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The Prophet
Muhammad Now, I may explain this theme further with reference to
Allah, the God of Muhammad, the Arabian prophet: Abu al-Qasim Muhammad Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Abd al Muttalib Ibn Hashim, the founder of Islam
and the Arab Empire, was born in Mecca c. 570 A.D. after the death of his
father. First, he was under the care of his paternal grandfather, and
when he died, Abu Talib, his uncle, became his guardian. When he was six, he
lost his mother, Aminah. He was married to Khadijah of the clan of Asad. This
association which lasted for twenty-six years, was a
happy one. Muhammad belonged to the clan of Hashim which was a part of the tribe of Quresh, and inhabited
Muhammad was accustomed to retiring to a desert cave called
Hira where he reflected on the mysteries of creation.
During 610 A.D. when he was meditating in the Hira, an
angel of God, called Gabriel, appeared before him and said: Read: In the name of
thy Lord who createth. Createth man from a clot.
Read: And it is thy Lord the Most bountiful who teacheth pen, Teacheth man that which
he knew not. This was a written message from Allah. When Gabriel told
Muhammad to read it, he said that he was illiterate and could not read it.
Thereupon the angel caught him by the throat and commanded him again to read.
Thrice Muhammad expressed his inability to read and thrice the angel choked him.
He was extremely frightened. It was his wife, Khadijah, who told him that the "spirit" he saw was a good one, and not the devil. She assured him that
he had been chosen by God as His prophet. Even then he needed a lot of persuation to accept the mission of prophethood. Here is the old Semitic tradition of revelation at work,
which requires a prophet to accept the apostolic dignity under duress. In the
case of the Prophet Muhammad, it is even more amazing because the All-knowing
Allah wants the illiterate Muhammad to read His message! Islam was the name that the Prophet Muhammad gave his
religion. Therefore, following the Semitic tradition, he had to find a deity
that inspired this faith. Though there is no Biblical authority for it, the
Prophet asserted Islam as the true religion of God who sent Adam, Noah, Abraham,
Moses, Jesus, and many other prophets to promulgate and restate it. Thus, what
he advocated, he claimed, was the same old faith but it had been corrupted by
the Jews. So he had no qualm in adopting most of the Jewish principles and
practices with a view to renovating the old religion of God, which he called
"Islam" as opposed to Judaism, and Christianity. In fact, he made a great effort
to convert Jews. He adopted, not only a good deal of their creed, but also
repeatedly said that God had exalted the children of
Scholars have remarked that the early Jews worshipped a deity
called El (Gen: The Prophet chose Allah as the Supreme God for national
reasons. At that time, the Jews held a considerable social status in the
First, the Prophet tried to woo them by making
"Children of
He went even further to address his Arab followers: "(Islam
is) the creed of your father Abraham: He named you Muslims." (The Pilgrimage:
75) When the Jews ignored this loving approach, they were enveloped by the
apostolic wrath. The Prophet demoted
Since the Jews refused to be a part of the Arab nation, their
condemnation as an accursed race was not sufficient. Creation of a pure nation, demanded that the Jews must be expelled from
states quite differently: "We (God) made covenant with Abraham and Ishmael." (The Cow: 115) There is no historical evidence whatever that the Jews altered the Old Testament to this effect. They did not need to do so because this statement had existed in their Scriptures many centuries before the Koran was composed. This is how the Prophet transferred the Divine sanctity to his own nation to make them feel exalted. Glorification of Allah by the Prophet as the supreme and the only God is a part of Arab nationalism. Firstly, as stated previously, Allah was Yahwe's superior, thus the Arabs,
the people of Allah have to be better than the people of Yahwe, the Jews. Yahwe had been
proclaimed as the God of Israel, but to be better, Allah had to be the God of
the universe. This is exactly what the Prophet did: thus Allah is All- knowing,
All-powerful and omnipresent. The Old Testament does not claim such attributes
for Yahwe. Why was Allah proclaimed as the most glorious and the only God? It is because He was an Arab god whose statue was worshipped in the Kaaba itself for centuries. Of course, Allah was not the only god of the Kaaba, which had developed into a pantheon owing to the influences of the foreign cults. It was very much like a Hindu temple devoted to idolatry and organised on the Hindu doctrine of Triad (Trimurti) which means three-in-one. Allah had his three daughters in the Kaaba, worshipped along with him. Kaaba, referred to as the Meccan temple by historians, was under the hereditary management of the Quresh, the Prophet's tribe and thus gave them some sanctity as the lords of the Kaaba. It is for this reason, they (Q'uresh) were known as the People of Allah or the Protected Neighbours of Allah. Allah, the idol, even then inspired considerable veneration into the Arabian hearts, and it is quite evident from the fact that the tribes on pilgrimage to the Kaaba, were called the Guests of Allah. Despite all this divine prestige, Allah was still a par~ of a
pantheon i.e. he was one of many gods. Therefore, the Prophet emphasised the singularity of Allah and condemnation of all
other gods. It should be borne in mind, that the Prophet believed the Quresh, his tribe, to be the best of all people. This is the
reason that he laid it down that only the Quresh had
the right to rule. I shall discuss this point in due course. At this point, it is sufficient to say that the Arabs could be an exalted nation only if they were to be blessed by the only and universal Allah who was as much Arab as Yahwe was Jewish. Since the doctrine of revelation
affects the behaviour of more than half of the
population of the world, it is the major issue of religion and metaphysics.
