How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its adherents! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next life of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men. The influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith.
Sir Winston Churchill
(The River Was, Vol.II, Longmans, London)
Whether there be a God or not, most people would conclude that should such an entity exist, someone claiming to be a messenger or being directly guided by Him, Her or It should possess characteristics of a degree superior to that expected among the common man.
How does Muhammad’s traits stack up against what would be expected of a human being supposedly guided by a superior being? Using the Islamic scriptures, Qur’an and Hadiths, we can ascertain from his teachings and actions, the nature of his personality.
Muhammad was certainly a caring and generous person. Many hadiths describe him as being kind and charitable. However such attributes were focussed solely on those who accepted his message, those who recited the Islamic article of faith which includes the statement that Muhammad is the apostle of Allah, and to those who fought in the way of Allah to bring victory to Muhammad. When such characteristics are limited only to those who seek the interest of the person dispensing it, we can easily ascertain their lack of genuineness and the degree of selfishness involved.
Muhammad clearly says, many times, in the Qur’an to not take friends from the unbelievers. One such verse is Qur'an 4:89 which clearly rejects any form of universal love and kindness:
So choose not friends from the unbelievers till they forsake their homes in the way of Allah; if they turn back then take them and kill them wherever ye find them, and choose no friend nor helper from among them.
Basically what Muhammad states here is that a Muslim should not befriend those who have failed to give up their homes and family to embrace his cult. If they do accept Islam but then turn away from it, you have God's permission to seek them out wherever they may be and kill them.
Muhammad was a man seeking self aggrandisement, domination and adulation from among his followers, in other words a narcissist. He used the tool of religion to subvert the minds of his followers with promises of an opulent paradise and threats of an eternal torturous hell to gain their reverence. It was only through him that an afterlife in paradise was guaranteed. A narcissist would lie, cheat and scheme to achieve his goals. Perfect examples of these qualities in Muhammad were his claims to be:
· The last messenger of God (Q.33:40)
· The best of creation (Q.33:21)
· Creator of rules that are binding to all (Q.33:36)
· The one who must be obeyed (Q.26:163 & Q26:179)
· Sent as a Mercy to the world (Q.21:107)
· The one, if followed will gain love and forgiveness from Allah (Q.3:31)
· On the right hand of Allah on the day of judgement, interceding on the believers’ behalf. (Q.30:13, SM 1:373)
· Worthy of praise and blessing from Allah, angels and his followers (Q.33:56)
Muhammad demanded of the Muslims that he be loved more than even their own children, mother or father. SM 1:71 The Messenger of Allah said: None of you is a believer till I am dearer to him than his child, his father and the whole of mankind.
Such affirmations about himself reveal Muhammad to be a man who suffered from a lack of self esteem, requiring cult worship, needing to build grandiose fantasies in an attempt to project an aura of invincibility. He portayed himelf as the best example of a human being; a role model for all to follow until the end of time.
Muhammad married Aisha when she was six years old and consummated the marriage on her ninth birthday when he was fifty three.
SM8:3309 Aisha said: Allah's Messenger married me when I was six years old, and I was admitted to his house at the age of nine.
SM8:3311 Aisha reported that Allah's Apostle married her when she was seven years old, and she was taken to his house as a bride when she was nine, and her dolls were with her
His claim that seeing her when she was five years old, in a dream, was Allah’s sign and consent for the marriage. This self fulfilling dream and prophecy is narrated in the following hadith:
SB62:15 Narrated 'Aisha: Allah's Apostle said to me, “You have been shown to me twice in my dreams {when she was aged five}. A man was carrying you in a silken cloth and said to me, 'This is your wife.' I uncovered it; and behold, it was you. I said to myself, 'If this dream is from Allah, He will cause it to come true.
A man of that age cannot have such feelings for a five year old girl unless he was inclined to paedophilic tendencies. Also a god that could find time to sanction the marriage of a six year old girl to a fifty year old man, as Muhammad claimed Allah had done is a god who really has no business running a universe.
The Qur'an itself sanctions the divorce of wives who have not yet reached puperty. Verse 65:44 states that with divorce a woman should wait three months before re-marrying, ...and for those who have no courses {wives not yet reached puberty} it is the same.
Muslim apologists claim that child marriages in those days were normal, yet they forget to mention that such marriages were between children of similar ages, not of an elderly fifty year old to a six year old. Muhammad exposed his desire for young girls when a Muslim soldier revealed he had married a widow. Muhammad’s response was, “Why have you not married a virgin to fondle with each other?” (SB 38:504) Such examples, because of their endorsement by Muhammad, have continued down the ages where to this day in Islamic countries, because young girls attract a larger dowry, children are sold into marriages to men old enough to be their grandfathers.
