Hijra, Medina and Betrayal

· Islam, Racism, Timeline
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  • MBP LEE Website: http://mbplee.wordpr… I am an Independent Researcher into Myths, Folklore, and other inexplicable concepts. I am a Free Thinker. Personal: I am world travelled, educated in 4 continents in the science associated field. I have worked and lived in 5 continents in management, commerce and academia and have associated closely with people of all races and cultures. Since retiring from a working life, I am interested to establish a connection between human behaviour (thoughts) with culture (religion). So I have researched into the origins of man and his environment, his religion, and his culture, into Archaeology, Anthropology, history, genetics, environment, cosmology, creationism, evolution, mythology, theism, paganism, atheism, and lies. I hope this is sufficient to satisfy you without providing any personal information.

In order to gain a perspective on how Muhammad embarked on a ruthless way of gaining respect and influence in societies that were unfriendly to his new Islamic teachings we have to examine the early Timeline of Islamic history and examine how Islamic evolved into a domineering militant faith. It is my contention that Muhammad learned that deceit, ruthlessness, and Taqiyya (telling untruths in the furtherance of Islam) were weapons to be used against the infidels in order to protect himself and his existence. To illustrate this I want to highlight Muhammad’s treachery at Medina, his warring and ruthless disposition, thus I will submit a Timeline of the 7th century so as to establish a perspective on Islamic history.

Timeline 7th Century Muslim History

Seventh century (601 – 700)

This century corresponds to approxmiately 23 BH – 81 AH.

[Heriga: noun: “The flight of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622 a.d., marking the beginning of the Muslim era.”]

570 AD:Birth of Muhammad

 Muhammad’s Background

Prophet Muhammad was born in the month of Rabi’ al-awwal in 570. He belonged to the Banu Hashim clan of the Quraish tribe, one of the prominent families of Mecca. Muhammad’s father, Abdullah, died almost six months before he was born. According to the tradition, soon after Muhammad’s birth, he was sent to live with a Bedouin family in the desert as the desert life was considered healthier for infants. At the age of six, Muhammad lost his mother Maulatena Amena binte Wahb to illness and he became and orphan. He was subsequently brought up for two years under the guardianship of his paternal grandfather Abdul Muttalib of the Banu Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe. When he was eight years of age, his grandfather also died. Muhammad now came under the care of his uncle Abu Talib, the new leader of Banu Hashim.
Mecca was a thriving commercial center. There was an important shrine in Mecca (now called the Kaaba) that housed statues of many Arabian gods. Merchants from various tribes would visit Mecca during the pilgrimage season. While still in his teens, Muhammad began accompanying his uncle on trading journeys to Syria gaining some experience in commercial career; the only career open to Muhammad as an orphan. According to the tradition, when Muhammad was either nine or twelve whilst accompanying the Meccans’ caravan to Syria met a Christian Monk or hermit named Bahira who is said to have foreseen the career of Muhammad (S.A.W) as a prophet of God.Little is known of Muhammad during his youth, and from the fragmentary information that is available, it is hard to separate history from legend. It is known that he became a merchant and “was involved in trade between the Indian ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.” He was given the nickname “Al-Amin”, meaning “faithful, trustworthy” and was sought out as an impartial arbitrator. His reputation attracted a proposal from Khadijah, a forty-year-old widow in 595. Muhammad consented to the marriage, which by all accounts was a happy one.According to the Muslim tradition (legends), the young Muhammad played a role in the restoration of the Kaaba, after parts of it had been destroyed by one of Mecca’s frequent flash floods. When the reconstruction was almost done, disagreements arose as to who would have the honor of lifting the Black Stone into place and different clans were about to take up arms against each other. One of the elders suggested they take the advice of the first one who entered the gates of the Haram. This happened to be Muhammad. He spread out his cloak, put the stone in the middle and had members of the four major clans raise it to its destined position. The cloak became an important symbol for later poets and writers. [1]

The Quraysh Tribe were Pagan Poly-idol worshippers

The pagan Quraysh tribe was the most prominent and influential tribe in Mecca, and it was to this tribe that Mohammed was born. The Quraysh dominated Meccan politics and considered itself the custodian of the Kaaba and its idols: The site had been the destination of pilgrims for centuries. Pilgrims, then as now, meant profits to whoever controlled the Kaaba. For the Quraysh, who derived their wealth from trading all over what’s known today as the Middle East, the Kaaba was a source of prestige, authority and money. They did not appreciate anyone suggesting that they should tinker with, let alone completely upend, a winning formula. But Muhammad told the Quraysh to : Abandon paganism and embrace the “one true God.” For that, Muhammad risked being booted out of the tribe—and out of Mecca, two devastating blows to Muhammad personally and politically. Without a tribe’s protection in 7th century Arabia, an individual (or his followers) were extremely vulnerable to predators, who could act against them without fear of retribution.