Thus, we ought to look into the psychological make-up of a revelationist i.e. a prophet, to assess whether or not he is
a person of dominant nature. This must serve as a deciding factor to establish
the reality of revelation itself. For this purpose, and not any mischief or
insolence, I refer to the *Hadith, that is,
record of the sayings and practices of the prophet which rank as the Islamic
tradition. After all, the Koran repeatedly challenges the dissenters to produce
an argument to support their point or view. What I am about to say is a matter
of fact to the Muslim believers owing to their faith, but what will they say
about someone else who made similar claims about himself and his dynastic
background? To a just person, this is the guiding principle which he should bear
in mind to decide the issue for himself. * When Moslem scholars cannot answer a question, they say
that the quoted hadith is a forgery. I have taken care
to avoid apocryphal hadiths. ------------- THE PROPHET CLAIMED: 1. "God chose as the best the children of Ishmael, the son of
Abraham. From Ishmael's descendants, God chose the Quresh (the tribe of Muhammad) as the best of people; from
the Quresh, God chose the Banu Hashim (Muhammad's clan) as
the best of people, and from the Banu Hashim, God chose Muhammad as the best of all men.." (Jame Tirmze, Vol: 2
) I ought to mention that it contradicts the Jewish claim as stated in Genesis 17: 19-21. Jews are the descendants of Isaac. They believe that he was the only legitimate son of Abraham borne by his wife, Sarah, whereas Ishmael was given birth by Hagar, an Egyptian maid-servant of Sarah, made pregnant by Abraham. God made the covenant with Isaac and not Ishmael. Giving children of Ishmael (the Arabs) preference over the Jews, appears to be an act of nationalism. Obviously, the purpose of Islam was to make the Arabs a great nation by bestowing racial distinction on them. 2. Of the two tribes that God chose as the best were the
descendants of Ishmael and Isaac. God preferred the children of Ishmael (Arabs)
to the children of Isaac (the Jews). Then, God created Muhammad in the chosen
tribe of Quresh (the descendants of Ishmael ) and then
He chose the best family among the Quresh and created
Muhammad as the best of all men. ( Jame Tirmze Vol: 2 ) 3. Muhammad was asked when he was made prophet. He replied
that he was made prophet when the body and soul of Adam were still in the
making. (Jame Tirmze Vol: 2 ) According to the "Sahih Muslim"
already referred to, this dignity was thrust on Muhammad when he was forty years
of age. It is strange that, despite being a prophet, even before the creation of
Adam, he never claimed prophethood until he attained
this age. Nor did he discharge his apostolic duties for the first forty years of
his life! 4. .....God has chosen Muhammad as the best of all mankind.
And it is not a boast but a fact. (Jame Tirmze Vol: 2) 5. .....On the Day of Judgement
Muhammad would occupy the right hand side of God's throne. Nobody else would be
entitled or capable of doing so except him. (Jame
Tirmze Vol:
2) 6. On the Day of Judgement, ask for
Muhammad as the Waseela or Refuge, that is, the person
who has the power of intercession to forgive sins. Thus he would be the only
person who could act as the medium to paradise. (Jame
Tirmze Vol:
2) 7. Muhammad would be the Chief of all mankind on the Day of
Judgement. (Jame Tirmze Vol:2) 8. Muhammad is the first person who would be appointed as the
intercessor. He would be the first person whose intercession would be accepted.
It is he who would unlock the gates of paradise and would be the first to enter
it, followed by his followers. He is superior to all men who were before him, or
would come after him. It is not a boast but a fact. (Jame Tirmze Vol: 2) 9. "Send Darood on the Prophet,"
that is, pray to Muhammad, supplicate him and praise him. He who sends darood on Muhammad once, God blesses him ten times. (Jame Tirmze Vol: 2) These hadiths (the Prophet's
traditions) speak for themselves and need hardly any comment from me. However,
better understanding of the subject requires that we should know Muhammad's
relationship with Allah, the Islamic God. Here are some examples. 1. Shahada is the basic doctrine of
Islam. It is the confession which makes a person Muslim, the follower of Allah.
It means: Nobody has the right to be adored (worshipped) but Allah, and Muhammad is His messenger. The meaning of Shahada is better understood when it is divided as
follows: Allah's rights: a. "Those who believe, love Allah
more than anything else." ( Baqra 12: 165) "Praise belongs to God, the Lord of all Being." ( Cattle: 45 ) b. To assert His right to praise or worship, Allah clearly
states in the Koran (the Islamic Scripture): "I have not created ..... mankind except to serve me. (The Scatterers: 55 ) At several other occasions Allah reiterates that He has created man for no purpose but worship and adore Him. It is amazing that Allah, despite being "the Creator," "the All- knowing," and "All-Powerful" cannot get man to adore Him the way He wants, and has to send prophets and messiahs to persuade man with the threats of hell and promises of paradise. Yet, the net result is the further division of mankind, disbelief and sin. Since "Shirk" i.e. worshipping others with Allah, is the only
unpardonable sin, it is clear that if God were really, the Creator, the
All-knowing and the All-powerful, with such a burning desire for worship, He
could have surely created the Obedient man. It is
obviously not Allah, who desires to be worshipped; it has got to be man who
wants to be treated as God and worshipped as such. This fact emerges when we
look into part - 2 of Shahada, that is, 2 . Prophet's rights: a. Though the Prophet calls himself Allah's ABD or slave,
Allah allows him to be above His laws; for example, a Moslem is allowed to have
no more than four wives at the same time but the Prophet had nine wives
simultaneously. b. Allah is willing for the Prophet to marry anybody's widow
or divorcee, but it is a monstrous act for anyone to marry the Prophet's widow
or divorcee. ( The Confederates: 50 ) c. It is a condition of polygamy that a Muslim has to be
equitable towards all his wives but the Prophet can lawfully suspend any of his
wives at will. (The Confederates: 50) d. Allah is anxious to please the Prophet; He tells the
believers how to enter his house, how long to stay there, and not to indulge in
idle talk when they are in his house. (The Confederates: 50) e. As I shall discuss later, Allah changed the Kibla, the direction of praying just to please the Prophet.
