Muhammad, Islam, and Terrorism
The below following article "Muhammad, Islam, and Terrorism" was written nearly two and a half years before the terror attack of September 11th, 2001. This tragedy has shown again how important it is to understand the reasons and dynamics fuelling Islamic terrorism. Determining the right response is not easy. But some kinds of response are definitely wrong. This article is quite detailed, but even if you do not read the complete article, please make sure you read our concluding remarks.
This article shows the basis for radical, fundamentalist Islam. This is not the only Islam there is. Note also, that this article is linked on the current entry page under the heading of "Understanding Islamic Terrorism", not under the title of "Understanding Islam". Apart from many peaceful Muslims who are themselves unaware of the material presented below, there are also educated, moderate Muslims who do not agree with such terrorist acts and interpret these passages of the Qur'an and these precedents in the life of Muhammad differently. They would not interpret them as justifying atrocities as committed by Islamic terrorist groups. The problem is that those Muslims who oppose the radicals are themselves in danger and fear of becoming the target of the radicals in Islam. Ignoring the "violent passages" in the Qur'an and Muslim traditions will not be the solution. The Islamic community has to confront the terrorists in their midst in word and deed, by bringing them to justice and by opposing their interpretation of Islam, if they believe it is not the true interpretation. We call for all Muslims to unmistakenly distance themselves from terrorist acts AND by giving the real meaning of these passages and precedents presented below, to confront and excommunicate those who hold this violent Islam to be the only true Islam. As long as the Muslim community does NOT confront and stop them, they cannot complain that "the non-Muslims are misrepresenting Islam" and are biased and islamophobic. The below article draws the strongest possible conclusions from the sources, but it deals with the historical sources. Muslims who disagree with the conclusions, need to enter a discussion on those sources that are the foundations of Islam. We are willing to engage in this discussion and link from here to Muslim responses.
However, it remains true, that what follows below exposes the basis for this kind of radical Islam that has shown the world its deadly determination. It is not just in the imagination of some people who "hate Islam".
The webmaster of Answering Islam being author of the introductory paragraphs above and the concluding remarks at the bottom of the page, welcomes your response.
MUHAMMAD,
ISLAM, AND TERRORISM
INTRODUCTION
The actions of
Islamic terrorist groups operating throughout the world are well
known. Islamic terrorists have bombed and destroyed buildings,
planes, and vehicles. Additionally, during the last 20 years,
Muslim terrorists have targeted and murdered tens of thousands of
males, females, adults, and children. All over the world, in
Kenya, Algeria, Indonesia, Egypt, Iran, France, South America and
America, etc., Muslim terrorists have attacked and murdered those
they felt were a threat to their aims. No one has been spared
by these treacherous people.
Not surprisingly,
examination of the websites that deal with terrorism show that
about one half of all terrorist groups in the world are Islamic
in nature.
Why are these
groups Islamic? What does the religion of Islam have to do with
terrorism? Is there a link between the two? How do these
groups justify murdering civilians based upon Islamic values? Are
terrorism and murder actually allowed under Islam?
This article
examines the basis for Islamic terrorism found within Islam. Starting
with Muhammad and reviewing his teachings and his actions, and
then visiting what other Muslims have taught, the fundamentals of
Islamic terrorism will be examined.
NOTES
1) My comments or source references
will be in [ ] type brackets. Other writers comments will be
in the ( ) type brackets.
2) When I talk about terrorist actions,
I am talking about motive and action. Crime exists in every
society, and I am not including all crimes as examples of
terrorism. I am focusing on the violent actions Muslims carry
out in the name of Islam. For example, in Egypt some years ago,
a Muslim man murdered an American women. He killed her then
robbed her. His motive was greed, not the furtherance of Islam.
I would not call that an Islamic terrorist action. On the other
hand, Muslims who carry out bombings, like the ones in Kenya and
Tanzania - in which hundreds of innocents died, do so because
they feel they are attacking their enemies and have Allah's
sanction to do so. That is a terrorist action.
Additionally,
there are many kinds of terrorists who engage in violence. There
are political terrorists operating in South America, there are
terrorists who murder doctors who perform abortion. There are
Communist terrorists, capitalist terrorists, right wing
terrorists, left wing terrorists, etc. In America, there are
gangs that operate like terrorists. However, in this
writing, I am focusing on terrorism based upon what Muhammad
taught and did. I am focusing on Muslims, who for the sake of
Islam, commit violent acts of terrorism. But I want all
readers to know that I note that there are many non-Muslim
terrorists operating in the world. Some of these other
terrorists are every bit as vicious as Muslim terrorists.
3) A "terrorist" is defined
as "one who engages in acts of terrorism". "Terrorism"
is defined as "the unlawful use or threatened use of force
or violence by a person or an organized group against people or
property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies
or governments, often for ideological or political reasons."
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MUHAMMAD'S EARLY ACTIONS AND TEACHINGS
When Muhammad
started out preaching his religion of Islam he was not violent. He
was persecuted for preaching his religious ideas - Islam - and
denigrating the pagan religions of the Meccans. Some of
Muhammad's followers were tortured. Things were so bad for him
and his few followers that he sent many of them to Abyssinia [Ethiopia]
for refuge. Eventually, he and his followers moved north to a
city called Yathrib [Medina], where some members of two Arab
tribes wanted Muhammad to be their prophet.
BEGINNING OF MUHAMMAD'S VIOLENCE
Just prior to
Muhammad's leaving for Medina, he received a "revelation"
allowing him to fight the Meccans. He knew that in Medina, he
had a group of armed men who would support him. Furthermore, in
Medina, would be more distant from the Meccans and their attempts
to oppress or kill him. The following is from "The Life of
Muhammad", page 212, by A. Guillaume, which is a rendering
of Ibn Ishaq's "Sirat Rasulallah", a biography of
Muhammad written by an early Muslim scholar [1].
"THE APOSTLE
RECEIVES THE ORDER TO FIGHT
The apostle had
not been given permission to fight or allowed to shed blood
before the second Aqaba [a place where a pledge was made between
Muhammad and his followers from Medina]. He had simply been
ordered to call men to God and to endure insult and forgive the
ignorant. The Quraysh [a leading group of Meccans] had persecuted
his followers, seducing some from their religion and exiling
others from their country. They had to choose whether to give up
their religion, be maltreated at home, or to flee the country,
some to Abyssinia, others to Medina.
When Quraysh
became insolent towards God and rejected His gracious purpose,
accused His prophet of lying, and ill treated and exiled those
who served Him and proclaimed His unity, believed in His prophet
and held fast to His religion, He gave permission to His apostle
to fight and to protect himself against those who wronged them
and treated them badly......[a]
The meaning is
"I have allowed them to fight only because they have been
unjustly treated while their sole offense against men has been
that they worship God. When they are in the ascendant they will
establish prayer, pay the poor-tax, enjoin kindness, and forbid
iniquity, i.e., the prophet and his companions all of them."
Then God sent down to him: "Fight them so that there be no
more seduction," [b] i.e. until no believer is seduced from
his religion. "And the religion is God's,", i.e. Until
God alone is worshipped."
END OF QUOTE
[Note: two
passages from the Quran are referenced: [a] Sura 22:39-41,
which I did not quote, and [b] Sura 2:193]
Two critical points here:
1) in Mecca, where Muhammad was weak,
he attacked no one. He only preached his religion and insulted
the Meccan's religions. But it was just prior to his leaving
for Medina, where he had a limited amount of armed men to support
him, that he received this "revelation" and began to
use violence to further his desires. Islamic history shows
that as Muslims grew in power their forms of violence changed
from criminal terrorism to outright warfare.
2) At the end of the quote, it says
that Muslims are to fight those that do not worship Allah.
I also comment on
Ibn Ishaq's work. When reading this passage from Ibn Ishaq,
Muhammad is made to appear to be long suffering and primarily
fighting in self defense, and that up until just before
Muhammad's departure, the Meccan persecution was tolerable, but
that it became so bad that Muhammad was finally given permission
to fight back.
The problem with
this is that Muhammad had been severely persecuted prior to this
and that Muslims had been abused well before their departure. In
other words, the quoted passage is apologetic work on Ibn Ishaq's
part. Earlier, well before the Treaty of Aqaba, things were so
bad for Muhammad that he went to a town called Taif to seek their
help and protection [Guillaume, op cit, page 192]. The Taifians
rejected and abused him. Things were so bad for Muhammad in
Mecca, Muhammad had to beg three men for their protection [Guillaume,
op cit, page 194].
In Mecca, Muhammad
continued to proclaim himself as a prophet and he was abused all
the more. He never received any "revelations" to
fight at that time.
Eventually, good
fortune fell into Muhammad's lap and just as in Adolph Hitler's
case, his persistence paid off. A group of feuding Arabs in
Medina accepted him as their prophet. They hoped he could help
them maintain peace. They eventually made a pledge to support
Muhammad in war against the Quraysh [Guillaume, op cit, page 205].