Muhammad’s massacre of the Banu Qurayzah tribe is infamous in Islamic history, SAD 38-4390 - Narrated Atiyyah al-Qurazi: I was among the captives of Banu Qurayzah. The Muslims examined us, and those who had begun to grow pubic hair were killed, and those who had not were not killed. Ordering the genocide of all the men from a tribe in addition to banishing entire communities from their homelands, Muhammad confirmed his trait as a mass murderer even to his deathbed when he ordered the extinction of Jews and Christians from Arabia.
Muhammad’s calculated and surprise attacks on the Jewish and Pagan tribes of Arabia are perfect examples of a terrorist. He used intimidation, coercion and fear to avenge those unwilling to submit to his political and religious ideologies. He even popularised the burning (now bombing) of Mosques, with believers inside praying, claiming those adherents intended to harm Islam (Q.9:107-8). Muhammad called two of his followers and said, “Go to this mosque, whose people are unrighteous; destroy it; burn it.” Although there were people in it, they burned and destroyed it. (Sirat Rasul Allah - Tabuk) Their only crime being their unwillingness to join Muhammad on his jihad to conquer Tabuk (see chapter ‘Sirat Rasul Allah’ section ‘Tabuk’). The Islamic terrorists of today are on no different a path than Muhammad set for them fourteen hundreds years ago.
After Muhammad, the women of Arabia had lost all their rights and privileges as human beings and in effect became chattel, mere possession of their men-folk. Prior to Islam women in general were not subjected to veils. They owned businesses (as did Muhammad’s first wife), were poets, tribal leaders and queens and even led armies. This all changed with Islamic misogynistic teachings. Muhammad was not kind to women. He encouraged the beating of wives, which he himself did. He raped and encouraged raping of female captives and slaves. He belittled women by stating they are intellectually inferior to men and are to be treated like domestic animals. He threatened women with hellfire for not properly serving their husbands, prescribed half the inheritance for women compared to men and proclaimed that a woman’s testimony is worth only half that of a man’s.
These and many more repressive teachings concerning women clearly illustrates Muhammad’s trait as a misogynist, sanctioning the utter subjugation of women by men. The chapter ‘A Woman Subdued’ provides comprehensive details on these points.
In addition to his eleven wives, Muhammad also possessed a number of concubines; women captured as slaves and used for sex, without marriage. Muhammad had Allah specifically grant him permission to co-habit with all variety and any number of women; Q33:50 O Prophet! We have made lawful for you the wives to whom you have paid dowry; and the captured prisoners of war; and daughters of your uncles and aunts, and any believing woman who dedicates her soul to the Prophet if the Prophet wishes to wed her; this only for thee. A man, claiming to be divinely inspired yet living a life of lewdness, indecency and lustfulness could never live up to the mantle of ‘the best of creation’ as he claimed. His licentious lifestyle nullified any claim to divine connection.
The highlight of the Muslim expeditions was the victory scramble to apportion the war booty. A key component of that booty was women. When asked by his soldiers about the correct procedure regarding married women, pagan women, under-aged women, Muhammad’s response was women whom your right hands possess (women captured in battle) were lawful to be used as desired. Muhammad himself after battles spent the night with the women he captured, even though they had just lost their husbands, fathers and brothers. In essence Muhammad was not only a rapist but sanctioned rape as legal for Muslim men capturing infidel women. After the battle of Khaybar, Muhammad took the seventeen year old Safiyah as part of his victory share. Shahih Bukahari outlines the events during the three day journey back to Medina; SB 59:523 The Prophet stayed with Safiya bint Huyai for 3 days on the way from Khaibar where he consummated his marriage with her.
It is not unknown throughout history for men to kill their own women-folk when defeat by marauding Islamic invaders was inevitable to save their brutalisation at the hands of Muslims.
Following the battle of Khaybar, Muhammad desperately sought to locate the hidden treasures they were purported to possess. In one of his roles as warlord, this time torturer, Muhammad had Kinana tormented with a fire on his chest to ascertain the location of the tribe’s wealth. Tabari 8:122; Ishaq:515: The Prophet gave orders concerning Kinanah to Zubayr, saying, ‘Torture him until you root out and extract what he has. So Zubayr kindled a fire on Kinanah’s chest, twirling it with his firestick until Kinanah was near death. Then the Messenger gave him to Maslamah, who beheaded him. Another incident has Muhammad ordering the torture of men who had killed a shepherd and stole some camels. Cut their hands and feet, and brand their eyes with heated pieces of iron and put them on the mountain with no water until they die. (SB 82:796) were the commands of Muhammad.
Anyone who offends or criticises Islam or Muhammad needs to be concerned for their life. This is nothing new. Assassinations for such ‘crimes’ commenced in the time of Muhammad himself. The founder of Islam, to protect his ideology from critics, ordered the killing of many detractors. As an assassin, Muhammad kept dissent of his cult to a minimum. As recorded by Ibn Ishaq, Ishaq 597 When the Apostle returned to Medina after his raid on Ta’if, word spread that he had killed some of the men who had satirized and insulted him. The poets who were left spread in all directions.
