by Silas
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one
another. By this all men will know that
you are my disciples, if you love one another." [1]
The Quran,
8:63 The Spoils
He it is Who has supported you with His Help and with the
believers. And He has united their
(i.e. believers') hearts. If you had spent all that is in the earth, you could not
have united their hearts, but Allah has united them. Certainly He is All-Mighty, All-Wise. [2]
This is the last part in a series that
examines the fruit of Islam’s Royal Family.
There is no “Royal Family” in Islam as exists in England. However, in early Islam, Muhammad’s family
and “Companions” held a special, recognized status. Unique distinction, respect, and authority were given to this
group of people that I’ve chosen to identify as Islam’s “Royal Family”. I’m examining the lives of his immediate
family and some of the prominent leaders of the early Islamic community in
order to evaluate Islam.
In Matthew 7:15 – 20, Jesus taught:
"Watch out for false
prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious
wolves. By their fruit you will
recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from
thistles? Likewise every good tree
bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear
good fruit. Every tree that does not
bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
I assert that if anyone were to live as
a true Muslim it should have been these, and that by these people’s actions,
i.e. those closest to Muhammad, we will be able to judge Islam’s fruit.
Further, I have specifically focused
upon how they related to each other.
For the most part, I have not described the brutalities they’ve
inflicted upon non-Muslims. Only once
or twice have I detailed their cruelty towards non-Muslims. Accordingly, I’ve examined in detail the
accounts of their lives as told by the great Islamic scholar and historian
Tabari. Additionally I’ve used work
from other sources as needed.
Hadith of Sahih Bukhari, 2.428: [3]
Narrated 'Uqba bin 'Amir:
…By Allah! I am not afraid that you will worship others along with
Allah after my death, but I am afraid that you will fight with one another for
the worldly things."
Sahih Bukhari 7.458:
Narrated Abu Bakra:
…"Your blood, properties and honor are as sacred to one
another as this day of yours in this town of yours in this month of yours. You
will meet your Lord, and He will ask you about your deeds. Beware! Do not go
astray after me by cutting the necks of each other. It is incumbent upon those
who are present to convey this message to those who are absent, for some of
those to whom it is conveyed may comprehend it better than some of those who
have heard it directly."
Galatians 5:19 - 22 The acts of the sinful nature
are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and
witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition,
dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you,
as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of
God. But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
self-control. Against such things there is no law.
I’m going to present a short summarization
of the lives and questionable deeds of these early Muslims. They have been examined previously at more
length in this series. Note - as I
reviewed the actions of these early Muslims I was struck again by how
cold-hearted and brutally they treated each other. For length’s sake I will omit specific brutalities carried out
by lesser “Companions”. I will try to
present the most important cruelties.
Below are the six previous articles in this series.
Part 1
http://answering-islam.org/Silas/rf1_mhd_wealth.htm
Part 2
http://answering-islam.org/Silas/rf2_newking.htm
Part 3
http://answering-islam.org/Silas/rf3_uthman_murder.htm
Part 4
http://answering-islam.org/Silas/rf4_ali_aisha.htm
Part 5
http://answering-islam.org/Silas/rf5_ali_muawiya.htm
Part 6
http://answering-islam.org/Silas/rf6_yazid_husayn.htm
Muhammad died and the lives of his
followers changed drastically. Now they
were free to be who they were without Muhammad’s commanding presence and
authority. They now had greater liberty
to choose for themselves and do as they saw fit. It is no great feat for the servant to obey in his master’s
presence, but how does the servant act when the master is long gone?
Below is the review of the “Royal
Family”. I’ll not repeat all the
details given in previous sections.
ALI’S FRUIT
Ali was Muhammad’s son in law, he was married
to Muhammad’s daughter Fatima. Ali was
raised by Muhammad starting at the age of five. At the battle of Khaibar Muhammad attested to Ali’s love of
Allah, and Allah’s love of Ali. Ali was
the fourth of the “rightly guided Caliphs.”
Ali had two sons: Hasan and
Husayn (both are important later on).
Eventually Ali became a co-Caliph.
A few years later he was murdered by a fellow Muslim.
The day after Muhammad’s death, Ali’s
greed surfaced and he demanded that Abu Bakr give him a share of Muhammad’s
ample wealth. His greed motivated him
to move against Muhammad’s commands regarding his inheritance. Abu Bakr refused and Ali was enraged. He even stated that Muhammad himself did not
know the Quran (in this Ali was correct) because the Quran details prophets
leaving an inheritance to their sons (as does the Old Testament). As a result, Ali hated Abu Bakr deeply. He thought Abu Bakr to be “sinful, treacherous, dishonest, and a liar.” Remember, Abu Bakr was Islam’s 1st
“Rightly Guided” Caliph. Obviously Ali
did not think he was so “rightly guided!”