Now Muhammad knew he had an able and armed following. It was
only when he had a following that could defend themselves, and
his people were migrating north to Medina, and that he knew he
was going to leave town, that suddenly "Allah" gave
Muhammad his "revelation" to fight. Muhammad's
circumstances changed, and Muhammad's Allah changed with them. Muhammad
went from being only a "warner" to being an aggressor.
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MUHAMMAD'S EARLY TERRORIST ACTS
After moving to
Medina, Muhammad began to have conflict with the Jews and pagans
in the area. I'll focus on several incidents, not necessarily
in chronological order, that illustrate Muhammad as a terrorist.
The first
terrorist incident involves Muhammad's command to his followers
to "kill any Jew that comes under your power".
From Guillaume, op cit, page 369:
"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.'"
END OF QUOTE
This story is also supported in 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.
END OF QUOTE
This murder was
committed upon Muhammad's command. Note that this Muslim
murderer would have killed a family member at the drop of a hat.
Muhammad was no better than a bigoted criminal boss, ordering his
men to wantonly murder Jewish people. Hitler did this. And,
this is what Serbs are doing to the Kosovan Muslims. Muhammad's
command to murder Jews puts him in the same category as
Milosovic, Hitler, and others who have persecuted Jews throughout
history.
A quote from an
Islamic scholar - Wensinck writes in his, "Muhammad and the
Jews of Medina" [2], page 113:
"It is
remarkable that tradition attributes Muhammad's most cruel acts
to divine order, namely the siege of Qaynuqa, the murder of Kab,
and he attack upon Qurayzah. Allah's conscience seems to be
more elastic than that of his creatures."..... Ibn Ishaq
and al-Waqidi report that the prophet said the morning after the
murder (of Kab Ashraf), "Kill any Jew you can lay your hands
on.".
This incident is
also documented in Tabari's History [3], page 97 of volume 7.
This shows that
Muhammad had unsuspecting people, those who even had good
relations with Muslims, murdered in cold blood because they were
Jewish. There was no justification to murder these Jews
other than they were not Muhammad's followers. These actions
were the work of Muhammad's terrorists committing murder.
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The second
terrorist incident involves another one of Muhammad's requests:
this one for his men to murder an old Jewish man named Abu Afak.
Abu Afak was 120 years. Abu Afak had urged his fellow Medinans
to question Muhammad.
From Guillaume, op cit., page 675:
SALIM B. UMAYR'S
EXPEDITION TO KILL ABU AFAK
Abu Afak was one of the B. Amr b. Auf of
the B. Ubayda clan. He showed his disaffection when the apostle
killed al-Harith b. Suwayd b. Samit and said:
"Long have I lived but never have I seen
An assembly or collection of people
More faithful to their undertaking
And their allies when called upon
Than the sons of Qayla when they assembled,
Men who overthrew mountains and never submitted,
A rider who came to them split them in two (saying)
"Permitted", "Forbidden", of all sorts of
things.
Had you believed in glory or kingship
You would have followed Tubba
[NOTE: the Tubba was a ruler from Yemen
who invaded that part of what is present Saudi Arabia: the
Qaylites resisted him]
The apostle said,
"Who will deal with this rascal for me?" Whereupon
Salim b. Umayr, brother of B. Amr b. Auf, one of the "weepers",
went forth and killed him. Umama b. Muzayriya said concerning
that:
You gave the lie to God's religion and the man Ahmad! [Muhammad]
By him who was your father, evil is the son he produced!
A "hanif" gave you a thrust in the night saying
"Take that Abu Afak in spite of your age!"
Though I knew whether it was man or jinn
Who slew you in the dead of night (I would say naught).
END OF QUOTE
Additional
information is found in the Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir, (Book of
the Major Classes) by Ibn Sa'd, Volume 2, [4], page 32:
Then occurred the
"sariyyah" [raid] of Salim Ibn Umayr al-Amri against
Abu Afak, the Jew, in [the month of] Shawwal in the beginning of
the twentieth month from the hijrah [immigration from Mecca to
Medina in 622 AD], of the Apostle of Allah. Abu Afak, was from
Banu Amr Ibn Awf, and was an old man who had attained the age of
one hundred and twenty years. He was a Jew, and used to
instigate the people against the Apostle of Allah, and composed (satirical)
verses [about Muhammad].
Salim Ibn Umayr
who was one of the great weepers and who had participated in
Badr, said, "I take a vow that I shall either kill Abu Afak
or die before him. He waited for an opportunity until a hot
night came, and Abu Afak slept in an open place. Salim Ibn
Umayr knew it, so he placed the sword on his liver and pressed it
till it reached his bed. The enemy of Allah screamed and the
people who were his followers, rushed to him, took him to his
house and interred him.
END OF QUOTE
From a
contemporary Muslim scholar - Ali Dashti's "23 Years: A
Study of the Prophetic Career of Mohammad", [5], page 100:
"Abu Afak, a
man of great age (reputedly 120 years) was killed because he had
lampooned Mohammad. The deed was done by Salem b. Omayr at the
behest of the Prophet, who had asked, "Who will deal with
this rascal for me?" The killing of such an old man moved
a poetess, Asma b. Marwan, to compose disrespectful verses about
the Prophet, and she too was assassinated."
Prior to listing
all of the assassinations Muhammad had ordered, Ali Dashti writes
on page 97:
"Thus Islam
was gradually transformed from a purely spiritual mission into a
militant and punitive organization whose progress depended on
booty from raids and revenue from the zakat tax."
REVIEW
Here another man
was murdered upon Muhammad's command. This man was 120 years old.
He was no physical threat to Muhammad and he did not urge people
to commit violent acts against Muhammad or the Muslims. There
was no discussion with Jewish leaders, there was no dialogue with
Abu Afak; it was just an outright murder of another one of
Muhammad's critics. Abu Afak urged the people who lived in
Medina to doubt and leave Muhammad. Abu Afak found that
Muhammad's sayings were strange and dictatorial. He chided the
Arabs that put their faith in Muhammad. Muhammad heard of this
and viewed the 120 year old man as a threat to his credibility,
not to his life. Nowhere does it say that Abu Afak urged his
fellow Arabs to attack or harm Muhammad. Yet for speaking
his mind, for the benefit of his friends, this man was murdered
by Muhammad.
The last statement
in Umama b. Muzayriya's verse reveals something though:
"Though I
knew whether it was man or jinn
Who slew you in
the dead of night (I would say naught)."
This statement
displays that the Muslims knew exactly what they were doing. They
knew it was cold-blooded murder that they were committing upon
Muhammad's request. They wanted to keep it secret, they wanted
to hide their evil deeds from the populace at large. That's why
Umama said he wouldn't reveal who murdered Abu Afak.
When I think of
what type of people order their followers to commit murder, I
only can think of organized crime bosses or corrupt political
figures. Saddam Hussein comes to mind. How would an Iraqi be
treated if he spoke out about Saddam? Amnesty International
just reported that over 1500 political prisoners were executed in
Iraq last year.
Or take the
Ayatollah Khomenni. His fundamentalist Islamic regime had other
dissident Iranians murdered all over the world. These murderous
Muslims represent exactly what Muhammad was all about. They
follow Muhammad's methodology: kill those who are a threat to
your credibility and power over others.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The third incident
involves Muhammad's request for his men to murder a women named
Asma b. Marwan.
Quoting from Guillaume, pages 675, 676.
UMAYR B. ADIYY'S JOURNEY TO KILL ASMA D.
MARWAN
"She was of B.
Umayyya b. Zayd. When Abu Afak had been killed she displayed
disaffection. Abdullah b. al-Harith b. Al-Fudayl from his
father said that she was married to a man of B. Khatma called
Yazid b. Zayd. Blaming Islam and its followers she said:
"I despise B.
Malik and al-Nabit
and Auf and B. al-Khazraj.
You obey a
stranger who is none of yours,
One not of Murad
or Madhhij. {1}
Do you expect good
from him after the killing of your chiefs
Like a hungry man
waiting for a cook's broth?
Is there no man of
pride who would attack him by surprise
And cut off the
hopes of those who expect aught from him?"
Hassan b. Thabit answered her:
"Banu Wa'il
and B. Waqif and Khatma
Are inferior to B.
al-Khazraj.
When she called
for folly woe to her in her weeping,
For death is
coming.
She stirred up a
man of glorious origin,
Noble in his going
out and in his coming in.
Before midnight he
dyed her in her blood
And incurred no
guilt thereby."
When the apostle
heard what she had said he said, "Who will rid me of
Marwan's daughter?" Umayr b. Adiy al-Khatmi who was with
him heard him, and that very night he went to her house and
killed her. In the morning he came to the apostle and told him
what he had done and he [Muhammad] said, "You have helped
God and His apostle, O Umayr!" When he asked if he would
have to bear any evil consequences the apostle said, "Two
goats won't butt their heads about her", so Umayr went back
to his people.
