The Heart's Witness Against Muhammad: The Murder of Abu 'Afak

By Andrew M. Greenwell, Esq.
11/2/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

If Muhammad, the perfect man and example for all Muslims, can violate the Fifth Commandment with impunity if political or religious reasons warrant it, then his followers believe they can as well.

"Who will deal with this rascal for me?" These were Muhammad's words regarding Abu 'Afak, a political and religious enemy that Muhammad wanted murdered, the desire for which his henchmen quickly satisfied. The case of Abu 'Afak is an example of Muhammad's intolerance, his inability to countenance any serious opposition, and his resort to murder for political and religious purposes.

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CORPUS CHRISTI, TX (Catholic Online) - "Who will deal with this rascal for me?" These were Muhammad's words regarding Abu 'Afak. In this article, we shall assess Muhammad's role in the murder of his political and religious enemy, the Jewish poet Abu 'Afak. The event is evidence of Muhammad's political and religious intolerance, and is evidence further of Muhammad's willingness to dispense with his personal, political, or religious foes (Muhammad did not distinguish between them) through assassination, setting the stage for intolerance and murder as virtues for his followers.

If Muhammad, the perfect man and example for all Muslims, can violate the Fifth Commandment with impunity if political or religious reasons warrant it, then his followers believe they can as well.

What one may perhaps excuse in a political leader, particularly one subject to tyrannical proclivities, is not something one would excuse in the perfect man, the supposed al-insan al-kamil. It is a recipe for moral mayhem to suggest that the killing of political or religious enemies (so long as you are Muslim and they are not) is prescribed (and not proscribed) by law of Allah.

Abu 'Afak was an old Jewish man, reputed to be 120 years old, a member of the Banu Ubayda tribe. He was a poet, and refused to convert to Islam or acknowledge Muhammad as a legitimate prophet. Abu 'Afak was upset with Muhammad's role in killing a man named al-Harith bin Suwayd bin Samit, and so he had the temerity to lampoon Muhammad through his poetry.

The event, and Muhammad's response to it, is related in the Sirat Rasul Allah, the preeminent traditional biography of Muhammad by Ibn Ishaq. The text is given below (I have put symbols on certain words and defined or explained them below for the benefit of the reader):

"Abu 'Afak was one of the B. 'Amr b. 'Auf of the B. Ubayda clan. He showed his disaffection when the apostle killed al-Harith b. Suwayd b. Samit and said:

'Long have I lived but never have I seen
An assembly or collection of people
More faithful to their undertaking
And their allies when called upon
Than the sons of Qayla* when they assembled,
Men who overthrew mountains and never submitted,
A rider who came to them split them in two (saying)
"Permitted," "Forbidden," of all sorts of things.**
Had you believed in glory or kingship
You would have followed Tubba'.'*

The apostle said, 'Who will deal with this rascal for me?' Whereupon Salim b. 'Umayr, brother of B. 'Amr b. 'Auf, one of the 'weepers', went forth and killed him. Umama b. Muzayriya said concerning that:

'You gave the lie to God's religion and the man Ahmad [variant of Muhammad]!
By him who was your father, evil is the son he produced!
A hanif * gave you a thrust in the night saying
"Take that Abu 'Afak in spite of your age!"
Though I knew whether it was man or jinn
Who slew you in the dead of night (I would say naught).'"

The story is also found in the Kitab al Tabaqat al Kabir: (II:31):

"Then occurred the sariyyah [raid] of Salim Ibn Umayr al-Amri against Abu Afak, the Jew, in [the month of] Shawwal in the beginning of the twentieth month from the hijrah [immigration from Mecca to Medina in 622 AD], of the Apostle of Allah. Abu Afak, was from Banu Amr Ibn Awf, and was an old man who had attained the age of one hundred and twenty years. He was a Jew, and used to instigate the people against the Apostle of Allah, and composed (satirical) verses [about Muhammad].

Salim Ibn Umayr who was one of the great weepers and who had participated in Badr, said, "I take a vow that I shall either kill Abu Afak or die before him." He waited for an opportunity until a hot night came, and Abu Afak slept in an open place. Salim Ibn Umayr knew it, so he placed the sword on his liver and pressed it till it reached his bed. The enemy of Allah screamed and the people who were his followers, rushed to him, took him to his house and interred him."

What sort of man is this Muhammad?

