MUHAMMAD THE POLITICIAN ( 1
ISLAM: The Arab Imperialism
by Anwar Shaikh
Chapter Five
MUHAMMAD THE POLITICIAN ( 1 )
The very nature of prophethood requires its claimant to be a
prominent person. Therefore, he must be driven, not only by the
zeal of dominance-urge to seek the highest possible social
dignity, but also possess sufficient wisdom and courage to
achieve this goal. As a Prophet is supposed to be the
Representative of God, who is the All-mighty, All-wise and All-Magnificent,
the Prophet cannot represent Him unless he is a clever man. Thus,
it is reasonable to assume that, without political skill, and the
ambition to use it adeptly, nobody can gain the necessary clout
to look a God's appointee. Since God is power, and power is God,
the Prophet must be powerful to appear godly. This is why, the
Prophet must be a politician: politics is the fountain of supreme
power.
It is not just a logical conclusion but an historical fact.
Abraham, the founder of the major Semitic religions i.e. Judaism,
Christianity and Islam, was a prominent socio- political figure
of his time. To start with, he left his own country and migrated
to an undesignated land, when Yahwe (the Jewish God) promised him
that he would become the founder of a new nation. It is certainly
a high and prestigious ambition to be the Father of a nation.
Chapter 14 of Genesis, contains a narrative about the local kings.
Since many of these kings were Abraham's confederates, he was
certainly a political magnate himself. This is further certified
by the fact that, when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled from
the battlefield, and in an orgy of plunder, kidnapped Lot,
Abraham's nephew, it was he, who "armed his trained
servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and
pursued them (the kidnappers) unto Dan" (Genesis 14: 14).
Abraham's household, consisting of 318 well-trained servants born
there, was certainly a princely home. A prince, a king, a prime
minister, a president or a dictator is essentially a politician
because government is nothing but a political practice. This is
the reason that all well known Semitic prophets were political
leaders of their people. Moses, David and Solomon are some of the
examples. Muhammad, who claimed to be the Last of the Prophets,
also belonged to the Semitic group. Therefore, he had to be a
politician in the tradition of Prophethood.
The truth is that he possessed more consummate political skills
than any of his predecessors. He used the old principle of
creating personal and family alliances through nuptial ties for
political aims. This is the reason that all four members of the
Caliphate that succeeded him, were matrimonally related to him.
Abu Bakr and Omar were his fathers-in-law, and Uthman and Ali
were his sons-in-law. Without the contributions of these men,
Islam would have faced extinction in its embryonic form.
It goes without saying that prophethood has nothing to do with
spirituality and religion. It is a complex, compulsive and
cunning political doctrine of the Middle East, which treats God
as the biggest pawn in the political game to realise the personal
and national ambitions of the man, who claims to be the Prophet.
In a small treatise as this, it is not possible to examine
careers of all the major Semitic Prophets. Therefore, I shall
discuss the political role of the Prophet Muhammad in relation to
Abdullah b. Ubayy.
Who was Abdullah b. Ubayy?
For being the Chief of the Khazrajites, he was the most powerful
man in Medina. He was considered an uncrowned king by the people
of the locality. As Muhammad took refuge there, his message
started spreading among the locals, and the converts were
enthused by loyalty to the Prophet. Thus, the old tribal feuds of
the Aus and Khazraj (Abdullah bin Ubayy's tribe) began to subside
owing to their newly found religious fervour. This novel
spirituality gradually tilted the political balance against
Abdullah b. Ubayy, who had enjoyed power almost exclusively.
His dislike of Muhammad, and Muhammad's policy towards him is
reflected by an episode, reported by an early historian of Islam,
Ibn Hisham:
"Sa'd Ibn Obada fell ill, and Muhammad rode an ass to
enquire after the health of Sa'd. On his way, he saw Abdullah bin
Ubayy sitting in the company of his friends under the shade of
house-trees. As a matter of courtesy, the Prophet alighted, and
after greeting him and his companions, he recited certain
portions from the Koran and invited them to accept the Faith that
he preached. Abdullah bin Ubayy listened to him quietly and then
remarked: "Nothing could be better than this discourse of
thine, if it were true. Now, therefore, do thou sit at home and
whoseover cometh to thee, preach thus unto him, and he that
cometh not unto thee refrain from troubling him with that which
he dislikes."
