Boreal
Remembering Uzza
If Islam Was Explained to Me in a Pub
Overkill Becomes the Norm
Uzza:
An irresistible opportunity for revenge on the Jews for making fun of the Jizya
and for plunder presented itself with the retaliation killing of a Muslim by a
Jew of the Banu Qaynuqa, the smallest of the three Jewish tribes of Medina. A Muslim girl was sitting in a Jewish goldsmith shop while waiting for
the shopkeeper to return with some ornament when, unbeknownst to her, a
woman pinned the hem of her skirt. When she got up, everyone had a good
laugh. The poor girl was mortified. A passing Muslim killed the Jew he
thought responsible. The brother of the man killed then killed his brother's
killer. There was a clamor for revenge on the tribe of Banu Qaynuqa.
Bob: Uh-oh!
Uzza: Muhammad gathered his followers and took the Jews of the Banu Qaynuqa as prisoners. There was talk of execution until Muhammad decided to simply curse the Jews, confiscate their property and send them into exile.
Bob: Nobody else died. That was unexpected.
Uzza: He probably spared them to avoid spooking the remaining Jewish tribes of Medina into joining the forces gathering outside the city to avenge the defeat at Badr.
Archie: The Meccans are back. Great!
Uzza: The Meccans were not about to let their defeat at Badr go unavenged. A large detachment of troops accompanied by the men's wives, which was not unusual, marched on Medina. At a place called Uhud they waited for the believers to come out and fight them, which they did.
Gerry: Did the women accompany their men because a victory was assured?
Uzza: Not necessarily. They were there to urge their men on, many tearing their clothing, exposing their breasts in defiance and letting their men know what awaited them if they were victorious.
Archie: Or what the other guy would get his hands on if they weren’t.
Uzza: Perhaps.
Bob: WOW! Arab women showing their boobs in public.
Uzza: Arab women, before Islam, were not the dominated prudes you see today. Before Islam, Arab women were very much spirited partners of the men they married.
Gerry: What a modern outlook.
Uzza: The Arab men and women of what Islam calls the Age of Ignorance, before Allah sent the Book to Muhammad, were modern before modern became a dirty word.
Archie: From women who bared their breasts in defiance, to women who won't bare their nose to sneeze.
Uzza: It was these bold women who would be the difference in the only battle the Meccans would win, not because of what they did before the battle but during; they ran away thinking the battle was lost, which it was, until they took flight.
Archie: And holy warriors rushed after them to be the first to get themselves one of those brash Meccan girls, allowing the Meccans to get back in there.
Uzza: How did you know?
Archie: After everything you said about the motivation of those who fight in Allah’s Cause, it was a no-brainer.
Uzza: Another Muslim victory was at hand until Muhammad's archers, thinking the battle already won and seeing some women flee, shouted "The booty, the booty," and started running after them[148]. The Meccan cavalry seized the opportunity and counterattacked, turning a near victory for the believers into a rout. Archie: Allah must have been pissed!
Uzza: Like Muhammad, Allah was no fool and kept His cool and counselled His spokesperson to do the same[149].
Archie: Sure, let’s keep pretending they are not one and the same.
Bob: You mean He didn’t send armed angels like He did at Badr to help out?
Archie: Bob, let me tell you something about gods. When their side wins, it is because of them; when their side loses, it’s not their fault, or they caused their side to lose − but not by too much − to teach it a lesson, or for some other made up excuse[150].
Bob: Uzza, is Allah like that?
Uzza: Well, He did not send angels to help out at Uhud like He did at Badr where He took credit for the victory. At the beginning of the Koran’s account of the defeat at Uhud, Allah does admit that the sight of the booty was a test to see who desired Paradise more than what this world has to offer, but He forgave those who failed the test[151].
Bob: Why would He do that; forgive them, I mean?
Archie: Because, Bob, these gods need real people to do the killing, because they’re not real.
Uzza: Real or not, the believers were needed to fight another day, that is for sure. And when that day came, which was soon, He did not want them to be distracted by the booty when they should be killing people, so He simply warned them not to do it again and forgave them.
Bob: But when do you know that you have killed enough people that it is safe to go scavenging for booty?
Uzza: You cannot, which is why Allah chose to err on the side of caution and advised overkilling them, killing more than might be necessary to achieve victory[152]. The lesson has not been lost on holy warriors to this day.
Archie: Godlike in both its simplicity and immorality.
Bob: What about the people who ran for their lives when the Meccans counterattacked? Surely they were not to blame.
Uzza: Nonetheless, Allah forgave them, blaming the devil for their flight to safety[153], an illusionary safety He will later explain.
Archie: What did I tell you?
Bob: An illusionary safety, what is that?
Uzza: It was not enough to get the believers to overkill. Allah, or Muhammad, if you agree with Archie, also had to get them to get over their fear of death, get them to look forward to it if they were going to triumph over the death-wary unbelievers.
Gerry: Are you saying that transforming Islam into what some people call a death cult began in earnest after the defeat at Uhud?
Uzza: After the defeat at Uhud you get the pep talk you hear in one form or another throughout the Koran, where Allah reminds the believers that He decides when and where someone dies; that no one can play it safe[154], and if He causes any of them to die in His Cause, all their sins are forgiven and they get to meet with Him before everyone else[155].
Bob: And get a first crack at the maidens and the houris before the Judgment Day stampede to get at them.
Uzza: Probably. Allah is not one to withhold what He has promised[156].
