The Life of Muhammad and its Impact on Islamic Law and Doctrine

The Life of Muhammad and its Impact on Islamic Law and Doctrine By Joseph S. Spoerl Saint Anselm College Copyright © Joseph S. Spoerl 2021 Muhammad’s actions, teachings, and tacit approvals constitute the sunnah, the normative customs that are second only to the Koran as the basis for Islamic law and piety. What follows is a list of events recounted in The Life of Muhammad and the points of Islamic law that came to be based on those events. (“Islamic law” here means classical Sunni law; please bear in mind that there are other versions and interpretations of Islamic law!) Page numbers below refer to Alfred Guillaume, translator, The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah (Oxford and Karachi: Oxford University Press, 1955), except for page numbers prefaced by RT, which stands for Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri, Reliance of the Traveller: A Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law, trans. Nuh Ha Mim Keller, revised edition (Beltsville, MD: Amana Publications, 1994), a manual of classical Islamic law in the Sunni Shafi tradition, dating from the 14th C. but with additional commentary by 19th and 20th C. Muslim scholars. Also consulted in identifying elements of Islamic law mentioned below is Joseph Schacht, An Introduction to Islamic Law (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982), pp. 112-211. A few other sources are cited below where appropriate. p. 70: Muhammad’s mother Amina gives Muhammad as an infant to be suckled and raised by a Bedouin foster-mother, Halima. Islamic law holds that an infant becomes the “child” of the female who breast-feeds him and the sibling of her biological children; the foster-mother, her female relatives, and her daughters become the child’s “unmarriageable kin” if he is a boy, such that he may not marry them and may be alone with them unchaperoned and may look at them unveiled as if they were his true mother, sister, etc. (RT, pp. 575-7) p. 72: Muhammad’s heart is washed in snow by two angels. Islamic belief holds that God granted Muhammad isma, that is, divine immunity against sin and error. [See W. Madelung, “Isma,” The Encyclopedia of Islam, Volume 4 (Leiden: Brill, 1954), pp. 182-4.] (Cf. p. 572: “Muhammad errs not, neither does he sin.”) (This is the basis for the literally dozens of verses in the Koran that command Muslims to obey and imitate Muhammad, e.g. 3:32, 3:132, 4:13, 4:59, 4:69, 5:92, 8:1, 8:20, 8:46, 9:71, 24:47, 24:51, 24:52, 24:54, 24:56, 33:33, 33:36, 47:33, 49:14, 58:13, 64:12.) p. 81: Muhammad is ordered as a boy to “cover his nakedness.” Islamic law: Muslims must “cover their nakedness;” for men, this means never exposing the area between navel and knees, and for women, covering the whole body except for face and hands. (RT, pp. 121-2) p. 112: The Angel Gabriel prescribes prayer and ablution (also pp. 186-7). 1 Islamic law: Muslims must pray five times per day (morning, noon, afternoon, sunset, and night), and they must purify themselves beforehand. Prayer and ablutions must follow exactly the directions of Gabriel to Muhammad. Ablutions or bathing must follow both minor and major causes of ritual impurity. There are four causes of minor ritual impurity: defecation or urination, loss of understanding (esp. by sleep), physical contact between a man and woman who are not each other’s unmarriageable kin, or touching human private parts. In a state of minor ritual impurity, it is unlawful to pray, prostrate, circumambulate the Kaba, or hold or touch a Koran. Ablutions (wudu) necessary to remove a state of minor ritual impurity involve forming an intention to purify oneself, washing the face, washing the arms up to and including the elbows, wiping the head, and washing the feet up to and including the ankles, in that order. (See below, p. 518, for causes of major ritual impurity.) (RT, pp. 49-100 on ablution, and pp. 101-219 on prayer) (See Koran 5:6) p. 143: Muhammad teaches the resurrection of the dead (also p. 165). Islamic doctrine: all human beings will be raised from the dead to face a last judgment followed by reward or punishment. (RT, p. 813, 995-1002) (See Appendix H: Resurrection of the Body) p. 145: Muslims who verbally renounced their faith under severe torture by pagans are to be excused. (See also, even more clearly, p. 217 and Koran 39:54-6.) Islamic law: Necessity excuses one from any rule whatever (but only to the degree demanded by the necessity). (RT, pp. 37-8, p. 765) p. 163-4 (also pp. 269, 272, 277): The Jews worship Ezra (Uzayr) as the son of God, the Christians worship Jesus son of Mary as the son of God. pp. 165-6: The famous incident of the “Satanic verses,” in which Muhammad is tricked by Satan into believing that God had revealed that certain pagan goddesses have the power of intercession; Muhammad soon realizes his mistake and the offending verses are abrogated and removed from the Koran (see Koran 22:51 and 53:19-23). Islamic law strongly condemns any assertion that God can have sons or daughters, any association of partners with God, or any assertion that there is more than one deity or any division within the Godhead (e.g. the trinity). This sin is called shirk; it is unforgivable and will be punished by an eternity in hell for all who die believing in it. (RT, pp. 652-3, p. 966) (See also Appendix B, “Abrogation.”) pp. 181-7: Muhammad’s Night Journey, to Jerusalem (Aelia) and up through the seven heavens. Here we have a second version of the origin of the duty to pray five times per day (contrast pages 112-3). Also, on p. 182, we read “Wine is forbidden you.” Islamic law: Consumption of any intoxicating beverage is unlawful. (RT 617-8) p. 190: Usury (charging interest on loans) is condemned. (Also pp. 393, 651.) Islamic law prohibits the charging of interest on loans. (RT, p. 384, and Koran 2:275) pp. 212-3: Permission granted to Muhammad to fight the Meccans. The divine revelations regarding warfare will steadily broaden, first focusing on retaliation against 2 the pagan Meccans who had driven the Muslims from their homes (Koran 22:40-42, Guillaume pp. 212-3), then extending to all pagans (Koran 9:5, Guillaume p. 618), then to all “People of the Book” (Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians; Koran 9:29, Guillaume p. 620; see also p. 629), then to apostates from Islam (Koran, 9:73, Guillaume, p. 622). Muhammad repeatedly promises his followers that they will conquer the Byzantine and Persian empires (“Caesar and Chosroes”) and beyond (pp. 113, 191, 222, 243, 452, 454, 639, 658-9). Islamic law: it is a communal obligation of all Muslims to spread Islamic rule everywhere by offensive warfare, and a personal obligation for all Muslims to resist attacks on Muslim communities by non-Muslims. (RT, 599-603) (On the distinction between communal and personal obligations in Islamic law, see RT, pp. 32-3.) p. 224: Muhammad ensures that property deposited with him for safekeeping is returned to its rightful owners after his hijra to Medina, delegating this task to Ali. Islamic law stresses the importance of respecting property rights, honoring contracts, keeping promises, using honest weights and measures, paying debts. (RT pp. 666-669, 969) p. 228: “This was the first Friday prayer that he prayed in Medina.” Islamic law: Attending the Friday prayer (jumu’a) at a mosque is personally obligatory for Muslims (RT, p. 202). Friday is to Muslims what the Sabbath (Saturday) is to Jews and what Sunday is to Christians. Friday prayer typically includes a sermon. pp. 231-233: The “Constitution of Medina” or “Umma Document:” This document stipulates a duty of solidarity among Muslims, similar to the solidarity that united members of the same family or clan or tribe in ancient Arabia: “Believers are friends one to the other to the exclusion of outsiders.” (See Appendix I, “The Constitution of Medina or the Umma Document). Islamic law stipulates that “The Muslim is the brother of the Muslim. He does not betray him, lie to him, or hang back from coming to his aid.” (RT, p. 732) p. 235: “the alms tax and fasting were prescribed” in Medina Islamic law: Muslims must pay an alms tax (zakat) to the Islamic state to pay for public functions like defense, care for widows and orphans, etc. (RT, pp. 244-276; see also Koran 9:60), and they must fast from dawn to dusk for the month of Ramadan to commemorate the first revelations, which were given to Muhammad in Ramadan in 610 (RT, pp. 277-296). pp. 235-6: Institution of the call to prayer (adhan) Islamic law: the call to prayer is given from a high place near the mosque, the muezzin places his fingers in his ears, etc (RT, pp. 114-7). pp. 250-1: the “bestial transformation” of the Jews into apes (see also pp. 461-2, where Muhammad addresses the Jewish Banu Qurayza as “you brothers of monkeys”). The Koran says that previous generations of Jews were transformed into apes or pigs as a punishment for violating the Sabbath (2:65, 5:60, 7:166). 3 p. 256: Addressing the Jews, Muhammad says: “Do you find in what He [God] has sent down to you that you should believe in Muhammad? If you do not find that in your scripture then there is no compulsion upon you.” The Koran states, “There shall be no compulsion in religion” (2:256). Since later verses will enjoin the forcible conversion of pagans (9:5) and apostates (9:73), classical Muslim exegesis of the Koran holds either that 2:256 has been abrogated altogether, or that it applies only to “people of the book” (Jews and Christians), who are to be conquered and forced to pay tribute but not forcibly converted (9:29). (For later examples of forced conversion of pagans, see Thabit’s speech on p. 629 followed by conversion of the Banu Tamim on p. 630, conversion of the Banu al-Harith, p. 645, conversion of Abu Sufyan, p. 547, Abu Bakr’s statement on p. 669.) (See Appendix B, “Abrogation.”) p. 258: qibla or direction to face while praying is changed from Jerusalem to Mecca (the Kaba) (also p. 289) Islamic law: facing the direction of prayer is a necessary condition for the prayer’s validity, with the sole exceptions of praying in extreme peril or nonobligatory prayers performed while traveling (RT 123-5, 899-900). pp. 266-7: Muhammad orders the stoning of adulterers (also pp. 652, 684-5). Islamic law: anyone who is free, adult, married, and sane who commits fornication, adultery, or sodomy is to be stoned to death, whether male or female, Muslim or nonMuslim. A fornicator, sodomite, or adulterer who does not fulfill all of these conditions must be scourged one hundred lashes and banished at least 50 miles for one year (RT, pp. 610-1). (See Appendix A, “Prescribed Punishments (Hudud).” p. 272: Muhammad criticizes Christians for eating pork. Islamic law says it is unlawful to eat any form of pork products (see Koran 6:145 and RT, pp. 362, 673, 977). p. 288: first successful Muslim military action: the taking of a Meccan caravan near Nakhlah. After initial hesitation, Muhammad takes one-fifth of the booty and the raiders split the rest (see also pp. 324, 466). Islamic law: on the rules governing the division of the spoils of battle, see RT, p. 606: first Muhammad, later the caliph (leader of Muslim state) takes 20% of all booty; the rest is divided among the fighters. p. 300: Muhammad promises Paradise to any man killed in jihad, so long as he is killed while fighting bravely, advancing not retreating. (See also pp. 399-400, 435.) Islamic law: A martyr (shahid) as defined by Islam “means someone who died in battle with non-Muslims…from fighting them, as opposed to someone who died otherwise, such as a person killed out of oppression when not in battle, or who died from fighting nonpolytheists, such as …Muslim… transgressors” (RT, pp. 235-6). Martyrs receive forgiveness for their sins if killed while waging jihad (RT, p. 667). The intercession of martyrs ranks below only that of prophets and religious scholars in helping other believers 4 escape hell (RT, p. 824). Suicidal attacks do not violate the Islamic prohibition of suicide (RT, 718). (See also below pp. 383-4.) pp. 308-9: treatment of prisoners of war after Battle of Badr, some killed, some held for ransom. (See also below, pp. 464-6.) Islamic law: male POWs may be killed, enslaved, held for ransom, or released, at the discretion of the Muslim commander in chief, who shall act with the best interests of the Muslims in mind. If a prisoner becomes a Muslim, he may not be killed, but the other options remain open. (RT, p. 604) pp. 313-7: The Prophet’s daughter Zaynab converted to Islam in Mecca in 610, but her husband Abu’l As did not until after Badr (624). After Abu’l-As’ conversion, “the apostle restored Zaynab to him” (p. 317). Islamic law: A Muslim man may marry a Jewish or Christian woman (though not a pagan), but a Muslim woman may not marry a non-Muslim man (RT, p. 529). If a married woman converts to Islam while her husband does not, the marriage immediately dissolves. p. 317 (also p. 232): any Muslim can give a grant of protection (aman) to any