The twentieth century saw the rise of Muslim fundamentalism. This movement
rejected the West as morally decadent:
"As a result of his travels, [Sayyid] Qutb decided that America and Europe -- indeed, the
entire West -- was irretrievably decadent and in a 'civilizational decline similar to the fall of ancient Rome.' The decline
that began with the Renaissance intensified, 'especially during the Enlightenment,' when society broke away 'from the reins
of the church, and simultaneously, strayed from God and from the course that He sets for human life.' The moral crisis deepened
in the nineteenth century with the advent of Darwin, Freud, and Marx, each of whom had 'denigrated' humanity in his own way:
Darwin stressed 'the absolute animal nature of man;' Freud, the 'totality of the sexual morass enveloping him;' and Marx,
the 'insignificance of human action in contrast to the power of economic forces and the material world.'
"Shattering the 'fundamental principles of morality,' such villains
had 'set the sexes loose like two animals pursuing desire and sensual pleasure
for their own sake.' As a result, Western society itself was adrift, and
the church suffered from 'neglect and alienation born of its irrelevance.'
Thus, the church 'began to scramble frantically after society, grabbing
at its coattails, no longer taking the lead in community affairs and directing
the people toward religion, but, rather, chasing after society and pandering
to base appetites.'"
(Sayyid Qutb, Signposts, 1964, quoted by Judith Miller, God has Ninety-Nine
Names, p. 62).
This movement, born in concern for morality, has itself committed acts
of shocking immorality. Witnesses to the horrific crimes perpetrated by
Osama bin Laden in the name of Islam can scarcely avoid identifying Mohammed's
heavenly visitant as he who transforms himself into an angel of light.
This movement has received Western sympathy and material support in the past, most notably when Afghan jihadis were
fighting against a Soviet-installed government in Kabul. In those days, President Reagan portrayed the jihadis as 'Freedom Fighters'
standing up bravely for liberty. Yet the freedom they seek is the freedom to decapitate apostates. It should be past being clear that
no Christian can support a movement whose main goal is to usher as many souls as possible into Hell. No Christian ought to be taxed to
bring about an Islamic Republic in Baghdad or elsewhere.
Non-Combatants
Conservative Muslims point out that Islamic tradition does not endorse
the indiscriminate killing of women and children:
"When we were with the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) on an expedition, he saw some people collected together over
something and sent a man and said: See, what are these people collected around? He then came and said: They are round a woman who has been
killed. He said: This is not one with whom fighting should have taken place. Khalid ibn al-Walid was in charge of the van; so he sent a man
and said: Tell Khalid not to kill a woman or a hired servant." (Hadith, Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 14, Number 2663: Narrated Rabah ibn Rabi.)
"The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Kill the old men who are polytheists,
but spare their children." (Hadith, Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 14, Number
2664, Narrated Samurah ibn Jundub).
"The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: The most merciful of the people in respect of killing are believers." (Hadith,
Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 14, Number 2660: Narrated Abdullah ibn Mas'ud).
Though Mohammed was not altogether unaware of the Sermon on the Mount,
on this point he preferred Moses:
"When you go near a city to fight against it, then proclaim an offer
of peace to it. And it shall be that if they accept your offer of peace,
and open to you, then all the people who are found in it shall be placed
under tribute to you, and serve you. Now if the city will not make peace
with you, but war against you, then you shall besiege it. And when the
LORD your God delivers it into your hands, you shall strike every male
in it with the edge of the sword. But the women, the little ones, the livestock,
and all that is in the city, all its spoil, you shall plunder for yourself;
and you shall eat the enemies’ plunder which the LORD your God gives you."
(Deuteronomy 20:10-14).
Two millennia of Christian civilization lifted the standard to a broad
immunity for all non-combatants, which terrorism annuls, for reasons given
below. As the reader will see, bin Laden considers the rise of Western
democracy to negate the traditional immunity of non-combatants. Since in
a democracy the people rule, the people are each and every one responsible
for their government's actions. How this argument justifies the slaughter
of those not yet of voting age, such as Beslan's children, remains unclear.