It was certainly a major modification in a system which claims to be of divine
origin. ( The Cow: 135 ) f. Aisha, the Prophet's wife, was
somewhat displeased when Khaula bint Halo, presented herself to the Prophet in marriage, but
when God revealed to him: "You may suspend any of them (Your wives) that you
please" (33: 51 ) Aisha
exclaimed: ".....Allah hurries in pleasing you." (Sahih Al Bokhari Vol: 7) g. In fact, Allah acts as Prophet's factotum because He tells believers not to walk in front of him or raise voice above that of his. (Apartments: 1) The Prophet was surely capable of giving such instructions
himself. When one looks deeper into the relationship of the Prophet with Allah,
it transpires that though the Koran originally treats Muhammad as human,
gradually this relationship develops into duality and eventually, like Moses,
Muhammad appears as God's superior. This is a delicate issue but fairness
demands that the reader should weigh the arguments which I intend to offer,
before jumping to hasty conclusions. The process of Muhammad converting his
humanity into divinity is a long and complex one but I intend to keep the
narrative brief and simple. Consider the following: 1. It is a condition of faith that a believer should love
Allah, but this stipulation becomes insufficient because a person does not rank
as believer until he loves the prophet "more than his father, his children and
all mankind. " (Sahih Al
Bokh. vol: 1) 2. Muhammad is as great as Allah because the former like the
latter, has ninety-nine attributes. a. As Allah is closer to man than his jugular vein for being
omnipresent (QAF 15 ), "the Prophet is nearer to the
believers than their selves.." (The Confederates: 5) 3. Though the Prophet is projected as mortal and Allah's
servant in the beginning, but as he grows stronger, obedience to Muhammad
becomes as compulsory as to Allah: a. "Obey Allah and the Messenger." (The House of Imran 25, 125) b. "..whoso
obeys God and His Messenger, He will admit him to gardens." (Women: 15 ) c. Gradually, the Prophet shares authority with
Allah: "It is not for any believer, man or woman, when God and His
Messenger have decreed a matter, to have a choice in the affair. Whosoever
disobeys God and His Messenger has gone astray into clear error." (The
Confederates: 35) Having established himself as co-commandant with God, he
elevates his personal grace and significance beyond description because these
are the factors which have recommended him to sinners all over the world. They
are: d. "We have not sent you, except as a mercy unto all beings."
( The Prophets: 100 ) e. To make sure that everybody obeys and copies the Prophet
to the letter, the Quran declares him as the Model of
Behaviour. "You have a good example in God's Messenger
for whosoever hopes for God and the Last Day." (The Confederates:
20) f. Originally, he had no intercessionary powers; he professed that he could not even
save his daughter, Fatima whom he loved dearly. Then to enhance the appeal of
his prophethood, he raised himself to the status of
God: "Truly this is the word of a noble Messenger having power, with the Lord of the Throne secure, obeyed, moreover trusty." ( The Darkening: 15 - 20 ) For the last many centuries, this Quranic verse has been understood to mean by both the
scholars and the laity that on the Day of Judgement,
God will sit an His throne and Muhammad will occupy a
seat on His right hand side. Allah will give the entire intercessionary powers to Muhammad, who will decide whether
a person should go to heaven or hell. The criterion of judgement shall not be the quality of deeds but who has
loved the Prophet the most. The Jews will head the queue to hell, followed by
the Christians. The Hindus, the Buddhists, the deists, the atheists and the rest
will be equally sorry, but all murderers, rapists, robbers, arsonists, cheats, thugs, twisters, etc., who ever
mentioned Muhammad's name affectionately even once in their life-time
and believed in his prophethood, would go to
paradise, where each of them would be given seventy most beautiful virgins and
an array of pretty youths; their virility would be increased hundred fold for
appreciating Allah's bounties. This is the statement of fact as believed by the Moslems. I
have not exaggerated it. If anything, it is an understatement. g. Slowly, the dignity of the Prophet excels that of
Allah: "God and His angels pray peace to the Prophet. O believers,
you must also bless him, and pray him peace. (The Confederates: 55) Praying
peace and blessing in a meditative manner, as most religionists do, is the
essence of worshipping. The Moslems lead in this field. They, in fact, worship
Muhammad, yet they claim that "praise belongs to Allah," and think
of Shirk i.e. including anyone else in praising God, as the only
unforgiveable sin! Here is something extraordinary! Instead of man worshipping
God, it is God, along with His angels, who worships
man, the true purpose of the device of revelation. This narrative should expose
the true nature of revelation, that is, it serves as the tool of the
dominance-seeker who wants to be loved and worshipped by his fellow-men by
projecting himself as God indirectly. History testifies to this fact: whenever,
the Prophet had a haircut, his followers vied with one another in gathering his
trimmed hair and nails as divine souvenirs; they even collected his spittle and the water in which he had washed his hands. It is because they believed in their miraculous virtues of healing and salvation. Again, to imprint his divinity on the subconscious mind of
every new-born baby, he prescribed the recitation of his name as "God's Prophet"
in its ears almost immediately at birth. The process of learning known as
imprinting is said to have been discovered in 1935 by Lorenz but the Prophet
knew it fourteen centuries earlier. Imprinting, in fact, is the most effective
device of brain-washing. If at birth, ducklings and goslings are led to believe
that man is their true father, they follow him as his offspring. Revelation is
the greatest medium of brainwashing because this is the agent of faith, which
shuts down all doors of reasoning. The reader should know the type of God Allah is; He is
obsessed with self-praise: "He is God; there is no God but He. He is the King, the All-holy, the All -peaceable, the All-faithful, the
All-preserver, the All-mighty, the
All-compeller, the All-sublime. Glory be to God, above that they associate. He is God, the Creator, the Maker, the
Shaper, To Him belong the Names Most
Beautiful. All that is in the Heavens and the earth magnifies Him: He is the All-mighty, the All-wise." ( The Mustering: 20 ) The reader should bear in mind that it is Allah who is