nonMuslim. Islamic law: it is unlawful to kill a non-Muslim to whom a Muslim has given his or her guarantee of protection (RT, pp. 603-4). p. 324: Koran 8:39: “Fight them so that there is no more persecution and religion, all of it, shall belong to God.” (Dawood’s translation: “Make war on them until idolatry shall cease and God’s religion shall reign supreme.”) Islamic law: Here we can see the goals of warfare evolving: in addition to the defensive aim of protecting Muslims, God now enjoins the more ambitious aim of ending idolatry, of ensuring the purity of monotheism, “God having no partner and no rivals.” p. 326: Muslim soldiers may only retreat from the enemy if they number less than half the enemy force (notice that this abrogates the prior verse saying the Muslims must be less than one-tenth the number of the enemy to retreat, Koran 8:65-66). Islamic law: Jihad is personally obligatory on soldiers actually present on the battle lines; they may only retreat if unable to fight due to injury or illness or if the enemy outnumbers them by more than 2 to 1. (RT, p. 601) (See Appendix B, “Abrogation.”) p. 326: “Then he [Allah] said, ‘And if they incline to peace incline thou to it,’ i.e. if they ask you for peace on the basis of Islam then make peace on that basis…” (see Koran 8:61). That is, permanent peace, as opposed to temporary truces, requires that the enemy convert to Islam. In 628, Muhammad will conclude a truce with Mecca, the treaty of Hudaybiya (see pp. 499-507), intended to last for ten years (it only lasts for two), but this will only be a temporary truce to allow the Muslims to gather their strength. Islamic law: Truces are permissible, not obligatory, and are a grave matter, since they entail the nonperformance of jihad, the communal obligation of Muslims to spread Islamic rule by taking the initiative in warfare. There must be some other interest served in making a truce than mere preservation of the status quo. Truces may not last for more 5 than ten years, since the Prophet never concluded a truce for longer than that. (RT, pp. 604-5). pp. 364-8: Muslims assassinate Ka’b b. al-Ashraf in retaliation for his poems insulting Muhammad and Islam and inciting the enemies of Muhammad. (Muhammad has other poets killed on pp. 550-1, 597-8, 675-6.) Islamic law: It is a capital offense to insult Muhammad or Islam. Also, enemy propagandists may be killed in wartime, even women (since Muhammad had some female poets killed). [See Maxime Rodinson, Muhammad, trans. Anne Carter (New York: New Press, 1980), p. 307 and Karen Armstrong, Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet (New York: Harper-Collins, 1992), p. 21. Also, see fatwa #22809, Islam Q & A, www.islamqa.com .] p. 367: Muhammad tells Ka’b’s assassins that they may tell lies as part of their plot to kill Ka’b. (Also pp. 294, 458, 519.) Islamic law: Deception, including outright lying, is permissible in war (“war is deception”). (RT, pp. 744-6) p. 369: Muhammad orders his followers to “kill any Jew that falls into your power.” As a result, Muhayyisa, a Muslim, murders a Jewish merchant named Ibn Sunayna. Islamic law: Any healthy non-Muslim adult male on the enemy side is a legitimate target in war, whether he is actively involved in fighting the Muslims or not. It is forbidden to intentionally kill women or children or slaves (see p. 482, below), unless they are involved in fighting (which includes spying or spreading propaganda for the enemy; hence the permissibility of killing female poets, as Muhammad did). {RT, p. 603; see also Rudolph Peters, Jihad in Classical and Modern Islam (Princeton: Marcus Wiener, 1996), p. 33: “…Muslims agree that in times of war, all adult, able-bodied, unbelieving males may be slain” (from Averroes’ Al-Bidaya). In the same work, Ibn Taymiyya is quoted as saying: “As for…women, children, monks, old people, the blind, handicapped, and their likes, they shall not be killed, unless they actually fight with words [e.g. by propaganda] and acts [e.g. by spying or otherwise assisting in the warfare]” (Peters, p. 49).}(See also the killings by Amr b. Umayya in I.I., p. 674, approved of by Muhammad on p. 675.) (See also the killing of Durayd ibn al-Simma, pp. 566 and 574, a 100-year-old man who helped the Muslims’ enemies by advice; on this case and its significance see Majid Khadduri, War and Peace in the Law of Islam [Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1955], p. 104 – those who give indirect aid to the enemy may be killed; combatants and noncombatants may be killed – p. 105.) p. 376: Muhammad does not kill anyone who enters his religion by pronouncing the shahada (“there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet”). (See also p. 667.) Islamic law: It is forbidden to intentionally kill Muslims in war; jihad is to be waged only against non-Muslims. (RT, pp. 602-3) Also, “Whoever enters Islam before being captured may not be killed or his property confiscated, or his young children taken captive” (i.e. enslaved). (RT, p. 604) 6 p. 383-4: Quzman is wounded fighting on the Muslim side at the battle of Uhud, then uses an arrow to slit his wrists when the pain becomes unbearable. Muhammad’s response is that “he belongs to the people of hell.” (See also p. 245 for another account of Quzman’s suicide.) Islamic law prohibits suicide or intentional self-killing (RT p. 670, p. 984; see Koran, 4:29-30). However, “it is permissible for a single Muslim to attack battlelines of believers headlong and fight them even if he knows he will be killed” (RT, p. 718). (See above, p. 300). pp. 387-8: Muhammad resists the temptation to retaliate in kind for the horrible mutilation of his uncle Hamza at Uhud (see also p. 312, p. 672). Islamic law: Islam prohibits the mutilation of the dead; it even prohibits autopsies. (RT, p. 973) p. 393: Muslims are commanded to “obey God and the apostle.” (See also pp. 274, 3212, 325, 406, 475; on p. 467 and p. 572, Muhammad is held up as a “fine example” for the Muslims to emulate; see Koran 3:32, 3:132, 4:13, 4:59, 4:69, 5:92, 8:1, 8:20, 8:46, 9:71, 24:47, 24:51, 24:52, 24:54, 24:56, 33:21, 33:33, 33:36, 47:33, 49:14, 58:13, 64:12.) Islamic law: Muslims are obligated to obey and imitate Muhammad as he is considered the perfect moral teacher and role model. (RT, p. 700) pp. 438-9: After expelling the Banu al-Nadir from Medina, Muhammad seizes their farmland as spoils of war, which “belong to God and His apostle.” Islamic law: Lands taken in jihad by Muslim arms become the collective property of the Muslim community, to be used to support widows, orphans, Muslim soldiers, the Prophet and his family (later, the caliph and the Islamic state). (See Koran, 59:7-8) [RT, p. 647 on the collecting of khiraj; see also, Bat Ye’or, The Dhimmi: Jews and Christians Under Islam, trans. David Maisel et al. (Rutherford, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1985), p. 51.] (See Appendix C, “The Islamic Land Tax (Kharaj).”) p. 452: Muhammad foretells the conquest of Yemen (in Arabia), the East (Persia and beyond), and Syria and the west (Byzantine Empire). God has given the keys of all countries to Muhammad. (See also pp. 243, 454) Islamic law: The ultimate objective of jihad is to impose Islamic rule on the whole world. [RT, pp. 602-3; see also Rudolph Peters, Jihad in Classical and Modern Islam (Princeton: Marcus Wiener, 1996), p. 3]. pp. 464-6: Muhammad orders that all of the male members of the Banu Qurayza should be beheaded and all of their women and children enslaved. Muhammad takes one-fifth of the booty for himself, including a slave woman, Rayhana, who becomes his concubine. Horsemen now are given three shares from the spoils, one for the man, two for the horse; foot soldiers get one share each. Lands of the Banu Qurayza also become Muslim property. Islamic law: Conquered non-Muslims may be executed (men only), enslaved, ransomed, or released, at the discretion of the Muslim commander; the enslaved women can be used for sexual purposes. (On p. 653 we are told that Muhammad himself sired a son, Ibrahim, 7 by a Coptic slave woman named Mary; on pp. 498-9, we read that Muhammad gave a slave girl as a gift to Hassan b. Thabit, who then impregnated her; see Appendix G: “Concubinage (Sex-Slavery) and Sharia”.) Cavalrymen get three shares, foot soldiers one share each. The Islamic state gets one-fifth of the booty. (RT, pp. 604, 606). p. 482: Muhammad prohibits the intentional killing of women and children. (Also p. 576, p. 672) Islamic law prohibits the deliberate killing of women and children in war (unless they fight the Muslims, e.g. by spying or by engaging in propaganda or by physically fighting). (RT, p. 603) p. 497: Muhammad receives a divine message revealing that his favorite wife, Aisha, is innocent of the charge of adultery that some Muslims had made against her. The Koran (24:12) says that charges of illicit intercourse must be supported by at least four witnesses. Those who make a charge of illicit intercourse but cannot back it up with four witnesses are to be scourged. Islamic law: Charges of illicit intercourse (fornication, adultery, sodomy) must be supported by four male Muslim witnesses who must provide a graphic first-hand account of the crime (that is, they must have witnessed penile penetration). (RT, pp. 574, 638). The penalty for making such charges without having four witnesses is to be scourged eighty lashes. (RT, pp. 611-3) (See Appendix A, “Prescribed Punishments (Hudud).”) p. 509: Muslim women “are not lawful” to non-Muslim men (i.e. Muslim women may not marry non-Muslim men). Islamic law stipulates that Muslim women may not marry non-Muslim men, but Muslim men may marry non-Muslim women (so long as they are Jewish or Christian). (RT, p. 529) pp. 511-2: Muhammad orders his followers not to eat the flesh of domestic donkeys or of any carnivorous animal. Islamic law prohibits the consumption of pork, cats, insects, predatory animals that prey with fangs or tusks (e.g. wolves or lions), birds that hunt with talons (e.g. falcons or hawks), donkeys, mules, or unslaughtered dead animals. Lawful animals must be slaughtered according to Islamic law. This requires that the windpipe and gullet be cut with a knife; it is recommended that the large blood vessels in the neck also be cut, that the animal be killed as quickly and painlessly as possible, and that the animal be turned to face Mecca while this is done. (RT, pp. 362-6) p. 512: Muhammad forbids sexual intercourse with pregnant female war captives. The implication is clear that his fighters may have intercourse with (unpregnant) female war captives. Islamic law stipulates that “when a [non-Muslim] child or woman is captured [in jihad], they become slaves by the fact of capture, and the woman’s previous marriage is immediately annulled” (RT, p. 604). This means that non-Muslim female war captives may be forced to have sex with their male Muslim captors. [See Appendix G, “Concubinage (Sex-Slavery) and Sharia”.] 8 pp. 515-6: Muhammad agrees to allow the Jews of Khaybar to remain on their farmland after their conquest on the condition that they give the Muslims one-half of their annual harvest and that Muhammad can expel them at any time he chooses. (See pp. 521-3 for details of the division.) Islamic law: As established after the expulsion of the Banu al-Nadir, lands conquered by Muslim arms become property of the Muslim community. When the conquered nonMuslims are allowed to remain on those lands, the land still belongs to the Muslim community, and the former owners now pay a form of rent or land tax (later called the kharaj or khiraj) to the Muslim state, which keeps one-fifth and distributes the remainder among Muslim soldiers and veterans. (RT, p. 647) (See Appendix C, “Islamic Land Tax (Kharaj)”) p. 518: Muhammad instructs a girl to take special steps to purify herself after menstruating (also p. 649). Islamic law considers menstruation to put a woman in a state of major ritual impurity (see Koran 2:222). In a state of major ritual impurity, a Muslim may not pray, do prostrations, carry a Koran, recite any verse of the Koran, or remain in a mosque. A thorough bath (ghusl) is needed to remove a state of major ritual impurity. Other causes of major ritual impurity are ejaculation, sexual intercourse, or giving birth. (RT, pp. 79-84, 93-5) p. 523: Muhammad orders that “two religions should not be allowed to remain in the peninsula of the Arabs.” (See also pp. 525, 689) Islamic law: Non-Muslims are not allowed to dwell in central Arabia (the Hijaz). (RT, p. 608) p. 524: “We cannot accept the oaths of the Jews. Their infidelity is so great that they would swear falsely.” Muhammad seems to accept this judgment. Indeed, he himself has asserted repeatedly that Jews (and Christians) are “liars” (pp. 241, 248, 250, 254, 257, 2667, 269, 272, 277, 620). The Koran asserts that Muslims “will ever find them [the Jews] deceitful, except for a few of them” (5:13; also 4:159, 5:66). Islamic law stipulates that only the testimony of Muslims is admissible in court. (RT, p. 635) pp. 531-540: Muhammad orders a raid on Muta, a Byzantine outpost in Syria, for the first time initiating warfare with Christians (Sept. 629). pp. 602-9: Muhammad orders a raid on Tabuk, another Byzantine outpost in Syria, another campaign against the Christian Byzantines. On pp. 607-8, we read of Muhammad conquering and imposing the “poll-tax” on several Christian Arab tribes in the vicinity of Tabuk, on the northwestern fringes of Arabia. [W. Montgomery Watt observes of the expedition against Tabuk: “It is the precursor of the wars of conquest rather than the conclusion of the series of Muhammad’s expeditions. … Muhammad…was… aware that he was launching the Islamic state on a challenge to the Byzantine empire.” Watt, Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1961), pp. 218-9.] 