The story of Muhammad and Abu 'Afak is redolent of King Henry II and the murder of St. Thomas Becket when the latter refused to assent to the Constitutions of Clarendon and the King's efforts to gain control over the Church. "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?" is what the King is supposed to have said in an unguarded moment. To which careless statement the King's loyal knights Reginald FitzUrse, Hugh de Morville, William de Tracy, and Richard le Breton, thinking the King had authorized his enemy's murder, set out to rid King Henry II of his erstwhile-friend-become pest.

Henry II repented of his indirect role in encouraging the murder of Thomas Becket, and suffered, as part of his penance, to be whipped by the monks of Canterbury by order of the Pope. Muhammad suffered no such ...

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1 - 10 of 10 Comments

Judy Claar
6 months ago
Andrew M. Greenwell: Thank you for yet another factual and enlightening article. I do so look forward to reading them. I also enjoy reading your answers to those who have posted, as well of course, reading the posts of others. We are truly Blessed. Blessing:
May Our God of Love and Life and Truth shine always in your writing. Amen.
Jorge
6 months ago
muhammad was indeed a ruthless deceptive mobster, warlord, thugh, cold-blood mass-murderer who simply could not tolerate an one to criticise him. Muhammad is the reason why islam and muslims are so intolerant, backwardm barbarical, deceptive, manipulative, violent and cruel. If you take islam, muhmamad and allah out from muslims, you will have normal, peaceful human beings.it is islam that makes them what they are:evil and liars.
Terri K
6 months ago
Editors: Might it be possible to link each successive piece in this series to the article that preceded it? I'm sharing a link to this one with friends this morning. I'm having a hard time finding the previous pieces in the series.

Thanks.
Terri K
6 months ago
I'd love to see the Bible quote reference in Ali's comment above. It doesn't exist. Jesus never requested, promoted, or tolerated murder.

It's a matter of history that Muhammed was a political and military leader. I don't see how that exempts his murderous behavior and makes it morally acceptable. In fact, it doesn't.

I am blessed to know some Muslims and they are very gracious, peaceful people. Mr. Greenwell's analysis of Muhammed's life through the lens of natural law has never posited to be a critique of the life of any Muslim believer. He is merely taking Muslim history, from Muslim sources, and juxtapositioning this history with the fundamental rules of decency and moral right that are written on the hearts of all human beings. Muhammed fails. He is not worthy of emulation by any person.

As-salamu alaykum. May the peace of Christ reign in our hearts.
andrew
6 months ago
Bukhari: Volume 9, Book 93, Number 477:

'Aisha said, "If anyone ......................., for Allah says: "None has the knowledge of the Unseen but Allah."

'Allahu wa rasuluhu 'a'lam' [Allah and his messenger know best]. To equate Mohammed's knowledge with that of Allah would be an insult of Allah. I find it hard to believe that this has not been challenged by a knowledgeable Muslim.

Jesus said: 'Why do you call me good as only God is good'.
Louis Barta
6 months ago
"The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh; blessed be the name of the Lord."

As the Creator, God is able to grant eternal life, and God has the right to withhold eternal life. That is what Christ was speaking about in his parable about the great King whose Son was killed while tending the vineyard. He was not suggesting that Christians should go forth and slaughter non-believers, as Muslims have repeatedly done while forcing their heretical false religion on the masses.

Like their so-called "prophet" Muhammad, Muslims can't seem to get beyond the flesh. Muslim heaven is even portrayed as a harem of endless fornication. But how does this profit the Muslim who takes greater delight in chastity? Will he or she be forced to fornicate forever against their will?

In the genuine Heaven of the Holy Trinity, there is a consolation much more fulfilling and desirable than sex. But I fear that unreasonable Muslims will never experience this consolation, and will find out instead that what the sex-fiend Muhammad described as Muslim heaven is actually a glamorized rendition of hell -- an eternal repugnant orgy of pain, degradation and violation that, like drinking sea-water, only exacerbates thirst rather than quenching it.

The reason why virtually every sentence in Koran is followed by an exclamation point. is because Koran is a rant. If Koran was able to offer even one argument of substance against the existence of the Holy Trinity and the Divinity of Christ, then Koran would not need to employ the use of so many exclamation points, which is a glaring indication of weak and vapid writing.

The reason why the New Testament uses almost no exclamation points is because it doesn't need to. The truth it relates requires no contrived emphasis.
Andrew M. Greenwell
6 months ago
@Ali Hamad: Thank you for your comments. It is true that Muhammad did forgive many throughout his life, but it seems to me that almost always, if not always, it was because they submitted to his authority. Muhammad was not entirely evil, my argument is simply that he was not the perfect man (al-insan al-kamil and/or uswa hasana) as he claimed.

