Has Islam been misunderstood for the last fourteen centuries? Part 1
Introduction
What is about to follow is a snapshot of Islam by way of quotes, deeds and sayings from Islamic figures (from their own mouths as well as the mouths of their contemporaries) from the seventh century to the present day.
A. The first century of Islam — 7th century AD
Allah and Muhammad
“Fight those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth from those who were given the Scripture — [fight] until they give the jizyah willingly while they are humbled.”
(Surah 9:29)
“It was narrated that Abu Hurairah said:
“The Messenger of Allah [SAW] said: ‘I have been commanded to fight the people until they say La ilaha illallah. If they say it then their blood and their wealth are safe from me, except for a right that is due, and their reckoning will be with Allah.’”
(Sunan- An Nasai 3971, Bukhari 6924, Sahih Muslim 20)
““It was narrated from Abu Dharr that he asked the prophet of Allah (ﷺ) which deed was best. He said:
“Belief in Allah and Jihad in the cause of Allah, the Mighty and Sublime.””
(Sunan-An’Nasai Book 25 Hadith 45)
“Narrated Abu Dhar:
I asked the Prophet, “What is the best deed?” He replied, “To believe in Allah and to fight for His Cause.””
(Sahih Bukhari Book 46 Hadith 694)
“Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:
Do not greet the Jews and the Christians before they greet you and when you meet any one of them on the roads force him to go to the narrowest part of it.”
(Sahih Muslim 2167a)
“It has been reported from Sulaiman b. Buraida through his father that when the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) appointed anyone as leader of an army or detachment he would especially exhort him to fear Allah and to be good to the Muslims who were with him. He would say:
Fight in the name of Allah and in the way of Allah. Fight against those who disbelieve in Allah. Make a holy war, do not embezzle the spoils; do not break your pledge; and do not mutilate (the dead) bodies; do not kill the children. When you meet your enemies who are polytheists, invite them to three courses of action. If they respond to any one of these, you also accept it and withhold yourself from doing them any harm. Invite them to (accept) Islam; if they respond to you, accept it from them and desist from fighting against them. Then invite them to migrate from their lands to the land of the Muhajireen and inform them that, if they do so, they shall have all the privileges and obligations of the Muhajireen. If they refuse to migrate, tell them that they will have the status of Bedouin Muslims and will be subjected to the Commands of Allah like other Muslims, but they will not get any share from the spoils of war or Fai’ except when they actually fight with the Muslims (against the disbelievers). If they refuse to accept Islam, demand from them the Jizya. If they agree to pay, accept it from them and hold off your hands. If they refuse to pay the tax, seek Allah’s help and fight them. When you lay siege to a fort and the besieged appeal to you for protection in the name of Allah and His Prophet, do not accord to them the guarantee of Allah and His Prophet, but accord to them your own guarantee and the guarantee of your companions for it is a lesser sin that the security given by you or your companions be disregarded than that the security granted in the name of Allah and His Prophet be violated. When you besiege a fort and the besieged want you to let them out in accordance with Allah’s Command, do not let them come out in accordance with His Command, but do so at your (own) command, for you do not know whether or not you will be able to carry out Allah’s behest with regard to them.”
(Sahih Muslim 1731a)
“It was narrated from Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudri that the Prophet of Allah sent an army to Awtas. They met the enemy, fought them, and prevailed over them. They acquired female prisoners who had husbands among the idolaters. The Muslims felt reluctant to be intimate with them. Then Allah, the Mighty and Sublime revealed:
“Also (forbidden are) women already married, except those (slaves) whom your right hands possess…”
(Sunan An-Nasai Book 26 Hadith 138)
Abubakar
“Narrated Abu Huraira:
When the Prophet (ﷺ) died and Abu Bakr became his successor and some of the Arabs reverted to disbelief, `Umar said, “O Abu Bakr! How can you fight these people although Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, ‘I have been ordered to fight the people till they say: ‘None has the right to be worshipped but Allah, ‘and whoever said, ‘None has the right to be worshipped but Allah’, Allah will save his property and his life from me, unless (he does something for which he receives legal punishment) justly, and his account will be with Allah?’ “Abu Bakr said, “By Allah! I will fight whoever differentiates between prayers and Zakat as Zakat is the right to be taken from property (according to Allah’s Orders). By Allah! If they refused to pay me even a kid they used to pay to Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ), I would fight with them for withholding it.” `Umar said, “By Allah: It was nothing, but I noticed that Allah opened Abu Bakr’s chest towards the decision to fight, therefore I realized that his decision was right.”