9 p. 652: Shortly before his death, Muhammad ordered a third military expedition against Byzantine Syria/Palestine, to be led by Usama b. Zayd. (Also p. 678.) Islamic law enjoins Muslims to fight and kill the people of the book (Jews and Christians) until they are humbled and willingly pay tribute (the poll-tax or jizya) (Koran, 9:29). (RT, 607-8; see Guillaume, below, pp. 617-620) (See Appendix F, Ibn Kathir’s Commentary on Koran 9:29, and the Pact of Umar) p. 549: Muhammad tells Abu Bakr’s elderly father to dye his white hair. Islamic law stipulates that it is sunna (recommended emulation of the prophet) for both men and women to dye their hair (as Muhammad did). (RT, p. 59) pp. 553-4: Muhammad never used to take women by the hand; he never touched a woman except for his own wives, concubines, and daughters. (See also above p. 212.) Islamic law says that it is unlawful for men to shake hands with women unless they are their wives or unmarriageable relatives (e.g. mothers, sisters, daughters). (RT, pp. 513-4) p. 572: “…Muhammad is a man, an Apostle to my Lord who errs not, neither does he sin.” Islamic doctrine holds that Muhammad possesses isma, that is, divine immunity from sin or error (see note to p. 72, above.) p. 572: Some Muslim fighters make fun of an uncircumcised man. Islamic law stipulates that circumcision is obligatory for both men and women (RT p. 59, p. 986). pp. 592-3: The Hawazin decide to convert to Islam after their defeat at the battle of Hunayn. They ask then to have their wives and children back, since these had been distributed as war booty to the victorious Muslim troops. The problem is that their marriages had been dissolved by the fact of their capture and the women now by right belonged as wives or concubines to the Muslim fighters. Islamic law holds that “when a child or woman is taken captive, they become slaves by the fact of capture, and the woman’s previous marriage is immediately annulled” (RT, p. 604). p. 604: Muhammad says that there shall be no prophet after him. (See also pp. 577, 604, 636-7.) Islamic law: Islam insists that Muhammad is the final prophet, “the seal of the prophets.” (RT, 952) While Islamic law tolerates the practice of Judaism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism within the Islamic state, it does not tolerate any religion that claims to be based on a prophet sent after Muhammad, e.g. Sikhs, Bahais, Mormons, Qadianis or Ahmadis. (RT, p. 607) pp. 617-620: In AD 631, the revelation of Sura 9 occurs; this is the last full sura to be revealed to Muhammad (except for the very short Sura 110). Sura 9:5 is called “the verse of the sword” (ayah al-sayf), because it commands the Muslims to force all pagans to convert to Islam or be killed (after a waiting period of a few months). From now on, all Arabs who are not Jews or Christians must convert to Islam or be killed. [In classical 10 Islamic exegesis of the Koran, verse 9:5 has special significance, for it was held to have abrogated more verses of the Koran than any other verse, up to 124 verses by some counts; specifically, 9:5 was held to abrogate any verse that commands or implies anything less than total offensive warfare against non-believers, including 2:256, “There shall be no compulsion in religion.” See David S. Powers, “The Exegetical Genre nasikh al-Qur’an wa mansukhuhu,” in Andrew Rippin, editor, Approaches to the History of the Interpretation of the Qur’an (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988), pp. 130-1. See also Rudolph Peters, Jihad in Classical and Modern Islam (Princeton: Marcus Wiener, 1996), p. 2. However, modern Muslim scholars tend to see 9:5 not as abrogating 2:256 but as an exception to it that applied only in Muhammad’s day.] Sura 9:29 is called the “verse of the jizya” (ayah al-jizya), for it commands Muslims to fight the “people of the book” (mainly Jews and Christians) until they humbly pay the jizya or poll-tax, a form of tribute symbolizing their acceptance of Muslim superiority. (Interestingly, Muhammad had already begun collecting the poll-tax after the raid on Tabuk, a few months before the revelation of sura 9.) (See also pp. 643, 648.) Islamic law stipulates that the poll-tax is to be taken only from “people of the book,” namely people who received some sort of divine revelation before Muhammad’s time, i.e. Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, Samaritans, and Sabians; pagans, in contrast, are to be forcibly converted to Islam. Islamic law has no tolerance for idol worshippers and followers of false prophets (i.e. prophets after Muhammad). (RT, p. 607; however, for differing views among Muslim legal scholars over whether non-Arab idol worshippers, e.g. Hindus, should be tolerated by the Islamic state, see RT, p. 603, o9.9.) (See Appendix F, Ibn Kathir’s Commentary on Koran 9:29, and the Pact of Umar) p. 622: Koran 9:73 orders Muslims to fight the “disaffected,” i.e. those who “disbelieved after their Islam.” (The first caliph, Abu Bakr, will accordingly go on to fight the wars of al-ridda [apostasy] in the years 632-4, compelling Arab tribes who had left Islam after their conversion to return to the Islamic faith.) Islamic law prescribes the death penalty for apostates (i.e. Muslims who cease to be Muslims). (RT, pp. 109, 595-6) p. 629: Muhammad is extolled as “the best of [God’s] creation.” (See also pp. 572, 582, 583) Islamic doctrine asserts that Muhammad is the perfect person, the perfect creature. Love of and obedience to Muhammad are thus obligatory for all Muslims. (RT, p. 700) (However, Muslims do insist that Muhammad was a mortal creature, not divine: see pp. 394, 683, and Koran 3:142.) p. 641: Muhammad disapproves of men who wear silk, but not of men who line their eyes with kohl (a black makeup). Islamic law: It is unlawful for men to wear silk. (RT, p. 689, 972). Even a man’s funeral shroud may not contain silk. (RT, p. 228) However, it is sunna (recommended emulation of the prophet) to line the eyes with kohl (RT, p. 58). 11 pp. 643, 648: Muhammad sends out officials to collect the poor tax (zakat) from the Arab tribes who are converting to Islam in droves all over Arabia, and the jizya or poll-tax from the Jews and Christians who are surrendering or being conquered. Islamic law classifies the poor tax or zakat as one of the “five pillars of Islam,” obligatory for all Muslims. Its purpose is to support the Islamic state and provide for widows, orphans, the poor, etc. (RT, pp. 244-76). The minimum non-Muslim poll tax is one dinar (4.235 grams of gold), per person, per year (RT, p. 608). p. 647: “none but the pure should touch the Quran.” Islamic law says that impure (unwashed) people may not touch the Koran or carry it, even by a strap or in a box (RT, p. 74). p. 650: Muhammad’s farewell pilgrimage, in which Muhammad “showed the men the rites and taught them the customs of their hajj.” Muhammad’s example here became normative for all Muslims making the obligatory pilgrimage to Mecca. Islamic law says that it is a personal duty for all Muslims who are able to do so to make the pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj) at least once in their lifetimes. This is one of the “five pillars of Islam.” (RT, pp. 300-370; Koran, 3:97) (See Appendix D, “Pilgrimage (Hajj and Umra)”) p. 651: Muhammad teaches that Muslim men may beat their wives for “open unseemliness,” but not severely. (See also Koran, 4:34) Islamic law allows husbands to beat their wives for disobedience, but imposes limits on the beating: the man may not hit the wife in a way that injures her, meaning he may not bruise her, break bones, wound her, cause blood to flow, or strike her face, and the hitting must be a last resort (RT, p. 541-2). p. 651: Muhammad teaches his followers that men should “lay injunctions on women kindly, for they are prisoners with you having no control of their persons.” Islamic law says that “it is not lawful for a wife to leave the house except by the permission of her husband” (RT, p. 541; also p. 538). A wife loses her right to be supported by her husband if she is rebellious or travels without his permission (RT, p. 545). A wife may not allow guests into the home without her husband’s permission, even her own family members (RT, p. 538). The purpose of these rules is to ensure that the husband can be certain that his wife gives birth only to his biological children: “You [husbands] have the right that they [wives] should not defile your bed…” (p. 651), and “The child belongs to the bed and the adulterer must be stoned.” (p. 652). Note also p. 641, where Muhammad says “we do not follow our mother’s line and disown our father.” That is, family is defined by patrilineal not matrilineal descent, which makes it vital to know who one’s biological father is. [Some pre-Islamic Arabs had uxorilocal, matrilineal, and/or polyandrous marriage and parenting customs, but Muhammad was strongly opposed to such arrangements and replaced them with firmly patrilineal, patriarchal, and polygamous family arrangements: see Robert G. Hoyland, Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam (London and New York: Routledge, 2001), pp. 128-134; Tilman Nagel, Mohammed: Leben und Legende (Munich: Oldenbourg, 2008), pp. 324-335.] 12 p. 651: Husbands “have enjoyment of their [wives’] persons by the words of God” (see Koran 2:223: “Women are your fields: go, then, into your fields whence you please”). Islamic law: “A husband possesses full right to enjoy his wife’s person (…from the top of her head to the bottoms of her feet, though anal intercourse … is absolutely unlawful) in what does not physically harm her.” (RT, p. 526; also p. 541) Wives, too, have a right to the attention of their husbands: “It is obligatory for the husband to enable her to remain chaste and free of want for sex if he is able.” (RT, p. 541). Married couples may practice contraception or coitus interruptus if they have good reasons to avoid pregnancy. (RT, pp. 526, 949-50) A man with more than one wife must spend an equal number of nights with each wife and support each wife equally in her own domicile. (RT, pp. 539, 542-5) It is not obligatory for the wife to serve her husband; if she does so, it is voluntary charity; however, some schools of Islamic law dispute this point and argue that a woman is obliged to serve her husband by cooking, cleaning, etc. (RT, pp. 541, 948-9) (See also p. 644 on a wife’s duties to her husband: “…a woman can never fulfill her husband’s rights, so do your utmost to fulfill his claims as best you can,” etc.) p. 651: “I have left you with something which if you will hold fast to it you will never fall into error – a plain indication, the book of God and the practice of His prophet, so give good heed to what I say.” Islamic law: Here Muhammad himself tells his followers that they must base their lives on the Koran and the example of Muhammad (the sunnah). The sunnah – Muhammad’s actions, teachings, and even his tacit approvals – is second only to the Koran as the basis of Islamic law. (RT, pp. 700-1) p. 652: “God has assigned to everyone his due. Testamentary bequests to an heir are not lawful.” Islamic law places strict limits on the discretionary power to bequeath property to an heir. Instead, Islamic law stipulates who is to inherit and in what proportions. These rules tend to favor males over females, the latter inheriting about half of what men inherit. (RT, pp. 460-505; see Koran 4:10-12) p. 655: Muhammad sends a letter to the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, telling him, “If you accept Islam, you will be safe.” pp. 658-9: Muhammad tells Persian envoys that “my religion and my sovereignty will reach limits which the kingdom of Chosroes [the Persian emperor] never attained.” Islamic law: This provides further confirmation that Muhammad is planning offensive warfare to spread Muslim rule over non-Muslim lands, as indeed classical Islamic law obliges Muslims to do. (RT, 599-603) p. 658: Muhammad expresses his disgust for the facial hair of the Persian envoys, for they have shaved their beards and allowed their mustaches to grow long, exactly the opposite of what Muhammad prefers. Islamic law: It is sunna (recommended imitation of the prophet) that men clip their mustaches but let their beards grow (RT, p. 58). 