The Root of Terrorism a la Islamic style

Part Four

Abul Kasem
e-mail: abul88@...

[A cautionary note: This essay is a twenty parts series; its content may be
deemed offensive to some readers. The author will not be responsible in the
event any reader feels anger, umbrage, agitated, distraught and/or derided
after reading this serial. You have been forewarned. Read at your own
risk.]


‘Defined in Psychological terms, a fanatic is a man who consciously
overcompensates a secret doubt’---Aldous Huxley (1894-1963)


Terror Ten

The Murder of Asma bt. Marwan at Medina by Umayr b. Adiy al-Khatmi —March,
624CE

Immediately after his return from the victory at Badr, Muhammad felt strong
enough to put a halt to his critics who were displeased that his arrival at
Medina, along with his horde of marauding Jihadists, had caused fear and
serious divisions among the Medinites. Because the Jews possessed great
wealth, many were greatly disturbed at the prospect of a militarily strong
army of Muslims and feared that they might be Muhammad’s next victims.
During those days, the most successful method of hurling epithets and
criticisms at opponents was through poems. Therefore, poets in those days
were what journalists are today. One such poetess was Asma bint Marwan. She
belonged to the B. Aws and did not hide her dislike for Islam. She was
married to Yazid b. Zayd, a man of Banu Khatma and had five sons and a
suckling infant. Some authors suggest that her father was a Jew. After the
Badr war she composed some satirical poems. The verses spread from mouth to
mouth and finally reached the ears of the Muslims and they were greatly
offended. Muhammad could not endure satire or vituperation. Therefore, an
incensed Muhammad decided that it was time to get rid of her.

In his mosque, at night, Muhammad sought a volunteer to assassinate Asma bt.
Marwan. A blind man, Umayr b. Adiy al-Khatmi, belonging to the same tribe as
Asma’s husband (ie Banu Khatma) stood up to complete the job. In the dead of
night he crept into her apartment. Her little children then surrounded Asma
while she slept. Hugging her bosom was her infant, suckling her breast. The
blind man, feeling stealthily with his hand, removed the infant from her
breast and plunged his sword in her belly with such a force that it passed
through her back. This severe blow killed Asma on the spot. It was just five
days prior to the end of the month of the sacred month of fasting, Ramadan,
when Muslims are not supposed to shed blood.

The morning after murdering Asma, the killer Umayr went to pray in the
mosque while Muhammad was there. Muhammad was quite anxious to learn if the
mission of Umayr was a success or not. He said to Umayr the killer, “Have
you slain the daughter of Marwan?” Commenting on this Ibn S’ad writes,
“This was the word that was first heard from the Apostle of Allah, may Allah
bless him.” When Umayr replied that the job had been carried out with
success, Muhammad said, “You have helped God and His apostle, O ‘Umayr!’
When Umayr asked if he would have to bear any evil consequences, the apostle
said, “Two goats won’t butt their heads about her.” Muhammad then praised
Umayr in front of all gathered for prayer for his act of murder, and Umayr
went back to his people. (Note: Some biographers suggest that Omayr was
Asma’s former husband). Five days later, the Muslims celebrated the first
Eid (the end of fasting)!

When Omayr, the killer returned to Upper Medina, he passed the sons of Asma
who were burying their slain mother. They accused Umayr of murdering their
mother. Without hesitation, Umayr admitted the accusation boastfully and
threatened to kill the whole family if they dared to repeat the satires
their mother had composed deriding the Prophet of mercy. This threat of
terror worked wonderfully. The entire tribe of Asma’s husband (i.e., Banu
Khatma) who secretly hated Islam, now openly professed their adherence just
to save their lives. Ibn Ishak writes, ‘That was the first day that 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.’

Muhammad and his followers were now convinced that terror, plunder,
political murder do indeed work for Islam.


Terror Eleven

The Murder of Abu Afak at Medina by Salim b. ‘Umayr—April, 624CE

Abu Afak, a Jew of Medina was a very old man, about 120 years old. He was
active in the opposition of Muhammad’s religion. He too, composed some
satirical verses that annoyed the Muslims. One month after his victory at
Badr, Muhammad showed his limit of tolerance to his intellectual opposition
by expressing his wish to eliminate this old man. At his mosque, the apostle
of Allah sought the service of a volunteer killer saying, ‘Who will deal
with this rascal for me?’ A convert by the name of Salim b.‘Umayr, brother
of B. ‘Amr b.’Auf from the B. Amr tribe came forward to do the job. He
killed Abu Afak with one blow of his sword when the latter slept outside his
house. (Some say that Abu Afak was murdered first, then Asma). Ibn S’ad
describes this gruesome murder in this way:

“He waited for an opportunity until a hot night came, and Abu ‘Afak slept in
an open place. Salim b. ‘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 him, took him to his house and
interred him.”