The Origin and Purpose of the Satanic Verses

According to Islamic historians Ibn Saad and Abu Ja’far Muhammad al-Tabari, Muhammad was genuinely interested in finding a compromise that would end the rift between his people and the Quraysh. The Quraysh, for their part, had sent out trail balloon: Give the Quraysh a sign that you’d be willing to compromise on your absolute monotheism. That could open the way to a solution.

And so Muhammad, the Islamic historians say, once heard a “revelation” that three goddesses worshipped by the Quraysh — al-Lat, al-Uzza and Manat — could be revered and worshipped. Word spread to the Quraysh. To the tribe leaders, Muhammad’s allowance was taken as a concession that the three goddesses had equal billing with God in the Quran. And if the Prophet was willing to worship the three goddesses, then all could be well again between Muhammad and the Quraysh, who’d be willing to pray with Muslims and open Mecca’s doors to them again.

This verse was uttered by Muhammad as a “revelation” and appears in the Koran, in Sura 53:

Have you thought on Al-Lat and Al-Uzza, and on Manat, the third other?

And this is the verses that do not appear in the Koran, but which Muhammad was believed to have uttered as part of his “revelation” that sought compromise with the Quraysh, referring as they did to the three goddesses:

These are the exalted birds whose intercession is approved.

Those verses were a revelation to the Quraysh. “Because the Quran appeared to have endorsed the piety of their fathers and to have abandoned its monotheistic message,” Karen Armstrong wrote in Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet, the Quraysh “no longer saw Islam as a sacrilegious threat that could bring a catastrophe on the people of Mecca.” They embraced Muhammad’s religion and prepared to welcome him back into the fold.

Muhammad Rejects the Satanic Verses

But before the Quraysh had time to act on the perceivec compromise, Muhammad himself, the story goes, came to his senses, judged the verses approving the intercession of the “exalted birds” to have been inspired by Satan, and rejected them with a new revelation:

They are but names which you and your fathers have invented: God has vested no authority in them. The unbelievers follow but vain conjectures and the whims of their own souls, although the guidance of their Lord has long since come to them.

And that was that. The satanic verses about the “exalted birds” were expunged from the Koran and never again acknowledged as having ever been part of the Koran, the implication being that if Muhammad could not distinguish between the voice of God and the voice of Satan, he could not be much of a Prophet after all.Most Muslims consider the entire story of the satanic verses apocryphal. By excising it entirely from Islamic history, or casting it as a concoction by infidels or disbelievers, two considerable problems are avoided: The notion of Muhammad as a politician willing to make deals (as opposed to a warrior intent on prevailing through faith in God and the sword) is discarded. So is the possibility that Muhammad could have failed to distinguish between the voice of God and the voice of satan. [2][7][8]

The Quraish Kaaba

It has clearly established that Muhammad’s parents belonging to the pagan Quraish tribe were keepers of the Kaaba and worshipped Hubul, the Sun god, and his daughters, al-Lat, al-Uzza and Manat. All these idols sat in the highest positions on the Kaaba. (see Appendix I)
The Quraish tribe were proud keepers of the Kaaba because of its sacred nature attracted pilgrims from all over and Mecca was peaceful and trading was undisturbed which ensure the prosperity of the Quraish tribe. They intended to continue with their ancient traditions and wanted no changes to the Kaaba or the gods that the various tribes came to worship.
Because Muhammad attempted to convert the Quraish people to accept his concept of monotheism, and because he ridiculed the Quraish gods, he was repelled and rejected as a charlatan and later persecuted. Plans were well in advance for Muhammad’s assassination when he decided to escape from Mecca. When the assassination plots became a real threat Muhammad ran away from Mecca to seek refuge in Medina.

Hijra to Medina in 622

Muhammad and his followers decided to emigrate to Medina from Mecca in 622 following the intense animosity of the Quraish against Muhammad’s ridicule of the Quraish gods on the excuse that a delegation from Medina, consisting of the representatives of the twelve important clans of Medina, invited Muhammad as a neutral outsider to serve as the chief arbitrator for the entire community.[1][2] There was fighting in Yathrib (Medina) mainly involving its Arab and Jewish inhabitants for around a hundred years before 620. The recurring slaughters and disagreements over the resulting claims, especially after the battle of Bu’ath in which all the clans were involved, made it obvious to them that the tribal conceptions of blood-feud and an eye for an eye were no longer workable unless there was one man with authority to adjudicate in disputed cases. The delegation from Medina pledged themselves and their fellow-citizens to accept Muhammad into their community and physically protect him as one of themselves

Early Medina

In early Medina, in addition to the Banu Nadir, there were two other major Jewish tribes: the Banu Qurayza and the Banu Qaynuqa. They were joined centuries later by two non-Jewish Arab tribes from Yemen, Banu Aus and Banu Khazraj. So fundamentally, Medina was a prosperous Jewish trading centre not too receptive to Islam.