13 p. 669: Abu Bakr is quoted as saying, “God sent Muhammad with this religion and he strove for it until men accepted it voluntarily or by force.” Classical Islamic exegesis of the Koran traditionally has held that Koran 2:256 (“There shall be no compulsion in religion”) was abrogated by subsequent revelations, especially sura 9, thereby allowing forcible conversion of pagans, forcible re-conversion of apostates, and conquest of and discrimination against “people of the book” (Jews and Christians). (See Appendix B, “Abrogation.”) p. 678: Muhammad orders a band of criminals (who have committed murder and theft) to be punished by having their hands and feet cut off and their eyes gouged out. Islamic law: Highway robbery is to be punished by amputation of right hand and left foot, and if murder was committed too, then by execution (crucifixion). (RT, p. 616; see Koran, 5:34: “Those who make war against God and His apostle and spread disorder in the land shall be slain or crucified or have their hands and feet cut off on alternate sides, or be banished from the land.”) (See Appendix A, “Prescribed Punishments (Hudud).”) p. 679: Aisha states that Muhammad asked his wives for permission to stay in Aisha’s house during his last illness. Islamic law: If a man has more than one wife, each wife has a right to an equal amount of time with her husband (RT, p. 539). p. 679: See Ibn Hisham’s note #918 on page 792: Muhammad “married Aisha in Mecca when she was a child of seven and lived with her in Medina when she was nine or ten. She was the only virgin that he married. Her father, Abu Bakr, married her to him and the apostle gave her four hundred dirhams.” Ibn Hisham also notes that Muhammad divorced two of his wives, Asma d. al-Numan and Amra d. Yazid. At the time of his death Muhammad had nine wives. Islamic law: Whenever the bride is a virgin, the father or father’s father may marry her to someone without her permission, though it is recommended to ask her permission if she has reached puberty (note the implication that a prepubescent girl like Aisha can be married validly under Islamic law; see Koran 65:4). A nonvirgin of sound mind (e.g. an older widow) may not be married to anyone without her permission (RT, p. 522). The marriage must be witnessed by two male Muslims and the woman must be given in marriage by a male Muslim guardian (RT, 518-9). The husband must make a marriage payment of money or property to the bride in order to marry her, and this remains her property (RT, p. 533). Islamic law allows a husband to divorce a wife, but not a wife to divorce her husband (unless the husband delegates this authority to the wife by saying “divorce yourself”). Divorce is effected by the husband repeating three times, “I divorce you” (or words to that effect) (RT, pp. 554-562). However, while permitting divorce, Islam teaches that “no permissible thing is more detested by Allah than divorce” (RT, p. 556) and that “it is offensive to make a pronouncement of divorce when there is no need” (RT, p. 558). Islamic law also allows for annulment of a marriage by either spouse for certain limited reasons, e.g. insanity, leprosy, impotence (RT, pp. 531-2). Islamic law allows a man to marry a maximum of four wives, but observes that “it is fitter to confine oneself to just one” (RT, p. 530). However, God gave a special exemption that allowed Muhammad to have more than four wives (see Koran 33:50). 14 pp. 679-82: The last illness and death of Muhammad. Muhammad has special words of praise for Abu Bakr : “I know of no one who is a better friend to me than he” (p. 679). Muhammad appoints Abu Bakr to lead the prayers when he is too sick to do so (p. 680). Ibn Ishaq quotes a report that Muhammad did not appoint a successor but left it to his followers to elect one (p. 681). (This reflects the Sunni belief that the leader of the Muslim community, the caliph, may be elected by the community; Shiites, in contrast, belief he must be a descendant of Muhammad through his daughter Fatima and son-in-law and nephew Ali b. Abu Talib.) p. 683: The Muslims begin to break up into different parties immediately after Muhammad’s death: the Ansar gather in one place; Ali and his followers gather in Fatima’s house; the rest of the Muhajirin gather around Abu Bakr: a harbinger of future divisions within the Muslim community. (Also p. 685: [Umar speaking] “What happened was that when God took away His Apostle the Ansar opposed us and gathered with their chiefs in the hall of B. Sa’ida; and Ali and al-Zubayr and their companions withdrew from us; while the Muhajirin gathered to Abu Bakr.”) pp. 686-7: The main body of the Muslims finally elects Abu Bakr to be the first caliph, successor to Muhammad as leader of the whole Muslim community. Islamic law: The office of the caliph has been empty since 1924, when it was abolished by the Turkish parliament, but traditionally Sunni Muslims have believed that Muslims have a communal obligation to have a caliph. “The caliphate is a communal obligation … because the Islamic community needs a ruler to uphold the religion, defend the sunna, succor the oppressed …, fulfill rights, and restore them to whom they belong” (RT, p. 639). The caliph must be a free, male, adult Muslim of the Quraysh tribe, courageous, of sound mind, and well-versed in Islamic law. (RT, pp. 640-1; see Ibn Ishaq, p. 686: “the Arabs will recognize authority only in this clan of Quraysh, they being the best of the Arabs in blood and country.”) The caliph may be invested with his office in three ways: (1) by an oath of fealty like the one sworn by the first Muslims to Abu Bakr; (2) by the caliph appointing a successor, as Abu Bakr appointed Umar, the second caliph; or (3) through seizure of power by an individual qualified to be caliph (RT, pp. 642-4). It is obligatory for all Muslims to obey the caliph in everything that is not unlawful or offensive, even if he is unjust. Muhammad is reported to have said, “Hear and obey, even if the ruler placed over you is an Ethiopian slave with amputated extremities.” (On the other hand, I.I. reports Muhammad as saying, “If anyone orders you to do something which you ought not to do, do not obey him” – p. 677, and on p. 687, Abu Bakr says, “Obey me as long as I obey God and His apostle, and if I disobey them you owe me no obedience.”) The purpose of the caliph’s authority “is Islamic unity, which could not be realized if obeying him were not obligatory” (RT, pp. 644-5). Only if the caliph apostatizes from Islam may Muslims rebel against him (RT, p. 640). The duties of the caliph and his appointed governors include (1) raising and deploying armies on the frontiers, (2) reviewing laws and appointing judges and magistrates, (3) collecting taxes, including zakat from Muslims and kharaj (land-tax) and jizya (poll-tax) from non-Muslims; (4) protecting Islam and preserving it from alteration; (5) enforcing the legal measures prescribed by God (hudud); (6) leading Muslims at group and Friday prayers, whether personally or by a representative; (7) facilitating travel to the hajj; and (8) undertaking jihad against nonMuslim lands, dividing the spoils of battle among combatants, and setting aside a fifth for 15 widows, orphans, the running of the Muslim state, etc. (RT, p. 647) [On this last point, it is important to note that many Sunni Islamic legal scholars believe that expansionist jihad requires a legitimate caliph to organize the struggle, and there has not been a Sunni caliph since 1924. (However, see RT p. 602, o9.6, for a different view: “…if there is no caliph…no permission is required” to wage jihad against non-Muslims.) Many Twelver Shiites (who are the vast majority of Shiites) believe that jihad can only be waged under the leadership of the rightful imam, who must be a descendant of Muhammad; since the twelfth imam went into occultation in 873, theoretically no lawful jihad can be fought, according to this Shiite view. However, the founder of the Shiite Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, and his successor, Ayatollah Khamenei, believe that Shiites may wage offensive war even before the return of the Hidden Imam. Modernist Sunni Muslims since the 19th century have attempted to reinterpret the doctrine of jihad to restrict it to defensive aims only (e.g. Sayyid Ahmed Khan and Mahmud Shaltut).] p. 682: Muhammad uses a toothstick (siwak) to clean his teeth. Islamic law recommends that a toothstick (siwak) be used to clean the teeth, in imitation of Muhammad, who practiced careful dental hygiene. It is especially desirable to use the toothstick before every prayer or reading of the Koran, yellowness of teeth, after waking from sleep or entering one’s house, and for any change of breath from eating something with a bad odor. (RT, p. 57) p. 684: Umar says: “Part of what he [God] sent down was the passage on stoning; we read it, we were taught it, and we heeded it. The apostle stoned (adulterers) and we stoned them after him. I fear that in time to come men will say that they find no mention of stoning in God’s book and thereby go astray…” Islamic tradition holds that abrogation can take the form of a verse being removed from the Koran while the ruling or principle expressed in the verse remains in force. This passage is an example of this rare form of abrogation: the verse commanding stoning has mysteriously disappeared from the Koran, but the ruling that adulterers be stoned remains in force. The other forms of abrogation are when both the wording and the ruling are abrogated, as in the “Satanic verses” (see above, pp. 165-6), or (by far the most common form) when the ruling is abrogated but the wording is not, as in the ruling regarding retreat before a superior enemy (see p. 326, above). (See Appendix B, “Abrogation.”) p. 688: Muhammad’s body is washed prior to burial while it is still clothed, then it is wrapped in three funeral shrouds. Islamic law says it is obligatory to wash the body while it is still clothed, then to wrap it in three shrouds (if male) or two (if female). (RT, 224-8) p. 688: “…he dug the grave with the niche for the apostle.” Islamic law: Muslims are to be buried in an “L”-shaped grave, that is, a grave with a lateral hollow large enough for the body dug into the side of the bottom of the grave and facing Mecca (the qibla). (RT, p. 237-240) p. 689: Muhammad said, “’God slay a people who choose the graves of their prophets as mosques,’ warning his community against such a practice.” 16 Islamic law nonetheless permits and even recommends prayer at the tomb of Muhammad in Medina, located in what is now known as “the mosque of the prophet.” (RT, pp. 355357) APPENDIX A: “Prescribed Punishments (Hudud)” Hadd (plural hudud or hudood) = a fixed punishment for certain crimes that are considered crimes against religion since they are mentioned in the Koran. These crimes are five in number: 1) Unlawful intercourse (including fornication, adultery, and sodomy) (Koran 4:156, 7:80-1, 17:32, 24:2, 26:166); 2) False accusations of unlawful intercourse (Koran 24:4, 24:12); 3) Drinking wine (Koran 2:219, 4:43, 5:93-4); 4) Theft (Koran 5:38); 5) Highway robbery (Koran 5:33). The hudud (prescribed punishments) for these crimes are: A) The death penalty, either by stoning (the more severe penalty for unlawful intercourse), or by crucifixion or beheading (for highway robbery with homicide); B) Cutting off the hand or foot, or both hand and foot on opposite sides (for highway robbery without homicide and for theft); or C) Flogging with various numbers of lashes (e.g. 80 lashes for false accusations of unlawful intercourse, 100 for adulterers who are not stoned, 40 lashes for winedrinking). Note that the standard of evidence for accusations of unlawful intercourse is very high, as called for by the Koran 24:4, namely, four male Muslim eyewitnesses must confirm that the unlawful intercourse took place. This requirement is a direct result of Muhammad’s (or Allah’s) resolution of the allegations concerning Aisha and Safwan. Stoning to death is the penalty for fornication, sodomy, and adultery if the convicted person is “someone with the capacity to remain chaste,” which means one who has had sexual intercourse at least once with his or her spouse in a valid marriage, is free (not a slave), of age, and sane. If the convicted person is not “someone with the capacity to remain chaste,” then the penalty consists of 100 lashes and being banished to a distance of at least 50 miles for one year. 17 The hadd is a right or claim of Allah, therefore no pardon or amicable settlement is possible (see Koran 24:2). Muhammad said, “he whose intercession comes between a criminal and one of Allah’s prescribed penalties has defied Allah in His command.” For all other crimes, the caliph may choose whatever punishment he deems appropriate. Source: Joseph Schacht, An Introduction to Islamic Law (Oxford: Clarendon, 1982), pp. 175-8, and Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri, The Reliance of the Traveller: A Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law, trans. Nuh Ha Mim Keller, revised edition (Beltsville, MD: Amana Publications, 1994), pp. 610-619, 704, 985. APPENDIX B: “Abrogation” Abrogation and the Interpretation of the Koran The doctrine of abrogation (naskh) has historically played an important role in Islamic interpretations of the Koran. Because the Koran contains verses that appear to contradict each other (e.g.2:256 and 9:5 or 8:65 and 8:66), many Islamic scholars have held that in such cases, the verse revealed later in Muhammad’s life abrogates the verse revealed earlier. One must therefore have a detailed knowledge of Muhammad’s biography to apply the doctrine of abrogation to the Koran. Islamic scholars have found Koranic sanction for the doctrine of abrogation in four verses: 2:106, 22:52, 16:101, and 3:7. 