Muhammad's religious career spanned 23 years. He started as an oppressed preacher and ended up as a powerful ruler. During this time he was many things, played many roles, displayed many emotions, and performed many deeds, both good and bad.
But did he act as a terrorist? That is our focus and we have to review the historical record and examine its facts. I will cite incidents directly from the historical records mentioned above and present my case. I'll summarize 5 incidents for examination and I'll provide their specific references. There are more to choose from but these five should be sufficient.
1) Attacks on the caravans.
Muhammad began to commit and authorize acts of violence against non-Muslims after he arrived in Medina. This was in his 13th year as a religious preacher. Prior to this, while in Mecca, he and his followers were quite weak and unable to commit acts of violence. Had they attempted violence the Meccans would have killed Muhammad outright and possibly killed all of Muhammad’s followers.
Eventually the persecution became severe and Muhammad fled Mecca running for his life. After arriving in Medina he sent his men out to rob trading caravans. (At this time his Meccan enemies decided to leave him alone. Their perspective was that their problem had run away and they were done with him - good riddance! Tabari’s History states that it was Muhammad’s attacks on their caravans that started the war between Muhammad and the Meccans). As these raids continued caravan attendants were murdered by the Muslim thieves and Muhammad's attacks transgressed the cultural norms and Arab mores’ of warfare. To justify his crimes Muhammad claimed to have received a special message, a "revelation", from Allah. You can read about this in Tabari Vol. 7 pp10-22 and LoM pp281-289.
Put this in perspective. Muhammad's attacks against these caravans are akin to highwaymen's robberies. They hold up trucks carrying goods and in some cases murder the drivers. But unlike normal criminals, Muhammad claimed to get a special message from God allowing his actions.
Is this a moral standard to be followed?
2) Murder of an old man.
Muhammad was not received by all the inhabitants of Medina. Many people rejected his claim of prophethood. Some of these people were concerned for their fellow citizens and spoke out about the false prophet who had duped them. One of these was a 120-year-old man named Abu Afak. Abu Afak did nothing more then speak his heart and mind and chide those that followed Muhammad. He viewed Muhammad like people today view leaders of religious cults and encouraged his fellow citizens to doubt. Muhammad could not tolerate any criticism of his claim to prophethood and he asked his followers to murder Abu Afak. Abu Afak was murdered, under cover of night, while he slept. A Muslim plunged a sword through the old man’s chest. You can read more details about this murder here:
http://answering-islam.org/Silas/abu-afak.htmThere is little difference between what Muhammad did to Abu Afak and what Saddam Hussein has done to his critics. Of course at that time Muhammad did not rule the country, so like an illegitimate criminal he acted furtively, and the end result was the same. In Medina if you challenged Muhammad's credibility you would most likely be murdered for it. You can read about this in LoM p675, and Tabaqat Vol 2 p32.
3) Murder of a mother of five children.
One lady, Asma bint Marwan, spoke out about Muhammad’s cold-blooded murder. She chided her tribesmen for allowing him to get away with it. Again Muhammad faced criticism. Again he could not brook it. Again he asked his followers to murder. Again a Muslim man, under cover of night, snuck up to the victim’s home and stabbed her to death. Her children slept nearby. You can read more details about this murder here:
http://answering-islam.org/Silas/asma.htmDo you believe that Muhammad was so threatened by this woman that he had to murder her?
4) Murder of a shopkeeper.
Muhammad was not able to get along with non-Muslims very well. His relationship with the Jewish tribes deteriorated quickly. Muhammad was very unhappy that the Jews rejected his claim of prophethood and he wanted to silence their criticisms. An incident follows:
"The apostle said, "Kill any Jew that falls into your power." Thereupon Muhayyisa b. Masud leapt upon Ibn Sunayna, a Jewish merchant with whom they had social and business relations, and killed him. Huwayyisa was not a Muslim at the time though he was the elder brother. When Muhayyisa killed him Huwayyisa began to beat him, saying, 'You enemy of God, did you kill him when much of the fat on your belly comes from his wealth?' Muhayyisa answered, 'Had the one who ordered me to kill him ordered me to kill you I would have cut your head off.'" (LoM page 369).
This story is also detailed in the Hadith collection of the Sunan of Abu Dawud, Book 19, Number 2996:
Narrated Muhayyisah: The Apostle of Allah said: If you gain a victory over the men of Jews, kill them. So Muhayyisah jumped over Shubaybah, a man of the Jewish merchants. He had close relations with them. He then killed him. At that time Huwayyisah (brother of Muhayyisah) had not embraced Islam. He was older than Muhayyisah. When he killed him, Huwayyisah beat him and said: O enemy of Allah, I swear by Allah, you have a good deal of fat in your belly from his property.
(The Sunan of Abu Dawud is a collection of "traditions" or anecdotes, mostly about Muhammad’s specific actions or teachings).
Muhammad’s command was bigoted, "Kill any Jew that falls into your power". Muhammad was not looking to mete out justice, instead he was looking to murder and terrorize those that rejected his prophethood. This is akin to the fundamentalist Muslims today who say, "Kill any American, or Britain, or Jew, ..." whoever is their enemy of the day. The Muslim terrorists of today are doing what Muhammad did earlier.
Is this low standard worth emulating? Hasn’t humanity done better?
4) Torture and murder of a man to obtain wealth.
Earlier I quoted Sina and his reference to Muhammad’s conquest of Kheibar. Here is one sordid detail from this conquest:
"Kinana al-Rabi, who had the custody of the treasure of Banu Nadir, was brought to the apostle who asked him about it. He denied that he knew where it was. A Jew came (Tabari says "was brought"), to the apostle and said that he had seen Kinana going round a certain ruin every morning early. When the apostle said to Kinana, "Do you know that if we find you have it I shall kill you?" He said "Yes". 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." (LoM page 515).
Let’s review. Muhammad attacked and conquered Kheibar. It was rumored that there was buried wealth or treasure. Muhammad had one of the Jewish leaders, Kinana, brought to him and demanded the wealth. Kinana said he didn’t know of it. But Muhammad’s greed drove him and he ordered that Kinana be tortured. They built a fire on his chest hoping to cause him enough pain and suffering to make him talk. But Kinana never told them about any buried wealth. In the end Muhammad ordered that he be beheaded.
Is this a great example for humanity to trust in and follow?
CONCLUSION
Was Muhammad a terrorist? Of course he was. You’ve seen the information quoted exclusively from Islamic source materials. And there are many more crimes committed by Muhammad that could be detailed. To keep this article brief I only listed five. Yes Muhammad was a terrorist, and yes, terrorism is allowed in Islam. And yes, Fundamentalist Muslims are in a state of war with all those who reject Islam and terrorism is a legitimate weapon for their use.
