murdering of Jews?

Submitted by Amjad Khan (United States), Dec 19, 2002 at 11:33

What Mr. Neville (and many Jews) probably cite as proof of the Prophet of Islam's ordering of the beheading of Jews is the following alleged Hadith from Sunan Abu Daud:

"Narrated Muhayyisah: The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: If you gain a victory over the men of Jews, kill them. So Muhayyisah jumped over Shubaybah, a man of the Jewish merchants. He had close relations with them. He then killed him. At that time Huwayyisah (brother of Muhayyisah) had not embraced Islam. He was older than Muhayyisah. When he killed him, Huwayyisah beat him and said: O enemy of Allah, I swear by Allah, you have a good deal of fat in your belly from his property." (Book 19, No. 2996).

I personally do not believe this Hadith to be authentic because it is entirely inconsistent with the pattern of the Prophet of Islam's treatment of the Jews. It is widely known that the Jews of Medina expressed hostility towards the Prophet. A couple of evidences are as follows:

G.M. Draycott writes in his book Mahomet:

"The Jews had not rested content with murmuring against Muhammad's rule, they sought to embarrass him by active sedition..." (p.148).

L. Dermenghem writes in his book The Life of Mahomet:

"The Jews...became increasingly alarmed at Muhammad's increasing authority... and began to show their hostility to Islam openly" (p.201).

Muhammad Zafrullah Khan writes in his book Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets:

"In spite of the hostility, the Prophet of Islam admonished Muslims to possess their souls in peace and not furnish any occasion to the Jews to embark on any rash action. He himself was most anxious and careful that their [the Jews] feelings and sentiments should be duly respected. On one occasion, he rebuked a Muslim, who, being provoked by the observation of a Jew, designed to exalt Moses above all the Prophets, affirmed, somewhat fiercely, that it was the Holy Prophet who was most exalted among the Messengers of God. The Holy Prophet mentioned some superiority of Moses to assuage the feelings of the Jews." (p.133).

Obviously, there's considerable more evidence out there to show that the Prophet of Islam would never order the beheading of 800 Jews and, moreover, rape their women. ... Respectfully,

-Amjad

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