These remarks of Abdullah bin Ubayy were so uncouth, unbecoming
and undesirable that the Prophet felt grieved. Reaching his
destination, when he told Sa'd bin Obada what had happened, Sa'd
replied: ~Treat him (Ibn Ubbay) gently, for I swear that when God
sent thee unto us, we had already strung pearls to crown him, and
he seeth that thou hast snatched the kingdom out of his grasp.
Early Islamic history reveals that Sa'd bin Obada's word: "treat
him gently" became the guiding political principle of
Muhammad towards Abdullah bin Ubayy. Realising the expanding
power of the Prophet, he soon calculated that he was not in a
position to mount an open challenge to topple his rival from the
political pulpit that he had occupied. So, he organised an
underground movement, which in the Koranic terms is known as the
"Hypocrites." This was a class of people, who
apparently professed to be true Muslims, but at heart, hated the
Prophet and wished him ill. Abdullah bin Ubayy became their
leader.
As I shall discuss later, hypocricy is the worst form of
unbelief, and carries a terrible punishment under the Islamic law.
With a view to curtailing this discussion, I shall narrate only
three events, which demonstrate clearly that Muhammad's role was
not consistent with the stated spirit and principles of Islam.
Since it was politically motivated, and it did lead to the
Prophet's total grip on Arabia, he was simply a statesman, who
used the old Semitic tradition of Prophethood, which has proved
an effective political weapon over the centuries:
1. In the Battle of Uhad, the Prophet had initially 1,000
combatants: 300 of them belonged to Abdullah bin Ubayy. As the
cry for morning prayer was raised, and the whole Muslim army
knelt in prayer, Abdullah bin Ubayy collected his 300 men and
marched back to Medina, leaving the Prophet to face the enemy
with his 700 followers.
This was an example of high hypocrisy, yet the Prophet never
invoked the Islamic punishment against the Chief of Hypocrites.
Not only religiously but also militarily, it was a most heinous
crime because it led to the defeat of Muhammad, causing death of
his many followers.
When the Prophet won the Battle of Badr, which gave the real
start to his apostolic career, he claimed Allah had sent angels
to fight for him, contributing to his victory.
One wonders, why Allah did not send any angels to assist His
Messenger when His reinforcement was really needed after the
desertion of the Hypocrites.
2. Imputing adultery to Aisha, was another most dreadful act of
Abdullah bin Ubayy. This slanderous charge caused untold misery
to the Prophet's household. According to Hadith no. 6673 (Muslim),
Aisha said: "Woe be upon those, who harboured doubts about
me, and the most notorious among them was Abdullah bin Ubayy, the
great hypocrite."
It was a dreadful conspiracy, capable of undoing the entire work
of the Prophet. Even Allah took serious notice of it and revealed
the following verses:
"And those who cast upon women in
wedlock, and then bring not four witnesses,
scourge them with eighty stripes, and do not
accept any testimony of theirs ever ..."
(Light, XXIV: I)
The Prophet as God's appointed Judge did flog the other false
accusers of his wife but he did not touch Abdullah bin Ubayy, the
chief instigator of this mischief.
A true Judge of God would have imposed the Divine punishment on
such a despicable calumniator as Abdullah bin Ubayy. Only a
politician could ignore it to suit his convenience. So grave was
the nature of this crime that the innocence of Aisha debarred all
considerations of mercy, yet the Prophet's inaction amounted to
an honourable discharge for the perpetrator.