Now there was a
great commotion among B. Khatma that day about the affair of bint
[girl] Marwan. She had five sons, and when Umayr went to them
from the apostle he said, "I have killed bint Marwan, O sons
of Khatma. Withstand me if you can; don't keep me waiting."
That was the first day Islam became powerful among B. Khatma;
before that those who were Muslims concealed the fact. The
first of them to accept Islam was Umayr b. Adiy who was called
the "Reader", and Abdullah b. Aus and Khuzayma b.
Thabit. The day after Bint Marwan was killed the men of B.
Khatma became Muslims because they saw the power of Islam."
{1} The note reads "Two
tribes of Yamani origin."
END OF QUOTE
And from Ibn Sa'd's, "Kitab Al-Tabaqat
Al-Kabir" [op cit] volume 2, page 31.
"SARIYYAH OF
UMAYR IBN ADI"
Then (occurred)
the sariyyah of Umayr ibn adi Ibn Kharashah al-Khatmi against
Asma Bint Marwan, of Banu Umayyah Ibn Zayd, when five nights had
remained from the month of Ramadan, in the beginning of the
nineteenth month from the hijrah of the apostle of Allah. Asma
was the wife of Yazid Ibn Zayd Ibn Hisn al-Khatmi. She used to
revile Islam, offend the prophet and instigate the (people)
against him. She composed verses. Umayr Ibn Adi came to her
in the night and entered her house. Her children were sleeping
around her. There was one whom she was suckling. He searched
her with his hand because he was blind, and separated the child
from her. He thrust his sword in her chest till it pierced up
to her back. Then he offered the morning prayers with the
prophet at al-Medina. The apostle of Allah said to him: "Have
you slain the daughter of Marwan?" He said: "Yes.
Is there something more for me to do?" He [Muhammad] said:
"No two goats will butt together about her. This was the
word that was first heard from the apostle of Allah. The
apostle of Allah called him Umayr, "basir" (the seeing).
END OF QUOTE
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DISCUSSION
Let's sum this up
and put it in perspective.
Muhammad had al-Harith
b. Suwayd b. Samit killed. This upset Abu Afak, so he spoke out
against it. So, likewise, Muhammad had Abu Afak murdered. This
offended Asma b. Marwan and she spoke out against that evil deed.
She encouraged her fellow tribesmen to take action against
Muhammad. When Muhammad heard of what she had said, he had her
killed also.
At first glance,
this order to kill Asma might seem justifiable. Asma was
calling for someone to kill Muhammad. It is understandable for
Muhammad to be bothered by that.
But let's look
deeper at the event and examine the context of Asma's
relationship to her tribe.
1) First of all, Asma has
seen Muhammad in action. She had seen him for what he was, a
cold blooded murderer. Of course she spoke out against a
murderer.
Second, her
tribe was not under Muhammad's rule. Perhaps they had a treaty
with Muhammad, perhaps not. Either way, this women was free to
speak her mind. If a treaty existed, and she was out of line,
Muhammad could have complained to her tribe's leaders, and they
could have commanded her to be silent or dealt with the situation.
2) What's more noteworthy
about this event is that after she was murdered, Muhammad said
"Two goats won't butt their head about her", meaning no
one will care about her death. (Well except her children and
her family).
Also note, that
there were already people from her tribe who had become Muslims.
Certainly these people were not going to listen to her.
The point is this:
if no one really cared about her being murdered, then no one
really cared about what she had to say. Her people also knew
about Muhammad having Abu Afak murdered, and they didn't care
about that either. Even in that light, no one would take her
serious enough to listen to her urgings to murder Muhammad, who
was the leader of a powerful group of people. None of her
people were willing to put their lives on the line for her words.
The bottom line
is that Asma b. Marwan was not a legitimate threat to Muhammad.
She didn't scare him, she was not the leader of her tribe, and
she had little or no influence. She was little more than a
nuisance to him. Yet Muhammad had her murdered, again, in cold,
premeditated blood.
And one wonders
why Muhammad didn't kill her himself? It was always easier for
Muhammad to have someone else do his killing.
Put the shoe on
the other foot. Throughout the Mideast, there are Muslims who
call America the Great Satan. These Muslims have called for the
violent destruction of America. Frequently great crowds have
gathered to chant "death to America, death to Reagan, or
Bush, or etc.". At times these people have even murdered
Americans. Now, if America, or Reagan, or Bush, etc. were to
use Muhammad's standards, they would engage in killing quite a
few Muslims. They would have used Islamic standards on the
Muslims. But we know that the chanting of a crowd of hot-heads
does not necessitate the use of violence against them. There
are better ways to deal with critics and criticisms. Frequently,
in the passion of youth, people do and say things they don't
intend to act out, or are not able to carry out. Given time,
people can change, and pursue peaceful dialog. But if one
applied Muhammad's standards, American would be justified in
bombing Tehran; Israel would be justified in wiping out hundreds
of thousands of Arab Muslims.
The only
conclusion is that this lady troubled Muhammad and he wanted her
silenced. Again, like Abu Afak, she was murdered in the night
while she slept.
What type of
people murder those that sleep? Criminals.
ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS
1) What alarms me the
most about Islam is its disposition to violence and use of
violence as a standard of God's will.
Umayr is a perfect
example of this. Here is a Muslim man, a friend of Muhammad's,
acting upon Muhammad's request and going into a woman's home
under the cover of night. He comes upon the women, sleeping in
her bed with her child, and murders her by plunging a sword
through her body.
Afterwards,
Muhammad tells the man that he has "helped God and his
apostle". If Allah were really threatened by this woman, I
think He could have killed her Himself, don't you? Does God
need men to sneak around in the night and murder sleeping women?
2) What kind of religion
is Islam really? Soon after Umayr murdered Asma, he went to her
family and mocked them! He was laughing in their faces that he
had murdered their mother and that they were powerless to do
anything about it! Here is the quote again:
"She had five
sons, and when Umayr went to them from the apostle he said,
"I have killed bint Marwan, O sons of Khatma. Withstand me
if you can; don't keep me waiting."
3) Finally, similar to
observation #1, look at the power of Islam. Here is the quote:
"That was the
first day Islam became powerful among B. Khatma..... The day
after Bint Marwan was killed the men of B. Khatma became Muslims
because they saw the power of Islam."
So then, the power
of Islam is to go about and murder sleeping women in the night,
and get away with it? Does "might make right" ring
true in Islam? Is it "he who has the biggest sword is from
Allah? The only people I know who respect that kind of power
are criminals. Criminals who go out in the night and murder
people while they sleep.
We know that
there are good and bad in all religions, but this case is
different. This event reflects upon the man who started Islam:
Islam is built upon Muhammad's words and deeds. We see here
that Muhammad had a woman brutally murdered. She was killed
because she spoke out against him, and she was merely a nuisance.
The fourth incident involves a Muslim man who murdered his own
slave. From the Hadith of Abu Dawud [6].
Book 38, Number 4348:
Narrated Abdullah Ibn Abbas:
A blind man had a slave-mother who used to abuse the Prophet and
disparage him. He forbade her but she did not stop. He rebuked
her but she did not give up her habit. One night she began to
slander the Prophet and abuse him. So he took a dagger, placed it
on her belly, pressed it, and killed her. A child who came
between her legs was smeared with the blood that was there. When
the morning came, the Prophet was informed about it.
He assembled the people and said: I adjure by Allah the man who
has done this action and I adjure him by my right to him that he
should stand up. Jumping over the necks of the people and
trembling the man stood up.
He sat before the Prophet and said: Apostle of Allah! I am her
master; she used to abuse you and disparage you. I forbade her,
but she did not stop, and I rebuked her, but she did not abandon
her habit. I have two sons like pearls from her, and she was my
companion. Last night she began to abuse and disparage you. So I
took a dagger, put it on her belly and pressed it till I killed
her.
Thereupon the Prophet said: Oh be witness, no retaliation is
payable for her blood.
END OF QUOTE
Here we see here that Muhammad allowed people to murder others
just for insulting him. Here, a slave women, who was used as a
concubine by her Muslim master, paid for her criticism of
Muhammad with her life. Note here that one man murdered his
own slave, who was the mother of two of his children!
A slave lady made fun of Muhammad and was brutally murdered
and that action received Muhammad's sanction. Now then,
was that slave a threat? Were Muslims going to leave Islam
because of a slave women's criticism? Of course not. Muhammad
could not long tolerate any personal criticism; he didn't want
his credibility undermined, so he allowed his followers to murder
anyone who expressed different views.
Oh, by the way, before we move on, let me continue to quote from
Abu Dawud. The note #3800 states:
"This shows that even if a Jew of any non-Muslim abuses the
Prophet he will be killed. This is held by al-Laith, al-Shafi'i,
Ahmad, and Ishaq."
