The Sword of the Prophet

The title of this article is from Serge Trifkovik’s The Sword of the Prophet (2002), a book described as “The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam.” That Canadian Ambassador James Bissett wrote a laudatory preface to this book attests to its scholarship and seriousness.

The portrayal of Muhammad, based primarily on the Kuran and Traditions — the Hadiths — is not edifying. We behold a simple preacher of Mecca who underwent a profound personality change and became a warlord. When Jews and Christians, as well as Arabs, resisted his teachings, Muhammad declared: “I will instill terror into the hearts of the unbelievers,” and he urged his followers to “smite [them] above their necks.” When the head of one of his enemies, Abu Jahl, was thrown before him, he jubilantly exclaimed that the spectacle pleased him better than “the choicest camel in Arabia.”

To multiply his followers, Muhammad offered them the prospect of booty: “Know that whatever ye take as spoils of war, lo! a fifth thereof is for Allah, and for the Messenger and for the kinsmen.”

Having become a warlord, Muhammad had men and women, old and young, put to the sword. Jews who rejected his superficial, second-hand knowledge of their Scriptures were butchered. After slaughtering tribesmen and looting thousands of their camels, Muhammad and his followers kidnapped their women. The night after the battle, they staged an orgy of rape.

The Hadith (Sahih Muslim, Book 8, No. 3371) explains: “We desired them, for we were suffering from the absence of our wives, but at the same time we also desired ransom for them. So we decided to have sexual intercourse with them but by observing ‘azl [coitus interruptus]. But we said: We are doing an act, whereas Allah’s Messenger is amongst us; why not ask him? So we asked Allah’s Messenger… and he said: It does not matter if you do not do it, for every soul that is to be born up to the Day of Resurrection will be born.”

Trifkovik comments: “In telling his companions to go ahead and rape their captive married women without practicing al-‘azl, the only contentious issue was whether their victim’s ransom would be diminished or lost completely if they were returned pregnant to their husbands.”

In his attack on one Jewish tribe Muhammad offered the men conversion to Islam as an alternative to death. Upon their refusal, up to 900 were decapitated in front of their women and children. “Truly the judgment of Allah was pronounced on high,” was Muhammad’s comment. The women were subsequently raped.

Trifkovik remarks that Muhammad repeatedly invoked Allah as a deus ex machina, providing revelations relevant to the Prophet’s personal needs: “Nowhere was this more obvious than when it came to his exaggerated sensuality.” Our author writes in the sequel: “That Muhammad’s actions and words, as immortalized in the Kuran and recorded in the Traditions, are frankly shocking by the standards of our time — and punishable by it laws, that range from war crimes and murder to rape and child molestation — almost goes without saying.” Trifkovik is aware of the cultural and historical relativism that would prompt Western intellectuals to say, “We must not extend the judgmental yardstick of our own culture to the members of other cultures who have lived in other eras.” He counters this relativism by pointing out that “even in the context of seventh century Arabia, Muhammad had to resort to divine revelations as a means of suppressing the prevalent moral code of his own milieu.”

Attacking caravans in the month of Ramadan, murdering people without provocation, and indulging with considerable abandon one’s sensual passions was so fundamentally at odds with the moral standards of his own Arab contemporaries that only the ultimate authority [Allah] could, and did, sanction it. As an Edwardian author put it, “the problem with Muhammad’s behavior is not that he was a Bedouin, but that he was a morally degenerate Bedouin.”

Muhammad’s practice and constant encouragement of bloodshed are unique in the history of religions. Murder, pillage, rape and more murder are in the Kuran and in the Traditions. “Kill, kill the unbelievers wherever you find them.” - this is an unending formula for war.

Trifkovik quotes Ibn Warraq, a contemporary author who asks whether Muhammad was a “known fraud, or did he sincerely believe that all his ‘revelations’ that constitute the Kuran were direct communications from God?” Warraq does not see how this can possibly matter to our moral judgment of Muhammad’s character: “Certain racists sincerely believe that Jews should be exterminated. How does their sincerity affect our moral judgment of their beliefs?”