The Banu Nadir settled outside the city of Yathrib, now Medina, because of the Roman persecutions of the Jews in Palestine. According to the Muslim historian al-Yaqubi, the Banu Nadir were an Arab tribe ethnically, which had converted to Judaism and initially settled on the eponymous Mount Nadir. Like other Medinese Jews, Banu Nadir bore Arabic names, but spoke a distinct dialect of Arabic. They earned their living through agriculture, money lending, and trade in weapons and jewels, maintaining commercial relations with Arab merchants of Mecca. Their fortresses were located half a day’s march to the south of Medina. Banu Nadir were wealthy and lived in some of the best lands in Medina.
In order to ensure peace in Medina, Muhammad quickly drew up an agreement that would allow him assurance of peace and control of Medina, but how sincere was his intention? Was this Constitution an act of Taqiyya? The whole story will unfold.

The Constitution of Medina

The Constitution of Medina (Arabic: صحیفة المدینه‎, Ṣaḥīfat al-Madīnah), also known as the Charter of Medina, was drafted by the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It constituted a formal agreement between Muhammad and all of the significant tribes and families of Yathrib (later known as Medina), including Muslims, Jews, Christians and pagans. This constitution formed the basis of the future caliphate. The document was drawn up with the explicit concern of bringing to an end the bitter inter tribal fighting between the clans of the Aws (Aus) and Khazraj within Medina. To this effect it instituted a number of rights and responsibilities for the Muslim, Jewish, Christian and pagan communities of Medina bringing them within the fold of one community—the Ummah.

The precise dating of the Constitution of Medina remains debated but generally scholars agree it was written shortly after the Hijra (622). It effectively established the first Islamic state. The Constitution established: the security of the community, religious freedoms, the role of Medina as a haram or sacred place (barring all violence and weapons), the security of women, stable tribal relations within Medina, a tax system for supporting the community in time of conflict, parameters for exogenous political alliances, a system for granting protection of individuals, a judicial system for resolving disputes, and also regulated the paying of blood money (the payment between families or tribes for the slaying of an individual in lieu of lex talionis).

Rights of non-Muslims under the Constitution of Medina

The non-Muslims included in the ummah had the following rights:

  1. The security of God is equal for all groups,
  2. Non-Muslim members have equal political and cultural rights as Muslims. They will have autonomy and freedom of religion.
  3. Non-Muslims will take up arms against the enemy of the Ummah and share the cost of war. There is to be no treachery between the two.
  4. Non-Muslims will not be obliged to take part in religious wars of the Muslims.

The Constitution of Medina Promised Peace and Harmony, but…..

The various tribes in Medina were tired of the constant fighting and insecurity and were glad to find a solution to their disputes.

“The Constitution established:” the security of the community, religious freedoms, the role of Medina as a haram or sacred place (barring all violence and weapons), the security of women, stable tribal relations within Medina,” a tax system for supporting the community in time of conflict, parameters for exogenous political alliances, a system for granting protection of individuals, a judicial system for resolving disputes, and also regulated the paying of blood money (the payment between families or tribes for the slaying of an individual in lieu of lex talionis).”

When all parties accepted this Constitution, all parties were re-assured of their own security and independence (or was this a false security?) and Muhammad was assured of a peaceful existence and freedom to carry out his plans for the establishment and expansion of Islam, his main goal in life now.

Muslims, like Jews, were at that time praying towards Jerusalem. In the Constitution of Medina, Muhammad demanded the Jews’ political loyalty in return for religious and cultural autonomy.

The Jewish clans however kept aloof from Islam though in the course of time there were a few converts from them.[7] After his migration to Medina, Muhammad’s attitude towards Christians and Jews changed. Norman Stillman states:

During this fateful time, fraught with tension after the Hijra [migration to Medina], when Muhammad encountered contradiction, ridicule and rejection from the Jewish scholars in Medina, he came to adopt a radically more negative view of the people of the Book who had received earlier scriptures. This attitude was already evolving in the third Meccan period as the Prophet became more aware of the antipathy between Jews and Christians and the disagreements and strife amongst members of the same religion. The Qur’an at this time states that it will “relate [correctly] to the Children of Israel most of that about which they differ” (XXVII, 76).

Beginnings of armed conflict

Economically uprooted by their Meccan persecutors and with no available profession, the Muslim migrants turned to raiding Meccan caravans to respond to their persecution and to provide sustenance for their Muslim families, thus initiating armed conflict between the Muslims and the pagan Quraysh of Mecca.[9][10] Muhammad delivered Qur’anic verses permitting the Muslims, “those who have been expelled from their homes“, to fight the Meccans in opposition to persecution (see Qur’an Sura 22 (Al-Hajj) Ayat 39-40)

These attacks provoked and pressured Mecca by interfering with trade, and allowed the Muslims to acquire wealth, power and prestige while working toward their ultimate goal of inducing Mecca’s submission to the new faith.

