue the Meccans and all those who opposed him. He led several raids: the raid of Uhud, the greater raid of Badr, the raid of Hunain, then the raid of Tabuk. These raids resulted in several small Jewish and Christians clans submitting to Muhammad. Finally, Muhammad led his conquest of Mecca. This time the Meccans received him. He was Quraysh and from now on his Quaraysh clan would reign over a united Arabian Peninsula. Thus, by the sword Muhammad eliminated Judaism and Christianity from the Arabian Peninsula. He declared that the Jews and the Christians were polytheists, and as such they were unclean and should not be allowed to approach the sacred mosque, the Kaaba in Mecca. Muhammad declares in the Quran:
O ye who believe, take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors. They are but friends protectors to each other. And he amongst you that turns to them (for friendship) is of them. Verily Allah guideth not a people unjust (Surat Al-Maidah 5:51). It seems that when it comes to power, politics and money, and when heads of Muslims states feel that they are in danger, the commands of the Quran are ignored. For the Arabs of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to ask the Americans and Europeans, which are known as Christian countries, to protect them from Iraqi invasion is a total disobedience of the commands of the Quran. On the other hand, what would anyone expect from the Muslims, after they read all these violent verses in the Quran inciting them to fight? It is not surprising to see them fight until death and sacrificing their lives in suicidal attacks against the Jews and Christians, who the Quran stigmatizes as infidels. Is is clear that the Quran condone racism, violence, terrorism, and killing of Jews and Christians, in the name of Allah. When there is a command in the Quran, the Muslims must obey it. In that case, all Muslims are fundamentalists. The question then arises as to why there is such animosity from islam toward Judaism and Christianity. Why don't we read in the Quran verses against Buddhism and Hinduism and other pagan religions which were in existence before Islam? Is it because the Bible, the book of the Jews and Christians. expose the atrocities and brutality of Islam?
FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS DEATH Chapter 6 The final days of Muhammad arrived. He had gained total control of the Arabian peninsula and made the Kaaba in Mecca the only holy shrine to be acknowledged, although there were many other Kaabas in Arabia. In the tenth year after the Hijra, Muhammad made his farewell pilgrimage to Mecca. Soon after his return to Al-Madina, he fell ill. Two verses in the Quran refer to his death:
Say: I have no power over any good or harm ot myself except as Allah willeth. If I had knowledge of the unseen, I should have multiplied all good, and no evil should have touched me: I am but a warner.. (Surat Al-Araf 7:188).
When Khaybar was conquered, and the people felt secure, Zainab Bint al-Harith, Salam Ibn Mishkam's wife, went about asking which part of the lamb was Muhammad's favorite to eat. People told her, "It is the front leg, for it is the best part and the farthest from harm." So she took a lamb, slaughtered it, and cut it up. Then she took a deadly poison that kills instantly and poisoned the lamb, putting more poison in the leg and shoulder. When the sun set, Muhammad led the people in the evening prayer. When he finished he wanted to go, but she was sitting at his feet. He asked her, and she said, "O Abu al-Qasim, here is a gift I have for you." Muhammad ordered some of his friends to take it from her, and it was put before him in the presence of his friends, among whom was Bishr Ibn al-Bara' Ibn Ma'rur. Muhammad said, "Come near and be seated." Muhammad took the leg and ate, too. When Muhammad had swallowed his bite, Bishr swallowed his, and the rest of the people ate of it. Muhammad said, "Raise your hands; this leg and this shoulder tell me they are poisoned." Bishr said, "By the One who honored you, I found the same in my morsel, but nothing kept me from spitting it out except that I would spoil the pleasure of your food. When you ate that which was in your mouth, I did not desire my own soul more than yours, and wished that you had not swallowed it." (One opinion has it that) Bishr died then and there. A part of the lamb was thrown to a dog, and the dog died. Another opinion says that (Bishr's) color turned black and his pain lasted two years, after which he died. It was also said that Muhammad took a bite of the lamb, chewed it, and spit it out, whereas Bihr swallowed his morsel. Then Muhammad sent for this Jewess and asked her, "Have you poisoned this lamb?" She said, "You have acquired certain powers with which you judge those who are not loyal to you. You killed my father, my uncle and my brother. . . So I said, "If he is a king, then I would be relieving us of him, and if he is a prophet, he will be able to perceive.'" It was said that he pardoned her, while others say he commanded her to be put to death and crucified. When Muhammad fell ill just before his death, he said to Aisha, "Aisha, I still feel the effect of the poisoned food I ate; this is the time of my demise by that poison." When Bishr's sister entered his room during the time of his last sickness, he said to her, "This is the time of my demise by the meal I ate with your brother in Khaybar." (The above quotation is from the book Is The Quran Infallible by Abdallah Abd al-Fadi, pages 378- 381). Muhammad's Death Compared to That of Moses [TOP] It is said that a grave was dug in that very place, and in it the prophet of Islam was buried. Later a mosque was built and Muhammad's grave became a place of pilgrimage in Al-Madina. Now, we realize a great difference between Muhammad's death and burial and Moses' death and burial. Moses died when he was one hundred and twenty years old. The Bible says: | |