praising Himself, and not man. This reveals the psychological make-up of the
dominance-seeker. Now one can see that Allah is most desirous of praise; when
man worships Him, He is glad but when man neglects Him, He feels sad. How
unstable Allah is! To boost His ego with the sycophancy of devotees, He does
things which are beyond the realm of moral thinking: He allures man with the
bribe of paradise full of beautiful women and boys; He threatens dissenters with
the most sadistic punishment of flaming hell, and repeatedly asserts that He is the Most Terrible Avenger and His Retributive punishment knows no bounds; He even mocks and misleads the unbelievers; He curses them and swears at them. In fact, He hates those who do not prostrate before Him and recommends their slaughter until they are wiped out or submit to His will. Is it really the character of a true God? He cannot be the Creator. If He were, He would have created man to obey Him because praise, worship and submission are His greatest desires, whose unfulfilment makes Him so unhappy and ruffled. If He cannot make Himself happy, how can he have the ability to make other people happy? Especially, when His happiness solely depends upon the deeds of man, he cannot be God. It has got to be the revelationist who puts on the cloak of an agent but wants to be treated as God. After stating these facts, I may describe briefly what has
led to the popularity of the Prophet Muhammad. There are three major causes of
this: 1. Firstly, he was a man of indomitable spirit. His will to succeed was simply marvellous. He could feel the pulse of history, and knew how to turn its course in his favour. On top of it, he was a man of some great qualities which rarely unite in one person. Having been born in a nation which was hardy, and capable of demonstrating great martial prowess, he had the vision and wisdom to mould these virtues to make Arabs into an imperial race. People forget that Muhammad was not only a prophet but also the builder of the Arab empire; and this was an integral part of his prophethood. 2. Secondly, the Prophet built Islam around the sanctity and
significance of his own person. He achieved this position through the following
means: a. He projected himself as mercy to all beings (The Prophets:
100). Thus, he created a special attraction for his person to all and
sundry. b. He expressed obedience to himself as obedience to Allah,
thus giving himself a divine stature which appeared simply stunning when his
followers realised that even Allah and His angels
prayed peace to him. c. He declared himself to possess intercessionary powers and expressed his ability to find a
place for all his followers in the paradise where they would enjoy eternity with
total delight and peace. This being every human's greatest desire, proved very
appealing, indeed. d. He was possibly, the greatest national leader born anywhere on earth. The way he imposed the hegemony of the Arabs on the Ajams (the non-Arabs) through a device of cultural subtlety is not only stunning but also highly praiseworthy and the proof of his vision and wisdom. Islam is essentially an Arab national movement. As far as I
am aware, nobody has touched upon this apostolic aspect of the Prophet before.
Therefore, I ought to discuss it in reasonable details to convey the message to
the reader. The main vehicle of national fervour was
his assertion that God had sent him as the Model of Behaviour (Uswa-e-Hasna) for the
believers. ( Confederates: 20 ) Copying the Prophet in
all details as the Model of Behaviour, was laid down as
the basic doctrine for the personal conduct of every Muslim. The Prophet used
it with the utmost skill to serve the
cause of Arab nationalism at the expense of the other Muslim nations. Here, the
reader is entitled to ask me: "Is there real evidence to show that
the Prophet was an Arab national leader, and he aimed at
establishing a system of Arab imperialism?" Of course, there is. Here is the
proof: One should remember that a nationalist is not only conscientious of his
origin but is usually proud of it. This test equally applies to
Muhammad: 1. According to Abu Huraira, when
God revealed the verse: "Warn your nearest kinsmen," the Prophet said in a loud
voice: "O people of Quresh." When we look further into
this act of self- identification, then we can clearly see the Prophet's pride in
his lineage. Let me requote the hadith to make this point: God chose as the best, the
children of Ishmael, the son of Abraham. From Ishmael's descendants, God chose
the Quresh (the tribe of Muhammad) as the best of
people; from the Quresh, God chose the Banu Hashim (Muhammad's clan) the
best of people, and from the Banu Hashim, God chose Muhammad as the best of all
men ..... ( Jame Tirmze. Vol: 2 ) The Jews have been called a keen racial group for their faith
in national superiority. One can see for oneself the meaning of this hadith that I have paraphrased. Yet in another hadith, the Prophet says: "God created Muhammad in the
chosen tribe of Quresh." As stated earlier, a prophet being desirous of dominance, needs a strong national group to perpetuate his
name and teachings. This is why Moses created the Jewish nation in the name of
Yahwe. The Prophet Muhammad did exactly the same thing
in the name of Allah. Of course, he thought of the Banu Hashim, his own family, as
the best of all families but their numbers were too small to be relied on as a
racial band to continue the prophetic campaign. So Muhammad placed greater
emphasis on his tribe (the Quresh) which was
sufficiently powerful in numbers and secular
influence. 2 . Having cal led the Quresh as the exalted people as Moses had declared the Jews
as the chosen people, the Prophet put his personal stamp on the excellence of
the Quresh: a. "May Allah destroy those who
intend to humiliate the Quresh." (Jame Tirmze. Vol: 2 ) b. "O Lord, you gave the Quresh,
the taste of torture (when they resisted Muhammad) but now give them the merits
and blessings of this world and the world- to - come. "
( Jame Tirmze . Vol: 2
) c. On the authority of the Prophet, Uthman told his scribes to write The Koran "in the language
of the Quresh." ( Sahih Bokh. Vol: IV ) It shows that the Koran
is in the Arabic spoken by the Quresh and not other
tribes. d. The Prophet shows an extraordinary zeal in the following
hadith whose accuracy cannot be denied: .....The
prerogative to rule shall remain vested in the Quresh,
and whoever is hostile to them, Allah shall destroy him as long as they obey the
laws of the religion." (Sahih Bokhari. Vol: 4) e. "The Quresh are the rulers of
men in vice and virtue until the Day of Judgement."
