The Truth:
According to his biographers, Muhammad had his
men butcher at least three elderly persons: Umm Qirfa, Abu Afak and an unnamed man
who refused to prostrate himself at the Kaaba.
After assuming military superiority in Arabia,
Muhammad sent his adopted son, Zayd bin Haritha, on a raid against a tribe that
wanted nothing to do with Islam. They resisted the first attempt to force
them into the Muslim fold, and so Muhammad sent Zayd back, where he was
successful in killing the men and capturing the women as they were attempting to
flee with their children:
“…and then we attacked from all sides and
reached their watering-place where a battle was fought. Some of the
enemies were killed and some were taken prisoners. I saw a group of
persons that consisted of women and children [escaping in the distance]. I was afraid lest they
should reach the mountain before me, so I shot an arrow between them and the
mountain. When they saw the arrow, they stopped. So I brought them,
driving them along” (Sahin Muslim
4345) The captured women included Umm Qirfa:
She was a very old woman, wife of Malik. Her
daughter [and another] were also taken. Zayd ordered Qays to kill Umm
Qirfa and he killed her cruelly by putting a rope between her legs and to two
camels and driving them until they rent her in two). (Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 980) The old woman’s daughter was brought back to
Mecca along with the other prisoners, where she was awarded to her captor as a
“prize:”
I drove them along until I brought them to Abu
Bakr who bestowed that girl upon me as a prize. So we arrived in Medina.
I had not yet disrobed her when the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him)
met me in the street and said: “Give me that girl.” (Sahih Muslim
4345) The passage goes on to say that the woman was then traded as 'ransom' for prisoners held in Mecca.
The eminent scholar, Sir William Muir, notes:
We read of no disapprobation
expressed by the Prophet at the inhumane treatment of Omm Kirfa, and are
therefore warranted in holding him to be an accomplice in the ferocious act. (The
Life of Mahomet) Muhammad also ordered the death of an elderly man
named Abu Afak. This occurred less than two years after he had arrived at
Medina. Abu Afak was said to be 120 years old. His "crime" was to
compose satirical poetry about Muhammad in protest of the
many assassinations that the prophet of Islam had ordered.
For "showing disaffection," Abu Afak
himself became Muhammad's next victim:
The apostle said, "Who will deal with this
rascal for me?" Whereupon [a follower] went forth and killed him. (Ibn
Ishaq/Hisham 995). The official reason is that Abu Afak, "gave
the lie to Allah's religion." The assassin is said to have mocked his
victim by thrusting the knife into the body while saying, "take that, Abu Afak, in spite of
your age." (Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 995)
Muhammad later killed a woman (and mother of
five) for protesting the death of Afak. That the self-proclaimed prophet
of Allah had to murder those who spoke out about him, rather then countering their
words with argument, speaks poorly as to the legitimacy of his claims.
Yet another elderly man was murdered following Muhammad’s order to kill any
non-Muslim who remained in Mecca following his capture of the city in 630.
(The
early part of the Qur'an's ninth chapter commands the slayings). The man's death is recorded
in Bukhari:
The Prophet recited Suratan-Najm (103) at
Mecca and prostrated while reciting it and those who were with him did the same
except an old man who took a handful of small stones or earth and lifted it to
his forehead and said, "This is sufficient for me." Later on, I saw him killed
as a non-believer. (Bukhari
19:173)
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