When Jesus said His followers had to hate their families, even
their own lives to follow Him, everyone knew He meant it as a
comparison.... Jesus also commanded people to honor their fathers
and mothers. But Muhammad allowed his followers to even murder
members of their own families!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The fifth incident involves another Muslim man named Amr Umayya,
who was sent out by Muhammad to murder Muhammad's enemy Abu
Sufyan, (Guillaume, op cit, and page 673). However, their
assassination attempt failed. As he returned home, he met a one-eyed
shepherd. The shepherd and the Muslim man both identified
themselves as members of the same Arab clan. Prior to going
asleep, the shepherd said that he would never become a Muslim.
Umayya waited for the shepherd to fall asleep, and thereafter:
"as soon as the badu was asleep and snoring I got up and
killed him in a more horrible way than any man has been killed. I
put the end of my bow in his sound eye, then I bore down on it
until I forced it out at the back of his neck."
Umayya returned and spoke with Muhammad. He relates......."He
[Muhammad] asked my news and when I told him what had happened he
blessed me".
So, Muhammad blessed one of his men who murdered a one-eyed
shepherd while he slept. Another person who didn't want to
follow Muhammad, another murder in Islam's name. Muhammad's trail
of blood continued to grow.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The sixth incident involves the actions of Muslims who were sent
out by Muhammad on a raid against the Fazara tribe. The Muslims
were initially defeated by the Fazara. The wounded Muslim leader
swore vengeance. After he recovered he went out and attacked the
Fazara again. One very old women was captured. Here is the
account from Guillaume, op cit, and page 665:
"....and Umm Qirfa Fatima was taken prisoner. She was a
very old women, wife of Malik. Her daughter and Abdullah Masada
were also taken. Zayd ordered Qays to kill Umm Qirfa and he
killed her cruelly (Tabari, by putting a rope to her two legs and
to two camels and driving them until they rent her in two.)
END OF QUOTE
Here, Muhammad's companions went out and attacked people, took
some prisoners, then committed some brutal atrocities against
their captives. These men were so destitute of basic human
values, that they ripped an old women in half by using camels!
When one reads of the horrible things the Serbs have done, one is
offended. But I wonder how many Muslims know that Muhammad
himself did and sanctioned such things. Muhammad was every bit as
brutal as the Nazis.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The 7th incident involves another slave woman who was murdered,
upon Muhammad's command because she had mocked Muhammad some time
earlier.
From Guillaume, op cit, page 550, 551:
"Another [to be killed] was Abdullah Khatal of B. Taym b.
Ghalib. He had become a Muslim and the apostle sent him to
collect the poor tax in company with one of the Ansar. He had
with him a freed slave who served him. (He was Muslim). When they
halted he ordered the latter to kill a goat for him and prepare
some food, and went to sleep. When he woke up the man had done
nothing, so he attacked and killed him and apostatized. He had
two singing-girls Fartana and her friend who used to sing
satirical songs about the apostle, so he ordered that they should
be killed with him."
END OF QUOTE
Let's stop here and examine this paragraph. Muhammad ordered that
a man who apostatized, and his two slave girls, be killed. Khatal
was ordered to be killed not because he killed his male slave, a
Muslim, but because he apostatized. Islamic law does not allow a
Muslim man to be put to death for killing a slave. Muhammad also
ordered two slave girls to be killed for singing satirical songs
about him. They sung satirical songs about Muhammad probably at
least a year or more earlier. Now, after Muhammad conquered
Mecca, it was his time to pay those slave girls back. These slave
girls were not threats to Islam, or to the new Islamic State.
They were only slave girls. They were ordered to be executed only
because they sang a silly song about Muhammad. Page 551 finishes
the story of the slave girls:
"As for Ibn Khatal's two singing girls, one was killed and
the other ran away until the apostle, asked for immunity, gave it
to her."
Needless to say, if the second slave girl didn't ask for "immunity",
Muhammad would have had her murdered also.
How do you feel when you hear of Serbs murdering Bosnian and
Kosovo women? Yet Muhammad did exactly that - he had women
murdered just for making fun of him. If a Muslim justified
Muhammad's murder of slave girls, then by their standards, they
have to justify what the Serbs are doing in Kosovo.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
REVIEW
We see that Muhammad had many people murdered. By request, by
command, by implication, Muhammad had many people murdered, many
killed while they slept. There were no trials, no judgments, no
dialog. If you insulted Muhammad, if you doubted his credibility
and if you spoke out, you were murdered. Men and women, young
and old, all were killed because of Muhammad's hatred toward
those who spoke out against him.
Here is a summary of the 7 terrorist murders committed upon
Muhammad's requests or efforts:
1) Ibn Sunayna, a Jewish man who was murdered because he was
simply a Jew
2) Abu Afak, a 120-year-old man, murdered while he slept
3) Asma Marwan, mother of 5 children, murdered while she slept
4) A slave women, mother of two children, murdered while she
slept
5) A one-eyed shepherd, murdered while he slept
6) A very old women, literally ripped in half by Muslims who
captured her on a raid.
7) A slave girl, who was murdered because she poked fun at
Muhammad.
I will add that there were many more people who suffered a
similar fate. I choose not to list them here because of space
limitations.
Make no mistake about it: Muhammad was a terrorist. Today's
Muslim terrorists follow his actions. Like prophet, like
followers; today's Muhammadan terrorists commit their acts based
upon what Muhammad did.
Many Muslims are peace-loving people and
are thoroughly disgusted about the acts of Islamic terrorism.
Most Muslims do not know these historical facts about their own
prophet. But Muslim terrorists are usually well-educated in Islam.
They are pious people. Spiritual leaders. And they do what they
do and how they do it following the example of their prophet.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUESTIONS
1) What kind of man was Muhammad that he would have peaceful
Jews, a 120 year old man, a mother of 5 children, slave girls,
etc. murdered because they disagreed or criticized him?
2) Is it right to murder others simply because they disagree with
your, or even mock you? Why couldn't Muhammad handle some
criticism? Do people who disagree with others deserve to be
murdered, in cold blood, in the night, secretly, while they
sleep? Don't corrupt politicians or organized criminals do that?
3) Isn't this type of action similar to the actions of Muslim
terrorists today? They operate secretly, they kill unsuspecting
people, and they murder without law or justice. They kill those
who merely disagree or even verbally oppose them.
4) Are these "Islamic" values compatible with our
values in America? Should Americans who criticize Muhammad expect
to have their freedom of speech threatened, or should they live
in fear of being killed for speaking their mind? Remember,
Muslims in America have already begun to murder Americans for the
sake of Islam.
5) If Muhammad put this system in place, i.e., the murdering of
people who disagree and criticize him, how does it affect Islamic
society? How does it relate to what we have seen done in Islamic
societies such as Algeria, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, and
Sudan? The end result has been brutal massacres, murders,
tortures, etc. This is all traceable to Muhammad's actions.
6) If Muhammad were alive today, and we knew of the people he had
murdered, what would you say? Wouldn't we want to see this type
of man pay for his crimes, put in jail for life, or even
executed? Who feels sorry for that white racist who was sentenced
to death for dragging that black man and killing him? Yet
Muhammad had a man tortured then murdered, just to get money.
Muslims are commanded to follow Muhammad's "lifestyle"
and Islamic law. Murdering others, in Islam's name is part of
that style and system.
7) Don't we have the right to judge Muhammad according to the
best moral standards we know of? He claimed to be the last
prophet of God. He claimed his system was God's final system for
all mankind. So by our standards, don't you think that what
Muhammad did was terribly wrong? If our standards are better than
his, then how does his self-asserted "prophethood"
really rate? Why should our standards eclipse those of God's
final prophet?
8) Doesn't this sound exactly like what the Serbs are doing? We
see the Serbs committing some of the most brutal atrocities in
history. Yet Muhammad did the same things. The Serbs have
murdered the Kosovars simply because they were not Serbs. This is
exactly what Muhammad ordered when he urged his follower to
murder the Jews. We see the Serbs taking the possessions of the
Kosovars. This is exactly what Muhammad did to the tribes of
people he attacked. We see the Serbs raping Kosovan women.
Muhammad allowed his soldiers to rape female slaves. If Muhammad
were alive today, we'd call him a Serb or a Nazi!
9) Why couldn't Muhammad murder her himself? Why is it that every
time Muhammad wanted someone killed, he always got someone else
to do his killing?
10) Look at this dark side of Islam. This is the Islam Muhammad
practiced. When the founder of a religion has to have powerless
women murdered in the night for opposing him, how can that
religion be described?
11) Where are "human rights" now in Islam? If Muhammad
denied freedom of speech to others, how does that reflect upon
Islam and what we see occurring in the Islamic world today?
12) Why is it that the more fundamentalist Muslim nations become,
the more oppressive they are toward all basic human rights?
Take the Taliban for instance. They have been great fighters. But
once in power, they began to oppress the populace, and
specifically, women. Initially, they said it was only temporary,
but it has continued to get worse, not better for Afghani women
as time proceeded. Here is a website that deals with their
oppression:
http://www.rawa.org/
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TERRORISM IN THE QURAN
Muhammad taught his followers to oppress or kill non-Muslims.