(Sahih Tirmze. Vol: 1) This hadith has also been
narrated in volume 9 of Sahih Albukhari. f. The right to rule (caliphate) shall belong to the Quresh even if two men existed. (Sahih Tirmze. Vol: 9) The truth of these hadiths is
revealed by two events: 1. In the eight hundred year long Islamic history of
2. There is a clearly stated episode in volume 8 of the Sahih Alburkhri, which
historically establishes the Quresh right to rule and
excludes everybody else from this honour. Even the
most virtuous and capable non-Arab Muslims cannot legitimately rule. It exposes
the racial nature of Islam and sounds the death-knell of the much-vaunted
Islamic principles of equality and democracy. Again, it is
amazing how Muslims of India,
how inferior. The event* to which I have referred to, has been narrated by
Omar the great, and has been universally accepted as true: At the death of the
Prophet, the problem ot
succession became very acute. The Ansar of Medina, who
had given the Prophet refuge, but were not Quresh,
claimed that they were as good Arabs as any other tribe. They insisted that
there ----------------- *Sahih Albokh, Vol: 8
----------------- should be two rulers one from them
(the Ansar) and one from the Quresh. Abu Bakr was quite blunt
in stating the doctrine of government as laid down by the Prophet. He said, "O
Ansar! you have all the great
qualities that you have attributed to yourself but the government belongs only
to the Quresh because they are the best of all the
Arabs as regards descent and family." When things got heated up, Omar thought of
a stratagem. He said, "O Abu Bakr, hold out your
hand." As he did so, Omar pledged his allegiance to Abu Bakr hurriedly, and the other emigrants
(the Arabs who had left Here, one can see that the Prophet's tribe reserves the right
to rule. It certainly proves that the Prophet was first a Quresh and then an Arab. Thus the kind of nationalism he
represented was narrower than that of the Jews who are known to have non-Jewish
rulers by consent. The "pagans" of
1. "He who aggresses against
2. The Prophet told Suleiman Farsi (the Persian), a freed
slave, who gained distinction by fighting for Islam: "....If you bear grudge
against 3 . The Prophet said about
4. " Far more significant than these hadiths (the Prophet's sayings) are the deeds of the Prophet
which sought to exalt Despite their internal jealousies, the Jews have always been
a highly organized group owing to their sense of national superiority and
commercial leanings by dint of their faith in the virtues of wealth. Thus
wherever they have lived, they have enjoyed social distinction. Their position
in the Prophet did everything to woo them to his faith; he appointed
There is plenty of evidence which shows that the Prophet wanted to raise an Arab nation in contradistinction to the Jews, the Byzantinians, the Iranians and the Turks. His message has all the appearance of universality but in reality, it is nationalistic. I did not realise this fact when I was writing about the nature of the Islamic mission in my book: Eternity. Here is the evidence to show that the Prophet wanted to raise
an imperial Arab nation: 1. The Prophet said that the first contingent of my followers
that would invade the Caesar's city ( 2. The Prophet said that the hour would be established only
when the Arabs fought the Turks, the people with small eyes, red faces, flat
noses .... and who wore shoes
made of hair. (Al Bokhari Vol: IV) 3. The Prophet said that Khusru,
the Persian Emperor would be destroyed and his line would be extirpated: Caesar
would also be ruined and there would be no Caesar to follow him, and "you," the
Arabs, would spend their treasures in the cause of Allah. He emphasised: "War is a deceit." (Al Bokhari Vol: IV) 4. The Prophet wanted his followers even to look culturally
different from the Jews and the Christians: The Prophet said: "the Jews and the
Christians do not dye their (grey) hair so you should do the opposite what they
do." (Sahih Albokhari Vol: 7) The dying of heads and
beards among the Muslims is a compliance to this prophetic
command. 5. The Prophet did not want the Arabs to follow non- Arabs in
their fashions and garments: When the Prophet saw
Abdullah b. Amr b. al-As wearing clothes dyed
in Saffron, he forbade him to wear them on the ground that such
clothes were worn by the non-believers. (Sahih Muslim
Vol: 3) One should note here the influence of the
Indian culture. The yellow or saffron colour has been
a distinction of the Hindu and Buddhist saints. Buddhism is known to have penetrated
6. However, the Prophet's national tendencies are more fully
visible in the treatment of the Jews: a. To neutralise the influence of
Hebrew which was the language of the Jewish Scripture, the Koran stated that the
Muslims should neither believe nor disbelieve the people of the Book i.e. Jews
and Christians but must believe in the Quran only
(which was in Arabic). (3: 84) b. "By the Clear Book, behold, we have made it an Arabic
Koran haply you will understand;" (Ornaments: 1) This verse means two things: 1. The Koran is for the Arabs; it is revealed in the Arabic
language so that they should understand it. Since it is rot in any other
language, it matters not whether the non-Arabs comprehend it or
not. 2. As the Koran is in Arabic, this must be the preferred language of the Arabs. It was customary for the Jews to read the Old Testament in Hebrew and explain it in Arabic. By raising Arabic to the Scriptural status, the Prophet wanted the Arabs to attach no importance to Hebrew and treat Arabic as their national language. c. As the Jews failed to respond to the Prophet, he adopted a
really tough attitude towards them: He changed
