Related Content
While it was necessary for women to remain modest, the prophet was known to have perfumed his body, painted his eyes, and dyed his hair. (Source: See Will Durant, "The Age of Faith" 1950)
"At various times, Jews in Muslim lands were able to live in relative peace and thrive culturally and economically. The position of the Jews was never secure, however, and changes in the political or social climate would often lead to persecution, violence and death. Jews were generally viewed with contempt by their Muslim neighbors; peaceful coexistence between the two groups involved the subordination and degradation of the Jews." (Michell Bard,"The Treatment of Jews in Arab/Islamic Countries")
"When Jews were perceived as having achieved too comfortable a position in Islamic society, anti-Semitism would surface, often with devastating results: On December 30, 1066, Joseph HaNagid, the Jewish vizier of Granada, Spain, was crucified by an Arab mob that proceeded to raze the Jewish quarter of the city and slaughter its 5,000 inhabitants. The riot was incited by Muslim preachers who had angrily objected to what they saw as inordinate Jewish political power." (Bard)
"Similarly, in 1465, Arab mobs in Fez slaughtered thousands of Jews, leaving only 11 alive, after a Jewish deputy vizier treated a Muslim woman in "an offensive manner." The killings touched off a wave of similar massacres throughout Morocco." (Norman Stillman, The Jews of Arab Lands, The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1979)
"Other mass murders of Jews in Arab lands occurred in Morocco in the 8th century, where whole communities were wiped out by Muslim ruler Idris I; North Africa in the 12th century, where the Almohads either forcibly converted or decimated several communities; Libya in 1785, where Ali Burzi Pasha murdered hundreds of Jews; Algiers, where Jews were massacred in 1805, 1815 and 1830 and Marrakesh, Morocco, where more than 300 hundred Jews were murdered between 1864 and 1880. (Maurice Roumani, The Case of the Jews from Arab Countries: A Neglected Issue, (Tel Aviv: World Organization of Jews from Arab Countries, 1977)
"Decrees ordering the destruction of synagogues were enacted in Egypt and Syria (1014, 1293-4, 1301-2), Iraq (854859, 1344) and Yemen (1676). Despite the Koran's prohibition, Jews were forced to convert to Islam or face death in Yemen (1165 and 1678), Morocco (1275, 1465 and 1790-92) and Baghdad (1333 and 1344)." (Bat Yeor, Louis Gardet, La Cite Musulmane: Vie sociale et politique, (Paris: Etudes musulmanes, 1954)
"It would not be difficult to put together the names of a very sizeable number of Jewish subjects or citizens of the Islamic area who have attained to high rank, to power, to great financial influence, to significant and recognized intellectual attainment; and the same could be done for Christians. But it would again not be difficult to compile a lengthy list of persecutions, arbitrary confiscations, attempted forced conversions, or pogroms." (Bat Yeor, Louis Gardet, La Cite Musulmane: Vie sociale et politique, (Paris: Etudes musulmanes, 1954)
"The situation of Jews in Arab lands reached a low point in the 19th century. Jews in most of North Africa (including Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Morocco) were forced to live in ghettos. In Morocco, which contained the largest Jewish community in the Islamic Diaspora, Jews were made to walk barefoot or wear shoes of straw when outside the ghetto. Even Muslim children participated in the degradation of Jews, by throwing stones at them or harassing them in other ways. The frequency of anti-Jewish violence increased, and many Jews were executed on charges of apostasy. Ritual murder accusations against the Jews became commonplace in the Ottoman Empire." (Bernard Lewis, The Jews of Islam, (NJ: Princeton University Press, 1984)
"The attitude of the Muslims toward the Christians and the Jews is that of a master towards slaves, whom he treats with a certain lordly tolerance so long as they keep their place. Any sign of pretension to equality is promptly repressed." (Middle Eastern Studies, (1971), p. 232.)
"The danger for Jews became even greater as a showdown approached in the UN over partition in 1947. The Syrian delegate, Faris el-Khouri, warned: "Unless the Palestine problem is settled, we shall have difficulty in protecting and safeguarding the Jews in the Arab world." (New York Times, (February 19, 1947)
The written version of the Koran dates from the time of Caliph Othman, who was Mohammed's third successor and twenty years after Mohammed's death which like the New Testament, which also was written later than the events described, and therefore both instruments as documents have been greatly diminished in value as reliable historical sources. Never the less, the Koran is our guide to everything which concerns the birth of Islam, just as the New Testament is the definitive guide (even with all it's contradictions) of the life of Jesus.
At the time in the early seventh century, most of the people in the great Byzantine and Persian empires were Bedouin tribes of nomadic people who lived patriarchal lives, practiced circumcision and worshipeed stone gods, the best known being the black stone shrine, the Kaaba, at Mecca. Mohammed was born in 570 according to the Koran at Mecca.
Like many prophets of that time, Muhammad had visions and his came to him in his forties when he received his revelation from Archangel Gabriel in the form of an order in the name of God to bring the message of Allah. He preached in Mecca from 612 to 622 and only recruited in all that time a few dozen followers but he was mostly mocked by the other people of Mecca. He moved his followers to Medina, a city a few hundred miles to the north and populated mostly by Jews. He was successful there and won over many converts to his form of monotheism. But it is written that while he would seek approval from the Jews he was less successful with them who were skeptical and contemptuous of him. He was by then powerful and he expelled some of the Jews - WITH THE BLESSINGS OF ALLAH, and he massacred all the rest. And, thus Mohammed demonstrated his disdain for the Jews and his followers were to emulate their prophet - that is, they were glorified in some respects but denounced also and Mecca was alternatively established as the place to direct prayers and not to Jerusalem and Ramada was to coincide with Yom Kipper and a replacement for it for the Muslims. Mohammed then proceeded to become the theocratic leader of all of Arabia.
"The campaign of death waged by the Islamist-jihadist, be he a puppet or a puppeteer, is energized by the belief of delectable rewards that await the faithful implementer of Allah's dictates. Through a highly effective indoctrination, the jihadist has come to believe firmly in Islam's grand delusion. He believes that Allah is the one and only supreme creator of earth and heavens; that it is his duty and privilege to abide by Allah's will and carry out his plans at all costs; he believes firmly in a gloriously wonderful immortal afterlife in paradise, for which a martyr's death is the surest quickest admission. Although the dominating theme of the delusion is quasi spiritual, the promised rewards of the afterlife awaiting the martyr are sensual and material. All the things and activities that the jihadist desires and cannot attain or practice, and rejects in his earthly life will be purified and proffered to him in the paradise of the next life. Thus goes the delusion." (Amil Imani)
Today if someone talked to angels and had visions they would be prescribed lithium. In Muhammad's day they made him a prophet. Muhammad had hallucinations; he was delusional and 1.400 years later his sermons are a religion with a over a billion misguided, delusional, Jew-hating followers.
###
All quoting per the Fair Use Doctrine
for educational and
discussion purposes pursuant to
Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107,
Copyright Law.