While the true and living God said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says
the Lord” (Romans 12:19, Deuteronomy 32:35), the terrorists' idol says
otherwise: "Allah, the Almighty, legislated the permission and the
option to take revenge." By making democracy an excuse for indiscriminate
slaughter, these modern Muslims have lowered Mohammed's seventh century
standard to an even more backward and barbaric state:
This document was obtained off the internet and thus the accuracy of the
translation is unknown. As the reader will note, the writer is not rational.
His three demands: a.) America should accept Islam and adopt sharia (Islamic
law); b.) "Leave us alone;" c.) America should "interact"
with Muslims on the basis of mutual interest, are neither mutually compatible
nor placed in a hierarchy of next resort ('or if not, then...').
During the years since 9/11 while Mr. bin Laden has been enjoying his undeserved
liberty, this incoherence has only worsened. His latest communication,
a videotape of September 7, 2007, offers Marxist economic analysis as the
explanation for all the world's woes. The reader will recall the Afghan
jihadis first came to public prominence spending Mr. Reagan's money to
eliminate the Afghan Marxists and drive their Soviet backers from the country.
If, as it now turns out, these people had all the answers to the world's
woes, why not sit at their feet instead of wiping them out? One cannot
imagine intellectual bankruptcy more complete than to go begging to former
adversaries for ideas. In a more perfect world, this crack-pot would be
left alone sitting on a park bench, rambling on to the sparrows about global
warming or whatever other concern had captured for the moment his wandering
attention. Yet by showing depraved indifference to human life on a monumental
scale, he has become a hero to a religion which assigns a positive value
to this quality.
"O men of arms, why do you love injustice?
You must live in law and order
Get up, wake up, or be forever regretful,
Don't be infamous among the nations..."
(Yemeni Poet Amin al-Mashreqi).
Democracy and Islam
Democracy asserts the right of the people to write the laws under which
they shall live. Islamist dissenters reply that God has already pre-empted
this ground:
"[The 45-minute tape] warned of attacks against anyone taking part in the elections, saying that the concept of the
people as 'the source of power' that should be obeyed was 'infidelity itself,' and death was the punishment for Muslim 'apostates.'...He [Zarqawi]
said 'the big US lie called democracy' was un-Islamic and that several principles underpinning democracy -- majority rule, freedom of belief
and the separation of state and religion -- flouted the tenets of Islam, whereby God, not the people, is the ultimate authority."
(AFP, 'Zarqawi tape declares all-out war on Iraq vote,' Sunday January 23, 2005).
Osama bin Laden concurs: "You are the nation who, rather than ruling
by the Shariah of Allah in its Constitution and Laws, choose to invent
your own laws as you will and desire...You flee from the embarrassing question
posed to you: How is it possible for Allah the Almighty to create His creation,
grant them power over all the creatures and land, grant them all the amenities
of life, and then deny them that which they are most in need of: knowledge
of the laws which govern their lives?" (bin Laden Letter, November 24, 2002).
Since the Koran does not present a consecutive and well-ordered set of
laws, but rather an ad hoc assemblage, sharia (Islamic law), in its details, is subject to endless dispute.
Mohammed's improvisations left a jumble: Rape is a capital crime, but a
successful prosecution requires four male witnesses to the act. Thus rape
might as well be decriminalized. But the concept, for all its difficulties,
remains the popular centerpiece of the Islamic fundamentalist agenda. The
Muslim world broke free of European colonialism on the ground before leaving
the West behind in the mind. Since the mid-twentieth century, pressure
has been building for adoption of sharia in place of the secular law codes
that are the legacy of Western influence. This genuinely popular movement
has won electoral victories, notably in Algeria and Palestine, without
being able to consolidate its gains. Leaders encompassing the political
spectrum have felt the pressure and endeavored to co-opt this growing force.
When Colonel Muammar Khadafi published his Little Green Book, critics complained
that the only thing Islamic about the book was the cover color; since then
he has 'got religion.' Another leftist, Saddam Hussein, was obliged to
concede to this movement restricted liquor sales.