One example of Muhammad sending his henchmen to eliminate his critics is described in Sahih Bukhari 4:264 Allah's Apostle sent a group of believers to kill Abu-Rafi. One of them said, “I drove my sword into his belly and pushed it forcibly till it touched the bone. I came to my companions and said, 'I will not leave till I hear the wailing of the women.' Then I got up, came upon the Prophet and informed him.”
After the death of his first wife, Khadija, Muhammad was broke. On moving to Medina he lived off the generosity of the new converts. However to achieve his mission, it was necessary to amass wealth essential for building an army. This he realised from the stealing and looting from trade caravans and various Pagan and Jewish tribes in and around Arabia. As a looter he attacked innocent tribes, drove them out of their lands and confiscated their belongings. He used Allah to justify this behaviour:
Q48:20 Allah promise you much booty that ye will capture, that it may be a token for the believers.
Q59:6 And that which Allah gave as spoil unto His messenger from them.
Q8:69 Now enjoy what ye have won, as lawful and good.
These verses made lawful unto Muslims the property, including women and children, of the non-Muslims. Everything of the earth belongs to Allah and hence it is the duty of Muslims to reclaim all for the service of Muslims and Allah.
This was a key component to the spread of Islam. Muhammad applied the principles of free enterprise to the plunder and conquest of non-believers without having to spend a penny from his own coffers. Muslim soldiers had tangible booty to look forward to, or if not that, unlimited pleasures in Muhammad’s opulent paradise. The incentive of sharing in the booty as opposed to fighting for a stipend or country’s honour, gave Muslims that impetus to go out and expand their personal wealth and in the process spread Islam.
Muhammad never respected the belief or religion of anyone. He was disrespectful of those who did not accept his preaching, referring to them as dogs, vile animals, deaf, dumb and evil. Q7:176 his likeness is as the likeness of a dog; Q8:55 Surely the vilest of animals in Allah's sight are those who disbelieve; Q2:18 Deaf, dumb (and) blind, so they will not turn back; and Q7:177 Evil as an example are people who reject Our signs.
Muhammad was truly deluded, to such a degree that he was of the belief that the earth belonged to him and the god in his head. In Sahih Bukhari we learn of the following event, SB 53:392 While we were in the Mosque, the Prophet came out and said, "Let us go to the Jews" He said to them, "If you embrace Islam, you will be safe. You should know that the earth belongs to Allah and His Apostle, and I want to expel you from this land. So, if anyone amongst you owns some property, he is permitted to sell it, otherwise you should know that the Earth belongs to Allah and His Apostle." In other words Muhammad was under the impression that he owned the earth and anyone who did not accept Islam would not be safe. He allowed the Jews to sell their land and leave or stay and fight.
A fanatic task-master for prayers, Muhammad burnt alive those claiming to be Muslims but not attending Mosque for prayers: SB 11:626 The Prophet said, "No prayer is harder for the hypocrites than the Fajr and the Isha prayers and if they knew the reward for these prayers they would certainly present themselves (in the mosques) even if they had to crawl." The Prophet added, "Certainly I decided to order the Mu'adh-dhin (call-maker) to pronounce Iqama and order a man to lead the prayer and then take a fire flame to burn all those who had not left their houses so far for the prayer along with their houses."
Muhammad often times played the role of doomsayer, supposedly predicting portents of the world's demise. Based on madcap prophecies, it would be plain for any rational individual to deduce his deceitful nature among his gullible followers. The age old threat to arouse fear in the susceptible, using imminent destruction as a tool of fear from which only one message could be used to to be saved, was played out well by the prophet:
SB 69:483 The Prophet, said, "From among the portents of the Hour are the following:.... men will decrease and women will increase so much so that for every fifty women there will be one man to look after them."
SM 1:297 Then it would be said to it (the sun): Rise up and emerge out from the place of your setting, and it will rise from the place of its setting. {i.e. the sun rises from the west}.
SM 41:6918 The Last Hour would not come before the Euphrates uncovers a mountain of gold, for which people would fight. Ninety-nine out of each one hundred would die
SM 41:6925 The Last Hour would come (when) the Romans would form a majority amongst people.
SM 41:6954 The Last Hour would not come before a person of Qahtan comes forth driving people with his stick.
SM 41:7051 A person asked Allah's Messenger as to when the Last Hour would come. He had in his presence a young boy of the Ansar who was called Mabammad. Allah's Messenger said: If this young boy lives he may not grow very old till he would see the Last Hour coming to you.
Here Muhammad lied or was certainly deluded into thinking the world would end during the lifetime of a young boy of the time. He seems to have not been bothered about the future existence of his cult, knowing well his lie would eventually backfire, but was prepared to make claims he felt would benefit him to achieve his personal goals.
These traits of Muhammad are well documented in Islamic scriptures and are available for all to assess whether such an individual qualifies as a representative of a higher being or a mere charlatan.