Generally, Jews and Christians were allowed to live as such,
provided they paid a special tax. This tax is Jizya, a tax
revenue given to the Muslims to make up for revenues they lost
from no longer dealing in pagan activities. If the Jews and
Christians refused to pay this extortion tax they would have to
convert to Islam or be killed. Non Jews or Christians (idolaters
or pagans) had to convert to Islam or be killed. Generally they
didn't have the option of paying the tax. Here is the verse that
teaches Muslims to oppress Jews and Christians:
"Fight those who do not believe in Allah, nor in the latter
day, nor do they prohibit what Allah and His Apostle have
prohibited, nor follow the religion of truth, (which is Islam
that abolishes all other religions ) of the people of the Book, (meaning
the Jews and the Christians ) until they pay the Jizya (the tax
imposed upon them) with willing submission and feel themselves
subdued. (with humiliation and submission to the government of
Islam.) 9:29 ." (Commentary in parenthesis is from the
Tafsir Al-Jalalein. i.e., Al-Jalalein Interpretation of the Koran.)
The order to kill Christians and Jews is in that verse. It is
clear that Muhammad ordered his followers to fight those
Christians and Jews to convert them or pay the Jizya, and if they
don't convert or pay, do you think that he told the followers to
let them go in peace? It is very clear: convert... or pay with
submission ... or die.
The background for this is found in "The Life of Muhammad",
op cit, page 620,
"...."until they [the Jews and Christians] pay the poll
tax out of hand being humbled", i.e. as a compensation for
what you fear to lose by the closing of the markets. God gave
them compensation for what He cut off from them in their former
polytheism by what He gave them by way of poll tax from the
people of Scripture."
Muhammad told his followers to attack the Jews and Christians. If
they humble themselves and submit to the Muslims, but choose to
remain Christian or Jewish, then they would have to pay the
Muslims. Again, Muhammad's circumstances changed - Allah changed.
Now Muhammad was an extortionist.
Also note that the tax levied upon the Christians and Jews was
not to support the state in general affairs, it was to compensate
the Muslims. Muhammad was exactly like Mafia crime boss, making
others pay for "protection".... except, the Christians
and Jews really needed protection from the Muslims!
Here is the verse in the Quran that teaches Muslims to attack and
kill pagans:
"When the sacred months are over, slay the idolaters
wherever you find them. Arrest them, besiege them, and lie in
ambush everywhere for them. If they repent and take to prayer and
render the alms levy, allow them to go their way. God is
forgiving and merciful." Sura 9:5
The background for this verse is found in "The Life of
Muhammad", op cit, page 617-619. Note my comments are in [ ]
type brackets, and that it is a very long passage, so I have only
quoted part of it:
"A discharge came down, [Muhammad received a supposed
revelation from God], permitting the breaking of the agreement
between the apostle and the polytheists that none should be kept
back from the temple when he came to it, and that none need fear
during the sacred months. That there was a general agreement
between him and the polytheists; meanwhile there were particular
agreements between the apostle and the Arab tribes for specified
terms. And there came down about it and about the disaffected who
held back from him in the raid on Tabuk, [a Christian town
Muhammad attacked, and forced them to pay him], .....So travel
through the land for four months and know that you cannot escape
God and that God will put the unbelievers to shame. And a
proclamation from God and His apostle to men on the day of the
greater pilgrimage that God and His apostle are free from
obligation to the polytheists, i.e., after this pilgrimage. So if
you repent it will be better for you; and if you turn back know
that you cannot escape God. Inform those who disbelieve, about a
painful punishment except those polytheists with whom you have
made a treaty.
.....If one of the polytheists, i.e. one of those whom I have
ordered you to kill, asks your protection, give it him so that he
may hear the word of God; then convey him to his place of safety.
END OF QUOTE
Basically, Muhammad had an agreement with a number of Arab tribes.
Some were peaceful with him, others disliked him. "Allah"
gave Muhammad a "revelation" allowing him to break his
word, the "agreement" with the pagan Arabs and attack
them after the four sacred months were over. Once again,
Muhammad had gained power, and things changed. Now Muhammad was
permitted to lie, i.e., break his agreement, and make war upon
the pagans. Muhammad's circumstances changed - Allah changed
again.
Note that in the last quoted paragraph, it is supposed to be God
telling the Muslims to go out and kill people. Some of these
people had gotten along peacefully with the Muslims. But because
they didn't follow Muhammad, they were going to be attacked.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ISLAMIC TERRORISM UPON MUSLIMS WHO LEAVE ISLAM
Muhammad was not content to conquer by force, or kill those that
merely opposed him verbally. Muhammad also taught that Muslims
who leave the Islamic faith are to be murdered as well. Here are
some quotes from Bukhari's collection of Hadith. Remember,
Bukhari's Hadith is the second most important writing in Islam,
following the Quran.
Bukhari, volume 9, #17
"Narrated Abdullah: Allah's Messenger said, "The blood
of a Muslim who confesses that none has the right to be
worshipped but Allah and that I am His Messenger, cannot be shed
except in three cases: in Qisas (equality in punishment) for
murder, a married person who commits illegal sexual intercourse
and the one who reverts from Islam (Apostate) and leaves the
Muslims."
Bukhari volume 9, #57
Narrated Ikrima, "Some atheists were brought to Ali and he
burnt them. The news of this event, reached Ibn Abbas who said,
"If I had been in his place, I would not have burnt them, as
Allah's messenger forbade it, saying, "Do not punish anybody
with Allah's punishment (fire)." I would have killed them
according to the statement of Allah's Messenger, "Whoever
changed his Islamic religion, then kill him."
Bukhari volume 9, #64
Narrated Ali, "Whenever I tell you a narration from Allah's
messenger, by Allah, I would rather fall down from the sky, then
ascribe a false statement to him, but if I tell you something
between me and you, (not a Hadith), then it was indeed a trick (i.e.,
I may say things just to cheat my enemy). No doubt I heard
Allah's messenger saying, "During the last days there will
appear some young foolish people, who will say the best words,
but their faith will not go beyond their throats (i.e. they will
leave the faith) and will go out from their religion as an arrow
goes out of the game. So, wherever you find them, kill them, for
whoever kills them shall have reward on the Day of Resurrection."
Not only did Muhammad teach that Muslims are to murder those
that have left Islam, "wherever you find them", he
further taught that a Muslim who commits this type of murder will
be doing God's service and be rewarded!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RECENT MUSLIM WRITINGS ON ISLAM AND TERRORISM
Several Muslims have written about the reasons they are allowed
to wage war. From "The Quranic Concept of War", by
Pakistani Brigadier S.K. Malik, it says, [in the preface]
"But in Islam war is waged to establish supremacy of the
Lord only when every other argument has failed to convince those
who reject His Will and work against the every purpose of the
creation of mankind."
"Many Western Scholars have pointed their accusing fingers
at some of the above verses in the Quran to be able to contend
that world of Islam is in a state of perpetual struggle against
the non-Muslims. As to them it is a sufficient answer to make...
that the defiance of God's authority by one who is His slaves
exposes that slave to the risk of being held guilty of treason
and as such a one, in the perspective of Islamic law, is indeed
to be treated as a sort of that cancerous growth on that organism
of humanity.... It thus becomes necessary to remove the
cancerous malformation even if it be by surgical means, in order
to save the rest of humanity."
END OF QUOTE
The Muslim writer states that those that reject Islam are
viewed as a cancerous growth to be violently removed, i.e.,
murdered. And, note that the Muslim writer basically agrees
with the "Western Scholars" that say that Islam is
indeed "in a state of perpetual war", with non-Muslims.
In viewing what has happened in Algeria, Pakistan, Afghanistan,
Iran, etc. it appears that Islam is the cancerous growth that has
caused such death to the world.
ISLAMIC TERRORISM IN THE WORLD TODAY
There are a fair amount of websites that document the actions and
intentions of the many Islamic terrorist groups operating
throughout the world today. As true Muslims, these people will
use violence against anyone who hinders their aims or offends
their religious beliefs. Here is a partial listing of a number of
websites I've seen on the internet.
http://www.emergency.com/cntrterr.htm
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http://www.state.gov/www/global/terrorism/1997report/
------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.hri.org/docs/USSD-Terror/97/mideast.html
overview of Middle East terrorism
------------------------------------------------------------------
yearly overview
http://www.hri.org/docs/USSD-Terror/
-------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.terrorism.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------
http://polisci.home.mindspring.com/ptd.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://polisci.home.mindspring.com/ptd_incidents_1998.html
62 documented incidents - 31 by Muslims
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://polisci.home.mindspring.com/ptd_middle_africa.html
listing of Mid-east Muslim terrorist groups
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.ict.org.il/
international terrorism group
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
ISLAMIC TERRORISM IN AMERICA TODAY
Here are some summaries of Islamic
terrorism in America or against Americans
#1) Osama bin Laden, one of
the Islamic world's leading terrorists was behind the bombing of
the American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Twelve Americans
were killed and there were hundreds of other deaths due to the
bombings. Bin Laden has declared open season on American
civilians, women and children included. He says Islamic
scholars have allowed the targeting of civilians because their
taxes support the American military, therefore, they too are at
war with Bin Laden's Islamic goals.