the direction of Kibla from
The real purpose of this change was to found the Arab
nationalism on a doctrine of self-reverence in such a way that the Arabs should
believe in themselves as chosen by God-to be the exalted, the preferred and the
best, and all non-Arab Muslims must yield to the basic superiority of Arab
nationalism as the Divine command. The reader can see this truth for himself by
realising that Muslims all over the world face Mecca
(Kaaba) five times a day to bow and prostrate in
prayers; they bury their dead facing Mecca; every Muslim is obliged by God's
command to visit the Holy shrine at least once in his life time provided that he
has the means to do so. All national shrines of the muslim nations are inferior to the holiness of Kaaba.No place on earth has ever exacted such a tribute of
reverence from mankind as the Kaaba. Respect to the
Kaaba means, respect to
The Moslems say that the Prophet had appointed Bait Ul Maqaddas
( Muhammad to be rid of this extreme abomiration. It is obvious that Allah is not a
reality but a mental medium to strengthen the cause of
d. The Arabs have always known that Abraham was the common ancestor of themselves and the Jews but the Bible has portrayed them as superior to the Arabs because according to the Bible, they are from the seed of Isaac, who was borne by Sarah, Abraham's lawful wife, whereas Ishmael, though fathered by Abraham, was borne by Hagar, the Egyptian maid-servant of Sara, Abraham's wife. According to the Bible, as previously mentioned, God's
covenant is with Isaac and not Ishmael, but the Prophet reversed the situation
because the Koran claims that: 1. It was Abraham, who along with Ishmael, raised up the foundations of the Kaaba, the House of the Lord; 2. This is where Abraham and Ishmael prayed to the Lord that
He should make from their seed a nation which should be submissive to Him (the
Lord), and 3. The Lord should send among them a Messenger ( Muhammad ) to recite his signs, teach them the Book ( Koran
) . .. . (The Cow: 120). Here is a clear attempt to transfer the splendour of Divine distinction from the Jews to the Arabs.
If this is not nationalism, then what is it? Honesty demands that I narrate the
whole truth; there is no historical evidence that Abraham ever visited
Again, the scholars have claimed that Abraham was not a
monotheist, the believer of one God; he practised
monolatry, that is, worship of one among many gods. It
has been remarked that he swore by "the Lord God Most High" i.e., both Yahwe and El Elyon. It is this El
who was to be known as Allah in
Here one can see the struggle for national supremacy between
the two Semitic wings; it has been going on for many centuries and is getting
worse instead of showing any signs of abatement. To raise the prestige of
1. For example, the Koran says: "O Prophet! say to them I have been commanded to worship only the Lord of
this town, It is an attempt to establish the special relationship of
Allah with 2. Abraham in 3. In 5: 97, Allah declares Kaaba
as the Sacred House, an asylum of security and pilgrimage for mankind. The Koran
goes even further and declares that Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian
but he was a Muslim (House of Imran: 60). Yet in
another verse, Koran states that Islam is the creed of Abraham who "Named you
Muslim." (The Pilgrim: 75) For making No national leader has ever devised such a patriotic scheme.
Its beneficence to guage the
patriotic magnitude of the Prophet. With it goes, the
international reverence and the belief in the holiness of
In it lies the national magnitude of Muhammad, his vision,
his wisdom and greatness of character. What a patriot the Prophet was! There is
none who can be compared with him in patriotism.The
Prophet declared his nation and country as sacred by the force of revelation; he
knew that his people could not rule the world until they were welded into an
effective fighting force. So he formulated the doctrine of Jehad i.e. fighting against the unbelievers for taking over
their country, personal possessions and women, and subjugating them to the
Arabian hegemony. This is how the doctrine of Jehad
worked: 1. He told the Jews: "If you become Muslims, you will be
protected, otherwise, you should know that the earth
belongs to Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad), and I want to expel you from this
land." (Sahih Albukhari
Vol:4) 2. Since the ambition to possess the entire earth or the best
part of it required military enlerprise, the Prophet
declared: "The paradise lies under the shades of the swords." (Sahih Albukhari Vol: 4) 3. To give his followers the status of divine warriors, the
Koran declares: "God has bought from the believers their selves and their
possessions against the gift of 4. Since Jehad is against the
unbelievers, the Prophet created unlimited opportunities for holy wars by
declaring all other religions false and ungodly: "And whoever desires a religion
other than Islam, it will never be accepted..... (The House of Imran
:85) 5. The Prophet abrogated all other religions because he
called himself to be the apostle of all humanity. "Any Jew or Christian who heard of me but did not believe in me, would go
to hell." (Sahih Muslim Ch. LXX1) 6. The Prophet declared that he was commanded to fight
against people ceaselessly until they confessed that there was no god but Allah
and Muhammad was His Messenger (prophet). The lives and riches of the people
could be guaranteed protection on his behalf on the fulfilment of this condition only. (Sahih Muslim Ch. IX) In fact, these holy wars were the wars of national ambition
and contained all those elements of savagery as did the wars of the infidels.