This perfidious murder alarmed all those in Medina who did not like Muhammad
and his religion. The Jews were utterly terrified.

Terror Twelve

The Affair of al-Sawiq at Qarkarat al-Qudr by Muhammad—April, 624CE

This operation was a small reconnaissance by the Quraysh to gauge the
strength and preparedness of Muhammad to launch further attacks on the
Meccans. After suffering the ignominious defeat at Badr II at the hands of
the emerging force of the Islamic Jihadists, Abu Sufyan b Harb, the Quraysh
leader, vowed not to touch women until he had destroyed the tribes of al-Aws
and al-Khazraj. He gathered two hundred mounted followers, took the eastern
road through the Nejd and secretly arrived, by night, at the settlement of
B. Nadir, a Jewish tribe. However, the Jewish chief Huwey refused him
admission to the Jewish quarters. So Abu Sufyan took refuge with Sallam b.
Mishkan (also known as Abu Rafi), another leading man of B. Nadir Jews.
Sallam offered Abu Sufyan’s party a hospitable welcome at night, furnishing
Abu Sufyan with the intelligence regarding Medina. At dawn, Abu Sufyan moved
forward stealthily and arrived at the corn fields and palm gardens of Urayd,
a place about two or three miles to the north-east of Medina. He burnt these
farms and killed two farmers there. Then he returned to Mecca. Meanwhile,
the news spread in Medina and the Muslims were alarmed. Muhammad followed in
hot pursuit the Abu Sufyan’s army and went as far as Qarkarat al-Qudr.
However, it was a fruitless pursuit. The Muslims collected some of the
provisions thrown away by the Quraysh men on their return journey to Mecca
to lighten the burden on their horses. The Muslims brought back this
provision that was mostly barley, and as such, it is called the affair of
Sawiq.

Terror Thirteen

Raid at Qarkarat al-Qudr Against the Ghatafan and Banu Sulaym led by
Muhammad—May, 624CE

This expedition was taken against the nomad tribes of Sulaym and Ghatafan
who inhabited the plains of Nejd, to the east of Medina. These tribes
belonged to the same stock of the Quraysh and were probably incited by Abu
Sufyan to commit a plunder upon Medina. Muhammad came to learn about this
impending attack through intelligence. So, he hastened to surprise them. He
took two hundred men and reached Qarkarat al-Qudr but found the place
deserted except for a herd of five hundred camels under the charge of a
single boy. Muhammad took the five hundred camels as booty and divided them
amongst his men taking one-fifth for himself as per Islamic rule on plunder.
(How much one camel is worth? My guess is about US $300 each. So this
plunder was about US $150,000.) That meant that from this raid he took one
hundred camels (i.e., equivalent US $30,000) for himself. Other Jihadists
received two camels each. The camel boy was taken as a captive but was
released after he accepted Islam. Muhammad, after leading this raid, stayed
at Qarkarat al-Qudr for three nights and returned to Medina without any
fight. After returning to Medina he accepted all ransoms for the Quraysh
prisoners from the Badr II war. This handsome ransom from the Quraysh
captives and the camels from the Qarkarat al-Qudr plunder, made him quite
rich indeed in a very short time, thus alleviating (at least temporarily)
his and his followers immediate pecuniary hardship. There was now a
convincing reason to stick to Islam if one wanted to benefit materially!
Nonetheless, this booty was not ample to satisfy the enormous appetite for
wealth by the newly recruited Jihadists. Muhammad was now looking forward to
far more booty that he knew very well only the Jews in Medina could supply.
Feeling a sense of physical strength from his fanatical followers, he was
eagerly waiting for an opportunity to lay siege on the Jews and grab their
land and property. Very soon, such an opportunity came up.

Terror Fourteen

The Ethnic Cleansing of Banu Quaynuqa Jews from Medina by Muhammad—July,
624CE

As written previously, with the decisive victory at Badr II and after the
assassination of most of his intellectual critics at Medina, Muhammad
quickly realized that it was time to prove ‘might is right.’ He knew rather
well, that the only people who stood as a stumbling block to his dream of
establishing his and his Allah’s authority in Medina were the Jews. These
Jews were mostly successful owners of orchards on the outskirts of Medina.
Many of them were artisans, craftsmen, jewelers and merchants. They were a
wealthy, prosperous community, living in their fortified quarters on the
suburbs of Medina in harmony with the populace of Medina city. The most
prominent among these Jews were the Banu Quaynuqa, Banu Nadir and Banu
Qurayza. When Muhammad migrated to Medina, these Jewish clans made a
covenant with him to live in tranquility and harmony and to aid him should
any attack fall on him. Nonetheless, his victory at Badr II and his brutal
killing of many Meccan polytheists unnerved the Jews and they feared an
attack on them any time. And they were absolutely correct. Muhammad was now
in a mood to renounce all his treaties with the Jews, plunder them, and
siege their fertile, productive land and their exquisite wealth. In fact,
Gabriel brought the decree (8:58) from Allah that he (Muhammad) was free to
break the treaty with the Jews. With Allah on his side, Muhammad started to
threaten the B. Qaynuqa Jews with the consequence of Badr II unless they
accepted Islam. B. Qaynuqa Jews were the weakest of all the Jewish tribes in
Medina. This is what the prophet of ‘religious tolerance’ told the B.
Qaynuqa Jews in their market:

“O Jews, beware lest God bring on you the like of the retribution which he
brought on Quraysh. Accept Islam, for you know that I am a prophet sent by
God. You will find this in your scriptures and in God’s covenant with you.”

Hearing Muhammad’s harangue, the B. Qaynuqa Jews retaliated by ignoring his
plea for Islam and challenged Muhammad to face them militarily. This is what
they replied to Muhammad:

“Muhammad, do you think that we are like your people? Do not be deluded by
the fact that you met a people with no knowledge of war and that you made
good use of your opportunity. By God, if you fight us you will know that we
are real men!”

Then Muhammad demanded Jizya tax from the Jews but the Jews disparaged
Muhammad by saying that His Allah was poor. An angry Allah, in verse 3:181,
immediately promised His retribution to the Jews.

The show of defiance was a fatal error on the part of B. Qaynuqa; for, this
display of insolence by the Jews was good enough reason for Muhammad and his
over-eager, booty-hungry Jihadists to wait to conduct an attack on them.
Allah also revealed verse 3:12, 13 assuring Muhammad of his victory against
the Jews. In addition, the Muslims also complained of sowing discord between
the B. Aws and B. Khazraj by the Jews by narrating the battle of Buath in
which these two tribes fought fiercely. It was during this time that Allah
forbade, in verse 5:57, to engage in friendship by the Muslims with the Jews
and the Christians. While this hostility between the Muslims and the Jews
was simmering, an incident took place that gave Muhammad the opportunity he
was patiently waiting for to wage an attack on the Jews. The incident was as
follows:

An Arab girl, married to a Muslim convert of Medina went to the Jewish shop
of a goldsmith in the market place of Qaynuqa. While waiting for some
ornaments, she sat down. A silly neighbor secretly pinned the lower hem of
her skirt. When she arose, the awkward expose made everyone laugh. She
screamed with shame. A passing Muslim witnessed the incident and killed the
offending Jew. The brother of the Jew then killed the Muslim. The family of
the murdered Muslim then appealed to the converts of Medina to take revenge.

The skirmish now became general and Muhammad made no attempt to mitigate the
situation, nor did he try to bring the offending parties to justice. He
immediately gathered his followers under the white banner in the hand of
Hamzah and marched forward to attack the Jewish tribe. The Jews took shelter
in their fortified apartments. So Muhammad laid siege and a full blockade
was imposed. The siege lasted for fifteen days. The Jews were expecting help
from their Khazraj allies. But the help did not come. So, the desperate B.
Qaynuqa Jews had no choice but to surrender to Muhammad. Their hands were
tied behind their backs and preparations were made for their execution. At
this time, Abd Allah ibn Ubayy, the Khazarite and a new convert to Islam,
(he was the nemesis of Muhammad at Medina, Muhammad calling him a hypocrite)
intervened. He could not stand that his old faithful allies would be
massacred in cold blood. He begged Muhammad for mercy, but Muhammad turned
his face away. Abd Allah persisted. Finally, Muhammad yielded and let the
prisoners escape execution. He then cursed the Jews and Abd Allah ibn Ubay
with Allah’s punishment. Then Muhammad ordered the Jews of B. Qaynuqa to
leave Medina within three days. They were led to exile by Ubadah b.
al-Samit ibn Samit, one of the Khazarite leaders to as far as Dhubab. Then
the Jews proceeded to Wadi al-Qura. There they got assistance from the
Jewish inhabitants with carriage until they reached Adriat, a territory in
Syria where they settled permanently.

Thus, the B. Qaynuqa Jews surrendered their arms and jewel-making machinery
and were exiled from Medina. In this connection, Tabari writes: “Allah gave
their property as booty to his Messenger and the Muslims. The Banu Qaynuqa
did not have any land, as they were goldsmiths. The messenger of God took
many weapons belonging to them and the tools of their trade.”

Thanks to Allah’s permission for booty and plunder, Muhammad and the
formerly indigent Muslims were really on their way to become wealthy
residents of Medina.


To be continued in part five

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