Certain 'key allies in the war on terror' already groan under sharia, as
oppressive a law code as has yet been devised, including Pakistan and Saudi
Arabia. The 'moderate' Saudi royal family bestows upon its grateful subjects
not only full sharia, but has also conceded to Osama bin Laden his principal
demand, the withdrawal of American troops from sacred Saudi soil. Islamic
fundamentalism does not seek to advance individual liberty or civil rights.
For example, abandoning Islam is a capital crime under sharia. Thus protecting
the "free exercise" of religion, as does the First Amendment,
is incompatible with sharia. This flaw is inherent in the Muslim fundamentalist
enterprise: because the self-styled prophet Mohammed was no champion of
human rights, so neither are his faithful followers today.
Another front is now opening to the triumph of Islamic fundamentalism:
Iraq, where American firepower overthrew the prior secular leftist regime.
Twice in two elections, Ayatollah al-Sistani's candidate slate gained power.
President Bush cannot stop praising himself for this great triumph of "liberty."
But Muslim fundamentalism does not seek to advance liberty. One must wonder
what the American President who decriminalized 'water-boarding' understands
"liberty" to mean; certainly his understanding differs from that
of the Founding Fathers, who wrote into the Constitution a prohibition
of cruel and unusual punishment. If Mr. Bush sought to subject the United
States to an Islamic fundamentalist regime, the U.S. Constitution would
stand in his way, prohibiting as it does any religious establishment. Tragically
nothing stands in the way of his plunging foreigners into this darkness.
Brother Muslim
"To insult a brother Muslim is sinful; to kill him is unbelief."
"Al-Ahnaf b. Qays set off with his weapons. Meeting him, Abu Bakra
asked him where he was heading. 'I am going to the help of the Prophet's
cousin,' he said. 'But,' rejoined the other, 'I heard the Prophet himself
say, "Any two Muslims who take up arms against each other will both
land in Hell."'" (Bukhari, Fitan, quoted p. 39, An Introduction
to the Hadith, John Burton).
Conservative Muslims object in particular to acts of Islamist terror which
kill Muslims. But who is a Muslim? This is the $64 question. All who confess
that there is one God and Mohammed is His prophet? No so to Muslim fundamentalists,
whose thinking on this point looks back to Ibn Taymiyya, a medieval theologian,
who taught that "a ruler who did not enforce sharia or exhibit scrupulous
personal piety would be no better than an apostate, and under Islamic law,
Muslims were obligated to rebel against such a leader." ('The Age
of Sacred Terror,' Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon, p. 48.) By this criterion,
a ruler who does not enforce sharia, such as Saddam Hussein, is not counted
a Muslim. Neither are those cold to the idea of overthrowing such a ruler.
Indeed to be a Muslim fundamentalist is to be the pope of one's own private
religion, excommunicating dissenters at will.
The Devil's Due
To give the devil his due, one aspect of the Muslim fundamentalist critique
rings true: "You are a nation that practices the trade of sex in all
its forms, directly and indirectly. Giant corporations and establishments
are established on this, under the name of art, entertainment, tourism
and freedom, and other deceptive names you attribute to it." (bin
Laden letter, November 24, 2002). Certainly the tide of filth which this
nation pipes into the world does us no credit. Nor can "liberty"
be blamed. Liberty requires only that such sub-cultures as seek in smut
their serious cultural value be free to do so, in the back alley of their
choice, without serving prison time. Liberty does not make this material
mainstream; it is the free choice of the majority which makes it so. Majority
taste makes filth what you see when you turn on the TV. This is the same
majority which self-identifies to pollsters as "Christian."
What do these people mean when they say they are "Christian"?
The word, formed similarly to words like 'Herodian,' must mean at minimum
a 'follower of Christ.' Are these majoritarians followers of the Christ
who said, "But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust
for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart," (Matthew
5:28), or of some other Christ? Not content to sacrifice our own children
only to this Moloch, we insist on exporting our entertainment industry's
product to the world, as if watching this stuff were beneficial or enlightening.