(Sahih Bukhari 6924)
“Abandon not jihad, when the people hold back from jihad, they are put to disgrace”
(Akbar Shah Najeebabadi, The History of Islam, vol. 1 (Darusalam, 2000)
Abu Huraira
“Narrated Abu Huraira:
The Verse: — “You (true Muslims) are the best of peoples ever raised up for mankind.” means, the best of peoples for the people, as you bring them with chains on their necks till they embrace Islam.”
(Sahih Bukhari 4557)
Khalid Ibn Walid
To the Sassanian rulers,
“Praise be to God, Who has scattered your servants, wrestled your sovereignty away, and rendered your plotting weak. Whoever worships the way we worship, faces the direction we face in prayer, and eats the meat slaughtered in our fashion, that person is a Muslim and obtains the benefits we enjoy and takes up the responsibilities we bear. Now then, when you receive this letter, send me hostages and place yourself under my protection. Otherwise, by Him other than whom there is no god, I will most certainly send against you a people who love death just as you love life”
(The History of Al-Tabari, vol 11)
Jewish Scribe in c.634
“He is deceiving. For do prophets come with swords and chariots? Verily these events of today are works of confusion…You will discover nothing true from the said prophet except human bloodshed.”
Michael the Syrian
“When Muawiya arrived he ordered all the inhabitants to be put to the sword, he placed guards so that no one escaped. After gathering up all the wealth of the town. they set to torturing the leaders to make them show them things that had been hidden. The Taiyaye led everyone into slavery — men and women, boys and girls — and they committed much debauchery in that unfortunate town; they wickedly committed immoralities inside churches. They returned to their countries rejoicing”
Theophanes the Confessor
Entry for the years 629 to 630 reads,
“He taught his subjects that he who kills an enemy or is killed by an enemy goes to Paradise; and he said that this paradise was one of carnal eating and drinking and intercourse with women, and had a river of wine, honey and milk, and that the women were not like the ones down here, but different ones, and that the intercourse was long lasting and pleasure continuous; and other things full of profligacy and stupidity”
Notable Islamic Jihad battles: Battle of Yarmuk
B. The second century of Islam — 8th century AD
Umar Ibn Abd al-Aziz
“O ye who believe! The non-Moslems are nothing but dirt, Allah has created them to be partisans of Satan; most treacherous in regard to all they do; whose whole endeavour in this life is useless, though they themselves imagine they are doing fine work. Upon them rests the curse of Allah, of the Angels and of man collectively”
Hajjaj Ibn Yusuf
To his army commander,
“My ruling is given; Kill anyone belonging to the combatants; arest their sons and daughters for hostages and imprison them. Whoever submits…grant them protection and settle their tribute as dhimmah”
Dahir, King of Singh
Writing to the aforementioned Hajjaj,
“The forts…have been already taken…Infidels converted to Islam or destroyed. Instead of idol temples, mosques and other places of worship have been built, pulpits have been erected…the call to prayers is raised so that devotions are performed at the stated hours. The takbir and praise to Almighty God are offered every morning and evening”
Emperor Leo
To Caliph Omar,
“Nor do I wish to pass over in silence the abominable authorization given you by your legislator to have with your wives a commerce that he has compared, I am ashamed to say, to the tilling of fields. As a consequence of this license, a goodly number of you have contracted the habit of multiplying their commerce with women, as if it were a question of tilling fields. Nor can I forget the chastity of your prophet and the manner full of artifice whereby he succeeded in seducing the woman Zeda (Zaynab, the wife of Zaid). Of all the abominations the worst is that of accusing God of being the originator of all these filthy acts, which fact has doubtless been the cause of the introduction among your compatriots of this disgusting law. Is there indeed a worse blasphemy than that of alleging God is the cause of all this evil?”
