The Hardening of Muhammad
From Mecca to Medina
(By R.E. Burns, Grad. Dip. Islamic Studies)
“He was as thirty men” (Hadith Bukhari, Vol 1, Book 5, No. 268)
Some Muslims dispute the validity of the Hadith. Their noble Prophet (pbuh)
could not have done the things attributed to him and so they must be wrong.
(For example in Bukhari, Book 8, 82:794 he ordered that 8 men have their arms
and legs cut off and their eyes put out.)
But an examination of the Qur'an, especially the chronological translation of
Rodwell, shows a change in personality with time. The Psychological Laboratory
of Leuven (Belgium) which conducts psychopathological analyses of old texts
concluded he had all the symptoms of acromegaly plus some psychopathological
paranoid traits. See”The
Mysterious Illness of Prophet Muhammad”.
There are 114 Sura (Chapters) in the Qur'an and internal evidence dates some 90
of them. I shall use the # sign to number them chronologically. Right from #2
we see the threat of Hellfire, so all was not well with Muhammad from the
beginning. We see no reference to Jewish prophets until #25, but about that
time Muhammad began discussing the Pentateuch with local Jews and much of the
Meccan Qur'an is concerned with them. Hellfire occupies much of them but
Muslims are not told to attack non-believers or force their views upon them. Of
course, these verses are quoted by apologists who fail to tell you they have
been abrogated.
#9 (109:6) “To you your religion, to me my religion”.
#17 (68:17) “We will brand him on the nostrils”. Some psychopathology
exists.
#22 (86:17) “Deal calmly with the unbelievers; leave them alone a while”.
#41 (83:25) “Choice sealed wine shall be given to them to quaff”.
#45 (56:69) “salty could we make it (rain), if We wished…” Again sick
#54 (50:45) “We know best what they (unbelievers) say, and you (O
Muhammad) are not one to compel them …”
#73 (16:125) “Dispute with them (Jews?) in the kindest manner …”
#81 (29:46) “Dispute not, unless in kindly sort, with the People of the Book …”
#82 (13:39) “What He pleaseth will God abrogate or confirm; for with Him is the
source of revelation”. And this is what we see happen at Medina. All the
reasonable verses above are revoked and hard-line ones put in their place.
The Medinan verses of the
Qur'an
#91 In (2:256) we see the last of the tolerant verses: “Let there
be no compulsion in religion”… But the first criticism of the Jews appears:
they should realize that Allah is their god and accept the Koran (2:88-89)
As Muhammad's power grew in Medina, he becomes more and more a political
animal. He dictates whom Muslims should marry (2:221), how men can divorce
their wives (2:230), maintenance (2:241), usury, alms, contracts. Male
superiority starts to show: “Men are a degree above women” (2:228) and a
woman's evidence becomes less than that of a man (2:282)
Warfare for Allah is ordained “Fighting is prescribed for you, and ye dislike
it. But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and that
ye love a thing which is bad for you.” (2:216)
And “Give us victory over the disbelievers” (2:286)
The Battle of Badr: And call not those who are slain
in the way of Allah "dead." (2:154)
#92 (98:6) “The Jews, Christians and Pagans will burn
forever in the Fire of Hell. They are the vilest of all creatures.”
#95 Muhammad portrays the attack on the first caravan as a religious war. “And
fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is all for Allah.” (8:39)
although spoils were important: “…of all the booty that
ye may acquire (in war), a fifth share is assigned to Allah,- and to the
Messenger … “(8:41)
And, recently quoted by Osama bin Laden, (8:60) “Against them make ready
your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike
terror into (the hearts of) the enemies of Allah…”.
#96 (47:37) “… invite not the infidels to peace when ye have the upper hand
…”
#100 (4:12) A woman's inheritance is to be half that of a man's. A wife is
to receive one-eighth if there are children.
(4:38) “Men are superior to women on account of the qualities with which God
hath gifted the one above the other…””Scourge a wife whose refractoriness ye
have cause to fear…”
On martyrdom: (4:74) “Let those then fight on the path of God, who barter
their present life for that which is to come…”
(4:91) “…then seize them (infidels) and slay them wherever ye find them…”
#102 (59:2) The exiling of the Jews of Nadir. The spoils from these Jews
(59:7)
#103 (33:26-27) Muhammad gloats over his spoils from killing the men of
the Jewish tribe, Banu Qurayzah and enslaving their women and children.
(33:61) “They (the stirrers) shall have a curse on them: whenever they are
found, they shall be seized and slain (without mercy).”
#108 (48:17) “It shall be no crime on the part of the blind, the lame or the
sick if they do not go to fight.” “You shall obtain a rich booty” (48:20)
#113 (9:5) “… fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them,
beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war); but if
they convert …” (9:11) “Yet if they turn to God and observe prayer and pay the
tax, then they are your brethren in religion…”
(9:14) “”So make war on them: By your hands will Allah
punish them”. (9:29) “Make war upon …the Jews and Christians …who profess not
the Religion of Truth, until they pay Jizya and be humbled”.
(9:33) Allah hath sent the religion of truth that it may
prevail over all religions”.
(9:123) “Believers! Wage war against such of the infidels
as are your neighbors”.
#114 (5:4) “Woe this day on those who forsake their religion”. (Death penalty
by Sharia)
(5:33) “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…”
(5:38) “As to the thief, male or female, cut off his or her hands” (Still
practised today in Saudi Arabia)
(5:51) “O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and the
Christians for friends.
(5:73) “They do blaspheme who say: Allah is one of three in a Trinity”.