It is to be understood that moral people throughout the world will avert their eyes.
The irony is that Muslim sexual morality is markedly lower than Christian.
Islam permits polygamy, easy divorce, child marriage, and other irregularities
including, according to Shiite expositors, temporary marriage. The way
immoral persons live in Christian lands is the way observant Muslims
live; the writer of the words quoted above is a practicing polygamist.
But viewers of TV shows like 'Friends' would never guess there ever was
or ever had been such a thing as Christian morality, because the people
on TV are quite innocent of it.
What Do They Want?
The world has long been familiar with 'national liberation fronts' which
employ terror in pursuit of their goals. Terrorism departs from traditional
military tactics whether statist or revolutionary in intentionally targeting
civilians. Old-line terrorist outfits like the P.L.O. and I.R.A. aspire
to mundane, this-worldly goals which are in theory realizable in the world
as we know it. Al Qaeda, too, is capable of making these kinds of demands;
in fact the Bush Administration has already complied with Osama bin Laden's
original demand, removing U.S. military personnel from the 'sacred' Saudi
soil which their presence was defiling. But achieving this victory, or
any other mundane accomplishment, is only the pad from which to launch
off into orbit, proclaiming policy objectives cosmic in scale:
"How can [a Muslim] possibly accept humiliation and inferiority when
he knows that his nation was created to stand at the center of leadership,
at the center of hegemony and rule, at the center of ability and sacrifice?
How can he possibly accept humiliation and inferiority when he knows that
the divine rule is that the entire earth must be subject to the religion
of Allah -- not to the East, not to the West -- to no ideology and to no
path except for the path of Allah?" (Suleiman Abu Ghaith, al-Qaeda,
quoted p. 397, The Age of Sacred Terror, Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon).
Given that this group lacks an infantry and thus cannot control territory,
even if their fondest dreams of mass death were realized, they could not
parlay this achievement into political conquest. Their aspirations to world
domination are thus literally insane.
This is why the Bush Administration's willful confusion of Islamic fundamentalists
like al Qaeda with old-line terrorist organizations like the P.L.O. is
so very dangerous to American security. National liberation fronts espouse
finite and rational goals, whereas today's Islamic fundamentalists espouse
open-ended jihad:
“Our task in general is to stand against the flood of modernist civilization
overflowing from the swamp of materialistic and sinful desires. This flood
has swept the Muslim nation away from the Prophet’s leadership and Koranic
guidance and deprived the world of its guiding light. Western secularism
moved into a Muslim world already estranged from its Koranic roots, and
delayed its advancement for centuries, and will continue to do so until
we drive it from our lands. Moreover, we will not stop at this point, but
will pursue this evil force to its own lands, invade its Western heartland,
and struggle to overcome it until all the world shouts by the name of the
Prophet and the teachings of Islam spread throughout the world. Only then
will Muslims achieve their fundamental goal, and there will be no more
‘persecution’ and all religion will be exclusively for Allah….” (Muslim
Brotherhood founder Hasan al-Banna, [Document No. 31], p. 59, Freedom
House, 'Saudi Publications on Hate Ideology Fill American Mosques.')
This movement's ultimate goals are not goals with which the civilized world
can compromise. Yet when this nation was attacked by Muslim fundamentalists
on September 11, 2001, we 'counter-attacked'. . .against a secular socialist
regime in Iraq which had neither complicity in the attack nor any aspiration
to advance Islamic fundamentalism. Did the Bush family's long-standing
business ties to the Saudi royal family leave them unable to distinguish
friend from foe?
Given that this movement's goals ultimately are neither secular nor finite,
to suggest that 'democracy' is the remedy for Islamic fundamentalism is
a category error, like suggesting that 'Republicanism' is the remedy for
'cancer.' 'Democracy' does not deliver what this movement seeks. Removing
a socialist despot like Saddam Hussein only enhances their ability to organize
and agitate. Indeed they are willing to use democracy, to extinguish freedom.