The Prophet himself declared: "war is a deceit," which it is. Therefore, its
consequences could not be congenial to the Prophet's claim of "being mercy to
all beings." Al Bukhari Vol. 8 has recorded some
examples to this effect. Let me quote three: 1. The Prophet cut off the hands and feet of the men who
belonged to the tribe of Uraina and let them die
bleeding. 2. When men from Ukl committed
crimes, the Prophet had them arrested. Their hands and legs were cut off, their
eyes were branded with red-hot irons and they were thrown at Al-Harra. When they begged for drinking water, it was refused
and they died thirsty. 3. Those who fought against him, he amputated their limbs and
they died of bleeding. The prophetic attitude is
justified on the authority of the Koran: The only reward of those who fight
against Allah and the Messenger is execution or crucifixion or the cutting of
hands and feet from opposite sides, or banishment from the land. (The Table:
33) Thus, one can see that Islam is not a message of mercy but a
secular code like all other contemporary codes. To perpetuate opportunities for
war to keep the Mujahedeen (warriors of Allah) on war
footing, Islam is based on the hatred of non-Muslims. Consider the
following: 1. Do not pray for your dead mother, father, relatives or
friends, nor go near their graves, if they were unbelievers. (Repentance:
189) 2. The believers must not take unbelievers for friends. (The
Woman tested:10) 3. Muslims must wage a struggle against the non- Muslims and
be harsh with them. ( The Forbidding: 5
) 4. Slay the idolators wherever you
find them. ( Repentance: S ) 5. Slay the unbelievers wherever you find them; take not to
yourself any one of them as friend or helper. ( Women
90 ) 6. God urges the Prophet to be tough with the unbelievers and
assures him that they will not be able to resist him much longer. ( The Confederates: 60) 7. God has cursed the unbelievers and prepared a blaze for them. ( The Confederates: 65 ) It is quite obvious that as Karl Marx, centuries later,
dreamt of creating a world order based on social abraison in which victory of the proletariats was assured,
the Prophet wanted to found a world order on Divine friction which sought to
assure ascendancy to his followers led by the Arabs. Of course, there are
certain verses in the Quran which suggest
internationalism but their meaning is misunderstood. The faithful do not seem to
realise that during the life-time of Muhammad, Islam
was confined to Nationhood is a natural social unit which also serves as a
measure of morality. From the union of a man and woman emerge children who
multiply into grandchildren, great- grandchildren, clans, tribes and nations,
who come to occupy a certain land. Thus they have not only a blood-tie but also
a common language and share customs and traditions common to their ancestors.
Again, their land or country plays a major role in their destiny not only as
their birthplace but also because their honour depends
upon its freedom from the foreign predators. This racial unity of the people
associated with the motherland (fatherland) gives birth to a common interest
which is shared in varying degrees by all its people, and serves as the uniting
force. Of course, religion or social dogma such as socialism also plays a role
in the history of a nation but this is of secondary nature. Religion supplies a
blind force which is weakened as the people become more intelligent and rational. Again the national interest always rides the religious interest unless a country is run by a group of traitors or religious fanatics. Even the Arabs are divided into many nations each looking after its own interest. The recent Gulf war has spelt this truth out quite clearly. In fact the concept of national honour and the ambition to be a great nation form the pillar
of morality. The greater nations have greater customs and traditions and higher
standards of morality but the nations such as people of the Indian subcontinent
who do not believe in nationalism practise convenient
morality which is the bane of their social and political integrity. The creation
of However, Fascism and Nazism are the perverted forms of nationalism. They represent an acute condition of mental illness because a nation is an integral part of the human race and is thus accountable to the wider interests of mankind. No nation is intrinsically superior to other nations because they all have the same origin. A nation's superiority is to be judged not by its political or economic dominance but by its services to humanity. Thus every powerful nation has a duty of care to the weaker nations. A truly civilised nation abhors
racism which is an expression of man's lower instincts. This is the reason that
the cultural decency is a part of nationalism. It means that a civilised nation opens its doors to the needy members of
foreign nations to become its part on humanitarian grounds and treats them as if
they were racially one of them. The Prophet's nationalism was imbued by the religious overtones. A Moslem had some privileges like the Arabs but he was still an Arab subject because the government belonged to the Arabs, especially the Quresh. The Prophet made the sanctity of his own person as the cornerstone of the Islamic edifice. For example, without believing in him, the belief in God is absolutely useless. The projection of himself as the Behavioural Model ( USWA-e- HASNA) for the believers, no matter where they may be, has served as the fountain of Arab national superiority for centuries. It should be clearly understood that the prophet was an Arab who had inherited the Arab culture. Therefore, he lived like the fellow Arabs. In the beginning, religion was the only difference between him and the fellow Arabs. Once they had accepted his faith, there were no other cultural differences to be resolved. They all spoke Arabic, wore similar clothes, ate the same food, followed similar customs and traditions, experienced similar winters and summers, shared the same national anniversaries, history and temperament.Since nobody can enter paradise without the Prophet's consent, and the Prophet will intercede for his followers only, it is thought absolutely necessary by the believers to follow the Prophet as the Behavioural Model in every detail with utmost sincerity. The faith has come to mean, not only to pray, fast and
perform Hajj, the way the Prophet used to do, but also look like him, that is,
to cut hair like him, wear clothes like him, walk like him, talk like him, sleep
like him, eat like him, adopt his manners and customs. Above all, love and hate
what he loved and hated. This tendency has had a devastating effect on the
national character of foreign nations which came to accept Islam, possibly with
the exception of the Turks. As the Prophet loved The Prophet's assertion that the Muslims are one nation, and
infidels are another, accelerated the process of the foreign Muslims' unity with
the Arabs, but as the Behavioural Model was Arabian,
the relationship between the Arabs and the foreign Muslims became that of a
leader and the led or the master and the slave. This influence which was
originally of individual nature, eventually penetrated the foreign institutions.