Bin Laden was
interviewed by a Muslim journalist, and the interview appears in
the Jan 11, 1999 issue of Newsweek. Here are some excerpts:
QUESTION: "Why have you asked
Muslims to target civilian Americans all over the world? Islam
prohibits its followers from killing civilians in war?"
BIN LADEN: "If the Israelis are
killing small children in Palestine and the Americans are killing
the innocent people in Iraq, and if the majority of the American
people support their dissolute president, this means the American
people are fighting us and we have the right to target them.
QUESTION: "All Americans?"
BIN LADEN "Muslim scholars have
issued a fatwa [a religious order] against any American who pays
taxes to his government. He is our target, because he is
helping the American war machine against the Muslim nation.
Below is an excerpt from ABC news.
ABCNEWS.com (on Osama bin Laden -
edited for length)
His fatwa was clear: Americans must die,
within the next few weeks.
U.S. troops will leave Saudi Arabia when
Islamic terrorists "send the bodies of American troops and
civilians home in wooden boxes and coffins," Osama Bin Ladin
vowed in an exclusive interview with ABC NEWS Correspondent John
Miller. "We don't differentiate between those dressed in
military uniforms and civilians. They are all targets in this
fatwa."
Bin Ladin recently convened a meeting of
fundamentalist extremists and sponsors of terrorism. More than
150 clerics named themselves the "International Islamic
Front for the Jihad against Jews and Crusaders," and issued
a variety of fatwas. But Bin Ladin's is the one that most
concerns U.S. security analysts.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#2) Bombing the World Trade
Center in New York
On February 26,
1993, Muslim terrorists bombed the World Trade Center in New York
City, killing 6 people and injuring over 1000 more. It was
found that these terrorists were tied in with a Muslim cleric
named Sheik Omar Abd al-Rahman, who was also accused of terrorist
actions in Egypt. Omar preached that the United States is a den
of evil and fornication and regularly called upon Muslims to
attack their enemies.
#3) In June 1993 eight
Muslims were arrested by the FBI. There were reportedly
planning bombings targeting the United Nations headquarters, FBI
offices, and the Holland and Lincoln tunnels, as well as several
assassinations.
#4) In Jan. 1993, a Pakistani
Muslim shot and killed several CIA employees outside of the CIA
headquarters. He fled to Pakistan. Later he was apprehended
and returned to America for trial. The day after he was found
guilty, Pakistanis in Pakistan murdered four American businessmen
- probably as revenge for our judicial system finding their
comrade guilty.
#5) An arrested Hamas
terrorist in Israel told authorities that Hamas leaders in held a
workshop in Chicago where Hamas inductees were taught how to make
car bombs.
#6) Last year, a Muslim who
converted to Christianity was attacked and his home was
firebombed by Muslims in Minnesota.
#7) On November 4th, 1979,
Muslims in Iran took many American Embassy employees hostage. There
were held for 444 days. Some died in captivity. They were
released around the time Ronald Reagan became president.
#8) Here is another foiled terrorist
attempt in America....
Palestinian Guilty in Subway Plot
NEW YORK (AP) - A Palestinian who said he
wanted to kill as many Jews ``as I could take'' was convicted
today of plotting to blow up a busy subway station. Gazi Ibrahim
Abu Mezer, who faces life in prison, jumped to his feet after the
verdict was read and shouted ``Allahu Akbar! (God is great)'' as
he held up the Koran, the Muslim holy book. The federal jury
acquitted a second Palestinian, Lafi Khalil, of plotting the
suicide-bombing. Last Monday, testifying against his lawyers'
wishes, Abu Mezer said he had planned to ``martyr'' himself and
kill ``as many (Jews) as I could take.''
#9) In Nov., 1989, a
Palestinian Muslim and his wife, murdered their own 14 daughter.
Their daughter had not lived according to their view of Islam. Finally,
the father and mother assaulted the girl. The mother held the
girl down while the father stabbed her to death. Unknown to
this Muslim family, this man was under investigation by the FBI,
and a bug had legally been planted in the house. The entire
murder was called on tape. As the girl struggled and begged her
mother to help her, the father said in Arabic, "Die, die
quickly, die quickly”.
This murder is
written about in People magazine, 1/20/92.
#10) Even in America's
military there are Muslim who are charged with aiding the
terrorists who have murdered American citizens. The following
is from a recent news article:
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former U.S.
Army sergeant was indicted Wednesday for allegedly participating
in a conspiracy led by Saudi exile Osama bin Laden to kill
Americans abroad.
Ali Mohamed, 46, was charged with
acting with others including bin Laden's group al Qaeda to plan
the murders of U.S. military personnel stationed in Saudi Arabia
and Somalia and last August's bombings of the U.S. embassies in
Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Bin Laden, a
fugitive, was indicted last year for the attacks. The charges
filed Wednesday allege that in September Mohamed lied to a
Manhattan federal grand jury investigating al Qaeda's role in
last year's African bombings. According to information from the
U.S. Army Reserve Personnel Center, Mohamed was in the reserves
at the time of some of the alleged offenses. He joined the
reserves in 1989 after a term of active
duty and left the reserves in 1994. Mohamed, a former major in
the Egyptian Army, was granted a visa to enter the United States
in 1985 and became an American citizen. According to U.S. Army
Reserve he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1986 and was stationed at
Fort Bragg, N.C.
The indictment
charges that at least as early as 1989, bin Laden and others made
efforts to recruit U.S. citizens including Mohamed to travel in
the Western world to help al Qaeda carry out operations. It is
also charged that as early as 1990 Mohamed provided military and
intelligence training for al Qaeda in Afghanistan, Pakistan and
Sudan. The indictment further alleges that Mohamed, with others,
helped bin Laden in 1991 to move from Peshawar, Pakistan, to
Sudan. The indictment charges that bin Laden, an exiled Saudi
multi-millionaire, issued a fatwa, or religious decree, calling
for the killing of U.S. citizens and financed the embassy
bombings and other attacks on Americans. It is alleged that al
Qaeda functioned both on its own and through other organizations
that operated under its umbrella, including the Al Jihad group
based in Egypt and the Islamic Group that was led by Sheik Omar
Abdel Rahman. The sheik was convicted in 1996 for a plot to
bomb New York City landmarks and kill political and religious
figures.
The indictment
accuses Mohamed of sending a document about Abdel Rahman's trial
to another defendant in Kenya for delivery to bin Laden. Court
papers do not describe the document, sent from California in 1995.
Another part of the indictment alleges that Mohamed traveled to
Nairobi in 1994 using a fake Egyptian passport. He then showed
his U.S. passport to enter the U.S. embassy there. The
indictment alleges that the same year he met members of al Qaeda
and reviewed files ``concerning possible terrorist attacks''
against the embassy in Nairobi and other places in Nairobi,
including the building housing the U.S. Agency for
International Development and British, French and Israeli targets.
It is further charged that Mohamed discussed targets in countries
other than Kenya. According to the indictment as of August of
last year, Mohamed had documents about surveillance and
explosives and ``the planning of terrorist operations and the
structuring of a terrorist group into different cells.''
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fortunately, America is not a hotbed
of Islamic terrorism. Not yet anyway. Unfortunately,
Muslim terrorists are at work all throughout the world. Violence
is part and parcel with Islam. Here is just a small sampling of
some of the Islamic terrorist actions that have occurred in the
last 15 years.
ISLAMIC ACTIONS OF TERRORISM TODAY IN
THE WORLD
FRANCE - Several years ago, Muslim
terrorist began bombing innocent French civilians. Here is one
article:
TERROR Campaign widens; Bomb in Paris
Subway
Chicago, IL., July 25, 1995 --At least
four (4)people were killed and another 35 wounded in an afternoon
terror attack that took place today in the Paris Saint-Michel
underground station, near the Latin quarter. Police officials are
investigating and wouldn't immediately comment, but French Prime
Minister Alain Juppe is quoted by the Reuters News service as
saying that he believes that "there is a very strong
suspicion of a (terrorist) attack".
These attacks were
similar to bombings carried out by Muslim terrorists in France in
1986, in which dozens of people were killed.
ALGERIA
Approximately
100,000 people have been killed in Algeria during the last 7
years or so. Below is one story from one of the survivors of an
Islamic terrorist attack. The Muslim terrorists are not
responsible for all the deaths; the Algerian police and Army have
also killed many. However, the Muslim terrorists frequently
target civilians, children, and those that are unable to defend
themselves. I've read one account where Muslim terrorists
stabbed to death 4 French nuns.
Islamic guerrillas hold captive brides
hostage to terror
By Martin Regg Cohn Toronto Star Middle
East Bureau
BLIDA, Algeria - In the dead of night, in
the name of Islam, four terrorists burst into the
home of 17-year-old Salima Amina
Zenagui.