When Muhammad’s daughter Fatima died, Ali was so embittered towards Abu
Bakr that he did not bother to tell him, rather he buried Fatima in
secret. Ali was censored by the people
for his hatred towards Abu Bakr, therefore he went through the false motions of
reconciliation with Abu Bakr to regain favor with the Muslim community.
Following Abu Bakr’s death, Ali made
the same financial demands upon Umar.
Umar told Ali to his face that he knew he hated him and that he knew Ali
thought him to be a “sinful treacherous dishonest liar”. However, under Ali’s pressure, Umar
relented, compromised Muhammad’s commands, made some trite stipulations, and
gave a share of the wealth to Ali.
After he
became Caliph he used compulsion and forced az-Zubayr and Talha to give him allegiance. When it became apparent that not all thought he should be Caliph,
instead of working to keep unity within the Islamic community, he demanded
allegiance. His lust for power caused
him to go to war to force all Muslims to obey him. This caused the deaths of tens of thousands of Muslims through various
battles. Later, Ali murdered Muslims
who had converted to Islam, realized it was a big mistake, and reverted back to
Christ.
FATIMA’S FRUIT
One of Muhammad’s daughters, later
married to Ali. The day after her
father died, she went against her father’s wishes and demanded a share of his
wealth. She hated Abu Bakr for refusing
her demand. She thought him to be a “sinful, treacherous, dishonest, liar.” She died some
6 months after Muhammad died.
IBN ABBAS’ FRUIT
Like Ali and Fatima, Ibn Abbas was
greedy and made a demand upon Abu Bakr, and later Umar, for the
inheritance. Ibn Abbas thought them to
be “sinful, treacherous, dishonest, liars.” He did not care to respect Muhammad’s
wishes. In his lust for the money, he
even cursed Ali in front of Umar. Later
in life he betrayed Ali, stole from the public treasury, lied about his
actions, and murdered those that opposed him.
ABU SUFYAN’S
FRUIT
Abu Sufyan should not be considered as part
of the Royal family or one of the best Muslims. However, he became prominent even during Muhammad’s
lifetime. I’ve noted him here because
of the position his sons were to occupy later.
After forcing Abu Sufyan to convert to Islam, Muhammad gave him
financial rewards for accepting Islam and foolishly appointed him as a governor
over a city. Muhammad’s corrupt folly
here proved to be fatal to his own family not many years later.
Islam’s Royal family knew of Sufyan’s
intentions, for they heard him say, “By God, I see a cloud of smoke,” which nothing but blood
will clear”, but they did nothing to check this. And, Sufyan’s prophecy proved true. Sufyan held malice against Abu Bakr and
denigrated the choice of Bakr as Caliph.
He considered himself and his clan to be superior to Abu Bakr. Later, his family destroyed Muhammad’s
family, and took the Caliphate for themselves.
He was a very prominent Muslim, a close friend of Muhammad’s, and a leader in
the Islamic community. After Muhammad
died, he was willing to murder those that opposed Ali as Caliph. However, he desired the Caliphate and when
he thought the time was right he rebelled against Ali. His leadership also caused the deaths of
thousands of Muslims in the Battle of the Camel.
UTHMAN’S FRUIT
Uthman was the
3rd “Rightly Guided Caliph”.
His caliphate marked the inward deterioration of the Islamic
community. By this time, Muhammad’s
empty legalistic rule had run its course and the Muslim community began to live
in the flesh to the fullest. Uthman was
a weak, corrupt leader and allowed the corruption to flourish throughout the
Islamic empire. Uthman was murdered by
Muslims, Abu Bakr’s son was one of the ringleaders of the murder. When his final crisis occurred, he lied to Ali and the people by saying he
wanted time to set good things in order.
Instead he prepared for war.
TALHA’S FRUIT
Another prominent Muslim, a close
friend of Muhammad’s, and a leader in the Islamic community. He his desire for the Caliphate he rebelled
against Ali. His leadership also caused
the deaths of thousands of Muslims in the Battle of the Camel.
Muawiyah was Abu Sufyan’s son and was
appointed to the governorship of Syria by Umar. He went to war with Ali.