3. Chapter MCLIII of Muslim contains hadiths nos. 6677 to 6681,
all dealing with the various aspects of Abdullah bin Ubaw's
burial. In a nutshell, they state, when Abdullah bin Ubayy, the
Chief of Hypocrites, died:
a. The Prophet brought him out of his grave (just before his body
was to be covered with earth), placed him on his knee and put his
saliva in his mouth (to sanctify him). He had already given his
shirt to use it as a shroud for Abdullah bin Ubayy.
b. Abdullah bin Ubayy's son begged the Prophet to say his
father's funeral prayer. As he got up to pray for the deceased
Hypocrite, Omar, realising the enormity of such an act, caught
hold of the garment of Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him)
and said: "Allah's Messenger, are you going to conduct
prayer for this man, whereas Allah has forbidden you to offer
prayer for him?" .... the Prophet replied: "Allah has
given me an option as He has said: Ask pardon for them, or ask
not pardon for them; if thou askest pardon for them seventy
times, God will not pardon them. (IX: 80), and I am going to make
an addition to the seventy."
However, I should also mention the addition that has been made to
the Hadith no. 6680: "Do not offer prayer for anyone of them
at all and do not stand upon their graves (IX: 84)."
Nobody knows the exact chronological sequel of the Koranic verses.
This is why the Western scholars have remarked that the Koran has
been written "back to front.'' The above mentioned addition
to hadith no. 6680 appears to be a far-fetched endeavour to
justify the Prophet's action. The fact that Umar caught hold of
the "Prophet's garment" to stop him from praying,
clearly shows that the Prophet's followers knew well that it was
un-Islamic to pray for a hypocrite, a polytheist or an unbeliever.
If this was not true, Omar would not have dared interfere with
the Prophet.
It should also be remembered that, according to the Muslim
scholars, there are some fifty occasions when Omar's thoughts,
opinions and suggestions were confirmed by Allah in His
revelations and afterwards formed part of the Koran, yet Muslims
insist that this is a book from Allah, who admits no associates
in anything He does!
The Hadith no. 5903 (Muslim, IV) confirms that the Koranic verses
about determining Kibla, veiling women and deciding the fate of
the prisoners of Badr, are Omar's judgements that have been
incorporated in the Koran.
What Muhammad did was a political exercise to woo the rest of the
hypocrites. Omar's judgement *(IX: 85) was made a part of the
Koran as an act of rationalisation, which seeks to conceal the
political nature of Prophethood. Considering the close sequence
of the verse IX: 80 and IX: 85, one wonders why this total
forbiddance should come to Allah's mind so quickly after the
event!
Judging by the Koranic Law, the Prophet had no such option. See
for yourself:
" .... and slay them (hypocrites) wherever you find
them; take not to yourselves any one of them as
friend or helper ...." (Women, IV: 90)
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* And pray thou never over any of them when he is dead, nor stand
over his grave; they disbelieved in God and His Messenger, and
died when they were ungodly.
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This is because hypocrites are unbelievers, and a Muslim has the
duty to despise, detest and destroy them. See the following:
1. "The hypocrites seek to trick God, but God
is tricking them .......
O believers, take not the unbelievers (hypocrites)
as friends instead of the believers .... surely the
hypocrites will be in the lowest
reach of the Fire (hell)." (Women, IV: 140)
2. "O Prophet, struggle with the unbelievers and
hypocrites and be thou harsh with them; their refuge
is hell ....." (Repentance, IX: 70)
In fact, hypocrites are twice as evil as unbelievers because the
former will receive double the punishment.
3. "And some of the people of the City are grown bold
in hypocrisy .... We (Allah) shall chastise them
twice ......" (Repentance, IX: 100)
4. " .... They (hypocrites) are the enemy;
so beware of them. God assail them!
How they are perverted." (The Hypocrites: LXIII: 4)
The Koran does not allow a Muslim to pray for his own parents if
they happen to be unbelievers. According to hadith no. 2129 (Muslim),
Allah would not allow the prophet to pray for his own mother! How
could he have legally prayed for the Chief of the Hypocrites? It
is all politics. It is interesting to know how the Prophet
achieved his political aims.