1 (However, some Islamic scholars also reject the very notion of abrogation, and even among those who accept it, there is no consensus on which verses abrogate which.) Islamic scholars distinguish between three sorts of abrogation, 2 each of which is mentioned in Ibn Ishaq’s Life of Muhammad. The first two are quite rare; most examples of abrogation fall under the third category: (1) Abrogation of both wording and ruling, as in the abrogation of the “Satanic Verses:” both the verses and the principle articulated by them (that one may pray to the pagan “daughters of Allah” for their intercession) have been removed from the Koran and the Islamic faith.3 (2) Abrogation of the wording but not of the ruling, as in the abrogation of the “stoning verse” described by Umar in Ibn Ishaq. 4 The verse commanding the stoning of adulterers thus cannot be found in the Koran, but the ruling that adulterers must be stoned is still considered part of the divine revelation entrusted to Muhammad. (Where did the verse go? 1 David S. Powers, “The Exegetical Genre nasikh al-Qur’an wa mansukhuhu,” in Andrew Rippin, editor, Approaches to the History of the Interpretation of the Qur’an (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988), p. 118. 2 David S. Powers, “The Exegetical Genre nasikh al-Qur’an wa mansukhuhu,” p. 125. 3 Alfred Guillaume, translator, The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 1955), pp. 165-6. 4 Alfred Guillaume, The Life of Muhammad, p. 684. 18 Some Muslim scholars say it was accidentally lost when a domestic animal ate part of the page on which it was written! 5) (3) Abrogation of the ruling but not of the wording, as in the abrogation of 8:65 by 8:66. 6 Note that 8:66 is unique in that it explicitly tells us that it is abrogating 8:65. Generally, this does not occur, and the interpreter of the Koran must instead rely on his or her knowledge of the chronological order in which the various parts of the Koran were revealed to Muhammad, e.g. by reading Ibn Ishaq. For instance, traditional scholars infer that 9:5 abrogates 2:256 because, Ibn Ishaq tells us, 9:5 was revealed in March/April of 631, 7 while 2:256 was revealed in the mid-620s during Muhammad’s disputes with the Jews of Medina8. However, the Koran itself does not tell us that 9:5 abrogates 2:256. (Alternatively, some Islamic scholars have argued that 2:256 was not abrogated by 9:5, because it was never meant to apply to pagans or apostates but only to people of the book. 9) Finally, we should note that some modernist Islamic scholars, such as the Egyptian Mahmud Shaltut (b. 1923), have rejected the doctrine of abrogation altogether, arguing that there are no contradictions in the Koran; in particular, Shaltut’s rejection of abrogation is part of his attempt to prove that the Koran permits only defensive war. 10 APPENDIX C: “Islamic Land Tax (Kharaj)” The Origins of the Islamic Land-Tax Islam in its earliest origins evolved both as a religion and as an imperial system that depended heavily on the economic exploitation of non-Muslims. Islamic law imposed two types of taxes on conquered non-Muslims, a land-tax (kharaj) and a poll-tax (jizya). Underlying the land-tax was the principle that land conquered by Muslim armies became in perpetuity the collective property of the Muslim ummah. The land-tax was in effect a form of rent paid by non-Muslim tenants to the Islamic ummah. Muhammad set the precedent for this principle at the conquest of Khaybar in A.H. 7 (A.D. 629). From Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah: “When the people of Khaybar surrendered on these conditions they asked the apostle to employ them on the property with half share in the produce, saying, ‘We know more about it than you and we are better farmers.’ The apostle agreed to this arrangement on the condition that ‘if we wish to expel you we will expel 5 Alfred Guillaume, The Life of Muhammad, p. 684, footnote 2. Alfred Guillaume, The Life of Muhammad, p. 326. 7 Alfred Guillaume, The Life of Muhammad, p. 618. 8 Alfred Guillaume, The Life of Muhammad, p. 256. 9 See e.g. Jane Dammen McCauliffe, “Fakhr al-Din al-Razi on ayat al-jizyah and ayat al-sayf,” in eds. Michael Gervers and Ramzi Jibran Bikhazi, Indigenous Christian Communities in Muslim Lands, Eighth to Eighteenth Centuries, Papers in Medieval Studies 9 (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 1990), pp. 103-119. 10 See Mahmud Shaltut, “The Koran and Fighting,” in Rudolph Peters, Jihad in Classical and Modern Islam (Princeton: Marcus Wiener, 1996), pp. 59-101. 6 19 you.’ … So Khaybar became the prey of the Muslims…” (Alfred Guillaume, The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah [Karachi: Oxford University Press, 1955], pp. 515-6.) Muhammad’s companions followed the example he set at Khaybar. Umar bin al-Khattab, caliph from 634-644, stipulated the following about the conquered lands of Iraq, Syria, and Palestine: “I have divided the personal possessions among those that conquered them after having subtracted a fifth, which under my supervision was used for the purpose for which it was intended [i.e. to support the Islamic state, widows and orphans, etc.]. I thought it necessary to reserve the land and its inhabitants, and levy from the latter the kharaj by virtue of their land, and the capitation [poll-tax or jizya] as a personal tax on every head, this … tax constituting a fay [i.e. booty] in favor of the Muslims who have fought there, of their children and of their heirs.” (From Yaqub Abu Yusuf, d. 798, Kitab al Kharaj, or “Treatise on Taxation,” in Bat Ye’or, The Dhimmi: Jews and Christians Under Islam [Rutherford, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1985], p. 165.) “…regarding the land of [Iraq]… ‘It can neither be bought nor sold. This is because it was taken by force and was not divided. It belongs to all the Moslems.’ Umar ibn-al-Khattab left [Iraq] for those who were still in men’s loins and mothers’ wombs (i.e. posterity), considering the inhabitants dhimmis [conquered non-Muslim subjects of the Muslim state] from whom tax (jizya) should be taken on their person, and kharaj on their land. They are therefore dhimmis and cannot be sold as slaves… Umar ibn-al-Khattab, desiring to divide [Iraq] among the Moslems, ordered that they [the inhabitants] be counted. Each Moslem had three peasants as his share. Umar took the advice of the Prophet’s Companions, and Ali said, ‘Leave them that they may become a source of revenue and aid for the Moslems.’” (From al-Baladhuri, d. 892, Kitab Futuh al-Buldan, or “The Origins of the Islamic State,” in Bat Ye’or, op.cit., p. 164.) The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) (1988) invokes this aspect of Islamic law to justify its commitment to the destruction of the state of Israel: “After discussions and consultations between the Caliph 'Umar b. Al-Khattab and the Companions of the Prophet, they decided that the land should be left with its [original] owners to benefit from its crops, but the substance of the land, that is the land itself, should constitute Waqf [a religious endowment intended to benefit the Muslim community] for all the generations of Muslims until the Day of Resurrection. The tenure of the [original] owners is only tenure of usufruct [i.e. they only have the right to a share of the produce, not to the land itself]. This Waqf will exist as long as the heaven and earth exist. Any measure which does not conform to this Islamic law regarding Palestine is null and void.” http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP109206 20 APPENDIX D: “Pilgrimage (Hajj and Umra)” Pilgrimage: A Muslim Duty “People owe Allah to make pilgrimage to the House [i.e. the Kaba], whoever is able to find a way.” Koran, 3:97 “Complete the hajj and umra for Allah.” Koran, 2:196. Both hajj and umra are obligatory for those who can make them at least once in a person’s lifetime. Some definitions: Arafa = a plain about thirteen miles to the east-southeast of Mecca. Hajj = greater pilgrimage to Mecca; must be made in the month of Dhul-hijja. Ihram = the state of consecration that pilgrims enter for hajj and umra; the intention to enter into the performance of the rites of pilgrimage. Al-Masjid al-Haram = the Holy Mosque in Mecca that encompasses the Kaba Safa and Marwa = two hills connected by a covered passageway beside al-Masjid alHaram. Umra = lesser pilgrimage; can be made at any time of year, or together with hajj. A person performing umra, or hajj and umra simultaneously, is obliged to slaughter a sheep or a goat, or to fast for three days. Before entering ihram it is recommended that one first perform the purificatory bath (ghusl). Men then put on a clean white rectangular cloth over the shoulders, and another wrap around the lower body, and sandals. Women wear a garment that covers all of the body except face and hands. One then prays two sets of prayers. Then one starts traveling to Mecca; as soon as one does so, one has entered ihram. While in ihram, five things are unlawful: sewn garments on men, using perfume, removing hair or nails, sexual intercourse or foreplay, or hunting. One then chants labbayk, a litany meaning “ever at your service, O Allah, ever at your service.” It is recommended that one enter Mecca after performing the purificatory bath (ghusl), in the daytime, walking barefoot, and to proceed directly to al-Masjid al-Haram. One recites a special prayer upon seeing the Kaba and then circumambulates (walks around) the Kaba (called tawaf). First one kisses the black stone three times and (if a man) puts the white cloak under the right arm and the two ends over the left shoulder so that the right shoulder is left bare, kisses the black stone again, and walks around the Kaba with the Kaba on one’s left, uttering certain prayers at certain points. One goes around the Kaba seven times, trotting for the first three rounds (for men only). One recites prayers after the 21 circumambulation. One commonly then walks seven times between Safa and Marwa, reciting certain prayers. On the hajj, on 8 Dhil-Hijjah, the pilgrims go to Mina to spend the night, and then proceed on to Arafa, where they hear sermons and perform prayers. At sunset on 9 Dhul-Hijjah, the pilgrims go to Muzdelifa, where they spend the night after performing their prayers. Commonly, the next day after the dawn prayer, pilgrims climb the hill called “the sanctuary landmark.” Then the pilgrims each throw seven stones, picked up in Muzdelifa, at three stone pillars in Jamrat al-Aqaba, saying “Allahu akbar” with each stone. When finished stoning one slaughters a sacrificial animal. Now the pilgrims leave the state of ihram, the men shaving their heads and the women cutting their hair. On the same day, 10 Dhul-Hijjah, one enters Mecca again and performs the going-forth circumambulation of the Kaba. If one has not already done so, one also goes seven times between Safa and Marwa. Then one returns to Mina and stays overnight; on 11 Dhul-Hijjah, one stones the pillars again, this time with 21 pebbles, seven at each pillar. This is repeated the next day. This completes the hajj. To sum up: The essential features of umra are ihram, circumambulation of the Kaba, going between Safa and Marwa, shaving or cutting one’s hair, and doing these things in this order. The essential features of hajj are doing all of the above, plus standing at Arafa, stoning the pillars at Mina, staying the night at Muzdelifa, staying the nights at Mina, and the farewell circumambulation. [The foregoing is based on Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri, Reliance of the Traveller: A Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law, trans. Nuh Ha Mim Keller, revised edition (Beltsville, MD: Amana Publications, 1994), pp. 297-370.] 