In the Islamic religion, Muhammad is revered as God’s final prophet and the ideal man, the perfect example for all time. But just how perfect is Muhammad’s example Muslim males especially must strive to emulate? Here’s five little-known shocking stories about Islam’s ideal man Muslims desperately don’t want you to be aware of.
1.Muhammad adopted Zayd, the freed slave of his first wife Khadijah, as his son. Zayd married a very beautiful woman called Zaynab bint Jash. One day, Muhammad went to the home of the couple and he happened to catch sight of a naked Zaynab. He made lustful comments about her and she duly told her husband what had happened.
On hearing what Muhammad had said about his wife, Zayd told Muhammad that if he wanted to marry Zaynab then he would divorce her. Initially, Muhammad told him to stay with his wife, but Zayd divorced her and Muhammad then married her claiming it was the will of Allah.
Allah’s somewhat convenient and embarrassing will is revealed in Chapter 33, verse 37 of the Quran. Even Muhammad’s favourite wife Aisha, whom he married when she was just six years of age, voiced her suspicions saying: “Truly Allah seems to be very quick in fulfilling your prayers.”
There’s a tragic legacy of Muhammad’s lust for his son’s wife. In an attempt to justify Muhammad’s marriage to his daughter-in-law, Allah subsequently forbade adoption in Quran verses 33.4 and 33.5. (Note the Quran is not organized chronologically.) To this day, thousands of children in the Islamic world remain orphans all because of the “perfect example” of the lustful Muhammad.
2.Speaking of Muhammad’s favourite wife Aisha leads us to another event in Muhammad’s life which continues to have tragic consequences. Aisha was accused of cheating on Muhammad by three witnesses. Upon hearing their accounts, Muhammad refused to believe them and made a ruling requiring four witnesses to prove fornication.
Sex for unmarried women is forbidden in Islam. If a woman is raped and the rapist doesn’t confess to the crime, four trustworthy male witnesses are required to prove that the woman was actually raped. Many rape victims in the Islamic world have been criminalized because of Muhammad’s ruling with around 80% of women in Pakistani jails being victims of rape.
3.The next story comes from one of the most authoritative accounts of Muhammad’s life, the hadith of Sahih Muslim. A pregnant woman confessed to Muhammad that she had committed adultery. Muhammad told her to have the child then return to him. When she returned, he commanded that she be stoned to death for her fornication. You can read the full unpleasant story in Sahih Muslim book 17, number 4206 here.
4.Salah, praying five times a day, is a pillar of Islam and an obligation on all Muslims. Missing prayer is a serious transgression in Islam and the reason is because of the following event in Muhammad’s life. He acknowledged the hardest prayers for Muslims are the first pre-dawn prayer and the final evening prayer. He instructed the cleric who calls Muslims to prayer, the Mu’adh-dhin, to give the second call to prayers, the Iqama. He commanded a man to lead the prayer and once the prayer was over, Muhammad demanded that the homes of those who missed the prayer be burned down with the occupants being burned alive. Sahih Bukhari is regarded by Muslims as THE most authoritative hadith and this wicked deed is recorded in volume 1, book 11, number 626.
5.Perhaps one of the most shocking stories of Muhammad’s life concerns the fate of the peaceful Jewish farmers of the Khaybar Oasis. Muhammad had signed a treaty to break peace between the farmers and the Muslims. He had also agreed not to be recognized as a prophet in the treaty, much to the chagrin of his followers. To regain their respect, Muhammad decided to attack the farmers who were no match for his army and they soon surrendered. The “ideal man, the perfect example for all time” told the farmers they would only be permitted to continue living on the Oasis if they handed over their wealth.
Convinced the Jews were holding out, Muhammad tortured their leader, Kinana. Despite inflicting severe punishments on Kinana, including pouring burning oil onto his chest, Muhammad was unable to obtain any details of withheld wealth, so he had Kinana beheaded. He then ordered his men to bring to him Kinana’s beautiful 17 year old wife, Safiya bint Huyay. He told her that if she embraced Islam and married him, he would spare her life. He married her and consummated the marriage that very night.
Safiya’s fate is described in Sahih Bukhari Volume 5, book 59, numbers 512 and 513.
Muslims will try to deceive unbelievers by portraying their prophet as a man of peace. Indeed, when they say his name, they will usually follow it by saying “peace be upon him.” But as these five disturbing events show, Muhammad was not a peaceful man and this begs the question: How can anyone claim Islam is a religion of peace when the perfect example of its prophet is one of violence, deceit, unbridled lust and savage cruelty?
Christopher J. Green is an investigative journalist and historian specializing in the decline of America and Western civilization. He is the author of the new book: Death of the Family – True Stories of the Charlatans Who Deceived the World and Broke the Backbone of Our Society.