He later became the 5th Caliph of Islam. He treated Uthman with duplicity by not
sending help when he needed it most. In
his deceit and lust for power he rebelled against Ali. He led thousands of Muslims to their deaths
in his war with Ali. He lied about
seeking peace while all the while he moved against Ali. Later he lied to Hasan in promising Hasan
that he would have a council held to determine the next Caliph. Instead, prior to his death, he installed
his son Yazid as Caliph.
She was Muhammad’s 9 year old child bride. She hated Ali for most of her life. She was one of the leaders in Islam’s first civil war. She had previously despised Uthman, but she used
his murder as a pretense to move against Ali.
Her hatred and rebellion toward Ali led to the deaths of some 15,000
Muslims. In her bitterness towards Ali,
she rejoiced when Ali was murdered.
Hasan was Ali’s older son and initially
claimed the Caliphate for himself following his father’s murder. However, just as things went wrong for Ali,
so things deteriorated for Hasan very quickly.
He sold out his “birthright” for a large sum of money. Thereafter he spent his wealth on debauchery
with women.
Yazid was Muawiyah’s son. By using threat of death Yazid tried to
force many Muslims to accept his Caliphate.
Those that refused were tortured and killed. Entire towns of people were persecuted and oppressed. Yazid was a drunkard. It was Yazid’s forces that killed Husayn. Yazid, the Caliph of Islam desecrated the
head of Muhammad’s grandson – Husayn.
He was rebuked by another Muslim who told him that he had seem Muhammad
kiss the lips of that severed head!
ABDALLAH IBN
AL-ZUBAYR’s FRUIT
Ibn Zubayr was the son of Az-Zubayr, one of Muhammad’s most prominent
Companions. Following Husayn’s death
Ibn Zubayr also claimed the Caliphate.
He died during another later civil war in 692. Ibn Zubayr was the son of one of the most prominent
Companions. When he was persecuted by
Yazid he fled as Husayn but even in this dire time, jealousy of Husayn and
selfish ambition ruled in his heart.
Deep down he coveted the prize of ruling the Muslims as Caliph.
We must not forget how the Islamic
community behaved after Muhammad’s death.
The day after Muhammad died they nearly came to war trying to choose the
next Caliph. The Muslims were already
ready to fight and kill each other. As
things deteriorated under Uthman’s reign, from all over the Islamic empire they
rebelled against him and journeyed to Medina to fight him. In the end many of Uthman’s closest friends
deserted him. The son of the 2nd
Rightly guided Caliph – Abu Bakr, was one of the ringleaders in Uthman’s
murder. Following that, these renegade
Muslims threatened Medina with annihilation if they did not quickly choose
another Caliph. Throughout the times
sons of Caliphs fought against sons of other Caliphs. Even the sons of a prominent Companion (Az-Zubayr) hated and
fought against each other. During Ali’s through Yazid’s reign the Muslims
fought war after war, carried out assassinations, rebelled against and betrayed
each other. As time wore on they made
war in Mecca and destroyed their own Kaba.
Thousands of Basrans died, thousands of Kufans died, thousands of
Syrians died, thousands of Meccans died, thousands of Medinans died, thousands
of Yemenis died, and thousands of Egyptians died. The early Muslims were no more dependable and virtuous than a
nest of poisonous snakes.
We should have seen some type of
brotherhood and fellowship among this “Royal Family.” Instead we’ve only seen war, hatred, envy, lies and deceit,
bitterness, and massive bloodshed in the lust for power. I am not objecting to strong
disagreement. I am objecting to the
wholesale slaughter, the cruel brutalities, the bitter oppression of these
early Companion visited upon other Muslims.
There is little spiritual fruit worth noting. Instead of spiritually building these people up, Islam poisoned
them. Little by little the Islamic
poison worked in the spiritual bloodstream of these Muslims and corrupted
them. Many would have been better off
in the paganism of their forefathers.
Stop for a minute and examine the
Islamic world today. What do you
see? Just like the early Muslims, the
more Islamic a nation is, the more oppression, violence, and brutality is
levied by one Muslim against another, and against non-Muslims. Let’s do a review. I am writing most of these details as general summaries. The reader is encouraged to dig deeper and
see just how brutally these Muslims treat each other and how they interact with
non-Muslims.
In 1993, Muslims bombed the NY towers,
damaging them and killing a handful of people.
In 2001 a gang of Muslims flew planes into the towers and Pentagon killing
some 3000 people. Later, a Muslim in LA murdered people in an
airport, and a Muslim sniper murdered 10 people in the DC area. Many Muslims have been investigated and
found to be connected to terrorist organizations. Some of these Muslims are home grown American citizens.