In March 624, Muhammad led some three hundred warriors in a raid on a Meccan merchant caravan. The Muslims set an ambush for the Meccans at Badr.Aware of the plan, the Meccan caravan eluded the Muslims. Meanwhile a force from Mecca was sent to protect the caravan. The force did not return home upon hearing that the caravan was safe. The battle of Badr began in March 624. Though outnumbered more than three to one, the Muslims won the battle, killing at least forty-five Meccans and taking seventy prisoners for ransom; only fourteen Muslims died. They had also succeeded in killing many of the Meccan leaders, including Abu Jahl. Muhammad himself did not fight, directing the battle from a nearby hut alongside Abu Bakr. In the weeks following the battle, Meccans visited Medina in order to ransom captives from Badr. Many of these had belonged to wealthy families, and were likely ransomed for a considerable sum. Those captives who were not sufficiently influential or wealthy were usually freed without ransom. Muhammad’s decision was that those prisoners who refused to end their persecution of Muslims and were wealthy but did not ransom themselves should be killed. Muhammad ordered the immediate execution of two Quraysh men without entertaining offers for their release. Both men, which included Uqba ibn Abu Mu’ayt, had personally attempted to kill Muhammad in Mecca. The raiders had won much booty, and the battle helped to stabilize the Medinan community. Muhammad and his followers saw in the victory a confirmation of their faith and a prime importance in the affairs of Medina. Those remaining pagans in Medina were very bitter about the advance of Islam. In particular Asma bint Marwan and Abu ‘Afak had composed verses insulting some of the Muslims and thereby violated the Constitution of Medina to which they belonged. These two were assassinated and Muhammad did not disapprove of it. No one dared to take vengeance on them, and some of the members of the clan of Asma bint Marwan who had previously converted to Islam in secret, now professed openly. This marked an end to the overt opposition to Muhammad among the pagans in Medina.

Banu Qaynuqa

Muhammad expelled from Medina the Banu Qaynuqa, one of the three main Jewish tribes. Jewish opposition “may well have been for political as well as religious reasons”. On religious grounds, the Jews were skeptical of the possibility of a non-Jewish prophet, and also had concerns about possible incompatibilities between the Qur’an and their own scriptures. The Qur’an’s response regarding the possibility of a non-Jew being a prophet was that Abraham was not a Jew. The Qur’an also stated that it was “restoring the pure monotheism of Abraham which had been corrupted in various, clearly specified, ways by Jews and Christians”. According to Francis Edwards Peters, “The Jews also began secretly to connive with Muhammad’s enemies in Mecca to overthrow him.”

Banu Qaynuq was the first of the Jewish tribes that Muhammad got rid of from Medina.

Banu Nadir Jewish Tribe

Whenever alliances of tribesmen against Medina were formed, he sent out an expedition to break it up. For example the assassination of Ka’b ibn al-Ashraf, a member of the Jewish tribe of Banu Nadir who had gone to Mecca and written poems that had helped rouse the Meccans’ grief, anger and desire for revenge after the battle of Badr. Around a year later, Muhammad expelled the Jewish Banu Nadir from Medina.

After defeat by the Quraish at the Mount Uhud in March, 625, the Banu Nadir challenged Prophet Muhammad as the leader of Medina.

In July of the same year, two men were killed during skirmish in which the Muslims were involved. As a result Prophet Muhammad went to the Nadir, asking them to make a contribution towards the blood money of two men killed. Initially most of the Nadir, except Huyayy ibn Akhtab, were inclined to accept Prophet Muhammad’s request. However, Ibn Ubayy communicated to ibn Akhtab of his intent, along with allied nomads, to attack Prophet Muhammad. The Nadir, then postponed the contribution until later that day.

Prophet Muhammad left the locality immediately accusing the Banu Nadir of plotting to assassinate him, saying to have learned this either through revelation or Muhammad ibn Maslama.

According to other sources, the Banu Nadir invited Prophet Muhammad to their habitations for a religious debate, to which Prophet Muhammad accepted. Prophet Muhammad also accepted the condition that he bring no more than three men with him. On his way he was notified by a Banu Nadir convert to Islam of an assassination attempt at the debate.

