Ali Sina - Understanding Muhammad

Understanding Muhammad
To understand this we must understand that Muslims are expected to be
like, and to think like, their prophet. As such, their attitudes, beliefs, thoughts
and actions come to reflect his personality and mind. Since Muhammad is the
model for all that is righteous in Islam, it is expected that his followers emulate
him in every way. The result of this is that Muslims, as a whole, by virtue of
taking on the life of Muhammad, leave behind their own, forsaking their
humanity and to a large degree, their individuality. As they come to inhabit the
narcissistic bubble universe of their prophet, and to the extent that they follow
his examples, they become extensions of him. Muslims are twigs from the tree
of Islam and the root of that tree is Muhammad. They share his character, his
attitude and his mindset. You could say each Muslim is a mini Muhammad of a
sort. To them, he is the best part of creation, the most perfect human being and
the example to follow. They believe that if he did something, no matter how
egregious, that must be the right thing. No question is asked and no value
judgment is allowed.
As a subject, Muhammad is one very few like to engage. Muslims get
offended if anyone slights their prophet. Any comment, no matter how
innocuous, can elicit opprobrium. Though they may allow you to criticize his
followers, they do not tolerate any criticism of the prophet himself. You can
criticize Allah and get away with it, but you can’t criticize Muhammad.
It is not possible to make a thorough evaluation of the psychological
profile of someone centuries after his death. However, our goal is not to
prescribe medication but to get a better insight of the prophet of Islam. There is
a wealth of information about the details of the life of Muhammad and his
sayings that are recorded meticulously. Many of these accounts are embellished
by exaggeration and are full of hyperbole. It is to be expected that believers
would elevate the status of their prophet, falsely attribute miracles to him and
make him look saintly. In the biography of Muhammad, however, we also find
thousands of accounts that do not portray him as a holy man, but rather, depict
him as vile, ruthless, cunning, and even as a sexual pervert. There is no reason
to believe these stories are false. It is not characteristic of believers to portray
their prophet as a villain. So if such stories exist, narrated by his companions,
those who believed in him and loved him, in such a large numbers, it is likely
that they are true.
Traditions that are diffusely recurrent are called mutawattir. These
traditions have come down to later generations through a large number of chains
of narrations, involving diverse transmitters. It is virtually impossible that all
these people, living in different localities and espousing (at times radically)
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