Trifkovik concludes: “On the Prophet’s own admission, Islam stands or falls with the person of Muhammad, a deeply flawed man by the standards of his own society, as well as those of the Old and New Testaments… and even by the law of which he claimed to be the divinely appointed medium and custodian. The problem of Islam, and the problem of the rest of the world with Islam, is not the remarkable career of Muhammad per se… It is the religion’s claim that the words and acts of its prophet provide the universally valid standard of morality as such, for all time and all men.”

Professor Eidelberg, co-founder of the Jerusalem-based Foundation for Constitutional Democracy, is the President of the Yamin Israel movement.

The Koran / The Hadith on Jews, Christians, Christianity, Christ, the Gospel, The Deity of Christ, the Holy Trinity, the Bible (the Book) and Infidels

http://www.hti.umich.edu/k/koran/

"The Women" [4.89] They desire that you should disbelieve as they have disbelieved, so that you might be (all) alike; therefore take not from among them friends until they fly (their homes) in Allah's way; but if they turn back, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them, and take not from among them a friend or a helper.

[3.85] "And whoever desires a religion other than Islam, it shall not be accepted from him, and in the hereafter he shall be one of the losers."

[4.91] You will find others who desire that they should be safe from you and secure from their own people; as often as they are sent back to the mischief they get thrown into it headlong; therefore if they do not withdraw from you, and (do not) offer you peace and restrain their hands, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them; and against these We have given.you a clear authority.

The Dinner Table - [5.51] O you who believe! do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; they are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people.

The Cattle - [6.146] And to those who were Jews We made unlawful every animal having claws, and of oxen and sheep We made unlawful to them the fat of both, except such as was on their backs or the entrails or what was mixed with bones: this was a punishment We gave them on account of their rebellion, and We are surely Truthful.

[9.5] So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.

The Congregation [62.6] Say: O you who are Jews, if you think that you are the favorites of Allah to the exclusion of other people, then invoke death If you are truthful. (PLEASE COMMIT SUICIDE)

The Cow - [2.111] And they say: None shall enter the garden (or paradise) except he who is a Jew or a Christian. These are their vain desires. Say: Bring your proof if you are truthful.

The Dinner Table - The Dinner Table [5.14] And with those who say, We are Christians, We made a covenant, but they neglected a portion of what they were reminded of, therefore We excited among them enmity and hatred to the day of resurrection; and Allah will inform them of what they did.

[5.72] Certainly they disbelieve who say: Surely Allah, He is the Messiah, son of Marium; and the Messiah said: O Children of Israel! serve Allah, my Lord and your Lord. Surely whoever associates (others) with Allah, then Allah has forbidden to him the garden, and his abode is the fire; and there shall be no helpers for the unjust.

Quran tells Muslims to kill the disbelievers wherever they find them (Q. 2:191), to murder them and treat them harshly (Q. 9:123), slay them (Q. 9: 5), fight with them, (Q. 8: 65 ) even if they are Christians and Jews, humiliate them and impose on them a penalty tax (Q. 9: 29). Quran takes away the freedom of belief from all humanity and tell clearly that no other religion except Islam is accepted (Q. 3: 85). It relegates those who disbelieve in Quran to hell (Q. 5: 11), calls them najis (filthy, untouchable, impure) (Q. 9: 28). It orders its followers to fight the unbelievers until no other religion except Islam is left (Q. 2: 193).

"Fight those who do not profess the true faith [ISLAM], till they pay the jiziya with the hand of humility." - Koran 9: 29

".... I will instill terror into the hearts of the unbelievers, Smite ye above their necks [CUT OFF THEIR HEADS], and smite all their finger tips of them [CUT OFF THEIR FINGERS]." - Koran 8: 12

"Prophet, make war on the unbelievers and the hypocrites, and deal rigorously with them. Hell shall be their home: an evil fate." - Koran 9: 73

"When you meet the unbelievers in the Jihad strike off their heads [CUT OFF THEIR HEADS] and, when you have laid them low, bind your captives firmly." - Koran 47: 4

"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 and 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...." - Koran 5: 33-34

" Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last day, nor hold the forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and his messenger, nor acknowledge the Religion of Truth from among the People of the Book, until they pay the Jiziyah with willing submission. And feel themselves subdued." - Koran 9: 29

"....the People of the Book and the pagans shall burn for ever in the fire of Hell. They are the vilest of all creatures." - Koran 98: 1-8

