Boreal

FADE TO BLACK

Triumph of the Irrational

The Satanic Verses

Pre-Islamic Arabs had no problems with a spiritual existence that included goddesses. The most revered were al-Lat, al-Uzza, and Manat whom they considered the daughters of the moon god "al-Ilah" (Allah). They used to ask for their intercession while circumambulating the Ka'ba.

Al-Lat, and al-Uzza and Manat, the third, the other; indeed these are exalted gharaniq (cranes); let us hope for their intercession.

F. E. Peters, The Hajj, p 3-41

Allah disowned His alleged daughters via a subterfuge that involved Satan posing as God.

In January 630, Muhammad, at the head of an army numbering at least ten thousand, marched on Mecca.  When he arrived at nightfall, he parked his army just outside the city. Countless campfires were lit to confuse the enemy as to the size of his forces. He then invited the hapless Meccan commander, Abu Sufyan, for a visit.

During his time among the believers, the Prophet made sure he was constantly surrounded by thousands of heavily armed holy warriors, some on parade, other executing mock attacks in the shimmering firelight, making them even more menacing, while shouting that blood-curdling cry, Allahu Akbar, announcing an imminent slaughter in Allah's Cause, as it does today.

Except for a small skirmish, the Meccans surrendered en masse after Abu Sufyan told them the situation was hopeless, but not before getting assurances from Muhammad that the god for whom he spoke, in two revelations, had informed him that He had no objections to them continuing to worship al-Lat, al-Uzza, and Manat after they became Muslims. These revelations are what are known as the Satanic Verses.

These are the exalted cranes (al-Lat, al-Uzza, and Manat)

Whose intercession [with Allah] is to be hoped for.

Muhammad then discretely ordered the murder of six men (one a fellow by the name of Khatal) and four women.

Narrated Anas bin Malik:

Allah's Apostle entered Mecca in the year of its Conquest wearing an Arabian helmet on his head and when the Prophet took it off, a person came and said, "Ibn Khatal is holding the covering of the Ka'ba (taking refuge in the Ka'ba)."

The Prophet said, "Kill him."

Bukhari 29.72

Khatal sought the protection of the Ka’ba to no avail. Two of the four girls Muhammad demanded be slaughtered forthwith were singers in Khatal’s household who, years earlier as girls, had sung satirical songs about his claim of speaking on God’s behalf.

The apostle had instructed his commanders when they entered Mecca only to fight those who resisted them, except a small number who were to be killed even if they were found beneath the curtains of the Ka'ba. Among them was Abdullah b. Sa'd, brother of the B. Amir b. Lu’ayy. The reason he ordered him to be killed was that he had been a Muslim and used to write down revelation[s]; then he apostatized and returned to Quraysh and fled to Uthman b. Affan whose foster-brother he was; The latter hid him until he brought him to the apostle after the situation in Mecca was tranquil, and asked that he might be granted immunity.

They allege that the apostle remained silent for a long time till finally he said yes. When Uthman had left he said to his companions who were sitting around him, ‘I kept silent so that one of you might get up and strike off his head!’

One of the Ansar said, ‘Then why didn’t you give me a sign, O Apostle of God?’

He answered that a prophet does not kill by pointing.

Another was Abdullah b. Khatal of B. Taym b. Ghalib. He had two singing-girls Fartana and her friend who used to sing satirical songs about the apostle, so he ordered that they should be killed with him.

Another was al-Huvvayrith b. Nuqaydh b. Wahb b. Abd b. Qusayy, one of those who used to insult him in Mecca (804).

Another was Miqyas b. Hubaba because he had killed an Ansar] who had killed his brother accidentally, and returned to Quraysh as a polytheist.

And Sara, freed slave of one of the B. Abdu’l-Muttalib; and Ikrima b. Abu Jahl.

Sara had insulted him in Mecca. As for Tkrima, he fled to the Yaman. As for Ibn Khatal’s two singing-girls, one was killed and the other ran away.

A. Guillaume, The Life of Muhammad: A translation of ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah, Oxford University Press, p. 550-551

The girls were not the first victims of a thin-skinned, vindictive man.

Dead Poets

(Excerpt from 1001 Sayings and Deeds of the Prophet Muhammad, Boreal Books)

Allah said: “Kill them wherever you find them!” For no people was this truer than the unfortunate poets who lampooned Muhammad or whom people praised as better versifiers. In their murder, the personification of the perfect human being took a personal interest.