Does Al Qaeda-style terrorism work? It appears that it does; the Bush Administration
has already met bin Laden's original demand, the withdrawal of American
troops from 'sacred' Saudi Arabian soil:
"The Arabian Peninsula has never -- since God made it flat, created
its desert, and encircled it with seas -- been stormed by any forces like
the crusader armies spreading in it like locusts, eating its riches and
wiping out its plantations...No one argues today about three facts that
are known to everyone; we will list them, in order to remind everyone:
"First, for over seven years the United States has been occupying
the lands of Islam in the holiest of places, the Arabian Peninsula, plundering
its riches, dictating to its rulers, humiliating its people, terrorizing
its neighbors, and turning its bases in the Peninsula into a spearhead
through which to fight the neighboring Muslim peoples."
(Shaykh Osama Bin-Muhammad Bin-Ladin, Ayman al-Zawahiri, amir of
the Jihad Group in Egypt, et al, 23 February 1998 Statement, quoted at Military.com).
The Israeli/Palestinian conflict turns up third on the list. Bin Laden's
demand for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Saudi Arabian soil has been
met, abjectly and totally. On this, his central concern, the Bush administration's
dealings with Mr. bin Laden have amounted to surrender. The terms under
which American troops had served in that land had always been frankly astonishing.
It is weakness which invites aggression; and what more craven display of
ideological timidity than the willingness of Mr. Bush's father to compel
American troops to serve where forbidden by law to practice the Christian
faith? Our current President is naive in his faith that appeasing terrorists
will lead to peace:
When the Soviet Union was at its zenith of power, lesser socialist lights
like Nasser rose in the Middle Eastern sky. Remnant leftist regimes still
hang on grimly in places, though the withdrawing tide of history has left
them high and dry. From the time of Ronald Reagan, U.S. policy in the region
has been to court Muslim fundamentalists and fund them freely in their
death struggle with the leftists. Muslim fundamentalists are reliably and
sincerely anti-Communist; Mohammad was, after all, a merchant. They are
unfortunately also resolutely antichristian. It is unclear why the nominal
Christians who fashioned our policy of courting Saudi Arabia and its Muslim
fundamentalist offspring failed to perceive this as any of their concern.
3,000 dead Americans bear mute testimony to the futility of this policy,
even as Bush Jr. continues, on auto-pilot, to deal with Muslim fundamentalism
by. . .stamping out those remnant leftist regimes with which the Muslim
fundamentalists are locked in a death struggle.
Projecting weakness is counter-productive; because weakness invites aggression.
Yet who can forget Mr. Bush's 9/11 saga? Once story-time was over he commenced
scampering about the country like a scared rabbit, ending up in a missile
silo. Unlike the British Royal family who stoically remained at their stations
throughout the Blitz, he got a case of happy feet. Signalling weakness
in this way is dangerous.
Historically nations at war have minimized their adversaries' achievements.
Yet Mr. Bush magnifies al Qaeda's achievements, claiming the economic downturn
then underway was in fact produced by the 9/11 attack. Mr. Bush wants it
understood that al Qaeda as presently constituted has the capacity to cripple
the U. S. economy. Why would a leader purportedly at war magnify the enemies'
achievements? And why is it becoming apparent Mr. bin Laden will die of
old age before he is apprehended by the U. S. government? One does not
expect to hear politicians call attention to their failures, yet Mr. Bush
perceives the unweakened and at-large status of al Qaeda as his ace in
the hole: "I understand there are some in America who say well this
can't be true — there are still people willing to attack," he said.