On paradise, he continues,
“We do not expect to find their springs of wine or honey or milk. We do not expect to enjoy there commerce with women who remain forever virgin for we put no faith in such silly tales engendered by extreme ignorance and paganism…but for you who are given up to carnal vices, and who have never been known to limit the same, you who prefer your pleasures to any good, it is precisely for this reason that you consider the ecclesiastical realm of no account if it is not peopled with women”
He concludes,
“What could one expect from you, when I see you, even now, excited by a species of fanaticism worthy of a pagan, exercising such cruelties towards the faithful of God, with the purpose of converting them to apostasy, and putting to death all those who resist your design so that daily is accomplished the prediction of our Saviour: “The time will come when everyone who puts you to death will believe he is serving God”. For you are far from thinking in killing all those who resist you, you are putting yourself to an eternal death”
Theophanes the Confessor
Entry for the siege of Constantinople,
“In the same year, after a violent earthquake had occurred in Syria, Omar banned the use of wine in cities and set about forcing the Christians to become converted; those that converted he exempted from tax, while those that refused to do so he killed and so produced many martyrs…He composed a letter concerning religion addressed to the emperor Leo in the belief he would persuade him to convert”
Notable Islamic Jihad battles: The First Siege of Constantinople
C. The third century of Islam — 9th Century AD
Ibn Hisham
“We are God’s helpers and the assistants of His prophet, and will fight men until they believe in God; and he who believes in God and His prophet has protected his life and property from us; and he who disbelieves we will fight in God unceasingly, and killing him will be a small matter to us”
(Ibn Hisham p.629)
Abu Yusuf
Written advice to Harun Al Rashid in his capacity as a Muslim jurist,
“Whenever the Muslims besiege an enemy stronghold, establish a treaty with the besieged who agree to surrender on certain conditions that will be decided by a delegate, and this man decides that their soldiers are to be executed and their women and children taken prisoner, this decision is lawful…The decision made by the chosen arbitrator, if it does not specify the killing of enemy fighters and the enslavement of their women and children, but establishes a poll tax, would also be lawful; if it is stipulated that the vanquished were to be invited to accept Islam, it would also be valid, and they would therefore become Muslims and freemen. It is up to the Imam to decide what treatment is to be meted out and he will choose that which is preferable for the religion and for Islam. If he esteems that the execution of the fighting men and the enslavement of their women and children is better for Islam and its followers…”
Al-Mamun (Abbasid Caliph)
In response to Byzantine emperor Theophilus,
“I should make the answer to your letter calvary horses bearing steadfast, courageous and keen-sighted riders, who would contend with you over your destruction, to seek God’s favor by spilling your blood…They have the promise of one of the two best things: a speedy victory or a glorious return to God which establishes clearly for you the decisive proof, involving the summoning of you and your supporters to knowledge of the divine unity and the divine law of the religion of the hanifs. If you refuse, then you can hand over tribute which will entail the obligation of protection and make incumbent a respite. But if you choose not to make that, then you will clearly experience face-to-face our qualities to an extent which will make any effort of eloquent speaking and an exhaustive attempt at description superfluous. Peace be upon him who follows the divine guidance”
Caliph al-Mutawakkil
On issuing a decree,
“Do not therefore seek help from any of the polytheists and reduce the people of the protected religion to the stations which God has assigned them…”
Notable Islamic Jihad battles: Invasion of Crete, Sicily, Asia Minor
D. Fourth century of Islam: 10th century AD
Caliph Abdulrahman III
Records of his treatment of his subjects survive,
“Muhammad (One of his officers) chose the 100 most important barbarians and sent them to the Alcazar of Cordoba…since [Abdulrahman III] was vacationing in the orchard…they were taken there. their marching coinciding with the people’s exiting from the…mosque…upon the conclusion of the Friday prayer, so that many gathered and followed to see what end the prisoners would have, and it turned out that (Abdulrahman III) was installed on the upper balcony over the orchard facing the river…to watch the execution. All the prisoners, one by one, were decapitated in his presence and under his eyes, in plain sight of the people, whose feelings against the infidel Allah alleviated, and they showered their blessings on the Caliph. The death of these barbarians was celebrated in a poem by Ubaydallah b, Yahya b. Idris…”
Ibn Hayyan records,
“I must say that I have heard from ulama generationally close to that dynasty about the brutality of (Abdulrahman III) towards the women that were under his protection and discretion, similar to what he showed in public toward men, according to the principal ones among his own intimate servants — eunuchs who lived in his house and witnessed his personal life: a female slave who was one of his most highly regarded favorites, but whose haughty personality did not bend easily to his vanity, having remained with him alone in one of his leisure days to drink in the garden of az-Zahra, sitting by his side until drinking had an effect on him, and he threw himself upon her face to kiss and bite her, and she got disgusted by this and turned her face away, raining on his parade; this so provoked his anger that he order the eunuchs to seize her and put a candle to her face, burning and destroying her beauty…until they destroyed her face, burning her badly and finishing her — one of his worst actions.”
Ibn Hazm of Cordoba also records,
“Abd Al-Rahman…threw himself into sin and committed doubtful acts, abusing his subjects, giving himself cynically to pleasure, punishing with cruelty and caring little for the effusion of blood. He was the one who hanged the sons of the blacks from the well of his palace as a sort of counter-weight to draw water, making them die;…”
Catholic nun Hrovitsha records that Abd Al-Rahman also happened upon a thirteen-year-old Christian boy who had been taken hostage. Entranced by a boy’s beauty, the caliph made amorous advances upon him, only to be rejected; enraged, he had the boy tortured and then beheaded.
