Muslimwoman, I would like to ask you one question. How do you reconcile the historical accounts of Muhammads lack of mercy to captives, and his cold blooded murder of them with this idea that he was a good man?
Regards TE
Hi TE
Good question. I can of course only give you my personal thoughts and ramblings but for what they are worth here we go.
I reconcile them by considering the historical factors of the time. The Quran only allows for defensive wars and I believe the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) would have followed the Quran. So in my view we are only dealing with defensive actions (I accept that some later Muslims did not stick to this principle). Is anyone in our modern world allowed to torture and kill prisoners of war? No but that doesn't stop it, even by western countries in 2007.
I think it is so easy to look at modern morality and say what an awful person he must have been but the world was a very different place then. So may we take a quick look at a historical timeline:
1492 - Columbus discovered America
1483 - Start of the Spanish Inquisition (they just asked polite questions?)
1095 - Start of the Crusades (killing how many Muslims and Jews?)
Let's jump back 500 years to speed things up
What were my ancestors doing all this time? Ah yes being raped and murdered by Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Normans (to name but a few).
600AD saw the end of the Dark Ages. The Romans had lost their grip on western europe but still controlled everything from Rome to Morocco (right through the Med, Palestine, Egypt and Lybia). Would anyone believe they did this by handing out chocolates and flowers in the market places or do we know they did it by murdering, raping and terrorising populations? Britain had a feudal system and numerous Kings, all raping and murdering to gain power and land.
Do you get where I am going with this?
At the time of the Prophet you lived by the sword or you certainly died by someone elses, no matter where you lived or what religion you followed.
Yes the Prophet fought defensive wars and it is true War is Hell. People die in war, horrible things are done to people as an example of what will happen if you attack their tribe. That is just reality. However, when you get past the stories of war you see the gentle, merciful side of the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh). I could tell you so many stories of the good things he did, of the wars he stopped by diplomacy, of the wives he married to create peace between certain tribes, of the rights he afforded women,etc, etc.
That is how I reconcile it, he did what he had to do to defend the Muslims and I read the stories of his great wisdom and mercy. So often people only read one side of the story and then judge it against modern morality, that is unfair.
Salaam