"All I would ask them to do is listen to the words of Osama bin Laden
and take them seriously. When he says he's going to hurt the American people
again, or try to, he means it." (Bush, Visiting NSA, Defends
Surveillance, By Nedra Pickler, Associated Press Writer, January 25, 2006, Fort Meade, MD). What on earth is going on here? Why does Mr. Bush, who has no responsibility
more pressing than to bring Mr. bin Laden to justice, take every opportunity
to remind the public that the murderer remains at large?:
This is not the first unholy alliance between terrorists and the government
they besiege. The overwhelming public revulsion at terrorist atrocities
sparks the question, Why do they do it? Certainly not to win hearts and
minds; if terrorism were a public relations tool, it would be the most
counter-productive yet devised. But these groups do not aim at peace or
persuasion; rather, their murderous acts are provocations intended to start
war. Outside provocateurs are met by those on the inside: insiders report
the Bush administration had long sought grounds for war with Iraq.
Once upon a time the bombs blowing up in the public square were planted
by socialists, not Islamists. Socialism was given a full and fair trial
during the 20th century, and produced a depressingly uniform result: empty
store shelves. Yet there was a time when this ideology appealed mightily,
not to the workers for whom it claimed to speak, but to underemployed intellectuals.
Like the Islamists who perceive a state of war already present, though
invisible to all but themselves, the socialists perceived the state waging
class warfare against the workers. Class warfare had little appeal to the
public at large, but there were reactionaries only too happy to use the
police power of the state to disadvantage working people. Socialist bomb-throwing
was the very provocation they required for repressive measures. The broader
public's desire for social peace was swamped by the twin extreme fringes'
desire for war.
Science moves forward by prediction rewarded. A theory which predicts what
actually occurs is validated, once which predicts something different is
disconfirmed. Likewise in the political realm: the lunatic fringe becomes
mainstream when its dire predictions are realized. Who could have done
anything but laugh when al Qaeda predicted the U.S. would invade an oil-rich
Arab nation? Who's laughing now? Strictly speaking it is cheating if one
engineers the outcome, yet al Qaeda's goals: dividing the Islamic world,
vacating the broad middle ground, legitimizing extreme thinking,-- have
been accomplished for them by an administration which wanted war every
bit as much as they did. Mr. Bush substituted one enemy for another, with
little fuss from watchdogs in the media and congress, and got 'his' war,
in which he could show the world he was tougher than his dad, who quailed
at going to Baghdad. Al Qaeda, too, got 'their' war: an outright foreign
invasion, difficult to distinguish from the prior colonialist adventures
to which that region had been subject, during which the beneficent mask
they had long thought false was stripped from the face of the West.
The Muslim community does not always and ever represent a threat to the
peace of the world. History shows the Muslim world going to sleep for centuries
on end. Eruptions of Muslim fanaticism burn themselves out, because once
the equation is fixed in the public mind that Islam=death, new interpretations
are found for the 'Strike off their heads' verses of the Koran. While professors
of this faith may not understand justice, mercy, or good faith, what they
do understand is defeat.
When Mohammed met victory beyond expectation at Badr, he imagined the God
of heaven smiled upon his bloody, tribal warrior ethic. When he met defeat
at Ohod, he imagined instead that an inscrutable fate rules the world.
When this monster awoke and struck the twin towers, it should have been
batted down. The aggressors should have met defeat, not unrelated people
"in the same part of the world."
Yet this was not the war our "war President" wanted to fight.
When the name proposed for our campaign against Afghanistan: 'Infinite
Justice,'-- met with Muslim opposition, Mr. Bush obligingly changed the
name. In the end no justice was meted out; the aggressors fled to friendly
ground and went on with their lives. The ideological incoherence of the
'War on Terror:' the idea that Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein are the
very same thing, inasmuch as "dey hate freedom,"-- has made 9/11
a cost-free victory for the Islamic fundamentalists. What they have learned
is that, if they strike America, America will strike down their enemies.
Geneva Convention
As noted, al Qaeda's preference for the indiscriminate slaughter of men,
women and children finds little support in early Islamic tradition. However,
it would not be correct to conclude that the rules of war as practiced
by Mohammed and his inner circle conformed to civilized norms. Many of
the ways the Bush Administration has stained this nation's honor and dragged
its flag in the mud find precedent in seventh century Arabia. Killing detainees,
without trial? He did it. Use of torture for interrogation? He did it.