22 23 APPENDIX E: Prayer (or Salat or Salah) Performing salat Muslims performing salah The Muslim performing salat begins his prayer by standing and facing the direction of the Qibla [the Ka’ba in Mecca] and making niyyah (the -- typically non-verbal -- intention to pray). He raises his hands and speaks aloud a phrase called the takbir: "God is the greatest" ‫ﷲ اﻛﺒﺮ ﷲ اﻛﺒﺮ‬ Allahu akbar At the beginning of each raka'ah [unit of prayer] the first chapter of the Qur'an, Sura alFatiha, is recited. "In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful:" "Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds," "The Beneficent, the Merciful," "Master of the day of judgment" "You (alone) do we worship, and you (alone) we ask for help;" "Show us the straight path" "The path of those You bestowed favor upon, not anger upon, and not of those who go astray." ‫ٱﻟﺮ ْﺣ َﻤ ٰـ ِﻦ‬ ‫ٱ� ﱠ‬ ِ ‫ِﺑﺴ ِْﻢ ﱠ‬ ‫ٱﻟﺮ ِﺣﯿﻢ‬ ‫ﱠ‬ Bismillah ar-rahmaan arraheem Al-hamdu lillahi rabb al‫ب ْٱﻟ َﻌ ٰـﻠَ ِﻤﯿﻦ‬ ِ ّ ‫� َر‬ ِ ‫ ْٱﻟ َﺤ ْﻤﺪ ُ ِ ﱠ‬alameen ‫ٱﻟﺮ ِﺣﯿﻢ‬ Ar-rahmaan ar-raheem' ‫ٱﻟﺮ ْﺣ َﻤ ٰـ ِﻦ ﱠ‬ ‫ﱠ‬ ‫َﻣ ٰـ ِﻠ ِﻚ ﯾَ ْﻮ ِم ٱﻟ ِﺪّﯾﻦ‬ Ma[a]liki yawm ad-deen ‫ﱠﺎك‬ Iyyaaka naabudu wa iyyaaka َ ‫ﱠﺎك ﻧَ ْﻌﺒُﺪ ُ َوإِﯾ‬ َ ‫إِﯾ‬ ‫ﻧَ ْﺴﺘ َ ِﻌﯿ ُﻦ‬ nastaeen ‫ﯿﻢ‬ ّ ِ ‫ ٱ ْھ ِﺪﻧَﺎ‬Ihdina s-siraata l-mustaqeem َ ‫ٱﻟﺼ َﺮ ٰط ْٱﻟ ُﻤ ْﺴﺘ َ ِﻘ‬ َ ٰ ‫ﺻ َﺮ‬ ‫ﺖ‬ Siraata l-latheena anamta َ ‫ط ٱﻟﱠﺬِﯾﻦَ أ َ ْﻧﻌَ ْﻤ‬ ِ ْ ‫ب‬ ُ ‫ َﻋﻠَ ْﯿ ِﮭ ْﻢ َﻏﯿ ِْﺮ ٱﻟ َﻤ ْﻐ‬alaihim ghair al-mughdoobi ِ ‫ﻀﻮ‬ ‫َﻋﻠَ ْﯿ ِﮭ ْﻢ َوﻻَ ٱﻟﻀ ۤﱠﺎ ِﻟّﯿ َﻦ‬ alaihim wa la daaleen During the first two raka'ah, and following the recitation of al-Fatiha, any other chapter or several verses of the Qur'an are additionally recited. The Muslim then bows at the waist, repeating the takbir, and while bowing says at least three times: 24 "Glory be to my Lord, the Supreme." Subhaana rabbiy al-‘azheem The Muslim then returns to a standing position, saying: "May God hear the one who praises Him." Sami‘a-llaahu liman hamidah "Our Lord, for You is all praise" Rabbanaa wa laka-l-hamd. and subsequently prostrates him- or herself, placing his forehead, nose, hands, knees, and toes on the floor, while once again repeating the takbir. The worshipper then says at least three times: "Glory to my Lord the Most High" Subhaana rabbiy al-alaa After one raka'ah is complete, the worshipper returns to a standing position, again repeating the takbir, and begins another raka'ah. After every two raka'ah he returns to an upright sitting position and says: "All glorification is for God. All acts of good deeds and worship are for Him." "Peace and the mercy and blessings of God be upon you, O Prophet." "Peace be upon us and all of God’s righteous servants." "I bear witness that there is no god but God, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His Servant and Messenger." At-tahiyaatu lillaahi wa-s-salawaatu wa tayyibaat. As-salaamu ‘alayka ayyuha-n-nabiyyu wa rahmatu-llaahi wa barakaatuh. As-salaamu ‘alayna wa ‘ala ibadillaahi-s-saaliheen. Ash-hadu an laa ilaha illaa-llaahu, wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan ‘abduho wa rasooluhu. After all raka'ah are completed, the worshipper says: "O God, exalt Muhammad and the family of Muhammad as You exalted Ibrahim (Abraham) and the family of Ibrahim. Verily You are full of praise and majesty." "O God, bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad as You blessed Ibrahim and the family of Ibrahim. Verily, You are full of praise and majesty." Allaahumma salli ‘ala Muhammadin wa ‘ala aali Muhammadin kamaa sallayta ‘ala Ibraheema wa ‘ala aali Ibraheem. Innaka hameedun majeed. Allaahumma baarik ‘ala Muhammadin wa ‘ala aali Muhammadin kamaa baarakta ‘ala Ibraheem wa ‘ala aali Ibraheem. Innaka hameedun majeed. To conclude the prayer, the Muslim turns first toward his right and then toward his left, each time saying the salutation: 25 "Peace be on you and the mercy of God." ‫اﻟﺴﻼم ﻋﻠﯿﻜﻢ‬ ‫ورﺣﻤﺔ ال‬ As-salaamu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullah. APPENDIX F: Ibn Kathir’s Commentary on Koran 9:29, and the Pact of Umar [Note: What follows is an excerpt from one of the most important Islamic commentaries on the Koran, the Tafsir Ibn Kathir, by Ibn Kathir (1302-1373), a Sunni Muslim scholar of the Shafi school of jurisprudence. This passage is Ibn Kathir’s commentary on verse 9:29, the so-called jizyah verse, the jizyah being the special poll tax imposed on “people of the Book,” mainly Jews and Christians, who refuse to convert to Islam. This verse commands that such people be conquered and humiliated (saghirun). The humiliation was codified in classical Islamic law in the so-called “Pact (or Covenant) of Umar,” a pact whose terms Ibn Kathir lists in the final paragraph of this excerpt. Those who pay the jizyah are called dhimmis or protected people, since by paying the poll tax and obeying the Pact of Umar they purchase protection against execution or enslavement by their Muslim conquerors, who must also protect them against foreign aggression since dhimmis are not allowed to bear arms. Source: http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php] The Order to fight People of the Scriptures until They give the Jizyah Allah said, ‫ﻮن ِﺑ ﱠ‬ ‫ﺎ�ِ َوﻻَ ِﺑ ْﺎﻟﯿَ ْﻮ ِم اﻻﱞ ِﺧ ِﺮ‬ َ ُ‫ﯾﻦ ﻻَ ﯾُﺆْ ِﻣﻨ‬ َ ‫﴿ﻗَـ ِﺘﻠُﻮاْ اﻟﱠ ِﺬ‬ ‫ﻮن َﻣﺎ َﺣ ﱠﺮ َم ﱠ‬ ‫ﻮن‬ َ ‫َوﻻَ ﯾُ َﺤ ِ ّﺮ ُﻣ‬ َ ُ‫ﺳﻮﻟُﮫُ َوﻻَ َﯾ ِﺪﯾﻨ‬ ُ ‫�ُ َو َر‬ ُ ‫ـﺐ َﺣﺘﱠﻰ ﯾُ ْﻌ‬ ْ‫ﻄﻮا‬ َ ‫ﻖ ِﻣ َﻦ اﻟﱠ ِﺬ‬ َ ‫ِد‬ َ َ ‫ﯾﻦ أُوﺗُﻮاْ ْاﻟ ِﻜﺘ‬ ِ ّ ‫ﯾﻦ ْاﻟ َﺤ‬ ﴾ ‫ون‬ َ ‫ﺻـ ِﻐ ُﺮ‬ َ ‫ْاﻟ ِﺠ ْﺰ َﯾﺔَ َﻋﻦ َﯾ ٍﺪ َوھُ ْﻢ‬ (Fight against those who believe not in Allah, nor in the Last Day, nor forbid that which has been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, and those who acknowledge not the religion of truth among the People of the Scripture, until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.) Therefore, when People of the Scriptures disbelieved in Muhammad , they had no beneficial faith in any Messenger or what the Messengers brought. Rather, they followed their religions because this conformed with their ideas, lusts and the ways of their forefathers, not because they are Allah's Law and religion. Had they been true believers in their religions, that faith would have directed them to believe in Muhammad , because all Prophets gave the good news of Muhammad's advent and commanded them to obey and follow him. Yet when he was sent, they disbelieved in him, even though he is the mightiest of all Messengers. Therefore, they do not follow the religion of earlier Prophets because these religions came from Allah, but because these suit their desires and lusts. Therefore, their claimed faith in an earlier Prophet will not benefit them because they disbelieved in the master, the mightiest, the last and most perfect of all Prophets. Hence Allah's statement, 26 ‫ﻮن ِﺑ ﱠ‬ ‫ﺎ�ِ َوﻻَ ِﺑ ْﺎﻟﯿَ ْﻮ ِم اﻻﱞ ِﺧ ِﺮ‬ َ ُ‫ﯾﻦ ﻻَ ﯾُﺆْ ِﻣﻨ‬ َ ‫﴿ﻗَـﺘِﻠُﻮاْ اﻟﱠ ِﺬ‬ ‫ﻮن َﻣﺎ َﺣ ﱠﺮ َم ﱠ‬ ‫ﻮن‬ َ ُ‫ﺳﻮﻟُﮫُ َوﻻَ ﯾَ ِﺪﯾﻨ‬ َ ‫َوﻻَ ﯾُ َﺤ ِ ّﺮ ُﻣ‬ ُ ‫�ُ َو َر‬ ﴾‫ـﺐ‬ َ ‫ﻖ ِﻣ َﻦ اﻟﱠ ِﺬ‬ َ ‫ِد‬ َ َ ‫ﯾﻦ أُوﺗُﻮاْ ْاﻟ ِﻜﺘ‬ ِ ّ ‫ﯾﻦ ْاﻟ َﺤ‬ (Fight against those who believe not in Allah, nor in the Last Day, nor forbid that which has been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, and those who acknowledge not the religion of truth among the People of the Scripture,) This honorable Ayah was revealed with the order to fight the People of the Book, after the pagans were defeated, the people entered Allah's religion in large numbers, and the Arabian Peninsula was secured under the Muslims' control. Allah commanded His Messenger to fight the People of the Scriptures, Jews and Christians, on the ninth year of Hijrah, and he prepared his army to fight the Romans and called the people to Jihad announcing his intent and destination. The Messenger sent his intent to various Arab areas around AlMadinah to gather forces, and he collected an army of thirty thousand. Some people from Al-Madinah and some hypocrites, in and around it, lagged behind, for that year was a year of drought and intense heat. The Messenger of Allah marched, heading towards Ash-Sham [i.e. Syria/Lebanon/Palestine] to fight the Romans until he reached Tabuk, where he set camp for about twenty days next to its water resources. He then prayed to Allah for a decision and went back to Al-Madinah because it was a hard year and the people were weak, as we will mention, Allah willing. Paying Jizyah is a Sign of Kufr and Disgrace Allah said, ُ ‫﴿ َﺣﺘﱠﻰ ﯾُ ْﻌ‬ ﴾َ‫ﻄﻮاْ ْاﻟ ِﺠ ْﺰ َﯾﺔ‬ (until they pay the Jizyah), if they do not choose to embrace Islam, ﴾ٍ‫﴿ َﻋﻦ ﯾَﺪ‬ (with willing submission), in defeat and subservience, ﴾‫ون‬ َ ‫ﺻـ ِﻐ ُﺮ‬ َ ‫﴿و ُھ ْﻢ‬ َ (and feel themselves subdued.), disgraced, humiliated and belittled. Therefore, Muslims are not allowed to honor the people of Dhimmah [i.e. dhimmis] or elevate them above Muslims, for they are miserable, disgraced and humiliated. Muslim recorded from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet said, ‫ َوإِذَا ﻟَ ِﻘﯿﺘ ُ ْﻢ‬،‫ﺴ َﻼ ِم‬ ‫ﺎرى ِﺑﺎﻟ ﱠ‬ َ ‫» َﻻ ﺗ َ ْﺒﺪَ ُءوا ْاﻟ َﯿ ُﮭﻮدَ َواﻟﻨﱠ‬ َ ‫ﺼ‬ 27 َ ‫ﺿ‬ َ ‫أ َ َﺣﺪَ ُھ ْﻢ ﻓِﻲ‬ «‫ﺿ َﯿ ِﻘﮫ‬ ْ َ ‫ﻄ ﱡﺮوهُ ِإﻟَﻰ أ‬ ْ ‫ﻖ ﻓَﺎ‬ ٍ ‫ط ِﺮﯾ‬ (Do not initiate the Salam [i.e. greeting] to the Jews and Christians, and if you meet any of them in a road, force them to its narrowest alley [i.e. force them to step aside for the Muslims].) This is why the Leader of the faithful `Umar bin Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, demanded his well-known conditions be met by the Christians, these conditions that ensured their continued humiliation, degradation and disgrace. The scholars of Hadith narrated from `Abdur-Rahman bin Ghanm Al-Ash`ari that he said, "I recorded for `Umar bin Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, the terms of the treaty of peace he conducted with the Christians of Ash-Sham: `In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. This is a document to the servant of Allah `Umar, the Leader of the faithful, from the Christians of such and such city. When you (Muslims) came to us we requested safety for ourselves, children, property and followers of our religion. We made a condition on ourselves that we will neither erect in our areas a monastery, church, or a sanctuary for a monk, nor restore any place of worship that needs restoration nor use any of them for the purpose of enmity against Muslims. We will not prevent any Muslim from resting in our churches whether they come by day or night, and we will open the doors ﴿of our houses of worship﴾ for the wayfarer and passerby. Those Muslims who come as guests, will enjoy boarding and food for three days. We will not allow a spy against Muslims into our churches and homes or hide deceit ﴿or betrayal﴾ against Muslims. We will not teach our children the Qur'an, publicize practices of Shirk [i.e. polytheism, associating partners with Allah], invite anyone to Shirk or prevent any of our fellows from embracing Islam, if they choose to do so. We will respect Muslims, move from the places we sit in if they choose to sit in them. We will not imitate their clothing, caps, turbans, sandals, hairstyles, speech, nicknames and title names, or ride on saddles, hang swords on the shoulders, collect weapons of any kind or carry these weapons. We will not encrypt our stamps in Arabic, or sell liquor. We will have the front of our hair cut, wear our customary clothes wherever we are, wear belts around our waist, refrain from erecting crosses on the outside of our churches and demonstrating them and our books in public in Muslim fairways and markets. We will not sound the bells in our churches, except discretely, or raise our voices while reciting our holy books inside our churches in the presence of Muslims, nor raise our voices ﴿with prayer﴾ at our funerals, or light torches in funeral processions in the fairways of Muslims, or their markets. We will not bury our dead next to Muslim dead, or buy servants who were captured by Muslims. We will be guides for Muslims and refrain from breaching their privacy in their homes.' When I gave this document to `Umar, he added to it, `We will not beat any Muslim. These are the conditions that we set against ourselves and followers of our religion in return for safety and protection. If we break any of these promises that we set for your benefit against ourselves, then our Dhimmah (promise of protection) is broken and you are allowed to do with us what you are allowed of people of defiance and rebellion.''' APPENDIX G: Concubinage (Sex-Slavery) and Sharia Classical Islamic law (Shariah) permits Muslim men to have non-consensual sexual relations with non-Muslim female slaves. Under classical Islamic law, slaves are primarily to be acquired in a legitimate jihad, or by tribute, offspring, or purchase. 11 If non-Muslims surrender and either convert to Islam or agree to pay the jizya, then they may not be enslaved. (Jews and Christians, in contrast, were not allowed under Islamic law to have Muslim concubines, and were anyway forbidden by their own religions to have sex with slaves. 12) Under Islamic law, the children of a non-Muslim female slave and her male Muslim owner were born both Muslim and free, and many male slaves were castrated. Also, Islamic law considered the manumission of a slave to be a meritorious act. This meant that the Muslim world never saw the proportionately large slave population that characterized, for instance, the pre-Civil-War American south.13 11 Bernard Lewis, Race and Slavery in the Middle East (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1990), pp. 6, 9. 12 Ibid., p. 8. 