Story of Mohammed Islam Unveiled

17 Khaybar, the First Dhimmis
Two months after the treaty of Hudaybiya, Mohammed marched his army about 100 miles to
Khaybar, to attack a community of Jews who lived there. Mohammed had never had any problems
with the Jews of Khaybar. His raid was motivated purely by greed. The Jews of Khaybar were
wealthy farmers who lived in a series of forts amongst their crops.
From The Sira:
I757 When Mohammed raided a people, he waited until the morning. If he heard the call to prayer,
which meant the people were Muslims, he would not attack but if there was no Muslim call to
prayer he attacked. When he rode up with his army, workers were coming out to work in the fields.
When they saw Mohammed and his army, they fled. Mohammed said, “Allah Akbar! Khaybar is
destroyed. When we arrive in a people’s Square, it is a bad morning for those who have been
warned.”
Mohammed was now one of the most powerful men in Arabia, thanks to Jihad. Unlike in the
early days, he could now do pretty much as he pleased. He set about destroying all opposition,
showing absolutely no mercy to any who resisted him.
I758 Mohammed seized the forts one at a time. Among the captives was a beautiful Jewess named
Safiyah. Mohammed took her for his sexual pleasure. One of his men had first chosen her for his
own slave of pleasure, but Mohammed traded him two of her cousins for Safiyah. Mohammed
always got first choice of the spoils of war and the women.
I759 On the occasion of Khaybar, Mohammed put forth new orders about forcing sex with captive
women. If the woman was pregnant, she was not to be used for sex until after the birth of the child.
Nor were any women to be used for sex who were unclean with regard to Muslim laws about
menstruation.
I764 Mohammed knew there was a large treasure hidden somewhere in Khaybar so he brought
forth the Jew he thought knew the most about it and questioned him. This Jew was Kinana, the
husband of Safiyah, Mohammed’s soon-to-be new bride. Kinana denied any knowledge. But
another Jew said he had seen the man around one of the old ruins. The search was made, and a
great deal of the treasure was found but not all of it. Mohammed told one of his men, “Torture the
Jew until you extract what he has.” So the Jew was staked on the ground and a small fire built on
his chest to get him to talk. The man was nearly dead but would not talk, so Mohammed had him
released and taken to one of his men whose brother had been killed in the fight, and the Muslim got
the pleasure of cutting the tortured Jew’s head off.
Muslims believe that Mohammed was the perfect man and the Koran repeatedly tells Muslims to
emulate his behaviour. Many or even most Muslims have never read his biographies and rely on
the Imams for guidance. In times or places where Islam is weak, we would expect the Imams to
counsel people to follow Mohammed’s Meccan example, but history shows that when Islam
becomes powerful, things change.
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