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
“The Muslims in Jerusalem made a rising and burnt down the Church…which they plundered, and destroyed all they could of it”
(Al-Maqrizi)
Notable Islamic Jihad attacks: Burning of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
E. Fifth century of Islam: 11th century AD
Abu Ishaq
On lamenting the appointment of Jews in position of authority over Muslims in Granada, he writes,
“He has chosen an infidel as his secretary…turn your eyes to the other countries and you will find the Jews are outcast dogs. Why should you alone be different and bring them near when in all the land they are kept afar?…I came up to Granada and I saw them frolicking there…they collect all the revenues…they dress in the finest clothes while you wear the meanest, they are the trustees of your secrets, yet how can traitors be trusted? …their chief ape has marbled his house…our affairs are now in his hands…He laughs at God and our religion…hasten to slaughter him as an offering…do not consider it a breach of faith to kill them, the breach of faith would be to let them carry on…”
The above incitement led to the murder of four thousand Jews.
William of Tyre
“When the Muslims desired to exact anything by force from either the patriarch or the people, any delay in rendering obedience was immediately followed by the threat that the church would be pulled down”
On Jerusalem’s Christians, he writes,
“…Death threatened them every day and, what was worse than death, the fear of servitude, harsh and intolerable, ever lowered before them”
And of how Muslims treated churches,
“Even while they were in the very act of celebrating the holy rites, the enemy would violently force an entrance into the churches which had been restored and preserved with such infinite difficulty utterly without reverence for the consecrated places, they sat upon the very altars and struck terror to the heart of the worshippers with their mad cries and whistlings. They overturned the chalices, trod underfoot the untensils devoted to the divine offices, broke the marble statues and showered blows and insults upon the clergy. The Lord Patriach then in office was dragged from his seat by hair and beard and thrown to the ground…Again and again he was seized and thrust into prison without cause. Treatment fit only for the lowest slave was inflicted upon him in order to torture his people, who suffered with him as with a father.”
Emperor Alexios I Komnenos
“[The Muslim invaders] took virgins and made them public prostitutes…Mothers were violated in the presence of their daughters, r*ped over and over again by different men, while their daughters were compelled, not only to watch, but to sing obscene songs and to dance. Then they changed places, and the suffering, which is painful and shameful to speak of, was inflicted upon the daughters, while the filthy activity was adorned by the obscene songs of the unfortunate mothers…When the female sex was not spared — an action which might be excused since it is at least in accord with nature — they became worse than animals, breaking all human laws by turning on men. Their lust overflowed to the point that the execrable and profoundly intolerable crime of s0d0my, which they committed against men of middle or low station, they also committed against a certain bishop, killing him”
Michael the Syrian
“As the Turks were ruling the lands of Syria and Palestine, they inflicted injuries on Christians who went to pray in Jerusalem, beat them, pillaged them and levied the poll tax…moreover every time they saw a caravan of Christians, particularly of those from Rome and the lands of Italy, they made every effort to cause their death in diverse ways.”
Pope Urban II
“For, as most of you have heard, the Turks and Arabs have attacked them and have conquered the territory of Romania…They have occupied more and more of the lands of those Christians and have overcome them in seven battles. They have killed and captured many and have destroyed churches and devastated the empire…”
“From the confines of Jerusalem and from the city of Constantinople a grievous report has gone forth and has repeatedly been brought to our ears; namely, that a race from the kingdom of the Persians, an accursed race…violently invaded the lands of those Christians and has depopulated them by pillage and fire. They have led away a part of the captives into their own country and a part…they have killed by cruel tortures. They have either destroyed the churched of God or appropriated them for rites of their own religion. They destroy the altars, after having defiled them with their uncleanness…”
Notable Islamic jihad attacks: Burning of more churches, persecution of Christians, assaulting Christian pilgrims, Battle of Manzikert
F. Sixth century of Islam: 12th century AD
Ibn Abdun
Defining the rules for dhimmis in his capacity as a Muslim official,
“A Muslim must not act as a masseur to a Jew or a Christian; he must not clear their rubbish nor clean their latrines. In fact, the Jew and the Christian are more suited for such work, which are degrading tasks. A Muslim must not act as a guide or a stableman for an animal owned by a Jew or Christian; he must not act as their donkey-driver or hold their stirrups for them. If it be noticed that a Muslim contravenes these prohibitions, he shall be rebuked…