13 Ibid., p. 10 28 The basis for concubinage in Islamic law is both the Koran and the example and teaching of Muhammad. The Koran (the literal, eternal, infallible, uncreated word of God, according to mainstream Muslim doctrine 14) expressly permits Muslim men to have sexual relations not only with their wives but also with their slave girls: “Blessed are the believers, who are humble in their prayers; who avoid profane talk, and give alms to the destitute; who restrain their carnal desires (except with their wives and slave-girls, for these are lawful to them…)” (23:1-5; cf. 33:52, 70:29-31). 15 The Koran also teaches Muslims that Muhammad “is verily of noble nature” (68:4), and many of its verses command Muslims to obey and imitate Muhammad (e.g. 3:32, 3:132, 4:13, 4:59, 4:69, 5:92, 8:1, 8:20, 8:46, 9:71, 24:47, 24:51, 24:52, 24:54, 24:56, 33:33, 33:36, 47:33, 49:14, 58:13, 64:12). Mainstream Islam teaches as a central doctrine Muhammad’s moral perfection, insisting that he enjoyed God-given immunity (isma) from sin and error 16 and that he was “the perfect person,” the most perfect of all God’s creatures. 17 This implies the moral permissibility of everything that Muhammad himself did and of everything that, by his teachings, he himself permitted. The earliest extant biography of Muhammad, that of Ibn Ishaq (d. c. 767), tells us that the ruler of Alexandria “gave to the apostle four slave girls, one of whom was Mary mother of Ibrahim the apostle’s son.” 18 Muhammad not only accepted female sex-slaves as gifts (and impregnated them) but also gave them as gifts as well, for example, giving Sirin, another Coptic girl, to his follower Hassan bin Thabit, who sired a son by her. 19 After military victories, Muhammad often took one of the more attractive women among the captives as a concubine, for example taking Rayhana from among the conquered Banu Qurayza 20 and Safiyya from among the conquered Jews of Khaybar. 21 In fact, the great Muslim philosopoher and legal scholar Averroes (Ibn Rushd, 1126-1198) explains that the term safiy denotes Muhammad’s share of the spoils of conquest, which “he used to select from the undivided spoils, which could be a mare, a slave-girl, or a male slave. It is related that the name Safiyya was from safiy.” 22 14 John Esposito, Islam: The Straight Path, third ed. (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), p. 17. 15 The Koran, N.J. Dawood trans. (London: Penguin Books, 1999), pp. 240-1; cf. pp. 298, 406. 16 W. Madelung, “Isma,” in H.A.R. Gibb, The Encyclopedia of Islam, Vol. IV, new ed. (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1954), pp. 182-184. 17 Seyyed Hossein Nasr writes, “For Muslims, the Prophet is a mortal man, but also God’s most perfect creature,” The Heart of Islam (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2004), pp. 28, 36. Akbar Ahmed writes: “for Muslims [Muhammad] is simply insan-i-kamil, the perfect person,” Islam Today: A Short Introduction to the Muslim World (London and New York: I.B. Tauris Publishers, 1999), pp 13, 25. 18 Alfred Guillaume trans., The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1955), p. 653. 19 Ibid., pp. 498-9. 20 Ibid., p. 466. 21 Ibid., pp. 511, 514-517. 22 Ibn Rushd, The Distinguished Jurist’s Primer (Bidayat al-Mujtahid), trans. Imran Ahsan Khan Nyazee (Reading, UK: Garnet Publishing Ltd., 1994), Volume One, p. 468. 29 The Muslim sources also tell us that Muhammad permitted his fighters to have sex with female war-captives, even ones they had no intention of keeping as wives or slaves. Ibn Ishaq has Muhammad teaching his soldiers the following, after the conquest of Khaybar, a large Jewish settlement north of Medina: “It is not lawful for a man who believes in Allah and the last day to mingle his seed with another man’s (meaning to approach carnally a pregnant woman among the captives), nor is it lawful for him to take her until he has made sure that she is in a state of cleanness…” 23 This passage clearly implies that Muhammad has no objection to Muslim fighters having sex with female war captives, so long as their victims are not pregnant or menstruating. The second-most important biography of Muhammad, that of al-Waqidi (d. c. 823), provides even more evidence of Muhammad’s permissive stance regarding sex with female war-captives. After the conquest of the tribe of the Banu l-Mustaliq, some of Muhammad’s fighters came to him for advice: “We were lusting after women and chastity had become too hard for us, but we had no objections to getting the ransom money for our prisoners. So we wanted to use the ‘azl [coitus interruptus.]… We asked the prophet about it and he said: ‘You are not under any obligation to forbear from that…’ Later on women and children were ransomed by envoys…” 24 Here Muhammad plainly has no objection to his soldiers having sex with female warcaptives, and indeed the way his fighters phrase the question makes it quite clear that they know he has no objection to this practice. They wish to know, not if it is permissible for them to have intercourse with their war-prizes, which they take for granted, but if they may withdraw from them before ejaculating, since if they make the women pregnant, they may not get the ransom they desire. Muhammad’s answer is that they have no obligation to withdraw before ejaculating: Muhammad does not recommend the practice of coitus interruptus, but neither does he forbid it. In Rizwi Faizer’s translation, he justifies his position as follows: “I do not recommend it. Indeed, a creation that God intended will be to the Day of Judgment.” 25 In other words, Muhammad is being fatalistic: if God has intended that a child be conceived in an act of intercourse, then the child will be conceived whether the man withdraws before ejaculation or not. As Muhammad explains in another passage, “Pregnancy does not require all the ‘water’ [i.e. semen], and when God desires it, nothing will prevent it.”26 The story of the Banu l-Mustaliq continues with an account of a Muslim fighter bringing a young girl to sell at the slave market (Rodinson comments that she must have been a poor girl for whom no one could pay ransom): “A Jew said to me: ‘Abu Said, no doubt you want to sell her as she has in her belly a baby by you.’ I said: ‘No; 23 Guillaume, Life of Muhammad, p. 512. Quoted by Maxime Rodinson, Muhammad, Anne Carter trans. (New York: The New Press, 1980), p. 197. See also Rizwi Faizer ed., The Life of Muhammad: Al-Waqidi’s Kitab al-Maghazi, Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail, and AbdulKader Tayob trans. (London and New York: Routledge, 2011), p. 202. Faizer’s translation of ‘azl as “safe sex” is potentially misleading to a modern reader, since the Arabic term means withdrawal from the vagina before ejaculation or (in Latin) coitus interruptus. This hardly counts as “safe sex” by modern standards. 25 Faizer, The Life of Muhammad: Al-Waqidi’s Kitab al-Maghazi, p. 202. 26 Ibid., p. 451. 24 30 I used the ‘azl.’ To which he replied [sarcastically]: ‘Then it was the lesser child murder!’ When I repeated this story to the prophet he said: ‘The Jews lie. The Jews lie.’” 27 Here it is clear that Muhammad is angry, not because one of his soldiers has had sex with a defenseless female prisoner of war, but because a Jew has dared to make fun of a Muslim. Another passage from al-Waqidi illustrates just how common it was for Muslims to have sex with female war-captives, with Muhammad’s clear permission and approval. In his account of the Muslim victory at the battle of Hunayn, al-Waqidi includes the following details: “We asked permission from the Messenger of God about the prisoners he had distributed and given to other men. A woman from them was with Abd al-Rahman b. Awf, who had intercourse with her as his property. The Messenger of God had gifted her to him in Hunayn. He resisted her at al-Jiranna until she menstruated: then, he had intercourse with her. The Messenger of God gave Safwan b. Umayya another. He gave Ali b. Abi Talib a slave girl named… Rayta bt. Hilal bt. Hayyan b. Umayra; he gave Uthman b. Affan a slave girl named Zaynab b. Hayyan b. Amr. Uthman had intercourse with her and she detested him. Ali did not have intercourse. The Messenger of God gave Umar b. al-Khattab a slave girl, and Umar gave her to his son, Abdullah b. Umar. Ibn Umar sent her to his uncle in Mecca of the Banu Jumah to improve her…. She was a slave girl, pure and admirable.” 28 Here we see Muhammad giving his closest companions sex-slaves as gifts. Three of the men mentioned here – Ali, Uthman, and Umar – would succeed Muhammad as caliphs or leaders of the Muslim community. The statement about Uthman b. Affan – that he had sex with his slave girl “and she detested him” -- makes it clear that this was non-consensual sex. If we turn now from the traditional biographies to the canonical collections of Muhammad’s sayings or ahadith (singular hadith), we find exactly the same picture. The most important of these collections is Sahih Bukhari, assembled by the great Muslim scholar Bukhari (d. c. 870), “whose collection,” David Cook notes, “is accorded a rank in Sunni Islam just below that of the Qur’an.” 29 In Sahih Bukhari (and also in the secondmost important collection, Sahih Muslim) we read, to select just one example, a passage in which Muhammad’s fighters recount the following: “We got female captives in the war booty and we used to do coitus interruptus with them. So we asked Allah’s Apostle about it and he said, ‘Do you really do that?’ repeating the question thrice. ‘There is no soul that is destined to exist but will come into existence, till the Day of Resurrection.’”30 Again, the only issue here is coitus interruptus, both Muhammad and his soldiers taking it for granted 27 Rodinson, Muhammad, p. 197. See Faizer, The Life of Muhammad: Al-Waqidi’s Kitab al-Maghazi, p. 202. Faizer, The Life of Muhammad: Al-Waqidi’s Kitab al-Maghazi, p. 462. 29 David Cook, Understanding Jihad (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005), p. 17. 30 Sahih Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 62, Number 137. See also Sahih Bukhari, Vol. 3, Book 46, No. 718; Vol. 5, Book 59, No. 459; Vol. 8, Book 77, No. 600; Sahih Muslim, Book 8, Ch. 22, Nos. 3371-3375. Sahih Bukhari in English translation can be found at https://www.sahih-bukhari.com/. The print translation is by Muhammad Muhsin Khan, The Translation of the Meanings of Sahih al-Bukhari (Riyadh: Darussalam, 1997). 28 31 that there is nothing wrong with raping female prisoners of war. (In fact, these texts form the basis of the permissibility of coitus interruptus in at least some schools of Islamic law and, by analogy, of contraception. 31) It is no surprise, therefore, that Islamic law, based as it is on the Koran and the example and teaching of Muhammad, permits the sexual enslavement of female warcaptives. The mainstream Sunni Shafi legal manual The Reliance of the Traveller stipulates the following: “When a child or a woman is taken captive, they become slaves by the fact of capture, and the woman’s previous marriage is immediately annulled.” 32 This ensures that sex with such war captives is not adulterous. In his classic study, War and Peace in the Law of Islam, the scholar Majid Khadduri writes the following: “As a consequence of attaining victory over the enemy, the imam [Muslim leader] may condemn part of … the population of the conquered territory, in case they did not accept Islam and the imam did not demand that they work and pay the kharaj [a tax on non-Muslims], to be slaves and to be divided among the jihadists as spoils of war. The recipient had the legal right to regard the slave as his property, but he was under a moral obligation to treat him gently and show him real kindness. If the slave were a woman, the master was permitted to have sexual connection with her as a concubine.”33 Khadduri is right to point out that Islamic law contains provisions protecting slaves from certain types of abuse. Joseph Schacht, a leading scholar of Islamic law, writes that “the authorities must ensure that the owner fulfills the religious duties towards his slave; he must not overwork him and must give him sufficient rest; the slave of a persistent offender can be sold compulsorily.” 34 Bernard Lewis also writes that Islamic law has humane provisions regarding treatment of slaves. 35 According to Sahih Bukhari, Muhammad himself repeatedly taught his followers to be kind to their slaves. Here are some examples: “Allah's Apostle said, ‘He who has a slave-girl and educates and treats her nicely and then manumits [i.e. frees her] and marries her, will get a double reward.’" (Volume 3, Book 46, Number 720) “[Muhammad said] 'Your slaves are your brethren upon whom Allah has given you authority. So, if one has one's brethren under one's control, one should feed them with the like of what one eats and clothe them with the like of what one wears. You should not overburden them with what they cannot bear, and if you do so, help them (in their hard job).’" (Volume 3, Book 46, Number 721). 