"Garments of fire have been prepared for the unbelievers. Scalding water shall be poured upon their heads, melting their skins and that which is in their bellies. They shall be lashed rods of iron. Whenever, in their anguish, they try to escape from Hell, back they shall be dragged, and will be told: 'Taste the torment of the Conflagration!'" - Koran 22: 19-22, 23

"And burn ye him in the blazing fire. Further, make him march in a chain, whereof the length is seventy cubits. This was he that would not believe in allah Most high and would not encourage the feeding of the indignant. So no friend hath he here this day. Nor hath he any food except the corruption from the washing of wounds. " - Koran 31-37

"The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and his messenger and strive after corruption in the land will be to be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet and genitals cut off, or to be expelled out of the land. Such will be their humiliation in the world, and in the next world they will face an awful horror." - Koran, 5:33-34)

"In order that Allah may separate the pure from the impure, put all the impure ones [all non-Muslims] one on top of another in a heap and cast them into hell. They will have been the ones to have lost." - Koran, 8:37

The God of Israel has a Son - Jesus Christ of Nazareth; but Allah has no son according to the Koran

Therefore the Biblical Christian God of Israel is not Allah

"They say: Allah has taken a Son (to Himself)! Glory be to Him: he is the Self-sufficient: his is what is in the heavens and what is in the Earth; you have no authority for this; do you say against Allah what you do not know? Say: Those who forge a lie against Allah shall not be successful." - Koran 10:68-69 [SAYS JESUS IS NOT THE SON OF GOD AND WHOEVER SAYS SO IS A LIAR]

"....the Christians call 'Christ the Son Of God'. That is a saying from their mouth; (In this) they but intimate what the unbelievers of old used to say. Allah's curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the Truth." - Koran 9: 30

The Women - [4.171] O followers of the Book! do not exceed the limits in your religion, and do not speak (lies) against Allah, but (speak) the truth; the Messiah, Isa son of Marium is only an apostle of Allah and his Word which he communicated to Marium and a spirit from Him; believe therefore in Allah and his apostles, and say not, Three. Desist, it is better for you; Allah is only one god; far be It from his glory that he should have a son, whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth is His, and Allah is sufficient for a Protector. (CLEARLY STATES THAT JESUS IS **NOT** THE SON OF GOD)

The Immunity - Denial of Deity of Christ and His Messiahship - [9.30] And the Jews say: Uzair is the son of Allah; and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them; how they are turned away! (MAY ALLAH DESTROY JEWS AND CHRISTIANS)

Say: "Praise be to Allah Who begets no son and has no partner in (His) dominion: nor (needs) he any to protect him from humiliation: Yea magnify him for his greatness and glory!" - Koran 17: 111

Further that he may warn those (also) who say "Allah hath begotten a son": - Koran 18: 4

It is not befitting to (the majesty of) Allah that he should beget a son. Glory be to Him! When he determines a matter he only says to it "Be" and it is. - Koran 19: 35

They say: "(Allah) Most Gracious has begotten a son!" Indeed ye have put forth a thing most monstrous! - Koran 19: 88-89

For it is not consonant with the majesty of (Allah) Most Gracious that he should beget a son. - Koran 19: 92

No son did Allah beget nor is there any god along with Him: (if there were many gods) behold each god would have taken away what he had created and some would have lorded it over others! Glory to Allah (he is free) from the (sort of) things they attribute to Him! - Koran 23: 91

he begetteth not nor is he begotten; - Koran 112: 3

The Hadith Volume 4, Book 52, Number 176:
Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Umar:

Allah's Apostle said, "You (i.e. Muslims) will fight with the Jews till some of them will hide behind stones. The stones will (betray them) saying, 'O 'Abdullah (i.e. slave of Allah)! There is a Jew hiding behind me; so kill him.' "

The Hadith Volume 4, Book 52, Number 177:
Narrated Abu Huraira:

Allah's Apostle said, "The (Final) Hour will not be established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say. "O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him."