Chechen Muslims blew up apartment
buildings in Moscow prompting the Russian authorities to take action against
them in the homeland of Chechnya.
Recently a group of Chechen Muslims took hostage several hundred people
in a theater.
During the 1980 and 90s, in England,
Germany, and France, Muslims carried out bombings, killing dozens.
After the Ayatollah came to power, tens
of thousands of Bahais were murdered, and hundreds of Christians were
killed. Moderate Muslims were killed by
the hundreds. Not content with that the
Islamic regime sent its killers into Europe to murder Muslim Iranian dissidents.
The “Muslim Brotherhood” has murdered
hundreds of moderate Muslims and Christians.
They attacked and destroyed many churches. Additionally they’ve machine-gunned down some 45 European tourists
in Karnac.
The Algerians have been fighting a
civil war for the last 10 years or so.
The death count is near 120,000.
The fundamentalist Muslims have wiped out villages of farmers, slitting
the throats of children and throwing them down wells. Non-Muslims and moderate Muslims have been murdered throughout
the civil war. In one case, these Muslims
have murdered 4 nuns and Korean businessmen.
The violence there continues to this day.
Following the retreat of the Russians,
the Afghanis continued fighting amongst themselves. Their civil war has taken the lives of hundreds of thousands of
fellow Muslims. While in power the
Taliban massacred thousands of Shiite Muslims, including women and children.
The Muslim terrorist group Hezbollah is
strong within the Kurdish community in Turkey.
They’ve murdered hundreds of moderate and liberal Kurds who have refused
to support them. Various Islamic groups
have assassinated moderate and liberal Muslims who oppose them.
Yeminis have carried out bombing
attacks on ships killing both American and French personnel. Additionally Islamic groups there have
carried out bombings of shopping centers and the murder of tourists.
Muslims in Sudan have made war upon
Christians and animists for the last 20 years or so. Some 2 million people have died as a result. Slavery is thriving in Sudan.
Clan warfare dominates this
country. One Muslim ruler runs
roughshod over another Muslim group. Women and children are routinely killed. Young boys are forced to join in with the clan warfare. And while the Somalis were starving to
death, the Saudis, not many miles distant, did next to nothing to help their
starving Muslim brethren.
Sunni Muslims have attacked and killed
dozens of Shiite Muslims who differ with the offical Sunni doctrines. Additionally Ismaili Muslims are also
persecuted by the Sunni authorities.
Muslims there have bombed and murdered
Philippinos in Manilla and other towns.
Tourists and missionaries have been kidnapped and murdered. Hand grenades have been thrown into town and
church services.
Indonesia attacked and conquered East
Timor and carried out murders and massacres for many years thereafter. Only recently did the East Timoreese win
their freedom from the brutal Muslim regime.
They endured a long and costly civil war to win their precious freedom.
Muslims there routinely murder other
Muslims, Christians, and Jews. Hundreds
have died at the hands of the Muslim terrorist – suicide bombers.
I could go on and on and on. Search it out for yourself. Pick any Muslim nation or nation that has devout
Muslims living within. You’ll find
murder, oppression, terrorism and so on.
The sickness is from Islam. It
corrupts and destroys people.
1) Back to the main topic – the fruit of the
early “Royal Family.” What would you
expect to see from the closest followers of a “prophet” of a new religion? If they believed Islam was true, and that it
was God’s path for mankind, I would expect to see some type of inner
spirituality, and bonds of brotherhood form.
We’ve seen that actually the opposite occurred.
Why didn’t the early Muslims obey
Muhammad’s commands to treat each other properly?
Why did Allah fail to knit their hearts
together? The statement in the Quran:
And He has united their (i.e. believers') hearts. If you
had spent all that is in the earth, you could not have united their hearts, but
Allah has united them. Certainly He is
All-Mighty, All-Wise. (8:63)
certainly has not borne out. If anything it is a false statement. Pretty shoddy job done by “allah” if you ask
me. I’d expect that Islam’s supreme
being could have done a better job at fulfilling his word that what history
records. Allah must have been quite
weak if he was unable to do what was implicitly promised. If anything, God cursed Islam and made them
exquisite biters and devourers of each other.
2) Muslims repeat over and over that Islam is
a religion of peace. I ask, “Where and
when?” Even during the heyday of
Islamic civilization, they were engaged in civil wars and conquests of
non-Muslims. Peace was a rare commodity
in the Islamic world. Islam is not now,
nor has it ever been, a religion of peace.