36 31 Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri, The Reliance of the Traveller: A Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law, Nuh Ha Mim Keller trans., rev. ed. (Beltsville MD: Amana Publications, 1994), m5.5 (p. 526) and w46.0 (pp. 949-950). The Shafi school considers it to be permissible but offensive to practice coitus interruptus. 32 Ibid., o9.13 (p. 604). 33 Majid Khadduri, War and Peace in the Law of Islam (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1955), pp. 1301. 34 Joseph Schacht, An Introduction to Islamic Law (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982), p. 128. 35 Bernard Lewis, Race and Slavery in the Middle East (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1990), pp. 5-8. 36 From https://www.sahih-bukhari.com/. 32 But the kindness owed to a slave has its limits: in particular, it does not protect the unmarried female slave from having to submit to non-consensual sex with her male owner. Like Khadduri, Schacht observes that “the unmarried female slave is at the disposal of her male owner as a concubine” (and, Schacht points out, “the marriage of the slave requires the permission of the owner,” 37 so the slave-woman cannot escape sexual relations with her master by marrying unless she gets his permission). Likewise, Lewis observes: “A Muslim slave-owner was entitled by law to the sexual enjoyment of his slave women.” 38 Moreover, Schacht further writes that the slave has no legal right to sue the owner 39 and, in general, even a free non-Muslim subject of the Islamic state or dhimmi cannot testify in an Islamic court except in matters concerning other dhimmis. 40 Yohanan Friedmann, another leading scholar of Islamic law, likewise points out that under sharia, “non-Muslims’ testimony is not admissible against Muslims, but the testimony of Muslims is valid against members of all religions.” 41 Bernard Lewis also says of slaves, “Their testimony was not admitted at judicial proceedings.” 42 Thus, a non-Muslim female slave under sharia has no capacity to stand before an Islamic court and demand relief from sexual abuse at the hands of her Muslim owner. APPENDIX H: The Resurrection of the Body: A Common Belief of Jews, Christians, and Muslims I. The teaching of Muhammad and the Koran (ca. 613-622 CE): “Ubayy took to the apostle an old bone, crumbling to pieces, and said, ‘Muhammad, do you allege that God can revivify this after it has decayed?’ Then he crumbled it and blew the pieces in the apostle’s face. The apostle answered: ‘Yes, I do say that. God will raise it and you, after you have become like this. Then God will send you to hell.’ So God revealed concerning him [i.e. Ubayy]”: 43 “Is man not aware that We created him from a little germ? Yet he is flagrantly contentious. He answers back with arguments, and forgets his own creation. He asks: ‘Who will give life to rotten bones?’Say: ‘He who first brought them into being will give them life again: He has knowledge of every creature; He who gives you from the green tree a flame, and lo! You light a fire.’ Has He who created the heavens and the earth no power to create others like them? That He surely has. He 37 Schacht, Introduction to Islamic Law, p. 127. Lewis, Race and Slavery in the Middle East, p. 14. 39 Schacht, Introduction to Islamic Law, p. 128. 40 Ibid., p. 132. 41 Yohanan Friedmann, Tolerance and Coercion in Islam: Interfaith Relations in the Muslim Tradition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), p. 35. See also al-Misri, The Reliance of the Traveller, o24.2 (p. 635): “Legal testimony is only acceptable from a witness who…is religious (...meaning upright…and Muslim)…” 42 Lewis, Race and Slavery in the Middle East, p. 7. 43 A. Guillaume, The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah (Oxford and Karachi: Oxford University Press, 1955), p. 165; cf. p. 143. 38 33 is the all-knowing Creator. When He decrees a thing He need only say: ‘Be,’ and it is. Glory be to Him who has control of all things. To Him shall you all be recalled.” [Koran 36:77-83] 44 II. The teaching of classical Islamic scholars: “To believe in the Last Day means the Day of Resurrection, called the last because it is not followed by night. Believe means to be convinced that it will come to pass with all it implies, including the resurrection of the dead, their reckoning, the weighing of their good deeds against their bad ones, their passing over the high, narrow bridge that spans the hellfire…, and that some will be put in hell out of justice, and some in paradise out of Allah’s pure generosity.” 45 III. The Second Book of Maccabees (ca. 124 BCE): “Most admirable and worthy of everlasting remembrance was the mother, who saw her seven sons perish in a single day, yet bore it courageously because of her hope in the Lord. Filled with a noble spirit that stirred her womanly heart with a manly courage, she exhorted each of them in the language of their forefathers with these words: ‘I do not know how you came into existence in my womb; it was not I who gave you the breath of life, nor was it I who set in order the elements of which each of you is composed. Therefore, since it is the Creator of the universe who shapes each man’s beginning, as he brings about the origin of everything, he, in his mercy, will give you back both breath and life, because you now disregard yourselves for the sake of his law.” 46 IV. The Amidah, a daily prayer of rabbinic Judaism: “You are mighty forever, my Lord. You are the one who revives the dead, powerful to save. You make the wind blow and the rain fall. He sustains the living and revives the dead with great mercy, supports the falling, heals the sick, releases captives, and keeps faith with those who sleep in the dust. Who is like you, Lord of power? And who can compare to you, O king who brings about death and restores life and makes salvation sprout? Faithful you are to revive the dead. Blessed are you, Lord, who revive the dead.” 47 V. The Mishnah, or great law code of rabbinic Judaism (ca. 200 CE): 44 The Koran, translated with notes by N.J. Dawood (London: Penguin Classics, 1999). Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri, The Reliance of the Traveller: A Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law, translated and edited by Nuh Ha Mim Keller, revised edition (Beltsville, MD: Amana Publications, 1994), p. 813; see also pp. 995-1002. 46 2 Mc 7:20-23; New American Bible / Saint Mary’s Press College Study Bible (Winona, MN: Saint Mary’s Press, 2006). See also 2 Mc 7:11, 14, 36; 12:44; 14:46. 47 Quoted in Kevin J. Madigan and Jon D. Levenson, Resurrection: The Power of God for Christians and Jews (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2008), p. 201. 45 34 “All Israelites shall have a share in the World-to-Come… And these are the ones who do not have a share in the World-to-Come: He who says that the resurrection of the dead is not in the Torah, [he who says] that the Torah is not from Heaven, and the skeptic.”48 VI. The Gospels and Saint Paul (ca. 50-100 CE): “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day.” Jn 6:40. “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live…” Jn 11:25. “If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit that dwells in you.” Rom 8:11. “But if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then empty [too] is our preaching; empty, too, your faith.” 1 Cor 12-14. VII. The Apostle’s Creed (ca. 2nd C CE) “I believe in … the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.” 49 APPENDIX I: The “Constitution of Medina” or “the Umma Document” Ibn Ishaq tells us that sometime after his arrival in Medina in 622, Muhammad “wrote a document concerning the emigrants and the helpers in which he made a friendly agreement with the Jews and established them in their religion and their property, and stated the reciprocal obligations….” 50 University of Chicago historian Fred Donner gives us some background on this document: “As with all literary texts compiled a century or more after the time of Muhammad, one can question the authenticity of this text; but the consensus of scholars, even those who are generally skeptical about the reliability of such late texts, is that the umma document is probably a fairly accurate transcription of an actual early document. This is because, both in form and in content, it seems archaic and because it presents things in ways that do not conform to later idealizing views; hence it seems unlikely that it is a later invention.” 51 48 Madigan and Levenson, op.cit., p. 206. http://www.creeds.net/ancient/apostles.htm; for commentary, see Catechism of the Catholic Church (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1994), ##988-1019. 50 Alfred Guillaume trans., The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah (Oxford and Karachi: Oxford University Press, 1955), p. 231. 51 Fred Donner, Muhammad and the Believers: At the Origins of Islam (Cambridge, MA and London, UK: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2010), p. 227. 49 35 The ”Constitution of Medina” or “Umma Document” opens with this statement: “This is a document from Muhammad the prophet [governing the relations] between the believers and Muslims of Quraysh and Yathrib [Medina], and those who followed them and joined them and laboured with them. They are one community (umma) to the exclusion of all men.”52 Here we see the Muslim community evolving into a community that incorporates members of various tribes and clans while adding to the principle of clan and tribal solidarity a new principle of religious solidarity. The customs that had been common aspects of Arab tribal culture now became aspects of Islam: “A believer shall not slay a believer for the sake of an unbeliever, nor shall he aid an unbeliever against a believer. … Believers are friend one to the other to the exclusion of outsiders. … The believers must avenge the blood of one another shed in the way of God. … Whosoever is convicted of killing a believer without good reason shall be subject to retaliation unless the next of kin is satisfied (with blood money), and the believers shall be against him as one man, and they are bound to take action against him….Whenever you differ about a matter it must be referred to God and to Muhammad.” 53 In effect, Islam is becoming a super-tribe. Just as members of the same clan or tribe are loyal to one another, so too must Muslims be loyal to one another. Just as a tribe would retaliate against anyone who attacked a tribe member, so too Muslims must retaliate against attacks on Muslims by non-Muslims. Just as a tribe is knit together by the ethos of “one for all and all for one,” so too must Muslims be. Just as tribe or clan members refer disputes to clan or tribal elders for mediation and resolution, so too Muslims must refer disputes to Muhammad. An intriguing aspect of this agreement is that Ibn Ishaq describes it as “the covenant between the Muslims and the Medinans and with the Jews.” 54 In fact, this description is misleading. It was a covenant with some of the Jews of Medina, but not all of them. The three largest Jewish tribes of Medina are not mentioned at all and were thus apparently not parties to this agreement: the Banu Qaynuqa, the Banu al-Nadir, and the Banu Qurayza. The Jews who are included as parties to this “covenant” were Jewish members of just a few clans or sub-tribes: the Banu Auf, Banu al-Najjar, Banu al-Harith, Banu Sa’ida, Banu Jusham, Banu al-Aus, Banu Tha’laba, and finally the Jafna, a clan of the Tha’laba and the Banu al-Shutayba. 55 This list largely overlaps with the clans listed as among the ansar (Muslim) parties to the covenant in its second paragraph: The Banu ‘Auf, Banu Sa’ida, Banu al-Harith, Banu Jusham, and Banu al-Najjar. 56 A careful reading of Ibn Ishaq’s text reveals that these clans or sub-tribes had all begun converting to Islam before Muhammad moved to Medina. Members of these clans are listed as present at the first 57 52 Guillaume, Life of Muhammad, pp. 231-2. Ibid., p. 232. 54 Ibid., p. 231. 55 Ibid., p. 233. 56 Ibid., p. 232. 57 Ibid., pp. 198-9. 53 36 and second 58 pledges at al-Aqaba. Also, many of the emigrants from Mecca to Medina took up residence with these clans when they arrived in Medina (including Muhammad himself). 59 Finally, these clans are mentioned when Ibn Ishaq lists the “brothers” among the Ansar or “helpers” paired with specific Muslims among the “emigrants.” 60 Therefore, it seems that the Jews included in the Umma document were only the Jewish members of clans whose other members had already begun converting to Islam. Muhammad included them in the “covenant” only because family ties linked them to important Muslims in Medina. The purely Jewish tribes of the Banu Qaynuqa, Banu al-Nadir, and Banu Qurayza, however, were not included. It seems Muhammad struck separate agreements with these three tribes, but unfortunately the texts of these agreements are not preserved, and we know nothing about their contents.61 58 Ibid., pp. 204, 208-212. Ibid., p. 218, 228. 60 Ibid., p. 234. 61 See Tilman Nagel, Mohammed: Leben und Legende (Munich: R. Oldenbourg Verlag, 2008), pp. 342-347. 59 37