Jews and the Crusades
by Ibn Warraq
Part 2
Part 1
IX.34: O you who believe! Lo! many of the (Jewish) rabbis and the (Christian) monks devour the wealth of mankind wantonly and debar (men) from the way of Allah. They who hoard up gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allah, unto them give tidings of a painful doom.
V.63–64: Why do not the rabbis and the priests forbid their evil-speaking and devouring of illicit gain? Verily evil is their handiwork. The Jews say, “Allah’s hands are fettered.” Their hands are fettered, and they are cursed for what they have said! On the contrary, His hands are spread open. He bestows as He wills. That which has been revealed to you from your Lord will surely increase the arrogance and unbelief of many among them. We have cast enmity and hatred among them until the Day of Resurrection. Every time they light the fire of war, Allah extinguishes it. They hasten to spread corruption throughout the earth, but Allah does not love corrupters!
V.70–71: We made a covenant with the Israelites and sent forth apostles among them. But whenever an apostle came to them with a message that did not suit their fancies, some they accused of lying and others they put to death. They thought no harm would follow: they were blind and deaf. God is ever watching their actions.
V.82: Indeed, you will surely find that the most vehement of men in enmity to those who believe are the Jews and the polytheists.
V.51: O you who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians for friends. They are friends one to another. He among you who takes them for friends is one of them.
V.57: O you who believe! Choose not for friends such of those who received the Scripture [Jews and Christians] before you, and of the disbelievers, as make jest and sport of your religion. But keep your duty to Allah of you are true believers.
V.59: Say: O, People of the Scripture [Jews and Christians]! Do you blame us for aught else than that we believe in Allah and that which is revealed unto us and that which was revealed aforetime, and because most of you are evil-doers?
V.66: Among them [Jews and Christians] there are people who are moderate, but many of them are of evil conduct.
XXXIII.26: He brought down from their strongholds those who had supported them from among the People of the Book [Jews of Bani Qurayza] and cast terror into their hearts, so that some you killed and others you took captive.
V.60: Say: “Shall I tell you who will receive a worse reward from God? Those whom [i.e., Jews] God has cursed and with whom He has been angry, transforming them into apes and swine, and those who serve the devil. Worse is the plight of these, and they have strayed farther from the right path.”
It is there in the Sira [1]:
“Kill any Jews that falls into your power,” said the Prophet. (p. 369).
The killing of Ibn Sunayna,and its admiration leading someone to convert to Islam (ibid.).
The killing of Sallam ibn Abu”l-Huqayq (pp. 482-483)
The assassination of Ka”˜b b. al-Ashraf, who wrote verses against Muhammad (pp. 364–69).
The raid against the Jewish tribe of the Banu”˜l-Nadir and their banishment (437–45).
The extermination of the Banu Qurayza, between six hundred and eight hundred men (pp. 461–69).
The killing of al-Yusayr (pp. 665–66).
It is there in the other Muslim historians [2]:
“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 C.E.) of the Apostle of Allah. Abu Afak, was from Banu Amr Ibn Awf, and was an old man who had attained the age of 120. 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.
It is there in the Hadith [3]:
Bani An-Nadir and Bani Quraiza fought, so the Prophet (Muhammad) exiled Bani An-Nadir and allowed Bani Quraiza to remain at their places. He then killed their men and distributed their women, children and property among the Muslims, but some of them came to the Prophet and he granted them safety, and they embraced Islam. He exiled all the Jews from Medina. They were the Jews of Bani Qainuqa, the tribe of Abdullah bin Salam and the Jews of Bani Haritha and all the other Jews of Medina.
[1] Ibn Ishaq. The Life of Muhammad, trans. Alfred Guillaume 1955: reprint, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987.
[2] Ibn Sa”˜d, Kitab al-TabaqÃ¥t al Kabir, trans. S. M. Haq (New Delhi: Kitab Bhavan, 1972), vol. 1, p. 32.
[3] al-BukhÄri, The Book of al-Maghazi (Raids), trans M. Muhsin Khan, vol. 5, book 59 of Saḥiḥ (New Delhi: Kitab Bhavan, 1987), Hadith no. 362, p. 241.
To be continued.
Ibn Warraq is the author of numerous books, including Why the West Is Best and Why I Am Not A Muslim.