Ibn Kathir proudly explains,
“Allah abolished the part of the treaty between the Prophet and the
idolaters about the women, particularly. So He forbade returning Muslim
women to the idolaters and revealed the Ayah about testing them.''
Ibn Ishaq mentioned about a letter
written by Urwa b. al-Zubayr, who had the principal authority on apostolic
tradition. Isahq quoted from this letter, “The apostle made peace with
Quraish on the day of al-Hudaybiya on condition that he should return to
them those who came without the permission of their guardians. But when
women migrated to the apostle and to Islam, God refused to allow them to
be returned to the polytheists……”.
God forbade it!
How convenient! Mohammed clearly
broke the treaty and cited Allah’s order in this regard. Allah was not a
mediator of the treaty; he did not sign the treaty, nor he is the god of
the Quraish. Why should the Quraish care if the verse in question is sent
by Allah or uttered by the she-camel of the prophet?
The next year, 7 A.H., Muhammad
was allowed to enter
Mecca
. Any Muslim would have hiccups if I said the truth but logically Mohammed
must have worshipped the idols of Kaba. What else could he have done while
visiting the sacred place of pagans? However, Islamic scriptures are
silent about which idol Mohammed did worship!
People have different types of
hobbies--some collect stamps, some collect books, some collect antiques.
The great prophet of Islam had an unusual hobby--he loved collecting
wives. Although he was on his way to visit the so-called sacred holy
place, he could not resist marrying another woman.
After the pilgrimage, he tried to
stay in
Mecca
more than three days, violating Article 6 of the Treaty of Hodaibya and
made an excuse of a wedding feast. Ibn Ishaq wrote, “The apostle
remained three days in
Mecca
. Huwaytib b. Hisl with a few Quraysh came to him on the third day because
Quraysh had entrusted him with the duty of sending the apostle of out of
Mecca
. They said: ‘Your time is up, so get out from us.’ The apostle
answered, ‘How would it harm you if you were to let me stay and I gave a
wedding feast among you and you came too?’ They replied, ‘We don’t
need your food, so get out”
The Quraish could have easily killed him and his companions. Instead, they
simply expelled him along with his companions. Probably they were under
the impression that Mohammed would never break the treaty that was to last
for 10 years and hurt his own people--a false conviction that might have
motivated them to spare Mohammed. However, they had a little surprise at
the end.
Upon Mohammed’s return to
Medina
, another drama took place in
Mecca
that would make Mohammed’s day. Beside Muhammad and the Quraish, there
were two other tribes involved in this story. They are B. Bakr and Khuza.
When a man of B. Bakr was in a trading journey and passing through
Khuza’s area, Khuza’s people killed him and took all of his
possessions. In response to this robbery, B. Bakr attacked and killed the
robber. Khuza embraced Islam and sought protection from Muhammad, whereas
B. Bakr joined the Quraish.
Khuza was a robber who killed an
innocent merchant for the sole purpose of looting. How could a God’s
prophet give him shelter? If Muhammad was a decent person, he should have
kicked this guy out. Instead, he accepted Khuza for two obvious reasons.
First, Muhammad was a robber, too, so it was a union of two criminals. As
the proverb goes, ‘A man is known by the company he keeps’. Second,
Muhammad cleverly manipulated the conflict between Khuza and Badr.
We must note one important item
here. The Quraish did not attack Muhammad after the treaty and they
fulfilled all obligations. Even though Article 5 of the Treaty of Hodaibya
says each party can make a treaty with other tribes and Khuza joined
Mohammed, it does not open the door for Muhammad to attack the Quraish.
Muhammad became more powerful with
Khuza’s support. In addition, those Muslims who migrated to
Abyssinia
returned and joined Muhammad’s army.
After realizing the conflict
between Khuza and B. Bakr, and their support to Muhammad and the Quraish,
respectively, Abu Sufyan, the Quraish chief, came to
Medina
and pleaded for clearing up any misunderstanding that may have surfaced.
Muhammad refused to talk to him and deliberately ignored him because he
gained enough strength to defeat the Quraish. Abu Sufyan begged Umar, Ali
and Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad, to make arrangements to talk to
Muhammad. He even went to the mosque, all in vain, and pleaded, (sic) “O
men, I grant protection between men.” Muhammad did not meet Abu Sufyan.
Although the Treaty of Hudaibya
had a 10-year term, Allah dissolved the treaty within two years.
Shamelessly, Allah declared, ”And an announcement from Allah and His
Messenger, to the people (assembled) on the day of the Great Pilgrimage,-
that Allah and His Messenger dissolve (treaty) obligations with the Pagans
(Q9:3).
When Muhammad set his camp near
Mecca
, one of his army corporals managed to contact Abu Sufyan and he
volunteered to meet Muhammad to avoid further bloodshed. The last episode
of the drama was played in Mohammed’s tent. Ibn Ishaq wrote, “He
(Muhammad) said: ‘Woe to you, Abu Sufyan, isn’t it time that you
recognize that I am God’s apostle?’ He answered, ‘As to that I still
have some doubt.’ I said (Abbas) to him, ’Submit and testify that
there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is the apostle of God before
you lose your head,’ so he did so.”
Therefore, Islam was established
in
Mecca
peacefully (!) and Muslims lived heftily ever after.
The moral of the story is: Be
careful when Islam is in a hatching mood. All sorts of immoral and
unethical actions, including but not limited to trickery, treachery,
deception and killing, are allowed in the course of spreading Islam
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