Muhammad was not so forgiving to those who did not submit. While he forgave" two Jewish tribes (I suppose you refer to the Banu Qanuyqa and the Banu Nadir) in Medina, he did banish them out of Arabia, and he was not so merciful to the Banu Qurayza, whose men he had slaughtered). He also eventually ordered that every single Jewish (and Christian) tribe should be forcibly removed from the Arabian peninsula, something his followers effectively did, I'm sure quite bloodily.

One of the big problems with Muhammad is that he joined religion and politics. It was a temptation that Jesus avoided (e.g., Matt. 4:8-11), but into which Muhammad apparently fell. One sees a significant corruption in the moral message (and the life) of Muhammad between his time at Mecca and the time at Medina. All the questionable activity of Muhammad occurred after he obtained political influence and political power. Muhammad's moral fiber acquired in Mecca was not sufficient to resist the blandishment and seduction of power.

Jesus had his hand in slaying no one, and he did not command us to slay anyone. The verse from the Bible which you quote is part of a parable, the parable of the Ten Minas, a parable Jesus told his followers before he entered into Jerusalem to suffer and die. Jesus feared that his followers wanted to make him king and misunderstood the concept of the "kingdom of God" as an earthly kingdom. (Luke 19:11-26). It is clear from the parable that Jesus anticipated his death in Jerusalem, and that he expected his followers to propagate the Gospel, and that there would be a final judgment when he returned at the end of the world in judgment. That's what the parable is about. So the words you refer to do not advocate violence now, but refer to the final judgment.

Jesus did not allow slaughtering people, much less command it, and the intentional killing of innocent human life is proscribed by the Fifth Commandment. Here is a summary of the Christian teaching regarding the Fifth Commandment: http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a5.htm
It is clear to me that Muhammad failed to abide by the sublime teaching of our Lord on the Fifth Commandment as understood by the Church he founded, and that you have taken out of context our Scripture so as to defend Muhammad from wrongdoing.
Again, I do not do this to insult Muhammad, but rather to try to show that no one is perfect but God alone, and that Jesus, as the Word of God made Flesh, is our one and only model, and the one and only man who was Truth Himself. "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father (Allah), but through me."
May Jesus bless you and all our Muslim brothers and sisters whose salvation we desire with all our heart.
Andrew M. Greenwell
6 months ago
@Muzammil Iqbal: I don't understand your your comment. My proof that Muhammad engaged in this behavior is from the earliest sira of Muhammad by Ibn Ishaq, which is translated into English by Guillaume, and which is available everywhere, including Muslim book vendors. I assume that your history books paint a fair portrayal of Muhammad.
I have read the Qur'an and some of your Sunna (al-Bukhari, Muslim, and others), the earliest histories of Muhammad (Ibn Ishaq, at-Tabari, and others), and some of your classic commentaries on the Qur'an (Tafsir). It is unfortunate, however, that these sources do show Muhammad hurting people this sort of way.

Many Muslims, perhaps you are one of them, see Muhammad through Christian glasses. In other words, they have a view of Muhammad which is more like Jesus, but which is not supported by the source materials of your faith. What I think happened is that as Islam conquered formerly Christian territories, Muhammad did not compare well to Jesus, and so the negative parts of his character were whitewashed or downplayed. Most Muslims do not know the historical Muhammad, but your imams do, because they read the earliest histories and the Sunnah.

I do not intend to insult Muhammad, if Muhammad is insulted, he is insulted by his own behavior, and by Muslim sources. All I have reported is what the earliest Muslim sources say about his behavior.

If you do not like the Muhammad as he is shown to be by your Muslim sources, I suggest you read the Gospels and get to know Jesus, the one whom God sent to all mankind, including my Muslim brothers and sisters, to save them from their sins, bring them into communion with God, and into friendship with their fellow humans.
Ali Hamadto
6 months ago
The Great Prophet of Allah Forgave thousands of his enemies through his life. He forgave two Jewish tribes and he forgave all the people of Makka the day he entered it as a conqueror.
The prophet was not a spiritual leader only but he was also a Leader like King David and King Solomon.

If you want I can give u a quote from the Bible
>
But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me.’”
SAID by Jesus Christ as your Bible claims
so mr. you should not have any problem with slaughtering people
Muzammil Iqbal
6 months ago
What proof do you have?
you do not know our profit
Read our Holy Book and see what he has done, he would never hurt anyone in this kind of way. This is an insult to our religion. Islam is peace.

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