From the Hate Mail Bag: this guy sent me several messages this morning from an IP address that traces to Damascus. This was the best one:
What is the guilt of all those innocent people who were killed with F-16 in Gaza; you will pay the price no doubt one day. Muhammad's Army will return
Of course, in this fellow's world, all the Israelis are guilty, so it doesn't matter what the Muslims do to them -- they have carte blanche. Meanwhile, "Muhammad's Army will return" is an echo of the familiar slogan “Khaybar, Khaybar, ya Yahoud, jaish Muhammad sa yaoud” -- that is, “Khaybar, Khaybar, O Jews, the army of Muhammad will return.”
Khaybar. As I explain in my book The Truth About Muhammad, Muhammad led a Muslim force against the Khaybar oasis, which was inhabited by Jews -- many of whom he had previously exiled from Medina. When he did so, he was not responding to any provocation. One of the Muslims later remembered: “When the apostle raided a people he waited until the morning. If he heard a call to prayer he held back; if he did not hear it he attacked. We came to Khaybar by night, and the apostle passed the night there; and when morning came he did not hear the call to prayer, so he rode and we rode with him….We met the workers of Khaybar coming out in the morning with their spades and baskets. When they saw the apostle and the army they cried, ‘Muhammad with his force,’ and turned tail and fled. The apostle said, ‘Allah Akbar! Khaybar is destroyed. When we arrive in a people’s square it is a bad morning for those who have been warned.’” [1]
The Muslim advance was inexorable. “The apostle,” according to Muhammad’s earliest biographer, Ibn Ishaq, “seized the property piece by piece and conquered the forts one by one as he came to them.” [2] Another biographer of Muhammad, Ibn Sa‘d, reports that the battle was fierce: the “polytheists…killed a large number of [Muhammad’s] Companions and he also put to death a very large number of them….He killed ninety-three men of the Jews…” [3] Muhammad and his men offered the fajr prayer, the Islamic dawn prayer, before it was light, and then entered Khaybar itself. The Muslims immediately set out to locate the inhabitants’ wealth. A Jewish leader of Khaybar, Kinana bin al-Rabi, was brought before Muhammad; Kinana was supposed to have been entrusted with the treasure of on of the Jewish tribes of Arabia, the Banu Nadir. Kinana denied knowing where this treasure was, but Muhammad pressed him: “Do you know that if we find you have it I shall kill you?” Kinana said yes, that he did know that.
Some of the treasure was found. To find the rest, Muhammad gave orders concerning Kinana: “Torture him until you extract what he has.” One of the Muslims built a fire on Kinana’s chest, but Kinana would not give up his secret. When he was at the point of death, one of the Muslims beheaded him. [4] Kinana’s wife was taken as a war prize; Muhammad claimed her for himself and hastily arranged a wedding ceremony that night. He halted the Muslims’ caravan out of Khaybar later that night in order to consummate the marriage. [5]
Muhammad agreed to let the people of Khaybar to go into exile, allowing them to keep as much of their property as they could carry. [6] The Prophet of Islam, however, commanded them to leave behind all their gold and silver. [7] He had intended to expel all of them, but some, who were farmers, begged him to allow them to let them stay if they gave him half their yield annually. [8] Muhammad agreed: “I will allow you to continue here, so long as we would desire.” [9] He warned them: “If we wish to expel you we will expel you.” [10] They no longer had any rights that did not depend upon the good will and sufferance of Muhammad and the Muslims. And indeed, when the Muslims discovered some treasure that some of the Khaybar Jews had hidden, he ordered the women of the tribe enslaved and seized the perpetrators’ land. [11] A hadith notes that “the Prophet had their warriors killed, their offspring and woman taken as captives.” [12]
Thus when modern-day jihadists invoke Khaybar, as this hate mailer did indirectly by echoing the familiar chant about Muhammad's Army, they are doing much more than just recalling the glory days of Islam and its prophet. They are recalling an aggressive, surprise raid by Muhammad which resulted in the final eradication of the once considerable Jewish presence in Arabia. To the jihadists, Khaybar means the destruction of the Jews and the seizure of their property by the Muslims.
That is the context in which today's Hate Mailer would dare to lecture us about justice and guilt and innocence.
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[1] Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah, A. Guillaume, translator, Oxford University Press, 1955. P. 511.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibn Sa‘d, Kitab Al-Tabaqat Al-Kabir, S. Moinul Haq and H K. Ghazanfar, translators, Kitab Bhavan, n.d. Vol. II, pp. 132-133.
[4] Ibn Ishaq, p. 515.