The Hadith Volume 2, Book 26, Number 595:
Narrated 'Aisha:

(the mother of the faithful believers) I said, "O Allah's Apostle! We consider Jihad as the best deed." The Prophet said, "The best Jihad (for women) is Hajj Mabrur. "

The Hadith Volume 2, Book 26, Number 594:
Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet was asked, "Which is the best deed?" He said, "To believe in Allah and His Apostle." He was then asked, "Which is the next (in goodness)?" He said, "To participate in Jihad in Allah's Cause." He was then asked, "Which is the next?" He said, "To perform Hajj-Mabrur. "

Challenging the Qur’an
By Stefan Theil
NEWSWEEK INTERNATIONAL
| June 28 issue |

In a note of encouragement to his fellow hijackers, September 11 ringleader Muhammad Atta cheered their impending “marriage in Paradise” to the 72 wide-eyed virgins the Qur’an promises to the departed faithful. Palestinian newspapers have been known to describe the death of a suicide bomber as a “wedding to the black-eyed in eternal Paradise.” But if a German expert on Middle Eastern languages is correct, these hopes of sexual reward in the afterlife are based on a terrible misunderstanding.

ARGUING THAT TODAY’S version of the Qur’an has been mistranscribed from the original text, scholar Christoph Luxenberg says that what are described as “houris” with “swelling breasts” refer to nothing more than “white raisins” and “juicy fruits.”

Luxenberg—a pseudonym—is one of a small but growing group of scholars, most of them working in non-Muslim countries, studying the language and history of the Qur’an. When his new book is published this fall, it’s likely to be the most far-reaching scholarly commentary on the Qur’an’s early genesis, taking this infant discipline far into uncharted—and highly controversial—territory. That’s because Islamic orthodoxy considers the holy book to be the verbatim revelation of Allah, speaking to his prophet, Muhammad, through the Angel Gabriel, in Arabic.

Therefore, critical study of God’s undiluted word has been off-limits in much of the Islamic world. (For the same reason, translations of the Qur’an are never considered authentic.) Islamic scholars who have dared ignore this taboo have often found themselves labeled heretics and targeted with death threats and violence. Luxenberg, a professor of Semitic languages at one of Germany’s leading universities, has chosen to remain anonymous because he fears a fatwa by enraged Islamic extremists.

Luxenberg’s chief hypothesis is that the original language of the Qur’an was not Arabic but something closer to Aramaic. He says the copy of the Qur’an used today is a mistranscription of the original text from Muhammad’s time, which according to Islamic tradition was destroyed by the third caliph, Osman, in the seventh century. But Arabic did not turn up as a written language until 150 years after Muhammad’s death, and most learned Arabs at that time spoke a version of Aramaic. Rereading the Paradise passage in Aramaic, the mysterious houris turn into raisins and fruit—much more common components of the Paradise myth.

The forthcoming book contains plenty of other bombshells. It claims that the Qur’an’s commandment for women to cover themselves is based on a similar misreading; in Sura 24, the verse that calls for women to “snap their scarves over their bags” becomes in Aramaic “snap their belts around their waists.” Even more explosive are readings that strengthen scholars’ views that the Qur’an had Christian origins. Sura 33 calls Muhammad the “seal of the prophets,” taken to mean the final and ultimate prophet of God. But an Aramaic reading, says Luxenberg, turns Muhammad into a “witness of the prophets”—i.e., someone who bears witness to the established Judeo-Christian texts. The Qur’an, in Arabic, talks about the “revelation” of Allah, but in Aramaic that term turns into “teaching” of the ancient Scriptures. The original Qur’an, Luxenberg contends, was in fact a Christian liturgical document—before an expanding Arab empire turned Muhammad’s teachings into the basis for its new religion long after the Prophet’s death.

Such interpretations will undoubtedly draw the ire of many Muslims—and not just extremists. After all, revisionist scholars have been persecuted for much less; in 2001, Egypt’s Constitutional Court confirmed the “apostasy” of former University of Cairo scholar Nasr Hamid Abu-Zayd, for considering the Qur’an a document written by humans.

Still, Luxenberg may be ushering in a whole new era of Qur’anic study. “Luxenberg’s findings are very relevant and convincing,” says Mondher Sfar, a Tunisian specialist on the historic origins of the Qur’an in exile in Paris. “They make possible a new interpretation of the Qur’an.” In the West, questioning the literal veracity of the Bible was a crucial step in breaking the church’s grip on power—and in developing a modern, secular society. That experience, as much as the questioning itself, is no doubt what concerns conservative Muslims as they struggle over the meaning and influence of Islam in the 21st century. But if Luxenberg’s work is any indication, the questioning is just getting underway.

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