Even 'pre-emptive war'? He did it. None of these things was unusual or
unexpected for seventh century Arabia. There is worse: lining up unarmed
male detainees in front of a trench and executing them, as at Srebrenica?
He did it. How will those who make this man a model for all seasons reconcile
their ideals with modern civilized usages?:
Captives
The Muslims achieved a stunning victory at Badr over the Meccans. One Meccan
captive had made the mistake of speaking ill of Mohammed, which the thin-skinned
prophet could not tolerate:
"Mus'ab replied, 'You used to speak all kinds of calumnies against
the Book of God and His Prophet; you also used the persecute and harm his
companions.' Al Nadr said, 'Had Quraysh taken you captive, I would have
never allowed them to kill you as long as I was alive'; to which Mus'ab
replied, 'By God I do not believe you; I am not like you; Islam has severed
my relations with you.' Al Nadr was the captive of al Miqdad who expected
to receive a great ransom from the captive's family...At this the Prophet--may
God's blessing be upon him---said: 'Strike his neck. O God, give al Miqdad
plenty of Your bounty instead.' Ali ibn Abu Talib executed the Prophet's
order with the sword. As the party arrived at Irq al Zubyah, the Prophet
ordered the execution of Uqbah ibn Abu Mu'ayt. When Uqbah pleaded, 'Who
will take care of my children, O Mohammed?' Mohammed answered, 'The fire.'"
(The Life of Muhammad, Muhammad H. Haykal, pp. 233-234).
Srebrenica
A Jewish tribe had reneged on their treaty with Mohammed while Medina was
threatened with a Meccan invasion. After a siege ended in stalemate, their
friends the al Aws tribe intervened on their behalf. The prophet offered
them binding arbitration: "Mohammed asked, 'O men of al Aws, would
you be happy if we allowed one of your men to arbitrate the case?'"
The Jewish tribe gratefully consented, believing the verdict would likely
be banishment or confiscation of goods. Not this:
"After his nomination and acceptance as arbitrator, Sa'd sought guarantees
from the two parties that they would abide by his judgment. After these
guarantees were secured, he commanded that Banu Qurayzah come out of their
fortress and surrender their armor. Sa'd then pronounced his verdict that
the fighting men be put to the sword, that their wealth be confiscated
as war booty, and that the women and the children be taken as captives.
When Mohammed heard the verdict, he said: 'By Him Who dominates my soul,
God is pleased with your judgment, O Sa'd; and so are the believers. You
have surely done your duty.' He then proceeded to Medina where he commanded
a large grave to be dug for the Jewish fighters brought in to be killed
and buried." (The Life of Muhammad, Muhammad H. Haykal, pp. 313-314).
These men willingly surrendered their arms. Even given years for passions
to cool, as you can read in Washington Irving's biography of the prophet,
Mohammed imagined this 'arbitrator' was rewarded for his fidelity with
paradise:
"Narrated Anas: A group of people from 'Ukl (tribe) came to the Prophet and they were living with the people
of As-Suffa, but they became ill as the climate of Medina did not suit them, so they said, "O Allah's Apostle! Provide us
with milk." The Prophet said, I see no other way for you than to use the camels of Allah's Apostle." So they went and drank
the milk and urine of the camels, (as medicine) and became healthy and fat. Then they killed the shepherd and took the camels away. When
a help-seeker came to Allah's Apostle, he sent some men in their pursuit, and they were captured and brought before mid day. The Prophet
ordered for some iron pieces to be made red hot, and their eyes were branded with them and their hands and feet were cut off and were not
cauterized. Then they were put at a place called Al-Harra, and when they asked for water to drink they were not given till they
died. (Abu Qilaba said, "Those people committed theft and murder and fought against Allah and His Apostle.")" (Sahih Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 82, Number 796.)
The eighth amendment to the U.S. Constitution bars "cruel and unusual"
punishments, of which this is a good example. It's 'unusual' in that this
was not the ordinary punishment for theft or murder. It's 'cruel' in that
these people were not meant to die speedily, but slowly, with their wounds
left uncauterized and water withheld.