The first poet to be killed was al-Nadr. The Meccans had praised his verses as superior to those of Muhammad. When he spotted al-Nadr among the prisoners captured at Badr, he had him beheaded on the spot. The next to die was the oldest poet, if not the oldest man of Medina, centenarian Abu Afak

He waited for an opportunity until a hot night came, and Abu Afak slept in an open place. Salim b. Umayr knew it, so he placed the sword on his liver and pressed it till it reached his bed. The enemy of Allah screamed and the peo-ple, who were his followers rushed him, took him to his house and interred him.

Ibn S’ad, a companion of the Prophet

The courageous poetess Asma bint Marwan condemned, in verse, the murder of the old wordsmith. In the tradition of every despot through the ages, she then became the target of the assassin’s blade. With an infant suckling at her breast, whom her killer pushed aside, she too was stabbed to death while sleeping. After every murder, the assassin would return to the mosque to inform Muhammad and be praised for what he had done at his insistence.

Umayr Ibn Adi came to her in the night and entered her house. Her children were sleeping around her. There was one whom she was suckling. He searched her with his hand because he was blind, and separated the child from her. He thrust his sword in her chest till it pierced up to her back. Then he offered the morning prayers with the Prophet at Medina.

The apostle of Allah said to him: "Have you slain the daughter of Marwan?"

When Umayr replied that the job had been carried out with success, Muhammad said, “You have helped God and His apostle, O Umayr!”

When Umayr asked if he would have to bear any evil consequences, the apostle said, “Two goats won’t butt their heads about her.”

Muhammad then praised Umayr in front of all gathered for prayer for his act of murder, and Umayr went back to his people.

Ibn S’ad

Muhammad dared the men of her tribe to seek revenge for her murder, as was the custom. Knowing that there was nothing this man was not capable of, they avoided their own destruction by becoming Muslims. The next unfortunate poet murdered per his instructions was Abu-Rafi. 

Narrated Al-Bara bin Azib:

Allah's Apostle sent a group of Ansari men to kill Abu-Rafi. One of them set out and entered their (i.e. the enemies) fort. That man said, "I hid myself in a stable for their animals. They closed the fort gate. Later they lost a donkey of theirs, so they went out in its search. I, too, went out along with them, pretending to look for it. They found the donkey and entered their fort. And I, too, entered along with them.

They closed the gate of the fort at night, and kept its keys in a small window where I could see them. When those people slept, I took the keys and opened the gate of the fort and came upon Abu Rafi and said, 'O Abu Rafi.'

When he replied me, I proceeded towards the voice and hit him. He shouted and I came out to come back, pretending to be a helper.

I said, 'O Abu Rafi, changing the tone of my voice.'

He asked me, 'What do you want; woe to your mother?'

I asked him, 'What has happened to you?'

He said, 'I don't know who came to me and hit me.' Then I drove my sword into his belly and pushed it forcibly till it touched the bone. Then I came out, filled with puzzlement and went towards a ladder of theirs in order to get down but I fell down and sprained my foot.

I came to my companions and said, 'I will not leave till I hear the wailing of the women.'

So, I did not leave till I heard the women bewailing Abu Rafi, the merchant of Hijaz. Then I got up, feeling no ailment, (and we proceeded) till we came upon the Prophet and informed him."

Bukhari 52.264

The murder of the poet Ka'b bin Al-Ashraf:

Narrated Jabir bin Abdullah:

Allah's Apostle said, "Who would kill Ka'b bin Al-Ashraf (Ka'b, a poet, who wrote poems lampooning of Allah's Messenger) as he has harmed Allah and His Apostle?"

Muhammad bin Maslama (got up and) said, "I will kill him."

So, Muhammad bin Maslama went to Ka'b and said, "I want a loan of one or two Wasqs of food grains."

Ka'b said, "Mortgage your women to me."

Muhammad bin Maslama said, "How can we mortgage our women, and you are the most handsome among the Arabs?"

He said, "Then mortgage your sons to me."

Muhammad said, "How can we mortgage our sons, as the people will abuse them for being mortgaged for one or two Wasqs of food grains? It is shameful for us. But we will mortgage our arms to you."

So, Muhammad bin Maslama promised him that he would come to him next time. They (Muhammad bin Maslama and his companions came to him as promised and murdered him. Then they went to the Prophet and told him about it.