Prophet Muhammad besieged the Banu Nadir. He ordered them to surrender their property and leave Medina within ten days. The tribe at first decided to comply, but “certain persons of Medina who were not Believers sent a message to the Banu al-Nadir, saying, ‘Hold out, and defend yourselves; we shall not surrender you to Prophet Muhammad. If you are attacked we shall fight with you and if you are sent away we shall go with you.'”  Huyayy ibn Akhtab decided to put up resistance, hoping also for help from the Banu Qurayza, despite opposition within the tribe.The Nadir were forced to surrender after the siege had lasted for 14 days, when the promised help failed to materialize and when Prophet Muhammad ordered the burning and felling of their palm-trees. Under the conditions of surrender, the Banu Nadir could only take with them what they could carry on camels with the exception of weapons.

The Banu Nadir left on 600 camels, parading through Medina to the music of pipes and tambourines. Al-Waqidi described their impressive farewell: “Their women were decked out in litters wearing silk, brocade, velvet, and fine red and green silk. People lined up to gape at them.” Most of Banu Nadir found refuge among the Jews of Khaybar, while others emigrated to Syria. According to Ibn Ishaq, the chiefs of Nadir who went to Khaybar were Sallam b. Abu’l-Huqayq, Kenana ibn al-Rabi and Huyayy b. Akhtab. When these chiefs arrvied in Khaybar, the Jewish inhabitants of Khaybar became subject to them.

Prophet Muhammad divided their land between his companions who had emigrated with him from Mecca. Until then, the emigrants had to rely upon the Medinese sympathizers for financial assistance. Prophet Muhammad reserved a share of the seized land for himself, which also made him financially independent.[1]

Upon expulsion of the Banu Nadir, Prophet Muhammad is said to have received a revelation of the Surah al-Hashr. [5]

This was the second of the 3 Jewish tribes that Muhammad had expunged from Medina.

The Genocide of Banu Qurayza

Hijra year 5 (627 AD), almost nine hundred Jews of a Medinan tribe named Banu Qurayza were massacred by Muslims in one day. Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, was the lead spectator of this butchery which began early in the day, ending in torchlight. Those who escaped death were taken captive by Muslims and sold in slave markets. This genocide is known in history as the Banu Qurayza incident.

Qur’anic Account

The Qur’an makes mention of this incident in chapter 33:

And He brought those of the People of the Scripture who supported them down from their strongholds, and cast panic into their hearts. Some ye slew and ye made captive some. And He caused you to inherit their land and their houses and their wealth, and land ye have not trodden. Allah is Able to do all things

Setting the apologetics aside, the Banu Qurayza massacre will always remain a stain on Muhammad and Islam, as this incident has no parallels in true history for the reason that it was perpetrated by a man who claimed to be a prophet sent as a mercy to mankind.

Muslims propose many apologetic arguments to release Muhammad from this crime. The most favored argument they use is the alleged treachery of Banu Quraiza. Its ludicrousness is evident when considering any act of treachery from this tribe would have rid the world of Islam at Khandaq, and as a result, Islam would never have existed outside of Arabia.

The excuses they forward thumbing through Deuteronomy (contained within religious scripture they themselves consider to have been altered since the incident in question), and a man who came into the picture much later, do not stand up to scrutiny, for the very reason that Muhammad had planned to slaughter the tribe before Saad bin Muadh, the ‘arbitrator’, had been invited.

Moreover, when the latter pronounced his sanguinary verdict, it was Muhammad who rushed in favor of it, proclaiming it to be Allah’s judgment. Taking all of these issues into account, there is no valid argument that a Muslim can use in defense of this most gruesome of genocides. After this most unholy of incidents, there remained not a tribe named Banu Qurayza in Arabia. [6]

Conclusions

Following the sequence of events above can anyone doubt that “The Constitution of Medina” was nothing but Taqiyya in order to temporarily pacify and put to rest the Jewish unease and fears of Islam while all the time Muhammad had been planning for the opportune time to eliminate his most hated enemies? It worked because, the Jews took Muhammad at his word and they were all betrayed and either driven out of Medina or eliminated for good.

This became the modus operandi for all future Islamic deceit and betrayals even today. This treachery has been glossed over with more Taqiyya and lies with such consistency that many non-Muslims believe the Islamic rhetoric. That is because they do not understand Islamic philosophy and cunning.

The fact that the Holy Quran totally supports all of Muhammad’s actions would suggest that the text of the Quran was adjusted to justify all of Muhammad’s actions. A few quotes from the Quran will illustrate how the text supports Muhammad’s actions.

Bukhari:V4B52N268 “Allah’s Apostle (Muhammad) said, ‘War is deceit.’”

Bukhari:V7B67N427 “The Prophet said, ‘If I take an oath and later find something else better than that, then I do what is better and expiate my oath.’”

Qur’an 9:3 “Allah and His Messenger dissolve obligations.”

Qur’an 66:2 “Allah has already sanctioned for you(Muhammad) the dissolution of your vows.”

Qur’an 4:142 “Surely the hypocrites strive to deceive Allah. He shall retaliate by deceiving them.”