[5] Muhammed Ibn Ismaiel Al-Bukhari, Sahih al-Bukhari: The Translation of the Meanings, translated by Muhammad M. Khan, Darussalam, 1997, vol. 1, book 8, no. 371.
[6] Ibn Sa‘d, vol. II, p. 136.
[7] Ibn Sa‘d, vol. II, p. 137.
[8] Bukhari, vol. 4, book 57, no. 3152.
[9] Imam Muslim, Sahih Muslim, translated by Abdul Hamid Siddiqi, Kitab Bhavan, revised edition 2000. Book 10, no. 3761.
[10] Ibn Ishaq, p. 515.
[11] Ibn Sa‘d, vol. II, p. 137.
[12] Bukhari, vol. 5, book 64, no. 4200.
“Khaybar, Khaybar, ya Yahoud, jaish Muhammad sa yaoud”
I think I prefer.
"Gaza, Gaza, the Jewish, bashed Muhammadans real good."
"Muhammad agreed to let the people of Khaybar to go into exile, allowing them to keep as much of their property as they could carry. [6] The Prophet of Islam, however, commanded them to leave behind all their gold and silver. [7] He had intended to expel all of them, but some, who were farmers, begged him to allow them to let them stay if they gave him half their yield annually." from RS´ answer to the muhammedan hatemailer above.
This is exactly the way the muhammedans in today´s so-called secular state of Turkey proceed, time and again, when sending Christians into permanent and irrevocable exile.
"Muhammad agreed to let the people of Khaybar to go into exile, allowing them to keep as much of their property as they could carry. [6] The Prophet of Islam, however, commanded them to leave behind all their gold and silver. [7] He had intended to expel all of them, but some, who were farmers, begged him to allow them to let them stay if they gave him half their yield annually." from RS´ answer to the muhammedan hatemailer above.
This is exactly the way the muhammedans in today´s so-called secular state of Turkey proceed, time and again, when sending Christians into permanent and irrevocable exile.
Robert, I do like the way you squeeze those lemons hurled at you and transform them into lemonade -- a sweet and edifying draught.
"We came to Khaybar by night, and the apostle passed the night there; and when morning came he did not hear the call to prayer, so he rode and we rode with him….We met the workers of Khaybar coming out in the morning with their spades and baskets. When they saw the apostle and the army they cried, ‘Muhammad with his force,’ and turned tail and fled. The apostle said, ‘Allah Akbar! Khaybar is destroyed. When we arrive in a people’s square it is a bad morning for those who have been warned.’”
-- from the recollection of one of Muhammad's retinue who took part in the Khaybar raid
This will remind many of the opening scene in a spaghetti (or even non-spaghetti) Western. The frontier community. The bustle of people on their small farms and ranches, going about their business. And now, out of nowhere, all of a sudden, appears the gang of Black Bart and his ruthless gang, and all hell breaks loose as they attack now this farmer, and now that one, seizing their screaming wives and daughters, shooting even the boys if they attempt to resist them, and then setting fire to every homestead. And then, with all the loot they have gathered up, and the screaming women and girls still being held under the arms of this or that ferocious rider, leaving nothing but burned-out farmhouses, slaughtered animals, and everywhere, death and destruction in their wake.
Yes, that's what the description of the attack on the Khaybar Oasis makes one think of. A Western, forsooth, of the most murderous kind, a Western!
No Black Bart, of whatever century, has any business founding a religion. And no merciful and wise deity would have anything to do with such a man------except to condemn him. Thus, Islam can only be one of the greatest frauds ever perpetrated upon mankind. Maybe the greatest.
The heartless, cruel and evil deeds perpetrated by this supposed man of God is quite shocking to any halfway decent human being. The story suddenly makes a lot more sense when one replaces the name muhammed with "the spawn of Satan. In my mind anyone who knows the true history of this despicable creature, and still reveres it, is just, well, scum.
Ah Hugh. As I read your narrative of a western I couldn't help but think of Clinton painting the town red.
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High Plains Drifter for anyone struggling with my comment.
"Thus, Islam can only be one of the greatest frauds ever perpetrated upon mankind. Maybe the greatest." --posted above
Due to the enormous number of people involved in this fraud, and due to the enormous amount of murders and mass-murders associated with this fraud, plus the attendant hatred and intolerance, my opinion is that it IS the "greatest fraud ever perpetrated upon mankind."
Due to my inability for some reason to put together a cognitive thought process today....my only response to this article is..."You GO Robert Spencer!!!"
**Bukhari, vol. 5, book 64, no. 4200**
I can't seem to find this hadeeth. Could someone please post it in full? Thanks.
Anyways, from my understanding, the isnad for the hadith that Muhammad tortured and killed Kinani is weak or non-existent.