Bukhari 45.687

---- end of excerpt ----

Having his critics killed is an example set by Muhammad that has not been lost on his supporters to this day.

Other important business conducted by God’s spokesman, the night of Mecca’s surrender, included clearing the Ka’ba of idols.

Narrated Abdullah:

When the Prophet entered Mecca on the day of the Conquest, there were 360 idols around the Ka'ba. The Prophet started striking them with a stick he had in his hand and was saying, "Truth has come and Falsehood will neither start nor will it reappear."

Bukhari 59.583

The next day, after he had complete control of their city, the Prophet went back on his word. He told the now defenseless Meccans that his previous assurances were entirely the devil’s doing. Satan had intruded on his conversations with God the previous night, and in the morning Allah had set him straight. Al-Lat, al-Uzza, and Manat were history and the verses stricken from the Koran.

22:52 We have not sent a Messenger or Prophet before you but when he recited the Devil would intrude into his recitation. Yet Allah annuls what the Devil had cast. Then Allah establishes His Revelations. Allah is All-Knowing and Wise.

How could the Devil do that? Because God let him!

22:53: So as to make what Satan casts a temptation to those in whose hearts there is a sickness, and to those whose hearts are hard. The wrongdoers are indeed in profound discord!

Allah had always been incensed that anyone would associate Him with females whether they be goddesses, daughters, even angels. 

53:19 Have you, then, seen al-Lat and al-Uzza?

53:20 And Manat, the third one, the other?

53:21 Do you have the male and He has the female?

53:22 That indeed is an unjust division.

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16:57 And they ascribe to Allah daughters [glory be to Him!], but to themselves what they desire (sons).

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16:62 And they ascribe to Allah what they themselves dislike (daughters). Their tongues utter the lie that theirs will be the best reward. There is no doubt that the Fire awaits them, and that they will be left [there].

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17:40 Has your Lord, then, favoured you with sons and taken to Himself females from among the angels? Surely, you are uttering a monstrous thing.

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53:27 Those who do not believe in the Hereafter will surely give the angels the names of females.

The Meccans asking to continue worshipping His alleged daughters may have been an irresistible opportunity for Allah to put an end to it, once and for all, with their worshippers at His spokesman's mercy.

The denial of the existence of al-Lat, al-Uzza, and Manat marked the end of the Arab civilization and the freedom that Arab women enjoyed until the Muslim conquest of their home. One Meccan woman did object to losing her freedom. From Remembering Uzza:

Bob: Was collecting the Zakat the first thing the Prophet did after the believers took over Mecca?

Uzza: No. The first thing Muhammad did was to take away a Meccan woman's right to choose.

Archie: The man had his priorities.

Uzza: At a special ceremony, he had the women of Mecca pay him homage and promise, among other things, not to commit adultery.

Gerry: Why bring up adultery at this time?

Uzza: The women of Mecca slept around. That was not a secret, and Hind was no exception.

Bob: And their husbands were okay with this? They did not have them stoned to death?

Uzza: They may not have always approved, but most of the pre-Islamic Arabs, especially the fun-loving, tolerant people of Mecca, were not barbarians.

Archie: Who is this Hind person?

Uzza: Sorry, she was the wife of Abu Sufyan. She was the only woman, among those assembled with the men of Mecca to hear their conqueror deliver his instructions to cover up and to swear to stop "fornicating" with other than their husbands, to rise and ask him if it was possible for a free woman to commit adultery.

Bob: What did she mean by that?

Uzza: Like the free married men of Mecca, who slept with other women, she may have felt that a free woman was entitled to do the same; it was her choice and many of the fair-minded men of Mecca, before Islam, seemed to agree. How I love that woman.

Bob: Because you like to sleep around?

Uzza: NO, and if I did, it is no one's business but my own. No, it is because she defended women's rights when they were threatened, unlike the women of today who see covering their features as empowering them, when it is about empowering men who, like Muhammad, would tell them what to wear, what to do and with whom they can do it with. Sometimes I hate my sex.

Archie: You and the Prophet.

Hind stood up to a misogynous, thin-skinned, cold-blooded murderer who would control every aspect of her life. It is both unfortunate and a looming disaster for Western Civilisation that there are not more women like Hind. Instead, we are increasingly treated to hijabed (sic) apologists for a deeply flawed human being; women who choose to readily serve as propagandists for a man and a religion that hates them.