Accusing her of loose morals, the Islamic
fundamentalists ordered Zenagui to cover her auburn hair with a
hijab head-scarf. Then they abducted her at gunpoint to their
underground hideout, where the teenager was forced to marry a
terrorist twice her age.
After a religious wedding ceremony, he
raped her - with a warning that any resistance would mean certain
death. The bleeding didn't stop for 15 days. The mental
torture, and the physical cruelty, continued for another five
months. During the long nights and endless days, Zenagui slowly
lost her sanity. And the will to live.
Zenagui is one of thousands of young
women and teenage girls believed to have been kidnapped by
fundamentalist terrorists during Algeria's five-year Islamic
insurgency. Forced into so-called temporary marriages that are a
religious license to rape, their screams are soon silenced.
Most of the victims have their throats
slit, their bodies dumped in wells like the one discovered last
week in Bentalha, just outside Algiers. Police were drawn by the
stench of death to the 40-metre-deep well, where they found about
30 badly decomposed corpses of women and girls believed to have
been abducted and raped after a massacre in the area a month ago.
Known as "zawaj al mutaa", or
"marriage of pleasure,'' the controversial practice is
disdained by mainstream Muslims today. It dates from Islam's
early years, when fighters in a holy war helped themselves to
single women during periods of hardship or isolation.
Zenagui believes her captors were
fundamentalist terrorists from the GIA, who rationalize rape as a
way of motivating their men to sacrifice themselves for Islam.
Even as they mistreat their captive women, they worship their God.
In their hideout, Zenagui watched them pray toward Mecca five
times a day. They read the Koran, Islam's holy book, and often
played inspirational cassette tapes about the Prophet Mohammed.
Many of the insurgency's 100,000 victims
perished in these killing fields.
ARGENTINA
In March 1992,
Muslim terrorists blew up the Israeli embassy in Argentina,
killing 29 people.
On July 18, 1994 a
car bomb blew up the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association,
killing nearly one hundred people.
ENGLAND
In August, 1994
two car bombs blew up in London, one at the Israeli Embassy and
another at a Jewish charity shop. An Iranian expatriate by the
name of Manoucher Motamer indicated that Iran was responsible for
the bombings.
JAPAN
In July, 1991, a
Muslim murdered Hitoshi Igarashi the Japanese man who translated
"The Satan Verses" into Japanese. He was stabbed to
death in Tokyo. A Muslim living in Britain - Abdul Quddus, who
is a senior vice president of Britain's Muslim league, said,
"The attacks are justified because people translating the
book are also insulting the faith."
INDONESIA
The Voice of the
Martyrs Magazine writes that, "around 280 churches have been
burned, demolished, stoned, attached and closed since 1991 in
Indonesia (Sept 1996 issue). [That number is up to around 500
churches today.] The article continues, "The June 9, 1996
attack in Surabaya, the second largest city in the country was
the worst yet as 10 churches were simultaneously by Muslim mobs."
The article further records that 5,000 Muslims took part in the
riots.
Again, these
actions are not the work of a few select terrorists. They are
the work of normal Muslims. They know that Islam is
fundamentally violent, and as Muslims they exercised their faith
to attack and destroy Churches. It was their type of Jihad for
Allah.
ITALY
A Muslim stabbed,
but failed to kill, Ettore Capriolo, the man who translated
"The Satanic Verses" into Italian. The attack
occurred in Milan Italy.
EGYPT
In Sept 1991, in
Imbaba, a district of Cairo, hundreds of Muslims attacked the
minority Christians there, burning down a church with a Pastor's
wife inside. Other churches were attacked, and Christians were
beaten. The government had to send in 3000 troops to stop the
Muslims from continuing to attack the Christians.
During the last 8
years in Egypt, hundreds of Coptic Christians have been murdered
by Muslims in Egypt. Even worshippers in church have been
sprayed by Muslims welding automatic weapons.
CAIRO, Egypt (CNN) -- At least 60 people
were killed on Monday when unidentified gunmen opened fire at the
world famous temple site of Luxor in southern Egypt, according to
the interior ministry. The death toll makes it the deadliest
attack on tourists in Egypt.
Authorities said
tourists from Egypt, Switzerland, Germany and Japan were among
those killed in the attack, which took place about 300 miles (500
km) south of Cairo. State television issued a brief statement
saying "attackers hit a number of foreigners, Egyptians and
policemen who exchanged fire with them," and the statement
added that
six attackers were killed in the shoot-out
with police.
A spokesman for a travel agency in Luxor
was quoted as saying that the gunmen opened fire indiscriminately
on tourists after the tourists got off a bus and were about to
enter a temple in the morning.
The assailants later left an empty tour
bus, which they had apparently hijacked in an escape attempt, and
reportedly fled toward the desert and nearby mountains. One
hijacker was shot to death at the shooting scene and the other
five were killed in a later shoot-out, according to the interior
ministry. The authorities have canceled all flights in and out
of Luxor as a security precaution.
There was no immediate claim of
responsibility for the attack, but Muslim extremists have
repeatedly targeted tourist spots in recent years in an attempt
to hurt one of the country's key industries and destabilize the
government.
A L S O :
List of fatal attacks on visitors in
Egypt since 1992
Prior to Monday, attacks by Muslim
militants had killed 34 international tourists in the past five
years. Overall, about 1,100 people have been killed since 1992,
when the extremists launched their campaign aimed at ousting
President Hosni Mubarak.
NIGERIA
In Oct. 1991,
thousands of Muslims attacked Christian churches, businesses, and
homes in Kano, Nigeria. Kano is in northern Nigeria, which is
predominately Muslim. It was estimated that 300 Christians were
murdered by Muslim mobs. Muslims were upset because Christian
evangelists had been converting Muslims in the region to
Christianity.
PAKISTAN
When the Muslims in Pakistan found a torn
up Quran in a mosque, 30,000 Muslims attacked the only majority
Christian town (Shanti Nagar) in Pakistan and destroyed half of
it! Churches were burned, businesses were destroyed, and
women and girls were raped. The army had to come in to stop the
Muslims. A worldwide outcry against the action prompted
Pakistan's Prime Minister Sheriff to help re-build the Christian
homes, churches, businesses that were destroyed.
This action was
not the work of an organized terrorist group, rather it was a
display of real Islam. There was no Bin Laden leading this
effort, there was no Hamas or Hezbollah orchestrating the action,
it was ordinary Muslims, 30,000 of them, attacking a Christian
village, because they thought that some Christian had torn up a
Quran.
When Muhammad got
offended, he murdered.... today, Muslims get offended, they
murder. It is motivated by one and the same evil satanic spirit
- the same dark spirit that appeared to Muhammad which caused him
to attempt suicide - the same malevolent spirit that then talked
him out of killing himself.... it had better plans for him. The
same demonic spirit that had him massacre 800 Jewish men and
adolescent boys, then enslave their women and children. These
Jews had never clashed swords with Muhammad or his men until he
attacked them. It had a thirst for blood, and during Muhammad's
last 10 years, the blood flowed.
Not only have
Muslims attacked non-Muslims in Pakistan (Hindus have also been
attacked and murdered in Pakistan), but they religious strife
between Sunni and Shia Muslims there has taken the lives of
hundreds during the last few years. Bombings of each other's
mosques and gun fights outside of Mosques have taken place. Even
inside of the Mosques, people have been shot.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are many
more stories to be found; all over the world, Muslim terrorists,
operating for Islam's sake, are attacking, bombing, and murdering
those they feel inhibit their aims. Visit the already mentioned
websites for more details on the actions of Islamic terrorists
worldwide.
One writer, Samuel
Huntington, commenting on Islam and the rest of the world states
wrote in "The Clash of Civilizations",
"Violence
also occurs between Muslims, on the one hand, and Orthodox Serbs
in the Balkans, Jews in Israel, Hindus in India, Buddhists in
Burma and Catholics in the Philippines. Islam has bloody
borders."
The French
philosopher Renan said, "Muslims are the first victim of
Islam". This is true. Muslims loosen much of their
desire for blood upon their Muslim brethren... it's the spirit of
Islam. Those that are not Muslim enough are the first to feel
the blades of Islam. However, many non-Muslims are also it's
victims. Innocents are murdered by Muslims, and the Muslims are
not slaking their efforts in developing more sophisticated
methods of using terror against those who are not of their ilk.
Violence is
integral to Islam.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOW DO MOST MUSLIMS LIVING IN AMERICA FIT
IN?
Most Muslims are
not terrorists. Many of them reject the actions of their Muslim
brethren around the world. Unfortunately, since Islam teaches
world domination, these moderate Muslims rarely raise their
voices in protest. If the Israelis bomb Hezbollah camps in
Lebanon, Muslims in New York, Detroit, and Los Angeles will
organize a mass demonstration. But getting Muslims to condemn
the terrorist actions of their brethren, say of those in Sudan,
Egypt, Algeria, Afghanistan, Iraq is like pulling teeth. While
the Muslims world wide continually condemn Israel, few Muslims
have ever raised their voices in protest over Saddam Hussein's
genocidal war upon the Kurds. Why has Bin Laden failed to help
the Kurds? Instead, reports on Bin Laden now show that he is
working together with Saddam Hussein. Israel has never killed
that many Muslims, but Muslims often turn a blind eye to violent
acts when it is Muslim on Muslim violence.