Hugh,
For Khaybar imagery (although a bit snowy), I suggest the opening scenes of Conan the Barbarian, with Thulsa Doom in the starring role of Mohammed. Since learning about the methods of the "great prophet" Mohammed, I've come to appreciate that movie.
Another candidate would be the Mexican bandit leader in the movie The Magnificent Seven.
Sounds like a very real story.
A hidden treasure has even been found. Although not in the same location. The time frame is similar. This was surely repeated all over the area.
These coins were hidden in the 7th century.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7797977.stm
the coins were PROBABLY hidden by someone fleeing the Persian attack on Jerusalem in the early 7th Century.
then
630, eight years before the Arab Muslim CONQUEST of the city.
Maybe they were hidden from the muslims who were attacking?
Hey Hate Mailer -- you are no match for Robert Spencer.
Muhammad was a lying loser, and so is anyone who follows him and Islam.
Oh, "the army of Muhammad will return", I'm so scared. Yawn.
Penguinfan:
Nice try.
Look in the Darussalam edition, which I specify in note 5 as what I was using here, and you will find it right where I said it was, vol. 5, book 64, no. 4200.
Meanwhile, it is also in the online edition. The numeration is different, the text is the same. Here:
http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/engagement/resources/texts/muslim/hadith/bukhari/059.sbt.html#005.059.512
Anyway, I get your implication, and fyi, I don't ever fabricate Qur'an or Hadith passages, contrary to the lies of the people you're apparently listening to.
It's a Bukhari hadith, so you will have trouble sustaining that argument.
Cordially
Robert Spencer
I didn't imply anything. I said I couldn't find the hadeeth, that was I asked for someone to post it in full. However, thank you for posting the relevant passage that I asked for.
What is interesting, is that the hadith says Muhammad had the warriors killed. Does that mean that these warriors were killed after the settlements surrendered or that they died fighting in battle?
I know that the Jews were later relocated out of Hijra during Uthman's reign, so clearly not everyone was enslaved or massacred. On the other hand, Norman Stillman says that the B. Qaynuqa tribe was executed after the tribes surrendered. If that is so, why don't most historians and biographers (including yourself Mr. Robert Spencer) mention the tribes slaughter in their books about Muhammad?
+++It's a Bukhari hadith, so you will have trouble sustaining that argument.+++
Well, thank you. I was under the impression that the story is found only in the biographies. Still, Bukhari hadith, for the most part, were not written down until centuries after the events they relate supposedly took place. I am curious to know if the isnad is strong or not. Not all Bukhari hadith are viewed as authentic and are rejected by many Muslims, especially if their chain of transmission is considered weak.
i thought Syria had a more non Muslim heritage than the rest of the Middle East swamp?
Penguinfan:
In this you imply that Bukhari's is a late and unreliable collection. This is, of course, a false implication. I suspect you are aware that all the hadith, not just Bukhari's, were written down several centuries after the events they depict, and that Bukhari's collection is the one that Muslims generally consider most reliable. Only some 200 ahadith out of the thousands he reports are even questioned. This is not one of them.
In your first sentence ("I know that the Jews were later relocated out of Hijra during Uthman's reign, so clearly not everyone was enslaved or massacred") you are quoting me, without attribution, from my book The Truth About Muhammad. My source for this was Ibn Sa'd. I don't know what Stillman was using as a source for his assertion, and suggest that you ask him, not me.
Cordially
Robert Spencer
"And now, out of nowhere, all of a sudden, appears the gang of Black Bart and his ruthless gang, and all hell breaks loose as they attack..."
Or if you want to be less politically correct about it, but no less historically correct, you could say "savage Injuns" instead of "Black Bart and his ruthless gang".
Evil neo-con Zionist Crusader Robert Spencer, you must be one bad powerful dude to unleash 100 tons of bombs in one day! Pull some more strings, and let's have an encore!! Long live Zion!
Some day, Mr. Spencer, I hope you'll be as powerful and influential--shaping the course of events, hatching nefarious plots against the Umma, and generally wreaking havoc--as delusional Islamist paranoids make you out to be. Happy New Year!
I don't understand what this fuzz is all about. These terrorists love to die and Israel is granting them their wish while putting them out of their miseries. It is a win-win situation for both, the Israelis will be able to get rid of some Muslim terrorists and these Muslims terrorists will get to meet the 72 Muslim virgins they have been waiting to meet all their lives. So why are the Muslims so angry? Do they know the truth that there no virgins waiting for any of them? They must because they are acting like they know the truth.
Have they been lying to us about their love for death?
So now it seems like the Muslims Terrorists are both liars and cowards.