Two months after the treaty of Hudaybiya, Mohammed
marched his army 100 miles to Khaybar, to attack a community of Jews who lived
there. Mohammed never had any problems with the Jews of Khaybar. His raid was
motivated purely by greed. The Jews of Khaybar were wealthy farmers who lived
in a series of forts amongst their crops.
From The Sira:
I757 When Mohammed raided a
people, he waited until the morning. If he heard the call to prayer, which
meant the people were Muslims, he would not attack but if there was no Muslim
call to prayer he attacked. When he rode up with his army, workers were coming
out to work in the fields. When they saw Mohammed and his army, they fled.
Mohammed 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.”
Mohammed was now one of the most powerful men in Arabia
thanks to Jihad. Unlike in the early days, he could now do pretty much as he
pleased. He set about destroying all opposition, showing absolutely no mercy to
any who resisted him.
I758 Mohammed seized the
forts one at a time. Among the captives was a beautiful Jewess named Safiyah.
Mohammed took her for his sexual pleasure. One of his men had first chosen her
for his own slave of pleasure, but Mohammed traded him two of her cousins for
Safiyah. Mohammed always got first choice of the spoils of war and the women.
I759 On the occasion of
Khaybar, Mohammed put forth new orders about forcing sex with captive women. If
the woman was pregnant, she was not to be used for sex until after the birth of
the child. Nor were any women to be used for sex who were unclean with regard
to Muslim laws about menstruation.
I764 Mohammed knew there
was a large treasure hidden somewhere in Khaybar so he brought forth the Jew he
thought knew the most about it and questioned him. This Jew was Kinana, the
husband of Safiyah, Mohammed’s soon-to-be new bride. Kinana denied any
knowledge. But another Jew said he had seen the man around one of the old
ruins. The search was made, and a great deal of the treasure was found but not
all of it.
Mohammed told one of his men, “Torture the Jew until you extract
what he has.” So the Jew was staked on the ground and a small fire built on his
chest to get him to talk. The man was nearly dead but would not talk, so
Mohammed had him released and taken to one of his men whose brother had been
killed in the fight, and the Muslim got the pleasure of cutting the tortured
Jew’s head off.
Muslims believe that Mohammed was the perfect man and
the Koran repeatedly tells Muslims to emulate his behaviour. Most Muslims have
never read his biographies and rely on Imams for guidance. In times or places
where Islam is weak, we would expect these Imams to counsel people to follow
Mohammed’s Meccan example. History shows however, that when Islam becomes
powerful, things change.
From The Sira:
I764 The Jews of Khaybar
were Mohammed’s first dhimmis. After the best of the goods were taken from the
Jews, Mohammed left them to work the land. His men knew nothing about farming
and the Jews were skilled at it. So the Jews worked the land and gave Mohammed
half their profits.
Author’s Comments:
This was a new tactic which would become an important
part of the overall strategy of Islam. Up until this point Kaffirs were given
two choices; convert to Islam or be killed. Now, a third option was introduced,
dhimmitude.
A dhimmi is a non-Muslim living in a land ruled by Islam. They are
forced to pay a poll tax (Jizya) to the Muslims, which can be as high as 50% of
their income. Most importantly, they must also be made to feel humiliated. They
have few rights and are allowed to follow their religion in private. They must
not however, repair or replace their churches or synagogues (dhimmitude is only
supposed to be available to Jews and Christians).
With Islam being so geared towards conquest, its
societies lack productive capacity. By allowing the Christians and Jews to live
in semi slavery, Islam now had a source of income even in peace time. The
institution of Dhimmitude was developed further under the later caliphs, and is
an important part of the system of Jihad.
The Koran spoke about Dhimmitude:
9:29 Make war on those who have received the scriptures
(Jews and Christians) but do not believe in Allah or in the last day. They do
not forbid what Allah and his messenger have forbidden. The Christians and Jews
do not follow the religion of truth until they submit and pay the poll tax
(Jizya), and they are humiliated.
We are often told that Jews and Christians were allowed
to live in peace and harmony in Muslim lands. To someone who does not
understand the onerous conditions of dhimmitude, this would suggest an inherent
tolerance in Islam which does not exist.
From The Sira:
I766 On the way back
Mohammed had one of the Muslim women Prepare Safiyah (she was the Jewess he had
picked for his pleasure) for her wedding night with Mohammed. That night one of
his men marched around his tent for the whole night with his sword.
The next
morning Mohammed asked what he was doing and the man replied, “I was afraid for
you because of the woman. You have killed her father, her husband, and her kin,
so I was afraid for you on her account.” Mohammed blessed him.
The phrase “Allahu Akbar” has become infamous,
especially since the 9/11attacks. The hijacker’s leader, Mohammed Atta, had
spent the previous night touring strip clubs. As they flew their jets into the
Twin Towers, slaughtering Kaffirs the attackers were recorded yelling “Allahu
Akbar”. This is usually translated as “Allah is great”, but actually means
“Allah is greater” (as in, “greater than all other gods”).
This phrase is not a modern Jihadist invention. It is
the battle cry of the very first Jihadist, the Prophet Mohammed, as he
slaughtered innocent Kaffirs.
After the 9/11 attacks, George Bush and UK Prime
Minister Tony Blair (and all other world leaders to this day) declared that
these attacks had nothing to do with Islam. Since that time, the words Jihad,
Islamist, Muslim, Islam and all reference to Islamic Doctrine have been purged
from US anti-terror manuals. To understand the reason for this type of
reaction, it is important to know more about dhimmitude.
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