Countering Islamic Propaganda: Nadr Ibn al-Harith

"Discover the Truth's" Game

The Murder of
Nadr Ibn al-Harith:
The Doctor Who
Knew Too Much

From Discover the Truth:

He was a criminal who had waged war against the Prophet and his community, so he was not as innocent as critics make him out to be.
(March 14, 2015)

What the Apologists Want You to Believe

Everyone agrees that a doctor named Nadr ibn al-Harith was beheaded on Muhammad's order. DTT insists that he was an "oppressor and tortured many Muslims" and a"criminal who had waged war."

What They Offer as Proof

While Discover the Truth brags elsewhere that "we base our evidence on our sources which have been accepted and authentic in Islam for over a 1000 years" they produce little more than the opinion of two other apologists, one of whom was a 19th century scholar and the other even more recent.

What They Leave Out and Why They are Wrong

There is no mention anywhere in the Sira and Hadith of the high crimes supposedly committed by Nadr ibn al-Harith. No detailing of torture methods or even a list of victims. This appears to have been the product of an overactive imagination.

Ibn Kathir, an earlier, more respected scholar, provides the real reason Nadr was beheaded:

An-Nadr visited Persia and learned the stories of some Persian kings, such as Rustum and Isphandiyar. When he went back to Makkah, He found that the Prophet was reciting the ayats of Qur'an sent from Allah to the people. Whenever the Prophet would leave an audience in which An-Nadr was sitting, An-Nadr began narrating to them the stories that he learned in Persia, proclaiming afterwards, Who, by Allah, has better tales to narrate, I or Muhammad. When Allah allowed the Muslims to capture An-Nadr in Badr, the Messenger of Allah commanded that his head be cut off before him, and that was done, all thanks are due to Allah. (Ibn Kathir, Tafisr 8:31)

Muhammad used to repeat stories that were told to him on his travels and then pass them off as revelations from Allah. Nadr ibn al-Harith was traveled as well, and recognized some of the stories as those he had heard in Persia ("tales of the ancients"). He would listen to Muhammad's rendition and then explain the true source to the same audience after the bogus prophet had finished.

For this, he was beheaded.

The Murder of Nadr Ibn al-Harith: The Doctor Who Knew Too Much

From Discover the Truth:

What the Apologists Want You to Believe

What They Offer as Proof

What They Leave Out and Why They are Wrong

Further Reading

The Murder of
Nadr Ibn al-Harith:
The Doctor Who
Knew Too Much