Answering Islam - A Christian-Muslim dialog

The Prophet of Terror and Mayhem Pt. 1

Sam Shamoun 

In this article I am going to show that Muhammad was a terrorist who was sent by his god to terrorize and slay all unbelievers unless and until they submitted to his demands and desires. 

THE QURAN 

We shall cast terror (al-rruAAba) into the hearts of those who disbelieve, BECAUSE they joined others in worship with Allah, for which He had sent no authority; their abode will be the Fire and how evil is the abode of the Zalimun (polytheists and wrongdoers). And Allah did indeed fulfil His Promise to you when you were killing them (your enemy) with His Permission; until (the moment) you lost your courage and fell to disputing about the order, and disobeyed after He showed you (of the booty) which you love. Among you are some that desire this world and some that desire the Hereafter. Then He made you flee from them (your enemy), that He might test you. But surely, He forgave you, and Allah is Most Gracious to the believers. S. 3:151-152 Hilali-Khan 

This passage is explicitly clear. The reason why Allah sent Muhammad to terrorize the unbelievers is not because they attacked Muslims or threatened to kill them. Rather, the disbelievers were being terrorized and murdered solely because they worshiped other beings along with or besides Allah. 

(Remember) when your Lord inspired the angels, "Verily, I am with you, so keep firm those who have believed. I will cast terror (al-rruAAba) into the hearts of those who have disbelieved, so strike them over the necks, and smite over all their fingers and toes." S. 8:12 Hilali-Khan

Against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror (turhiboona) into (the hearts of) the enemies, of God and your enemies, and others besides, whom ye may not know, but whom God doth know. Whatever ye shall spend in the cause of God, shall be repaid unto you, and ye shall not be treated unjustly. S. 8:60 A. Yusuf Ali 

And those of the people of the Scripture who backed them (the disbelievers) Allah brought them down from their forts and cast terror (al-rruAAba) into their hearts, (so that) a group (of them) you killed, and a group (of them) you made captives. S. 33:26 Hilali-Khan 

Here is how one lexical source defines these specific Arabic words: 

Ra-Ayn-Ba = fear/terror, frighten, tremble with fear, great awe, threatened, loud and vehement sound, rhyming prose, charmed/fascinated, fill (e.g. vessel, valley), cut into pieces or slices, weak and cowardly, shaking/quivering. 

ra'aba vb. (1) n.vb. 3:151, 8:12, 18:18, 33:26, 59:2… 

Ra-ha-Ba = to fear/dread/terrify, terror, awe, frightened, to become fatigued/tired/weary or jaded… (Project Root List

THE AHADITH 

The narrations attributed to Muhammad further confirm that Allah’s “messenger” was sent to tyrannize the disbelievers until they came under his control. Note what Muhammad is reported to have said: 

328. It is related that Jabir ibn 'Abdullah said, "The Prophet said, 'I have been given five things which no one before me was given: I have been helped to victory by terror flooding (my enemies') hearts up to a month's journey away; for me, the whole earth has been made a mosque and made pure (for purification by tayammum) - wherever a man of my community finds himself when the time of prayer comes, he can pray; taking booty has been made lawful for me when it was not lawful for anyone before me; I have been given the right of intercession; and whereas every other Prophet was sent only to his people, I have been sent to all mankind.'" (Aisha Bewley, The Sahih Collection of al-Bukhari, Chapter 7. Book of Tayammum; bold and underline emphasis ours) 

XXIII: The saying of the Prophet, "For me, the whole earth has been made a mosque and made pure." 

427. It is related that Jabir ibn 'Abdullah said, "The Prophet said, 'I have been given five things which none of the Prophets before me was given: I have been helped to victory by terror flooding (my enemies') hearts up to a month's journey away; for me, the whole earth has been made a mosque and made pure (for purification by tayammum) - wherever a man of my community finds himself when the time of prayer comes, he can pray; taking booty has been made lawful for me when it was not lawful for anyone before me; I have been sent to all mankind; and I have been granted intercession.'" (Bewley, Chapter 8. Book of Prayer; underline emphasis ours) 

CXX: The words of the Prophet, "I have been given help by means of terror over a month's distance," and His words, the Mighty and Exalted, "We will cast terror into the hearts of those who reject because of their attributing partners to Allah." (3:151) 

2815. It is related from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah said, "I have been sent with comprehensive words and have been helped WITH TERROR. While I was asleep, I was given the keys to the treasures of the earth and they were placed in my hand." Abu Hurayra said, "The Messenger of Allah has departed and you are extracting them." (Bewley, Chapter 61. Book of Jihad and Military Expeditions; capital and underline emphasis ours) 

Here we have Muhammad basically acknowledging that he was sent as a murdering bandit to spread terror into the lives of unbelievers. He even admits to being the only “prophet” given permission to steal the lands and property of the disbelievers. 

This brings me to my next point. Notice how Muhammad described his own mission according to some of the hadiths:

Narrated Anas bin Malik: Allah's Apostle said, "I have been ordered to fight the people till they say: 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah.' And if they say so, pray like our prayers, face our Qibla and slaughter as we slaughter, then their blood and property will be sacred to us and we will not interfere with them except legally and their reckoning will be with Allah." 

Narrated Maimun ibn Siyah that he asked Anas bin Malik, "O Abu Hamza! What makes the life and property of a person sacred?" He replied, "Whoever says, 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah', faces our Qibla during the prayers, prays like us and eats our slaughtered animal, then he is a Muslim, and has got the same rights and obligations as other Muslims have.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 8, Number 387)  

Sadly, Muhammad’s companions continued his campaign of murder and terror even after his demise:

Narrated Abu Huraira: When Allah's Apostle died and Abu Bakr became the caliph some Arabs renegade (reverted to disbelief) (Abu Bakr decided to declare war against them), 'Umar, said to Abu Bakr, "How can you fight with these people although Allah's Apostle said, 'I have been ordered (by Allah) to fight the people till they say: "None has the right to be worshipped but Allah, and whoever said it then he will save his life and property from me except on trespassing the law (rights and conditions for which he will be punished justly), and his accounts will be with Allah"?’ Abu Bakr said, "By Allah! I will fight those who differentiate between the prayer and the Zakat as Zakat is the compulsory right to be taken from the property (according to Allah's orders) By Allah! If they refuse to pay me even a she-kid which they used to pay at the time of Allah's Apostle. I would fight with them for withholding it." Then 'Umar said, "By Allah, it was nothing, but Allah opened Abu Bakr's chest towards the decision (to fight) and I came to know that his decision was right." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 2, Book 23, Number 483)

Note again that the reason why Abu Bakr decided to fight the apostates wasn’t because they were threatening to kill the Muslims. Rather, the reason given was because they were no longer faithfully observing some of the pillars of Islam such as paying the Zakat. 

In light of the foregoing, could the Quran and ahadith be any clearer that Muhammad was a terrorist sent to struck fear and horror into the hearts of people solely because they didn’t believe in Islam?

With that said we are ready to proceed to the next part where we address some of the objections raised by specific Muhammadans to deny the fact of Muhammad being a murdering bandit who went around terrorizing unbelievers for not embracing his view of God.