Ali Sina - Understanding Muhammad

Who Was Muhammad
Remember how the Unbelievers plotted against you [Muhammad], to keep you in
bonds, or slay you, or get you out (of your home). They deceive, and Allâh too
deceives; but the best of deceivers (makerin) is Allâh. (Q.8:30)
It appears that Allâh is guessing what the Meccans were plotting and not
quite sure. Doesn’t this verse reveal the fears of a paranoid Man Muhammad
lived among the Meccans for thirteen years, taunting them and insulting their
religion, just as Muslims today insult the religion of everyone else, and yet they
tolerated him. Except for Muhammad’s own claim, there is no historical
evidence they ever tried to harm him.
In history written by Muslims themselves, there is no evidence of
persecution against Muhammad. The elders of the Quraish, vexed at his insults,
repaired to his aged uncle Abu Talib and said, “This Nephew of yours, has
spoken opprobriously of our gods and our religion, and has abused us as fools,
and given out that our forefathers were all astray. Now, avenge us yourself of
our adversary (seeing that you are in the same case with ourselves), or leave him
to it that we may take our satisfaction.” 31
This is hardly the language and approach of persecutors. This is a plea,
an ultimatum to Muhammad to stop abusing their gods. Compare that to the
actions of today’s Muslims when their prophet is portrayed in a few cartoons.
Muslims rioted; and, in far away places such as Nigeria and Turkey, killed
nearly one hundred people who had nothing to do with those cartoons, and yet
the Quraish tolerated numerous insults against their gods for thirteen years.
The night Muhammad escaped to Medina, in the company of his loyal
friend Abu Bakr, marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar. In Medina, he
found Arabs who were less sophisticated than the Meccans. An added
advantage was that they were ignorant of his background and character, to
which the Meccans were privy. As a result, they were more receptive to his
message.
Muhammad was not the first Arab prophet. Several other pretenders
from other parts of Arabia were his near contemporaries. The best known was
Musailama, who started his prophetic calling a few years before Muhammad,
but unlike the prophet of Islam, he was successful in his own town and among
his own people. Interestingly, a woman called Sijah was also a claimant to that
title, and she too had a sizable following among her own people. Both of these
prophets were preaching monotheism. There is convincing evidence that, prior
31
Sir William Muir, Life of Muhammad, Vol. 2, chap. 5,. p. 162.
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