When Muslims were not fighting non-Muslims, be they Christian, Jewish,
Hindu, Buddhist, animist, or pagan, the Muslims were fighting each other.
3) What’s it going to take for people,
including Muslims to wake up and realize just how deeply Islam has polluted
their souls?
Jesus taught that external forms of
religion were of little value. Muhammad
never truly knew this. Muhammad taught
an austere form of religion, but the inward aspects of his teachings seem to
have been mere rhetoric. In Islam,
outward obedience is primary, inward purity is not emphasized heavily. Hence a butcher like Ali would lead his
people in prayer, but later murder and kill Muslims that did not accept his
leadership. Aisha, Muhammad’s child
bride, would live in bitterness towards Ali, to his dying day. Uthman, fostered corruption in Islam because
he wanted privilege for his clan. Hasan
sold his assumed birthright for wealth, and squandered it upon hundreds of
wives and concubines. The tale of the
Royal Family is not a joyous tale. No
Muslim could be proud of these examples.
The Royal Family’s story reads like a Shakespearian tragedy.
Satan’s blood lust lives through
Islam. Satan or one of his servants met
with Muhammad in the cave. Later, Satan
even played Muhammad and spoke his words through Muhammad! Where real Islam reigns it kills and
oppresses those not in conformity with its doctrines. Even fellow Muslims are butchered by their brethren.
Let us read something that educated
Muslims themselves have written regarding their sad state of affairs. The report below was prepared by 50 Arab
scholars.
U.N.:
Lack of freedoms stunts Arab nations
Tue
Jul 2, 1:22 PM ET
Barbara Slavin USA TODAY
A new United Nations (news - web sites) report on human development in Arab countries describes economic, political and cultural problems and urges changes to keep the world's 280 million Arabs from falling farther behind.
The report, to be unveiled today at Arab League headquarters in Cairo, says the league's 22 members fall short in three key areas:
* Freedom. Arab countries are the least free in terms of political participation, civil liberties and independent media.
* Women. More than half of Arab women are illiterate, and many suffer from legal and social discrimination. They also have the lowest levels of political participation; women have 3.5% of seats in Arab legislative bodies, compared with 11% in sub-Saharan Africa.
* Knowledge. Despite substantial investment in education, Arab schools are producing graduates ill-suited to the global economy. Only 0.6% of Arabs use the Internet, compared with 54% of Americans.
The growing number of young people with limited prospects is a major cause for concern in both Arab and Western nations. ''One of the reasons for terrorist attacks is the frustration of the younger generation,'' says Salama al-Ahmed Salama, a columnist for the influential Egyptian newspaper, Al-Ahram.
The report was prepared by about 50 Arab scholars under the auspices of the U.N. Development Program. It is being released just a week after President Bush (news - web sites) made democratic and economic reforms a precondition for U.S. recognition of a Palestinian state.
The report points to some progress, such as increases in life expectancy. But economic growth lags despite the region's oil wealth. In 1999, the entire Arab world had a gross domestic product lower than Spain: $531 billion compared with $595 billion.
''We see a very strong link between lack of freedoms and lack of development,'' says Rima Khalaf, regional director of the U.N. Development Program. ''It results in low productivity and creativity.''
Analysts blame a number of factors, including the half century-old Arab-Israeli conflict. Arab governments have diverted resources to military uses and justified restrictions on civil liberties by saying they needed to repress opposition to their pro-U.S. policies.
The 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and its aftermath also held the region back.
''All affected countries have emerged with compounded socio-political problems that have retarded progressive moves toward liberalization and democratization,'' the report says.
It isn’t the “goodness or badness” of
the Arab people that has caused them to be in such a quagmire, rather it is the
poison of Islam. The entire culture has
been infected and stifled. Judge for
yourself --- the more “Islamic” a
Muslim becomes, the more backward and oppressive it grows to be. Only their oil wealth has helped to keep
them abreast with the rest of the world.
Satan was a murderer, liar, and thief, and if you examine the fruit of
Muhammad and these early Muslims, you find the same deeds.
This prayer is written for anyone. This includes Muslims who are seeking the truth and who want to know God in a personal way.
“Lord Jesus, I believe in You. I believe that You are the Son of God and the Lord. I believe that You died for my sins and were
raised from the dead. I confess that I
am a sinner and I ask You to come into my heart, cleanse me from my sins, and
forgive me for my sins. I turn to
follow and obey You – I put my faith in you.
I now receive You as Messiah and Lord and totally commit my life to
You.”
Amen.
rf7_fruit_judged.htm
Rev A: 2002/10/19.
Articles by Silas
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