Qur’an 33:21 “You have in (Muhammad) the Messenger of Allah a beautiful pattern of conduct for any one to follow.”

Jews

Qur’an 2:64 “But you [Jews] went back on your word and were lost losers. So become apes, despised and hated. We made an example out of you.”

Qur’an 33:26 “Allah made the Jews leave their homes by terrorizing them so that you killed some and made many captive. And He made you inherit their lands, their homes, and their wealth. He gave you a country you had not traversed before.”

Qur’an 5:82 “You will find the Jews and disbelievers [defined as Christians in 5:73] the most vehement in hatred for the Muslims.”

Ishaq:364 “Muslims, take not Jews and Christians as friends. Whoever protects them becomes one of them, they become diseased, and will earn a similar fate.”

Qur’an:9:5 “Fight and kill the disbelievers wherever you find them, take them captive, harass them, lie in wait and ambush them using every stratagem of war.”

Infidels

Tabari IX:69 “Killing disbelievers is a small matter to us.”

Qur’an:8:39 “Fight them until all opposition ends and all submit to Allah.”

Qur’an:8:39 “So fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief [non-Muslims]) and all submit to the religion of Allah alone (in the whole world).”

Ishaq:324 “He said, ‘Fight them so that there is no more rebellion, and religion, all of it, is for Allah only. Allah must have no rivals.’”

With such diktats  from Allah, it would be impossible for Muslims to accept peoples of other faiths. It is also impossible to alter or tamper with the words of Allah.

End

Appendix I

Allah, The Moon god of Ancient Arabs

Was Allah The Moon God of Ancient Arab Pagan?

 

By Syed Kamran Mirza

 

Historical evidences, impartial logic, well versed references and all available circumstantial judgments can very well prove that—(a) Allah name of deity was pre-existed much before the arrival of Islam, (b) Pre-Islamic Pagan peoples worshipped Allah as their supreme deity (moon-god). Allah’s name existed in pre-Islamic Arab. In ancient Arab the Allah was considered to be the supreme God/deity (as Moon-God) and Arab Pagans worshipped Allah before Islam arrived. 

 

 Let us examine below some valid questions and answers :

Did the Pagan Arabs in pre-Islamic times worship 360 gods? Yes

Did the pagans Arabs worship the sun, moon and the stars? Yes

Did the Arabs built temples to the Moon-god? Yes

Did different Arab tribes give the Moon-god different names/titles? Yes

What were some of the names/titles? Sin, Hubul, Ilumquh, Al-ilah.

Was the title “al-ilah” (the god) used as the Moon-god? Yes

Was the word “Allah” derived from “al-ilah?” Yes

Was the pagan “Allah” a high god in a pantheon of deities? Yes.

Was he worshipped at the Kabah? Yes.

Was Allah only one of many Meccan gods? Yes

Did they place a statue of Hubul on top of the Kabah? Yes.

At that time was Hubul considered the Moon-god? Yes.

Was the Kabah thus the “house of the Moon-god”? Yes.

Did the name “Allah” eventually replace that of Hubul as the name of the Moon god? Yes.

Did they call the Kabah the “house of Allah”?  Yes.

Were al-Lat, al-Uzza and Manat called “the daughters of Allah”? Yes.

Yusuf Ali explains in fn. 5096, pg. 1445, that Lat, Uzza and Manat were known as “the daughters of God [Allah]”

Did the Qur’an at one point tell Muslims to worship al-Lat, al-Uzza and Manat? Yes. In Surah 53:19-20.

Have those verses been “abrogated” out of the present Qur’an? Yes.

What were they called? “The Satanic Verses.”

 

The variable names (Sin, Hubul, llumquh, Al-ilah) of moon god were used by various tribes of pagan Arabs. Pagan god SIN was the name of Moon-god.

 

 

Who is actually Allah?

 

According to Islamic Theologians (Mullahs, Maulana, Moulavis, etc.), or Islamic teachings– Allah is the supreme God or creator who (suddenly one day?) talked or introduced Himself with Prophet Muhammad through an Angel named Gabriel, disclosing the truth that it is the Allah who created everything in the universe. Surprisingly, Qur’an never defines the word “Allah” as to who actually Allah was or what was the relation of Allah with pagans.  I believe, 99% percent of Muslims do believe that—Allah’s name was invented or started right from the time when Gabriel disclosed the truth (?) to Prophet Muhammad in the cave of Hira Parvat (Mountain) and gave Muhammad the Quran. They believe that before this truth was revealed—pagan Arabs were in the total darkness (Andhakar Zuug) and they used to worship various puppet goddess and that the pagans were very evil people.  I can bet on this fact that no mullahs ever told us the real truth, neither they believe this clean truth that “Allah” was in fact a pre-existing deity in pagan Arabia. What a hypocrisy?

