*Mohammed sounds more like a successful warlord than a Prophet -- more like
a Napoleon or Hitler than a holy man on a mission from God. His method of
government did not rely on bureaucracy, secular ideology or police powers,
but rather a cruel new religion that, like many young faiths, borrowed
heavily from existing traditions and slapped a fresh coat of gibberish on
it.*
Islam: A Brief History
Frequently when we hear of terrorist attacks or barbarous acts committed
by
followers of the Muslim faith, we also hear the terrorists or barbarians
described as "Muslim fundamentalists," as if there are Muslims who do not
believe that the entirety of the Koran is literally true. One of the major
tenets of the Islamic faith is that the Koran was written by God through
Mohammed and is therefore without error and infallible. Heretics who
suggest
that the Koran may not be wholly true or erroneous are subject to all
sorts
of punishment, persecution and prosecution. There is no Muslim tradition
of
religious freedom or "live and let live," unless you count the brief time
that Muslims were a minority people in an unfriendly country.
Islam began in 610 CE when a successful trader named Mohammed, living in
Mecca, experienced visions and announced that he had been anointed by God.
The pagan leaders of Mecca ignored Mohammed until he started attacking
their
gods publicly. Wealthy merchants were intimidated by Mohammed's power and
therefore plotted to decrease his influence. As hostility rose, Mohammed
found it convenient to preach tolerance for all religions so that his own
could thrive.
As the climate grew worse, Mohammed decided that it was time for an
emigration. In 622, he met some people from Medina who invited him to move
to their city and offered to protect him while he preached God's word. At
the time, Medina was inhabited by eight large clans of Arabs and three
major
clans of Jews, all of whom had been feuding for years. Mohammed sought to
establish himself as a political leader by mediating between the various
clans; through his efforts he arranged it so that all grievances and
problems would be laid before him, Allah's representative on Earth. He
continued to preach religious tolerance between the pagans, Jews and
Muslims, although the Jews openly disputed his claims to prophethood. A
new
Constitution of Medina was written which guaranteed rights and duties to
the
Jews of Medina. It also granted the powers of war to Mohammed, who was
eager
to use them against his Meccan enemies.
After only six months in this new city, Mohammed sent out groups of
raiders
to attack Meccan trading caravans. His attacks succeeded only when he
scheduled them during the Meccan sacred month, which shocked his
supporters
and detractors alike. Mohammed's relationship with Jews became more
strained
as he became more powerful. They criticized his teachings, calling them
self-contradictory. Realizing that the existence of Jews in Medina
threatened his goal of total power, he threw his claims of religious
tolerance out the door and had all Jews in Medina killed or exiled, at one
point declaring, "Kill any Jew who falls into your power." The sole
exception was the tribe of Qurayza, supporters of the Prophet.
In 624, the Prophet Mohammed learned that a rich Meccan caravan was going
to
pass by Medina and accordingly sent out a large raiding party. The Meccans
knew of Mohammed's plans in advance and had sent along a vastly superior
army to teach the Prophet and his Muslims a lesson. Unfortunately for the
Meccans, and for the rest of the world, the Muslims found great
inspiration
in Allah and won the battle decisively. Mohammed continued such raids for
years, winning several battles, until the Meccans besieged Medina in 627.
The siege was unsuccessful and when the Meccans withdrew, Mohammed had the
remaining Jewish clan of Qurayza destroyed -- the men slaughtered and
thrown
in ditches, the women sold into slavery, and property divvied up.
By 630, Mohammed's enemies had had enough of the skirmishes and battles.
That year, they signed a treaty with him that permitted the Muslims to
make
pilgrimages to Mecca. At first he went along with the treaty, but Mohammed
was soon powerful enough to break the treaty and conquer Mecca. Shortly
after this he commanded the allegiances of all the Arab tribes of Central
Arabia and envisioned conquering Rome itself before his death in 632.
Mohammed sounds more like a successful warlord than a Prophet -- more like
a
Napoleon or Hitler than a holy man on a mission from God. His method of
government did not rely on bureaucracy, secular ideology or police powers,
but rather a cruel new religion that, like many young faiths, borrowed
heavily from existing traditions and slapped a fresh coat of gibberish on
it. Like Christianity, Islam expanded from a minor local phenomenon to a
transcontinental death machine. Unlike Christianity, Islam is not on the
wane. It is on the rise.
http://members.aye.net/~abrupt/house/islam2.html
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