Like Caesar's description of Gaul, the primary materials of Islam are divided into three parts.
If you wish to be fully informed regarding Islam then you must read all of the foundational documents. 1. The Quran, 2. the Hadiths and 3. The biography of Muhammad. It is in the biography that you will find information regarding the sequence of the announcements of the Quranic verses (as the Quran is not arranged by order of “revelation” but by length of passage). Here you will find the sequence of events in Muhammad's life (even the prediction by a Jewish soothsayer of his coming birth and mission, discussed below). You will find who really started what and why (as the followers of Mr. Muhammad were quite proud of his accomplishments).
Ibn Ishaq documents as far as possible the “chain of provenance” of who said what regarding events and the comments of his editor Ibn Hisham further clarify both the reliability of the passage and provide further details. In addition, controversies regarding accuracy are acknowledged by both Ishaq and Hisham. Large amounts of poetry written in reaction to events are included in the biography (and potential forgeries acknowledged). The poetry is quite the window into the mindset of the participants and therefore their world (I recommend Raphel Patai's “The Arab Mind” for further insights into why the poetry takes it's specific form and language). I am reminded of the game known as “telephone” but from a practical standpoint such a concern is irrelevant as serious practitioners of Islam will regard all materials as established fact. So, let's look into these facts.
Page 94: Ibnu'l-Hayyaban came from Syria to Mecca in order the hope of seeing the “...emergence of a prophet whose time was at hand” and was a Jewish soothsayer. He predicts the coming of Muhammad by noting the following: “His time has come, and don't let anyone get to him before you, O Jews; for he will be sent to shed blood and to take captive the women and children of those who oppose him. Let not that keep you back from him”.
Page 131: In this episode some members of Muhammad's tribe (the Quraysh) had been insulting Mr. Muhammad as he walked around the temple enclosing the black stone. Mr. Muhammad did not care for being insulted and so “...He stopped and said 'Will you listen to me O Quraysh? By him who holds my life in His hand I bring you slaughter' “.
Page 165: Regarding Sura 109. One of the “Satanic” verses (meaning put into the mind of Muhammad by Satan. Yes you read that right, by Satan). Interestingly Sura 109 is one of the verses frequently quoted to show the “tolerance” of Islam “...You can have your religion, all of it, and I have mine”. Later Mr. Muhammad is chastised by Allah (via Gabriel) for saying this (page 166) and Muhammad is remorseful. Allah then “sends down” a rewrite of Sura 109 via Sura 22.51 which then abrogates the original and acknowledges that this Sura is an undoing of the influence of Satan.
Page 197: Here we see “The Beginning of Islam Among the Helpers”. The interesting passage here is found on 198 where 12 “helpers” are at a fair and “..they gave the apostle the pledge of women. This was before the duty of making war was laid upon them”.
Page 208: The second pledge[aka 'Aqaba] (and NOT of women). “When God gave permission to his apostle to fight, the second 'Aqaba contained conditions involving war which were not in the first act of fealty. Now they bound themselves to WAR AGAINST ALL AND SUNDRY FOR GOD AND HIS APOSTLE, WHILE HE PROMISED THEM FOR FAITHFUL SERVICE THUS THE REWARD OF PARADISE” (my emphasis, not in the original).
Page 212: Permission is given to fight defensively in reaction to being “abused” by the Quraysh via being “seduced” away from Islam and being exiled (note that by this time Mr. M.had been stirring up quite the fuss and destroying idols. In addition he had converts from other tribes and this was a HUGE problem as now there were converts not constrained by kinship ties in a society where disputes often lead to bloodshed save for fearing to shed the blood of a relative, even if distant).
Page 213: Sura 22.40-22 makes the scene: “ 'Fight them so that there be no more seduction', i.e. until no believer is seduced from his religion. 'And the religion is God's' , i.e. until God alone is worshipped' (spelling in the original)”.