It is forbidden to sell a coat that once belonged to a leper, to a Jew or Christian, unless the buyer is informed of its origin…
No tax-officer or policeman, Jew or Christianmay be allowed to wear the dress of an aristocrat, nor of a jurist, nor of a wealthy individual; on the contrary they must be detested and avoided. It is forbidden to accost them with the greeting “Peace be upon you!”…
The sounds of bells must be prohibited in Muslim territories reserved only for the lands of the infidels…it would be preferable not to let Jewish or Christian physicians be able to heal Muslims”
On the slave markets in Ummayad Spain
“The merchant tells the slave girls to act in a coquettish manner with the old men and with the timid men among the potential buyers to make them crazy with desire. The merchant paints red the tips of the fingers of a white slave; he paints in gold those of a black slave; and he dresses them all in transparent clothes, the white female slaves in pink and the black ones in yellow and red”
Nur-al Din
One of his emirs said of him,
“If I do not rush to Nur-al-Din’s aid, he will strip me of my domain, for he has already written to the devotees and ascetics to request the aid of their prayers and to encourage them to incite the Muslims to jihad…”
Saladin
Michael the Syrian writes of Saladin,
“Saladin issued an order in Egypt that Christians must always appear in public wearing a belt as a sign of servitude, and that they could not mount a horse or a mule”
Saladin’s secretary Imad ed-Din gives an account of how his enemies were treated after the battle of Hattin against the Christians,
“Saladin ordered that they should be beheaded, choosing to have them dead rather than in prison. With him was a whole band of scholars and Sufis and a certain number of devout men and ascetics; each begged to be allowed to kill one of them, and drew his sword and rolled back his sleeve. Saladin, his face joyful, was sitting on his dais; the unbelievers showed black despair”
Muhammed Al-Isfahani writes about the retaking of Jerusalem under Saladin thus,
“How many well-guarded women were profaned, how many queens were ruled, and nubile girls married, and noble women given away, and miserly women forced to yield themselves, and women who had been kept hidden stripped of their modesty…and free women occupied, and precious ones used for hard work, and pretty things put to the test and virgins dishonoured and proud women deflowered…and happy ones made to weep! How many noblemen took them as concubines, how many ardent men blazed for one of them, and celibates were satisfied by them, and thirsty men sated by them, and turbulent men able to give vent to their passion. How many lovely women were the exclusive property of one man, how many great ladies were sold at low prices…and lofty ones abased…and those accustomed to thrones dragged down!”
Saladin also mentions his stated goal and mission,
“I think that when God grants me victory over Palestine, I shall divide my territories, make a will stating my wishes, then set sail on this sea for their far-off lands and pursue the Franks there, so as to free the earth of anyone that does not believe in Allah or die in the attempt”
Notable Islamic jihad attacks: Battle of Hattin
G. Seventh century of Islam: 13th century AD
Abu Yusuf, the Almoravid ruler of Spain
He in his capacity as ruler,
“Ordered the Jewish inhabitants of the Mahgreb to make themselves conspicuous among the rest of the population by assuming a special attire consisting of dark blue garments, the sleeves of which were so wide as to reach to their feet and — instead of a turban — to hand over their ears a cap whose form was so ill-conceived as tobe easily mistaken for a pack-saddled. This apparel became the costume of all the Jews of Mahgreb and remained obligatory until the end of the prince’s reign and the beginning of that of his son Abu Abd Allah”
He also stated regarding Jews converting to Islam,
“If I were sure that they really had become Muslims, I would let them assimilate through marriage and other means; on the other hand, had I evidence that they had remained infidels I would have them massacred, reduce their children to slavery and confiscate their belongings for the benefit of the believers”
Marco Polo
The venetian traveller writes,
“…the doctrine of the Saracens which excuse every crime, yea, even murder itself, when committed on such as are not of their religion…”
And again,
“According to their doctrine, whatever is stolen or plundered from others of a different faith, is properly taken, and the theft is no crime; whilst those who suffer death or injury by the hands of Christians, are considered as martyrs”
He wrote of Islamic paradise, that it was a place where,
“every species of sensual gratification should be found, in the society of beautiful nymphs”
He also observed that the Muslim ruler of Baghdad’s daily thoughts were,
“employed on the means of converting to his religion those who resided within his dominions, or, upon their refusal, in forming pretences for putting them to death”
Notable Islamic jihad attacks: Oppression and massacres of Christians and Jews
…to be continued
Quotes culled from the following books:
Sword and Scimitar by Raymond Ibrahim
Defenders of the West by Raymond Ibrahim
History of Jihad by Robert Spencer
In the Shadow of the Sword by Tom Holland