 

Some important factors which will suggest that the name“Allah” was already in use by Pagans as their chief God/deity:

 

(A) In pre-Islamic days, that Muslims call the Days of ignorance, the religious background of the Arabs was pagan, and basically animistic.  Through Moon, Sun, Stars, Planets, Animals, wells, trees, stones, caves, springs, and other natural objects man could make contact with the deity. At Mekka, “Allah” was the chief of the gods and the special deity of the Quraish, the prophet’s tribe. Allah had three daughters: Al Uzzah (Venus) most revered of all and pleased with human sacrifice; Manah, the goddess of destiny, and Al Lat, the goddess of vegetable life.  These three daughters of Allah (there is a Quranic verse about them) were considered very powerful over all things. Therefore, their intercessions on behalf of their worshippers were of great significance.                                             

(B) Arabs used to give their children names such as—Abdullah (slave of Allah). Clean proof was the fact that, Muhammad’s father’s name was “Abdullah”. Logical analogy here is—had there been no “Allah” in pre-Islamic Arab, there could be no Abdullah or slave of Allah in Arabia.

(C) Even today, in the entire Arab World, not only Muslims but all other non-Muslim    (Jews, Christians, Sabians, Bahai, an atheist etc.) Arabs says—“Ya Allah” as the expression of surprise or unhappiness/sorrow.

(D). Albert Hourani’s statement: “The Islamic name used for God was “Allah”, which was already in use for one of the local Gods (it now used by Arabic-speaking Jews and Christians as the name of God (A history Of Arab people by Albert Hourani, 1991, page-16, Belknap press of Harvard University, USA)

 

History tells us two theories of Allah’s existence in and around the Kaba Sharif: (1)   Pagans used to call the largest Statue amongst the 360 deities as ALLAH—whom they used to consider the chief/supreme deity (god). Or, (2) Pagan Arabs used to worship 360 deities inside Kaba Sharif, and they used to consider them different smaller deities under the total control of a single most powerful chief deity called “ALLAH” who was invisible (Nirakar) and was the all-powerful, all-knowing, and totally unknowable.

 

Amazing Similarities with Hindu Religion:

 

In India’s Hindu religion is quite similar to the number two theory (above) of pagan belief. Although, Hindus worship many different Goddesses—they invariably have faith upon a single supreme invisible deity called “Bhagaban” (some call it “Ischhaar”) whom they call “Nirakar”. And, surprisingly there is no sculptural image/figure for this Bhagaban. But all Hindus worship Him along with other numerous deities. This Bhagaban is considered as the lord of all other deities.  What would happen—if some intelligent prophet would have asked Hindus to give up worshipping other goddesses and keeping only Bhagaban as their only deity making it a monotheist religion just like Islam? Could it not be another religion like Islam?

 

Now some factors which will suggest “Allah” was the Moon-god of Arab pagans:

 

(A)   In Qura’n there are at least a dozen verses in which Allah repeatedly swears by the names such as moon, sun, stars, planets, night, wind etc. It is a mystery why the creator Allah (?) should swear by his creations.  Normally, we swear by the name of something much superior to us, such as we swear by God or by the name of our father (who is considered senior or superior to us). But we never swear by the name of something inferior to us. Here in the Quran swearing fashions of Allah (God) by moon or stars hinting us that Allah considered these things superior to himself. And this makes us to think (otherwise) as to who actually acted as Allah in Quran? However, in his explanation of why the Qur’an swears by the moon in Surah 74:32, “Nay, verily by the Moon,” Yusuf Alli comments, “The moon was worshipped as a deity in times of darkness”(fn. 5798, pg. 1644). Perhaps, this swearing of Allah was due to the usual/cultural habits of worshipping moon as their God in pagan customs.

 

(B) Yousuf Ali stated (Page-1921-1623 of his English Translation of Holy Quran):

 

“Moon-worship was equally popular in various forms………Apollo and Diana—the twin brother and sister, representing the sun and moon. …in the Vedic religion of India the moon god was Soma, the lord of the planets…….moon was male divinity in ancient India. Moon was also male divinity in ancient Semitic religion, and the Arabic word for the moon “qamar’ is of the masculine gender, on the other hand, the Arabic word for sun “shams” is feminine gender. The pagan Arabs evidently looked upon the sun as a goddess and the moon as a God.

 

The Pagan deities best known in the Ka’ba and round about Mecca were Lat, Uzza, and Manat.…the 360 idols established by the Pagans in the Ka’ba probably represented the 360 days of an inaccurate solar year. This was the actual modern pagan worship as known to the Quraish contemporary with our prophet”

 

(C) Influence of Moon in Islam:

 

Who can deny the paramount influences of moon in Muslim’s life? In Islam, moon is considered holiest astronomical object, and moon is the guiding light of all Islamic rituals/festivals. Contradictions and conflicts are very common with the dates of Eids and Ramadan and obviously it is a chronic problem and moon is the nucleus of this problem. Crescent moon and stars are the symbolic sign in the national flags of many Muslim countries, and it is present over the Mosques, in the Muslim graveyard etc.  

