Understanding Islam III: Muhammad the Bad Neighbor

Muhammad did not get along well with his neighbors. Even in his early religious phase, he was pushy and aggressive. When he went to Medina, his behavior became 10 times worse. When he eventually began to settle in Medina, approx.  half the town was Jewish. Within three years after he arrived, all the Jews were eradicated. They had been either driven out of Medina— after their money was taken— or they’d been killed and sold into slavery. Before Muhammad died, he had struck out to the north to Syria to fight the Christians. Some of his dying words were: “Let there be neither Jew nor Christian left in Arabia.” He would often attack neighboring tribes and attempt to force them to submit to Allah (himself). When they’d refuse, he would often kill the male members until the rest surrendered and then they were given a choice to convert. If they didn’t, they were killed or sold into slavery. Women, children, men. This was profitable enterprise for him. Jihad was profitable. He used jihad to finance more jihad. Muhammad came up with a way to make religion and politics pay. You still see the fruits of that philosophy today in modern Jihad. What we see is that in Islamic philosophy, Jihad not only supposedly helps the believer in the afterlife, it helps their families now in this life because the families are rewarded for the suicide bombings performed on behalf of other family members.