Page 239: Jewish adversaries and hypocrites[polytheists in league with the Jews] (note the language used): “They were the hypocrites, clinging to the polytheism of their fathers and denying the resurrection; yet when Islam appeared and their people flocked to it they were compelled to pretend to accept it to SAVE THEIR LIVES” (my emphasis).
Page 280: And so it starts: “Then the apostle prepared for war in pursuance of God's command to fight his enemies and to fight those polytheists who were near at hand whom God commanded him to fight”.
Page 281: “The raid on Waddan which was his first raid”. Note that the text does NOT say this was a defensive action but a RAID. “Then he went forth raiding in Safar...”.
Page 287: Caravan of Quraysh raided while the Muslims pretend to be pilgrims.
Pate 363: Muhammad goes to war with the Banu (tribe) Qaynuqa (Jews) over allegedly breaking an agreement with “the apostle”. Turns out this was an ordinary blood feud over killing and counter killing that was provoked by a joke played on a Muslim woman in which her dress was briefly lifted and people laughed. Normally these things were handled by paying a blood price so the feud would end but Muhammad threatened to kill 700 men over the issue (Jews) and was dissuaded by Abdullah b. Ubayy b. Salul (who was a Muslim) as these potential victims were clients of his who had protected him. Mr. M. then backed down but then he later gets a “message” from you-know-who: Sura 5.56 in which it states; “Oh you who believe, take not Jews and Christians as friends. They are friends of one another. Who of you takes them as friends is one of them...”.
Page 369: This episode demonstrates the power and influence Muhammad was now wielding. Two brothers, one a Muslim, one not argued after the Muslim had killed a Jew per Muhammad's orders (he had given an order to “Kill any Jew that falls into your power”. And so they did. The Muslim brother killed Ibn Sunayna. The non-Muslim brother was shocked and the following transpired: “You enemy of God, did you kill him when much of the fat on your belly comes from his wealth?” The Muslim brother replied: “Had the one who ordered me to kill him ordered me to kill you I would have cut your head off”. The non-Muslim brother was amazed and exclaimed: “By God, a religion which can bring you to this is marvellous! (spelling in the original)”. He then became a Muslim (i.e. this religion was so wonderful it could cause a brother to forget kinship ties and kill his own brother).
And so it goes on from here. Rather than list page after page of murder, mayhem, lying, betrayal, marauding ad-nauseum I will note only two additional episodes.1. This is the case of the Banu (tribe) Qurayza. (page 461 is the start of the story). Here Mr. M. gets a visit from Gabriel who asks him if he has stopped fighting, Mr. M. explains that he has and Gabriel states “God commands you, Muhammad, to go to Banu Qurayza. I am about to go to them and shake their stronghold”. And so Muhammad sets out to attack this Jewish tribe. They are told they can save themselves and their women and children if they convert but refuse. The Jews lose the battle and surrender hoping to negotiate terms (as was usually done). The terms were death. Muhammad HIMSELF, PERSONALLY beheaded between 600-900 men in one day (done in batches, as, after all, this hard work!). 2. The taking of Khaybar (A.H.7)(page 510). By now the reputation of you-know-who had spread. The Jews of Khaybar surrendered and negotiated a settlement in which they remained (subject to expulsion at any time) but had to give the Muslims 50% of everything they produced. The biography notes: “So Khaybar became the prey of the Muslims...”. You read that right, “THE PREY” (page 516).
In sum: There is nothing like original source material. By reading this for yourself you will not be subjected to dissembling obfuscation by Islamic apologists who are quick to complain about “taken out of context”. Read the biography and see the context for yourself. Although mind-numbing at times it is well worth the effort. And you better hurry up and get to it as there WILL be a quiz next Tuesday! Just to help you prepare, here is a sample question: If you were to read aloud in a public place, word-for-word from the biography, some of the descriptions of what was done by the “Prophet Of Islam”while you were in a Muslim-majority country, how many seconds would it take until you were relieved of any concerns regarding having enough savings for retirement?
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