Bob: Bring on the grim reaper.
Gerry: Uzza, how many believers got to meet Allah that day?
Uzza: After killing as many believers as there were Meccans killed at Badr, the Meccans withdrew, considering the dead of Badr avenged. Had they pursued the fleeing believers, they would have annihilated them once and for all.
Bob: Maybe they were in a hurry to enjoy the breasts of victory.
Uzza: The pre-Islamic Arabs were not the bloodthirsty type. The Meccans returned home because under Talion Law, the dead had been avenged and no one else needed to die. The pagan Arabs' aversion to unmitigated violence, as well as the limit they placed on retaliation killing compared to that demanded by an adulterated Talion law and Allah's opened-ended endorsement of killing in His Cause, sealed the fate of the pagan Arabs.
Gerry: I can't believe men could be distracted by women to the point of risking losing a battle.
Uzza: Put yourself in those young men's shoes. What was fleeing was a chance at intimacy, something most of them would not experience unless they literally grabbed it, not unlike the young men who are responsible for the repeated rape epidemics in India. Most were not fighting for something we would consider honourable; they were fighting, as Archie said, for the promise of what was getting away.
Footnotes
[148] Narrated Al-Bara bin Azib:
The Prophet appointed Abdullah bin Jubair as the commander of the infantry men (archers) who were fifty on the day (of the battle) of Uhud. He instructed them, "Stick to your place, and don't leave it even if you see birds snatching us, till I send for you; and if you see that we have defeated the infidels and made them flee, even then you should not leave your place till I send for you."
Then the infidels were defeated.
By Allah, I saw the women fleeing lifting up their clothes revealing their leg-bangles and their legs. So, the companions of Abdullah bin Jubair said, "The booty! O people, the booty! Your companions have become victorious, what are you waiting for now?"
Abdullah bin Jubair said, "Have you forgotten what Allah's Apostle said to you?"
They replied, "By Allah! We will go to the people (i.e. the enemy) and collect our share from the war booty."
But when they went to them, they were forced to turn back defeated...
Bukhari 52.276
3:159 It was by a mercy from Allah that you dealt leniently with them (the Muslim fighters who flinched in the midst of the battle); for had you been cruel and hard-hearted, they would have dispersed from around you. So, pardon them, ask Allah’s Forgiveness for them and consult them in the conduct of affairs. Then, when you are resolved, trust in Allah; Allah indeed loves those who trust [in Him].
3:165 And when a misfortune befell you (in the Battle of Uhud) after you had inflicted twice as much (in the Battle of Badr), you said: “Whence is this?”; say: “It is from yourselves.” Surely Allah has power over everything!
3:166 And what befell you on the day the two armies met (in the Battle of Uhud) was by Allah’s Leave, that He might know the true believers;
3:167 And that He might know the hypocrites. When it was said to them: “Come, fight in the way of Allah or defend yourselves”, they replied: “If only we knew how to fight, we would have followed you.” On that day, they were closer to disbelief than to belief. They say with their tongues what is not in their hearts; and Allah knows best what they concealed!
3:152 Allah fulfilled His Promise to you when, by His Leave, you went on killing them; until you lost heart and dissented about the affair and disobeyed (the Muslims were victorious until the archers disobeyed the Prophet's orders), after He had shown you what you cherished. Some of you desired this world (left their position to get a share of the booty), others the Hereafter. Then, He turned you away from them (the Qurashite foes of the Muslims) in order to test you, and He has forgiven you. Allah is Gracious to the believers!
47:4 So when you meet the unbelievers, strike their necks till you have bloodied them, then fasten the shackles. Thereupon, release them freely or for a ransom, till the war is over. So be it. Yet had Allah wished, He would have taken vengeance upon them, but he wanted to test you by one another. Those who die in the Cause of Allah, He will not render their works perverse.
47:5 He shall guide them and set their minds aright;
47:6 And shall admit them into Paradise which He has made known to them.
In Mohsin Khan's Saudi-funded translation of the Koran, there is no ambiguity as to the meaning of “strike their necks,” i.e., cut off their heads.
47:4 So, when you meet (in fight - Jihad in Allah's Cause) those who disbelieve, smite (their) necks till when you have killed and wounded many of them, then bind a bond firmly (on them, i.e. take them as captives)...
3:155 Those of you, who fled on the day the two armies met, were made to slip by the Devil, on account of something they had done. However, Allah has forgiven them; Allah is indeed Forgiving and Merciful.
3:156 O believers, do not be like the unbelievers, who say about their brethren when they [die] while travelling abroad or fighting: “Had they stayed with us, they would not have died or been killed.” Allah wished to make that a cause of anguish in their hearts. It is Allah who causes men to live and die, and Allah has Knowledge of what you do!
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3:168 Those who said to their brethren, while they themselves stayed at home! “Had they obeyed us they would not have been killed?” Say: “Then ward off death from yourselves, if you are truthful.”
3:157 And were you to be killed or to die in the Way of Allah, forgiveness and mercy from Allah are far better than what they amass.
3:158 And were you to die or to be killed, it is unto Allah that you will be gathered.
3:169 And do not think those who have been killed in the Way of Allah as dead; they are rather living with their Lord, well provided for.
3:170 Rejoicing in what their Lord has given them of His bounty, and they rejoice for those who stayed behind and did not join them; knowing that they have nothing to fear and that they shall not grieve.
3:171 They rejoice in the Grace of Allah and His Favour, and that Allah will not withhold the reward of the faithful;