 

Prophet Muhammad compromised to Pagans to establish Islam in Arabia:

 

Prophet Muhammad did his clever tactics of adapting many rites of paganism into Islam, in order to accommodate Islam among the pagan Arabs. He made lots of political pacts with the Pagan Leaders such as Abu Suffian to accommodate his new idea of religion and he agreed to incorporate many of the Pagan rituals in Islam. Prophet Muhammad asked the pagans to worship only the “Allah” the largest God,

And destroy the idols of all other gods and goddesses that existed in Kabah. To establish oneness (monotheist) of God, he repeatedly asked them not to make any partners to Allah (That is why we can find hundreds of Quranic verses “asking not to make any partners to Allah). Finally, the Prophet was able to convince (by force of course) the pagans to destroy all idols, and on return (he) agreed (perhaps) to keep the “Names” of the goddess of most famous Pagan tribes as the alternative names of Allah—hence Islam has 99 NAMES of Allah.

 

Prophet Muhammad did command his followers to participate in these pagan ceremonies while the pagans were still in control of Mecca. (Please See Yusuf Ali, fn. 214, pg. 78). … “the whole of the [pagan] pilgrimage was spiritualized in Islam…” (Yusuf Ali: fn. 223 pg. 80).  In the Tafsir (of Quran-2:200) maoulana Yousuf Ali stated:  “After Pilgrimage, in Pagan times, the pilgrims used to gather in assemblies in which the praises of ancestors were sung. As the whole of the pilgrimage rites were spiritualized in Islam, so this aftermath of the Pilgrimage was also spiritualized. It was recommended for pilgrims to stay on two or three days after the pilgrimage, but they must use them in prayer and praise to God.(#223 of Shane’nazul by Maoulana Yousuf Ali, page-81)

 

In Islam many rituals performed (today) by devoted Muslims in the name of Allah are connected to the pagan worship that existed before Islam. Pagans practices of the Pilgrimage of Kabah once a year–the Fast of Ramadan, running around the Kabah seven times, kissing the black stone, shaving the head, animal sacrifices, running up and down two hills, throwing stones at the devil, snorting water in and out the nose, praying several times a day toward Mecca, giving alms, Friday prayers, etc. are strictly followed by Muslims today. Nobody can deny the fact that, all the above rituals of Muslim’s hajj today—existed well before the arrival of Islam.

 

It is highly plausible to consider the fact that by incorporating much of the Pagan’s rituals in new religion Islam—Prophet successfully reduced the pagan-risk and it was perhaps one of the most important milestone-attempts to conquer the minds of Pagans resulting in massive breakdown of the Pagans’ moral and support to oppose Islam. 

The central shrine at Mekka was the Pagan’s Kaaba (called House of Allah), a cube like stone structure which still stands though many times rebuilt. Imbedded in one corner is the black stone, probably a meteorite, the kissing of which is now an essential part of the Muslim’s pilgrimage.

 

It is the historical fact that the Ka’aba, the sacred shrine which contains the Black Stone, in Mecca was used for pagan idol worship before Islam and even called the House of Allah at that time. The name of the God whom the Arabs worshipped was the god of pantheon—Ali-ilah the god, the supreme, the predeterminer of everybody’s life or destiny—the chief God “Allah”

 

Who did not read the story of BLACK STONE which was very sacred (povitra) to all various tribes of Quraish. When one day this sacred stone was needed to transfer from one place to another, there was a quarrel amongst the various tribes, as to who will carry that sacred stone? Then most intelligent and righteous young boy Muhammad (was not a prophet then) invented the solution of this serious problem. He (Muhammad) put this sacred stone over a Chaddor (piece of cloth) and asked one representative from each tribe to hold the Chaddor and carry the stone. I narrated this story briefly just to prove that—black stone did exist long before Islam was invented.

In summary, it has been truthfully and logically proven with all possible available circumstantial evidences/rational that, Islam was not a new religion but it is a reformed paganism. I believe thatall these monotheistic religions have more or less similar origins. This idea of monotheistic religion was not a brand new invention. Monotheistic thought was declared by Ancient Pharaoh Kings, Mesopotamia’s king Hamarubi (3000 B.C.), and Alexander the Great (300 B.C.). Differences were, these kings demanded that they themselves were the God whom everybody should worship. [3]

References

[3] Hubul the Moon god of the Quraish tribe: http://www.faithfreedom.org/Articles/skm30804.htm

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