For example, most of the Muslim shrines are in This is nothing but the miracle of the Prophet who imposed the everlasting hegemony of his own people on Muslims of foreign nations. I salute him and applaud his ingenuity because he has created similar relationship between Arabia and the foreign Muslim countries as it exists between a burning lamp and moths; these insects are impatient to cremate themselves on its flame without any coercion on the part of the lamp! This divine imperialism has no parallel in history. About two dozen countries which the Arabs conquered, are still in their possession as "Arab countries." One wonders what happened to the original populations. They are obvious ashamed of their real identities and want to be known as Arabs. This concept of one Muslim
nationhood or the Arabian over- lordship equally applies to the nations
which were once the pillars of civilisation. What
happened to the Egyptians, the great followers of the exalted pharaohs, whose
splendour covered 3000 years of history? They all have
become Arabs. What happened to the mighty Iranians who had not only a glorious
history of 1200 years but produced their own prophets of gigantic stature? The
grandeur of the Iranians was so great that the traditions of their imperial
court were closely imitated by Alexander the Great, the Roman emperors and the
European monarchs. They influenced the Roman law, checked the foreign advance in
It is the
national struggle for survival, honour and supremacy
which makes a people great. By destroying the national spirit of the non-Arab
Muslims, Islam has demolished the Asian centres of
civilisation such as
which is impracticable in the modern world. They are crying for an Islamic government under the force of
propaganda without knowing anything about its nature. Therefore I may briefly
touch upon this subject to show that revelation is neither for ever nor is it
capable of solving human problems, which people have to tackle themselves. The Muslims claim that Islam is a complete code of life. It is nothing of the sort. This is the reason that no Islamic government has ever been introduced in the long history of Islam. It is just a political slogan of those who want to fool people to satisfy their own ends by exploiting people's religious susceptibilities. Some fifty years ago,
Since Muslims are becoming more fundamentalistic every day, I may examine the major precepts
of Islam to expose their irrelevance in the modern world: 1. The first Islamic assertion is that government belongs to God. No, government belongs to the people. What makes man a man is his free will i.e., the freedom to choose and refuse. He can do so only if the government belongs to man. 2. Muslems claim
that: a. Islam offers a particular system of government, b. and
this system is democracy. Neither of these assertions holds good: Firstly, when the
Prophet died, succession became a very acute problem, indeed. He left no
instructions how to appoint his successor though the Shiites claim that the
Prophet had nominated Ali to take over the government. An indecision about such
a vital point shows that there is no such thing as Islamic system of
government. Labelling a few laws as Islamic
government, especially when most of them were borrowed from
Its first four rulers were appointed differently: Abu Bakr was chosen through a stratagem. Omar was appointed by
Abu Bakr. Having failed to persuade Abd-Ur-Rahman to accept nomination, Omar appointed a
committee of six men to choose his successor. They chose Uthman. Selection by six men is surely not democracy. When
Uthmam was assassinated, Ali was raised to the status
of the Caliph by his own clan, the Hashamite. I need
not mention the Battle of Karbla and the heroic deeds
of Hussain. The fact is, thereafter the Islamic
Caliphate became a dynastic rule or kingship. Thirdly, the Khilafat-e-Rashida
i.e. the rule of the first four Caliphs is considered as the Golden Period of
Islam as well as the model Islamic government, and thus emphasis is laid on
following its example. Unfortunately, the believers do not know the whole truth
about this period. To start with, 90% of all Arabs after the Prophet's death
refused to pay Zakat and thus turned renegades (Murtad). They actually marched on
How golden was this period, can be further assessed by the
fact that the Arabs made a profession of robbing and murdering the non-Moslems
in the name of Allah, but they called it Jehad.
3. They claim that Islam is a Socialistic system. It is
totally untrue. Of course, Islam is an advocate of charity and advises the
faithful to give away what is over and above his needs, but this is completely a
moral precept, and has nothing to do with the Islamic law, which is essentially
feudalistic. Islam openly declares that God makes king whom he likes,
and gives wealth to a person without reckoning: wealth includes all types of possessions, i.e., money, land, buildings, etc. It means that both democracy and Socialism are un-lslamic. 4. Islam has no economic doctrine. For example, it forbids
receiving and giving interest whereas interest is an essential economic factor,
and it is impossible to run an economy without it. All those Muslim leaders,
both political and religious, who raise slogans for the abolition of Riba (interest) receive interest
from banks, building societies, insurance companies and national bonds. Even the Islamic governments lend their petro-dollars on maximum interest. The advantages of interest as long as it is not extortionate, far outweigh its disadvantages. 5. Islamic laws are bound to be impracticable because they
were devised or adapted 1400 years ago. Take purdah or
hijab, for instance. It is a stern Koranic command, yet it has been ignored nearly by all the
Muslim countries. This is equally true with regard to polygamy and the laws of
inheritance, divorce, Khula, etc. To hide these
deficiencies, the zealots have made misinterpretation as their greatest hobby. No matter how un-Islamic a practice, they quite artificially put the stamp of the Koran or the Hadith on it. 6. Islamic hatred for non-Muslims makes Islam the opponent of
human rights. This is the reason that one cannot find many non-Muslims in the
Muslim countries. The Prophet ordered his followers to expel all pagans from
Islamic regime can be judged by the fact that the Muslims
have their mosques in |