Ali Sina - Understanding Muhammad

When Sane People Follow Insane People
eloquent speaker addresses them and then they agree to do that very thing after
his speech).” 319
Elsewhere he bragged, "I have been given the keys of eloquent speech
and given victory with terror. 320 He used both the power of oratory and
persuasion, and terror and intimidation to his advantage.
Osherow writes: “The bulk of the People’s Temple membership was
comprised of society’s needy and neglected: the urban poor, the black, the
elderly and a sprinkling of addicts and ex-convicts." 321
Compare that to the early followers of Muhammad in Mecca. They were
mostly the poor, the disfranchised slaves, the rebellious youths, and a few
disaffected women. He preached to the slaves that they should escape the yoke
of their masters and emigrate; he told the youths to disobey their parents and
follow him; he spoke of social equality and the brotherhood of all the believers;
he promised everyone great rewards in the afterlife and wealth in this world,
wealth that was later secured through looting.
The three historians, Tabari, Ibn Sa’d and Ibn Ishaq agree that only a few
converted to Islam out of faith. The majority converted out of fear or for the
greed of a share in the loot. Nonetheless, and irrespective of their original
reasons, they served Muhammad’s goal of conquest.
Claims of Grandiosity
Cult leaders have megalomaniac personalities. Both Jim Jones and
Muhammad had hyper-inflated egos. To attract new members, Jones held public
services in various cities. Leaflets distributed read:
Pastor Jim Jones… Incredible! Miraculous! Amazing!
The Most Unique Prophetic Healing Service You’ve Ever Witnessed! Behold the
Word Made Incarnate In Your Midst! 322
Muhammad made many lofty claims about himself, too. His sockpuppet
Allâh often praised with words such as:
319 Sahih Bukhari Volume 7, Book 62, Number 76
320 Sahih Bukhari Volume 9, Book 87, Number 127
321 Winfrey, C. Why 900 died in Guyana. ew York Times Magazine, February 25, 1979.
322 Suicide Cult: The Inside Story of the Peoples Temple Sect and the Massacre in Guyana
(201P) by Marshall Kilduff and Ron Javers (1978)
205