What does the
future for Islam in America hold? One thing I am certain of; it
holds terrorism. I've studied Islamic viewpoints on America. The
majority of Muslims today view America as the last great wall
that stops Islam. In their mind, America must be destroyed or
brought down, by any means necessary. This is what motivated
Sheik Rahman to blow up the New York towers. This is what
motivates Muslims throughout America to speak of a day when
America will fall to Islam's power. Make no mistake about it,
Muslims have murdered Americans in America, and will continue to
do so. It is not a question of "if", it is a question
of "when again", because "when" has already
started.
Once again I say,
not all Muslims in America are terrorists. Many of them are
good people. But the seeds of terrorism are planted deep
within the theology of Islam. This theology, when free to grow
and blossom, shows itself in the actions normal Muslims, in
Muslim countries take when they feel that Islam is challenged.
The previously mentioned mob attack in Pakistan, and the attacks
of the Muslim mobs in Nigeria and Indonesia, are examples of
Muslim - Islamic violence - mob mentality. And as was
demonstrated in "Not Without My Daughter", who knows
when a peaceful, liberal or moderate Muslim will turn to
fundamentalism and embrace the violence of Islam?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONCLUSION
Muhammad was a
terrorist. Based upon Muhammad's actions and teachings, Islam
justifies terrorism. Today, Muslims use that justification to
attack and murder those who differ from them. Muslim
terrorists follow in Muhammad's footsteps.
Jesus condemned
those who murdered without repentance ...."Outside are the
dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the
murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices
falsehood" Revelations 22:15. Muhammad falls into that
category.
Jesus said in John
8:44 that Satan was a murderer from the beginning, and that those
who sought to murder Him were Satan's children. As soon as he
could, Muhammad began to have people murdered. Today,
Muhammad's children do the same works.
Jesus taught that
one day people would murder Christians thinking they would be
doing service to God. Today, in Muslim countries, like Iran for
instance, Muslims murder ex-Muslims who have become Christians.
And in other countries, they attack and threaten others.
Jesus taught to
love your enemies, to pray for those that persecute you. Jesus
didn't send his disciples out to murder people in the night,
Muhammad did. Take the example of Christ and the Samaritans
opposition to Jesus.
"As the time
approached for Him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set
out for Jerusalem. And he set messengers on ahead, who went
into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; but the
people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for
Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they
asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven
to destroy them?" And he said, "You do not know what
kind of spirit you are of, for the Son of Man did not come to
destroy men's lives, but to save them." And they went to
another village." Luke 9:51-56
Muhammad would
have ordered his men to attack the Samaritan village, then kill
or enslave the people, and take all their possession as plunder.
After Muhammad gained power, he sent his armies out to attack non-Muslims.
Who then really
brought God's message of His love for mankind? Who really
taught peace?
Surely, this man Muhammad was not from
God. Instead, Muhammad is one of the false prophets Jesus spoke
of in Matthew 24:11 -
"and many false prophets shall arise
and deceive many".
The author welcomes feedback, questions, critical or supportive responses via email.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
REFERENCES
1 "The Life of
Muhammad", by A. Guillaume, pub. by Oxford Univ. Press.
2 "Muhammad and
the Jews of Medina", by Weinsnick, page 113:
3 Tabari's History,
page 97 of volume 7
4 "Kitab al-Tabaqat
al-Kabir", (Book of the Major Classes), by Ibn Sa'd,
translated
by S. Moinul Haq, published by the
Pakistan Historical Society.
5 "23 Years: A
Study of the Prophetic Career of Mohammad", by Ali Dashti,
pub.
by Mazda. Translated by F.R.C. Bagley.
6 "Sunan Abu Dawud",
translated by Ahmad Hasan, pub by Al-Medina Publications.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
terrorism.htm
5/20/99
Concluding Remarks regarding the attacks of September 11
The endless cycle of violence in Israel, of attack and counter attack between Palestinians and Israelis has shown that this cannot be the way to peace. Both sides feel they have to take revenge because every time innocent lives on their own side have been killed.
There are institutional and personal aspects of response.
Governments have the God-given duty to keep peace and order in the society, and this includes explicitly the punishment of criminals. The guilty need to be punished. The networks of Islamic terrorism need to be fought. But the western countries need to make very sure, they are only punishing the guilty and are not sacrificing innocent lives in blind revenge. We cannot lower our own standards of what is right because the enemy of radical Islamic groups does not have these standards himself and will without hesitation sacrifice innocents. The western world needs to show even in the executed punishment that it has different moral values. Many Islamic countries are in horrible condition and the majority of the population are destitute and already suffering under their governments and systems. Killing those people is not fitting for a nation who seeks to uphold justice and human rights but will only have the effect to radicalize more Muslims and fuel the cry for revenge from their side.
Many Middle Easterners in the USA are Christians who have left or fled the Middle East because in Islamic societies they were either directly persecuted or at best second class citizens. They have come to the West because they were longing for freedom and are absolutely loyal citizens, ready to defend their country as much as any other American. It would be a horrendous injustice to attack them verbally or physically just because they look Middle Eastern.
There are more than six million Muslims living in the USA today. They are largely normal people with hopes and fears, who just want to make a living, who work hard and honest to bring bread on the table and to allow their children to go to college. They also want to live in peace and would never think of committing terrorist acts. Most of them are themselves in utter shock as result of these atrocities. They have done nothing to deserve the hatred of other Americans. They are not guilty, and it is the duty of any upright, freedom loving person to stand up for them, even to give them shelter in their own homes, should others threaten to make them victims of self-appointed revenge.
The greatness of a society built on Christian values shows itself when it will not discriminate for any reason on the basis of race, culture or religion, even when attacked by some people from one specific group. America wants to be a champion of human rights around the world, and needs to make sure, she holds herself accountable to the same standards.
For Christians particularly, we have the command of our Lord to love our neighbor as ourselves; any neighbor, not only those who are like us. But we are called to particularly care for those who are disadvantaged or discriminated against and to stand up for those who can't defend themselves. And at this time this might well include Muslims in our neighborhood who are faced with and might suffer from unreflected anger of other Americans.
After you have read all of this...
I have agonized about the question whether I really should give this article a place on the "Answering Islam" web site and even more to link it so prominently from the front page at this time. I have done so, because thousands of people are asking questions where this Islamic terrorism is coming from. And they need to get answers that they will never get from the Muslims who appear in the media. What happened was not an isolated incident of a couple of mad men. The problem is much deeper and it is here to stay. And before any cure can be found, there needs to be the correct diagnosis.
However, I know that nearly every Muslim reading this article will be offended deeply. This is not my intention, but with the hundreds of messages I am getting now, and because I have a job and am handling Answering Islam in my spare time, I had no chance to write something new or do major revisions of this above article. The information is needed now. Therefore I have released it, even in a less than ideal form.
Muslims are raised from early childhood to revere the prophet Muhammad and to honor him highly. They are commanded to hold his honor more dear than their own lives or those of their family members. Even "secular" Muslims who do not practice Islam, who hardly ever perform the daily prayers and live a thoroughly non-religious life will usually respond immediately when confronted with any critique of the person of Muhammad. Any critical remark about Muhammad is worse than an insult to their own person. This is religiously and culturally conditioned. Therefore, I plead for sensitivity in the use of this information on the level of personal encounter. Do not use it for accusing and attacking Muslims in personal confrontation. It will destroy relationships. In many Islamic countries the death penalty is executed on those who insult Muhammad. In western countries, where this is not possible, it is still going to cause intense conflict if used as direct attack.
However, I am firmly convinced, all Muslims eventually need to deal with the history and sources of their religion. I think it is fair to calmly ask them to give their personal response on the teaching of the Quran regarding war against unbelievers, and about the example that Muhammad has set in dealing with critics of his person in his own life. But it might be best to postpone such questioning for some time, until the emotions have calmed down somewhat. Nobody who feels attacked or pressured (and Muslims feel this way now, due to the black color Islam is painted in everywhere these days), will be open to ponder even sincere questions, but build up inner or outer defense walls, or even explode in anger. Nothing is won by pressing this issue NOW with your personal Muslim friends, neighbors, co-workers, or aquaintances. Now we need to stand united with Muslims who are in shock just as everyone else and in opposition to this terror and support them in their opposition, without attacking the very foundation of their life.
God have mercy on us all
Webmaster, Answering Islam
Introductory and concluding comments written and revised several times during September 12 - 15, 2001.
This article has been distributed in many places, and been placed on several web sites. It is, however, constantly under revision. We request that you always use the most up-to-date version of this article found at www.answering-islam.org/Silas/terrorism.htm.
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